Haley Hendershot“The most important writing philosophy I’ve developed over the past couple of years is that it has to be authentic writing.  If it’s something students know others are reading, or if they write something that could actually make a change and that has a reason behind it, then they are into it.”

 

 

 

Haley Hendershot and I first met when she was completing her practicum work prior to her first full time teaching position.  She was training with my colleague at school, and we struck up a conversation about poetry.  Haley was working toward her Master of Fine Arts through a college in Vermont, and we were both looking for people with whom we could workshop poems and short fiction.  That was nearly seven years ago.  Since that time, Haley has moved, finished her MFA, been head of her department at a middle school in Henrico County outside of Richmond, Virginia, and has developed a definite philosophy on the impact of authentic writing assignments and publication in relation to her students’ investment in the craft.

Haley explains, “The most important writing philosophy I’ve developed over the past couple of years is that it has to be authentic writing.  If it’s something students know others are reading, or if they write something that could actually make a change and that has a reason behind it, then they are into it.”  She says that she has also recently determined that publication is key to the amount of investment her students give to the writing process, especially when that publication means their work might be viewed by people outside of the classroom.  She sees this as the piece that motivates her students most.

In Haley’s classroom, students create a blog that centers around a theme of their choosing.  This allows her to teach the writing content through sources they find interesting.  She describes, “In that way, we dabble in other content areas.  For instance, I had a girl who was obsessed with Abraham Lincoln, so her entire blog was devoted to him.  We create open-ended assignments for them to blog about.  They might have to write a How To piece, but for one student it might be how to apply make-up, while for another it might be how to throw a football.  The choice is theirs.”

Henrico County provides laptops to all middle and high school students through a deal with Dell, and Haley acknowledges this gives them an advantage when implementing a blogging routine in the classroom.  Her middle school uses Weebly for the blogs, a site that offers teachers perks for signing up and free websites for students.  She says the high schools often uses WordPress, but they might soon move to Google’s free websites since students have their own Google accounts throughout the county.

Through a grant from the Henrico Educational Foundation, Haley invited a professional blogger from Washington D.C., Patrick Ross, to teach a workshop to students at school last March.  Ross teaches a literary blog course on creating blogs, as well as runs a successful blog of his own.  Haley describes the class as similar to a poetry workshop.  She says, “It blew students’ minds to think that people are blogging as a career and making money off it, and it was exciting to see them looking up to someone who was a writer.”

Haley explains that blogging allows teachers to teach all the same writing skills that have always been included in the curriculum, but with the added incentive of interest and audience.  She explains, “We can still teach them sentence variety and comma usage, but we teach it to them using the topic they want to write about.  If they want to write about football all year long, that’s great.  It builds their skills.  As we get closer to March we make them aware of the SOL prompts, and we show them how to transfer their skills.”

For more direct practice in editing and sentence structure, Haley suggests a website called No Red Ink that offers students preferences prior to beginning assignments and quizzes.  They can even type their friends’ names into the preferences, and all the choices populate the practice and quiz items.  I tried the website in my own classroom last week with great success. The kids loved it.

In regards to writing in the content areas, Haley believes that many teachers outside of the English department feel uncomfortable with grading writing, but she sees a place for it across the board.  As many counties across Virginia experienced two years ago when the Standards of Learning became more rigorous, Henrico saw their writing scores drop significantly.  Haley’s school came together and decided to tackle the problem together.  As head of her department, Haley was asked to develop a way for teachers in all content areas to practice writing in their classrooms.  She explains,  “I created a list of possible journal prompts for other content areas.  Some didn’t even know where to start, so the lists helped.  For instance, the band teacher wanted to incorporate writing, but he didn’t really know a good way to implement it.  I gave him a  list of ideas to use, and they began journaling just to get them writing.  It has to be a school wide effort.”  Haley says her school saw a 17% increase this past year in their writing scores, and she equates that in part to the collaborative effort of teachers across the content areas.

Blogging offers students opportunities to explore and create using self-selected content, or content directed by the teacher.  The authenticity of the product is what hooks them into the process, and the allure of connecting with an audience keeps them coming back for more.

Below, Haley has graciously shared the lessons she used with her students after their writing workshop with Patrick Ross.  She credits Gary Marshall, Instruction Technology Teacher for Henrico County, with this plan.  Happy blogging!

 

Lesson Plan for Henrico 21 Awards

 

Lesson Title: Everybody Blog!

Target Grade/Subject: English 8

Length: Ongoing Project

Summary: In this project, students gather research and publish blogs on any topic they want. Students are taught copyright guidelines as they become digital citizens. The primary goal of this project is to encourage students to write more by creating a blog that will entice a large number of followers as documented by site visits.

Essential questions:    How do you create a blog that people want to follow?

Lesson Development:

Process/Tasks/Assessment:  This project started as a way to increase writing skills for 8th grade students. Students need more chances to practice informal writing that is less structured. Students choose their own topic to become experts on, but may be assigned structured writing assignments on the blog. The blog takes the place of a personal journal. Writing on the blog will be evaluated throughout the course of the year leading up to the writing test.

