This is one lesson that I could have spent weeks on but time and students prevented me from doing so! Our school is definitely not an Apple community so we don't have iPads available for kids but kids have iPhones and iPads at home so I let them test out some apps. Some we found that we really loved were:
DragonBox Algebra - the kids really liked the game feel and even my math-savvy kids said it was fun and helpful. This will be a great app for my 9th graders struggling with algebra and to prep for the ever-looming Regents exam.
Poems By Heart - OK I picked this because I love poetry. Kids weren't as thrilled with it as I was but it's an app I think I will try with my AIS English students to see if they can 'present' a poem to the class.
Paper - my artistic kids LOVED this app and created all kinds of cool creations. It's definitely not so much my thing, I'm more of a list it and write it out type of girl with zero artistic talent, but kids that are visual learners will especially like it. Organizes your info into a very album cover like view and the kids liked that too!
Cell and Cell Structure - just because my Freshmen are learning about this and I think the visual and interactive nature really helps them grasp the concepts and ideas. Again, particularly useful for studying for the Regents.
Simple Physics - an amazingly simple and frustrating app to work on your physics skills. Frustrating to those of us who don't 'get' physics, simple and cool for those learning the principles of physics. My physics kids thought this was pretty nifty and used it to help them get ideas and information for creating their roller coaster projects in their physics class.
So much for the apps. Now for the QR codes. I've been thinking for a long time about doing something with QR codes in the library. I've created two simple things - I used cheap white boards and one has share an app - post a QR code to your favorite game on it. Then I taught kids how to get the QR code with goo.gl and they are posting them up there to share. They love that board! The other board I put on one of the tables in the library and set the white board on an easel. At the suggestion of Kathleen O'Dean I modified the words to "Call Me Maybe" and posted a kid friendly message that invites the kids to "Read me maybe" with QR codes of books in the library posted all around the message. That's new this week and I'm curious to see how the kids respond. Now that I have a quick and easy way to create and save QR codes I'm on a mission to QR the lib!!
This was a great learning project. Thanks for the push to explore.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Thing 17: Coding
It's so interesting that you posted this lesson. My Freshmen and I were just discussing why they don't want to choose the first three results that come up in Google for research without evaluating those sites for quality (affectionately known as the CRAAP test in our school). I explained to them that the results aren't based on the quality of the site, but the algorithms and binary code produced by their search terms and the 'match' within the website for the words only so the 'match' is simply based on math, not research!
Many of my kids are techies at heart and really love the gaming/programming stuff (they are ALL playing Flappy Birds!) so I decided to try a lesson or two off the Coding.org site with my AIS English 9 students. These guys struggle with communicating for sure and many of them have troubles with reading and comprehension I thought looking at how computers communicate and ultimately how that's allow people to communicate (and game) would really be something they enjoy.
I tried the 'no tech' lessons with them so that getting computers would not become an issue for our class. In fact, we started our cup stacking lesson yesterday. The kids loved it and we will be continuing on with the lesson as well as the Binary Baubles lesson next week. Then I will take them in the computer lab and let them create their own game. They are really excited about this and don't see it as English class at all! I think it's such a plus to give them chances to experiment with this aspect of communication and allow them to learn to think about thinking!
Thank you so much for these wonderful resources and sources of inspiration for my students!
Many of my kids are techies at heart and really love the gaming/programming stuff (they are ALL playing Flappy Birds!) so I decided to try a lesson or two off the Coding.org site with my AIS English 9 students. These guys struggle with communicating for sure and many of them have troubles with reading and comprehension I thought looking at how computers communicate and ultimately how that's allow people to communicate (and game) would really be something they enjoy.
I tried the 'no tech' lessons with them so that getting computers would not become an issue for our class. In fact, we started our cup stacking lesson yesterday. The kids loved it and we will be continuing on with the lesson as well as the Binary Baubles lesson next week. Then I will take them in the computer lab and let them create their own game. They are really excited about this and don't see it as English class at all! I think it's such a plus to give them chances to experiment with this aspect of communication and allow them to learn to think about thinking!
Thank you so much for these wonderful resources and sources of inspiration for my students!
