We English teachers are fortunate. Teachers of English are the only teachers in this country who have a professional association. Belonging to your professional organization is part of being a professional. Lawyers,doctors, engineers and others all have their professional organizations and the members of those professions whom I know wouldn’t consider NOT belonging to their professional association. One way of expressing our professionalism is joining and participating in ETAI. For me, belonging to ETAI is a matter of professional pride. In fact, one of the first things I did assoon as I found out about ETAI when I was retraining as an English teacher was to join. Before becoming an English teacher, I was in special education. There is nothing comparable to ETAI for teachers in special education. But the only way we can ensure ETAI’s survival as the vital, active organization it is, is with members.
Membership dues are 185 NIS per year. Each member invests less than 15.50 NIS amonth, about the cost of a cup of coffee in a café, in their professional affiliation and in keeping ETAI alive. And what breathes life into our organization is the family of dedicated members and volunteers who attend events, present, network and write articles to be a part of the lifetime of shared professional development that ETAIoffers us. So, all of you ETAI members –take pride in your professionalism and in your professional association. And to all of you not-yet members, join us. Become a member!
And now for updates:
1) The National SummerConference took place at a new venue, The Academy High School on the Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University,and was preceded by a terrific pre-conference event sponsored by the British Council. Adele Raemer initiated what we hope will become a tradition – a collaborative newsletter in which conference participants write about the sessions they attended. You can read the newsletter here: https://sites.google.com/site/
2) The ETAI Forum. The upcoming issue of the ETAI Forum is now going to print. Unfortunately, it has been a while since the last issue was published. In last summer’s newsletter, the names of the new editors were announced. However, both found that they were unable to put out the Forum due to personal circumstances. Renee Wahl along withYehezkel Bund have stepped up to the challenge of editing the ETAI Forum. We wish them much luck! Please consider submitting an article. You can find the current call for articles on the ETAI website: http://www.etai.org.il/.
3) ETAI onFacebook. We have had a Facebook pagefor a while. However, we only have about14 members. Please visit the ETAI Facebook page and join the group: https://www.facebook.com/
4) ETAI is part ofSEETA, South Eastern Europe Teachers’ Associations. SEETA runs online events, webinars, andon-going forums. In January there was a very successful TA-members-only online course offered. You can join SEETA by visiting the site: http://www.seeta.eu/.
5) ETAI members have been offered a three-month trial membership for abcteach with the option of joining at a group rate when the trial membership expires. Contact the ETAI office (etaioffice@gmail.com or call 02-500-1844) by September 2nd to take advantage of this opportunity!
6) ETAI is an affiliateof TESOL International Organization and an associate member of IATEFL, InternationalAssociation of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. ETAI members are eligible for basic individual membership in IATEFL at a fee significantly lower than the regular individual membership rate. ETAI members can contact the office for a membership form.