CELEBRATE AND FEED YOUR SOUL WITH TEACHER RESOURCES

With school just beginning (or around the corner) for most of us, I want to be sure you are equipped and pampered. With all the overload of curriculum, standards, getting settled, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Here are a few resources sure to help you survive and thrive!

Educationworld.com's Reading Room: http://tiny.cc/wYUw6. Here you'll find reading and writing lesson plans, Reader's Theater scripts, professional development articles by yours truly and more. Educationworld.com is one of the most trusted friends of teachers online and it remains subscription free!

The IRA - International Reading Association's RTEACHER listserv. Over the past five years or so (can it have been that long?), I've been priviledged to interact with a marvelously eclectic group of teachers and learners through this listserv. You can join the listserv, contribute as much or as little as threads develop by sending an email to webmaster@reading.org. If you aren't a member of this incredible group, you need to join. It's well worth it! I'll be presenting as a featured speaker at the Alabama Reading Association (state affiliate) conference in November AND in a session at the SE Regional IRA Conference in New Orleans that same month. Check out my travels on Linkedin at my profile http://tiny.cc/5PZMf (see My Travel powered by TripIt).

The National Council of Teachers of English. This is also an excellent professional organization with a bit narrower but very complementary focus. What I love best is that the IRA and NCTE often write joint position statements. As national organizations, they want to hear from their members and influence education in a positive way. This year, they are sponsoring the National Gallery of Writing (http://tiny.cc/fC95P), a place where you can write and where you can share your students' writing. October 20 has been designated the National Day of Writing!

> I hope these resources help you. Let's start a dialogue about others you may want to share with the rest of us. Stay tuned!