Learning Project Update 10: Take 2: Reclaiming My Voice
For context, last week I explored some new-to-me AI platforms to showcase my query letter to potential publishers. Things… did not go well. Bogged down by paywall after paywall, I finally settled on Lumen5 to create a query letter tutorial video. The platform contains a user-friendly interface and impressive creative features; however, its hyperactive AI…
HMH Writable: AI Devil in Disguise or ELA Godsend?
Ironically, after my AI fatigue the last two weeks, we were tasked with exploring AI classroom tools this week. So, I dusted myself off and stepped into the role of a student inside an HMH Writable demo classroom. With a jaded mind, I wondered how this (totally unknown to me) AI-powered platform could support student…
Learning Project Update 9: Paywall Fatigue and AI Doldrums
While working on my learning project last week, I fell down the AI content creation rabbit hole. Crafting my query letter to publishers, I thought I had clawed my way back out. I was wrong. But I’m getting ahead of myself… as usual. My Week: Trying to (Digitally) Reinvent the Wheel After two and a…
Learning Project Update 8: Down the Rabbit Hole of AI Powered Content Creation & Publishing
Whew, what a whirlwind week! My brain has been all over the place and back again. To focus myself (for a second), my first goal was to complete my manuscript with feedback from my in-person and online community. Done! Second goal: Research Canadian publishers that fit my story. Also done quickly, giving me too much…
Beyond “Free”: A Critical Look at Coursera and OERs
Picture it: April 2020, roughly one month into our unprecedented global lockdown. Our heroine (ahem, me – it’s my story, so I get to be the protagonist) is going stir-crazy. Her then-undiagnosed ADHD flaring wildly, causing her to sometimes bounce off her home’s four walls. Anything for distraction, stimulation- Tiger King, Dr. Brené Brown podcasts,…
Learning Project Update 7: Scaffolding a Traditional Publishing Path
To recap, I focused on self-publishing options in my last post. Learning more about choices like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and IngramSpark was eye-opening; I had never seriously considered this route before, but I am now. And, to reiterate my original plan… well, I didn’t really have a plan past this point! I’ve said it before…
Learning Project Update 6: Publishing Options & Serendipity
If you’ve been following along on my learning journey, you may recall that this (publishing time!) is usually when I come to a thundering halt in progress! BOOM! BAM! For reference, I have recapped my original plan below: WEEKS 9-10: Great Big, Scary Dive into the Publishing Process Focus: Publishing options….the part of this tale…
CTRL C + CTRL V: One More Time
Watching Kirby Ferguson’s Everything is a Remix, reminded me that – like music, art, and literature – education is a remix. Every lesson taught, curriculum designed, and assessment graded combines past knowledge and pedagogies. For better or worse, I never teach in isolation; my methods are an open dialogue between past, present, and future influences.…
Learning Project Update 5: Community, Feedback, & Revisions
First off, I don’t know if anyone else got the license number of the flu that hit my school and home this last week, but…wow! Now then As a recap, here are some of my original plans for this week: WEEKS 7-8: Research and Build Writing Community Focus: Expand research and find/engage with a writing…
Likes, Lies, and Learning: An Educator’s Approach to Social Media
Like it or lump it, social media doesn’t seem to be going anywhere; unless you believe in the speculated Solar Maximum Internet Apocalypse of ’25. For the Gen Z and Alpha students we teach, Web 2.0 is embedded in how they interact, learn, and view the world. As educators, we can no longer merely acknowledge…