What Can Be Fixed

I heard the comment the other day, "if it can't be fixed in five minutes, with what's on hand, then don't mention it." I started thinking about students in Reading Workshop and how this might apply to them, and their education.

Seventy-three missed homework assignments this year really doesn't matter as much as having the right attitude and learning today. There is no way to fix all of the hours that a student didn't read at home. There is no way to change an F from the first semester. Although sometimes people expect it, teachers are not magicians.

But, just maybe with a little work, and a discussion of today's assignment, a student can figure out that character development is how a character changes from the beginning to the end of a story. There is no way to "fix" a parent that won't follow through with checking the assignment book each night, but a student can spend some free time making up missed work. It's impossible to immediately make a student read at grade level. However, with a little effort, we could fix mistakes written in response to a passage.

Things I can fix:

1. The climate of today's class

2. A student not understanding the task at hand

3. Mistakes on an assignment

4. Today's lesson and how it's being taught

Things I can't fix include:

1. Last week, last semester, and last year

2. Parents' problems

3. Intercom interruptions

4. The war in Iraq

5. The economy

6. Peas for lunch
7. Floods, blizzards, thunderstorms, and hail
8. Dog bites, cat scratches, and bee stings
9. Broken hearts and she doesn't like me anymore
10. Missed shots, interceptions, and strike outs
11. Broken arms
12. Cavaties
13. Bad hair and bad breath
14. And on, and on, and on . . .

Looking at these lists, I realized I better get busy for the next five minutes and focus on what I can control. What about you, students? What can you fix?
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A Dandi Presentation

Author Dandi Daley Mackall visited Laurelville Elementary on March 18-19. She has written over 400 published books in a variety of genres, including one of her latest, an adolescent realistic fiction, Larger-Than-Life Lara. Dandi spoke to the entire student body at an all-school assembly to kick off her visit. Over the rest of the two day period, she met with classes to discuss writing techniques and her experiences.

Dandi did a writing workshop session with the classes. She went through the process of creating a story. Her advise was to always begin with a character. According to Dandi, "If the reader identifies with and/or cares about the main character, they will care about the story and want to read it." She says you need to know the character so you know how he/she will act in story.

She also told students to be sure to begin their stories with action. Here is an example of a story starter done both the wrong way, and then the right way.

Wrong

Dasia is a sixth grade girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 5' tall. She likes to read and chat with her friends on the computer. Her best friend's name is . . .

Right

The minute Dasia got out of bed this morning, she dreaded going to school.

About the writing process, Dandi said, "I write and I write, and I rewrite and I write, and I rewrite probably at least 12 times."

Amber C., a sixth grade student said, "she tells interesting stories." This makes it easy to see where she gets her ideas for books.

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Why Testing Kills Creativity

No time for blogging. No time for reading. No time for Online Journals. Podcasts would not help test scores. Singing might help fluency, but we need to do more worksheets. If we shot any video, it would just be of students doing worksheets. Drill and practice is the order of the day.

The Reading Workshop is no different than any other class in the United States. As outlined in the previous post, Getting Ready for the Test, daily activities have drastically changed. Other than daily online lessons on Study Island, the computers have been put to rest. Writing activities are limited to responses to passages. The entire focus is on the test. To do otherwise would not be fair to the students, the school, and the district.

Teachers don't have any choice. With the pressure on schools to meet state standards and be rated an "effective" school, the focus is driven to help students score well on the test. Professional development and district meetings all center around testing data, and improving student achievement on tests. This results in drill and practice for students using worksheet after worksheet.

Schools don't have any choice. Beginning with Proficiency Test, and heightened by NCLB, testing is the controlling force in education. A Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll in Ohio reported that 57% of those polled believe tests are not accurate indicators of students' progress and 55% think there is too much emphasis on testing. However, with the School Report Card being used as the main evaluation of a school's success, schools have no choice but to make testing a priority.

