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A massive thread with a ton of links to resources/info that'll be helpful to anti-censorship work and what you can do, whether you're a citizen or work in schools/libraries.

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A massive thread with a ton of links to resources/info that'll be helpful to anti-censorship work and what you can do, whether you're a citizen or work in schools/libraries.

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A massive thread with a ton of links to resources/info that'll be helpful to anti-censorship work and what you can do, whether you're a citizen or work in schools/libraries.
— Buttered Jorts (fka kelly jensen) 🐱🐰 (@veronikellymars) July 17, 2022

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A massive thread with a ton of links to resources/info that'll be helpful to anti-censorship work and what you can do, whether you're a citizen or work in schools/libraries.

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A massive thread with a ton of links to resources/info that'll be helpful to anti-censorship work and what you can do, whether you're a citizen or work in schools/libraries.

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A massive thread with a ton of links to resources/info that'll be helpful to anti-censorship work and what you can do, whether you're a citizen or work in schools/libraries.

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SEL template books you can use today - Book Creator app

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Click on an 'Add to your library' button then hit Remix to add the book to your Book Creator library (make sure you're signed into Book Creator first).

Don't have a Book Creator account yet? You can sign up for free.
Create a free account
Want to explore the connections between social-emotional learning and global collaborations? Then check out this special webinar with Empatico, a free tool for educators which connects classrooms around the world.

Discover creative ways to support SEL through fun activity books and lesson ideas and learn how you can get involved in Empatico's new program!

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SEL template books you can use today - Book Creator app

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Social Emotional Learning is one of the main priorities in education right now. We've made these activity book templates to help you focus on student wellbeing.

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I love summertime. It gives me time to relax and learn about new tools for the classroom. This summer I learned about Flipgrid. Flipgrid is this really awesome platform where you create video grids around a question or a topic. It then can be shared with your students, colleagues, PLN, etc. Those people upload video responses. You can then respond to responses and so on. It is GREAT!

So, with all these new tools and platforms, I always want to know how it would work with my kinders. I know that my kids are capable of doing anything they put their mind to, however, there are some technology tools out there that really are not very kinder friendly. This one, Flipgrid, is!

Here are some ways to use Flipgrid in your Kindergarten or elementary classroom!

Book Reviews - Students upload a review of a book they read (you can even create a separate topic for each genre if you would like: non-fiction, poetry, fantasy, etc....that would be good for upper grades!)

Weather Reports - One of our big science standards is to understand weather and how it changes over time. My kids will submit reports on the weather. I hope to collaborate with classrooms across the country or globe to have them submit weather reports as well. My kids could really see how weather is different all over the world!

Culture Reports - One of our big social studies standards if to understand how cultures are the same and how they are different. I hope to have people from my PLN and classrooms around the globe add videos to a Culture Grid. Topics will include food, clothes, traditions, etc. We can then look through videos and learn about many cultures!

Genius Hour Pitches - Use this as a place for your kids to pitch their ideas for genius hour

PBL - Use Flipgrid as a place for students to reflect on PBL

Math Word Problems - I am going to let me my kids be the teachers! They will submit a response where they state a word problem they create. Students can then access the grid and solve their classmates word problems.

Writing Process - Create a grid with a topic for each part of the writing process - have students check in after each step!

Individual Portfolios - Create a topic for each individual student. Let that serve as a digital portfolio for that student. They can share any work on their individual Flipgrid topic that they would like - writing samples, word problems, counting, book responses, etc.

How are you going to use Flipgrid in your classroom?

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Ideas for Flipgrid in a Kindergarten Classroom

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Ideas, lessons, products, crafts, and more for the kindergarten classroom!

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML) is a blog owned and operated by Med Kharbach. Dr. Kharbach holds a PhD in educational studies from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. He was also a K-12 teacher with over 12 years of classroom teaching experience.

I launched ETML in 2010 with the purpose of helping my fellow EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers integrate technology in English language teaching. Fast forward to 2022, ETML became among the top EdTech blogs with over 7000 published blog posts. ETML has been referenced in a wide variety of academic research journals, books, and news outlets including the New York Times, Huffpost.com, Hubspot.com... [continue reading].

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML) is a blog owned and operated by Med Kharbach. Dr. Kharbach holds a PhD in educational studies from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. He was also a K-12 teacher with over 12 years of classroom teaching experience.

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Recording Yourself AND Your Doc Camera Hack for Virtual Lessons /DIY Doc Camera for iPhone & MacBook

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The U.S. Department of Education defines OERS as “teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others.

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Open Author helps you build and publish Open Educational Resources for you and for the benefit of educators and learners everywhere.

Learn more about creating OER

Groups provides a flexible environment to organize, create, share, and discuss resources with others in your network. Collaborate with group members, tag and add resources to shared folders, create your own collections, all within a public or private group.

Groups

Search through collections curated by our digital librarians

Collections

Common Core resources organized for your needs

Common Core

Hubs

A Custom Resource Center

Projects, districts, states, and initiatives make use of Hubs to bring groups of educators together to create, organize, and share OER collections that meet their common goals. Explore Hubs

Microsites

Custom Digital Libraries

Microsites are custom, flexible sites that include all the features available on OER Commons. Microsites allow your users to search resource collections using a custom taxonomy at a unique URL. Contact Us

Our award-winning OER Professional Learning programs support instructors and curriculum specialists to gain the necessary skills required to find, adapt, and evaluate high quality open materials.

In-person and virtual OER workshops help focus instructors to develop a "commons" mindset, to experience the benefits of open processes using the platform's tools, collaborative features, and workflows. This can include using Open Author for creating, remixing, and publishing shared curriculum.

Learn More

How to Search OER Commons

View all How-to videos

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OER Commons is a dynamic digital library and network. Explore open education resources and join our network of educators dedicated to curriculum improvement.

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Oklahoma State School Boards Association

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OKLDR The Oklahoma Library of Digital Resources has served myself and many of the teachers within in our district as an outstanding tool! Providing ideas that include the utilization of technology, links directly to the resources needed, an opportunity for teachers to expand on the ideas, and it's all Oklahoma Standards-based. Our students' response to projects implemented from these resources has been amazing. We see students spending time working to make their work their very best, students who may not have completed a pencil/paper assignment put a great deal of effort and produced unbelievable final projects. We feel we have been able to reach many more of our students using these types of projects. With the OKLDR books, teachers who had lost their excitement for teaching or were hesitant to use technology are implementing technology and again excited about what their students are doing in class and anxious to share student work.

Sarah Peffer, Merritt Public Schools

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Oklahoma State School Boards Association

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OKLDR The Oklahoma Library of Digital Resources has served myself and many of the teachers within in our district as an outstanding tool! Providing ideas that include the utilization of technology, links directly to the resources needed, an opportunity for teachers to expand on the ideas, and it's all Oklahoma Standards-based.

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Share My Lesson | Free Lesson Plans & Teacher Resources

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Created and maintained by the American Federation of Teachers, Share My Lesson is a community of teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, specialized instructional support personnel, higher education faculty, and parents and caregivers who contribute content, collaborate, and stay up to date on the issues that matter to students and educators everywhere.

Sign up to receive our newsletter.

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Share My Lesson | Free Lesson Plans & Teacher Resources

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Share My Lesson is a community of teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, specialized instructional support personnel, higher education faculty, and parents and caregivers who contribute content, collaborate, and stay up to date on the issues that matter to students and educators everywhere.

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Copyright and Fair Use Policy for Teachers

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Copyright and Fair Use Policy for Teachers

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Want to license your work with Creative Commons, but not sure where to start, or which license is right for you? Use our license chooser!

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Creative Commons licenses give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law. From the reuser’s perspective, the presence of a Creative Commons license on a copyrighted work answers the question, What can I do with this work? The CC License…

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Using Social Media to Build a Personal Learning Network

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Personal Learning Network

More and more teachers are taking to Twitter and Facebook to share ideas and strategies with peers throughout the country.

During this time of social distancing, I am reminded of the power of connection. As a teacher, I used to find refuge in hallway discussions or end-of-the-day impromptu conversations where I would recap my day with my colleagues. Huddled in the hallway, we shared classroom strategies, asked for advice, and celebrated successes. These informal gatherings were opportunities for reflection that pushed my practice and pedagogy; they were learning communities that organically occurred.

While we were isolated from our school buildings, I yearned for connection with other professionals digging into the work and turned to online resources to commune with my peers. Teacher communities are a source of support, and even though we're geographically separated, this network can be expanded through virtual platforms.

For me personally, transitioning to remote learning required an entirely new skill set. I found myself filled with uncertainty and self-doubt and floundering-like how I felt as a first-year teacher. I was feeling depleted of energy and hope and looked to teacher communities to lift me up.

As I adjusted to remote work, I was reminded of guidance from my teacher mentor. She shared the "marigold effect" idea with me. It postulates that if you surround yourself with good people who are positive, supportive, and energetic, their vigor will help you flourish. Teacher communities are a place of hope where marigolds can multiply and build off each other's positivity. They're also a place to collaborate and learn from one another.

Teachers are better when they collaborate-in a 2009 survey, 90 percent of teachers agreed that "other teachers contribute to my success in the classroom." Teaching is a challenging profession with many compounding factors outside of our control. We need a positive support system. This usually comes from fellow teachers who understand our shared experiences. When the coronavirus forced our school to close, I turned to virtual communities for this support. Below are some ways you can build teacher communities virtually.

Share Resources via Social Media

Social media is a great way to connect and share resources with other colleagues engaged in distance learning. Consider joining Facebook Groups such as Global Educator Collective, the Trauma Informed Educators Network, or Teachers Helping Teachers. You'll find teachers just like you posting free resources such as worksheets, distance-learning activities, and more. It's like a virtual grade team meeting where you can swap and share ideas.

Another way to connect with other teachers is through Twitter. Try following hashtags such as #QuaranTeaching, #RemoteLearning, #DistanceLearning, or #RemoteEd. You'll find other educators engaging in real-time conversation and sharing stories of what's working well in their own classrooms. It's also a way to find like-minded educators, those who will push your thinking and your marigolds.

Participate in Twitter Education Chats

In addition to following hashtags, another way to connect with educators on Twitter is by participating in #EdChats. #EdChats typically occur the same time and day every week and are a virtual conversation about education. This is one way to form relationships with educators from all regions and learn best practices. Participating in #EdChats has been a helpful way to expand my thinking, stay abreast of what's working, and further develop my own pedagogical approaches with support from other teachers. Plus, I look forward to talking to the same teachers every week. We have built relationships through our online dialogue.

Some things I learned (and borrowed!) from my peers during #EdChats include: hosting "coffee break" hours with families, ideas for virtual celebrations, ways teachers incorporated choice menus for K-3 students, using Flipgrid for SEL activities, and the Pear Deck extension for Google Slides (a lifesaver!).

I also picked up antiracism resources such as an article by Dena Simmons titled, " If we aren't addressing racism, we aren't addressing trauma"; a PDF of things you can say to interrupt racist comments, created by the Oregon Center for Educational Equity; and an amazing thread of diverse book recommendations tweeted by fellow educator Brittany Smith, just to name a few.

One #EdChat inspired me to purchase We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom, by Bettina Love, which I am reading alongside another teacher I connected with in an online chat.

