My Teacher Tool Box...Is Your's Chock Full 'O Goodies?

I've already professed my obsession passion for school supplies, including my admitted Staples snobbery, but I also have amassed quite a collection of  Web 2.0 applications/digital platforms/online-collaborative learning spaces, all neatly filed away by "genre," in my LiveBinder.  Sure, my organizational tactics infiltrate my web presence as well ;)

It wasn't until I started reading Troy Hicks' The Digital Writing Workshop, did I realize how I'd become a bit of a "tool hoarder," if you will.  I seem to always be on the prowl for said tools that will make learning more engaging, digitize the traditional paper-and-pencil tasks, and afford my students the opportunity to extend their Web 2.0 repertoire.  Luckily, I received a welcome reminder: successful implementation of any digital application requires instruction purposefully suited for these tools, where learning is transformed into a reciprocal and relevant process.  Contrary to popular opinion, we do a disservice to our students if technology is simply used to re-package those "old school" teaching methods.

Case in point: A teacher establishes a classroom blog (*Applause*), but uses it strictly with the intention of posting questions for students to then respond to (So yesterday...).  While blogs can and should be used as a platform to inspire conversation, connection, and publication among educators and students, the previously aforementioned scenario fails to give students genuine opportunities for self-directed authorship.  As a newbie teacher, Hicks has forced me to re-examine several of my assumptions about blogging, namely their potential as "living" writing journals.

Just as many of my colleagues will attest, I have read Lucky Calkin's...I know she is the guru when it comes to writer's workshop.  She espouses choice in student writing, recognizes that students may be at different points in the writing process, and reminds us that "seeds," those little idea nuggets, can (and often, should) become the basis of a published piece.  Hicks (2009) takes Calkin's vision and brings it into a 21st century classroom where writing must be a living, dynamic, and collaborative progress.

Student blogs, in fact, seem to be the ideal strategy for jotting down ideas and generating drafts, all while receiving suggestions/comments/reflections from teachers and peers.  This seeks to extend and bolster students' writing as they create with an audience in mind.  Blogging as one entry point to writer's workshop.....now, that's innovative!  Another good point Hicks makes, and I have to adopt, is that not everything we post to a blog needs to be a beautifully polished, finalized product.  In fact, students who may be less comfortable posting their initial ideas can be invited to save their work to their blog, prior to publishing for a wider audience. And keep in mind, RSS feeds and Diigo work in tandem with blogging, helping students pull-in potential writing topics and organizing them by topic, respectfully.  Pretty effective implementation, huh?

Another resource I highly recommend peaking at is Youth Voices.  Hicks (2009) makes mention of this incredible website in his book, but I decided to do some further investigation.  In a nutshell, this is a platform for students to share their opinions/arguments/book reviews/gaming experiences through writing and audio. There are different virtual spaces for elementary, middle, and high school students, and a variety of student-generated guides can be found here, to help budding bloggers identify their voice, topic, and perspective, with respect to the "genre" they've selected.

I apologize for the length of this post...I just got so darn excited about this digital writer's workshop!  Do you think this is something you can realistically implement in the classroom?  What are your biggest concerns?

photo credit: Enokson via photopin cc

photo credit: Βethan via photopin cc