"To teach is to learn twice!"

May I encourage you to always be researching and looking for ways to build your understanding of how children learn?!  There are many free opportunities to sign up for all through the year...many to do at will. Download the notes or just take notes of things to try in your classroom.  Learn from those who have been teaching for many years.  I will point out that many teachers with the experience do not share their wisdom because they think they have nothing to offer or they feel irrelevant.  Those are the people that I have learned the most from...the people who have been in the trenches of education through many changes in our culture/history.  Many of those teachers have multiple degrees and training.  Several...just the bumps and bruises of learning the hard way...street smarts!

I started teaching before most people had the opportunity to have a computer in their home.  I had stacks of Mailbox magazines and countless teacher resource books and files of ideas from mentors.  We got our first home Windows desktop system that squealed and beeped as it dialed up the internet in 2000.  I had access to a computer in the classroom for grading...as long as it wasn't having connectivity issues or glitching.

 Now...we carry a computer around in our hand and have 24/7 access to information.  Pinterest, TPT, Instagram reels, and Google now flood our teacher brains with ideas galore.  It gets to a point where you have to draw a line and turn it off!  You can quickly find a lack of contentment for your class and school, if you are not careful, which breeds a poor attitude and hurts the morale of your team.  There is not enough time, sanity, or money to incorporate every good idea.  How do you wade through it all?  Measure it by the scope and sequence of your curriculum!  Ask yourself... Does this enhance the lesson?  Does this activity encourage the use of multiple senses?  Will it engage my high, average, or distracted learner?  How much movement will this encourage?  Who does this activity benefit?  What is the bigger picture? Think through the developmental stages that children grow through in the year that they are in your classroom.

In a world run by social media, we need to use critical thinking in choosing what we will or will not use in the classroom.  Bigger, shinier, and fancier is not always as it seems.  New is not always better.  Remember, you are only seeing what influencers want you to see.  Use discretion and research.  Take the idea...tweak it...make it fit your plan (based on the above questions).  Follow your school's policies and procedures.  Do not get your counsel from social media.  (If you are friends with students, parents, and co-workers (not recommended), it comes across as unprofessional, distasteful, and weak when you publicly ask for advice on social media). Your classroom cannot be powered by "Likes".  Just another lesson I had to learn in the last few years of the explosion of technology.