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      Free #EdTech - Apps For Your Class is a sporadic posting I do every time I find a neat new app that is not only being offered FREE (for a limited time) but that is also educational and could serve a purpose in your classroom.      While no longer free, last sessions app: Singaling , is still awesome and I recommend you check it out! Today I've found: King of Maths: Full Game "Level up your mathematics skills and become King of Maths!" This interactive math facts game allows users to work their way through various mathematical challenges in order to advance through a hierarchy of medieval styled characters. This multiple-choice math fact fluency game features middle-school leveled questions about: - Addition - Subtraction - Multiplication - Division - Mixed Operations (Order of Operations) - Geometry - Fractions - Powers - Statistics - Equations Regular $1.99 , now FREE till tomorrow

     This week I was responsible for distributing and collecting surveys from all of the teachers in our school regarding our PD wants/needs. As such, on Thursday during my prep, I visited each classroom in our school to ensure I had everyone's surveys... and I noticed something interesting.      I am the ONLY teacher from Grade 8 to Grade 12 that does NOT have my student's desks in rows facing the "front" of the room. In fact, I am only teacher that does not have their desk as the focal point of the room! I am also the only teacher out of this group that has additional furniture in my room:  Our classroom "chill-out" space        After I returned to my classroom, I began thinking of how my classroom differed from those of my colleagues. In addition to the furniture layout, my room also features:   - A student work station with a computer that can hook up to our   room's SMART Board (no other high school classe...

     I can't speak for your school & classroom, but in ours the majority of my students have some type of smart device. A little over half of my Grade 8s have a device that they can have in the classroom with them and this percentage increases as my students get older. If they don't have their own, I have access to a class-set of iPads as well as my personal iPhone that I use in the classroom as well.        With all of these resources at our fingertips, I've been closely watching to find new apps that I can share with my students and utilize in the classroom. One thing that I LOVE is finding awesome apps that are being offered for FREE when they are usually paid apps.        As such, I decided to start a new type of post that I've titled Free #EdTech - Apps For Your Class where I'll share when I find great education apps that are being offered for free!        Today I've found:   S...

     Last week I shared Keith Hughes video, " The Recipe for Great Teacher " and shared my comments on the first two "ingredients". (If you missed that post, you can check it out here .) One week later, I'm back and read to explore this further! Like Keith says, the final two ingredients are those "warm fuzzies"; that's right, we're going emotional on you. Before you read on, however, if you need a reminder, I've embedded Keith's video again: Here are my thoughts: 3 ) 25% Authenticity - This one may seem pretty obvious but our students want us to be   real. They want us to be ourselves and they want to know that   everything we do is authentic. Like Keith says, "If you go in as a   phony, students will know that and you'll lose them." - Sit down, find your niche, find your true self, and run with it. Own   your unique awesomeness and bring that with you in everything you   do (in every class, with every student, in EVERYT...

       Have you seen Keith Hughes' video, " The Recipe for Great Teacher "? I came across this video the other day through one of the blogs I follow (unfortunately I can't remember which one, if it was you let me know so I can give credit!) and wanted to tune in right away!        As a first-year teacher I am always asking myself, "Am I doing this right?", "Is there another way that I can do this?", "What should I change for next time?", etc. I've followed Keith through his various social media platforms for quite some time now. As an experienced educator who not only has a love for online sharing, but also for history, I try to follow the example he sets in his career and definitely wanted to see what his thoughts were when it came to "great teachers". Check out his video embedded below:       Here are my thoughts: 1 ) 25% Content Knowledge - On the surface this ingredient seems pretty self-explanatory.  ...

My 2 Year Blogiversary Celebration contest is officially over!! I want to send a huge thank-you to everyone who has supported me over this second year; it has definitely been a busy one!     I had 14 comment entries on my 2 Year Blogiversary post . To determine a winner, I utilized a random number generator... .... .... and number 2 is the winner!   Congrats Lori, I am sending an email your way!         Thank you to everyone who entered and sent me their kind words through various social media platforms; here comes year 3! 

     Today marks the last day of our Christmas holidays, meaning that school is back in full-force tomorrow. After a relaxing two weeks I can honestly say that I am heading back to school refreshed and ready to go!      I didn't realize it at the time, but I was definitely feeling exhausted when Christmas hit. Teaching is a profession that isn't done when the day ends at 4:00pm and I think that it can be difficult to find a balance (especially in that first year when you're trying to "do it all"). This break has allowed me to take a step back from the classroom and focus on myself... my family... my life. It has also allowed me to work on some of the organizational aspects that I've determined I was lacking before!      Over the past week I have been focusing on organizing certain aspects of my life in order to cut down on some of the stress that is bound to occur once I am in the routine again. Here are two of the main th...

     I did it! Two full years of blogging under my belt and still going strong :)      What started out as my New Years Resolution in 2012 has now become a part of my regular routine and has opened up numerous doors and opportunities that I didn't even know were possible. Through this blog I've developed personally, professionally, and have been able to connect with many amazing educators that I never would have meet if it wasn't for this platform! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my posts, comment, and support me along the way; I couldn't do it all without you!!      Last year I posted some year stats as part of my 1 Year Blogiversary Celebration and I thought it might be interesting to update those stats and take a look at how my blog has changed since January 2013. Blog Page-Views - As of January 2014: 331, 437 - As of January 2013: 102, 274 Blog Posts - 2013: 202 posts - 2012: 195 posts Google Followe...

     Over the past few weeks by Feedly & Twitter have exploded with " Do Your Homework " or " Sunshine Blog " posts. This chain post makes me all nostalgic for the 90's Hotmail chain emails that circulated so frequently... (you know those ones where the teenage version of yourself sat answering random questions and carefully selecting the perfect emoticon or font colour to accent your response). Fast forward to 2013/2014 and it seems like I've found the adult/"professional" version of that.      I've really enjoyed the posts that I've read from people in my PLN. Our conversations so often focus only on education and I've loved getting to know more about everyone! In case you haven't seen these posts circulating about, here is how it all works : 1 ) Acknowledge the nominating blogger(s) 2 ) Share 11 random facts about yourself 3 ) Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has      created for you 4 ) Nominat...

     Of course with it being a new year and a new month we also have a new "Currently" post!  If you haven't encountered a " Currently " post before, it is just a fun post at the beginning of each month that serves as a way to share what is  Currently  going on in your life! You can link up and share your own " Currently " post by visiting the wonderful  Farley  over at  Oh' Boy 4th Grade .    

Happy New Year everyone!        As I sit here typing this I realize just how little I have been blogging the past few months (in comparison to my average). Leading up to September, my life was relatively calm compared to the organized chaos that is the life of a first-year teacher. Prior to this point my blog posts had been a way to further the learning that was occurring as I made my way through my education degree, reflect on any PD that I attended, share interesting ed tech resources that I found online, etc. While I feel that I want to maintain the content of my blog, I know that I need to work on prioritizing and organizing the multiple requirements that pop up in the classroom. Trust me, I am not giving up on blogging anytime soon, I am just working on finding time for everything !        With that in mind, New Years brings me a lot of excitement as it was my New Years Resolution in 2012 to start this blog ! 397 posts later and tha...