tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904447408646070602012-01-28T06:04:39.531-06:00NCTE Inbox Blognews, views, and ideas you can use!Lori Bianchinihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05882314675265367442noreply@blogger.comBlogger1711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-64290095956950763252011-05-03T11:01:00.000-05:002011-05-03T11:02:50.563-05:00Coping in a Time of Tragedy<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Lisa Finkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691253818184356622noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-2873757761750600762010-11-09T14:40:00.000-06:002010-11-09T14:40:00.763-06:00Focus on Native American Heritage<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Lisa Finkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691253818184356622noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-14987278677680961252010-10-26T14:59:00.000-05:002010-10-26T14:59:00.171-05:00Celebrate National Family Literacy Day!<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Lisa Finkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691253818184356622noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-44409533461297040672010-08-10T14:45:00.005-05:002010-08-10T16:28:29.970-05:00Blog Round -Up - LiteracyThis week’s blog round-up features a potpourri of blogs and commentaries on literacy—for educators and all their students.
For younger students:
In "Summer Must-Read for Kids? Any Book" (New York Times August 2, 2010), Tara Parker-Pope shares research from two NCTE members at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen ‘s three-year study found that childrenMillie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-71759050887604347302010-08-02T16:43:00.048-05:002010-08-03T08:36:46.197-05:00Developing Effective Writing Programs: Help for High Schools
The new book Taking Initiative on Writing: A Guide for Instructional Leaders by Anne Ruggles Gere, Hannah A. Dickinson, Melinda J. McBee Orzulak, and Stephanie Moody (copublished by NCTE and NASSP) offers practical strategies and extensive resources to help principals and teachers develop effective writing programs in their high schools. Read on for a taste of this book, taken from the opening Kurt Austinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15863859603876594789noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-13501561749202330492010-06-15T12:01:00.002-05:002010-08-03T08:25:00.537-05:00Piecing Together the Copyright PuzzleFiguring out copyright can be like piecing together a puzzle. You have a good idea how it’s supposed to work in the end, but all the little pieces can be confusing to piece together.
These links can help you learn more about copyright yourself and teach students about fair use and copyright. In no time, you’ll move from scattered pieces to a full picture of copyright and fair use.
Classroom Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-1625811685761357502010-06-08T14:13:00.012-05:002010-06-10T20:36:59.491-05:00Challenging the Metaphor of Scaffolding for Supporting Student ReadersIn her new book Adolescent Literacy and the Teaching of Reading: Lessons for Teachers of Literature, author Deborah Appleman relies heavily on the pedagogical metaphor of scaffolding to describe the support we can offer students as they develop as readers in our literature classrooms.
Appleman notes that while “primary school teachers may not as easily question the need to explicitly model and Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-89631058530877770452010-06-02T13:48:00.001-05:002010-08-03T08:27:16.361-05:00Fun and Painless Summer LearningWhen I was in grade school, I regularly sat down with educational workbooks that Mom had picked up at the store and filled out pages and pages of worksheets. I even played teacher, assigning worksheets to my younger sisters and brother and then grading them.
I’m pretty sure that I’m the exception though. Most kids will not voluntarily spend summer vacation playing school. In fact, the families Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-30804529895221436412010-05-18T13:33:00.005-05:002010-05-18T14:00:26.264-05:00Ten Things Youll Want To Read This SummerWhether summer means time to read for fun or to prepare for teaching in the Fall, I bet youre beginning to gather that reading list.
You probably know where to find details on the years award-winning childrens and teen books. You can always check the NCTE Online Store for the newest pedagogical books and some great bestsellers. And I bet you plan to spend some time this summer digging into Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-39214263192574676602010-05-11T08:45:00.002-05:002010-05-11T08:51:25.844-05:00Literacy Coaching: Empowering Teachers as Agents of ChangeEarlier this month, I had the chance to attend a talk given by Diane Stephens, who was sharing her research on teachers’ attitudes toward literacy coaches in the South Carolina Reading Initiative. While I found value in the entire presentation of her findings, I’ve been mulling over this particularly powerful observation that she offered near the end of her presentation: “Change looks like Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-69021016094625283242010-05-04T13:26:00.001-05:002010-05-04T13:28:51.584-05:00What Do You Appreciate in a Teacher?This week in the United States is Teacher Appreciation Week, a time set aside each year to honor the hard work that educators do every day in the classroom and beyond.
The challenge of the celebration is to try to remember every teacher I need to thank. I dont have a list of them all, and Im afraid Ill leave someone out.
Ive been puzzling over the problem for several days and peeking at Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-61561292516807692672010-04-20T14:06:00.000-05:002010-04-20T14:08:15.788-05:00Helping Readers See Themselves in a TextEvery week during summer vacation, mom used to load us into the car and drive us to the library. While my sisters and brother were racing around with picture books and whatever toys they could get their hands on, I snuck off to a quieter corner of the library where the childrens biographies were shelved.
I plopped myself on the floor and ran my finger over the spines, looking for just the Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-48198008867447594422010-04-13T12:45:00.008-05:002010-04-13T13:01:50.716-05:00Everything I Know about Differentiation I Learned from William ShakespeareIn Act 2 of King Lear, the Duke of Cornwall addresses Goneril’s servant, Oswald, by asking him, “What is your difference?”
