The Schoenblog

Way back in May I wrote my first post about Google Communities in the classroom as a reflection on the wonderful Google Education on Air online conference. I presented there about my work building classroom community and engaging learners with Communities. Find that post and my GHOA at Teaching and Learning with Google Communities: A #GoogleOnAir Reflection and More. Cassie Reeder was a part of my audience and she reached out to tell me about #edcampGlobal, another massive online conference. And now, months later #ECG2015 is here! On Saturday at 11 AM EST, I will again be presenting in a GHOA about Google Communities, with the help of my best friend, Dani Raskin Kennis.

You can register for #edcampGlobal at edcampglobal.wix.com/edcamp and find my upcoming presentation at tinyurl.com.edcampglobalcommunities--join it now, and I hope to see you there.

Click here to find my GHOA, live on Saturday 8/1 at 11 AM EST.

Building and Extending Student Knowledge with Google Communities 

I first read To Kill a Mockingbird seven years ago. For one reason or another, I never read it in high school; it wasn't until my first teaching position that I had the pleasure. In the time since, I taught the novel 2-4 times a year for five years to my tenth graders. In the past seven years, I've read Mockingbird well over a dozen times. The text moved down to the middle school, and that will make me forever sorry since it was my favorite book to teach. Needless to say, I have a close relationship with the story of Scout, Atticus, and Tom Robinson. I admired the tenacity of the young Jean Louise, Jem's struggle to become a young adult, and Atticus as a paragon of all that's right in the world. In fact, Atticus was my literary god. I used to tell students that when in doubt, Atticus had the answer. Critical Lens essay? Use Atticus' characterization and conflict. SAT essay? Atticus' closing argument will make great evidence for any topic. Have to make a tough decision? WWAD? What would Atticus do?

Meme via Pinterest. I wish I had this on a t-shirt.

"Atticus, you are rewriting history."

For better or worse, what absolutely fascinates me about Watchman are the differences in character and plot. The most important and obvious: Atticus won the trial of Tom Robinson. It's almost glossed over and not discussed nearly enough for me, but Tom Robinson was found innocent in the world of Watchman. I so desperately want to know what happened next. This world of Maycomb that almost was and now is will compel me to read and reread for years to come. Of course, we have the former KKK-member Atticus to content with, too, but oddly enough, this is less of an issue for me. Here's why:

To Kill a Mockingbird is Scout's story, and is appropriately written from the perspective of a young girl who has a blind faith in her father, the only true role model she has. In Watchman, Lee writes, "She looked at Maycomb, and her throat tightened: Maycomb was looking back at her. Go away, the old buildings said. There is no place for you here. You are not wanted. We have secrets."

The Atticus of Mockingbird is a moral paragon because his young daughter thinks it to be so. Whether or not she is correct is a much more complex question, but the simple fact that the entire story is seem through Scout's eyes adds such moral complexity to it's retelling in the not-so-sequel. Has Atticus changed? Or did we only ever know the Atticus who Scout knew? This article from Jezebel's title contends, "Atticus Was Always a Racist: Why Go Set a Watchman Is No Surprise." While I don't agree with everything, it's an interesting take. Who is Atticus Finch? The conflicted, complex, and maybe realistic old man or the dedicated, moral, and just lawyer and father?




In Watchman, Atticus tells his daughter, "Jean Louise, I'm only trying to tell you some plain truths. You must see things as they are, as well as they should be." What is the plain truth here?

The truth, for me, is that the corruption of Atticus isn't as important to me as the growth of Scout. After all these years, it's now Scout's turn and her real coming of age. Even with her 26-years of wisdom and despite living in the big city of New York, it's coming home that leads to her loss of innocence and reckoning with her father. The trial of Tom Robinson from her childhood no longer has that power since now Atticus won, changing the world of Maycomb we knew. No longer is this story about the coming of age of the precocious young girl but her struggles to reconcile the ideal of Atticus we used to share with the the morally complex old man that only a more adult Scout can begin to understand.

