Do you remember pretend play when you were young? As a child, it was one of my favorite activities to engage in with my sisters, usually in the form of “house, office, school or “dress-up”! Regardless of whether you call it dramatic play, pretend play or fantasy play, it still plays a valuable role in the lives of children especially in day care centers!
Grief and Loss can be a difficult and sensitive topic to talk about let alone teach. So a big THANK YOU goes out to Darci Friberg of Missouri for sharing her Grief & Loss lesson! This came about during the pandemic when Darci was struggling to describe what she was feeling which was grief. The lesson is not only therapeutic, but devotes time talking about a topic many avoid.
As you may be aware, many of our students do not feel comfortable communicating face to face with adults, even if they are familiar with them. They openly admit they are scared, uncomfortable and would rather text than talk! Because of this, I created the Face to Face Conversation Challenge to help them practice their skills and hopefully feel more at ease when conversing with others, both familiar and unfamiliar! Admittedly, students were not enthusiastic about this assignment because it forced them to face their fear and step out of their comfort zone. Afterwards, my heart was full as students actually thanked me for giving them this assignment! They shared how it helped them grow and they realized that this is a practical life skill they are going to need throughout their personal and professional life!
After participating in two “Creating Digital Interactive Notebook” webinar sessions with Lindsey Harlan, I felt brave enough to attempt my first digital interactive notebook! The DINB: Cheese Unit covers a variety of information around cheese and also includes a couple of tasty labs (according to my students)! If you have the opportunity to participate in any of Lindsey’s sessions, I highly recommend it!
I don’t know about you, but I love teaching about topics that have two sides and sometimes a bit of controversy to them. Having read several articles about organic vs non-organic foods, I created this Organic vs Non-Organic Foods Dilemma where students had to research both sides of the argument and form a response that supported their position.
Let me introduce you to a fairly new app that is part of the Google Suite called Jamboards! This is a free interactive whiteboard that students can create projects with or your can create activities or games for students to complete individually or as a class. The possibilities are endless. The Temper Tantrum Jamboard is just one of many examples of how I used this app while teaching in both in-person and hybrid/remote settings. I hope this inspires you to get the app and give it a try!
