“I think imagination is at the heart of everything we do. Scientific discoveries couldn’t have happened without imagination. Art, music, and literature couldn’t exist without imagination. And so anything that strengthens imagination … can help us for the rest of our lives.” Lloyd Alexander, Award-winning Author You’ve probably heard “generative AI” a lot these days and might be curious why it’s created such a buzz among some educators. You might also wonder why some educators are encouraging you to get students using generative AI tools. Generative AI is computer technology that creates produc ..read more

“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.” – Napoléon Bonaparte As the school year comes to a close and summer approaches, we need to encourage families to read and learn with their children at home. If our students are actively reading and learning at home, then they increase their knowledge, do better in school, and grow empathy and appreciation for lives lived much differently than their own. In order to help you encourage families to read at home, I am sharing with you reading challenges, reading adventures, and ways for families to receive free books ..read more

“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.” – Napoléon Bonaparte As the school year comes to a close and summer approaches, we need to encourage families to read and learn with their children at home. If our students are actively reading and learning at home, then they increase their knowledge, do better in school, and grow empathy and appreciation for lives lived much differently than their own. In order to help you encourage families to read at home, I am sharing with you reading challenges, reading adventures, and ways for families to receive free books ..read more

This week is Meet the Teacher. I created a slideshow to guide the virtual meet-up with parents and students. I was really touched when my toddler looked at the slideshow and said, “I want to be in that classroom.” That’s exactly what I was going for! Feel free to make a copy of the template and edit as you like. This template was created with ideas and resources shared in an awesome Facebook group I joined, Bitmoji Craze for Educators. The group is super helpful and shares some amazing templates. Discover more ways to design engaging distance learning experiences by taking my new accredited gr ..read more

Like many teachers, I’ve been busy planning for the upcoming school year. I want to make sure that the virtual learning is engaging and effective and all about connections and wellness. Recently, I discovered this fun idea by Emma Pass in her ebook, The Hybrid Teacher, to add a gif in your slides to get students moving. I was so inspired by the idea that I created brain break workout with an astronaut gif. I also have two lesson template examples of how you can use this idea to get your students moving in a fun way! Feel free to copy and edit the templates below as you wish. Discover more ways ..read more

“A key to growing as an educator is to keep company mainly with educators who uplift You, whose presence inspire You and whose dedication drives You.” – Robert John Meehan The school year may have left you exhausted. Now you need to take time for yourself and go on some learning adventures of your own! Below are slides from my recent presentation, tips and resources to help you recharge. The ideas will spark your imagination, ignite your curiosity, and get you pumped up to try new things with your students. Click the headings in the slide presentation below to visit the resources. Discover mor ..read more

“The best teachers are those who pass on their zeal and enthusiasm as a legacy to their students.” – Robert John Meehan Learning doesn’t have to stop just because students are out of school. I have included my recent presentation slides and resources below to help you discover ways to inspire students and their families to experiment, code, make, build, read, and explore during their breaks. Click the headings in the slide presentation below to visit the resources. Discover more ways to design engaging distance learning experiences by taking my new accredited graduate course, Online Learning ..read more

A friend of mine, Kris Felicello recently shared a virtual field trip to Disney World created by a kindergarten teacher, Gabrielle DeLucia. She used her Bitmoji avatar and embedded an audio file to act as a guide. I was really inspired and created my very own Bitmoji virtual school field trip to Disney World with some of our elementary teachers. I believe this is such a fun and engaging way to close out the school year. You can also send your students on a virtual field trip to Disney World with their teachers. It won’t take long at all to set up, because I made a Google Slides template you ca ..read more

Distance learning is a crazy time for many, but we can celebrate the way various companies are offering very cool and engaging tools, resources, and activities for free. Below are some free resources to inspire students to enhance their STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) skills and also for Social and Emotional Learning. Discover more ways to design engaging distance learning experiences by taking my new accredited graduate course, Online Learning: Best Practices to Leverage the Power of Distance Learning.   Free Distance Learning Resources Buncee, the digital canvas c ..read more

Connection is a key factor to student success in an online environment. Do your students feel connected to you, the instructor, the learning material, and their peers? Connection in a physical classroom is facilitated by real-time face-to-face interaction several times a week. Online learning is mostly asynchronous; it rarely takes place in real time and we rarely have the benefits of making connections and relationship building through nonverbal communication and verbal communication. As you approach online teaching think about ways you can create opportunities for students to connect in a ri ..read more