Today I went from the depths of the ocean to the Moon. I visited the Galapagos Islands, the Colosseum, Antartica, Mars, and Mount Rushmore. I saw Sharks, Pythons, and Polar Bears all from inside the school. Along with students and teachers in grades 2-8, I went on and controlled a number of virtual field trips today thanks to […]
Read & Write is my current favorite extension for Google Chrome. Read & Write describes itself as a tool that will help students build confidence in reading and writing. I am here to validate that claim. Each student has their purple puzzle piece icon at the end of the URL bar. The utility bar pops-up once […]
With second, third, and fourth graders on Chromebooks, I feel like I am all Chrome all the time now. Here are my favorite Chrome Extensions for teachers right now: Read/Write: is so amazing, it deserves its own post later this week. AdBlock Plus: this extensions blocks ads EVERYWHERE on every tab open. Ready to show YouTube […]
I’m BACK! This August I came back to my computer lab looking like this: It’s hard to tell but there are 200 new Lenovo N21 Chromebooks, 40 new iPad Airs, 12 Chromebook Carts, and 4 iPad docking and charging stations. What does all this mean? After two weeks of unpacking, assesst tagging, inventorying, and synching the second, […]
I’ve always wanted a Makerspace; it is what inspired me to look into starting a STEM/STEAM program. The reality is a Makerspace would not get used to its full potential due to scheduling and other things. With 2 weeks left of school I created what I’m calling a “Makeshift Markspace”. I set up a variety […]
We are lighting up our poems in second grade! During Poetry Month in April the second graders spend time using ReadWriteThinks interactive poetry websites. They wrote Acrostics, Diamantes, and Haikus. After learning about these 3 types of poems and others in their classroom students worked in small groups to brainstorm as many sources of light as […]
My favorite part of the school year this year is probably teaching STEM/STEAM. The curriculum concepts, the thinking skills, and the personal skills the students have learned have made STEM days my favorite days of the week. The last few weeks the fourth graders have been learning about basic physics concepts by building roller coasters. […]
I’m loving coding this year. I plan to post about using code.org with the younger students soon but today Tynker put out a tutorial to code a Mother’s Day Card. Tynker Mother’s Day Car Tutorial It is super cute and easy to follow. Students have a choice of three backgrounds to choose from. Then they […]
A few weeks before PARCC PBA I introduced the 4th graders and 4th grade teachers to Pear Deck. It was not only a great way to practice our technology skills for the upcoming online assessments but an excellent pre-test math review. Pear Deck is a simple yet engaging presentation tool. Teachers create a presentation to show their […]
Over the last two years, with the implementation of the Common Core Standards, there is a large push to read more informational text at all grade levels. It has been a struggle for students and teachers alike. I am always happy to find fun and educational books that read aloud to the students, especially the younger […]