Saturday, July 21, 2012
Welcome New Friends!
I am so excited to be in Chicago for the Midwest Conference on Differentiated Instruction! It is imperative that we differentiate for our students. This is one of my favorite cartoons that I found at 'For the Love of Learning' Blog, to illustrate the need for differentiation.
One great way to keep up with all of the fabulous blogs, is to 'Follow' them. If you follow a blog, it does not mean that you will start getting lots of email. It just means that you like what you see/read. People love to be 'followed' on their blogs! You can find all sorts of fun
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Doesn't it seem like this at times?
I love the quote he put with it, too.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
-Albert Einstein
I wanted to share the way that helped me learn to differentiate more effectively . . . the awesome world of teacher blogs! If you would have told me 2 years ago that I would gain so much inspiration from a computer, I would have said "Pa-shaw!" But WOW, what a network teachers have built! It's like we have one huge school of awesome teachers and resources! Just check out this amazing list of teacher blogs . . . It doesn't matter if you teach the little ones or big ones . . . There's a blog for that!
Now, I know what you are thinking . . . Who has time to look at blogs on the computer? Ask yourself these questions ...
- Do you spend time planning fun ideas for your class?
- Do you need ideas to support all the skills that you need to teach?
- Are you being closely observed and evaluated as to how you differentiate and meet the needs of your students?
- Do you either spend too much money on your class or not have enough money to do what you want with your class?
- Have you lost some of your excitement for teaching?
If you answered 'YES' to any of the above questions, I can help with that . . . with a little help from my friends, of course! These talented teachers have made tons and tons of teaching resources to make your lives easier. They make a lot of those resources FREE! That's right, I said FREE!
Not only are there great ideas and freebies, there are tons of things called linky parties. Linky parties are a great way to pull a lot of similar ideas, resources, people, etc. into one place. That makes it easy to find things . . . One stop shopping! You won't believe how many great ideas there are out there. Just as an example, check out all of these word work activities!
As you enter the blog world, you start to recognize names and faces. You begin to wonder if you could start your own blog (you can . . . a blog is a great way to talk about your passion, without your significant other glazing over as you talk!)
One great way to keep up with all of the fabulous blogs, is to 'Follow' them. If you follow a blog, it does not mean that you will start getting lots of email. It just means that you like what you see/read. People love to be 'followed' on their blogs! You can find all sorts of fun
stuff on the sidebar of a blog.
I know this whole blogging business might seem overwhelming, but there is help out there. The way I got started is through a gal named Charity. Charity is super tech-savvy and has set up a program that really helps. She uses YouTube videos to help you through. If you want to check out this awesome resource, just click the button below!
You might even start friendships from this virtual world. My bestest blogging buddy is Monica. We are positive we were separated at birth! She lives in NC and I'm in Indiana . . . but we seem to chat on the phone, email, or text every day or so! It's fun to have someone who likes some of the same stuff you do! You just have to read her article called 'Confessions of a Teacher Blogger.' Very inspirational! Just click the button below.
There is also another dimension to the teacher blogs that many teachers are taking advantage of . . . they are becoming what is called 'Teacher Entrepreneurs' and are becoming very successful at it. If you're not sure if selling teaching resources is for you, just ask yourself these questions:
- Could you use some extra money for your family, college tuition, vacations, getting your nails done, or even getting more
junkneat stuff for school? (Don't even try to say 'no' to this one . . . you are a teacher, right?) - Do you love to share the ideas you have with others?
- Do you make resources, try them out, then make something new the following school year?
- Do the people that you want to share with, sometimes roll their eyes at you because you are always coming up with some new idea?
If you think you might like to sell some of your awesome ideas, then just click this button to get set up.
Of course, not everyone wants to create resources. I asked my best friend Jenny, (the one in my real world) if she would like to become a teacher entrepreneur and she told me that it was not for her . . . and that that is why there are people like me (and my virtual friends) out there! She told me that she would much rather part with a little money for a great idea, than have to think of one and make it work on her own. Well, I've got several places you can go to get those resources. You really should check these out sometime!
Well, I think that should be enough to get you started . . . I do have one other surprise for you! If you are one of the new teachers that I have met this week in Chicago, and you gave me your email address, then you could win an item of your choosing from my teacher store! Just click this pic to get your own PDF catalog to browse through the items that I have in my store. If you are one of the lucky winners, you can choose anything you want!
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| Each picture in this catalog is clickable. If you click a pic, it will take you to more info about the product, as well a product preview. |
There will be 25 lucky winners at the end of the conference on Wednesday, July 25!
Oh, and if you gave me your name and email address at the booth, then you are entered to win a grade level grand prize. Do you want to know what the grand prize is? Of course you do!! Check this out!
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A flash drive chocked full of tried and true, grade level resources {from my catalog above}at your fingertips, made just for YOU by Rockin' Teacher Materials and {The Schroeder Page}Just click to see Monica's teacher store if you want to see some of her awesome stuff!
You could even win a certificate for a virtual SMART board training session with Monica Schroeder!
Well, I hope that this post has been useful to you and I hope that you see what fun it is to be a blog hopper! You may have so much fun that you will forget that you are learning something too!
Maybe I'll see you blog stalkin' around sometime!
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Where did you get the thumb drives? They are adorable.
ReplyDeleteHi! I got them at Office Max for $3.90! I love them!
DeleteHilary :)
Welcome to IL, I am about 100 miles south of Chi-town. Stay cool as it is HOT here~have fun too!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Having a great time! I love Chicago!!!!
DeleteHilary :)
First of all I love your blog and hope to start my own next summer. I went to the Chicago conference last year and it was THE BEST!!! I wish I could go every year- I met so many fantastic presenters and use their books and ideas on a daily basis:) Keep up the great blog!
ReplyDelete