I hope that you are sheltering in place and maintaining social distancing and doing all the things that are being asked of us right now during this unprecedented pandemic.
And speaking of doing all the things — you’re probably also planning and implementing distance learning on top of everything else going on in our world and in our own families.
I am working on a post about maintaining your balance and sanity while doing all the distance learning work, but I have some new resources to share. So I decided that this post needs to be shared first!
Here we go with part 4. If you missed my earlier posts about free resources, see part 1 HERE, part 2 HERE, and part 3 HERE.
Maintaining contact with students and families
*Use Google Voice to make phone calls if you prefer to not share your phone number.
*Use Padlet for all kinds of interactions with your students. This is an example Padlet that I will be sharing with my class next week, as a “status of the class” for what they are reading independently. (Let me know if you want more directions for how to set up a Padlet wall.)
*Use Google forms to check in with your students. I am sending a different form, complete with bitmojis, every couple of days. I do change the questions but I try to keep it informal. Here’s a copy of one of my latest check-ins.
*Use Google Meet to set “appointment times” with individual students or with small groups. You could also use it for your whole class. I know that a lot of people are using Zoom for this, but I’m a little wary of using Zoom with students. (Although I love it for adult meetings.) Zoom is not “approved” by my school district because the free version is not FERPA/COPPA compliant. I don’t mean to deter you from using it if you love it. Use whatever works best for you!
*Time for Kids‘ digital library is now free for the remainder of the school year!
Writing resources
*I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this before, but encourage your students to write good, old-fashioned letters or notes to people. Elderly family members or friends would especially appreciate hearing from them while we are all isolated from each other right now. Of course, writing letters to anyone would be a great use of writing skills. Of course, Face Timing with grandparents or other elderly relatives would also be especially appreciated right now.
*If you want a great resource for vocabulary or spelling study, Vocabulary Spelling City is free for the rest of the year with the code VSCFree90.
Math resources
*Here is a great resource for teachers and families that is FREE until March 31! Download this ebook of math games that uses only a deck of cards from Math Geek Mama.
*Art at Home – Google slides with suggested art activities to do at home.
*Tell your students to wash their hands while reciting the Preamble to the U. S. Constitution! They can learn it HERE with Schoolhouse Rock on YouTube.
*They can also learn to wash their hands with Jimmy Fallon’s song for his two adorable daughters.
*It might be a great time for students to learn to play chess! This site will show them how.
That’s it for now! Take care of yourself, wash your hands, get plenty of rest, and go easy on yourself. These are difficult days and you are doing a great job.
I hope you are doing okay and taking care of yourself during this difficult and stressful time. I just learned that North Carolina schools will be closed through May 15 (possibly longer). I am so sad about the sudden end to this school year, before my students and I were ready for it.
I saw this post on Facebook and it encouraged me. I hope it will do the same for you. It was posted HERE by Ken Buck.
As a board member and veteran English teacher, I have felt the urge to write down my thoughts and how incredibly proud I am of educators. Here are my thoughts over coffee this morning:
We gave educators almost no notice. We asked them to completely redesign what school looks like and in about 24 hours local administrators and teachers “Apollo 13’ed” the problem and fixed it. Kids learning, children being fed, needs being met in the midst of a global crisis.
No state agency did this, no so-called national experts on curriculum. The local educators fixed it in hours. HOURS.
In fact, existing state and federal policies actually created multiple roadblocks. Local schools figured out how to do it around those too. No complaining and no handwringing – just solutions and amazingly clever plans.
Remember that the next time someone tries to convince you that schools are better run by mandates from non-educators. Remember that the next time someone tells you that teachers have it easy or try to persuade you that educators are not among the smartest, most ingenious people in society. And please never say to me again, “Those who can’t do anything else just go into teaching.”
Get out of the way of a teacher and watch with amazement of what really happens.
And now — here we go with round three of resources for distance learning during our school closures. I hope you find some good resources to use for your own students OR for your own children!
I’ve also updated the PDF list of resources from all three posts if you want to download it.
