The Curious Librarian

Lesson in Library Organization

2015-08-09T13:48:00.001-07:00

Library Survey (2014-15): "What was your least favorite part of library this year?"

Overwhelming answer: Reviewing at the beginning of the year.

Ouch! Well, it has to be done because I get asked way too often how to find a book in the library by students who should know already. Wait a minute. That can only mean that my lessons are boring and not getting through to them. That is definitely a problem!

Our school library has some amazing resources and more are added every year. Still, it can be hard to find what you want when you don't know how the library is organized. It's even harder when students misshelve items while browsing because they don't understand the library has an organizational scheme. In fact, understanding how information is (or can be) organized is a powerful research and learning tool. So, it's critical that I find a way to make this lesson interesting enough to stick with them.

Everyone in kindergarten through 6th grade gets an overview of the zones of the library. I made this video a few years ago:

This gives students an understanding of our five basic zones: Easy, Fiction, Nonfiction, Biography, and Reference. You can be a better browser for books with just this basic level of understanding. I hear students singing this song to themselves throughout the year, so I know it's basic message is getting through.

All students check their own books into the library and are responsible for putting them on the Check-In Cart based on the zone of the library where they belong. They need to match the call number on the spine to the bucket labels.

This has been a problem. Some get it, but way too many do not. To make it clearer and hopefully more fun this year, we are using these new "books" I created for each table. Each set has sample books from each of our zones, so that students can practice sorting them into categories. Later, we'll use all 4 sets to talk about shelf order.

Library "books" made from individual sized cereal boxes.

Students of all ages like an element of play to their learning. This activity should meet the criteria. Plus, I can pull it out for anyone who is struggling with it throughout the year. The four sets fit inside a large book box that I can keep in my back office for easy access.

The Catalog

Everyone likes to search the catalog, but not everyone is skilled at finding the call number and using it to get to the book on the shelf. This one takes some practice. I have college kids at my part-time job that still struggle with it.

This week, third through sixth graders will also learn how to use the library catalog to find information about books in the library. I'm using this Library Catalog Scavenger Hunt. Working in teams of two there will be some friendly competition to keep everyone on track!

We'll finish it all off with a couple of rounds of Kahoot. I have a couple of good games stored to review the Zones of the Library and catalog searches.

We have to cover the basics, but it doesn't have to be boring!

5 Reasons to Apply for Grants

2015-07-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

1) You need the money. Let's get the obvious one out of the way first. Education funding seems to be dwindling just when the technology opportunities and cost of print materials are skyrocketing. If you find yourself in a school system with limited local or state support, your students need you more than ever. By all means, continue to make the case to restore public funding for your schools, but don't wait for that to come through. The resources your students need run from low cost to only for the wealthy. Pick one thing you can do to improve your students' learning, identify the cost, and don't let the price stand in your way of delivering.

2) Clarify your goals. The grant application process will force you to take your idea from a dream to a goal with plans to accomplish it. You cannot overestimate the value in that. Having actionable steps to make your dream come to life is empowering in itself. You may even discover there are ways to break it down into small enough projects to get it funded with existing resources.

3) Success is Contagious. Once you receive your first grant and start showing the positive impact, others will want to support you. It's easier to promote your students' success through the grant's public relations. Even if it doesn't lead to direct increased funding of your program, it could help you make connections to other teachers and/or community members that will help you move forward with your learning goals. That's the most important thing anyway.

4) Researching grants leads to inspiring ideas. Teachers would apply for more grants, if they could just find the time. After all there are only 24 hours in a day and only so many hours that you can devote to the work. Every hour you spend working on a grant is one less hour that you have with your family or friends, or one less hour working on your classroom. But, it's really not that simple. As you research grants, you will learn about other teacher's inspired ideas to improve learning. In many cases, this will lead to improvements in your practice even if you don't get a grant to support your implementation in the same way. That is definitely time well spent.

5) It's not as hard as you think. You've written -not to mention taught and read - countless persuasive papers in your career as a student and teacher. That's a good place to start. There are people at your school and district that are ready to help you gather the demographic, financial, and assessment data you need. (Bonus: another connection for you if you haven't already met these people). There are communities online that serve as portals to grants and grantwriting to make the search and the process less cumbersome. My favorite : getedfunding.com and the EdWeb.net community groups.

Grant Opprtunities that are available to every K-12 teacher

Get Your PD On-Line

2015-07-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I love to attend educational conferences. From the relaxed, grassroots EdCamps to the the frenetic learning bonanza of ISTE, the thrill of learning and connecting are hard to beat. It's not always possible to attend as cost, time, and schedule conflicts interfere with my best effort to be everywhere that I want or need to be. That's why I am so grateful for online PD.

