Using the Resources Within Reach

Your school librarian is a fantastic resource for helping you find just the right books to impact your students' learning in a positive way. He/She spends hours a day doing the work that you don't have time to do! Simply let your librarian know what you're looking for and set up a short appointment to go over what they've found for you. Supplemental materials, like books, can make learning rich and powerful.

Pepper offers many courses that help you utilize resources within your reach. Our ELA101 "ELA101x Resource Library Purposeful Text Selection to Supplement Core Materials" is example of this. Check out a short clip on our YouTube site.

Your Impact Changes Lives

Teaching is an incredibly difficult job, and many leave the field because of the enormous demands and stress. However, committed educators make a notable impact on the future of our world.

National Public Radio asked teachers why they stayed in the profession, and their answers were encouraging. Some stay in the profession because they know they are the only positive adult role model in many of their students' lives. Others simply love the kids, and when they focus on them and not the extraneous factors, they enjoy the experience.

Read the full story on NPR.

Create a Quest for Learning

Teachers are always looking for ways to engage students in their lessons. So, how does a teacher meet the needs of students, ensure they are really learning, while engaging them fully in the process?

Bringing what students like to do outside of school into the classroom can be quite successful. Liz Kolb, Professor in Teacher Education at the University of Michigan and Author, shares how to "gamify" your teaching with some creative ideas on how to include video game lingo and strategies into classroom learning.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/epic-fail-win-gamifying-learning-liz-kolb