An Ohio survey, by the KnowledgeWords Foundation, found that 89% of respondents believe it should be a high priority for Ohio schools to teach "critical thinking and problem solving skills." A one-time, one-shot test does little to foster critical thinking and problem solving, and it stymies creativity. All it does is give a snapshot of students' ability read a passage and correctly answer questions. It also can reflect hour after hour spent on worksheets. Unfortunately this is the only assessment model our government uses to decide if students are getting a good education.

What can you do?

Contact Governor Strickland at the Office of the Governor Contact Page.

Contact members of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Contact members of U.S. House of Representatives.

Contact U.S. Senators.

Students in Reading Workshop have been working hard. They will score well on the Sixth Grade Ohio Achievement Test. Whether or not, teachers agree with the method of assessing students and schools, there is a responsibility for all of us to do our best. Doing so enabled Laurelville to be rated an Excellent School last year. Hopefully students can continue the tradition of excellence and before they know it, they can return to their online journals and blogs, and other engaging reading and writing tasks.

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Getting Ready for "The Test"

Copiers are firing off worksheets and pencil sharpers are grinding away. This time of year, The Reading Workshop, like almost every other classroom in the United States is focusing on preparing for the Achievement Test. Last year, Laurelville students received an excellent rating. This sets a high standard for this year, and students are working hard to prepare for testing beginning the week of April 20.

Some of the activities include:

1. Before school intervention classes with small groups of students are held each morning to assist fifth and sixth grade students with specific skill needs.

2. Peer tutoring on Study Island in areas of specific weaknesses help students address each content area.

3. The sixth grade will have a practice run-through of the Achievement test on Monday, March 23 for reading, and Wednesday, March 25 for math.

4. Students will review scored practice tests and rewrite incomplete or wrong short answer and extended response questions.

5. Students are taking past OAT written response questions and learning the proper format to most-likely answer correctly.

6. The 2006 Seventh Grade Reading Achievement Test is being used to practice on typical, although somewhat harder passages.

7. Group work and cooperative learning activities help students share techniques for comprehension and finding information with peers.

8. Daily class discussions focus on addressing students' needs and sharing ideas that make success more likely.

Students are working hard and learning many skills that will make them better test takers. When the time comes, I am sure their results will reflect the effort they are putting forth each day in class.

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiw/302995395
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Where Does Hard Work Come From?

Some students work sooooooo hard. No matter what the task is in Reading Workshop, they give it their best. Where does the motivation come from?

At eleven years old, a sixth grade student doesn't consciously decide to be motivated and work hard. There must be some inner drive that pushes them to succeed. Even when the task is daunting, some students persevere.

In some cases I am sure students see it modeled at home. Parents that work hard are bound to influence their children. Many parents push their child to succeed in school. However, not all hard working students have this type of support at home.

Some sixth graders may be beginning to think about their future. Ideas of a college education and a successful career may start at this age. Also, watching someone else who is successful, might cause students to emulate behaviors.

Really though, it seems like in most hard working students, the effort they put forth is just part of their being. Something in their make-up pushes them when others would quit. In fact, I wonder if the hard workers even recognize how they are different.

What do you think? Can you explain the motivation to succeed? Is it something a person is born with? Can someone learn to work hard?

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Google Docs Gift to Bloggers

Want an easy way to survey your readers? Thanks to Google Docs, that is an easy task. Embedding a question into a blog post is a simple process, and results will be compiled in a Google Docs spreadsheet that will allow sorting of the data.

The first step is to create a Google Docs account. Once that is completed, and you have signed in, just follow these steps:

1. Click on New

2. Click on Form

3. Choose the type of questions. The types include text, multiple choice, check boxes, choose from a list, and scale 1-n.

4. Edit the form with questions.

5. Embed the form into the html of a blog post.

For an example of how this will look on a blog post, you can check out Where Am ?. This is a sampling of students used in The Reading Workshop.

Thank you to Mr. Todd Tomlinson, Logan Elm technology teacher for the tip!

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfxdave99/1368734060/

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Community Service, One Student's View

Recently in the Reading Workshop, students have been writing persuasive essays. This is a guest post by student author Rachael J.

