IT Summit 2013 - Presentation by the Thom Tech Catalyst Team

Today, I had the honour of presenting with some of my former colleagues from Thom Collegiate at the IT Summit 2013 in Saskatoon.

We spoke about how we learn, connect, collaborate and inspire each other as a professional learning community. We shared our experiences and numerous resources and tools about how we connect and inspire our students to achieve their very best.

Presentation to Key Women Educators

Here is the online version of my slidedeck for my presentation to Key Women Educators in Regina, SK, on February 8, 2012 about the use of technology to engage in lifelong learning for both students and educators.

The use of technology to engage in lifelong learning

View more presentations from Joanna Sanders

Creating your own PLN - How can I become a better teacher?

I have spent a lot of time lately taking to fellow teachers about the power of creating your own Personal Learning Network (PLN) and the benefits of having an online PLN through Twitter. Thanks to Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers, I have three embeded items to share with you to help you find other teachers to network with online. I hope you will consider adding me to your PLN when you get started @bobiashj. What are you waiting for?? No time like the present to get started. Don't forget to download Tweetdeck to help manage your tweets. To help you find conversations you might like to follow and contribute to, don't forget to add columns with hashtags (the word with a # sign in front). Here's a list to help you find some topics of interest (List of hashtags from HP Teacher Exchange).

A PLN is a great way to share resources, ask for help or celebrate accompishments. Here are a few things to help you geet started. Thanks Richard Byrne!

Twitter Explained

Here are two good short videos that explain what Twitter is and why you may want to consider joining. Most of my colleagues don't understand why I spend time on this network. I find it to be some of the best PD I could ever have. The network I have built up these past few years is invaluable and I have become a much better educator because of the dialogue and the sharing I have experienced on Twitter.

Some Reading and Viewing to add to your To Do List

I have had these tabs open in my Firefox for awhile (actually since the summer - yikes!) and have been meaning to post them on my blog for others to check out. Here are some interesting blogs and videos to check out when you have a spare moment. If you have others to share, please do!! Post your links in my comments.

8 Must Read Ed Tech Posts from SimpleK12:

• Elizabeth talks about Jing, PLN's, Classroom Blogs, Firefox, Evernote, Empowering Students, Learning Styles and Online Communities. What more could you want?? Take a minute to check out her list.

Top 10 TED Videos for Educators (via Parentella):

• I love TED videos. I could watch them all day if I had the time. Here are a few any educator can appreciate. Maybe you will be inspired too. This list was generated by the blog Parentella. If you have other suggestions or ideas for a Top 10 TED video list for educators, please comment. Maybe we can make our own list!

7 Videos all Educators should watch (via Free Tech for Teachers):

• Some of these videos I've posted about before but I had to include this in my list of things to watch when you have time. Richard Byrne has done a great job compiling videos that I've seen in different venues or on different blogs around the web. Here they all are in a handy collection. Do you have one you would like to add to the mix?

Twitter for Educators

There is a lot of chatter and sharing on Twitter right now about how to use this social media in education. I have noticed a number of lists of ways to use it in the classroom being shared on Twitter so I thought that I would share a few of them here with my readers. Some links and ideas are better than others but you may find some of these ideas useful:

• Twittercure - Kathy Schrock's Presentation at ISTE 2010 on Twitter
• The Ultimate Twitter Guidebook For Teachers - a blog post found on EduDemic
• 50 ways to use Twitter in the classroom - a link sent to me by Samantha Miller
• Twitter for Learning - 55 Great eLearning Articles - by Tony Karrer at eLearning Technology

What is Twitter? - Animated Explanations