I could really use your input!

In April I'll be presenting at the 2018 TAGT Leadership conference in Plano, Texas! Anyone who knows me knows my passion for increasing meaningful parent and community opportunities at the district and campus levels. It's no wonder my session title reflects that passion: Making it Matter: Connecting the Community through GT Content and Curriculum.

If you have school aged kids, please take a moment to complete my survey. I'm hoping to collect enough data to be meaningful and impactful. It takes under five minutes! If you feel comfortable sharing with your friends or on your own social media sites, please to do that. I appreciate you!

Click here to take the survey!

Nearly imperceptible fluctuations in movement correspond to autism diagnoses

A new study provides the strongest evidence yet that nearly imperceptible changes in how people move can be used to diagnose neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.

I have a feeling we have barely scratched the surface in understanding autism and can only imagine what future research will uncover. Research such as this, which actually provides tangible and measurable markers, fascinates me! What does it mean to us as educators?

Click here to read the article from Science Daily!

I can't live without these resources!

Guess what! If you are an educator, you teach writing. I don't care if English isn't your content area. History. Science. Technology. Robotics. Foreign Language. And, yes, even Math. We all "teach" writing! Each of these courses incorporates drafting and communicating through written responses into its curriculum. We live in a world of writing across all content areas. However, finding amazing writing professional resources can be harder than finding a parking spot at The Mall of America on Christmas Eve. Today, I want to share an author I found that makes writing (wait for it!) enjoyable for both the teacher and the students. I have yet to find an idea in her books that I couldn't tweak to my classroom needs. More importantly, my students have eaten up every single activity she's suggested. Get these resources! Make them your own. I've provided you one activity I've adapted from her books that I use in my own classroom. It's designed to provide students additional practice and focus in close reading a text as both a reader and writer, which is a necessity to grow writers of all ages. This lesson encourages analysis of writing style, diction, tone, mood, purpose, syntax, and more! My students can always use more help in these skills, and I'm betting yours also can. Enjoy!

Here it is! It's a valuable addition to my classroom's Readers/Writers Workshop: Check me out!

I have got to try this!

I'm at the TAGT '17 conference in Houston, and I just discovered Flipgrid! Some of you have probably already been there and done that, but I have to tell you, I'm really excited to try it. We work with "social media motivated" students, and this will really speak to them. In addition, I've really wanted to incorporate some flipped classroom elements, but it seems overwhelming at times. I'm hoping this can help me with that goal, and it doesn't make me lose my mind along the way! Has anyone tried it?

A "grid" (think of it as a topic, question, or idea) is created to start the learning, and students respond with short videos. I can only imagine the layers my students will create. It's infinite, engaging, and relevant!

Click here to check out the company's pdf overview.

Click here to go to the company's website.

#techtools