Kids should be really encouraged to be a part of community service. The reason I believe this is because the University of Michigan says that “it is common knowledge that volunteers get much more out of their service experience than they expect.” Sometimes kids really need to get their hands dirty to see how rewarding community service can be! Community service can really be a better teaching tool than sitting in a classroom. Kids learn more if they actually do something.

Community service has made huge differences in student's motivation and in communities. Researcher Diane Hedin indicates, “the biggest problem students must overcome in school is a lack of motivation” (Hedin 1989) If a student is dreading school because “it's boring”, that can be changed! Get the students involved! Kids like to feel needed! They like to know that they did something that someone would appreciate. “One of the most effective ways is by strengthening students’ relationships with their community and helping them become more personally engaged in their education through national service ( http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.black/homes).

Community service makes students feel good. I know this because I got involved. It was on Make a Difference day and Mrs. Woods asked for volunteers. I did not know what I was going to be doing that day, but I then found out that it was raking leaves for people that could not do it themselves. Now, I have plenty of leaves to rake at home, so I have raked leaves before. Our neighbors get mad if we don’t rake them up because they would blow into their yard. Anyway, it felt really good to do something for others and they really appreciate it. Plus, it cleaned up our community, right here in Laurelville, the town that is not even found on a map.

Little things can make a huge difference. Cleaning up your community might even improve your community's ways of life. If you have a clean and environmentally-friendly community, then the people inside the community can go outside without finding a hobo in their dumpster. What does this have to do with community service and students? Well, as the saying goes, you get back what you give, but you get back even more with volunteering for community service. With just a few hours of your time, you help your community, and in the long run, your community helps you.

A clean community can give back in many ways. Students can help their community in so many ways. They can supply fresh air for us to breath, clean water for us to drink, healthy crops for us to eat, and an awesome community to live in. Seriously, if you want to keep Hocking County beautiful then make a difference and get out there and help your community.

You can read more of Rachael's work on her blog, Notes From Rachael.
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Traits of a Successful Team of Teachers

Students in Reading Workshop recently took a survey, questioning their knowledge of the personality traits of their teachers on the post Who Am I? There were several surprises in the survey and some fairly predictable results.

According to the Laurelville students:

Mrs. Cartee is down to Earth, easy going and builds relationships. She is supportive, soft-hearted and caring, but can be tough when needed.

Mrs. Griffey is full of energy, enthusiasm and drama, while being honest and driven for success.

Mrs. Bower is full of ideas with a never-ending passion for seeing students succeed.

Mrs. Caudill helps students when they don't understand. She has high expectations.

Mrs. Blubaugh is there when students don't get it. They know they can count on her to help them out.

Mrs. Stevenson is a good listener that is honest and practical. Her easy going way helps build trust.

Mrs. Little is trustworthy and doesn't judge people. You can count on her when the going gets tough because she cares.

Mrs. Scott is soft-hearted and supportive, but can be tough when needed. She is a good listener.

Ms. Bowlby has a lot of ideas and a passion for success. She supports her students and believes in them.

Mr. McGuire pushes students to be successful. He has high expectation and says so in an honest, straightforward manner.

I found it interesting that different students had different perceptions of the teachers. Also, what I thought was the correct answer--or description of some of the teachers, was not the opinion of the majority. The descriptions above were based on what the majority of responders answered.
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Get the Picture? Freak the Mighty Does

When you are reading, do you get the picture? If not, why are you reading, or as Chris Tovani says, fake reading? A conversation with a student yesterday in Reading Workshop caused me to think about the point of reading.

Then, as I watched Kevin tutor Max while reading King Arthur in Freak the Mighty a connection shouted out.

As Kevin says, "every word is part of a picture. Every sentence is a picture. All you do is let your imagination connect them together." These interconnected pictures then become the movie that plays in your mind as you read a book. This is the basis of comprehension.

The student I talked to yesterday has spent her whole life fake reading. She chooses books she can't read, or that are so difficult for her that there are no pictures when she reads.

Why? She can read any book she wants. All last year she could choose her own SSR book. Yet she continues to choose books that she doesn't "get." Hopefully someday she will realize that she has a movie ticket, and just needs to turn on the show.

