Time Management: Hello, Productivity!

This past fall, my husband became quite angry with me because I was ALWAYS working, but getting NOTHING done! Sound familiar? He lovingly pointed out that I am not very efficient when cleaning; I bounce from room to room, never finishing anything I start. He noted that I was probably practicing these same habits with my work. I’ll admit, he was right! So I did some research on productivity and found a wealth of strategies. I began applying them to my life and realized that these tricks do in fact work!

So I wanted to start off the New Year by sharing my favorite productivity strategies with you!

Teacher Spotlight: Jenn Hiles

Jen and her best friend of 15 years at her wedding this fall!
*Jen is in purple!*

Teacher Name: Jenn Hiles
Office Location: Harrisburg
Currently Teaching: Kindergarten

How do you build relationships with your students?
Before LiveLessons I have a short answer poll pod up that is a “question of the day” which is non-academic and just designed to be conversation starters such as “If you could have any superpower what would it be?” “What was your favorite vacation?” I turn on my webcam for every lesson to help be more than just a voice on the computer. I also encourage my students to use their webcams during lessons, this helps students feel more belonging to our class. I’ve also done two show and tell days which really showed off student personalities.

2015 Sneak Peek

What’s on the horizon for 2015?

2015 Jumpstart Series: Work It Wednesdays!

Calling All Presenters!

I love the fresh start a new year brings and am always looking for diverse ways to improve ALL aspects of my life {and I’m sure I’m not alone in trying to whittle down my waistline each year, right ladies?!}.

So I thought I’d seize the opportunity to offer a 2015 jumpstart series entitled Work It Wednesdays!

During my welcome calls, I asked everyone to identify their biggest strengths. Let me tell you, we have some STARS among us! If you’ve got it going on, I ask you to share your secrets with the rest of us! I’ll present the research and do all of the planning and preparation. You, my efficient, organized, creative friends, can simply show up and share what works for you! {Think daily schedule, call spreadsheet, etc.}

50 Ways to Check for Understanding in the Virtual Classroom

Are you a chat pod offender?!

Do you rely on a single chat pod for student responses? Or do you frequently vary the student response methods? If the chat pod is your best friend, it’s time to re-evaluate your relationship; you are an offender!

Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself; it’s incredibly easy to fall into the habit of only using the chat pod, but I challenge you to think for a moment: is this the most effective method for every single question? For some, yes! For others, no.

November App of the Month

Hello, teachers!

This month, I’m totally crushing on the Word Cloud app!

Are you wondering how to use it? Simply ask your students to share key terms in a chat, short answer, or Q&A pod. Then copy and paste the words into the app and generate a word cloud right from your LiveLesson room! How cool is that?!

Teacher Spotlight: Stacy Garber

Teacher Name: Stacy Garber
Office Location: Harrisburg
Currently teaching: 8th Grade Gifted and Talented Social Studies

How do you build relationships with your students?
Building relationships with my students is very important to me. I do this by sharing facts about myself in LiveLessons, using my webcam, allowing students to share a talent they have with classmates before our lessons, fostering discussion, and being open and patient with students in all interactions.

Use Your Webcam and be the STAR of the Show!

Hello, friends!

I was recently watching one of my favorite news shows, Last Week with John Oliver, and got to thinking…why do we make our PowerPoints the main attractions of our LiveLessons?! Kids want to see a TEACHER not a PowerPoint!

So I’m starting a revolution! One in which we place more emphasis on the teachers and less focus on our presentations. If you haven’t already done so, check out my blog on            8 Alternatives to PowerPoint for Online Educators.

8 Alternatives to PowerPoint for Online Educators

Hello teachers!

As online educators, we rely on PowerPoint presentations heavily. While this program offers diverse designs, themes, fonts, animations, and the like, it has a tendency to become redundant and creating new designs from scratch can be a burdensome daily task, right?!

As one who enjoys creativity, I’ve tested numerous alternatives to PPT and have compiled a list of my recommendations. There’s a plethora of other options out there in the cyber world, but I’ve chosen the most user-friendly and FREE programs to include. Since we live in a digital world and new programs are developed almost daily, I’ll continue to update this list as the next latest and greatest presentation options become available.

emaze
emaze is a free online presentation program and is my top pick. Besides being incredibly easy to use, there’s an extensive selection of visually appealing templates to choose from and the presentation transitions through a nonlinear path as you progress through it (think Prezi). Select from premade templates and themes, add text, images, media, and charts, then save. Note that, unless you upgrade your account, your creations will be public, which means your presentations should focus on basic skills rather than copyrighted content from curriculum providers. Simply share your screen when using emaze in a synchronous virtual lesson and allow your students to be amazed.

Coaching: Building Relationships

Hello readers!

As you know, I’m an instructional coach for a K-12 virtual school, and I get lots of questions on how coaching works in the online landscape. So I thought I’d take a moment to share an integral component of my back-to-school tasks with you.

The key to successful coaching is establishing trusting relationships with the teachers whom I coach. Unlike traditional school settings, I have never met the majority of the 56 teachers I am coaching this year. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to develop authentic relationships with these individuals from the get-go.