When school began last year, I was a geo-educator, but I didn’t even know it yet. I knew I had a passion for teaching my students about our interconnected world, but it wasn’t until several months later that I found out that there was a growing community of like-minded educators. I’m so excited to kick off a new school year because I’m confident I can make this the best year yet thanks to National Geographic’s Geo-Educator Community.

Educators are idea collectors. We are committed to engaging and inspiring our students through carefully crafted learning experiences and are constantly seeking the best resources to do so. Search engines and pinboard sites are great, but what if we could go directly to an organized collection of the best resources on the web curated by geo-educators for geo-educators? Now we can with the new Geo-Educator Gooru Resource Library!

As part of the Geo-Educator Community, I am on a committee of educators that helps design and develop the Geo-Educator Gooru Resource Library. Our team of educators has been working hard to curate a collection of excellent resources so teachers can spend more time implementing, remixing, and sharing what they collect and less time seeking them out. We grouped resources into folders according to common themes they support, and also categorized the resources within each folder into collections. For example, an educator looking to weave some outdoor opportunities into his lesson plans could navigate to the “Outdoor Learning and Environmental Stewardship” folder and then browse the “Lessons” collection within it.

Currently, our team members are sharing their perspectives by adding their own comments and ratings for each resource, which is a bonus feature in my opinion! I’m excited about sharing my favorite tools from the collection with educators like you! While it’s nearly impossible to choose a single favorite, my top picks include Fund for Teachers, an incredible grant program that supports teachers as learners through travel fellowships, and  The Global Read Aloud, a collaborative project centered around outstanding literary selections.

Whether you’re looking to browse for inspiration or have a specific type of resource you’re seeking, our Geo-Educator Gooru Resource Library is the perfect place to start! We would also love to hear from you on the Geo-Educator Facebook, Edmodo, and Twitter communities, where you can network with other geo-educators!

This post was written by Breigh Rhodes, a second grade math and science teacher in Zachary, Louisiana. She is also part of the Gooru Resource Library Planning Committee and the Geo-Educator Community Steering Committee.  

In addition to the Geo-Educator Gooru Resource Library, Gooru’s web and mobile applications enable teachers to find, remix, and share collections of web resources on any K-12 topic. With millions of free multimedia resources, quiz questions, and data analytics, Gooru makes it easy for teachers to address individual students’ needs.

The Geo-Educator Community is a community for educators committed to teaching about our world. To learn more and get involved, visit www.geo-education.org.