Not trying to suck up here, but this class has been so effective to me. Talk about hands on and real world connections. Talk about honing your writing skills and stepping outside your comfort zone. Talk about appreciating the perspectives and ideas of others. I've done so much in such a short space of time in this class, I honestly, can't believe this is my final assignment. I appreciate this final assignment though because in order to reflect, I've revisited my blog entries and pondered what I learned and re-evaluated how I can apply these digital tools to various parts of my future profession. Some of these tools came more easily than others, but even those that I struggled with pointed me in a direction for self-improvement.
Not knowing what grade level I'll end up at, I'm excited about using different pieces of technology for different reasons. I wish I had a roster of my new students right now to get them signed up for Biblionasium. This site offers such a novel way to engage students' reading. When I tell my department about it next week, they are going to flip out (in a good way)! I'm doubly excited about all the different online comic strip and cartoon-making sites. The possibilities for using these are unlimited! By reading another student's blog, I found that for her example, she had make classroom rules on a comic strip. I am SO doing that. My plan is to put my kids on a long-term project to make a graphic novel using this tool. I also can't wait to make an orientation video for my library like Norman High School's YouTube video starring their school mascot. If I stay in my current district, I'm sure I could get our mascot to volunteer for this task (I taught her when she was in sixth grade, so I've got a connection). Also inspired by a video on Norman High School's YouTube channel, I'd love for my students to make "commercials" promoting the library. How fun would that be? If I end up in a secondary level school, I would really like to use QR codes to engage students. The QR codes, I'd generate would be for book recommendations, special events advertisements, information for contests; it would be a surprise every time. I could place the QR codes on my website, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook as well as print hard copies on flyers or bookmarks. Facebook and Twitter will be most effective at the secondary level as well since these populations are most likely to engage with those apps. It is really important to me to develop a brand for my library and market it and these two tools will be highly effective in achieving that goal.
I am also excited to use a couple of digital tools as professional resources for both the library and to share with teachers at my campus. The Twitter accounts of professionals and the blogs I have followed post a wealth of information applicable to so many content areas and grade levels. My only struggle will be to carve out the time to mine through these to pull the gems out. Speaking of mining, the PEW Research Center site truly is a gold mine! I will most definitely look to this site in the future for research to inspire or back up proposals I write to implement programs at my school.
Some digital tools that I'm going to need more practice with are Tumblr and Vine. Tumblr is just SO MUCH. It's a lot of information coming at you all at once and I need to really sit down and look at it more in-depth and more frequently. I've been trying to visit the app on my iPad mini at least once a day in an attempt to slowly to unravel its secrets. In regards to Vine, I just need ideas. Knowing what I know about myself and the way my brain works, this will have to just sit and marinate for awhile. An idea will come to me and then I'll run with it. In the meantime, I will continue to learn to use the tool effectively, I had a bit of difficulty remembering to caption my Vine before sharing it. I also keep just tapping the screen to record rather than holding it down for longer shots. A weakness that has nothing to do with the technology but is something I struggle with is my narration on podcasts and screencasts. My voice: I am not as clear and concise as I'd like to be. I feel that I have a tendency to ramble and speak too fast and not enunciate as effectively as I should. I'm thankful that Tellagami features dictation and I can rely on that until I get my voice up to snuff. Listening to the bang-up job some of my classmates did on their podcasts really let me know this was an area to work on personally.
This class made me realize that I'm not as tech-savvy as I thought I was. I thought I was hot stuff because I used Instagram, Piktochart, and Screencast-o-Matic. There was so much more out there that I was exposed to as a result of that class, so much REALLY GOOD STUFF that I am excited to use and share with others. I will need to discipline myself to continue seeking out new digital tools and other technology. Luckily, I already have a path to take on that mission because of this course.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
INSTAGRAM & Vines
I've used Instagram in my classroom for a couple of years now. The first year, I dabbled with it, the second year I used it frequently as a communication tool for students and parents (my students are sixth graders and not all of them have phones and/or Instagram).
My Instagram account is @miz.raj .
Here are a few ways that I used Instagram this past school year:
Reminders to bring library books
Sneak peeks of class material
Real world application of concepts or vocabulary learned in class
Reminders
Information for projects that are completed for homework
More reminders (I used Pic Stitch as the collage app for this one)
Cool stuff I see that is reading/academic-related
Today, I noticed that a student who will be in my class next year started following me. Posted these to see what kind of reading was happening with my current and former students, see if she'll interact.
I will continue to use Instagram in the same way. Right now, my account is public. I'll consider changing it to private because I think it would be really cool if I could showcase student work as well. Not sure yet. If I become a librarian at a middle or high school level, I intend to use it for student spotlights, express lane book recommendations, reminders of important dates, highlighting new additions to the collection, etc.
Eat a donut...
Eat another donut...
Show my husband how the Vine app works in hopes he'd give me some ideas. His suggestion? Go outside and take some pics of our vines. Vines on vine! Uh... no. But as I showed him how it worked, I shot some video of our dog, Daisy, and cat, Mao.
And then I decided to play with some of my toys... I call this "When Ariel Met Maleficent".
I like that one so much, maybe I'll make it a series. I think bringing toys into the classroom to have students to make a six second video for a "what would happen if..." scenario (such as Ariel and Maleficent coming together) involves so many higher order thinking skills. You could also have students summarize a story in six seconds... call it "Six Second Summaries". This would be a great way to communicate vocabulary with constant looping. I've seen so much popping up on blogs and news feeds lately about kids needing to play. What better way than this?
My Instagram account is @miz.raj .
Here are a few ways that I used Instagram this past school year:
Reminders to bring library books
Sneak peeks of class material
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
Real world application of concepts or vocabulary learned in class
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
Reminders
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
Information for projects that are completed for homework
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
A video posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
More reminders (I used Pic Stitch as the collage app for this one)
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
Cool stuff I see that is reading/academic-related
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
Today, I noticed that a student who will be in my class next year started following me. Posted these to see what kind of reading was happening with my current and former students, see if she'll interact.
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
A photo posted by Mrs. Rogers (@miz.raj) on
I will continue to use Instagram in the same way. Right now, my account is public. I'll consider changing it to private because I think it would be really cool if I could showcase student work as well. Not sure yet. If I become a librarian at a middle or high school level, I intend to use it for student spotlights, express lane book recommendations, reminders of important dates, highlighting new additions to the collection, etc.
Vine
I've seen Vines before but never really considered them for use in the classroom or library. I read/watched John Hodgkin Gives Twitter Vine Lessons that was linked in one of the articles and found it inspiring (as well as hilarious). I also liked that Vine gave you a little tutorial by walking you through your first Vine. That really helped to get me comfortable with the app and what it can do. Now... what can I do in six seconds or less?Eat a donut...
Eat another donut...
Show my husband how the Vine app works in hopes he'd give me some ideas. His suggestion? Go outside and take some pics of our vines. Vines on vine! Uh... no. But as I showed him how it worked, I shot some video of our dog, Daisy, and cat, Mao.
And then I decided to play with some of my toys... I call this "When Ariel Met Maleficent".
I like that one so much, maybe I'll make it a series. I think bringing toys into the classroom to have students to make a six second video for a "what would happen if..." scenario (such as Ariel and Maleficent coming together) involves so many higher order thinking skills. You could also have students summarize a story in six seconds... call it "Six Second Summaries". This would be a great way to communicate vocabulary with constant looping. I've seen so much popping up on blogs and news feeds lately about kids needing to play. What better way than this?
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Screencasts! Also starring Java Nightmare...
I actually used screencasts in my classroom this past school year after seeing my professors use them. I find that I tend to ramble in them though, so I really need to work on that.
Screenr
Two hours. Two hours I wrestled with Java Script and four different browsers and two different computers to try to get Screenr to work. I don't even want to go in depth and talk about all the problems I had with getting my computers and browsers to accept Java on Screenr because I'm just going to get really mad again. My Facebook status regarding my frustration gets the point across:
Some jerks actually liked that status update. Anyways, once I finally was able to launch the screen recorder and finally get the thing published, it turned out fine. My Screenr experience will forever be marred by the hell I went through trying to get the thing to work. I almost feel like if my computers and browsers were all so resistant to allowing it to run that it may not be safe. I had to go into the control panel and manipulate commands to get this to work. Who else would even do that? Here is the fruit of my labor, you better think it's the best thing you've ever seen and heard in your life because as much trouble as I had to go through to make it, it better be nominated for a flippin' Academy Award.
Screencast-o-Matic
I'm quite familiar with Screencast-o-Matic because this is the site I had used to make screencasts previously. I had no trouble logging in and using the site even though the last time I'd used it was over a month ago. Still high on making comic strips, I decided to do a very basic tutorial for using ToonDoo.
