Mrs. Ed Tech

Thank you so much for visiting my website! I am a first grade teacher with a passion for educational technology. I am working towards my M.Ed. in educational technology at James Madison University and loving all the new things I am learning. This is such a stressful time for teachers, parents, and students as we all learn what it means to learn virtually. During this trying time I want to offer resources that I use in my classroom to other teachers in hope that it will alleviate some of the stress in all of our lives.

My teaching career has not been a typical one, but full of surprises, moves, and... one could say adventure. My first year of teaching I taught 2nd grade in a title one school that taught me more about my own strength than I ever imagined. I was injured by a student there and spent the remainder of that year and summer in physical therapy trying to regain the full use of my right hand. I did not return to that school the next year but I will never forget the hearts that changed mine. My second year of teaching I was also at a title one school and I taught kindergarten until the 5th week of school. I was called into my new principals office and given the news that my class size did not meet the allocations for the county. I was the last teacher hired and I needed to switch to 1st grade (their class sizes were too large). I was overwhelmed but in the end extremely happy I got to stay at the school. Afterall, I had just moved schools, was starting to make friends, and my new principal was wonderful (she really was an amazing leader for our school and I will never forget the lessons she taught me). I fell in LOVE with first grade! I had so much fun teaching with my new and huge team of 13 first grade teachers! That winter I got married and life was great! Unfortunately, my husband and I had to make a hard decision due to his career and move to Virginia that summer.

This brings us to my third year of teaching. In Virginia, I was a board substitute teacher for a lovely little neighborhood school near our new townhouse. Then was hired as a third grade teacher full time by another school in the county at the end of my term. Once again I found myself teaching 2 different grades in one year! That same year I broke my tibia bone, tore my ACL, and sprained my MCL/PCL in a skiing accident so things got interesting teaching on crutches! My fourth year of teaching I was moved back to 1st grade (my favorite) and put on a wonderful team of teachers. I was so happy (this could be the year I had a NORMAL teaching experience). Well, COVID-19 shut down the school in March and every week we hoped they would open back up. Our county provided choice board activities and teachers held optional teaching sessions with students. This is where I started to really dig into virtual teaching. In my mind questions and worries swirled just like all the other teachers in the world.

What are the best practices? Where is the research? WHAT DO I DO???

Year five, our county started out completely virtual with the hope to return to in person learning by the 2nd nine weeks. We are still 100% virtual and some of us will be for the remainder of the year. I want to create lessons that my kids can't stand to miss out on. I want to create materials that will engage students and get them moving even when they are stuck glued to a screen. I want to help lower the stress level my fellow teachers.

Together we can do this.