Despite the contradictions, confusion, and complexities, I enjoyed Watchman for the most part. I was fascinated by it the whole way through. The adult Jean Louise was a well-realized evolution of the tomboy we know and love, and to see her true coming of age was heartbreaking and nostalgia-ridden. The ideas and even dialogue that called back to Mockingbird both warmed and broke my heart. When Uncle Jack asks her, "What kind of people were we, Jean Louise? What kind of people are we?" and she replies, "I thought we were just people," I wanted to stand up and cheer. While I missed Jem and was desperate to learn the fate of Boo Radley, to read Aunt Alexandra try to again tell Scout about the facts of life and the reality of being a Finch was great. Even better was the realization: "No--I'm quite sure you know those facts already."





These characters live in the world of To Kill a Mockingbird that could have been, and maybe almost was. They are the characters as real to me as my friends and colleagues and have aged and grown with heart and wisdom. The evolution--or devolution--of Atticus Finch, too, certainly raises questions and controversy, but adds a complexity that the now adult Scout's journey requires to ring true. In Mockingbird, she came of age in her understanding of race, gender, and identity to the best of her childhood ability. Her father, though, was the admirable but unrealistic static hope of Maycomb. And while I'm not quite sure I like it, the characters are suddenly more real and flawed, living in a world of grey rather than that of black and white from Maycomb long ago.

The struggle to engage and empower students in authentic writing and peer response while teaching form and structure...

In this week's scholarly article pursuits, I read the March and July 2015 issues of English Journal. I've been a member of NCTE for a while and have a stack of these fantastic journals to catch up on, so I'm dedicating some of my reading to keeping up to date with research and practice for secondary English education.

An article that stuck with me in this batch is "Peer Response, Remixed: Authentic Peer Response through Audio Technology" by Michael Hoffman in the March issue. Hoffman posits that most peer response is too scaffolded and automated, to the point of being "student proof" and "manifestly free of investment." By focusing on structure, grammar, and mechanics, often through checklists, students (and perhaps teachers) "do not address the heart of writing: the message that students seek to impart through their text."


One solution Hoffman offers is the remix, a concept which fascinates me. Instead of a canned and automated peer response, students create something new by augmenting the original text with something else. He compares this to the Beastie Boys' album, Paul's Boutique, which samples from TV, movies, music, and sound effects. "The remix in the classroom becomes a means for students to explore meaning and to create meaning that is their own. The anchor text remains in the possession of the original author, but that cannot be said of the remix. It is now a joint production, in which the student as reader and interpreter shares creative authorship and authority." Basically, the responder uses audio clips and additions to remix a recording of the original work. The writer records a reading of the piece, which the second student remixes.

While this ideas fascinates me, it doesn't really serve the same purpose as a typical peer response or evaluation. Creation is essential but so is editing, revision, and evaluation. I've used a variety of peer review strategies over the past few years, ranging from checklists and conferencing and Google Forms to collaborative Google Docs editing and unstructured free responses. I agree with Hoffman's conceits, that these strategies often lead to a narrow and closed response, I'm not sure the remix addresses the real goal of most peer review. However, it still sounds like a lot of fun and a worthwhile act of creation. Instead of responding to mechanics and ideas, the students are truly creating something new. That said, I wish the article had links to some of the audio products his students produced through this work.

Beastie Boys' "Hey Ladies" from Paul's Boutique samples from over a dozen songs and has nearly the same number of allusions, according to this list. Hoffman mentions the band's work on this album as an example of a successful remix. Album art from Wikipedia.

What really interested me in this article are the questions that Hoffman raises and hints at regarding student writing and peer response. He argues that peer response efforts should focus on the "most essential question for an author: Does this text achieve what I intended?" I'm wondering about the balance between teaching students to write in approved forms and structures versus allowing them to choose the form to follow function. But how often do our students truly understand their function or purpose? How do we help them get to this metacognitive point?

