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Orly has started the session reminding us about the topic we discussed in the last lesson which was the //pre-service teacher// education, and opening the new topic which is the //in-service teacher// education development. She opened the session with the request to describe our process of professional development; in other words to describe how we as teachers continue learning in order to develop. There were multiple answers, such as: Then, Orly introduced three questions related to educational/ professional development asking for our perspectives and introducing these aspects based on the literature. The three topics we discussed are explained in the following chart: (the second colomn shows our opinions, and the third one shows the literature)
 * Teacher education and professional development**
 * Attend offered courses; online and/ or face to face.
 * Reading articles.
 * MED studies.
 * Attend conferences.
 * Ask experienced teachers.
 * Watching different educational programs.
 * Join one of the professional organizations, such as ETNI.
 * Be in touch with other teachers from other schools.

should be included and we're not doing? || * Reading more in English. ü Up-to-date studies and new data about teaching. ü Not too theoretical. ü Provide practical ideas for the teachers plus methods and guidance. ü Collaboration between pre- service and in- service teachers. ü Done by professionals. ü Bring conclusions of latest studies. ü May be supplying these programs with practice. || ü Experiential. ü Based on teachers' needs. ü Based on present knowledge in the area. ü Collaborative. ü Relate to both theory and practice. ü On- going and intensive. ü Relates to the aspects of school cultures. ü Treats teachers respectfully. ü Accessible and inexpensive. ü Presents a model of effective teaching and learning. ü Offers opportunities for continuous learning: to continue learning after finishing the program. ||
 * ** questions ** ||
 * 1) What elements of teacher development
 * Attend conferences abroad.
 * Attend in-service courses.
 * Share lesson plans and ideas with other teachers.
 * Ask for feedback from principals and inspectors. || * //Being subject matter knowledge:// English language in specific, it also can be something else.
 * //Up-to-date methodology:// methodology keep changing, and thus it is important to follow the changes.
 * //Economic in centive.//
 * //Collaboration with colleagues:// sharing lesson plans and ideas for instance.
 * //Taking part in decision making and policy determination:// whether in school or ministry. ||
 * 2) What are the different way things can implemented? || * Reduce teaching hours in order to enable professional development.
 * More field experience.
 * Studying for the MED.
 * Motivation for self development.
 * Field experience should be of high quality. || * common responsibility: to be part of decision and policy making; to be active and assertive.
 * Accreditation for expert teachers.
 * Teachers network.
 * Teachers as researchers: teachers research their own subject, not only rely on professional academic researchers.
 * Collaboration between schools and universities/ colleges: to take part of courses in professional development schools. ||
 * 3) What are the characteristics of a good professional development program? || ü Answer the needs in school.

Regarding professional development Medalali had a nice claim that the ministry should give teachers the opportunity to join a conference abroad at least for once during the teachers' career. Orly liked the idea and agreed with her although, as she said, it would be expensive. **Professional Organization** This part of the discussion was opened by Orly by asking two questions: 1) What professional organizations do you belong to? __Answers:__ ETAI, high school teachers organization, Histadrut Hamorim.  2) What do you get out of belonging to them? __Answers:__ sharing knowledge and ideas, buying books, listening to experts in the field, workshops, meeting other teachers and listen to their experience. Then, we discussed contents of different definitions of //community// and we were asked to vote by the smiley face when agreeing upon it, or the blue face when disagreeing with it. It went like this: ü : mostly agree

Orly asked which one of the above we belong to and what characteristics are true for us. Samar gave the "family" as an axample of interdependent community that shares place and interests. Based on the literature, a community of practice has three characteristics: 1) The domain: to which practice people are committed, in our case English teaching. 2) The community: who share interests and engage according to strategies. 3) The practice: in our case it is teaching. It also has three dimensions:  1) Mutual engagement: people work together and help each other. 2) Joint enterprise: relates to something to do together. 3) A Shared repertoire: share ideas or material for instance. At the end, Orly introduced to us some examples of professional communities of practice for English teachers: The last two are similar, the difference is the origin; TESOL is American, whereas IATEFL is British. Orly closed the session by encouraging us to join these organizations since they are very helpful and nice.
 * Definitions brought by Orly || smily face || blue face ||
 * "People living in one particular area or people who are considered as a unit because of their common interests." (The Cambridge Dictionary) || ü || ü || It's not a new definition, and it is not the case nowadays. Main characteristics of communities according to literature, (Westheimer, 1998):
 * //Interdependence:// people depend on each other.
 * //Interaction/ participation//: to participate in activities.
 * Shared interests.
 * //Concern for individual and minority views:// care for each other and each others' points of view.
 * Meaningful relationships ||
 * A professional community: "A group of people who are socially interdependent, who participate together in discussion and decision making, and who share certain practices that both define the community and are nurtured by it." (Bella et al. 1985, p.333) || ü ||  || This definition is more specific to community of teachers. Orly asked us what makes it unique and different, based on it are we considered a community or a group? Samar said that we are a group in a community, depends on who you interact with. ||
 * "A group of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis." (Weneger, et al. 2004, p.4) || ü ||  ||   ||
 * ETAI
 * ETNI: an English teachers network: an organization in which teachers get mails sharing each others' ideas and experiences. Noga said it provides you with good ideas, and Orly said it provides you with practical ideas.
 * Contact
 * TESOL: an international organization. It stands for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Orly explained that if one is part of ETAI then he is automatically a part of TESOL.
 * IATEFL: International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language.