“Giftedness is not what you do or how hard you work. It is who you are. You think differently. You experience life intensely. You care about injustice. You seek meaning. You appreciate and strive for the exquisite. You are painfully sensitive. You are extremely complex. You cherish integrity. Your truth-telling has gotten you in trouble. Should 98% of the population find you odd, seek the company of those who love you just the way you are. You are not broken. You do not need to be fixed. You are utterly fascinating. Trust yourself!”

Linda Silverman~Gifted Development Center Denver


Sunday 15 November 2020

Classroom Friendly Supplies Pencil Sharpener Review

Back to school was anything but back to normal for me! I have changed grade assignments three times and have taught two entirely different classes of students so far this year. 

As I was scrolling through social media, looking for teaching ideas to inspire me in my "new reality", I came across an amazing opportunity to try out a new pencil sharpener from 

Honestly, right now anything to brighten up my days and my classroom is a win, so I signed up to test one out! The package arrived very quickly and I took the box to school to unveil it.

Inside the cardboard box, the sharpener was packaged in a see through plastic box which also contained an attachment that will allow the user to secure the sharpener to a desk or other platform.

I chose the classic fire engine red for my sharpener, but it comes in lots of amazing, 
classroom friendly colours!


The sharpener itself is super easy to use, just pull out the front plate, insert a pencil and turn the handle. The pencil will pull inwards towards the face of the sharpener until it is finished sharpening. Once the handle stops turning, you remove the pencil by squeezing together the two black handles and VOILA you have a perfect point! 

My students oooohed and ahhhhhed over how sharp the point was and how quiet the sharpening was!  I was really lucky that sharpener arrived when it did, as my electric sharpener completely died the week before! 

If you are looking for a quiet, super easy to use and easy to clean pencil sharpener for your classroom or your home, be sure to head over to https://classroomfriendlysupplies.com





Monday 12 October 2020

TEACHING SCIENCE AND TECH IN A VIRTUAL CLASSROOM?

Teaching VIRTUALLY? In CLASS? BOTH?


This year the challenges that teachers face creating warm, welcoming classrooms both virtually and in person are daunting if not downright overwhelming. Right now, everything seems to be exhausting whether you are teaching in person or in front of your students on computer screen or BOTH!

One question my colleagues have been asking is "How do I teach Science and Technology online?" Last spring, when we all did the pivot to online, remote teaching I asked myself the same question. I still had to finish TWO topics in Grade 5 science and I did not have the digital resources to help me! What did I do? I started by converting my existing Grade 5 resources from printable to digital. Then I went to work learning about how to assign them in Google™ Classroom.

The learning curve was (and still is!) steep, but I found that I COULD teach my science and technology online and keep the students engaged and I could assess their work and give them an evaluation based on the work I had assessed.

So, I forged ahead and have converted my Hands-On, Minds-On Science and Technology topic resources to digital, Google™ slides format. Just click on any of the images below to check out the updated digital versions on Teachers Pay Teachers!

GRADE 2 ONTARIO SCIENCE DIGITAL RESOURCES



GRADE 3 ONTARIO SCIENCE DIGITAL RESOURCES


GRADE 4 ONTARIO SCIENCE DIGITAL RESOURCES

GRADE 5 ONTARIO SCIENCE DIGITAL RESOURCES

GRADE 6 ONTARIO SCIENCE DIGITAL RESOURCES






Thursday 26 March 2020

How To SAVE Pages from a PDF


PICTURE OF HOW TO SAVE PAGES FROM A PDF


Teachers might want to be able to extract or SAVE pages from PDFS for STUDENT USE in a SECURED format.  Below, I show two ways you can do this. Please ensure that you are adhering to the COPYRIGHT and Terms of Use policies of the things you wish to post.

How to use PRINT to PDF to Save Pages 
 Using Windows 10 (PC Version)

PICTURE OF HOW TO SAVE PAGES FROM A PDF
 Open your PDF using Adobe Reader. 
From there go to PRINT and choose 
PRINT PDF FILE.
PICTURE OF HOW TO SAVE PAGES FROM A PDF
 Select the pages you want to SAVE.
PICTURE OF HOW TO SAVE PAGES FROM A PDF
NAME your pages and SAVE them 
where you will easily find them. 

You can now upload your saved pages to SECURE Student Platforms such as 
Google Classroom.  

How to use PRINT to PDF to Save Pages 
 Using the PREVIEW APP (MAC Version)


PICTURE OF HOW TO SAVE PAGES FROM A PDF
 Open your PDF with the PREVIEW APP.
PICTURE OF HOW TO SAVE PAGES FROM A PDF
 Go to PRINT and CHOOSE PDF from bottom LEFT corner. Select SAVE AS PDF.  Enter the PAGE RANGE that you want to SAVE.
PICTURE OF HOW TO SAVE PAGES FROM A PDF
NAME your file and SAVE it somewhere you will be able to find it easily.

You can now upload your saved pages to SECURE Student Platforms such as 
Google Classroom. 

I use the FREE extension DOCHUB to 
OPEN and WRITE on PDFs. You can add it to 
CHROME easily and it integrates well with 
Google Classroom.
PICTURE OF HOW TO USE DOC HUB

PICTURE OF HOW TO USE DOC HUB

PICTURE OF HOW TO USE DOC HUB