Skip to main content

Mid-Week Reads

I learn so much from Twitter! It is truly a constant PLN.  I have been overwhelmed by it in the past.  At iPadpalooza 2015 - it was stated WTF?  What's the FEAR? About Twitter, but I know the fear of being unable to read it all, that's the fear.  The fear of doing it wrong.  The fear of never finding the hashtag?

But I've fixed that in my head, I don't have to read it all. A colleague of mine said he is limiting his to 50 people to follow so he only selects great Tweeters who have something to do with his content of History. So his is more specific, while mine is jumping all over the place, with great librarians, principals, school leadership, teachers, authors, magazines, writers. I am trying to read all the blogs, reviews, ideas, books, plus Twitter chats scheduled all the time is just crazy.  It goes so fast and changes so quickly. That's the FEAR!

So this month my challenge goal is to calm down my own head about Twitter.  Just read what I want, and LET IT GO....about all the other stuff.

I  also learned how to use Google Forms extensively from Mr. Lebeau this week. I have a lot of ideas for my library using these, like connecting a QR code to a survey about the books on display, having kids tell me why they would or would not read it? Or linking QR codes to reviews and book trailers also. But I already do that, with forms I could gather student input so I can get reactions! Students love emojis so I plan to use several of those!

I read this book this week. I do like a good mystery! All Fall Down by Ally Carter


I also registered for a great webinar from school library journal can't wait for this fun day.

SummerTeen 2015: #SLJTeenLive!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Break Out Your Reading Skills!

 Break Out Your Reading Skills Challenge This challenge will ask our readers to READ a piece of non-fiction.  Then answer 5 questions to get a code.  If they get all 5 answers correct their code should unlock the snack box to BREAK out a snack for you and a friend.  If you get the first 4 answers correct you should have the code to BREAK out one snack for yourself.   So I have three cards of five questions each.  These questions are STAAR formatted to keep it familiar to students, and are based on 7th & 8th Grade reading TEKS. Each question tells you page numbers, so you really don't have to read the whole book but you can read parts of the articles or stories in it to answer the questions.  Like a short article, or quick story, no more than two or three pages each. Students try a story, to see if their code unlocks the lock.  I am using the following non-fiction books: The Queen's Shadow - A Story about How Animals See by C...

I3 - Top Ten Tech Tools to use in your Classroom

Starting this August 2017-2018 school year and I want to share more.  So I have challenged myself to share what I learned this year. I learn a lot every day.  I am an expert at nothing.  I know I learn new things every day about every part of my life. I presented the following presentation for I3 in Everman ISD.  Teachers across the district came to learn new tools to use in the classroom. I learned to work faster.   I forgot like 3 slides, one whole tool.  But we all learn from our mistakes.  I was thinking I wish I could tell them all this. That thought is what made me build this blog.  I need to start sharing my learning with others. Here is my presentation if you want to learn more:  Top 10 Tech Tools to Use in Your Classroom

It's more than a device...it's empowering.

I saw a Tweet today linked to a blog that gave a teacher 4 reasons how technology can help with classroom management. ( I'm trying to find it again to give credit). But I thought about how my students react to having the Chromebooks in their classrooms.  I have watched this happen in my own class, but when you hand a student a computer, iPad, or tech device, you send a message to this child. “You are worth it.” My campus is a title one district, some students deal with survival more than any student should.  But to some, by having their own device, it sends the message you believe in them. They know you want them to be successful, and you can help them learn needed skills for today's world.  It sends the message, you can be professional, you can learn, grow and we care. This is why students armed with technology are suddenly more engaged, they feel valued.  A valued child can then grow confident and safe making learning easier.  Less behavior problems happen wh...