My Top 10 Ways to Learn Online

1) EdWeb.net - The online PD clearinghouse in my book and it is FREE! First, you need to join edWeb. Then, search for and join communities for the most access to learning. Joining groups is not required, but will give you access to the webinar archives so that you can watch them later. Webinars are posted along with the presentation materials and a transcript of the live chat within a few days of the live webinar. Whether you watch live or a recording later, you can get a certificate for continuing ed credit. Some people have complained about the frequency of emails, but you can change this in the settings. There are hundreds of communities with varying levels of activity.

2) Simple K12 - This site is similar to EdWeb, but it's not free to access all of the sessions. They do have some free sessions offered for live viewing, but you need a subscription to watch archived webinars.

3) Twitter - This is a must have in your professional learning network (PLN) toolkit. You don't have to tweet, but you do need a Twitter account. You can follow teachers, librarians, administrators, ed tech gurus, educational companies, and others to expand and elevate your thinking. I follow over 350 Twitter accounts right now, which can be hard for me to manage. So, I create lists and add people to those groups based on categories. For example, I never want to miss what my district and area folks are tweeting about, so I have them all in a list. I have another list for my library connections. That way, when I don't have time to make it through all my Twitter feeds, I can go back to the groups that mean the most to me. You can also set up notifications to receive alerts when someone you are following tweets. There's a lot of buzz around Twitter chats, and there is a Twitter chat for everything you can think of.

4) Teachercast - Brief interviews with teachers and product developers for the newest and best ideas on technology in education. It's broadcast live every Sunday night, or you can catch the archived shows on the Web site. There's also a TeacherCast University and blog with more workshops, news, and information.

5) Flipboard - The easiest way to keep up on professional reading across a variety of sources - news, magazines, Facebook, blogs, and Twitter in one place. It's not only a great place to keep informed of news and trends, you can create your own magazines and flip content in them to curate materials. Professional reading is a big part of my PD, but I can't always read things as they come across my email or I see them on Web sites. Flipboard is the solution to that problem. The desktop version even includes a Flip It tab so that you can quickly move things into your Flipboard magazines without leaving your browser.

6) Coursera - Free online courses from some of the top universities in the country. Learn to program, speak a foreign language, teach an online class, and so much more. There are over 100 courses tagged with Education. Many of the courses come with verified certificates.

7) TED Talks - You can't beat them for inspiration, forward thinking, and concise, powerful ideas. You can also catch the TED Radio Hour on NPR for a behind the scenes/rest of the story approach to TED talks. After you watch a few of these, you'll be more intentional about your own teaching philosophy and thinking, in general. You can translate this into lessons for your students, too.

8) Lynda.com - it's not free, but the quality is amazing. I have access via my adjunct position at Calhoun Community College. There are so many courses I wish I had time to take!

9) Edutopia - Professional reading, videos, whitepapers, and model school features all add up to a powerhouse of resources to help you improve your practice. You can browse by topic, strategy, or grade level. It's an active space for conversations, too. You can also comment on any of the content, or start your own conversation about a brand new topic.

10) YouTube - Today, if you have a question, you either Google it or look for a YouTube video to explain it. That's powerful. It's also a shame that both are looked on with skepticism and scorn by educational establishments that continue to censor and control access to them. I teach young children and am not insensitive to the need to protect them from inappropriate content. I'm also a realist. Even my kindergarten students come to school and talk about the Google searches and YouTube videos they have watched. Whether or not you are interested in fighting the battle to open up access to these resources for your students, you will undoubtedly continue to use it for your own learning. Don't just search for videos, become a power YouTube user by creating an account, subscribing to channels, and creating your own channel.

The exciting thing is that there are an abundance of learning opportunities online - many more than I've listed here. So, if time or funding constraints have limited your access to conferences, don't fret. There are plenty of ways to connect and learn online.

NATC Recap - Almost One Month Later

2015-07-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

Canvas Learning Management System was the focus of this year's North Alabama Technology Conference as Madison County gears up for its first year using the LMS district wide. I am especially excited about the digital portfolio component. I have been wanting this for years for my students, but haven't found the right solution. With district support, it may have finally arrived.

My first day was spent setting up, delivering, and taking down my Makerspace Workshop. With the help of a good friend, everything went smoothly, and I hope that I've inspired a few to try something new next year.

By day 2, I was eager to learn and Courtney Hamilton (@winningeducator) delivered with her informative session on Tech Integration for K-2 students. I was so impressed at how well she facilitated active participation while moving through a good quantity of tools and applications for each.

New (to me) tools and ideas from Courtney's session:

Five Dice - this fun order of operation game can be played with two players, or in challenge mode. It's free in the App Store.

Fuel the Brain - There are lots of fun, interactive games for math and reading comprehension, including poetry examples. I also love the mini book maker with built in images.

Power My Learning - A fantastic collection of K-12 interactives, videos, and games. The Math and Language Arts resources can be browsed by common core standards, too. Best of all, it has a creation tools filter!