Jing
I looked at Jing's overview video. Looks cool. Name is fun to say. Maybe it will be less finicky to run than Screenr. After the Screenr debacle though, I'm not interested in trying it at the moment. I don't think my blood pressure could handle it.
Final Verdict
Besides all the basic operational problems Screenr poses for users, it only allows you to record a five-minute video. Plus, you have to register using one of six outside sites (Yahoo, Facebook, etc.) which could limit access to students. I really wish Screenr was friendlier to use because I really like the overall look of it; it looks polished. Screencast-o-Matic, besides having a cool name, allows you to record videos up to 15 minutes in length. I can easily access the previous screencasts I've made. Screenr, even though I've signed in with my Facebook account several times this evening during the whole ordeal, says my account doesn't exist and I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to access again. The clear winner here is Screencast-o-Matic.
Screenr
Two hours. Two hours I wrestled with Java Script and four different browsers and two different computers to try to get Screenr to work. I don't even want to go in depth and talk about all the problems I had with getting my computers and browsers to accept Java on Screenr because I'm just going to get really mad again. My Facebook status regarding my frustration gets the point across:
Screencast-o-Matic
I'm quite familiar with Screencast-o-Matic because this is the site I had used to make screencasts previously. I had no trouble logging in and using the site even though the last time I'd used it was over a month ago. Still high on making comic strips, I decided to do a very basic tutorial for using ToonDoo.
Jing
I looked at Jing's overview video. Looks cool. Name is fun to say. Maybe it will be less finicky to run than Screenr. After the Screenr debacle though, I'm not interested in trying it at the moment. I don't think my blood pressure could handle it.
Final Verdict
Besides all the basic operational problems Screenr poses for users, it only allows you to record a five-minute video. Plus, you have to register using one of six outside sites (Yahoo, Facebook, etc.) which could limit access to students. I really wish Screenr was friendlier to use because I really like the overall look of it; it looks polished. Screencast-o-Matic, besides having a cool name, allows you to record videos up to 15 minutes in length. I can easily access the previous screencasts I've made. Screenr, even though I've signed in with my Facebook account several times this evening during the whole ordeal, says my account doesn't exist and I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to access again. The clear winner here is Screencast-o-Matic.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Cartoons and Comics and TELLEGAMI!!!!!!!!!!!
First and foremost, I am a cartoon and comic FREAK. Always have been. I am super-excited to explore these sites to see if they are corny or legit.
ToonDoo
As soon as I saw ToonDoo's page pop up on my browser, my excitement level escalated 500% just thinking about the possibilities! The synaptic connections in my brain fired off with classroom and library application ideas galore at just the mere glimpse of the home page. As I registered for the site, I hoped it would be user-friendly. Here's what I made using ToonDoo:
In. Love. I'm in love with ToonDoo. I made this thing in about 15-20 minutes, from concept to publishing. There are so many backgrounds, characters, props... I can't even. I had no idea what I was going to make when I selected this three-panel layout. ToonDoo's inventory is inspiring. There is SO MUCH to choose from, it's unreal. The tools are very simple to use. I only wish it had an undo button or function because there was a couple of times that rotated an object and didn't like it and when I hit the opposite rotate button thinking it would balance it back out, it didn't. I know kids are going to LOVE using this as much as I did. In fact, I'm going to sign my son up for the site RIGHT NOW and see what he can do. Parent of the Year Award coming my way SOON.
Pixton
Excuse me? This homepage gets me even more jazzed than ToonDoo! The slideshow of features seems to indicate that I can change facial expressions and body positions of the characters! Could this be EVEN BETTER than ToonDoo? Is it too good to be true? Here's what I made:
The process of creating this comic took significantly longer than ToonDoo, and involved my laptop crashing when I was nearly done. (Whined to my husband and we ordered me a Macbook Pro from HSN because this always seems to happen when I am in the middle of working of a project and my iMac never crashes.) Thankfully, after a cool-down session, I logged back on to Pixton and most of my work was still there, so Pixton DEFINITELY scored points with me there for auto-saving without my knowledge. Because there are so many more features on this site, pieces take longer to create. User opportunities to personalize are so much greater and I feel like students would WANT to put more effort into their pieces. I mean, I made a nine-panel comic strip because my storyline just became that developed. I'll have to look into the cost of using this site, but geez Louise! It's amazing. UH-MAZE-ING. Plus, there is an UNDO button. Yes!!!! I can imagine giving this to my kids at the beginning of the year to create a graphic novel or comic book that involves certain aspects of our curriculum. Only bummer is you can't save unless you have paid access; I managed to publish and embed. Still, I can't get over it. If the next site is even better than this, I'm probably going to die.
Make Beliefs Comix!
OK, so I didn't die. Not nearly as cool as Pixton or ToonDoo, but pretty neat for as simple as it is. I mean, I made this little gem in like seven minutes (that includes quickly figuring out how the tools worked).
No registration required is a PLUS for teachers, but of course, the features are limited in exchange for that. If a teacher needed a quick, easy way for students to make comics online, THIS is the ticket. A few simple no fuss tools make composing a comic a cinch. Plus, the characters are inspiring. I mean, I had no idea what I was doing until I saw that little teacher-y cat and then BOOM! Brain exploded and this little dorky comic was born. This site probably had the easiest save feature.
Tellegami
The second I opened this app after downloading it to my mini, I knew I was going to love it. I also didn't bat an eye about downloading the in-app purchases to upgrade my avatar and to use the dictation feature on my first use of the app because I KNOW I'm going to use this like crazy!!! I made two videos, one with dictation and one with my voice:
ToonDoo
As soon as I saw ToonDoo's page pop up on my browser, my excitement level escalated 500% just thinking about the possibilities! The synaptic connections in my brain fired off with classroom and library application ideas galore at just the mere glimpse of the home page. As I registered for the site, I hoped it would be user-friendly. Here's what I made using ToonDoo:
Pixton
Excuse me? This homepage gets me even more jazzed than ToonDoo! The slideshow of features seems to indicate that I can change facial expressions and body positions of the characters! Could this be EVEN BETTER than ToonDoo? Is it too good to be true? Here's what I made:
The process of creating this comic took significantly longer than ToonDoo, and involved my laptop crashing when I was nearly done. (Whined to my husband and we ordered me a Macbook Pro from HSN because this always seems to happen when I am in the middle of working of a project and my iMac never crashes.) Thankfully, after a cool-down session, I logged back on to Pixton and most of my work was still there, so Pixton DEFINITELY scored points with me there for auto-saving without my knowledge. Because there are so many more features on this site, pieces take longer to create. User opportunities to personalize are so much greater and I feel like students would WANT to put more effort into their pieces. I mean, I made a nine-panel comic strip because my storyline just became that developed. I'll have to look into the cost of using this site, but geez Louise! It's amazing. UH-MAZE-ING. Plus, there is an UNDO button. Yes!!!! I can imagine giving this to my kids at the beginning of the year to create a graphic novel or comic book that involves certain aspects of our curriculum. Only bummer is you can't save unless you have paid access; I managed to publish and embed. Still, I can't get over it. If the next site is even better than this, I'm probably going to die.
Make Beliefs Comix!
OK, so I didn't die. Not nearly as cool as Pixton or ToonDoo, but pretty neat for as simple as it is. I mean, I made this little gem in like seven minutes (that includes quickly figuring out how the tools worked).
No registration required is a PLUS for teachers, but of course, the features are limited in exchange for that. If a teacher needed a quick, easy way for students to make comics online, THIS is the ticket. A few simple no fuss tools make composing a comic a cinch. Plus, the characters are inspiring. I mean, I had no idea what I was doing until I saw that little teacher-y cat and then BOOM! Brain exploded and this little dorky comic was born. This site probably had the easiest save feature.
Tellegami
The second I opened this app after downloading it to my mini, I knew I was going to love it. I also didn't bat an eye about downloading the in-app purchases to upgrade my avatar and to use the dictation feature on my first use of the app because I KNOW I'm going to use this like crazy!!! I made two videos, one with dictation and one with my voice:
Obviously, the British accent, even though awkward in pronunciation at times, sounds five thousand times better than my always awkward Darlene Connor-sounding voice. This app is one of the best things to ever happen to me. Tellegami is like playing Barbies and then having the power to make them actually talk! Dream. Come. True. Besides that, the functions are so easy to use and understand. Kids are going jump at the chance to use this app, I mean literally. If I show them a Gami and tell them they can make one with a free app on their iPads, they're going to implode! I can't wait.
I'll need to explore the "for educators" side of these sites/apps some more to see what additionally is offered, but I'm sold on all four programs to use in the classroom. For sure students will create their own booktalks or micro-presentations about research topics using Tellegami. Just think of how helpful this could be to those kids who are terrified of oral presentations? I also think that comic strips will create a new way for students to tell their own stories and offer a way to show content knowledge using the highest of higher order thinking skills: synthesis. ToonDoo and Make Beliefs Comix! will be my go to for quick projects and I'll leave Pixton to long-term projects. I'm still amazed by the magic of these sites.
