Author Archive

Seven Digital Tools to Make Your Students Better Writers by Antonio Tooley gives you the skinny on writing tools your students can use immediately. Creative writing is a process that happens in the human brain, and no technology can replace a good writer. However, the right technology can help you become a better one. It is a shame not to take advantage.

Antonio Tooley

• Antonio is a hopeless optimist who enjoys basking in the world’s brightest colors. He loves biking to distant places and occasionally he gets lost. When not doing that he’s blogging and teaching ESL. He will be happy to meet you on Facebook and Twitter.

Introduction

• The personal computer has not been around that long, and neither has the Internet. Despite their relatively recent entry into society, these two have become so important in daily life that students cannot imagine a world without either. They use both tools to socialize, play games, keep up with the news, keep in touch with friends, and otherwise keep themselves entertained.
  However, very few people actually appreciate the potential of computer technology to serve a more complex purpose than finding out what their favorite celebrity had for breakfast. Digital technology is useful in everything – from organizing tasks to controlling the International Space Station. Using it for solving problems with creative tasks like writing is right up that alley. Students are lucky that information and useful apps are so accessible. It was not always like that. The great thing about digital technology is that most tools that can be of help for the research process are free to use or require just a little cash outlay. These apps are just out there, waiting. Here are seven of these tools to help students become better writers.

1. Trello

• Managing projects just became easier with this simple and intuitive online task manager app. You can use it for creating a to-do list for each of your writing assignments (in separate boards), set deadlines for each task, make an outline, and even organize your references by attaching files. Best of all, you can invite people to help you through each task. All these functions can be done from one free account that syncs on all your devices so you can work on the go. Trello has a pretty neat interface so that all the task “cards” are on the dashboard allowing you to easily move everything around. The free account is fully functional. However, if you want more features, you can choose the paid version for $5 a month.

2. Ideaflip

• Group writing assignments can be hard if you all have busy schedules and nary a common time to come together to discuss your action plan. Ideaflip is a cloud-based tool you can use to collaborate with group members to generate and organize ideas wherever you are, in real time. It uses post-it type notes that you can create, edit, drag and drop anywhere on the idea space. You can upload PDF, image, and CSV files, and even screenshots of websites. You export your collaboration as a slide presentation. All you have to do is simply create an account, invite your group members, and use the free 14-day trial version. The monthly subscription is $19 a month or $199 a year.

3. Edugeeksclub

• If you are on your own – without a clue as to what to do and your friends are of no help – there is no need to panic. You can collaborate with the professional writers and editors of Edugeeksclub at any stage of your writing process. They can give you a crash course on what a polished, well-researched paper or essay looks like. If you just need research or editing help, they can do that, too. Rates vary depending on the work, the level of expertise required, and the urgency. The price range is from $1.99 to $29.99 a page.

4. Ilys

• Ilys may possibly stand for “I love your style” because that is the whole message of this app to all writers. It seems to say, “Just keep writing, and whatever it is it will be wonderful, typos and all.” Well, maybe not wonderful, but the tool does get you writing until you reach your word count goal just to see what it looks like. You will probably edit a lot at first, but once you get used to the weird one-letter-at-a-time interface, you will start making fewer mistakes and need fewer edits. It is a great tool if you are a perpetual “I’ll do it later” type of writer, or if you have writer’s block. The trial version lets you compose up to 3,000 words, after which you pay $10.08 a month to continue using it.

5. Blankpage

• One of the nightmare visions of all writers is staring at a blank page. This tool prevents that horror from becoming a reality because it helps you become productive by letting you write without distractions, and do so whenever and wherever you feel like it. In fact, this web-based app lets you set daily writing goals and nags you until you reach them. The minimalist interface harks back to paper and pen days when all you had to do was put one word after another in succession. You can jot down topics and ideas that you can go back to when you are ready to write it. It will also tell you how long it takes to read out the text, which is a useful feature when you are writing your valedictory speech. The downside is that there is no free trial version of this app. You can try it for $5 a week (plus VAT). If you like it, you can upgrade to the $10 a month or the $100 a year plans (plus VAT).

6. Dailypage

• Most people need a nudge to start writing, and this online app does just that by giving you daily prompts. You can chose to respond or not, but either way, it does give you writing ideas. You can choose to make your response private or public. You can also check out what other users are writing about the same topic. It can help you develop your writing skills day by day, and you can even take one of their paid online writing courses if you want. It is free to use after signing up on the site.