Here are some #EdChats to check out:

Join (or Start) a Community of Practice

A community of practice is a group of people who share a common interest in a topic and learn about that topic from and with each other. You can join a community of practice on any topic-from incorporating tech into your classroom to social and emotional learning.

I participate in a literacy community of practice in which a group of literacy enthusiasts meets monthly to share our ideas, challenges, resources, and research about literacy. Each month a participant shares a problem of practice, and we collaboratively explore it using a protocol. We ask clarifying questions, explore the problem through a curated lens by breaking up into groups to look at research and resources, then come together to share learning and recommendations. It's an opportunity to share, learn, and brainstorm with other educators.

If you're interested in starting a community of practice, check out this consultancy protocol from the School Reform Initiative.

While there's no true replacement for the in-person connection many of us are missing, online teacher communities can be a welcomed addition to our practice during this time of uncertainty. Through these communities, you can build a virtual teacher support system that not only enhances your professional development but also fosters connection with educators across the world. Because we all can use a few marigolds in our gardens.

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Using Social Media to Build a Personal Learning Network

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Personal Learning Network More and more teachers are taking to Twitter and Facebook to share ideas and strategies with peers throughout the country. During this time of social distancing, I am reminded of the power of connection. As a teacher, I used to find refuge in hallway discussions or end-of-the-day impromptu conversations where I would recap my day with my colleagues.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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is a monthly newsletter with a focus on books for readers in grades PreK-5. This handy round-up of book news includes:

The latest reviews and awards

Registration links for Lerner webinars and events

FREE digital galleys/ARCs

Notices about new catalogs, downloadables, and other resources for librarians and educators

Author interviews and behind-the-scenes looks at new books

Giveaways and more!

Also interested in books for readers grades 6-12? Check out our Book Beat newsletter

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Digital Badges in the Classroom (WHAT, WHEN, & HOW)

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Let's talk digital badges with the experts: Cate Tolnai and Jen Gibson!

Digital badges can help us engage students (even remote learners).

Learn what digital badges are, when to use them, and how to implement them in your classroom.

Yes, you can do this in your remote, online, or blended learning environment!

These two creative ladies will help us learn how we can use digital badges in the classroom to engage and motivate our students.
Listen to this article.

Shoutout

Thank you, Lisa Scumpieru, for all of your support of Shake Up Learning and the new Blended Learning with Google book!

Blended Learning with Google Book Study information can be found here.
Learn more here: BlendedLearningwithGoogle.com
Quick Tip

Did you know many of your favorite Google apps have built-in TEMPLATES for things like lesson plans, reports, contact forms, and more? ALL FOR FREE!
Watch this quick video to learn how!
You may happen to notice that the URL for this post looks a little different. The post that originally appeared on this page in 2014 was completely out of date. I needed to find new and fresh information about badges, so I called in some help from my friends, Cate Tolnai and Jen Gibson!
Related: Power Up Your Classroom with Game Play
What Are Digital Badges?

Digital badges (aka micro-credentials) are images that represent an accomplishment or skill achieved by the student or stakeholder. They can be displayed online, and many also have connected data that shows how the badge was earned.

Think digital versions of those patches we used to earn in scouts!

They can range from a simple, digital sticker to something much more complex like passing an assessment or competency.

Cate has a ton of professional learning badges in her email signature! (Show off!)

Badging has grown a lot in popularity for professional learning, higher education, and career and technical education classes (CTE) at the high school level.

But there are so many ways that K12 classrooms can take advantage of digital badges!

Using Digital Badges in the K12 Classroom

Digital badging is at its heart, a student-centered strategy. It's empowering for students of all ages.

By connecting the play environment to the classroom, "the learning bridge," can help students see that failing is part of the learning system. You can have multiple attempts and multiple lives, like in a game.

If we are using technology more, how can we use these to demonstrate mastery of skills and knowledge in our classrooms?

Classroom Badges - Backwards Planning for Authentic Assessment

Start with your content standards! Then deconstruct it into bite-sized pieces-what Cate call's micro-tasks.
STEP 1: Determine your unit of study. STEP 2: Plan the lessons of learning (sub-standards). STEP 3: Identify the measurable objectives (micro-tasks). STEP 4: Assign the task aligned with a master badge or micro badge. STEP 5: Students submit evidence.
The infographic below will walk you through the steps!

Badges are Great for Choice and Differentiation
CLICK HERE to Download Cate's PDF
When we give students more voice and choice in their learning, that flexible learning path to the learning goal, we can easily align the badge with the competency or mastery.

Tools for Creating Badges

Many of the tools you are already using may already have badges or creation tools available.
Tools to design your own badges:
How can you use digital badges to increase engagement with your students?
Badging Systems
About Cate Tolnai & Jen Gibson

Twitter: @BuoyConsultants

Website: BuoyConsultants.com

Podcast: BuoyCast

Cate Tolnai: In her 18th year in education, Cate Tolnai's professional experience spans online and blended professional learning design and implementation, strategic social marketing and communications, K-12 education, and both district and county level administration. As co-founder of BUOY, her deep interest in professional learning and development coupled with her communication skills positions her to successfully partner with a wide variety of teams. Author of Power Up Your Classroom with Game Play.

Cate's website: CateTolnai.com

Jen Gibson: With more than 25 years of experience in education, public policy, edtech, and K12 business development, Jen specializes in strategic thinking and unique approaches to work on behalf of BUOY's clients. Jen is a partner with a passion for learning, combined with innovative strategies that provide growth opportunities, powerfully designed programs, future visioning, diagnostics and analytics that drive success.

© Shake Up Learning 2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kasey Bell and Shake Up Learning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content on ShakeUpLearning.com. See: Copyright Policy.

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Digital Badges in the Classroom (WHAT, WHEN, & HOW)

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Let's talk digital badges with the experts: Cate Tolnai and Jen Gibson! Digital badges can help us engage students (even remote learners). Learn what digital badges are, when to use them, and how to implement them in your classroom. Yes, you can do this in your remote, online, or blended learning environment!

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Zoom Games With Students During Distance Learning

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Distance learning has faced teachers with a whole new set of challenges. How do you keep kids interested and engaged when they're staring at a screen from their home? Zoom games with students were my solution to this.

Games are one of my favorite things! Anytime or anything that lends itself to a game, I'm in! Games increase interest and engagement, plus they're a great opportunity to practice skills and concepts previously learned in class in a fun way.

No-prep Zoom Games With Students

I began my Zoom journey playing simple Zoom games with students. The first virtual learning games I chose were games I knew they would be familiar with from the classroom. These games required little preparation and nothing but my student's presence and maybe a piece of paper and a pencil.

Simon Says

This is one of the easiest games as it is played exactly like the original! The teacher or a designated student will give the directions. If the participants miss the cue "Simon Says" then they can sit down. Continue playing until one player remains.

Bingo

Bingo has several options. You can email the students a bingo board to print or you can have them create a board by drawing a grid on paper before you play. I had my students write the numbers 1-10 in random order in each square and we played Addition Bingo. My TA and I each pulled a number, they added them, and then marked the space on their board.

Number Out

Number Out is played similarly to 4 Corners. Instead of moving to corners, students will hold up a numbered piece of paper. Have students cut or tear a paper and write the number 1-6 on each one. Each round students will choose one number to hold up. The teacher will roll a die and students holding up the number rolled are out. Continue to play until only one player remains!

Guess Who

When playing Guess Who, the grid of students is like your game board. The teacher will think of one student and could even write their name down off-screen. Students will ask yes/no questions to eliminate classmates until they can guess who the teacher selected.

Animal Pictionary/Charades

The selected student will think of an animal. If playing Charades, they will act the animal out for other students to guess. For Pictionary, share your screen with the whiteboard feature. The chosen students will draw the animal for others to guess.

Hangman

Share your screen using the whiteboard feature and play Hangman just like you would on paper. Draw lines for the number of letters in the word. Students will guess letters they think are in the word. If the letter is not in the word a part of a person is drawn. Students race to guess all of the letters and spell the word before they build a person.

Low Prep Zoom Games With Students

Mystery Bag

To play Mystery Bag, prepare a bag with an object hidden inside. Give clues or allow students to ask questions to try and guess what is inside the bag. Students could each prepare their own mystery bag to play too!

Zoomed In

When playing Zoomed In you begin by looking at images that are magnified or zoomed in very close. Collect and save several images prior to your virtual meeting. Before I start my meeting, I also open the images in Preview. I use Preview because it is easy to zoom in and out using the magnifying glass images. When you are ready to play you will share your screen so everyone can see the image. At first, you only see a small portion of the image.

As students guess incorrectly you slowly zoom out allowing them to see more and more of the image. Continue playing until they guess the image correctly.

Premade Zoom Games With Students

Build a House & Food Builder

I wanted to play Hangman with students. I realized quickly that without the word wall or alphabet this was very confusing and difficult for my kindergarten students. To solve this problem I created 2 games, Build a House and Food Builder. Both of these games will work digitally and also in the classroom by projection or on an interactive whiteboard.

During "Build a House" students earn parts of a house for incorrect letter guesses. They are racing to spell sight words before the whole house is built.

During "Food Builder" students build a hamburger, pizza, taco, or sandwich for incorrect letter guesses. They are racing to spell sight words before the food built.

I Spy

I Spy can be played in a variety of ways. For a no-prep version play using the student's backgrounds. If you want to focus students all on the same thing or target certain skills you can share your screen to display a slide of images. Give clues such as "I spy something red." "I spy something that begins with /m/." "I spy something with 3 syllables." as students guess what you or the designated student spied. These " I Spy Games for Home or School" ar programmed for 3 different games focusing on colors, phonics, and more.

Fast Finds

Movement activities and games are the perfect combo! Fast Finds are guided scavenger hunts. They work both in the classroom and virtually through Zoom or Google Meet. Each set of Fast Finds has a different focus. The sets included are for colors, adjectives, phonemic awareness & phonics, alphabet, and shapes. Share your screen, read the clue, and off they go to find an object that meets the rule. Give students a minute and then as they return have them hold up their find in front of the camera for everyone to see.

Hide & Seek

We love to play Hide & Seek in the classroom using a pocket chart. With the move to distance learning, I was looking for a way to continue this game digitally. PowerPoint to the rescue! Digital Hide & Seek can now be played during Zoom. Open the game in Slideshow View, share your screen, and you're ready to play! The object of the game is to find the hidden image. Students read a letter, word, number, or solve a math problem. The teacher then clicks on that card. The card magically disappears to reveal nothing or a hidden image.

What are your favorite games to play virtually?

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Zoom Games With Students During Distance Learning - Rhody Girl Resources

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Zoom Games With Students During Distance Learning shares a variety of games, many familiar from the classroom, that you can play with students virtually.

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***This post contains affiliate links for hand2mind, Walmart, and Creative QT. By purchasing an item on these site using this links, I will receive a small commission.***

My most frequently asked question in emails and blog posts is how to start, schedule, and manage an elementary Makerspace. I've had a Maker area for K-2nd Grade in my classroom for the past five years, and for almost two years, my room has served as a full blown Makerspace for two days per week, serving close to 300 early childhood students. (Our sweet full day Pre-K babies have also recently joined our Makerspace time!) I've learned A LOT about how to organize, manage, and schedule effectively, what to do, and what not to do. I'm also always seeking out new strategies and experimenting with new materials to make our space and time as engaging as possible, which means I'll be updating this post regularly with new materials, tips and tricks. So whether you're a classroom teacher, media specialist, STEM teacher, or specialty teacher, I hope the following suggestions can help you get your Makerspace rocking and rolling!

