Help Desk: Resources for First-Year Teachers

The Internet is not a substitute for a wise, caring mentor or a break in the school day to plan a new lesson. But going online can do a lot to reduce some of the isolation that new teachers face. In particular, the Internet offers research, tips, lesson plans, discussion opportunities, and a treasure trove of data that can be easily downloaded.

Who's got useful information for teachers on the World Wide Web? To start with, try teachers' unions; the federal government; education reform networks; national nonprofit organizations in science, math, English, and other disciplines; corporations; and book and educational software publishers.

The following resources, most of which are free, are just a sampling of what's out there:

http://encarta.msn.com
Sponsored by Encarta encyclopedias: lesson plans and information resources

http://mathforum.org/teachers/
The Math Forum Teachers' Place: math-focused lesson plans, software

http://web66.umn.edu
A list of over 11,000 school Web sites. This site helps K-12 educators set up their own Internet servers and links schools so that resources can be shared

www.aft.org
American Federation of Teachers: issues, online discussion, union news

http://coreknowledge.org/CK/
E.D. Hirsch: lesson plans

www.cuisenaire.com/
Cuisenaire publishers: hands-on math and science products, K-12

www.enc.org/
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education: reform ideas, lessons, software, professional development opportunities, and links to online academic standards

www.ed.gov/free/
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: online learning resources available from U.S. government agencies

www.logo.com/index.html
Logotron: educational software and the following books: The Educator's Internet Companion, Science Internet Curriculum Guide, and How to Create Successful Web Pages

www.microsoft.com/education/
Microsoft: tutorials, training providers, lesson plans, and software applications for classrooms

www.nea.org
National Education Association: issues, online discussion, and union news

www.nbpts.org
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards: information on raising teacher standards

www.sierraclub.org/education/
Sierra Club: educational materials on ecology and conservation

www.teachnet.org
Teachnet: lesson plans, online discussions, idea exchange, articles, and research

www.thegateway.org/
Lesson plan search site

www.wested.org
WestEd: educational texts, including Tales from the Electronic Frontier (for teachers using the Internet)

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