I found his article really interesting but it left me with a lot of questions to consider moving in to next school year:

• How do we teach students to understand their purpose and intent as writers?
• Don't students often have the same overall intent? If all students are writing an argumentative essay, the intent is the same. Is this okay? Should the form and structure be the same, too?
• How do we balance the need for student empowerment, voice, and freedom with structure and scaffolding? How much freedom should we allow in writing?
• Is it better to start off by offering students freedom or restriction in writing? Where do we begin?
• When and how are peer responses most valuable? How do we teach students to make positive and authentic contributions?

I typically teach by students writing acronyms to help them structure their writing and find that it helps most students stay focused and organized. These acronyms tend to limit digression but not the development, unless the writer chooses to use them exclusively. It's an understand the rules before you can break them approach, and while it's been successful for me, I'm not sure that it's the best strategy. It may not be broken but I'm not sure it doesn't need some fixing.

I want to think about these questions and issues and write about my answers one day, but for now, I'm purposefully leaving them unanswered. If you have comments, ideas, or answers, I would love to hear them. Please comment or reach out on Twitter!

Last school year, I came across the quote above and shared it with my students often. "All of us are smarter than one of us." I can't find a clear author, and I've seen a few variations, but it's been a driving concept in my classroom. Before you ask the teacher, ask each other. We learn better together than we do alone. It's probably been useful every day since, and I plan to have it at the top of my syllabus next year.

One of the best parts of being a connected educator is being able to take that advice. Whenever I have a question, a problem, or need help, I know I can turn to my #PLN on Twitter for guidance. It's been great practice for me and a strong model to bring back to my classroom to show my colleagues and students the power of being connected. In May, I asked for #edtech advice to help give ideas to new teachers in a training, and I compiled those Tweets in a blog post: Crowdsourcing #EdTech Advice For New Teachers.

Yesterday, I took the same idea to crowdsource advice for hosting a successful edcamp. I've written about #edcampMVille before, but as we're six weeks away or so, I want to make sure we're ready to move forward.  Find more information about #edcampMVille at edcampmville.weebly.com if you're interested. The event is on 8/29 in Purchase, NY. The organizing team is great and I love our plans, but I thought it could help to consult the experts. I reached out to some organizers of past edcamps, like EdCampNJ, EdCampHV, EdCampLDR, and EdCampPhilly, along with my Twitter #PLN, and their advice is below.

Thank you to everyone who contributed. I was impressed with the responses I got in one day and would love to add more, so please comment or Tweet at me!

What's your best advice for a successful #edcamp? Help me crowdsource a new blog post and make #edcampMVille great! pic.twitter.com/i17DMUJhAV

— Adam Schoenbart (@MrSchoenbart) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Coffee Adam! I had to drive 2+ hrs to get to #EdcampCNY-It was so amazing to have coffee and light breakfast when I arrived!

— Connie Rockow (@crockow8) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Thought you might like to "see" #edcampCNY in action-get ideas? Thanks for the pics @MsRatcliff_LCSD https://t.co/gIvAN80cXo

— Connie Rockow (@crockow8) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Connect w/enthusiatic educators who share #edcamp's vision & go from there. Get a date/venue 1st. Use SM to promote! #edcamphv

— Julie Jee (@mrsjjee) July 20, 2015

Plan to have no plan. Go with an open-mind and prepare to have it blown. https://t.co/loXQQpbBxO

— Cori (@MakingCentsOfIt) July 20, 2015

Make connections during lunch. Use collab note taking via GDocs. Don't let lrng stop after day's end - connect via Twitter @MrSchoenbart

— Dani Raskin (@missraskin) July 20, 2015

Offer food & prizes. Have WiFi & make schedule available online. Publicize widely not just w/"elite". Debrief after. https://t.co/KKxyo3mfp3

— Shervette M.P. (@AtlTeacher) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart what drives an #edcamp are the participants, their active participation, willingness to have important conversations, share.

