Introductions come here I suppose… I am a 3rd grade teacher in Texas – A wife and mommy of two little boys and I do dabble in some craftiness here and there. Educational Technology, however, is my passion.  It all began two years ago when I was granted a SMART board  for my classroom. Before that I had used laptops, School Web Forums, & CPS in my classroom, just to name  a few. All of that had sparked an interest in taking my classroom to a new level with technology, but it truly wasn’t until one spring afternoon in, my then 4th grade classroom that it all just seemed to come together. I had been teaching elapsed time, and reading an analog clock to my class, and as you might imagine it wasn’t exactly the highlight of their day. They were in that spring fever mode and no manipulatives or worksheets were going to do much to change that. Then I found a website with a game called STOP the CLOCK… It was interactive and looked like it might be a great group activity for a culminating activity with our unit on time. The afternoon I introduced this I expected a bit more enthusiasm, but had no idea what I was about to witness. These kids were fascinated! They didn’t want to stop! They wanted to compete against each other to see who could match the digital to the analog time the fastest… I stepped away from the board and watched them and realized I had been missing a big link along the way. These kids responded to learning so very differently than I had ever been taught to deliver. They wanted to move, and interact, and it truly changed my thinking forever.  For weeks after that day my kids would BEG me at the end of the day before dismissal to play STOP the CLOCK… yep… that’s right.. BEG… to practice telling TIME! That was the beginning for me… and after two years of growing and learning I am ready to take the next step. I want to join my peers in education in building my PLN and taking my game to the next level by using social media to enhance what I do, to ensure my students will not just learn, but they will master, and grow, and be ready for the future that waits for them. So here I go! 🙂