With school just around the corner (sorry for any kids reading this), teachers are better prepared than ever to have comprehensive lesson plans thanks to a free website source courtesy of the Verizon Foundation. In fact, professional education organizations have already recognized the website’s value.
Scholastic Administrator magazine named Verizon Thinkfinity a “Best in Tech” website for professional development.
Verizon Thinkfinity, one of eight websites to receive the designation, was awarded this summer at the International Society for Technology in Education's ISTE 2010 conference in Denver.
Verizon Thinkfinity is a free educational website that saves teachers time and money by providing thousands of free educational resources including K-12 lesson plans, podcasts, videos and other materials to enhance teacher effectiveness and improve student achievement. Thinkfinity also offers a comprehensive professional-development program that allows teachers to sign up for free online or face-to-face training to help teachers make the most of the free resources.Editors at Scholastic Administrator selected the “Best in Tech” winners based on information from educators who have utilized the professional development available on the websites, as well as editorial interviews and the editors' personal review of the sites.
Miguel Brito, head of St. Philip's Academy in Newark, N.J., was among those who provided Scholastic Administrator information on Verizon Thinkfinity.
"We use Thinkfinity as our main training and learning tool for teachers and students," he said.
Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston said Verizon is proud to have Thinkfinity recognized by Scholastic Administrator as one of the top websites for professional development.
“At a time when many school districts are facing difficult budget decisions, Verizon Thinkfinity can be part of the solution, providing professional development opportunities for teachers and opening the doors to an online world of thousands of standards-based educational resources, all for free,” Gaston stated.
Verizon Thinkfinity professional development is aligned to the International Society for Technology in Education's National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. Thinkfinity is also a professional development affiliate of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, dedicated to supporting the integration of critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, and creativity and innovation into classroom environments.
Content for Verizon Thinkfinity is provided through a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 of the nation's leading organizations in the fields of education and literacy: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Council for Economic Education, International Reading Association, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Center for Family Literacy, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Geographic Society, ProLiteracy and the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