First thing's first....What is a Makerspace exactly? And more importantly, how can it benefit my students?

If you've been following me for awhile, you know that I'm BIG on purposeful play, hands-on learning, and the engineering design process that accompanies STEM challenges. A Makerspace supports and nurtures all of these philosophies and promotes exactly the type of creativity and growth mindset that are so critical for our students. Whether you choose to structure your Makerspace as more open-ended or more teacher-guided, student choice is key as their multiple intelligences are nurtured and new passions are discovered.

There are FIVE key areas to keep in mind as you envision your Makerspace.
This post has a section for each of these five main areas, so feel free to scroll to the section that best applies to you!
When you consider a space for making, you have to work with any place you might have available. It's what teachers do best, am I right?! Some of you may be blessed with an entire room, while others may have a section of a room, closet, or even a small shelf, cabinet, or cart. Keep in mind that student access is of optimal importance, so it needs to be somewhere where they can easily move in and out. Keep plastic trays near the materials so that students can easily bring creation materials to the floor or other tables in the room.

Here are some examples of some amazing options for Makerspaces from Instagram. Check the captions for some awesome teachers to follow!

Left: @njstinson
Top right: @classin_it_up
Bottom right: @mcgarra

I know that it can be a bit overwhelming to walk into a fully stocked Makerspace that has been up and running for awhile. I often have visitors at my school, and I always make a point to emphasize that it takes a LOT of time and patience to fully equip a full Makerspace. Case in point:

Many of the materials you see above were left over after 10 years of teaching in the general education classroom. Many of them were also scraped out of the back of cabinets and even my home pantry. After LOTS of grant-writing, scavenging, collecting, and utilizing funds from PTA, district, and state, this is what my Makerspace looks like today:

The Maker Shop furniture piece and play table in the center has become our favorite part of our Makerspace! It has interactive panels on the sides, consumable arts and crafts materials on the interior shelves, engineering materials on the lower shelves, and STEM Bins along the top. My amazing husband built it for us last summer, and I'm excited to share that we've recently partnered with an educational furniture company to produce and sell our design. More info to come soon!

Ellie and I created these jumbo Makerspace letters together last year. They are paper mache letters from Hobby Lobby that we painted black, and we hot glued a variety of Makerspace materials to the surface.
The left shelf contains a variety of math manipulatives as well as LEGO, LEGO Baseplates, and Alpha Briks on the top, and the right shelf contains a variety of engineering materials and robotics.

The posters above the shelves are specific to our Makerspace expectations for our school. On the right poster, I add new apps, mini lessons, and project ideas for the students throughout the year.
GRAB FREE POSTERS HERE
The LEGO Wall in the center has baseplates that we hot glued to a piece of plywood, and Andy added a silver frame before we drilled it into the wall. I printed the Maker Mat above it poster sized and switch it out each month with different creation ideas. Some of the items on the right shelf that we love are Snap Circuit Jr., Botley the Robot, Gears, Code and Go Mouse, KEVA Bot Mazes, Sumblox, and Lakeshore Engineering Kits.

This is a view of the right side of our Makerspace. I made the giant "PLAY" letters using building brick clip art from Photoclipz. I enlarged the bricks in PowerPoint, printed on Astrobrights paper, and taped them together to make letters. The small table on the left is our Osmo station. The lap trays on the right are from Target Dollar spot and the "Think Big" tub is filed with cardboard rocket tubes and jumbo pipe cleaners for big engineering. The turquoise cart and and black shelf house STEM materials and projects that are still in progress.

To invent, you need a good imagination, and a pile of junk.
Thomas Edison

There are three main categories of materials that I recommend for a Makerspace:

More specifically, here are suggestions for materials within each category AND where to find them. I HIGHLY recommend Donorschoose if you're interested in writing an easy grant! Check out my list of all my favorites:

That last point - Start small and build over time - is very important to keep in mind! A room full of "stuff" does not guarantee engagement. I have absolutely loved growing our Makerspace right along with my students over the years, and I get just as excited as they do when we have a new robot or engineering material to explore together. We've also learned a lot - through practice and discussion - about being resourceful with consumables and reusing materials whenever possible.

Here are some options for Arts and Crafts materials. Many are consumable, which is why I limit these sections to only ONE grade level per month in order to conserve supplies. During our first year of Makerspace, I figured out very quickly that they would be gone within a week if all grade levels used them. I do allow them to bring their arts and crafts creations home as long as they're not being wasteful with supplies.

Students use our monthly Maker Mats for creation ideas:

The pack above also includes a variety of blueprint options for students to document their creations, as well as a parent supply request letter.

One of my students' favorite creative materials is paper! Best of all, it's readily available and easy to reuse. Here are just a few ideas. The chart shown is from my friend, Ashley's, Makerspace (@teachingwithashley on Instagram).

Engineering is the second "big area" of a Makerspace (and also happens to be my personal favorite!) My STEM Bins are one of the easiest, space-saving ways to get creative engineering materials into your kids' hands. We use them for everything, from early finishers to STEM challenges to Makerspace time. They also include task cards for creation ideas and blackline masters for student recording sheets.

Here are some more of our favorite go-to engineering materials:

Here are a few more engineering areas in our classroom. The magnetic roller coaster and LEGO wall are big favorites! Snap circuits are also perfect for teaching beginning electrical engineering.

Here are some of the technology and robotics options in our Makerspace. I store these on the counter tops underneath my cabinets because we have plenty of outlets on that side. We have 8 iPad minis for my students to share.

We LOVE coding with apps, unplugged coding, and robotics and my students have lots of options to choose from during Makerspace:

Check out the blog post below for information ALL about Robotics!
Also, check out my Bot Basics for simple Robotics challenges to set up in your Makerspace.

Green Screens are an excellent resource for movie-making and student presentations. You can create an inexpensive Green Screen backdrop for the characters using a green plastic table cloth, green fabric, or even an empty pizza box with green construction paper taped inside. The Do Ink app is very kid-friendly and Anita Goodwin on TpT has an AMAZING bundle of themed resources that make Green Screen movies a snap!

We also love creating Stop Motion videos with Stik Bot robots using the Stik Bot Studio app.

Alright, so you've hopefully got a space, and you've gathered some stuff! Now what?! Let's talk about fitting Makerspace into your already very busy schedule. There are three ways that I recommend squeezing it in:

In our Makerspace, each class visits for 45 minutes per week and chooses from a set of activities. In between sessions, I teach new skills, design challenges, apps, and robotics that students can extend and practice during their Makerspace time. Here is our current schedule:

Here are a few other scheduling options you might consider. Perhaps you might keep only one area open per day, or you might rotate small groups and keep one group with you for a specific skill or app. If you have only a small group of students in Makerspace each day, you might have specific choices or materials available to them.

All of the scheduling charts shown above and more are found in my Makerspace Starter Kit. They're also EDITABLE to best suit your needs!

To begin the year with Makerspace, I hold 30 minute orientation sessions with each class that visits. During this time, we review procedures and expectations, go over material options, and discuss key "Dos" and "Don'ts." I use this PowerPoint to guide our discussion. ( Expectations Poster found here.) I will say that now that we're in the SECOND year of Makerspace instead of the first, this process is much easier and our space stays much cleaner than in the beginning. Students view their Makerspace time as a privilege (as they should!) and teachers will hold them accountable for their behavior in order to visit.

Here are a few simple management tips to keep in mind to keep things running smoothly:

Makerspace time can be structured in a variety of ways, from open-ended explorations to simple design challenges to skill workshops. Whenever I receive new materials, here is the structure that I prefer:

Introduce and Explore (student-driven)

Teacher Guided Challenge (teacher-driven)

Makerspace Extension (student-driven)

For example, I might have an exploratory session with Dash robots, then a series of Bot Basics challenges before opening them up during Makerspace. Because the element of student choice is important, all sessions should not be teacher-guided and students should be given ample time to choose activities that cater to their interests and learning styles. This is also an ideal opportunity for kids to collaborate and teach one another new skills.

The case for student-driven learning and purposeful play in Makerspace cannot be overemphasized. Consider the fact that every great idea, new app, or innovative invention started out with someone, somewhere, playing around with a bunch of "stuff!" The element of student ownership in a Makerspace is paramount as they grow in their problem solving and collaborative skills. Here is a simple organizational method to allow that choice within a set of parameters that you, as the teacher, can decide:

The Makerspace choices are outlined by the teacher on the left side of the chart (photo cards are used for the littles.) Student numbers (or names) are randomly drawn out of a baggie and students may put it in the chart next to their first activity. Some activities may have a limited number of spots, for example, I only had 3 Pre-K students at a time with me at the Bee Bot station. They also have an expectation that they must clean up at their current activity before moving to a new one. This system promotes fairness because names /numbers are drawn randomly and the same students don't get the same first choices each time. This also encourages students to branch out and try new activities if there aren't spots left at their first choice.

So...are you ready to start a Makerspace?! I certainly hope the answer is a big, enthusiastic YES and I hope this post makes it a little easier! To save you some time, check out my Makerspace Starter Kit with schedules, challenge cards, posters, and more!

***This post contains affiliate links for hand2mind, Walmart, and Creative QT. By purchasing an item on these site using this links, I will receive a small commission.***

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Interested in learning how to start, schedule, and manage an elementary Makerspace?! Check out these supply suggestions, organization tips, and more.

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Closes the digital divide

Provides MacBook laptops for all secondary students

Infuses elementary schools with additional Apple devices

Promotes 21st-century readiness

Expands educational opportunities

Provides MacBook laptops for every teacher

Enhances project-based learning

Extends learning beyond the classroom

Improves opportunities to innovate and collaborate

Why iTech?

At Norman Public Schools, we know our students are tomorrow's inventors, entrepreneurs and problem-solvers. It is our responsibility to meet their needs in their quest for knowledge and provide a level playing field for all students. To best prepare our students for what's ahead, we must adapt our instructional approach.

Consider this: In the past, students attended school because that's where information was found. Today, technology has made information accessible anytime, anywhere and offers vast educational resources for learners.

That's why we are investing more than $16 million in student-led technology and the infrastructure needed to support it. The iTech initiative will ensure students from all socioeconomic backgrounds have equitable access to the most sophisticated technology we can provide.

The technological tools we implement will supplement curriculum, enhance student engagement and extend learning beyond the classroom. Students will have countless opportunities to demonstrate innovation, creativity and collaboration - key skills needed to thrive in any college or career environment.

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Closes the digital divide Provides MacBook laptops for all secondary students Infuses elementary schools with additional Apple devices Promotes 21st-century readiness Expands educational opportunities Provides MacBook laptops for every teacher Enhances project-based learning Extends learning beyond the classroom Improves opportunities to innovate and collaborate At Norman Public Schools, we know our students are tomorrow's inventors, entrepreneurs and problem-solvers.

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How to Make an Email Signature in Canva with Clickable Social Media Icons - Sandee Solutions

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Branded Email Signature could be fun and beneficial. So, I wanna share with you how you can create one in Canva with Social Media Icons that work.

