debbiew

__Hi, my name is Debbie Wikander__
I taught my first, first grade class in 1971 in Morristown, NJ I have 5 awesome grown children all of whom are college graduates. I have four beautiful grandchildren; Iris age 6, Carley age 4, Peter age 3 and Ella age 3 (Ella and her mom Katie currently live with us) My daughter works a night shift so I take care of Ella 3 or 4 nights a week and most challenging, I get her to preschool before work. I did not have to do the "drop the kids off at preschool thing" with my own children as I was a stay at home mom for 15 years. Kudos to all the working moms out there! I have been teaching in Frankford Township School for the past 21 years. My specialty is early childhood education. I've taught grade 1, transitional first grade (8 years until the program was ended) Kindergarten (5 years) self-contained Resource room (kindergarten through 8th grade) For the past 5 years I've been a Basic Skills Teacher supporting K-fouth grade. This year I am supporting 31 K and first grade students. I love my job! My husband, Ed and I just celebrated our 6th Anniversary on December 26. My first husband, Peter, passed away from a massive heart attack 10 years ago. When I am home I am enjoying my family or I am gardening. We love to travel. I've been to all but 3 states (Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas). I've been to Australia and several countries in Europe (Spain, France, England, Germany, Italy) I am afraid of heights and hate roller coasters but, I have been on helicopter rides in Sedona, Arizona, and Hawaii. We went on a hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley. I love trying new things!

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5 new technologies to try ===== get comfortable with wiki learn more about diigo screen casting Volki explore edutopia more

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4 ideas to share with others ===== How to use pod casts to teach Use Cast site to create a book use voice thread with children (styles of learning) explore rss feeds with coleagues

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3 principles of Universal Design for Learning ===== Representation Action and Expression Engagement

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2 changes in your teaching to reach all learners in the Digital Age =====

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1 BIG idea to implement on Monday ===== use some of this technology I learned today to help one specific student