I have been reading the book Originals by Adam Grant. I have strung out this book for the last couple of weeks and I'm so glad I have. It has really given me time to process the words and reflect on them. One message that I have implemented in my classroom is procrastination. I am NOT a procrastinator in any way shape or form. I can not just turn into one either. For example, I did a little Christmas shopping over the holiday weekend. So procrastinating on purpose is challenging for me. With my room and classroom philosophy this year, I have procrastinated big time. I walked into my classroom the first day not knowing how I would arrange it. I chose to move the table to the edges of the room, I'm creating little pockets of learning. In doing so I did not have enough room for a Seesaw station. What is Seesaw?? It's an app that becomes a digital portfolio and communication tool between students and parents. It can also be used in a variety of other ways such as assessment or connecting your classroom with others. If you don't know this app, it's worth checking out. We will be a 'Seesaw School' for Kindergarten through 5th grade. My friend Mrs. Knight has posted an awesome resource for Seesaw on her Teachers pay Teachers page and it saved me a lot of time (click here). It gives the steps for students to record their work on their own. As I mentioned, I didn't want to give us space for this publishing stations so I sat on it... and sat on it... deciding what to do. The day before I had completed a 'Connect with Mrs. Hahn' Bulletin Board and hung it up in the display case outside my room. I really wanted to have my business cards available for parents so I was brainstorming with my husband how to do it with the glass that covers the display case. Plus I really wasn't thrilled with the results of the board with the glare of the glass. My husband said, 'Just removed the glass. LIGHT BULB!! This is another point in the book Originals, allow 'non-experts' to solve problems. His very obvious answer to me was not one that I could come up with on my own. Glass?? Remove?? But there has always been glass there... so... that's the way it's made to be. His fresh look on my problem solved not only my business card dilemma but also my publishing station situation without even knowing it at the time. Instead of taking up learning space in my room. I moved the station outside my room. This has done a couple of things. It has allowed a space made for display to be used as learning space. It will allow the surrounding classrooms around me to use this station for the work being done in their classes. The sleeving is perfect for the iPad to sit on and can be adjusted. And it looks inviting for passers-by, it will show off the learning and self-publishing skills of my classroom throughout the year. I wanted to make sure two students would be able to be at this station at a time. By adding a black sheet of paper with a sign on it and a small notch strategically place for the camera, students have no option but to place the iPad in the optimum picture taking position. The height is perfect for the littles that I work with and it forces two stations for students to easily see they are to share the space. There are a couple more additions to be made to the station but for now, I'm really excited with the results. I'll be sure to report any glitches in the system as well as the station as it's being use. I'm excited to see it in action.

Y’all…. I survived the first three days of school!!! It went something like this… 4:00 AM… I’m wide awake? WHY? Who knows… I would like to blame it on my huge pr…

On a scale of 1 to 10, how techie would you say you are as a teacher? Personally, I'm pretty tech-savvy. I use Google for a lot more than questions, I handle Adobe like a

Here are some of my favorites STEM books for kids that you can add to your collection today! Before starting a STEM or building challenge, I always read a book with my class. I love connecting literacy, sitting together on the carpet, and engaging my students in discussions. There are so many amazing books that ... Read more

Do you ever call someone when you know they are not able to answer the phone, but you are so excited about something that you take the chance that for some crazy reason they will answer?! That was me today, calling my friend Dara while she was clearly still teaching. I NEEDED to tell someone about the app I discovered while I was getting materials ready for tutoring. I needed to tell someone who would appreciate how cool this app really is! Meet the Record of Reading app. Here's what you need to know about it: 1. It's free. So that's reason enough to at least download it on your iPhone or iPad. 2. It was created by Clemson University. 3. It can be used with any leveled reading text or running record assessment. 4. It's simple, straightforward and user-friendly. 5. It saves you time (more time for blogging and Pinterest!) 6. It encourages paperless, organized assessment data. 7. You can email the results instantly to yourself, parents, other teachers, etc. 8. It audio records the students as they read, making it easy to go back, listen and analyze errors. 9. It automatically calculates the words-per-minute score. 10. It automatically determines whether the text was frustrational, instructional or independent. The screens starts blank and you can fill in the student information and the information that you have about the passage- the running word count (RW), the lexile score and the running record or Fountas and Pinnell level (if that's what you are using). I use the Pearson Critical Reading Inventory so the only information I put in is the running word count and the lexile score. If you are unsure of how to convert your passages- this is a helpful conversion chart that includes most popular reading level correlations. Once the child begins to read, you hit the red record button. I keep tallies of the errors as they occur, and make note of anything I want to revisit. The nice thing about having the voice recording as they read is that if you miss an error or you want to analyze the errors, you can listen to it over and over again. After he or she is done and the recording has stopped, you click on the E or SC column to begin counting errors and self-corrections. If you are unfamiliar with running records, you can learn more about how to administer it and analyze errors here. The app automatically calculates the words-per-minute, the accuracy rate and the ratio of self-corrections to errors. There is an area where you can add notes and observations about the reading, and select a fluency score from 1-4. After you are finished, you can save the record and create a folder for that child. My favorite feature is that you can email the record as a .pdf or a .jpg! How cool is that?! I love the idea of going paperless and keeping .pdf versions of running records in folders for each of my students. I also love the possibility of playing the recording of a passage to a parent at a conference. Technology never ceases to amaze me and Apple really means it when they say "There's an app for that!" Marie Clay is probably rolling over in her grave!