Keep scrolling to read if you don't want to watch the video tutorial 😉

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How to Make an Email Signature in Canva with Clickable Social Media Icons - Sandee Solutions

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Make your own branded email signature in Canva with clickable social media icons.

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Revised Virtual Elementary Daily Schedule 7-23

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Revised Virtual Elementary Daily Schedule 7-23

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15 Best Time Management Apps and Tools (2023 Updated) - LifeHack

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Undoubtedly, technology has allowed us to connect, perform, improve, and leverage our resources beyond what was once imaginable, and one of the biggest ways is through time management apps. But with so many apps to choose from, how do you know which ones to use?

The best way to identify an app is to look at your current challenges with time management. Do you get distracted too easily and never complete a task? Or perhaps you end the day without achieving much, wondering where all your time went?

We all have challenges when it comes to being more productive. The best time management apps around vary depending on your needs. That's why we've put together a list of 15 of the best time management apps to help you with the most common challenges.

If you're not taking advantage of some of the hundreds of time management tools , you're missing out.

Let's dive straight into the list.

15 Time Management Apps You Need To Try

1. Rize - Use Your Time Wisely

If you don't know what you did all day or feel that you haven't accomplished much at the end of the day, you will be excited to know about . Rize not only tracks your time but also gives you valuable insights to improve your productivity, build better habits and increase your focus. The highlight is that you don't need to constantly input information, this is automatically done for you.

You can see how many hours you have worked, how much of that time is focus time, how much time you spend context switching, and which websites distract you most, among many other features. Tracking and managing your time efficiently has never been easier.

2. Notion - Keep on Top of All Your Tasks

Think of Notion as a single platform with different productivity apps, helping you keep your notes and work in one place. You can collaborate, share documents and notes, and create a central knowledge base for your team, supporting you in all your project management needs.

You can use Notion to replace your to-do lists, project management, note-taking apps, spreadsheets, etc. It saves you time and money and helps you keep on top of your time management and organization.

3. Forest - Boost Motivation to Complete Tasks

is a unique reinvention of time management apps. This unique and fun app helps you stay focused and incorporates the Pomodoro technique, breaking work into chunks with short intervals. The concept is simple: If you stay focused during this time, your virtual tree will grow. If you lose focus, the tree will die. As the app's name implies, you can grow multiple trees to create a virtual forest!

On top of this particular time management tool being really fun, it reinforces the need to focus on the task. Go ahead and build a wonderful and colorful virtual forest to use as proof to you that you can focus!

Pro tip: Staying focused all the time isn't easy, especially when distractions are everywhere these days! Try the Time Flow System and learn how to sharpen your focus!

4. Spark - Finally Reach Inbox 0

Even with hundreds of communication tools available to us, email use continues to grow. Whether your job is based largely on emails or not, managing your email and staying on top of it is key to productivity. You will be shocked to see how much time can be wasted with email by not having structure or automation to support you in staying on top of your game.

According to a survey by Adobe, people spend at least 3.1 hours checking and reading emails at work. Spark has many features, from removing distractions to only notifying you of important emails to snoozing emails. You can also send an email to your Task Manager to add to your to-do's, reply quickly with templates, as well as get reminded to follow up on emails and schedule to reply to certain emails later.

Finally, reach inbox 0 with Spark.

5. Serene - Focus on Tasks at Hand

One of the biggest time wasters is giving in to distractions, multi-tasking, and not completing tasks because of this. Serene takes productivity to the next level in three easy steps and helps you to get more done in your day.
It helps you to:

1. Plan your day - Define your goals and tasks for the day and when you want to do them.

2. Block Distractions - When starting a task, Serene blocks websites, updates your statuses (ie. unavailable on Slack), and eliminates distractions overall.

3. Focus Enhancers - It helps you to stay focused on the task with timers, music, breaks, etc.

It is an all-in-one time management tool you want in your kit.

6. Fathom.Video - Zoom Is Your Minute Taker

Since COVID-19, the Zoom app has been downloaded 485 million times in 2020. Although Zoom has been a huge contribution to productivity, so much time is wasted capturing notes and important information, never mind losing focus on what is being said.

Fathom is an excellent time management tool for meetings and super easy to use. During your meeting, you can highlight important moments, such as decisions, questions, action items, etc. These are sent to you after your meeting with a transcription of the meeting and highlights. This tool syncs your notes to Hubspot, Salesforce, and other CRM platforms accordingly and automatically.

7. MyLifeOrganized (MLO) - Manage Your To-Do Lists Effectively

Excellent time management techniques entail to-do lists and having a system to manage your tasks. However, even with various apps and methods, they can be overwhelming for people. This is where MyLifeOrganized comes in.

This task management software helps you target what you should be focusing on to reach your objectives. MyLifeOrganized is one of the best time management apps for focused work. It automatically generates to-do lists with priority actions for your immediate attention so that you can track your progress methodically.

8. 1Password - Have All Your Passwords Remembered

How much time do you spend looking for login details or having to reset passwords? 1Password is still a must-have time management app as it allows you to keep all your passwords in one encrypted database - protected by one password.

According to research, more than half of Americans have had to reset five passwords each month on average. This saves you time when you forget your passwords and need to retrieve them and also allows you to use various passwords for different accounts so you don't compromise on security.

9. Alarmy - Joyful Alarm Clock

Waking up early to have time for yourself and set yourself up for the day is the ingredient to mastering your day. Alarmy makes it impossible to sleep in or snooze by giving you a few options of challenges to complete before the alarm turns off.

You can play memory games, do math, take photos, squat, and many more. By the time you have completed the challenge, you are already awake, and your mind is active. There are other great features, such as personalizing your sounds and recording how you feel, to gain insights. Get more out of your day with Alarmy.

10. Focus@Will - Boost Your Attention Span

This amazing app combines neuroscience and music to boost your productivity. According to the developers, it's possible to increase your attention span by up to 400% using Focus@Will, making this one of the best time management apps available, which is why it stays on our list.

Focus@Will is ideal for those who find it difficult to focus while studying, working, or reading. It also helps you control your ADD.

11. Alfred - Interact With Your Computer in a Smart Way

Alfred is a small and simple tool that lets you launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes. This is one of the greatest time management techniques as it removes the need for searching through multiple folders to find what you need. The only downside is that it's only available for macOS.

12. Habitica - Gamify Your Habits

Having the right habits can either save you hours of time or waste hours, and how productive you are, depends on your habits. The challenge is that the initial excitement and motivation to develop new habits wears off quickly, and when there is no consistency in building the new habit, it will never replace the old.

This is where Habitica becomes your partner in success. Track your goals, to-dos, and habits. Stay accountable for achieving your goals with features such as rewards, punishments, and streaks. Finally, have fun getting things done!

13. Quire - Unfold Your Ideas

Quire is another excellent and innovative time management app that boosts your team's productivity. The strength of this app is in its features for collaboration and ease of sharing. Through the various time management techniques this app offers, you can streamline and adjust your workflow based on your team's needs and preferences.

14. Doodle - Scheduling Has Never Been Easier

It can be quite frustrating going back and forth spending more time than needed coordinating a day and time that works for everyone to get together. Doodle comes to the rescue here.

Whether you're planning a meeting or a party, Doodle sends everyone options and times and tracks the time that works best for everyone to schedule. It keeps everyone up to date with all current and upcoming events and also syncs with Zoom, Google Meet, Outlook, Microsoft teams, and Zapier for easier collaboration.

15. Dropbox - Store and Send Large Files Easily

Dropbox stays on the list of the top apps that allow you to transfer content from your computer to other devices and access it anywhere. It is free, and it is easier to use than the others.

With the Dropbox app, you can even access and share important files on the go. It is an easy way to share your files and documents with others for improved productivity.

Final Thoughts

The above list covers what we consider to be the very best time management apps and tools available. And the good news is that many of them are completely free of charge! So, what are you waiting for? Select the ones that will be the most valuable to you, and begin boosting your productivity now!

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15 Best Time Management Apps and Tools (2023 Updated) - LifeHack

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With hundreds of apps and tools to choose from, you may not know where to start. Here're 15 best time management apps for productivity.

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How to talk about disability sensitively and avoid ableist tropes

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Disability can be difficult to talk about sensitively because of how embedded ableism is in our language, biases and perceptions of disability.

Conversations about disability are slowly increasing, especially when it comes to ableist language and how disabled people are represented in the media.

Disability advocate Talila A. Lewis' working definition of ableism is a "system that places value on people's bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normalcy, intelligence and excellence."

NPR spoke to Cara Reedy, the director and founder of the Disabled Journalists Association, and Rosemary McDonnell-Horita of LaVant Consulting, a disability-focused communications firm, about common ableist tropes, the importance of avoiding them and how to talk sensitively about disability.

Common tropes to avoid
Avoid inspirational narratives
Inspirational narratives of disability are directly tied to a term called "inspiration porn." Coined by activist Stella Young, inspiration porn is defined as "objectifying disabled people for the benefit of nondisabled people."

McDonnell-Horita said an example of inspiration porn is the viral videos that get spread around prom season of a high school football player asking a girl with Down syndrome to prom. Being asked to prom is something that almost everyone wants, she said. But videos of disabled people getting asked to prom get amplified because society perceives disabled people as pitiable and "unlovable." This is just one example of how inspiration porn degrades, exploits and others disabled people.

"It's really dangerous to have that be the trope because then it really limits and continues to infantilize disabled people and their potential," McDonnell-Horita said. "It's very patronizing, and it only continues to other disabled people, as if they don't deserve to have access to regular life milestones that other young people have."

Another example of inspiration porn is videos of disabled people standing up out of their wheelchair at a wedding. This directly ties into the "overcoming disability" narrative. Reedy points out that these tropes come back to disabilities being seen as a deficiency and that they serve to dehumanize disabled people.

"If the stakes are lower and the assumption is that you can't do anything, that you're not that smart and that you aren't supposed to achieve anything, [then] any time you achieve something, it becomes like a party. But what that does is it erases all of the disabled person's effort, all of the barriers they've had to overcome," Reedy said.

These tropes frame disabled people as being held back by their disability and imply that it's something that they have to overcome. McDonnell-Horita said that her disability identity isn't something she has had to overcome. Instead, she has had to overcome the shame she was taught to feel about herself as a disabled person, ignorant questions that people ask her and the systemic ableism that keeps disabled people out of certain spaces.

"It's not really necessarily my disability that I've had to overcome. It's the negative attitudes and stereotypes that come with being a disabled person. That is more exhausting," said McDonnell-Horita.

Reedy said that most of the time, it isn't a person's disability holding them back, but rather barriers such as inaccessibility and lack of accommodations. Reedy doesn't fault the general public for paying so much attention to these inspirational narratives, because they're constantly being perpetuated by films and TV and in journalism. But storytelling is a powerful tool in changing the narrative.

"If you're still writing stories about inspirational people and disability and not really digging into the barriers, then you're creating - and this is going to sound extreme, but - you're creating violence. You are perpetuating violence among a group of people, which, by the way, is a quarter of the American population," Reedy said.
Disability is not a monolith and shouldn't be treated as such
Within the disability community, there are several subcommunities that have a wide range of experiences and subcultures. Disability isn't a monolith, and it's important to acknowledge that not everyone has the same experiences.