 


Prior Knowledge: Ask students what tools they currently use or have used for blogging. By placing some questions in a Google form such as this one, students can see the results instantly.

Teacher Notes: Modify the Google form for your preference. You may want one for each class or for all classes. Create a tinyurl of the link for each class.

Task 1: Students will develop their own definition of a blog as a result of the next two activities.

Activity 1: Students will watch the Brainpop video about blogs. As the video plays, students should list 5 characteristics of blogs.

Activity 2: Students will visit samples of blogs. They will list at least 3 things they enjoyed about the blogs and at least 3 things that they would improve.

Activity 3: Have students write their own definition of a blog. Review the list below to see if it includes similar components.

  • POSTS vs. COMMENTS
  • reading AND writing
  • a conversation
  • communication with a larger audience
  • about ANY subject
  • can be a portfolio of  learning, work, thoughts, feelings, life, etc

 

Task 2: Students will create their own guidelines to stay safe while blogging.

Activity: Students will watch the “Tracking Theresa” video. Have students open the Sticky Note application on their computers to create a sticky note that lists things they should never post online.

Once they are done, check their information against this list:

o    Address

o    First Name

o    Password

o    Phone Number

o    E-mail address

o    Detailed physical description

o    Detailed location where you can be found on a given day and time

o    Photos of yourself

Teacher Note: The rationale behind not posting the first name is that students’ usernames will be displayed which features their last name automatically.


Task 3: Students will follow copyright guidelines.

Remind students that having a school approved blog is a privilege. Students must follow the HCPS Code of Conduct and must also not violate copyright laws.

Activity 1: You may either assign each scenario to a group or do a whole class activity with students using ActivEngage or another response method. Replace the names with your own students’ names to make it interesting. Here is the teacher and student handout.

Activity 2: Explain to students when it is acceptable to use images.

  • Must own it.
  • Must have permission.
  • Must use freely licensed images.

Walk students through how to conduct an advanced image search using Google with this handout.

Activity 3: Have students complete the “Legal Eagle Scavenger Hunt.”

 


Task 4: Students will begin to plan their site and create the first page.

Activity 1: This can be done in class or for homework. Students will complete the Blog planning guide and share it with the teacher.

Activity 2: Students will use Weebly for the purposes of our class. Student accounts were previously established. Use the directions from TechTips to show students how to log in and begin working on the home page.

 


Task 5: Students will create a blog page and their first post.

Activity 1: Have students create a blog page and adjust the settings.

Activity 2: Have students create their first post in a word processor FIRST. Have students utilize this rubric while writing their post. While you may choose whatever topic you wish for the first post, you may wish to encourage students to write about why they chose their topic.

Activity 3: Have students copy the post in Word and paste it into a blog post. Here’s a quick guide for creating a post:

Teacher Note: Students can now create additional posts at any time for new writing assignments. Once students start publishing content, they will get visitors and can check by viewing site stats.


Task 6: Students will comment on another student’s blog.

Activity 1: First, discuss with students the difference between social and academic commenting. Display this list of comments and have students point out the academic comment.

 

  • you are ridiculous!
  • haha
  • what its funny and sweet!! hahah ohhh welll ur missing outt!!! =)
  • I’m am definitely NOT a pro at it lol.
  • I really like your point about solar energy. It can be limited by location.
  • Lol!!!!!!—- You should come skiing/snowboarding with me some time
  • heeeeeeyy!!:)
  • whats up??
  • did you do your homework for geography?

Activity 2: Show this video created by students. A great comment should be at least a paragraph and do all of the following:

1.    Compliment the author’s idea.

2.    Contribute a new idea or perspective.

3.    Make a personal link or connection.

Activity 3: Students will share their site with a partner and create a comment on their blog post. Students should follow this rubric while creating the post.

All sites were collected in a spreadsheet and shared. Students were encouraged to follow blogs that were similar in topic to their own.


Task 7: Students will locate, evaluate, and follow websites centered around their topic. Students will go to the presentation: http://tinyurl.com/blogtoday

Have students complete the pre-test for the warmup.

Initial data from the pre-test indicated that students needed the most help with determining authority of websites. Sixty percent of students rated themselves at a 2 or lower out of 4 for this category.

Activity 1: View the “State of Disbelief” video from State Farm. Have students view the source evaluation video found on Flocabulary.

Activity 2: Introduce RADCAB as one method for evaluating websites. Hand out bookmarks.

MODEL each step of RADCAB using this checklist. Have students choose a topic such as “cars.”

  • R (relevance) – Students brainstorm a list of keywords. What keywords were used?

o    When it comes to blogs, YOU want to be the expert, not just restating someone else’s opinion.

o    For instance, instead of searching for a blog about cars, I might search for and discuss a SPECIFIC model of a car, such as a Porsche. If you are looking for fashion, look up specific brands and talk about them. What keywords would you use if searching for a Porsche car? Which site would you pick from the list in Google search? Why?

  • Next, have students list the URL. For this example, we would use “porsche.com.” Review domain extensions checklist. (Ligon)
  • A (Appropriateness) – Use the information on the website to answer the two questions on the checklist.

o    Was the information easy for you to understand?

o    Did it include any inappropriate information?

