Autism Acceptance Month

I have been so lucky to have worked with so many amazing students, family, parents, and staff that are all on different journeys.  I spent 12 years in a LIFE (Living in a Functional Environment) classroom and I was always truly amazed by what every student could do without any limits of whatever their ability might be.

My word has been and always will be BELIEVE.  We need to BELIEVE in every student that enters our classroom.  We need to BELIEVE in every person that we come in contact with.  I have a heart for all kiddos, but a big piece of my heart has been for students/people with autism.

I have appreciated that many families are now considering April to be Autism Acceptance Month.  I love my friend Aimee's blog  for this month.  The most important thing that I have learned from the families and students I have come in contact with.... is that EVERYONE has differences.

I LOVE what @venspired always shares.  Check out her website here

So, this month.. I would like to give back.   So many students have given me so much in the way of learning, accepting and being a better person.. I would like to give back.  Yes, I volunteer, but I would also like to give back monetarily.  I have 2 fundraiser parties open right now.  My goal is 22 Buy 3 Get one Free! When the parties reach $500 I will match the donation.

Support Turning Point Christian Academy- check out the Jamberry Fundraiser Here
Support National Autism Association- check out the Jamberry Fundraiser Here

If you participate in supporting these fundraisers.. I will have a drawing at the end of this month for a $25 gift card.

Verso Learning

Have you ever had one of those years where you have about 5000000 blog ideas running around in your head, but then it takes you at least 3 months to get one written?  Welcome to my life lately!

Let's take a moment to travel back in time to TCEA15 in February....

TCEA always offers so many opportunities for me to connect with fellow educators, learn about the latest tools and meet cutting edge companies.

Many of my friends have joined the Flipped Classroom idea and Verso Active Learning is an amazing platform to get started in.

During the lunch I attended I was able to easily log onto the app as a student and join the classroom that was created.  

Things I loved on the student end:
-The ease of joining the classroom across various devices
-The importance of student voice.  Many times students will wait to answer prompts or questions, Verso uses anonymity when answering prompt.  Being a special educator I had many students who would not answer questions for this very reason.  I love this part!
-The ease of the teacher being able to track all of the comments and information coming in from the various classes/students.

In creating my own class through Verso I was excited to see how streamlined and easy it was to maneuver between classes, information and my dashboard.  Working in the education field my time is very limited and having access to all that I need at my fingertips is a great plus.

Things I love on the teacher end:

-The data that it gives me. I know that many teachers become overwhelmed with data, but good data allows us to be better teachers and also for our students to grow.

-The voice that it gives students.  How can a teacher not love student voice.. and this platform allows for students to feel more open to answering and commenting.

-Did I mention the ease?  This platform is super easy to use. You can connect it with your Google account.  You can also record on the go (which if you know me.. being mobile is a HUGE deal!)

I look forward to learning more about Verso Learning.   Have you used Verso and how has it changed your classroom?

#NTTBF15

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the North Texas Teen Book Festival. Now, when I put this on my calendar.. I really had NO IDEA how awesome it would be!  I had received an invite from one of my favorite friends (a young woman who I used to nanny for.. and is graduating this year!)  The Festival took place just down the street from my house and when we walked in I thought.. oh.. I am just going to spend a couple of hours and then head back to the house.. I could not have been more wrong.

The festival had a robust schedule of author panels, book speed dating, book sales and the end of the day an awesome book signing.  Did I mention that it was FREE?

I dropped my counterparts in the Book Speed Dating area (To attend the book speed dating, attendees had to have a wristband to attend.  The wristband got them into the area where they chose a table and learned about 4 or 5 different books.. and then were able to choose the one that spoke to them the most.)  I headed to my first panel.

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Explore dystopian and science fiction futures.

Jessica Brody, Patrick Carman, Ally Condie, Alex London, Brendan Reichs, Brian Yansky, and moderated by Jenny Martin

I admit it.. my favorite books are young adult books and I love series.  I sat on this panel because I am loving Patrick Carman's books.  (I might or might not have gone through the line and purchased the Pulse, Tremor and Quake)  After sitting in on this panel.. I backtracked through the line and picked up Alex London's books Proxy and Guardian.

