5317 - Change; the embrace we can not run from.

Change is often said to be the most important thing a person can accept yet it is often the thing people fight the most. In this course, 5317 Resources Digital Environments, we are writing an article that has to be submitted for publication somewhere. I have chosen to submit to Edutopia. I love that site and t has a ton of useful articles that I have relied on throughout my career as an educator. Below is the beginning outline for what I want my article to contain and the direction I want it to go in.

Outline:

Topic: embracing change and being open to the 3rd way of blended learning

Introduction: 1. What is change 2. The definition of embracing 3. What it looks like

Innovation plan connection: in order for blended learning to take place in the ELAR classroom educators must embrace the need for change and the benefits of considering the third way. Blended learning has often been unwelcome and ignored on campuses across the world especially in core classes where it is essential that students break down the material and demonstrate their learning on paper.

Help others: this information has the potential to help others because of the encouragement from a current ELAR educator who was not knowledgeable of the benefits of true differentiated learning that incorporated technology in an effective way in the classroom

Lessons: the lesson has been what truly embracing change look like versus a mimicry of something picked up in a PD session. The effectiveness, implementation, and creativity involved differ greatly when you understand the why and when you find your own why.

Digital resources included: possible video

Audience: teachers at IISD, DeZavala MS

Message: change is necessary, needed for the revolution of education and the minds of our learners

Examples of embracing change: effective blended learning in the classroom, being open to the 3rd way

Authors Biography:

insert the (my) authors bio here

Submission Guidelines to Edutopia: (https://www.edutopia.org/about/your-turn-write-us)

Your Turn: Write for Us

If you have a story to tell—something you’ve realized over the course of your career about how to get students excited about learning; a strategy you recently tried that didn’t quite work out and how you changed course; an aha moment that led you to rethink how you teach a particular subject or lesson—you’re in the right place.

We welcome pitches on all academic subjects and all grades from pre-K through 12th. And we’re always interested in pitches on our core concepts: project-based learning, social and emotional learning, technology integration, teacher development, comprehensive assessment, and integrated studies.

HOW TO PROPOSE A POST TO US

Send an email to GUESTBLOG at EDUTOPIA (dot) ORG with “Guest Blog: [Proposed Post Title]” in the subject line, and be sure to include the following information:

A few sentences describing your proposed post and a high-level outline (keep in mind that finished blog posts should be around 750–850 words)
Links to any multimedia you plan to include
A few words about the intended target audience for your blog (for example, high school math teachers, administrators, etc.)
A roughly 80-word bio with details about your role in education
Three to five links to other pieces (if any) you’ve written, particularly for academic publications
Full disclosure of any commercial interest in any products or services mentioned
Your Twitter handle (if you have one)

Please note: We accept only original submissions. If your post has appeared elsewhere, we will not accept it.

OUR EDITORIAL PROCESS

Our editorial team will discuss your pitch, and if we accept it, we’ll ask you to share a draft of your post. Next, it’s likely that one of our editors will want to work with you to do at least one round of revisions. Contributors frequently tell us that they appreciate the care and attention they receive when working with Edutopia editors to create a blog post that resonates with the people they’re trying to reach.

Submissions to Edutopia are subject to our Terms of Use.

Because of the volume of submissions we receive, we have to say no to a lot of pitches, including many good ones. While we’re not able to respond substantively to every one, please know that we read all pitches closely, and we appreciate the time and energy that writing them requires. We do our best to respond to all proposals within two to three weeks. If we don’t accept the first pitch you submit, we hope you’ll try again with other great ideas.

SOME RESOURCES TO INSPIRE YOU

If you’ve never published an article before or are wondering whether your idea is a good one for Edutopia’s audience, check out these resouces: one teacher’s first pitch idea, two successful pitches written up in different ways, and a handful of posts on different topics.

Meet a New Edutopia Writer: Marissa King is a fifth-grade teacher at Tulsa Public Schools who had an interesting idea about using emojis to teach literacy skills. That idea became her first post for Edutopia, “Using Emojis to Teach Critical Reading Skills,” which considered the similarities between students’ emoji use and the skills she teaches with traditional texts, like working out what an ambiguous passage might mean by considering it in context. Her pitch for this novel idea was engaging, and she made a good case for the pedagogical value, with links to reliable sources.

Examples of Accepted Pitches: Sharing ideas with your classroom and colleagues is second nature, but somehow pitching a blog idea may seem different. Need some inspiration? Check out this PDF of two examples of pitches Edutopia has accepted.

Impactful Blog Posts: Get a concrete sense of the kinds of positive, constructive, and actionable posts we seek by reading some recent posts.

“Standards-Aligned Genius Hour” by Matthew Farber
“What Would Happen If Students Assigned Their Own Math Homework?” by Margie Pearse
“Smart Strategies for Student Success” by Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers
“Overcoming the Principle of Least Effort” by Todd Finley
“6 Tips for Building Reading Skills—in Any Class” by Susan Barber