"If you have interviewed and spoken to one disabled person, that's only one perspective in the whole community. So trying to even diversify the voices who are speaking about the disability community, I think, is really important," McDonnell-Horita said.

For example, McDonnell-Horita emphasized how person-first ("a woman with autism") versus identity-first ("an autistic woman") language preferences vary within subcultures and even from person to person. She points out how important it is to ask the person what their preferences are and to not make assumptions if you're ever unsure.

Aside from language preferences, disability identity is a journey that is very individualized. It's important to show the disabled experience from all sides.

For instance, many individuals within the disability community emphasize the harm in writing stories about disabled people that frame them as being pitiable, unhappy or bitter all the time due to their disability. The same is true, however, for stories that center disabled people as being saint-like and positive all the time.

McDonnell-Horita pointed out that as a disabled person, there are days when she is frustrated when her body doesn't cooperate with her. Similarly, she noted that many disabled people are also exhausted from experiencing two pandemics: living under a government and society that doesn't care whether disabled people live or die, as well as constantly fighting against their rights being taken away.

Framing disabled people as being one or other - either happy all the time or bitter all the time - only further perpetuates the idea that the community is a monolith. "It's not always pride," said McDonnell-Horita. "I think that there is this new wave of young people, and newly disabled people because of COVID, who are really trying to embrace all of the sides and the human aspect of being disabled."
The destructive nature of infantilization
McDonnell-Horita defines infantilization as a nondisabled person having more power than a disabled person and using that power against them to invalidate their thoughts, opinions or experiences. This can show up in numerous ways, such as indirectly speaking to a disabled person or assuming that the individual can't advocate or speak for themselves.

Reedy said that infantilization once again goes back to the constant perception that disabled people are less than. For example, Reedy said that as a dwarf, she has experienced situations in which people would raise their voice or speak to her as though she were a baby.

The infantilization in such language is harmful, as it leads to people not being able to make choices in their lives and the assumption that they shouldn't. For example, 1.3 million disabled adults are in conservatorships in the United States, according to the National Council on Disability. Additionally, 31 states plus Washington, D.C., have laws that allow the forced sterilization of disabled people.

"There's language that infantilizes, but there's also actions. The actions are the insidious part that the language is sort of covering for," said Reedy.

Best practices when talking about disability
Center disabled voices
Centering disabled voices is one of the best ways to avoid infantilization. Similar to how disabled people are spoken to indirectly in interpersonal settings because of infantilization, their voices are often excluded from articles and stories about disability issues.

Reedy said she has seen journalists interview the parents of disabled people, or nondisabled people in organizations, over actual disabled people. Nondisabled people have no lived experience of disability and don't understand it the way disabled people do. And often, with parents of disabled people, unless they're disabled themselves, their first encounter with disability is when they have a disabled child. Reedy isn't saying that parents of disabled people shouldn't have input, but that it is infantilizing to step over an entire community of disabled people and go to them first.

"They have no lived experience - they don't understand. And quite frankly, there is no way for you to completely understand how it is to live as a disabled person until you become disabled yourself. Because seeing it is very, very different from living it," Reedy said.
Recognize that disability is a culture and identity, not a problem
Disability is a cultural and social identity and should be recognized as such. But historically, disability has been seen through a medicalized lens.

The medical model is a biomedical perception of disability that supposes that disability may reduce one's quality of life and that aims to correct or diminish it through medical intervention.

"The medical model says that disabled people have to be fixed, or there's inherently something wrong with us, and there should be science and we should all aim to have a cure or live more 'normal,'" said McDonnell-Horita.

While some aspects of the medical model are relevant and important to some disabled people's lives, many critique the medical model as rooted in eugenics and anti-Blackness. It places expectations on what a perfect body looks like and emphasizes it as something that we should all be striving for.

Many disabled people subscribe to the social model of disability, which sees disability as the result of the interaction between people living with disabilities and an environment filled with physical, attitudinal, communication and social barriers. While it doesn't deny the reality that comes with living with a disability or the impact it has on an individual, it emphasizes the need for social change in order to accommodate disabled people.

"The social model says that a disability is not my inherent problem and that something isn't inherently wrong with me as a person. I think it's more of the community aspect and how you can have diversity in your culture, versus the medical [model] of, like, you have to be fixed, you have to blend in with the norm and this is how we're going to do that to fix you," said McDonnell-Horita.

The disability pride movement stemmed from the social model of disability, as it frames disability as a cultural identity and a natural part of human diversity. Disabled people have used pride to affirm the self-worth and agency of disabled individuals and as a tool for combating systemic ableism.
Do research beforehand
Awareness around ableist language has been shifting over the years. Reedy noted that the R-word isn't used as much as it was in the past, but that other words with ableist and eugenic origins, such as "moron" and "idiot," are embedded in our vocabulary and need to be omitted.

"Ableist language is so intertwined with our culture we don't even realize we're using it. Most people understand that if you're working on something, you're going to make mistakes, but you have to start. The refusal to even address it - that is the most harmful thing," said Reedy.

McDonnell-Horita said that unlearning ableism and omitting harmful words that are embedded in our language take practice and commitment; it's important for nondisabled people to be involved in this work. Resources such as the National Center on Disability and Journalism's Disability Language Style Guide and activist Lydia X. Z. Brown's glossary of ableist language are easily accessible online to help people in the learning and unlearning process.

"It takes the weight and the burden off of disabled people to have to do the work every day if we can have more people who understand why the language can be harmful and more people interrupting ableist conversations or even ableist thinking," said McDonnell-Horita.
Recognize intersectionality
Disability crosses every other community and marginalized identity group. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 Black people in the United States has a disability, while 1 in 10 Asian Americans has a disability.

Yet within disability rights spaces, the voices of white men with physical disabilities have been centered and uplifted the most historically. McDonnell-Horita said that this isn't representative of the diverse experiences within the community.

"When we talk about disability, it's important to not just think about those that are visible, but also nonvisible disabilities and those communities who have historically been marginalized and left out," said McDonnell-Horita.

It's important to recognize intersectionality, a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, which is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege.

For example, Reedy said that she experiences the world as a Black dwarf woman and can't separate those identities when speaking about disability. In storytelling, she emphasizes how you can't talk about poverty without discussing how that impacts disabled people, especially communities with high disability rates such as Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ and transgender communities.

"When you're not talking about poverty and race and disability together, you're not telling the story, you're not digging in. Journalism in particular, we're supposed to be holding power to account. But if you're not checking all those boxes and figuring out how to tell all those stories mixed together, I don't know what you're doing," Reedy said.
Additional resources Books Disability Visibility anthology Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally, by Emily Ladau The Pretty One, by Keah Brown Videos Stella Young: "I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much" "War on the Weak: Eugenics in America" "Disability Justice & Access-Centered Pedagogy in the Pandemic" Podcasts The Heumann Perspective "Ed Roberts and the Independent Living Movement," from Stuff You Missed in History Class
The Disabled Standard(produced by former NPR intern Shruti Rajkumar)
Resource guides The Asian Americans With Disabilities Initiative's Resource Guide Disability Masterdoc Hashtags
#DisabilityTooWhite

#DisabilityTwitter

#CripTheVote

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How to talk about disability sensitively and avoid ableist tropes

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When it comes to disability, a lot of ableist language and tropes are perpetuated by the media. Here's what experts have to say about how to talk about disability.

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These are not recommendations as I... - The Autistic Teacher

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These are not recommendations as I... - The Autistic Teacher

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These are not recommendations as I don’t know what any of the apps are like, but it will be interesting to look into some of them
from @neurodivergent_lou

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MagicSchool.ai - AI for teachers - lesson planning and more!

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MagicSchool.ai - AI for teachers - lesson planning and more!

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Virtual Class Meetings for Distance Learning

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Tips and Tricks

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.

In this time of distance learning where we cannot be in our classrooms or with our students physically, I am so thankful for the technology of virtual meetings so we can stay connected to our kiddos.

Leading virtual meetings is probably new for most of us, especially leading virtual meetings with a group of five year olds as our audience! So I reached out to the Kindergarten Connection community on Instagram and compiled all of the amazing ideas you shared about how you use virtual meetings with your students.

Virtual Meeting Ideas for Distance Learning - Where, When, How, Why, What?

There are so many things to think about when trying to plan and lead a virtual meeting, especially with young kids as our audience.

I've heard what you guys do with your kids (thank you so much for sharing all of your ideas with me!) during distance learning, and found that planning a successful virtual meeting starts with asking a few key questions: Where? When? How? Why? And What?

Of course, you may be given specific expectations for your meetings by your principal or district, but for those of us who are on our own, here are some good things to think about!

Where - Which Platform Will You Use?

What platform will you use for your virtual meeting?

Some of us have specific instructions from our district about which platform we should be using, but if you have the freedom to choose your own platform, most of us seem to be using Zoom or Google Meet.

Both platforms are widely used by teachers right now. It seems to come down to personal preference of which program will work better for you and your class.

Make sure you check out the security features for whichever platform you choose to keep your meetings safe from outsiders.

How - Will You Run Your Meeting?

The next big question is how will you run your meeting?Just like being in the classroom, it is important to set expectations and procedures with your students for your virtual classroom.

Do you want them to be able to shout out whenever they have something to say, or do you want your kiddos to raise their hands as they do in the classroom? Should everyone be muted until it is their turn to share, or are you okay with the background noise from multiple households (siblings, and pets, and doorbells... oh my!)? How can your students practice active listening even in a virtual meeting?

Just like we had to teach our students our expectations of their behavior in our classrooms, it makes sense that we now have to teach them how they can be a successful student in our virtual classroom.

Why - Are You Meeting?

The next step is to determine your why. What is the purpose of your meeting? This is super important because this question really drives what your meeting will look like.

Is your main objective connection? OR are you trying to teach a lesson?

Of course, you can do both, but determining what you are trying to accomplish during your time with your students can help you figure out how you want to set up your meeting and what you do with your kids during the time you have.

For example, if I really just want to use this as a time for students to connect with one another, I might be less worried about kids raising their hands and being muted. I may be okay with a kiddo getting out of their seats to go find their hamster during our conversation (this has for sure happened!).

But if I'm really trying to use this time with my students as targeted learning time, I may set expectations that each child should have a paper and a pencil with them, or have a printed activity we are going to do together.

What - Kinds of Activities Can I Do?

But what do you do with your kiddos? Luckily, our Kindergarten Connection community of teachers is AMAZING and has shared all of their fantastic ideas with me (thank you)! Here are some suggestions:
***(You can also download this as a free printable at the bottom of the post to have on hand at any time during distance learning!)

Read a book

Do your normal Morning Meeting: calendar, Pledge of Allegiance, weather, etc.

Sing songs

Have a dance party

Let students share: about their week, things they've been doing, favorite things about learning from home, why they can't wait to get back to school, etc.

Show and Tell: have a theme - academic, pets, favorite toy, siblings, stuffed animal, letter-based, color-based, shape-based, etc.

Scavenger Hunt: random things around the house, or targeted items based on skills you're working on (starts with the letter c, is round, spring, etc.).

Play I Spy: I spy something on someone's screen that is purple, starts with the letter p, etc.

Question of the Day: have a set question of the day and go around to each student to hear their answer (could be academic or social)

Have a themed meeting: crazy hair day, costume day, bring your stuffy day, purple day, pj party, crazy hat, etc.

