Four years ago this district started a one to one laptop program. Teachers have to apply to get the cart. At the time I was teaching Kindergarten. I don't think very many people expected me to get the cart. But I did! I am teaching first grade now and every day they prove what I felt: Primary students CAN use technology! Then came all the concerns:     They can't use a trackpad     They can't log in themselves, this districts uses a password that requires numbers and letters (at least one uppercase)     They will drop them     They will color, write, draw, etc... on them     They can't do it I will share how I addressed these concerns in my classroom.  I should also add, my school is high poverty, they don't have computers at home. It is also high ELL, with over 75% being dual language learners.  Let's start with getting a laptop each day. They are stored on a cart and have to be plugged in to charge each night. Organization:     T...

I live in South Florida where the winter temperatures can range from a low around 60° to a high of 80° plus. We will get the occasional cold front and might see lows in the 40s. Rarely does it freeze in the area. How do you teach about snow to children who rarely experience winter temperatures, let alone see snow? Of course the first step is to read books, fiction and nonfiction books about Snow. Some of my favorites include: Snowballs by Lois Ehlert,   The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, and  The Biggest, Best Snowman  by Margery Cuyler. I use YouTube videos as well. My favorite are time lapse videos that show accumulation.      Four Feet of Snow Time Lapse (43 seconds)      Snowfall time lapse and clean up (3:42)   This one give them a good visuals of shoveling, cars making tracks and snow covering the tracks. We can't see snow videos without seeing some snowplows.       Kids Truck Video- Snow Plow (2:49) Finally, we have to watch kids play in the snow....

The 100th day of school is fast approaching. Teachers love to use this day to add a little fun to their day while exploring all things 100. We are going to do some traditional activities:     Count 100 objects     Do 100 exercises     Read 100 pages I wanted to do some of the other activities digitally this year. Enter Google Classroom, Google Sheets,  Google Slides, and away we go. Here is a quick preview of the activities in action.   First up is a Hidden Picture Google Sheets activity using a 100s Chart or 120 Chart. Assign the Sheet via Classroom or share via Drive, whatever method you use. It will look like any other 100s chart. The PDF directions include the number to call out. Students will click on the cell of the number, then click the Fill Tool and click a color to fill the cell. Always use the proper terms for tools so you add a digital literacy piece to the activity with no extra work. The next Google Sheets activity is simple as well. Again a traditiona...