This year I really want to find joy in each day. I want to hold myself accountable to this by using Twitter to share positive, exciting, or interesting things that happen in school. Here we go...

Today I remembered how much I cherish the opportunity to be apart of the Unified Arts team because I get to know all students. My heart is full after seeing so many smiling faces return to school today.

Today’s joy comes from the fact that I finally have every student’s password reset and that kiddos get their iPads tomorrow!

The best part of today was seeing @PatsyHetz! I’m so thankful for her continuous help and support. BCS is beyond blessed to have her!

I really don’t want to jump the gun and jinx myself but the handheld scanner for the 3rd grade breakfast line worked everyday this week.

First Monday of the school year and we ended the day with our first #MentorMonday Today we talked Elements of Learning and played iPad Bingo. I’m excited to see these new teachers soar! #BCSFutureReady #PotomackAIR

Today was the first Tech Tip Tuesday! I’m hoping to send out quick video style tech tips to faculty and staff every Tuesday that will help with workflow and productivity. #BCSFutureReady

My favorite thing today was how students in a 4th grade class jumped right into helping new students who are new to iPads. We’ve got to work on teaching, not touching but I know it’s because they were just so excited!

The best line today came while introducing the trading card we were going to make in Keynote. A young lady told me that she knows all about Keynote because she was in @Strelick2_BCS’s class & used it a bunch. @K_B_Worthington @PatsyHetz

The past 2 school years my schedule has me eating lunch by myself so it was great to go to dinner after school with former 5th grade teammates. Much needed adult conversation and lots of laughter!

Some days walking 3rd graders through basic iPad skills feels daunting. Today I’m thankful for 4th and 5th graders. I can see how much work we did last year. Their creativity and ability to problem solve makes my heart so happy.

The best part of today was seeing some of the county tech team come in and out of my room as they worked to get WiFi back up and running!

Today a little one who struggled with impulse and staying on task yesterday beamed with excitement about what she was able to create today. Always give kids another chance.

Today my school celebrated Grandparent’s Day. A few students were so excited to show me photos of them with their grandparents.

In every class we have, at least 1 kid asks when they can start checking out books. I’ve never seen kids so excited to use the library and I can’t wait to be apart of helping kids find books they love.

Today a kid looked at me, and with a very seriously tone said he knew my brother. It threw me off because he called him by his full name, which we never use. I sometimes forget that my baby brother is now the age of the kids I teach.

I always wondered if my post 9/11 students understood the significance of today. This morning a 5th grader asked if we were going to have the same conversations with the 3rd graders. She was worried about the weight of the topic and thought it was too much. So yeah, they get it.

Today my lovely hand held device for 3rd grade breakfast wasn’t scanning fingers so I had to manually search for each kid. It’s a bit stressful but I actually love getting to learn their names. Kids smile a little bigger when you greet them by name.

There’s a few kids who are not on the same verbal and cognitive level as their peers that I struggle to find tasks for. Today I sat with one, listening to a book on Epic, turning pages & repeating a few lines. I’ve never seen them focused that long in any setting. Amazed!

Media Center scavenger hunt! Students practiced using the digital catalog to search for books and locate them on the shelves.

Loving the Fatheads our new PE teachers have added to the gym. They have plans to use them with their classroom management and organization. I love having teammates that are willing to try new things!

One thing I love about being a “specials teacher” is that if something doesn’t work, I don’t have to wait until the next year to try it again. I can immediately change it for the next class. I love getting to be flexible and think on my feet.

Today was great because I got to see @PatsyHetz again and hear all about the exciting things teachers are trying!

Today I worked on the template for our Coding books where students will record and reflect on their coding journey. I can’t wait to use @AppleEDU coding curriculum this year!

Today’s positive & exciting thing is that this cutie started preschool today!

Today is the big day - Students in 4th and 5th grade were able to check out books today!

Techpert applications opened today. How can I not hire these two kiddos!?

Today I was sitting with a group of 4th gd boys & talking about the NFL Quaterback book they had picked. I was telling them how many of them are in the HOF. They had no clue what it is & were super into researching more about it. I love these kind of moments with kids.

Only made it through one class this morning before I had to pick this little beauty up. Today I’m thankful for having sick days to use.

Our Unified Arts team got together during our planning and had some good conversation about curriculum we are trying to imbed across all our content areas. Sometimes I’m not sure how to be a leader on this team so I’m hoping this is a start.

Me: Hey, does it hurt to wear your headphones w/o the foam?

S: No, my ears are pretty comfortable.

