Blog Write

Let's Get Descriptive!

I hope you all had a great week off!  Maybe after a little rest and a lot of eating, you are ready to get back to blogging!  I know I am!

Today we are going to focus on using descriptive words to make your posts more interesting.  You all are doing a great job using catchy titles, and I am really impressed with your organizational skills.  However, we are still using a lot of OVERUSED words.  Maybe we should have a memorial service for our overused words?

When proofreading your homework, find all of the overused words in your writing.  What are some words you can replace them with?  Remember to use descriptive words! 

We Knocked Their Socks Off!

The superintendent, board members, and audience at Tuesday's board meeting was so impressed by your writing and blogging.  I was so PROUD to show off your weblogs.  Who knows, they may even comment to your blogs?

So, let's continue to bump up our writing.  Today we will discuss one very important writing tip that you should use in EVERY post - descriptive words!  Then we will have some fun creating a wacky web tale for you to post to your blog. 

Let's get busy blogging!

BlogWrite in the Limelight!

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference in Atlanta, GA.  Of course, my presentation was about my favorite subject - Blogging!  I have to admit that I was a little discouraged when I read that Patrick Crispen, a featured speaker from California State University who travels all over the world speaking at conferences, was holding a session on Blogging 101.  My first thought was that everyone would attend his session and skip ours since he is a well-known and featured speaker. 

As I sat in his session with about 250 other people, Crispen began discussing weblogs and how/why they are used in education.  "Let me show you a great example that I found," Crispen told his audience.  And then on the screen popped up our weblog - BlogWrite!  He then clicked on your picture and said these are the writers of this blog! 

I was beaming with pride as I introduced myself when his session ended.  Crispen explained how he shows off our blogs as he travels all over the U.S. speaking at educational conferences.  Isn't that wonderful? 

Keep up the good blogging as JHH continues to shine in the limelight! 

Showing Off JHH Blogs!

We aren't meeting this week due to the GaETC Conference in Atlanta, GA.  I will be attending the conference to learn more about educational technology such as weblogs!  Guess what?  I am even presenting at the conference Wednesday afternoon in which I will have the opportunity to show off our blogs!

See you next week!

Elementary Students Can Blog!

Do you know that some people say that elementary students can't blog?  Well those people should check out Jason's post on Black's the New Grey!  His well-written post attracted many readers with some interesting comments.  In addition, Jason even added a picture and the hyperlink to the article for his readers if they wanted more information!  Now, that is an elementary student blogging at his best! 

Thank you Jason and all of you Web Writers for showing everyone that Elementary Students Can Blog!

We are Getting Heard!

Yesterday, I got a phone a call from a parent asking me if I knew about the article on MSN.com.   When I went to the site, I realized it was the article Blogging 101 -- Web logs go to School published by CNET News last month. 

As a result, several MSN readers logged on to our blogs and began commenting.  Our blogging buddies in Mr. Brune's 5th grade class from NY received many comments too!  I know they were excited!

Elementary students are getting heard!  You have a voice, and I am proud of you for putting such great effort into your work! 

Your revised posts turned out great!  While proofreading isn't the most exciting part of writing, it is one of the most important parts.  No matter how much practice you get or how old you are, everyone must proofread and revise their work!  Don't get lazy or complacent and stop proofing.  You have an attentive and caring audience out there who deserves to read well-written and thought-out posts. 

Learning Connection!

This is so cool!  A fifth grade class from Mamaroneck (NY) Avenue School commented to our weblogs this week.  Mr. Brune is their teacher:

I am very impressed by all of your writings. I am trying to have my class use blogs to improve their writing, too, and I will definitely show them your work. Thanks for sharing!

Here is their class weblog.  The students are posting about current events as well!  Wasn't it fun reading their comments?  Now, it is your turn to comment to them.