So it's my last day of Spring break and I am...take a guess.  Sitting on a beach? Camping? Kayaking? Reading? Having lunch with a friend? 
Nope.  None of the above.
I am playing with a Stop Motion video maker and thinking of the classroom applications.  
​I know...I'm stupid.  

It took us 1 hour from start to finish.  Our video was only 11 seconds long, but as you saw above; it was pretty spiffy even if I do say so myself!
It was super easy to make.  My son manned the iPad and took all the pictures and I moved the pieces.  Once we had all of our pictures taken, it was a simple matter of saving the video to the camera roll on the iPad and then uploading it to YouTube. 

The next step will be how to use this in the classroom.  As you can guess, I have a few ideas already!  Stay tuned...I'll let you know what my students did with this cool little app!  Oh, did I mention that this app is FREE!  Apparently, it does have fancy features that you do have to pay for.  But for my purposes, the free version will work just fine!  
​Check out the Stop Motion Studio app in iTunes here.

So what exactly do I write about myself?  I hate this!  "I have been teaching for 20-something years. Some years in this district and some in that one.  I enjoy teaching because I am passionate about waking up little minds.  I have led many workshops and I love teaching teachers. Blah blah blah blah."       Seriously?!
That bio could be for any teacher anywhere.  

"Most days I love teaching.  I feed off the energy of those little human beings that run around my room.  I can get almost all of those little people to do what I want at any given moment.  Every once in a while, I still have nightmares of children standing on their desks screaming and throwing paper airplanes.  (Come on...you KNOW you've had that dream too!) I love challenging my students and then seeing the pride on their faces when they make it to the end of the challenge!  I love struggling all school year long and then all of a sudden, I notice that my classroom seems to run itself.  The kids start looking up stuff on their own, they start taking ownership of their learning and spend their "Fun Netbook Time" researching and creating things that show what they have learned.

So how's THAT for a 4 to 8 sentence bio?

Every year, I seem to have one or two students who shine with "googliness" and this year that student is Jake.  Jake VERY quickly became a Tech-X-Pert in my 2nd/3rd grade class.  He would go home and make all kinds of Googly stuff and share it with me.  I would get emails at 9:00pm and it would be him sharing something with  me.  A Google Drawing, Google doc and many, many Google slide presentations. 

 In the beginning, he loved to make Google forms for his friends.  I was thoroughly impressed with that!  Then one evening, he shared a Google Site with me.  Yes, a Google SITE!  I thought to myself, "no way!".  
​Have you ever tried to make a Google Site before?  Holy cow! Even I (the self-proclaimed "Google Queen") found Google Sites tedious, difficult and confusing to say the least! ​

As it turns out, Google completely re-vamped sites!  It is SO simple to use now! Here is a video of Jake talking us through how to get started with Google Sites. It's a bit blurry, but since he's a 2nd grader showing off his "Googliness", I think you all will forgive me. 

I LOVE making Google Sites now and I owe it all to Jake! So, thanks Jake...you truly are the "Google King" in my book! ​

One of the things I seriously SUCK at is allowing my 2nd and 3rd graders (yes...I have a combo this year) time to reflect and think about their thinking.  I have read/heard hundreds of times how important it is to give students time to really think about what they are learning.  I do it myself, all the time.  Every day after the kids leave, I think about how the day went.  How did the new Math lesson go today?  The kids had a hard time with that writing activity, how can I "fix" it and make that lesson better? Should we revisit a concept or move on?  Teachers reflect like we breathe...without even thinking about it.

I was actually very proud of myself!  I asked my students to think about their learning and even introduced the term "mathematical thinking"!  WooHoo for me!  Honestly, I wasn't expecting very much.  I figured that for this first try, I really wouldn't get much out of my kids at all. Yes, I did get a few "I like the _______ activity because it was fun and mathematical."  And I got a few responses that skipped over the whole "mathematical" part entirely..."I liked the pattern blocks because I made a flower and it was fun."  Kind of like the journal you see below...Ugh! 

But as I continued to read what my students wrote, I found that there were a few who did seem to get the whole "think about my learning" concept!  One student wrote about building a tower and using a ruler to measure the height. Another student actually built a tower that was taller than the ruler and asked me "How do I measure this?  The ruler is too small!" and as I smiled and said, "Wow...I don't know.  What do you think you could do to measure your tower?"  Another student came right to the rescue and gave her a really good suggestion (I just LOVE it when they solve each other's problems!).

This student talked about using pattern blocks and figuring out which shape/color would come next!

This student is a 3rd grader and reads at a beginning first grade level but clearly understood the concept of math helping to "grow his brain"!  Way to go "growth mindset"!

So after today, I think I will ask my students to reflect and think about their learning MUCH more often!  I feel like this was a great way to start this conversation about how we learn best. 

