Professional Organizations:  They exist to help us grow in our knowledge and skills, becoming the best possible teachers.  Join when you are able.  Borrow their books from the library.  Use their free resources now!

• NCTE: National Council of Teachers of English.  As a new English teacher I regularly found support and ideas in English Journal and Voices from the Middle
• NCTE InBox: A free monthly newsletter with links to current article in many of NCTE’s journals (InBox Email Example).
• Cult of Pedagogy: A blog that was recently featured in NCTE InBox. 
• CATE: California Association of Teachers of English.  Our California affiliate of NCTE.
• ILA: The International Literacy Association.
• ReadWriteThink.org: Lesson Plans and Teaching Ideas from NCTE and IRA.
• English Companion: Jim Burke and the web presence he has created are great resources to new and practicing English teachers.  He currently teaches at Burlingame High School.
• English Companion Ning: A community of over 10,000 English teachers from all over the world, discussing their teaching and helping each other.
• Fisher and Frey: Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey are teachers and teacher educators who have a lot to say about adolescent literacy.  They teach at a San Diego high school and at San Diego State University.  Don't miss their Resources tab.
• TESOL: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. 
• CATESOL: California Affiliate of above.

 

Education and Technology: As a new teacher, you will be a Technology Leader—really!  So use these sites to help you get ready.

• CSLA: California School Library Association.

• CSLA EdTech Blog: A number of state librarians regularly recommend and blog about EdTech resources they use in their libraries with students and teachers.

• Classroom Learning 2.0: This site will have you learning by doing with Web 2.0 Tool in no time at all.  You can participate individually or as part of a group and cheer on one another.

• Kathy Schrock: Kathy has been recommending sites and showing us how to use the web in educational settings for over a decade.  Don't miss her Teacher Helpers like Assessment and Rubrics.

• Richard Byrne has a Practical Ed Tech site.

• Buffy Hamilton is an English Teacher in Georgia who thoughtfully and reflectively blogs her lessons for Junior English at Living in the Layers.

Common Core:

• Achieve the Core: Be sure to notice the Sample Lessons and Assessment Questions.

• Common Core in Fresno Unified School District.

• Common Core in Clovis Unified School District.

• EduCore: ASCD has prepared this site which is subtitled, "Tools for Teaching the Common Core".

• SmarterBalanced: This is the assessment consortium for the Common Core.  

 

 

Poetry Lesson

Sequoia Partnership

Teaching Issues--Global Warming

Integration with Science

Strategies for Close Reading

Close Reading