This is a sponsored post As a child of the 70s who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, watching An American Girl Story — Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance was like a peek into my childhood. The newest American Girl special tells the story of Ivy Ling, a 10-year-old Chinese-American girl…
Education
Kids, Reading & Technology! Square Panda Facebook Chat Recap (w giveaway)
This is a sponsored post When I was a teacher, I always dreamed of working with cool tech companies who made great products for kids and these days it’s always a thrill to partner with amazing brands whose devices empower our kids to learn through engaging learning experiences that are just right for them. Square…
Join Me & Square Panda to Talk Kids & Reading on Facebook this Sunday, 3/19 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT
This is a sponsored post When I began looking for my first teaching job straight out of graduate school, I remember my mom suggesting maybe first grade shouldn’t be my first choice. She was a lifelong educator who knew the pressure that came with teaching kids how to read. I ignored her advice and jumped…
How to Use the Academy Awards to Teach about Winning & Losing (plus past & current Oscar nominees to stream on Netflix)
Tonight the entertainment industry will assemble in Hollywood to celebrate this year’s nominees for the Academy Awards. Since it’s an exciting night for families who love movies, it can also be a great time to have some timely history lessons about the Oscars, seize upon teachable moments to have conversations about winning and losing, and…
Virtual Field Trip: Testing Corning® Gorilla® Glass at the Corning Incorporated Sullivan Park Research & Development Campus #LearningThroughGorillaGlass
This post is sponsored by Corning® Gorilla® Glass “I’m really sorry, Mom,” Emily said as she carefully picked up pieces of a drinking glass from our kitchen table. “When I knocked it over on the table it just broke. The glass must have already been abraded.” Abraded isn’t usually part of a teen’s vocabulary but on…
5 Components of Successful STEM Programs for Middle Schoolers
Thank you Capital One for sponsoring this post. How do you introduce kids to coding in a way that will keep them interested in learning the meaningful skills that they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow? You invest in their education like Capital One has done with its Future Edge initiative. Last week,…
4 Reasons We Love Books from National Geographic Kids (w giveaway)
My mom used to always say that she didn’t care what we were reading, as long as we were reading something. When we were little, she celebrated us reading the comics as much as she did books we got from the library because she knew that by letting us read what we wanted to, would help us…
How to Create Effective Routines to Teach Middle School Study Habits at Home
This sponsored post is written in partnership with Workman Publishing Middle school. It’s a completely different ball game from elementary school. A new school where multiple elementary schools converge on a larger campus with more students, having lockers for the first time, figuring out bell times and how to get from one place to the…
Why Young Makers Will Love littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets Kit, 2nd Edition
It’s no secret that we love littleBits! We collect sets like they’re trading cards, adding new bits to our collection each time that add to the possibilities of what we can make and couldn’t be more excited about the brand new littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets Kit, 2nd Edition. Usually when we get a new set of…
Free Teacher Resources for Teaching Fire Safety to Elementary Ages
This is post is sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association and Sparky.org. When I taught first grade, I had a folder for every unit organized by month. This was the time of the year I’d pull out my National Fire Prevention Week folder and flip through my lesson plans, worksheets, and paperback picture books…
