Soooooo... what is everyone up to? Ha! Just kidding! We are all biting our nails wondering what next year is going to look like. No matter how we go back in August, it won't be the same as any other of my 20 years! As a tech coach in my district we have been talking a lot about how we can use tech to take over some of the basic things we do with our kiddos. Just this week I had a conversation where we realized we won't be able to use legos, blocks, playdoh, or even come sit on the rug.... ugh. I decided to try to do something and was looking for some online building tools to integrate int ..read more

Woah! What a start to summer!!! We have watched movies in the backyard outside, seen Toy Story 4, and spent a ton of time in the pool! I so enjoy the slower pace of life and my time with my kiddos that are growing up way too fast! I also appreciate that I have only been on break for 5 days and I have tons more to enjoy!!! As many of you know, I get absolutely jazzed around election time and the upcoming: Presidential election is no exception!!! I wanted to take the time this summer to create some great resources to get your students jazzed and informed about the next election. Today I ..read more

A couple of days ago I posted a picture of my digital planner on Insta and a couple people asked if I could share my template! Of course I can, but I also wanted to give a quick tutorial as well. Not only do I use Google Slides, I use the Bitmoji extension for Chrome, the Noun Project add-on for icons, and the Unsplash add-on for amazing commercial free photos. These are also two add-ons I use in creating my TPT products! Here is a link to my template: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13viLilWLiGAG09AvhXWitcPntDMLy9nIncVhsU9L1JM/copy?usp=sharing Here is a video tutorial on how to use t ..read more

I got a question from a colleague yesterday on the best ways for kids to access books online this summer. Specifically we were looking for free books because we are a Title 1 district and wanted the process to be as easy and as inexpensive as possible for the parents of our community. via GIPHY As usual I went into a DEEP dive. I turned to my favorite Facebook Community, "Teach with Tech" . This community is affiliated with the Teach with Tech Online Conference that I will be presenting in this summer. The conference is entirely online from July 22 - July 24. If you sign up and choose ..read more

Hey all! I wanted to jump on super quick and show you a cool tool. I always feel like I have to write a novel on here and then I posy great ideas on my Instagram but I really need to combine them! I have been dabbling in the world on Escape Rooms and am really enjoying myself! I have made a couple of physical escape rooms and some digital ones and both kids and adults love them. I was teaching the concept in a grad class of current teachers the other day and they all loved the concept but realized it does take a chunk of time to create one. On my quest to make their lives easier, I found th ..read more

If you have followed me for awhile, you know how passionate I am about making an engaging space for my students. I try to amp my creativity up to help spark a passion for learning. I think it is important for us to create in our own classes so we can model the process to kids. Most importantly, I think we need to give our kiddos the time, space, and support to create themselves. When I say create, I mean to create artifacts of their learning. No child ever said to me, "Miss, remember that packet we did last year. That was so fun!". Come on...let's be real. I have heard, many times, "Miss, d ..read more