Thoughts on the Matter

I was fortunate to be selected as a party host for a SmartGames Tryazon Party.  This has to have been one of my favorite Tryazon parties to have hosted.  These games are AWESOME!  After I opened the package my children swarmed.  They were dying to try them out. My youngest was obsessed (and still is obsessed) with Trucky 3.  Filling the back of dump t rucks with different combinations of blocks.  It is colorful and inviting and great for my four year old. Penguins on Ice was what my 7 year old tried first.  He gave it a good shot, and enjoyed trying it, but I'm fairly certain he was unable to complete the challenge. Quadrillion was probably my favorite.  At first it seemed a bit daunting, trying to figure out how to do the initial set up.  But once I figured it out (I admit, I didn't read the directions on this one) I couldn't get enough.  I love how the game board itself is so versatile that it leads to many different c...

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to host a fantastic Tryazon party featuring products from Pai Technology. Many of my wonderful colleagues stopped by the check out the products. Cubetastic   The Cubetastic was by far the biggest hit.   The product itself is colorful and inviting.  I mean who doesn't love to play with a puzzle cube?  The Cubetastic App was also easy to navigate.  Using the camera feature to scan the cube and then get a step by step play through of how to solve it is pretty awesome. TJ and the Bean Stalk AR Book This product was okay.  The augmented reality was pretty cool.  This wasn't as captivating, perhaps because it was a book and not a cool nifty gadget. Augie Robot Augie was FRUSTRATING . Connecting him to WiFi in order for it to work made me want to pull my hair out.  After several attempts and much wasted time at school I brought him home and was able to connect it to my internet h...

I was fortunate to be selected as a host for a Learning with Lauri Tryazon party and it was by far one of the best received Tryazon parties I have had the pleasure of hosting. When I received the box I did a Instagram live unwrapping and was so excited to have these products in my possession.  My children were also so excited about these products.  They couldn't wait for the party and had to try them out. They absolutely LOVED the Action Stackers Building Set.  They totally dug right in and started to create.  They came up with some very cool creations. The day of our actual Tryazon party we doubled dipped on my sister's birthday, I mean there were kids and grown ups there.  Also what a great way to occupy the kids with cool new toys to try.  So my take away  Lauri toys are AWESOME!  I loved the stackers and that the stacker sets can work with each other.  The toys are inviting to the children, they want to play wit...

My first Edcamp was Edcamp St. Augustine in the spring of 2016, can I say life changing event.  That day was magical for me, completely transformed my conceptions of other educators, learning, sharing, and what I could do.  It blew me away.  The whole ride back I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.  I had never experience professional development like that before.  I had never walked away with such a vast amount of knowledge.  And up until that point I didn't really know what I was missing.  I had a taste of awesomeness and I needed more. After that day I knew I needed to share that magical feeling with others, and bring back that magic I felt to my school.  Well today it happend Edcamp Putnam, Melrose style.  It was our third Edcamp Putnam, but this year it was in my house, my home.  And perhaps I might be a little bias, but BEST EDCAMP PUTNAM, yet. Our first year we had 12 people attend, and most of those were ones we had convince...

Thanks to Tryazon I had the opportunity to use NumbersAlive Pi Plush during my Robotics Club's Pi Day celebration. These products are super cool, and really bring math to life.  I LOVED the tape measure that works like a tape measure on one side and shows the digits of Pi on the other. 

Last year was my first year participating in the Hour of Code.  Prior to this I had no clue it even existed.  And honestly last year I had NO IDEA what I was doing.  I got the kids on the computer, pointed them at Code.org and off they went.  We sort of learned on the way, kids were doing some incredible stuff, and I saw how powerful the activities were. How far I have come in just a year.  Code.org is an "I'm Finished Activity" in my room.  I introduced it in the first few weeks of school.  I participated in Code training at the beginning of the summer and picked up a LOT of cool activities to do with my students. This year we started off Computer Science Education Week early.  I pulled one of the cool activities I did in my Code.org training and brought it to my students.  I had the students do graph paper coding.  The initial direction was to have students shade in 8 squares on their 4x4 graph paper and then write direction...

One of the elements I picked to work on for my growth plan is "Providing Feedback and Celebrating Progress".  When this element was celebrating success I picked it for my growth plan as well.  Mostly I want to provide my students with true, authentic, meaningful praise that encourages them to be lifetime learners.  I'm not there yet. I need to find a way that works for me and my students.  In the past celebratory cheers like roller coaster, fantastic (where you fake spray and wipe),  raise the roof, were some defaults.  But let's be honest they were hokey, I didn't buy into them and they didn't exactly work. I want the celebrations to be authentic and intrinsically motivating to my students.  I feel like the best thing I've got going right now is a high five.  Silly right?  When my students take benchmark assessments they scan their answers with the grade cam and their work is instantly graded.  I'm right there and can give them an i...