Microsoft Educator Community
Looking for a place to find teaching resources, cool virtual field trips, free trainings and more? Well that place is the Microsoft Educator Community. Access to all of these great resources is available through your Office 365 account. You just need to join. (Directions for joining can be found at the bottom of this post.)
So you are probably asking, “What will I find in this community?”
Here is a list of some of my favorite tools in the site:
Skype in the Classroom
- Guest Speakers – Through Skype in the Classroom you can easily access guest speakers who are at the ready to share their knowledge with your students. Just search by subject and age group to find a great guest speaker best suited for your class.
- Virtual Field Trips – Not only can you bring visitors to your classroom, you can also take your students to far off places…virtually. The virtual field trips available in the Microsoft Educator Community are growing every day, and searchable by grade level, subjects, country destination and more.
- Play Mystery Skype – Get your students guessing about geography, cultures and students across the globe. Mystery Skype is an interactive learning game in which two classrooms use Skype and ask a series of questions to guess each other’s locations. It’s exciting for both classrooms (and teachers!) involved. Connect with other classrooms who want to Mystery Skype.
Lesson plans that are ready to use
The educator-created lesson plans fellow teachers have shared in the community are effective, curriculum-aligned and simple to locate for your needs. There are poetry lessons for third graders and world geography lessons for middle school students that mesh perfectly with our curriculum.
Lightning fast how-to videos
These videos are perfect for those times when we do not need a major continued learning course, but do need to learn how to make an infographic … pronto! That’s where these Quick Tip Videos come in handy. They are two-three minute videos that clearly and concisely answer common technical questions.
Courses for professional development
But when you want to take the time to really increase your educational knowledge base the Microsoft Teacher Academy courses are a great start. Search by skills development category, subject areas or student age group to locate the courses that will best bolster your skills. There are even courses that can teach you how to code!
How to Join:
- Go to Microsoft Educator Community
- Click Join Now
- A textbox opens that requires your credentials. Make sure you choose the Office 365 option at the top.
As always, if you need any assistance with the site’s use or help in setting up a Skype lesson please contact me.