Websites I Couldn't Teach Without

While I could probably come up with 100 websites that help me as a teacher, the following are the three websites that I have found the most useful thus far:

1. ALEX: http://alex.state.al.us/index.php/


Purpose- The purpose of the ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange) website is to provide Alabama state-certified teachers with the courses of study and standards to be taught at each grade level, as well as additional resources such as lesson plans, web resources, and professional development information.


Three reasons I love this site-

• I love knowing exactly where to go to find the standards that I need to include in my lesson plans. 
• The lesson plans posted by other teachers are an excellent source for new ideas.
• I also like that the website allows teachers to create their own personal workspace for storing and submitting lesson plans and teacher web pages. 

*So far I have found this site extremely helpful and do not have any suggestions to make it better.

 2. Teachers Pay Teachers: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/


Purpose- Teachers Pay Teachers is an open marketplace for teachers to share their original lesson plans and creations with other teachers.

Three reasons I love this site-

• I love all of the available resources. There is just about anything that a teacher could ever need or want; and some things that you didn't even know you needed/wanted. 
• I love that everything on the site is posted by other teachers. Knowing that the materials are coming from someone else experiencing the same sorts of situations as me, and that what they are posting are things that have worked for them gives me a bit of confidence in trying them out myself. Also, I believe that as teachers, we never stop learning; and, the best people to learn from are other teachers. 
• The final reason that I love this site is that it provides teachers with a way to not only share their ideas, but also a way to make some additional income. We all know that teachers are not paid nearly enough, so any means to make additional money, especially with something that they are already doing for themselves, is excellent.

* I have yet to find anything that I think needs to be fixed on this site.

 3. Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/

Purpose- Pinterest is a place to organize and share all the things that you love.

Three reasons I love this site-

• It is one of the greatest resources that I have ever come across for new ideas. There are more and more teachers using Pinterest now to share their teaching and classroom ideas. I have gotten lesson plan ideas, organization tips, management tips, etc. 
• I love how easy it is to use. It is extremely easy to navigate. I also love how it allows me to organize all of the "pins" into boards that I can personalize to suit my own needs. They can be as vague or specific as I want. 
• I love that this site is not specific to teachers. I get tons of ideas that were not meant for the classroom, but that are nonetheless helpful to me as a teacher. 

*The only issue I have with this site is that you have to be extremely careful what you repost or use from the site, as a lot of the stuff may be copyright protected.