Saturday, December 17, 2011

Teaching News

Teaching News

Review of the Year 2011

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 10:00 AM PST

2011 has been a very busy year and when I look back, I’m amazed at how much has changed on my Teaching Websites. Here are some of my highlights:

Teaching Ideas

Teaching Ideas celebrated its 13th year online in 2011 and the site has been receiving record numbers of visitors. Some updates to the site included:

  • A new navigation system, which was introduced to help visitors find their way around the ever-expanding site! I also added a new commenting system, allowing visitors to give feedback on the teaching ideas available. Teaching Ideas was also completely redesigned in October, giving it a much clearer layout and making it quicker to load.
  • One of my biggest targets this year was to expand the site and create lots of new resources and I’ve been able to devote lots more time to doing this. Some of these can be found in the Shape, Sketching, Fractions, Handwriting and Classroom Rewards sections, but there are many more! I’ve also started adding thumbnail images to the resources to give you a preview of what they look like!
  • My wonderful wife continued to draw some fantastic cartoon images for Teaching Ideas which I have been able to use on different resources. These can be found in the Maths, Colour, Tudors, Romans and Victorians sections. Helen’s cartoons have also been used on this year’s new Teaching Themes sections… Staying Safe Online, Kings and Queens, Easter, Keeping Healthy and Lights, Camera, Action!
  • I also subscribed to a stock photo site, which has allowed me to use lots of high quality photos on new educational resources (see the Music, Maths Inspirations, ICT Inspirations and Animals resources for a selection of examples).
  • Lots of amazing teachers have also shared their own ideas and resources and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who continues to take the time to send their contributions.
My continued thanks must go to RM.com who host the site, allowing thousands of teachers to access to ideas and resources for free every day.
Teaching News

I’ve written over 175 posts on Teaching News this year, sharing the latest educational news, links, events and resources. The site has continued to grow in popularity with higher visitor numbers and lots of new email and RSS subscribers. Some of the most popular posts include 10 Inspiring Youtube videos for Teachers, 10 Evernote Uses for Teacher, New iPod, iPhone and iPad Apps for Schools and my Discoveries series of posts. I must also thank the Teachers Building Society who sponsor Teaching News.

Teaching Videos

Every week, I explore the latest educational videos and add them to the directory on Teaching Videos. Over 1,000 new videos have been added this year, enabling teachers to find relevant video content quickly by looking in the different subject / topic areas.

Teaching Photos

At the start of 2011, I transferred Teaching Photos to a new management system, allowing teachers to view and share their own photos. The site is a popular source of inspiration for classroom displays and lots of teachers have registered and uploaded their photographs. Here’s a video tutorial which I made to explain how to get involved:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Teaching Events

I also transferred Teaching Events to a new system, making it much easier for me to update. As a result, the site is now bursting with hundreds of educational events that you can use as the starting point for learning in your classroom. Visitors to the site can also easily submit their own events and professional development opportunities.

Teaching Library

Over the summer, I also spent some time building a new site… the Teaching Library. As you may know, this site offers free teaching ideas and resources linked to popular children’s books. After only a few months online, the site now has resources for 50 books and it has received lots of praise from teachers and authors. I’m looking forward to continuing to expand the site next year.

More updates!

In 2011, I also redesigned Ideas to Inspire and Teaching Websites. Have you seen them yet? I’ve continued to post regularly on my Twitter and Facebook accounts, which now have over 26,000 followers in total!

My wife also set up a new web site which is devoted to sharing her fantastic craft skills. Please take a look at Sew Surprising and leave her a comment!

The future…

As 2012 approaches, I’m looking forward to continuing to work on all of my sites… making and sharing free ideas and resources for teachers everywhere.

What did you achieve in 2012?