Florida Badger Learning Center Inc.

09/07/2026

Technology Skills in Action 💻

Jayvon told me, Ms.T, I know how to take the picture. I wasn’t sure he really knew the full process, so I let him show me.

Javon, independently turned on the tablet, opened the camera, took a picture of our class work. I was impressed because he completed the entire workflow on his own 🤓

Independence also comes with responsibility. I remind the children that when using ChatGPT, they should always work with a parent or trusted adult.

Learning technology is important. Learning how to use it safely is just as important. 🤓

09/07/2026

🎈🌱 Part 3: Back to the Florida Badger Lab!

The flower balloons were a TOTAL SUCCESS! 😂 Parents said the kids talked about them all night, and Winter and Javon even brought theirs back the next day for repairs.

And guess what else they came back with? Mac notebooks for Lesson Plan Buddy! 😂💻 They were READY too… except they forgot to charge them at home. LOL. So we had the balloons, the repairs, the notebooks, and no battery. 😂

Winter Jr. was missing an arm and a leg, and Javon Jr. had lost a petal and a leg. I told them, “You came to the right place, the Florida Badger Learning Center Lab!” 😂 We learned that to repair something means to fix it, and repairing them gave us even more practice holding scissors correctly, cutting straight lines, and making our own arms and legs.

While putting on our finishing touches, we went to water our plants and GUESS WHAT?! 🌱 Our cilantro is already growing!

From planting real plants, to creating flowers by hand, to flower balloons, repairs, and now bringing in their own technology for Lesson Plan Buddy 😂 they loved it ALL, but those flower balloons definitely won! 🎈🌸

📚💻 Learning Through Reading and Technology

09/07/2026

🎈🌸 Part 2

As you know, my class and I have been using technology more, AND they are loving it! 😁 We’ve been doing a few different flower activities. First, we potted our herbs and cucumbers, then we made flower crafts with our hands, and now we’re making flower balloons. 🌱🌼🎈

For our flower balloons, we started by talking about emotions and what kind of mood they wanted their balloon to have, funny, silly, shy, etc. Then came the question: How are we going to blow these balloons up? We tried using our mouths… exhausting. 😂 Then we tried the balloon pump… also exhausting, but nevertheless, definitely better than using our mouths!

Once the balloons were blown up, the children added their faces and flower petals however they wanted. And when I tell you these balloons had personalities! 😂 One had spiky-looking hair, another looked like she had a crown. They were all very unique.

Of course, they were excited to show Lesson Plan Buddy their creations, but they weren’t finished yet. That meant the balloons had to spend the night in the Florida Badger Lab. Now y’all know how children are about balloons, so I wasn’t sure how THAT was going to go. 😂 But they agreed to leave them and went home excited to come back and finish.

Now fast-forward to the next day. We’re getting ready to continue our flower balloons, and Javon and Winter hit me with, “We already know what we’re about to do. We looked up how to make flower balloons on YouTube.”

Y’all… I PAUSED. 😂 In my head I’m like, OH MY GOD. THE CAT IS OUT THE BAG! These children done went home and looked up my lesson plan! 😂 It felt like they had ruined the surprise for themselves. Like opening your Christmas gifts before Christmas, wrapping them back up, and then trying to act surprised on Christmas morning. I’m thinking, Well Lord… now they already know what we’re doing. We’re just going to be sitting here going through the motions.

Then Javon told me he put it in YouTube himself, just like I had been showing them how to use technology and communicate with Lesson Plan Buddy. Okayyyy! My kids are already enrolled in YouTube University! 😂🎓 And not just to play games, they went home and looked up their LESSON!

Then they started telling me what was supposed to happen next. They said we were going to put string on the balloons and do what they had seen online. And in my head I’m like, Well… that’s not even what WE were gonna do. 😂 I explained that yes, you can put string on a flower balloon. That’s one way to create one. But just because something looks similar doesn’t mean we’re going to follow the same directions.

So I told them, “Today our balloons are getting arms.” They were like, “Arms?” 😂 Then Winter said, “What about legs?” I said, “Yes, you can have legs.” Then she wanted nails. 💅🏾😂 Yes, girl, yours can have nails! Javon said his flower balloon didn’t need shoes. I said, “That’s fine. He can have crazy legs!” 😂 And just like that, the surprise was back. And just like that, my lesson was saved.

