The Awesome Teaching Space

  Google Applications in Education offers various tools and features that foster collaboration, communication, flexibility, accessibility, organization, and engagement in the educational environment while providing a cost-effective and user-friendly suite of tools for both students and educators. As a teacher leader, one way to use this powerful platform is to encourage collaborative lesson planning, curriculum development, or the creation of teaching resources. This allows real-time collaborations and feedback from multiple colleagues. Throughout this course, I explored different Google applications that I can integrate into my classroom instruction. Reviewing each tool's existing features and discovering its new features was a great refresher. In Week 1, I learned more about Google Mail, Calendar, Keep, and Tasks. I learned new things: creating an email signature using WiseStamp, subscribing to my colleagues' calendars, exploring the advanced search bar setting in Gmail, crea...

What initially comes to mind when you hear the word "geography"? People will most likely associate the word "maps" as a response. However, geography is not just about maps. Geography is broad and covers a lot of themes to have a greater understanding of the relationships between humans and their environments.   This unit is one of my favorite things to discuss with my students. However, the Social Studies curriculum provided by our school district is mainly based on geographical features of the United States of America. Students in the Northern Mariana Islands need help grasping fundamental ideas and applying many geographical terms to where they live. Therefore, it is on our hands as educators to bridge that missing link by providing rigorous and relevant tasks and ensuring that each student leaves with a depth of knowledge.   I have taught second grade for five years, and our 3rd Quarter integrated project is all about the geography of Rota. In this performance ta...

The finest example of breaking down barriers between the classroom and the community is frequently casting students as neighborhood problem solvers. Students' problem-solving capacity is strengthened by learning to think globally and act locally. They might not be able to resolve the world's most pressing problems, but they can work on appropriately sized projects connected to global issues.  The loss of species due to rapid global change is one of the most urgent issues in the field of biodiversity. Saving biodiversity has always been one of my passions since Rota is a stunning and tranquil place to live. With my students, I wanted to share the same interests. As a result, I decided to enroll my class in a project-based learning activity related to rescuing a critically endangered species of crow known locally as "Åga" (scientific name: Corvus Kubaryi), which is unique to Micronesia. The four-week Åga Pen Pal program is one of the Marianas Crow Recovery Project initi...

(I created a Class Dojo virtual room on Google Slides. Check this  link  to make a copy of your own for  FREE !) Are you looking for an educational platform that promotes communication, engagement, and socio-emotional learning all in one place? Well, Class Dojo has it all! It is 100% FREE for teachers and schools! Since teaching as a classroom teacher, I have been using Class Dojo, which brings families, teachers, and our whole community together. It is a secure place to share photos and videos and school-wide events. It has a private feed to share photos, video lessons, and files with students and families. Students can take ownership of their work with customized learning and feedback skills. They can use this platform as a digital portfolio with journal, drawing, photo, and video features. It fosters effective communication with families to stay deeply connected to the classroom and school. Moreover, language is never a barrier; its automatic translation feature makes...

Maria Lourdes Pobeda, a classroom teacher from Sinapalo Elementary School in Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, considers teaching her "work of heart." With about eight years of expertise in this field, she has dedicated herself to fostering young brains and educating them to be optimistic world changers. She also serves an active role for individuals of all ages and backgrounds in her community and throughout her state as an AmeriCorps Site Supervisor.   Additionally, Pobeda is an educational content creator who creates engaging learning activities and other educational materials for educators and students. She aims to work with other educators to exchange knowledge and support one another in bringing about the significant changes the education system needs.   Pobeda graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics at Southern New Hampshire in 2018. She continues to serve leadership roles in a professional learning community and an accreditation team. She was acknowledged as a ...