A STEAM Powered Week!

I haven't created a post on this blog all year, and this week in the EduMatch Voxer group, I pledged that I would create a post this weekend.  So keeping true to my pledge, I had to spend a bit of time to think about what I was going to blog about.  I have several things that have been on my mind to blog about...computational thinking, MakerEd and Passion Time, the Positivity Project, my first full year using See Saw, etc.  However, then I really started to reflect on the entire week, and I realized it was very STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) infused!  So, for my first post of the school year...I am going to highlight the fun we had with STEAM this week at Glengary Elementary!

Next Generation Science Standards FOSS Kit: Motion and Matter
      This is the first year our district adopted the new NGSS Science Kits from FOSS.  I have to say, I have been really impressed with the upgrade and the quality of each of the kits we have had this year.  Our final kit has not disappointed!  Last week we engineered spinning tops and collected data on different variables tested. In addition, we created collaborative table art with the Doodle Tops.  This week we continued with the engineering practices with cart designs.  The students learned about criterion and constraints as they created a cart that could move from here to there. It was super awesome to see the unique ways students used the materials given and experience their problem solving and teamwork.

The Glengary Marimba, Drum, and Dance Group
      We are so incredibly blessed to have Mrs. Colwell lead our music programs at Glengary. She has created one of the only elementary based marimba groups in our state, and she is really giving our 4th and 5th graders such great exposure to percussion skills and diverse music experiences.  She was even able to get her husband to make several of the marimbas they use, which is amazing! During our Family STEAM Night they both opened up the music room and allowed families to play the marimbas and learn how they are engineered to make the sound they do! 

These girls love playing the giant marimba...I am not going to lie...so did I!










The Upcycled Challenge

This student used the packaging from a toy to create a puppet stage and made sock puppets to be the actors. So fun!!

       Typically on Fridays my class has the opportunity to explore their interests during Passion Time.  The theme of the past 2 Fridays has centralized around Earth Day, and I have encouraged the kids to create something upcycled. We had a 1/2 day on Friday, so I chose to dedicate the entire morning to upcycled fun!  Students created pillows after reusing stuffed animal materials and old clothes, while others created games. Interestingly, there were a lot of pretend play creations involving puppets!  Our central administration staff came through my room on a visit, and our superintendent gave the best complement of all..."This is what good instruction looks like!"  Yes, it is great when you give the control over to the students to be able to create, learn, and grow!

Glengary Family STEAM Night

Grid Art Collaboration!

       The week ended with a family evening event at our school.  I was part of the committee to put it on, and it was an awesome, awesome night!  We had stations all over our school involving robotics, art, medical science, engineering, chemistry, and more!  One of the more popular rooms was the BreakOut EDU room, which was a first at Glengary!  Families had so much fun completing the challenges, learning the science behind things, and experiencing learning together.  That is probably what stood out to me most was the joy families had with each other while going from station to station.  Check out the some of the photos below!

Engineering with Zoobs!

Marshmallow Pulse Activity

Fun with Snap Circuits!

The Walled Lake Robotics Team Shared Their Creations!

Reflections From My 3 Day Walk Experience...Part 1

Over the last 3 years, I have had 3 of my childhood friends diagnosed and treated for breast cancer.  

When I went to get my first mammogram last year at age 40, the technician told me jokingly I should get new friends, as we are out of the range of normal occurrences. Since my friendships aren’t going anywhere, I knew we had to tune a bit more into this awful cancer. One of my friends Katie, diagnosed last October, decided she would like to do the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk this year.  I decided that it would be the least I could do, so I registered to walk.

Not being a person who formally exercises, I was a bit nervous for the daunting 60 miles! I began training here and there during the spring months, and kicked it up a bit once the school year came to an end. My fundraising proved to also be a bit daunting, but I received a lot of donations when my friend Laura was unable to walk and transferred her donations to my account.  Without this, I probably would not have been able to raise the $2300 needed.  In addition to her funds, I had many supportive friends, family, and colleagues that also donated.  

It has now been 10 days since closing ceremonies, and I still keep finding myself going back into the pink bubble of the 3 Day, so I decided to share some of my biggest takeaways from my rookie experience at the Michigan Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk!

There are a TON of Committed 3 Day Walkers

George was a super star walker!