P.S. When I registered my almost 11-year old son for ToonDoo and showed it to him, he couldn't get his laptop out of my hands fast enough. Later, he peeked over my shoulder eager to see what else I was working on in terms of comics. He's going to be in my class this next year, so I know at least ONE of my students will be game for a cartoon classroom.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Online Book Communities
I had no idea online book communities were a thing. I knew of and (for some reason) had signed up on goodreads.com a long time ago, but I thought it was just a place people could review books. Turns out, it's way more than just that.
Goodreads
I couldn't log in to the Goodreads account that I'd created before, so I made a new one. The account creation process is a whirlwind. As soon as you create a login (which took a bit because it didn't like my user ID or password--grrr!), you're taken to a screen to start selecting preferred genres and from there to books you've read. I rated several of the books I read until I got to a point that I could get recommendations. Of course, that was a great experience. I felt as if I was online shopping with no spending limit. Trying to navigate my lists after I'd added a good deal was kind of annoying though. I made shelves and wanted certain books in certain shelves but because certain shelves are "exclusive" anything I put in that shelf to begin with has to stay in that shelf! Boo!
LibraryThing
This book community was super-easy to sign up for (everything on the first try!) and upon registering, you're immediately taken to a place that allows you to add books to your library, edit your profile, etc. I like this better because you can see the big picture before you start adding books. After updating a few pieces of information on my profile, I went to the "add books" area and typed "Neil Gaiman" into the search field. A list of his books populated. I clicked on the link for Neverwhere and the page just thought about it for awhile before giving me a "504 Gateway time out" message in the area where the list was previously. So I went back and tried again and it was there, twice. I was able to quickly delete the extra book. Unfortunately there's no easy way to get back to the results page. "Neil Gaiman" still sat there in the search field so I just hit the search button again to get the list back. This became frustrating when I had to go on to the next page because I had to click more to get to what I wanted. Once I finally added some books, I was able to easily add a couple of collections and I figured out how to sort my books into these separate collections without too much trouble.
Shelfari
Shelfari scored points right away by offering a "tour" prior to registration. I clicked through the slides quickly to learn the basics of the site's features. Registering was a cinch with Shelfari since it is powered by Amazon. I didn't even have to sign in to Amazon because I'm already signed in on my laptop (debating as to whether I should be worried about that). The home page is inviting with nice little pop ups to show you where and how to start adding books. I also like that the shelves look realistic with a wood-grain pattern, so graphically this site is a WINNER. Adding books is so simple and logical on this site. I just type in the author's name, the list of books populate and I can click add and from there specify if I plan to read, have read, or am reading now. I also have the opportunity to review and rate it right then and there, and also add some information about the book's character and add "tags" if I want. If I want to skip all that, there is a drop-down menu under the book's cover graphic that I can use to mark. This site doesn't appear to let you add special shelves, but I do have the ability to sort the books in a variety of ways (I chose alpha-order). I like that this one is no muss-no fuss. I feel like kids would enjoy it because it is so user-friendly. It appears that you have to have an Amazon account to use it though, which is a problem for student use.
BookLikes
Well, BookLikes, just one-upped Shelfari by featuring an "all about me" style video as the first thing you see when visiting the page. The video pulls out all the stops in trying to appeal to book readers along with some brief shots of how the site works. I can imagine many of my bibliophile students from this past school year, squealing with delight while watching the video and chomping at the bits to get started. After a very easy sign up process (easiest yet), a pop-up window appears encouraging me to select favorite genres. I saved my genres and examined the homepage which asks "What do you want to do?" and offers three options sharing interesting things about books, collecting and organizing books, and keeping track of your reading life. I selected collecting and organizing books and clicked start. I was taken to a blog profile page where I selected a profile picture (it worked) and a blog name, description, and tag. Next you have the opportunity to select additional blogs to follow and later to connect your account to find friends on Facebook and Twitter (which I opted not to do because the only friend I have on social media who uses these types of online book communities is someone who is into erotica and I'm NOT and don't want that on my page). After completing this process, a screen appears that tutors you on how to use the site with arrows and directives. Using the search bar up at the top-right I tapped "Neil Gaiman" into the search field. The results list was straight-forward. It listed the titles and buttons appear to the right that allow me to add to shelf or add a post about the title. Once you click add to shelf, a menu populates that allows you to select which shelf you want to add to and also to create a new shelf right then and there! Someone was THINKING when they made BookLikes. I also liked that the results list was (by default) organized by popularity because I found that intriguing as I added titles to my shelf. After adding titles, you can add new shelves and edit which shelves books are placed (if you are in the "table" view). BookLikes is user-friendly and the blogging interface looks very easy to use as well.
Biblionasium
Educator sign up was easy enough, but my confirmation email did not come very quickly. After waiting about fifteen minutes, I resent the confirmation email. Nothing. Tried another time with no success. Decided to try again the next day. Never got around to it. Tried the following morning with still no luck. Decided to open my work email in Internet Explorer because it's finicky about what browser you use and I double-checked my junk mail and added the biblionasium.com domain to my safe senders list. Refreshed my in box and when I still didn't have an email, I started composing an email to Biblionasium to beg for help. Just as I was about to send off that email, the idea to try opening Biblionasium using Internet Explorer occurred to me. So I tried resending the verification email and lo and behold, it worked! After all that trouble to even get signed in, I decided that this website better be stellar. I clicked on "enter site" to get started and my laptop screen blacked out. A few seconds later, this message appeared:
Of course! This is why I loathe Internet Explorer! I clicked OK and hoped that my whole computer didn't reboot as a result. It didn't. Thank. Goodness.
In Biblionasium, you have to create groups before you can add books. So I created a group representing each homeroom in my pod. Thankfully, you don't have to add students to these groups prior to adding books. So I started to add books. It's pretty easy to do. Everything is nice and large (font, checkboxes) on the site so that's a plus for both students and educators. It's a little time-consuming to add books as the website seemed to lag a little and you can only choose one book at a time. I feel that the benefits this site provides outweigh this inconvenience though. This tool is going to help my SSR program greatly and take it to a new level and I am really excited about that. I decided to add a few of my personal favorites to the groups, the Bluebonnet nominees for this year as "recommended", and the novels we'll be studying as "required". The fact that the reading levels are displayed with each book is wonderful! This feature made me realize that some of the novels we've chosen to read this year are not at a sixth grade level, so that's something I'll need to discuss with my department when we meet to do curriculum in a couple weeks. Regardless of that outcome, I can't wait to see what my new students think about it. If they're anything like the group I had this last year, they'll LOVE it!
Survey Says?
Biblionasium seems to be the best for both educators and students. It's appealing to the eye, user-friendly, and allows for safe interactions about books. My second choice would be Shelfari because its looks and functionality are top-notch; its only drawback is that an Amazon account is required which limits use for students. Although I really like BookLikes set up, it is really geared towards book bloggers and I might consider using the account solely for that purpose. Goodreads is OK, just too complicated to use and LibraryThing is too plain-jane to me, but that matches (I think) its purpose because it is certainly "all about the books, about the books, nothing else."
Of course! This is why I loathe Internet Explorer! I clicked OK and hoped that my whole computer didn't reboot as a result. It didn't. Thank. Goodness.
In Biblionasium, you have to create groups before you can add books. So I created a group representing each homeroom in my pod. Thankfully, you don't have to add students to these groups prior to adding books. So I started to add books. It's pretty easy to do. Everything is nice and large (font, checkboxes) on the site so that's a plus for both students and educators. It's a little time-consuming to add books as the website seemed to lag a little and you can only choose one book at a time. I feel that the benefits this site provides outweigh this inconvenience though. This tool is going to help my SSR program greatly and take it to a new level and I am really excited about that. I decided to add a few of my personal favorites to the groups, the Bluebonnet nominees for this year as "recommended", and the novels we'll be studying as "required". The fact that the reading levels are displayed with each book is wonderful! This feature made me realize that some of the novels we've chosen to read this year are not at a sixth grade level, so that's something I'll need to discuss with my department when we meet to do curriculum in a couple weeks. Regardless of that outcome, I can't wait to see what my new students think about it. If they're anything like the group I had this last year, they'll LOVE it!
Survey Says?
Biblionasium seems to be the best for both educators and students. It's appealing to the eye, user-friendly, and allows for safe interactions about books. My second choice would be Shelfari because its looks and functionality are top-notch; its only drawback is that an Amazon account is required which limits use for students. Although I really like BookLikes set up, it is really geared towards book bloggers and I might consider using the account solely for that purpose. Goodreads is OK, just too complicated to use and LibraryThing is too plain-jane to me, but that matches (I think) its purpose because it is certainly "all about the books, about the books, nothing else."
