Memberships

I got a nice paycheck from all of the torturous hours at B&N during the holidays, and I decided to spend my first bit of holiday money on a series of memberships--both to help me as a teacher and to beef up my resume. (Next step is to get a position at the Minnesota Literacy Council; I am emailing today.)

I joined NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) and got a subscription to English Journal and English Education. The Council Chronicle comes along with it. I joined as a student, so it was significantly cheaper; I don't want to imagine how much it will be when I join as a teacher!

I joined IRA (International Reading Association).

I am also sending a check to join the MRA (Minnesota Reading Association) as it does not have an online option, but I'm having trouble figuring out which council I am supposed to join. Twin Cities, yes, but I am still leaving my options open for Winona--so do I join the Southeast... or do I just join the Twin Cities for now and add a new one later? It's only five dollars to add another (and as I see the map, it looks like the Winona area and the Rochester area would be covered, which are the target areas), so I think I'll go ahead and do that!

If anyone knows of other good organizations to belong to as a future teacher or current teacher, keep me updated! Also, I'll try to post upcoming conferences, since those are also great resume builders and will cover gaps in teacher training programs (I know I have a few from my own).