Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

clutter (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee ) Write compelling words that promote action. If you're writing online, it probably isn't just because you want to read it. Study impactful bloggers. See how they use words. Learn from them. Here's a trick that has helped me craft better blog posts. I keep a list of wasteful words. They are enemies of clarity. What is a wasteful word? This is my list of wasteful words. What are yours? A word that clouds meaning or takes up space. Word clutter makes you hard to read. My list of wasteful words There are / There is It is very * extremely * really * actual Given the fact * in fact * the fact is that had a * have a * had an * have an * have on * had on on how to of the say that * think that successfully along  has  ones  specifically  again * available with regard to * with respect to * in reference to * in connection with * for the purpose of advance * together * basic * close * end * free * past you ...

I was sent a dozen roses this week by a wonderful, amazing student who found his talent for writing in this year's Digiteen project. I'm more convinced than ever that blogging and doing it with other students from around the world is essential to helping students connect with themselves and a larger world. You ask me to give you the reasons. In honor of the dozen roses on my desk, here's just twelve. Sent by a student unleashed by blogging. Blogging is a different form of writing than the essay. There are so many nuances to blogging. You can write in first person, second person or third person. In fact, when I go through an article and take out the "I's" and put in third person my engagement levels go DOWN with the post. Blogging encourages student voice. First person writing lets the students share who they are. Blogging creates a stronger connection with the teacher. I'm a better teacher when I know my students better. When they blo...

Lost: The Ability to Share Some rights reserved by Ashley R. Good For 20.5 hours according to Blogger , posting was down. There is an important deadline this Sunday for a prestigious award that you didn't get Friday morning when more of you would have read it. Lost: Two Days of Posts So far two days of posts have been lost. Wednesday and Thursday are gone. A post on the best time management apps for the iPad . ( Corkulus , 2Do , and NextThing ) A post on being an original, and one other post. Lost: The Backup of the Posts Backupify has backed up  Google Docs , Gmail , etc. but perhaps in celebration of Friday the 13th it DIDN'T backup Blogger as it says it did (probably b/c my blog was down when it tried.) So much for redundancy. Guess this is why many savvy bloggers use Windows Live Writer and perhaps I should go back there for composing posts to have an extra backup on PC. Lost: Links Broken Retweets now link to nothing. I have places to get these...

The purpose of this blog post is to share with you six reasons I started with Blogger in 2005 and am here six+ years later, a view under the hood of blogger today (and some some upcoming changes that Google annouced at SXSW ), and eleven things all of you who blog (especially Blogger) should do NOW. I know that my wordpress friends have access to lots of goodies and certainly that is a good platform, but Blogger is what I use. Let's start with the ten things bloggers should do today. If some of them don't make sense, keep reading for screenshots and details on how this feature is used. 11 Things Bloggers Should Do Today: Log in to Blogger in Draft - http://draft.blogger.com - this is the ONLY place I log in. It gives you access to the newest features including the ability to mobilize your site. (If you are on another platform, look on their blog to see if there is a way you can access beta features.) Review your settings. All of them.  (Do this again when the new...

Friday, December 9, 2005 At the Cape of Good Hope in October 2010. Birthday. The birthday of a blog. This one. Little did I know how a blog could change one's life. The Difference A Blog Makes Blogging has improved my life in so many ways! How could life change so much in five years? Not only have my children grown older but I have too! Hopefully wiser. This blog has taken me to many places and met many faces -- over 20 conferences and counting, in fact in four different continents! I've been to Qatar, India, South Africa and heading to China in February with my oldest son and some more students. This week I was up until 4 am working on a book deadline for the book that will come out with Pearson Publishing in January 2012 that I'm coauthoring with Julie Lindsay . Two new businesses and a nonprofit and thousands of students later. What excitement.  Maybe it has even helped some of you in some way. I hope so. The Blog That Almost Died Before Being Born ...

Sometimes meaning can transcend language barriers.  Take this, for example. As I prepare to attend the Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Education Forum in Cape Town, South Africa as my first true event as a "member of the press" I have been following our hashtag for the event #msief   - this tweet came across the tag: "RT @ cafepedagogique : Innovative Teachers already present in the Café Pédagogique blog .. In French http://tinyurl.com/2vsd4ay #msief " Curious, I went to the post aptly titled, Décrocher les étoiles , translated as "Unhook the Stars" and saw French and Arabic coexisting on the same post.  Curious, I started translating. Now, I know that Google Translate is SO FAR FROM PERFECT and there are thousands of you out there who will translate this for me in a much more accurate way, but in this case, the translation that came through Google translate had a certain halting poetic beauty that caused me to stop and reflect: A Pedagogica...

  "It's like I'm living someone else's life..." A Little Reflection before Getting Down to Business This just came on my Pandora radio station as I'm doing my monthly "file maintenance" and moving pages around. (See my Facebook posts on technology productivity for more on this.)  When I came to my presentations folder, I saw a journey. A journey of people and faces and places.  Those who gave me chances early on and things applied for - not knowing any better, I guess. So, here's a mini trip that shows you how people network and connect and improve their lives. Here's my screenshot journey of presentations. Bringing us to 2010.  So, I have some people to thank. My husband says in many ways I'm like an elephant... (Oh dear, he's not talking about weight!)   I remember.  And I think it is important for all of us to remember those who have helped us on our life journey. Who believed in us when no one else did? Who gave us cha...