Introduction:

The way we teach our children must be updated and up to date to be applicable and effective in this generation. Kindergarten is the stage where educational practices can be innovated and reevaluated. The conventional way of teaching writing has become a problem in capturing the attention of the little ones, who are mostly technologically oriented and whose knowledge of touch screens is more developed than pencil and paper. The concepts I will share in this article come from my Innovation Plan, Learning to Write in Kindergarten through Blended Learning. I will show why blended learning represents a new vision in teaching writing in kindergarten and how this innovative methodology can solve writing problems in our classrooms, evidencing the persistent demotivation and discontent with writing.

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Key Considerations:

Know individual student needs and intended learning objectives. Use digital tools attuned to the closed educational environment and available to all. Incorporate game elements and activities to make learning more attractive for the learner and, simultaneously, more challenging. Highlight how important feedback collection is to develop further.

 

Submission Options:

Edutopia.org: Valuing submit on Edutopia.org, an online educational resource, and publication that shows people how to adopt or adapt best practices through stories of innovation and continuous learning in the real world. It also explores innovative teaching practices, educational technology, and positive educational change.

 

Submission guidelines:

How to propose a post to edutopia.org

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

• A few sentences describing your proposed post and a detailed outline (keep in mind that finished blog posts should be around 850–1,000 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.

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Educational, Technology and Society:  Considerando submit en ET&S ya que se enfoca no solo en la tecnología sino más bien cuestiones relacionadas con el proceso continuo de aprendizaje, enseñanza y evaluación y cómo se ven afectados o mejorados mediante el uso de tecnologías. Además es bienvenida la investigación empírica sobre cómo se puede utilizar la tecnología para superar los problemas existentes en  la educación local con hallazgos que se pueden aplicar al espectro global.​

 

Submission guidelines:

• ETS Submission Manuscript Template

• ET&S publishes articles that report on original research that bridges the pedagogy and practice in advanced technology for evidence-based and meaningful educational application.

• Articles are less than 8,000 words, including a 250-word abstract, 4 to 5 keywords, figure captions, and tables (in table format, not as images), excluding References and Appendices. Placeholders, Endnotes, and footnotes are not accepted.  

• The article should be original, unpublished, and not be considered for publication elsewhere at the time of submission to ET&S and during the review process.

• Please ensure you use the ET&S template available here to prepare your manuscript. Please remove the names and affiliations portion for the review process and only add them back into the manuscript after your manuscript is accepted for publication.

• The submitted manuscript should include sufficient references for educational technology studies, such as ET&S.

• Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript has no language-related problems. The editors strongly recommend that the authors have their manuscripts proofread by someone familiar with English academic prose and APA guidelines. American and British English spelling conventions are acceptable if the usage is consistent.

• Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references and citations, especially the URLs cited within articles or in the references section. Please ensure the references and citations comply with APA format 7th edition.

• The website will display color figures, but printed copies of the journal will be in black and white. 

• The journal will conduct a plagiarism check using iThenticate or Turnitin and will ensure that the similarity index is less than 30%, with each individual reference contributing less than 5% to the index. Furthermore, manuscripts must have a less than 20% AI detection index. These indices are determined from the report generated by the plagiarism system. If the requirement is not met, the manuscript will be returned to the authors, who will inform them of the indices found in the report.

 

EdTech Magazines: Consider submitting to magazines like EdSurge, which focus on educational technology and innovative teaching methods. Además cubre algunos de los temas más importantes de la actualidad con profundidad y matices en la educación infantil y cómo está cambiando la educación para reflejar los cambios demográficos de Estados Unidos; y esfuerzos para hacer que la educación de calidad sea más asequible.

 

Submission guidelines:

How to Pitch Your Story

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There are a few ways to pitch us.

Have an idea to pitch? Please submit a story pitch — ideally two to three paragraphs including a claim or essential question you plan to explore with details about what you plan to include and why your experience can help tell this story. Along with your pitch, let us know what your current role is. You can submit it here or email it to voices@edsurge.com.

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Have a draft already? Please submit your draft to voices@edsurge.com. Aim to keep your essay under 1,200 words, and please include relevant links to sources (in the body) as evidence for your points and any photographs, videos, charts, or graphics that help tell your story. In addition, please include a brief bio, links to your work, and a photo of yourself.

If we’re interested in editing and publishing your story, we’ll email you within one month outlining the next steps. We will assign an editor to work with you if we accept your submission.

Please note that our editors work directly with writers, so we prefer that each writer submit their pitch. If someone else is submitting a pitch on behalf of a writer, they must disclose and explain the relationship.

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What Could Lead Us to Decline Your Piece?

• Lack of fresh perspective or information

• The writer doesn’t have firsthand experience with the topic

• Lack of clarity

• Not enough substance or evidence for the points discussed

• The piece reads like marketing material or a press release for a product, company or service

• The writer has an affiliation with a company, product or service that creates a conflict of interest

• Excessive vitriol or pandering.

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We steer clear of conflicts of interest or subtle bias. That means if you’re receiving any perks or compensation for organizations that you’re writing about or that are related to the subject that you’re describing, and that relationship creates a conflict of interest, your pitch will not be accepted.

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What is the connection to your innovation plan or initiative?

