It was a cold, damp, windy day in Southeast Pennsylvania last month as I sat with my notebook, iPad, iPhone and TV providing me information about the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. On my iPad, I was tracking the storm using the Weather Channel app. On my iPhone, I was checking social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Path for the latest updates from friends. On the television, I was watching my local ABC affiliate present the latest news about the storm. On my notebook, I filled in the gaps between reading articles, checking social media and, as crazy as it sounds, generating and reviewing homework assignments from my students.

Finding new ways to incorporate technology in the classroom is the focus of many educational conferences and workshops. During a conversation at #SocialEdCon at ISTE 2012, several teachers were discussing why it’s difficult to implement new technology. One of the most common barriers to technology integration is not providing adequate professional development for teachers to feel as though they can be effective users of technology when working with their students. I agree, having the latest and greatest devices at one’s disposal doesn’t automatically translate into developing creative learning environments. However, as tweeted by Sean Junkins (@sjunkins), “I have yet to have a student tell me they can’t use technology in class because they haven’t received PD on it.”

What if there was an easy way to access free teaching materials and lesson plan ideas for your subject matter, or share best practices among your colleagues? Thanks to the information shared during an education reform meeting at Stanford last year, the American Federation of Teachers has made that possible.

Pinterest, the latest social media site, lets you organize and share videos, links and images found on the Web using “pinboards.” Teachers have been joining this latest craze, using it to organize class projects and to explore certain topics with their students. It can be used to create resource boards, share links among colleagues at a conference, or to collaborate with others on specific projects. These creative electronic bulletin boards can be easily shared, as each new board has a separate link.

Meris Stansbury, of eSchoolNews.com, compiled a list of the best education blogs that contain useful information for educators. This is a portion of that list of blogs, which have won numerous awards and have been recommended by readers.

Until a few years ago, I didn’t see the value of being on Twitter. It wasn’t until this year that I truly understood how powerful it is as a professional development tool. In my opinion, Twitter is like having a global teacher’s lounge where you can share information and ideas, as well as question the most innovative teachers in the world.