Literacyshed.com - Browse the resources by categories on the left navigation bar, and you will find lesson plans that spring from videos or vivid images. These are guaranteed to engage your students. There's even a mathematics shed with no less than 75 categories of video and lesson ideas to choose from.

Get Out of Your Search Engine Rut - I confess to being lazy sometimes and sticking with Google in my own searching and my teaching. I know students are going to use it, and I make the excuse that I want to teach them how to be power Google users. Courtney's session and the Search not Sort session at AETC reminded me that I need to expand my search engine lessons. First, Google isn't appropriate for all searches or searchers. Using other search engines can help students learn to evaluate strengths and weaknesses associated with source selection. Two favorites to introduce next year: KidRex (Google powered, kid friendly) and InstaGrok (searches meet concept maps to emphasize the power of relationships in research).

APT and Fund for Teachers

I was honored to join Kathy Heiman's session on Fund for Teachers. Kathy shared the process for applying for a Fund for Teachers learning grant. She also highlighted some of the exciting trips teachers have taken to expand their own learning and bring it back to their communities. Madison County teachers have had a lot of success with this grant! As a 2014 Fund for Teachers fellow, I can attest that the process is fairly simple, the rewards keep coming, and the opportunity to learn is too good to pass up.

ATRIUUM

I ended the conference in the Atriuum sessions with some of my favorite Madison County librarians. After four years using this system, I am finally learning how to add student pictures to my catalog and find some of the administrative manuals online. This is going to make it easier for me and especially the volunteers and substitutes to avoid making mistakes when checking out books. I also downloaded the app for searching the catalog. I'll be loading that on all the student iPads this fall!

The conference was well attended this year and there was an abundance of learning opportunities including hands-on workshops, concurrent sessions, tech marketplace, and vendors. Vickey Sullivan and her team never fail to put on a great conference!

AETC Recap - One Month Later

2015-07-14T06:00:00.001-07:00

It's been a month since I attended the Alabama Technology Conference with my better half at work, tech contact-computer lab assistant extraordinaire. What AETC lacks in the size of the big, international conferences, it makes up for in personal touches and manageable schedules.

Praise for AETC

The app was awesome! I loved being able to take notes, add pictures, and rate the session all in the same place. It also had some other great features, like sharing my notes via email or social media. The app was built with Crowd Compass and I'll definitely be checking them out in the future.
Vendors - there was a good variety of vendors that weren't pushy, but super helpful.
Food - Southern hospitality was on display with the free refreshments throughout the day.
A variety of sessions meant no down time

Tips, Tools, and Strategies to Use

Mathway.com - type in any problem and it will provide the answer. If you create an account (it's free), you can see step-by-step explanations for the solution. There's also a math worksheet generator and glossary. There are graphs and math notations available and arranged by math discipline make this a very robust tool to use.

mathway.com

Khan Academy now has a game based learning program that uses missions and points to keep learners engaged. It starts with kindergarten, so it's not just for advanced math students any more. Students work at their own pace as they advance through "missions" all the while earning points and badges to mark their progress. If your students get stuck, there are hints and videos to help them understand how to solve the problem. There isn't a game component to the actual math work. The gaming atmosphere is introduced via the running high score and levels as you progress through math understanding. It's perfect for differentiation, too. Students are given tasks based on their math readiness, but the points they are eligible to earn are the same. So, all learners can compete against each other which keeps everyone motivated.

I'm also super excited about their computer programming section, including introduction to JavaScript, HTML/CSS, SQL, and a Meet the Professionals section to introduce students to the types of careers available in this area. Khan Academy, why have I ignored you for so long?

http://www.bytelevel.com/map/ccTLD.html

Post a map of the world with the URL country code to identify the countries. It's part of understanding Web sites, global collaborations, and widening your perspective. I like the visual representation in this one for sale ($35) by Bytelevel, but I want something that ties it more concretely to the countries for my students. I'm thinking of doing a Read Around the World bulletin board this year, maybe that's the space for it.

Give students opportunities to ask questions and be curious. Favorite suggestion - set up a computer with Google Chrome loaded and a sign that says, "Ask me anything." It is how we all seek answers daily, but I am probably not going to be able to do this in my library for many reasons. Still, I'm thinking of how to encourage curiosity in other ways.

Be intentional about how we teach students to understand the information world, including how the search algorithms work, citation ranking, how to read a search page, and how to read images and video. These are embedded in my digital citizenship lessons each year, but need to be emphasized throughout the year.

GoFormative.com - an online assessment tool reminiscent of Infuse Learning with the capacity for illustrated responses from students. I love the dashboard and response features. I won't be able to use this with my students since email accounts are required, but I may use it for group responses and create generic email accounts they can use to sign in.

Arloon - Augumented Reality makes learning fun! This one takes a lot of the work out of some of the other AR apps I've seen. It's not free, and I haven't purchased it, yet. The creativity is very appealing though.

