http://www.senteacher.org/
What is it and how can I use it with my students?
Senteacher is a website that provides free customizable printable templates for teachers and parents. At first glance, Senteacher is primary a resource for special education teachers and for parents of children with special needs. (Both of which apply to me as I am a special educator and my four year old has sensory processing dysfunction-which affects his communication needs.) This site, however, can be used by any teacher/parent of early childhood/elementary students(with or without special needs).
So now that you know a little about the backstory of how I came to find this page, let’s get into the nitty gritty of how this site works and how you can use it in your classroom. The site is broken up into sections: printables, downloads, links and search tools. The printables sections contains printable worksheet templates that you can customize to fit your needs. This site has printables for the following content areas: literacy, math, science, awards/labels, communication and social.
To customize any printable, all you have to do is click on the printable you want, then make the customization ( depending on the printable, you can add your own images, words, how many questions are on a sheet and more). See below image for an example of one of the templates. Once you have completed your printable, you can save it for later use or print it out.
Classroom implications
Obviously, this site is an excellent resource for teachers, since having the ability to create customized worksheets quickly is a great time saver! I know what you are thinking…. “Great, nice resource, but what exactly makes this a tech snack?” Well, by itself it isn’t. If you combine this resource with other tech tools, however, it becomes a powerful instructional tool.
For example, if you have access to an interactive projector/smart board you can project a worksheet you created and students can use their fingers/stylus to circle/write the correct answers on the screen. If you have access to ipads/desktops or laptops, you could use nearpod to share your customized worksheets with students. Students can then use their devices to provide their answers and their feedback is shared instantly with the entire class via an lcd projector. To learn more about nearpod, click here.
Another way that you can make your worksheet interactive is to use thinklink. You could upload the pdf or image of the worksheet you created to thinglink and then embed content like videos, interactive websites and audio clips within the worksheet to help foster further understanding. Students can view your thinglink via any device or you can share it with the whole class using an LCD projector. To learn more about thinklink, click here.
Hmmm.....an online resource that by itself is tasty, but when combined with other tech tools, is scrumptious! This one is a winner no matter which way you fancy your tech dinner plate!