Category: Teacher-author
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
A lot of teacher-authors read both Ask a Tech Teacher and my writer’s blog, WordDreams. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month:
National Tell A Story Day
National Tell A Story Day is celebrated every year on April 27th. This day is dedicated to the art of storytelling and encourages people to share their stories and connect with others through the power of narrative. This can involve reading a book, listening to a podcast or audiobook, watching a movie or TV show with a great story, or even just having a conversation with someone and sharing personal stories. (more…)
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
A lot of teacher-authors read both my Ask a Tech Teacher education blog and my writer’s blog, WordDreams. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month:
Casey, my beautiful, beloved Labrador is finally four, out of the Terrible Twos and the Threatening Threes. He’s our fourth lab, and by far our most problematic. Here’s what I mean:
At two, he was diagnosed with elbow dysplasia which is like hip dysplasia but in the arms. That requires ongoing treatment which should be mild until he’s older. Then, we’ll see.
[caption id="attachment_38561" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Elbow dysplasia under control–for the moment[/caption]
At three, he developed broken ACLs in both legs. This required four surgeries, big metal plates in both legs, bone grafts in the left, a special diet, a panoply of medications (to treat that and related symptoms), and a whole lot of personalized help with every part of Casey’s day. (more…)
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
A lot of teacher-authors read both my Ask a Tech Teacher education blog and my writer’s blog, WordDreams. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month:
Last year I posted about National Love Your Pet Day and was quickly reminded I’d set my lens too narrow. Good efriend, Anneli Purchase (and editor of my books), came up with the right name for future posts:
National Animals-of-All-Sorts Day
To celebrate today, here’s my dog, Casey. Feel free to attach links to your beautiful animals-of-all-sorts in the comments so we can visit!
[gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" ids="75128,75130,75125,75131,75126,75127,75129,75132"]
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
A lot of teacher-authors read both my Ask a Tech Teacher education blog and my writer’s blog, WordDreams. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month:
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Storytimes with special guests or themes.
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Craft workshops.
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Scavenger hunts within the library to familiarize children with the layout and resources.
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Book giveaways or special library card sign-ups for children.
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Interactive sessions with authors or illustrators.
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Educational programs about various subjects like science, art, or history.
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It encourages reading for pleasure, which can lead to improved literacy skills.
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It introduces children to the library environment, fostering a lifelong love for learning.
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It provides a community space for families to engage together in activities outside of home or school.
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It exposes kids to technology and other educational tools available at libraries.
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Copyright ©2026 askatechteacher.com – All rights reserved.
Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:
https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm
“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
A lot of teacher-authors read both my Ask a Tech Teacher education blog and my writer’s blog, WordDreams. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month:
January 1st is Public Domain Day! This is an observance of when copyrights expire and works enter into the public domain–free for all to use. According to Public Domain Review, here are some of the newly available artistic works you might like a/o January 1, 2026:
The picture above is interactive on the website. If you click it, you enter Public Domain Review’s website and can then explore each of these new sources of inspiration, free to use.
A few recently released that caught my attention:
Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:
https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm
“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month:
This post is for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writers Support Group (click the link for details on what that means and how to join. You will also find a list of bloggers signed up to the challenge that are worth checking out. The first Wednesday of every month, we all post our thoughts, fears or words of encouragement for fellow writers.
This month’s question — What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, storybible, or creating outlines\beats?
I use AI sparingly, mostly because it pops up in something else I’m doing. For example, I use AutoCrit to review my manuscripts as I finish up. AutoCrit will do an AI summary of the book, the chapter, give story ideas (plot threads that need work or can be carried over into sequels), marketing ideas, and more. I found them useful albeit vanilla. To activate them effectively requires a personal touch and voice only the author can add.
I use Grok to provide ideas on what something I’ve never experienced before looks/feels like. Grok adds lots of sensory detail I didn’t expect and provides sources I can click through to for more.
[gallery type="square" columns="2" size="medium" ids="73753,73754"]I’m looking forward to reading other ideas, see what I’m missing.
For more on what others shared on this topic, click through to Alex Cavanaugh’s website. (more…)
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
A lot of teacher-authors read my writers blog. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month:
There are many unethical practices (much to my dismay), but one caught my attention recently. Wiley, a 217-year-old scientific publisher–arguably the gold standard for scientific researchers and one I’ve submitted to–retracted more than 11,300 compromised articles and closed 19 scientific journal because of fraudulent data and materials. They did this because leaving such false research out in the world as legitimate under cover of the well-respected Wiley name threatened not only their legitimacy but the nearly $30 billion academic publishing industry.
Delving into Wiley’s problem unearthed many causes. One all agreed was a critical culprit was fake scientific papers from so-called “Paper Mills”, companies scientists use to appear reputable. Why is this so important? Money for one, but also a University requirement that their professors “publish or perish”.
