How Do I Do That? October Dates

From The BPS EdTech Blog:

The October sessions of the How Do I Do That Technology Series will be held each Tuesday in the library at Burlington High School. Join members of the BPS EdTech and IT Teams for technology support. Share ideas with Burlington teachers and collaborate about using technology in the classroom.
The sessions are open from 2-5PM and provide support for many edtech devices and applications. We will continue to highlight Google Apps for Education, iPads, AppleTV, Reflection, student digital portfolios, and interactive whiteboards and projectors. Please bring your BPS laptop, iPad, or both to the session.
BPS teachers can bundle hours of participation at How Do I Do That sessions during the school year for Burlington inservice credits. Ten hours of participation will earn one inservice credit. Twenty hours will earn two inservice credits. There is a maximum of two credits for staff members each year.

Please contact Dennis Villano, Director of Technology Integrationvillano@bpsk12.org if you have any questions regarding the How Do I Do That Technology Series.

How Do I Do That Series Kicks Off Next Tuesday!

The How Do I Do That Series Kicks Off Tuesday afternoon at Marshall Simonds Middle School and it is open to all BPS teachers. It is a great opportunity to learn more about some of the great easy-to-use resources that are available to you here in Burlington.

Join members of the BPS EdTech and IT Teams for technology support. Share ideas with Burlington teachers and collaborate about using technology in the classroom. This session also provides a great opportunity to check out the new MSMS Learning Commons.

The session is open from 2-5 PM and will provide support for many edtech devices and applications. We will continue to highlight Google Apps for Education, iPads, AppleTV, Reflection, student digital portfolios, and interactive whiteboards and projectors.
Please bring your BPS laptop, iPad, or both to the session.

Please contact Dennis Villano, Director of Technology Integration (villano@bpsk12.org) if you have any questions regarding the How Do I Do That Technology Series.

12 Awesome EdTech Tools for 2012-2013 from Richard Byrne

These 12 resources from Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers Blog  are resources
that teachers could start using tomorrow in their classrooms.

Advice For New Teachers from CNN's Schools of Thought Blog

CNN's Schools of Thought Blog has a great post for new teachers by Rebecca Mieliwocki (@MrsMieliwocki on Twitter), a seventh grade English teacher in California who was chosen the 2012 National Teacher of the Year.  

I encourage you to check out the entire post, titled Advice to a New Teacher. Here area couple of my favorite points from the nine that she makes in the post:

"It’s all about the pencil. It took me far too long to realize this, so I’m telling it to you up front. New teachers often get trapped in a struggle with kids over supplies: where they are, why they didn’t bring them to class, losing them, borrowing them. It’s exhausting and it often keeps you from doing what you need to be doing. In our zeal to teach readiness and responsibility we mistakenly make having supplies a hill we choose to fight for and die on. Stubborn teachers do and kids suffer... I won’t let anything get between my kids’ learning and what I have to teach them each day. You shouldn’t either. I have incorporated that theory into every decision I make and you should, too."

"Have courage to teach boldy, with creativity, and beyond the test. Kids must learn, you must grab kids where they are and move them. They’ll come to you with a whole host of issues, whether they’re at grade level or not. Your job is to find out where they are, find out what they need and then give it to them. Move them. Any forward academic movement is a good thing. These are the results people are dying to see if we can achieve."

Three Great Resources For New Teachers

I still remember the feelings I had as a new teacher - the anticipation keeping me awake the night before the first day of classes, the butterflies in the stomach, the concern that I wasn't going to be accepted by my new colleagues, etc.  In addition, I remember struggling to find resources that would be useful for me in my classroom.

Fortunately new teachers today have a wealth of resources for lesson plan support, classroom management issues, home/school communication, and anything else they need. The problem now however is that there are so many useful resources on-line that it is difficult to know exactly where to go for support that is both timely and high quality.  In order to help out with this, I thought I'd offer a three of my favorite resources for new teachers (and experienced teachers).

Edutopia 

This great site which is made possible by the George Lucas Educational Foundation is full of timely relevant content for all teachers. The list of educational blog categories on the right hand side of the home page is top notch, including a blog for new teacher support.  Don't miss José Vilson's Cheat Sheet for the First Days of School and Terrell Heick's Starting a New School Year: Nine Tips for Collaboration.  Don't forget to take a peek at the bottom of the right side to see the most popular recent posts.

Free Technology For Teachers

My go-to site for the most recent news on "free technology resources for teachers."  This site is maintained by Richard Byrne, a high school teacher from Maine. Richard and his site have received numerous awards for the quality of the resources that he shares.  Check out his most popular post from August - 43 Tips for New Teachers. Besides the numerous daily posts that Richard shares, he also has some great e-books available on his site like Google Drive and Documentss for Teachers,  How To Do 11 Techy Things in the New School Year, The Superbook of Webtools for Educators, and more...

Teacher Reboot Camp

This site from Shelly Terrell is another one that gives countless great resources and concrete descriptions of how teachers can integrate these resources into their daily practice. A few to start with are 14 Edtech Integration Tips & 20+ Resources for the School Year  and 10 Simple Ideas For Transforming Your Teaching This School Year. Shelly also offers a 30-goal challenge for teachers where she helps teachers accomplish 30 short-term goals related to education.  You can check out the archives here.

So that's where I would start in regards to resources new teachers should check out. I know there are a lot more out there. What would you recommend?