Online Professional Development Resources for Teachers

Whether you’re a teacher on leave while schools are closed or teleworking in another field, the resources below will help you maximize your time at home. Online professional development courses will allow you to pick up another endorsement or fine-tune your existing skills.

To support all teachers as they are home during this time, American Board has collected a list of free and low-cost teacher professional development resources. Best of all, these sources are flexible and online so you can work through them in the comfort of your home.

Use the following online professional development resources to develop and improve your teaching skills and ultimately promote student success.

American Board

If you’re a current teacher looking to add an endorsement area or you’ve always wanted to transition to a career in teaching, this is the best time to make that move. Completely online, flexible, and affordable, American Board allows you to earn a teacher certification in as little as one month.

Teachers home on leave, paraprofessionals, and substitutes should use this time at home to beef up their teaching credentials. Gaining full certification or adding a secondary endorsement will make you more fluid in your role once schools reopen. When schools resume their scheduling, administrators will be looking to hire and students will need help catching up. Use American Board’s program to ensure you’re ready to help schools and students meet their needs.

If your professional background is in another field but you’re currently out of work, you can quickly put your knowledge and experience to work earning your certification through American Board. Online education is currently booming and online teachers are desperately needed; start now and you could be fully-certified in a few weeks.

Edweek

As an education-focused news source, Education Week keeps you current on breaking news and education trends. A two-week free trial allows you to read 3 articles, but through a subscription you have access to hundreds more. Additionally, you can sign up to receive free e-newsletters that cover an array of topics and are sent daily. Edweek is closely following and reporting on the spread of COVID-19 and its impact on schools.

ASCD

With years of archived webinars, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) offers a plethora of professional development webinars. Most importantly, all the webinars are online and free! They cover useful subjects such as “The Burnout Cure: Learning to Love Teaching Again,” and “How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students.” With so many topics to choose from, there is surely something for every teacher.

Education world

Education World is an umbrella site sharing online education resources in several fields. For example, Education World links to the Teaching Channel which has professional development videos with strategies made by actual teachers with feedback from real students. In addition, there are tons of lesson plans and blogs with creative ideas about teaching that you can implement once schools reopen.

Edutopia

A great free resource for teachers’ well-being is Edutopia. Their website has many articles that focus on empowering teachers. They address issues such as creating a safe space in the classroom and forming healthy in-school relationships. If you need a mental refresher for the joys and possibilities of teaching, Edutopia may help.

Amazing Educational Resources

What started as a small open-source document soon went viral and turned into an incredible catalog of free online education resources. Teachers came together to gather resources for parents and educators so they may continue students’ education during this time of school closures. Currently, their list has links to educational games, videos, and classes. Though it is already a comprehensive list, the creators are accepting source ideas. If you feel inclined to contribute, please do! Additionally, they created a Facebook group, so you can talk to a community of like-minded teachers.

Whether you’re looking for a way to recharge your teacher battery or rediscover your love for the classroom, these online teacher professional development resources have the information you need. Feel free to add your favorites in the comments below!

Lastly, the health and safety of our teachers and their students are of utmost importance to us at American Board. We ask that you all practice Centers for Disease Control guidance during this time. Focus on protecting yourselves and your families, and know that this will pass. We appreciate all that our great teachers are doing, and the patience everyone is showing. We are all navigating this time together.