Thursday, July 06, 2006

Virtual Learning Communities: A Joining of the Minds – Chris Toy, Brenda Dyck

I searched out the poster session about MiddleTalk because I wanted to meet some other MiddleWebbers. Chris Toy was manning the booth, and it was a joy to finally meet him. He posts so many good ideas and thoughtful reflections on MiddleTalk that I feel like I already know him. It was great to put a face to a name.

As I was chatting with him, several people visited the booth. I very happily boasted about the great professional development available in MiddleTalk and the incredibly supportive atmosphere within our community of learners. It was started about 8 years ago with John Norton and a grant he wrote. It is now sponsored by the National Middle School Association. This is an email listserve that is moderated and can be subscribed to in two formats, the regular email (about 20-35 messages a day) or in the digest version ( I prefer). So, for those of you who did not check it out, see the following websites:

www.middleweb.com (has archived conversations, topic lists, lists of blogs and lots of other great resources)

www.nmsa.org – National Middle School Association – a great organization for middle school teachers. To be a member of MiddleTalk, you must be a member of NMSA.


1 comment:

  1. Hey Suzanne,
    Thanks for sharing all of this NECC session info on your blog. Lots to chew on! I passed this on to the MiddleTalk listserv this evening.

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