News, resources, and links to help educators and home schoolers improve academic achievement.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Free at Last!


I was reading through a newsletter for educators, and saw that there was a link to FREE printables and resources for teachers.  I decided to check it out. When I clicked on the link, it took me to a website that had a long list of links, each offering FREE printables or resources.  One by one, I clicked on each link. Many of these links required a membership fee of up to $39.95 in order to access the “free” printables; others boldly advertised products for sale right on the home page. Seriously? That’s like ordering a hamburger at the drive-through and the worker asking you if you want cheese on your hamburger (for an additional charge, of course).  Wouldn’t that make it a CHEESEburger?
Back to the printables:  I was guarded when I finally came across a link that promised “free printables and resources – free membership." I clicked on the link and it took me to the homepage to register for the Teachers’ Social Network.  It’s like Facebook, but for teachers.  Interesting….but still no printables. Maybe my free membership would give me access to the free resources.  I decided it couldn’t hurt to join,so I entered my profile information.  I got an error message on my computer screen (and wondered if I just downloaded a virus on my computer). Irritated, I went back to the home page and started over, but when I entered my e-mail address, it said I was already registered.  So, I logged in and clicked on my profile page.  It belonged to a different “Sue” who lives in New Zealand. I noticed that “Sue”-in-New-Zealand joined the community in 2010 and there was no activity or profile pic, so I deleted the profile altogether. Then I realized I never did see that link to those free resources!  Another hour wasted on the internet!
At this point, I was even more determined to find a website that truly had free resources for teachers, so I Googled “free printables, no membership fee,” and I found a site that has worksheets, printables and craft projects.  As an added bonus, all of the freebies are organized by category, grade level and subject!  I crossed my fingers as I clicked through to a specific math worksheet and hit the “print” button.  I was so excited when it actually sent the page to my print que!  Then, I thought, "I can't keep this to myself -- I need to share it on all of our social media networks right away!" 
Here’s the link: http://usa-arts.com/
If you happen to be surfing (the internet) this summer, and run across a great website, would you please share it in the Comments section below?  We will pass the links along to our newsletter subscribers and Facebook fans. As for me, I've learned my lesson about clicking on website links that don't come highly recommended from a friend or associate.

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