Award-Winning Teacher's Blog and Website

A California middle school teacher, Heather Wolpert-Gawron, maintains a blog with helpful tips for middle school teachers and a website for her students. Her blog isTweenTeacher.com and expresses her enthusiasm for teaching at this level and offers insightful professional development ideas. Her website for her students is available at:
http://web.me.com/bulldogradio/JeffersonRadio/Welcome.html

On her website for students, you will find links for her 7th grade students and another for her 8th graders, as well as a link to a page where she archives students' podcasts, under the title of Bulldog Radio. Check both her blog for teachers and her website for her students. Let us know what you think.

Image is the logo Heather Wolpert-Gawron uses on TweenTeacher.com

Teacher Tube

For those of you who can't use YouTube in the classroom, don't forget TeacherTube is a growing repository of resources. In addition to videos, podcasts, photos, you will find other resources on the site. Even if you can use YouTube in your classroom, TeacherTube offers a a wealth of instructional resources geared toward the K-12 curriculum. Check out the site, and let us know what valuable resources you find or what you think of the site in general. Image is the logo from TeacherTube site.

Podcasts Empower Learners

The Education Podcast Network

National Public Radio

Grammar Girl

Wondering what podcasts are and how they can enhance learning. The Education Podcast Network is a portal for podcasts created by students K-12. It is worth exploring to see what students in all grades and across the content areas are doing with podcasts in their schools. The National Public Radio site enables you to access quality podcasts to integrate into your teaching. As for Grammar Girl, it is the latest rage and a sure

catalyst for boosting grammar and word usage skills, in an entertaining, engaging way. This site is a favorite among teachers, as well as students. Can't remember when to use "affect" versus "effect," what a "comma splice" is, or just want to brush up on skills, Grammar Girl offers "quick and dirty" tips for remembering usage rules. Explore! Explore! Explore! All three sites are top-rated, visited by millions. Add the URLs to your Favorites/Bookmarks, and tell your colleagues to visit, too. After trying any one of the sites, consider how you might use podcasts in your teaching: How can you tape into their power, how can students use them to broaden their learning? Take a few moments to navigate one of the site, and share your responses.

Images from: caliopolis.classcaster.org and joedale.typepad.com

History Teacher's Podcasts Cater to Millions

Lars Brownworth, a history teacher from Long Island, New York, is one of the most famous educational podcasters. At "12 Byzantine Rulers: The History of The Byzantine," listeners will discover 12 podcasts, starting with the ruler Diocletian in 284 and concluding with Constantine in 1453. According to The New York Times, Lars' 12-series podcasts is one of the top 5 educational podcasts on iTunes and in the top 50 of all podcasts. Reaching a global audience, this social studies teacher has garnered rock star fame, with listeners tuning in from all over the world. In December 2006, Lars' "12 Byzantine Rulers" drew 140,910 hits. In total, Lars has a million listeners, and demand keeps growing. Quite impressive for a 31-year-old classroom teacher with only a bachelor's degree. (See The New York Times, January 31, 2007 to learn more.) To go directly to the Lars' podcasts, click on http://www.anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/