  • D – Skipping for this lesson.
  • C (Currency) – Complete this step for the Porsche website.
  • A (Authority) – How do you find who wrote the information? Go through the portion of the checklist and complete the steps for the Porsche website.
  • B (Bias) – Have students complete for this website. Note that this portion is easier for this site. If we are doing this step for an actual blog, it is recommended you conduct a search on the author. This will allow you to see connections to other organizations and interests (Marshall)

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: Have students complete the bottom portion of the checklist with a website relevant to their topic as the teacher assists.

Activity 3: Use this video for an introduction to citation. Introduce citation (MLA vs. APA).

  • How can you cite sources? Easybib does it for you.
  • Direct students on how to use EasyBib to create a reference list.

Activity 4: Students will set up Feedly as a method of accessing sites quickly and easily to find new information.

Closure: During the last ten minutes of class, students will need to complete the posttest.


Task 8: Students will have the opportunity to hear from an expert blogger.

Students are given the opportunity to hear from an expert in the field of blogging. Other teachers from across the division were also invited in order to spread the love of blogging as a writing tool to other schools. For this lesson, we had a guest blogger with 20 years of experience and almost 13,000 followers on his literary blog.

The author asked students to reflect on the following questions:

QUESTIONS FOR YOURSELF:

1.Why am I blogging? It’s important to be honest here, even if it’s solely for promotion. You have to know why you’re blogging in order to maintain it.

2.What inspires me? Whatever it is that interests you, that is what you should blog about. Your passion will make me interested; if you don’t care, I won’t.

3.How will my blog be different? Imagine you are riding an elevator and have to explain what your blog is about before you get to the top floor. What would you say in that short time?

4.What value do I bring to my readers? It could be formal instruction, it could be insights into a life lived, or anything in between. Readers give you their time; give back.

5.What commitment can I truly make? Blogging takes time, and requires long-term commitment. On the plus side, you’re writing, and thus learning to write better while having fun.

The speaker showed students the Blogging Spectrum and them identify which type of posts would be on their blog.

Blogging Spectrum credit: Patrick Ross

EXAMPLE POST:
Students read a sample blog post and gave feedback using Padlet. The speaker facilitated a discussion on which comments were high quality and focused on writing, not content. Students learned how to give appropriate feedback to peers.


Task 9: Students will get feedback on their blog from an expert and from peers.

Students created a blog post in preparation for feedback.

WORKSHOPS:
Students worked in teams of 4 and with an adult expert (teacher, ITRT, librarian, expert blogger). Students reviewed each other’s blog, assigning roles to each student for each section of the blog. Each student had a turn to share their blog and one post. The group members each gave feedback to the writer, both positive and critical.

CLOSURE: Students were then given the opportunity to revise their post using the feedback.

After conducting the blog, the guest speaker posted an article on his blog about the workshop. The speaker included a photo taken by one of our student bloggers.


Task 10: Students create posts on the blog.

Students will work weekly to create a blog post on a topic of their choice.

Each month, they will also get together with a group of bloggers with similar topics. Students will review each other’s blog, assigning roles to each student in the group for each section of the blog.

Students will complete a reflection similar to this one at the end of the project.


Student artifacts:

Throughout the project, we collected all blog addresses and monitored them in a Google Spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was also useful in providing feedback and sharing addresses with classes. Blogs were color-coded on an ongoing basis to provide informal feedback. The two blogs below are excellent examples to utilize as exemplars.

Student Reflection Artifact (created by Rose P.)

 


TIP Chart Assessment:

(Using the TIP Chart, identify which level (e.g. entry, developing, approaching, ideal/target) your lesson falls in for each of the categories below and write a brief statement to describe what the students are doing as it relates to the indicators on the TIP chart.)

Categories:

Research and Information Fluency:

7 – Target: Students developed their own research questions based upon interest for their personal blog. Students were given instruction on how to find and evaluate sources of information. Students then collected and tagged appropriate sources in Feedly in order to keep current on their research topics. Information from various sources was periodically synthesized into posts.

Communication and Collaboration:

7 – Target: Students worked on blogs which are a form of communication. They shared information with others who are experts on their topics around the world. Students also visited other blogs and left comments. In many cases, students went above and beyond and interviewed family members and community members for information to post on the blog. Students created norms and distributed roles within groups while peer reviewing blogs periodically. Students reflected on their communication and collaboration.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving:

7- Target: Students will work to solve an authentic task. How do I increase traffic and commenting on my blog? (ending a post with a question, meta tagging, commenting on other people’s blogs, linking to other forms of social media, etc.) As part of the writing process, students will post new information on their blog and respond to comments. Students will learn about strategies to use to attract visitors to their blog. Students reflected on how they solved the problem of getting more visitors to their blog.

Creativity and Innovation:

7 – Target: Students are synthesizing information from all over the place to create an innovative website that interests followers from all over the globe. They are looking at existing sites to create unique works. They are involved in strategic risk taking as it relates to choosing topics that will interest the most people. Students reflected on the creative process and on how innovative strategies helped or did not help their blog.