Save Time with GeorgiaStandards.org

Jill Adams, Jonesville Middle School, Bowdon, GA    

     During the Georgia Educational Technology Conference on November 14-16, 2007, I attended a session, Peachy Portal Pizzazz, presented by Beth Caraccio and Lynda Byrne from the Georgia Department of Education.  These ladies provided an overview of how the GeorgiaStandards.org website, which was a 2007 Best of the Web award winner, can help teachers “work smarter, not harder” in their search for plans and resources aligned to the Georgia Performance Standards. 

     The GeorgiaStandards.org website is extremely user friendly and includes a user’s guide if any extra help is needed.  The web page is divided into sections, such as GPS Website Finder, Teacher Tools, Top Picks and Helpful Links.

     Your first stop on this web site should be the GSO Portal User’s Guide.  This guide has directions for signing up for a portal account.  It also has step-by-step directions with pictures on how to find GPS standards and resources.  The guide also leads you through building instructional plans to share with others.

     In the GPS WebSite Finder, you will find several links to areas within the GeorgiaStandards.org web site, such as projects and programs, professional learning and online teacher resources.  One of my favorites is the monthly resources link.  This link takes you to a news section for the current month.  You will find links to things happening during the current month.  The February news has links to the Young Georgia Authors’ Writing Competition, a GPB contest for grades K-3 and professional learning opportunities for teachers.  There is also a template for the month’s calendar.  This template downloads into Microsoft Word and teachers can customize it for use in their class. 

     The Teacher Tools section of the web site, has links to several sites to make a teacher’s job easier.  The Graphic Organizers link has organizers on cause and effect, friendly letters and expository writing to name a few.  Teachers can download these organizers in an Adobe PDF format or Microsoft Word and in English or Spanish.  These organizers can also be customized to the needs of the class or activity.  By clicking on the RubiStar link, teachers can customize and print a rubric for a classroom project.  There is a link to the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives where math teachers can download manipulatives such as bar graphs, pie charts and even an abacus to use on their computer with students.  The Tools for Teachers provides links for teachers to use to create certificates, exams, bingo cards, crossword puzzles and many more items that are needed everyday in the classroom. 

     In the Top Picks section, you will find Annenberg, which provides professional development and resources for educators.  There are also links to Galileo, United Streaming and the New Georgia Encyclopedia which are wonderful resources for classroom teachers. 

     By signing in with their Mygadoe login, teachers can create lesson plans, add items to a favorites list and work in groups.  By creating a group, teachers within a school, county or even statewide can work together on units and lessons.  Teachers can collaborate to build units, add resources and find activities.  This can be done on the computer at school or at home.  After finishing a lesson, teachers can submit the lesson to GSO for publication.  Once the plan has been reviewed and accepted, it will be published to the site for other Georgia teachers to use. 

     The GeorgiaStandards.org web site provides a wealth of resources for Georgia’s teachers.  There is so much information that it would take an enormous amount of time to navigate through the entire site.  The GSO team will show you and your school how to use the site by scheduling a free training tailored to your school’s needs.  For more information, go to the contact information on the GSO web site.

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