When we teach a challenging text such as a scene from a Shakespearean drama, we know that students will have the best chance of understanding it if we approach it with an intentional awareness of the differences among our students in terms of readiness, interests, and Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-24650470715617216052010-04-06T15:41:00.004-05:002010-04-06T16:00:48.234-05:00Inspiring Writers with Student Poetry Its National Poetry Month, so teachers everywhere are sharing poetry and experimenting with poetry writing in the classroom. The challenge is that those two activities are sometimes at cross purposes. Reading poetry by the literary greats can silence the muse of even the most imaginative student.
Sharing poems written by students alongside those in the literature textbooks can be the Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-64473035062109611962010-03-23T14:39:00.003-06:002010-03-23T14:50:56.408-06:00Writing Our Way Through the End of School and Into Next YearWriting is such a balm when the spring sun shines or even when April is “cruelest of all.” Even our toughest students can usually be persuaded to pen a poem this time of year. There are so many resources for teachers and students to use, and I’ve gathered up a few to share.
The National Gallery of Writing awaits more writing and more galleries. The Gallery will be open at least until June Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-34701151097964918852010-03-16T10:00:00.000-06:002010-03-16T11:36:43.569-06:00How Online Professional Development Changed My LifeChances are high that you wouldnt be reading this if it werent for online professional development. I dont mean that in the clichéd “If you can read this thank a teacher” way. What I mean is that I would never, ever have had the connections that led to writing these blog entries if it hadnt been for the online professional development opportunities that came my way.
People who know me may notTraci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-30388104196074592962010-03-09T09:40:00.002-06:002010-03-09T11:27:33.990-06:00A Writer's Work Is Never FinishedLast week I saw one of our school’s counselors headed down the hallway with a cash box in hand. Under the very serious pressure of budget cuts in our district, I used my standard coping mechanism—bad attempts at humor—and asked her if she was taking it upon herself to start collecting money directly from students. She assured me that her task was of a more official sort. She was collecting Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-3975416455252079332010-03-02T13:08:00.000-06:002010-03-02T13:09:33.933-06:00Stories Make It PersonalImagine that you shared this passage from NCTEs 2010 Legislative Platform with a non-educator you know. The particular person doesnt matter. You can think of a family member, a neighbor, or a friend. Whoever you choose, simply imagine that you gave him or her this passage to read:
Improve the quality and use of assessment in determining student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-33985583025319056862010-02-23T16:38:00.005-06:002010-02-23T16:49:22.716-06:00It Takes a Community…I don’t know a teacher who doesn’t want to make a difference in the learning and, yes, even the lives of her students—kind of what we signed up for. But, I also don’t know a one of us that can do that single-handedly. That’s why we gather to learn and collaborate together and that’s where learning communities come in.
Three exemplary learning communities come to my mind.
NCTE’s Pathways Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-4644835000203426182010-02-17T11:33:00.001-06:002010-02-17T11:41:22.947-06:00Mixing or Plagiarizing?I doubt anyone was thinking about plagiarism when the CCCC 2010 theme, “The Remix: Revisit, Rethink, Revise, Renew,” was chosen, but given recent events in Germany literary world, plagiarism clearly fits the focus.
News articles last week announced that German teen author Helene Hegemann of the highly-acclaimed debut novel Axolotl Roadkill not only lifted passages from another novel, copying as Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-33701418428290089802010-02-09T08:55:00.002-06:002010-02-10T07:47:02.622-06:00Finding a Way into the Networked English ClassroomI was out of the English classroom during the 2007 and 2008 school years, a time during which I perceived a digital revolution in reading and writing in and out of school settings. Barraged by blogs, wikis, social networking, Twitter, Ning (and a variety of other oddly-named Web 2.0 platforms and programs), it seemed to me that the world of the book and the notebook (or is it Kindle and iPad?) Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-61043875278845450232010-02-02T11:11:00.003-06:002010-02-02T12:33:27.373-06:00African American Authors OnlineIt’s time for readers everywhere to collect texts for African American Read-Ins and Black History Month celebrations. You probably have some great resources in your library, but the Internet expands your options even further. Not only can you find audio and video recordings of authors reading their works, but you'll find rare texts that are not available anywhere else—like oral histories, Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-358522919251420082010-01-26T15:47:00.004-06:002010-01-26T15:59:42.151-06:00Coveting BooksWhen I learn of book awards like NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award and ALA’s Newbery and Caldecott Medals, immediately my list of books-to-read grows—as if that pile by my bed could get bigger without toppling over and burying me. I begin to anticipate opportunities with these books... maybe I could read this with my granddaughter or maybe I could use this book or part of it with my college freshmen. Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-40517650300265016102010-01-20T16:05:00.000-06:002010-01-20T16:07:38.176-06:00Metaphor Makeovers: The Secret to Test SuccessWhen students sit down to take a test, how do they think about themselves? It may seem like a silly question, but the answer probably matters more than you think.
Attitude Matters
“The Truth about Grit,” published last fall in The Boston Globe explains the significance of the way we think about ourselves and our effort. It turns out the way you see yourself can be the difference that makes oneTraci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-80162685638694810152010-01-12T11:20:00.001-06:002010-01-12T11:49:31.273-06:00From Potential to Power: Reading and Writing the National GalleryAs teachers of writing, we are acutely aware of how important the presence of an authentic audience can be for students' motivation to write. Though my state’s standards call for students to “write for real or potentially real situations” [emphasis mine], it’s a challenge to find such opportunities on a regular basis.