Thursday, June 18, 2015
This Ain't My First Podcast, and It Won't Be My Last
Don't get excited, I'm not a pro or anything. According to my Soundcloud account, I've made three others, but they were for school-school, not work-school. I can already tell I'm going to be addicted to making podcasts for work-school.
I teach sixth grade English. We worry that our students don't get enough poetry exposure. My department and I have discussed using a poetry resource that I found and purchased from Amazon called The Poetry Anthology for Middle School: Poems for the School Year with Connections to the TEKS. It features a poem to use in class with students each week and some suggested activities to go along with each poem. So, when thinking about possible topics for a podcast, I chose to do something with this resource that I might actually be able to use with my students.
I read the poem, read the suggested activities, and thought about points of poetry that are important for my kids to understand and how I would use this in my classroom. I decided to make a podcast to supplement this as a homework assignment for my students in preparation for an in-class discussion. Ideally, this homework assignment would be given on Monday and due Friday (when the discussion would take place). In the podcast, I would explain Poem of the Week homework assignment instructions, expectations, model a read aloud of the poem, point out a few specific features of the poem, and give a writing prompt related to the poem.
Using the sticky notes feature on my laptop, I banged out a basic script and recorded it. Fast n' loud. Re-recorded with what I believed was a quieter voice and slower pace. Still too loud. Adjust the mic volume to 75%, finally got it to sound decent. A couple of words sound funky, but I think I just have a weird accent or something. You can listen to it right now:
I felt so jazzed about this idea after recording it and listening to it all the way through. My department and are meeting in a couple of weeks to do some curriculum planning, and I am really excited about sharing this idea with them. Also, I'm looking forward to recording these each week for my classes. I hope the kids enjoy it and benefit from it as much as I think they will.
I also think I could record short little mini-lessons about things we cover in class that kids can refer back to at home or if they are absent. If students get permission from their parents, they could record their own readings of poetry (or prose), research presentations, special announcements, shout-outs to teachers or staff members for various "___ Appreciation Days". At home I have a Mac and Garage Band, and I really want to explore using that so that I can add music and images. I might also try the iPad version and if that is user-friendly enough, I'll have to see about getting it added to our iPad carts at school.
As far as podcast use in a library situation, I'm seeing a huge opportunity for student book reviews and book talks. These podcasts could be directly accessible via the "Links" section on OPAC and/or the library's website. I can also envision an "Experts" section and students who have extensively studied a particular subject via research can record a podcast their findings. For Book Club, members could read their favorite passage from a specific section of text and explain its significance. I also love the feature that Soundcloud has which allows users to share via direct connect to Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. I have found that many social media sights intertwine like this to prevent someone from having to update five thousand separate social networking sites.
I wish more of the links on the Podcasting in Education page would have worked, I made some of them work by playing with the URLs but others I didn't have the luck. I bookmarked some pages to share with my colleagues in other content areas and will continue to explore ways I can incorporate podcasting into my classroom and library.
I teach sixth grade English. We worry that our students don't get enough poetry exposure. My department and I have discussed using a poetry resource that I found and purchased from Amazon called The Poetry Anthology for Middle School: Poems for the School Year with Connections to the TEKS. It features a poem to use in class with students each week and some suggested activities to go along with each poem. So, when thinking about possible topics for a podcast, I chose to do something with this resource that I might actually be able to use with my students.
I read the poem, read the suggested activities, and thought about points of poetry that are important for my kids to understand and how I would use this in my classroom. I decided to make a podcast to supplement this as a homework assignment for my students in preparation for an in-class discussion. Ideally, this homework assignment would be given on Monday and due Friday (when the discussion would take place). In the podcast, I would explain Poem of the Week homework assignment instructions, expectations, model a read aloud of the poem, point out a few specific features of the poem, and give a writing prompt related to the poem.
Using the sticky notes feature on my laptop, I banged out a basic script and recorded it. Fast n' loud. Re-recorded with what I believed was a quieter voice and slower pace. Still too loud. Adjust the mic volume to 75%, finally got it to sound decent. A couple of words sound funky, but I think I just have a weird accent or something. You can listen to it right now:
I felt so jazzed about this idea after recording it and listening to it all the way through. My department and are meeting in a couple of weeks to do some curriculum planning, and I am really excited about sharing this idea with them. Also, I'm looking forward to recording these each week for my classes. I hope the kids enjoy it and benefit from it as much as I think they will.
I also think I could record short little mini-lessons about things we cover in class that kids can refer back to at home or if they are absent. If students get permission from their parents, they could record their own readings of poetry (or prose), research presentations, special announcements, shout-outs to teachers or staff members for various "___ Appreciation Days". At home I have a Mac and Garage Band, and I really want to explore using that so that I can add music and images. I might also try the iPad version and if that is user-friendly enough, I'll have to see about getting it added to our iPad carts at school.
As far as podcast use in a library situation, I'm seeing a huge opportunity for student book reviews and book talks. These podcasts could be directly accessible via the "Links" section on OPAC and/or the library's website. I can also envision an "Experts" section and students who have extensively studied a particular subject via research can record a podcast their findings. For Book Club, members could read their favorite passage from a specific section of text and explain its significance. I also love the feature that Soundcloud has which allows users to share via direct connect to Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. I have found that many social media sights intertwine like this to prevent someone from having to update five thousand separate social networking sites.
I wish more of the links on the Podcasting in Education page would have worked, I made some of them work by playing with the URLs but others I didn't have the luck. I bookmarked some pages to share with my colleagues in other content areas and will continue to explore ways I can incorporate podcasting into my classroom and library.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Videos and QR Codes in the Library
Who knew the possibilities for utilizing videos for a school library? After checking out a few school library YouTube channels and an Animoto book trailer that puts to shame any that I had previously made, I have so many great ideas for utilizing this resource to promote my future library. Here are a few highlights from the channels I perused:
Norman High School Library
"Tiger Visits The Norman High Library" (Most Helpful)
This video is the first one I watched and is by far my FAVORITE! It really makes me want to be the librarian at a high school so I can recreate this! In this video, the school mascot visits the library and essentially delivers a light-hearted orientation! I'm sorry every sentence is ending in an exclamation point but it really is that precious! My only criticism would be that all the students featured in the library were male and I would've liked to see a few female students in there. I mean, even the mascot is male. How can I tell? Male tigers have an excess of white fur on the sides of their faces.
"Norman High School Library Rocks!" (Student Choice)
I like this one because a student made it and I think it's hilarious because it reminds me of some cheesy, local small business commercial. Plus, it features fake explosions and fire coming from books. What a fun project it would be to challenge students (in any library) to make a "commercial" advertising the library and place it on the library's webpage. You could even change it every month or every semester. I'm really excited about this idea!
The Unquiet Library
"New Arrivals, April 2012" (Student Choice)
I knew from the name that this was the library that the incomparable Buffy Hamilton built! In this video she used Animoto to put together a few photos of new book inventory to the library set to some catchy music. I think this is an excellent way to share this information with students. I could see this being shown as part of a library playlist on a workstation in the library or on the library webpage or on morning annoucements.
"Finding and Using Wikimedia Commons Images" (Most Helpful)
In this video (and many others like it on The Unquiet Library YouTube channel), Buffy Hamilton uses a screencast to show students how to access images to use for projects that don't pose a copyright concern. She delivers the information in a clear, concise manner which I find impressive because I tend to ramble when I do screencasts and they end up being WAY too long. Students can use videos like these from home when they are completing assignments or to get information if they've been absent.
Pikesville High School Library
"PikesvilleHighschool FAFSA" (Student Choice)
Even though this video isn't directly related to the library, I am assuming the library helped in its creation and I think that it has a great message for seniors and pushing them to apply for financial aid as soon as possible. Perhaps students are encouraged to use the library's computers to complete their FAFSA. Sure the video is a little corny, but for some reason, corn is what kids seem to remember. I'd be interested in some data to see how many students actually completed their FAFSA this year, compared to previous years.
"AP Physics" (Most Helpful)
Now, I'm not picking this video individually, but rather I chose it to represent a slew of videos of this nature on this library's YouTube channel. The videos consist of AP teachers discussing their classes (what the classes are like, the content, the workload). I feel like this could be a jumping off point. What if the librarian created a short video featuring each teacher or each department on the campus speaking about their classes or content? My school requires us to have Parent Night in which we discuss expectations for our pods (the four content area teachers). If we could record a video such as this, we would reach more parents since not everyone can make it to the school at that one date and time. Parents could watch the video at their convenience and even refer back to it regarding teacher or classroom policies. (PS--I chose the AP Physics video because I thought the Tesla coils in the background were cool.)