At opening ceremonies you are given a special lanyard if you are a first time walker. In addition, you get a special button that says, this is my FIRST walk! If you are not a first time walker, you can fill in the number of walks you have been on.  One of the first people I met had on a button that said it was his 50th walk!  I was shocked!  He told me that he walked all 14 walks in 2011. I thought he was a rarity, but as I walked and talked, I met several people that do multiple walks each year. In fact, I know some of the walkers I met along the route are gearing up for another walk this weekend in the Twin Cities. (Note...my feet still aren’t back to normal.  I couldn’t even imagine doing it all over again!)  I am so inspired by their commitment to the Susan G. Komen organization. In fact, Jim Hillmann, the man I met at opening ceremonies, actually was awarded a milestone award at camp celebrating his 50th walk!   And then there’s a man named George Nummer who is an 85 year-old celebrity walker!  Check out a local news story featuring him here.

So Proud to be a Walled Lake Educator

When I learned that the opening ceremonies were going to be at Walled Lake Western, I was excited that the school district that I worked in would be a part of my 3 Day experience!  In addition, my fellow teammate’s husband is the principal there!  After we left WLW after the opening ceremonies, we were able to pass our administration building, which had many people outside cheering, offering candy and water, as well as the WLW cheerleaders!  We were able to have one of our pit stops at Meadowbrook Elementary too!  

But the coolest thing by far was coming back to camp on Friday night and getting high fives from Walled Lake Northern football players...even some that I had when they were third graders at Glengary Elementary.  But wait...it gets better!  They carried our bags to our tent, helped set up our tent, and even carried our plates to the table at dinner!  It was soooo wonderful! The next night the Walled Lake Central football players joined in on the fun!  I truly enjoyed it so much and immediately shared thank-you emails to the coaches, principals, and our superintendent, as these young men were very well-mannered and handled themselves with the utmost respect.  They were very appreciated by the 3 Day walkers and staff, and I was very proud to say to others, “I am a teacher in Walled Lake!  Some of those boys were my 3rd graders!”

There are so many things that I learned about myself and this experience...too much for just one blog entry. Stay tuned shortly for Part 2 of my blog series on Reflections of the Michigan 3 Day focusing on the support I received from others!

Seeing Brighton in a Different Way

All summer I have been training for the Susan G. Komen Michigan 3 Day Walk which just commenced yesterday!  Walking a total of 60 miles throughout towns including Walled Lake, Novi, Northville, Plymouth, Livonia, and Dearborn, I had to spend much of my summer prepping for the the walk.  Living out in Hamburg Township, I had a lot of great roads to train on for the shorter miles, but as I got into longer walks, I decided it would be best to have access to public restrooms.  Therefore, in July I began using Brighton for my training walks. While walking, I spotted many things I have never noticed before.  There are streets that I have drove down hundreds of times in the 15 years I have lived here, and yet, it was like I was seeing things for the first time.  It showed me the importance and the joy of slowing down and taking sights in!  

As Brighton is gearing up to celebrate its 150th Birthday this Sunday, I thought it would be neat to show you some of the things I found neat during my walks!

Learning About and Celebrating Brighton’s Past

To help celebrate the 150th Birthday, there are images of some of interesting people from back in the day, and each one includes information about the person!  It has been so cool learning about them as I walked around around town.

The Taste of Brighton

I was able to stroll down Main St. before the Taste of Brighton opened up, and I got to see all the hard work that went into making it such a wonderful event for our community!  I also walked through the streets when the festival was in high gear.  It motivated me to have a date night with my husband there later on that evening!

The Brighton Farmer’s Market

I sing in the worship band at Brighton First United Methodist, and I tracked down one of our band members (who is heading into his senior year at BHS) at the Farmer’s Market.  It was such a treat to see his talents shared with the folks shopping from tent to tent!  Great job Parker!

The Charles and Albert Parker Families Nature Preserve

On this particular day, I started and finished my walk in the Target parking lot.  On my way back down Charles H Orndorf Dr., I noticed the sign below.  I was so curious about it, as I had never noticed it before.  The sign states that you need to authorization to enter, so I followed the rules and just peeked in.  However, upon extra research on the web, I found out it is open to the public and owned by the Brighton Library! My husband and I took the trail on one of my last training walks, but I wasn’t able to go all the way through, as I didn’t want to get my shoes mucky in the marsh. Maybe next time!

Mill Pond Manor

In the past couple of years, Brighton First United Methodist has adopted the residents of Mill Pond Manor apartments.  For the life of me, I never really knew where it was.  I kept thinking about apartments right near the Imagination Station or somewhere in that main area and never could quite picture it.  I am embarrassed to say, it took me walking down 2nd St. several times to make the connection that it was there!  On the walks previous, I was always noticing how much property Corrigan Oil had and also how they have expanded into other areas of expertise outside of the propane world. When I finally went on the opposite side of the street, I noticed a cute gazebo, and only then did I notice the sign saying Mill Pond Manor Apartments. Glad I know where it is now!!

