Now more than ever, it is essential that students understand the importance of digital citizenship. It’s part of being career-ready. It’s part of utilizing tools like the internet effectively for education. And it’s part of understanding the boundaries of recreational use. What is digital citizenship ? Being a good digital citizen means understanding the responsibilities associated with technology, particularly the internet, but also how it all applies to computers and devices in general. What does it cover ? I think our first thought is cyber safety. But digital citizenship is so much more than that. It’s also how students use the internet to find help for school. It’s how they interact when searching for a job or emailing professionally. It’s what they post to social media. It’s knowing when it is appropriate to use technology (digital wellness). And it’s knowing how to show empathy when behaving online.  Why is it important? We are absolutely in a world where access to technology is...

When I first started using Google in the classroom back in, I don’t even know when, I had absolutely no idea about just how helpful the Google platform would be for teaching. From Google Classroom to Google Docs and everything between, the Google Suite definitely helps me stay organized as a teacher. Here’s a look at how I use Google in the classroom and as a teacher. Using Google Docs in the Classroom Google Docs for Digital Collaboration I love using Google Docs for collaborative activities in the classroom. With my journalism students, since we are 100 percent remote right now, we use a collaborative Google Doc for our monthly story brainstorming. Also, when I am conducting digital collaborative activities such as the collaborative rhetorical precis activity, we use a carefully-created Google Doc with tables for whole-class participation. You can read my recent digital collaboration blog post on the Secondary English Coffeeshop to learn more about how I use Google Docs for digita...

As an English teacher, I believe that every single high school student needs to know how to annotate text meaningfully and effectively in order to gain a deeper understanding. Close reading is an essential part of the English language arts, and it is also essential to many other academic disciples as well. Teaching students to properly annotate text is something can be challenging, but my step-by-step text annotation lesson makes this process much more manageable for students and teachers. Check this lesson out HERE or at the bottom of the post. As we step into the digital world and as schools slowly transition to 1:1, teachers have to find new ways to have students demonstrate their mastery of a skill. Recently, I stumbled upon a Google Chrome app that makes annotating text on an electronic device easy peasy: Xodo. Xodo is a free Google Chrome app that allows students to annotate directly on the screen. They can draw arrows and type in comments. It is a dream! Simply...

Classroom teachers across the nation are including innovative technology in their everyday teaching. These teachers know and realize that technology is the future of education. Whether you are a seasoned classroom technology expert or even if you are just beginning to dip your toes into the classroom tech pool, today, Innovative Classroom Technology Day, is the perfect day to explore new technology to use in your classroom. One new way to introduce innovative technology into your classroom is through digitally based and delivered educational resources. I love Google Classroom because I am able to easily deliver digital content and assignments to my students. One of my favorite digital teaching resources is my  SMARTePlans Growth Mindset Digital Interactive Notebook  because it helps students realize and unlock their true potential. To celebrate Innovative Classroom Technology Day, here are some informative blog posts and engaging digital lessons to use in your classroom. A...

This is the second post in a series of blog posts about using Google Forms in your classroom. Visit HERE to see the first post. Ever since I started using Google Forms in the classroom, I keep thinking about more ways to incorporate the forms and the data into my instruction. Using the data validation tool embedded in Google Forms, I’ve discovered how to force students to submit the type of work I expect. This tool allows me to digitally demand excellence from my students. One of the most common phrases I hear in my classes is, “Do we have to answer in complete sentences?” You would think that students know the answer for this question, especially in their English class, is yes, but that isn’t always the case. When students work in a Google Form I’ve created, I am able to set data validation to make sure that my students are not only answering in complete sentences, but that they are also restating the questions in their answers. By setting the data validation, I am making sure ...

The world of education is constantly changing and evolving. In fact, the one of the only constant of education is change itself. One of the biggest driving factors affecting the changes in education today is technology. Our students are part of a new generation – a generation that is constantly connected and surrounded with technology, and so it only makes sense to fully incorporate technology into our teaching practices. As educators, we are the ones who need to evolve and adapt our teaching practices in order to accommodate, foster, and expand our students’ use of technology. We need to create a learning environment that supports 21st century learning.The solution is pretty obvious: schools need to implement digital classrooms. What is a digital classroom? A digital classroom is a classroom that is fully immersed in technology. Each students has access to an Internet connected device, whether it be a laptop, tablet, Chromebook, or other device, and the majority (or all of) the cu...