Change, innovation, and technology incorporated into the teaching process are capable of reshaping the learning experience and making learning more attractive and stimulating for kindergarten students. The argument (Why)  that supports my innovation plan is that children reveal their greatest potential when they begin to let themselves be carried away by intrinsic motivation.  However, blended learning marks a turning point and brings into play new flexibility, commitment, personalization and motivation in our students, because it opens the opportunity to enable: a transformative future for educational systems. Compliant with educational applications and interactive digital pedagogies as well as traditional teaching methods, this mode creates not only a dynamic but also a multifaceted learning environment where each student is considered to know more about video games and online videos than about games. Traditional writing with pencil and paper makes it an emergency to accept changes and adapt our way of teaching to the interests and habits of the 21st-century student. Therefore, blended learning is more than “blending.” It is the deliberate integration of face-to-face teaching and digital resources to make writing activities more challenging and engaging. Not only does technology play a key role, but students' cognitive skills must also be developed to carry out the practical implementation of blended learning. 

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How can this information help others?

Helping people find their WHY, sharing their passion, and promoting effort and dedication to their goals will always help. This article is about showing educators and teachers that understanding blended learning means a magnet to attract the attention of today's students, providing dynamic, creative, and effective classes. Nothing is more exciting than seeing little eyes shining and amazement exacerbated when we put a digital screen in their little hands to write, an iPad to learn the sounds and names of letters, or when they are in Kahoot competing knowledge skills with their companions. This proposal as a learner-centered educator helps students feel committed to studying, increasing their participation and intrinsic motivation. It seeks to train well-rounded students who learn to write and develop essential digital skills, better preparing them for the future. It also helps to educate and attract parents' attention to new technological trends by providing indirect training and education in the homes of our students. Another relevant element is that this information helps raise the voice of (school administrators, district, state, and country) having a vision of our classes' teaching and learning needs to develop and implement policies that promote the use of technologies and methods innovators in institutions.

 

Lessons learned or hoped to learn?

An important lesson to understand is that students learn best when motivated. We find this motivation in the use of digital tools through the implementation of blended learning. This makes children advance in their abilities, making learning more effective and preparing us for this increasingly digitized world. In this type of learning, the teacher goes from being an authority of knowledge to a promoter of knowledge, providing personalized support. I hope to learn through your practice how to take on the challenges that arise and the search for practical solutions to overcome them, analyzing the results and the impact it could have on the formation of a student prepared for later educational stages and life in general.

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I am a Kindergarten teacher, and I have been lucky enough to see how powerful words and motivation are in students. Faced with the unexpected news of the death of a kindergarten teacher in October 2022, and after having been without a teacher for more than two months, I arrived at a classroom where sadness, self-distrust, and the absence of routines reigned. , rules, and lack of motivation were the norm. Seeing Dario arrive at the beginning of the school year crying because his shoes were untied, forgetting Wednesday's folder, or not being able to write his name to say, Teacher, have you seen what reading level I'm reading at? E (first-grade level). I saw how they could barely write his name, and then they competed to write a note to the Master.

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I am complicit in the power of the word, inspiration, and the strength of passion, which in my class translates to "Superpower." Identify your superpowers, believe in them, and unleash them. Listen to your inner strength and show how valuable you are. These were some of the reflections I told them, and incredibly, those children transformed that place (the class) into a space we never wanted to leave.

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What digital resources will be included in your article? Briefly describe.

 

• HMH Program: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (HMH) provides educational content and related services for grades K-12 through online learning platforms.

• Seesaw: A learning platform that combines instructional tools, standards-aligned lessons, student portfolios, and inclusive communication features.

• Kahoot and Booklet:  Interactive quiz platforms that engage students in learning through game-based quizzes, making the educational experience more fun and interactive.

• Zoom and Microsoft Team. It provides educational access and continuity to millions of students worldwide. A crucial element that minimizes disruption to learning and ensures that students can continue. 

• My electronic portfolio. It is a great opportunity to share with parents and teachers some controversial topics about the writing process.

• Slideshows. Show the writing processes of an informative text and an investigation.

 

 

Think of your audience, digital presence, and the message you hope to communicate. 

 

The audience will be my closest radius of interaction. Educators, teachers, directors, and staff of the school where I work. As well as kindergarten students, parents, and guardians. Additionally, the district's educational technology department should be involved in seeking to integrate digital tools effectively. I will establish frequent publications on case studies, pedagogical strategies, and references talking about the most controversial topics of blended learning through my Educational Blog in my Portfolio. I will also use social networks like Facebook and Instagram to connect with other educators worldwide. The message I will carry will be to explain why blended learning? My new vision for teaching writing in kindergarten.

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Conclusion:

Adopting blended learning to teach and learn is an open window to the constant innovative upheaval in education. It is our guarantee for our students since it allows us to develop competent skills in them from an early age. It is an engine that drives students' motivation to write and interact with different technologies. A faithful approach guarantees the extension of the school in the students' homes, facilitating access to educational materials at any time and place, which is especially beneficial for parents who want to be involved in their children's educational process. It is the way to transform the role of the teacher in the classroom, turning educational spaces into excellent environments for commitment to learning. In summary, blended learning represents a significant change in the teaching of writing in early childhood education. Its application will depend on the Why? that you find in your training as an educator.

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