pedablogical

On Writing When You Aren’t Sure What to Write

March 22, 2013 by Traci Gardner

I need to write what I call a spare blog post, that is a post that I can send to the editors of the Bedford Bits blog to use one week when I’m sick or overwhelmed and don’t have time to do my normal, weekly post.

At NCTE, we called these evergreen posts, a post or article that could go up any time of year, something useful to teachers or that teachers were always looking for. For our purposes there (usually to be included in the INBOX newsletter), we leaned toward topics like grammar and persuasive writing.

Try though I have for two days now, I simply cannot think of a good, long-lasting idea to write about for my spare Bits post. I can come up with some timely topics that would be great for today or next week. I can think of ideas that would connect to current events or articles about education.

But a generic idea? I’m just out of them. I feel like I’ve used every good, generic idea I have ever had. All of them. I’ve spilled them out into Lists of Ten, Inbox blog posts, and my other writing until there’s just nothing at all left. What do you do when that happens? What do you do when all the ideas you had stored up seem to be used, and yet the looming deadline says that you need one more?

Filed under Personal Journal Tagged with brainstorming, ideas, topics

What If We Treated Teachers Like Wrestlers?

March 13, 2013 by Traci Gardner

Originally posted on Bedford Bits Website

I confess that I’m a fan of professional wrestling. I watch Raw and SmackDown. I have WWE Magazines on my desk. There’s a WWE Calendar on the wall, this month featuring Alberto Del Rio. I even own a couple of John Cena t-shirts.

I realize this admission may seriously taint my ethos as an academic, but I prefer to think of my interest as an exploration of narrative structure and archetypes in pop culture texts. There are good characters (faces) and bad characters (jerks). There is an exposition, climax, and denouement. There are stereotypes that make me cringe most weeks, but there are uplifting moments too. I take each show as a text. It’s not real, you know.

What if it were real though? For months now, I’ve been thinking about the entrances that the wrestlers make each week. They emerge from back stage with a blasting theme song, pyrotechnics, flashing lights, and choreographed dances and salutes to the fans. Iconic video clips and keywords play on gigantic video displays on stage (here are some examples). The crowd screams, wildly waving posters in support of their favorites.

Every week when I watch these entrances and the celebrations that take place in the ring, I wonder what the wrestlers feel. What would it be like to have thousands of screaming fans validating your work? These are the thoughts that have brought me to my topic this week: What if we treated teachers like wrestlers? What if at conventions like CCCC, CWPA, and Computers and Writing, we honored keynote speakers and leaders in the field with the electrifying welcome wrestlers receive?

Imagine Chris Anson taking the stage at CCCC in Las Vegas this week (and if there’s anywhere this could actually happen, it would be Las Vegas). He bursts through the curtains on cue, his theme song blaring. He dances across the stage, his CCCC Chair belt tossed over his shoulder. As video clips and keywords from his best work play on screen, he runs down the ramp and leaps into the ring. The crowd goes wild, clapping and screaming. Fans hold up signs that proclaim their support. Chris climbs the ropes in the corner and holds his belt aloft for the crowd to see. He waves and points to fans in the crowd, reveling in the moment, before bouncing down, handing the belt to the referee, and getting down to business.

I know none of that is ever going to happen, but wouldn’t it be nice if we taught in a world where teachers were so revered that it could? Most of the convention sessions I have attended included polite clapping and a standing ovation or two, but they all fell short of the jubilance that a wrestler experiences. I want to encourage a little grassroots celebration. If you will be at CCCC this week, celebrate those teachers and colleagues who take the stage.

I want to see teachers honoring teachers in Las Vegas. It might feel strange to shout from the audience, but you can pat speakers on the back. You can shake their hands. You can praise their work and let them know how it influences you. Take some photos with them and post them online. If you’re brave enough to hold up posters, share those too. My hunch is that you’ll feel as energized as the teachers you are encouraging.

Share a link to a photo or tell me how you feel about cheering on colleagues. And more importantly, let me know what you think Chris’s theme song should be :) Just leave a comment below, or drop by my page on Facebook or Google+.

