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"A survey of 2,462 Advanced Placement (AP) and National Writing Project (NWP) teachers finds that digital technologies are shaping student writing in myriad ways and have also become helpful tools for teaching writing to middle and high school students.  These teachers see the internet and digital technologies such as social networking sites, cell phones and texting, generally facilitating teens' personal expression and creativity, broadening the audience for their written material, and encouraging teens to write more often in more formats than may have been the case in prior generations.  At the same time, they describe the unique challenges of teaching writing in the digital age, including the "creep" of informal style into formal writing assignments and the need to better educate students about issues such as plagiarism and fair use."

"Graham's review of the research doesn't resolve the age-old debate of whether students learn writing best naturally -  just by doing it - or through explicit writing instruction. But there are effective practices where the research is unequivocal. Distressingly, many teachers aren't using them. "We have confirmation of things we know that work, but are not applied in the classroom," said Graham."

Most students with autism hate to write. Even simple writing assignments require skills in language, organization, sensory, and visual motor areas. I Hate to Write is a new book from autism consultants Kathy Oehler and Cheryl Boucher that helps teachers look at the writing process through the eyes of a student with autism. By focusing on the four aspects of writing that are most problematic for students with ASD - language, organization, sensory, and visual motor skills - teachers will learn new ways to help students with ASD become happy, successful writers.

"With what we'll call Writing 3.0, students and teachers can: Organize and draft through handwriting, drawing, text and voice Collaborate and incorporate multimodal feedback Create a final product that demonstrates mastery and communicates understanding beyond the literal confines of paper Organizing & Drafting With iPads, writing has becoming mobile, not just in the sense that we can write anywhere -- in some ways, we could do that with paper -- but that we can use the tools and features of the devices to scaffold our process both in terms of the output and the input. "

"New Dorp's Writing Revolution, which placed an intense focus, across nearly every academic subject, on teaching the skills that underlie good analytical writing, was a dramatic departure from what most American students-especially low performers-are taught in high school."

"I will be sharing photos of my writing classroom and I will include explanations of what I do and how I utilize the many charts and displays in my classroom. I am a writing specialist for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade, so it is imperative that I have a print rich classroom, full of meaningful learning displays. I also teach grammar, science, and social studies."

Free preview online ""Who am I?" This is the question that many adolescents ask during the turbulent middle and high school years. In Worth Writing About: Exploring Memoir with Adolescents, Jake Wizner addresses how searching for the answer to this question leads his students to reflection, to reading, and ultimately to deeper, more meaningful writing."

"So what would a lesson for students look like if it was inspired by something shared from the teacher's iPod? The purpose of this page is to answer that question. It contains many writing across the curriculum lessons created by many amazing teachers from nearly all curriculum areas. Each lesson is tied to the writing process, the writing traits and a "mentor text" which, in each poetry lesson below, is the song and its lyrics. Read, enjoy, and give some of them a try. We will consistently be adding great lessons to this page. Perhaps yours will be one of them."

"Lists for Writers is a great addition to any writer's toolbox. Helpful to both novice and expert writers alike, this app delivers list after list of prompts and ideas for your brainstorming sessions: names, character traits, plot lines, occupations, obsessions, action verbs, and much more! Whether you are working on a creative writing project, a short story, an essay assignment, National Novel Writing Month / NaNoWriMo, or your next fiction book, this app helps get it done."

"Learning logs are a simple and straightforward way to help students integrate content, process, and personal feelings. Learning logs operate from the stance that students learn from writing rather than writing what they have learned"

Comic writing prompts and templates

"The webinar highlights strategies for writing for authentic audiences and purposes, reading for enjoyment and understanding, embedding professional literacy communities into the daily life of the school, reducing the need for intervention, and connecting to Common Core State Standards' priorities."

"For students in Grades 2-5, LEGO Education StoryStarter is the helping hand that kick-starts creativity and boosts reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. With StoryStarter, learners work together to create and build stories with LEGO bricks and figures and then use the unique StoryVisualizer software to photograph, write, and publish their stories."

"What this is: Hundreds of samples of Common Core-aligned student work from K-12 classrooms around the country. Why it matters: The shifts require that teachers gain fluency in identifying Common Core-aligned writing techniques at every grade level. "

"This fine academic tool was designed to assist in the writing of reports, grant applications, and other documents related to public schools. I believe that it will be particularly useful for people involved in writing reports for WASC accreditation. Amaze your colleagues with finely crafted phrases of educational nonsense! The javascript code is adapted from Dack.com's Web Economy BS Generator. I would be remiss if I did not thank my district's Professional Development staff for introducing me to many of these gems. "

"here we present a compilation of resources to help you along with getting started, planning, and actually writing your essays!"

"The Premium version of Read & Write for Google Chrome is Free for Teachers. If you are a teacher, use this form to enter your information, and you will receive a premium license."

example of a district writing rubric that TBTs could use across the disciplines

students can upload their writing and get feedback

"Using the stop-and-jot technique not only supports enriched classroom discussions, but also leads students through the first step of the writing process: brainstorming."