The good Stuff

The Internet is full of wonderful and amazing things.

Like this:   

And this:

But sometimes, you go looking for something amazing online and you end up with a fail. Like this:

Or this:

Or this:

There’s a lot going on online.

Just like you teach your students to be savvy consumers online who check sourcing and reliability and quality of their information, I think we-as-teachers need to remember those same guidelines when we go looking for teaching resources online.

Whether it’s teaching resource books from Amazon, student handouts from TeachersPayTeachers, or primary sources from randomdudesprimarydocs.com -- there is a lot on the internet.  

A Lot. On.The. Internet.

But like the “Online shopping fails above”, I have seen some online teaching resources that look great -- but aren’t what quite you’re looking for.

So how do you sift through all the primary sources, teacher-created powerpoints, and resource books out there?

1. Good resources target the benchmark (not the “topic”). There’s a big difference between Florida benchmarks, and, say, Kentucky benchmarks. Or New York benchmarks.  For example,
1. Arizona standards say “describe the significance of the amendments to the US Constitution”,
2. while Florida benchmarks have separate, specific benchmarks about
1. “analyze the impact of the 13, 14, 15, 19, 24, 26 amendments”,
2. “evaluate rights contained in the Bill of Rights and other amendments to the US Constitution”
3. and even “explain the constitutional amendment process”

So while you might find something cool about “amendments” does it match our specific Florida Benchmarks? That’s hard to find.

2. Good resources are age appropriate. I lovelovelove John Green’s Crash Course youtube series, but I wouldn’t dream of showing those to a middle schooler. Those resources are too fast-talking, with too-complicated, technical SAT-style vocabulary. And occasionally the allusion to more mature topics. On the other hand, I wouldn’t give my high schoolers some of the lower level materials I find online. It wouldn’t be challenging enough for them.

3. Good resources come from credible places. I once went looking for resources to teach the Arab-Israeli conflict, only to find extremely biased content, from both Jewish organizations and Arabic and Muslim organizations. That’s ok -- if you use one of each to teach both sides. It’s not ok to choose a side in that ongoing conflict and teach that one side as “fact”. I also found completely non-credible materials on that topic, such as articles from conspiracy websites.

*Bottom line? Figure out what/who the author or organization is and who funds them. It’s not as hard as it seems. Go to the “about us” page on the website or google the name of the website/article to see if other places online have criticized/praised/mentioned the source you’re looking at.  As crazy as it sounds, there are even misattributed George Washington documents out there.

Note -- Just because it says “US History” resources or “Civics resources or whatever doesn’t mean it’s credible. There are plenty of people with political/religions/whatever agendas who make good-looking websites and resources that are not credible that are trying to achieve a purpose that is not YOUR CLASSROOM purpose.

4. Good resources do stuff better than what you already have. Don’t choose an extra resource that’s all lower level! That stuff is everywhere! Don’t choose a resource that’s just a lecture or worksheet you could have made up in two minutes. Choose something that’s worth the time it takes to research it -- something engaging, with higher-order thinking, collaboration, and student voice and choice. Choose something that helps you differentiate  -- but that doesn’t “dumb it down”. The last thing any of us needs is to lower the cognitive levels of learning in our classrooms.

There is nothing wrong with supplementing lessons with other stuff. Just make sure it's the Good Stuff. Make sure it's benchmark-specific, appropriate, credible, and high quality. Don't grab every book/power point/worksheet/document on the internet.

What's your favorite online resource? What is your best advice for colleagues about choosing resources? As always, I love to hear! Email me newmantr@pcsb.org

-Tracy