Archive for the ‘professional development’ Category

Monday by the Numbers

March 17, 2008

Numbers!40 Quick Tips for Career Happiness and Success - Sickeningly adorable blogger couple Marc and Angel present this great list to offer advice on making sure you are living the dream job you’ve always wanted. Be sure to check out some of their other nauseatingly optimistic musings over at Marc and Angel Hack Life.

More than 100 Free Places to Learn Online - and Counting
- A new presenter for MBTN - and hopefully, a repeat player - Mission to Learn gives us this list of great online learning resources. The article presents the sites in a very organized way, with categories ranging from How-To’s to Higher Education. Things get even more specific in the Topic Areas, which cover such things to know as Art, Law or Theology. Finally, I can learn to wakeboard online without having to get my toes wet.

Ten Whatchamacallits and Their Real Names - A few months ago, I noted to our friend Bill that the little thing on the end of your shoelace was called an “aglet.” Right now, spell-check isn’t recognizing this word, and back then, neither did Bill. It was just one of those things I knew. Now, thanks to The List Universe, you can know that one and nine others. I love information like this, and I hope you do too.

10 Simple Ways to Save Yourself From Messing Up Your Life - I know, I know, Lifehack; I’m botching everything by not doing this or doing too much of that. Maybe if there were an article that could give me some tips to stop being so focused on failure and to start seeing the brighter side, I might be able to dig myself out from this merciless toil. What? There is an article about it? Yay! -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo credit: misocrazy on Flickr)

Take a Bite: The Apple

February 26, 2008

The AppleNo, not that Apple, this is The Apple - a place for teachers to get together and share online. The Apple is a wonderful resource that I’m sorry I haven’t found before, but there’s no time like the present, I guess. Here, you can get all kinds of useful teaching information including lesson plans, news, videos, and photos. You’ll need to register for a free account, but once you do, you can not only peruse the forums and interact with teachers from all over the globe, but you’ll have the ability to share your own teaching secrets as well. Not only that, but you can stay up to date on the latest in education news and read stories directly related to teaching and teaching methods.

Interested in becoming a teacher? Looking for relocation opportunities? Check out The Apple’s jobs section and post your resume or search for employment. There’s a guide for those of you looking to break into the teaching field, and a School Finder to locate the best places to get accredited for the subject areas you want to teach. There’s more content here than I have words to write about, so chances are likely that you can find something interesting about teaching that you didn’t know already. Take a bite of The Apple, you deserve it. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

The Apple

Come On, Take the Money and Teach: Grant Writing Made Easy

October 8, 2007

Our friends over at Education World have all sorts of resources for educators, so we’re happy to take note of some of the tips and hints they have available. From the website’s Professional Development section there’s a great article by Linda Starr on how to win the grant money you deserve. Whether you are a first time grant writer or an old salt of the grant writing world, Show Me the Money: Tips and Resources for Successful Grant Writing offers the techniques you might not know in order to get your foot in the door.

If your school system is unable to give you the funds you need in order to do the things your educational dreams demand, then this guide gives you a push in the right direction of where to look for that money, how to go about the application and proposal writing process, and even gives you a basic understanding of the vocabulary you’ll need to understand the process (RFP, for example, stands for “request for proposal”).

Starr volunteers her “Three P’s”—project, plan, and permission—as well as several other insightful hints on how to best take on the seemingly unattainable task of getting a grant. The article also includes quotes from real teachers and their experiences with the plusses and perils of going after free cash. Rounded out with a list of links to similar resources, this article will give you a great place to start if you’ve been thinking for a way to fund your science class’s trip to Chicago’s Field Museum this spring or to finally get that kiln for the art room. –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Show Me the Money: Tips and Resources for Successful Grant Writing