Electronic Resources and Links for English Educators: the medium of appreciation
Developed and Maintained by Dr. Sean Meehan/English Department/Morningside College
John Dewey, one of my guides in the philosophy and practice of education, writes in Democracy and Education (chapter 18):
"The imagination is the medium of appreciation in every field. The engagement of the imagination is the only thing that makes any activity more than mechanical."
These electronic links are for teachers and students to follow in this spirit of the imagination, a medium to enhance and encourage the medium we already employ in the study of the language arts, our imagination. These are links that I have collected from my own inquiries on the web and from students doing the same. I invite you to suggest additional links that you have found useful and that I might post here. Think of it as a blackboard without the chalk dust. The web, like our learning, and our courses, is developed in such a way.
Dewey: Democracy and Education. Electronic version of this important text (published 1916) by one of the giants in the philosophy and history of education in America. [http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/dewey.html]
Educator's Reference Desk. Reference resources and lesson plans by subject (including language arts, assessment, etc), developed by ERIC. [http://www.eduref.org/index.shtml]
Edutopia. Site (and magazine) founded by George Lucas (of Star Wars fame) to explore and promote ideas for innovation in schools. A good resource for discussion and provocation, particularly for imagination. [thanks to Rachel Bellairs for locating this link]
[http://www.edutopia.org/index.php]
English Companion. The web site companion for Jim Burke's English Teacher's Companion. [http://englishcompanion.com/]
Learner.Org. A professional development site, offering free workshop videos for K-12 teachers that can be viewed online. [http://learner.org/]
MiddleWeb. Site promoting Middle School reform, includes a Reading/Writing project section for resources and curriculum on teaching workshops at the middle level. [http://www.middleweb.com/mw/workshop/R_W_Project.html]
NCTE. The National Council of Teachers of English, the professional organization for teachers of English at all levels, k-college. Consult the variety of standards for best practices, use the links and resources. A site and organization every language arts teacher should know well. [http://www.ncte.org/]
Nicenet. A site that enables teachers and students to create for free digital courses for conferencing, link sharing, online discussion, etc. Perfect for teachers who are in schools without a "blackboard" or webct type of resource. A way to create an intranet for your class, free of charge and password protected. [http://nicenet.org/index.cfm]
ReadWriteThink. An extensive site for lesson plans and curriculum developed by language arts teachers, sponsored by NCTE and the International Reading Association, tied to NCTE standards for the language arts.. Useful for brainstorming and borrowing. [http://www.readwritethink.org/index.asp]
Teaching with Writing Resources and links from the U of Minnesota Center for Writing, including pedagogical discussion of assessment.
[http://writing.umn.edu/tww/index.htm]
UVA. Extensive listing of links for electronic resources and texts for the teaching of English language and literatures, from University of Virginia, the leading institution for the study of humanities and technology. [http://www.virginia.edu/cla/englit.htm]
Web English Teacher. A site with numerous categories for links to lesson plans and digital resources for language arts curriculum: poetry, literacy, media, grammar, writing, etc. [http://www.webenglishteacher.com/writing.html]
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Site developed and maintained by Sean Meehan, Ph.D.
Department of English /Morningside College /1501 Morningside Ave. /Sioux City, IA 51106
SIOUX CITY
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Last Updated: 04/30/2007