Blogger For Teachers: A Tutorial

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EdTech Resource: Capacity Building Series

EdTech Resource: Capacity Building Series

Alright...I will be honest. This resources is less EdTech than numerous PDF publications by the Ministry of Education of Ontario. Why is it here then? Because it is a great resource for teacher who are looking to become better educators, and built the capacity of their classroom and their school community as a whole. 

As an educator, and currently registered Ontario Certified Teacher, I made a pledge to continue my learning throughout my life. This life-long learner's pledge is something every teacher makes - because if we, the teacher do not continue to learn, we cannot adequately teach tomorrows youth. 

The Capacity Building Series clearly outlines different Professional Learning Committee (PLC) learning, findings and suggestions for what you can be doing in your school community. 

This ongoing publication, since 2007, continues to grow. So check back often to see what new updates are currently available.

Is your school located in a region that has a higher percentage of teenage parents? Are you looking for ways to continue to support them and keep them on track in their learning? If so, take a look at the most recent, September 2015 Special Edition - Supporting Teenage and Single Parent Learners to Complete High School. The series has a massive span of topics; from overreaching general ideas to specifics like the September Special Edition listed above. 

What about figuring out the technicalities of Inquiry and Collaborative based learning - the Capacity Building Series is a magnificent resource for learning about new and inquisitive ways to teach and ensure your students are understanding your teaching. 

Think you have far too much on your plate to read yet another teaching publication? Think again! The vast majority of the articles published by the series are only a few pages in length, and make for short reading to help in your PD. 

The series covers far too many topics for me to go into detail in this single post ( I could actually probably manage a separate blog for the Capacity Building Series) - Take a look, and see for yourself. 

EdTech Resource: Teacher Tap

This is another new resource I stumbled across for this blog. Welcome to Teacher Tap 

At first glance this webpage does not seem like all that much, and in 2016 - it looks like it out of date...well it kind of is...

Teacher Tap was last copyright in 2007 (Nearly 10 years now) But here is why I think it is still might be worth a look, especially if you are new to the teaching profession, or are just starting to dabble into online teaching, and your students either know more than you; or are having trouble answering student questions. 

The landing page does have a warning statement that they are in the process of updating the resources, so there is a mixture of newer and older resources. 

Teacher Trap is free , professional development resource that helps educators and librarians address common questions about the use of technology in teaching and learning by providing easy access to practical, online resources and activities.

As an English teacher, I was excited for the Literature and Literacy page; however, the links for Informational Inquiry are all dead...(the cons of an older resource). Otherwise, the page breaks down some of the digital basics for students, such as copyright information, and plagiarism, and how to safety and accurately surf the internet. 

While these may seem like basic digital literacy skills, many students till lack these skills, and only learn of their lack of digital literacy once they reach Post-Secondary and cannot find valid internet sources. 

That is the section on Information Skills and Digital Ethics would work perfectly or Digital Literacy lessons starting at a Grade 9 level.  

The Page of Technology Tools actually gives a basic breakdown of the majority of software students will encounter in school and at home. Basics like how to navigate a PDF file, to how to use email, and filters to your advantage. 

Overall - if you are already a Technology Teacher, Teacher Tap is not for you. It will be well below your level of understanding and the lesson levels are probably below the ones you already have developed. If you are a new teacher and looking for a kick-start to your own lesson portfolio, Teacher Tap may be able to give you a hand. 

EdTech Resource: ReadWriteThink

To visit this resource, please click: ReadWriteThink 

Mission Statement: "Here at ReadWriteThink, our mission is to provide educators, parents, and after school professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials."

This is the first time I have come across ReadWriteThink. So if you have any feedback on this resource that you would like to add - please let me know. 

ReadWriteThink has partnered with the International Literacy Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and The Verizon Foundation to help improve the literacy rates across the United States. 

Why is this helpful to Canadians you ask? Well it might not be in every case; but it is still a resource for helping improve literacy rates at your school. ReadWriteThink also has some of the highest standards for online lesson plans that I have seen. 

ReadWriteThink says that, "every lesson plan on ReadWriteThink has been aligned not only to the IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts but to individual state standards as well."  

If you want to read more about their Standards of Alignment, please see their webpage for details. 

ReadWriteThink has divided their webpage into four key sections, 

1. Classroom Resources 
2. Professional Development Resources
3. Videos
4. Parent and After School Resources 

I think the Professional Development and Parent Resources are some of the most important to teachers and parents alike. There are so many webpages out there that offer lesson plans, but very few that offer a good set of tools for Professional Development. 

The PD section offers a library suggestions, however the majority of its recommendations are just there as recommendations, they are not online publications, and you have to go elsewhere to purchase the book. The PD section also offers different strategy guides, and online meeting and events (again in the US - so for those of us North of the boarder, it doesn't help.) 

