Little Bits of Tech (Part 2) - Evernote

Evernote has become a major part of my teaching and my students learning and this post is probably one that will have follow ups as I learn more and more about this fantastic tool.

The best thing for me about Evernote is that

Catch Up Time

It has been such a busy few months and I haven't really posted much at all. I am in the process of working on a new series of blog posts titled 'Little Bits of Tech' where I share my knowledge and experiences of using a variety of ICT tools in the classroom. The first post about using Google Drive is up now, so check it out here.

For now I guess I will update what I have been up to.

Little Bits of Tech (part 1) - Google Drive

I have learnt over time that people sometimes struggle to adapt to new technologies that are relevant to their industry. I found this to be true from my time working in finance and I am finding it to be true in education as well. I have always loved new technologies and find that by having a go and playing around with it, I am able to quickly learn new things (sometimes useful and sometimes not so).

I thought then that it would be a good idea to talk about the types of technology I have been using this year (so far) and how I have found it. First of all is Google:

"Because I'm Happy"

I was recently asked to be involved in the making of a motivational video for a young girl in the US that suffers a very rare medical condition.

Of course, being able to do something that makes someone happy made me jump at the chance. As a result, with the help of Bec Spink we got my year 3 class to make a video so that we

Where are we going?

It's Easter Sunday and i'm half way through the school holidays. I am sitting in front of my computer just thinking of something to write about with the hope that inspiration will come along and smack me in the face. Of course, it's never that simple but I like to believe that it will.

It's a peculiar Easter because it is the first one since I moved to Melbourne and my kids have gone home to their mums for the school break. It is oddly silent in the house and I am finding that I don't actually know what to do with myself.

I get itchy feet staying at home all day - I don't like it. I like to get

Little Victories

It is so heartening to see your students making big strides in their learning.

Today, during a writing task I stopped to check over one students work. This student is not the best speller and is quite messy, so I have been giving him little pointers over the past few weeks on ways he might be able to improve. His work has been so bad that I cannot read it at all and he even struggles to interpret for me when reading aloud.

My first goal for him a few weeks ago was to

Meet the Parents

Recently, I had my first 'meet the teacher' evening at school. I was rather surprised that, as a graduate teacher I was not briefed on what to expect and left much to my own devices to feel my way through the evening. Each parent was only assigned ten minutes to discuss their child so I figured it couldn't be too bad and was happy to just 'go with the flow'.

For the benefit of any new teachers out there I can say that it is vital that your

Tweet Dreams

I was given a great opportunity last week when the multi-talented Bec Spink offered to help me introduce Twitter to my grade 3 class. I had initially spoken to her and other teachers about ways to introduce it and how best to link it to their learning but felt a little unsure of myself. 

It is no longer ok for teachers to

The Moment?

This weeks #YourEdustory challenge is; "What was the defining moment you decided to be a teacher?". Being that I was the one that decided on the topic, I thought it best that I actually write about it. 

Affirmation: "I believe in my ability to change the world with the work that I do."- Louise Hay

I remember when I was younger, standing in

Great Expectations

It's really nice to hear your students tell you that you are the best teacher they have ever had. I mean, who doesn't love to be told they are tops? We are only in our third full week of the school year, so have I given them false expectations of what the rest of the year will be like? I certainly hope not. 

The first couple of weeks of a school year is all about