Last blog of the year. Whew--new year resolution: be better at blogging. I'll seriously try for once a week and really hope for once every other week!
December is a crazy time for us in RWT because we have year-end goals and stats we need to meet., and somehow we are always well above our goals until about Oct, and suddenly we have a lot of catching up and finishing up to do through Nov. I think we fall behind during that time because we start envisioning our work plan for next year and get a little wrapped too up in new projects.
What falls behind, you ask? Well, Lesson Plans for one. We added a load in the first few quarters, but new ones trickled down in Q3, so we had to rush to get the latest ones up in December. We have some going live tonight.
Our latest interactive, too. I had hoped to have K-W-L Creator up and out in Nov at the latest, but alas, it went live just this week! This one was my interactive, design through to posting, so I hope you like it and enjoy it and find it useful. Interesting learning process, and I look forward to putting what I learned to good use next year as we look for new interactives and--dare I say it?--mobile apps!
And some projects, well, we just don't get them out in time! We are so very close to have the new Cube Collection read to post, but we had a few hiccups and glitches and design slow-downs, and we won't make it. Though I am confident enough that I will share it with you, and if you want to take it for a test drive, feel free! And give us some feedback.
So here it is Cube Collection Beta!
As you can see, it is an update on our old Bio-Cube and Mystery Cube with the addition of the Story Cube and the Create-Your-Own Cube, a much-asked-for upgrade now made possible with the Work Saver. This was a fun revision to work on, and I'm excited to see it go live and be used. I think teachers and students are going to love it, and that is the most important part.
So that is a little look at some of the projects I did this year. I would be remiss if I didn't highlight the interactive efforts of my team members: Becky got the stellar Resume Generator out a few months ago, and soon after that, Bridget's Puzzle Me Words game got released.
As a whole, I don't even know how many lessons, strategy guides, printouts, and videos were added--a lot, I know that much!
What's coming for next year? All kinds of fun stuff. We're gearing up for IRA Convention in April/May...but I won't tell you what we have in store yet. Two sessions, I'll tell you that. RWT is sponsoring two sessions and the convention, but we have a plan for something even more fun. But I'll hold off on spilling the beans.
Yeah, I think I'll wait for January to fill you in on what RWT is looking to do in 2012. But needless to say, it's going to be awesome!
Have a Merry Chirstmas, a Happy Holiday, and a Great Winter Break, and I'll be back and blogging (I hope with more regularity!) in 2012.
Wes
This blog is written and maintained by the editors of ReadWriteThink.org. It is a way for us to interact with our users and share our up-coming plans and events with you. We plan on keeping this light and friendly, not just business-like reporting, but engaging and (I hope) amusing discussions.
Showing posts with label Resume generator. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resume generator. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
And We're Back!
Minor computer issues have prevented me from updating this before now.
Last time, I think I mentioned my up-coming 5K run. It went well--better than expected even--and I have since done a second 5K which went even better. I'm thinking there might be a third in my future, some time in November perhaps.
What's going on in the IRA offices?
This week, we did a shoot for the next Convention Insider, due out in November. I dropped in on another coworker to ask who she wanted to celebrate as a educator during IRA's Celebrating Teaching initiative for the 2012 convention.
I was also at the Diamond State Reading Associating (DSRA) conference a few weeks back to promote IRA, ReadWriteThink.org, and Thinkfinity (who sponsors ReadWriteThink through grants). I find it fun to get out to the smaller, local conferences and meet with teachers, our users, to see what they like about the site and what theyw ould like to see.
I was surprised by the number of teachers who said they loved and used ReadWriteThink but that they didn't know some of our interactives had a save capability. Why, yes! Yes, they do!
Acrostic Poems
Letter Generator
Essay Map
Persuasion Map
Compare and Contrast Map
Diamante Poem
Resume Generator
Puzzle Me Words
We're still rolling it out on other interactives as the time goes on.
We are also working on what we want to be working on next year. (Follow that?) So if you have any suggestions for us, let me know!
That's it for now. I'll try to find out something really interesting for new week!
Wes
Last time, I think I mentioned my up-coming 5K run. It went well--better than expected even--and I have since done a second 5K which went even better. I'm thinking there might be a third in my future, some time in November perhaps.
What's going on in the IRA offices?
This week, we did a shoot for the next Convention Insider, due out in November. I dropped in on another coworker to ask who she wanted to celebrate as a educator during IRA's Celebrating Teaching initiative for the 2012 convention.
I was also at the Diamond State Reading Associating (DSRA) conference a few weeks back to promote IRA, ReadWriteThink.org, and Thinkfinity (who sponsors ReadWriteThink through grants). I find it fun to get out to the smaller, local conferences and meet with teachers, our users, to see what they like about the site and what theyw ould like to see.
I was surprised by the number of teachers who said they loved and used ReadWriteThink but that they didn't know some of our interactives had a save capability. Why, yes! Yes, they do!
Acrostic Poems
Letter Generator
Essay Map
Persuasion Map
Compare and Contrast Map
Diamante Poem
Resume Generator
Puzzle Me Words
We're still rolling it out on other interactives as the time goes on.
We are also working on what we want to be working on next year. (Follow that?) So if you have any suggestions for us, let me know!
