#7- Professional Development Resources

Hello readers, 

One of the many jobs of literacy specialists is to plan professional development. There are so many great tools out there! How do you even know where to start? Don’t worry, today I’m going to provide you with ten amazing sources for professional development; it will be a mix of books and websites. We’ll be starting with books.

Top 5 BOOKS for Professional Development:

1. Subjects Matter: Exceeding Standards Through Powerful Content-Area Reading by Daniels and Zelman. This is one of my favorite books! This book is filled with tried and true methods for improving reading in the content areas. For each strategy, it provides a description, rationale, and explanation for how the strategy is effective. It’s an easy read, and very quick to find something that will work in your classroom! This is a great find for secondary teachers. 
2. Best Practices in Literacy Instruction edited by Gambrell and Morrow. This book is organized by topic, such as phonemic awareness, vocabulary instruction, and writing. Each chapter provides an explanation on the background and current research on the topic, followed by a variety of different supporting activities to try out. I love how easy it is to find just the right activity for your current need. This book has activities for all teachers K-12.
3. Learning Through Academic Choice by Denton. This book is geared towards K- 6 teachers. The theory of this book is that students tend to be more engaged and perform better when they are given choices. While it provides examples for multiple content areas, much of the sample lessons and activities are literacy-based. 
4. The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. My best friend is a middle school ELA teacher, and this is her favorite book! My friend has a passion for matching kids with the right book, and The Book Whisperer explains how to make that happen. This is a great guide for motivating students to read!
5. Teach Like a Champion by Lemov. This book is focused on preparing students for college. It has a mix of everything from classroom management to literacy concepts. Once again, the easy-to-read descriptions make it a quick read. Added bonus– it includes video clips of the strategies in action!

Top 5 WEBSITES for Professional Development

1. NewsELA (https://newsela.com/) This is my go-to website! It’s the perfect place to find supplemental articles on almost any topic. What makes NewsELA unique is that it takes an article and adapts it to a variety of reading levels so that all your students can read at their level. Levels range from 3rd to 12th grade. When reading articles online, students can apply close reading techniques such as highlighting and note taking. This does require creating a free account. If you check out any website today, check out this one!
2. Readworks.org. This is a great website for K-12 teachers. It has reading passages on a vast range of topics. Teachers can look by grade level, topic, or skill. For example, do you need a passage on the Underground Railroad? What about cause and effect? Something for your 2nd graders? The search engine allows you to find exactly what you need. Again, it will ask you to create a free account. 
3. http://www.readwritethink.org/ This website is managed by the International Literacy Association. It provides classroom resources, parent resources, and professional development resources. It’s a one-stop website for literacy instructors! I love that I can find sample lesson plans, professional development videos, and at-home activities all in one place.
4. Instagram. Yes, Instagram can be used for professional development! There are so many fun and engaging master teachers sharing what they are doing in their classrooms! ELA teachers in particular are easy to find! Some of my favorites are @writeonwithmissg, @toocoolformiddleschool, and @theengagingstation. Each teacher has a niche such as literacy strategies, social justice in the classroom, or student engagement. These teachers allow you to see a real life look at their strategies. Many of these teachers sell their lessons and materials through https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ so that it’s easy to replicate their lessons in your own classroom. This is a fun way to learn about other teachers!
5. https://www.commonsense.org/education/ This website is geared towards digital citizenship and being smart online. I included it because so much of the reading and writing we are doing in our classrooms has shifted online. It has reviews on classroom apps and websites and sample lesson plans. It also has free webinars! One topic I’m excited to learn more about is called “Close Reading the Internet: Developing Critical Thinkers (https://www.commonsense.org/education/webinars). 

I hope that you find something that will help you! So many great options out there. Which one are you going to check out first?