I admit, when I first heard about Twitter, I thought the concept was ridiculous. Shooting a message of 140 characters or less into the world? Why? Who would care? Since my initial incredulity, Twitter was to become one of the predominant social media platforms, one with a markedly professional bent. Many authors, businesses, marketing consultants, tech… Continue reading Free Professional Development! Tweet All About It.
Category: social networking
The Secret Ingredient to Creating Engaged Writers
I’ve been thinking about student engagement in writing workshop for the past couple of weeks. I started thinking about it as I was reading Guy-Write, Ralph Fletcher’s new book. My thoughts about engagement continued as I sat in Maggie Beattie Roberts’s class about technology and media at the summer Reading Institute. Everything came to a… Continue reading The Secret Ingredient to Creating Engaged Writers
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Twitter Tips
A few days ago Linda Baie asked me to share some ideas for using Twitter. I remember thinking the same thing. Remember the reason I started tweeting in the first place? I wanted to learn a new genre. What I didn't know I would find was incredible professional development and relationships with a variety of… Continue reading Twitter Tips
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Tech Workshop — Cool Things Before the Presentation
My friend June Yazel and I are putting together a workshop called: Tackling Technology in a Writer's World. We are planning two different versions, one for elementary teachers and another for content area secondary teachers. Although similar, the secondary version will focus more on research and informational writing while the elementary version will focus more… Continue reading Tech Workshop — Cool Things Before the Presentation
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Texting in the Middle of the Night
I recently accepted "friend requests" from some of my former students who are now in high school. I've found myself playing the role of parent more than once, telling them to go to sleep (when I was up late feeding my daughter), to watch their language, and to think before they post a status update… Continue reading Texting in the Middle of the Night
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Social Bookmarking
I attended a workshop led by Troy Hicks yesterday. It was exceptional. Everyone brought their own laptops and he led us through day of trying things out, setting things up, and thinking things through. One of the new resources I learned about are the Common Craft videos on YouTube which teach about different tech tools… Continue reading Social Bookmarking
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Figment: Where Social Networking and Literacy Meet
Figment.com just came out of beta and launched yesterday. This website is for teenagers to use to read other people's writing and to share their own writing. Figment allows teenagers to read and write using their computer or using their cell phone. To learn more about Figment and the possibilities that it could have for… Continue reading Figment: Where Social Networking and Literacy Meet
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Twitter in Classrooms
One of the first people I addressed in a tweet was @CAFirstGrade, Julie Simmons' first grade classroom in Ohio. They were using Twitter via an iPad during their independent writing time. Later in the week, they tweeted during shared writing using a SmartBoard. It was fun to tweet with them and gain insight into their… Continue reading Twitter in Classrooms
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Twitter Update
After three days of tweeting, my life is changed! A special thanks to those who left a comment and sent out a tweet about us. Wow, what a warm welcome to a new community. I can't say that I have a complete understanding of the genre (exactly what is a hashtag?), but I do know… Continue reading Twitter Update
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Make Writing Workshop Work Better
I will be consulting with a couple of teachers next month who have questions about how to make Writing Workshop work better for their special needs students. One teacher has a student with Asperger's Syndrome, while the other teacher has students with other learning disabilities. Since I've never taught a student diagnosed with Asperger's, I've… Continue reading Make Writing Workshop Work Better
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Join the Conversation on Facebook
A few months ago we started a Two Writing Teachers Page on Facebook as a way to share a little more. While we often use it to link to new pieces we've written on this blog, we also use it to direct you to thought-provoking articles about education. It's neat to watch some of the… Continue reading Join the Conversation on Facebook
