#TechTuesday: Bring Blogging to Class with EduBlogs

One of my favorite school experiences was when my 8th-grade teacher encouraged us to create our own blogs on Xanga, an early-2000's service that sadly went the way of Myspace- still around, but no longer relevant. I loved the experience because the creativity and the freedom to post about things that mattered to me were …

The REAL Truth About Choice Reading

So, I've mentioned in previous posts that I am a total workshop junkie, but this school year was actually my first real go at it. Like many teachers when they initially hear about the free choice involved in workshop, I had a boatload of concerns about starting an independent free-choice reading program with my 8th-grade …

How National Novel Writing Month Kickstarted My Teaching

National Novel Writing Month is, without a doubt, the biggest project I have undertaken in my teaching career thus far. While I have been familiar with NaNoWriMo since my early 20's, and I knew of the Young Writers Program in passing, I more or less jumped into the unit head-first with only a basic, general …