Resources for all subjects Distance learning lessons from North Carolina Teachers of the Year – there are some great lessons here for all subjects and all grades! They are adding a new elementary lesson (grades K-5) every day at 9 a.m. and a secondary lesson (grades 6-12) every day at 9:30 a.m.
Knowledge on the Go – knowledge-building content for grades K-12! This is updated daily.
Writing resources
I’ve seen lots of suggestions about having kids document this pandemic and create their own primary source. If you’re interested in doing that, here are some great resources for it.
This looks fun. Save Our Habitat gives students a different picture and prompts to write about each day.
Math resources Rio School District K-8 math resources, organized by grade. Also take a look at the second page where they post some other great resources.
That’s it for now! I’ll keep up the hunt for great free resources to share. My next posts will be tips for teachers doing distance learning for the first time (like I’m doing) and tips for parents. I’m also working on a post about building community when you can only connect with students online. Subscribe so you never miss a post!
None of us would ever have expected our work life to be what it is turning out to be. None of us knows what is going to happen — will we go back to school this year? Will we see this year’s students again? How long is this social distancing/staying home thing going to last?
With all of the changes, it’s more important now than ever to look out for your own self-care and mental health.
“Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.”
-Parker Palmer
Here are 14 suggestions. Use what works for you. Please share any of your own tips!
1 – Stay hydrated. Drink half your bodyweight in ounces of water every day.
2 – Eat nutritious food. I don’t know about you, but I can often be found “stress eating” because of all the uncertainty. To counteract it, I’m trying to eat 8-10 servings of fruit and vegetables every day and trying to avoid any junk food until I’ve gotten the healthy stuff in me first! (It’s not always working, but I’m trying.)
3 – Get enough sleep, whatever that means for you. For me, it means six to seven hours of sleep at night and maybe a brief nap in the afternoon. Get the rest you need.
4 – Get some form of exercise every day. With gyms being closed and with family being home, you might have to get creative. Even getting outside for a 30-minute walk might be your best option. If you’ve never tried the 7-Minute Workout, now might be a good time!
“Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
~Lucille Ball
5 – Speaking of getting outside, that is one blessing of this whole disaster. At least it’s spring and the weather is good for getting outside. So get some sunshine and fresh air every day, maybe several times during the day. I find that it clears my head and helps keep me from feeling down or discouraged.
6 – Watch the news but in small doses.
“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”
~Oprah Winfrey
7 -Write down three things for which you are grateful every day. Right now I am grateful for the beautiful signs of spring, warmer temperatures so that I can walk outside and be comfortable, and more time with my family.
8 – Look for humor everywhere. I am loving and appreciating all the tweets and Instagram posts from parents and celebrities, proclaiming their respect and admiration for what teachers do every single day! If you need a quick pick-me-up, check out some of these funny posts from Bored Teachers.
9 – Stop and breathe. Whenever you feel anxious or stressed or discouraged, just stop. Close your eyes and breathe deeply for one minute, or longer if you have the time.
10 – Read whatever makes you feel better. While you might want to use this time to catch up on reading education books or more “serious” books, there is also nothing wrong with reading lighter, more “beach read” types of books.
11 – Watch whatever makes you feel better. Right now, I am watching anything that has a more upbeat message or a happy ending — nothing dark or disturbing. Great news for all of us Hallmark Movie Channel fans — Hallmark is bringing back its marathon of Hallmark Christmas movies! Read more HERE.
12 – Try to develop some sort of schedule or routine that works for you. That gives you some feeling of control, which is important when all of us are feeling like there is no control over this situation. Even if you don’t follow it to the letter, just having a plan will make you feel better.
13 – Spend a few minutes alone every day. That sounds funny since we’re all about “social distancing” right now, but spending a lot of time in relatively close quarters with your family can be stressful. When/if you find yourself “on edge”, make an excuse to go lie down, go take a bath, go for a walk, whatever you need that will help you to reset and get yourself back under control.
“… If you feel “burnout” setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself.”
~Dalai Lama
14 – If your own kids are at home with you, build your routine around a routine that will work for them. When you get downtime, they get downtime (even if it involves more screen time than you usually allow). When you are working, they should be “working” on something (school assignments, puzzles, reading, drawing, etc.).
