5 reasons educators should start reading blogs:
1) - Blogs are the heart of learning and sharing... If you are an idea and inspiration junkie like myself, then you will find blogs to be extremely beneficial. Educators of all ages and backgrounds are bringing their ideas, reflections and experiences to one convenient location; their blog.…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:39am —
Comment
Here are 14 books that I have read over the last two years that have had a positive effect and impact on me as an educator. Some of these books were read in the book club at Seckman High School, and some were read as part of my doctoral studies. Despite doing a lot more online reading of late (blogs, articles, etc...), I still feel that books play an important role in educator growth and development. Please comment and let me know what you would add to the list.…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:37am —
Comments
Educators from all around the world are beginning to use Twitter as a valuable piece in their professional growth toolbox. As professional development continues to evolve and transform, we will need new ways to encourage teachers to embrace new opportunities. Here is a "How…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:34am —
No Comments
I recently had a discussion with a friend about the relative merits and demerits of technology, and before you jump in to claim that the pros outweigh the cons, let me iterate that the topic under debate was the value of (or lack of it) technology for those who are either scared to use technology or have no clue about it. The tech savvy may find this hard to understand, but there are still those who refuse to embrace technology or do so under considerable duress.
There’s no doubt that…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:30am —
Comments
There are lots of things that people love: new car smell, walks on the beach, winning the lottery and most importantly, opening a gas station soda only to find out you won a free soda!
In addition to these most cherished things in our lives, I also really love to be inspired and motivated. Over the last couple weeks there have been two pieces in particular that have so eloquently come together in perfect harmony...…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on January 20, 2011 at 1:28am —
No Comments
I started this blog on June 14th, 2010. For the last 6 months this blog has provided me the opportunity to share and collaborate with some of the best educators in the world. I have been able to take my self-reflection to the next level, which in turn has hopefully made me a better educator. This blog has been influential as I embrace the concept of 24/7 professional development...anytime and anywhere. For the members of my PLN and the readers of my blog, I thank you for your support and…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on December 19, 2010 at 9:14am —
No Comments
I wasn't expecting my "interview" to actually be a screening call, but that is exactly what happened. A human resource specialist called me at a predesignated hour and day and made it clear this contact was a screening call she would hand over to supervisors at Aventa Learning, to which end, I MAY receive a callbackand. She went on to ask me a set of pointed questions: What did I think was the biggest barrier to an online student's learning? Why did I want to become an online educator? And…
Continue
Added by Rashel Fitchett on December 8, 2010 at 9:53pm —
No Comments
There are so many free productivity tools available on the Internet for today’s educators. I’m creating a resource page that list many of the most useful ones, and I’d love to have your input!
By “productivity” tools and resources, I am referring to tools that can help teachers get their jobs done more efficiently or effectively, at no cost (beyond the effort required to use the resources, of course). There are so many of these types of tools out on the…
Continue
Added by Kelly Walsh on November 29, 2010 at 6:00am —
No Comments
I typically have a clear and well-thought out purpose for each blog post, however for this blog post I am going to simply reflect on today's
professional development session. I lead a PD session about 7 weeks
ago for all of the staff members at my high school on social media and
technology integration, and today's session was an extension of the
previous session for any teachers interested. We asked each staff
member to choose…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on November 17, 2010 at 6:17pm —
No Comments
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the EdcampKC technology conference in Kansas City, MO. This was my first
"unconference," which basically means the entire conference was
participant-driven and each session was presented by someone who was
actually attending the conference. There was a big board set up in the
main room, and before the conference officially started any person
interested in presenting was able to…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on November 9, 2010 at 7:13pm —
No Comments
If somebody asked me about the last 6 months of my life, I would respond
by saying something like this; the past 6 months have been extremely
challenging, but yet at the same time I can say with little hesitation
that I have grown more as an educator in the last 6 months than in any
other time period in my life.
The world in which we live is changing faster than anyone could ever
imagine, and because of this the educational system must evolve and…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on October 29, 2010 at 8:10pm —
No Comments
I just finished reading
The Learning Leader, by Douglas R. Reeves, as a part of my doctoral studies. I found the book to be
extremely well written, as well as extremely valuable for anyone looking
to gain a more in-depth understanding of school improvement.
As districts and schools look to both district and building leaders, it
is difficult not to notice the "Islands of Excellence," as well as the
islands of…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on October 22, 2010 at 3:43pm —
No Comments
Tom Whitby has encouraged all education bloggers to write a positive blog on how we should reform the
educational setting. I have decided to revisit a previous post of
mine...
If you have ever walked into a factory that produces a finished good from raw materials, it is frankly an amazing process. Dating back to
the early 1900's, Henry Ford revolutionized…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on October 17, 2010 at 2:00pm —
No Comments
The path to growth and development can be ugly at times. Educators are part of a world that is continually changing and evolving, and as such
we are forced to take a leap, and at times take a leap when we are not
ready. Going through all my undergraduate classes at Mizzou we were
always told how rewarding and fantastic the field of education is, and
from where I sit right now I could not agree more. So...the big
question…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on October 10, 2010 at 8:05pm —
No Comments
My wife and I have been married for a little under three years, and about a year ago we decided that we wanted
to grow our family. As we discussed the most typical way of growing a
family (a baby), we came to the conclusion that we should start small
before taking the big leap. Last summer we purchased an 8 pound, runt
of the litter, slightly discolored, adorable, and loving yellow lab
puppy.…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on October 4, 2010 at 3:18pm —
No Comments
One of the beauties of education is that we get the opportunity to try and explore new ideas. In fact, we are encouraged to think outside of
the box to discover new and improved ways to engage, inspire and
motivate students. Moreover, when we have new ideas and solutions to
problems, we are forcing ourselves to evaluate and assess our current
practices. A fancy word that all educators have heard (some so much it
makes them…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on September 25, 2010 at 10:40pm —
No Comments
The last 4 weeks have been extremely busy for me. We recently started a brand new gradebook and website system in my school district. This has proven to be an amazing tool and
resource as we look to ways to improve education. For all the greatness
this new opportunity provides, we have been faced with the never ending
battle of growing and developing educators so they can utilize this new
resource. As exciting as it is to work with educators…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on September 18, 2010 at 2:00pm —
No Comments
moblearning.wordpress.comVery interesting post on mobile learning inclusive of mobile learning & development industry.
Added by Kristine on September 14, 2010 at 3:18am —
No Comments
1 - Listen to what others are saying... Being able to speak is important...being able to listen is more
important. If you can truly listen to what others are saying, you will
be able to establish an unlimited amount of strong and long lasting
relationships. Your ability or inability to listen, will most
definitely affect the success, and the number of relationships you will
have in life.
2 - Watch what… Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on September 11, 2010 at 9:28am —
Comment
Last week I was speaking with a colleague of mine, and we were discussing activities we could do during one of our professional
development days. As we discussed potential ideas, we turned our focus
to activities that teachers could employ immediately. We wanted to
avoid activities that would require a lot of time and preparation in an
effort to provide our teachers with several very strong and powerful
strategies they could…
Continue
Added by Justin Tarte on September 11, 2010 at 9:15am —
Comment