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The 2nd Click is Worse Than the First

What happens when a student in Reading Workshop misses a question on Study Island?  They click on the next choice, of course.



This is how it works:

1.  A student logs on to Study Island and chooses the topic.
2.  He looks at the question and then skims the essay.
3.  He rereads the question and answer choices.
4.  He clicks on the one that sounds right.
5.  He says, "shoot, I missed it."
6.  Then he goes mouse crazy--Click, Click, Click

Somewhere along the way, he gets the right answer.  After all, there are only four choices, so he has to get it right sooner or later.  For some reason, after students miss a question, the rate of answering speeds up. 

WHY???????????

When a student misses an answer, they need to

S    L    O    W        D    O    W    N!

The key to good scores is to missing as few as possible.  When a student misses with their first choice, the odds increase from a 25% chance to a 33% chance of getting the question right.  If a student uses the skill of eliminating nonsensical answers, at the worst he would have a 50/50 shot at answering the question correctly. 

I am not sure why missing an answer causes students to go click crazy and start guessing, but I have seen it happen over and over.   For students that want to be successful on Study Island, missing an answer means it is time for super slow motion.  Reread the essay. Reread the question.  Find the place in the passage the question is focusing.  Eliminate bad answers.  Then you will be ready to get the answer right!
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Who Am I?

You Need to Start Acting Like a First Grader

I just happened to be walking down the first grade hallway when I overheard one of the first grade teachers talking to a little boy. Although the teacher said it in a nice way, the implications were clear. It was time to straighten up. This little boy had better correct his actions or bad time were ahead (see the title).

This caused me to start to think about expectations in Reading Workshop. I had to be out one day last week. The students had an assignment to write a comment to a blog post. Although I usually don't assign commenting to a post, I decided this would be a great opportunity for a writing assignment.

When I started to read the comments, they were horrible. There were mistakes everywhere. Words were misspelled. Capitals were missing on proper nouns and to start sentences. The grammar was like something from a language arts horror film.

Needless to say, when I got back the next day, I was irked. Although I am usually a poster child for happiness and joy, I put on the ugly face. I screamed and shouted, grunted and groaned, and made all kind of mean remarks. I showed examples and made examples of poor work.

Amazingly, that day, I got the best work I have had all year. Words were spelled correctly, Sentences had correct punctuation and capitalization. Students' writing made sense and made the reader think and wonder. The overall quality was excellent.

What does this tell me? Students will work to the level of expectations. If I expect the impossible, and won't accept any less, they will raise the quality of their work all the way to the stars. Get ready kiddos--you proved to me that I need to expect the impossible, and you will come through!

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Study Island and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire

There were two boys in a sixth grade classroom and they never watched the show, Who Wants to Be a Millionare. Every day in Reading Workshop, they got on a computer and did a session on Study Island. This is an online learning program that their school used to help them learn indicators that the state of Ohio's Department of Education deemed important.

Now both boys were hard workers, who did all of their assignments and got pretty good grades. They didn't cause problems in the classroom, treated their classmates with kindness, and seemed to be pretty good students. All of their teachers liked them, and saw them as role models to their peers.

One day, an intervention teacher pulled them out because their reading teacher noticed a weakness in a particular area. These boys obviously were not Millionaire fans, because they hadn't used their lifelines. As the teacher worked with them, she noticed that they kept missing the same types of questions, over and over and over and they never asked for help.

Now, being the smart person that she was, she asked them about it. Neither had ever asked anyone for help. In about 30 seconds, she explained how to correctly answer these types of questions.

If these two boys had watched Millionaire, they would have used their lifelines. They could have started with 50:50 and eliminated half of the answers that didn't make sense. Although the couldn't phone a friend, they could have asked a classmate for help. They also couldn't ask the audience, but they could have asked the teacher.

This story could be a fictitious account of what might happen in a classroom somewhere, sometime. There is a chance that it might have actually happened to students in a school somewhere. The point--if you don't get it, get some help. Ask the teacher, ask a friend, stop and think. Whatever you do, do something. Don't keep missing questions.

