What did we do before Pinterest? I mean, really, Pinterest helps me to learn new ideas and brainstorm everything from interventions to paint colors. To keep us connected, I have created a collaborativePinterest board.  To join, follow me on Pinterest and send me an email at [email protected] and I will add you to the group! Easy as that. 

Pssssttt.... while we're chatting about social media, I am almost to 500 likes on Facebook. When we get there, I will give away my top TPT store item FREE for 500 minutes (8.333 hours in case you're curious). 

Update: If you email me a request to join our collaborative board, please email me from the account that is attached to your Pinterest account. It makes it easier to find you!

This week I have THREE new products in my TPT store. And they're all lesson plans! I didn't even do that on purpose. Don't forget that every Friday I post my new products and they are FREE til Monday.

Using the awesome Kid President Pep Talk Video, encourage kids to think about how they are awesome and create their very own super heroes. Great as a back to school activity to get to know your students or a valentine's day activity! Check it out.

Student Objectives:Students will acquire an appreciation of and respect for differences. Students will understand the importance of identifying and combating discrimination.

Using the books: Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and The Only Boy in Ballet Class by Denise Gruska explore the ideas of discrimination and similarities and differences. Students will compare and contrast the two books and then work with a partner to make a friendship Venn diagram of their similarities and differences. Incorporates literacy skills and social skills in one lesson!

A unique take on the bucket filling lesson! After reading the book: Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud and completing an activity for understanding - take the class out into the school and commit Random Acts of Kindness. Leave behind your "kindness card" to let others know you've been doing good deeds around the building. Combine RAK and Bucket Fillers all in one! Here it is.

If you download any of these freebies, please leave feedback and consider following my TPT store. Thanks for your support!

I love social media. Facebook, particularly, helps me keep in touch with not just friends and colleagues but with other communities. I belong to mom groups, neighborhood groups, activity groups, and school counselor groups. I really love being able to meet new people and share ideas with someone I may never have met otherwise. 

Of course, there's always a downside to having so many people be a part of a group. Some of my pet peeves: asking questions that have already been asked (Can anyone recommend a pediatrician?), snarkiness and rudeness, and most of all 19,000 "Following" comments. So here are my top 5 Facebook etiquette tips and how to navigate them.

Too many comments on a post you don't need to keep up with? Topic diverging from the original post? You can unfollow notifications. Just click on the small arrow in the right hand corner and select "turn off notifications." This also works in the mobile Facebook App.

Please, for the love of all things good, please don't write "following" or put in those little eyeballs. This drives me bonkers. If you would like to keep up with a post but don't have anything to add to the conversation, turn on notifications. You'll be notified each time someone adds a comment without clogging up the conversation. This also works in the mobile Facebook App.

Especially in large groups, searching for your question is key to Group Facebook Etiquette. It may be that someone has already asked your question and received lots of helpful replies. Save yourself (and everyone else) the trouble, and search before asking! Unfortunately, you can't search on mobile (come on Facebook!).

When you are replying to a thread that has a bunch of comments, people may stop checking back when notified of a new comment. If you have a follow up question or a compliment for someone who has posted above, make sure to tag them so they know you mentioned them. Once you have tagged them, their name will appear highlighted in blue. Most of the time, as you type someone's name, a menu will appear. Sometimes this doesn't happen (especially on mobile) - you can use an @ symbol to get Facebook to acknowledge the tag.

Be polite. Don't be rude. Remember whatever you put on the internet stays forever and can be shared multiple times without your consent or knowledge! 

What are your Facebook group pet peeves and etiquette tips? Any I missed?

I just spent two days in training with the Military Child Education Coalition about school transitions. Most of the training was centered around the frequent school changes that military connected students face. We were encouraged to reflect on what we can do to make the transition as smooth as possible. My biggest take away was making the system transparent to outsiders. When information is clear and readily available, it is easier for families to enter your school knowing what is expected of them and what to expect from the school.

We also walked away with tons of resources! I wish I could box them all up and send them out to you but you'll have to settle for pictures and links where available. Please click through the slideshow below to see the wonderful resources that were provided. 

You can order many of these materials from the MCEC website.  I think the most useful for me are the "on the move" magazines. These articles are written with parents in mind and would be great for including in newsletters or copying for parents working through a related issue. 

I also really like the Serving Military Families book. This book covers everything there is to know about the Inter-state Compact and other resources for our military families. The purpose of the Inter-state compact is to make it easy for military connected families to move across state lines and easily enroll in school and participate in sports and other activities. You can read more about it here. 

What do you do to support military connected families? Even though my schools have been over an hour from the closest military base, I have had national guard and reserve families or families that have just recently transitioned out of the military. I am glad to have these additional resources to be able to share with my grant schools who may be working with military connected students.

One of the principals I work with gave me the idea of creating door hangers to leave on family's doors when they are not home for a home visit. I really love home visits, I think it gives me a chance to really connect with a family. I have frequently been to apartments and houses that look like good places to live that have not a single stick of furniture inside. You can't always judge a book by it's cover so here are a few things I look for in a home visit:

• Is there food visible? If the kitchen looks really bare, the family made be food-insecure.
• Is there bedding in the living room? I have had many kids who sleep on the living room couch because they don't have a bed. This might explain why they're often tired at school. 
• How do the adults interact? How do the adults interact with the children? How do the children interact?

I often get asked if I make unannounced or scheduled home visits. I do both. If I have a family who doesn't have a car, I might drive out to their house to deliver resources or bring a paper that needs to be signed. If a child misses a lot of school or they are sick and we can't reach anyone, I will make unannounced home visits. Of course, even with scheduled home visits we find no one home when we arrive. To leave a friendly message, I created these door hangers in English and Spanish. 

The purpose of home visits is to make a connection with the family. I am careful to follow their norms in their home: take off shoes if they do, accept water or a snack, be polite. It's a blessing to be invited into someone's home and we should honor that. 

I've written a lot about my book clubs for parents. You can check it all out here.  One of the biggest barriers to starting a new parent book club is reading the book and creating the discussion guide. I can't read the book for you but I have created a powerpoint discussion guide for The Whole Brain Child by Daniel Siegel. This is a wonderful book and the discussion guide would work for both parent and staff book clubs or even a professional development. I think you could easily lead the discussion for people who have not read the book (but you will need to!). You can get the 27 page powerpoint in my TPT store. 

Both of these products will be free on TPT until Monday, April 20th. If you download the freebie, please leave feedback. Thanks for your support!