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Great article about the role blogs can play in improving students writing ability. "I believe it's important for students to have their writing read by more people than just their teacher. When they know that their families, their classmates, and people from around the world can read what they write, the impact is measurable. Students pay closer attention to everything from the mechanics of writing to word choice to structure to clarity."

If you grade lots of papers/essays, give this short article a read. There are some interesting ideas to consider when it comes to helping students learn how to write and effectively use our feedback.

http://www.techsmith.com/jing-uses-alytapp.html Video feedback on writing assignments success story from a PA English teacher.

Boost reading and writing confidence. Offer support for Google Docs/web to students with learning difficulties, dyslexia or ELL/ESL.

Boost reading and writing confidence. Offer support for Google Docs/web to students with learning difficulties, dyslexia or ELL/ESL.

A good article about how one college history professor used WikiSpaces to help his students become more engaged in the study of history and the writing process. With some modification for age/grade appropriateness this might be an interesting project idea for RCS history classes. This might also work well for learning in English classes (classes create Wikis based on novels/books read?). Key selections from the article: "Students did not agree on the merits of the wiki. Some were deeply offended when other students eliminated or modified their contributions. Others found the chance to pick apart other's words and conclusions exhilarating. Regardless, most students seemed to grasp the important lesson I hoped to share: that history is the conversation we have about the past. History is about the authorial choices scholars make. History is about the evidence included and the evidence excluded. By asking students to participate in a joint-writing exercise, they were compelled to pay attention to the language others used, the phrasings and structure employed, the anecdotes emphasized, the facts obscured." "The wiki, while not perfect, may help us change the way our students think about history. It may help them be more attentive to language and argument. Importantly, it may help them value civil discourse as a civic virtue."

An excellent 2.5 minute video about how to use Google Docs effectively for learning. Teacher explains how her method of using the technology helps her teach writing and collaboration skills.

A must read article for all teachers who are interested in making peer assessment and feedback part of their students learning. The author, a high school AP Language teacher, uses Google Drive (especially the forms option) wonderfully to prepare his students for the AP exam. The amount of feedback each student and the teacher receives on each writing assignment is pretty remarkable.

Short, informative, and easy read about how to promote successful online discussions in the classroom. Also has good ideas about how to get students to practice writing/reflecting in an informal way.

"Screen Marker allows you to write and draw directly on your desktop and above all of your opened applications. You can use it to highlight areas you want people to notice before taking a screenshot, draw on your screen in classroom settings or just doodle away during those "important" meetings. "

Ink2Go is a screen annotation and recording solution that lets you write on top of your active desktop applications in real time. Save your annotations as image files or even record the entire annotation process as a sharable video!