— Christina Luce (@ChristinaMLuce) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart being able to draw a diverse group of participants is pretty key. Spreading the vision and mission of #edcamp is important.

— Christina Luce (@ChristinaMLuce) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Encourage teachers to bring a friend.

— Ann Leaness (@aleaness) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Get your local district behind you and contact some great sponsors like @plickers @edmodo @SymbalooEDU #edcampMVille

— Greg Bagby (@Gregbagby) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @plickers @edmodo @SymbalooEDU Also talk it up on whatever social media the teachers in your area use. Pvt. And Pub.

— Greg Bagby (@Gregbagby) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @Glennr1809 @NatalieFranzi @wkrakower @AJBianco @mrnesi @kristenswanson @geraldaungst @RobinMBurns have a great team!

— Jeffrey Bradbury (@TeacherCast) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Appeal to more than just Ts when putting an #Edcamp together- invite local admin, districts & Ts unions to get buzz going.

— Kathleen Bellino (@kgbellino) July 20, 2015

@missraskin @MrSchoenbart share early & often any resources/tools that help newcomers understand #edcamp format; toughest part of #edcampwme

— Dan Ryder (@WickedDecent) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @WickedDecent Here's my input. http://t.co/OBxFZyLcP7 some have had great results already with this too!

— art la flamme (@artlaflamme) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @missraskin also open #edcamp up to anyone with an interest in education: policy, parents, students, community, admin

— Dan Ryder (@WickedDecent) July 20, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Connect with other local organizers

— Kristen Swanson (@kristenswanson) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @NatalieFranzi @wkrakower @AJBianco @mrnesi @kristenswanson @TeacherCast best tips I got 1: you will get 50% of ppl who signup

— Chris Aviles (@TechedUpTeacher) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @NatalieFranzi @wkrakower @AJBianco @mrnesi @kristenswanson @TeacherCast best tip 2: people / 5 = number of pizzas to order

— Chris Aviles (@TechedUpTeacher) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @mrnavas Get a team together. Make use of edcamp Foundation. Use a checklist to assign tasks and time frame. edcamps are 1/2

— brian fahey (@brianfahey61) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @mrnavas 2/2 unpredictable in the best way, but good organization is key. Would be happy to help you in any way. #edcamp

— brian fahey (@brianfahey61) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart Hope you can make it too! Try to get at least one person at each school/district to spread the word. It definitely helps.

— Julie Jee (@mrsjjee) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @missraskin @iruntech @tinamonte @TheConnectedEdu take risks at Edcamp. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Connect!

— Jimmy Sapia (@mrsapia_teach) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart @missraskin @iruntech @tinamonte @TheConnectedEdu share learning via Twitter, Google Docs, etc. Start a session.

— Jimmy Sapia (@mrsapia_teach) July 21, 2015

@MrSchoenbart get a team of volunteers together so you can divide the work. Share info through diff platforms to meet tchrs where they are

— Margaret A Powers (@mpowers3) July 21, 2015

This is part 5 in a series of posts about my first time trying #20Time Projects with my English 10 Students. In this post, I'll be sharing students' reflections and ideas about their work and the process. Find the previous posts here: Part 1: My Intro to 20 Time Projects, Part 2: Managing Student Workflow, and Part 3: What I'll Do Better Next Time, and Part 4: Sharing Student Products.

Advice for Students:

"I would tell students doing the 20Time project to make sure they plan ahead and start on their project immediately. I would also suggest that students have at least 2 backup experts instead of just one, just in case one of them falls through or they decide to alter their topic. In addition to these tips I would tell other students to pick their partners wisely; without their full support and/or ideas you may not get anywhere with your topic."