[Photo: WrestleMania 25 by jrandallc, on Flickr]

Filed under Bedford Bits

2000 Posts!!!

February 19, 2013 by Traci Gardner

I logged into the blog just now to add the January Ink’d In to the newsletter archive list (yes, I’m behind) and found this summary information. That’s right. There are officially 2000+ posts here now.

Now never mind that about 2/3 are probably news update summaries. And let’s not mention that there are some missing posts on a Zip cartridge somewhere. Let’s just revel in the nice, pretty numbers :)

Filed under Personal Journal

How Online Professional Development Changed My Life

February 12, 2013 by Traci Gardner

This post originally appeared on the NCTE Inbox blog. I happened upon it today and found myself reminiscing on the paths that I’ve traveled to get to who I am. I thought I’d copy it over to my site to make sure I didn’t lose it. I edited it to remove dated references

Chances are high that you wouldn’t be reading this if it weren’t for online professional development. I don’t mean that in the clichÃ©d “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 hadn’t been for the online professional development opportunities that came my way.

People who know me may not believe it, but I kept to myself as a teacher before I found opportunities to connect with other educators online. I read a lot about teaching, but I rarely discussed teaching strategies with others. I had some connections in the department where I taught, and I was a fellow of Writing Project site that no longer exists.

And then I got an email address and found that other college composition teachers were out there discussing what they do in the classroom online. I signed up Megabyte University, an email discussion list that was active from 1990 to 1997. There, I connected with other teachers who were interested in using computers in writing instruction, and I eventually found my voice and began participating–asking questions, sharing strategies, and planning projects. I found that the people who were names on the articles I read in College English and College Composition and Communication were kind, friendly folks who were willing to chat with a relatively inexperienced person like me.

To my conversations on email discussion lists, I added real-time chats on MOOs and IRC. I attended online conferences related to the face-to-face Computers and Writing Conference. Before I knew it, I had connections with colleagues in all corners of the country, and I had actually chatted with CCCC presidents and NCTE Committee Chairs. I even got up the gumption to send a personal email message to Peter Elbow to tell him how much I loved Writing with Power.

Without any reservation, I can say that I ended up writing this blog because of those first connections that I made online in the early 1990s. Online discussion led to new jobs, new teaching opportunities, and new ways to support other teachers using online tools.

None of the resources I tapped when I got started still exist in the same form today. Computer resources have evolved, and we teachers have developed new ways to connect and keep in touch today. Today we have new ways of keeping in touch, like discussion lists, Twitter Chats, and Facebook Groups. You’ll find wonderful teachers who will share their ideas, listen to your strategies, and, if you’re just lucky, bring you opportunities that will invigorate your teaching every day.

Filed under NCTE Inbox, Teaching with Digital Tools

A Definition Assignment from a Super Bowl Commercial

February 4, 2013 by Traci Gardner

I wasn’t blown away by the Super Bowl commercials this year. There were a couple that seemed cute to me. The GoDaddy commercials, as usual, annoyed me. WWE fan that I am, I enjoyed The Rock’s Milk commercial, and like several of my friends, I teared up over the Clydesdale commercial.

The most immediately useful commercial however was this farmer commercial for Ram Trucks, which uses Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer” speech as its text:

Play this commercial in the classroom and talk about writing extended definitions. It’s a wonderful example and can inspire students to create their own video definitions.

Filed under classroom activities, Teaching Composition Tagged with commercial, definition, super bowl

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 7, 2013 by Traci Gardner

If you’re looking for some activities to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this month, read on! This post includes materials on the ReadWriteThink site that fit three categories:

Resources specifically focused on Dr. King and texts he wrote
Biographical activities you can use to explore Dr. King’s life and writing
Family activities that relate to Dr. King

The materials range from mini-lessons to complete units and cross the grade levels. So read on, and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his work.