BBMS Media
"Punk Rock Etiquette Review" (Most Helpful)
We all know we can review books via video and upload them to YouTube, but I feel the manner in which this librarian does his review is a little different and more personal than just uploading from Animoto. I like that he is handling the book, showing the cover, show the author's pic, and discussing the book like he really enjoyed it. I mean, I want to read this book and I think I've outgrown my "wanna be in a band" phase. I think.
"Dr. Katherine and the Book Hoarder" (Student Choice)
So, this middle school seems to have an obsession with creating "return your books" type videos. There's probably around a dozen on their channel. Also some of the song parody varieties were funny, I think this is my favorite. Taking the talk show approach, these students encourage the turning in of library books by exploring the trouble one student has in returning her books. I don't know how, but they managed to film this in a way that captures the complete and total cheese of 90s talk shows like Sally Jessy Raphael and Phil Donahue. Bravo to these kids!
As you can see, there are a number of ways to use videos in the library. It seems the key will be to not only make them useful, but provide comic relief as well. I certainly want to make a library orientation video to place on my YouTube channel. I also think it will be helpful to post videos of the activities and learning going on in the library so that parents and community members can see the value of the school library. Additionally, I will create book reviews and book trailers to showcase what the library has to offer as far as inventory is concerned. And without a doubt, I'll hold student contests for library promotional videos. I am so excited to see what they'll create!
I think I could even advertise these videos by assigning them QR codes and printing them off on flyers and placing them around the school. Ideally, curious students would scan the QR code and be taken straight to a video. For instance if I had a QR code of a book review video, I could print it off with the title "Looking for a GREAT book to read?" and post them around the school or the library or on my webpage. I could also use QR codes to reveal the theme of a video contest or something of that nature. The QR code creator site I used Visualead which gave ideas for several different uses for QR codes including contact information, email and text messages, URLs, app links, and so many others.
I made my own QR code that links to an Animoto book trailer for a book I finished reading today. My sweet husband bought me this book pretty much the day it came out and I've only just now been able to read it. I'm so glad I did because it is so inspiring and its page now besmirched with highlighter because it just had so many thought-provoking bits. This book would be ideal for teachers. Heck, the librarian could even make QR code flyers and place them in the workroom or teachers' lounge with book suggestions. Perhaps a link to the Amazon page? Anyways, the book is The Natty Professor: A Master Class on Mentoring, Motivating, and Making it Work! written by none other than Tim Gunn, star of Lifetime TV's Project Runway and Under the Gunn.
Here's the publisher's synopsis of the book as found on Amazon:
A timeless book of lessons on mentorship, teaching, and learning from New York Times bestselling author Tim Gunn, host of the Emmy Award–nominated Project Runway and the reality show Under the Gunn.
Tim Gunn, America’s favorite reality TV cohost, is known for his kind but firm approach in providing wisdom, guidance, and support to the scores of design hopefuls on Project Runway. Having begun his fashion career as a teacher at Parsons The New School for Design, Tim knows more than a thing or two about mentorship and how to convey invaluable pearls of wisdom in an approachable, accessible manner.
While Gunn’s Golden Rules showcased Tim “as life coach,” imparting lessons based on his personal experiences, Tim Gunn: The Natty Professor will focus on Tim “as teacher.” Divided into sections on common themes—leadership, curiosity, diversity, understanding, empathy—this practical, timely book takes us on a journey through life lessons and uses Tim’s own personal experiences, from the classroom to the therapist’s office, to illustrate larger concepts. Each chapter will end with a “life assignment,” where Tim challenges you to apply the lessons you’ve learned in practical mentoring or teaching situations.
So grab a pencil and start taking notes: class is officially in session!
I've made Animoto book trailers before and my students created book trailers for their novel studies this past school year. They really enjoyed it and some of their videos were super-impressive. For theirs as well as the one I made here, the images were acquired from Creative Commons. Although, it's not quite as breath-taking as Dr. Perry's Ashfall book trailer, I think it's decent. So, without further adieu, my QR code for my book trailer:
I really do strongly recommended reading this book. Plus, as you read Tim Gunn's voice will be all you hear. BONUS!
Norman High School Library
"Tiger Visits The Norman High Library" (Most Helpful)
This video is the first one I watched and is by far my FAVORITE! It really makes me want to be the librarian at a high school so I can recreate this! In this video, the school mascot visits the library and essentially delivers a light-hearted orientation! I'm sorry every sentence is ending in an exclamation point but it really is that precious! My only criticism would be that all the students featured in the library were male and I would've liked to see a few female students in there. I mean, even the mascot is male. How can I tell? Male tigers have an excess of white fur on the sides of their faces.
"Norman High School Library Rocks!" (Student Choice)
I like this one because a student made it and I think it's hilarious because it reminds me of some cheesy, local small business commercial. Plus, it features fake explosions and fire coming from books. What a fun project it would be to challenge students (in any library) to make a "commercial" advertising the library and place it on the library's webpage. You could even change it every month or every semester. I'm really excited about this idea!
The Unquiet Library
"New Arrivals, April 2012" (Student Choice)
I knew from the name that this was the library that the incomparable Buffy Hamilton built! In this video she used Animoto to put together a few photos of new book inventory to the library set to some catchy music. I think this is an excellent way to share this information with students. I could see this being shown as part of a library playlist on a workstation in the library or on the library webpage or on morning annoucements.
"Finding and Using Wikimedia Commons Images" (Most Helpful)
In this video (and many others like it on The Unquiet Library YouTube channel), Buffy Hamilton uses a screencast to show students how to access images to use for projects that don't pose a copyright concern. She delivers the information in a clear, concise manner which I find impressive because I tend to ramble when I do screencasts and they end up being WAY too long. Students can use videos like these from home when they are completing assignments or to get information if they've been absent.
Pikesville High School Library
"PikesvilleHighschool FAFSA" (Student Choice)
Even though this video isn't directly related to the library, I am assuming the library helped in its creation and I think that it has a great message for seniors and pushing them to apply for financial aid as soon as possible. Perhaps students are encouraged to use the library's computers to complete their FAFSA. Sure the video is a little corny, but for some reason, corn is what kids seem to remember. I'd be interested in some data to see how many students actually completed their FAFSA this year, compared to previous years.
"AP Physics" (Most Helpful)
Now, I'm not picking this video individually, but rather I chose it to represent a slew of videos of this nature on this library's YouTube channel. The videos consist of AP teachers discussing their classes (what the classes are like, the content, the workload). I feel like this could be a jumping off point. What if the librarian created a short video featuring each teacher or each department on the campus speaking about their classes or content? My school requires us to have Parent Night in which we discuss expectations for our pods (the four content area teachers). If we could record a video such as this, we would reach more parents since not everyone can make it to the school at that one date and time. Parents could watch the video at their convenience and even refer back to it regarding teacher or classroom policies. (PS--I chose the AP Physics video because I thought the Tesla coils in the background were cool.)
BBMS Media
"Punk Rock Etiquette Review" (Most Helpful)
We all know we can review books via video and upload them to YouTube, but I feel the manner in which this librarian does his review is a little different and more personal than just uploading from Animoto. I like that he is handling the book, showing the cover, show the author's pic, and discussing the book like he really enjoyed it. I mean, I want to read this book and I think I've outgrown my "wanna be in a band" phase. I think.
"Dr. Katherine and the Book Hoarder" (Student Choice)
So, this middle school seems to have an obsession with creating "return your books" type videos. There's probably around a dozen on their channel. Also some of the song parody varieties were funny, I think this is my favorite. Taking the talk show approach, these students encourage the turning in of library books by exploring the trouble one student has in returning her books. I don't know how, but they managed to film this in a way that captures the complete and total cheese of 90s talk shows like Sally Jessy Raphael and Phil Donahue. Bravo to these kids!
As you can see, there are a number of ways to use videos in the library. It seems the key will be to not only make them useful, but provide comic relief as well. I certainly want to make a library orientation video to place on my YouTube channel. I also think it will be helpful to post videos of the activities and learning going on in the library so that parents and community members can see the value of the school library. Additionally, I will create book reviews and book trailers to showcase what the library has to offer as far as inventory is concerned. And without a doubt, I'll hold student contests for library promotional videos. I am so excited to see what they'll create!
I think I could even advertise these videos by assigning them QR codes and printing them off on flyers and placing them around the school. Ideally, curious students would scan the QR code and be taken straight to a video. For instance if I had a QR code of a book review video, I could print it off with the title "Looking for a GREAT book to read?" and post them around the school or the library or on my webpage. I could also use QR codes to reveal the theme of a video contest or something of that nature. The QR code creator site I used Visualead which gave ideas for several different uses for QR codes including contact information, email and text messages, URLs, app links, and so many others.
