This is article is by education writer Haley McLeod, and features various podcasts classroom educators should find valuable.

Teachers are well aware that learning is a life-long process. With the education world rapidly changing, educators must continually adapt their teaching styles to coincide with changing technology and education expectations. For podcasts in specific subject areas, please visit the Education Podcast Network, which provides links to education podcasts sorted by category. For now, here are several top podcasts that focus on general education improvement and current events.

ESL Teacher Talk: As the United States becomes more diverse, English as a second language teachers are in more demand than ever. ESL Teacher Talk is ideal for teachers who have students in their class who are learning English as a second language. The podcast discusses topics as classroom management, lesson plans, and job searches specifically for ESL Teachers. The podcast also includes links to supporting education materials, videos, and other downloads.

The Education Gadfly Show: The Education Gadfly show, run by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, examines current education issues such as school choice, teacher quality, and government legislation. In Ohio and around the country, The Fordham Institute advocates for more widespread education options and teacher accountability. Through 90-second mini-debates and “Rate that Reform,” the hosts educate the public about current events in the education world.

K-12 Greatest Hits: BAM! Radio, a prominent voice in the education community, compiles all of their most popular podcast segments into this podcast. Each episode is hosted by an Executive Directors of one of the many education associations in the United States. Through interviews with well-known educators and advocate groups, this podcast provides insights on the current issues of the education world.

NPR: Education Podcast: The National Public Radio podcast on education is a fantastic overall resource for educators, providing information on the science of learning, classroom dynamics, and other relevant topics. The podcast also covers current education news stories from around the world.

Teachers Teaching Teachers: Run by three working teachers in New York City, Paul Ellison, Susan Ettenheim, and Thomas Locke, this program provides a weekly podcast, skype conversation, and live webcast. This podcast is ideal for teachers struggling with implementing new technologies in the classroom. Together with fellow educators, they search for the most effective practices for studying, research, and technology; in addition, the podcast hosts review new media by testing it themselves.

The Teacher’s Podcast: The popular duo of Mark Gura and Dr. Kathy King explore recent news, research, and resources in the education world each week on The Teacher’s Podcast.  Together, Mark and Kathy are authors, professors, teachers, and education technology experts. The pair provides new and abundant resources for teachers and discusses methods of professional growth.

The Tenacious Teacher: Useful for all genres of teaching, The Tenacious Teacher is a podcast that provides strategies for everyday teaching and tools for managing responsibilities as an educator. This podcast is perfect for educators wanting to learn more about classroom dynamics and approaches for maintaining a productive classroom environment.

Teaching Tips by Teachtopia: Teaching Tips, by Teachtopia, serves teachers in grades K-12 and covers a variety of academic subjects, including science and math, language arts, social studies, and physical education. Each podcast focuses on a specific tip, either on a certain subject and or sometimes just on general teaching resources. Technology advice and help is also incorporated.

Teachers Connecting Podcast: Teachers Connecting Podcast focuses on providing new, unique lesson ideas, listening to fellow teachers’ stories, and exploring new technologies such as interactive whiteboards. One of their main focuses is the use of SMARTBoards and utilizing podcasts in teaching communities. This podcast has been rewarded honors such as Edublog Best Use of Audio 2007 and Microsoft Innovative Educators.

The Whole Child: The Whole Child is a podcast that recognizes the need for innovation and change in an education system rooted in the previous century. Technology has altered society rapidly, yet the education system remains the same. The Whole Child still recognizes the need to provide a solid foundation in the basic subjects (math, reading, writing, etc.), but also is pushing for a “whole child approach to teaching, learning, and community engagement.”

Haley McLeod is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on online universities for Guide to Online Schools.

Photo Credit: Electric Images

For most teachers, education doesn’t end when a degree is earned. The teaching profession demands continuing education, and in certain cases, advanced education. Fortunately, there are many online resources that can help teachers with professional development. Here are 20 resources for educators to explore:

NCATE – The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredits schools, colleges and departments of education. The NCATE website is a good place to find lists of accredited institutions and scholarship resources.

