OneStopEnglish

http://www.onestopenglish.com/

I believe that teachers should constantly be on the lookout for new techniques and fresh ideas for their classroom, not only for their students, but for themselves as well. Not only is this site a great resource for teaching literature, but, to my pleasant surprise, provides a section for second language learners. It provides support for teachers, lesson plans, and even a decent FAQ section. I also found value in the little things, like a grammar section, that also includes references and lesson plans for vocabulary. I also found something else I thought was great, Dictionary Skills and resources to help students learn how to properly utilize a dictionary! The reason I think this is so great is because I don’t think dictionaries are dead at all, and that we should still use them. While the Internet does bring us instant gratification, this blog is a perfect example of the exact opposite of that. It believes in the power of a dictionary! Also, this website has an active network of teachers that not only participate in a forum if they choose, but also lesson plan contests! You can share your lesson plan ideas that have a new theme every week, and I can’t help but be intrigued with this week’s theme, “We'd especially like to hear from you if you have any lesson ideas based on religious, cultural, historical or just plain silly festivals that take place where you live”. It also provides suggestions as to how to start sharing lesson plans with your own colleagues. This site looks like a great resource because it also provides links to teaching blogs and even pod casts! All these factors that I have uncovered while exploring the website are the reasons why I chose it, because it seems like a truly useful resource for future teachers.