Where Have I Been? What Was I Doing?

Hi friends!  Wow!  I can't believe it's been almost 3 years since my last post!  Time really flies! But I have been very busy doing lots of different things in my life! During that time period, I had another child, a little boy who is now almost 4 years old.  

LOL Read Aloud Teacher in Richmond, VA reading to low-income kids.

My husband opened a local nonprofit in Richmond, VA, called Love of Learning where volunteers provide read alouds to low-income kids living in shelters and subsidized housing complexes throughout Central Virginia. This has been an amazing experience and has brought so much joy to so many children! 

Visit our website to learn more about what we do or how you can help!

One of my passions is creating things digitally!  I did not go to school to learn about computers or digital creations, however, I have found much joy in creating things, especially for my students. 

Since the outbreak of Covid19, I decided to polish up some of my products of TpT and finalize some other activities I've created over the past several years to post.  You can get my newest products on sale for the next few days. Or just visit to see what might help you during this time of being out of school. 

I completed the last three months of my On/Off Addition games so this bundle is now complete!  If you have already purchased, no need to buy again! Just click on "My Purchases" and re-download to get all of the games! :)

If there is something you'd like for your students, please reach out and let me know! I'm happy to see if I can create it for you! Until next time - stay safe and healthy! 

#IMMOOC Lead by Example

We want our learning to follow the same guidelines as the students' learning.  If it is best for them, isn't it probably what is best for us?  

If you are a leader, think about your teachers before making a PD mandatory.  Will it truly help them or will they just feel like it is a waste of time? The picture above says a thousand words!

#IMMOOC Sharing is Critical

We need to be more open to share our ideas with one another instead of judge what someone is doing or not doing in their classroom.  I welcome anyone to my classroom to see what we are doing and am willing to share any lesson ideas with others.  I also love to get ideas from other teachers.  I don't always do the lesson exactly how they did it, but I will take the idea and run with it to make it fit for my students and their needs.  

Let's be more open and willing to listen to other's ideas so we can spend less time recreating and more time working with our students!

#IMMOOC What Should the Classroom Look Like?

One of the sad things about being an educator is hearing my fellow educators talking about how they taught this great lesson with students sitting in their desks listening to their lecture, students practicing on a worksheet and the teachers walking around to see how each student is doing.  

Every grade level needs to give students choice and voice in their learning!  We also have to connect their learning to the real world, make time for reflection, give opportunities for innovation and self assessment and build problem solvers who can think critically.  

While I feel it easy to say every grade level, I've never taught higher than second grade.  However, I still believe that those upper grade students should have the same opportunities as lower grade students even though they take an end of year assessment (SOLs in Virginia).

Let's just try it to see how they do!  Give your students a chance to show you!!  Then come back and leave a comment to share what happened!

#IMMOOC Lay the Foundation for Innovation!

Show this graphic to your principal today!!  Every leader should take this advice from George in order to create a willingness for teachers to be more innovative in the classroom.

#IMMOOC Give Opportunities

One of the battles educators face, especially more veteran ones, is figuring out how or even being interested in finding time to use the technology themselves.  But one of the things they don't understand is that our students already know how to use it.  We just have to give them the opportunity to use it in a safe, structured way so that when they are out using it independently, they will do so responsibility!

What types of lessons do you teach about digital citizenship and how to use technology correctly?

#IMMOOC My Educator Inpirations

There are two educators that I continue to learn so much from as they inspire me to create learning opportunities for my students.  One is Alice Keeler, who was on sharing her thoughts just last week about homework and innovation.  The other is Christine Pinto, who is writing a book with Alice Keeler about how to use Google Apps for Education (GAFE) with young students, and writes a blog about it here: GAFE for Littles. 

Both of these ladies have helped break down the barriers for kindergarten students.  Almost daily, I hear the phrase, "They can't do that!"  Well how do we know???  Have you at least given them the opportunity to try?  If your answer is no, then you are prejudging a student before giving them an opportunity to show you if they can do "it" or not.  

I would encourage anyone reading this....to try something new with your students!  Something you have never done before.  Give them an opportunity to show you if they know how to do "it" or not.  I have always been surprised with what my students can teach me about new things!

What is something you have tried with your students or would like to try with them??  Leave a message in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!