Brighton State Recreation Area’s Penosha Trail

My family and I took a hike at the Brighton State Rec Area’s Penosha Trail on 4th of July weekend.  The Penosha Trail is around 5 or 6 miles, so it makes a great 2-3 hour hike!  We were able to stop at Bishop Lake and check out the new Jump Island.  Along the trail we enjoyed looking at the wildflowers, and my kids enjoyed finding a lean house!

Though my 3 Day training has come to an end, I still hope to keep up my explorations of Brighton.  We have a wonderful community, and I look forward to finding other treasures along the way! Happy 150th Birthday Brighton!  Thanks for being a big part of my #Mi3Day journey!

Embracing and Integrating Fidget Spinners in the Classroom

The fidget spinner craze has entered my classroom and my home, and I imagine, based on the ads and Facebook shares, they have also entered your world too!  I have heard from parents and teachers that many of them have been taken away and most people are annoyed with it.  I’m here to offer a few suggestions to embrace this craze and integrate it with learning!

Spinner Scientific Investigations

I encouraged all of my kids to bring them into our classroom this week and create an investigation to study some aspect of the fidget spinners. Kids were collecting data before and after adding lubrication, measuring the mass of the spinners, coordinating the timing of spinner, and really digging deeper with how these spinners work. One of the things I have to grade on report cards is that kids understand the scientific process. This gave them a great opportunity to carry out an investigation all on their own...and they were motivated! (We will continue our investigations and share our conclusions next week! I'll post them here!)

Spinning and Math Facts

Skip count by a certain number and see how high you can get before it stops spinning. Since my students need to have their multiplication facts memorized by the end of the year, skip counting is a skill they can all use to practice.

Creating Spinners on Your Own

My cousin 3-D printed a spinner for my own kids in January, and then one of my students made one in his garage just cutting and sanding heavy plastic. This led to him thinking of other ways to create them, and he even used an old toy to recreate it into a spinner. After that, I got excited and bought a bunch of bearings for my students to create their own. Even with a bit of hot glue, you can make things work.

My son made this by hot gluing pennies together and then gluing them to the bearing. 

Eye Hand Coordination and Perseverance

Kids are spinning them on their fingers and throwing them up in the air to catch them while spinning over and over. Not only does it develop patience and perseverance, but it also helps with coordination! (Just make sure they have a safe distance around them for flying spinners.)

Update...and my kids have just shared with me that they are also good to spin on other body parts. Here is my daughter sharing her nose balancing skills!

Tuning Into Learning Through the Inventor’s Challenge

My 3rd grade classroom at Glengary Elementary is participating in the Inventor’s Challenge sponsored by the Imagination Foundation and AT&T Aspire.  We launched the challenge by brainstorming What If’s and actually presented them in the January #PasstheScopeEdu event on Periscope.  Here are some slides on our Inventor's Challenge if you want to take a peek.

A few weeks ago the challenge launched, and we began the process of inventing.  I would like to highlight one story from our first day of inventing! 

I was sitting at my desk, and I overhead one of my students say, “Hmmm…how can I attach this?”  I looked over and saw CR trying to attach a blown up fold-top baggie on a white t-shirt she had decorated. I asked her what she was trying to do, and she told me that she was trying to get the shirt to fly so people wouldn’t have to be stuck in traffic. I wished her good luck with the invention.  

Next, I noticed she realized the fold-top baggies were not keeping in the air, so she went and got ziplock baggies. She was super excited to fix the issue of air escaping.  She blew them up and started thinking about the placement when another student started a discussion with her about helium gas.  Knowing she didn’t have access to helium, she moved on to a different idea. 

Again, I heard her say, “Hmmm.  How can I attached these?”  I looked at her and saw her trying to figure out how to attached small flat batteries to the shirt.  I asked her what she was trying to do, and she went on to tell me that she was hoping that the stored energy in the battery to help give the shirt the energy to fly.  She also had part of a circuit board that was from a DVD the some students had disassembled earlier in the year.  She was trying to figure out how she could connect the energy to the board to see if there were any motors, as she thought that could be part of the solution to make the shirt fly. She tried and tinkered with it a bit, but our Passion Time ran out without much progress.  