I hope these tips will be helpful to you. I would love to hear your ideas! Stay strong and take care of yourself during this stressful time.
I am a planner. I like to know what is happening next or what is happening on what date. And this entire situation is so unsettling and difficult for planners like me.
Do you feel the same?
Since we are all unsettled and looking for good resources for our students and their families, the best thing I can do right now is share everything I find that looks promising.
But first, a pep talk. These are the same things I keep telling myself every day.
*Accept the uncertainty. Do what you can do and try to let go of what is outside of your control. (Easier said than done. Maybe singing or just saying “Let it Go” will help!)
*Don’t try to be perfect. Give yourself some grace. All of us have been thrown into this situation with zero preparation and we are doing our absolute best. Do what you can do.
*Take care of yourself first. Make sure you are eating healthy-ish, drinking water, getting enough sleep, and moving your body in some way every day.
*Take care of your family. Many of us are home with our own children. While we may also be required to work from home on school tasks, we also have our own children to reassure. Keeping to a routine will help.
*Check on the people you love. Even when you can’t physically check on them, a quick phone call, email, or text reminds them that you’re there and you love them.
*Understand that it is next to impossible to transfer all your content to an online course in a day or a week. You can’t be expected to do that. So focus on review and providing some extension work, but don’t worry about teaching new content as effectively as you would be able to do in your own classroom.
*Remember that your students and their families are stressed. So don’t knock yourself out to create a bunch of stuff that they may or may not be able to pay attention to or even access. It’s better to do a little bit, even if it’s imperfect.
*Encourage your students to use this time for actually reading. Not doing activities about reading or answering questions about reading. Just reading. Provide some interesting articles or stories to read and chances to talk about reading if you want to do that, but don’t try to go too far beyond that.
*Don’t worry about grades or due dates. Allow everything to be open book or open note. Encourage your students to communicate and collaborate with you and with other students. Show compassion for yourself AND for your students.
*Set up a schedule for yourself, but don’t be too rigid. I am trying to follow a 90 minutes of work/30 minutes of a break schedule. I’ll let you know how it goes!
*Within your schedule, consider setting up “office hours” for when you will respond to students’ or parents’ emails or when you will be available online to answer questions. You may not need this, depending on your own teaching situation.
Now, for more free resources! These resources are for teachers planning for distance learning or resources to be shared with parents.
If you prefer a downloadable PDF of these resources, here ya go!
*Ask your students to write a daily journal & document what is going on right now. Depending on students’ ages, they could do some research on COVID-19 and include that in their own account of what is happening, how we are responding, and how our worlds have changed.
That’s all for now. As I keep researching resources for my own students, I’ll keep a list and write another post. Subscribe to be sure you see the next round of resources!
If you think it’s helpful, please share this post!
Last thing — here is the updated PDF of resources from both of my blog posts, in case you want to download!
Take care of yourself. This is a very stressful time and you are doing such important work. Be well and be safe.
My school and district have officially been closed for three weeks, due to COVID-19 and the need for social distancing. Nothing like being told “this could happen” on a Wednesday, and then being told “it’s happening – now create two weeks’ worth of work for your students to take home tomorrow” on a Thursday. At 5 p.m.
This entire situation is so surreal and so scary. On my last day with my students, there was no joy in getting out of school, as there would be before a scheduled break. Instead, everyone had lots of questions and I had very few answers.
There is much controversy right now about whether teachers who have not been trained in distance learning should be required to figure out how to do this practically overnight.
There is controversy about providing online resources when some families do not have digital access. Some teachers feel as if creating a lot of resources is just going to be a waste of time when families are stressed and may not even access the resources.
Everyone is worried about our students getting what they need the most right now — comfort, reassurance, reminders that they are loved and cared for, healthy meals, access to counseling and possibly a school nurse.
With all of this in mind, I am providing a gigantic list of resources that you could share with your students or their families. Feel free to share this post with them if you like, or just pick and choose a few resources to share. There are so many resources available, which can be overwhelming. So just choose a few to explore and share with families. I’ve also created a PDF of the resources which you can download.