Focused on Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on this day.
Students study Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and work in groups to create a mural that depicts Dr. King’s vision of peace.
Exploring the Power of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Words through Diamante Poetry
Students explore the ways that powerful and passionate words communicate the concepts of freedom, justice, discrimination, and the American Dream in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Entering History: Nikki Giovanni and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nikki Giovanni’s poem “The Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.” is paired with Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, taking students on a quest through time to the Civil Rights movement.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.
Students explore the “I Have a Dream” Foundation’s website and brainstorm ways they can help themselves or others at their school achieve their educational dreams.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero
This lesson provides ideas for celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by encouraging students to explore the connections between Dr. King and themselves through journaling and inquiry-based research.
Living the Dream: 100 Acts of Kindness
This lesson provides the “action piece” for any study of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In this project, students participate in Dr. King’s dream by doing 100 acts of kindness.
How Big Are Martin’s Big Words? Thinking Big about the Future
Inspired by the book Martin’s Big Words, students explore information on Dr. King to think about his “big” words, then they write about their own “big” words and dreams.
Every Punctuation Mark Matters: A Minilesson on Semicolons
Students analyze stylistic choices and grammar use in authentic writing, focusing on the use of the semicolon in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
I Have a Dream: Exploring Nonviolence in Young Adult Texts
Students will identify how Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of nonviolent conflict-resolution is reinterpreted in modern texts. Homework is differentiated to prompt discussion on how nonviolence is portrayed through characterization and conflict. Students will be formally assessed on a thesis essay that addresses the Six Kingian Principles of Nonviolence.

Biographical Lesson Plans

Guided Comprehension in Action: Teaching Summarizing With the Bio-Cube
Middle-level students learn the ins and outs of writing biographies by researching a contemporary or historical figure and writing a summary.
A Biography Study: Using Role-Play to Explore Authors’ Lives
Secondary students read biographies and explore websites of selected American authors and then role-play as the authors. Adapt this lesson to ask students to consider Dr. King, as the author of the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” “I Have a Dream” speech, and other texts.
Biographies: Creating Timelines of a Life
Elementary students explore a number of sources to create a biographical timeline about a selected person. Students collaboratively research and resolve conflicting information they find during their investigation.
Acrostic Poems
Have students write acrostic poems about Dr. King or events from his life with the Acrostic Poem tool.
Writers’ Workshop: The Biographical Sketch
Students use the faces and places they learn about in their research to write a biography about a contemporary or historical figure.

Family Activities

Amazing Biographies: Writing About People Who Change the World
After reading about historical figures and other important people that have changed the world, children choose someone that they consider to be “amazing”—either someone they’ve heard about or someone they know—and create a book page that highlights this person.
Think Peace
Podcaster Emily Manning shares books that serve as a springboard to discuss how children and adults alike can use peaceful, nonviolent methods to affect change in society. This is episode 21 of Chatting About Books: Recommendations for Young Readers, a Podcast for Grades K–5.
Celebrate Heroes
Encourage children to spend a little time thinking and writing about just what makes a hero and who their personal heroes might be.
Dr. King Bio Cubes
Families and children can gather or summarize information about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with the Bio Cube interactive.
Create Poetry with the Word Mover App
Use the word bank from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and create found poetry.

If you want even more resources, check out the Martin Luther King, Jr. collection from Thinkfinity.

[Photo: MLK Memorial by alvesfamily, on Flickr]

Filed under ReadWriteThink

Twitter Resources Round-up

January 5, 2013 by Traci Gardner

I’ve been using Twitter for years for everything from keeping in touch with colleagues to sharing professional development and curriculum materials with other teachers. In the years since I’ve joined, I often first learn about current events from Twitter (@BreakingNews is my favorite).

Since I’ve been doing this for a while, I have some links I can share, from blogs that I’ve written for NCTE, Bedford/St. Martins, and my own site. They were written over the past few years, so forgive any links that are broken please.

If you’re interested in collecting Twitter links in a simple way for students, Paper.li can be a useful option. The tool gathers Tweets from your feed that include URLs and lays them out in a newspaper-style format. I’ve written several pieces about using Paper.li:

Most recently, I’ve written a series of posts on using Twitter Chats, which are real-time, online conversations that use specific hashtags to help organize the discussion. Twitter Chats can be a powerful tool for students and colleagues. You can read more about them in these posts:

Also, if you’re even slightly interested in how you might use Twitter in the classroom, take a look at William M. Ferriter’s essay “Why Teachers Should Try Twitter” from Educational Leadership. The article explains, “For educators who use this tool to build a network of people whose Twitter messages connect to their work, Twitter becomes a constant source of new ideas to explore.” It includes some tips and how-to’s as well as a personal story on how the experience affected the author’s understanding of differentiated instruction.

