My Journey

Welcome to my journey to create an engaging and innovative classroom.  The job that I hold is my dream job but it has become work.  I realized that I haven't changed with the students and was stuck in the old way of doing things.

The past year I began working closely with my co-worker next door.  We have been doing lessons together, helping each other with behaviors, expectations, weakness and strengths.  I am tech savy and he is student oriented.  I am data driven and he is interest based.  It has made for a great working relationship.

Next year we plan to do more work together.  I learned about Blended Learning and Project-Based Learning (PBL).  This is the first summer that I have sat and read books. I am on book number 3 now.  I have been going to conferences and participating in workshops to learn more.

Each year I state it will be the year that I will blog more.  I struggle with the written word. Getting my ideas across doesn't always work.  After reading The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros, I realized that I am not reflecting enough and that is part of the reason my job has become work.  I hope to use this blog as a reflection piece for me.

I am hoping to use a combination of blended learning and PBL in my classroom.  I work with students who have disabilities at the high school level.  My students are on the Alternative Assessment for state testing.  We work on basic skills, social skills, and community based skills.  As the year goes on I will continue to update my blog and what I have tried.

Your Digital Dad by Kevin Honeycutt

I got this book last year at Podstock.  I finally have had a chance to read it and I LOVE IT.  This book is a quick read and can be read as a teacher or student.  

Kevin has a powerful story and I was lucky enough to hear him speak and have him help me collaborate on ideas and topics after just meeting him.

Kevin's book has helped me find my passion again.  This book talks about life, making choices, and ways to succeed.   This book will be on my shelf to refer to and reread.  Thank you for such a great book.

Podstock15

I got the privilege of going to Podstock this year.  I went to the pre-con yesterday.  I got to learn about makerspaces and meet some new friends.  

This is way out of my comfort zone.  I am staying with new friends that I meet when I arrived.  I am participating in all the extras and having a blast.

I have so many ideas going through my head.  I can't wait to put them into action in my classroom.  I will blog more after learning in sessions today.

Class Dojo

Hey, I thought you might like this cool new education website!

Check it out at http://www.classdojo.com/

 I use Class Dojo in my classroom to help with tracking IEP goals and behavior in my classroom.  I love the easy to setup and once you use a computer to setup your account you can keep your data using any device.  The reports and comments work best on a computer but students and parents can track data in real time with you.

What are the Most Important Skills for Low Level Students to have?

As I go through this year I am struggling with the skills that I should be working on with students.  I teach at a high school level with students who are severe/profound to mild.   I have lots of thoughts but I'm looking for more than just my opinion.

As I work with my PLC groups, we are looking at some different programs and assessments to help us identify what skills our students have but that only tells me what they know.  How do I know what to teach them next?  

I am looking for suggestions and ideas of what you do in your classroom with your students.

Donor's Choose

I am a faithful follower and user of Donor's Choose.  I have had 3 projects funded from wonderful followers and community members who are trying to help out a great classroom.

I am looking for some more people to help us out.  We have a new project going called Learning Organizational Skills.   We only have 34 days left and need another 614 dollars donated.   Please consider helping us!!!

Check out my Google Presentation

So part of our Summer Tech Challenge was to create a Google Presentation.  I decided that I would take this challenge and use it to create more material for my classroom.  I have embed the presentation below.

Google Presentation is fairly simple to use.  It does not have all the features that powerpoint does but it gets the job done.  I like the fact that it searches for pictures that has copyrights attached although this does limit the pictures that you can use.

I wish that there were more options for slides, transitions, and animations.