Said student then proceeds to bend and flap his ears to show me how comfortable they are. I laughed too much.

This child may or may not belong to @jessica_salfia

Yesterday I assigned a student lunch detention. Today we were able to talk, figure out the problem, and move on. It can take work but building relationships with kids is always worth it. There is no way I could do my job if I didn’t intentionally build relationships.

Found these sweet girls buddied up, reading the same book and the other kiddo exploring and creating in Tynker.

After learning about developers we helped our classmates order the sequence of events that happens when we brush our teeth. #AppleEDU #LearnToCode

PS- the expressions in this photo might just be the best part of my day

When introducing coding to kids we always talk about the fact that failure is okay. Most of the time it is inevitable. My absolute favorite thing is giving them a safe place to fail.

Today a 4th grader proclaimed his knowledge of all things iPad. I made sure to put him to the test as he helped me lead the class through some settings changes. You could see his confidence growing and the class was totally engaged with him.

Today I finished setting up the new Apple TV’s our school ordered. I’m thankful for our Admin who invested in 6 new Apple TV’s this year!

Check out these awesome new flexible seating choices that my co-teacher picked out! No surprise that they are already a popular choice.

The best part of today was working with some of the best people!

Learners catch on quickly when you show them a feature that empowers them and helps them take control of their learning! I love what Speech-to-Text can do for our emerging readers and writers. #AppleEDU

Green Screening with iMovie Lately when it comes to technology, I am apart of giving the PD so it was refreshing to be on the receiving end this afternoon. I’m thankful that @BerkCoSchoolsWV continues to invest in the technology investments they have made!

Today, and everyday, I’m thankful for the hard work our Aides put it. I don’t think I truly saw it until I moved out of the traditional classroom. They work crazy schedules and are always there for so many kiddos. I couldn’t do my job without them!

Today every class got to preview our upcoming book fair. They were so excited to circle the books they hope to buy. My heart hurts knowing some of them won’t be able to afford any. My mind is racing with ideas to put books in every kids hands. #LetThemRead #MakeBooksAccessible

While the book fair is being unpacked, fifth grade used the flyer to create a budget. Some of these kiddos have expensive taste when it comes to books!

My schedule recently changed and I work a new lunch shift. I was honestly sad about it because I had bonded with so many of my lunch kids. Today was the first day of the new schedule. While 3rd graders are slightly more needy, it was still a nice change.

More coding fun! 3rd and 4th grade created secret handshakes and dances as they worked on sequencing. 5th graders helped each other with debugging #LearnToCode #AppleEDU

Today I’m thankful for lunches with @PatsyHetz

Reflecting on why debugging is an essential process when coding. Students had the option to write or audio record their responses. #EveryoneCanCode

The best part of today was definitely letting @MrsSteshoski’s class have a dance party

Today is Tech Tip Tuesday and honestly I’m just surprised that I remember to make one every week.

This morning I got to drop into a class and show them iMovie’s awesome new green screen features. I ended my day laughing away with a class of 5th graders. Sometimes laughter is the best medicine.

Today’s good thing is the arrival of the coding/tech related books I ordered. I’m also super excited to try out these Sphero Specdrums!

Yesterday I introduced a project, we were focused &there were minimal ?s. Today we continued the project & there were 1 million ?s. Most being answered with “What did you try?” Only to get replies of . These long days will be worth it when those problem solving skills kick in.

My favorite things from today: seeing kiddos helping one another and looking over to see a whole group enjoying flexible seating options.

Today I offered an optional activity while the class was looking for books. My little room was full of wide-eyed little ones eager to learn more. I wish I had more time with them because they were totally rocking it.

Today a student wanted to show the class what he had learned at home (How to add animations in Keynote). He learned this on his own and was able to give wonderful directions as he walked his peers through it. I love seeing what kids are capable of when they aren’t afraid to try!

Today a kid put a post-it on his forehead. Written on it was “Hey Friends.” I read it aloud and he goes “Yeah, you always say that.” I didn’t realize that I say it so often that it’s ‘my thing’ but I kinda like it.

This week we’ve been completing our Olweus Bullying Survey which isn’t exactly the most exciting thing in the world. Today when we finished we broke out the Sphero Specdrums for a little exploring and fun!

Check out this scene I captured today. I love teaching kids to be innovative and how to be problem solvers. I also love knowing they are learners no matter what resources they have.

Today as we explored scenarios of social media use I was reminded of one of my favorite parts about teaching 5th grade - being able to have open & honest convos with them about real life topics.