As her teacher, I was able to witness many curricular connections through her tinkering.  CR was able to compare baggies and find one that sealed in air better. She learned about the difference in gases…and the capabilities of helium.  Her knowledge of batteries having stored energy was evident, and she realized that the circuit was in need of power in order to do work. Since we were at the end of our unit of Energy and Matter, I was able to see that CR had acquired knowledge from our unit.  I was able to assess her without giving a test…just through questioning her while she played essentially. Though she may not be successful making a shirt that flies, she has shown me success with her problem solving, her ability to redesign, and her basic knowledge of energy!  I believe we can do a lot more assessing through play if we pay attention to our kiddos and engage with them! I challenge you to pay attention to play and see what skills you can assess. I bet there are many! 

Here is a quick video with her reflections on her flying shirt invention. 

If you would like more information how your students or your child can participating in the Inventor’s Challenge, check out www.imaginaiton.is. 

Looking Forward to Having Fun with HyperDuino

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by Roger Wagner, the creator of Hyper Studio, to introduce me to his latest project...HyperDuino.  I am typically very tuned into new products in the STEAM/Makerspace world, but I had not experienced HyperDuino before.  I jumped at the chance to explore it with my third graders, and Roger jumped right in and sent me one within days of our first contact!  I went ahead and opened it up in front of my students, while they were sitting on the carpet, and we explored it together.

Essentially, Roger has created a breadboard... HyperDuino, which can can run off a 9V battery and connect to lights, touch sensors, light sensors, and I believe even temperature sensors.  In addition, it can connect to a computer through a usb, and communicate with a Chrome App that allows students to create multi-media presentations that interact with their makerspace projects or other school projects. Take a look at this example:

My students and I were really excited to jump in and see what the HyperDuino could do. Fortunately, Roger has amazing tutorials on his webpage, and he had a specific one for getting started right away with a simple project using the touch sensors and LED lights.  As we were connecting the wires, it gave me a great opportunity to reinforce our unit on energy and the transfer of energy.  Often kids think that wires have electricity flowing through them at all times, but I was able to point out to them that the wires serve as a means to transfer energy.  We hadn't connected the battery yet, so no power was flowing through them. Once we got it all set up, the kids enjoyed taking turns pressing the touch sensors and seeing the lights light up.  We also noticed that sometimes when I talked (the touch sensors were inches from my mouth) the lights would illuminate, which allowed us to talk about things that conduct electricity...including the water vapor in my breath!

Last week I got another kit sent to me...this time with a project already started for my kiddos.  Roger prepared it for a National Park Project, complete with photos of how to set it up and his own handwriting!  Included were also packets of how-to instructions to walk us through each step of the project! Now I know this is a product that is still in the launching phase, but I actually think there is something to be said about delivering a product slightly ready with an example, as it helped me see the potential right away! The great thing is, I have done Michigan State Park reports in the past and after seeing this example, I believe I know how I will be tackling that project this year!

Another great thing about having it shipped to me ready to go like this, I was able to share it with my colleagues right away!  I also think it made it look user friendly and doable for teachers.  I think I have even convinced my ELL teacher to do a small group project to frontload our next science unit with the third graders using the HyperDuino!

All I can say is kudos to Roger Wagner for knowing how to win over teachers!  Not with fancy swag, but with a great product and awesome support to get started!  I can't wait to see how much fun my students and I can have integrating the HyperDuino with our making, researching, and learning!

For more information on how you can get a HyperDuino, check out the HyperDuino Store!

Camp Invention 2016....What a Week!

Over the past week I was honored to be the director of the Walled Lake Camp Invention! Camp Invention is a FABULOUS camp for students entering first-sixth grades. Over the week I used Smore to build a newsletter for each day. Take a look at all the fun students had with STEAM and Inventing!

Blended Learning in Elementary

I will be presenting at the My Blend Summer Learning Day Camp in East Lansing on July 12, 2016. Here are some of the resources for my "Blended Learning in Elementary" poster session.

Ending the Year with Passion

I have integrated Innovation Days and Genius Hour into my classroom for several years.  This past year, I haven’t been able to have a  consistent time for the kids to work on developing their passions, but I have done a lot of great things involving choice, makerspaces, and STEAM. Even with that, it didn’t feel right ending the school year without having time for passion projects, so I decided to have the last full week of social studies spent on American History Passion Projects.  The students could choose to learn about anything involving American History and create a project about it.  

