We are wrapping up 2016 with a spotlight on one of our early adopters: Jamie Knefely. Jamie always wanted to be a teacher. She majored in education without ever second guessing her choice. Jamie has been teaching in public school for 16 years at the middle school and elementary level. She currently teaches second grade.
Jamie’s First Boom Cards
Jamie covered elections in social studies this year. She creates for both Boom Learning and Teachers Pay Teachers. For her first Boom Cards, she made social studies resources because she saw a lack of digital materials in this subject area. Jaime uses materials from both platforms together in her classroom. Every idea she has comes from something she needed or wished she had.
“On Boom Learning I have Election task cards and on TPT I have an Election unit. My Election unit focused more on comprehension and digging into vocabulary, along with a few games. I brought in my Boom Learning task cards to reinforce the skills I had taught. By using both platforms I was making sure that my students were grasping not only a basic understanding, but were able to apply what they had learned.”

A Science Nerd
Jamies is a self-described science nerd. When she teaches science, she gets just as excited as the students. In science “we all don’t necessarily end up with the same results.” Science is such an opportunity to teach the skills of persistence in the face of failure. Jamie likes to incorporate STEM in her classroom and plans to bring more of her materials to Boom Learning.
Hot Tip for New Boom Learning Users
Jamie now wishes she would have uploaded all her favorite fonts at once instead of as needed. “It never fails every time I get started creating, I have to pause and go back and shuffle through fonts to find one of my favorites and download.” Jamie recommends that new users take the time to plan ahead, even with the small things such as fonts and clip art. “It will save you time in the long run.”
Jamie’s Thoughts for Teachers (and Parents)
“Be able to go with the flow. It will make your life easier. My favorite quote is from the movie The Help: ‘You is Kind, You is Smart, and You is Important.’ I think all children should hear this daily!!”
In Love with Water
Sand, salt, beach and water. You can find Jamie doing cartwheels with her family over lakes, rivers, pools and oceans. When school is out, they’ll be at the pool, on the boat and swimming in the lake or dipping a toes in the sand and sea. Jaime lives with her family in Louisiana.
Visit Teaching Tidbits and More with Jamie for decks and backgrounds. Tweet a election teaching story @boomlearning #electionfatigue.
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