If you want to be successful at Study Island, and in life, when things are going wrong, figure out why, get help when you need it, and fix the problem!

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Relay for Life BBall Kickoff

Last year the Circleville Relay for Life raised $39,444.10 for the American Cancer Society. Of that Laurelville Elementary raised $2855.35, McDowell raised $2148.02, and Logan Elm High School's student union raised $524.00. That totals $5527.37, which means that Logan Elm schools were responsible for raising 14% of all of the money collected in 2008. We should all be really proud of that.

To jump start this Mrs. Amy Colburn, McDowell guidance counselor is organizing a collection this Friday at the boys' basketball game. We will have separate containers for each of the six Logan Elm schools, along with one for Bloom Carroll. Help us get a great start to this year's Relay.

You can read about last year's Relay here.

Students and parents, let's see who can collect the most money Friday night. Jump in and support the Relay and show your school support, too.

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Searching Successfully

As we return to persuasive essay projects this week, some students are still attempting to find more information to support their position. All good opinion papers have specific details, fact, and statistics to support their point of view. Finding and organizing the data is often the most challenging part of this writing project. This takes hard work, and some Internet savvy.

At some point during the school year, almost every student has jumped on Google to find information. Because each student has their own PC, they quickly become use to using them as a tool, whether they need to find information, as a dictionary, or thesaurus. However, when searching for specific information, it takes slightly different skills.

One area of focus is the use of key words. Students must try a variety of search terms, and skim through the results to find the most relevant information. Also, when searching for facts about a topic, using words that relate to for or against an issue is imperative.

Examples of words that show support of an issue include:

for, pro, benefit, agree, positive effect, good points, reasons for

Examples of words that demonstrate disagreement with an issue include:

against, con, no, disagree, bad, problems with, negative effects

Just including one of these words usually narrows search results, helping find usable facts and statistics to support an opinion.

In addition, students watched this video on Google basics.

A persuasive essay will only be as good as the research that supports it. To convince the reader that you are right, you have to have the facts to make your point.
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What Makes a Good Teacher #2

In a previous post, I discussed What Makes a Good Teacher. There was an overwhelming response with many interesting comments, and opinions on this blog, and several others. With this in mind, and help from well-thought out suggestions, here is another look at what makes a good teacher.

1. Knowledge of Content
Effective teaching demands that the teacher be knowledgeable in the subject area. The teacher must have a detailed understanding of what it being taught. This includes an understanding of the entire course of study and how concepts should build upon each other throughout the students' education.


2. Mastery of a Variety of Instructional Techniques
No two classes, or two indicators are identical. An effective teacher understands this and differs instruction based on what will assist the most students be the most successful. Key concepts are presented in ways to enable visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners grasp it.

3. Dedicated to the Craft
The best teachers spend their entire career improving their ability to teach. They read and explore the techniques used by others in a never-ending effort to better themselves and their skill. The see teaching as a lifelong journey of continual drive to improve instruction.

4. Effective Classroom Manager
Discipline is not an issue. Students understand class rules and expectations, and adhere to them. When discipline is necessary, it is not vindictive, but just a consequence when a student does not do what is required.

5. Individualized Instruction and Approaches to Students
Every student is different, and at times their needs reflect this. To effectively teach all students, the teacher must understand this. The teaching and interactions with students must reflect the needs of each, with the understanding of each as an individuals.

6. Highest Expectation For the School, Teachers and Students
Only the best is good enough. Quality is expected, and nothing less is acceptable. Passion for excellence is a driving force each and every day. A good teacher makes the school better by being a part of it. He pushes himself to be the best. Failure is not an option for the teacher or the students.

As I stated in the previous post, I would never claim to do all of the things in this list. All I can hope is that I spend each day trying to live up to these ideas. Writing a post like this is the easy part, living up to it is every teacher's challenge.

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Where am I #8?

Ready for another challenge? The winner, if it's a student will get 7 million stones of extra credit. If the winner is not a student, the prize is in the quarry.




Each day I will add another clue or two. Post your answers in the comments.


