I LOVE me a good doc cam. Considering I started my teaching career with only a blackboard - no projector, no whiteboard (and this was 2014!!) - I've been on the path to find the perfect, cheap classroom tech that works best for me and my students. For in-person teaching there is seriously nothing better than a doc cam. But that's not what this blog post is about. This is about my new love: my Wacom drawing tablet.
Category: Recommendations
Programming Class ’20-’21
This year I'm teaching Python Programming for the second time at my current school. I've actually taught programming/computer science ever since my first year teaching but this year and last were the most rigorous. Before I tell you all the details about this year's class, I have to share a secret with you...
CREATIVE WARM-UP IDEAS
I used to dislike the idea of beginning class with a warm-up or "do now," or a "bell ringer," as they're sometimes called. It seemed like a waste of time or a way to force compliance from kids from the first second of class onwards. Then, in my third year of teaching, I had a principal who taught me the magic of a good warm-up. I prefer to call them warm-up's, because that's precisely what they should do for students: set them up for learning today. Since then, I've used warm-up's every single day in a majority of my classes, especially with my younger students.
Summer Reading 2020
I distinctly remember this fear I used to have in grad school: that given my average pace of reading I could only read about 600 more books in my life. So I had to choose carefully and really make them count. I now realize it's a silly fear, but it explains a lot about how my brain operates and who I am as a person. ANYWAY, I've increased my reading pace since then, and quarantine has given me even more time to read! I'm definitely more of a non-fiction reader, but I dabble. Here I've outlined some of the more teacher-related books I've read this summer.
Julia Ziac 