A long time!

Hello everyone!

I know it has been a long time! To be honest, it has been a very rough year. The roughest year I have ever had! 

We started a new curriculum which was amazing. CKLA taught my kids so much!

I had a very difficult student this year! I was punched, bit, kicked, cut, and had desks thrown at me. School tools were turned into throwing objects and weapons on several occasions! 

So if you had a rough year just know you were not alone! I have 11 more school days with my kiddos! 

I will miss them but this year has made me tired! Next year, I will be a better blogger! 

If you are in school still, have a great rest of your year.

If you are out of school, enjoy your summer!

See you all over the summer and next school year! 

Hello again!

Hello there!!

It has been a very long time! Life got in the way! When we shut down for Covid in March of 2020, I got overwhelmed! I was virtual the whole following year and barely kept my head above water! I am a single mom as you all know and being virtual along with my 12 year old at the time was a little bit unnerving and stressful! 

I converted my basement to a classroom and basically lived there. I wanted to provide my students with the best virtual school experience possible! I did but it came with a cost. Self care was not an option and this was not good.

I was exhausted! Then I went back face to face the 2021-2022 school year! Not only did we have to get used to being back and teaching with all of the Covid guidelines but we also pilotted a new ELA curriculum. 

I ended this year exhausted but proud because my students made such amazing progress!!

So here I am looking forward to the school year and I promise I will be more present on my blog!!

Thank you everybody for being amazing educators the past two and a half years!! 

Here’s to a great 2022-2023 school year! 

See you in August when I post about back to school!! 

Esgi

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Bittersweet year

It has been a long time since I have posted! Why? Because life is just not what it should be! 

We should be in our rooms with our kids!

We should be teaching lessons and going out for recess!

We should be thinking about field day and special days to come!

We should be getting hugs from our kids and hearing their laughter!

Instead, we are zooming for 40 minutes a day and not seeing all of our kids!

Instead we are at home!

We haven’t been with our kids since March!

We haven’t been in our rooms since March!

I want my kids to know that I love them and I did not abandon them!

That I am honored to be their teacher!

That I would do anything to turn back time and get this time back with them!

So from this llama loving teacher  to her students

Wild About ESGI

Have I told you lately that I absolutely love  ESGI!!! It is amazing! It is time saving! It is efficient! It is easy to use and it is a dream come true! Read more below about this amazing classroom tool!!! 

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Enjoy using ESGI!

Augmented Reality in the classroom

Augmented reality in the classroom! First of all do you know what augmented reality is? Have you ever heard of it? Have you ever thought of using it in your classroom?

Let’s begin with what augmented reality is! It is simply the combination of the real world and the virtual (computer generated) . If it is done correctly you can not tell the difference. Augmented reality is also known and referred to as AR.

What is the importance of iAR?  AR allows our students to interact with the subject. It enhances their experience by giving them the opportunity to interact with what they are learning about. It makes learning fun! 

Why should we use AR in  our classroom? AR enhances their experience! Their interaction with the subject is hands on  and it makes the students want to explore and learn. 

One site that I love to use with my firsties is quiver  just go to their website. This provide coloring sheets that they are able to make come to life with AR. I use this site on Dot Day! Please check out their pictures below! 

Aren’t these amazing! Quiver has a variety of sheets for you to use just download their app and you are all set. 

How do I get AR? There are so many apps for you to download on your smartphone or devices to bring AR into the classroom! You can also buy products that are AR oriented. 

There is the merge cube by Microsoft that you can purchases for 19.99 and then download and purchase apps to use with it. 

How cube works is you download the cube apps to your device. Point your device at the cube. Watch the cube transform to whatever it is you are learning about! 

It is truly amazing!

Another AR app that is awesome is frogipedia. This is a lid app. It costs 3.99. But you are able to do virtual dissections. See the life cycle of the frog up close and personal. Watch tadpoles swim and learn about frogs! 

World brush is another app that allows you to interact with the real world around you.it allows you to paint whatever you see. What you add becomes 3D! 

There are so many AR opportunities out there! I hope you try some and I hope you share them with me when you do!! 

This is us!

Relationships! I can not talk or write enough about the importance of these! Having a relationship with your kids is vital to their success and to you having a successful school year! 

How do we do this? By creating an environment that is full of trust, love and respect! Believing in them! Letting them know that it is ok to fail! Create an environment in which they are not afraid to take a risk!

One activity I did that I love and gave them the idea that we are a family was out This Is Us wall!

We talked about how our families hang our photos on a wall!  We talked about how it made them feel. Some of their responses were loved and respected! Some said it made them feel special! 

Then we talked about the classroom and what I expected from them. We talked about my expectations academically and socially. 

They then decorated their frame for their pictures to hang on our family wall! 

We used kwikstix paint sticks to decorate our frames!!! They are amazing! If you have not used these, you must! Paint in a stick!!! They dry within 90 seconds! They are bright and vivid! They can be used on many different surfaces! 

Here they are using their kwikstix on wooden photo frames! The frames are from Michaels. 

Here is our finished wall up close!

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