Keep in mind that everyone is stressed. So as you provide resources for families, try to think about “less is more” and not be too strict about your requirements. Try to see this as learning opportunities for students and support for families.
In addition, I’ll give you some general advice tips that I have received from teachers who are already “in the trenches” of school closings.
And during all of this turmoil — remember to take care of yourself. Take a break and do some things that are just for you. Watch the news but when you start feeling stressed about it, step away and breathe. Spend time with your family. Take a walk and get some fresh air. Watch everything you’ve been meaning to watch on Netflix and Disney Plus and other streaming services. Eat healthy food and drink lots of water. And, as always, wash your hands!
Great advice tips from some teachers:
*Do your best but don’t try to be superhuman.
*Set your priorities. You don’t need everything on this list. Think about what you really want your students to do. Read every day? Write something every day? Solve some math problems? Create something? You might also want them to be active in some way or to do things to help out at home. Think about what really matters to you.
*Try to communicate with your students and their families daily. This can be in whatever way works for you. I do think it’s most helpful if you can do some kind of video of yourself talking to your kids and share that with them frequently. Somehow “seeing” you, even virtually, will be reassuring for your students.
My fifth graders also love to see pictures of my dog and my daughter’s dog. So one of my goals is to share a new picture with them daily.
*Use a google form as a check-in for your students and/or their families. This emotional check-in and mindfulness journal can give you some ideas to start as will this google form check-in on Surviving the Middle. Just make a copy and adapt it for your own needs.
*Ask your students to develop their own schedule for their time at home. You may have seen images of schedules on social media, which might be useful to families as a starting point. But I think it’s even more powerful when students create their own schedules.
*Consider sharing the “best of . . . “ lists from Common Sense Media as a guide for movies, games and books for families.
*Think about what your students can do that does not involve a screen. They could play board games, create some kind of art, create a new dance or workout, use a meditation app for kids, play math games with a deck of cards (here’s a list of games for grades 3-5).
*If you are sharing resources listed below, think about sharing ONE math resource per day, ONE reading resource per day, etc.
*Join the Facebook group Educator Temporary School Closure for Online Learning. There are tons of great resources but, more importantly, it’s a great source of support for all of us during this unprecedented crisis.
All of the resources listed below are either free, have a free resources section on their site, or are offering free access during the COVID-19 closures.
You can download a printable PDF of the resources HERE.
Here we go!
Resources for Reading
*Think about providing some way for students to communicate with you (and possibly with the whole class) about their reading. This could be on a google form, a Padlet wall that you create and share with them, a shared google doc, or use this journal (make a copy and adapt for your own needs). Could they create a Flipgrid video of a book commercial or book review, complete with props? Create a google slides presentation about books they’re reading? You might even try asking your kids to share their own ideas!
*No Red Ink – writing lessons – NoRedInk is a free online curriculum that builds better writers. It includes diagnostic tools and assessments, targeted skills practice, a writing platform that guides students through the drafting and revision process, and instructional resources for teachers. It is used in more than 50% of US districts.
*This next resource is not free but is definitely worth purchasing for yourself or sharing with families. Be a Better Writer by Steve Peha is an invaluable resource. Here is Amazon’s description:
One Book for All Kinds of Writers and All Kinds of Writing
Whether you’re writing essays for school or fiction for fun, this book helps you be a better writer.
For School…
Improve your grades with techniques like the What-Why-How and Content-Purpose-Audience strategies that clarify your thinking and strengthen logical arguments on tests, in essays, and on research reports. Use Sentence Patterns and the Plain English for Handy Analysis approach to improve your grammar without having to learn grammar rules. Get your work done faster, develop more confidence, bring home better report cards, and score higher on state tests.
For Fun…
Improve your creative writing by using The Five Facts of Fiction to dream up compelling characters and powerful plot lines that keep your readers reading from beginning to end. Produce rich description with the Tell-Show strategy. Render your ideas in well-chosen words and smooth-sounding sentences. Find your voice and translate your passion to the page so your readers feel it, too.
