10 Essential Educational Resources for Teachers - my list

I just read an article at Edudemic entitiled "20 Must-Have Educational Resources For All Teachers". In this article, the author writes about the devices and web-resources that he feels are must have's for education. In it, he challenges the readers to create their own list too. I agree with much of his list, but thought I'd make my own list a little differently.



Hardware:

1. COMPUTER, PROJECTOR, SPEAKERS - with these, you can find resources, create lessons, and share materials with your students through the projector.

2. SMARTPHONE - I also believe that every educator should have a smartphone. A smartphone lets you access your files, emails, and stay connected with the school, students, parents, and colleagues. It's even saved me when my school computer was down and I had to access my notes on my smartphone. A tablet is another option.

3. WAY TO CONTROL COMPUTER REMOTELY - an interactive whiteboard, Mimio Teach system, or presentation remote control. With these, you are more able to move around the room, allow students to use the technology, and be more interactive. The Mimio teach system is an excellent alternative to SMART Boards and the Mimio pad is a fun way for students to control things from their seats. I have a Mimio and a Keyspan presentation remote control.

4. STUDENT ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY - students need access to technology, whether computers in a classroom, a computer lab, laptop cart, tablets, or their own. This makes the learning more student centered than if the teacher is in front of the class and the only one using technology.




Apps and Web Resources:

1. EVERNOTE - Evernote is my favorite, and most used resource. I have all of my lesson plans, resources, web clippings, lesson schedule, meeting notes, misc. notes, task lists, reference materials and much more on here. I can access my notes anywhere and can even share notes with others.

2. CLOUD FILE STORAGE/SYNC - without apps like Dropbox and Sugarsync I'd be in trouble. All of my files are backed up on these systems and I can access my files from any web browser and from my smartphone. No need to carry flash drives or worry about a computer crash destroying my files and I can even share folders with others.

3. GOOGLE for EDUCATORS - I use tons of resources from Google, from Gmail, Calendar, Blogger, Sites, iGoogle to Google+, Search, and more. The resources are excellent quality, extremely useful, and free. Teachers can create websites and blogs for their students, get organized and communicate, connect with other educators, and so much more.

4. DISCOVERY EDUCATION FREE RESOURCES - these resources allow teachers to find lesson resources and even create lesson resources and provide engaging materials to use with students.

5. COURSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM and GRADEBOOK - it is very important for teachers to have a way to post resources online for their students, have due dates, upcoming events, parent information and even student grades available online. Some schools provide these, others don't. I use Google Sites and Blogger to post student resources, lesson schedule, due dates, and more with my students. Our district has PowerSchool for attendance and grade so parents and students always know how they are doing. Here are some other course management and grade book systems: Engrade, Schoology, Edmodo, My Big Campus, CourseKit, and LearnBoost. 

Help and other Resources:

1. PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORK - A Personal Learning Network (PLN, PLC) is a must have for all educators. It is simple a network of peers and colleagues that you can turn to to share, connect, learn and discuss education ideas, topics, lesson resources, and more. It can be the teachers in your department, building, district, or from around the world. I use Twitter and Google+ to connect with educators from around the world. I learn about resources and lesson ideas, pedagogy, educational issues. I share resources and ideas with them. We learn and connect and support each other.






What would your list of teacher essentials look like?





Related:

The How's, Why's and Value of Educational Technology

Helping Educators Get Started with Educational Technology

Social Media in Education - connect, share, learn, communicate and more

Unfettered by Stuff - or "Why I don't lug stuff home every night"

How I use Blogs and Web Sites with My Classes

Backup Plans - tips for teachers

My Favorite Resources for Teachers and Students

Android Smartphone and Apps I use as an Educator

Technology I use on a Daily Basis

Why do schools still pay so much for software? Free alternatives to paid software and services.

On device apps/software vs. web apps - which is better for schools?

Essential Apps and Installs for Windows, Chrome, Android

10 Things Students use technology for in my class

Top 10 Most Read Posts of all time on EdTechGuy

In the tradition of doing Top Most/Best/etc lists at the end of the year, I decided to do a list of the Top 10 Most Read posts of all time on my blog. One or two were a bit surprising.


1. Interactive Periodic Table of Elements - surprising! But an excellent site for anyone studying or teaching chemistry.

2. Science Lab Safety and Science Resources - great safety and lesson resources for science teachers

3. Sea Monsters - Nat Geo - ancient sea creatures - another surprising one, but a very interesting site.

4. Great Web 2.0 Resources for Students - some great resources for students to use, including TrackClass, Evernote, Google apps, and Dropbox.

5. Google is Now a Graphing Calculator

6. Inforgraphic on Better Searches on Google

7. Bloom's Taxonomy and Technology - great resources for teachers

8. Technology I Use Everyday as an Educator - great list with how I use the technology to improve efficiency, organization and teaching and learning.

