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How to manage your workload

11/28/2021

3 Comments

 
At the beginning of 2021, I published a series of posts highlighting key areas for beginning teachers. These featured a wide range of posts like reading, writing, behaviour management - with one being managing workload. 
I shared a little into a way that you can manage your workload and divide your tasks or activities into four categories:
  • urgent and important
  • not urgent and important
  • urgent and not important
  • not urgent and not important
This helps those of you that like to have structure but need it separated a little to help you. 
So I have fancied up my anchor chart and also provided a planning template that can be printed and used to help you categorise your life!
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I have also created a range of Google Keep headers to match this type of format if this is something you are looking to switch too. These are free to download via the link below. 
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Google Keep Headers - for workload

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how_to_manage_your_workload.pdf
File Size: 6999 kb
File Type: pdf
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Stage 1-6 number knowledge presentations

11/21/2021

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❗️Have a laptop? You NEED these digital Stage 1-6 number knowledge presentations 💻

Long awaited & perfect with the freebie of the week….a set of number knowledge presentations that automatically rotate through questions for kiddies! 👌🏼

Use these in your classroom to:
💬 prompt discussion
🧮 as a hot spot or warm up
✅ check on learning
& more!!!

Available individually for each Stage or as a bundle! Perfect for kiddies working on Stage 1-6 of NZ curriculum!

❤️ Love this? Let me know below! ⬇️⬇️
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Code a story

10/24/2020

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A few years ago my friend Michael created these lessons on how to code a Scratch story. I took his lessons and used these in my CRT lessons for digital technology; incorporating English (writing and reading) and Technology (computational thinking). My kids had lots of fun creating their stories and exploring the coding blocks in the creation. 
I was asked recently about some resources that I knew of that could be used to unpack digital technologies in the classroom and remembered this fun lesson! It took a good three-four weeks to teach, as it was broken down into smaller chunks; like you would when you wrote a story. I managed to stumble upon the slides I created for the lessons; making sure I modelled how to do it for the students also in my lessons. 
We used a storyboard planner to plan our stories, I taught my classes the blocks needed in the modelling sessions and then we put the series of lessons together to have a story completed! Lots of fun, and the students loved it!
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Make a copy of the slides I used in these lessons here. 
Scratch lesson - code a story
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Watch more on how to do it exactly with Michaels videos. An informative and clear process on how to make it happen for your class. 
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Seesaw videos

8/14/2020

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With New Zealand going back into lockdown, many teachers are back to using distant or online learning to keep the learning happening. Part of the first lockdown we had here, I shared info on how to create your own sticker books and stickers for Seesaw and motivational rewards. These can be updated each day or based on the activities students complete and be a way of keeping students involved or interested in their learning. 
I have created a video below on how to find and access past Seesaw sticker books; with links to how to create your own sticker book using my template and sticker templates. 

This second video is of the amazing new update to Seesaw! You can now link directly to Seesaw activities for students to complete without having to go through the activity portal. Before it was hard to get students to complete activities online by simply talking about where to go, how to access it and using visuals as prompts. 
Now you don't need that - you can generate the student link and share it with them directly. They get taken straight to the activity to complete and then can fill it in! So easy and handy. Check out my video showing you how to do it!
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Distant learning - how did i run my classroom?