With the current movement to encourage more STUDENT choice and to try to instill a sense of STUDENT empowerment, it confuses me why TEACHERS are still so devoted to their precious state-adopted textbooks.
Whenever I attend a training or PD day, there always seems to be a statement about how current adopted texts are not aligned with the Common Core standards.  There is always an audible sound which means "yes...we agree" that rises from the crowd after such a statement.  
I do NOT subscribe to the "I-use-this-textbook-because-that's-all-my-distrct-has" pedagogy!
With the vast amount of resources that are available for teachers today, we can really stretch our creative "wings" and experiment with materials, techniques, activities, modes of instruction and really begin to fine-tune our teaching expertise.  
I personally LOVE having the freedom to choose how my students learn and/or "show what they know".  I LOVE not being tied to a set of adopted texts/curriculum.
Will I make a screencast for my students to watch?
Is there an awesome You Tube video another teacher has made?
Will I have my students make a video/presentation/poster, etc.?
Will I send information to my students through a Google Doc or our Google Classroom?
Will we ask/answer a question by using TodaysMeet.com?
The choices are practically endless!

This is the blog post that got me thinking about all of this today.  Take a minute and read John Spencer's blog.  Then stretch YOUR teaching "wings" a bit.  Show a You Tube or Vimeo video about fractions, or ask your students to create posters to teach a science topic to another group of students at your grade level.  Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear about how you've stepped out of the textbook box!

My grade level held a Native American Parent night last night.  Our students made Native American projects and we displayed them for the parents to come and see.  My school district has Parent Conferences in a couple of weeks and I was talking to my teacher/partner/friend about how I planned to lay out a clip board with a Parent Conference sign-up sheet on it and I was going to have the parents choose a conference day and time during the Native American night.  
Well, my BRILLIANT partner came up with the idea of putting up some chart paper with Post-Its all over it.  On the Post-Its, he said I should write down the individual conference dates and times and simply have parents pull off a post-it, write their name on it and give it to me.  I have to admit...at first it sounded like MUCH more work than just laying out a clip board with a schedule on it and lay out a couple of pens.  

I had 20 (out of 30) parents choose a conference day/time last night!  All I have to do now is send home reminders and track down the remaining 10 parents.
I LOVE my teacher partner/friend!  Thanks for your brilliant idea! 

The response was insane!  The discussion that followed was incredible!  Within just a few minutes there were several people all weighing in on student blogging pros and cons and whether a digital portfolio was in fact the same as a blog.  The discussion moved on to the idea that student blogs should have an authentic audience and a focus.  
The discussion then moved on to worksheets, why some schools still do not have adequate technology and providing feedback on digital assignments! Crazy cool stuff!  

Ok...I know that's a VERY strong statement! But seriously, it's true (at least for me it is)!  I have learned so much from the people I follow on Twitter.  The educators on Twitter are the best group of people.  They go out of their way to share ideas, answer questions and I have no doubt that I am a better teacher because of my interactions and discussions with these people.

On a whim, as I was getting ready for the 2nd TLAP Google Hangout; I tweeted out an invitation to Matt Miller (author of Ditch That Textbook) to see if he'd like to join our TLAP GHO on Air.  I expected a very polite, "I'm sorry, I just don't have the time." Guess what?  Within minutes, he accepted! Holy cow, was I excited!  It was so much fun talking with Matt that for the next GHO, I sent a tweet to Keith Hughes (HipHughes History video Guru) and again I expected a polite "No".  He accepted!  This was HUGE!  For one thing, I am a BIG fan of Keith.  I love his educational philosophies, his tweets always make me laugh and his videos are awesome!  
You can probably guess what I did for our last TLAP GHO on Air...yep, I tweeted out another invite.  This time, Don Wettrick (author of Pure Genius) joined me for the last TLAP GHOs.  
Check out the video playlist below.  Skip to #2, #3 and #4...those are the videos with my "special guests".  We had some really great discussions...well worth your time!

I could not believe that these "famous" Twitter celebs actually agreed to join a "nobody" like me to discuss educational stuff!  It was such a great experience to be able to "share" these people with teachers in my district and I had an absolute blast talking with all of them!  And it was all because of Twitter! Yes...I LOVE Twitter and I will try my best to convince anyone who will listen to me to join the conversation!  

Below are links to some of the books and people I talked about in this post:

Alice Keeler
@aliceKeeler - Twitter
AliceKeeler.com - website
50 Things To Do With Google Classroom - book

Matt Miller
@jmattmiller - Twitter
DitchThatTextbook.com - website
Ditch That Textbook - book

Keith Hughes
@hiphughes - Twitter 
Hip Hughes History - website
Hip Hughes YouTube Channel - scroll down to find his playlist of “Teacher Stuff”

Don Wettrick
@DonWettrick - Twitter
The Innovation Teacher - website
Pure Genius: Building A Culture Of Innovation And Taking 20% Time To The Next Level - book

As the students got used to their new classroom (which is no ordinary classroom, I might add.  Go to THIS POST to see how my room looks.); I chatted with parents, some new and some I already knew.  It was actually very relaxing considering it was the first day of school.  Don't get me wrong...I was nervous the night before and right up until the kids walked in, I was rushing around like a wind-up toy! 

NO RULES!  Seriously!  I did NOT give one "You will not..." or "No...", not even a "These are the behavioral expectations..."  Hint, kids know that "expectations" is a fancy way of saying "rules".  