Do a directed draw

Play a word game: guess that sight word, rhyming words, CVC words

Have virtual snack time!

Play a math game

Do some sorting activities

Do group whiteboard activities: have your students put a blank piece of paper inside of a gallon Ziploc bag to create a make-shift whiteboard!

Review skills: sight words, shapes, colors, odds/evens, skip counting, etc.

Play Would You Rather: here are some question ideas for kids

Play That's Me!: (make a statement "I have a brother." Then kids who the statement applies to shout, "That's Me!"... or raise their hand)

Put on a puppet show

Play BINGO: send blank grid cards to parents and ask them to fill them in with letters, numbers, shapes, etc,

Play a pocket chart game

Mystery Bag!: have a bag with items and give clues so students can guess what items are in the bag

Celebrate birthdays or accomplishments

Breathe!

It is okay to not have it all figured out. It is okay to have kids out of their seats and disappearing from their screens or your personal children join you for your "class." No one expects you to be a master virtual teacher after a couple of weeks!

Remember that your virtual meeting is NOT going to be the sameas being in the classroom and that's okay... so give yourself a break!

Need some distance learning templates? We have some for you to help!

YOU know your kids best. YOU know if they need to simply hear your voice and see your face or if they're ready for an activity. Trust your gut and be the amazing teacher that you are!

Download the FREE Printable List
Want this free list in a digital format? Just click the yellow button below to snag your copy!
Want unlimited access to even MORE of our activities and resources? Join us in the Print and Play Club!
Your planning will be so much easier with instant access to:

Pre-K and TK Scope & Sequence

a PLAYlist of fun songs AND activities

professional development

additional teacher resources...

Be sure to request an invitation so that you don't miss your chance to be part of the best early childhood club around!

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Virtual Class Meetings for Distance Learning

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In this time of distance learning where we cannot be in our classrooms or with our students physically, I am so thankful for the technology of virtual meetings so we can stay connected to our kiddos. Leading virtual meetings is probably new for most of us, especially leading virtual meetings with a group of five...

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML) is a blog owned and operated by Med Kharbach. Dr. Kharbach holds a PhD in educational studies from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. He was also a K-12 teacher with over 12 years of classroom teaching experience.

I launched ETML in 2010 with the purpose of helping my fellow EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers integrate technology in English language teaching. Fast forward to 2022, ETML became among the top EdTech blogs with over 7000 published blog posts. ETML has been referenced in a wide variety of academic research journals, books, and news outlets including the New York Times, Huffpost.com, Hubspot.com... [continue reading].

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML) is a blog owned and operated by Med Kharbach. Dr. Kharbach holds a PhD in educational studies from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. He was also a K-12 teacher with over 12 years of classroom teaching experience.

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30+ creative ways to use Padlet for teachers and students

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30+ creative ways to use Padlet for teachers and students

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I’m always excited when I’m using Padlet. Is it the interface, the way everything is designed, its purpose or the fact that I’m organizing things smoothly? I don’t know. It just makes me happy.

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Book Résumés help teachers, librarians, parents, and community members defend books from censorship. They detail each title's significance and educational value and are easy to share with administrators, book review committees, elected officials, and board members.

Bookmark this page! Thousands of library books face censorship, so new book résumés are added on a regular basis.

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A new free resource to support librarians, educators, parents, students, and other community advocates in their efforts to keep frequently challenged books on shelves.

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STEP 1: SET UP MINECRAFT EDUCATION

Make sure you have the latest version installed. You can check your version and update if necessary with these instructions.

STEP 2: GET THE LESSON PLAN

The lesson page includes standards-based learning objectives, a facilitator guide with answer keys, and a video tour.

Go to lesson

STEP 3: FACILITE AN HOUR OF CODE

In this free course, learn how to facilitate an Hour of Code at your school or home.

Take the course

Step 4: MORE COMPUTER SCIENCE RESOURCES

Explore this starter kit and free CSTA-based curriculum. Discover how to program with block-coding, JavaScript, and Python in the game.

Continue learning

find lessons in other subject areas

Teach coding with Minecraft Explore hundreds of standards-aligned lessons for teaching math, science, ELA, ancient history, space exploration, and more in Minecraft Education.

Find More

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Use basic coding concepts with Minecraft Hour of Code 2020. This Hour of Code lesson is free and allows players to practice social emotional skills.

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Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

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8 Early Education Technology Tools: STEM In Kindergarten

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Technology shouldn't be reserved for older students, especially since younger students can also utilize it to learn. While, in a perfect world, kindergarten students wouldn't have to be so familiar with the technologies that directly enable learning opportunities, these experiences with using EdTech in early education could be valuable to their overall skills development. In fact, it might also help them when trying some additional hands-on STEAM tools, which it's never too early for. There are early education technologies students can use to practice problem solving, engineering, math, and even coding. Whether by engaging children more successfully or actually introducing STEM experiences, the right technology has a place in early education.

Coding in Kindergarten: The Bee-Bot Programmable Robot

Let's start with one of the most well-known and reliable early education STEM tools-the Bee-Bot Robot. Created by the team, this tactile, bee-shaped robot provides young kids with an age-appropriate avenue for exploring screen-free coding in the classroom. It features on-board buttons students can use to create their programs-telling their robots to move forward, right, or left through a specific course or an open area. There are also a bunch of Bee-Bot accessories, including the Bee-Bot Card Mats for structured navigating, teachers can place on the mat to help reinforce CVC words in early learning, online lessons, and the Terrapin Robot Sensor. Finally, with the Bee-Bot Emulator, more experienced students can add a digital element and code online.

Next on our list of the best early EdTech tools is the Root Robot, which is a great (and very unique) device for introducing children to coding. The Root is compatible with iPads, iPhones, and Android devices and it uses touch interactions that help kids learn about coding in a number of different ways. It's one of the best robots for coding in kindergarten, and its iRobot Coding platform, specifically, helps young kids start out with progressive programming. Best of all, their Root not only moves horizontally-but also vertically-and students can use it to try some robot drawing, too. It can scale white boards and kids can create programs to make it climb. Plus, there is a completely virtual option with the iRobot programming environment. It starts off super simple, so it's perfect for young students!

Using the Cubetto Before Kindergarten

Next, is the Robot-a staple of early STEM education. It's a multi-part system with three elements in total: the robot itself, its control board, and directional tiles. It's intended for kids as young as three years old with a sweet spot in Pre-K and kindergarten. Obviously, they don't need to know how to read to code with the Cubetto, but they will start developing logic, pattern recognition, and cause-and-effect skills while using it. Essentially, they place the directional tiles in the slots on the control board to build a program. The robot will then run their program and move left, right, or straight. The best feature, however, is the function section of the control board. When students place function blocks in programs, their robot will perform the sequence from that special section. This gives young kids a great introduction to new elements of coding.

3Doodler Start 3D Printing Pen

Despite it technically being classified as a 3D printing pen, the 3Doodler Start is purposefully designed for early education. It is bulky and easy for younger students to hold. Plus, it features a large, centrally-located button for starting and stopping their 3D prints with ease. Children could use the 3Doodler Start as early as kindergarten and it's even a viable STEAM solution throughout elementary school. Besides practicing 3D printing and design, students can also build critical motor skills and see how simplistic technologies drive invention. Best of all, when it comes to the 3Doodler Start vs. the 3Doodler Create, there's no external parts and it comes with a 10-project activity guide to help students get started.

Finch Robot 2.0 in Kindergarten

When it comes to this robotics solution from BirdBrain Tech, the has evident connections to early education. Children can try programming the Finch 2.0 in six different coding languages. Its two most basic coding languages, however, are perfect for your younger students. Known as FinchBlox and BirdBlox, the BirdBrain team developed them specifically for their robots. FinchBlox, particularly, was new with the Finch 2.0. It's 100 percent icon-based, meaning pre-readers can utilize this language when creating Finch Robot programs before they can even read. If they master this level, they can then move on to BirdBlox, which is block-based. It's still appropriate, however, for kindergarteners, first grades, and second graders.

Yes, Squishy Circuits are pretty much exactly what they sound like! They're also truly fantastic at engaging young students in creative play and STEAM learning. The Squishy Circuits kits come with some conductive dough, but that's also available to purchase separately. Kids can use it to construct simple models through which electricity can travel. Their kits also feature other components, like LED lights and fans, that students can power with the portable battery. Since the dough is conductive, young students can try making various devices and see how electricity travels through circuits and powers their . There truly are so many ways for students to create with the Squishy Circuits components. Plus, all the up-close interactivity helps make it a great tool for use in the early grades.

Marty the Robot V2 in Kindergarten

While the Marty V2 Robot can actually help teachers introduce some more complex coding concepts, it's just as relevant in early education. Thanks to its unplugged mode, students can choose to use their Marty V2 screen-free when they first start out. The robots have built-in color sensors, allowing children to get it to travel from one color to another. While doing this, they should start to mentally connect inputs and outputs. Plus, the Robotical team has created a bunch of unplugged coding activities for using the Marty Robot V2 in these types of settings. Then, once children get a feel for this humanoid robot and its behavior, they can try block coding using MartyBlocks Jr. and, eventually, the Scratch-based MartyBlocks environment.

The Marbotic kits can help Pre-K and kindergarten students learn letters, numbers, counting, and spelling. The various kits come with physical, stamp-like blocks of the digits 0-9, the letters A-Z, or both. With these tactile tiles and a tablet, kids can take part in educational games for preschoolers or those who are slightly older. Like with the Cubetto and Finch robots, children can also begin learning with the Marbotic solutions before kindergarten. As they play, they'll boost familiarity with some of the most important symbols they'll need to recognize-letters and numbers. They must complete challenges that involve sequences, solving math problems, and answering questions by stamping the correct character on the tablet screen.

In addition to these items, students in the early grades can also benefit from using tech tools like the Dash Robot and the KEVA blocks. To learn more about these tools or purchase them with educational discount pricing, be sure you visit our store! And, for more information about all the best technology products to use in the classroom, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

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8 Early Education Technology Tools: STEM In Kindergarten

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Kindergarten is actually a great time to capitalize on curiosity and introduce beneficial tech tools, like the Cubetto and Bee-Bot Robot.

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My kids are in love with The Foos! I have been working on the site this week with Kindergartners and First Graders. Thanks for creating such an engaging way to teach coding!

Aligns to standards in Math, Science, and Computer Science.

Based on curriculum developed at MIT and UCLA.

Completely word-free, perfect for pre-readers.

New content added monthly.

More than "move the robot". Kids apply coding skills to make games.

After 90 minutes of coding with codeSpark Academy

22% showed an increase in accuracy with moderate sequencing tasks

55% showed an increase confidence in problem-solving abilities

Teacher Dashboard

MANAGE YOUR CLASS

codeSpark Academy participates in the annual Hour of Code™ event and is a partner of code.org, CSTA, and CSTA movement. Hour of Code activities are completely FREE, and come with specialized curriculum to help teachers plan their event.

My kids are in love with The Foos! I have been working on the site this week with Kindergartners and First Graders. Thanks for creating such an engaging way to teach coding!

How much is codeSpark Academy?

codeSpark Academy is 100% FREE for verified teachers and librarians of public schools in North America and non-profit organizations.

Is codeSpark Academy free for Homeschool use?