Today we started a read aloud series focused on digital citizenship and internet safety. These 4th graders were so engaged that they asked to browse the book the 5th graders got to hear.

Today when discussing digital responsibility and what to do if you found someone phone..a student shared how if you have an iPhone you can set up your medical ID to help someone identify you and return your phone to you. I was so happy he knew this because most adults don’t know.

Check out our state of the art recording studios!

Today students answered Digital Citizenship Discussion questions using Clips and audio recordings. I’m so excited that @TeChKnOwTeAcH01 got to check out our fun today! #BCSFutureReady

Today two Techperts got to work with @PatsyHetz to create tutorials to be shared with other teachers across @BerkCoSchoolsWV #BCSFutureReady

Scenes like this make my heart happy!

Today I got to help Miss Wagoner’s clas with their green screen news cast. The girls are filming & the boys are scanning a QR code with video directions on how to complete the iMovie. These kids were awesome to work with!! They were prepared jumped right in to help their peers.

Honestly today was just a really good day to be back at school. Lots of smiles and laughs. Oh yeah, and lots of learning!

When you find out a class has an Elf on the Shelf you whip up a quick Elf Tracker for the kiddos. Each day they will document the date, a photo of the Elf, and a sentence describing what it did that day.

The best part of today was checking out VR with a kiddo and planning how they could add it to their project. Thanks @kmcdaniel27 for having such a cool kid that comes to school with cool tech toys!

Today 3rd grade rocked their Dewey Decimal Classification sort!

Today I found these boys praying over a broken AirPod. I’m happy to report that it was fixed. The best part was their response when their prayers were answered

Today we kicked off #HourOfCode. Loved seeing these kiddos help each other find success! – at Scoop-A-Licious & More

More coding fun today! 5th grade worked on For Loops, Loopy Snake, and Dragon Spells. 3rd and 4th grade explored flexible sequences in Space Cadet. @gotynker #HourOfCode #AppleEDU

What did we do today? You guessed it - more coding! My favorite part of today was seeing our librarian, Ms. Burch, get in on the coding action!

Hour of Code is still going strong! Today kiddos got creative in selecting their workspace.

Favorite part of today was definitely the student who said even when she is having a bad day, things are better when she gets to talk to me. I can’t emphasize enough how much relationships are with it.

Today a student asked me what it meant when someone used air quotes. It reminded me how young my students are and how much they are still learning about the world and how we communicate with one another.

Today our team planned a reward activity for every class. It was nice to give them a treat and let them relax and enjoy themselves.

Today was our first day back after a long winter break. It went by so quickly. It was honestly a good day with kids.

Today I talked to a new student who just moved here from PR. He said his family moved here for a better life. He has family where the recent earthquakes happened. Today he saw snow for the first time. Today’s a really big day for a young kid. Remember they all have a story.

A student and I had a long running joke about her to California and how she was going to pack me in her bags. After a year she finally went on her trip. Today she proudly showed me pictures of her adventures and was absolutely beaming.

If you teach 1 kid to instant alpha, their friends will all want to know how they did it. #AppleEDU

Split screening the same app changes the game! I love that I can have one Keynote open with directions up while still being able to AirDrop students the documents they need. It’s an added bonus when students are trained to AirDrop it themselves.

Today was a first for me - sibling rivalry in the classroom. How do you handle behavior that is typical between siblings but you wouldn’t want between peers? They situation ended with “don’t worry, I’ll tell my parents when I get in the car”

In class we have been watch a video about MLK and I’m honestly amazed at how many kids think he ended slavery.

Today I noticed a student was all dressed up in western wear. Turns out he dressed up for a project they were working on with covered wagons. I went down to check it out & he had the most amazing homemade wagon complete with a hand stitched cover. Pictures coming tomorrow!

A 3rd grader has been bugging me to share her video she made on how to screen record. Today we showed her class and later I created a QR code. Hoping to start a collection of student created how-to’s and tech tips.

Today I made plans with a teacher for a green screen video project in the next few weeks. I’m excited to get creative with the kiddos and it’s exactly what I needed to get me out of the funk I’ve been in lately.

Today the Kindness Club delivered treats to the teachers! It was a perfect way to bring a smile to everyone’s face #PotomackAIR @BerkCoSchoolsWV

The MLK Nearpod with VR was a hit this morning! In the afternoon these 3rd graders loved exploring the new logic and critical thinking activities.

Today these 3rd graders worked on sequencing & loops while 5th grade worked on composition and decomposition of code.

