The Best Teachers Are Lifelong Learners: A roundup of online professional development resources for educators

In our fast-paced world, professional development remains more relevant for teachers than ever. Between evolving curriculums, the changes in how education is delivered, a growing focus on mental health and social-emotional learning and technological advances, teachers have a lot on their plates.

Beyond simply remaining informed on the latest breakthroughs in education and fulfilling requirements, there are additional benefits for teachers who stay engaged in their own learning. A rigorous professional development track can add to teacher satisfaction and retention, particularly in a time when schools are seeing teacher shortages. And, it’s not just the teachers and administrations that benefit from hearty professional development; research indicates that students experience significantly higher levels of achievement when their teachers engage in substantial professional development.

While in-person professional development offers unique benefits, the increase in asynchronous learning opportunities enables teachers to incorporate professional development into their schedules without missing school. It also means that the options for professional development can be overwhelming; below, we’ve rounded up a few standouts.

Google For Education

We’ll start by highlighting a few of our partners, who offer a wealth of professional development opportunities for educators. In addition to its certification programs, Google For Education delivers free online training on important topics like digital citizenship and online safety and using technology to increase accessibility in the classroom. Google For Education also runs the Certified Innovator program, which focuses on helping visionary educators develop their passion projects.

Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies partners with school districts to provide them with customized professional development. Their offerings include a suite of online training which includes courses like Authentic Student Learning & Gamification and how educators can harness social media to expand their professional networks.

Microsoft Learn Educator Center

The Microsoft Learn Educator Center hosts a range of professional development courses. Courses include Support Social and Emotional Learning with Microsoft Tools, which gives teachers tools to foster social and emotional skills and Mindfulness in Minecraft: Education Edition, which emphasizes the intersection of Minecraft and mindfulness. Microsoft Learn’s Educator Center also offers tracks on accessibility and inclusivity and student-centered learning.

National Geographic

For those interested in the sciences and nature, National Geographic offers free professional development courses for teachers. Class options include Geo-Inquiry, National Geographic’s take on project-based learning, as well as lessons focusing on storytelling and photography and teaching climate change.

Next Gen Personal Finance

Next Gen Personal Finance, an organization that promotes incorporating financial literacy and education into public schools, offers a variety of courses for teachers interested in promoting financial education. Topics include budgeting, understanding and managing credit and behavioral economics.

Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network

For educators interested in mental health and social-emotional learning, check out the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network. In partnership with the National Center for School Mental Health, they offer a free online class featuring modules covering topics like the impact of trauma on learning, mental health literacy and stigma reduction and strategies for supporting students experiencing adversity.

30 Educational Technology Tips in 30 Days

We all want to be more productive, rested, calm, collected, alert, and generally amazing. Here are 30 tech tips that can help you leave the month better than you found it.

1. Learn how to make SMART goals.

2. Drink your coffee from a spillproof mug. Trust us.

3. Work in 90-minute intervals.

4. Show your Chromebook (or laptop) some love.

5. Schedule breaks into your schedule to do something fun on purpose.

6. Add a calming picture to your desktop screen.

7. Then hang a pretty picture in your office, about 20 feet away. Looking up at every 20 minutes for twenty seconds can prevent eye fatigue.

8. Color-code your Google Calendar.

9. Silence notifications to minimize distractions.

10. Use Microsoft Word’s Gridline tool to keep your document in line.

11. Dedicate a set time each day to read and respond to emails, and stick to it.

12. Drive the above message home by adding a statement to your email signature like, “I check emails every morning and will respond by 10am.”

13. Follow these hashtags on social media.

14. Set an out-of-office message for after-hour emails that reminds senders you don’t take work home with you. Remember. Those who need to contact you for true emergencies will likely have your cell phone.

15. Create embedded links in a Google Doc by clicking CTRL+K and searching for the content within the pop-up menu. No more extra tabs!

16. Use Microsoft OneNote in your next meeting for amazing notetaking.

17. Organize your desktop files into folders.

18. Empty your trash.

19. Commit these quick keys to memory.

20. Schedule coffee with a friend via a calendar appointment, so you both remember.

21. Treat yourself to a new laptop or phone case. It will feel like a brand new machine at a fraction of the cost.

22. Organize your GDrive or Cloud files.

23. Follow Arey Jones on Facebook.

24. Add these tips to your OneNote vocabulary.

25. Put a seven-minute workout app on your phone and challenge yourself to do at least one circuit daily (here’s one to try)

26. Listen to an audiobook on your commute.

27. Sort and empty your Download folder.

28. Catch up on what’s new in Microsoft EDU.

29. Watch a TED talk.

30. Go absolutely tech-free for at least 30 minutes a day (when you are awake).

These are just a few ways to boost your productivity and get more out of life in general with (and without) technology. How many did you do? We'd love to know.

6 Markers of Memorable Mentors

We’ve all had at least one teacher or adult make a notable impression upon our lives. They singled us out, pushed us out of our comfort zone, guided us in our chosen craft, or put us on the road to our destined career--or all of the above.

