ALEX

ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange) is a website that allows teachers to find lesson plans and links to other resources that provide information that is useful when developing lesson plans and teaching. It has tabs to browse through lesson plans or you can find specific lessons by doing a search. They have it broken down even more specifically by the AL Course of Study. You can look for only what you need or do a general search. The site also provides links to other educational sites. You can do this by searching for a specific area of study or just browse through the sites. There is a link for professional learning that provides information for all kinds of educators. It has information for media specialists, special education, professional organizations, and much more. You may create an account that will allow you to provide your own lesson plans or store the ones you are interested in. ALEX also gives a link to ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide). It is going to provide an opportunity for students to participate in distance learning to get the education that they need and deserve. Students may take web-based classes that use multimedia content and interactive video-conferencing. This will increase the opportunities for students to take courses that are not provided at their high school and open many new doors for these students.

I think that this site will be very helpful to me when I begin teaching again. I love the user friendly layout and how I will be able to search for specific lessons or concepts. I know that the Course of Study link will be very helpful when trying to complete lesson plans for the grade level that I am teaching. I love that this information will be available to me at work and home when trying to do lesson plans without taking extra books and binders to and from the school. I do not think that I will personally use the ACCESS link because I plan to teach Lower Elementary school, but I think that it is a great thing to have for those that do need it. This will provide many students with opportunities that they did not have before. I think this is a great addition to our schools. The site is very informational and helpful for many reasons and I think that all teachers should use it as a tool for teaching and professional development. I am very happy to have learned about this site before returning to the classroom.