When I first heard about the National Gallery of Writing, I was naturally Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-80977658843465085182010-01-05T11:35:00.000-06:002010-01-05T11:37:49.636-06:00Reading Jane Eyre in the BathtubNearly every time the Kindle or Nook comes up in conversation, someone will complain that its just too hard to read a 600-page novel on such a little screen, and just as surely, someone will lament that you can't take an e-book into the bathtub.
You may think Im kidding, so look at the comments on Lynn Nearys NPR article “How E-books Will Change Reading and Writing.” Right there in the Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-22028377017885061192009-12-15T12:01:00.000-06:002009-12-15T12:01:00.307-06:00Top Blog Entries of 2009 Year-end summaries are checkpoints for teachers. While it may be the end of the calendar year, were at the midpoint of the school year. Its the perfect moment to reflect on where weve been and adjust for the second half of the academic year.
Of the 49 entries published this year, these were the most popular with readers:
Five Ways to Learn about Students This Fall (August 18)
Three Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-60788600136813083272009-12-09T12:20:00.001-06:002009-12-08T13:25:48.910-06:00A Look Back at 2009: Meeting Professional Learning Goals‘Tis the season for year-end best-of retrospectives, and though I’m not a film critic or Amazon editor, I’ve got a list of my own to share. I’m fortunate that this year has brought me enough positive professional development experiences that I’m able to recommend three of them in this, my last INBOX blog of 2009.
Certainly each of these recommended NCTE resources is of exceptional quality in itsScott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-41742364186935969442009-12-01T16:04:00.000-06:002009-12-01T16:06:32.466-06:00How to Move Closer to School 2.0William Kists “From Web 2.0 to School 2.0: Tales from the Field” includes vignettes of teachers across the United States using digital technologies to connect students to one another and to the texts that they explore.
The remarkable thing about the activities Kist describes is not the technology the teachers use. The social networking tools he discusses are widely available to anyone with Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-27488531883462087882009-11-24T10:55:00.004-06:002009-11-24T17:58:29.306-06:00It Pays to Attend NCTE's Annual ConventionOn the elevator ride to Kylene Beers’s presidential address on my last day of Convention in Philadelphia, I was joined by someone whose apparel told me he was in town for the other big event of the weekend—the Philadelphia Marathon. Noticing my tell-tale signs of convention attendee, he confirmed that I was one of those English teachers here for the meeting. “There are so many of you here! Is Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-51090517516742016012009-11-17T14:40:00.001-06:002009-11-17T14:42:05.465-06:00The Secret to Teaching LiteratureIn her Welcome to the 2009 NCTE Annual Convention, Carol Jago explains that the convention theme “Once and Future Classics: Reading Between the Lines, is designed to inspire courageous conversations about traditional and contemporary literature and foster lively discussions of how we teach as well as what we teach.”
Literature gives us so much to talk about, but eventually, we end up discussingTraci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-50494990822322349342009-11-10T12:05:00.001-06:002009-11-10T12:10:18.907-06:00Acknowledging the Role of Professional Development in Literacy Education ReformI teach a reading course for 9th grade students who have been identified as needing additional support as they transition to the literacy demands of high school. Last week, students were learning about photosynthesis by participating in variety of reading activities involving picture books, websites, and excerpts from textbooks and trade nonfiction. At one point during the period, a student askedScott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-42740892106909724702009-11-03T12:15:00.000-06:002009-11-03T12:16:38.472-06:00Whats the Best Plagiarism Detector?My favorite plagiarism story from the last month is the Time article “How Plagiarism Software Found a New Shakespeare Play.” The story explains how plagiarism-detection software was used to look for similarities between known Shakespearean plays and a work suspected to by the Bard. They found enough similarities to convince the author of the study that we should add The Reign of Edward III to Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-91902721822067654962009-10-19T14:17:00.000-05:002009-10-19T14:18:13.065-05:004 Ways to Inspire a Love of WritingTuesday, October 20, 2009 is the first National Day on Writing and the unveiling of the current submissions in the National Gallery of Writing. Its the day that NCTE asks us “to draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing we engage in, and to help writers from all walks of life recognize how important writing is to their lives.”
The celebration of writing across the United States this Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-13066104084336242732009-10-13T11:20:00.000-05:002009-10-13T11:26:41.782-05:00The National Day on Writing: A Community EffortWhen I met with my principal this fall to discuss how our school might participate in the National Day on Writing, we knew right away that we wanted to convey a belief in the value of writing to communicate about things that are important to us. We decided to create a local gallery within the National Gallery that would celebrate our school community and invite participation from as broad a Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-5144393500050816222009-10-06T12:00:00.003-05:002009-10-06T12:00:00.855-05:00Is My Writing Good Enough?I've tried to decide what to write about for hours now. I've looked at every possible news story. I've read through articles from the most recent Council Chronicle. I've checked out my favorite blogs. I've searched the notes in all my journals.
I hate this kind of writer's block. I have pages of ideas, but I can't come up with something that seems important enough for NCTE's National Gallery ofTraci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-21968263650327719422009-09-29T15:45:00.009-05:002009-09-29T16:07:51.075-05:00Parents, Political Staff, and Print LiteracyOn her blog last week, Arapahoe High School English Teacher Michelle Davis asked the parents of her ninth graders to write about how learning to write effectively is important. And they did! Parents wrote about the necessity of accurate written communication in a medical facility where the patient’s care would be carried out only according to the written notes on the chart, about the importanceMillie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-53742665291347847762009-09-22T14:09:00.008-05:002009-09-22T14:52:36.707-05:00What About Writing?<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-87566645547046171312009-09-15T06:00:00.006-05:002009-09-17T02:41:49.295-05:00Five Starting Points for Your Gallery EntryThere's still time to have students submit their work to NCTE's National Gallery of Writing. The only problem is deciding what to write. The Gallery has room for any kind of writing, from formal essays to family email messages, and from workplace memos to IMs among friends. Anything goes!