Today after taking pictures of Ss who were dressed up for their wax museum, I made a big mistake. I asked Ss to check their pics to make sure they liked them and I would retake as needed. More than half the class raised their hands. The Ss posed again but many changed nothing

Spotting this in the hall today absolutely made my day!

For the third time this week I’ve spent my planning subbing in a classroom where the teacher was out sick. Yesterday I got to teach math and today we were revising animal research papers. Days like today make me miss the classroom.

Remembering that we do this for the kids.

Bringing 3rd grade wax museums to life! Last week we took pictures with the green screen. Today we used Instant Alpha in Keynote and added audio recordings. Up next - video exports & QR codes!

This week we’ve been asking students to share their favorite book titles and authors for a small project. Watching them get excited and share their favorite with others is the best.

Today a few of our classes started designing bookmarks inspired by a poem we read aloud. I gave them a template and one simple parameter - they couldn’t use anything from the internet. What some of them created in 15 minutes is honestly amazes me.

Do you ever have moments where you just sit with kids and you’re real and open with them and just talk about things that aren’t related to content? Honestly those moments where you connect with kids are my favorite.

Worked with another class on the first step of adding technology to their wax museum project. Can you who this student is dressed up as?

I asked these boys what they were up to with this seating arrangement and they informed me that they were riding in a Lamborghini Tesla that was currently driving in autopilot. Okay, whatever works

Padlets to showcase student created bookmarks are up and running. Loving two of these entires submitted today!

I’ve got a 3rd grade friend that tells me the best jokes. Her delivery is what seals the deal every time. Everyday she has a new one that leaves me laughing.

The best part of today? Two kids went out of their way to stop by and wish me a good weekend. Thinking of how much this meant to me reminds me of how much it means to kids when roles are reversed.

Dropped the ball yesterday so let’s get caught back up! Yesterday we returned from a 4 day weekend- I’m cautious about asking students how their weekend went so I told each kid in my breakfast line how excited I was that they were here today. Their faces lit up in the best way

Today’s good thing was spending time with @lindacbr watching some of our kiddos play indoor soccer. Teachers make the best cheering section!

Remember those boys who pretended the large scoop chairs were a car? Today they conveniently had a car crash when it was time to clean up

Today was a tough one but I’m thankful for compassionate kids.

Love catching kids use features that make their workflow easier!

Sent invitations to my Techperts today for our Genius Bar planning meeting and by the ending of the day I had a few sweet boys buzzing with ideas. I’m excited to hear what they come up with!

As the Penny War winner today I got to dress like a cow!

What an exciting Friday! Our Techpert team had several different meetings as they plan our Genius Bar. Students in Mrs. Benson’s class finished up their wax museum videos.

@Strelick2_BCS Recognize this sweet friend?! Today she was saying she learned so much about the iPad from you and @PatsyHetz & about how we got to present at Shepherd. I said yeah girl, that was a year ago today and I was there Said you’re her favorite and she misses you!

Yesterday I was covering for a 3rd grade class and got to read aloud a few chapters of Because of Winn Dixie. At the end of the 2 chapters, one young lady complimented my accent which was so funny to me because I didn’t realize I was doing it!

This month I’ve joined up with our PE teachers on a March Madness project. Today our 3rd and 4th graders absolutely rocked the beginning of their logo design. I can’t wait to see their final product!

The best part of today was definitely working with @MrsSteshoski’s class. I loved seeing them help each other and can’t wait for their finished product!

Yesterday was a wild day but it reminded me of how many people are out here trying to do what’s best for kids. Today I’m looking forward to a day filled with focused on intentional, focused discussions as we prepare for the unknown.

Want to see something amazing? I’ve watched this number climb all day. Thanks to @ClassDojo our teachers have been able to have open lines of communication with families during the first day of school closure.

I’ve ignored this thread since we transitioned for distance/crisis learning. Time to get back to finding the good thing in each day!

Personally, it’s been tough for me to digitally connect with kids because I see all 900. Today I got to Zoom with a class that had some technology questions. It was great to hear and see them. I honestly forgot how much they can make me laugh.

Yesterday I finally brought my laptop outside after the kids begged to go outside all morning. It was the most productive I’ve been in a while because they actually let me work.

Today I had 2 Zoom sessions and honestly it was just nice to see familiar faces and to talk to adults.

Slacking again on this thread. It’s been a tough 3 days getting everyone back on schedule...

Sometimes I feel my position is delicate. There are so many great resources to share but if we are all honest, it’s likely we all need to scale back. I just want to share things that are going to make everyone’s experience easier. I want to be able to help kids again.