I’m not sure where to begin. Yesterday there was another school shooting in Florida. I wish I could say it doesn’t affect me, but it does. It brings up difficult memories that I wish I could forget. It’s on days like this that my mind is filled with the memories of Dale Regan’s murder on my school campus and how surreal it still seems. Dale was our head of school and a recently dismissed faculty member carried a gun in a guitar case onto campus. He entered her back door which she kept unlocked as she was always welcoming and it was just another room along a classroom hallway.
I sit here now in a new school at my desk beside a window and wonder about the future. My new school is under heightened security - which means all classrooms should be kept locked. However, every classroom has windows and someone could come around the corner outside and a window is not much protection.This school, as was my last school, is not completely fenced in at all sides. But would that matter? Couldn’t someone jump a fence if so desired, like the shooter at my last school? Who would notice? No one noticed him. He walked clear across the football field and no one noticed. Should schools become like prisons to keep the bad guys out? Kids already feel like they are in prison when they come to school, or at least the high school kids do because for some, it's the last place they want to be. Some think we should outlaw guns. At this point, would that even matter when there is such an entrenched black market for most anything you want to buy?
As I’m writing this I realize I have some sadness about me that will never go away. Students today have lost the innocence of childhood. Teachers not only have the job of teaching their students the general studies, but also to protect them from dangerous people. Some think that it wouldn't happen to them. I thought that once too.

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It's December 1st - time to start thinking about resolutions! I know I'm rushing things a bit, but I saw this infogram and just had to share it. It's not really a resolution but rather what you can do to be a better teacher by changing up your style with technology as an emphasis. Your students have used technology since birth and it may seem different for you to use in class, to students it seems different not to use technology in class. (Not to mention the boredom effect). Your students will find you to be energizing and current if you attempt some of these ideas. My two favorites that I want to use are to create a class hashtag and integrate Selfies into my curriculum. I saw a great idea for the selfies on Twitter today - using selfies with signs for exit slips from class. My kids are gonna love it! See tweet below. I can't wait to make my signs.

For all you teachers who use Google Forms, there is an exciting update to allow for nice customizations. Forms now allows you to modify the backgrounds or make your own background! Gotta love it! Check out the tutorial video below by "Ask the Google Gooru".

If you aren't familiar with Common Sense Media, you should be! It is a wonderful site full of excellent information for parents and teachers to help keep kids safe on the Internet as well as reviews of books, apps, movies, and more. Their most recent article about the myths and truths of Internet safety is very helpful for parents (and teachers) to help us from becoming too anxious about having kids use the Internet. Please check it out today - short article!

Google announced today a new Chrome experiment that looks quite fun. It is a word game that incorporates your speech - not typing. The game is a "build a tower" game that has you spell words. You say each letter and upon spelling the word correctly, it adds a level to your tower. If you are logged into Chrome with your Google account, it will save your game as well as post your score. I have not played long (thus not a very high tower yet!) but I anticipate this to be a fun game to enhance anyone learning English as well as a time killer for others. So open Chrome and head on over to SpellUp. Don't forget to allow access to your microphone!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to make a note that Google has changed up how you can created Docs, etc on mobile devices. The Drive app is still operational, but to create new Docs, Sheets or Slides you will need to download and use their new apps. When you are in Drive and try to create a new item, it should prompt you to download the new app. One of the best features of this is that you will be able to create while off-line! Yea!