If you're finding it hard to decide what to have students focus on, here are five starting places. The Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-55692926965812230012009-09-09T09:29:00.004-05:002009-09-09T11:35:14.117-05:00A Reflection on September 11th and the Power of WritingThose of us who were in schools and classrooms eight years ago this week can likely recall with specificity how difficult it was to help our students process the news of the attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., as we ourselves were learning about the human loss and devastation only moments before—or at the same time as—our students did.
It was with these still vivid memories in mind Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-43350623633002960042009-09-01T09:43:00.006-05:002009-09-01T10:17:51.119-05:0021 Great Library Links (with Related Classroom Activities!)Online library sites offer teachers wonderful resources—and you don't need to schedule a trip to the library to use them! From storytelling to writing and literature, you can find materials that will get students engaged and clicking at these sites:
Look for the stories behind the photos
Share photographs from these sites and challenge students to search the images for clues about the lives, Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-37731574601702671112009-08-25T15:06:00.002-05:002009-08-25T15:22:47.359-05:00Writing EverywhereOn July 14, Scott Filkins blogged about his literacy dig, noting the many writing activities he’d accomplished in just one day. But here’s something I’ve been noticing ever since the National Day on Writing bug bit me. Have you ever noticed how many, many people are writing and just how much writing there is in the world? Well, I’ve been unable to help myself from noticing.
Example 1 - Writing Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-45602602191989411302009-08-18T12:32:00.001-05:002009-08-18T13:08:41.093-05:00Five Ways to Learn about Students This FallThe beginning of a new school term means new students. Sometimes we'll see faces we know from the previous year, but often we see a fresh slate. Fresh, but not blank. They bring with them literacy experiences from other classrooms, from their homes, and from their communities.
The challenge is to figure out what they know and connect to that prior knowledge and experience as soon as possible. Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-10887310566319087152009-08-11T05:35:00.002-05:002009-08-11T15:50:47.439-05:00The Value of Questioning in Professional GrowthWhen I started teaching, I recognized the value of learning from teachers who had more experience and wisdom than I. Through a formal mentoring program at my school, I was assigned two long-term veterans as mentors, and we observed each others’ classroom practices and made time (when we could) to discuss how things were going.
As I look back, I am certainly grateful for the support that came Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-60287856920236877802009-08-04T02:01:00.001-05:002009-08-04T02:07:07.780-05:00Building Community in 15 Minutes a DayLaurie Halse Anderson, author of young adult novels including Speak and Wintergirls, launched a writing challenge on her blog this month: Write Fifteen Minutes a Day, or WFMAD. Anderson invites readers to spend 15 minutes writing every day during the month. She provides writing prompts, advice, and encouragement. All readers have to do is set aside 15 uninterrupted minutes and write.
Where's theTraci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-53913851805279362662009-07-28T17:35:00.003-05:002009-07-28T18:02:42.310-05:00Writing for Now -- Declaring an AudienceThis week I heard a newscast on NPR, "Twitter Seen As Tool For Change In China" (NPR Morning Edition July 24, 2009). The gist of the newscast, that some Chinese NGOs held a training course to teach citizen journalists how to use Twitter and other new media in their reporting, made me think of Tiffany Monk, the Florida teenager mentioned in Writing in the 21st Century, the NCTE report by Kathleen Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-21370479101688330312009-07-21T10:21:00.013-05:002009-07-21T11:19:19.794-05:00My Reading RecordThe highlight of my summers has always been the chance to read – and read a lot. Growing up, I would go to the library every day. While I enjoyed the programs the library had to offer, I really loved the chance to peruse all of the books available. In college, summer meant I would finally have choice in my reading material after reading for courses all year.
As a teacher, my school year reading Lisa Finkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691253818184356622noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-27121972833871525142009-07-14T12:50:00.005-05:002009-07-15T10:06:52.262-05:00Every Piece CountsPart of the stated mission of the National Day on Writing is to draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing in which Americans engage as part of their daily lives.
To put this concept in concrete terms, I decided to try an activity I learned about through the NCTE Reading Initiative several years ago—a literacy dig. I looked back at a recent weekday (last Friday to be precise) and Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-44873389093175934322009-07-07T15:44:00.005-05:002009-07-07T16:13:06.258-05:00Bringing Visual Literacy into the ClassroomI suppose it’s okay now to admit that I did my math homework—even calculus—in front of the TV in our den watching “The Soupy Sails Show.” So, I’m not surprised by the results of a New Jersey Department of Education survey that indicates 57% of Jersey teens spend 3 hours each day doing some sort of electronic viewing: watching television, playing video games, and being on the Internet ("High Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-75268535864086454202009-06-30T11:49:00.003-05:002009-06-30T12:03:27.089-05:00Looking for the Stories behind Wikipedia EntriesLast Thursday, my Blackberry's message light began blinking as I was waiting to pick up my sister. A news alert had arrived to tell me that Michael Jackson had died.
