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Today we have a special treat, an interview with Charity Preston, author and mastermind behind The Organized Classroom Blog.Q – Tell us a little about yourself, what your educational background is, and why you got into teaching in the first place.
A – I am currently a work-at-home mom that has taught everything from grades K-8 in the past. I have a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction, as well as a gifted endorsement in the states of both Ohio and Florida. Honestly, teaching never occurred to me until later in life. I was actually a retail manager for 10 years before I was tired of the long nights, weekends, and minimum wage employees that could frequently be irresponsible. It suddenly dawned on me in the middle of a store one day that if I was going to be teaching {training} those that acted like they were 7, perhaps they really should be 7-year-olds. And that is where the story began. I graduated with an undergrad degree in early childhood education 10 years after graduating high school.
Q – I see from your blog that you develop curriculum as well. What would you consider your “gift” is regarding education?
A – I don’t believe I am any different from anyone else out there. In fact, there are so many teachers who are awe-inspiring to me in so many ways. But, I guess I am just really good at listening to my fans and readers to hear what they need. From there, I work on trying to find something that might help them ease the craziness of being a teacher for even a little bit.
Q – You have quite an organization and network of websites catering to education and aiding teachers in the classroom specifically. What was your first official website and why did you start it?
A – I started The Organized Classroom Blog (now renamed just Organized Classroom) as a way to stay connected to the teaching world when I willingly decided to give up my position as a teacher after my son fell ill. Luckily he was fine in the end, but at the time we didn’t know so I gave up my professional career. After several months of feeling a little lost at home, I decided to create a place to share some of the ideas I have had along the way. It has grown tremendously in the 2.5 years since it all began with that first blog post!
Q - You also are very active in Social Media. We’ve seen such a heightened awareness of the education community being involved and leveraging Social Media to be more connected and enhance classrooms. How did you get “started” utilizing social media, and how do you leverage it now?
A – I started using social media when I began my blog. I figured it would be a fun way to connect any readers together in a community where they could share ideas. I knew they needed somewhere other than just the website because they were already comfortable on social media channels. Now, that same Facebook fan page (The Organized Classroom Blog) has grown to 25,000 fans, and I am now connecting with other teachers on Twitter, Pinterest, G+, Instagram, and more! Social media has opened up doors for all to be able to take a virtual tour in another teacher’s classroom, present an author reading their book to a class across the world, or even the same grade level teachers team planning their next week’s lesson plans – all while never leaving home. The amount of collaboration is astonishing to me and I am just thrilled to have been a part of it for this long. Hopefully it stays that way for a long time to come.
Q – What advice would you give to teachers who are looking to delve into social media for the first time, and possibly incorporating it into the classroom?
A – I have always been excited about any type of technology in the classroom. Even years ago (before it was cool or common), I always had a classroom website and used word processing software to create classroom newsletters and handouts. When social media arrived, I knew it would be an exciting time for teachers to connect with each other and to parents in a completely different way. Times are changing and it is up to us to make those changes and use them to our advantage.
Q - What one piece of advice would you give teachers who are looking to better leverage websites and/or social media in the classroom?
A – Contact those who have done it successfully before you. No need to reinvent the wheel. Blog stalk those teaching blogs who you love the ideas of and ask. Most teachers are more than willing to share what they have learned or at least point you in the direction for where to get it. Teachers have always been known to be a caring community and I think social media has only made it even stronger.
Q - What else that we haven’t talked about that you would want other people to know about yourself or your websites?
A – That anyone can do it! I have heard of so many teachers who would like to start their own blog “maybe someday.” Starting a blog/website can be as easy as a few clicks of the mouse – and free – literally. If you would have asked me 2 years ago about things like HTML, hotlinks, guest blogging, and Pinterest, I would have given you a pretty odd look. I have taught myself almost everything exclusively by studying others, researching on Google, and watching hours of video tutorials on YouTube. You will have to put the time in, but it is so fulfilling when an email comes through with a note of thanks from a teacher somewhere else far away in the world. That makes it all worthwhile.
Q – Where can people find our more information about you and your sites and resources?
A – My corporate website lists all of my projects in one handy spot. It can be found at PEN Group Online (which stands for Preston Education Network): www.PENGroupOnline.com
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According to author John Warner, an online learning consortium called EdX, which is the product of a collaboration between Harvard and M.I.T. is working on an automated grading system for writing. In his post “22 Thoughts on Automated Grading of Student Writing” at the blog Inside Higher Ed, Warner discusses whether or not this is a good idea. In short, he believes that relying on this type of system to grade student writing is not something schools should incorporate into their practices. He argues that the only way for a student and teacher to form a relationship that encourages writing improvement is through discussing what is wrong and right about a student’s work. He says that most instructors and teachers will tell you that the numerical grade is not important and that the constructive criticism that comes along with it is not something a computer can replace.Warner believes that some tasks should not be left up to technology and will always require human interaction. He even points out that studies have shown that children learn better when given personal feedback and when they know they have a living, breathing audience instead of a machine. He also states that the goal of writing, even beyond what is created for educational purposes, is to communicate with a real audience.