Hope that helps any readers who are interested in expanding how they use Twitter. I’m willing to share whatever advice and experience I have, so contact me if you need more or have a question I might be able to answer.

Filed under Bedford Bits, Teaching with Digital Tools

Help Keeping Your Teaching Resolutions

January 2, 2013 by Traci Gardner

Making a New Year’s Resolution is easy. Keeping it? That’s a different story altogether. Personal goals end up competing with teaching goals. The busy whirl of heading back to the classroom crowds out all those plans, and the next thing you know, it’s March and those teaching resolutions are long forgotten.

How about some help with those goals? I’ve gathered some of the best resources from ReadWriteThink and Thinkfinity to help make sure your good intentions all become accomplishments in 2013!

Learn something new: Did you set the goal of learning a new technique or strategy to use in the classroom? Try these resources to get started:
- ReadWriteThink’s Strategy Guides cover areas ranging from teaching with technology to reading in the content areas.
- Want to learn more about content area reading? Register for our Free Webinar: Using Formative Reading Assessment to Enhance Content Area Learning.
- Watch Doug Buehl’s webinar on Meeting the Demands of the Common Core: Mentoring Readers of Science and Technical Texts on demand.
- Find even more webinars and additional resources in the Professional Development area of the Thinkfinity site.
Collaborate more with other teachers: You can share ideas, give other teachers some advice or feedback, and ask questions about your classroom and students on the Thinkfinity site.
- Visit the Community Hub, The Lounge, or the Online Tools for Educators to connect with teachers across the U.S.
- Discuss specific strategies in the content area social groups on the Thinkfinity site:
Plan activities further in advance: What teacher hasn’t found herself scurrying at the last minute to figure out what to do in class tomorrow–or even later this afternoon! I know I have. Use these calendars to find activities and sketch out your month in advance:
- This Day in the Arts, from ArtsEdge
- Calendar of Historical Events, from EconEdLink
- Calendar, from EDSITEment
- Calendar Activities, from ReadWriteThink
- Calendar, from Science NetLinks
Help families and students learn at home: Families are often eager to try fun, educational activities at home, but it takes time to round up the materials and get them into a parent’s hands. Here are some ready-made materials you can use right now:
- Use Parent and Afterschool Resources from ReadWriteThink to give families everything they need to try activities outside the classroom.
- Point families to the Wonderopolis site for a daily activity that take advantage of the kinds of questions kids ask every day.
- Share the ReadWriteThink podcasts Chatting About Books: Recommendations for Young Readers and Text Messages: Recommendations for Adolescent Readers to give families book recommendations on a wide range of topics.
Publish your ideas: Want to share your teaching strategies with teachers everywhere? ReadWriteThink welcomes contributions from educators who want to write or review for the site. Fill out our online interest form and you’ll be on your way to publishing a lesson plan, a classroom printout, or a strategy guide on the site!

Whatever your goals, I hope you meet them and have a fantastic 2013.

[Photo: Resolutions 2012 by simplyla, on Flickr]

Filed under ReadWriteThink

Bits December Blog Flashback

December 31, 2012 by Traci Gardner

Bedford/St. Martin’s Bits bloggers posted on topics ranging from working with new TAs to how we teach research projects. Be sure that you check out all the great ideas for talking about pop culture (like reality TV shows) and how to teach with comics—and don’t miss Holly Pappas’s reflection on the end of one term and the beginning of the next in the Classroom Strategies and Resources section:

About Writing and Being a Teacher of Writers

Nedra Reynolds explores the work of Peter Elbow and Suguta Mitra, and then asks, “Do Writers Need Teachers? Really?”
Steve Bernhardt gives us some insight on Mentoring New TAs and shares details on his own experience with new TAs.
Doug Downs gives us an extended analogy that applies to how we teach writing in Riding on Ice (A Lesson in Conceptions).
Susan Naomi Bernstein talks about learning English in The Nice White Lady Tells a Thanksgiving Story.
Andrea Lunsford tells us all “What I Want for Christmas”—and the gift is all about Building Stories!