9. Creating a Personal Learning Network - Great primer for educators looking to start or expand their PLN. I made it a permanent page too.

10. 10 Great Free Resources from Discovery Education

Some topics are so popular or I felt that they were very useful, so I created permanent pages for them. These pages have gotten thousands of page views and all came from articles that I had written earlier.

Creating a Personal Learning Network

Google for Educators Resources

Project Based Learning - how to get started, along with resources.

25 Free Resources from Discovery Education


Thanks for reading!


Happy New Year!!!

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Most Read Articles for Past Week

Here are the most read articles from the past week:



1. Penolo - sketch and then share on Twitter

2. Teachbook - Online Community for Teachers

3. Digital Storytelling with Adobe Digital School Collection

4. The Cell: An Image Library - great collection of cell images

5. STEM Curriculum Resources for all educators

6. Printliminator - only print what you want to

7. Google Good to Know - online safety and data info

Have a great holiday everyone!

If you are reading this blog and like it, please consider subscribing to it. The subscription links are on the right side of the blog, down just a bit (below the ads). 

You can subscribe using an RSS feed reader or via emails.

RSS feeds go out immediately and email subscriptions go out once a day.

If you subscribe by email, make sure you click on the link in the confirmation email.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Google+.

Thanks!!!

My Top 10 Free Web Resources for Teachers

Dave's Top 10 Lists

Educator Resources

I've been reading a lot of "top 10" lists lately and decided that I would do a few this week.

The first top 10 list I'm doing is "My Top 10 Free Web Resources for Teachers." These are resources that I use quite often and I truly believe that they help me be a better educator. They are in no specific order of preference. Click on the links for more information about each one and it's use in education.

1. Evernote - Evernote is one of those services and apps that I can't live without any more. I use it for organizing my lesson plans, notes, web clippings, and so much more.

2. Twitter - Twitter is an excellent resource for educators. I use Tweetdeck to access Twitter on my computers and Twee on my Palm Pre+. I get to connect with educators from around the world and share, learn, collaborate, and teach with them. If Twitter is blocked at your school (like at mine), you can use Twitter Gadget in iGoogle or Tweetdeck and still access your Twitter account. Twitter in Education.

3. Blogger - Blogger is a great, free, easy tool that you use to create blogs. I use Blogger for this blog, but I also use it to set up class blogs for each of the classes I teach. These blogs allow me to have a resource for my students that is easy to create and update. I have links and resources on them, and then update them with their assignments, due date reminders, helpful links and resources, and much more. My students all subscribe to their class blog and get an email whenever I post something.

4. Google Sites - Besides the class blogs listed above, I also maintain a website for my students and colleagues. I use the site, which is very easy to create and update in Sites, as a place to put up more static items like the class policies and procedures, class description, and I also post files that they can download. I use it for my students and I also post resources for educators on it.

How I use Sites and Blogs with my Classes 

5. Discovery Education - Discovery Education is a great resource for educators. They have a huge amount of resources for educators, many free, in addition to their fee-based offerings. The Discovery Educator Network is community of educators who use Discovery Education resources and is another great resource.

6. Google Chrome browser - Google's Chrome browser is a fast, secure, stable web browser that I love using. It works great with all of Google's services that I use (like Blogger, Calendar etc.) and has some great extensions, like "Clip to Evernote", that make my workday easier.

7. Dropbox - Dropbox is a file sync and storage system that allows you to keep files in sync across multiple computers and backed up on their servers. There is a free account available and ways to increase your free storage. You can even select which directories and files to sync on which computers. I keep a large number of directories on my home computer in sync and backed up. At school, for security and ease of access, I sync   a select set of directories to my school network drive. It has a limited amount of space, so I just sync the files I use the most. Dropbox is a great resource and can help keep your files safe in the event of a computer crash. You can also access your files from any web browser and mobile device.

8. Google Calendar - While I use Evernote (see above) to organize my lesson plans, I use Google Calendar to organize the rest of my life. I have appointments, due dates, meetings, school calendar days, and more all in my Google Calendar. It syncs with my Palm Pre+ through Palm's Synergy system so I have access to it anywhere. I can have it send me reminders via email or text message, can attach documents to events, add notes, and even share events or my calendar with others. It is a great way to stay organized and great for teachers.

9. Aviary - Aviary offers a suite of graphics tools, online, for free. These include screen capture and editing, photo editing, and much more. They even have an educational section to provide a safe and secure environment for students. I use it for taking screen shots and modifying them to use in this blog, as well as with my students.

10. My Personal Learning Network - while not a web resource or app per se, my PLN is a huge source of information, resources, advice, and comeraderie. Every teacher needs a PLN.


Related Articles:
Free Stuff - summary of free things I use to save money at school
Getting Started with Educational Technology
Technology I use on a Daily Basis
iGoolge as Educational Tool 
Get Organized
Palm Pre and webOS