Our own thoughts are that automated grading of writing is extremely problematic at best, and writing is best “graded” by a live person, not a software program. At its core, as is mentioned in the article, writing is about the ability to communicate a thought or to an actual audience, and is far too nuanced to at this point be graded “automatically”.
What are your own thoughts on this? Have you had any experience with software grading of writing?
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Have you ever stopped to think about who a student is writing for when he or she writes an essay? Most of the time, they have an audience of one: their teacher. Over time, this can make writing seem monotonous. According to Chad McGowan, a high school technology teacher and professional development specialist in educational technology, this stifles the student’s desire to be creative and their ability to get excited about writing in general. In the article “Audi-thentic” at McGowan’s blog, 21st Century Classroom, he talks about how students see writing an essay as one thing to mark off a list of assignments from the teacher.On the other hand, when a student knows that many people will read the final product, he or she may take the time to go above and beyond what is required of him or her. For example, when a student knows an article will be published in the school newspaper and read by other students, parents, teachers, and administrators, he or she will make a greater effort and be proud of the completed work. McGowan suggests that teachers find a way to publish their students’ work as often as possible, even if it is just for other classmates to read.
We’ve found this concept to be very true, both with students and older authors as well. What do you do in your classroom to help students get that added focus for their writing?
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Here is a recap of the best hints, tools, strategies and ideas on improving student writing from around the internet. Given through the eyes of Easy Student Publishing and other teachers and thought leaders in Education.Best Better Student Writer Stories
The Recursive Writing Process: When it comes to getting students to recognize what should be improved in their own writing, one process example may be to use REA—Revise, Edit or Accept. This process means that students will revise keep editing until it meets the criteria for the teacher to accept it.
The Top Places To Publish Student Writing: This video discusses the top places around the internet to publish student writing, among whih include: Edublogs, PoeticPower, and of course, we would be remiss without mentioning physically publishing a book with one of our own in-house publishing programs which you can check out here.
Teaching Personal Narrative Writing: Another video created by Dea Auray and Barbara Mariconda of Empowering Writers which shows and example of a lesson on writing personal narratives as given to a group of 4th grade students. Specifically, this lesson reviews the idea of fiction and writing main events and goes onto introducing the idea of writing narrative from personal experience.
Journaling With Students: This article discusses an introduction of journaling and writing on an everyday basis with students. One example given is that students are given a penny and told to write for seven minutes about the abstraction that money represents.
Technology Tools For Teachers: As technology becomes more a part of our everyday life it becomes essential that we incorporate it into the writing process. Listed are several free tools that teachers can use to enhance writing.
High School Generated Writing Prompts: This is a compilation of writing prompts generated by a creative writing class at Gwinn High School.
A Guide To Writing Conferences With Students: A guide to student/teacher writing conferences and a discussion on the importance of a writing conference for better communication, which leads to better writing from students.
Writing Activities For Kids: Discusses strategies for incorporating writing into daily activities and how this helps encourage and excite children to write.
Supporting Publishing Student Writing: Written by the Kaplan University Writing Center Faculty, this article provides a solid argument for why students should publish their writing, and various strategies and tools with which they can do so.
20 Writing Prompts For Students: As the name implies, this lists 20 writing prompts for students to get the proverbial juices flowing and spark ideas for writing.
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Are you going to be at the ISTE 2013 Conference (International Society for Technology in Education) conference in San Antonio Texas from June 23 thru June 26 2013?
If you are, make sure to stop by the Easy Student Publishing booth (#14086) to find out about or programs, how they help meet both common core writing and technology standards AND to find out how to get a free My Comic Book or Illustory A+ book.
Who is going to be there?
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This video presents an interview with 2nd grade teacher Courtney Bean on publishing student work. It was produced by the Georgia Department of Education English Language Arts and Literacy team as part of its Common Core Tools video series. Publishing students’ work is a way to celebrate their success. It allows them to demonstrate their learning and adds a new dimension to their creative writing assignments—students are no longer writing just for their teachers, but also for their peers and, in the case of online publishing, for the general public. Bean’s goal is to formally publish three pieces per quarter. She gives three examples of ways to publish students’ work.
The first method is a traditional handwritten book. For this project, the students wrote their stories on white paper, which was then stapled into a book format. The books were posted in the hallway outside the classroom for others to read along with a note explaining the Common Core Standards that were addressed in the writing lesson. The note was written in the first-person from the students’ point of view, for example: “We began by reading [name of the assigned text] and tried to model it in our writing.” This perspective was used to enhance students’ feelings of ownership over their mastery of the standards.
The second method introduced technology into the publishing process by using Pixie, a software program similar to PowerPoint, but for children. The program allows users to type, draw, and create slides. Students wrote their stories into the program, illustrated them, and created slideshows.
Finally, the third method involved publishing students’ work online. The students wrote five-paragraph essays, typed the essays in Microsoft Word, and then uploaded them to Wikispaces, which is a social writing workspace that is like a bulletin board. Everyone had the chance to read and comment on each others’ essays.