Thing 7: Podcasting and Screencasting
OK - This is like finding money in your pocket good!!! Because I have no aid I find it so hard to find a balance between closing the library and going into classrooms to teach. In addition, I have my own classes every day when I am simply not available to go in with a teacher. I have been looking and looking for an EASY way to record me and my screen so that I can send videos to teachers so that they can show their students tips on the various things I teach at their convenience and so that they aren't relying on me to be there in person. The screencasting tools are certainly the answer I've been looking for.
I have consulted with our tech folks at BOCES about doing something like this through the Promethean but that's difficult at best because that means I have to go to the lab and that requires me to have time to do that, no kids in the lab, and lots of trial and error. I tried all three screencasting tools and I think that Screencast-O-Matic will work best for me. Jing requires a download which is not allowed at our school and Screenr didn't allow you to record both the screen and you with the WebCam (or at least I didn't find that feature).
I am SO excited to try this with my teachers and kids. My first recording is about which fields students need to pay attention to and how to print from NoodleTools which is our WONDERFUL and so very inexpensive citation database (if you want info about all the awesome things NoodleTools can do just email me). I also intend to use this to show students about Prezi and other Web 2.0 tools. The amount of time it will free up for me is simply astounding!! And it will eliminate those calls from my teachers saying "Did you forget you were supposed to be in my class this period?"
I am so, so excited about this lesson. My how-to videos will post to my website so check it out at www.heightsschools.com/taelibrary!
I have consulted with our tech folks at BOCES about doing something like this through the Promethean but that's difficult at best because that means I have to go to the lab and that requires me to have time to do that, no kids in the lab, and lots of trial and error. I tried all three screencasting tools and I think that Screencast-O-Matic will work best for me. Jing requires a download which is not allowed at our school and Screenr didn't allow you to record both the screen and you with the WebCam (or at least I didn't find that feature).
I am SO excited to try this with my teachers and kids. My first recording is about which fields students need to pay attention to and how to print from NoodleTools which is our WONDERFUL and so very inexpensive citation database (if you want info about all the awesome things NoodleTools can do just email me). I also intend to use this to show students about Prezi and other Web 2.0 tools. The amount of time it will free up for me is simply astounding!! And it will eliminate those calls from my teachers saying "Did you forget you were supposed to be in my class this period?"
I am so, so excited about this lesson. My how-to videos will post to my website so check it out at www.heightsschools.com/taelibrary!
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Thing 14: Social Reading and Book Stuff
I am a big GoodReads fan! Before my website wouldn't allow it I had a very cool bookshelf on my webpage showing the covers of lots of books I had in the lib. It was neat because it looked just like a book shelf and you could click on the titles to go to the GoodReads page for more information. Alas, it is to be no more since technology intervened!
I actually have my students do a folder project in 10th grade where they take a manila folder and do a modified version of a book report (this idea stolen from Kathleen O'Dean). The outside of the folder is their original artwork depicting the book through their eyes - it's usually a collage of pics and words but is very cool. The inside includes a summary of the book in their own words and a collection of 5-6 quotes pasted on. The back of the folder is the book review - both their own and reviews from a reputable site like School Library Journal, Mackin, or Horn Book. It's amazing how creative students have been with their folders and then I put them with the books after the project has been graded as great 'advertising' to entice readers to chose those books. I think it's really important that students are exposed to vetted reviews from sources instead of relying solely on reviews from Barnes and Noble or Amazon. It's not that these aren't good it's just that they should know there is more out there to explore from professionals in the field.
I have had some serious issues with ebooks so I just am not thrilled about using them. Sometimes kids can't access them, sometimes if you check the book out you have to sit at the same exact computer to get it again, sometimes they don't port to their devices, and sometimes they don't come up because of compatibility issues with the network. We don't do Apple products at my school so we live in PC world only and that requires certain compatibility with the ebooks that I think is often better addressed with iPads, however, I guess you don't miss what you don't have :)
I have expanded the library offerings to include several Nooks. Since you can still share books over six devices on the Nook (not the Kindle - sorry Amazon!) I selected these. They are older but kids seem to like them - not love them. It's difficult because they want to download their choice of content and they don't quite grasp that there isn't money to do that. Funding with the Nooks has been an issue too. Our BOCES will not approve any co-ser monies that are used to purchase ebooks so, again, I haven't been all gung-ho to go out and get these because I can't use my co-ser monies to do so. I did get the Nook titles in the OPAC and that is helpful but still I think there are ways I could be marketing Nook titles more effectively. My kids still are definitely see it, touch it, want to read it type of book borrowers - they haven't really made the leap into the digital book age quite yet.
