Character Counts

 

I am so excited to share with you about a new Website/App which was introduced to me.  It is called Character Counts.  

I have always used the website Character Counts for their Six Pillars of Character with my students. I recently just used it with my 5th-grade students on their Martin Luther King, Jr. Project where we discussed the six pillars and then I had the students pick two of those pillars and explain how Martin Luther King, Jr represented those characteristics. 

Great Features about Website and App for Teachers:

• Great Dashboard with a daily quote and daily inspiration.
• Leveled for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.
• Always includes a daily lesson focused on a character.
• You can create classrooms for your students.
• There are a ton of resources.
• Finally, you can choose the order of the Characters and the month they are presented according to your curriculum.

What I am looking forward to in the future:

• Students having the ability to access the app.
• The ability for Added Value Teachers or any teacher to access multiple grade levels easily.

I highly recommend you take some time and check out this app, you definitely will not be sorry you did!

Marbotic...Incredible Product, Incredible Company ISTE2019

So excited to discover Marbotic!

This year I attended ISTE2019 in Philadelphia as an OSMO ambassador instead of a participant and worked the expo.  I had the wonderful opportunity to see many products I already use with my students and find it very beneficial in the classroom.  Then I had the chance to find a new product which I fell in love with and is perfect for many of my students.

As many of you already know, I am a HUGE OSMO fan.  At ISTE, OSMO announced that they had partnered with Marbotic to create a new product, The Little Genius.  The Little Genius is an amazing addition to the OSMO family and perfect for preschool and kindergarten.  However, I must admit, I was curious about this new company Marbotic, who were they?

I didn't know anything about Marbotics or the company so off I went to find their booth and learn more about them.  I must say my first impression brought me right back to my childhood.  There manipulates are wooden manipulatives with the little knob on top but they interact with your iPad.  They reminded me of the wooden puzzles growing up however, these were interactive with the iPad and would be hours of educational enjoyment to curious children. A perfect combination of manipulative and technology.  I have the opportunity to use two of these wonderful sets, Smart Letters and Smart Numbers.  Both sets are absolutely amazing, very educational, and a lot of fun all at the same time.  Perfect for the classroom or for any developing child.  

Smart Letters

Smart Letters are all uppercase letters (don't worry they have another set of lowercase).  They have amazing games to "enable your child to learn to read, recognize shapes and sounds of letters, play with phonics, discover vocabulary, and even write his first words in a funny and motivating environment", as stated on their website and how true it is.  There are 4 amazing games which children can enjoy.  These apps are available in 10 languages and available in the Apple or Google Play Stores!  Click on the app to go to the Apple Store.

                        

           

Smart Numbers

Smart Numbers are another wonderful manipulative which is available.  There are three apps available on both Apple and Google Play stores.  These apps are available in 18 languages which I think is absolutely amazing! "Marbotic’s Smart Numbers apps will enable your child to learn to count, explore numbers, understand concepts in arithmetics, basic additions and subtractions in a funny and motivating environment", as stated on Marbotic's Website.  Please take a moment and check out these wonderful apps.

There are many other sets and apps available also, so please take some time and check out this incredible company!

My excitement is building for ISTE 2918!

I have not blogged in several years for many reasons, family, job, etc.  However, I decided I need to return because I enjoy sharing what I learn with others and what a great time to start over is with ISTE!  

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend NCEA this year in Cincinnati and I have to tell you it was truly amazing and the amount of new knowledge I walked away with was incredible however it was over Easter break and it wasn't the time to start my blog again.

So my goal is going to be to blog at least twice during ISTE!  Would I love to set the goal to blog everyday of ISTE? YES!  But I think I am setting a goal which is unrealistic. 

I hope you follow and find out about my incredible journey at ISTE and back into blogging!

Top 5 Apps that Started my Year off Right!

I am not an expert but these 5 apps will make my life easier and I hope they do the same for you!

1. Bloomz 

www.bloomz.com

Bloomz is a great app to keep students and parents involved in your classroom.  You have the opportunity to send pictures and alerts securely!  Please check them out my parents love this and so do I! 