For Anyone…
You have a voice the world wants to hear. You have stories to tell, real and imagined, that readers can’t wait to read. You have things to say that will change the way people think and feel, and that will shape the way they look at life after seeing it through your eyes. Don’t keep your readers waiting; give them things to read. Don’t wait for someone to discover you; discover yourself. Don’t wait to be a better writer; be a better writer now!
If you want the PDF of these resources, click HERE!
I hope that these resources will be helpful to you as we all navigate this surreal experience. I’d love to hear what works for you and what resources you have tried and found helpful!
Have you read The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler? This is a great read for both teachers and parents which talks about the state of our public education system. In the book, Ms. Wexler makes the case that our public education system is “broken” (in terms of what is taught). But instead of just talking about how things are “broken”, Ms. Wexler gives actionable ideas for what to do instead.
Literacy Instruction
One major topic deals with some of the issues surrounding literacy instruction, specifically the whole language movement and the balanced literacy framework.
Even if you don’t agree with everything Ms. Wexler says, she does make many good points that teachers of grades 4- 12 students will recognize.
Specifically: students who have not been taught explicit phonics in early elementary grades will have a very difficult time decoding multi-syllabic words in upper elementary grades (and beyond).
She talks about our heavy emphasis on teaching reading comprehension strategies (how to make an inference, how to find the main idea, etc.) and why that isn’t working.
In Amazon’s description of the book:
It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country’s frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn’t one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum’s intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension “skills” at the expense of actual knowledge. . . rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.
I have to admit, as someone who has taught a balanced literacy framework for many years, she described many of the same frustrations I have experienced in upper elementary grades. So it was a little sobering for me to realize that doubling down on balanced literacy has only made the problems with students’ reading comprehension worse.
Currently, there is a strong emphasis on changing reading instruction to align with the Science of Reading. That is a good thing.
My only worry is that many people are thinking that “Science of Reading” just means adding a systematic, explicit phonics curriculum and then our kids will magically learn to read. I agree that phonics should not be optional.
Adding a phonics curriculum, if it is currently missing from your school or district instruction, is a good first step to align instruction with the Science of Reading.
But when you look at Hollis Scarborough’s The Reading Rope (below), you will notice that Word Recognition (which includes decoding and phonics) is only one part of that rope. Another equally important part is Language Comprehension (which includes background knowledge and vocabulary). So aligning reading instruction with the Science of Reading must include BOTH phonics instruction AND background knowledge and vocabulary.
This comes straight from the scientific research, which shows that reading comprehension is the product of two things. First, a child needs to be able to sound out a word. Second, the child needs to know the meaning of the word she just sounded out. So, in a first-grade classroom that’s following the research, you will see explicit phonics instruction and also lessons that build oral vocabulary and background knowledge. And you will see kids practicing what they’ve been taught.
If you would like to read more about these issues and what you can do differently in your own classroom, here are some helpful books.
If you’re into podcasts, there are a lot of good ones devoted to the Science of Reading. One of my favorites is Melissa & Lori Love Literacy.
Social Studies & Science Instruction
Another major topic in the book is the lack of content-area instruction, leading to a lack of “world knowledge” and leaving students unprepared for rigorous courses in high school. Ms. Wexler describes how students are so much more engaged when they are learning about topics related to history and science.
I agree that I have also seen the excitement that students show when they are learning “real” content about the world, primarily through science and social studies. You may have noticed the same thing.
Ever since the advent of No Child Left Behind in 2002 (here is some background information from Education Week ), schools have focused on reading comprehension skills instruction and math instruction to the detriment of teaching science and social studies. This is because reading and math were tested subjects while science and social studies were not.
Some states implemented science testing in certain grades, but social studies continued to take a “back seat”. If it was taught at all, social studies got 30 minutes, often at the end of the day. This was also a time when students who needed “extra intervention” were pulled out of class.
Another factor in the lack of world knowledge is that social studies standards have evolved over the years to teach about things like “my family” and “my community” in the earliest grades, rather than teaching students about topics they would not already know.
In the book, Ms. Wexler describes observing in classrooms and contrasts the classrooms in which the teachers are focusing on those reading comprehension skills versus the classrooms where the teachers are teaching content knowledge.
