Cool Stuff

I'm busy preparing workshops for my trip to Pennsylvania next week, but just wanted to mention a few cool things from this week. One, Maupin House has set up their own blog now, and it is full of helpful information for educators. Second, check out this picture on the bottom right of the opening page of the National Middle School Association's conference information for next year. What a cool surprise for Jane Kiester and me! By the way, Jane and I are co-presenting at the SCIRA conference in two weeks where we're going to show several teachers how to "Jazz Up" their student's writing. Before we head down to Myrtle Beach for the conference, she's going to give a mini-workshop for the Carmel Christian and Covenant Day teachers in Matthews, NC.

Finally, Joyce Hostetter and I visited ImaginOn in Charlotte after getting an introduction to Second Life. At this point, I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed with my first life ---let alone manage a second one, but it looks like Keren Brandenburg (my avatar) is going to stretch my life experiences even more. For those of you, who may want to take a funny look at Second Life, check out this video.

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Joyce Hostetter, Jane Kiester, NMSA07, Maupin House, Covenant Day School, Carmel Christian School, SCIRA
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Put Pizzazz into your Students’ Writing: Using Fiction Techniques to Write Grab-You-by-the-Collar Expository Essays

Lured by my title, twenty-seven elementary and middle school teachers joined me yesterday at NWRESA in Wilkesboro, NC. With the common goal of improving students' test scores (the specter which haunts many language arts teachers), we looked at how students can improve their essays by adding voice, using "show don't tell writing", and utilizing effective syntax. Along the way we detoured into "the land of critical thinking" as we analyzed low-scoring narrative and expository essays (from Jane Kiester's book, Blowing Away the State Writing Assessment Test) and re-wrote them in a student's voice. Collaboration ruled the day as teachers enjoyed the interaction with their peers, were further validated in their teaching skills, and learned a few more tricks of the writing trade to bring back to their classrooms.

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teaching teachers, teaching writing, NC writing test, NWRESA, Jane Kiester
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