Ten or twenty years ago, I would have turned to the television and newspapers to find out what was happening in the world. Today, I first read breaking news on my Blackberry, in status updates on Facebook and Twitter, and during Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-26079616811952918052009-06-23T08:31:00.015-05:002009-06-23T12:48:24.110-05:00Beyond Textbooks: (Re) Discovering NonfictionAs I listened to Nonfiction Books for Teens, this month’s episode of the ReadWriteThink.org Text Messages podcast, I felt a definite connection to host Jennifer Buehler as she recounted her “discovery” of nonfiction. In her introduction to a compelling set of titles, she discusses her longstanding affinity for fiction, noting that there lingers with nonfiction a negative association with dry, Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-46124672201646828682009-06-16T15:17:00.004-05:002009-06-16T15:32:18.299-05:00Ah…TwitterMy first computer took a walk to the cafeteria and a cup of coffee to boot up. The letters on the screen were orange.When I got a mouse, the IT guy told me to play solitaire to practice dexterous mouse-moving. So I went home and took out the cards...Now many work and play on computers night and day. Some carry their computers everywhere in a phone.Social networking is the new way to hang Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-87820926161890054202009-06-09T16:01:00.004-05:002009-06-09T16:13:39.269-05:00Deep Curriculum for AllAs a young teacher, I taught in a high school that separated students into five different tracks at each grade level. Students in each of those tracks were supposed to receive a certain sort of education. As you might imagine, the lower track expectation was for lower level curricula of the sort described in the example in Kylene Beers’ The Genteel Unteaching of America's Poor. I, though, was Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-8401462798116587952009-06-02T12:25:00.030-05:002009-06-02T13:05:54.491-05:00School's Out ... Explore, Learn, Grow!My own children have their last days of school this week. In their end-of-year newsletters, their teachers shared suggestions of what the kids should read over the summer.
The early elementary teacher recommended that my daughter read fifteen minutes per day, with a break on Saturday. The intermediate grade teacher shared her read-aloud list from the year. All the books she read this year wereLisa Finkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691253818184356622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-41069008991538644012009-05-27T11:59:00.002-05:002009-05-27T11:59:01.600-05:00What I Want to See in the National Gallery of WritingBy now, you've probably heard about the National Gallery of Writing that NCTE is building online by inviting people to select and post one thing they have written that is important to them. Anyone can share any composition. It can be any format—from word processing to photography, audio recording to text messages—and any type of writing—from letters to lists, memoirs to memos.
I found a great Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-90979261304612755202009-05-19T12:00:00.002-05:002009-05-19T12:39:49.573-05:00What’s on Your Summer Writing List?Every school year, I amass an impressive pile of books for my own summer reading: novels, nonfiction, plays, professional books, journals, and magazines. Always more than I can realistically read in a single season, this collection represents the mythic promise of never-ending summer, abundant with time to relax and recharge.
As I look back on my annual ritual, I realize that I never plan the Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-77083400998120889972009-05-12T16:54:00.003-05:002009-05-12T17:24:03.821-05:00Summer with Standards“No more pencils, no more books…” When I was a kid, we sang that ditty every year at the end of school and we sang it before that in hopes to bring summer on sooner. Now that it’s mid-May, I expect students are expressing this same sentiment, which in many localities will be fulfilled in the next several weeks.
However, while schools and their students and teachers are winding down, forces in Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-10990836561978189792009-05-05T13:00:00.000-05:002009-05-05T13:23:08.484-05:00Have You Thanked a Teacher Today?Teachers know that one of the great rewards of the profession is receiving a sincere gesture of gratitude for the work we do. Such gestures are especially appropriate this week, as it's Teacher Appreciation Week, a time when communities are encouraged to thank teachers for their intellectual and emotional contributions to students’ lives.
You can find digital alternatives to the polished red Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-43238033152989900672009-04-28T10:28:00.001-05:002009-04-29T17:51:42.401-05:00Five Things I've Gained from Reading LiteratureFamilies want to know why we teach Shakespeare instead of how to write business reports. Students want to know why they need to read Huck Finn instead of writing resumes. Politicians want to know why we talk about Emily Dickinson instead of doing test prep.
In her report this week, Carol Jago explains that by studying literature, students learn to read and think critically. They learn about the Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-66249915437741611202009-04-21T14:16:00.015-05:002009-04-22T10:42:29.758-05:00Who, Me? A Writer?When I first learned of NCTE's efforts to establish a National Day on Writing, I thought it made perfect sense.
Of course a national organization devoted to literacy education would want to celebrate writing. NCTE has a long history of advocating for writing instruction, especially in the schools.
But what really got me excited about the National Day is when I started thinking about how it Cari Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796278128059313445noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-46063097493901456422009-04-14T14:00:00.000-05:002009-04-14T14:37:32.048-05:00@wshakes - happy birthday!My first instinct for a piece on the relevance of Shakespeare in the 21st-century literature class was to go tongue-in-cheek. I might point out, for example, that Shakespeare practically invented Facebook. Re-read Lady Capulet’s description of Paris to Juliet if you don’t believe me. If that’s too big a stretch, at least check out the Hamlet (Facebook News Feed Edition) from McSweeney’s.
But Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-80051043437837183502009-04-07T15:06:00.024-05:002009-04-07T16:01:36.656-05:00Daring to Disturb the UniverseI was pleased to open my March issue of English Journal to find Paul Sahre’s stark and striking poster promoting National Poetry Month. (Language Arts and Voices from the Middle subscribers have the poster as well.)