NEA – The National Education Association (NEA) is an advocate for teachers and students. Members can access classroom management and professional development resources as well as web and print tools.

AFT – The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is a teacher’s union that offers many interesting resources on their website. Teachers can view salary surveys, education news, and publications and reports on a wide range of topics.

ASCD – The ASCD is a non-profit organization with members in more than 100 countries. The organization offers an excellent professional development survey on their website as well as several other professional growth resources for teachers.

NBPTS – The National Board for Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is a non-profit organization that was formed to advance the quality of teaching in schools. NBPTS offers information about education standards on their website and provides numerous development tools for teachers.

RISE – RISE (Resources for Indispensible Schools and Educators) is a non-profit organization that dedicates itself to connecting teachers with low-income public schools. Teachers can use the RISE site to search and apply for jobs.

PBS TeacherLine – This PBS site is an online professional development resource for teachers. TeacherLine provides standards-based graduate-level courses for credit as well as a few free resources to encourage professional growth.

Thinkfinity – The National Verizon Thinkfinity Training Program provides many free training opportunities and resources for educators and after-school practitioners. Offerings include state-specific professional development, instructional videos, and free courses for graduate credit.

Learner.org – Learner.org offers many free professional development video courses to teachers. Courses cover a wide range of subjects and provide information on how to teach today’s standards-based curricula.

Teachers Network – The Teachers Network is an advocate for teacher leadership and student learning. The organization provides many free professional development resources for teachers, including articles, how-to’s, and lesson plans.

Teacher’s Domain – This online teacher library provides free digital media for the classroom and professional development. Teachers who register for a free account can store and share resources online.

TeachersFirst – TeachersFirst offers a series of free online education sessions for teachers. Known as OK2Ask, these sessions last approximately one hour and can be attended from any computer with an Internet connection.

The Teacher’s Podcast – The Teacher’s Podcast provides PD resources for teachers who are interested in integrating technology into the classroom.

We the Teachers – We the Teachers is a social network for teachers. It is a great place to meet other educators and discuss professional development opportunities.

The Apple – Created for current and future educators, this social network provides career advices, education resources, message boards, free job postings, and many other online resources.

Applebatch – This K-12 teacher community was created to help teachers advance their careers. Teachers can join groups in their profession, share resources, build their network, and apply for new jobs.

TeachAde – TeachAde is a social networking site for teachers and other education professionals. Members can network with other educators around the world, search for resources, and create resources of their own.

FolioSpaces – FolioSpaces is a unique social networking system that can be used to create free electronic portfolios.

Fund for Teachers – Fund for Teachers is a non-profit organization that provides teacher grants and other professional growth resources. New grants are awarded each year.

Scholarships and Grants for Teachers – This blog post provides information on a wide range of grants and scholarships for future and current teachers who are pursuing continuing education or degrees in education.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online colleges for OnlineColleges.net.

Other articles from Karen:

Tuition-Free Education Courses for Teachers

25 Free Apps and Web Sites for Tech Loving Teachers

40 Places to Find Free Lesson Plans

Photo Credit: Trek Hound

Stuck in the initial stages of teaching where you are jumping through mentor hoops at every turn? Use it to your advantage. Rather than just doing the basics and posting a static set of pictures and lessons, you can turn this short-term headache to your long-term benefit. I’ve developed a list of ten points to consider. Read on to find out what they are.

If your university or current first-year admins are requiring a portfolio, fine. However, I highly encourage you to already have one set up that suits your needs and simply incorporates theirs for the short term. Why? Whether you plan on globe trotting with your career, following a military or other internationally-employed spouse with it, or just want to be prepared for the unexpected, being ready in advance for a career switch is easier if it’s an ongoing project. Bonus? If you do it the way I’m suggesting you’ll have a career-long opportunity for self marketing, whether or not you leave your original job. (Although, chances are you will eventually.) Here’s what I recommend doing:

Register your name as a dot com.