CCC Streaming Media - Convincing me to try this product wasn't a hard sell. Using quick videos to illustrate a point is a proven engagement model for learners of all ages. I found the resources deep and the search features robust. Browsing by grade level and standard is another plus. The ability to download videos is critical for those of us who don't have bandwidth for streaming, so it was great to see this option. I'm not sure about the cost, but this would be a great resource to have, if we could afford it.
Ipevo was on the vendor hall floor and they were awesome giving support to me on the Ipevo IS-01 Interactive Whiteboard System that I won from Digital Wish at the end of the school year. After talking to their reps, I am much more confident about how to put the IPEVO to use. The flexibility is going to transform my learning space this year!

I attended several sessions on Makerspaces. The sessions provided good information about the big ideas and some of the popular tools. I have to say, I didn't get any new ideas for the most part, but I still found it very encouraging to see so many working on these same ideas in Alabama.

Junior Librarians Wanted!

2015-07-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a generous grant from the Snapdragon Book Foundation and an inspired idea from Andy Plemmons, the Walnut Grove School Library will be establishing a Junior Librarians: Collection Development Specialist program this year.

Junior Librarians will meet this fall to design a student reading interest survey, administer the survey, negotiate with vendors for the best book deals, review book catalogs, and place a final book order. When the books arrive, they will be the first to see the new books as they unpack them, process them, and design displays to promote them to the rest of the students. This will be a special, student selected collection that I can't wait to see myself!

The junior librarians will be selected from 2nd - 6th graders based on their completed application. Here's a copy of the application I will be sending out the first week of school.

If you are a Walnut Grove student reading this, you don't have to wait until school starts. You can complete the application now and send it to me by email, or bring it to the library when we return on August 3.

Take a Pre-Vacation Trip to the Library

2015-07-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

My family loves to take long road trips throughout the year. Before we hit the road, I head to the local library. Why?

State and Travel books - I like to read the thoughtful advice of seasoned travelers who have made the trip ahead of me. In our quest to see all 50 states, I like to read books about the state we are visiting. Children's books are great for pointing out big landmarks and moments in a state's history. Adult books reveal intricate political history and community stories that bring a place and its people to life.

History and Biography books - once the state and travel books have opened the door, you may want to dig deeper into specific moments in history. These make great reads on the road as you are heading to a specific landmark or famous person's home.

Books for Recreational Reading - vacations are the prefect time to enjoy recreational reading. You can try to read a book by a local author, or something just for fun. We do a lot of camping, so there is quiet time by the pool or in the hammock at the end of the day for reading.

Books on Tape - we were on the road for more than 24 hours on this last road trip. That's too much radio time for me, and even I don't want to read out loud that long to my family. Books on tape save the day. Your public library is bound to have some great choices.

No time to make it to the library? Check out their digital collection. I ended up using the HMCPL Digital Media Zone for most of my book choices this time.

Here's a selection of some of the print books we read while enjoying a historic tour of eastern Pennsylvania.

Maker Monday - Creating a Makerspace Environment

2015-03-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

The WGS library is getting a Maker Makeover this Spring.
Consider this, the school library was built in 1989. My mind boggles at the tremendous shifts in libraries during those 26 years, and even more at the changes to come in the next 5 years. It won't happen all at once, but I am slowly transforming our space to allow for more collaborative, multipurpose, and flexible use of space.

With limited funding, I have agonized over how to prioritize my vision for updating the library. This has been a very successful grant year that has included over $3,500 for new books and over $9,000 for technology needs. I expanded the Maker style learning in our library to include semester long projects that span a variety of STEM and non-STEM topics. But, we have definitely felt the pain of not having a designated "Makerspace" in our library if only for storage and easy access to materials.

Libraries=Sharing
One of my main tenets of libraries is that they are places for collaborating with others. Therefore, the large footprint of a 9-seat individual study carrel behemeth in the back of my library was always a provocation to my senses. In fact, I loathed it so much, I guess I never even took adequate pictures of it. Here's one from our library showcase a few weeks ago. Note the tall partition walls and the cramped work space consumed by the CPU.

Then, there is this picture of two boys trying to collaborate on a video game software they are using. See how one has to lean around the partition to see the other person's screen?

Maybe if the library was twice the size, I would want individual study areas, but we are just too small and too well behaved :) for that much space to be used in this limiting way.

Thank you School Library Journal and LEGO
Thanks to a generous grant from School Library Journal and LEGO, I was able to purchase these updated computer tables.

My favorite features: no partitions, smaller footprint, and the monitor, keyboard, and mouse can all be lowered into a secure cabinet below when we want more table space. The flow of the library is no longer obstructed by a giant piece of furniture meant to separate us from each other. In the past, I avoided putting anyone on the back wall of the computer carrels because it was so hard to see if they needed help, or get to them when they did.

Makeover in Progress
This maker makeover is still in progress. The green screen will be moved to the end of the cabinet by the exterior door. It will be installed on a curved rod that will allow us to extend it when needed and tuck it discreetly between the counter and cart when we don't.

