Technology gives us all choices and decisions to make. Big decisions. How can we welcome technology in our classrooms? Technology can be a new way of doing the same thing. Will we seek apps that allow our students to make choices in creating and sharing with others, or will we seek apps that do the same old thing in a different way?
A class hub can make all the difference for digital writing and learning!
My time at the New York State English Council (NYSEC) Conference through snapshots!
Without a notebook, my great ideas are going unrecorded and, ultimately, forgotten.
Digital tools can transform your teaching by allowing students to have a writing community beyond the classroom walls, be innovative, make meaningful connections to other writers and students, have more resources readily available, and have true, authentic reasons for writing.
In Assessing Students’ Digital Writing:Protocols For Looking Closely, Troy Hicks and a team of forward looking educators have given us lenses through which to appreciate and evaluate the type of digital creativity that students seem adept at…
The heart map is a great tool for helping students find personally meaningful topics, but used year after year, it might feel a little stale. Writing territory maps is another option!
Get started organizing your mentor texts with four digital tools.
You’ve got to practice writing to teach writing!
At last August’s Summer Institute, Cornelius Minor, teacher extraordinaire and staff developer at TC’s Writing and Reading Project, gave an unforgettable presentation on technology in the classroom which I wrote about on my… Continue reading
With the Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge just around the corner, perhaps some of you are thinking more than ever about starting a class blog just for writing. Over the past few… Continue reading
Two of the sessions I attended at NCTE in Boston helped me think about ways two digital tools could be meaningfully integrated into early childhood and elementary school classrooms to engage young writers. The “Exploring Collaboration of Multimodal Literacies in Early Childhood: Digital Filmmaking, Designing, and Co-Authoring” panel discussed the way digital video cameras could enhance learning, while two of the presenters in “Writing Workshop Is for All Students: Using Visuals, Oral Language, and Digital Tools to Maximize Success and Independence for English Language Learners” suggested the incorporation of digital cameras.
One of the fantastic sessions I attended at NCTE was called “Beyond Classroom Walls: Honoring Voices of Young Readers.” It was led by Julie Johnson of Raising Readers and Writers, Katie Keier of… Continue reading
Often when I’m working with teachers, I get the question: How do you know? This can be in response to a number of things: minilesson ideas, conference teaching points, share sessions, anchor charts,… Continue reading
Martha Horn is coming to NE Indiana on October 14, hosted by the All-Write Consortium. I’m super excited to hear her thoughts about teaching our youngest writers. If you are interested in attending,… Continue reading
One of my favorite parts of my job is I am privileged to a lot of professional development. Often when I travel to conferences, I attend with our district reading coach,… Continue reading
This spoke to me from my Twitter feed today: As educators standing in this place in our field, we have a choice. We can look out and see problems and despair or possibility… Continue reading
We’ve been reading How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills (check out Tad’s website) since its release last summer. It is one of my son’s favorite books. He loves dogs and reading,… Continue reading
I joined Twitter at the beginning of October. What began as an experiment in learning a new genre has become one of the best professional development experiences of my entire career. I’ve been… Continue reading
As we venture into teaching writing in authentic ways, it is important to communicate with parents our teaching decisions. When using technology in writing and reading workshops, communication with parents becomes imperative. When… Continue reading
