A New App for a New Year: Bloomz

In a moment that will surprise no one, I am back with another great app to share! 

I love technology. It's practically a sickness. I'm always on the hunt for an app that will make my life a little bit easier. Sometimes it backfires, though, when I end up with 15 apps to meet all my needs. Who has the storage for that? Not only that, who can remember it all and keep it all together? Definitely not me. I am super pumped I found an app that meets a few different needs and eliminates some of the excess. Best part? It's totally free. Bloomz is a sort of private social network that connects a teacher and the parents of students in his or her class. It's sort of like facebook, but way way better because parents of kids in your class can't creep on pictures posted by your college roommate. That can get ugly fast, people. 

    

from bloomz.net

With Bloomz, you can upload due dates and events into a class calendar, ask for volunteers, make a "wish list" of supplies, communicate with parents, and even send pictures. You can choose to send updates to one parent, a group of parents, or the whole class. Parents can then like, comment, or share on what you post. If you have an issue with a specific parent, you can even "mute" them so they can't post anything but they can still receive updates. This one app replaces google calendar, email, google drive, and even some paper notices. I am all about simplicity in 2016, people, so this app is definitely being implemented in my classroom.

Happy New Year! 

Currently December 2015

It's December- the most wonderful time of year. Lights are twinkling, decorations are hung, and festive Christmas music is playing. Does it get any better than that? I'm linking up with Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade for Currently!

Listening: Have you ever seen Peg + Cat? It's a PBS cartoon that focuses on math for pre-schoolers. If you are a parent of a little one or teacher Kindergarten, you have to check it out! I first saw it when my little guy was only a few months old but he only recently started to be allowed one show a night. The NCTM conference last year featured a session about using this show for teaching math in the lower grades, too. Not to mention one of the main characters is a cat, which is my favorite animal. It's a win!

Loving: The Christmas season! How can anyone dislike this time of year? I think I have an extra special love for the holiday this year because my son is starting to get it. He loves to find his elf on the shelf every day and listen to Christmas carols. Is there anything better than the look in a baby's eyes as he stares at the Christmas tree? The best.

Thinking: This may be a little contradictory, but my goodness, teaching in December is HARD. As a fantastically hysterically teacher in my building said, "it's one long game of whack-a-mole." So true!

Wanting: Our school laminator broke down a few weeks ago, and I really miss it. I have a personal laminator to do small items, but I can't do anything larger than a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. I miss being able to do bigger projects, like nametags and anchor charts. Here's hoping Santa brings our school a new one!

Needing: Oh, report cards. They are always a ton of work, but this year is extra tough. We have a new computer system for inputting grades and the glitches haven't quite been worked out yet. I can't wait until they are all worked out!

Real or fake: This year, it's fake. With a little guy at home, I just don't want to have clean up after a tree. Vacuuming up dead needles, watering it, and keeping the cat out of it is all just too much this year. We got a nice fake one with lots of volume. You can hardly tell it isn't real... especially after we light our Christmas Tree candle. :)

Enjoy the season!