FREE

My Blog Post Explaining Bloomz

http://happy2teach-myblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/bloomz-teachers-dream-app.html

2. Handouts

http://handouts.in/

Handouts is a fabulous app which allows you to take a picture of any worksheet, send it to your students and then the students send it back completed and you will be able to grade them!  

FREE and PAID

Check out my blog post about Handouts
http://happy2teach-myblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/handouts-apphow-did-i-ever-live-without.html

3. Evernote

www.evernote.com
Evernote is a wonderful app and website which gives me the ability to have a checklist of my students assignments and the ability to keep track of what they have returned to me.  I am able to use my laptap, iPad, or even my iPhone, whatever is handy!

FREE and PAID

4.Kahoot

https://getkahoot.com/
Kahoot is an app on Google Play however there is not one on iPads, however, I made one from there website and it works perfect!  My students love it and it makes reviewing fun!
FREE

Check out my blog post about Kahoot
http://happy2teach-myblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/this-is-kahoot.html

5. Chirp

(Look Under iPhone Only Apps)

Chirp is a wonderful way of sharing a website or picture with your students!
Students love it and it makes it easier on teachers :)
FREE

Please add your favorite app below in the comments!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

Bloomz! A Teacher's Dream App!

Do you love to keep parents in the loop?

Do you wish you could share pictures of your students securely with your parents?

Do you want to have a calendar specific to your class to make parent's life easier?

And be able to do this all for FREE!

If so...this app is for you!!

Bloomz - to download the app
or go to www.bloomz.net to learn more!


I found this app on Twitter @BloomzApp and downloaded it immediately!  Now I can not use it until September but thought it is perfect and exactly what I was looking for.  I set up a classroom and even took time to check out all the features.  I know once September comes I will not have that luxury but to have the opportunity to play with the app now was perfect.

Bloomz philosophy is  Connect + Coordinate + Communicate = Success
and they are absolutely correct.
You can connect with your parents through updates and photos!
You can coordinate sign-ups and a calendar (This is fabulous and love that it is all in one place)!
You can communicate with the class or an individual parent, along with getting email alerts!
This all equals success with parent involvement in the classroom!

I thought it was awesome until...

 I went to ISTE and was lucky enough to meet the people from Bloomz, I could not wait to tell them how much I loved their app and couldn't wait to use it in September.  I was there with other colleagues and went crazy when they could meet the people from Bloomz and hear more about this awesome app!  I felt like I was meeting celebrities!  They are the most down to earth people I have met and they were so thankful that people are learning about their app! I also can't wait to share it with all my colleagues.

As I mentioned before you can follow them on Twitter @BloomzApp  and even on Facebook /BloomzApp

Check them out!  Download the app and be as amazed as I am!

* Did you know Bloomz was recently named a finalist in the Collaborative Social Media Solution for Educators category in The 2015 American Business Awards?  We were also recently featured a We Are Teacher's Pick of the Week.

DENapalooza 2015, Handouts, and so much more!

On Sunday, February 8th, 2015, I had the opportunity to attend

                                             DENAPALOOZA 2015!

It was an absolutely incredible day which started with a wonderful new video talking about the DEN (Discovery Educator Network)!  

If your not a DEN Star click here to learn more!

The keynote speaker was Dr. Lodge McCammon who talked to us about how important Music is to learning!  He was an amazing speaker and motivator, I have now started to use even more music in my room to enhance my teaching!

There were many incredible sessions where you were inspired to be even more creative in your classroom then most teachers are already.

I had the opportunity to share my favorite new app called Handouts during the Strategic Sharing Showcase!  I was able to tell them about how I can not live without the app and how it is making such a difference in my life. Everyone was very excited to know that they would have the opportunity to save their school money by not making as many copies and saving themselves time from standing at the copy machine!  You can read my blog post about Handouts here!

I am working right now to set up our school as a pilot school for Handouts and I will blog about our journey and how each teacher is using the app!

The day was absolutely incredible and I look forward to attending next years event before Pete & C 2016! 

Handouts App...How did I ever live without you?

