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Over 500 Teacher Webpages on Teachers.Net Webring...
The Teachers.Net Webring (http://teachers.net/webring/ ) has passed the 500 mark! Late in February the 500th teacher joined what has become one of the largest and busiest webrings for teachers on the Internet. A webring links sites with common goals or features, enabling readers to jump from one to another with a simple click of the mouse.

Valerie Simeone, a teacher of third grade, graduate school student, mother and spouse, volunteers her time to administer the webring with enthusiasm in spite of her busy schedule. "Even though the job takes time from my weekends, I love doing it because I'm very impressed by the quality of work so many teachers put into their web sites. And every site is unique! You can travel from one to another and never see the same information twice."

In order to qualify for inclusion in this vibrant group, web sites must be non-commercial in nature, offering information helpful and interesting to other teachers. While some teachers use their sites to post links and information about helpful resources on and off the Internet, others use them to showcase their classroom and school activities. Simeone's web site is representative of those who combine purposes by presenting information of use to her students, their families, and other educators.

To the accompaniment of an electronic version of "Let There Be Peace on Earth," Mrs. Simeone's students can access the "Homework Page" for their spelling words, consult the calendar of school events, and check on the classroom pet, a Cuban tree frog. Students' families are offered a collection of links to resources as diverse as Bill Nye the Science Guy, Craft Idea Box, Seussville University, and The Yuckiest Site on the Internet.

Clicking over to the Teacher Resource page reveals a collection of clickable links to thematic units, professional resources, and even Teacher Humor.

Jump onto the Teachers.Net webring at http://teachers.net/webring/ and get lost in an impressive corner of the Internet, where teachers demonstrate a level of dedication that may surprise those outside the profession. As Valerie Simeone observes, "It's very inspiring to see how much of their own time teachers put into 'extras' like these impressive web sites for the benefit of their students and colleagues."

For more information about the Teachers.Net webring, write to valerie @ teachers.net.

 
Letter from the Founder
by Tony Bott, Ed.D.
Greetings fellow teachers,

Welcome to the largest, most active virtual support community of teachers on the Internet - Teachers.Net. We are very pleased to offer teachers everywhere free networking tools and resources on our growing website. Since March 1996, Teachers.Net and Administrators.Net have served to bridge the isolation gap so frequently experienced by classroom teachers and administrators. This site was created to provide a communication network for educators seeking to share and improve their professional lives. Our networking resources are free to teachers, and always will be.

The Teachers.Net Gazette is a virtual, interactive magazine for teachers. The content is largely supplied by T.Netters from all over the world, seeking to share their knowledge and experiences with other teachers and gain new ideas and insights into their profession. We thank all those who share and empower us with real experiences and lessons to enrich our real teaching communities. Your work is reaching more than 150,000 teachers each month.

The value of your Teachers.Net community has not escaped the media, and it's time for a little bragging. We are pleased to share that both USA Today and MSNBC named Teachers.Net as one of the "Best Bets in Education."(Feb. 2000). TopTenLinks.com has listed Teachers.Net as the first or second most popular site in education for more than two years straight now. I say this to let you know that you're at the right place. Bookmark the site, and tell a friend. We grow mostly by word of mouth, teachers who find the site useful tell their colleagues about the site. Feel free to post-and-print our homepage in your staff room, teachers will be supported at Teachers.Net

Now, for those interested in some of the details about this community, there is exciting news to share. As the topic of my doctoral dissertation at UCLA, I elected to study the benefits that virtual communities provide to teachers. Over 1,000 T.Netters participated in this study, which yielded dramatic support for the virtual community influence on operational and intellectual teacher development. In fact, the American Education Research Association (AERA) selected an article on the topic for presentation at their national conference in New Orleans last month. If you'd like more details, the paper is online presently at http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/etu/kovaric/virtualcommunities.pdf .

We welcome your input and feedback; in fact, we're counting on it for planning our next virtual resources. Send a letter to the editor, or contact us via feedback@teachers.net. Most of the resources you use at Teachers.Net were created in response to user feedback. Your suggestion will be integrated to assist the entire virtual community - your peers and colleagues. The network effect is positively shaping teacher interaction here at Teachers.Net.

Warmest regards,

Tony Bott, Ed.D.
Founder, teacher
Teachers.Net

 

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