Comments (0) Hello! Tonight was our first practice run through for the presentations for the Showcase. For those who were scheduled, an AMAZING job! After tonight, we are certain the showcase will rock! I cannot wait to see the rest on Saturday! Thanks again to all!!!
I previously posted How to Blog about formulaic blog construction. This is something about how to put together a television news story. It’s very funny, but it has a dirty word in it so you’ll not want to show it to the kiddies — or even watch it yourself if you’d prefer to avoid the fallout of an entirely gratuitous f-bomb.
If nothing else, it can spur a conversation about whether this website needs Standards & Practices.
Hi all! I recently received this link from a former colleague. Haven’t gotten too deep into the site, but thought some may be interested in some of the resources. The site has quite a few links that may be of use! Let me know if you find anything good to use!
My novel writing group is doing so well. They are learning a ton about story structure just from writing. I have one that has totally wiped the floor with me and her goal. She is well past 10,000 words. I’m sadly stuck at 2,500. This has been an uber crazy month at work. Which incidently is also why I’m a little late turning in a few things. I’m not trying to be a slacker, I promise. I’m dedicating the weekend to my inquiry stuff.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Jenna
“A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow.
Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2009?
It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother’s word or your spouse’s word or your child’s word – this is YOUR word.
I thought this had some great writing ideas for ways to incoroporate technology into the writing process, as well as some unconventional/newer forms of writing. I thought Aggie might be able to use the pictlit site for her inquiry. Enjoy = )
Jenna
Hello! I have a question to pose to see if I can get some ideas. It is currently report card time (my faaaaavorite time and, lucky for teachers, it comes 4 times a year!!!). It seems as though some of my parents tend to identify spelling as identical to writing. Even worse, some uphold spelling as much more important than writing content and other writing related strategies. Why is this?!? As an elementary teacher, I find spelling instruction (by this I mean giving a list of words in which kids write each word 5 times, put the words in alphabetical order, etc.) a complete waste of time and really find it pointless. Unless the focus is on word patterns or some type of word study, I find memorizing word spellings tedious and small in the grand scheme of learning.I do think it is important to know letter sounds, blends, patterns, etc. It all comes together as the child grows as a reader and a writer. But what is the hang up?!! Is it just that spelling is very clearly assessed by noting that a set of words is spelled correctly or not? Why is spelling homework something parents feel is SO necessary? Why is it that some of my students’ parents are so critical of their child’s spelling that they miss out on the amazing writing presented by their child?!
Of course, this is definitely my own personal opinion, and maybe not all see it the same. What do you all think?
By the way, ironically, I tried to hit spell check after writing this, and it kept causing the screen to freeze!! Ha! Go figure!
(PS—I teach 2nd grade, so I apologize to anyone who is thinking that I am off my rocker for this conversation!! 
What’s Working? What’s not going so well? what help do you need? What has gone well? Post it here!
Welcome 2010!
Hope the holidays treated you well! Now that the holiday season has come to a close and the hectic schedules are hopefully settling, we would like to welcome you back to the new and improved (and more user friendly) site!
Hello all! I thought I would start a post that we could all use to discuss some of the great and not so great things that are happening in our classrooms in relation to writing. I would love to hear some things that you all have tried or some inspirational ideas. As for anything you are struggling with,let’s put our heads together and see what we can do to help out!
Happy writing!
Panorama Theme by 
Themocracy
