Discussions

Once again, the Writers' Club is looking for passionate writers in schools around the world to join the Writers' Club. Here are 100 reasons to join - if you're interested, reply to this discussion or email us at writersclub@theglobalschool.net .

100 reasons to join the Writers Club

1. It’s free!

2. All the legwork is done for you, by me

3. It gives your students an authentic audience

4. It’s an already functioning community, not just an idea

5. It’s secure – only community members can comment on blogs

6. It uses WordPress- the most common blogging platform

7. Because its about writing, you don’t need to change your curriculum to fit – all genres of writing can be shared

8. It has students from Grade 2 to Year 8, so there are plenty of students on there the right age

9. No advertising

10. No need for time zones to align

11. You are in a community with globally-minded teachers who may want to do other projects

12. If you like more structure, you can do quadblogging – one of our optional projects

13. Schools can participate in cultural exchanges through our Global Penfriends project

14. You don’t have to begin and end your participation at a particular time – you can work on a global stage for as long as you want, pause when you want, and drop out when you want

15. Your own ideas for writing can be incorporated into the club (as quadblogging and global penfriends were)

16. “Achievements” encourage the students to contribute

17. Students and teachers can create their own groups around certain topics and ideas

18. Students can discuss books they are reading and recommend them to each other

19. You don’t have to sign up a particular number of students. Sign up one or a whole class!

20. There are experienced literacy experts who form part of our community and may comment on your students’ blogs

21. Maps help students locate authors and those who comment on their blogs

22. A twitter feed pushes their writing beyond the club

23. Students can track their favorite authors by “friend”ing them

24. Students don’t need email addresses to participate.

25. You can engage your passionate writers by presenting this as a special opportunity

26. The site is monitored by teachers

27. Students build their own global personal learning network

28. Students can be exposed to new styles of writing

29. Students can be exposed to new standards of writing

30. Students can influence and inspire the writing of others

31. Students can be influenced and inspired by the writing of others

32. Cultural assumptions can be challenged

33. Students can add illustrations to their work

34. No awkward usernames or passwords

35. Administrators are friendly and helpful

36. No fancy technology needed. Text is easy.

37. We have tutorial videos to help you get started

38. Students can customer their blog using themes

39. Student avatars personalize their online presence in the community

40. Extended profiles enable students to tell the community what inspires them

41. We have a diverse community of 8 nationalities

42. Search pages make it easy to find authors from a particular country, school or grade level

43. There are some awesome writers on the site already

44. The site is constantly being improved

45. It won’t be open to all forever!

46. Set blogs visible to only the community

47. Want students working together? We can create group blogs

48. Already have students blogging? We can create accounts for you that link back to your original blogs

49. Students can make posts private

50. Students can flag material they don’t think is appropriate

51. Excellent setting for teaching digital citizenship

52. Run by teachers, for teachers. No commercial interests.

53. No spam!

54. Extend your top writers… How would your work change if you were writing for an international audience?

55. The club has been presented internationally

56. Teach students comprehension and questioning through commenting

57. Students improve quality of writing when writing for an audience

58. Research shows students who use ICT for writing write more often

59. Research shows students who use ICT for writing write more

60. Research shows students who use ICT for writing make more revisions

61. Research shows students who use ICT for writing make fewer errors

62. Our social network interface makes it easier for your blog to be found

63. WordPress is constantly improving their software

64. 24/7 access to your students’ writing

65. Showcase work of your students or others around the world to your class

66. Easy way to connect your class globally

67. Use the blog as a tool for student accountability

68. Empower students – let them make global connections

69. Regular updates from us keep you in the loop

70. Simplified interface makes it easier for students to use the blogging platform

71. Set up Skype appointments between students to discuss writing

72. A “random blog” button will transport you around the globe instantly

73. Students can add their own global map to monitor where their readers are coming from

74. Allow students to find like-minded writers that might not be present in your own class or school

75. Twitter-like activity stream helps community members stay in touch

76. Achievements leader board celebrates the most prolific contributors to the community

77. We are unique in our use of a social network to link blogs together, and our open-ended approach to global collaboration

78. We have a long term goal of getting authors involved as community members – imagine getting your writing commented on by a real-life author!

79. This site is a template for other global collaborative projects – we have a sister project for science, and we plan to cultivate others. Your involvement in this site may lead to other global education opportunities.

80. Next time your class is studying a certain country, you may already have the links there through our Writers’ club.

81. We’re big – 600 students already

82. Equality of participation. Once you’re in, you’re in. Start immediately. Your school is on an equal footing, no matter how long they’ve been involved.

83. Slow connection? Our site is low bandwidth friendly

84. Makes global ed a regular part of everyday teaching

85. Administered by teachers with extensive experience in using technology in education

86. Can be used to share audio and video

87. Growing fast : 0 to 17 schools in less than a year

88. No personal details needed: just a first name

89. Give students a genuine purpose for writing

90. Allows students to use social networking the way professionals do

91. Participating in quadblogging ensures your students receive comments regularly

92. Get other ideas for teaching writing from other classes around the world

93. Join with a feeder school and get students connecting with their future schools

94. Engage previously disengaged students in writing

95. Personalize learning for your students by allowing them to choose their participation in the club

96. Give your students the chance to get constructive feedback from numerous sources

97. Easy for teachers to provide feedback from anywhere they have an Internet connection

98. Hard to lose work – blogs autosave and writing can be accessed from any blog

99. The world our students are going   Into is going to require them to work with people around the world – this is a great way to prepare

100. It’s run with a vision to improve learning for students around the world, by teachers with limitless passion