Written in all caps, neatly, but with an occasional slant that suggests potential instability beneath the surface, is this profound question from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-30341718336190967712009-03-31T11:28:00.002-06:002009-03-31T11:28:03.105-06:00Simple Ways You Can Be a Literacy Education AdvocateTake action during Literacy Education Advocacy Month, whether you have a few minutes, a few hours, or more. Each day this April, you can check the Literacy Education Advocacy Calendar for one advocacy activity. Get started now with the activities listed below.
Have only an hour or two?
Visit your state or federal legislator and tell them what they can do to improve your classroom and school. Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-55415683886709793352009-03-24T12:00:00.002-06:002009-03-24T14:18:22.817-06:00Writing Poetry: Putting Chaos into PerspectiveAs National Poetry Month approaches, I have to make a confession. Though I find it rewarding and enjoyable to read poetry with students and deepen their appreciation of poetry through response and analysis, I never asked students to write their own poetry. Never.
There are a number of ways I can rationalize this pedagogical choice. Chief among those reasons is the far greater curricular pressureScott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-12392480983892888202009-03-17T13:13:00.008-06:002009-03-17T13:25:50.783-06:00Celebrating World Poetry DayAt this time of year as a classroom teacher, I always looked forward to April and teaching poetry during National Poetry Month. I was usually successful in finding some poets and specific poems that resonated with my third and fourth graders. Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky were class favorites as was the poem “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll. The students loved the fun nature of poems by theseLisa Finkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691253818184356622noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-19116726073286615602009-03-09T08:09:00.034-06:002009-03-10T18:28:58.809-06:00The Value of Questioning Conventional WisdomAt the risk of revealing just how bad I am at keeping up with the next must-read book, I’ll admit that I only recently finished Freakonomics. The 2005 book offers, among many other things, an interesting (if not terribly satisfying) exposé on teachers who cheat on standardized tests, as well as a report on the negligible effect that school choice has on student performance in a large urban schoolScott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-1973991814921477512009-03-03T15:53:00.005-06:002009-03-03T16:06:04.634-06:00Why Are We More Positive Today Than in 1984?According to “The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Past, Present, and Future,” teachers are currently more positive about the profession than in previous years.
To quote from the Executive Summary (pp. 22-24) of this 25th anniversary report, they “feel respected in society, recognized for their work and better compensated than they have in the past. They rate the quality of their schools Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-38277042833826317782009-02-24T12:01:00.001-06:002009-03-25T17:06:53.304-06:00Three Simple Things You Can Do to Improve Writing As I read Kathi Yancey's recent report Writing
in the 21st Century one thing stood out: the best
way teachers can improve writing is to make writers visible.
We know that people everywhere write. We write for ourselves, for our
families, for our communities, and for the world at large. We write for
whoever will read what we have to say—for our friends, parents, children,
Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-25486058524081624102009-02-18T09:55:00.015-06:002009-02-18T10:48:47.943-06:00The Assessment Gap: 21st Century Writing and Standardized TestingThe snow from winter storms is melting, and the persuasive writing lesson on ReadWriteThink.org is holding steady as the number one “most e-mailed” lesson. These are sure signs that it’s almost standardized testing season, and students across the country are getting ready to write for thirty minutes or so (and/or take a multiple-choice grammar and editing test) to demonstrate their level of Scott Filkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18327830713877297552noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-10433982072561500672009-02-10T16:54:00.005-06:002009-02-10T17:03:51.847-06:00To Read Aloud or Not to Read AloudScientists referenced in the news article “Infants Learn Earlier than Thought” (The Seattle Times, February 04, 2009) suggest that parents begin reading to their children in utero and continue to read to them ever after. Sounds like a good idea to me—one I certainly tried to follow with my own daughter.
I read to Sara until she was old enough to read to me and then we’d take turns reading to Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-50561422773087128112009-02-03T16:31:00.005-06:002009-02-03T22:41:36.735-06:00Bringing School Learning HomeAdam Watson has found a way to extend the literature discussions from his classroom to the web. His students’ podcast book commercials put the students of 2009 into books of this century and earlier as they promote their books to an audience outside their classroom.
"It's kind of weird because people all over the school know about it and they can listen to us talking about our books," said Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-30449302151368235672009-01-27T14:26:00.009-06:002009-03-25T17:06:53.306-06:00Wordle and the InaugurationRemember Wordle?
Extremely popular last July, the site makes word clouds from text
passages. As the introduction on the site's homepage explains:
Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The
clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source
text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.
Dont Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-27454502252571684162009-01-21T15:50:00.002-06:002009-03-25T17:06:53.308-06:00Not All Heroes Wear CapesI was attending an NCTE conference and when it happened I was in the elevator with an NCTE colleague and several other hotel guests. We hadn’t gone two floors when one of the guests asked us if we were there for the English conference, and we confessed that we were. The guests began some talk about how English was a difficult subject and so they’d better watch their grammar.
After we got to Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-14018136367824144442009-01-13T15:56:00.003-06:002009-03-25T17:06:53.310-06:00What Does It Mean to be Literate?This week the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) reported the first rise in the number of adults reading literature since they began their survey in 1982. In fact, 16.6 million more adults reported reading literature (novels and short stories, plays, or poems) in 2008. And, the most rapid increase was in literature reading by young adults aged 18-24.