8/12/2020

40 Comments

 
Even though full lockdown was awhile ago for us in New Zealand, with the recent new cases in the community we are looking at the true possibility of a nationwide full lockdown again. I want to do my part and have been asked to share what I did in lockdown before. This post will share roughly what I did and have links to freebies you could use. 
For background knowledge, I teach Year 0-3 students and we were fortunate that all students in my class had access to a device, internet and the online learning we had set up. 
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General online learning - what did I do?
  • We met daily for zoom sessions with me. These were half an hour and were targeted curriculum areas like writing, reading, maths, phonics/word work, art
  • We had themed days where students could wear something, bring something or we would do something fun
  • We had school wide optional morning meetings at 9.00am for 15 minutes to catch up, share news and be together
  • We had school assemblies once a week to share student of the weeks, fun challenges and work we had been doing
  • I ran 1:1 opt in sessions 2 times a week for students to have learning just with me on reading, writing or maths.
What technology did we use?
  • We created a school Google site home learning site where we shared our work and choice boards for students to find and use
  • My class used Seesaw to communicate and share their work from home. This was to share learning activities for students to complete, learning from home and messages to parents to keep in contact
  • I had set up Epic for reading, Teach your monster to read, and Prodigy for learning at home. Other technology apps were optional but those 3 were set up for logins to go out on the first day of lockdown
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How I run it?
My school did a choice board of activities that were similar, but different. I used a must-do, may-do and you pick system where there were certain activities that were a must-do, then some things they could choose from. 
Of course parents were able to choose whether this worked for their students or didn't, and there was no pressure to complete it all. 
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The must-do activities were usually one reading themed, one maths themed, one writing themed and then a check in. There were also two different variations of the choice board which differentiated for needs, with students being able to choose 1, some from both or all options. 
This was a Google slide that was embedded into our Google site and had all the links on it for students to use. There were screenshots of activities and specific key help for parents to be able to support the learning happening. I also talked through this every Monday so students could see the learning that was happening and the activities for the week. 
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How did it go?
Overall I really loved the online learning. Anything technology I thrive off and found it a great opportunity to stretch my learning, change my practice and use technology to enhance learning. Yes it was hard (which I will share below) but I feel my students didn't regress too much in the time we didn't have in class. 
I had 90-100% attendance in every online zoom session, with students being prepared for the session by bringing the materials, being present and engaged online and using technology in a new way we might not have before. The learning was completed regularly by 72% of my students with many doing parts here and there. Of course I wanted them to be happy so there was no expectation for it to HAVE to be done. The 1:1 sessions were always booked each week and were used to target students in discussion with parents. 

Any downsides?
Yes of course there were some which every teacher faced!
  • Time - there wasn't enough to do your job justice. Yes I feel like I did all that I could with what I had but of course time to do more would have been great
  • Differentiation for all levels like you would do in class is hard. Group work was harder to achieve but Seesaw did help make this happen - thanks to Seesaw for being amazing!
  • Ensuring students were engaged in the learning and making the most of who I was as a teacher. I wanted to help them all achieve and found a HUGE amount of pressure on me to do a great job. Especially in those half an hour zoom sessions!
  • I missed my kids! Man I missed them a lot!
Want even more ideas and in depth on what I did? Check out my online PLD recording that I ran in April!
Freebies for your online learning
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Zoom activities sheets with ideas for teachers! 

There are 5 in this pdf idea pack that can be used to support other online ideas you might have. 
Zoom rules
This zoom rule sheet was helpful for my students to know the expectations and what was meant to be done. 
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Weekly overview chart
This is a Google Slides template that can be used as your overview for your students. What is the theme, what is the focus and what will you need. 
Seesaw check in templates
Using Seesaw and looking for check in templates? Here are a range of examples covering different ideas. These can be added to your Seesaw library via the links. 
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Eye Spy with my little eye freebie
This can be used on Seesaw or Google classroom. Based on first initial sounds and then also items for them to find. 
Letter fitness
This is a great way to get students moving and recognising letters. I used this in a zoom session and was lots of fun.
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Home learning sticker book
This sticker book was a great online sticker motivation for my students. They got stickers for different aspects of work they completed and were assigned via Seesaw. 
Need more Seesaw help? Check out my Youtube channel for PLD recordings and online tips. 
40 Comments

5 simple ideas to use Google apps in your classroom

6/17/2020

1 Comment

 
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Google apps are a great tool to use in the classroom - regardless of your age of students. They are free to use, multi-purpose and allow for creative opportunities in the classroom. Google incorporates a range of apps like docs, sheets, slides, drawings, sites and more! Each of these can be used in many different ways depending on your age and students you teach. Here I will share five simple ideas for using Google in your classroom! 

