Aug 20 2019

Welcome to Another New School Year!

This week, thousands of California students will return to their classrooms. Parents are busily preparing for the final days of summer and getting ready for the new school year by:

Completing dental, doctor, and immunizations documentation for school registrations
Helping their children transition into a new classroom by organizing clothes, school supplies, and space for homework completion
Making final plans for before and after-school childcare and play activities
Helping their children prepare for the first day of school by getting an alarm clock, going to bed earlier, and understanding any school transportation and classroom assignments

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Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.

Aug 13 2019

Summer Job Opportunties for Your Middle Schooler

Summer Job Opportunities for Your Middle Schooler

Summer time is the perfect time for your middle schooler to unwind, relax, and catch up with some sleep! While it is developmentally appropriate for your young teen to take a mental break from academic studies, the summer also opens the doors for gaining new skills, exploring new interests, and giving back to the community. In this third part of the “Summer Opportunities for Your Middle Schooler” series, we’ll explore the benefits of getting a summer job. [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Discovering the joy of teaching while in high school, Jaime pursued her B.A. in English at Santa Clara University. She also received a teaching credential and a M.A. in Education Administration from Santa Clara University. Jaime taught English Language Arts at Rancho Middle School, motivating and inspiring young people to become effective communicators and contributors in their community. From being a Middle School English Language Arts/English Language Development teacher to becoming a stay-at home mom, Jaime is an education consultant who presents literacy workshops. Her workshops focus on a combination of her ten years of teaching expertise with tried-and-true experiences that she uses with her own children. Jaime is also a Teacher Consultant with the San Jose Area Writing Project. Jaime’s mission is to share effective reading and writing strategies with families to encourage literacy.

Aug 06 2019

Summer Genius Hour Activities for Your Middle Schooler

Summer time is the perfect time for your middle schooler to unwind, relax, and catch up with some sleep! While it is developmentally appropriate for your young teen to take a mental break from academic studies, the summer also opens the doors for gaining new skills, exploring new interests, and giving back to the community. In this second part of a three-part “Summer Opportunities for Your Middle Schooler” series, we will focus on the benefits of Genius Hour activities. [Read more…]

Jaime Koo, Encouraging Literacy

Jul 16 2019

Fun Elementary Math and Science Activities

Summer is the perfect time to observe and explore nature in our gardens, while camping, and when traveling to various vacation destinations. As we enjoy nature explorations, we can reinforce our children’s learning by adding these fun math/science academic enrichment activities: [Read more…]

Danielle Gentry

Danielle’s first step in education did not begin with education at all. It began with her first love for science. She received a B.S. in Biological Science, with a concentration in Molecular Biology. Her five years of experience as a chemist in the biotech industry at SYVA and Dade Behring Diagnostics include both areas of quality control and research and development. Her contributions were qualifying products for release to sell to the diagnostic market as well as developing new diagnostic technology for immunoassay detection. Danielle’s subtle transition to discovering her passion for education was through the birth of her daughter. She became a stay at home mom. Her uber volunteerism at her daughter’s elementary school gained her access to her path of education. She now holds a multiple subject teaching credential and M.A. in Education from National University. She has over ten years of experience at Sakamoto Elementary School as an educator in kindergarten, sixth grade, second grade, and a 2/3 combination class. Her teaching is rooted in a constructivist model while fostering independence and accountability in the classroom.

Jun 25 2019

Fun Elementary Language Arts Activities

We are now enjoying hot summer days! And our children are already wondering how to fill their days with lots of fun-filled adventures. Many parents are worried how to keep their children from backsliding on their learning skills during these few summer weeks. Here are five interactive reading activities that we can share with our kids: [Read more…]

Danielle Gentry