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Monday, August 7, 2017

#GeniusHour Master Course Opportunity with AJ Juliani

#GeniusHour Master Course Opportunity with AJ Juliani

Posted by 1:35 PM

If you've read this article from the spring of 2015, you know my students are super passionate about their Genius Hour time and they have absolutely blown me away with what they have become experts on. I also reference the importance of student led learning and Genius Hour in my TEDx Talk, and in this post I wrote for ISTE 2016. I believe Genius Hour has a place in every classroom, and I'm excited to share a unique opportunity with you...

 My friend AJ Juliani, who is widely known for his work involving all things design thinking and Genius Hour, is offering a fantastic master course for you! The price of the course is $125 from August 6-August 16, or use my code KAYLA and the price drops to $99.
You can register up until August 16.
save 20% on your purchase by using the code KAYLA


Here's what the full course includes:
  • 70 Videos walking you step-by-step through the Genius Hour process
  • Year-long Private discussion group for course members with AJ (Facebook/Voxer)
  • 4- Week Unit and 7 lesson plans mapped to standards, 21st Century Skills, Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s DOK
    • K-2 Unit and 3-5 Unit
    • 6-8 Unit and 9-12 Unit
  • 8- Week Unit and 10 lesson plans mapped to standards, 21st Century Skills, Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s DOK
    • K-2 Unit and 3-5 Unit
    • 6-8 Unit and 9-12 Unit
  • 12- Week Unit and 14 lesson plans mapped to standards, 21st Century Skills, Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s DOK
    • K-2 Unit and 3-5 Unit
    • 6-8 Unit and 9-12 Unit
    • Mini-Genius (Two Lessons) Activity mapped to standards
    • Student Genius Hour Notebook (print and digital)
    • PowerPoint for each unit
    • Starter Question pack for teacher and students
    • Parent letters
    • Assessment rubrics for process and product
    • Handouts for everyday and every stage
    Bonuses only available during launch week:

    • Guide to student blogging (step-by-step how to)
    • Guide to social media in the classroom (What to use and how to use it)
    • Genius Hour Journal (the popular GH resource PPT)
    • Wordpress 101 (how to create your own blog and get it up and running)
Of note...

  1. This course is evolving. Each month new lessons will be added based on community discussion and feedback.
  2. It is everything you need to run GH at any level. Lessons are differentiated for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. This is not for one specific grade level, it is for K-12.
  3. All videos and materials are downloadable to your own device/computer so you can take them on the go and use without wifi etc.
  4. All files are editable documents. Nothing is in PDF, it is all Word Doc and PPT files that you can adjust to for your classroom needs.
  5. If you don’t have devices in your classroom, don’t worry. All the materials are print/handout ready, and you can run GH without computers for your students.

 More info about Genius Hour from AJ's blog...
How Genius Hour Benefits the Entire School Community
10 Reasons to Try Genius Hour This Year



Remember, the course registration closes August 16!
Save 20% on your purchase by using the code KAYLA.

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Kayla Delzer
0 Comments

Sunday, July 23, 2017

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: Flexible Seating and Student Centered Learning Spaces

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: Flexible Seating and Student Centered Learning Spaces

Posted by 7:48 PM

If you've been following me @topdogeteaching or this blog over the last few years, you know I am extremely passionate about flexible seating and all things best practice in learning spaces. My current interviews, podcasts, articles, research and photos can be found right here on my blog. 

 And now, the next step in this journey...

 Last week I went on a helicopter tour from Las Vegas down into the heart of the Grand Canyon. In the spirit of inspiration and adventure, I brought along my newest book contract to sign. I'm proud to announce I am authoring a book all about flexible seating and redesigning student learning spaces! My book will be published by Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. during the spring of 2018. Cheers to new adventures with the Dave Burgess Consulting family!

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Kayla Delzer
0 Comments

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Connecting Teachers and Students Through the Power of Learning Management Systems

Connecting Teachers and Students Through the Power of Learning Management Systems

Posted by 8:52 PM
This is a sponsored post.

As a reader of this blog, you know that I’m a big believer in student voice, choice, and ownership of learning. Our classrooms are more digital than ever, and our students come to school connected. Yet, often times we ask students to technologically power down when they enter our classrooms. When itslearning connected with me online, I was immediately excited to share about their awesome platform with my readers. Chances are, you’ve already heard of them because they have over 7 million users worldwide!

Itslearning is a cloud-based LMS (Learning Management System) with 99% uptime for enhancing student performance by improving teaching and learning processes. It provides a streamlined, user friendly learning environment for schools districts and seamlessly connects systems, resources, and people. Most importantly, itslearning provides educators the flexibility
and time savings needed to create truly personalized experiences that place students at
the center of learning.

The LMS aims to offer the most comprehensive content library accessible via a single sign-on, end-to-end teaching and learning platform that connects us all.

Itslearning focuses on connections:

Teachers connecting to students, allowing learners to have a voice and choice, and ultimately, an ownership of their own education.

Students connecting with their friends to share ideas, conduct peer-reviews, or simply chat.

Parents connecting with their children. To become informed and active participants in the education process.

Superintendents, curriculum directors, and IT leaders connecting their districts. Uniting disparate technologies, information sources and logins. Capturing and sharing the best district-authored content across all their schools. Designing and deploying standards aligned curricula to improve student outcomes.

