Hats off to Lee and Sachi LeFever, who recently pulled together another gem of a video that I know many teachers and students will appreciate. If you like the engaging simplicity of this brief “how-to”, be sure to visit the Common Craft website, where the perplexing is made plain on a regular basis.
My sister-in-law prompted an interesting conversation over sausage and pierogi yesterday morning, in response to a question I asked in Facebook last week: Does a school district have the right to scan students’ Facebook pages and assign consequences to those that express dislike for certain teachers or use profanity in any way? Linda Clinton tossed this question over to the Edjurist for response. Many of my colleagues question the ethics behind such behavior, and when…
Tom Romano moved the hearts and minds of many writers and teachers with the release of his book Blending Genre, Altering Style nine years ago. As a teacher, I was drawn to multigenre writing because it challenged my students’ traditional notions around style, organization, voice, and theme. Multigenre writing is disruptive in nature, and as a result, it’s incredibly engaging to read. Creating multigenre pieces requires an appreciation of each genre’s effect on a reader…
Earlier this year, I had the chance to work with Rob Currin, a high school English teacher from Alden, NY. Although I was only scheduled to work with him briefly, he was invited to keep in touch with me and connect to my larger learning network on Twitter and in Ning. As a result, we’ve remained in touch and continued to learn together all year. Rob’s engagement with social networking tools for professional purposes has…
This just made my day last week. My friend Monika and I were chatting about writing and kids over coffee last week when she shared some concerns about her own little boy, whose name is Luke, and his disinterest in the whole process. Our conversation wasn’t long, but she picked my brain a bit about how to engage him as a writer, and I tossed out a couple of ideas. Mostly, I just suggested that…
Earlier this fall, Rob Currin asked if I would drop by his room and help him get started using Wikispaces. Kids were streaming in and out, cracking jokes and making him smile. It took about thirty seconds to realize how much he enjoyed his work and how much his students enjoyed his class. We hopped on his computer and within a few moments, he had an account and a few different ideas for how he…
Yesterday, I spoke about the power of small moment stories. Today is Spread the Word to End the Word Awareness Day, and as I was contemplating this post, I remembered Soeren’s speech. It’s built around a moving small moment story. I hope you’ll watch it, and I hope you’ll share it with your students. Please invite them to sign the pledge and to spread the word in their own way.That’s what Noah Gray is doing…
Teachers often ask me what all this “21st Century” hype is all about, and while I agree that there is a sort of hype surrounding it all, and while I tend not to use that phraseology too often because of that, I definitely appreciate the need for some sort of distinction. I think it’s a good thing that people’s curiosities are peaked. I also think it’s a good thing that they recognize that something is…
The very first time I submitted myself to any sort of peer review, I was a freshman in college. For weeks, I poured my energy onto the page, pushing and pulling at the plot of my short story with such terrific angst that by the end of the ordeal I barely had enough energy to cross the campus and turn the thing in. My professor greeted me at the door. It took thirty seconds for…
I realize that I may be the last person on earth who will finally own her very own Flip Video Camera, and I’ll bet none of you are suprised that the only reason I ordered it is because someone tweeted about a sweet deal that Woot was running earlier this week. Thanks, Kevin! So, here’s the icing on the cake: my daughter Laura had enough money saved up from her bottle-returning efforts all winter to buy one as…