When neuropsychologist Bernhard Sabel put his new fake-paper detector to work, he was “shocked” by what it found. After screening some 5000 papers, he estimates up to 34% of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were likely made up or plagiarized; in medicine, the figure was 24%. Science.org 2023
I’m not sure when it happened, but today, the questionable ethics of scientific publications has become “too big to ignore”. In fact, there’s an entire website devoted to tracking this. Check out Retraction Watch if you’re interested or just feeling too positive some day.
In this increasingly politicized world where everything comes down to “he said/she said”, I used to rely on science as my true north. I guess that changed.
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog–Online Images
A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from the past month. I last published on this topic on my ed blog in 2017. A lot has changed since then so it’s time for an update:
When I teach professional development classes, by far the topic that surprises attendees the most is the legal use of online images. And they’re not alone. On my blog, in teacher-author forums, and in the virtual meetings I moderate, there is much confusion about what can be grabbed for free from online sites and what must be cited with a linkback, credit, author’s name, public domain reference, or specific permission from the creator. When I receive guest posts that include pictures, many contributors tell me the photo can be used because they include the linkback.
That’s not always true. In fact, the answer to the question…
“What online images can I use?”
typically starts with…
It depends…
To try to understand this topic in a five-minute blog post or thirty-minute webinar is a prescription for failure. It is too big. Instead, I’ll summarize the top topics and if your interest is piqued, dig deeper.
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from the past month on my writing blog, WordDreams, for the teacher-authors in the group:
My virtual book tour to introduce my latest prehistoric fiction, Badlands, Book 2 of the trilogy, Savage Land, has finally ended. I am thrilled with the wonderful support from so many readers and authors! It was much more complicated than any prior book launch and not without mistakes on my part (some of you know what I’m talking about). But I met lots of new readers and writers and remain convinced that blog hops are a great way to introduce new books.
I launched my first Indie book, To Hunt a Sub, via a blog hop because I didn’t know what else to do. It worked well enough (there’s a learning curve) that I used the same approach for each of my subsequent books.
If you’re thinking of doing the same, take note:
- It requires an active blog (opening a blog for purposes of a blog hop doesn’t work well–I’ve seen it tried)
- It requires aggressive participation in hosts’ posts by interacting with visitors
- It requires that you pay lots of attention to visitors and commenters on your own blog posts leading up to the launch
Why a blog rather than Facebook or an online event? I really have no success with any social media other than blogs. I can’t think of the last time I had a new subscriber to my FB or Twitter account.
- If the goal was to get noticed, it worked. I received awards for the Top New Release in Biographical Fiction and later, in Classic Historical Fiction. Those lasted a few days, each
- I also received over 35 reviews, many attributable to the blog hosts, others to KU exposure. There were some spirit-lifting comments like this one that absolutely made it all worth it:
Jacqui Murray does a masterful job of blending prehistoric history with real life events. The emerging human civilization with its daily challenges of finding food and shelter against a wild and unpredictable environment is amazing. … A fantastic thriller. –Grace Blair (more…)
Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog
A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share the most popular post from the past month:
What Should You Know About Interactive Storytelling?
Here’s what I cover:
- What is it?
- How can writers use it?
- Advantages
- Disadvantages
What is interactive storytelling
Interactive storytelling is a growing trend that allows readers to actively participate in shaping the narrative. With advancements in augmented and virtual reality, stories are no longer confined to the pages of a book. Authors can provide immersive experiences and create narratives that respond to reader choices.
Interactive storytelling allows the audience to actively shape the story rather than passively consume it. Unlike traditional storytelling with a fixed plot, interactive stories let users influence the direction, outcomes, and details through their choices and input. It blends creativity with technology, making each telling unique. 81% of marketers agree interactive content grabs attention more effectively and 66% admit it increases audience engagement. I can attest to this popularity. As a teacher, I occasionally asked students to choose from among several story endings or create their own. A good example is Mission USA, a website that uses interactive storytelling to teach historic events such as the American Revolution, Civil Rights, the Great Depression, and more:
Students click into one of the stories and are asked to make decisions similar to those made during that time period and then experience the consequences of their choices–whether the Loyalists or Tories won, how a family survived (or didn’t) the Great Depression, or something else. Here’s a video to explain it:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb_te-MmM04?si=v9ZG8x8n6TjCGMgk]
Another example many will remember is Oregon Trail where participants were expected to stock their Conestoga wagon to head to the Oregon territories (or California). Along the way, they made decisions such as whether to purchase mules vs. oxen, how to ford a river, how to cure diseases and injuries, and more. Their selections ultimately determined if they survived.