Want to know more about this amazing LMS? Here are 5 quick facts to get you started:

o Includes a library of millions of open-source educational resources (via Gooru
partnership) and district/teacher-created content. It also integrates with any
other digital content: publisher-supplied, and OER. It effectively manages
curricula by understanding the linkage of content resources to learning
standards. It can even recommend suggest resources for inclusion in a
teacher’s lesson plans.
o Provides real time feedback to proactively improve student learning
o Provides personalized, learning options to help get the most out of each
student
o Strengthens school community ties and teacher-student-parent relations
o Helps teachers with continued professional development tools and resources.

For more information about this LMS, please check out their website.


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Kayla Delzer
4 Comments

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Announcing: The Innovative Academy

Announcing: The Innovative Academy

Posted by 3:35 PM
Hi friends! I’m excited to share a new course by my friend, AJ Juliani, called The Innovative Teaching Academy.  AJ gave me a special discount code that you can access by clicking any of the links on this post. And, I get to be a live guest during the month of August! Whoot!

The Innovative Teaching Academy is a six-month online learning experience that gives you the tools, resources, and community needed to break the mold of traditional schooling.
The Innovative Teaching Academy isn’t just a course. It’s a master class and coaching system designed to take you through step-by-step lessons and teach you the principles and strategies needed to make a greater impact in education and reach more people.
And to provide the accountability and support system we all need to thrive.
·     Easy-to-follow lessons? YES
·     Monthly courses on design thinking, project-based learning, learning space design, habit building for productivity, social media, and blogging? YES
·     Supportive community of education leaders? YES
·     Built-in accountability? YES
·     Unlimited personal coaching with the Academy Team? YES
The academy is grounded in proven principles and strategies that work. It’s broken down into simple, step-by-step lessons that allow you to walk through each of the six phases of innovative teaching and learning.
Each lesson will leave you with an easy-to-follow action item and schedule so you can methodically implement what you’ve learned.
No guesswork.
No reverse engineering.
No more hours or searching the internet for something that makes sense.
Come check it out here.

What is inside the Innovative Teaching Academy?
Each Month of the Academy has a different focus. At the beginning of the month you’ll receive a full course on topics such as Building a Better Blog, Social Media with Purpose, Design Thinking, Learning Space Design, Project-Based Learning, and Authentic Work.
Each week you’ll also receive a new article, video, and resource to prompt discussion in our private group and also help you complete the action items for the month.
You’ll also get access to live interviews with experts and leaders in each field, being able to ask them your questions and dive deep into each area with their guidance.
During all of this, you’ll have access to our Private Facebook Community and online coaching for support, guidance, and the community we all need to thrive!








Let me know if you have questions, and I can't wait to share all the awesomeness that is already inside the Innovative Teaching Academy. By using my code that is linked up on this post, I will receive a commission for each subscription.


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Kayla Delzer
4 Comments

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Increasing Parent Communication and Participation with Bloomz

Increasing Parent Communication and Participation with Bloomz

Posted by 3:41 PM
If you’ve been following along with my blog this school year, you know I’ve been partnering with Bloomz app to share out some of my favorite features of the app. In my first post, I gave an overview of the app. My second post focused mostly on using the app to schedule parent teacher conferences. (So convenient!)


Today, I’m going to show you how to share a class moment with all of the parents of your students. I would encourage you  to use this app as more than a reminder for book order deadlines, etc. This is a topic that’s close to my heart, because so often kids go home from school without things to talk about that happened during the school day, even on days when the learning was epic! Parents ask what their child’s favorite part of school was, or what they worked on, and kids reply with either a vague response or that they can’t remember. Enter: Bloomz app. Parents can now reference specific images, videos, events, and learning from the day to continue the conversation about the school day at home. Hello, 21st-century parent communication!

Creating a post in Bloomz is pretty simple and quick. Here’s a short video from the creators of Bloomz to walk you through the process the first time. It gets quicker and quicker the more you use it.




  1. Tap on the + icon in the top right corner of the Home screen.
  2. Click Post in the drop-down menu.
  3. Click in the To field.
  4. Click the Classes & Groups icon and select the group to which you want to make the post.
  5. Tap Done.
  6. The group name is seen in the To field.
  7. Input text in the Title and Body of the post form.
  8. Tap Insert Photos in the bottom menu.
  9. Select the photos you want to post.
  10. Tap Attach Files ( This option is available only in browser and not on the iPhone app).
  11. Select the file you want to attach.
Click Post.


When you are creating a post to send home to parents, you have several options to reach parents on the bottom. Teachers can easily attach photos, videos, or even files. I highly recommend attaching photos when possible to drive up parent participation. You can either allow comments on a post or disable this feature as well. Additionally, when you attach a link to a URL, a preview automatically generates right there in the message. Teachers can schedule when the post goes out (which is super helpful if you know you would like to schedule something in advance) and even share it right to a classroom Facebook page.
If you have an urgent message to send (no school, school dismissed unexpectedly, etc), make sure you set it as an “alert.” To help reach all of the parents immediately, Bloomz will send  an email notification and a text message.


If you want to bring attention to an upcoming notice or post, you can set it as an “announcement,” and the post will stay pinned to the top of the page until the date you specify.
Teachers, if you’ve used Bloomz, please share your favorite feature of the app in the comments below, or ask any questions you have. Thanks for reading!

This is a sponsored blog post. All thoughts are my own.

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Kayla Delzer
3 Comments
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[name=Kayla Delzer] [img=https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ihQFjAGe84k/WLSAsP3Us2I/AAAAAAAASSs/XCP1IZfMz0IvZvGHTe59nIHKjrqJquqvACLcB/s1600/biobox.png] [description=Award-Winning 3rd Grade Teacher. International Keynote Speaker. Classroom Designer. Flexible Seating Guru. TEDx Speaker. Columnist. Technology Champion. Digital Citizenship Expert.]

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