Chmelyk,+Lori

 Deliverable #3
Dear ELAC Provincial Executive,

It has been my goal, since becoming Greater Edmonton RegionalPresident, to increase membership and involvement within our regional. Over the last year, I have found that themeans of technology and email have greatly increased membership involvement andparticipation in PD sessions. It is myhope that I can continue with this trend within the ELAC population byimplementing and maintaining a blog for the chapter. In general terms, a blog is an online community where people canpost and view comments left by other users. Followers are able to view discussions, search for information and be apart of a community.

This blog, which is free to use, will be a place for members torefer to for information such as conference dates, PD sessions the regional ishosting, lesson ideas, and a place for professional conversations to take placeas well as much more. I envision the GreaterEdmonton Regional ELAC’s blog looking like an online community where ELAC membersin the far northern communities of Alberta can feel connected to other ELAteachers or beginning teachers can refer to it to seek information from moreexperienced teachers. This is a placewhere all ELA teachers will find necessary and pertinent information; a placethat will serve all of their ELAC needs!

This blog will fit in with way that education is heading; the 21stCentury way. I believe councils likeours need to keep up with the different times that education is facing rightnow. No longer do people receive mailout invitations to events; this is slow and costly. People are connected through the internet atwork all day long. For example, andinvitation to a PD session can be sent out and RSVP’s can be received withinmoments. It is for this reason that I believean Greater Edmonton Regional ELAC blog will flourish. Bob Dylan once said, “These times, they are achangin’” and I think we need to begin to change our ways as well.

There are many blogs that are online right now that teachersfrequently check. One of these blogs is [] This blog is geared towards teachersonly. It is a ‘one stop’ for teacherslooking for information, lesson ideas or some inspiration. A second, very useful blog, is []which summarizes and instructs teachers how to use the new Web 2.0 tools thatare available for them to use in their classroom. So often now, teachers feel that they arelearning slower than their students when it comes to technology; there is somuch information out there that they think they cannot possibly keep up. It is blogs like the aforementioned that helpteachers muddle through all that is out there and pick out what they believe willbe useful in their classroom. The third andfinal blog I would like to draw your attention to is the 21stCentury Fluency Project blog which is located at [] This blog includes all things 21stCentury. It is humorous, insightful andinformative. Many of the informationthat is found on this blog can be included in staff meetings, when creatingschool goals, right in the classroom, or as an interesting read for an educatorin the evening. All three of these blogsare places for teachers to refer to based on the different topics and their interests. A Greater Edmonton Regional ELAC would be aplace for all ELAC and ELA information to be posted for our members to refertoo.

A roadblock I see occurring is that of the ATA Constitution andthe ability of a specialist council to run a blog without it being sanctionedby the association. Blogs are monitoredby the administration on the site, and so, I, as the President, would need toensure that all conversations on the blog and information that is posted, iswell within the ATA Code of Conduct. Although this will be a lofty job, I think the benefits of having a blogwill outweigh the work that will go into it.

I believe the best blogging site that is suited towards the GreaterEdmonton Regional ELAC blog is through a site called Blogger. This website is totally free and VERY easy touse. There are tutorials available onlinefor people to watch to learn how to use the blog. The interface is very user friendly as well;navigating the site should not pose a problem to anyone who visits the ELACblog.

I hope that within the next year, the number of emails that I sendout to ELAC members will reduce drastically because teachers will refer to andseek out information on their own, rather than have the information given tothem. I hope that the Greater EdmontonRegional ELAC blog will begin to gain new followers over the course of theyear, with people inviting their friends and so on. If this idea works for the Edmonton Regional,I do not see any reason why Central and Calgary could also not create a blogfor their members to follow.

I hope you take my proposal into consideration and I look forwardto discussing this idea soon.

Sincerely,

Lori Chmelyk Greater Edmonton Regional ELAC President

**Deliverable #2 #2 ** “A communication and interactive tool to benefit ELA teachers who are members of the Greater Edmonton English Language Arts Council” I am hoping that the blog will start to ‘take off’ by the end of September/beginning of October as that is when the Beginning Teachers Conference is and I hope to get the word out there. I am also planning on holding our first Professional Development day in early October and this is where I hope to reach many experienced teachers (and possibly the ones who will be the hardest to reign in!) || As the year progresses and our specialist council begins more activities and more information becomes available, I will continue to email out information and the link. It is my hope by the end of the year, the number of emails I have to send out will drastically reduce. I also plan on having the link available to all new teachers at the Beginning Teachers Conference where I will be presenting. Hopefully, these new teachers will see the blog as the new 21st Century way of communicating with other ELA teachers. || If no teachers comment on a specific topic, I may have to re-evaluate the necessity of the topic and create new ones as requested by the members. || - weekly online traffic will increase without having to send the link and prompt members to stop by and check out the blog - teachers will share the link with fellow colleagues and the word will get out - positive feedback will be provided to me and other ELA teachers about the usefulness of the blog - other ELAC regionals will follow suite with creating their own blogs ||
 * ** Action Plan: ** || As membership to specialist councils begins August 31 of the new school year, it is my goal to have the blog up and running so the website can be sent out immediately to ELAC members
 * ** How I plan to use the blog: ** || I plan to use this blog in three main ways:
 * 1) As a platform for invitations to PD sessions and conferences
 * 2) As a place for teachers to seek new information and share their own ideas; to collaborate.
 * 3) As a place for beginning ELA teachers to meet other teachers and gain new insights or lesson ideas.
 * 4) As a place where teachers in the northern parts of Alberta can refer to and feel more connected with other ELA teachers around the province. ||
 * ** Potential Trials: ** || At the beginning of the year, I will send out the link to the ELAC blog inviting teachers to follow the activities of the Greater Edmonton Regional. Before inviting these teachers, I will ensure there are links set up and it is easy to follow to the different links that I would like people to begin commenting on and contributing to. I would like to see it as a place where I do not have to constantly remind people to refer to it, but rather a place that they check back regularly too.
 * ** Tests: ** || As mentioned above, I will already have some posts created where I hope people will be able to easily find the different topics that are available to them to become part of.
 * ** Missteps: ** || There are a few situations that could possibly occur:
 * 1) Teachers will be too dependent on the emails from me and forget to check back on the blog.
 * 2) Only a few teachers will contribute to the blog, therefore potentially limiting the amount of information that can be shared.
 * 3) It will not be an approved way to communicate with teachers according to the Alberta Teachers Association constitution. ||
 * ** Successes: ** || There are many indicators that the Greater Edmonton Regional blog has ‘made it’. These successes are:
 * ** Future Goals: ** || My ultimate goal for the Greater Edmonton ELAC blog would be that an online community would be created where ELA teachers around Alberta would refer to the blog to seek information and support their fellow colleagues. I would also hope that the other Regional’s, and possibly the Provincial, would follow suite and create a blog to support their teachers. Our world is on its way to becoming very digital, and I think we as leaders within our profession are the outlet to which this can become possible. ||