Teachers often ask me, "Where do you find all of this stuff?" Well, today I am going to share one of the easiest ways that I stay abreast of the latest technology and their uses in the classroom. Google+! If you have not checked out Google+, you should sign up today and check it out. There are thousands of online communities and there is surely one that is a fit for you. I am a member of a number of communities, as you can see below. You can create your own community for your class, your school, etc. For example, I created one below for our Teacher Leaders (Memphis Central Teacher Leaders). You can make your community public or private and only allow certain people to have access to the content and conversations. You can post articles and other documents in your community as well.
Using online communities is a great way to network with other people in our field all across the country. Just do some general searches for things that you are interested in and you will see a number of communities pop up. If there is one that sounds good to you but it is "Private," just send a request to join the community and go from there.
I also created on for my class, Fitness & Conditioning, and I plan to introduce it to my students soon. Here, they will be required to engage in discussions about topics discussed or learned in class. This is a great way to gather information about what your students know about a topic and to reveal what misconceptions they may have as well. You can also easily embed short surveys to assess or inventory students' interests, for example. The ideas are endless! I plan to have surveys for parents where they give me information about the lifestyle practices their family engages. The more I know about my students, the better able I am to teach to their needs!
Another way that I use Google+ is to read about the latest technology and how other teachers are using it in their classrooms across all subjects. I steal a lot! (Please don't tell on me!) I may find a great idea from someone in a different content area, but I make a few changes and modify it so that it works for me in my classroom. (Try it! I will not tell!!) :-)
Check out some of the communities that I subscribe to below and sign up today. As always, I am here to help. Shoot me an email or leave a comment here. By the way, this blog is also a great example of an online community, but here I cannot control who engages and who does not. I would love to hear if this works for you or not so leave comments or shoot me an email!
Using online communities is a great way to network with other people in our field all across the country. Just do some general searches for things that you are interested in and you will see a number of communities pop up. If there is one that sounds good to you but it is "Private," just send a request to join the community and go from there.
I also created on for my class, Fitness & Conditioning, and I plan to introduce it to my students soon. Here, they will be required to engage in discussions about topics discussed or learned in class. This is a great way to gather information about what your students know about a topic and to reveal what misconceptions they may have as well. You can also easily embed short surveys to assess or inventory students' interests, for example. The ideas are endless! I plan to have surveys for parents where they give me information about the lifestyle practices their family engages. The more I know about my students, the better able I am to teach to their needs!
Another way that I use Google+ is to read about the latest technology and how other teachers are using it in their classrooms across all subjects. I steal a lot! (Please don't tell on me!) I may find a great idea from someone in a different content area, but I make a few changes and modify it so that it works for me in my classroom. (Try it! I will not tell!!) :-)
Check out some of the communities that I subscribe to below and sign up today. As always, I am here to help. Shoot me an email or leave a comment here. By the way, this blog is also a great example of an online community, but here I cannot control who engages and who does not. I would love to hear if this works for you or not so leave comments or shoot me an email!
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