Summer: Time for Professional Development!!

Yay! Summer is finally here for teachers across the USA! This is a great time to relax, rejuvenate and recharge your energy! It is also a great time to knock out some professional development hours, reflect on your year and perfect your craft.

Ok, I know what you are thinking – professional development? Ugh! How can anyone wrap their head around going to a workshop or dare I say, back into school during a beautiful, sunny day and only come out with 7 credits? What if you could complete 15 hours of professional development anywhere in the world, at any time of day? At The Teacher’s Academy and Act 48 Academy, we are teachers, so we devised a way to make earning professional development hours as painless and relevant as possible! Simply download our courses and work on it wherever, whenever you choose!

Check out the Latest Websites and Acquire Professional Development Hours!

If you’re like us, you may use the summer to review popular websites and generate new sources to spice up your curriculum for next year. What if you got professional development hours for your time surfing the Internet? Two of our most popular courses: 2013 and 2014 Educational Web Reviews, are a great way to spend some time “playing” with some educational websites that could really add value to your lessons. Each one is worth 3 hours of professional development. Remember, we will upload your hours to the state of Pennsylvania for you! Outside PA? You’ll receive a certificate of completion to submit to your administrator or add to your professional development portfolio.

The Best Web Sites for Teachers Are…

In our courses, 2013 and 2014 Website Reviews for Teachers, you will choose from 25 websites to explore and review. We have no affiliation with these online companies- they were chosen based on teacher reviews and input. Below is a sampling of websites that you may review in each course.

Course: 2013 Website Reviews for Teachers:

KidRex
Powered by Google, it finds kid-friendly, appropriate information – perfect for young learners.

Socrative– $

This is a time-saving program that can be used on any smart device with internet access.  Teachers can customize quizzes and tests and post them in an online room for their students to join and complete the activities.  The results are then tracked and graded for the teacher.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a free adaptive math program that allows students to work at their own pace and skill level.  Teachers can track progress for the whole class or a single student.  This program uses a quick pretest to find out what learners already know, it then builds a math plan specific to that learners skill set.  Once the learner has earned mastery in a topic, they will receive a badge (bragging rights).  So cool!!

Course: 2014 Website Review for Teachers:

Ask Kids

A search engine designed for kids with lots of fun web searching questions and categories to get started on a search.

Literacy Shed

This site takes other high quality education websites and stores them in “Sheds”.  Each shed has a basic theme so it is easy to find specific websites and it saves teachers hours from searching.  Time savers = life savers!   When you need a quick idea for a poem or looking for inspiration for a future scientist in your class, this is a great resource to have at your fingertips!

Game Show Pro $$

This tool is used just like a webinar only it is interactive.  Your class can be broken up into teams and easily review for quizzes or introduce new information using a game show format.  This keeps students engaged in the learning and is fully customizable.  Teachers can track and review answers, providing feedback or tracking data.  Check out the free trial!

Professional Development That’s Worth your Time

The Teacher’s Academy is committed to providing our nation’s teachers with relevant course work applicable to the classroom at an affordable cost. We look forward to helping you and your school meet your professional development needs.