Tech Tool of the Month: Book Creator

April brings us many celebrations related to writing: National Poetry Month, National Library Week, Poem in Your Pocket Day, World Book and Copyright Day, and more. What better time to feature a cool writing tool. The tech tool of the month is Book Creator; a tool for all ages to create beautiful digital stories! Book … read more »

Let’s Continue the Conversation: Virtual Collaboration in the Classroom

If you caught last Thursday’s bi-weekly OK2Ask Twitter Chat (see the archive here), you know we chatted all things virtual collaboration.  Let’s delve a little deeper into this topic and continue the conversation. Regardless if you’re a new or seasoned educator, you’ve surely been bombarded with the importance of a collaborative learning space.  Collaboration is … read more »

Discover the U.S. Patent Office for Kids

Did you know that many of the very first government departments, established by our first President, George Washington, remain in place today? On April 10, 1790, just under a year after his inauguration, President Washington signed a bill placing the foundation for our current patent system. This law, for the first time, gave the rights … read more »

Teaching in the Middle

They say that it takes a special person to teach in a middle school and most days during my career as a middle-school educator I would wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.  Here’s why— the brain is said to be fully mature by the age of 25.  This leaves a challenge for all K-12 educators, but … read more »

“Say It Ain’t So, Joe,” Using Quotations from the Internet

We all love to use the perfect apropos aphorism to punctuate our writing. Quotations by famous people to prove a writer’s point fill social media posts. How many choice memes are graced by just the right epigram? It just may be too easy find an appropriate quotation online as we have seen by the proliferation … read more »