I made my own QR code that links to an Animoto book trailer for a book I finished reading today. My sweet husband bought me this book pretty much the day it came out and I've only just now been able to read it. I'm so glad I did because it is so inspiring and its page now besmirched with highlighter because it just had so many thought-provoking bits. This book would be ideal for teachers. Heck, the librarian could even make QR code flyers and place them in the workroom or teachers' lounge with book suggestions. Perhaps a link to the Amazon page? Anyways, the book is The Natty Professor: A Master Class on Mentoring, Motivating, and Making it Work! written by none other than Tim Gunn, star of Lifetime TV's Project Runway and Under the Gunn.
Here's the publisher's synopsis of the book as found on Amazon:
A timeless book of lessons on mentorship, teaching, and learning from New York Times bestselling author Tim Gunn, host of the Emmy Award–nominated Project Runway and the reality show Under the Gunn.
Tim Gunn, America’s favorite reality TV cohost, is known for his kind but firm approach in providing wisdom, guidance, and support to the scores of design hopefuls on Project Runway. Having begun his fashion career as a teacher at Parsons The New School for Design, Tim knows more than a thing or two about mentorship and how to convey invaluable pearls of wisdom in an approachable, accessible manner.
While Gunn’s Golden Rules showcased Tim “as life coach,” imparting lessons based on his personal experiences, Tim Gunn: The Natty Professor will focus on Tim “as teacher.” Divided into sections on common themes—leadership, curiosity, diversity, understanding, empathy—this practical, timely book takes us on a journey through life lessons and uses Tim’s own personal experiences, from the classroom to the therapist’s office, to illustrate larger concepts. Each chapter will end with a “life assignment,” where Tim challenges you to apply the lessons you’ve learned in practical mentoring or teaching situations.
So grab a pencil and start taking notes: class is officially in session!
I've made Animoto book trailers before and my students created book trailers for their novel studies this past school year. They really enjoyed it and some of their videos were super-impressive. For theirs as well as the one I made here, the images were acquired from Creative Commons. Although, it's not quite as breath-taking as Dr. Perry's Ashfall book trailer, I think it's decent. So, without further adieu, my QR code for my book trailer:
I really do strongly recommended reading this book. Plus, as you read Tim Gunn's voice will be all you hear. BONUS!
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Bloggin' and Tumbln'
I love blogs. I tried to make one a few years ago about stuff I make called "Made in Brandiland." It went by the wayside because I realized I only made stuff in the summer since there's no time to make stuff during the school year. No time to make much this summer because of summer sesh. But, apparently I have a lot to say because I've been using this blog like cray and I love it and I think I need to blog more. Not sure when that will happen, but until then... here's other people's blogs for you to enjoy until I can get my life on track.
Blog Readers
I pulled up Feedly's page and immediately liked their browsing options so much better than Bloglovin' (they refer to it as "Starter Kits" and have not only an education starter kit, but a tech one as well, oh and culture and cars and comics!). I also pulled up the others, but they didn't speak to me like Feedly did. So I set up my account to explore Feedly and downloaded the app to my mini.
 |
| Screenshots from app versions of Bloglovin' (left) versus Feedly (right). Feedly is CLEARLY more user-friendly. |
I feel in love with Feedly even more as I began to use the site to search and set up blog feeds. If I want to check out a blog before committing to following it, I can click on the blog title, get a taste (kind of like a quick view when you're shopping on Old Navy or Target) and close out of it. Bloglovin' wasn't as user-friendly as this when I tried searching for blogs. When I add blogs I can assign it to a category (or categories) of my choosing. The sidebar easily lets me see what blogs I have where. When I open a blog and subsequently a blog post on Feedly, little tabs open for each (with the app, not my browser) and I REALLY appreciate that. I hate a cluttered browser. Also, you can set a theme (more like color scheme) for your Feedly page.
Here are a few of the blogs I found using Feedly's Starter Kits that I think you'll want to know about:
I choose this blog because since I've started this summer session, I've seen so much about the Maker Movement, which I didn't even know was a thing. Now that I know it's not only a thing, but a REALLY COOL THING, I want to scoop up as much info as I can about it! This blog gives ideas for things to make and examples of things made at Maker Faires. If you watch the 33-second video from this post, you'll be just as pumped about the Maker Movement. Two words: Cardboard. Dinosaurs.
I'm a sucker for clever names, so I was immediately attracted to this one. But when I browsed through the blog posts, I found that they shared some really thoughtful and relevant posts about things that matter to me as a teacher. One blog post that got me right in the kisser? "7 Reasons to Keep Poetry Instruction Alive." I found another blog posting that directly relates to a report I read from Pew Research about digital writing tools about using blogs for writing instruction. Yup, I'm happy to be caught up in this Edudemic.
I didn't know what to expect from this blog, but I was intrigued by the blog's subtitle: Hoarding is not collection development. This blog is a collection of terribly old, out-dated, sometimes hilarious, sometimes horrendous books that librarians find in their collection and submit to this blog. I like old stuff. I like funny stuff. I like it when they both come together. If you're in need of some comic relief or need to be reminded to be thankful to live in the era in which you do, check out this blog.
This blog addresses a variety of educational issues from ed-tech to classroom strategies to teacher concerns. They average about two posts a day, so a reader doesn't get bogged down trying to fish through tons of articles. The blog keeps the topics balanced by switching the subject matter up consistently so you don't get five ed-tech posts in a row.
What about Tumblr?
Tumblr seems overwhelming at first. Luckily, the site gives you a little baby tutorial of how to use the site, so that calmed me down a little bit. After searching "school library" (search function SUPER EASY to use by the way), I found so many great accounts to follow. It'll take some more practice but I think I'll really like it. My first Tumblr activity involved reblogging two things: a gif of baby foxes and an article about this guy who drew dinosaurs in the sand. You can find me on Tumblr @ miz-raj.tumblr.com. I'm still working on "changing my appearance" though so don't expect to be dazzled by an amazing avatar pic or banner pic, OK?
School libraries seem to be using Tumblr to communicate about books, including book lists, genres of books, summer reading, etc. I think some of them use current events to recommend books which I think is a BRILLIANT idea. For instance, Elmira HS posted several books about LGBTQ characters probably in response to the Caitlyn Jenner hype. Elementary libraries post a lot about activities kids do in the library, which was adorable and inspiring! I don't know at what level I'll end up, so it's encouraging to know I have a wealth of information in a variety of sources to help me along the way when the time comes. :) But by far one that really spoke to me that I HAVE to share with you guys is...
Librarian Wardrobe Tumblr @librarianwardrobe
I found this blog on Tumblr. I chose to follow this one because it mashes up two things I love: library and fashion! This blog's mission is to dispel myths about the stereotypes of the librarian look by showcasing librarian's outfits and offering advice to those who seek it. What a great idea!!!
Now... get out there and blog your brains out!!!
Friday, June 12, 2015
Read About Teen Use of Social Media & Technology, Give Birth to an Infographic
Another research report I mined from the surface level of Pew Research (because it was just published in April of this year) is "Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015". Luckily for my sanity's sake, it was only 48 pages long, but just as interesting as my previous pick. This report was so eye-opening. I mean, I see teenagers on their phones all the time, but now I actually know WHAT they're doing based on their age, gender, racial/ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. That's not creepy, right?
Here's the good stuff all nice and packaged in a cute little infographic I made on Piktochart (which can also be access directly here):
Here's the good stuff all nice and packaged in a cute little infographic I made on Piktochart (which can also be access directly here):
How to Read a 114-page Research Report Without Dying
I don't have much experience reading research reports. I mean, REAL research reports, not the ones my sixth graders turn into me. I think I read one for my collection development class during my first semester of working towards my library science degree. But, as I explored the topics in the Teens and Youth section of Pew Research Center this one about digital writing tools really caught my eye.
You see, the district I teach in really pushed for improvement in writing this year due to lackluster performance by seventh graders on the state test. Obviously, the sixth graders aren't doing enough writing, ergo, you'll make them do more and we'll be checking in on you to make sure. So, along with splitting the responsibility with social studies (ELAR teachers are responsible for personal narratives while social studies handles expository essays) the district also voluntold grades 6-12 teachers to pilot a digital writing tool called PEG Writing.
Knowing how my own students reacted to and performed using this digital writing tool, I was curious to see how teachers and students across the nation felt about the tools they'd been using as well. I wondered if my sentiments matched theirs. Even though this report was 114 pages long, I downloaded the PDF to the Kindle app on my iPad mini and settled in to read it because, gosh darn-it, I'm a fast reader and 114 pages ain't nuthin'!
And 30 minutes later, I'm posting on Facebook:
So reading research reports is a little different, mainly because I was stopping to take notes and process everything completely before proceeding because when I read the Summary of Findings section, I knew that I needed to understand the whole process behind how they acquired their data. It was around page 15 that I got into the "zone" and finally started making some really good personal connections and developing some criticisms. Were I to share all the findings here, I'd surely develop carpal tunnel syndrome, but I really want to discuss what was significant to me.