That's it for now. I'll try to find out something really interesting for new week!
Wes
Thursday, August 11, 2011
My Brain Hurts
"What brain?"
Hahahaha--whatever.
No, seriously, it's been a busy week and while my brain doesn't hurt, I am ready for the week to be over. It wasn't bad busy or anything, don't get me wrong, just lots of stuff piling up.
"Like what?" you asked?
I'll tell you.
I've been helping Becky with the testing of the Resume Generator, but that's just the start. I had a great idea for redesigning a couple ReadWriteThink pages, so I worked up some mock-up examples for discussion...and then got feedback on them, and needed to do some more work.
I also got asked to fill in for a some voice work for the Engage / Teacher to Teacher blog Listen Up! podcast (yup, that's me in the intro!).
There's a bit of work I'm doing for IRA's Annual Convention -- which will be in Chicago April 29 - May 2, 2012. More on that coming in the following months (shhhh! It's a secret!). Fun stuff--good for a laugh, I hope, and informative.
And I'm pulling all kinds of statistics and traffic numbers for ReadWriteThink so that we can analyze usage and make some changes/improvements. So I get to look at charts and graphs and columns of numbers in order to make charts and graphs and columns of numbers that make more sense and show the information we really need.
This is why my brain hurts. But at least my charts are pretty.
I know, not the most interesting blog post, but busy doesn't always equal fun/entertaining.
I hope to have a more interesting blog next week. If not from work stuff, then just something I make up and talk about anyway.
Wes
Hahahaha--whatever.
No, seriously, it's been a busy week and while my brain doesn't hurt, I am ready for the week to be over. It wasn't bad busy or anything, don't get me wrong, just lots of stuff piling up.
"Like what?" you asked?
I'll tell you.
I've been helping Becky with the testing of the Resume Generator, but that's just the start. I had a great idea for redesigning a couple ReadWriteThink pages, so I worked up some mock-up examples for discussion...and then got feedback on them, and needed to do some more work.
I also got asked to fill in for a some voice work for the Engage / Teacher to Teacher blog Listen Up! podcast (yup, that's me in the intro!).
There's a bit of work I'm doing for IRA's Annual Convention -- which will be in Chicago April 29 - May 2, 2012. More on that coming in the following months (shhhh! It's a secret!). Fun stuff--good for a laugh, I hope, and informative.
And I'm pulling all kinds of statistics and traffic numbers for ReadWriteThink so that we can analyze usage and make some changes/improvements. So I get to look at charts and graphs and columns of numbers in order to make charts and graphs and columns of numbers that make more sense and show the information we really need.
This is why my brain hurts. But at least my charts are pretty.
I know, not the most interesting blog post, but busy doesn't always equal fun/entertaining.
I hope to have a more interesting blog next week. If not from work stuff, then just something I make up and talk about anyway.
Wes
Monday, August 1, 2011
Upcoming RWT Goodness: Resume Generator
I meant to post this on Thursday, but I was too busy working on the Resume Generator interactive to actually post about it. And by working on it, I mean testing it. I mentioned a few weeks ago about how I was the lead designer on the K-W-L Chart Creator interactive. Becky is lead designer on the Resume Generator, and she did an excellent job researching current resume practices, finding templates, and creating the tips.
It looks AWESOME!
Of course, looks aren't everything. It also functions extremely well. It's not only intuitive, but it has audio tips throughout to help guide users in creating a stronger resume.
And it does result in a pretty swanky-looking resume when you are all done:
Testing that was my Thursday. As always, there were minor changes that need to be made, some small things we wanted to see a little different, but all-in-all, our programs did an excellent job--which was no surprise. Those guys are great to work with.
We are hoping to have it ready for release in August. We still need to get some more testing done--by you! That's right, we want to have a sort of open beta test for this interactive. If you are interested in trying it out, send me an email or drop a comment on this blog, and I will hook you up with a link to Resume Generator so you can give it a whirl.
More cool stuff still to come from ReadWriteThink. I scooped the K-W-L Chart Creator, and just introduced the Resume Generator, but we've still got a third new interactive rolling out this year--but I'll keep that one under wraps until we get a little closer to finished.
It's pretty exciting, though!
Wes
It looks AWESOME!
Of course, looks aren't everything. It also functions extremely well. It's not only intuitive, but it has audio tips throughout to help guide users in creating a stronger resume.
And it does result in a pretty swanky-looking resume when you are all done:
Testing that was my Thursday. As always, there were minor changes that need to be made, some small things we wanted to see a little different, but all-in-all, our programs did an excellent job--which was no surprise. Those guys are great to work with.
We are hoping to have it ready for release in August. We still need to get some more testing done--by you! That's right, we want to have a sort of open beta test for this interactive. If you are interested in trying it out, send me an email or drop a comment on this blog, and I will hook you up with a link to Resume Generator so you can give it a whirl.
More cool stuff still to come from ReadWriteThink. I scooped the K-W-L Chart Creator, and just introduced the Resume Generator, but we've still got a third new interactive rolling out this year--but I'll keep that one under wraps until we get a little closer to finished.
It's pretty exciting, though!
Wes
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