TNT: Dynamite Reviews from Tennessee ‘N’ Texas

I want to take you on a little journey with me. We’ll travel the path I took which resulted in two reviews of my site, Inspiration Lane, being published in the recent newsletters of two ESOL teacher groups in the USA: the Tennessee Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (known as "TNTESOL") and the Texas Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages, Region III (known as “TexTESOL III”). By the way, for those of you learning English -- the “N” in this essay title means “and” but is not commonly used in English (except in the phrase “Rock ‘n’ Roll").

Our journey begins with initial contact between those teacher groups and me. I have to say both TNTESOL and TexTESOL III were very professional in promptly responding to a teacher query such as mine, requesting a review of a web site.

Not only did they promptly respond, but whether they had ever reviewed a web site before was irrelevant. They were each willing to explore the possibility of publishing a review of my site. I give them a lot credit for that. Such a spirit of moving forward is a much different mode of thinking than what I initially experienced here in Florida, with its Sunshine State TESOL newsletter, as I mentioned in my essay last month. In this state, Florida’s statewide contact told me he was simply “unaware” of any web site reviews existing in their online publication. There’s not a whole lot a teacher such as myself can do with that kind of response.

Moving along on our journey, there’s an interesting difference in the way TNTESOL and TexTESOL III then went about getting a review of my site written and submitted for publication. The Tennessee group worked on the review internally, while the Texas group outsourced the task.

Consequently, in Tennessee, the job of reviewing my site went to a Tennessee teacher I do not know. She happened to also be a board member of TNTESOL. Meanwhile, in Texas, Tex TESOL III was willing to consider publishing a review, but assigned me the task of finding another teacher to review my site.

I did find a teacher willing to do that, but she is not a member of TexTESOL III -- nor required to be one. I had been chatting on email with a Georgia ESOL teacher about my site, and this was during the summer. She then very kindly agreed to write a review to submit to Texas. I did not see her review prior to her emailing it to TexTESOL III. Consequently, the Texas group published a review written by a teacher in Georgia -- not Texas. But, that was the procedure of TexTESOL III, at least at that time.

I personally prefer the procedure of the Tennessee group, and how they handled it internally. But some might say the Texas method has advantages too, in that a teacher I ask to review my site is very likely to write an upbeat review. However, I don’t mind not having that guarantee, and being “peer reviewed” when I put new work and new ideas out there as a teacher. I think you have to be in a risk-taking mode if you want feedback that has value.

In my view, both reviews were well written and very positive, and also provided valuable feedback for me. It was fascinating for me to read about my site, in greater depth, from the perspective of another teacher. I often get brief positive comments from teachers, but reviews from teachers require a longer format, provide more details, and offer greater clarity. In short, it was terrific to read both these reviews – just dynamite!

As we move into the homestretch here, I just want to point out how helpful it is for the newsletter to then tell the web site creator/teacher the review has now been published. Once I learned two reviews had been written by teachers, and published in these newsletters, I created a new section on my site. This, in turn, helps that group attracts new members, in addition to saying to the world: “Our group wants to know about web sites and new technology!” And that’s a wonderful attitude to have in education.

Finally, it was a pleasure for me to read the entire newsletters of these two teacher groups. I want to spend more time reading their newsletters in the future because: Tennessee and Texas Region III (central Texas) seem to be very interested in what’s happening right now! A sample of their published newsletter work is below - and, yes, these are the reviews of my site, Inspiration Lane. Home at last!


Susan Alyn, M.A., also known as "summer," is an ESOL certified teacher in Florida, USA, and the creator and editor of Inspiration Lane.


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From the TNTESOL Newsletter, Fall 2007, Vol. 28, Issue Number 4:

Website Review: Inspiration Lane

The top of the page on this website features a “Quote of the Day,” “This Day in History,” and an “Article of the Day,” all of which are convenient discussion starters for older English Learners. The “Sing Your Grammar Lessons” section features e-postcards with Elvis songs that can be programmed with teacher-created messages to inspire a fun way to learn grammar.

The “Comic Creator” section fast became my favorite. Students and teachers alike can create Garfield (and other) comic strips, frame by frame, adding speech bubbles and characters from a large bank of graphics and tools. The “Write a Caption” section features a photograph and encourages viewers of the site to, as the title indicates, write a caption that will be posted the next day. Captions written by others may also be discussed to improve writing or add necessary details.

The “Cooking State” section focuses on reading and following directions, and “listing, categorizing, and organizing.” This section features a link that would not easily be accessible to language learners unless accompanied by an experienced web-page reader; however, the Grocery List Link opens the door to many activities that show how to organize information.

There are many other featured sections, such as “Museum Town: Ready to Research,” that contains an excellent link for exploring museums in other countries; the “Building Art: Are You a Poet?” section encourages teachers and students to try their hand at poetry; the “Five Minutes of Fun” section contains several links to sites for transitional activities or review games—a handy tool!

The right side of the page features 12 ways to use the site. Overall, I found the site well-organized, easy to access, and mostly user-friendly.


Reviewer: Sunita Watson, ESL Teacher,
Barfield Elementary School Murfreesboro, TN
[Note: Sunita is also a TNTESOL Board Member]


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From the TexTESOL III Newsletter, October 2007:

Website Review

Website URL: www.inspirationlane.blogspot.com
Name: Inspiration Lane

Inspiration Lane is a free interactive website created by an ESOL certified teacher in Florida for all levels of English language instruction in the classroom. Whether an instructor is working with ESL, ESOL, or even EFL, he or she can enjoy the gourmet of information available at this site.

Inspiration Lane features quotes, moments of historical significance, and daily articles. Each section is written in straightforward English and supported by graphics to help convey understanding and facilitate discussion. Students will find both informative articles by experts and stories written by language-learning peers. The creator, Susan Alyn, also frequently interacts with the reader by posting questions, recipes, links, and surveys.

Even though the site is heavy with opportunities to acquire content-based knowledge, real world vernacular is not forgotten. English language learners can find dialogues to teach conversation, explanations of slang, and use of idioms on this fun site. Self quizzes are available and activities such as spelling practice and vocabulary games beckon the student to challenge himself to new levels.

On Inspiration Lane’s constantly changing and colorful homepage, students have the opportunity to choose the language in which the page will display, making the site useful for those who are just beginning to acquire English. The content of the site can be used individually as students finish daily work, or whole-group in the classroom by projecting onto a whiteboard or smart board.


Reviewer: April Roberts is an ESOL teacher in the Georgia Public School system. She has been teaching for five years, primarily working with middle school and high school ESOL students.