AKA How I Want to Build a Better #edcampMVille

Like so many of my #PLN around the world, I had the pleasure of attending #edcampldr on Saturday, an edcamp focusing on leadership that took place in 15-or-so locations worldwide. I was eager to attend for a few reasons:



1.  Good Food. Learning and connecting all day can be surprisingly exhausting for both the body and mind. Like the great Ron Swanson says, "why does anyone in the world eat anything but breakfast food?" and a good breakfast is the best way to start any conference day. Anyone ever go to a LHRIC event at Edith Macy? Now that's impressive food. Then there's nothing like a strong lunch to give you a second wind for a great afternoon. Bonus points from me if you keep the coffee on all day, too.

Sweet breakfast spread here at #edcampldr Great work @TheConnectedEdu :) pic.twitter.com/Vkb21BpZNe

— Dani Raskin (@missraskin) July 13, 2015

2.  A place to hang out. I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful presenters and leaders at many of the conferences I've attended. I've learned so much and connected with so many people. But sometimes, you just need a break. I love when a conference has somewhere to just hang out, talk, relax, and refocus. Whether it's the Maker Space at #TCT15, the "extra room" at #edcampldr, or the welcoming cafeteria at #Ednado, it's great to be able to take a break as needed and have somewhere to do so.

One of my favorite parts of #edcampldr was hanging out in the cafeteria with my wonderful #EdJusticeLeague friends, Chris Nesi and AJ Bianco, talking about blogging. We spend a good 45 minutes sharing, collaborating, and learning from each other. I'm thankful for conferences that are well scheduled and packed with learning but love the edcamp model that provides us with opportunities to find or make the opportunities for learning you need.


3. Friendly Competition. A raffle's always fun but I loved the way #Ednado used Remind for a scavenger hunt to earn extra raffle tickets. I was also a big fan of the Twitter leaderboard which promoted backchanneling and sharing of learning. Many conferences promote shared Google Docs for note taking, which is another great tool.

I like my chances! #Ednado #winning #raffle @ednadoedu pic.twitter.com/e1VNCrDM76

— Adam Schoenbart (@MrSchoenbart) April 25, 2015

4. Sharing Good Stuff. So much great sharing goes on at conferences, and like the work that goes on in our classrooms and schools, it deserves to be highlighted. It's great when participants and attendees share their thoughts, learning, and what they like from keynotes and presentations, but I also love when the conference has ways to make this happen, too. Demo Slams, Photo Booths, like at GAFE Summits and #Ednado and photographers like at #edcampldr make this easy and fun.

Slam. #edtechcalnynj #edcampldr http://t.co/JVOLXABsGi @missraskin pic.twitter.com/X2WH24I2IN

— Adam Schoenbart (@MrSchoenbart) July 13, 2015

Enjoying #gafesummit with @missraskin pic.twitter.com/vdqnz0KaVK

— Adam Schoenbart (@MrSchoenbart) October 24, 2014

5. The Rule of Two Feet. This philosophy is one part of what makes an edcamp truly special. So often, conferences have great learning but a rigid structure and atmosphere that makes you feel the need to finish out every session you attend. It would be rude to leave, even if you're not learning, right? Not at an edcamp. Edcamps are built on the idea that if you are not learning, find somewhere else you will be. Sometimes it's hard to predict which session is right for you and I so appreciate the fact that instead of attending one session, I can attend as many as I want and find the learning that really works for me. A good conference allows the participant to really personalize the learning and make sure no time is wasted.


Of course, engaging and worthwhile content and expert presenters are important, too. But I'll assume we have those already. Here are five relatively small things that have made my conference-going experience great. What are yours?

Tweet or comment and let me know what you liked about #edcampldr or other recent conferences. What should we do to get #edcampMVille right?

This week I began my more scholarly reading and writing by reading the April 2015 issue of the ISTE publication, entrsekt. I enjoyed many of the articles and found a common theme between a few: students' online lives. One article, "Social Media Presence is Modern Day Resume" by Patrick Larkin, posed the question in the image above: are our students receiving the support they need to put their best digital foot forward?