I had a chance to sit in on one more session One Story at a Time: Discuss the challenges and freedoms of writing stand alones with Adi Alsaid, Karen Harrington, Claire Legrand, Julie Murphy, Sara Zarr, Jennifer Ziegler and moderated by Carson Thompson

This panel really made me take a second look at the stand alone books.  It was great to hear the authors talk about how they plan out books and how they plan out characters.

My Top 5 Take Aways from #NTTFB15

5. The volunteers that put this on where AMAZING!  There were so many librarians and teachers that had brought groups of students.  Did I mention that it was the Saturday of spring break?  I attend conferences often where I am googly eyed over the different presenters. It was so amazing to see these students/kids so engaged in the author panels.. who gets a chance like that?

4. The panels were fantastic.  There were so many options with so many awesome authors.  These authors really knocked it out of the park (at least the ones that I had a chance to view) 

3. The students that were there.  At each panel they opened up the floor to questions from the audience. The questions that these students came up were AMAZING!  They were so well thought out and such good questions.  It also takes a ton of courage to get up and ask a question.

2. The joy of all attendees.  It was PACKED for this event (I mean, there were buses lined up dropping kids off)  The excitement and book conversations that I overheard were wonderful.  I am an avid gadget girl, but I love the feel of a real book.  There were thousands of young adults, students, and adults alike with their arms full of books and having conversations about all of the topics.

1. "The worst writing I have ever done, is better than the best writing I have never done." said by Alex London.  These authors inspired young learners (and adult learners) how powerful it is to share their work no matter if it is good or bad.  That it is important to be rejected, because that only makes you better.  

Tomorrow I head for #SXSWedu where I will be talking about digital storytelling.  Being a teacher of children with various disabilities I learned how important it is for everyone to have a chance to share their story.. whether it be digital or paperback.  

Thank you #NTTFB15 for an absolutely wonderful event.  I want to volunteer next year!  Happy Reading! I leave you with the lines to get books signed. This just proved that books are awesome and authors are rockstars

Selfie with Alex London

Selfie with Patrick Carman

A great article about it from the Dallas News.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

I know that I start most of my blogs/posts/statements out that I have the coolest parents. I really do have the coolest parents though... I mean.. my dad is SANTA!  This year he is even on a blanket, puzzle, gift bag and card.. You can find them at Boot Barn.   To make sure that I am on the Nice List... I am having a Jamberry Give Away!

#TexasSanta 2013

Just fill out this Rafflecopter!  I will be choosing a name on Friday December 19th to make sure that #texassanta doesn't have me on a Naughty List!

This is what I will be sporting next week!

Now, there is not enough time to order to get them in time for Christmas... BUT you can still order a Gift Card for that special someone!  Want to check out the full catalog.. check out my site! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Holidays!

Tis the season to be crafty.  With the hustle and bustle of my normal schedule, the holidays are my FAVORITE time of year.  My family has always impressed the value of a home made gift... but I chalk up my craftiness to my Aunt Bettie and my Troop leader Nuglet (Nancy Huntington).  Last week my Aunt Bettie passed away, but some of my best memories was learning to do crafty things.. singing fun songs.. and just being with the greatest family.  I know that I have had said this before, but I am super lucky to have a ton of amazing people in my life that continually shape me into the woman that I am.

So, this blog will be overloaded with craftiness.. and done with loving memory of Nuglet and Aunt Bettie. (now, with all that being said.. my crafts are never perfect.. and they are full of cheese.. but I sure do enjoy making them!)

First.. the annual Christmas ornament.  We also created something for family members growing up, but my first year teaching I wanted to make sure that every teacher got something in their box for the holidays.  So.. I make sure to make almost 100 ornaments every year (you can't leave out the awesome cafeteria ladies and custodians!)  This year I got my inspiration from By Stephanie Lynn (you can find the original post here) not going to lie.. this is probably the easiest ornament that I have made in a while.