What I find most interesting about the PD section is it's exclusive online PD. While there are currently no planned online webinars, they do offer webinars on demand, as well as links to other online programs and courses. 

EdTech Resource: Education World

EdTech Resource: Education World 

This one is new to me. So I played around their webpage for a while to get the feeling for it - and it looks like  great place for Educational Content.

If you or a colleague use Education World - Please feel free to comment on how useful you find it. I would be glad to post a guest author's views of this resource.

Here is what Education World says about itself:

Education World is a complete online resource that teachers, administrators and school staff can visit each day to find high-quality and in-depth original content. We update the site daily, offering:

• Carefully curated news briefs on topics that matter to educators;
• Lesson plans, printables, worksheets and thousands of other classroom-ready resources;
• EdTech tips and ideas as well as reviews of apps, websites and tech products; and
• A huge library of professional development articles and columns.

- See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/help/about.shtml#sthash.gBdtJX7z.dpuf

This webpage does to require users to maintain an account, which is nice change of pace. No need to remember a username and password. 

While Education World offers information on lesson plans; where it is different is on how it connects Educators. 

On its main page, Education World has links to News, Blogs, Teachers, Lessons, and Tech. It even offers advice to Substitute Teachers. This is an added bonus. I am only a few years out of Substitute Work, still working on LTOs until I become Permanent, but additional Substitute Teaching lesson plans and ideas are great to have on hand; especially when the teacher instructions don't fill the entire period. 

As this blog is dedicated to Professional Development, I especially like the "PD Tips" that Education World has to offer. It has everything from: Strategies that work, Classroom Management, Student Motivation, and Bulletin Board Ideas. 

Education World seems to be a great resource for any teacher to have saved in their "Favorites" tool bar. 

EdTech Resource: The Times Educational Supplement (TES)

Have you already heard of TES? 

No? Perhaps you know it under its former name: The Times Educational Supplement. 

Originally published weekly in The Times newspaper starting in 1910 - it became so popular by 1914 it became its own publication.

It was originally aimed at school teachers in the United Kingdom; the publication now manages a webpage dedicated to teachers around the world; with some 7+ million registered users. TES still publishes an edition every Friday in the UK, with an average weekly readership of around 263,000.

Here is TES' mission statement:

"TES is dedicated to supporting the world’s teachers. Our mission is to enable great teaching by helping educators find the tools and technology they need to excel, supporting them throughout their career and professional development. We’re home to the world’s largest online community of teachers with 7.3 million registered users and this network is one of the fastest growing of any profession globally, helping support, guide and inspire educators around the world.

We host a dynamic marketplace in which educators can discover, share, and sell original teaching materials; Blendspace, a lesson-building product where those resources can be freely integrated and implemented; and Wikispaces, an open classroom management platform that facilitates student-teacher communication and collaboration. In the UK, we provide a range of professional development opportunities for teachers, host the leading teacher jobs market and provide supply teaching solutions to schools.

We’re proud to be part of TES Global, a fast-growing digital education company that’s been supporting educators worldwide for over 100 years."

Getting Started 

So yes, unfortunately like many other services out there - you need an account. TES is for the most part FREE. There are some lesson plans that are considered "premium" which can cost a few dollars ($$)  to download. I personally have never considered paying for anything. 

The beauty with TES' sign up, is you can link it to your google account. Does your school board use Gmail too? Makes life easy when you can sign up with your work email instead of your private email. 

TES does sent out semi-regular email blasts - so unless you remember to pre-filter your incoming emails - I would suggest unchecking the 'receive news and updates from TES' box. 

Once you are logged in, you can explore all that TES has to offer. They have divided resources by subject.

Subjects available are: 

• Common Core 
• English Language Arts (ELA)
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies
• World Languages 

TES also saves everything you download to your "My resources" folder. Why is this great you ask? Have you ever had one of those moments when you can't locate the original of your handout? Never again! 

TES allows you to share lessons that worked with the world, and find lessons that other teachers are using. This is especially helpful when you are assigned a new class the day before the semester starts, and you have never taught that subject/level before. 

Welcome to EDTech4PD!

Hello & Welcome!

This is Educational Technologies for Professional Development.

I am a teacher with the Ottawa Catholic School Board, and I wanted to share updates with the world on different Educational Technologies (EdTech); not only for the classroom, but for Professional Development.

As teachers we have agreed to life-long learning to better ourselves and ultimately our students. Therefore, we should be experimenting with EdTech for our own professional development, as well as our students benefits.

I welcome any feedback; suggestions; or corrections to errors I make (I am not an expert in any of these tools) I just want to share them with you so you know what is available out-there.