Posts

Showing posts from June, 2014

Advice for Parents About Technology

Image
Advice From A Teacher and a Mom Every year, during Parent Conferences, I set aside time to speak with each parent/guardian about how their child is using technology at home.  We know technology is important, even crucial, to the digital natives we are raising.  In many ways, we must prepare our kids to succeed in jobs that may not have been invented yet!  We don't want them thinking like this... Here are some tips I always share: Make the technology accessible and developmentally appropriate.  For example, we added bookmarks for the sites my kiddos use.  My 6-year old can click on his icon, and that takes him to the  games/sites he uses at school.  He is *not* allowed to just Google it, since we know that he might accidentally click on something we haven't discussed first.  My 11-year old has a lot more freedom, but she still clears new sites/apps with either me or her dad.  You know, the little online worlds, like Animal Jam, Dragon Story, etc.  Here's my usual re

5 Skills I Learned as a TPT Seller

Image
If you haven't heard yet, Teachers Pay Teachers is an online marketplace where teachers, homeschooling parents, and graphic artists can buy and sell resources for educators.  Interested in opening your own TPT store?   Read on for 5 Skills I Learned as a TPT Seller that I had no idea I needed to know. Button Graphics  from my new favorite clipart artist, Tomato Dumplings . When people find out that I blog and create resources for teachers, they usually ask, "How do you find the time?"  My answer, "I have no idea, but I love what I am doing."  A colleague came to me for advice about opening her own TPT store, and I am so happy she did!  Since I am teaching part-time this year, I was able to meet with her over her track out on a beautiful Friday morning at a coffee shop for a couple of hours and chat in the sunshine about teaching, blogging, and being a Teacher-Author on Teachers Pay Teachers.  By the way, her store is called Tomato Dumplings, and her wor