This high-energy, low-tech game can be used in any subject area, with almost any age. Perfect for a review.

It's been a bit busy around the Good Tickle Brain headquarters lately, so I humbly offer up the following as some Friday Filler:

The Bel Canto and State of Wonder author, whose new collection of memoirs and essays is This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, talks about her friendship with Elizabeth Gilbert and Donna Tartt, the short story renaissance, and owning an independent bookstore.

Here are some of my favorites STEM books for kids that you can add to your collection today! Before starting a STEM or building challenge, I always read a book with my class. I love connecting literacy, sitting together on the carpet, and engaging my students in discussions. There are so many amazing books that ... Read more

Are any of these ineffective teaching methods still part of your practice? Time to reconsider.

A library and education blog and place to be heard through creating, technology, connecting, reading, collaborating and noise.

In 2016 I wrote a blog post about 10 Techie Themed Read Aloud Books and my list keeps growing! I wanted to compile all of the elementary picture books arranged by topic in one area. Let me know if you have any recommendations we can add to this list! **All links are Amazon affiliate links** Also be sure to check out my post: 5 Reasons to Use Technology Themed Picture Books to Help Reinforce Digital Citizenship. *If you are unable to view the Amazon widgets below, try installing an Ad Blocker extension.* Responsible Use of Technology Online Safety Reliable Sources Digital Footprint Cyberbullying Screen Time/Technology Addiction/Unplugging Coding/Programming 3D Printing Drones Email Etiquette Other Books with "Techie" Themes Thank you to the following educators for introducing me to some of these titles: Mrs. Haglin Sandy Liptak Jennifer Elizabeth Mary Ledford Kim Field Renuka Senaratne Calandra Jackson Renuka Senaratne Eat Pray Travel Teach Ramona Recommends Storymamas Follow me on Pinterest to get more techie ideas:

Are you struggling to find Orton-Gillingham Reading Passages for your lessons? This post has over 160 passages and lesson plans to help.

Hi! My name is Carolyn Kisloski, from Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together . Today I'm going to share one of the activities...

This is the first time in over a decade of teaching that I’ve gone through a stack of papers saying, “Yes! Yes! YESSS!!!!” I’m so proud of what’s been accomplished that I’m just dying to share with you how to make this happen in your own classroom. Here's how to write essay prompts, offer a new t

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I collect a commission, at no additional cost to you, should you choose to make a purchase. I consider reading a very important part of my professional development as a Special Educator. I mean, let’s face it. How often are district professional developments geared towards us? How ... Read More about 5 Summer Reads for Special Educators

At my school we call them learning buddies but you might know them as reading buddies or big buddies/little buddies. Whatever you call them, some times it’s hard to think of activities to do with them. I often found myself planning things on the fly so I decided to compile a list of activities that […]

Teaching digital citizenship and keeping students in the classroom safe online (and off of course!) is a priority for teachers when using iPads, Google Apps, and other devices & websites in the classroom. While even the best laid digital citizenship plans can lay the foundation, teachers need to continue revisiting topics and guiding students all year. I'm sharing some tips and lesson ideas plus I've teamed up with my Tech with Us Community to bring you more must-read ideas for teaching digital citizenship linked at the end. Here are some things I advise any teacher looking to integrate technology into

Here are some of my favorites STEM books for kids that you can add to your collection today! Before starting a STEM or building challenge, I always read a book with my class. I love connecting literacy, sitting together on the carpet, and engaging my students in discussions. There are so many amazing books that ... Read more

This project is sure to be a hit with your social media-loving students! They can create a Facebook profile, Twitter page, or Instagram post. These are great for using at the beginning of the year for students to introduce themselves, for students to show what they know about a historical figure or book character, or to represent important historical events or plot points in a story. In addition to printed versions of this product (which can be done in full-color if you like), this product also contains DIGITAL versions of all three activities! They can be assigned through Google Classroom for students to work on their own devices. Clear directions are included so that students can work independently. This can be used across grade levels and content areas. Enjoy! *PLEASE NOTE: After purchasing, you will need to MAKE A COPY of this document in your Google Drive in order to be able to edit and assign it to students. I cannot accept your requests to access and edit the original. Please see the directions on page 2 of the file for how to do this. Thank you!

"The Sassy Tommo just got sassed!" . . . Ageplay - DDLB (If you don't know what this is, google it before you read.) This book may contain triggering content for some people. So please, read at your own risk. I have done my research on infantilism but if I ever got something wrong or offensive please do tell me. The cover is made by me but the photo credit goes to whoever that took the photo. Happy reading beautiful people! (: xxx - Ash © 2018 @hisoopsforhishi

PRIMARY SCIENCE UNIT 2 - MAMMALS The second unit in my primary science series is finally here! We are so excited to learn all about mammals. We had so much fun in Unit 1 - learning all about the human body and our five senses , and now we are moving on to our next science unit. My stud

I'm starting to really teach and practice comprehension skills. Based on our reading assessments (TRCs) at the beginning of the year I came up with this worksheet to aide in recalling details. I had m

Previously I created a rubric template that allows you to create a rubric, paste your class roster, and then create a copy of the rubric for each student

learn...share...inspire...21st century style