I think that it is valuable, when possible, for teachers to stay current in regards to thoughtful discussion and assessment of the act of teaching.  Sometimes our profession allows very little time for reflective practice and this is disappointing, given that reflection allows for access to new ideas, resources and evolved thinking.  In an ideal world professional development would be integrated into a bursting-to-the-seams school year, allowing for insightful reflection as well as mentoring opportunities.  I know that this would filter down and benefit students.  I also know that educational organizations are becoming more and more taxed with growing social responsibilities as well as curricular and assessment practices.

Lisa Bush has provided teachers with easy-to-access YouTube videos titled Purple Semicolon, that make for a great professional library of tips, suggestions, related issues and now, with the addition of Melissa Thompson’s segments, some great reading lists, for the teacher who sometimes just needs a little bit of empathy, support and affirmation.

These tidbits are not just for the first year teacher, but for that teacher who might be feeling haggard or misunderstood.  Your ideas, contributions and suggestions can easily be added to the comments section for follow up from one of these inspiring professionals.

I’m going to share a couple of my favourites here and hope that my readers and teacher-friends will find a few minutes to enjoy these humourous and smart ladies! This is a mere sampling of the smorgasbord of topics covered, so find them on line!