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“The conferences I go to, the workshops I attend, and the professional books I read are the greatest part of my learning and after twenty-seven years give me the boost to keep on teaching.”
-Rich Thompson, 4th-Grade Teacher
Canyon Elementary School, Hungry Horse, Montana
Every profession has practitioners and professionals. While practitioners may be skillful and effective at many aspects of their jobs, too often they become accustomed to their current practices and forget to reflect on what else they can do to help their students do better. Professionals, on the other hand, share an urgent need to learn and grow. As a result, they actively seek ways to improve and meet newly developing challenges in their fields.
Professional development is particularly important in education. Student populations are changing, curriculum is changing, technology is changing, and the world is changing. Yet because teachers are often isolated in their classrooms, it may be particularly difficult for them to identify sources of support and resources for growth. Professional reading, study groups, workshops, and regional and national conferences all form important aspects of the professional lives of the teachers in this workshop series. In this video, they share some of those experiences and the value their professional commitments bring to their lives.
After participating in this session, you will be able to:
In preparation for Workshop 9, read “Closing Thoughts: Literature in School and Life” in Dr. Judith Langer’s Envisioning Literature from the Teachers College Press. Copyright 1995.
A compendium of resources and articles about Dr. Langer’s research and the envisionment-building process can be accessed from the National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement’s Web site.
Explore the “Envisionment-Building resources” to access articles and guides to fostering literary communities in your own classroom.
Journal:
Respond to the following in your journal:
What have been your most useful or valuable professional development experiences? What made them particularly helpful?
Identify one or two areas in which you might benefit from professional development. How might you go about addressing these needs?
Reading:
For additional resources, refer to the Additional Reading section of this workshop’s materials.
Student Activities
Try these activities with your students.
What activities have you developed for your classroom that have been especially effective for students? How might you develop a workshop or a conference presentation to share these with colleagues?
Overbooked
http://www.overbooked.org/
This non-profit site collects booklists, authors, reviews, and “must reads.” The children’s literature section of the site features a wide variety of links and author lists, grouped by age.
Newbery Medal Homepage
http://www.ala.org/alsc/newbery.html
This site lists all the Newbery winners and authors as well as providing information about the selection process.
Professional Journals About Literature Instruction:
CELA Newsletter
http://cela.albany.edu/newsletter.htm
The National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement, State University of New York, Albany, publishes a newsletter in the fall, winter, and spring. The newsletter addresses a wide range of issues concerning literacy.
The National Council of Teachers of English
http://www.ncte.org/
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) publishes many subscription journals including Language Arts for the elementary school level. Many issues are available online to members.
The International Reading Association
http://www.reading.org/
This site offers links to local affiliates, information about meetings and events, access to an online bookstore, news about literacy developments, research, and online publications.
Reading Online
http://www.readingonline.org/
This Web site is an online journal of K-12 practice and research published by the International Reading Association. It includes helpful links to book reviews, peer-reviewed articles, discussions about literacy, and ideas and information about applying technology in literacy instruction.
The National Writing Project
http://www.writingproject.org/
In addition to providing access to NWP subscriptions and publications, the National Writing Project site links to affiliates, and offers online training as well as information about setting up and maintaining writing project sites nationwide.
The National Staff Development Council
http://www.nsdc.org
The National Staff Development Council is a non-profit organization devoted to providing effective, high-quality training programs with intensive follow-up and support, but also other growth-promoting processes such as study groups, action research, and peer coaching.
Authors mentioned by teachers or portrayed in this workshop program and a selection of their publications include:
Nancie Atwell
In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning
Avi
Crispin: the Cross of Lead
The Fighting Ground
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
SOR Losers
Poppy
The Good Dog
T.A. Barron
The Lost Years of Merlin series
The Merlin Effect
The Ancient One
Heartlight
Tree Girl
Stephanie Harvey
Nonfiction Matters: Reading, Writing and Research in Grades 3-8
Naomi Shibab Nye
Come With Me: Poems for a Journey
Habibi
Never in a Hurry: Essays on People and Places
19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East
Red Suitcase: Poems
Sitti’s Secrets
The Words Under the Words: Selected Poems
This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World
Kathy Gnagey Short
Literature as a Way of Knowing
Texts mentioned by teachers or students in this workshop program:
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake
The Half-a-Moon Inn by Paul Fleischman
“The Wall” by Langston Hughes
Grand Conversations (Grades 2-6) by Ralph Peterson
Book Talk and Beyond: Children and Teachers Respond to Literature by Nancy L. Roser and Miriam G. Martinez, eds.