Immediately. You can do this before you ever leave for college, even as a young adult. Develop your personal domain name as a professional space to document your favorite resources, thoughts, examples of your work, etc. It’s OK if you have interests other than teaching. There can eventually be a space for that. The key is to keep it professional enough that those hiring can view it at any time and be impressed. If you want a separate blog for fun, consider an unrelated title or pseudonym. You never know when your tastes will change or you may seek employment with a more conservative school district. Use this as a medium to document your professional development by posting reactions to texts, articles, conferences and workshops.

Consider book reviews and the reviewing of various classroom consumable products.

While your tastes will evolve over time, it’s actually a great way to document your career and justify any evolving philosophies.

Consider ad revenue and affiliate links for the books and products you recommend.

Even if you only bring in fifty dollars per month, it should cover the cost of basic web hosting. Bonus? Well-designed ad placements show you’re serious about what you have to say, and add an unmistakable professional element to your site.

To accommodate the initial career portfolio requirements, consider a section on “current projects” and allow a portion of that space to digitally document administratively-required portfolio elements.

However, and this is critically important, do NOT allow the team to drive you towards a site redesign. First, it isn’t necessary. Second, it’s not their place. If they can honestly not see that you are still meeting your responsibilities within a subcategory on your site, you may need to consider a different mentor team or quite possibly an alternative place of employment. Your life and career are too short to be held back by individuals who can’t get with the program. I apologize if it seems like I’m being negative here. I know there are loads of fabulous people in the field. I also know there are some individuals who are seriously behind the times. I don’t have anything against traditional methods. In fact, I now lean towards several of them more often than I ever would have predicted earlier in my career. I do have something against the practice of holding developing professionals back in the interest of pressing a personal agenda of not wanting to get yourself up to date.

Stay current.

Based on what I just wrote above, I think it’s also important to note that I don’t necessarily think this needs to be done in the form of unnecessary and costly coursework. When you must, or when you personally want to, great. However, most of the time you can do this on your own much faster than any classroom instructor could ever help you do so. If you are a self-motivated learner, reading journals, surfing the net and simply listening to kids will keep you way ahead of the curve. Document this on your web site in the form of a blog. Bonus? Regular updates will help you gain better search engine results. Oh yes, don’t forget a pdf file of your current resume.

Learn to take great digital pictures.

This is a super and affordable way to record fabulous bulletin boards, the tricky-to-write-about steps in a great art project, document examples of stellar student work and more.

Take credit for the curriculum you write.

Let’s face it. Rarely will you work for a school that will not expect you to work on lesson ideas on your own time. In exchange for this, why do so many of us feel the need to hand over the lessons for the school to use long after we leave? Post the lessons in a professional format on your own site. People will have to go there to get the information, generating more traffic and ad revenue for you. If you eventually develop enough of it, you may have the makings of your own book or subscription web site. (Case in point: TheLessonMachine.Com .)

Get some photos taken of yourself in action.

Enlist a parent, classroom volunteer, friend or teaching assistant on days when you are doing anything from the traditional to the super cool. Don’t forget to document anything multicultural. Pictures with captions are simple, to the point, and powerful.

Keep up with this throughout your career.

Once the base work is done, it really won’t be that much work. You’ll always be out there and ready to go. Bonus? Any toxic insecure boss will also know this and hopefully bear it mind before they start harassing you at a time of year it would be difficult to replace you. Yes, there are some awesome administrators out there. There are also some condescending people on power trips. Be ready.

No potential employer will be able to ignore a prolifically documented curriculum collection, boatloads of creative bulletin boards, and photos of you engrossed with your students in kick-butt educational activities. Need some more references from around the web? This link will help you get started on what to include and avoid with your online portfolio. Good luck, and great teaching!

Flickr Photo Credit: Liz Marie