This same week the National Center for Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-62607652306515871852009-01-06T15:30:00.003-06:002009-01-06T15:41:38.841-06:00Why I Love the African American Read-InLiterature holds a special place in my English teacher heart. Unfortunately, though, it’s something I have precious little time to enjoy. That’s one reason why I relish Black History Month in February. Every year for as long as I can remember, NCTE has held its own African American Read-In right here in our office. For an hour on the first Monday of February I get to spend time with African Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-52572873918794685822008-12-16T14:17:00.003-06:002009-03-25T17:06:53.313-06:00Best of the 2008 Inbox BlogEffective writing assignments and strategies for teaching nonfiction along with the summer series of blogs on 21st century tools for the classroom were Traci Gardner's most read Inbox blogs this year.
Just in case you missed them, here they are again:
What Makes an Effective Assignment?
Strategies for Teaching with Nonfiction
Mind Mapping Graphic Organizers
Google Lit Trips: Literary Maps Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-60100675052332502712008-12-09T15:54:00.006-06:002008-12-15T16:28:08.408-06:00How Do We Change Assessment?In her recent perspective piece, "Winds of Change in the Assessment World?," Kathleen Blake Yancey states, "I think most of us, if asked about assessment and testing, would say pretty much the same thing: we have more tests and bad tests than ever before."
BUT WAIT, Kathi gives us hope that things may be changing as she shares two new and very different assessment programs: the Insight Resume Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-11169138838387724482008-12-02T14:43:00.014-06:002008-12-02T15:43:06.839-06:00So What Is 21st Century Learning Anyhow?None of us has escaped the technological and media explosion of the 21st Century but most all of us need ways of working to use the new tools of our world to help prepare our students for the now and the later.
The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies and the just-released NCTE Framework for 21st Century Curriculum and Assessment give teachers ways “to think about their practice and how Millie Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10255447641769640133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-64208028184256060452008-11-11T14:25:00.000-06:002009-03-25T17:06:53.315-06:00Fair Use and Copyright for EducatorsEver find yourself asking questions like these:
Can I play “The Telltale Head” episode of The Simpsons in class as part of my unit on Poe?
Is it okay to include a clip from The News Hour with Jim Lehrer in my ReadWriteThink lesson plan?
I want to show a screen capture from a video game in my conference presentation. Is that okay?
Can a student use the chorus from Dire Straits "Romeo Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-91319160606714263832008-11-04T17:46:00.001-06:002009-03-25T17:06:53.318-06:00Use Doodle to Cast Your VoteTrying to plan a time to meet friends at the Annual Convention in San Antonio? Want the class to choose a destination for the next field trip? Need to choose the best day for an after-school committee or club meeting?
No matter what youre trying to decide, Doodle is a free online tool that makes it easy to gather preferences from teachers, students, families, and anyone else you want to connect Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-90987803539821276952008-10-28T13:32:00.002-06:002009-03-25T17:06:53.319-06:00Tell Me about Your Convention SessionThe 2008 NCTE Annual Convention is only 3 weeks away. Before you know it, youll be in San Antonio attending sessions, giving presentations, and connecting with friends and colleagues.
How can you get your presentation underway now, before those 3 weeks fly by? Simply log on to the 2008 NCTE Annual Convention Ning and follow the instructions to post information about your session.
Once you kick Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-2226551543430637602008-10-21T17:36:00.003-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.320-06:00Tips on a Good Blog EntryYou're starting out as a blogger. You have a blog set up. You know how to work the blogging software. But how do you write an entry that gets read? Here are ten tips that make a blog entry grab readers:
Choose an attention-getting and accurate title.
Like a newspaper headline, a good blog title draws readers in. Its your chance to convince a reader to take a look at what youve written.Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-76745713225128684072008-10-14T14:15:00.000-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.321-06:00In Search of Teacher BloggersThis weeks topic comes from an email response I received to last week's blog entry from Jen Sekella of
Dozier Middle School in Newport News, VA:
I would like to start a blog - but I dont know where educators hang out and blog on the net.
Jens question isnt about what a blog is. Its not about technical how-tos. Its about community. Where can you find other teachers and like-minded Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-14384286145801142852008-10-07T14:37:00.003-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.322-06:00NCTE Blogs to NoteOn NCTE blogs youll find great discussions of educational
issues and teaching ideas ready for the classroom. Read the entries below and
share your feedback in the comments.
Curt Dudley Marling comments on “Adequate
Yearly Progress” on the Elementary
Section Blog
Kate Kellen shares “A
Conceptual Approach to the Works Cited Page” on the Secondary
Section Blog
Joyce Middleton Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-72834577820768906102008-09-30T15:28:00.005-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.324-06:00Celebrate National Newspaper Week
National Newspaper Week is October 511 this year. Sponsored by the Newspaper Association Managers, the 68-year-old celebration draws attention to the role that newspapers play in daily life. This years theme, “Public Notice—Good Government
On Display,” focuses on how governmental notices in newspapers keep the public informed and involved in government.
Use the National Newspaper Week Kit Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-28106820697594140632008-09-23T16:52:00.000-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.325-06:00TiddlyWiki: Your Own Portable WikiWikis are a great way for small groups and classes to create collaborative web-based documents. Theyre meant to be highly hyperlinked documents and their content history and open editing tools allow groups to compose together as the wiki grows organically.
There are times though when you need something smaller—the structure of a wiki is fine, but you need something more individual and better Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-13099236718116461932008-09-16T17:33:00.002-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.327-06:00Dropbox: Your Online Filing CabinetEver in the classroom and realize you want a computer file thats at home? I know its happened to me. Dropbox provides a fast, simple solution that can help you and students.
