Resources & Links
I am not a one-size-fits-all teacher and that’s OK. Here are some other people and places you can go to for help:
TUTORING
Many public libraries have partnered with BrainFuse to provide a wide range of academic help for students.
Varsity Tutors is a popular and user-friendly platform for tutoring. They have a huge catalog of offerings, including sessions available in languages other than English, options for nontraditional college students, and so much more.
ALEKS is an artificially intelligent learning and assessment system that has been used by over 25 million students for Math, Chemistry, Statistics and Accounting.
RESOURCES
If you’re a K-12 teacher, you can access the awesome ReadWorks program. I love the ability to offer well-written and engaging nonfiction passages with students that have built-in interactive vocabulary activities and reading comprehension questions. They also support students with a personalized library and e-books that don’t include any assessments; it’s simply to encourage reading for the sake of reading.
The nonprofit partners with teachers across the country to solve our nation’s literacy crisis. ReadWorks does this by bridging the gap between research and practice in reading comprehension instruction. They leverage cognitive-science research to create high-impact instructional materials and tools that are designed for immediate use within the practical realities of current U.S. classrooms.
I’ve used Newsela in the classroom longer than I’ve used ReadWorks. They have a huge catalog of articles for ELA, social studies, and science as well as current events and social-emotional tie-ins. Educators can adjust reading levels for most passages, use the platform to teach reading comp, vocabulary skills, and showcase writing prompts.
Here’s what TWR is all about: The Writing Revolution’s mission is to enable students, especially those from historically-marginalized communities, to develop writing skills, as well as the ability to read and think critically, so they will have enhanced opportunities to succeed in school, in the workplace, and in life.
We train and support teachers and school leaders in implementing the Hochman Method, an explicit set of evidence-based strategies for teaching expository writing. The method builds from sentences to compositions and is embedded in curricula across all content areas and grade levels.
I highly recommend TWR and use the book/access the website resources all the time.
The Stern Center for Language and Learning is located in Vermont and provides a number of services, trainings, and resources for families and educators. I’ve taken a couple of their exceptional courses, like When Writing is Hard: Written Language Disorders & Dysgraphia and their Reading & Writing Assessment webinar series.
Landmark’s goal is to train educators working with students who have language-based learning disabilities, delivering that content with effective professional development grounded in theory and practice. I’ve taken their Executive Function: Impact on Academic Proficiency course.