Troy Hicks Books

We need to help students see that writing can be for an audience other than a teacher, and for a purpose beyond getting a grade.

Technology is integral to teaching in the English language arts, whether in-person, hybrid, or remote. In this indispensable guide, Troy Hicks shows how to teach and model "digital diligence"--an alert, intentional stance that helps both teachers and students use technology productively, ethically, and responsibly. Resources and lesson ideas are presented to build adolescents' skills for protecting online privacy, minimizing digital distraction, breaking through “filter bubbles,” fostering civil conversations, evaluating information on the internet, creating meaningful digital writing, and deeply engaging with multimedia texts. Dozens of websites, apps, and other tools are reviewed, with links provided at the companion website; end-of-chapter teaching points and guiding questions facilitate learning and application.

Don't blame technology for poor student grammar; instead, use technology intentionally to reach students and actually improve their writing! In this practical book, bestselling authors Jeremy Hyler and Troy Hicks reveal how digital tools and social media - a natural part of students' lives - can make grammar instruction more authentic, relevant, and effective in today's world. Topics Covered: Teaching students to code switch and differentiate between formal and informal sentence styles Using flipped lessons to teach the parts of speech and help students build their own grammar guides Enlivening vocabulary instruction with student-produced video Helping students master capitalization and punctuation in different digital contexts Each chapter contains examples, screenshots, and instructions to help you implement the ideas. With the strategies in this book, you can empower students to become better writers with the tools they already love and use daily. Additional resources and links are available on the book's companion wiki site: textingtoteaching.wikispaces.com

In this practical book, authors Jeremy Hyler and Troy Hicks show you how to use mobile technologies to engage students and improve literacy instruction.