The Name Says It All – Connected Educators at Connections Academy

October is Connected Educator Month, an initiative dedicated to raising awareness of and engagement in learning and collaboration through online communities and social networks in schools. The initiative was developed by the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, and nearly 200 educational organizations are participating in some capacity.

At Capistrano Connections Academy, a virtual school, we feel pretty connected already! With students and teachers communicating via webmail messages, phone calls, chat pods and LiveLesson® sessions—live online classroom instruction—being connected is integrated into our program from the start. Our teachers are also able to go a step further and embrace Connections Academy’s professional learning communities.

With Connections Academy’s national network of teachers, Capistrano Connections Academy teachers can tap into professional learning communities for any subject and grade level to collaborate with and learn from other educators. These communities provide an open forum to share best practices, teaching strategies and curriculum presentation models to modify and improve their students’ educations.

Connected Educator Month reinforces the importance of cultivating a professional network. With so many incredible educators innovating in the classroom, we now have the opportunity to learn from teachers all over the world, and most importantly, enhance each individual student’s learning experience.