She is careful not to criticize the teachers themselves. You can tell from her descriptions that these are talented teachers who are intent on doing what is best for their students.
But if all you have been given to teach is the same stuff that has not been working, you tend to think there is something wrong with you or with how you are teaching when the reality is that maybe there is something wrong with the “content” you are being asked to teach.
Reading several texts on a single topic is like activating Velcro in students’ brains, to which more knowledge can be added and from which references can be drawn for future use in different settings. Building such repositories of knowledge enables students to make relevant inferences while reading, accelerate their vocabulary learning, and integrate new knowledge with existing knowledge.
Ms. Wexler describes some curriculum frameworks that are making a difference in students’ content knowledge. The following are free!
So — what to do? Most teachers are not in the position to make changes in curriculum policy. Plus, teachers are mandated to teach the state’s curriculum standards, whether they like them or not. But there are ways to add more content knowledge to your curriculum, even in small ways. And doing something small is better than doing nothing at all.
But if your state or district are not using one of these knowledge-building curriculum frameworks, here are some tips for implementing more content knowledge in your classroom this week.
*Incorporate more nonfiction in your curriculum. In Reading Reconsidered, Doug Lemov suggests “layering” nonfiction text selections in a study of a fiction book.
If you are reading a fiction book to your class or using fiction in whole mini-lessons or using fiction texts in guided reading, look for more nonfiction that would give students background knowledge about something happening in the book.
For example, earlier in the year my class and I were reading Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate together. This book is about a fictional character who is a refugee from Sudan. So I found some short nonfiction articles about the difference between immigrants and refugees and about refugee resettlement agencies, both key features in the book. Reading these articles helped my students develop a deeper understanding.
*CNN 10 is a free resource that discusses current events for kids. Depending on the topic, you might want to preview segments in advance.
*BrainPop is a subscription service. But if you can get your school or district to subscribe, it is a great resource.
The videos are short, entertaining, and informative. They also include quizzes after the videos which can be done as a whole class or assigned to individual students.
Other resources are: challenge activities, making a map, making a movie, coding activities, related reading activities, worksheets, graphic organizers, and games. There is a ton of stuff and it is well worth it!
*Flocabulary is another subscription service. It combines information in fun, hip-hop songs that help kids remember the content. It also includes vocabulary activities, texts for reading and responding to questions, quizzes, and a “lyric lab” activity in which students use the vocabulary words from the video to write their own lyrics.
*Wonderopolis is a free site for lots of nonfiction topics. You can use the “Daily Wonder” or search for specific topics. Each wonder includes a passage to be read as a class or assigned to individuals. There is also a video, a list of “wonder words” (vocabulary), a quiz to test your knowledge, and some related activities.
*Similar to Wonderopolis, Mystery Science has great videos on a variety of topics. (This is also a subscription service, but the free trial is great for trying it out.)
*Discovery Education is another subscription service with tons of resources. There are videos, images, and a review segment at the end of each video.
*EdPuzzle is a favorite (and free) resource. You can create your own videos or use one of many videos online.
One of my favorite EdPuzzle features is the ability to pause the video along the way and insert questions for your students to answer before they continue with the video.
Another awesome feature is that EdPuzzle stops if students click on another tab or leave the site. This keeps them from skipping the video you want them to watch!
*Nearpod is a new resource to me, but one which looks promising. It includes resources for interactive lessons on a variety of topics.
*If you are teaching anything related to the American Revolution, Liberty’s Kids videos on YouTube are a must. Students love these and they are super informative. If you want to take this a step further, here is a resource on Teachers Pay Teachers with quizzes and reflection questions for each video!
*Sheppard Software is a free resource with lots of online games for kids. I have not used this resource as much in content areas, but it looks promising.
While you would still need to incorporate content from other resources, this would be a great resource for review and reinforcement of learning.
*I cannot say enough good things about ReadWorks, a free resource with so many great content reading passages. They also include audio versions of their passages, vocabulary activities, and question sets for their passages.
*NewsELA is another (mostly) free resource for good reading passages. Some of their resources are available only by subscription, but even the free resources are outstanding.
*iCivics is a free resource for teaching civics lessons.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