Larkin discussed the role of social media in schools, arguing that "social media presence is modern-day resume." While I'm not sure that the traditional resume is going away, an individual's online presence is increasingly important. Last year, I focused a portion of my SAT/ACT Review course on #futureready lessons. In one lesson, I asked students to Google themselves after watching the TED Talk from Juan Enriquez, "Your Digital Life, Permanent as a Tattoo." A handful of students proudly proclaimed--look, there's nothing on me! Which, in my opinion, might soon be as bad if not worse than a negative online presence.

Our students use social media--see the ASCD infographic at the bottom of this post for some statistics--and need to learn how to have a productive online presence. Larkin writes, "students will be judged on their ability to use these tools proficiently enough to leave a mark that will allow others to find them, see who they are and determine what they are capable of doing." While I agree with this assertion, whose job is it to teach this?

Clearly, students need to learn how to use social media responsibly and develop a positive online presence. I believe that all teachers should be teaching digital citizenship as technology and web 2.0 is integrated into more and more instruction. If students' (and our) digital footprints become our resume, how can we better prepare them in our classrooms for this challenge. While I have a few ideas, for now I'm pondering and questioning. Feel free to chime in with your ideas in the comments.

Challenge: Google yourself and see what you find. What kind of digital footprint have you left? What kind of impact does it have? 

Larkin continues, "It is our job as educators to ensure that when potential suitors start looking for background information online about our students, they find impressive creations." This might be my favorite quote from the article; he pushes for effective online portfolios and students creating meaningful content. I'm a huge proponent of these ideas and focused a lot of my school year on promoting student creation. In fact, I blogged about it first in April with "Students Must Create!" and again in June with a guest post for the site FreeTech4Teachers, titled "Transforming Learning Through Student Content Creation." Check out those posts to see my experience and perspective on these ideas.

I constantly tell my students that I want them to leave my class with more than essays they will probably forget about and books they may not have really read. Instead, they should be studying content and applying skills in ways that are meaningful to them. They should be creating things that can leave the classroom with them and help them prepare for their futures. To this end, I plan to utilize portfolios next year to document student growth and progress. Not only will my students create, but they will have a record of that creation, along with the process and reflection throughout the year.

I want to start off my school year by making Twitter, Blogging, and Google Communities a regular and essential part of our classroom and to leverage the power of social media in my teaching. But more than that, I need to rethink how to use these tools to teach responsibility, digital citizenship, and to help students develop positive online resumes, portfolios, and footprints. As ready as I am to use these tools, I don't want to forget that using technology or social media well, and using it well for learning and futures are very different things. Thanks entrsekt, for making me think critically about the role social media has and could have to move my classroom forward.

This infographic from ASCD is from 2011 but the trends are clear. Students use social media and want it to be a part of their learning. I hope schools are finding more ways to overcome the cautions listed at the bottom.

This is part 4 in a series of posts about my first time trying #20Time Projects with my English 10 Students. In this post, I'll be sharing students' work and discussing their successes and challenges. Find the previous posts here: Part 1: My Intro to 20 Time Projects, Part 2: Managing Student Workflow, and Part 3: What I'll Do Better Next Time.

It's now been a few weeks since school ended and I have new perspective on my students' work. Going back to review some of it, I'm still wildly proud of what they accomplished. One of my biggest successes was how many students explained their challenges. One student said, "I didn't accomplish my goal because it was too big and wasn't realistic in the end," and continued to share what she did learn and accomplish. For me, that's a huge victory. The students learned, reflected, and grew.

I required students to present part of their projects and products to the class, calling it a project snapshot. The reason for this is simple: we ran out of time. Next year, I want to plan more carefully so students can plan and deliver TED Talks about their work. I want more public learning, consistent blogging, and collaboration with the world. I want to do better to help my students do better.