Some have and read on their phone or device but many of my kids really like to have the actual book in hand (me too actually) even to pick it. I did add a feature to my OPAC that gives summaries, sections of the first chapter, the cover of book, and reviews and my kids really seem to like that and use it to help them find books they love. It's Syndetics and it's relatively cheap - well worth it for me at least.
We have tried a couple of ways to share what we are reading by tweeting, with a Wiki, and with a blog but the kids really haven't loved any of these. Actually we post info on a white board and they seem to really like that! Sometimes digital isn't always the answer. We are working on more ways to share our reading ... all ideas are appreciated!
I actually have my students do a folder project in 10th grade where they take a manila folder and do a modified version of a book report (this idea stolen from Kathleen O'Dean). The outside of the folder is their original artwork depicting the book through their eyes - it's usually a collage of pics and words but is very cool. The inside includes a summary of the book in their own words and a collection of 5-6 quotes pasted on. The back of the folder is the book review - both their own and reviews from a reputable site like School Library Journal, Mackin, or Horn Book. It's amazing how creative students have been with their folders and then I put them with the books after the project has been graded as great 'advertising' to entice readers to chose those books. I think it's really important that students are exposed to vetted reviews from sources instead of relying solely on reviews from Barnes and Noble or Amazon. It's not that these aren't good it's just that they should know there is more out there to explore from professionals in the field.
I have had some serious issues with ebooks so I just am not thrilled about using them. Sometimes kids can't access them, sometimes if you check the book out you have to sit at the same exact computer to get it again, sometimes they don't port to their devices, and sometimes they don't come up because of compatibility issues with the network. We don't do Apple products at my school so we live in PC world only and that requires certain compatibility with the ebooks that I think is often better addressed with iPads, however, I guess you don't miss what you don't have :)
I have expanded the library offerings to include several Nooks. Since you can still share books over six devices on the Nook (not the Kindle - sorry Amazon!) I selected these. They are older but kids seem to like them - not love them. It's difficult because they want to download their choice of content and they don't quite grasp that there isn't money to do that. Funding with the Nooks has been an issue too. Our BOCES will not approve any co-ser monies that are used to purchase ebooks so, again, I haven't been all gung-ho to go out and get these because I can't use my co-ser monies to do so. I did get the Nook titles in the OPAC and that is helpful but still I think there are ways I could be marketing Nook titles more effectively. My kids still are definitely see it, touch it, want to read it type of book borrowers - they haven't really made the leap into the digital book age quite yet.
Some have and read on their phone or device but many of my kids really like to have the actual book in hand (me too actually) even to pick it. I did add a feature to my OPAC that gives summaries, sections of the first chapter, the cover of book, and reviews and my kids really seem to like that and use it to help them find books they love. It's Syndetics and it's relatively cheap - well worth it for me at least.
We have tried a couple of ways to share what we are reading by tweeting, with a Wiki, and with a blog but the kids really haven't loved any of these. Actually we post info on a white board and they seem to really like that! Sometimes digital isn't always the answer. We are working on more ways to share our reading ... all ideas are appreciated!
Thing 6: Curation Tools
This is a topic near and dear to my heart. I was lucky enough to be able to hear Joyce Valenza speak in person at the NYLA Conference in Buffalo about curation a couple of years ago. It was a wonderful presentation and provided much thought-provoking information for me for sure.
I use both Delicious and Diigo. At school, I really like Diigo because it is extremely school-friendly and allows students to share with each other and me, as well as allowing them to highlight, archive, and sticky note articles. I have used Delicious since my days in online library school at MU so I guess I'm just old school there!
