Another Day in K

Brain POP is on of my favorite interactive websites to use in the classroom. I have used Brain POP with many different age groups and the activities are always awesome! My school pays for a Brain POP subscription for all teachers but there is a free option to use too. Teachers can log in to their own Brain POP account  here . From there teachers can select different subjects and topics. Each topic has a short video, games, printable activities and quizzes available. The Brain POP characters Moby the robot and Annie  lead you through engaging lessons that are entertaining and fun for students! Brain POP has different categories available for all learners like Brain POP Jr for K-3 and Brain POP ELL for English Language Learners. There is also a Brain POP for Educators.  This site allows you to search through Brain POP activities  and see how they align to Common Core Standards for your state. You can also access lesson plans, printables and fun activities. i...

This week on  meredithakers.com  Meredith is sharing about a professional development opportunity she recently attended called edcamp CY-Fair. This is a professional development opportunity where educators gather together with no agenda to learn and grown from each other's knowledge. Meredith shared her main take-aways from the experience. The first idea Meredith shared from the edcamp was Positive Entrance Tickets. For this activity, at the start of each day the teacher would give every student a post it note with a different student's name on it. They would need to write a short, positive note to the student and then give the note back to that student. It is a quick easy way to spread positivity at the start of the day. I know my students would love this activity.  After reading Meredith's post, I tried to think of other ways to adapt this activity to fit different age groups or incorporate technology. It could be adapted to make it easier or quicker for younger stud...

My Kindergarten students LOVE to learn through games. This week I will be sharing about a fun math game my students enjoy playing, Moose Math by Duck Duck Moose. Moose Math teaches addition, subtraction, counting, sorting and more all through a game on iPads. Because Moose Math partnered with Kahn Academy its free for anyone to download on apple devices! When a student opens the app, they can log in to their name or create a new user. Students then engage in different games like fulfilling recipes at a restaurant by completing different counting tasks or addition and subtraction problems. Studnets earn rewards for each time they complete the task correctly and advance to new levels. The app has fun characters that interact with the player and can offer help and advice while completing the tasks if needed. You can view a report card for each player on the app. It shows the activity the students completed like : Recipe Maker and the objectives from that game: add and subtrac...

This week on  Grow, Reflect, Share with Meredith Akers , Meredith discusses how to engage with your audience through the use of video. This blog post can be helpful for teachers or administrators engage with their social media following or can be used for teachers to engage with their class.  Meredith shares different resources you can use to create engaging videos. All the resources she shares are FREE- everyone likes free things so these are worth a shot! The first resource Meredith shares is  https://webcamera.io/  . This website allows you to record videos from a computer with access to a camera and microphone.  Meredith uses this website to record her video newsletters. I send home a paper newsletters and electronic newsletters each week. Im sure many times the paper copies are thrown away and the electronic newsletters are skipped over. A video newsletters seems like an excellent idea to try to grab parents attention and share important information ea...

At the start of the semester, I looked through the list of potential blogs to follow and tried to find one I could connect with. As an elementary school teacher who aspires to be an administrator one day, I chose to follow- Meredithakers.com. This is a blog written by an elementary school principal who thinks its important to build relationships and set a positive example for her staff and students. She is a Certified Google Educator and a Certified Flipgrid Educator and has led many different professional development opportunities. Her latest blog post is titled "3 Apps to Visually Market Your School or Classroom". As I am writing my first few entries on my new blog, this post seems fitting for me to read. I am new to blogging but I know the impact positive educational stories can have on a community, so I hope to learn some best practices for sharing those positive educational moments that are happening right in my own classroom. Meredith firsts talks about using the Ca...

As a Kindergarten teacher, I am always looking to find ways to make learning fun for my students. One thing my students really enjoy is using technology.  At my school, we have a large variety of technology available to use in our classrooms with students. One of my favorites for my group of kindergarten students are our classroom iPads. While there is controversy over the amount of screen time that can be detrimental to kids, I think using technology for learning in small increments of time can be beneficial students learning process and achievement too.  One app that my class frequently uses is Raz-Kids. Raz-Kids is an online, guided reading program with interactive E-Books and reading quizzes.  Each teacher can create their own account and set up their classroom and students. This allows teachers to create a personal login for each student. Students can log in on iPads or a computer. The teacher can personalize the books that are available for each student once they ...