Picture Book Month

November is Picture Book Month! This celebration of good books was started by authors Dianne de Las Casas and Katie Davis. From their FAQ they describe the need for a Picture Book Month: In this digital age where people are predicting the coming death of print books, picture books (the print kind) need love. And the world needs picture books. There’s nothing like the physical...

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Keeping My PLN Organized

During a training recently I was talking about the blogs I follow and the people I follow on Twitter. The question was asked, "How do you find time to read all that?" The answer is I don't! Currently I have 80 blogs across a variety of topics that I am following. I am also following 69 people on Twitter. Neither of these numbers are outlandish. I would even guess that they are anemic compared...

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PLN - Blogs

My journey to become a Connected Educator began when I started at a new school and was tasked with getting their new set of iPads up and running. I hadn't used iPads in the classroom before so I had no idea where to begin to help teachers integrate them. So I did what I always do - I Googled it!  BLOGS I came across a very inspiring blog, Teaching Like It's 2999 by Jennie Magiera,...

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My Librarian Told Me to Get Tissues

My school librarian told me I would need tissues also. When I checked out the book, she said I should make sure to have a box of tissues with me too. I chuckled and said sure. I'm not the crying type, but I am an emotional guy. Still, I knew I wouldn't need tissues. I had been wanting to read Sharon Draper's Out Of My Mind for a long time. I heard wonderful things about it from my Twitter feed....

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PLN - Twitter

Sometime during the summer of 2013 I realized that reading blogs was not enough. I had always dismissed Twitter as trivial and wasteful. I didn't care what someone had for lunch or what the last drama was out of Hollywood. But as I read more blogs I discovered I was missing out on a lot of the conversation. These same educators were communicating via Twitter and sharing even more thoughts and ideas. So...

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What's On Your iPad?

I have been busy getting iPads ready for teachers these last few days. I had many decisions to make about what apps to intall. Over the summer I followed several blogs that suggested this app or that app. I made careful notes, recording the name of the app and why. I thoroughly reviewed each app: what was the price, was it engaging, were there in app purchases, how do students get their work off the...

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