Basic Creative Writing Tools
By Bill Lester
Over the last decade we have decided that teaching needs to be more technology based. We have created virtual tours for just about every classroom that take students to everywhere on this planet and beyond. However, besides gym class, we are noticing that English is being left behind, because from as long as we can remember English has been taught by reading from a paperback and writing with a paper and pen, eventually we told students they could type up their papers. Here are some basic tools to use in your classroom that will add technology and may ease the learning process for all types of classrooms.
Evernote
With thoughts about topics on writing and ways to go with writing, students are always writing notes upon notes. With Evernote they can organize their notes and thoughts easier, and retrieve it later when developing their writing. This doesn’t have to be limited just to text, they can save pictures and video as well. One great feature about this is that it can also be shared with other students and teachers through email or social media.
Google Doc
There are constant changes, developments, or suggestions that teachers are wanting to give students about projects or assignments that they are currently working on. Also, students want to collaborate and post suggestions or information that they feel would be help their fellow students. This creative writing tool helps to keep students accountable about staying up to date on criteria for assignments that have changed. Not knowing means they haven’t been checking up on the doc. They can check the doc before or after Facebook.
E-Readers
If your school has the budget, E-Readers are a great resource to have in every class. Having a classroom set means that students have less of a chance to lose the book in transferring it from class to class to home. Also, these handy creative writing tools allow students to search unknown words that are within the text on the same device. Mostly, the E-Readers can be used by students to highlight and book mark certain pages to be used to reference later. With the highlighting tool, students are able write thoughts or notes about that particular section, paragraph or section. Here are a few reliable E-Readers.
Figuring out how to implement technology into any lesson plan is something that can be difficult, unless you received a degree in instructional design. Especially in certain concentrations, such as Special Education and English, developing a lesson plan that involves technology and is creative, and can be delivered confidently, is very difficult. The important thing to remember is that you can always bounce new ideas from other teachers and educators.
Bill Lester recently obtained his certification for senior economics at the high school level.
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Written by Bryan Cohen
Bryan Cohen is the author of more than 30 books, many of which focus on creative writing and blasting through that pesky writer's block. His books have sold more than 20,000 copies. You can find him on Google+ and Facebook.
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