A wall of cubby storage is purchased and planned for the space where the green screen is temporarily placed now. Having access to our Maker projects and tools without needing to go to the back office, or pile everything on a cart will be such a luxury and a benefit to our learning process.

Beyond Makerspaces...
The update to this area also makes it possible for me to dream of how the remaining space can be updated to accommodate more collaborative and comfortable learning spaces.

I'll be looking for funding over the next year to bring these updates to the library:

Node Seating - flexible, collaborative, and tech-ready

steelcase.com

I sat in these chairs at an Edcamp in Birmingham and LOVED them. The seat was comfortable, the arm rests were cozy, and the tray was large enough to hold plenty of materials. That's an iPad holder at the front of the tray and they come with optional cup holders perfect for the cups I already use at library tables for miscellaneous supplies like pencils, crayons, glue sticks, scissors, etc. I especially love the flexible configurations of seating this will allow.

steelcase.com

Reading Lounge

It may seem to some that I am all about the technology, but I still love to read and promote reading in my school library. A reading lounge would be my next big library makeover project. I'm a little less clear about what this area would look like, but I know that it would include functional and comfortable seating that would be easy to move and encourage sharing.

Some of the contenders:

Opposing Lounge Seating from The Library Store

Updated Egg Chair from Creative Library Concepts

More than a footstool from Creative Library Concepts

Highway Modular Seating from Demco

Arcadia Serafina from Demco

Eleganza Sofa from School Outfitters

I dream big, but what's the point of dreaming any other way?

What's in the News Wednesday: State of the State Address

2015-03-04T16:44:00.003-08:00

source: al.com

Alabama Governor, Robert Bentley, delivered the State of the State address last night. You can read the entire speech on al.com. Good news for education:

Expanding Alabama's First Class Pre-K
Restoring the Education Trust Fund to increase K-12 education funding by as much as $300 million
Tuition scholarships for foster children attending 2-year colleges and universities

There was also a statement of praise for the Alabama Workforce Council for "building and maintaining high quality partnerships between industry, education, and workforce training institutions."

If I were a high school teacher, I would definitely have my students read this primary source document. There are lessons in math, persuasive writing, drawing conclusions, and more. Students could also research and write responses in support and opposition to the ideas expressed in the address.

Technology Tuesday: The Internet of Moving Things

2015-03-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

Just when I was beginning to get my head around teaching my students about The Internet of Things, here comes the Internet of Moving Things.

This week, NPR's All Tech Considered aired a story about Wi-Fi enabled buses in Portgual. Wireless routers and fiber access points are stashed all over the city - on traffic lights, atop lampposts, etc. Citizens stay connected as they ride in wifi enabled buses around town. The reporter was even able to make a Skype call with streaming video! Now, that's robust! They pay for the service by using data collected from sensors attached to the access points to reduce other city costs.

School districts, including our neighboring district, Huntsville City, have experimented with wifi enabled buses in the U.S., too. I've even read about districts that park their buses in neighborhoods to act as hotspots where students don't have access to the Internet in their homes.

There's also a movement to create completely connected cities. For example, several years ago Chattanooga became the first "Gig City" with the city-financed fiber optic network that can transfer one gigabyte of data per second. Today, much of Chattanooga is covered by publicly available, wifi access points. Again, the city used attached sensors to various public utilities to help offset costs with reductions to other services that are now available through remote monitoring.

While I love my rural lifestyle, these kinds of advances do make me worry a little bit about how to make sure our students aren't left behind. That is why I am always advocating for better infrastructure for all of our schools.

Maker Monday: Cardboard Attachment Pieces

2015-03-02T18:52:00.000-08:00

The WGS Library Makerspace has a heavy technology emphasis. In spite of this, we still use our fair share of cardboard in projects. Last week, I featured my cardboard Math Operation game that runs on the MaKey MaKey. The fifth graders used it as a model for the games they were creating.

The motherboard for the game has to be raised off the bottom of the box, so I used other pieces of cardboard which I taped together to create a platform to hold up the motherboard. One fifth grade boy told me after class, "I improved on your design for the platform. Instead of just taping the pieces together, I created slots to fit the cardboard together. I think mine is going to be more stable when people start playing the game." I agree! He'll be showing his design to the girls who are still working on that part this week.

Meanwhile, our conversation made me realize we need more posters and resources for construction and making in the library. I love this one:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a0/71/05/a071050ecf99acbb10364d892f8721b6.jpg

I have also placed a purchase order for several sets of these MakeDo kits:

https://mymakedo.com/shop/product_detail/toolkit-starter

The saw is a kid safe way for them to cut the cardboard, and I love the screws for holding the pieces together, too. I think these kits could even let me expand the making to some of my lower grades. At least for one or two projects!

The only problem is this product is from Australia. It's on Amazon though, and I have an amazing bookkeeper at school. If there's a way to get these kits for us, she'll find it!