I ended the day by reading the book The North Star written by Peter H. Reynolds.  The basic message of this book is that we all have our own journeys to follow.  My journal may not be the same as yours, but that's ok.  So long as you continue on the "right" path, you'll end up where you want to be.  

The message I wanted to convey was that this school year will be like no other. This school year will be filled with curiosity, wonder, questions, explorations and lots and lots of hard work!

After our school day ended, I got an email from the grandmother of one of my students. Her granddaughter had a tough year last year and this is what she told her grandmother when she got home that first day...

How did YOUR first day of school go?  I'd love to hear about it.  Please leave a comment.

I've never met Ms. Ripp but I feel like if I did...we would be great teacher buddies!  Many times her writing makes me slow down and think.  Recently she wrote a blog post about Periscope, the live streaming app.  (Go ahead, click it and check out Periscope for a minute...I'll wait.) 

I just discovered Periscope a few weeks ago and as a self-described tech NERD...I fell in love with it!  My mind immediately began working!  I was imagining all these great ways to use Periscope in my 3rd grade class this year!  I was all ready to live-stream everything from an art lesson to homework help!  Then I saw Pernille's blog post...click HERE.  Now, don't get me wrong...I still have great plans to use Periscope with my class; but like she always does, Pernille made me stop and think a minute.  (Which is always a good thing, as I tend to jump into things with both feet when sometimes one little step is more in order!)

Yes...please.  Let's do that.  After reading that post, another of her posts catches my attention.  "The One Great Idea Promise".  Pick ONE idea, she says.  And once you've picked that ONE idea (only ONE?? my brain screams!)...run with it! Embrace it! Love it! Nurture it!  Make it your focus.  Other ideas can come join the party, but keep that ONE idea at the forefront all the time.  

As I've just told you, I am:

#1 a tech nerd!  I LOVE discovering new ways to incorporate tech in my classroom.  Both for me, as the teacher and for my 3rd graders.

#2  a little bit "attention challenged", especially when it comes to tech.  I'm like that kid in the toy store..."Ooooo, a new barbie, but wait...there's a unicorn puzzle!  No, an art set! Yes, that's what I want; but wait, there's a..."  You get the picture.

So, I'm following Mrs. Ripp's advice...here's my ONE idea that I'm going to love and nurture and say to myself everyday:

I don't think this idea is actually what she had in mind when she wrote her blog post...I think she meant more of an idea that relates to curriculum or the 4Cs or something like that.  But since I know how I can get, I'm choosing this idea for ME.  I'm pledging to really evaluate and reflect on which tools I bring into the classroom this year.  When I discover some new, shiny tech tool; I'm going to ask myself..."How is this better than what I already use?"  I'm going to take it a step further and ask myself this question when I use something I've been using for a while now..."How is this better?"  I'm going to try to get the "most bang for my buck" so to speak.  If the tool I'm using, or want to use is NOT better than another; I'm ditching it.  If the amount of time it takes me (or my 3rd graders) to learn to use the tool outweighs the desired results, I'm ditching it.  If the tool is so narrow in focus that it only fulfills one small need, I'm ditching it. I'm going to try my best to NOT get drawn in by the bells and whistles and glitter.  
By combining what I've learned from BOTH of Pernille's posts that I've mentioned here, I'm going to really think about HOW to use Periscope in my class to get the MOST impact and I'm going to constantly ask myself..."How is this better?"

I get these harebrained ideas sometimes and then like a ding-dong...I TELL someone about those ideas!  This time I told my district's tech director, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a summer book club for teachers?", I say.  And he says, "Do it!" which brings me to this post.  

A few months ago I read this ridiculously awesome book called, Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess...maybe you've heard of it?   Even if you've only been on Twitter once in your whole entire life, I bet you've heard of this book!  
It's wonderful!  It's easy to read, crammed full of ideas that teachers can use right away and it makes you really think about why you chose this profession in the first place. (Click on the photo above to go to the author's website.)

I made a google form asking if anyone would be interested in joining the Pirate book club? I sent a link to this form to all of the teachers in my district and I got quite a few "Yes"s!  36 to be exact!  I'm excited!

In the google form, I also asked for information such as; email addresses and preferred days/times to hold our meetings.  Once everyone had a chance to complete the google form, I opened the responses spreadsheet and I saved all the email addresses.  Then I created a group in my Gmail and pasted all the email addresses into this group. Now, I can quickly and easily send out information to my Pirate "crew".  By looking at the Summary of Responses in my form, I can see which day my "crew" chose.  Cool, huh?
  

Now I'm on the spot!  I want to make this book club easy, relaxed and fun...so what did I decide to do? Hold virtual meetings via Google Hangouts on Air! (you get the irony, right?)  "Let's make this easy by incorporating super spiffy tech!", I say to myself. Ugh! 

The reason I want to do Google Hangouts on Air is that once our hangout is over, it will be automagically uploaded to YouTube.  So, if anyone was not able to watch the "live" hangout, they'd be able to watch it later at a time that works for them.