7. Onlinecorrection

• This is a cool free online tool for finding spelling, grammar, and stylistic mistakes. You don’t even have to sign up to use it. Just copy and paste the passage you want to check, or type directly on the window. OnlineCorrection will then go through each gaffe and error with you and give suggestions for correction or improvement. It does not catch all mistakes, but it does catch a lot.

Four Study Time Tips for Parents of Children with ADHD by Vee Cecil tells a touching story of how one parent has dealt with a child with ADHD. Vee has done research that other parents and even teachers can use to help these kids. This post also contains many links to useful Internet resources on the topic. Please share with other parents you know who are in this same situation.

Vee Cecil

• Vee keeps busy by being a wellness coach, personal trainer and bootcamp instructor in Kentucky. She also recently launched a blog where she shares her passion for health by writing about her favorite tips, activities and recipes.

Vee’s Son Hard At Work

In Her Own Words

• I know from experience that schoolwork and studying can be exceptionally difficult for kids with ADHD. My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD, but prior to his diagnosis, we spent many painful evenings trying to help him get through his homework. And while the homework was always completed, my son, his dad, and I were often left feeling exhausted and frustrated.
• Now, that he’s been diagnosed with ADHD, I’ve been doing some research around what we can do to make study time easier for him. Here are four study time tips that I plan to try with my son and that I think will be very beneficial for other parents of children with ADHD.

1. Identify and Remove Distractions

• One of the best study time tips is to ,a href”http://bit.ly/1O4HDWn”>identify distractions. By identifying the noise, objects, places, etc., that are distracting your children with ADHD, parents can help students choose a better place or situation for studying. Setting up a special work area for your child outside of their room can be a great help. Make sure the area is painted a neutral color, that there is plenty of room for them to move around, and that there are minimal distractions in the work area. Music or white noise may be a good thing to turn on to help a student with ADHD focus. There may be a little trial and error that goes into identifying and eliminating the distractions, but the time will be well spent.

2. Encourage Active Reading

• A page of nonfiction text may be daunting for a student with ADHD, because they often contain pictures, captions, charts, headings, subheadings, and other text features that pull the focus away from the main text. Active reading techniques are especially helpful for these students, because they encourage them to look at the page, read headings and captions, and look at photos before needing to concentrate on the job of actually reading the text. These pre-reading techniques also prepare the student for reading the text because it gives them a chance to think about the main ideas prior to reading.
• Other active reading techniques include skimming the chapter, taking notes while reading, highlighting, and annotating text. If you’re not sure how to encourage active reading, your child’s teachers may be able to offer tips and more support.

3. Enable Moving and Fidgeting

• Honestly, nobody likes to sit still for a long period of time, and even people without ADHD can find it difficult to do so if they are studying or reading something difficult. That’s why one of the best study time tips for parents of children with ADHD is to enable them to move and fidget. One strategy is to allow your child to walk around while he is studying. Walking while studying works well for reading, flash cards, practicing a second language, etc. Better yet, consider purchasing a standing desk. These are desks that go up and down so that the user can either stand or sit depending on how they feel. (Dr. Doug uses one.)
• Another study time tip for students with ADHD is to use fidget tools that enable them to fiddle with something small at their desk that will not distract the whole class or that will help them to focus while studying at home. Fidget tools may be stress balls, smooth rocks, small Koosh balls, or other similar objects.

4. Read Out Loud with a Four-Legged Friend

• One study tip that helps students with ADHD read and process study materials is to read out loud, preferably with a four-legged friend. A recent study found that children who read aloud to service dogs improved their reading skills by twelve percent. Reading aloud with a dog means that students are using visual and auditory processes to support studying and learning and by petting or touching the dog students get a tactile distraction that helps them focus. So, if you have a four-legged family member, try incorporating them into reading time whenever possible.
• Similarly, creating a rhyme, song, or rap is a twist on reading aloud. If students are trying to remember a series of steps or a list of items in a particular order, it often helps if they turn the material into a rhyme, song, or rap. If you’re not convinced of the power of this study tip, think about how you learned the alphabet or the order of the planets. Chances are, you still sing the alphabet and you remember something about your Aunt Sally ordering nine pizzas when thinking about the planets.
• Finding the right study time tips for a child with ADHD will take a few tries. I definitely expect some trial and error in figuring out what works best for my son. But if parents and children work together, more productive studying and reading sessions at home can be achieved. And who knows? In the end, they may learn to like study time.