This week my life became much easier and it is all thanks to an app I have discovered while on Facebook!  I saw this app and thought why not give it a try.... I never thought that after one use, I would wonder how I ever live without it!  Thank goodness I don't have too!

This app is 

Handouts App

This app is available for android and apple devices!

I was not sure how I would use this app in Second Grade and how my students would adapt to not having a "hard copy" of a worksheet ...  Well, they loved it and so do I!  

It is as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, WOW!

1. Download the app from the app or android store.

2. Create a teacher account and set up your classes 

( I set one up for math, reading, spelling, and writing)

3. Since my students are in second grade I set up accounts for them.

(Once they have an account, they can join other classes with other teachers)

4. Take a picture of my worksheet

(You can pull from a file as well)

5. Have the students log on and complete handout!

WOW!!!!

The students receive a notification that there is a handout waiting for them.  Once they complete the handout then they click "Turn in".  It is that simple!  

Then I am able to grade it and add notes or stickers!

Take some time to check it out....You will love it too!

Hour of Code December 8-14, 2014

As a classroom teacher and tech enthusiast I can not wait to celebrate the Hour of Code.  I am not saying I do not teach my students coding throughout the year it just means I love to make it is a celebration!  Any time you can celebrate students learning it is a perfect moment!

http://hourofcode.com/us

I would love if you share your favorite site or app!
Thank you!

This is a Kahoot!

Looking for something new to get students involved with your lesson using their own handheld device or a device they use in school?

Looking for a way to see if students understand a concept you just taught?

Looking for some great ways to have your students start a discussion, complete a survey, or give a quiz?

Well, look no further!

KAHOOT!

https://getkahoot.com/

Kahoot is a game - based classroom response system which is prefect for all levels.

I teach 2nd grade and my students love Kahoot!  I also teach at the college level and will be using it with them as well.  Everyone can benefit from this great response system.  

You can set up an account for FREE and students do not need an account so it is perfect for the elementary level.

You can complete the process in a couple of easy steps.

1. You just project your discussion, quiz, or survey on your SMARTboard or whiteboard.
2. The students log onto kahoot.it , they are asked to enter the game-pin, then they enter a nickname and wait for you to begin.  
3. You press begin and the first question appears on the SMARTboard and students answer on their device.  

It is fantastic and quick!  You can go back later and look at the results!

There are some terrific tutorials on youtube if additional information is needed!

Take some time to check out Kahoot!
  

My Excitement about August 5th, 2014....The Bats are coming again!!!!

Bats In The Band

Written and Illustrated by Brian Lies

Houghton Mifflin Co., 2014

ISBN 978-0-544-10569-0

Available to Pre-Order at Amazon

I placed my order on June 18th, 2014

I can not wait to share this new book with my students in September!  I have not even seen this book in person but if it is anything like his other three, it will be a hit in my classroom!

As you can see from my previous post I am a HUGE Brian Lies Fan!  

http://happy2teach-myblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/more.html

Brian Lies has three additional Bats' Books: 

Bats At The Beach

Bats At The Library

Bats At The Ballgame

Along with an extensive list of books which he has illustrated.

I proudly have these books displayed in my classroom along with a stuffed bat! My students can not wait for their turn to read with the bat and they even try to recruit a couple of students to listen to them read.  This is what makes teaching so incredible, the opportunity to see students excited about reading!

I also enjoy visiting Brian Lies' Website because there are wonderful activities which go along with his books!  Take time to check it out!

As a side note - My pup looks like the bats with his big ears :)

Waiting for my delivery from Amazon :)

Great Joy

Do you ever wonder why you became a teacher? Why do you spend the countless hours at home differentiating your lesson so that your students understand the concept you are trying to teach?  And why once a lesson is over you sit and think of how you can change and make that lesson better?  

Then it hits you! 

POW!!!!

The student who is smiling from ear to ear because they are so proud of what they wrote!  

Or the student who is so excited because they reached the correct answer in math!  

Or the student who just stood in front of the class and read an entire book with confidence and then the class gives them a standing ovation!

This was my day today!  Watching my students succeed and overcome obstacles is why I do what I do every day!  

