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Winter Scavenger Hunts

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Even those of us who love winter can sometimes get a little nutty if we don’t get outside frequently enough. The same is true for our kids. That’s why this morning I was happy to see my county’s Facebook page share a printable winter scavenger hunt sheet. The scavenger hunt comes from CBC Parents.

The CBC Winter Scavenger Hunt is a PDF that you can download and print for free. The scavenger hunt has four categories. Those categories are things to find (and pick up), things to look for, things to listen for, and things to feel. Print the sheet, put on your snow boots, and head outside to help your kids find the things in the scavenger hunt.

A Book of Outdoor Activities for All Seasons

When I was a kid a great source of winter activity ideas was The American Boy’s Handy Book. It is full of hands-on outdoor activities for kids. It was originally published in 1882 but is still in print and available on Amazon. It’s also available to view for free through Google Books.

The Power of Getting Back to Basics

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It was a long weekend for most of us here in the U.S. I took my toddlers skiing. Teaching them the basics of stance, balance, and stopping sparked a thought about getting back to basics in other areas.

The basics of improving physical fitness are to move your body every day and burn more calories than you consume. I’m doing well on the moving part. The eating part caught me last week and I fell off the “junk free January” wagon on Wednesday when I caved to the cookie tray at a conference. I felt terrible the next day. But I got back to basics and was feeling better by Friday evening.

The basics for my mental health are getting up at 4:47am, writing my list of affirmations, and making a bullet point plan for the day. At the end of the day, I cross off the things that got done. When I get away from doing those basic things for more than a couple of days, things seem to go off the rails (just ask those who live with me).

The Challenge

We all have some basic things that can keep our physical and mental health on track. If you haven’t already, make a list of those basics that can get you back on track when things aren’t going well with your physical or mental fitness. Put that list somewhere that you can see it when you need it. You might be surprised at how just a glance at that list can get you back on track.

How to Make Sure You Don’t Use “Reply All” At the Wrong Time

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We all have that one colleague that uses “reply all” way too often. I made the following video to help that person. By the way, if you can’t think of who needs to watch this video, it might be you.

There’s nothing wrong with using “reply all” when it’s necessary, but it’s usually not necessary. We all have plenty of email and don’t need twenty more messages saying, “yes” or “ok” or “I can’t make it because my sister’s brother-in-law is having an in-grown toenail removed that day.”

Three Ways to Create Online Comics

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Creating a comic strip can be a great way to get students to start writing. When I taught social studies I had students create comic strips based on historical events. When I taught language arts I had students make comic strips to summarize key points The Odyssey and Romeo & Juliet. If you want to have your students try making comics, here are three online tools that I’ve used extensively and recommend to others.

Make Beliefs Comix

Make Beliefs Comix is a free service for creating online comic strips. It doesn’t have the most features that you’ll find in an online comic strip tool, but it does have all of the features that the vast majority of students need. Make Beliefs Comix provides a simple interface that lets students search for and add drawings to comic strip frames. Most importantly, Make Beliefs Comix offers support for writing in eleven languages. Registration is not required in order to use Make Beliefs Comix. Watch my tutorial below to see how it works.

Storyboard That

Storyboard That offers an education product that allows you to create an online classroom in which you give assignments to students to complete using Storyboard That’s comic strip or storyboard tools. In addition to distributing and viewing assignments in Storyboard That classrooms, you can create templates for your students to follow. My introduction to Storyboard That is embedded below.

Google Slides

Google Slides doesn’t have a comic strip template, but it’s easy to make one with it. Check out my video below to learn how to make comic strips with Google Slides.

Other Options

There are other tools out there that I’ve tried and used at various times for making comic strips. The ones listed above are the ones I’ve used the most. Some other tools you might consider using to make comic strips include Pixton, Book Creator, Write Reader, and good ol’ PowerPoint.

It’s About the Small Choices

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I’d love to tell you that my weekend was awesome, but it wasn’t. I won’t bore you with details, let’s just say it was a series of frustrating little things that by last night had me wanting to just put on the television, make some popcorn, and have a good beer. That’s not what I did though. Instead, I climbed onto my spin bike and worked out for an hour before bed. It wasn’t the fun choice, but it was the better choice.

As I shared last week, last year I exercised on 305 days. There were lots of days like yesterday when I didn’t want to run, bike, or do any structured workout. I forced myself to make the better choice on those days. By the end of the year I was down nearly 40lbs from where I was at the start. All of those small choices to workout instead of watching Friends for the 1000th time (yes, I love the “We Were on a Break!” episode too) or to eat carrot sticks instead of Fritos add to big changes over time.

The Challenge

The challenge for this week complements the month-long Junk Free January challenge. The challenge is to think about the small choices that you can make during your day that can add up to big changes over time. A great example of this is when you’re tempted to indulge in that junk snack, just think “why am I doing this and what will I gain?” For me, that usually keeps me from falling into the junk food. You might have another temptation that you’re fighting, but thinking about the choice might be enough to help you make the better choice.

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