Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/859531
Their Favorite Things C T A M E M B E R S Angela Der Ramos and Karen Sher, and CTA staff consultant and edtech specialist Karen Taylor, have favorite sites for OER content as well as educator tips, including: BrainPOP, brainpop.com Edutopia, edutopia.org KQED Learning, ww2.kqed.org/learning Library of Congress, loc.gov/teachers Newsela, newsela.com Pinterest, pinterest.com (search for curriculum and lesson plan) Read Write Think, readwritethink.org Rock Your World, rock‑your‑world.org Teaching Tolerance, tolerance.org Zearn Math, zearn.org Let us know your favorite sites at editor@cta.org. What to Consider With OER Use reputable sources and make sure the content you choose is aligned with standards. Select content you can easily adapt and customize for your students. Factor in time to adapt and customize, and time for you to become familiar with the content. If sharing with colleagues, or school- or districtwide, ensure you have time to collaborate, prepare and learn together. Know your OER objectives Angela Der Ramos, Alisal Teachers Association , is a member of CTA's Instructional Leadership Corps and provides professional development at conferences and in her district. She is a big proponent of OER , espe- cially to rethink some of the curriculum or standards she is required to teach. Still, she maintains using OER must i nv o lv e g o o d p e d a g o g y, a n d t e a c h e r s m u st b e a r t i c u l a t e about what they are doing, "par- ticularly when they are going against the norm." Der Ramos runs " This Side of the Chalkboard," a Facebook page where teachers can share techniques, strategies and les- sons in using OER. Th e f i f th-g ra d e t ea ch er b eli e v e s th e mi ssion of e d u c a t i o n i s t o p r o d u c e lit e ra t e c r it i c a l th i n ke r s w ho are steeped in social justice and have learned they have the power to make positive change. With this in mind , her OER sites include Newsela , which she uses to highlight current human rights abuses, an d Tea chin g To l eran c e, an edu cation al re s ourc e from the Southern Poverty Law C enter. While Der Ramos particularly endorses teacher - generated material, she is hesitant to support the idea of "teachers paying teachers" for online content. "I fault no teacher for trying to make money," she says, "but my own philosophy is one of sharing." BrainPop 22 cta.org Back to School T H E P R O F E S S I O N Angela Der Ramos " Open source as an idea is great, but you need to critically look at it and make sure it is aligned to standards." — PIA VANMETER, RIVERSIDE CITY TEACHERS ASSOCIATION