Annenberg Media: By Becky Ranks

If you have not checked out the Annenberg Media materials, I would add it to my personal professional development goals for the summer. I am including a description below found on their website:

Annenberg Media uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation’s goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.
Annenberg Media’s multimedia resources help teachers increase their expertise in their fields and assist them in improving their teaching methods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroom and viewers at home. All Annenberg Media videos exemplify excellent teaching.

As a former classroom teacher and a lover of literature, I found a video in minutes that took me right into classrooms with students and teachers interacting with literature. The video modeled best practices in using literature with young students and it was as if I were given the time to visit someone’s classroom and see these best practices in action. I had to do a quick sign up, but once I did I was given an array of choices and could do a search within the site by grade level and content area. What an amazing resource…I am not sure how I missed this one.