Until then, though, here are some highlights from my students' work. At the link below, find a sheet with students' research questions, topics, blogs, proposals, annotated bibliographies, and projects. I wanted to document all of their work in an organized way so that I have models and resources to share and to use in class next year.

Mr. Schoenbarts English 10 #20Time 2015: Student Work

Elliot, Greg, and Yoo Shin researched how motivation affects the academic success of students. They conducted original research and surveyed hundreds of Ossining students using a Google Form. They also submitted their work to the Genius Hour Fair. They are #17 in the 13-16 category. Vote for their work here!



Nick's Guide to New Earth City 2187 investigates the possibility of our future living on Mars. He wanted to know if colonies on Mars are possible.

Calvin and Alex researched obesity and fast food. Find their presentation here. Here's a screenshot of their work.


Somari created a website on Weebly to help people learn more about how to succeed in an acting career. Her website is awesome. Check it out at http://centerstg.weebly.com.


Reid looked at the future of our town, Ossining, and the role of Sing Sing Prison. His extensive research and plans can be found here.

#20Time excited me and made me so passionate about my students' work. I know many of them felt the same, which is exciting for a teacher. Next time, I'll share some of their feedback for both teachers and students from the final part of our work, the reflections.

I had a good run of regular posts here but completely fell off with blogging at the end of the school year. Wrapping up the year, grading finals, APPR, traveling for conferences, and the excitement of summer came together to pull me away from blogging. It's been a few weeks and I'm back and ready to do better.

I started this blog as a place to reflect, share, and grow, but I didn't realize how important that reflection would be. I always talk about making students' work authentic by providing audience and purpose, and the same applies here. When I write about the things I want to do better and publish the blog post, that writing becomes a sort of contract with myself and with my readers, as few as you might be so far. That makes this real and meaningful for me in a way I didn't expect.

This fall, I'm starting a doctoral program at Manhattanville College in Educational Leadership. I started with administrative classes in June and will have completed 9 credits and taught 3 by the end of this month. I like being a student, and I'm excited to be back in school and in a program that's meaningful. I'm eager to develop my learning, voice, and expertise to help make change in my school, practice, and world. The best advice I found to prepare to do better is simple: read and write more. 

And here's my plan to do so: I have a pile of English Journals and ISTE publications sitting on my desk. Every week, I will read one and write about an article here. There's a handful of books I have to read in the fall. I want to start now, and respond to them here, too. Finally, I want to continue to blog about my plans for my teaching, my ideas, and my reflections more regularly. Read and write every week.


While I was #NotAtISTE15 this year, I had the pleasure of attending #TCT15 (Tomorrow's Classrooms Today) and #HackEd15 in Philadelphia. I got to promote Remind, learn a lot, and most importantly, get the highest score in the world in RaspberryPi. I also had a great time connecting face to face with my #PLN, hanging out with the #EdJusticeLeague, and exploring Philly.

At TCT, I attending a session on "Secrets of a Scholastic Blogger" with Meghan Everette . She helped reinforce a lot of ideas I needed to hear about how to be a better blogger and attract a consistent audience. She tweeter out her presentation, which can he found here.

Here was some of her advice that I plan to follow:

• Write shorter posts of 400-700 words, with choppier paragraphs and an active voice. 
• Use pictures to grab the readers' attention--even pull quotes from your own work.
• Create titles that are 7-8 words with colons or semi-colons and use key words that will be repeated in the post. 

People spend 3 seconds deciding their level of interest and 79% of the time they scan the article, which you are probably doing right now. I hope you find this blog worth your time and interest.

So here is my plan and my commitment to my readers, my blog, and most of all, myself:

I will blog at least every Tuesday and Thursday for the rest of the summer. Meghan also spoke about the value of mapping out a plan for your posts, which I've done. I want to read every day and blog multiple times per week.

Let's hope I'm up to the challenge.