Meeting New Educators...

I have not taking time to blog in a long while but I have decided that because I am meeting so many incredible educators through Facebook and Twitter it is time to jump back into the saddle!

I would like to start with ...

http://theenlightenedelephant.blogspot.com/

I happen to meet this incredible educator when I was on a blog hop which was a blast, I received so many FREE great lessons as well as finding new educators to follow!  Melissa created this incredible clip art set and it is available at 1/2 price for a limited time on Teachers Pay Teachers!  Don't Miss out!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-To-School-Supplies-Clip-Art-Set-1-783223

I can not wait to use this clip art!

DEN Goes Viral Project Success

In the Fall I had the opportunity to participate in a wonderful project with the DEN (Discovery Education Network).  We had to pick a topic and then create a video similar to the “Did You Know” Video created by Scott McLeod. 

Chad Lehman, DEN Community Manager headed the project and I was one of the Team Leaders.  The topic I chose was “iPads In The Classroom”.  I love using iPads in the classroom but wanted to learn more information from other educators.

I created an Edmodo group and approximately 22 members joined the project.  We had a lot of great discussions along with asking everyone to contribute facts for our video.

Tom McLaughlin, a DEN Star, offered to put together the video for us.  He put together the entire video on his iPad1.  Tom also blogged about this experience at Behind The Scenes of the Did You Know iPad Edition. 

To wrap up the project we had a video conference with Chad Lehman!  We talked about the pros and cons of the project.  Chad wrote a wonderful article which featured our video! 

I hope this summer to have the opportunity to work with the same group of terrific educators along with inviting some new ones to create a part II of our video!

New Year’s Resolution

Well, once again it is that time of year again when we reflect on last year and look towards a new year.  We always set expectations for ourselves such as losing weight, exercising more, and even getting more sleep.  I actually made two lists this year.  The first list was for me, the second list was for my professional development. 

I have a list of blogging topics which I have wanted to blog about since September.  Well, it is time that I start blogging regularly.  At first I thought I would blog weekly and then realized quickly that it is the 9^th of January, I was not going to keep that resolution very long.  So I made the decision to blog monthly and perhaps bi-monthly if I have the opportunity.

New Year….New Me!

What is your Professional Development New Year’s Resolution?

App Page On My Blog

Hello Everyone!

Well, it has been a while since I have posted.  I will be adding to my App Page because that is where I am spending a lot of my time recently!

Please take some time to check it out!

More

More

By I.C. Springman

Illustrated by Brian Lies

I could not wait till I got home today from school to rip open the box from Amazon.  I was tracking this box since yesterday and I placed the order well over a month ago!

You are probably wonderful how a picture book can bring so much excitement to an adult.  Well, I want to let you know all about it!

I have always been a huge fan of Brian Lies.  He is a wonderful author and an incredible illustrator.  Brian Lies wrote and illustrated books such as Bats in the Library, Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Ballgame,  along with many others.  

While in grad school I was taking a children's literature class and had to write and present about my favorite author.  Hands down I knew who I was going to write about and was actually looking forward to this assignment.  I thought it would be fun to write to Brian and ask him if I could interview him.  I did not expect to get an answer but within a day I heard back from Brian saying he would be happy to help me out!  (I admit, I screamed with excitement, glad no one was around).  At the time he was illustrating Bats at the Ballgame so it was easier to communicate through email. He was so kind and answered all my questions.  It was an incredible experience and to this day I give Brian Lies the credit for the A in that class. 

So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that he was illustrating a new book.  More is a beautifully illustrated book and the words are simple but powerful.  The combination of the two truly makes an incredible book.  Immediately, I thought about how this book will be fabulous to use in the classroom.  The story teaches a lesson (you will have to read the book), plus I can see how the students and I can spend a lot of time talking about the pictures and what they see.

Another inspirational book to add to my library!  Thanks I.C Springman and Brian Lies for a fantastic book!

