Are Your Students Blogging?

I have posted about blogging before, but cannot say enough about the impact it has on students. Today, I wanted to share some of my favorite resources to get you hooked on blogging with your students. PLEASE try it for six months and I know you will see how much it improves students' writing. I challenge you to try it NOW.

1. Pernille Ripp on Student Blogging (great expert resource)
2. Blogging 4 Kids by William Chamberlain
3. Student Blogging Basics by David Theriault
4. Easyblog.org
5. Comments 4 Kids
6. Blogging by Cybraryman  (lots of resources)
7. Paper Blogging by Pernille Ripp (great for introducing blogs)
8. QuadBlogging 
9. Blogging without Text by Richard Byrne 
10. Sample Student Blogs on Edublogs

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Posted in Basics, Blogging, blogs, Challenge, Comments, paper blogging, Quadbloggin, writing

What is your Mindset?

I love this chart that compares the Growth Mindset with the Fixed Mindset. The creator is Reid Wilson @wayfarepath and reposted from @sylviaduckworth. I truly believe that you can apply this to any work. See what you think:

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Posted in attitude, Challenge, determination, effort, fixed, frustration, grit, Growth Mindset, perseverance, success

Edublogger's Challenge for Teachers

I have several posts about Blogs: What is a Blog and Blogs in Education

I guess I cannot say enough about blogging. It is a passion of mine because it gives you a chance to reflect, put your thoughts down and then knowing that others are reading it and finds it useful gives you that icing on top. Today I ran across an article from Edublogs that shares a Teacher Challenge for 2014. It was posted August 6th, so I do hope some of you join this. It will not begin until August the 14th. I can be great professional development for teachers who have always wanted to have a class blog, but never got around to doing it. This is your chance, while stepping you through the process, step by step! They have two tracks: for your personal blog and then one for teachers setting up a classroom blog.

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Posted in back to school, Blog, Blogging, Challenge, classroom, edublog, PD, professional development

Summer Reading Challenge

Today is our District's official last day of the 2013-2014 school year. As summer begins, consider challenging your student to take the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. There is a section for Kids, Parents, and Educators. The challenge goes through September 5, 2014. Students are able to log their time online. Hope you will join our schools in meeting this Summer Challenge. Welcome aboard! Listen to a welcome message from NASA Astronaut, Leland Melvin. http://bcove.me/xli10hwc

PS. Check out the app for logging your time. They have one for all the different devices: iPad, iPhone, iTouch, and Android.It is called the Scholastic Reading Timer. With this interactive timer, logging reading minutes is easier than ever. Your students who register for the Summer Challenge can win prizes as they reach weekly reading goals Free. scholastic.com

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Posted in astronaut, boredom, Challenge, melvin leland, Reading, Scholastic, summer

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: How Can I Be a Better Teacher Next Fall? | Edutopia

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: How Can I Be a Better Teacher Next Fall? | Edutopia
Great advice from Edutopia. While making an effort to change, we have the tendency to drop back into our old ways because they are our security and it's more comfortable. We need to be strong inwardly to fight that urge and attempt the one that it more difficult. In the end, we usually are glad that we did.This is the time of year when teachers naturally begin to self-evaluate their year. We have high hopes of improving before we return in August. Let me challenge you to participate in some of Edutopia's tips. Allow your students to reflect on YOUR teaching honestly.  Don't forget to let them reflect on their own learning and discover ways that they can improve their own self-directed learning. Let them develop some summer goals to achieve before returning to school. Who knows how long it will be before they become bored at home!

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Posted in back to school, boredom, Challenge, change, Edutopia, improvement, life-long learning, reflect, teaching

The Doctor Knows Best!

Source: blogs.edutech.nodak.edu via Kelly on Pinterest

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Posted in Challenge, Dr. Seuss, motivation, quote

Blogger, my first tool

I committed to learning a new tool each month, so my first most important tool I have decided to improve on is my blog. I experimented with blogging while teaching years ago in my classroom. But, much has changed and I want to become more proficient with Blogger since I will be using it to post my 10 tools for my challenge this year. I am using a template, which I thought would be best to learn. Now, I am wanting to make some design changes such as increasing the width however, the template limits you. That is so frustrating! I will not let that get the best of me. I located a Blogger Getting Started Guide and plan to go through that step by step. I hope you will like some of my changes. If anyone can suggest a way to override this template to increase the width, please leave a comment. Thanks. I hope to post some good articles on blogging in the classroom for my next post.

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Posted in blogger, Blogging, Challenge, Guide

New Year Goals (2013)

Wow, it's now 2013! Hope everyone has committed to some awesome goals for the New Year. I have several that I will accomplish this year. One is to be more consistent in posting to my blogs. In fact, this is my first attempt to take care of that resolution. I wanted to share a couple of my goals that I hope will bring me joy and improve my life. You know when you post your intentions on the web, it makes you more accountable, so here goes.

1. I was told about the "lpm" (Living Proof Ministries) blog from a teacher friend in Bridge City. This is the second year for the event for anyone who would like to jump on board and commit to memorizing 2 scriptures of your choice per month. You can read about the details and how you can register with your commitment on the LPM blog. Be sure to follow the instructions with your scripture's book, chapter, and verse.

2. Today, I read about an opportunity to improve my tech skills by committing to learn 10 new tools in 2013. It's called "Take the 10 Tools Challenge" from Jane Hart's blog called "Learning in the Social Workplace." Part of the requirement is to make a monthly post on a blog about your experiences with the new tool. (This will definitely help improve my blog posting commitment LOL) I hope to have other LCM teachers and staff join me in this challenge for 2013. I will post the tools on this blog and also add them on phale's 23 Tech Things blog too. Please visit these links to check on my progress.

3. I will not go into detail on my personal goals to eat healthy and exercise more. This, I'm sure is the most popular New Year's Resolutions every year and probably the one that is not fulfilled.

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Posted in 2013, blogger, Challenge, Living Proof Ministries, New Year's Goal, Resolution, Web Tools

20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have | Digital Learning Environments

20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have | Digital Learning Environments

I thought this might be a great summer challenge for teachers. Choose a few to learn this summer as a goal before beginning the next school year. I will admit that I am lacking on #15 LOL!

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Posted in Challenge, DLE, educator, Goals, skills