workshops should begin and end by having people think and write about their learning goals. Workshops and series should be named after learning goals rather than tools.

involves introducing tools not by the unconscionably boring "click-along-with-the-presenter" method, but by giving participants a logical series of steps to perform and having them figure out how to do them through play, exploration, peer and facilitator support.

professional development plans ultimately need to build towards creating environments where teachers are coaching, guiding, supporting and inspiring one another.

I have a group that watches the videos the night before and then uses class time (extremely effectively, I might add) to work through challenge problems, labs, quizzes, and projects. In the same class, I have two students that work 30-35 hours each week outside of school. They use the class time to watch the videos together and then move forward. They rarely do chemistry at home, which is fine with me. Yet a third group does most of their chemistry at home, checks with me in class, and then moves on to geometry for the rest of the period. Each group is totally different than the others, but they are still learning.

for teaching writing, blogging isn't the best choice. Your students will learn much more and be less likely personalize their mistakes if you have those conversations face to face. Where blogging shines is through the ideas shared and the conversations created by posting online. If that isn't the goal of your writing assignment, perhaps you need to rethink the medium you have chosen for your students to use.

Teach them how to blog first. We did an excellent paper blogging lesson first (found on the blog of McTeach), which brought up why we were blogging and how to do it appropriately.  This got the students excited, interested as well as got them thinking about what great comments look and sound like.

Talk safety!

They taught each other how to do anything fancy and also let each other know when font or color choices were poor.