Dropbox, which went public last Thursday, bills itself at “the easiest way to share and store your files online.” So far, they live up to that reputation for me.
What Does Dropbox Do?
Provides you a free 2GB Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-28797882954065305242008-09-09T16:49:00.005-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.330-06:00Finding Safe Videos for the ClassroomVideo and film play a vital role in the 21st century classroom, and online access makes them easy to find and use. This 11th grade modernization of Snow White on YouTube demonstrate readers theater and could be used before students composed their own modern readers theater versions of fairy and folk tales:
My very favorite Schoolhouse Rock short, Conjunction Junction, is available on YouTube Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-5366918954945283212008-09-03T16:57:00.001-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.332-06:00Social Networking: The Nings the ThingWhats a Ning? Whats a social network for that matter? And how can a teacher use them? All important questions. Ill start with the most general and move to the most specific.
Whats a social network?
You have lots of social networks, even if you are rarely online.
You might have a group of friends from college you stay in touch with.
Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-1715189262161318982008-08-26T14:42:00.006-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.333-06:00FeedMyInbox: Keeping Up with Feeds by EmailIve shared information on a number of sites and tools that can help you keep up with RSS feeds, but maybe you want something simpler to help you keep up with a blog or podcast. FeedMyInbox is a fast, efficient web-based tool that may be just what youre looking for.
The tool is so simple that Ill walk you through the 5 steps it takes to set up. But first, let me explain that the site does forTraci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-65450724310479601592008-08-19T15:28:00.002-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.334-06:00How to Streamline Your Social UpdatesLast week, I talked about websites and software that can help you keep up with your colleagues all in one place. These social aggregators collect updates from a variety of social networks (like Facebook and Twitter) and present them all on one organized webpage. Set one up, and you easily keep up with what your friends, family, and colleagues are saying online.
Thats only half of the Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-81274022661038214522008-08-12T15:45:00.000-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.336-06:00How to Streamline Your Social NetworksThis summer, Im exploring a variety of Web sites and tools that you can use in the classroom and/or for your own professional development. Each week, Ill talk about how it works, point out related sites, and discuss classroom connections. This week, I focus on social networking aggregators, tools that streamline the time you spend on social networking sites. And if youre not sure what social Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-58418148649778814192008-08-05T16:09:00.006-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.337-06:00Mind Mapping Graphic OrganizersThis summer, Im exploring a variety of Web sites and tools that you can use in the classroom and/or for your own professional development. Each week, Ill talk about how it works, point out related sites, and discuss classroom connections. This week, I focus on a variety of online resources for mind mapping.
Mind maps are not new to the language arts and composition classroom. In fact, they Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-36590605761757872962008-07-29T17:29:00.009-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.339-06:00Wordle: Word Maps for Fun and AnalysisThis summer, Im exploring a variety of Web sites and tools that you can use in the classroom and/or for your own professional development. Each week, Ill talk about how it works, point out related sites, and discuss classroom connections. This week, I focus on a text cloud program called Wordle.
You have probably seen a tag cloud. Its a collection of the tags for a blog that uses larger Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-68056059714672866792008-07-22T15:16:00.003-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.340-06:00Podcasts: The 21st Century Version of the Radio ShowYouve probably heard or read the word podcast. Radio and television shows urge their audiences to subscribe to their podcasts for the latest updates. Newspapers suggest readers visit their podcast pages to find digital connections to the stories they print. Podcasts do not have to be published by mass media organizations however. Its just as likely though that youll find a podcast by a Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-58853801799976758952008-07-15T15:42:00.009-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.342-06:00Online Documentation ToolsThis summer, Im exploring a variety of Web sites and tools that you can use in the classroom and/or for your own professional development. Each week, Ill talk about how it works, point out related sites, and discuss classroom connections. This week, I focus on online resources for building documentation citations.
Bibliographic style can be difficult to teach. There are exact formats thatTraci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-29991658859565458662008-07-08T01:48:00.002-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.343-06:00CompPile: One-Stop Shopping for Composition ResearchThis summer, Im exploring a variety
of Web sites and tools that you can use in the classroom and/or for your own
professional development. Each week, Ill talk about how it works, point
out related sites, and discuss classroom connections. This week, I explain why
writing teachers at the secondary or college level should know about
CompPile.
So what is it? As CompPile is a database of 94956 Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-87884702397389318462008-07-01T12:38:00.002-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.345-06:00Google Lit Trips: Literary Maps Meet 21st Century Literacy SkillsThis summer, Im exploring a variety of Web sites and tools that you can use in the classroom and/or for your own professional development. Each week, Ill talk about how it works, point out related sites, and discuss classroom connections. This week, I focus on using Google Earth to create 21st Century Literary Maps.
Looking for ways to combine digital literacy skills, research, literary Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-28492646476844576942008-06-27T14:10:00.001-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.346-06:00Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-590444740864607060.post-18724563003014140702008-06-24T15:42:00.002-05:002009-03-25T17:06:53.347-06:00Wiki: Collaborative Authorship Made EasyThis summer, Im exploring a variety of Web sites and tools that you can use in the classroom and/or for your own professional development. Each week, Ill talk about how it works, point out related sites, and discuss classroom connections. This week, I focus on using wikis for collaborative authorship in the classroom.
Most teachers with Internet access know at least one wiki: Wikipedia. Love Traci Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00579663655727932943noreply@blogger.com4