Teachers Pay Teachers

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/
This is an interesting site: it allows teachers to upload lessons and other teaching ideas, and they can make them free or charge a fee to get them (many are in the $1 to $2 range, though at the time of posting, over 40,000 resources are totally free).

I do have a few thoughts about the site:
(1) It offers a weath of ideas for sharing - especially among the free resources but in some cases just by reading the descriptions of the paid resources
(2) There's no real quality control, so if you are interested in something, do your homework and look at free things that writer/teacher has produced before you purchase
(3) From a socio-political standpoint, I do have some concerns about how it both financializes and commodifies teaching and learning. I share this resource with some reservations about what it ultimately promotes in the profession - which is not exactly communities of professionals who share to help each other and students. By the same toke, I do appreciate that teachers who produce good materials want to be recognized and remunerated for their efforts.

Just as an example, I was quite impressed to find a free PowerPoint deck on the use of Agusto Boal's forum theater (something I've used in the past, but a little differently than the person who posted it).

I was interested in the degree to which equity-related classroom resources were available, and while there are some, I would definitely encourage people to "cast a broader net" in their quest for these things for alternatives (there are lots out there that I feel are more grounded in evidence and theory). I suspect this is true of many resources on TPT, since there is no real editing or quality control mechanism.

If you decide to participate in the site (as producer or consumer), do so thoughtfully, and consider the implications of your particiaption!!!!

Laura

Teaching Ideas -

Came across this great blog with lots of photos - the teaching ideas a great, and are a good jumping-off point to adapt for different grades and subjects. The examples are elementary, but secondary teachers can be creative and make them work for older learners: http://tunstalltimes.blogspot.ca/

Critique of Multiple Intelligences

I'm constantly surprised at the amount of attention given to Multiple Intelligences (MI) in teacher education programs. I find that teacher candidates leave their courses convinced that MI is the way to go when structuring one's teaching philosophy. However, it's largely unexamined empirically, and as Joe Kincheloe points out, draws attention away from important systemic issues.

This is a review of a book which critiques Multiple Intelligences http://hss.fullerton.edu/linguistics/cln/Sew-Kincheloe.pdf and summarizes the arguments which critique the universal applicability of it.

Pedagogies Toolkit

PEDAGOGIES TOOLKIT - OVER 70 TEACHING/LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR ALMOST ANY SUBJECT AND GRADE. LAURA PINTO, LAURA DRISCOLL & STEPHANIE SPARES
This book provides over seventy teaching/learning strategies for students of all ages categorized according to their use to present, apply and/or review curricular material. Each strategy can be adapted to just about any subject area and grade. At-a-glance strategy descriptions include: materials, description, ideal for, and cautions. Teachers and facilitators can pick up this volume, and simply flip through to select strategies which will make their classrooms more engaging and enhance the learning process.
Order at:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1293865

The Salty Chip Multiliteracies Collective

The Salty Chip is a space for teachers and students to share and build upon their work as they develop their use of multiliteracies. http://www.saltychip.com/

It seeks to capture cultural and linguistic diversity and to make use of new and emerging communication technologies that consider pedagogy in a participatory culture.

Great site which allows teachers and students to vote on materials and strategies!!

The Times 100 Business Studies resource

http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/support/index.php

Information in this Teachers' Resources section can help with lesson planning and preparation. The lesson plans and answer sheets for each case study are designed to be used in class, as homework or even to provide a framework to cover lessons.

Have a look at the case studies (adapt them for Ontario use), and also teacher resources.

Lesson Ideas

The NY Times has an archive of fantastic lesson plans - while the content may not be relevant (it focuses on US issues and perspective), the teaching/learning ideas are remarkable. I encourage everyone to browse outside their subject areas to look for pedagogical ideas, and adapt them to your own subjects.

http://learning.nytimes.com/gst/learning.html
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/