Best of the Web’s Teachers’ Resources

If you are an education professional, the internet was built for you! In a job where armfuls of ideas, resources, plans and creativity are necessary (and changeable) by the hour, the opportunity to browse, trade and learn is invaluable. If you have specific subject or query in mind, then Google really is the teachers pet. Here is a collection of some of my favourites, and what you can find when you log on:

Teacher Planet – A bang up to date resource featuring Spring & Summer Season lessons, plans, worksheets, tools, certificates and more.

UsingEnglish.Com – Free English teacher resources for of all levels including hundreds of printable handouts, PDF lesson plans, online quizzes, jobs, articles, teacher discussion forum and more…

Read the rest of the entry for Best of the Web’s Teachers’ Resources.

If you are an education professional, the internet was built for you!

 

5 Reasons Why Wikipedia is a Good Teaching Tool

Every once in a while, we here our students cite great facts or topics from relevant websites or blogs. I’m sure you’ve heard Wikipedia being mentioned every now and then.

For those of you who haven’t visited the site yet, Wikipedia is:

A free multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its name is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning ‘quick’) and encyclopedia. Wikipedia’s 12 million articles (2.8 million in the English Wikipedia) have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world, and almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone who can access the Wikipedia website. Launched in January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, it is currently the most popular general reference work on the Internet.

So instead of the traditional large volumes of books you previously had in your shelf, the creators of Wikipedia have developed a system where a community of trusted editors (volunteers) works on informative articles on any available subject.

You might be thinking of adding this website as a magic wand in your teaching career and helping you with certain topics that textbooks may not have yet covered. But you’re also probably thinking is it worth the try? Well, it certainly is.

I’m not suggesting you consider Wikipedia as your sole source of information but as a valuable supplement.

Here are top 5 reasons why you should have Wikipedia as a good teaching tool:   Click Here to Learn More about Wikipedia

 

Education Industry’s Weekly Round-Up (May 10-13, 2009)

Here’s this week’s round-up for you on the headlines for UAE and Middle East’s education industry.

Parents Satisfied with Quality of Education in Schools: Survey

Most parents of students in Dubai schools feel that they are receiving high quality education according to a survey conducted by Dubai’s education governing authority.

Sources:

http://tinyurl.com/qen278

http://tinyurl.com/rxums5

Abu Dhabi to Rebuild Old Schools

Old, cramped and dilapidated state schools are to be torn down and 30 new ones will be built in a major upgrade of the system announced yesterday.

Schools lacking gymnasiums, shaded play areas, libraries, canteens or auditoriums will be the first to undergo improvements, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) said.

Sources:

http://tinyurl.com/pmk4gp

http://tinyurl.com/pwzcts

Click Here to Read More About the Week’s Round Up.

 

Teach it to the Limit!

I have a confession to make.

In my (misspent) youth, my school friends and I always found it incredibly sniggery and gossip worthy to discover the following information about our teachers.

1. Their first names. (I know, I know, it wore off by 4th Grade)
2. That they smoked!
3. Seeing them on a weekend in ‘civillian’ clothes and ‘heaven forbid’ with a husband/wife/partner.

You see, kids can be cruel, but you don’t need me to tell you that. The idea that a teacher is a human being too is completely alien when you’re a pupil at a regular educational establishment. Couple this with a daily analysis of your sartorial choices, teaching methods and hormonal cycles, a teaching job is, in my opinion; the occupation of a saint.

 

So much more than textbooks…

They say there are three good things about being a teacher. June, July and August!

(Cymbal crash)

But seriously, for a teacher, an in-depth knowledge of your subject is a given (or should be). What about the rest? It’s practically a social work position as opposed to rote learning and writing on a blackboard. (Showing my age there, probably whiteboards now, or even laptops in the desks).

There was great advert on British TV a couple of years ago that had many celebrities and public figures very naturally quoting names. They had been spontaneously asked to name a good teacher from their schooldays. For many it was instantaneous and the tagline was of course, nobody forgets a good teacher. This was part of a Government’s education recruitment drive. In times gone by, teaching was never considered a glamorous role, and some particular subjects were struggling to attract talented candidates.

 

Is Education a Recession PROOF Career Change?

There are very few people around who will not be fearful of their jobs in this present climate. Those who aren’t aren’t telling the truth. Whilst there are of course, businesses and organisations that will sail through the current crisis, we should all be taking the time to regroup and refocus our efforts into working through what is bound to become a whole new world (to quote Aladdin)

So… My brother works for a large supermarket chain (people will always need food) my father is a senior civil servant (society will always need prisons) and my sister in law, well, without realising it she maybe made the best career choice of all.

So whilst staking Cola and managing infidels might not carry the most job satisfaction, those jobs aren’t going anywhere at least. My Sis in law is an education professional, so whilst I’d pretty much say she has a job for life, I’m sure others would agree that it is a profession that carries with it a lot of pride.

 

A Guide for Teachers New to Social Media

As I was going through my updates on Twitter (follow me @edprofesssional), I noticed there are not much people in the education industry yet on Twitterverse yet (or at least as far as I have been on Twitter).

I know there are new age educators already out there engaging in blogs and social networking sites. In fact I’ve noticed great resources featured on Education at Alltop.Com.

However, a refresher guide on the basics of social media will always be helpful for those who are still starting in the social networking scene. Here are a few tips I’ve come up, applicable not only for Twitter but also for other social networking sites 

 

A career that just keeps on giving

There is an unfortunate saying;

Those that can – do,

Those that can’t – teach.

Then there’s the next bit, but we won’t go into that.

As a career option, few are recession proof. Alongside the majority of civil servant roles however, a role in the sphere of education is a fair bet for anybody looking for a job for life.

No doubt due to mass redundancies in other sectors, (and the fact that rocky economic times such as these are likely to make more people stop and re-assess their personal situations, there is a marked rise in the amount of people taking up further academic studies and or retraining to take up teaching.

 

Why getting back to school if you’re unemployed is a good Idea!

I stumbled on an article on CNN.Com, Unemployed Workers Heading Back to School. Here’s an excerpt of the article:

“In January, the 43-year-old enrolled in the tuition assistance program at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

The program offers county residents who have been laid off since September 2008 the opportunity to take 12 college credits — usually four courses — for free.

McFadden said the program will allow her to reassess her options while she improves her marketability and salary potential.”

While the common course of action when retrenched or terminated is to look for a substitute opportunity, it’s never too late to back to school to earn a few units which is actually worth a lot in pursuing a career in these dire times.

Here are reasons why I think further education may be better than desperate job search

 

When Teachers Attack…

A teacher at a private educational establishment in Dubai, UAE has been sacked for literally taping up a pupils mouth when he wouldn’t shut up, and making his lips bleed when she removed it roughly. Click here to read more about the incident.

And so she should. Can you imagine if this had happened in the West and not the Middle East? She’s be sued to within an inch of her life and probably charged with Actual Bodily Harm.