1. Google forms
Google forms are a great tool for gathering voice, ideas and surveys. A multi-purpose tool that can be designed for lots of different learning opportunities. Some ways are:
  • Morning check ins
  • Collecting data
  • Maths time
  • Student choice in learning
  • Workshops
  • Fun tests​
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I have used Google forms for lots of different curriculum areas, especially in maths or data gathering. I love using it to gather voice and then create data sheets to show the information that is displayed. Check out a few examples of Google forms in use below. 

2. Voice typing
Voice typing is an amazing tool that can help all students to record and type their learning. You press the voice record and dictate your sentences into your device. Voice typing will record your sentences and type them for you. 
Voice typing is great for students that struggle to write, ELL's, time saver students or teachers, sharing ideas ideas from multiple people and even dictating on the go. 

​Watch this simple video on how it works. 
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3. Google sheets
Google sheets is an amazing hidden gem that can be used in so many different ways. I love how you can present information, share findings and create sheets to document/analyse learning.  I have been exploring different features and tech tips with Google sheets recently that you might find interesting! I want to explore the use of conditional formatting so will share more of that once I have done it!
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4. Emoji bullets
I love using emojis - i use them all the time in my classroom, resources and materials. My kids love helping me choose which ones to use, with their being heaps to choose from! I recently shared about this in my What's 'App'-ening newsletter and made a quick explanation video showing you how to do it also. See it below to add this excitement to your classroom or resources too. 
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5. Google Calendar
Of course a calendar app is a great way to keep your life in line. Google calendar integrates with your other apps, appearing down the right hand side of your dashboard now when using Google apps. You can click on it to add appointments, schedule items, events and more! 
You can even invite others onto your calendar invites and include video conferencing for meetings that are online. It integrates great with Zoom and Google meet. Check out my two handy videos that could help you using Google calendar too. 
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1 Comment

Tech tips - how to turn your writing

6/1/2020

105 Comments

 
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105 Comments

STEAM & STEM activity cards

6/1/2020

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I love STEAM or STEM time (whichever you prefer to say/use) and have created these task cards to bring STEAM or STEM time into your classroom with a fairy tale/nursery rhyme theme. This resource is something I am really passionate about, as are my kids! 
How these have been working is we watch a matching video clip or story from Youtube. We have some thinking and question time to connect with the story and the activity that we will be working on. I then give students the activity prompt and we discuss what it could look like. Of course aspects like class materials need to be talked about especially if there is something you do/don't want students to use while completing the activity. Check out some of the pictures of my class creations with the activities!

STEAM/STEM task cards

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This resource includes five task cards:
  • 3 billy goats gruff
  • Goldilocks and the three bears
  • Cinderella
  • Humpty Dumpty
  • Sleeping Beauty

As my class continues on with these I will release new task cards to this pack! I love using my own resources in class and showing you how I use them so you can get a better picture of them in use! Purchase the full set or check out the freebie here!
Freebie link here!
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Bitmoji desktop - more craze!

5/23/2020

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The bitmoji craze is continuing, this time with desktop backgrounds! These are so fun and just another way of integrating Bitmoji into your lives. You can design these anywhere - on drawings, slides, powerpoint. Done with text boxes, shapes and background colours. 