Publishing students’ work improves student engagement and performance and gives them something to work toward and be proud of. It is also a fun way of teaching computer skills and using technology in the classroom, and many free publishing tools are available online.
Of course, you can always try out our various student writing publishing programs for free. Click the button below and register to try them out for free.
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As a teacher, you have probably given numerous writing assignments that require students to have notebook paper or a printer, but have you ever handed out an assignment involving Post-It notes? Susan at BusyTeacher.org has, and in her article, “Short, Sweet and Sticky: Get Your Students Writing with These 6 Writing Activities,” she explains how you can, too. She claims that using sticky notes can make a writing project less intimidating, particularly for students who do not speak English as their first language. She also claims that having such a small space on which to write makes the process more about the quality instead of the quantity of the content.So, what kind of projects can you assign that use these small, sticky pieces of paper? You can have students write personal notes to you about their day or answer questions that you provide for them. You may also use them to have students pick out the elements of a story or let them share their opinions on a study-related topic with the rest of the class. Most of the activities Susan offers in this article are aimed at English as second language students, though they could be adapted for any young learner.
You can find the full article with the illustrated activities here.
What kinds of creative activities do you find keep kids interested in your own classroom? Tell us below in your comments!
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Teachers and parents make excellent motivators, but sometimes it takes a little peer interaction for students to become their best selves. Student writing groups are one way for students to encourage each other to work hard and get creative. Stephenie at the blog Living a Faith-Filled Life recognizes this and encourages educators to use writing groups.In her post “5 More Activities for Student Writing Groups,” Stephenie provides a handful of great ideas that will help to enrich your students’ group time. Some of these include allowing students to draw artwork that can accompany their writing and having students read a sentence from a book and letting it lead to a discussion about storytelling. One of the activities involves giving a student an assignment, but she warns that you should not make it feel like a regular classroom assignment. Educators should play up that the activity is fun and exciting, and possibly even call it a “challenge” instead of an assignment. No matter which activity you choose, she encourages you to enjoy your groups as you watch them grow and learn throughout the school year. At the end of the article, she poses a question for readers regarding obstacles that stand in the way of starting a writing group.
To read the full article, head here.
Stephanie does indeed list some easy activities, but we are curious….what are some writing activities do you find that are easy to execute in your classroom? Tell us in the comments below!
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Your children’s and students’ education is nothing like what it was when you were in school, especially when it comes to writing. The ability to type and use a computer is just as important as the ability to write upper and lower case letters. That said, writing is still a major component of the Common Core Standards in English language arts as Doug Herbert points out on the United States Department of Education’s official blog.The article entitled “Meeting the Challenges of Student Writing in the Digital Age” talks about the challenges teachers face when teaching writing, while also trying to incorporate the tools and technology of the digital age. Herbert mentions a forum for teachers called Digital Is that was developed by the National Writing Project. Digital Is is a place where writing teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools can share resources, experience and materials that tackle this topic. He also mentions an article written by Margarita Melendez about Digital Is and the purpose that it serves.
The forum is funded by the United States Department of Education. The Melendez articles also talks about some other Common Core Standards related projects that are also funded by the Department of Education, including schools in rural areas.
You can read the full article here at the Department of Education’s Official Blog
I completely understand how challenging it can be to incorporate all the different modes and aspects of technology into your classroom can be. After all, it is constantly changing and emerging what the latest and greatest “tech tools” are.
What are your own biggest challenges with technology in your class?
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Here is a free, downloadable memoir writing lesson plan for you to use and download. This was contributed by Whitney Robison of the Louisville Adventist Academy.She has had a series of shared lesson, including how to teach memoir writing
Below is an excerpt from that lesson plan.
Memoir Writing Lesson Activity By Day
Day 1 – Read to students Climbing My Mountain….By Whitney Robinson (the teacher). Discuss what a memoir is and how it is different from other nonfiction books.
Day 2 – Have students make a list of events that they think they could turn into memoir.
Day 3 – Students choose what event they want and come up with a life lesson. Discuss different life lessons.
Day 4 – Review over what a life lesson is (more broad than specific). Go through students’ life lessons as a group and help each other figure out a good one to go along with their story.
Day 5 – Begin actually writing story. Make sure it has a beginning, middle, end.
Day 6 – Conference
Day 7 – Conference
Day 8 – Mini Lesson. Discuss Dialogue. Show different examples of dialogue with books.
Day 9 – Have students look through different books to see how the story begins.
Day 10 – Work on and share Hooks with class.
Day 27 – (When books arrive) CELEBRATION! Send out invitations to family and teachers
Common Core Standards Addressed
Third-
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, details, and clear event sequences.
a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.
c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
d. Provide a sense of closure.
4. With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 3 on pages 28-29.)
6. With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as interact and collaborate with others.
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3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
b. Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events.
d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 4 on pages 28-29.)
6. With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.You can download the full lesson plan, including the daily (days 1-27) lesson activity chart by clicking this link right now.
A natural extension of memoir writing and a way to fully provide assessment of authentic writing is to publish your students story. We provide a full publishing platform, ranging from free publishing programs to online publishing tools.
You can test drive the programs and tools for free by clicking on the button below and registering.
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