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I'm back!

Back to Writing:  Teach Beyond Buzzwords Returns ✨ It’s been a while since I last shared a post here. Life, teaching, and the whirlwind of responsibilities pulled me away, but the passion for exploring ideas beyond the surface never left. I started Teach Beyond Buzzwords because I believe education deserves more than trendy catchphrases. It deserves honest reflection, practical wisdom, and a community of people who care deeply about learning. Over the years, I’ve missed the conversations, the chance to dig deeper, and the joy of connecting with fellow educators and lifelong learners. So here’s the good news: I’m back. In the weeks ahead, I’ll be writing again—sharing insights, stories, and challenges from the classroom and beyond. My goal is to spark dialogue, challenge assumptions, and celebrate the messy, yet beautiful, work of teaching and learning. If you’ve been here since the beginning, thank you for sticking around. If you’re new, welcome—I’m glad you found your way here. L...
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Recent posts

Help Me Collect #TechTipsForTeachers

As I sit here waiting for Hurricane Dorian to make its turn away from my home in South Florida, I was thinking about all the different people, hashtags, and groups I follow or am a member of that have to do with #edtech. Each day I read about ideas, projects, etc. My favorite thing is to read tech tips. From the simplest key stroke combinations, to an app that someone loves, tech tips can be transformational in the classroom. So many of us have friends we pass tech tips between. My buddies, Jenny O'Sullivan and Nicole Rubin (aka #ThreeTechieBirdies ), are two of my favorites to chat with. We always pass tech tips back and fourth. So in an effort to be more in the moment and to #StopTalkingStartDoing, I decided to take this extra time I have been given to make a resource that I hope will build into something that can have an impact beyond my classroom or school walls. I made a Google Form where anyone can add tech tips. and I want to use #techtipsforteachers to get even more...
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#StopTalkingStartDoing

All too often, people talk about, even complain about, things at school. For us, the students did most of the complaining about the bathrooms in our school. You see, our school is 50 years old. It is old. Period. We are in the process of raising and lobbying for funds to build a new school. This is a great thing except that this also means that the higher ups really don't want to spend too much on fixing a building that will be torn down eventually. Don't get me wrong. They fix things as needed. But making the bathrooms more eye appealing is NOT on their list. We (teachers and students) tend to complain a lot about things in our building that just drive us crazy. One of my goals this year is  to  stop talking and start doing . Complaining doesn't solve anything. Talking about changes we want to see doesn't do it. We need to #BeTheChange.  Sooooo this summer I was reminded of an idea I had come across on Twitter a couple years ago. It was a bathroom beautification proj...
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NSTA 2019 Reflections & New Ideas

This year I was lucky enough to head to the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) national conference in St. Louis. This was my second year attending and getting to present. Jenny O'Sullivan and I presented our Green Screen + AR session to highlight the First Grade Garden project. Then we had Suzette Milu join us to share how we integrate tech into science. We discussed the importance of meaningful integration to increase engagement and document mastery of content. If you are interested, you can check out our NSTA presentations and materials for  Bringing Student Creativity to Life in the Elementary Science Classroom  and Transforming Your Science Classroom Through Technology  at bit.ly/nsta19 . Every time I go to NSTA, I realize how much I DO NOT know. I can definitely learn SO much about good science and STEM integration. I definitely don't do enough STEM lessons in my first grade classroom so, these last two years, I chose to attend sessions that focus on j...
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Another January Means Another FETC

For the last few Januarys, I have been lucky enough to attend the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC). This was my fourth year attending, and thanks to my colleague, Jenny O'Sullivan , who pushed me to submit proposals with her, it was my third year as a presenter. Each time I present it feels like the first time, yet I am getting more and more comfortable doing it. This year’s presentation was a big one for me. I was able to present my first 2-hour workshop. These sessions cost extra money for attendees to attend so the pressure was on. We presented our Green Screen + AR session, and this time we walked everyone through the process of duplicating our First Grade Garden project. Overall it went well, but I am looking forward to our next opportunity to present it. There are definitely things we will tweak to make the presentation better. I think my favorite part of presenting this topic is the reaction we get when we show the final "product." When we ...
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ADHUS Takes over NYC: Our Visit to PS11 & The Reunion

Are you ready for this? My school/district sent my ENTIRE elementary school up to NYC for the Reunion Conference at Columbia University's Teacher College. That's right - ALL OF US! We spent a long weekend learning and reflecting. It is so powerful to sit with your colleagues after a day of observing and learning. Want teacher "buy-in" for a new way of teaching? This is the way to go about it. Teach us. Let us see it in action with stellar examples and a realistic environment. Majority of our teachers were able to experience this special PD trip. Now on to the learning... What a trip! It is amazing the power of seeing best practices in action when you are learning something new. Our visit to PS11 in NYC, a Teacher College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) Workshop Showcase School, reaffirmed some of the things first grade is doing in the classroom, while shining a light on those areas needing improvement. The visit set us up with even more “look fors...
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Thank You, ISTE!

Wow, what a turn out for our presentation! Thank you, everyone! Can’t believe it’s over. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my poster session, AR + Green Screen = App Smashing Success, with Jenny O’Sullivan.  Here’s a link to our resources . There you will find everything needed to duplicate our Garden & LEGO projects. We LOVE combining augmented reality with green screen to make student work come alive. Read more about the Our Garden project via Jenny’s blog now!   Again, thanks for checking us out. Until next year, ISTE!
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