Being someone’s mentor isn’t easy, however. It takes time, dedication, patience, self-control, and generosity--all the qualities that make a great educator (and a pretty decent human being). Here are ways to develop those traits and use them to benefit your mentee.

Make sure you’re ready.

Being a mentor is an important job--and it’s one you must do on top of the other important jobs that fill your life. Make sure you have the time, emotional intelligence, mental bandwidth, and organization skills to properly nurture a mentee, and you must be willing to work with students and young professionals who may have different backgrounds, education, opinions, and strengths. Remember, this is mentoring, not cloning. There’s a good chance you’ll both come away learning something valuable.

Light the fire with a good match.

One of the reasons your mentee approached you (or the other way around) is likely because you both share an enthusiasm for your job or your field of study. Embrace this and use it to shine a light on your mentee’s potential strengths, opportunities, and challenges. While this enthusiasm will fuel your initial arrangement, pay close attention to how well the two of your work together. Chances are the arrangement will either add to your own fires, or it will sap your energy and burn you both out. Be aware of this chemistry early so you can either mix it up or dissolve it before any damage is done.

Remember where you started.

It can be easy for those of us established in our respective fields to forget what it was like at the beginning of our studies and careers. Your mentee may enter into the relationship with idealism and unrealistic expectations; your job is to harness that passion and direct it toward what’s possible. Help them focus their efforts, find the tools, and develop the necessary skills. Meet them where they are, so they can determine for themselves the best way to go.

Be generous with your knowledge.

Great mentors are teachers, and great teachers are always learning. Take the time to clearly share what you know about your field, the industry, or the task at hand, and don’t let your mentee be the only one asking the questions. Make sure you both stay in tune with the process by asking how they are doing, what they are getting from the experience, and how you can be of greater assistance.

Stay available and accountable.

Establish a regular schedule for meetings so that you both can plan your time accordingly and hold each other accountable. Set the tone for these sessions, and have specific objectives. These expectations also serve as boundaries so that you can both tend to the other important aspects of your lives.

Remain objective and fair.

Perhaps one of the hardest parts about being a mentor is attempting to be an active observer. Mentorship is not friendship (think more LinkedIn and less Facebook); you are their advocate, but you do not owe them any favors, nor do they owe you any allegiance. For a mentorship to work, the mentor must feel comfortable conveying honest assessments and constructive feedback, and the mentee must feel comfortable approaching you for advice and guidance, even if one of their challenges is working with you or your field. Your role is to guide. Their role is to learn. There should be no hidden agenda or ulterior motives.

Mentorships can have a profound effect on education, careers, and personal lives. If you have a moment, we’d love to hear your stories about what being a mentor (or being mentored) meant to you. 

Setting SMART Goals For Your Classroom

While the New Year for the rest of the country started on January first, most teachers would agree their “new year” started last fall--and so did all of their goals for the school year. That said, January is the perfect time to review those goals, establish new parameters, and determine if they need to be adjusted.  

And using technology is a great way to do it.

We at Arey Jones are a big fan of the S.M.A.R.T. method of goal setting, a way of setting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound goals. And when it comes to tracking and tackling targets, we dream big--and we dream in spreadsheets, calendar reminders, forms, and fonts - all in Google Drive.

Specific: Write Down Your Goals in Google Docs
On top of being portable and flexible, Google Docs allows you to share your goals with relevant people in your life, and they can leave comments of support, hold you accountable,  or add resources to help you along. How you phrase your goals is an important part of the process, and it’s important to keep these things in mind:

• What do I want to accomplish?

• Why is it important?

• Where must I focus my energy and time?

• Who is involved in its success?

• Which resources will help me succeed and which hurdles will make it more difficult?

Measurable: Using Google Forms to Track Progress

A SMART goal is a measurable one, and Google Forms is a relatively simple tool with many versatile uses. Simple set up the form to input all the metrics you want to track on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. From charting how many pages your class has read at home to keeping track of how many cups of coffee you’ve had each day, Google Forms is a highly-customizable tool that streamlines, validates, and consolidates answers and translates them into visible charts and graphs. 

Achievable and Relevant: Using Google Sheets to Keep It Together

Some people have found additional success using Google Sheets to track goals. Unlike a software with a steep learning curve, Google Sheets is easy to use, personalize, and adapt to your goals. Use Conditional Formatting to help you stay on track and organize your goals by worksheet to keep your thoughts, relevant resources, and successes handy. 

Time-Bound: Use Google Calendar To Set Reminders 

If friends, forms, and spreadsheets don’t hold you accountable, a daily reminder in your Calendar feed will. Create a fresh Google Calendar for your goals and set up small, actionable deadlines for the goals you want to work on today, next week, next month, and so on. 

What are your goals for the next semester? We hope you're able to accomplish them, and if you need help, we're always happy to chat.