Joann's Picks and Peggy's Corner Columns Integrated into the Gateway's Facebook and Blog Accounts
As an increasing number of educators turn to social media for discussion, resource-sharing, and professional development, JES & Co. has created a more seamless platform for users to interact with one another through these social networking tools and to discuss and share Gateway to 21st Century Skills (Gateway) resources and topics brought up in the weekly columns.
These popular resource columns, Joann's Picks and Peggy's Corner, have been relocated on the revamped Gateway (www.thegateway.org) to the marquee on the upper right of the homepage. Joann and Peggy write weekly columns on a variety of important topics for educators. Each week, the conversations continue on the blog and on the Gateway’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Gateway users go to the site's Facebook page to communicate with one to suggest topics for future columns. Since JES & Co. has decided to use the Gateway site to give the columns and subsequent conversations an integrated space and provide easy access to previous columns, this process has become much easier. Users without Facebook can continue to use the Gateway as they always have, and Facebook users can use their Facebook account to register and log into the Gateway. This feature will allow these users to easily share and discuss resources through Facebook.
As the Gateway's resident librarian, Joann discusses a new topic of interest to educators each week in her column, and highlights educational resources that address that topic in creative or noteworthy ways. "I like highlighting resources that can be used across the curriculum, or resources that make creative use of technology," explained Joann Wasik. "I'm especially excited by resources that address topics in perhaps unexpected ways that will not only engage students, but also hopefully spark some new instructional ideas for teachers," continued Joann.
Peggy, the Gateway's resident teacher, builds on Joann's discussion and features resources to bring a classroom connection to the topic. Peggy often features additional Gateway resources that cover the topic from different angles than Joann's and discusses web-based tools that will be useful for introducing the topic in the classroom. "Joann and I would like to welcome you to the Gateway's new features and invite you to make the Gateway an integral part of your teaching," said Peggy James. "As you explore, you will find tens of thousands of resources that include lesson plans, activities, units, and examples of best practices. When you choose a resource to use in your classroom, you will be able to see the alignment of that resource to the Common Core State Standards, and share that resource with your colleagues. We are working hard to correlate resources to the standards, making it a simple way to find and share standards-aligned resources," continued Peggy.
You can find both Joann's Picks and Peggy's Corner in the rotating marquee on the new Gateway to 21st Century Skills website at: www.thegateway.org.
About Joann Wasik- Author of Joann's Picks
Joann is the Metadata Cataloger for the Gateway to 21st Century Skills. Her primary responsibilities for the Gateway include locating and cataloging standards-based K-12 lessons and activities as well as writing the "Joann's Picks" weekly column. Before joining the Gateway in 2006, Joann had been involved with numerous projects at the Information Institute of Syracuse at Syracuse University, including virtual reference with the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) project; virtual reference competencies and education with the Digital Reference Education Initiative (DREI) project; and metadata cataloging with the Gateway for Educational Materials (GEM). Her previous experience also includes technology training and positions in academic libraries. She also conducts freelance research for business and educational clients. Joann holds B.A. and M.A.T. degrees in English from Boston College, and an M.L.S. degree from Syracuse University.
About Peggy James- Author of Peggy's Corner
Peggy received her B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from The University of Arizona, and continued on to earn her M.Ed. from the U of A as well. She has taught physical science and chemistry at the high school level. She is working toward her endorsement in Gifted Education, and has been actively involved in coaching and volunteering in Odyssey of the Mind and Academic Decathlon. She has a passion for teaching critical thinking and creativity in the classroom. Her work has included writing, evaluating, and aligning lesson plans to standards as a curriculum consultant with the National Education Association Health Information Network. She is very excited to help create a collaborative environment for educators to discover new resources that will enhance their teaching.
About the Gateway to 21st Century Skills
The Gateway to 21st Century Skills (www.thegateway.org) is a semantic web enabled education digital library that contains tens of thousands educational resources and as one of the oldest digital libraries on the web, it serves educators in 178 countries. Since 1996, educational activities, lesson plans, online projects, and assessment items have been contributed and vetted by over 700 quality organizations. The Gateway is sponsored by the National Education Association.
About JES & Co.
JES & Co. is a publicly funded 501(c)(3) education research/development organization and is a world leader in the development and deployment of education programs based on open standards. With over 20 years of experience in interoperability and portability of educational resources, organizations around the world come to JES & Co. for leadership and guidance. For more information visit: www.JESandCo.org.