Materials needed: yarn (and.. the little bit more expensive yarn does work better!) ornament balls (the blog recommends Styrofoam balls but I found these ornaments on sale and when you are making 100 you get creative!) thin black ribbon and silver glitter puffy paint.

Have I mentioned I am a little partial to Santa Claus :) Now, the one tough part of this whole ornament was actually wrapping the ornaments with the yarn was a little hard when you first started because the ornament was so smooth and not an actual ball because of the top part.

 This last week was also Secret Santa.. which means another time for me to have a chance to do some crafts!  I did the regular things like leaving sodas and little trinkets in her box, but I was pretty pleased with  my larger items.

Did I mention that my Secret Santa took great care of me too? I was SO spoiled this week!

What is your favorite thing to do during the holidays? Do you have any traditions?

Tech Bulletin Board

A couple of weeks ago our Destination ImagiNation teams were working on team names for their groups this year.  One of our team managers grabbed a sticky note to write our team name... and we all LOVE DI, but I do have to admit.. this is pretty fantastic!

Anyway, I posted several pictures a few weeks ago about my giant bulletin board I have outside my classroom.. and wanted to share what I do with it.

My board is divided into 3 sections- Solve, Connect and Tech Words and Info

The solve corner has a monthly challenge for students to complete along with a graph.  I invite students to draw a slip of paper from their grade level, answer the question using the graph, and then add it to the answer envelope.  The graph changes every other week.  I then divide the correct answers by grade level and draw one winner (they get some trinket from my prize box)

The Connect portion of the board has a giant map and each time a class connects their class name goes on the roster with how many miles it is from our school.

The tech words that I chose for this month was the app I was training teachers about and also a word from the technology TEKS (both of these were also involved in the solve challenge) The info also has the monthly challenge for teachers and will also have information for students.

Tomorrow I am training students for the Flight Crew (this will be my tech kids that will be in charge of laptops for the classroom) and next week I will be starting the Flight Program.  Lots coming up!

Do you have a bulletin board for your tech?  What do you showcase on it?  Do you train elementary students to help with computers?  Do you have clubs for technology?

Happy New Year

Well, to me it is a Happy New Year!  My years go right in stride with school years!

I have so much to blog about, because so much has been going on.. but if you follow me in other social media areas, I am sure that you can figure that out :)

This year I have started my second year as Instructional Technology Specialist... and let me tell you what a wild ride this year has been already!  I am also mentoring 2 lovely brand spanking new LIFE teachers.. along with team managing Destination ImagiNation and doing all of my other odds and ends that I tend to take on!

But, this post is about my word of the year.  For the last couple of years I have tried to come up with a word that will help me get through the year.  This year is Strength

There are lots of changes going on in my world.. and I think that Strength is super appropriate for this year... not only in school, but also in my life.  So, this year I will have Strength no matter what obstacles I might have.. I can be persistent.  So, I was thinking about this year.. and decided this year I needed a song as well.  My amazing friend Todd Nesloney shared this song by Shawn McDonald.. and it is PERFECT!

I have to remind myself that no matter what might be happening in my life.. that I need to have Strength.. and stay Brave!

I know that you are all waiting for my goals for this year!

-Blog at least once a month.  I loved when I was writing weekly, but I don't know if I can even begin to make that commitment (but watch as soon as I post this blog that I start writing weekly!)

-Be aware of the the time that I am spending at school.  I haven't gotten into my groove yet for not working 12 hour days.. but hopefully that will all change this next week! I am finally to a point in school where I feel like I can leave before 6 :)

-Be better about sharing my learning this year. (some things that I am going to be working on.. Flight Curriculum.. new Tech Challenges... and lots of global collaboration!)

But.. I think my biggest goal this year is not school related at all.  I want to be caught up on bills.  I know that we all struggle.. but that is one of my biggest goals this year!

Do you have goals for this year?  Do you have a word of the year.. or a song of the year?  Looking forward to to catching back up with my blog this year!