The view from down here. "It all falls on the classroom teacher, it always does" she reminded me. This was my mother. A retired elementary school teacher, who had made it the long haul. In the classroom for her entire career, advocating for kids, mentoring new teachers- reminding me when I express frustration in the system that, I ... read more
Using Google Presentations for What??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrfzFP78w3c ... read more
Using Google Draw
http://youtu.be/xhoud-SoCUg ... read more
Place Value in Second Grade
Here's how we're getting our senses involved as we determine the value of base ten blocks in second grade! Get the cards we use here! Try out this Place Value FREEBIE with your kids today! Happy Tapping! ... read more
Using Screencastify
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Teaching with Online Discussions
I decided early this year that I have a responsibility to improve the quality of online discussions. As a teacher, I often feel responsible to improve the world I live in. Knowing each year, that I will spend so many hours every day with so many impressionable, mold-able citizens of the future- can sometimes feel like a lot of pressure. I ... read more
7 Ways I’ll Work Smarter in my Next 1:1 Classroom
After using a class set of Chromebooks for the whole second semester of the school year in my sixth grade Humanities class, my brain is spinning with all of the "next time I'll..." ideas. Here are a few: 1. Simplify & standardize the creation of students' usernames and passwords. If students are creating an account that is linked to ... read more
Got a Case of Website Amnesia?
I frequent a Sunday night Twitter chat, #edchatri, where amazing educators from all over the US help me approach the coming school week with the right attitude. During these chats, I discover amazing resources shared by fellow educators, who I now consider to be my colleagues, despite the geography that separates us. There are some Sunday ... read more
Let’s Get Blogging, Kids!
Getting my sixth grade students set up with their own individual blogs was a lot getting myself in the water for the first time on a beach day. The worst are the days I never make it into the water- I regret it all the way home! And just like when I finally take the plunge at the beach, once we set up our blogs, I wished I had done it ... read more
The Wait is Over
What a productive week it has been... in terms of my thinking. I feel like I have made incredible progress, even though nothing tangible has happened... yet! I knew before this school year began that I wanted to get my students blogging. I also knew I was in love with the idea of Genius Hour. Here it is, January- and I cannot check either ... read more
