Boston Writing Project Workshop:

1. Reframing literacy and reconceptualizing the work of the English classroom

2. Using common online tools (Blogs, Wikis) for communication, collaboration, and developing a sense of new genres.   What each does, doesn't do.

3. Examples of blogs, wikis, discussion boards.

blogs created in Christian Pulver's Freshman Writing and

Ellie's Lifewriting courses.

An elaborate wiki example

A guide to wiki style.

4.  Other tools for writing teachers:  Webquests for writing purposes. (Example)

5.  Creating

blogs (https://www.blogger.com)

(create a Google account)

wikis (http://.pbwiki.com--create an account)

discussion boards (Google groups--sign in with Google account info)

webquests (http://questgarden.com/--register for 30 day trial)

Resources for blogs. 

A guide to starting a blog.

Ellie's blog assignment for En276-Life Writing

6. Other tools

Google docs, Google Groups (discussion board), Yahoo listserv.  We didn't get to these but they offer additional free communication tools. 

• Google docs allows collaborative document sharing and editing and the creation of pages with images, etc. in the ways that wiki's do. 
• Google groups has discussion boards that support a threaded discussion (Example: Teaching English with Technology google group). 
• The Yahoo listserve allows email communication through a group list.  ( A listserv is a type of asynchronous communication tool that allows users to send correspondence to everyone on a particular list with a single e-mail message. )    You can also join other lists, by searching a database of lists.  See Catalists, the Official Catalog of Listserv lists . You can create a list or enter ours at http://groups.yahoo.com/. signing on with your Yahoo username and password.

engl697 list.

Additional Resources:

Weblogg-ed--the blog of Will Richardson.  Full of great commentary and resources.

Weblog on The Secret Life of Bees from one of Richardson's classes.

TWT--Teaching Writing with Technology--Critical Perspectives on Using Technology to Teach Writing in the Middle School and High School   The link page takes you to a section of this blog, about blogging.  It has particularly good information about legal issues.

Brian's Ramblings.  An example of a student blog from the University of Hawaii

Bahdad Burning.  A young woman from Iraq, who goes by the penname Riverbend, has been maintaining this incrdible blog since before the US invasion.  It has won prizes for literary journalism, and has been published in book form.  I've assigned it in classes, and it's been very powerful.