Check out Brian Lies website

You can get lesson ideas, learn more about Brian Lies, or see his sensational illustrations. 

http://www.brianlies.com/index.htm

Celebrating Dr. Seuss

http://www.mamiverse.com/30-dr-seuss-quotes-to-live-by-4920/

While on Pinterest, I came across 30 Dr. Seuss Quotes to Live By.  When I went to the link, there was a link to embed this on your website or blog.  How could I not!  I thought it was great to put in a classroom as a reminder of how children's books can teach us throughout our lives!

Have you been to Berenstain Bear Country?

I was very sad today when I heard of the death of Jan Berenstain. Jan along with her husband Stan created an amazing set of books that will always teach children great lessons.  They wrote and illustrated over 300 books.  After Stan’s death in 2005, Mike, their son, helped Jan to continue creating wonderful books.  With Jan’s death today, I hope that Mike will continue the legacy that his parents started in the 1960s.

I cannot even begin to tell you how many books I “wore” out from reading them over and over again.  As a teacher, I absolutely LOVED reading these books to my students.  I always enjoyed telling my student how the Berenstain family were born, raised, and lived in Pennsylvania.  The students always thought that was amazing to think that the “Berenstain Bears lived in our state”.  These books were not only entertaining but they taught the students many lessons.

The Berenstain Bears has a fabulous site, check it out!

https://www.berenstainbears.com/

Please share your favorite Berenstain Bear book below…

PETE&C Pre-Conference Day of Discovery!

Wow!  What a wonderful day of Discovery!  I look forward to Discovery Education offering a wonderful pre-conference day at Pete & C each year.  I have never attended Pete & C but after this year I decided I am not missing it next year!

The opening presentation was a collaboration demonstration by Hall Davison, Lance Rougeux, and Steve Dembo.  They talked about how we need to look at the 22^nd Century because many schools are surpassing the 21^st Century.   One great app they talked about was “Life of George” created by Legos.  It’s an amazing app and you will want to check out for your classroom!  I left their presentation excited about the rest of the day!

The first session I attended was the Collective Brain given by Lance Rougeux.  He showed us many fabulous websites that would be a wonderful resource in our classroom, such as http://www.yasiv.com  (Amazon’s Product Visualization) and http://agoogleaday.com, which asks a question a day.  Great ideas!

The second session was iThink iNeed iPads in my Classroom presented by Steve Dembo.  Steve showed us many amazing apps along with Apple TV.  He showed us how beneficial it was to have Apple TV in our classroom if you are using iPads.  It was amazing to show our favorite apps by displaying our iPad on the screen.

After lunch there was a DEN Star Showcase. I had the great privilege to share Web 2.0 Tools, which I love.  It was called Beyond the Classroom Walls.  I met so many wonderful people and had the opportunity to share all the wonderful things that are taking place in my school.

My final session of the day was learning about Scratch. Scratch is a great downloadable package to teach programing.   I remember programming years ago and it seem like you wrote a hundred lines to have Hello come up on your screen.  I am so excited that teachers are still teaching it because I think it is important that students understand have programs work.

Once again, it was a fun-filled and educational day.  Reed Timmer, Discovery Education Meteorologist, made a guest appearance today! WOW!  That was awesome!

Overall it was a great day of learning! Can’t wait for the next one!

Can You Help Me?

As ITCs (Instructional Technology Coaches), we wear many hats such as: IT person, Coach, Co-Teacher, etc.  However, the other day, I had to admit I was unsuccessful at my job, or so I thought.  Then, I realized after reflecting on the day, it was success undercover.

A student came into our office during my IT time and asked me if I could help her.  Feeling more confident in my job then I did in September, I knew I could help her.  She told me that her USB flash drive was not working anymore and wanted to know if I could get her files off her flash drive and place it on a new one.  THEN…she handed it to me.

As you can see from the picture, it was not a good situation. Well, as promised, I did try to retrieve the files from the flash drive but I was unsuccessful.  I tried many machines, but not one machine even picked up the fact that I put a USB in the computer. 

But on the other hand, I thought about how impressed I was that the student had that much faith in us that we can fix anything!  So overall it was a success!  If we take time to think about our “unsuccessful moments”, we can find success!  Success is not always completing a task; success can come from the process or from the person who asked you to complete the task!