TheonlyZoe(TL)

Cyberbullying! October is national bullying prevention month! As an educator and parent of two preteen daughters, bully prevention is a topic we often  discuss in my house, but only because of my career.  As an educator I have been afforded the opportunity to become trained on many topics, and I use my knowledge of these trainings with my children daily, but out of all the trainings bully awareness has given me the dialog most needed as a parent. With that being said, what stands out the most regarding cyberbullying, is that even with all the resources out there about it, I only knew of them because of my trainings and grad school classes. As a busy working parent I would not have looked on my own for information regarding cyberbullying as a preventative.  According to Faucher, Cassidy, and  Jackson a lack of awareness of bullying is due to underreporting (2015). Many suffer in silence. Shocking? Students are afraid to report bullying, but why? According to Orech's article &

https://www.prodigygame.com/ As a former second grade teacher, I know how important it is to have engaging tools for students to use while working independent. Prodigy is a math game to do just the job. Prodigy can be integrated into the math workshop model. As the teacher is meeting with small groups, the teacher can assign a set number of students to work on an assigned lesson in Prodigy to reinforce previous skills mastered or skill that may need extra practice. What is Prodigy? Prodigy is a free, Pokemon-style math game that has been proven to improve student scores and confidence!  Prodigy was designed with three primary goals in mind:  1. To create deep engagement so students double their math practice time at school and home.  2. To equip teachers with reports and assessment tools to inform their instruction.  3. To provide curriculum aligned content for free, regardless of a student’s demographic. It takes teachers less than 5 minutes to sign up and get s

Padlet When students are engaged in collaborative work, Padlet is a great assistive tool for the classroom. It works like a bulletin board but digitally. Students can post in several different forms. Padlet works as a starting point where any student can participate. It is easy, universal, and inclusive. Padlet supports just about every file type and has an App for almost any device. It creative, fun, private, and secure. Padlet is flexible and versatile for any student to use. Using Padlet is simple, just go to the Padlet website and sign up for free to create an account and make you first board. When you have done that you share the board to your students with a QR code, link, or which ever option you choose from Padlet.  Uses for Padlet in the classroom are endless, if you need some ideas, Lucy Renard has 30 Creative Ways to use Padlet for Teachers and Students . In the article she explains how to use Padlet and then list 30 ways to use it. If 30 seems to be overwhelming, Educati