Returning to Education

My husband and I overlooking an ever
present lake and mountains in Switzerland

I've been absent for quite a while on my blog because of many life changes. After leaving my position as a Technology Facilitator for the International School of Zug and Luzern in Switzerland, I returned to Texas with my husband to pursue opening our own business. This business was a nano beer brewery. We worked tirelessly for 3 years on this goal, and I'm proud to say that we did indeed build a brand, and made a product that I am very proud to stand behind. We closed the doors to our brewery on December 31. This decision did not come easily, but at this time, I do feel ready to move on. This is where Education comes back into the picture.

Our brewery logo 

This is a difficult shift. As a business owner, my mind was always occupied with the business. I couldn't get away from it, and I didn't want to. The brewery was our baby, and letting go is hard. I also know that my routine will change dramatically, though not working 120 hours a week is a definite plus. I actually think I'm looking forward to the return of a school routine. I have maintained my skills in technology over the past couple of years in numerous ways with our business, but I've also stayed in the Education Technology loop. I have friends and family in the industry and it's never been that far away. I am working on re-building an Ed Tech Twitter account (@TxpatEd) and I feel ready for the challenge.

This is where the hard part comes. I am currently on the search for an international teaching job in Instructional Technology. I'm anxious to return to the role and build upon my experience as a Teacher, Instructional Technology Specialist, Brewer, and Business Owner. You see, I'm convinced that all of these experiences have made me an even better educator. I'm anxious to see where we might be going, and what the next big change in our lives will be, but through my experience with our brewery, I know we will adapt and learn more about ourselves in the process.

Educational Apps

I've had several people (some teachers, some parents) question me lately about educational apps. There are many great resources out there for educational apps so I thought I'd share a few of them. All of the following sites provide a directory of apps, often sorted by age and/or subject level. I've included the Twitter name for the blogs when I could find them. Twitter is a great way to keep up-to-date with new posts from these blogs.

Best Apps for Kids (@bestappsforkids) - This is a great site that sorts apps by age/grade and by device. They also post "Free App Friday" each week where you can see apps that are free for a limited time or are offered in partnership with the next site in the list...

Moms with Apps (@momswithapps)- I learned of this site from @dkapuler. It is updated on a pretty regular basis and the purpose of the site is to "promote quality apps for kids and families".

SNApps4Kids (@SNApps4Kids)- This is a wonderful site who's purpose is to "...explore practical, useful, and educationally sound ways to use the iPad and similar devices with children of all ages and ability levels". SNApps4Kids stands for Special Needs Apps for Kids.

Appitic - I learned of Appitic from the Future Education Tech blog. It provides over 1,300 apps for education. What I really like about this site is that the apps here are broken down by topic and when selected give you a review of the app along with screenshots.

Best Kids Apps - I love the tagline on this site, "We play all the iPhone, iPad, and Android apps so you don't have to". The apps are given a grade, age rating, and the price is displayed.

Apps 4 iKids (@Apps4iKids)- This site was created to share apps that a mother has found for her son. Lists are included from various perspectives including her son's (5 yrs old) top 10 picks.