|
|
|
Professional Development Resources
|
from Our Compassionate Educators and Teachers
|
|
|
When it comes to educational resources and effective teaching strategies, The English Teacher's Friend is the only name you need to know. To learn more about us, contact us today to speak with a member of our team.
|
Who Is the English Teacher's Friend?
My name is Tamara Doehring, and I was a lot like many of your students are. I didn't follow the route of many English teachers. Teaching was never on my list of "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up." When I was a high school student (back in the late 80s), we only needed a 1.5 GPA to graduate. I earned a whopping 1.75. I did not like school. It seemed pointless and boring. I also thought I could get by just fine without a college education. I was just like the reluctant learners of today, and was certainly not anyone's favorite student. I never expected to become a teacher, and never thought I would love it so much—but I did. |
 |
Years later, I went back to teach at the very same school from which I barely graduated. Within three years, I was chosen by my peers as Teacher of the Year. Teaching and learning has become a passion. I've always shared this enthusiasm with colleagues and students. But as much as I love teaching and working with students, it only took me ten short years in the classroom—and working with teachers across the state and country -- to witness the failing bureaucracy of our current educational system. I saw the increase of unnecessary and irrelevant burdens on teachers, while their expertise and insights were marginalized. The disturbing decline of student literacy, the emphasis on scores determining "great" teachers, and little support for innovative ways to teach this new digital generation alarmed me.
So I asked myself some important questions. Was it possible for me to leave the classroom, but still find ways to do the things in education I am still passionate about—teaching, learning, and encouraging change? The answer was yes. Then I asked, "Is there a way that I can do this, earn an income, and have time to pursue personal goals -- more time with my family, publish my writing, travel the country, work on an educational text, and do more research to support my teaching beliefs?" Again, the answer was yes.
In my first year out of the classroom I read, researched, taught, wrote, trained, and realized I could do more. I know I wanted to help English teachers with some of the same issues I'd faced. I asked important questions again. What is it that English teachers really need?
The answer: more time.
As all seriously dedicated teachers know, teaching is a lifestyle, not a clock-in-and-clock-out job. After ten years in the English classroom, I learned that the one thing teachers really need is more time -- not more unsolicited resources, textbooks, or directives, but time. The English Teacher's Friend is the result of my search—my answer to how I can help lighten the load, offer innovative and useful approaches to our challenges, and advocate for positive change for our educators and students. The English Teacher's Friend gives me the freedom to explore creative options for the problems we face and pass them on to the professionals who are dedicated to the daunting challenge of teaching our children to think and learn.
Fast Facts: Tamara Doehring
• National Board Certified teacher of English, formerly with Brevard County Schools (Florida) as an
English, reading, writing, journalism, literary magazine, and yearbook instructor; served as department
co-chair for 5 years.
• English Teacher of the Year, Florida Council of Teachers of English, 2007
• Developer and Trainer / English Teacher's Friend Workshops—Simple Solutions, Six Traits and
Beyond, Technology for the English Teacher, Among Friends Online Writing Workshops
• Trainer—(CRISS) Creating Independence through Student-owned Strategies, 6-Traits of Writing
Assessment, Reading Strategies, Summer FLARE Writing Seminar (publishing), and National Writing
Project (Writer's Notebook)
• President of the Brevard Council Teachers of English, 2003-2007
• District writing project/curriculum teams
• Editor, Florida English Journal; reviewer for publishers Pearson, AMSCO, EMC
• Freelance writer, published author
• M.A. in English, University of Central Florida |
|
Get in touch with our educational organization in Melbourne, Florida,
for professional development resources.
|
|
|
|
|
|
