It’s always Teacher Appreciation Day here on Thursdays and today we’ve decided to feature a group of teachers and educators who we’ve seen grow their PLN via multiple forms of social media, including Twitter’s #edchat, their dynamic blogs, and their ability to interact with educators for PD! We’ll continue to spotlight a handful of individuals for Thank a Teacher Thursdays (#ThankaTeacher), who not only make a contribution to the classroom, but to the greater online teacher community. Feel free to read their blogs, follow them on twitter, and if you know a teacher or educator that deserves to be recognized – tell us in the comments section! We’d love to hear from you!
Kristen Beck is a middle school math teacher from Roseville, CA. In addition to having a strong passion for her profession, Kristen also loves learning from her students and other educators. She has done her part to integrate technology into her own classroom environment by hosting Mrs. Beck’s Class, a valuable resource where Kristen’s students can keep track of their course calendar, work on assignments and link to other math resources. Apart from her class website, Kristen also hosts a blog of her own entitled Mrs. Beck and Her Obsession With Math. Through these efforts, Kristen strives to make math real and meaningful. Follow Kristen on Twitter @teachteKBeck.
Julie Derges Kastner is a doctoral candidate in music education with a cognate in ethnomusicology at Michigan State University (MSU). She is passionate about helping children and adults develop skills and motivation to become life-long musicians as well as exploring how music teachers can support their students in this endeavor. Julie’s blog, Musically Ever After, seeks to discuss topics related to becoming a life-long musician and to larger issues within music education research and practice. Follow Julie on Twitter @JulieKastner.
Kelly Walsh has been in the information technology field for over 20 years, working at a senior management level for more than half of that time. He has been an avid user of Internet technologies for many of those years, and in 2008 Kelly joined The College of Westchester in White Plains, NY (where he is currently Chief Information Officer) and focused increasing attention on instructional uses of current and emerging Internet technologies. Kelly also runs and blogs for EmergingEdTech, a site designed to engage students and enhance learning outcomes with Internet and Instructional Technologies. Follow Kelly on Twitter @EmergingEdTech.
Nancy Barlow is a teacher, blogger, runner, compulsive list-maker, coffee addict, and sticky-note hoarder. She loves teaching so much that she eats, sleeps, and breathes it. Nancy admits that she must have an outlet for sharing ideas, strategies, and resources. Born from this need, Nancy created The Teacher Geek, a personal blog about best practices in the classroom. Her latest post discusses the topic of shared learning spaces and how students should conduct themselves as they travel through the various hallways of their respective schools. Follow Nancy on Twitter @TheTeacherGeek.
Carol Mortensen has nearly twenty-three years of educational experience. She began as a substitute teacher as she worked toward her degree. Upon graduation, Carol began teaching middle school Math and Algebra I and served as the technology liaison for her campus. She served as a teacher for 16 years. Currently, Carol enjoys her position as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist for Deer Park High School – South Campus. Before taking this position this year, she served for three years as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist at Fairmont Junior High in Deer Park Independent School District. Check out Carol’s site, MyWeb4Ed and follow her on Twitter @MyWeb4Ed.
Anthony Varela is a a lifelong learner from Minneapolis, MN. Having gained his B.S. in Education and his B.A. in German, Anthony is an avid supporter of Sophia. Sophia enables innovation by connecting learners, teachers, experts and parents. Sophia’s social teaching and learning platform provides an academic community where everyone has access to learning that surrounds and supports the traditional classroom. Its goal is to encourage variety and creativity in teaching so that everyone can learn in a way that makes sense to them. Check out Sophia and follow Anthony on Twitter @vare0015.
Audrey Watters is a traveling ed-tech journalist, open source and open education advocate and folklorist extraordinaire. She created Hack Education in June 2010 shortly after she became a technology journalist. Audrey was frustrated by the lack of coverage of education technology — by both technology and education publications. With Hack Education, Audrey sought to create the sort of blog that she’d want to read: one that’s smart and snarky, one that’s free of advertising and one that’s tracking new technologies. Hack Education is about the future of learning. Check out Audrey’s blog and follow her on Twitter @audreywatters.
Steve Johnson is a former kindergarten and 2nd-grade teacher who now helps teachers and students utilize digital tools to collaborate, create, and publish. Working with students and teachers is his passion. Most recently, Steve wrote a book, Digital Tools for Teaching, and started a site to house short tutorial videos, TeacherTechVids.com – both are aimed at helping teachers to meaningully use digital tools with students. Visit Edtechsteve.com and follow Steve on Twitter @edtechsteve.
William Gayhart is a sixth grade math teacher from Denver, CO. Regarding his passion, William explains that he loves watching young people as they struggle to understand who they are. He feels an affinity for their honesty, hope, and determination. William hosts a personal blog, NowEntertain.Us, where he shares his experiences as he navigates through the world of teaching and education. He also runs a resource site for his students, Educate Me!, where his class can check their calendar, announcements and access extra credit materials. Check out William’s blog and follow him on Twitter @Dre_N_Bert.
Phil Shapiro has been involved as an educator and technology access activist in the Washington DC-area since the late 1980′s. He is a big fan of Community Technology Centers’ Network (1996-2008) which brought together a large number of individuals and organizations working to bridge the digital divide. This work is being continued by the Digital Inclusion Network. Since 1992, Phil has been writing about technology access organizations and software tools for various local and national publications. Find out more about Phil by reading his full bio and follow him on Twitter @philshapiro.
