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How I Use “Word Up” In My Elementary Classroom

How I Use “Word Up” In My Elementary Classroom

If you need a fun way to integrate vocabulary into your instruction, look no further! Word Up is a research-based, standards-aligned resource that is proven to raise scores on state reading tests. My students absolutely adore being able to sing and dance along with the lessons. Besides the catchy songs and beats, one of the best features is the lyrics on screen. The lyrics are on every video, and help students recognize the words they are singing. They also aid ELL students. By the end of each video, my students can sing the songs by heart and often beg to revisit their favorites. Flocabulary has…

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Flipping The Classroom With Flocabulary: Blended Learning In Action

Flipping the Classroom with Flocabulary: Blended Learning in Action

Philosophy and research have always been the basis of every important decision made about teaching and learning. I believe the most successful teaching and learning should reflect the diversity and ability levels of all students involved. It should be adaptable without losing sight of the intended goals. In today’s classrooms, the world of hardback books and pencils are long gone and the role of the classroom teacher has been transformed from that of a teacher into that of a facilitator. Blended learning has become popular in recent years. Blended learning can be explained as taking a portion of the face-to face instruction…

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Making The Leap From Classroom To Admin (And How To Find A New Balance)

Making the Leap From Classroom to Admin (And How to Find a New Balance)

For five years, I was a teacher. Nearly everyone in our country can envision what (they think) a teacher does - even if it’s just from their experience in school. Naturally, it was easy to explain to people what my job entailed, whether that be to a Lyft driver, on a first date or to my family when I was home for holidays. At the start of this year, I entered a new role: Director of Personalized Learning. This role encapsulates a lot of things I really love, like using technology purposefully, re-thinking the teacher’s role in the classroom and…

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How Hip-Hop Can Transform Our Classrooms

How Hip-Hop Can Transform Our Classrooms

For February’s #FlocabChat, we talked about hip-hop’s ability to transform classrooms and enhance lesson plans. While we covered a lot in our discussion, we wanted to break it down even further, as the benefits of using hip-hop within education are endless. A quick shout out to MC Educator Joquetta Johnson, our fearless discussion leader and hip-hop ed advocate! Her questions were thought-provoking and prompted a great conversation. If you missed the chat, we’ve compiled all of it here.

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How To Talk To Your Students About Fake News

How to Talk to Your Students About Fake News

Our students are growing up in a time where even traditional media sources can publish stories without definitively verifying the information. And once something is online, viewed and shared, it’s hard to rescind. The sharing of fabricated or murky stories is amplified by everyone with a social media account and the ability to publish. Many people are willing to publish outlandish news and images in an attempt to try to go viral. This happens frequently during natural disasters; for example the same shark has been spotted swimming down the freeway of every recent flood. So by this point, we should…

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