American Go E-Journal

The American Go Foundation has created a newsletter targeted at go teachers. The “Sensei” newsletter addresses an audience of “enthusiasts who are teaching go in after-school programs, at libraries or community centers or during classroom visits,” editor Roy Laird tells the E-Journal, “professional educators who recognize that go is a valuable classroom enrichment activity that links naturally to core curriculum content; and anyone else interested in go instruction.” With an estimated 200 active teaching programs in the US, the AGF hopes the newsletter will enable this growing community to network with each other. “The intention is that teachers themselves will provide most of the content,” says Laird. The first issue, published last week, describes the AGF’s partnership with the One Laptop Per Child Project and reports the results of the AGF’s annual program survey. Also featured are several new resources for teachers, including the AGF Lesson Plan Cooperative — a clearinghouse for go-related lesson plans – and the new “Go In The Classroom” page, which explores the effects of go on cognitive and personal development. “It’s a sort of ‘sales pitch’ for teachers who are discovering go for the first time,” said Laird. Teachers may also be interested in 200 Go Puzzles For Beginners created by Paul Smith for the British Go Association, which Smith recently agreed to allow the AGA to publish online for the first time. Click here to view the first issue of Sensei; to subscribe, email agf@usgo.org