Blog Spotlight: Free Technology For Teachers

During one of our workshops this summer, we spoke about the wealth of information available to teachers in the world of blogging.  I follow a number of blogs... in the world of technology, things are changing constantly, and the techie blogs help me keep up on the changes.  Having cool blog updates in my inbox is like having a teaspoon of Continuing Ed every day.

One of my all-time favorite blogs is called "Free Technology for Teachers."  Richard Byrne lives in a tiny little town in the woods in Maine, but this week he reached the milestone of 50,000 subscribers to his blog.  A well-deserved honor, I would say. I am constantly learning about new resources from him.

He has included a number of wonderful resources this fall.  I'd like to highlight a pair of them below, and encourage you to add to his number of subscribers and follow him as well:

From Richard:

12 Awesome EdTech Tools for 2012-2013 is designed to share what I think is a selection of free tools that can be used in almost every K-12 setting. I intentionally kept this document short because the intended audience is teachers who are new(ish) to using technology in their classrooms and I didn't want to create something that would be overwhelming. You'll also notice that I left out iOS and Android apps. Those will be featured in future documents.

Please feel free to download, print, and distribute this in your school.
12 Awesome EdTech Tools for 2012-2013


At Holy Trinity, we'd like to eventually move toward using Google Drive with our students, but at the beginning of this busy year, it keeps falling to the bottom of the to-do list.  If you'd like to tinker with Google Drive and Docs while waiting for the tech team to get to the bottom of their collective to-do lists, here is an excellent resource for you:
Google Drive and Docs for Teachers 2012

Edutopia - Guides to Help You Start the School Year

Edutopia - 2011 Summer Rejuvenation Guide

I would suggest that you all subscribe to the Edutopia blog.  Run by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, it is a great resource for teaching - not just teaching with technology.  Each year, they publish a Summer Rejuvenation Guide, which is a fairly comprehensive document full of ideas.  Chapters include:

1. Grow Your Network
2. Party with the Stars
3. Do-It-Yourself Professional Development
4. Tell the Story of Your Life
5. Try Something New
6. Curate Classroom Artifacts
7. Give a Little, Get a Lot
8. Get Moving
9. Crack the Books
10. Plan Ahead for Next Summer

Intrigued?  Follow the link below:

http://www.edutopia.org/summer-rejuvenation-classroom-resource-guide?utm_source=housead&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=guide&utm_campaign=summerguide