Professional Development At Your Fingertips

ReadWriteThink offers resources to energize your teaching

The award-winning ReadWriteThink website has a new look, new features, and a new, improved organization that makes navigating the site's rich array of resources even easier for busy professionals. Since 2002 educators have turned to ReadWriteThink for access to hundreds of lesson plans, calendar resources, booklists, printouts, and interactive tools.

Now educators can turn to the site for professional development as well. The new Professional Development section is prominently displayed on the ReadWriteThink homepage and contains a variety of resources, grouped into the following categories:

• Strategy Guides—These guides define and provide examples of effective literacy teaching and learning strategies to help sharpen your instruction. Three series are currently featured: Teaching with Technology, Differentiating Instruction, and Teaching Writing. Each guide outlines what research has to say about the topic, practical suggestions on how to implement the strategy, and related lesson plans and other resources to put the strategy into practice.
  
  
• Professional Library—Books, journals, and position statements that provide the latest in research and best practices are listed in this section. Guided Comprehension in Grades 3-8 by Maureen McLaughlin and Mary Beth Allen (IRA, 2009) works especially well in conjunction with resources on ReadWriteThink. The page for this book contains a robust collection of related lesson plans and student interactives that are based on the comprehensive strategies presented in the book. The resources illustrate the practical application of classroom strategies, and the book provides the underlying foundation for why the strategies are most effective.
  
  
• Meetings and Events—Whether you're seeking new teaching ideas or information on the latest literacy research, IRA and NCTE offer many opportunities for face-to-face interaction with others in the literacy field. The Meetings and Events section includes links to conventions, conferences, and other workshops and institutes. One of the upcoming events is IRA's annual convention in Chicago, where you can attend the ReadWriteThink.org session on Monday, April 26, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. to learn more about the new features and professional development opportunities available on the site. In addition, ongoing demos will be offered at IRA's Marketplace throughout the convention.
  
  
• Online Professional Development—Recharge your teaching, learn new techniques and strategies, and connect with other literacy professionals-through Web seminars and online courses. The online professional development allows you to develop your teaching skills from your own desk. Descriptions, dates, and links to registration are included.

The newly redesigned ReadWriteThink also provides many places for users to add comments and share their personal experiences and ideas, which function as a source of collaboration and a professional development opportunity. Community Stories, a new section of the redesigned site, highlights educators who have used the site's resources in a fun or innovative way. If the site has had an impact on you or your teaching, the new Community Stories section would be a great place to share your experiences.

ReadWriteThink is a partnership of NCTE, IRA, and Verizon Thinkfinity.