Homeschooling parents will have to pay for a subscription to codeSpark at a discounted rate. Please contact us at info@codespark.com for more information.

Does codeSpark Academy's curriculum align to standards?

Yes - codeSpark Academy aligns to Math, Science, and Computer Science standards.

Is there a limit to how many students or classrooms I can create in the teacher dashboard?

No, you can create unlimited classrooms and students.

I accidently signed up for a Parent account. How can I sign up for the teacher dashboard?

Contact us at info@codespark.com and we'll be able to help transfer your account.

Can my students play at home using their school account?

Unfortunately, no. Teacher accounts are not transferable to at-home use.

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Free access to the award-winning learn to code educational game for early learners: kindergarten - 3rd grade. Used in over 35,000 schools, teachers receive free standards-backed curriculum, specialized Hour of Code curriculum, lesson plans and educator resources.

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An Introduction to Coding Lesson for Kindergarten

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Last week I had a chance to work with Mrs. Racine and her kindergarten class to introduce the concept of coding. To be honest, most of my experience with getting students started with coding has been in grades 2nd-5th. I've dabbled with using a Codeapillar and Beebot to introduce coding to young students; however, this school did not have access to these robots. I wanted to plan a thoughtful lesson that introduced coding in a way for kindergarteners to understand. This post is a reflection of our experience. I had said from the beginning that I was going to write a true reflection of our lesson regardless of how it turned out..so here it is.

Initial Thoughts

I thought about using an unplugged activity for the lesson. Code.org has THIS bank of unplugged (no devices needed) coding activities. When you search Pinterest for unplugged coding activities for kids all sorts of amazing ideas pop up! However, I opted out of the unplugged activity for our first lesson. When I, Mrs. Smith (a.k.a. iPad Lady), visit Mrs. Racine's classroom, the kids reaaaaaally want to use the classroom ipads to create.

Our Resources

First I had to look at the resources available that we had to work with for this lesson. Mrs. Racine has 3 ipads in her classroom and access to iPad carts. She filled out an app request form from their tech department with some apps I recommended at the beginning of the year but it is taking a LONG time to process. I know IT has a lot on their hands to manage but we have been waiting months for these apps to be pushed out. Hence what prompted me to create this meme I posted to Instagram😬😂

Luckily one of the few creation apps they have available on the ipads is Scratch Jr. so I knew that was what we would use for student exploration.

I also scoured my Tech Themed Children's Book List to find a book we could use to kick off the lesson and I decided on using Coding a Sand Castle, a book I had just learned about this past summer. It is available on Amazon in the image below (affiliate):

I did consider Hello Ruby Adventures in Coding but I think it might be a little too long for kindergarteners. How to Code a Sandcastle is a little less wordy but is packed full of coding basics. I knew I needed to start SIMPLE so I planned to read the first twelve pages and stop. I figured if Mrs. Racine and the kids wanted to continue learning more about coding (which was my ultimate goal💜), I could return to read more and kick our lesson up a notch.

Our Lesson

Anticipatory Set: I ended up kicking off the lesson with a little discussion. I asked the following questions and discussion points:

What does it mean to communicate? I was blown away that the kids KNEW what this meant. I had the image to the right printed out to help give them clues and I didn't even need to show it.

How do we communicate with each other?

How does (Student Name) communicate differently? (a child who just moved from China was in this class and knows very little English)

Many people communicate differently because they speak a different language, are hearing impaired, are non-verbal, etc..

Computers have their own language

Coding is how people communicate with computers

Code = how computers talk

Coding is how we can create software and apps to help solve problems

Read Aloud: We then read the first 12 pages of How to Code a Sandcastle. The story is about a girl named Pearl who is spending the last day of her summer vacation at the beach and it's her last chance to build a sandcastle. She has had so many issues with things ruining her sandcastles so she decided to bring her robot, Pascal, to the beach to help her. Pearl talks about how she has to code Pascal by providing special instructions. As the story continues we find out that Pearl needs to first find a place to build and then provide Pascal with very specific instructions so he knows exactly what do to using a SEQUENCE. In the first 12 pages the reader also learns about how a LOOP can help you repeat something when coding. The kids seemed to enjoy the story!

After Reading: Before jumping into Scratch Jr., I wanted to do a whole group activity to show students that there are many different ways we can code a sequence and there isn't always just one right way. Each coder is unique and can come up with different or even multiple solutions. Mrs. Racine projected the emoji grid in Google Slides I created that is pictured below on the board (grab a free copy HERE). If you would rather have a PowerPoint version then click HERE. We asked students to think about how they could move the robot (the only moveable piece in this file) to get to the school (you could choose the school, stadium or bank). I chose to do this grid activity so it would be relatable to the grid that can be turned on in Scratch Jr..

Then we invited a few students to come to the board and point to the boxes (we moved the robot on the computer as they were saying the steps) while explaining the path they would take to get the robot from the lower left hand corner to the school by dodging all of the obstacles along the way. We learned that there are several different paths to get there and there isn't always just ONE right way. We all think differently and that is what makes us unique!

Next we wrote out the steps on the board using arrows and numbers. We talked about how the sequence was very important because our directions could help someone discover a new path that they had never thought of before.

I am so glad we took the time to do this activity. When we introduced Scratch Jr. this emoji grid was a great point of reference.

☝ At this point students had been sitting on the carpet for about 10-12 minutes. Therefore, Mrs. Racine handed out ipads and the students took them to their desk area and returned to the carpet for the next phase of the lesson. Those movement breaks are SO important for kiddos this age!

Modeling Scratch Jr: This was the hardest part of the lesson for me. There are so many awesome features of this app to code characters to do a variety of things but I knew I needed to keep it simple for our first lesson. I also wanted to make sure we were hitting academic standards besides "coding" so we decided to concentrate on sequencing and story elements for this lesson: character, setting, problem, solution. ☝Sidenote: Be sure to visit Tech with Jen's blog for all kinds of ideas on how you can incorporate Scratch Jr. into your literacy block.

We told the students they could pick one scene (background) and one character. The scene needed to have some kind of tangible item their character had to travel to (tree, gift, food...) just like how the robot traveled to the school on the emoji grid. If the scene they selected didn't have an object for them to get to then we showed them how they could select the paintbrush tool to draw something on their scene. It was amazing how all students needed to draw something once this was demonstrated😋

After showing students how to select a background and one character, they headed back to their seats and got to work. We asked them to come back to the carpet once they had their setting and character in place. Those who finished early were our Techsperts and helped others so they could get to the carpet in a timely fashion. Most students were able to do this part with little to no help. Of course there were a few that forgot some of the steps even though the icons were circled on the board.

Next we showed them how to drag their character to an area of their canvas that was far away from what they were going to obtain (the problem: how am I going to get my character to the item?). We showed the coding blocks and explained how in order to communicate with our character, we have to first get its attention by dragging the green flag to be our first coding block. "You have to tell your character to GO!"

Finally we modeled how to use just the blue blocks to code their character to get from Point A to Point B just like we did using the emoji grid. In order to make Scratch Jr. look somewhat like our coding mat we had students "turn on" the grid to help them count "the amount of steps" they would have to enter on the coding blocks. Then it was time to let them go....

Independent Practice: The time finally arrived. Would they be able to do it on their own? I stood back for the first few minutes because I wanted the kids to attempt to try on their own and I wanted to avoid immediately jumping in to help. The room was SO quiet. The first child I happened to kneel down next to was the boy in the picture below. My expression says it all. I was blown away with the path he coded for his character. It was more than a couple of blocks that would get his character to move over and up. Instead he wanted his character to travel in a zig-zag pattern. Y'all, this was his FIRST time using Scratch Jr.. At this point I thought I had nailed the lesson.

Then I glanced over at what the child next to him had programmed and she had a very basic sequence, much like in the Scratch Jr. screenshot above. Her sequence was more of what I was expecting from the students. However, she was just sitting there claiming she was finished. I asked if she wanted to try and code a different, more challenging sequence but she shook her head "no" and said she was happy with her creation. Maybe I shouldn't have use the words "more challenging"?🤷‍♀️

Of course we did have a couple of students who needed a little more hand holding. They had a hard time establishing what number to type in for their blocks, especially when their character wasn't set at (0,0), something I didn't clarify when we were at the carpet. However, this was an excellent opportunity for them to problem solve, practice addition & subtraction and engage in a little trial and error. Wow, we were hitting even more skills than I had planned! I didn't even think about the math involved for this age group. Add number recognition and computation to the list!

My Thoughts

All in all I think this lesson went fairly well especially since we were fighting the clock and had a limited amount of resources. I left feeling like I had accomplished something mostly because the kids were excited and asking to do more. When I do this again I will make sure I raise my expectations. Many of the kids blew through the initial activity and moved on to create different, dynamic paths for their character.

At the end of the lesson Mrs. Racine randomly chose a student to sit on the carpet UNREHEARSED to ask what she thought coding was and what she used to code during the lesson. You can listen to her response in this video:

The little girl immediately knew that coding was how we talk to computers. She then went on to say she used the "Cat App" to code😂

Other Coding Apps for K/1:

Follow me on Pinterest to get more techie ideas:

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An Introduction to Coding Lesson for Kindergarten

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An Introduction to Coding Lesson for Kindergarten

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Narrator AR is an app that inspires kids to learn handwriting. It uses Augmented Reality to launch your child’s handwritten name off the page!

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basic shapes, patterns, counting, following directions

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AR Coloring Pages

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intro to space exploration

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Free Choice Boards templates for Google Slides or PowerPoint - SlidesMania

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Free Choice Boards templates for Google Slides or PowerPoint - SlidesMania

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Editable Digital Choice Boards for Google Drive or PowerPoint. Choice boards are a great way to allow student choice during classroom activities and you can use them for any subject.

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Conversations from the Classroom: How Field Trip Friday Saved my Virtual Teaching

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Field Trip Fridays! Students loved them and so did I! Let me tell you how Field Trip Friday saved my virtual teaching time on Fridays - and the students' time too!

What is Field Trip Friday?

Field Trip Friday was a brainstorm that I had with my Teacher BFF when virtual teaching was put into place. We were one of those Districts that were on Spring Break when the Pandemic broke loose. We literally lost our Break to worry and change. Needless to say, this Instagram post says it all!

Having worked within a one-to-one classroom in the past, we both knew how virtual teaching would overload us with filming lessons, posting lessons, and grading the assignments. We knew that parents would be overloaded, so that meant we would also be fielding a ton of questions. So, how could we lift the load? And that's when it hit! Field Trip Friday!!! Every Friday would be catch-up day wrapped in a "Fun Friday" was around a virtual field trip! That's how Field Trip Friday saved our virtual teaching! A whole day to get it all done by excusing ourselves from being online with students and for students to have fun discovering things we didn't have time for in the classroom!

Where We Went

For Field Trip Friday to save my Virtual Teaching time, I had to get creative! It didn't take long for my Teaching BBF and I to sit down and make a plan. Where can we take these students that would keep them focused and still provide a real learning experience? What did we want them to do to cover curriculum? We devised a plan, based off of Science curriculum. I teach 2nd and she teaches 3rd, but this would work in any grade if matched correctly to what your students' needs are.

When we looked at our Science curriculum, we discovered that our Road Maps from the District aligned us into the same topics - habitats and life science! BINGO! Our plans took off! Here are the Field Trip Friday topics we covered:

The Tundra with a focus on Polar Bears (Grab it Here!)

