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A reflective journey...
Within the first three weeks of the 2012-2013 school year several things happened that inspired me to produce the pages you are viewing:
1) a colleague told me about an innovative master's program;
2) a philanthropic organization was willing to provide a scholarship for me to enter that program;
3) the same organization placed technology in my classroom; and
4) a student pleaded with me create a class to support struggling writers. How could I not have been inspired?
In the fall of 2012 I created a new class called High School Writing Support. Students were enrolled in the class because they were failing their English classes due to the fact they had not completed assigned writing tasks. The goal of the class was to support student writing through the use of digital tools in order to increase their confidence, enthusiasm, and resiliency while engaging in various writing tasks. As "digital natives" the students were quick to learn and use the tools I introduced them to, such as VoiceThread, Weebly, Edmodo, Glogster, Xtranormal, and Animoto, and they were also quick to discover other tools on their own. Each assignment for any of the digital tools could become a more extended and formal writing assignment via Google Docs where students were able to get feedback from their peers and me.
Simultaneous to the creation of the Writing Support Class, I began a master's degree in Innovative Learning through Touro University California, and I received 30 Chromebooks® for use in my classroom. Both the Chromebooks and the master's degree were made possible through the generosity of NapaLearns, who "encourages the success of EVERY student by providing resources, funding, and support to help district staff adopt new teaching methods focused on the demands of the future."
2012-2013 has been a transformative year for me. Because it became obvious that students really enjoyed and felt comfortable with the digital tools, I have decided to always incorporate some kind of "pre-writing" task that makes use of digital tools to create material that students can later use in more formal academic writing. As a contributor to Learnovation Lab, I am hopeful that the lessons I have learned through my research, innovation, and reflection can help other educators to support their students in becoming confident, enthusiastic, and resilient writers.
Simultaneous to the creation of the Writing Support Class, I began a master's degree in Innovative Learning through Touro University California, and I received 30 Chromebooks® for use in my classroom. Both the Chromebooks and the master's degree were made possible through the generosity of NapaLearns, who "encourages the success of EVERY student by providing resources, funding, and support to help district staff adopt new teaching methods focused on the demands of the future."
2012-2013 has been a transformative year for me. Because it became obvious that students really enjoyed and felt comfortable with the digital tools, I have decided to always incorporate some kind of "pre-writing" task that makes use of digital tools to create material that students can later use in more formal academic writing. As a contributor to Learnovation Lab, I am hopeful that the lessons I have learned through my research, innovation, and reflection can help other educators to support their students in becoming confident, enthusiastic, and resilient writers.