“If I traded it all If I gave it all away for one thing Just for one thing If I sorted it out If I knew all about this one thing Wouldn’t that be something.”

“If I traded it all If I gave it all away for one thing Just for one thing If I sorted it out If I knew all about this one thing Wouldn’t that be something.” --from “One Thing,” sung by Finger Eleven

If every above-average teacher out there used the Internet to publish and share one original teaching idea or resource—just one thing that they know in their heads and hearts makes a difference in teaching students to think deeper—then we could build an on-line community of sharing that would allow us to shelve all one-size-fits-all text books and programs. Have you put one thing out there yet? --the driving principle of the WritingFix website (http://writingfix.com)

WritingFix(http://writingfix.com)

iPods to inspire Heartfelt Poetry

Corbett Harrison and Rob Stone, Northern Nevada Writing Project

WritingFix: iPods to inspire Poetry

Sponsored by the Northern Nevada Writing Project (http://nnwp.org), WritingFix was launched in 2001. Twenty-one interactive writing prompts were created and featured.


In Northern Nevada, the NNWP is well-known for providing high-quality print resources.


WritingFix was the NNWP’s solution to moving from print resources to electronic resources, and it allowed us to focus on more specific topics of interest to teachers.


The NNWP began redesigning the dozen in-services it offered annually to have on-line features. WritingFix became the site where these classes’ on-line resources were found.


Although it was designed as a resource for in-service classes and workshops held in Northern Nevada, the entire county (and now the world) is logging in to use WritingFix’s teacher-made resources.

•In 2001—our first year—WritingFix achieved 3000 page hits.

•In 2008, we are hoping to reach 3,000,000 hits.

•Nevada is ranked as the eleventh state that uses the website most often.


Each year, we focus on two or three new “themes” around which to develop a page of on-line resources (and ultimately an in-service or workshop for teachers). With each in-service, we add new resources to the pages that already exist.

2004 Focus:6 Trait Resources 6 Trait Resources

and Lessonsand Lessons

Average Daily Hits in 2008: 775775

2008 In-service (16-hour) Classes: 22

2008 Teacher (3-hour) Workshops:

88

2005 Focus:Picture Book Picture Book

LessonsLessons




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2006 Focus:Chapter Book Chapter Book

Excerpt LessonsExcerpt Lessons




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2007 Focus:Writing Across the Writing Across the

CurriculumCurriculum




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For 2008-09, one new focus has been using iPods to inspire writing across the curriculum lessons. 80 Nevada teachers (thanks to a generous grant) will receive an 80 gig classroom iPod for participating and submitting a new lesson proposal.

2008 Focus:iPods Across the iPods Across the





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February 2008: Inservice #1

October 2008: Inservice #2

November 2008: Inservice #3

Spring 2009: Inservice #4

With each inservice, we expect to accept 5-10 new lessons that will actually be posted at the website for any teacher to use.

We’ve already grown from our 6 original lessons to 2 dozen lessons. By spring 2009, we expect to house 40-50 lessons.


The goal of this new project is to involve more teachers from outside Nevada than ever before in this developing on-line resource. While Nevada teachers will be the authors of the first 40-50 lessons posted, teachers from anywhere can:

2008 Focus:iPods Across the iPods Across the





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•Publish student samples, if they use any of the lessons posted on-line.

•Propose an original iPod-inspired lesson to be published at the site and receive a complimentary print resource from the Northern Nevada Writing Project.


WritingFix’s iPod-inspired lesson page. Directions for finding this page are on your bookmark.




My Own Two Hands, sung by Ben Harper

I can change the world with my own two handsMake a better place with my own two handsMake a kinder place with my own two handsWith my own, with my own two hands

I can make peace on earth with my own two handsI can clean up the earth with my own two handsI can reach out to you with my own two handsWith my own, with my own two hands

I’m gonna make it a brighter placeI’m gonna make it a safer placeI’m gonna help the human raceWith my own,with my own two hands

I can hold you with my own two handsI can comfort you with my own two handsBut you got to use, use your own two handsUse your own, use your own two hands

With our own, with our own two handsWith my own, with my own two hands


Waiting On The World To Change, sung by John Mayer

me and all my friends we're all misunderstood they say we stand for nothing and there's no way we ever could now we see everything that's going wrongwith the world and those who lead it we just feel like we don't have the means to rise above and beat it

so we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change we keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change

it's hard to beat the system when we're standing at a distance so we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change now if we had the power to bring our neighbors home from war they would have never missed a Christmas no more ribbons on their door and when you trust your television what you get is what you got cause when they own the information, oh, they can bend it all they want

that's why we're waiting, waiting on the world to change we keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change it's not that we don't care, we just know that the fight ain't fair so we keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change repeat…




Documents

“If I traded it all If I gave it all away for one thing Just for one thing If I sorted it out If I knew all about this one thing Wouldn’t that be something.”