Rainforests with a focus on Animals of the Rain Forest

Deserts with a focus on Defining a Desert

Mountains with a focus on Mount Kilimanjaro and the 5 Different Ecosystems found there

Oceans with a focus on Coral Reefs and the Ecosystem Problems they Face

Space with a focus on Colonizing Mars

All of these Field Trip Fridays saved my virtual teaching by providing time for me, and my Teaching BFF's, in a nice chunk to grade and do other planning for the week to come!

Split the Work if You Can

I can tell you that if we didn't split the work, Field Trip Friday would not have been as much fun. Try to find a partner, or your whole team, to split the work on these trips. It did take time at the front and at the back-answering discussion questions and grading the folders. But the free time we had on Friday's was well worth the time we invested to have this done. Plus, to be honest, the students totally looked forward to this because it provided a quick experience and gave them time just to catch up on any work they still needed to finish! Win-Win!

How Field Trip Friday will Save my Regular Teaching

No one knows what our schooling will look like in the future. There are a ton of questions about how, where, when, etc. But I know that Field Trip Friday saved my virtual teaching time, so it can save class time too! Here's what I envision for my Friday's.

Read Aloud to pair with Field Trip Friday

Targeted Focus on Integration of our weekly reading topic, including Science and Social Studies

A journal that is to be turned in for scoring

Headphones and social distancing to complete the task

Training through a first time introduction of HOW to do it

Housed in my District's platform so that it keeps students trained on how to use it should we need to go virtual again

I am so excited to venture into this in the school year. The benefits are there - exposure to new place, thinking, and ideas. Integration of technology with learning, rather than game based play. Critical thinking to pick out the key components of the learning. Real application of Science and Social Studies Skills!

As you can see, Field Trip Friday saved my virtual teaching! It can save yours too! I've shared some Tips and Treasures for Field Trip Friday on my blog, so check me out here! Let me know what you think by dropping a comment too!

by Julie from The Best Days Classroom

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how field trip friday saved my virtual teaching

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conversations from the classroom: how field trip friday saved my virtual teaching

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Conversations from the Classroom: How Field Trip Friday Saved my Virtual Teaching

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This blog post will help you discover how you can give your student enriching experiences online and give you time to get things done!

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18 Virtual Zoo Field Trips, Tours, and Zoo Cams

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We love field trips, but sometimes organizing an excursion just can't happen. Fortunately, we live in a time when technology can bring the excitement to us. The pandemic encouraged many zoos and aquariums to put in the effort to bridge the gap for visitors at home. As such, we're able to share this list of 18 fantastic virtual zoo field trips, virtual zoo tours, and zoo cams you can enjoy from anywhere.

Best Virtual Zoo Field Trips, Virtual Zoo Tours, and Zoo Cams

The San Diego Zoo has a "Watch and Learn" section on their website. Here students can check out the fantastic zoo cams including the burrowing owl cam, giraffe cam, elephant cam, and many more!

While the Atlanta Zoo's zoo cam is dedicated to pandas, they offer many videos and activities that feature bird watching, sloths, lemurs, monkeys, and more!

Located in Tucson, Arizona, this zoo features a variety of delightful zoo cams designed to give kids a virtual zoo tour of the elephants, giraffes, grizzly bears, lions, and more.

In a remote area of South Africa, you'll find the Tembe Elephant Park. Renowned for having the largest elephants in the world, these zoo cams offer sights such as sand forests and wetlands, leopards, rhinos, and, of course, elephants.

This extensive cam takes us inside the gorilla forest corridor in the Democratic Republic of Congo while connecting the habitat with the night quarters at the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE).

Take a virtual zoo tour down to Texas and enjoy the live zoo cams set up by the Houston Zoo, allowing you to peer into the lives of giraffes, gorillas, elephants, and flamingos.

Head to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, to witness the annual polar bear migration. Discovery Education has teamed up with Polar Bears International to host a series that explores some of the biggest questions about the Arctic.

Bring your virtual classroom to life with animals from the Oregon Zoo! Videos are aligned to different subject content areas listed on the page. New videos are also posted regularly on the zoo's social media channels. A few times every week, they also go behind the scenes for a live interview with animal-care staff. Each live video is accompanied by a kid-approved activity related to the featured animal.

Let's all go to the zoo with PBS LearningMedia! At Zoo Miami, Penny and the KidVision VPK kids wash rhinos, feed giraffes, study a zebra's stripes, and ride a camel. Lions and tigers and apes, oh my!

The cool wolf-pack cam live-broadcasts the adventures of four ambassador wolves: Denali, Boltz, Axel, and Grayson. The exhibit stretches across 1.25 acres and includes two dens, a filtered pond, and a forested area.

While San Antonio Zoo virtual field trips aren't free (you pay a one-time fee or sign up for a low-cost membership), they're very engaging. Enjoy virtual encounters with okapis, hippos, rhinos, and more!

From a virtual zoo tour and chats with staff to showing what the animals are up to and posting activity ideas from their education and conservation teams, the Dallas Zoo's Bring the Zoo to You web series is perfect for a virtual field trip!

Australia Zoo was the home of the late Steve Irwin, best known as the Crocodile Hunter. His wife, Terri, and children, Bindi and Bob, have continued his legacy. This fantastic YouTube channel offers captivating videos of some of the world's most fascinating animals.

This virtual zoo field trip takes us to the nation's capital. Check out animal zoo cams that share a glimpse into the daily lives of black-footed ferrets, naked mole rats, giant pandas, and more!

This British zoo has been going live on Facebook and YouTube to offer a fun and engaging virtual zoo tour packed full of fantastic facts and adorable animal antics!

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has created virtual zoo tour resources to support children's learning for grades pre-K-12. The site offers online courses, family-friendly science activities, crafts and printables, and fantastic video lessons (in English and en español) to help young learners who are excited about ocean animals.

These wonderful guided virtual tours through Georgia Aquarium's galleries allow you to explore the chilly unknown in Cold Water Quest, be immersed in a world of colors as a tropical diver, and more!

Enjoy a virtual zoo tour to the New England Aquarium and check out the projects and activities available to both educators and families. New zoo cam videos premiere on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Did we miss one of your favorite virtual zoo field trips, virtual zoo tours, or zoo cams? Share it with us, and we might just add them to this list!

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18 Virtual Zoo Field Trips, Tours, and Zoo Cams

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These virtual zoo field trips help kids explore wildlife and get the zoo experience without leaving the house or classroom!

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Did you know that you can take aquarium virtual field trips ... across the globe ... for free? Depending on the site, you may also access supplemental programs and resources designed for students, teachers, and families. Whether you're trying to supplement your lesson plans, or just give kids something interesting to look at, these aquarium virtual tours have a lot to offer.

For a complete field trip experience, head over to Seattle Aquarium's YouTube channel. There, you'll find a Dive Buddy in full scuba gear guiding the learning experience from underwater. It doesn't get more immersive than that! And kids can learn all about the animals and food web found in the Puget Sound waters.

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The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut has put some of their most popular programs online for kids to enjoy from anywhere! With specific content based on grade level-from Kindergarten through 12th Grade-this is a fantastic resource, especially for distance learning. Unlike some of the virtual aquariums on this list, this one requires advance reservations, so be sure to plan ahead!

You'll be absolutely captivated by the Georgia Aquarium which is based in Atlanta. This vibrant virtual aquarium offers a variety of live views including the Indo-Pacific Barrier Reef Webcam, Ocean Voyager Webcam, Jelly Webcam, and more!

You might not live in California, but you can still enjoy much of what the Monterey Bay Aquarium has to offer. There are many views to enjoy including the Open Sea Cam, Monterey Bay Cam, and even a Shark Cam. And, be sure to check out the virtual aquarium's narrated feedings (check the website for details)!

Take a virtual field trip over to the nation's capital for this adventure! Located in Washington, D.C., you can navigate the National Aquarium online through a View Map and explore scenes such as Alligators, Sea Turtles, Channel Islands, American Samoa, and even the Amazon River!

The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago goes above and beyond to give kids a behind-the-scenes look at aquatic life. This YouTube channel is filled with fun lessons in biology (don't miss the beluga sonogram!), environmental facts, and adorable videos. This is a fantastic resource for learning more about animals, their habitats, and our beautiful planet.

Looking for some STEM-based activities to enhance learning (and beat boredom)? The award-winning education team at the South Carolina Aquarium offers virtual visits and nature challenges that are fun for the whole family! Become a digital explorer. Discover all of the complex habitats South Carolina has to offer and the fascinating animals that call it home.

Explore Ripley's Aquariums at home and learn all about the amazing animals of our world waters! Staff educators will guide you through live feedings, educational encounters, storytime, and much more. The site offers downloadable animal activities, crafts, and educational materials for Pre-K, Elementary, and Middle School students.

For more of a structured learning experience, head over to the Aquarium of the Pacific. They've created an Online Academy that offers educational activities through on-demand videos and scheduled interactive live programs with their educators. Plus, their live online courses for K-12 kids and printable certificates is a great way to engage and reward students.

Catch a glimpse of the unique (and luxurious) offerings at the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo. Choose from three different views: The Main Tank, Underwater Zoo, and Shark Week Exhibit. It's not as extensive as some of the other virtual aquariums on this list. But, it's a great way to see something new for a few minutes!

Boston's New England Aquarium has created a virtual portal for sharing live presentations, new videos, and even activities you can try from home! Interested in checking out the daily presentations? The aquarium posts them on their Facebook page every day at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, the OdySea Aquarium has developed several online portals to promote learning. Kids will be fascinated by the Shark Live Cam and sink into the Virtual OdySea Classroom where they can learn more about penguins, jellies, and more!

They say that everything's bigger in Texas, which would explain why this aquarium's virtual tours section is so extensive! You won't grow bored with all of the views they offer. Find a tunnel view of the Caribbean Sea, up-close look at the coral reef in the Gulf of Mexico, and a cam that lets viewers mingle with flamingos!

Don't live in the Chattanooga area? No problem. You can visit the Tennessee Aquarium anytime with their wonderful live cams! Check in on their gentoo and macaroni penguins, witness courtship, nest building, rearing young, and even molting. Watch river otters scampering up and down a multi-tiered landscape. Lastly, venture into the saltwater exhibit, home to thousands of colorful reef fish, toothy sharks, and a rescued green sea turtle!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q9O1YIt3oo

Perfect for winding down at the end of the day, Virtual Aquarium shares the best freshwater and marine aquariums all in one place! Plus, with relaxing sounds of the ocean, waterfalls, and rainforests, you could leave this on as a screensaver on your television for a calming backdrop throughout your day.

Did we miss one of your favorite aquarium virtual field trips? Share them with us, and we might just add it to this list!

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15 Fascinating Aquarium Virtual Field Trips

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Stuck at home? Want to supplement classroom or distance learning? Take aquarium virtual field trips without leaving your couch!

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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U.S. Postal Service Introduces Pen Pal Project

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U.S. Postal Service Introduces Pen Pal Project

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Teachers are Invited To Sign Classrooms Up for Free Letter Writing Kit WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service is working with WeAreTeachers to introduce The USPS Pen Pal Project, a free educational program for students in grades three to five, this 2021-2022 school year.