Maker Monday: Custom Operation Game with the MaKey MaKey

2015-02-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'm loving trying all the projects that my students are creating with the MaKey MaKey. This week, I made the Scratch Operation game. I used the project plans at the MaKey MaKey guides site.

Students are making an elephant and panda bear version, but I decided to make a math themed game. It works, too! I need to find a better set of tweezers. All of us made holes that are too small for the chopsticks called for in the design.

We'll also need to get creative about how to run the cords from the MaKey MaKey to the motherboard and outside of the box to the computer. I hope one of the teams will spend some time modifying the Scratch game to work for generic Operation games.

Here's a look at the motherboard that's inside the game. It's the part that goes buzz! if you hit the aluminum foil instead of just grabbing the piece. I have all of mine hooked up to one trigger. That means I only need one alligator clip hooked to a live key on the MaKey MaKey and corresponding Scratch program. I may be having a little too much fun!

Tech Tuesday: Take 10 to be a Tech Advocate

2015-02-17T04:52:00.000-08:00

AETA/SSA

Integrating technology into my library instruction and helping teachers identify ways to integrate technology in their classroom are at the heart of what I do. We are fortunate at Walnut Grove to have 1:1 iPads, laptop carts, a computer lab, and computers in every classroom. We also have a dedicated staff that eagerly seeks opportunities for students to be engaged using digital tools for creating projects and accessing online learning tools.

So, what is missing? INFRASTRUCTURE
School systems across the state do not have the infrastructure to support online learning. We especially need better wifi and bandwidth to support mobile devices.

For the past year, a committee from the Alabama Education Technology Association has been working on a plan to get funding to upgrade the networks in all school systems in Alabama. You can watch the first half of this board meeting with a presentation from Susan Poling and Bruce Ellard. It's a very thoughtful, clear explanation why this is needed and the positive impact it will have.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Now that you are informed, take 10 minutes to advocate for this much needed technology support. Contact your legislative representatives and ask them to support AETA's WIRED initiative as part of Senate Bill 1.

Who to contact:
Find Your Legislator - enter your zip code and find your legislator.
Contact Governor Bentley - this page has email, snail mail, and phone numbers to contact the governor's office.

Maker Monday: Musical Jars with MaKey MaKey

2015-02-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

Several teams are working on MaKey MaKey projects. The Jar Jar Piano keys stumped a few teams last week. I enjoyed reading their progress notes though. Some observed that they should have read the directions more carefully. Others decided they needed to divide the work up so they could get more accomplished in the limited time. See, there is a lot of learning that occurs in a failure.

This weekend, I tried the experiment and created a short video of my final product to share with them. I hope they will observe that while I did follow the directions, I also made some adjustments based on what my project needed. Most obviously, there are only 3 jars in my final product instead of the called for 8.

I'm expecting them to make the project visually appealing, too. It's a little difficult with all the wires, but I'm not sure the straws are necessary in this project. I may challenge a few to remove them and give their project a little less clutter!

What's in the News Wednesday: Credibility and Digital Footprint a là Brian Williams

2015-02-11T17:23:00.003-08:00

In the news this week, respected NBC news anchor, Brian Williams, faces a 6-month suspension after a review of his reporting found exaggerations, inaccuracies, misrepresentations, or lies depending on your point of view. It's a tough situation for journalism and Mr. Williams, but a great teachable moment for our students.

Why Credibility Matters
Students need to be taught to think about information critically. Part of that critical thought process includes considering the source of the information. Do your students know how to evaluate the credibility of their sources?

What does it mean to be credible?
How does a person's stature affect your trust in the information?
How can you check the credibility of a source?
What does a person's point of view have to do with their credibility?
What happens when you can't find a credible source for information?
What can you do to make sure your arguments and statements are credible?

How Digital Footprints Can Change Your Credibility
This news story also brings up the importance of building a positive digital footprint. Everything you say or post online, or that someone else says or post about you online, becomes part of your digital footprint. Brian Williams is one of the most influential news anchors in the country, but a post on someone's Facebook page changed all of that in an instant (well, that and the exaggeration/inaccuracy/misrepresentation/lie). Do your students understand the impact of their digital footprint? Take this moment to remind them!

Create a Gallery Walk of Student Work w/ In3DGallery

2015-02-10T20:39:00.002-08:00

It's Tech Tuesday, so I'm trying out a new tool. In3DGallery is a free service that allows you to upload pictures, choose a template, and choose the way the presentation is formatted for view: slide show, fly through, or walk. It will automatically fill the wall space with pictures from your library, but you can reorder them and choose different pictures to upload.

Here's a sample I made using pictures from our librarians' meeting last Friday as well as some student Maker project shots. In order to view presentations, you will need to install the Unity Player. Once installed, look for the pop-up message in your browser to unblock Unity.

It's an obvious choice for student artwork, ideal for any photographic portfolios of student work, and has some advanced audio and video features that I haven't even tried yet.