First, let me give you the basics of the study. Pew researchers, via online survey, asked a sample of Advanced Placement (AP) and National Writing Project (NWP) middle and high school teachers of various ages, experience levels, content areas, across the nation their opinions about the use of digital writing tools and the impact those tools have on student learning and the means by which writing is taught. Just under 2,100 teacher surveys were completed. Students in grades nine through twelve also took part in a focus group to gather their opinions about technology, writing and their writing education.
For the most part, teachers felt the digital tools are helpful but still rated their students writing as only "good" or "fair". Keep in mind these are your high-achieving students, enrolled in AP classes or being taught by teachers who have been trained in the arts of National Writing Project techniques and the majority are only being rated as average in writing skills? The actual "normal" kids' writing must be atrocious! I think the researchers were taken aback by these ratings as well because they brought it up a few times. I'd be curious to see who ranked students how, whether it was the AP teachers or the NWP teachers who tended to rank their students lower. Unfortunately these individualized results were not available in this report. On the other hand, I do feel like this is consistent even with my own students. I teach the gifted and talented students. At the end of the year, all the sixth grade ELAR teachers met and rated the last narrative that the students wrote so that we could send a writing sample for each student to the junior high campus to provide seventh grade teachers a glimpse of the students' writing abilities. I noticed that in my own classes (much to my surprise) that only a handful of students ranked in what would be the excellent category, and a few more than that in the very good area, with the majority falling into the good to fair range. Next year, I think I'd like to take down some data for the entire grade level when we do this just to see how the non-advanced kids rate.
In section of the report that defined writing, it was shared that many students don't feel that what they do on social media or via text or blogging is "writing". Rather students tend to think that writing is just "what they do for school." Teachers on the other hand consider formal writing, creative writing, and blogging to be "writing". There was some discussion of teachers capitalizing on the the "micro-blogging" that students write via social media postings as pre-writing, encouraging students to start with that seed idea posted on Twitter or Facebook and expanding on it. I felt like this was a great way to create an idea bank for students for all genres of writing. It's as if using social media is a way to trick kids into writing. When teachers become cognizant of the value of students' interactions on social media, it could so totally be used to their advantage.
An overwhelming majority of teachers ranked writing effectively and judging the quality of information among the most essential skills that students need for the future. These teachers also feel that the inclusion of formal writing assignments is necessary to offset all the informal writing that happens outside of school (texting, social media) and that they must "master all styles of writing in order to be successful across social domains and to communicate with different audiences" (p. 21). However, when you look at the data regarding how much and what type of writing they assign in their classrooms, it doesn't appear that they place an emphasis on writing to learn in their own classrooms (and this mostly applies to teachers of content areas other than English, more so science and math than social studies). I feel like this is hypocritical. "Yes, yes, writing is SO IMPORTANT, but they ain't doin' none of that in my class." My fifth and sixth grade campus is really trying to push for writing in all content areas (including electives) but we still need math and music on board. Baby steps, I guess.
This report is filled with quotes from the teacher participants and I really enjoyed reading these. One quote in particular made me say aloud, "Ohmigod, that's so good" and made my husband stop what he was doing and look at me funny before asking what. Some genius teacher said:
The teachers did acknowledge that digital writing tools provide many benefits for students. These range from allowing students to share their work with a "wider and more varied audience", greater opportunities to express creativity and collaborate with peers and the ability to do so outside the classroom. Something that was alluded to in the report and something that I have witnessed in my own classroom using PEG Writing is that students tend to be more conscientious about the work they produce knowing their classmates will have the ability to view and provide feedback on their writing. You should have seen the excitement when I enabled "peer review" for the first time on PEG Writing. They were so excited to read one another's work and make suggestions. I suppose the novelty of doing it online made it better than trading their handwritten essays with a partner.
Negative aspects of using digital writing tools include the distractability factors involved with technology and that students are more likely to take shortcuts by copying and pasting (thereby committing plagiarism) and put little effort into their writing. I can see both sides of this issue. Depending on the student, technology can be either distracting or engaging. I've offered a laptop to some students to compose on and they've written more than they ever have before, others just sit and play with the cursor. I think it's all about knowing your students and giving them the tools they need to be successful. In regards to plagiarism, I agree with what many teachers stated in the report: explicit instruction about plagiarism and citing sources needs to happen. But this instruction needs to be delivered through meaningful activities that engage the student, not just a lecture of "do this, do that." One teacher asserts that he/she beats plagiarism by designing assignments or projects that make is difficult to plagiarize (p. 44). I think that's the key right there. If your students are working at the most rigorous levels of higher-order thinking skills, plagiarism won't be an option. There's no room for copy-and-paste when you are CREATING FROM SCRATCH.
A section of the report disclosed information about the ages of the teachers who were members of the sample as well as the electronic devices they possess and use both personally and in the classroom. I was surprised to see that many senior-aged teachers (55+) use a wide variety of devices. It has been my experience (at least in my district anyways) that the older teachers are not as comfortable with or willing to learn to use technology. So this is encouraging. Perhaps because technology has become so ingrained in essentially every aspect of our lives that they've decided to stop fighting it and become one with the tech.
Something else curious about age and digital writing tools use is, according to the report's data, the middle school students are using the tools more than the high school students are. I have to wonder if this has something to do with high stakes testing and the focus of prepping those younger students for the tests they'll take in high school. Another reason could be an engagement factor. Middle school kids are typically hormonal messes and maybe sticking a keyboard in their hands is the only way to get them to be productive when it comes to writing.
Another concern with writing instruction concerns digital literacy. We expect students to come to us knowing all about how to use computers (surely they know at least as much as us, right?) but the reality is, the differences in technology experience vary greatly. This, of course, directly correlates to the access students have to technology. Those who haven't grown up with technology in their hands from a very young age are at a disadvantage. They'll have to be taught explicitly how to navigate the features of writing programs because it's very possible that their only experience with technology has been limited to what they've done at school. This school year I had a set of super-smart, exceedingly creative twin girls who DID NOT KNOW HOW TO COPY AND PASTE. I was floored, but I taught them how and they finished their infographics, but not as well as some of the other more tech-savvy kids. My opinion is, if the nation truly wants its schools to produce 21st century learners, they better make sure ALL students have access. Some of the teachers in the report stated their rural locations didn't get internet. How is that a thing in this day and age?
Another access issue referred to in the report was that of district policies regarding prohibiting the possession and/or use of cell phones at school and the web filtering of social media or other sites that can be used free-of-charge (like Google Docs) to support writing instruction via digital tools. This last school year, my district rolled out Bring Your Own Device to the junior high and high schools. According to the superintendent, this was a successful endeavor and it may even trickle down to the intermediate level. I look forward to allowing students to use their devices for learning in my classroom, but I know some of my co-workers feel the complete opposite (insisting that it's just asking for trouble). My district has not yet opened the web filters to social media use for students (or teachers for that matter, in fact, if someone posts on Facebook during school, people get all crazy). I think they are afraid of giving them too much of a voice, but I don't think they realize how much of a benefit this could be for student writing.
Armed with the knowledge I've gained in this report, I feel I can start a conversation with administration about making these sorts of changes. Included at the end of the report was the survey the researchers used in the focus group with the students. I really liked the questions they asked and felt the information collected from the students would be useful in assessing the frame of mind about writing the sixth grade students at my campus possess. My plan is to modify their survey and have students take it at the beginning of the school year to collect data to improve the methods we use for teaching writing.
References:
Purcell, K. (2013). The impact of digital tools on student writing and how writing is taught in schools (Research Report). Retrieved from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project website: http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_NWP%20Writing%20and%20Tech.pdf
You see, the district I teach in really pushed for improvement in writing this year due to lackluster performance by seventh graders on the state test. Obviously, the sixth graders aren't doing enough writing, ergo, you'll make them do more and we'll be checking in on you to make sure. So, along with splitting the responsibility with social studies (ELAR teachers are responsible for personal narratives while social studies handles expository essays) the district also voluntold grades 6-12 teachers to pilot a digital writing tool called PEG Writing.
Knowing how my own students reacted to and performed using this digital writing tool, I was curious to see how teachers and students across the nation felt about the tools they'd been using as well. I wondered if my sentiments matched theirs. Even though this report was 114 pages long, I downloaded the PDF to the Kindle app on my iPad mini and settled in to read it because, gosh darn-it, I'm a fast reader and 114 pages ain't nuthin'!