Vacation spots
aren't always at the beach.
This one is
within one day's reach.


Where am I?
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A Don't Care T-shirt

I didn't notice the shirt when he walked in the room. In fact, I probably wouldn't have ever noticed it if it hadn't been pointed out to me. When I first looked at it, I didn't even know what to say. It was probably bought as a joke, by a parent or family member just trying to be funny. Or maybe they thought it was cute.

Students wear shirts all of the time with sayings on them. Sometimes almost every shirt in the room has something on it--at the least a company logo. Shirts with sayings are so common that no one really pays that much attention to them any more. But what if the saying is a badge that a student wears bragging about failure? What if the motto is one that the student lives?

I don't think I like this T-shirt. I don't like it when a student slacks, and bragging about it irks me. Hard work and a positive attitude mean a lot in this life. Living with passion means even more. You might say I am being irritable and grouchy. You might say I need to lighten up and have a sense of humor.

Well, I say, you should have cared yesterday. You should care today. And I sure hope you care tomorrow. Live life to the fullest. Work hard and play hard. Live with life with a gusto. No matter what you do, go for it.

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Blog Comment Rubric

More and more teachers are using blogs in the classroom. Writing a blog gives students the opportunity to write to an audience. Commenting provides the chance to evaluate the writing and ideas of someone, and then respond. Both types of writing on a blog require stating a thought, idea, or opinion, and then supporting it in a way that will cause the reader to agree or respond.

Blog posts are an abridged version of several types of writing. Some are persuasive essays. Others are informational reports. Many of my favorites are memoirs that share a meaningful event from the writer's day in the classroom. Occasionally a blog post is a letter or note. Often times, blog posts are a combination of several types of writing.

Likewise, comments are condensed versions of all types of writing. This makes them a valuable task for students. If students are going to comment, then their work deserves to be scored. Although commenting is not used frequently as an assignment in Reading Workshop, students will at times respond to a specific post as part of their classwork.

If it is important enough to take time in class, and if a certain standard is expected, students should have something to measure their work. As with most assignments in Reading Workshop, a rubric is used to score comments.

You can see the entire Blog Comment Rubric on the wiki. Here is the standard for an A.

	Blog Comment Rubric
Score	Basis for Scoring
------------------------= 4 or A	Concise (3 -4 paragraphs) with a specific focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the comment. Specific details support information in the comment Has a "So What?", theme, lesson, or specific point that attracts the readers' attention Demonstrates detailed understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct

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Comments That Count

Commenting is a competition. You are vying for the reader's attention. Plus, you want the reader to listen to you over other commenters, and you want to sound better than others. If you care enough to write, then you care enough to want to sound intelligent. You are trying to make others agree with you, and know when you disagree with them. And, you want your writing to make sense, and to share your thoughts and feelings in a way that wins over the reader.

So how do you win this competition and get the readers to read your comment? How do you get your point to be the one that sways the readers?

Here are some tips for being a top commenter:

1. The first sentence MUST grab the reader.

2. The first sentence should give the reader an idea what the comment discusses.

2. Less is more. Comments longer than three paragraphs lose the reader.

3. A positive tone wins over the reader, a negative tone drives readers away.

4. W's (Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How) mean everything. Throwing out a statement without telling why it matters, or how it impacts others, or what significance it has to the reader is worthless.

5. Specific details and examples give your writing credibility.

6. Mistakes, especially in grammar and spelling cause the reader to move on to the next comment. Readers assume if you can't write correctly you are not intelligent enough to be worth reading.

Occasionally someone will say that they only comment because they want to share their point. I DON"T BELIEVE THAT FOR A SECOND. Anyone who takes the time to comment wants their comments to be valued and appreciated. They want readers to be awed or inspired. They want to be seen as smart, with-it and creative.

If you are going to take the time to comment, take the time to do it right. Win the comment contest by writing a fabulous comment that makes readers think, or wonder, or smile, or cry, or agree, or disagree. Write a comment with meaning.

Bloggers love comments. All comments are appreciated. However, nothing beats a comment from someone that is intelligent and makes a great point.
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