And THAT part hit me. They may have gone home and looked up a flower balloon, but they still didn’t know what OUR flower balloons were going to become. Things can look the same and still have different directions. It hit me, because sometimes I think I know where God is taking me just because something looks familiar. But just because it looks familiar doesn’t mean those are my directions.

All of that from some flower balloons. 😂🌸🎈 I still can’t believe they went home and looked up my lesson plan. But what really got me was realizing that I showed them how to engage with technology, ask questions, search for information, and use Lesson Plan Buddy, and they took it a step further without me. The lesson didn’t stop at school. ❤️

📚💻 Learning Through Reading and Technology

09/06/2026

“Happy Labor Day! Wishing you and your family a safe and wonderful holiday!”

09/06/2026

Ooh, ooh, ooh, Baby 😭😭! I was NOT ready for what happened in my classroom today. 😂 But before I can tell y’all about today, I have to go back to the beginning.

At the end of last school year, I decided to change Florida Badger Learning Center’s motto from We learn through reading to We learn through reading and technology. At first, I thought it might be too advanced. Then one day Javon looked at Winter and said, “Winter, I’m finna send you an email.” That was confirmation for me. 😂

When I say technology, I’m not talking about sitting my children in front of a screen and telling them to use AI. We do the lesson first. We read, talk, create, count, plant, cut, glue, and do the actual work. Then we bring that work to Lesson Plan Buddy.

I created Lesson Plan Buddy to help me expand and extend the lessons and materials I already use in my classroom. And when he talks to my children, I can see my fingerprint all over him. The way he encourages them, asks questions, and extends their thinking reflects how I want learning to happen.

My children are SO excited to show him what they made. “Lesson Plan Buddy, look what we did!” They upload pictures of the actual work they created by hand and have a conversation with him about it. Their plants, flower balloons, artwork, and classroom activities.

On Wednesdays, we sometimes take something they physically created and transform it into a different output. The starting point is always something real that they made, touched, built, planted, drew, or created themselves.

We also broke down what GPT means in a way they can understand. Generative means create. For pre-trained, I asked, “What is something you did not know before, but somebody taught you and now you know it?” Javon said, “Our ABCs.” Exactly. Then we got to Transformer, and of course I had to connect it to the Transformers. 😂 In our classroom language: Create. Already learned. Transform.

During large group, I also teach them starter, kid-friendly navigation: how to use the microphone, push the plus button, go to photos, upload their work, and have a back-and-forth conversation about something they actually created.

At first, I thought even that might be too advanced. Then I had to remind myself: these same children already know how to play games, open apps, log in and out of their iPads, and move around technology they have already been introduced to.

So this is just another learning curve.
And they are learning it WELL.
We are only in week three.

And today?

My class had me speechless for a minute.

But I’m not there yet. 😂 😂😂

09/03/2026

Hello September! 🌻

We’re continuing our All About Me & How Do Flowers Grow? Theme, and we’ve already been busy.

We’ve potted herbs and talked about what herbs can be used for and some of their benefits. We created flower mirrors and talked about the petals, stems, and the center of the flower/ central disc. Then we made flower balloons, and that was hilarious. 😂

Stay tuned as we continue expanding our vocabulary and knowledge about all about us and how do flowers grow. 🌱🌻

09/02/2026

😱Guess what our cilantro is growing 🌱
My class and I are trying to decide what to do with our cilantro once they’re fully grown.

09/02/2026

08/30/2026

🌱 All About Me & How Do Flowers Grow?

Javon said, “People need food!” 🍎
Winter said, “People need water!” 💧

And just like that, our classroom song was born. 🎶

Humans need water,
Humans need food,
Humans need sunlight,
Just like plants do! 🌱☀️

Now our little farmers are ready to plant! 💚

📚💻 Learning Through Reading and Technology

08/27/2026

🌱 All About Me & How Do Flowers Grow?

Javon said, “People need food!” 🍎
Winter said, “People need water!” 💧

And just like that, our classroom song was born. 🎶

Humans need water,
Humans need food,
Humans need sunlight,
Just like plants do! 🌱☀️

Now our little farmers are ready to plant! 💚 everyone was excited to take their Flowers home 🏠 flowers

📚💻 Learning Through Reading and Technology