The BEST English Teaching Resources - Purchasing Pointers 1/3

I love a good book about teaching. Teaching specific skills, teaching particular types of texts, teaching summarising, comprehension, literary theory, vocabulary... etc. I find, that sometimes, when I am not sure of how to reinforce an existing skill, teach a new concept, or I am just stuck (teacher's block?) I just flick through one of the texts in my professional library and I am able to come up with an idea. I tend to be a little more judicious when purchasing texts these days. I have come up with a few lists: firstly, purchasing tips, a list of texts I have found useful, and texts I would like to add to my collection. Here is list #1.

Purchasing Tips:
Now, there are many things a teacher will inevitably purchase during term time - pens, whiteboard markers, post-it notes, but investing in a quality teaching resource can be inspiring and well worth your hard-earned cash!

1. Consider what it is you want from a resource - general blackline masters that can be used across many different units, specific resources for specific units (such as Advertising, a particular novel/film), research based articles about teaching, approaches to aspects of the syllabus (like creative writing or essay writing). Teaching texts provide very different things, so be sure you are getting what you need.

2. Well known authors of teaching publications can be an indication of the quality of a resource - perhaps you have read a paper they have written in a professional association's journal, another of their books, perhaps you follow them on Twitter or Instagram and you know they have great insight, maybe you have seen them present a workshop or keynote at a conference. Sometimes this information can give you an idea of whether you have a similar teaching philosophy and whether their ideas will enhance your teaching.

3. Publishers have different focuses when it comes to educational materials. I know I favour the publications of some publishers over others. This is sometimes because of content, layout, or ease of use. Many publishers have extra resources available online when you use the download code in the book and this can be extra value. CDS with extra resources are also a welcome accompaniment - especially as resources often need to be adapted for a different context.

4. The place of publication can determine the usability of a resource. Sometimes texts written for other states/territories/countries are very useful and sometimes the contexts are just too different for the ideas to be feasible. I have a few resources that I thought would be useful, but they're not. The focus of each state's syllabus is different, even with the implementation of a National Curriculum in Australia, each state has approached the document in slightly different ways. So, be mindful that resources written for other contexts, may be more suited to those places.

5. You know your students - sometimes resources aimed at 'Year 9' or 'Year 7' may not suit your students in those grades. Perhaps your students need more extension or more support. Education is not a one size fits all - so if you use a resource from a text, make sure you are able to remove the grade label, the last thing you want to do is give your Year 8 students a clearly labelled Year 7 resource.