Today was the start of my 29th year of teaching. I have been noticing more often that “I see…ED TECH TOOLS” in everyday objects especially when I am shopping which is a favorite “extra curricular” activity for me. This was just in a hour after school today:
I am looking forward to TRETC 2023. https://www.pghtech.org/events/TRETC_2023 It is great to be attending more face to face conferences again. I have served on the TRETC planning committee for several years and this is one of my favorite conferences because it is local, I get to connect with so many teachers from the area, celebrate the outstanding Pittsburgh ED TECH companies, and learn about new tools and opportunities.
If you are attending, I hope you will participate in the GooseChase https://www.goosechase.com/ activity (PRIZES!) and join attendees in creating a Sticktogether https://letsticktogether.com/ Pixel Art Poster. (Enter to win a PIXEL POSTER for your school) and see how both of these activites can be used in your classrooms and how they are fantastic for community building.
There will be a great DOOR PRIZE at the event donated by PADCASTER. Fill out a ticket at registration. If you use ipads in your school and your students create content with morning announcements or recording events, you will love this equipment. Check out this case study on my school. https://youtu.be/H-_MSA0QXBc Ask me anything about Padcaster!
Also I will be leading a Birds of Feather Sessions with Colleen Hinrichsen and Anna Blake.
Birds of a Feather Group: Primary Educators (K-6)
Questions to guide discussion: What initiatives are you really proud of at your district? Share something that currently working and brining results with student learning? What changes will define the next 5-10 years of education? What is not working at your district? What are you looking to change? What do you want to know more about?
Hope to see many of you at the Conference on Monday!
Special thanks to Cambridge University Press for the opportunity to be at their table in the Exhibit Hall and share ways that I have been able to incorporate Latin across the curriculum using Minimus (published by CUP) and being able to share information about NCLG, ACL, ETC, and the opportunities available to teachers. Additional thanks to Cambridge University Press, Ancient Coins for Education, and StickTogether (pixel art project which connects nicely to mosaics) for donating prizes for a table raffle. (Winner pictured, top right). Also, ACL member, Junko Yamamoto, was in charge of the exhibitors for the conference and she made sure we had a great location for the CUP table. At the event, I was able to connect with many teachers to promote Latin, distribute ACL brochures and NCLG bookmarks, and share information about the NCLG GRANTS as well as various Exams sponsored by ACL.
Throughout the conference, I posted to social media and tagged our Classics organizations. I also shared a copy of the booklet on Black Classicists by Dr. Ronnick and it was donated at the end of the conference to a teacher who was very interested in sharing it with her department. CUP also donated the books at the table and interested teachers stopped by at the close of the conference to pick up a book they wanted from the exhibit. The organizers of the conference wished to thank CUP for sponsoring a table this year, and thanked both CUP and ACL for sponsoring part of the appetizers for the anniversary year. There were many positive comments for the ideas that could be adapted for use with other languages. Next year’s conference is closer to Pittsburgh and I hope to have the opportunity to attend again.
(Read or just jump to the video below!) I knew it would be a matter of time before everyone would be wearing face masks, so I was shopping online earlier this month for the perfect mask. Everywhere we look these days we are constantly reminded about the COVID-19 pandemic and those blue medical masks really put that reminder “in your face” and “on your face.” I found that some people were making masks with patterns on them which were a little more interesting. A cool leopard print or one with a robot pattern could put some style and “fun” in the situation but I really wanted a plain black one. I guess a lot of other people were thinking the same thing, since the best of the black masks that I found online were out of stock or backordered until MAY.
While I was searching online, a good friend texted me and wrote that she was making masks and asked if I needed one. That was so timely and kind. I really appreciated her thoughtfulness! She even made me a black one. (Thanks, Yanira!) I am so grateful. I did wear it outside a couple times, but I still wanted something that was more like an article of clothing.
I saw people using bandanas and scarves, but heard that heavier fabric or t-shirt like material provided a better barrier. I am sure that with this new situation, fashion designers are already working on patterns for clothes that have built in masks. I can imagine some beautiful turtle necks or hoods being designed to meet this need, but in the mean time, I still wanted something now that didn’t look like a mask. I remembered a cartoon that used to be included in Bazooka bubble gum when I was a kid. There was a character named Mort who wore this super long red turtle neck that was always pulled up to his nose and covered his mouth. I thought it was an interesting look, and that was exactly what I wanted and it could work. I have an old sewing machine and thought, I could probably sew a tube shape from an old t-shirt and wear it like a long turtleneck. I put the idea on a back burner especially since it involved pulling out the sewing machine.
Today, the CDC recommended that if you go outside you should wear a mask. So, now was the time. I pulled out a couple t-shirts, but before I got the sewing machine out, I figured, I could make a mask with out any sewing at all. It definitely worked and now you can use try it. Protect yourself during this outbreak, save money, repurpose a t-shirt with a few snips from a pair of scissors, and instead of just parading around with another reminder of the pandemic, you can make a fashion statement with your face mask. I’ve got you covered! Watch the video:https://touchcast-ambassadors.touchcast.com/s/13iq8u1qr3
Video Filmed with TouchCast Studio App and Padcaster equipment using an ipad. )
Repurposed t-shirt becomes a (No-Sew) facemask with just a few snips from a pair of scissors. Make yours before your next walk outside!
zeepoerio 