Hello John - and welcome to the PD List!

Thanks for sharing your reasons for joining us - we're glad to have you
on board. Sharing promising practices is certainly a big part of what
this list is about.

Now that you've found us, hopefully we can provide you some of the
support you seek.  So what resources have you found helpful in enhancing
your understanding and abilities in professional development thus far?
This might be print or web resources, individuals, associations,
experiences with participating in or providing PD, etc.

Best wishes, Jackie

Jackie Taylor, Adult Literacy Professional Development List Moderator,
jataylor at utk.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of John
Warrior
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 4:50 PM
To: ProfessionalDevelopment at nifl.gov
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 701] Introductions

Hello to everyone,

I am an ESL Instructor at Tulsa Community College. I earned my Masters
degree in teaching ESL from Oral Roberts University, here in Tulsa,
after
retiring from the Army. Several things have drawn me to this particular
list. 

The first reason is personal. Our student population includes local high
school graduates, recent immigrants and established members of the
community. Because of this any new ideas or techniques that I can learn
of,
use and pass on to my peers will increase our effectiveness in the
classroom.

The next reason I have is that I have a reputation for being creative in
the
classroom and a wizard with technology. This is an area that I feel I
can
interact and contribute in with other list members.

My third reason is personal weakness. I was almost promoted to the
position
of department coordinator, I was one of the last three candidates, and I
need to enhance my understanding and abilities in professional
development
so that if the opportunity comes again, I will be better prepared. I
have
found it is easier to learn from other people's successes and failures
then
to go blindly ahead trying to figure it out alone.

Finally, I am considering some options for pursuing my doctorate and I
chose
this list and a few others to help me refine and solidify my choices.
One of
my choices is in educational psychology, with a focus on teaching ELL
students with learning or emotional disorders. I stumbled into this area
because I had students with problems come into my classroom and I asked
my
peers, "What should I do?" They said, "I haven't seen that before, why
don't
you...?" So I asked others and searched around to find the few that have
seen the need to merge ESL and Special Education for some of the
students in
our schools. So, what I learn along the way I will want to learn how to
share it effectively with other instructors and administrators. 

I hope this gives you a brief look at who I am and why I am here. If you
have any further questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks,
John Warrior
Tulsa Community College
Tulsa, Oklahoma
John.r.warrior at cox.net



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