3 Reading Comprehension Strategies to Start Using Tomorrow . . . and 3 Digital Tools to Help!
Reading comprehension is likely the most important focus of the primary and elementary school teacher! In their book Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference, Reutzel and Cooter call comprehension “the very heart and soul of reading.” Without comprehension, students aren’t really reading, they’re just decoding words! Further, reading comprehension is the basis […]
Building Classroom Community with Digital Tools
Building a positive classroom community and getting to know your students is crucial at the beginning of every new school year. This research-based practice contributes to good classroom management, student engagement, and positive student behaviors and interactions. As you think about classroom community activities that you will do at the beginning of this year, consider […]
Reflections on Seesaw Part Four: Making Seesaw an Interactive Learning Space (or What I Learned from a FAILed Lesson!)
I know it has been a while (February 1st to be exact). But I’ve been working hard on other projects, including this gem. So without further ado . . . the fourth in my Reflections on Seesaw series, today I will share how I have worked to make Seesaw an interactive learning space. My students […]
STEAMy? Snowman Glyphs & App Smash
Last week in our lovely southern state, it was forecasted that we would have snow on Saturday and would be under a winter weather advisory. Now for those of you who do not live in the south, this is a big deal because it doesn’t happen often, but when it does everybody goes crazy especially […]
Ringing in the New Year with Seesaw
I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I had a wonderful 2016, and I’ve loved sharing the exciting things that my students did with technology last year. However, I’m ready for a fresh start, and I’m so excited for 2017 and all of the amazing things my students will accomplish. I’ve used some […]
Reflections on Seesaw Part Two: Four Ways to Use Seesaw in Your Classroom Now!
The second in my Reflections on Seesaw series, today I will share ways I’m using Seesaw in my classroom right now. After using the Seesaw app for half a year, I’ve expanded its uses in my classroom beyond just a digital portfolio and parent communication tool, including using it as a presentation tool and for […]
Reflections on Seesaw Part One: Why I Want to Be a Seesaw Ambassador
In some of my recent posts from this school year, I have mentioned using the Seesaw app. Seesaw is a digital portfolio for housing student work and sharing it with parents, but it is so much more than that, too. Recently, I was twice asked to reflect on my use of Seesaw in my classroom. […]
Text Innovations with The Important Book
Since the beginning of school, I’ve been trying to get my students to develop their ideas in their writing in an organized manner. We started off looking at paragraph organization using the hamburger writing technique to develop a paragraph with a main idea, 3 juicy details, and a closing sentence, as seen in this post […]