Maker Monday: LEGO WeDos Combine Digital and Hands-on Making

2015-02-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

Do you want to introduce your students to programming? Do you have some students who prefer working with their hands and seeing the results of their work in a tangible object? Then, LEGO WeDos are definitely for you!

In the Walnut Grove library, students are tackling serious coding challenges in computer based games, video game creation tools, and various levels of LEGO robotics. Students of all ages love working with the LEGO WeDos. WeDo uses drag and drop blockly style programming and a detailed curriculum that makes it easy to understand basic computer coding concepts. Students can begin with the basic models and programming examples from the curriculum guide, then branch out to their own designs.

I was out on Friday, but student makers remained engaged and independent in their learning. A group of boys created this alligator and modified the programming to include a little more action.

Next week, I'm going to ask them to step it up a little and build a scene for their alligator. Another group in a different class is building a lion. I'd love to see these two collaborate on a presentation project that includes both of their creations. Whatever they do, you'll see it here!

Talking About Books Thursday: Bridge to Terabithia

2015-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

"Have you read all of the books in the library, Mrs. Whitt?" That's a question that I can, without too much guilt answer, "No, but I'm working on it."

Last week, however, a 6th grader asked me if I would have lunch with her in the digital diner to discuss Bridge to Terabithia. "Have you read the book, Mrs. Whitt?" No. I haven't read it. Now, that was answered with all kinds of guilt. It's been on my reading list for awhile, but I keep putting other titles ahead of it.

She brought another friend with her to the diner, and they asked me to join them even though I haven't read the book. They shared their favorite parts with me, talked about the characters, and why they thought they created the imaginary land of Terabithia. It was refreshing being the student and asking questions of my literary experts. As I promised them, I read the book this weekend. It's a classic and award winner, but I have to confess I didn't enjoy it all that much. The writing seemed to be in too much of a hurry and everything in the story was predictable. It's still going to be one of my favorite reads this year because I read it with friends and got to enjoy it through their perspective. We are planning to add a few more lunch meetings to watch some of the Disney movie version. I look forward to discussing the difference between the movie and the book and the process of editing when you retell a story in any format, movies just being one example.

Note: Thanks to Lowe's Toolbox for Education for providing the funding to create the Digital Diner in our school library. It has been the setting of many great book discussions and friendships in our library.

What's in the News Wednesday: Harper Lee's New (Old) Book

2015-02-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

The literary world is abuzz with news that Harper Lee's sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird will be published this summer. A famous recluse, Lee managed to keep the manuscript a secret for more than half a century. Most of the buzz reflects the enthusiasm of fans and literary critics eager to read more of Scout's story. Some critics, however, have questioned whether the release has the full consent of the author. Referring to her declining health and earlier interviews where the author apparently communicated that she had said everything she wanted to say in To Kill a Mockingbird, the doubters wonder about the timing of this release.

When I heard the news, it made me think of that other controversy surrounding To Kill a Mockingbird. Specifically, the rumor that Truman Capote actually wrote the novel (see this story on NPR from 2006). One of the main arguments for not believing Lee's authorship was she never wrote anything else for publication. That always seemed like a flimsy argument to me, so it is good to have this manuscript answer that rumor.

If you are teaching To Kill a Mockingbird in your class, you might like to include some of these resources:

To Kill a Mockingbird: A Historical Perspective from the Library of Congress, which includes some primary sources and a primary source analysis tool
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird Profiles in Courage from the NEH.
To Kill a Mockingbird and the Blues - a cross-curricular study from PBS.
Harper Lee's Biography from the Encyclopedia of Alabama

If you live in Alabama, or are planning a road trip, you should add the Monroe County Museum to your list of places to visit. They started selling tickets today to their annual production of the play, To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm adding that to my Alabama Bucket List!

Tech Tuesday: KidBlog

2015-02-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

KidBlog is a safe, simple way to integrate technology and writing into your curriculum. I have been using this with a 2nd grade class that I read to every morning. It's a big class, and we only have about 10 minutes to work with it, but they are doing fantastic!

So, what can young students learn about using KidBlog?

Writing - Students write daily and can receive feedback from the teacher and peers (if the teacher decides to turn that feature on).
Spelling - The blog underlines misspelled words in red, so students can instantly recognize words they need to fix.
Typing and Text Tools - There are simple text tools that students can learn, including bold, italics, underlining, size, font style, colors. They can can also learn about simple formatting, including bullet lists and alignment.
Adding Media - Quick and easy tools make adding images and short videos simple.
Digital Citizenship - They learn the appropriate way to communicate online. When you and they are ready, you can let them comment on each other's posts, too.
Portfolios - Students learn to curate their work and can share with a global audience.
Parent Involvement - Parents can be given permission to see their students' blogs, too.