At my school we have been using NoodleTools for our citations for several years now and they have recently added some really great new features for archiving and curation, including allowing students to start a citation from a webpage, archive webpages, highlight information on web articles, and allowing students to easily share notes, cites, and articles with faculty and each other. If you haven't looked at this great and extremely cost-effective resource you should.
I reviewed paper.li and Scoopit as part of my exploration. I really liked both but can honestly say that I could not use paper.li at my school because of the restrictions on access to social networking sites. It would definitely defeat the purpose for sure! Scoopit was easy to use and really kid friendly in terms of graphics and access. I liked it better than Pinterest although I can see a way to use both effectively in a school setting. I think we will try to use Scoopit as part of our Freshmen Common Core research unit to share what articles we are selecting to answer our guiding question.
For curation at TAE we also have used www.only2clicks.com. In fact, one of our social studies teachers uses it on his website and found it to be extremely efficient and effective for him and the kids.
Keeping up with curation seems to be my issue! I tend to use a tool and then not have time to stick with the updates or add new topics. Time is never our friend in today's world so if anyone has a trick that helps them stay on top of staying on top of things I'd love to hear it!
I use both Delicious and Diigo. At school, I really like Diigo because it is extremely school-friendly and allows students to share with each other and me, as well as allowing them to highlight, archive, and sticky note articles. I have used Delicious since my days in online library school at MU so I guess I'm just old school there!
At my school we have been using NoodleTools for our citations for several years now and they have recently added some really great new features for archiving and curation, including allowing students to start a citation from a webpage, archive webpages, highlight information on web articles, and allowing students to easily share notes, cites, and articles with faculty and each other. If you haven't looked at this great and extremely cost-effective resource you should.
I reviewed paper.li and Scoopit as part of my exploration. I really liked both but can honestly say that I could not use paper.li at my school because of the restrictions on access to social networking sites. It would definitely defeat the purpose for sure! Scoopit was easy to use and really kid friendly in terms of graphics and access. I liked it better than Pinterest although I can see a way to use both effectively in a school setting. I think we will try to use Scoopit as part of our Freshmen Common Core research unit to share what articles we are selecting to answer our guiding question.
For curation at TAE we also have used www.only2clicks.com. In fact, one of our social studies teachers uses it on his website and found it to be extremely efficient and effective for him and the kids.
Keeping up with curation seems to be my issue! I tend to use a tool and then not have time to stick with the updates or add new topics. Time is never our friend in today's world so if anyone has a trick that helps them stay on top of staying on top of things I'd love to hear it!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Thing 5: Digital Storytelling & Presentation Tools
For me, the Digital Storytelling tools were a chance to revisit many of the tools we already use at TAE. My kids love using 'cool' technology for their presentations and so we try and shy away from the traditional PowerPoint and use a variety of web tools to tell our tales!
We recently used Animoto for science videos, Prezi to create poetry in motion, and Toondo for Spanish cartoons. We also use MovieMaker quite a bit to do some of our larger and longer projects. I find that my students are much more engaged when using these Web 2.0 tools than when they use PowerPoint. I've also used Animoto to create a presentation about our library for the Board of Education. It was very well received and went a long way to showing folks who aren't present in our schools on an every day basis what really happens 'in the lib' as we say! I also have a Prezi embedded on my library website.
Check out some of our projects and links:
www.heightsschools.com/taelibrary (Prezi)
http://animoto.com/play/A1V0AXVTRxEoOcwmtp1chQ (Animoto TAE Library promotion)
http://animoto.com/play/mVNfcegztwLpA656OufxWg (Animoto Sources of Strength video for students)
http://animoto.com/play/mK03E4kZxzPli1YCkYR9EQ Animoto Integrated Science video)
We recently used Animoto for science videos, Prezi to create poetry in motion, and Toondo for Spanish cartoons. We also use MovieMaker quite a bit to do some of our larger and longer projects. I find that my students are much more engaged when using these Web 2.0 tools than when they use PowerPoint. I've also used Animoto to create a presentation about our library for the Board of Education. It was very well received and went a long way to showing folks who aren't present in our schools on an every day basis what really happens 'in the lib' as we say! I also have a Prezi embedded on my library website.
