It's October and that means Connected Educator Month. Check out the official website here. A lot has been written about being a connected educator, but what exactly does that mean? That seems to depend on who you talk to, but some consistent similarities point to individualization in:
- Who you connect with
- How you connect
- Those conversations you have
- The growth you experience
- The opportunities you seize
This week's resources flyer asks you to ponder this...How are you using technology to connect learning in your classroom? As you begin to expand your understanding of what it means to be a connected educator, you will begin to explore ways to make learning meaningful and experiential. Our world has gone digital and it is our job to prepare our students to function within the demands of that digital world. I've included 3 cool tools to help with connecting learning in the classroom:
Celly is a great app that allows you to take discussions online. It's a great way to extend learning beyond the classroom and to get students talking about and reflecting on the content. These are skills that need to be developed and Celly offers the perfect environment for this!

It's referred to as a "pinboard", but features the ability to keep it private. I love how this site requires no registration-ideal for a classroom setting! You simply create a new pinboard and a password that allows others to edit. You also create a password to delete it once you are done. It can also be used as a backchannel, allowing those quiet students to gain a voice within the learning environment.
The last resource shared this week is one I've shared before. Edpuzzle allows you to connect learning to a video by customizing a video with additional audio, inserting questions or other interactive options to allow for a more student-centered learning experience. Edpuzzle's tagline is "Make any video your lesson." And that, you can totally do! Teachers love Edpuzzle for its ease of use and students love it for its ability to keep them engaged in the video viewing process. Edpuzzle recently added some updates that are detailed here. AND...it now integrates with Google Classroom!
So check out these resources and get connected!