The Power of Social Media: Crossing Continents

Last month I had the amazing luck to receive a tweet from a fellow educator, Gerardo Lazaro, who teaches at St. George’s College in Lima, Peru.  He asked me if I was interested in doing an online collaboration project with his students.  I immediately jumped at the opportunity.  We weren’t really sure exactly what kind…

We Need Time for Teamwork

This year I have been given the opportunity to work with a group of 13 proficient/advanced 1st and 2nd graders for a Reading Enrichment period every day for 45 minutes.  At first, I grumbled and complained.  I had at least 3-4 ‘behavior problems,’ no lesson plans and no idea what the students’ reading levels were…

Frames from Tech4Learning

At NECC 09 in June I was lucky enough to pick up a CD of Tech4Learning‘s software.  While I have played around with Pixie and enjoyed in immensely, my new favorite product of theirs is Frames.What makes Frames so great?Well, for starters it’s kid-friendly.  The icons are fun and simple as well as the editing…

Parent Night

At Back-to-School Night, I announced that I would be having an Internet Safety Parent Workshop.  I gave out flyers, I put it on the monthly calendar, I announced it on our school’s homepage. I had one parent come. Fortunately, this parent and I have an existing relationship–I have been teaching her children and grandchildren for…

The Importance of Silence

“Inward calm cannot be maintained unless physical strength is constantly and intelligently replenished.” “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C. Recently, I have been having trouble sleeping. I thought perhaps it was the fact that I haven’t been running my 3 miles three…