A responsibility to our students, to the future
Fellow teachers. Before I continue any future I would like you to watch the video below. Our world is rapidly changing and technological advencements in society are having a profound impact on our students. What are you doing to address this? As a teacher is it not your responsibility to do everything in your power to reach the students in your classroom in a manner most effective? We need to be aware of what we are dealing with.
How to help
The worst thing you can do is to be content with what you're doing. I realize that for many of us we are aware of the increasing need to come up with new ways to reach our students, but we don't know how. One of the best things you can do is to be a part of a professional learning organization and communicate with fellow teachers. Some may be in your exact situation, while others may be on the forefront of utilizing our nation's vast technological resources. What matters most is that we are united in the common goal of reaching our students. Be sure you check out my teaching philosophy and some good idea's about teaching I've found from various resources.
-A great place to get started is to check out the National Council of Teachers of English. There is a fee to join but it will be worth every penny and membership comes with access to a plethora of resources. Many states also have their own branch of the NCTE which you should look into as well. You can check out the Michigan branch here.
-A fantastic networking resource for English teachers all over the nation is the English Companion Ning. This site, started by Jim Burke is a mish-mash of all your favorite social networking sites and is for English teachers sharing ideas and connecting with each other in ways that may have been much more difficult, perhaps even impossible 10 years ago.
-Fouced more specifically on providing relevant and engaging lesson plans and classroom activities, ReadWriteThink is a site made by the NCTE and is bursting at the seams with resources just waiting to be used. And the best part is that it's all FREE! So what are you waiting for??
-A personal blog that I'm working on involving ongoing testing I'm doing with the peer editing/reviewing process can be found here.
-If you're video-crazy like I am (surely you've seen them all over the site!) but can't access YouTube I've got some solutions! First, check out TeacherTube which often has many of the same videos. Or, you can always rip something off of the site and upload it onto your computer, how cool is that?! Check out KeepVid, SaveVid, Zamzar and more.
-Finally, if you're just out of college and hoping to secure you're dream job of teaching English at the Secondary level check out this priceless wikispace that has plenty of useful tips and suggestions.
-A great place to get started is to check out the National Council of Teachers of English. There is a fee to join but it will be worth every penny and membership comes with access to a plethora of resources. Many states also have their own branch of the NCTE which you should look into as well. You can check out the Michigan branch here.
-A fantastic networking resource for English teachers all over the nation is the English Companion Ning. This site, started by Jim Burke is a mish-mash of all your favorite social networking sites and is for English teachers sharing ideas and connecting with each other in ways that may have been much more difficult, perhaps even impossible 10 years ago.
-Fouced more specifically on providing relevant and engaging lesson plans and classroom activities, ReadWriteThink is a site made by the NCTE and is bursting at the seams with resources just waiting to be used. And the best part is that it's all FREE! So what are you waiting for??
-A personal blog that I'm working on involving ongoing testing I'm doing with the peer editing/reviewing process can be found here.
-If you're video-crazy like I am (surely you've seen them all over the site!) but can't access YouTube I've got some solutions! First, check out TeacherTube which often has many of the same videos. Or, you can always rip something off of the site and upload it onto your computer, how cool is that?! Check out KeepVid, SaveVid, Zamzar and more.
-Finally, if you're just out of college and hoping to secure you're dream job of teaching English at the Secondary level check out this priceless wikispace that has plenty of useful tips and suggestions.
