What resources are available for students and parents to utilize at home?
Whether you are looking for additional support in Algebra 1 topics or need help studying for your college entrance exam, the web is loaded with tons of resources that are amazing and user-friendly for students and parents of all ages and abilities. For this post, I will discuss some of my favorite resources I have utilized personally, in my classroom, and for my tutoring business.
1. Kahn Academy
Kahn Academy is a free resource for learners of all ages from pre-kindergarten through adulthood. Kahn Academy’s mission is, “to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere” (2020, p. 1). This resource can personalize instruction based on individual strengths and weaknesses, provide supplementary learning material for students currently enrolled in classes through other platforms, along with test prep for standardized tests and entrance exams for college bound students. Kahn Academy has produced amazing videos, tutorials, links and resources, and assessments that are beneficial to both students, parents, and educators. Videos and questions are broken down into topics, units, standards, and objectives that can help students who may be struggling with curriculum or just want to further their own personal education. The digital format is great for learners using a PC, MAC, and even apps available on tablets and cell phones so learning is just a click away.
2. College Board
The College Board website is amazing tool and resource for educators, students, and even parents of future college students. The website includes information on many standardized tests that the College Board is in charge of including SAT, PSAT, AP exams, Praxis, and ACCUPLACER. College Board provides study tools and practice tests to help students in prepare for exams, has access to all colleges across the nation and criteria for admissions, help with interview and admission essays, along with tours of schools that students can research while exploring options after high school graduation. The website also provides information on scholarships available to students offers a career finder tool for students still trying to determine the best career path post-graduation.
3. ACT.Org
ACT is another great website that gives students great test taking strategies, time management, timed practice tests, and personalized topics based on units of study the student may be struggling with. ACT breaks up practice, topics, and assessments into the four categories covered on the ACT College Entrance Exam. It is never too early to begin practicing and get a baseline score so students can see improvement over time.
4. ZOOM
Zoom has been an amazing program that I have utilized more recently due to the Covid-19 pandemic so I could continue tutoring my clients in the subjects they needed help on. Many teachers have also utilized this platform to offer live sessions to meet with students, deliver instruction, and meet with others. It has also been widely used by me to meet potential clients from the comfort of their own home. Zoom meetings have amazing tools that are available for free for basic features including screen recording, schedule meetings in advance, save sessions to upload to Google or a website, along with screen share that gives both me and my students to project our screen and share questions on homework or assessments.
5. Teachers Pay Teachers
I am all about supporting other educators and also creative ways to change up my instruction both in the classroom and during tutoring sessions. Teachers Pay Teachers is a wonderful site that offers both free and fee-based products for teachers or parents to use in their classroom or additional support. From décor for one’s classroom, to creative foldables for notebooks, to assessments and projects, Teachers Pay Teachers has been a wonderful resource to utilize, especially when I do not have the time to reinvent the well. Highly recommend and also (support your local educators J).
6. Desmos
If you don’t have a graphing calculator or just do not feel like purchasing something your child may lose within a week of school starting, check out Desmos. This is a great, free website that offers all the same tools and capabilities as a TI-89 graphing calculator many schools use in the classroom. It also has interactive games, lessons, and quizzes to help students learn how to manipulate graphs and finding solutions a different way. Now, it by no means completely eliminates the need for a graphing calculator because many teachers will not allow a tablet or computer to be open during assessments, but it is a great supplementary tool for parents, students, and teachers to utilize at home or on their phone through their app. I personally love Desmos during my live tutoring sessions because I can easily use Zoom and share the Desmos screen and students can see the calculator and graph in live time.
7. Magoosh ACT/SAT Test Prep
I have recommended the Magoosh ACT/SAT app for iPhone and Samsung phones to many of my clients. The interface is user-friendly and provides lots of resources such as flashcards, videos on test taking strategies, mini-lessons on every topic that would be tested in all subjects on the college entrance exams, along with practice questions. It goes even further by showing the user their progress in topics and where they may want to spend additional time. The lessons and practice can be done whenever your child feels like logging on and the lessons are straight forward and to the point that does not give the student a chance to lose focus. Highly recommend, especially for those teenagers whose phones stay glued to their hands.
While these aren’t all the websites that I find amazing and resourceful, it is some of my absolute favorites that I always refer back to for myself, my business, and recommended to my current clients who want additional resources during the times we aren’t together. I hope you enjoy! If you know of any, please feel free to leave a comment or email below through my “Contact me” button. Have a wonderful and blessed day!
References:
ACT. (2020). The ACT - Solutions for College and Career Readiness. Retrieved August 06, 2020, from https://www.act.org/
College Board. (2020, July 10). College Board - SAT, AP, and College Planning Tools. Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://www.collegeboard.org/
Desmos. (2020). Beautiful, Free Math. Retrieved August 06, 2020, from https://www.desmos.com/
Kahn Academy. (2020). Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice. Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://www.khanacademy.org/
Magoosh. (2020, July 14). Magoosh Test Prep. Retrieved August 06, 2020, from https://magoosh.com/
Teachers Pay Teachers. (2020). Teaching Resources & Lesson Plans. Retrieved August 06, 2020, from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/
Zoom. (2020). Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing. Retrieved August 06, 2020, from https://zoom.us/