I tell you...it’s the magic recipe for ending the school year with engaged learners eager to come to school!  I have enjoyed seeing the kids come alive with curiosity and excited to learn.  Teaching three sections of fifth grade Social Studies, each class got 4 hours to work on their projects, however, many decided to work on their projects at home and even during recess.

Interestingly, there were several projects that were themed around September 11. An event that is still so vivid in my mind, was an event they had heard about, but didn’t know many details about.  It was hard to find appropriate information for kids, but we did find a great resource with the 911 Memorial page. Many of my students were interested in learning more about the Twin Towers.  It just so happened that I great up with Minoru Yamasaki’s grandson, Jesse.  I contacted Jesse and asked him if he would video conference with us. He happily agreed, and we had a wonderful time connecting with him over a lunch and recess last week. The kids were able to learn a lot about Min, as his grandfather was commonly called, and the wonderful building her designed...right down to the art he commissioned throughout the building and the 10-foot model that was created when preparing for the build.  Here are some of the projects that were created:

I had the chance to video some of the projects.  Here are our videos.  Enjoy!

On the second day of presentations we did live presentations.  Here is one of the plays that were performed by 2 of my students...believe it or not, these are two of more reserved students.  It brought me to tears to see the risks they took with their comedic performing skills!

If you are interested in ending the year with kids eager to come to school and be engaged, I highly recommend putting the control into their hands. I noticed better behaviors while we were working on the projects, and I enjoyed walking around and seeing the joy in their minds and hearts!  

BloomBoard: A Great Resource for Teachers

After teaching third grade for the past 14 years, I made the switch to fifth grade this school year.  I am truly enjoying getting to know a new curriculum and feeling rejuvenated.  With that being said, I have also spent a TON of time searching for resources to support my curriculum and build background knowledge. As with most things, when you have a question or need ideas, what do you do?  I bet you Google it, which also means, you are probably on a mini-scavenger hunt to scan and search for quality resources.  I recently found out about a great resource for educators that is a huge timesaver!  BloomBoard is a place for educators to learn, share, and discuss educational topics, resources, and ideas!

Instead of digging around the web for quality sites, games, articles, videos, etc., BloomBoard has collections created by educators that focus on topics relevant to education.  There are content-specific categories with awesome resources, but what drew me in even more, was the focus on broader topics like: Educating the Whole Child, Maintaining Professional Happiness, Building Strong School Culture, etc. What’s even cooler is that you can follow certain topics of interests, save and share resources, and even earn micro-credentials, which some school districts are using for PD credits.

I created a collection on Formative Assessment called “Formative Assessment Can Be Fun” highlighting two of my favorite tools, Plickers and Kahoot, as well as several articles and videos showcasing ways students can have fun while being assessed.  Here are some of the highlighted tools.

• If your students don’t have access to devices, Plickers is the tool for you.  Also, they just launched an amazing new feature with Scoresheet, which makes data collection far more flexible and user-friendly!
• Kahoot has been a student favorite for several years. My students are now creating their own Kahoots to quiz fellow classmates, as well as lead book club discussions.
• C. Ross Flatt and his sixth-grade students were featured in an Edutopia video highlighting game-based assessment.  He not only showcases the fun way assessment can be administered, but he also has links to his game for teachers to print off from the main blog post.
• David Wees, a formative assessment specialist, shared a presentation with 56 ways to assess, complete with visual examples.

Overall, my collection has many great resources featured that will help you in finding the formative assessment tool(s) that are right for you!  Like many of the BloomBoard collections, you can find resources to help you everyday needs in education, connect with like-minded educators, and help improve your practices.

Check out the BloomBoard blog. You can check it out to get links to the blogs that that have already been featured, as well as check out the schedule of featured bloggers for next week that will be posted on Monday. You can also follow along daily on Facebook and Twitter.

Tomorrow's featured blogger is Jennifer Gonzalez. Jennifer Gonzalez is a National Board Certified Teacher, a former middle-school language arts teacher and college-level teacher of teachers, and the creator of Cult of Pedagogy, a website devoted to helping teachers do their work better.

Scoresheet: Plickers Newest Feature!

For the past couple of years, I have used Plickers as a formative assessment tool.  It was one of those tools that hooked me the first time I used it, and I have integrated it into my classroom ever since.  If you are not familiar with Plickers, here is a quick overview.

