How To Use Blogs in Your Classroom

If you want to create your own blog for your classroom, exactly like this one, just follow these simple steps (based on Will Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2010)):
Step 1: Go to Blogger.com
Step 2: Choose a title and address for your blog
Step 3: Access the dashboard to create new posts and manage your blog
Step 4: Click "new post" to add a post to your homepage
Step 5: Compose and edit your post!
Step 6: Click publish to complete your post

Blogger Dashboard

References
Blogger (2015). Retrieved from blogger.com
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Amazon Kindle Edition.

COBUILD English Dictionary

You can find the definition of pretty much any word simply by typing the word in to Google, but do you want to? Are you sure that this is the best way to find the definition that works best for you and your students? Vocabulary instruction is an important aspect of writing across the curriculum, but online dictionaries can be complicated for students learning English because definitions are often written to explain precisely what a word means for people who already speak the language. In my opinion, learner's dictionaries work well because they explain to students how words can actually be used, and my favorite online learner's dictionary is the COBUILD dictionary by Collins. This dictionary can be used by teachers to find easily explainable definitions or by more advanced English learners to find definitions on their own. Just be sure to check "American English" to avoid confusion with British uses. Here is a sample definition for the word "responsible":

Sample definition for the word "responsible"

And a link: COBUILD Dictionary

References

COBUILD Dictionary (2015). Collins. Retrieved from http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american-cobuild-learners/responsible

Irony at ISTE - Do Paper Notebooks Still Matter?

This summer I was very excited to attend the International Society for Technology in Education Conference (ISTE)  in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ironically, one of the most memorable sessions I attended focused on the continuing relevance of paper notebooks in today's increasingly electronically connected classrooms. The Interactive Lecture was titled "Notebooks, Pens and Pixels: Tools of the Trade for Today’s Student Writers"  and was presented by Dr. Troy Hicks, Penny Kittle, and Kristen Ziemke. My favorite part of the lecture was Penny Kittle's discussion of how she uses notebooks as journals and sketchbooks to foster student responses to literature as well as enabling their own creative writing. Link to examples of this work here: Penny Kittle Notebook Work. Finally, I should add that, as this was a technology conference, the lecture did make the connection to publishing, blogging, and sharing in order create an audience, but that is a large topic on its own so I will leave it for later posts.

This picture is not related to the "Notebooks, Pens, and Pixels" lecture, but it is my favorite snapshot from the conference!

References

Hicks, T., Kittle, P., & Ziemke, K. (2015) Notebooks, Pens and Pixels: Tools of the Trade for Today’s Student Writers [Lecture]. International Society for Technology in Education Conference 2015.
Kittle, P. (2015). Notebook Work. Retrieved from http://pennykittle.net/index.php?page=notebook-work