Staying Connected with TeacherCast

Lynda Hall, teacher, tech coordinator, M.Ed. student, author of The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers blog and overall teacher-tested technology enthusiast, introduces an invaluable resource, TeacherCast, to add to your Personal Learning Network (PLN).

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Staying Connected with TeacherCast

With the month of August in the rear view mirror, so too is Connected Educator Month.  Over the past several weeks, countless educators have expressed great appreciation and enthusiasm for the new teaching connections they have made as well as the new learning resources they have acquired.  With the new school year now upon us, the goal is to incorporate those innovative pedagogical ideas into our current teaching practice.

To continue to grow as an educator however, it is important to stay connected.  Not only is it essential to nurture current teaching contacts but it is also important to continue to build your PLN (Personal Learning Network).  Doing so can be difficult for some educators however.  To aid in this process, a wide selection of resources in various formats in a central location is needed.  Consequently, a website educators must try that offers these services and much more is TeacherCast.  TeacherCast is the brainchild of Jeffrey Bradbury, a music teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Jeff’s passion for connecting educators and sharing educational resources is clearly evident through his ongoing work with TeacherCast.  In fact, the underlying principle of TeacherCast is to build ‘a place for teachers to help other teachers’.  With a reach of over 400,000 followers and growing, the collaborative nature of TeacherCast is truly motivating and engaging. Read more.

Part Two: TeacherCast Podcast with Jeffrey Bradbury

Staying connected with one’s Professional Learning Network (PLN) is a critical component in the ongoing pursuit of improving personal teaching practices. To take full advantage of your PLN however, it is important to maintain a consistent pattern of engagement. For some educators, establishing that habitual routine can be difficult unless an universal resource is available. In the first post of the “Staying Connected with TeacherCast” series, it was explained how TeacherCast fulfills the needs of educators by offering a plethora of educational resources in a variety of formats. Resources such as TeacherCast University, LiveBinder Gallery, TeacherCast TV and much more offer educators a wide range of information to expand their pedagogical practice. The key attribute of these fantastic resources is that they are all offered in one, easy to use location. As a result, educators can easily connect with the global teaching community by utilizing the numerous resources TeacherCast offers.

In part Two of this three part series, we now turn our attention to the merits of the TeacherCast Podcasting Network, a vibrant library of audio presentations hosted by Jeff Bradbury for the purpose of offering yet another medium for educators to access professional development resources. Essentially, TeacherCast podcasts are lively discussions with the most respected educators from around the globe who share their knowledge and expertise about some of the hottest topics affecting education today. TeacherCast podcasts are organized into three main formats. Read more.

Part Three: A Celebration of Connected Educators

In this third and final post of the “Staying Connected with TeacherCast” series, our focus will turn to the wealth of information, knowledge and expertise offered by our very own industrious and innovative teaching colleagues from around the world. Many of these colleagues are educators just like you and I whose passion for teaching is demonstrated by the sound pedagogical practices that occur in our classrooms on a daily basis. Teachers, such as these, strongly believe that sharing their educational know-how witha  wider audience is not only important but a necessity in order for future generations of teachers, and subsequently students, to gain the most benefit. As a result, it is safe to assume the next step in our “staying connected” journey requires us to not only utilize new found resources but to also share our educational materials, insights and skills with the global teaching community. many educators will resist this request not because of a lack of teaching skill but rather of confidence. I can personally attest to this view because it was only a few, short months ago that I, too, did not think I had anything important to contribute. But with a good heart to heart chat with a fellow colleagues (Thank you, Anna), I gained the necessary confidence to break out of my shell. So for those educators out there who are in the same position I was, I strongly encourage you to rid yourself of those confining shackles and embrace the connected educators community by sharing your expertise with us! We are eager to learn from you too! Read more.