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Start Your New Year off Right with a Visit to the ‘Penniless Teacher’
posted by: Cindy Omlin | January 03, 2012, 09:14 PM
Let's face it, budgets are tight and after an expensive holiday season, there are no shortages of "penniless teachers" across the country. In examining the resolutions of countless teachers this new year, saving money seems to top many lists. While most educators often foot the bill for classroom projects and supplies, a new blog called Penniless Teacher, provides a one-stop-shop for classroom teachers seeking easy funding opportunities via current listings of teacher scholarships and grants, teacher contests, and teacher giveaways.
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21st Century Leaders Use 21st Century Methods to Communicate with Parents
posted by: Cindy Omlin | December 29, 2011, 07:10 PM
Keeping parents informed has become rather easy in the 21st century. There are all kinds of tools for educators can use. I've personally tried blogs, wikis, and specifically designed web pages, but the bottom line is you just have to find what works best for your parents. My parents are email users. I have told them that the best way to contact me is through email, so they often use that first. It also means it is the quickest way I can get information out to them. My parent communications have become entirely paperless, so the forests can rest at ease. Central to my 21st century parent communication plan are the following:
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As young students, everyone remembers bringing their teacher a gift during the holiday season. Everything from tins of holiday cookies to homemade paper weights are given every year from students across the country without fail. This year, however, a law in Alabama is making waves for its harsh penalties for teachers who accept gifts from students over a mere $25, raising questions nationwide about holiday giving and whether accepting gifts as an educator is appropriate.
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Happy Holidays from Best Practices Weekly! We hope these resources make your December merrier.
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Thanksgiving time is almost here and no doubt you’re already knee-deep in planning. Now, I’m fond of hand-turkeys and trust me when I say I appreciate the classroom Thanksgiving feast, but as a social studies educator, I believe there’s more we gain through teaching about the historical significance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Not only do we have a chance to teach our students something about the history of our country, but it’s also a way we can spark an interest in the subject.
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Here are the four latest Best Practices Weekly editions – don't forget to go to www.bestpracticesweekly.com to sign up for the weekly emails or to see archived editions! Continue Reading...
This Saturday, September 17, is Constitution Day/Citizenship Day, commemorating the September 17, 1787, signing of the U.S. Constitution. In recognition, Congress has mandated that every educational institution receiving federal funds take a day to teach about our country's most important document. Since September 17 falls on a Saturday this year, institutions may celebrate either the preceding or the following week. If you are planning on discussing the constitution with your students, there are some fantastic resources for reading, sharing and contributing.
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Please Welcome "Best Practices Weekly" to the AAE Blog
posted by: Cindy Omlin | September 07, 2011, 02:51 PM
This is an exciting week at AAE. Today, the professional development branch of the AAE blog has a new partner, Best Practices Weekly (BPW). BPW is a free non-profit professional development service for teachers that summarizes education research into bite-size chunks for busy educators.
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We have often highlighted the social networking website Facebook on the AAE blog. Since its inception in 2004, Facebook has grown from a college photo sharing website to household name and education tool. Currently, 1 in every 13 people on Earth is using the site. With these enormous numbers, a growing percentage of teachers and students are actively using Facebook, raising questions about appropriate use, professional standards, and far-reaching school district policies.
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Last week I posted about my week at ISTE, a fabulous education technology conference, and my fabulous colleague, Alix, posted about Twitter for Teachers. I was elated that she wrote such a timely article because I had just attended a workshop about how Twitter is changing professional development and teacher interaction throughout the world. (Here is a basic video about Twitter. And here is a video that explains why it's beneficial for companies, organizations, and groups of professionals, like teachers.)
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An Educator’s Smorgasbord: 600 Social Media Education Links
posted by: Cindy Omlin | April 27, 2011, 04:23 PM I stumbled across an online article titled "600 Tips and Links for Using Social Media for Education and Learning"? Yes, please. Continue Reading...
To be frank, I need the good stuff and I need it to be free, please. According to a recent survey by PBS, teachers’ reliance on technology and media to teach is increasing—rapidly. The increase is for good reasons: (1) there is quality content on the internet, (2) our students’ attention spans silently demand it, (3) it helps teachers differentiate instruction and (4) with school budgets shrinking, much of the online educational content is free.
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With tax season just around the corner, it's important to know what kind of federal tax breaks you might be eligible for as an educator. Most teachers purchase supplies for their classroom out of their own pockets throughout the school year. What you need to know is that if you are a teacher you can deduct up to $250 for unreimbursed classroom expenses.
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Lights, Camera, Action: Recording Teachers to Improve Instruction
posted by: Cindy Omlin | November 10, 2010, 06:36 PM
When my students would ask me why I became I teacher, I responded with the same explanation every time. "Isn't it obvious? I want to be an actress. Here in Los Angeles being a teacher is the best kind of acting because I hold a captive audience for an hour five times a day. I make you laugh in disbelief and cry in agony all by a simple statement like 'Pop quiz.'" (I know, I know I'm hilarious—don't worry folks, I'll be here all week.) But it's turning out that my little white lie isn't too far from the truth. With changes in how would-be teachers are being prepared for the classroom, it is looking like future teachers in at least 19 states will get face time in front of the camera before they are deemed ready for the ultimate goal—their own classroom and teacher certification. These assessment strategies require future teachers to be recorded while teaching in order to prove that they can "walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk" when it comes to educating students.
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Ten Tips for Teachers for Staying Smart on Social Networking Websites
posted by: Alix | July 06, 2010, 04:37 PM Articles have peppered newspapers and blogs about the dangers of social networking sites to professionals, and particularly to teachers. In 2007, The Columbus Dispatch highlighted three teachers’ racy comments on MySpace. In 2008, The Washington Post took on the issue pointing to the dangers of leaving one’s Facebook profile open to “friends of friends.” Continue Reading... Teachers attempting to integrate technology into their classrooms have a number of obstacles to overcome (see earlier blog post, How Much Does Technology Advance Classroom Learning?), but they also have the world at their fingertips—literally. A recent article in Education Week describes how teachers across the nation are using technology in innovative and instructive ways. Continue Reading... |
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