The Anatomy of a Great Teacher

I came across this nifty visual that shows the The Anatomy of a Great Teacher. I particularly agree with the view that "great teachers" are able to bypass the bureaucracy of school systems in order to emphasize student learning.

I don't think anything in this visual is new to the teaching field, though sometimes seeing messages in a different form can stimulate the brain. Perhaps you will come across a gem below that will motivate you as you teach this week...


Source: Top Teaching Colleges

PBS Learning Media

In the past, I have written about my fondness for many PBS resources (FRONTLINE and PBS Newshour). PBS LearningMedia is treasure trove of teacher resources from all of PBS's different entities. No matter your content area, you will be able to find video clips, lesson plans, primary source documents, and more useful tools to assist in your lessons. In addition, LearningMedia provides professional development resources.

I enjoy how after you make an account you can easily mark items as "favorites", thus making it much easier to find materials in the future. As a social studies teacher, I am excited to use some of their wonderful 2012 election materials with both my AP classes and my ESOL Government classes. I really like this simple, yet nicely done video explaining the general election process.

As always, I hope you are able to find a gem or two from PBS LearningMedia.

Get the Most out of Google

A hat tip to my colleague Kevin Burke for showing me this useful resource  from HackCollege to help students (and teachers) get the most out of using Google. Not only does the site provide tips for using Google as a research tool, in addition, the keyboard shortcuts and "tricks" will be quite useful for you on a daily basis. 

I have been using the "define: (insert word)" trick for a few years. I can personally verify its usefulness!

My Tech Tool Arsenal

Thank You PoliticalCartoons.com

I have been extremely busy over the last month getting back in the swing of things. I am working hard trying to balance teaching and becoming a better teacher, while spending quality time with my family and friends (and getting in some exercise when I can). Thus, I haven't had much time to test out any new websites or software, though I did want to write a post about the technology tools I am currently using on a daily basis. Many of these are tools you may already be using, while some of these items I have written about in previous posts. Nevertheless, perhaps you will find a gem in my list that will make you a more effective teacher.

Here is a list of some of the tech tools I use nearly every day:

- Edmodo: a terrific social networking site for teachers, students, parents and administrators. I am still becoming more adept with Edmodo.

- Dropbox: I love my cloud storage! Dropbox is a very reliable way to save files and open them up anywhere instantly.

- GradeCam: I love grading multiple choice quizzes and tests using my webcam...Even more, I love the incredible data I receive instantly. I am able to analyze which concepts students are struggling with and reteach IMMEDIATELY.

- GoogleDocs: we use Google apps in our school system...I love being able to use the forms to gather information. I also love how students can have access to word processing software for free!

- Twitter: I joined Twitter late, but I love having news articles come to me. I often find relevant articles to use in my classes. I haven't used Twitter much for professional outreach, though I see this becoming more important down the road.

- Quizlet: This is a great resource that keeps getting better. I am promoting my students make flashcards and study their vocabulary using this free website. They came out with a great app that allows anyone to study vocabulary no matter their surroundings.

- Politicalcartoons.com: As a US Government and Politics teacher I regularly show my students satirical cartoons to present serious issues. The cartoon above is a great portrayal of opportunity cost (and it might make you giggle).

- Screencast-o-matic: I wrote about this website last month, but I love how anyone can publish a video explaining ANYTHING and send it out to the world within minutes. I am traveling this year for weddings outside the USA, and I plan to make screen-casts to help my students stay on task even while I am out of the classroom.