Anybody that has worked with teenagers knows that their set of commonly used words is often limited and thickly layered with slang or whatever is hip at that given time. This has been true for generations, but now we are in an era in which communication occurs more rapidly and anyone with a phone can speak volumes with pictures and video without uttering a syllable. This concerns me.

As a former English teacher and persistent proponent of rich language use, I fear that words are becoming less needed and therefore are in danger of dying or being reduced to some cheap, perfunctory code system only to be used when necessary. Though I have not done solid research, I would bet that the average person's working vocabulary is less than what it was ten or more years ago. This is true of me as well. I create screencasts in which words are unneeded or even distracting, and much of what I communicate requires the most simplistic language to avoid confusion in those I teach.

I realize the potential and power of multimedia, and I embrace that daily; however, I think there is value and beauty in promoting enhanced diction for all. Here are some ideas about how teachers and others can do that with digital tools:

Audiopal- Free mp3 upload/embed tool

I recently stumbled upon this handy site called Audiopal. You can make one using your phone, type text, record by microphone, or upload an existing mp3, and the site will load it onto its server and send an embed code to your email. It embeds as a mini player that visitors can click and listen to.

This is a good way to provide verbal instructions to struggling readers or to just share a song you like. The max file size limit for an mp3 upload is 6 GB, and you can record up to 1 minute with the microphone option. It's free and very user friendly. Here is my example that I made using the text to speech feature:

Make Your Own Textbook!

When I was teaching high school English, I rarely used the class textbook because I found it to be big and cumbersome, and it lacked relevant, quality texts that engaged my students. So I mostly created and sought out my own resources to use. Unfortunately, that led to the predicament of arranging and organizing materials into a clear and coherent sequence for myself and my pupils. I wish I would have compiled my stuff into some kind of digital format (beyond throwing stuff on my website) to make resources more accessible and engaging for students, and to make the management side easier for me. 

Below are some resources that will help guide your thinking and provide options for creating and/or customizing your own textbook. This is just a short list, but it is a good starting point: 

Coveritlive- an excellent, free tool

I was at the MACUL conference in Grand Rapids last week, and they used a live blogging tool called Coveritlive. It is a free and fairly robust application that allows you to create an event and embed it on your website or blog. Then you direct your participants to the event, and they can contribute comments, attachments, do trivia that you create, and more. Below is a screenshot of what it looked like when I embedded an event on this blog:

New Google Tools

Thanks to a post from the Free Technology for Teachers blog, I recently discovered some new and very helpful features that Google added to their Sites tool. I have used Google Sites for my classroom page for a few years now, and I was often frustrated by its limitations. Now you can insert HTML, Javascript, and more. Below is a screenshot that shows all the insert options available:

Best Pre-made Educational Content Resources

When I was a classroom teacher, I recall many anxious afternoons and evenings spent scrambling to come up with quality content for a lesson I had to do the next day. Even when I was planning further ahead, it was a stressful, excruciating process to line up resources that I could use for various topics and standards. Now, more than ever before, an abundance of free resources exist that we can conveniently use the next day. In fact, so much exists that it is difficult to sift through it all. Here is a list of sites that I have found to offer quality materials. I wish I knew of them when I was teaching.

Assessment and Blogging

Many teachers have contemplated using blogs with their students, and many have started doing so. One difficult question most have is how to assess and manage all the posts.This will hopefully help people who are doing or about to be doing this in their classrooms.

*This is designed for teachers using Kidblog but could be applied to other blogs too.