Check out some of our projects and links:
www.heightsschools.com/taelibrary (Prezi)
http://animoto.com/play/A1V0AXVTRxEoOcwmtp1chQ (Animoto TAE Library promotion)
http://animoto.com/play/mVNfcegztwLpA656OufxWg (Animoto Sources of Strength video for students)
http://animoto.com/play/mK03E4kZxzPli1YCkYR9EQ Animoto Integrated Science video)
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Thing 4: RSS, Personal Home Pages and Feed Readers
In the past I have used Diigo and Delicious for my RSS feeds. I really like Diigo because it is extremely school-friendly and allows students to share with each other and me, as well as allowing them to highlight, archive, and sticky note articles.
I tried out both NetVibes and Feedly and found that I much prefer NetVibes. I like that it creates the dashboard along with an identifying picture (OK - not very scholarly I know but I like that part) and it allows you to view the feeds in an alternative they call "Reader" mode which is more list-like for my kids who are not into the more graphic view. Feedly seemed 'old' compared to NetVibes. I don't know why - to me at least it just seemed to not be quite as flashy and have the bells and whistles that the kids and I like (those pictures and a nice graphic organization).
I can see that teachers would find NetVibes fairly straight-forward and easy to use too. I thought about the social studies classes using the 'news' dashboard for exploring current events across a variety of sources or the 'sports' dashboard for Sports Marketing class to explore current topics. I didn't like that the pre-made dashboards only gave 4 or 5 main news sources. I would have liked to see PBS and perhaps London and NY Times included there as well, but that's just a personal preference. It's easy to go in the categories section and select personal choices.
I think the RSS feeds, for me at least, are a great way to track things easily and quickly. I can go and scan updates and often I might not need something right then but I remember I read it and can go back and track it down. I always look for info from Joyce Valenza, Buffy Hamilton, and EngageNY. I also like seeing what other states are doing with their Common Core lessons especially in states like Utah and others that have had the Common Core for a bit.
I like to show my kids my RSS feeds so they can see how to organize themselves and move away from the Twitter and FaceBook syndrome of looking OTHER places for information on the world in multiple perspectives. Having kids develop a list of their top 10 RSS feeds also helps me get to know them better and helps me tailor lessons that fit their interests.
A great lesson to remind us to always keep exploring new resources even though we all have our own old favorites!
I tried out both NetVibes and Feedly and found that I much prefer NetVibes. I like that it creates the dashboard along with an identifying picture (OK - not very scholarly I know but I like that part) and it allows you to view the feeds in an alternative they call "Reader" mode which is more list-like for my kids who are not into the more graphic view. Feedly seemed 'old' compared to NetVibes. I don't know why - to me at least it just seemed to not be quite as flashy and have the bells and whistles that the kids and I like (those pictures and a nice graphic organization).
I can see that teachers would find NetVibes fairly straight-forward and easy to use too. I thought about the social studies classes using the 'news' dashboard for exploring current events across a variety of sources or the 'sports' dashboard for Sports Marketing class to explore current topics. I didn't like that the pre-made dashboards only gave 4 or 5 main news sources. I would have liked to see PBS and perhaps London and NY Times included there as well, but that's just a personal preference. It's easy to go in the categories section and select personal choices.
I think the RSS feeds, for me at least, are a great way to track things easily and quickly. I can go and scan updates and often I might not need something right then but I remember I read it and can go back and track it down. I always look for info from Joyce Valenza, Buffy Hamilton, and EngageNY. I also like seeing what other states are doing with their Common Core lessons especially in states like Utah and others that have had the Common Core for a bit.
I like to show my kids my RSS feeds so they can see how to organize themselves and move away from the Twitter and FaceBook syndrome of looking OTHER places for information on the world in multiple perspectives. Having kids develop a list of their top 10 RSS feeds also helps me get to know them better and helps me tailor lessons that fit their interests.
A great lesson to remind us to always keep exploring new resources even though we all have our own old favorites!
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