Classroom Strategies and Resources

Holly Pappas reflects on the research projects she’s assigned over the years and The most wonderful time of the year.
Jonathan Alexander takes a look at Vibrant, Visceral Things in his Interview with a Young Writer and graphic novelist.
Andrea Lunsford asks, “Is the Term Paper Dead?” and considers how research assignments have changed.
Dan McDonough shares activities on the Controversy surrounding the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on High School Bits.
Jonathan Alexander interviews Compositionist Kat Eason on Beginning to Teach with Comics.
Holly Pappas reflects on the end of one term and the beginning of the next in Academic Rhythms: The Fallow Period.
Nathan Odell shares an Exercise: Close Reading for Gender on the High School Bits Blog.

Analyzing Popular Culture and Current Events

Susan Naomi Bernstein talks about the challenges and revelations of Teaching after Hurricane Sandy.
Liz Losh reviews how we can engage writers with real world issues in Representing Organizations with Comic Books.
Jack Solomon substitutes a “Cultures Versus Vultures” meme for the oft-heard political meme of “makers versus takers.”
Barclay Barrios thinks about readings and discussions he can use to Teach the Gaza Conflict.
Jack Solomon considers the profound cultural signifier of the Unreal Housewives of American TV.

Teaching with Technology

Traci Gardner explains why Teaching with Twitter Chats is a great addition to writing classes and describes how to get started.
Barclay Barrios shares a link on Teaching Digital Citizenship with games.
Andrea Lunsford reviews recent efforts to bring effective online education to the masses in MOOCs to you!
Michael Michaud shares details on his recent experiments with Collaboration in the Paperless Writing Class.
Traci Gardner explains how to kick off in-class discussion with Introductory Twitter Chat Activities.
Barclay Barrios spends some time thinking about technology and The Dark Side of the Digital Humanities.
Traci Gardner suggests some Advanced Twitter Chat Activities you can try next term.
Michael Michaud describes how he uses Google Docs as part of The Paperless Writing Class.

For regular updates from Bedford Bits, be sure to sign up for the Ink’d In newsletter (and other resources), like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

[Photo: Comics by Ryan Brunsvold, on Flickr]

Filed under Bedford Bits

Best Educational Apps from Thinkfinity

December 20, 2012 by Traci Gardner

It’s the gift-giving time of year, and if you’re giving someone an iPad, you can start getting it ready with these great apps for children, teens, and teachers.

Download Reading and Writing Apps

Word Mover App
Take poetry on the road with this ReadWriteThink app. Kids and teens can create “found poetry” by choosing from word banks and existing famous works like “America the Beautiful” and Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream.” Kids can pull up a famous work or the word bank, find words that inspire them, and arrange them into an original poem!

Trading Cards App
With this ReadWriteThink app, kids and teens can create trading cards for fictional people and places, real people and places, objects, and Events. Imagine the fun of having kids create trading cards for favorite holiday characters and places. How about making trading cards as place cards for a holiday dinner—one card for each family member! Going on a family trip? Make a card for each place you stop. The possibilities are endless!

Download Apps for Other Content Areas

For other content areas, try these apps and reviews to find tools that will encourage kids and teens to learn while exploring their new iPads:

Mission US, Think Fast! About the Past from EDSITEment challenges kids to test their knowledge of history as they race against the clock.
EconEdLink has gathered a collection of apps on economics and personal finance for mobile devices.
Illuminations has created a range of Mathematics Apps including the games Math Concentration, Deep Sea Duel, and Okta’s Rescue.
Science NetLinks reviews STEM-related apps for both the iPad and the Android.
Nat Geo Mobile offers apps, games, mobile video, and more. Everything for a geography explorer could ever want.

Build an App!

If you’re working with teens, also look at The Verizon Innovative App Challenge, which provides the opportunity for middle school and high school students, working with a faculty advisor, to use their STEM knowledge, their ingenuity, and their creativity to come up with an original mobile app concept that incorporates STEM and addresses a need or problem in their school or community.

Filed under ReadWriteThink, Teaching with Digital Tools Tagged with games, mobile apps

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