• You can print off Plicker cards (or purchase a durable set) for each student in your class. Each card has options for an A-D multiple choice answer. Students make sure the correct answer is pointed up. 
• You can create questions and answers ahead of time and schedule them for a specific group, or you can create questions on the spot through the app. 
• Once you communicate the question to your class, you can use the app and your devices camera to scan the cards the students are holding. As you scan, the data pops up on the screen creating a bar graph with the overall progress, but also shows the answers of each student. This allows you to reteach on the spot or spark a conversation for students to explain their thinking. 

The great thing about Plickers is that all of the questions that you assign and scan are archived.  When you go to your www.Plickers.com account, you are able to see the answers and data collected. I have been able to use the data for report cards, conversations with parents, and for curriculum planning. Last month, Plickers added an awesome new feature called Scoresheet in their reports menu.  This has made Plickers even better! Why you ask?

1. The data from each question is now displayed in a gradebook format that allows many questions to viewed at the same time and can be customized for date ranges. 
2. I now have the ability to check the boxes of the questions I would like to use and a total percentage or point value will be calculated.  This is helpful for standards based grading, as I am able to choose the questions that match the standard and see the overall score, regardless if the the questions were all assigned at the same time.
3. While looking at the Scoresheet, you can still get a view of the question in a sidebar, along with the overall progress of the class displayed in bar graph form. 
4. Finally, the scores can now be exported into a .csv file and can be used for other gradebook  programs. 

Here is what the gradebook looks like...minus my students' names. 

They have scored big with me in this new update!  Go and check it out for yourself! 

The Maker Playground and a Maker Must Resource

Today I spent the day at MSU at their EdTech Conference, and I led a session called The Maker Playground. I have done versions of it at each conference since CUE Rockstar Camp, when I presented The STEAM Playground with the awesome Tammy Lind from Wisconsin. It is one of my favorite sessions to lead, even though it requires to my car to be packed and longer to set-up before and clean-up afterwards. (However, I'm usually pretty lucky to have helpful educators aid in the clean-up mission!) Click here for maker resources.

I received 5 Ozobots this fall, and they have been a hit each time I have brought them out to present, as well as a hit with students!  They have such a wide-variety of applications and can engage learners of all ages! 

 Another robot that is easy to use for all learners is the Ollie!  Angela loved taking Ollie for stroll in the hallway!

Origami was a hit at this conference.  From folding trihexaflexagons to educators challenging themselves with more complex designs, paper making completed by several attendees.  

Some of the other activities included, playing with SumBlox, a newer educational tool to teach number sense!  (Of which I will have to reserve some time to create a separate blog post on...as they are AWESOME!)  We also played with Little Bits and Paper Roller Coasters. 

The best thing is the conversations that occur while participants are playing!  When I have makerspace time in my classroom, I also enjoy listening to the conversations.  It's nice when we are allowed time to play, connect, and learn! 

Speaking of giving kids time to play, connect, and learn, I am approaching a crazy week in my classroom, as we are building Explorer Coasters! Each student has been researching an explorer for the last 2 weeks.  They created a written report, and now they are going to build a paper roller coaster that represents the life of their explorer.  I am a bit nervous because it will require patience and perseverance, but I am hopeful it will also be EPIC! Stay tuned to by Twitter feed for progress on the project! 

The day ended with a dinner out with some awesome ITG ladies! 

Our fab keynote Sarah, Jen, Amanda, Mary, and I had a great dinner out in Lansing! 

_________________________________________________________________________________

http://www.naeir.org/

Now for the Maker/Teacher Must Have Resource... NAEIR

I am not sure how I stumbled upon this resource...but I did, and I am hooked.  It is a wonderful site that has products that have been donated by companies, and then non-profits and teachers can purchase them for a price FAR, FAR below the store cost. I was curious when I first put my order in, as it seemed too good to be true, but my shipment came...and I got a lot of awesome things for a super cheap price. I am most excited about the 36 Stomp Rockets I got for $9!  As a teacher, you do have to register and be approved, which can take a bit, but then you are free to shop! There is something for everyone in their catalog!  From tools to craft items and adhesives to office supplies, NAEIR is a wonderful resource for classrooms and makerspaces everywhere! 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Overall it was an AWESOME day of learning!  Great job MSU! Special thanks to Mary Wever (@WeverWorld) who was one of the lead organizers of this conference, as she is the Director of the Master's Educational Technology Certificate Program at MSU.  The entire team of MSU interns, directors, and staff were great hosts!  Thank-you Tech Smith for the yummy coffee and breakfast! 

Also...a special shout out to the wonderful food at Shaw Hall...college kids have it great these days with dorm food!