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=**R. A.T. S - Really Awesome Teaching Stories**=

In my 20 something.. years of teaching I've worked with some amazing colleagues. You know the ones... inspirational, enthusiastic, energetic, observant, dedicated, empathic, metacognitive, positive, intuitive, creative, perceptive, reflective, risk-taking, problem-solving, professional and powerful educators etc... and they all had a sense of humour. The kind of people you'd love to hate, (except they've also got great interpersonal skills, duh). We all possess these qualities (OK - to varying degrees !!!) and every so often WE SHINE. Think about those sparkling moments; that instant when it all comes together and you finally connect with that kid, when something happens in the classroom that looks suspiciously like engaged learning, when students take off in unexpected and totally satisfying ways and you think fondly back to the reasons you went teaching in the first place. Those special instants when you wish someone else HAD been watching so you could share the moment. Well, here's your chance. Our profession is all about making a difference and we'd all like to hear about YOUR moments. So, do the necessary tweaking to protect peoples dignity and anonymity ( disguise the names etc) and add your stories to our RATS wiki. Only members can edit, but all can drop in to read...and yes, **YOU can write your story anonymously ;-)** Don't be shy - who knows, your story might inspire someone else, and that in itself is worth it ! media type="youtube" key="1wuSaNCIde4?version=3" height="360" width="480"

Here's a link to that short vid put together by lecturers at Lesley University (USA). A parody of the Monster.com commercial.
 * [|Teacher Movie]** - **"When I become a teacher ..."**

__How to Contribute__
To get started, you've got to be a member. Click on the join button (top right hand corner and follow the directions). An email will be automatically sent to the administrator (Donna) who will either ....begin an indepth investigation of your personal life & details or ...smile gratefully, tick your name off our educators list and get back to work. You will be sent a return email - just click on the link (to acknowledge your email address is correct) and duh dah ... you're a contributing member. Lucky, eh ? (We have a secret handshake too ...).Once a member you can edit any page, tweak things around, add your own stuff - anything you think the highly professional members of this space might be keen on. Podcasts are an especially good idea.

__Getting Started__
To get started, click on the 'edit' link on each page (except the home page) to add content to that page. The menu is at the top of the page while you edit.You'll probably want to put a line bar between your post and other peoples. Then, don't forget to click **"save".**You and other contributors can also comment on pages using the 'discussion' link at the top of every page.