So fun, easy to personalise & add bitmoji to your computer desktop background. You could combine bitmoji desktop backgrounds with personalised folders too to add more excitement to your desktop. 
I have some templates you can use, simply make a copy on the right, or create your own. 
Make a copy of the templates
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Bitmoji scene - breakout

5/9/2020

1 Comment

 
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If you're using bitmoji scenes, this might take it to the next level with your students!
Some of the objects have links to videos students watch to get letter clues. Each of the successful videos give a letter that is used to unscramble a word! Once they have found all 8 letters, students can unscramble their letters to guess a word, entering it into the google form!
​
Video coming soon on how to make your own!
Want to preview/play mine? bit.ly/canyoufinditbitmojimrsp

Want the template to change/build your own? bit.ly/canyoufindittemplate
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Guest post - learningarchitects.com

5/5/2020

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I was asked by Rob Clarke from Learning Architects to do a guest blog post on their website. I was so honoured and excited as this is my first type of post on a website that isn't my own. In this blog post I talk about using daily check-ins for distance learning. Something I have and continue to use all the time in my programme. I find them hugely valuable and important to gain an insight into the child and their wellbeing. 

Read the blog post below on why I use check-ins plus links to some templates!
Read it here
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Inserting emoji videos

5/3/2020

0 Comments

 
I have now got four videos showing how to insert emojis on an iPad, chromebook on google docs, chromebook on seesaw and macbook! All of these are easy to follow tutorials that show you how to get them inserted. If this is something you didn't know about - then tune in to one of these below to learn how!
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Screen recording & annotation using zoom

4/27/2020

1 Comment

 
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During this lockdown, teachers have needed to adjust, make changes and reflect on practices that have or have not worked for them. Everyday we are learning as professionals what will work for our students online in this distant home learning, and what also is just a complete fail. Communication has been a huge part of this, with many using zoom to connect, teach & continue to build skills with our students. 
I connect with my students daily over zoom for 30 minutes and usually have a theme or focus to the session. These are short fun snippets but do have some actual content in them. ​See an example of my meeting overview here, where I have a theme for the day, focus of the session and then some supplies they need to have handy to help them. 
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In my zoom sessions I do model a lot of my learning so my students can see, hear and have me explain what is happening. This is modelled through my iPad, air played to the session in my zoom. I have found this very helpful in helping connect my students to the learning and also to ensure I am being clear in my learning. 
Check out this video tutorial below that shows you how I use screenshare and annotation apps/software during a zoom conversation. 
1 Comment

Bitmoji scene

4/20/2020

0 Comments

 
I came across this Bitmoji scene from a lady on a facebook group I follow. This amazing idea is such a fun and creative one using your Bitmoji. There was a tutorial that I followed to make my own but then I couldn't find the post again. So I just created my own tutorial instead. Many people are using this for Google classroom, seesaw posts or just updates for students to add excitement or difference. Check out my example below and tutorial you can watch to make your own!
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Seesaw online PLD #2

4/1/2020

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Yesterday I ran the second of my online PLD around Seesaw. This time is was focusing on Seesaw activities, explaining how to find them, save them and create them for yourself. This was modelled via the zoom online recording and recorded for those of you that might not have been able to make it. I also shared a whole lot of recording templates and seesaw activity templates than can be used for creating Seesaw activities. Check out the online recording below and the slide deck attached at the bottom for yourself. 
Get the slide deck here
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    • Home
    • SHOP
      • SHOP ALL RESOURCES >
        • SHOP NEW
        • SHOP NEW FREEBIES
        • SHOP ALL FREEBIES
        • TRENDING RESOURCES
        • SHOP RECENTLY UPDATED
      • Teacher Resources >
        • SHOP TRIBE MEMBERSHIP
        • SHOP PLANNING TEMPLATES
        • SHOP PHYSICAL RESOURCES >
          • READY TO GO RESOURCES
      • Classroom Decor >
        • Flower Power
        • Pink Sunrise
        • Blue Crush
        • Rainbow
        • Simple
      • Literacy >
        • Eye Spy
        • Daily 5
        • Handwriting
        • Phonics
        • Reading
        • Spelling
        • Structured Literacy
        • Writing
      • Maths >
        • All Maths Resources
        • Maths Packs: Stage 1-7 Resources
        • Number Knowledge
        • Strand Packs
      • ICT & Technology >
        • QR Codes
        • Ebooks
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        • Playful Learning
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