Maker Monday: LEGO Story Starters

2015-02-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

For the past 2 weeks, third graders have been using the LEGO Story Starter kits to build and tell stories. We started with one of the lesson plans from the LEGO Story Starter curriculum. It was an excellent way to get our bearings with the LEGO kits, including how to work together and how to return items to the correct bins.

Making something brings excitement and engagement to our learning. Let's see, what library lessons could use a little more excitement and engagement?

Reference Sources - Of Course!

Before Christmas, they were becoming reference source experts. They worked with partners to complete graphic organizers about the reference sources. Even though it wasn't very exciting, they did a very good job. Yet, I'm not convinced they really understand how to use the reference tools we explored. So, this week we are going to use the LEGO Story Starter kits to illustrate why and how to use reference sources. When I shared this idea with them last week, they were excited. I was so gratified to hear one of them say, "We can use our graphic organizers to help us write the captions."

My dictionary example will be a starting point for us, but they will do much more creative things!

We are using the free Comic Creator app for our LEGO stories. The software that comes with the LEGO Story Starters is awesome, but I haven't been able to purchase copies for everyone yet. It's in my plan though! I'd also like to use the stop motion animation apps to bring our LEGO learning to life!

Talking About Books Thursday: YouTube Founders

2015-01-29T16:48:00.000-08:00

What would it be like to create something so ubiquitous that less than 10 years after its creation, it's hard to imagine the world before it existed? I guess you could ask Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, or Jawed Karim. Read this book for a brief glimpse into their early life, how they met, and what each contributed to the creation of the entertainment, information, and educational powerhouse that is YouTube.

The serendipity of how they all met makes you wonder what would have happened if they hadn't all crossed paths. This is a great story of collaboration, the importance of art and business acumen in the success of what many of us think of in terms of its technological impact.

I had to grab this one out of the book return box before reshelving it. Kids love YouTube as much as the rest of us. They are also very interested in reading about the lives of people who created the technology that they love. I'm still waiting to snag the bio of the iPod creator when it comes back through the library!

What's in the News Wednesday: Super Bowl and the Classroom

2015-01-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

What's a non-football fan to do in the season of football madness? Watch the Super Bowl commercials, of course! They usually get at least as much talk as the plays and the final score the next day. That may be just the non-football fan's perspective.

For tips on bringing the Super Bowl into your classroom, you can't do better than Edutopia's round-up of Web resources: 7 Super Bowl Lesson Plans and Resources for the Classroom. Leadership, persuasive writing (those commercials, again!), health, language arts, geography, and even music are all covered in this resource packed collection. The National Science Foundation's use of football video clips to teach the Science of the NFL is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Tech Tuesday: Little Story Maker

2015-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/
little-story-creator-digital/id721782955?mt=8

The Little Story Creator app is a free way to create beautiful ebooks that can include audio or video elements. It has more of a presentation feel than some of the other book creator apps, but it is more stable than Little Story Maker and free, unlike Book Creator, which is $5 per device.

The app does not require an email or account to create books that stay on your device. If you want to share them by email, you'll have to set up a "parent" account.

This is a fun and easy to use app that can make your students feel like authors and add another tool to their presentation and/or assessment toolbag. They could also use it to retell stories using pictures they take or draw.

You get to choose the background of each page from the preloaded images. Then, use the toolbar to add video or photos, text, and audio recordings. There is also a small collection of stickers and a free-draw pen you can use. Biggest drawback: You need to finish the book in one sitting because there doesn't appear to be a way to edit ongoing projects.

Maker Monday - 101 Inventions That Changed the World

2015-01-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

http://rocketcenter.com/11.11.14/
101-inventions-changed-world

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center's 101 Inventions that Changed the World, is a celebration of what Makers contribute to all aspects of our lives. There were several lessons in this exhibit that I want to remember for my WGS Makers.

First, some of the best inventions are improvements on something that came before it. And, all of them require teamwork and sharing ideas.

Second, you may come up with the most amazing, transformative idea that will impact generations (the Internet), but that doesn't mean that everyone will recognize and use it to its potential right away (the Internet was officially invented in 1969!). So, don't give up and keep thinking of ways your idea can grow to include more usefulness for more people.

lego.com

Third, toys can be some of the best inventions of all. LEGOs, invented in 1958, made the list. They are not only great toys for imaginative play, but have evolved to include robotics, art, and science activities that are an important part of our library makerspace.

Fourth, just because your invention isn't recognized in a list like this, doesn't mean it's not important. I looked through the exhibit twice and confirmed that indoor plumbing did not make the list. What? Sure, I love the electricity in my house, but I'd rather live a week without it than a day without indoor plumbing!

There is a second exhibit focusing on the 101 Greatest Inventions from Huntsville inventors. Look what made the cut:

Like it, love it, or hate it, Wikipedia has made a big impact on the way we find and share information. It embodies the spirit of collaboration, discovery, critical thinking, and creation that all makers need to embrace. So, it's okay in my book!