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Originally posted on Ed Tech Ideas: There’s a great website called Flipsnack that allows you to create really slick looking flip books from any pdf or jpg file that you have. I use this with third graders so they can publish their writing from Google Docs to their Blogs in a new and fun way.… Read more

I noticed that if I am proactive and act “as if” I am entitled to this or that resource or tool, then it will happen. I just need to state my case. Is it about being confident even when you don’t feel confident? Probably. Does it work? It sure does! Somewhere, a long time ago,… Read more

OK, I am beginning to realize that I am an email junky. Extreme, you say? Hmmm…How do I know I’m addicted? Well, I check my messages numerous times a day, too many to count, on my iPhone and on my personal and work laptops as if the email coming through on each of these devices… Read more

On Thursday of this week, my 5th and 6th grade beginner ESL students and I participated in a Mystery Skype session with a class in Connecticut, USA. This was my first Mystery Skype and I was nervous. In fact, the day before our scheduled session, I emailed my partner teacher to say that I was getting… Read more

What do people mean when they say that a school has a toxic environment? According to a quick google search, toxic is always associated with poison or toxins. It is harmful and unhealthy. So, when a school’s environment “goes toxic” whose job is is to cure it? Who is responsible for this outcome? How did… Read more

Natalie Merchant’s new book, hot off the press, with music CD included  Those of us present at Thursday night’s opening session at NCTE were entertained by singer-composer, Natalie Merchant.  It was a spellbinding performance, reminiscent of the bluesy, folksy voice of Janis Ian. Merchant has taken the poetry of British and American poets of the 19th and… Read more

Teachers do many jobs during the duration of our professional lives, some of which are not part of our job descriptions.  We maintain focus on several things at once, wear many hats at any given time, engage in professional learning on our own, and come back to do it all over again at the start… Read more

        A couple of days ago, I listened to a spiritual leader talk about how we “terrorize” our minds by building up a case against people we don’t like or don’t see eye to eye with.  She said, “It’s not them but it’s our thoughts about them that terrorize us.”  It could… Read more

In a recent post, Stacey at Two Writing Teachers, wrote about choosing one word to live by during the coming year and challenged her readers to consider one word for themselves, as well. Go to http://bit.ly/tkIFle to read her post and to add a comment. I wrote that my little word for the coming year… Read more

I know all about the KISS Principle. I know that it’s best to keep things simple at first so that you can go deeper later on. I know that kids need time to play around with ideas long enough to figure things out on their own. I know all of this and yet… I forget… Read more