We have moved on to subtraction with renaming (2.NBT.7). You might call this regrouping... but really- if we think literally about what's happening- we're also giving the values new names! 50+10 is a different name for 60. So, renaming, regrouping... you know what we're doing! What's Working I've been doing a lot of this work with ... read more
Concerns About Counting
In my second grade classroom, I've recently identified a troubling gap in my students' learning... Counting. I know how important counting is... and we have been counting all year. We count while we wait in line, we count backwards and forwards, by 2s, 3s, 5s, 10s and more. We start in the hundreds, we start in the teens... So, why (I've ... read more
Classroom Teacher: Reality Check
The view from down here. "It all falls on the classroom teacher, it always does" she reminded me. This was my mother. A retired elementary school teacher, who had made it the long haul. In the classroom for her entire career, advocating for kids, mentoring new teachers- reminding me when I express frustration in the system that, I ... read more
Using Google Presentations for What??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrfzFP78w3c ... read more
Using Google Draw
http://youtu.be/xhoud-SoCUg ... read more
Place Value in Second Grade
Here's how we're getting our senses involved as we determine the value of base ten blocks in second grade! Get the cards we use here! Try out this Place Value FREEBIE with your kids today! Happy Tapping! ... read more
Using Screencastify
... read more
Teaching with Online Discussions
I decided early this year that I have a responsibility to improve the quality of online discussions. As a teacher, I often feel responsible to improve the world I live in. Knowing each year, that I will spend so many hours every day with so many impressionable, mold-able citizens of the future- can sometimes feel like a lot of pressure. I ... read more
7 Ways I’ll Work Smarter in my Next 1:1 Classroom
After using a class set of Chromebooks for the whole second semester of the school year in my sixth grade Humanities class, my brain is spinning with all of the "next time I'll..." ideas. Here are a few: 1. Simplify & standardize the creation of students' usernames and passwords. If students are creating an account that is linked to ... read more
Got a Case of Website Amnesia?
I frequent a Sunday night Twitter chat, #edchatri, where amazing educators from all over the US help me approach the coming school week with the right attitude. During these chats, I discover amazing resources shared by fellow educators, who I now consider to be my colleagues, despite the geography that separates us. There are some Sunday ... read more
