Participation in a professional online community

I have joined the NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English). Along with my membership, I also subscribed to English Journal and Voices From the Middle. I have received one issue of Voices, so far, but have yet to get a hard copy of EJ. I suppose I'll have to call someone...

As a member of NCTE, I have joined about a dozen communities within the site. Bulletin boards focusing on women in the teaching field, teaching reading in middle school, pre-professional development for upcoming teachers, teaching writing and technology are examples of some of the communities that I have joined.

I have not actually contributed to any of the discussions that I have perused in these online communities. I didn't really want to "post just to post"--I would like to actually have a high interest if I'm going to jump in...plus, if I'm going to comment, I want to comment on a fresh topic that is still "alive." A lot of the bulletins showed the most recent post as being a year ago or longer.

My favorite part, so far, of being a member of the NCTE is reading the professional articles that are posted. There are some really great ideas that I will certainly use in my own class someday. I have read many articles from EJ on the site, but I would still prefer to flip through the glossy pages from the comfort of my recliner. I really should call someone...

PS--Why is the spellcheck not working?? How can I convince people that I'm worthy to teach English if I don't have spellcheck????