And 30 minutes later, I'm posting on Facebook:
So reading research reports is a little different, mainly because I was stopping to take notes and process everything completely before proceeding because when I read the Summary of Findings section, I knew that I needed to understand the whole process behind how they acquired their data. It was around page 15 that I got into the "zone" and finally started making some really good personal connections and developing some criticisms. Were I to share all the findings here, I'd surely develop carpal tunnel syndrome, but I really want to discuss what was significant to me.
First, let me give you the basics of the study. Pew researchers, via online survey, asked a sample of Advanced Placement (AP) and National Writing Project (NWP) middle and high school teachers of various ages, experience levels, content areas, across the nation their opinions about the use of digital writing tools and the impact those tools have on student learning and the means by which writing is taught. Just under 2,100 teacher surveys were completed. Students in grades nine through twelve also took part in a focus group to gather their opinions about technology, writing and their writing education.
For the most part, teachers felt the digital tools are helpful but still rated their students writing as only "good" or "fair". Keep in mind these are your high-achieving students, enrolled in AP classes or being taught by teachers who have been trained in the arts of National Writing Project techniques and the majority are only being rated as average in writing skills? The actual "normal" kids' writing must be atrocious! I think the researchers were taken aback by these ratings as well because they brought it up a few times. I'd be curious to see who ranked students how, whether it was the AP teachers or the NWP teachers who tended to rank their students lower. Unfortunately these individualized results were not available in this report. On the other hand, I do feel like this is consistent even with my own students. I teach the gifted and talented students. At the end of the year, all the sixth grade ELAR teachers met and rated the last narrative that the students wrote so that we could send a writing sample for each student to the junior high campus to provide seventh grade teachers a glimpse of the students' writing abilities. I noticed that in my own classes (much to my surprise) that only a handful of students ranked in what would be the excellent category, and a few more than that in the very good area, with the majority falling into the good to fair range. Next year, I think I'd like to take down some data for the entire grade level when we do this just to see how the non-advanced kids rate.
In section of the report that defined writing, it was shared that many students don't feel that what they do on social media or via text or blogging is "writing". Rather students tend to think that writing is just "what they do for school." Teachers on the other hand consider formal writing, creative writing, and blogging to be "writing". There was some discussion of teachers capitalizing on the the "micro-blogging" that students write via social media postings as pre-writing, encouraging students to start with that seed idea posted on Twitter or Facebook and expanding on it. I felt like this was a great way to create an idea bank for students for all genres of writing. It's as if using social media is a way to trick kids into writing. When teachers become cognizant of the value of students' interactions on social media, it could so totally be used to their advantage.
An overwhelming majority of teachers ranked writing effectively and judging the quality of information among the most essential skills that students need for the future. These teachers also feel that the inclusion of formal writing assignments is necessary to offset all the informal writing that happens outside of school (texting, social media) and that they must "master all styles of writing in order to be successful across social domains and to communicate with different audiences" (p. 21). However, when you look at the data regarding how much and what type of writing they assign in their classrooms, it doesn't appear that they place an emphasis on writing to learn in their own classrooms (and this mostly applies to teachers of content areas other than English, more so science and math than social studies). I feel like this is hypocritical. "Yes, yes, writing is SO IMPORTANT, but they ain't doin' none of that in my class." My fifth and sixth grade campus is really trying to push for writing in all content areas (including electives) but we still need math and music on board. Baby steps, I guess.
This report is filled with quotes from the teacher participants and I really enjoyed reading these. One quote in particular made me say aloud, "Ohmigod, that's so good" and made my husband stop what he was doing and look at me funny before asking what. Some genius teacher said:
"Inability to write formal texts potentially robs students of voice and power." (p. 22)
Immediately I jotted this gospel down and made a personal note to put this on a giant poster to hang in my classroom. What a powerful statement and true, so true! I don't think we as teachers (and students certainly don't or they'd be begging to learn how to write better) realize the truth in those words. It doesn't occur to us. I'm so glad it occurred to the teacher that said it. Another astute teacher posited that all the many skills involved in research and writing "help students become more critical citizens, more discerning consumers, and better problem-solvers" (p. 22). I am forever encouraging my students to problem solve BECAUSE. THEY. CAN'T. And won't for that matter. "I don't have a pencil!" "Problem solve." "My part of the project is sitting on my kitchen table." "Problem solve." Most of the time they figure it out. Sometimes a classmate has to help them, but unless they are just completely helpless (::eye roll::) they can manage, some even holding up their solution and exclaiming, "Look! I problem solved!"The teachers did acknowledge that digital writing tools provide many benefits for students. These range from allowing students to share their work with a "wider and more varied audience", greater opportunities to express creativity and collaborate with peers and the ability to do so outside the classroom. Something that was alluded to in the report and something that I have witnessed in my own classroom using PEG Writing is that students tend to be more conscientious about the work they produce knowing their classmates will have the ability to view and provide feedback on their writing. You should have seen the excitement when I enabled "peer review" for the first time on PEG Writing. They were so excited to read one another's work and make suggestions. I suppose the novelty of doing it online made it better than trading their handwritten essays with a partner.
Negative aspects of using digital writing tools include the distractability factors involved with technology and that students are more likely to take shortcuts by copying and pasting (thereby committing plagiarism) and put little effort into their writing. I can see both sides of this issue. Depending on the student, technology can be either distracting or engaging. I've offered a laptop to some students to compose on and they've written more than they ever have before, others just sit and play with the cursor. I think it's all about knowing your students and giving them the tools they need to be successful. In regards to plagiarism, I agree with what many teachers stated in the report: explicit instruction about plagiarism and citing sources needs to happen. But this instruction needs to be delivered through meaningful activities that engage the student, not just a lecture of "do this, do that." One teacher asserts that he/she beats plagiarism by designing assignments or projects that make is difficult to plagiarize (p. 44). I think that's the key right there. If your students are working at the most rigorous levels of higher-order thinking skills, plagiarism won't be an option. There's no room for copy-and-paste when you are CREATING FROM SCRATCH.
A section of the report disclosed information about the ages of the teachers who were members of the sample as well as the electronic devices they possess and use both personally and in the classroom. I was surprised to see that many senior-aged teachers (55+) use a wide variety of devices. It has been my experience (at least in my district anyways) that the older teachers are not as comfortable with or willing to learn to use technology. So this is encouraging. Perhaps because technology has become so ingrained in essentially every aspect of our lives that they've decided to stop fighting it and become one with the tech.
Something else curious about age and digital writing tools use is, according to the report's data, the middle school students are using the tools more than the high school students are. I have to wonder if this has something to do with high stakes testing and the focus of prepping those younger students for the tests they'll take in high school. Another reason could be an engagement factor. Middle school kids are typically hormonal messes and maybe sticking a keyboard in their hands is the only way to get them to be productive when it comes to writing.
Another concern with writing instruction concerns digital literacy. We expect students to come to us knowing all about how to use computers (surely they know at least as much as us, right?) but the reality is, the differences in technology experience vary greatly. This, of course, directly correlates to the access students have to technology. Those who haven't grown up with technology in their hands from a very young age are at a disadvantage. They'll have to be taught explicitly how to navigate the features of writing programs because it's very possible that their only experience with technology has been limited to what they've done at school. This school year I had a set of super-smart, exceedingly creative twin girls who DID NOT KNOW HOW TO COPY AND PASTE. I was floored, but I taught them how and they finished their infographics, but not as well as some of the other more tech-savvy kids. My opinion is, if the nation truly wants its schools to produce 21st century learners, they better make sure ALL students have access. Some of the teachers in the report stated their rural locations didn't get internet. How is that a thing in this day and age?
Another access issue referred to in the report was that of district policies regarding prohibiting the possession and/or use of cell phones at school and the web filtering of social media or other sites that can be used free-of-charge (like Google Docs) to support writing instruction via digital tools. This last school year, my district rolled out Bring Your Own Device to the junior high and high schools. According to the superintendent, this was a successful endeavor and it may even trickle down to the intermediate level. I look forward to allowing students to use their devices for learning in my classroom, but I know some of my co-workers feel the complete opposite (insisting that it's just asking for trouble). My district has not yet opened the web filters to social media use for students (or teachers for that matter, in fact, if someone posts on Facebook during school, people get all crazy). I think they are afraid of giving them too much of a voice, but I don't think they realize how much of a benefit this could be for student writing.
Armed with the knowledge I've gained in this report, I feel I can start a conversation with administration about making these sorts of changes. Included at the end of the report was the survey the researchers used in the focus group with the students. I really liked the questions they asked and felt the information collected from the students would be useful in assessing the frame of mind about writing the sixth grade students at my campus possess. My plan is to modify their survey and have students take it at the beginning of the school year to collect data to improve the methods we use for teaching writing.
References:
Purcell, K. (2013). The impact of digital tools on student writing and how writing is taught in schools (Research Report). Retrieved from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project website: http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_NWP%20Writing%20and%20Tech.pdf
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