Monday, November 10, 2014

Professional Journal Entry #12 - School Library Monthly


1.      RESOURCE  - School Library Monthly  - www.schoollibrarymonthly.com/index.html

2.      SUMMARY

Assessing Learning – The Missing Piece of Instruction
This article focused on not simply focusing on what Library Media Specialists are teaching, but what the students are learning.  It focused on using authentic assessments to gauge student learning, starting out small and working with one teacher and one unit. 
 
Edmodo – A Great Tool for School Librarians
This article detailed how school librarians can use Edmodo as a teaching tool with students or as a professional development tool for themselves.  It highlighted the ways in which teachers and school librarians can use Edmodo from creating class groups to positive and up to date communication with parents. 

3.      RESOURCE RESPONSE

Both articles were helpful for different reasons.  Assessment was helpful because it can be applied to all lessons and opportunities for learning.  It is how we as teachers can guide future lessons as well.  Edmodo was helpful because student engagement and collaboration is crucial in schools.  It also offers PD opportunities.  School Library Monthly is a helpful resource for many reasons.  I loved that it was clean and easy to navigate.  There weren’t multiple links/modules/widgets scattered across the page.  Look to the left to navigate. Simple.  The articles and sections were easy to locate.  I could see myself using this in the future on a regular basis for skimming topic of interest and going in depth for those that applied or piqued my curiosity.  It also contains connections to the classroom which is also a need. 

4.      CONTENT RESPONSE

Assessing Learning – The Missing Piece of Instruction
I believe that I could use this in my current position as LRC/Computer Lab teacher as well as when I become a certified school librarian.  Authentic assessments are key for understanding student learning and often the key for administrators and board members to see validity in programs if we can show students are learning. I would definitely have more questions once I understood the role of the school librarian in terms of skills needed to be taught and tools needing more research.  I am curious about digging deeper to find assessment examples.  The article provided resources for assessments. 

 
Edmodo – A Great Tool for School Librarians
This was a great article to read after exploring Edmodo in last week’s tech tool response.  I was more exposed to the professional development side of Edmodo.  I have many questions about Edmodo, but I feel that I need to take the time to really explore the tool to better understand what my questions might be.  I just don’t know enough about the tool to pull together specific questions.  I definitely feel this is a tool that I could use in my current classroom and the school library to engage and collaborate with students. Now I see that it can be used as a professional development tool also. 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Professional Journal Entry #11 - Social Networking



1.      LINK  www.edmodo.com
2.      LIKE
There are many aspects of Edmodo to like.  I like that it is free and secure. The teacher has control over posts, comments, and replies.  I like that it asked me to verify that I am a teacher, which adds to the security. I also like that it was created by teachers for teachers and students.
 
DISLIKE
I don’t know it well enough to say that there are many aspects that I do not like.  I was a little frustrated, at first, that I couldn’t find any FAQs or tutorials.  However, after some digging I found the “Support” link that has a great deal of resources for all members of the Edmodo community
 
3.      SUMMARY 
Edmodo is an online collaborative community where teachers can work with their students to Connect, Assess, Personalize and Engage (CAPE b/c teachers are superheroes).  At first, I signed up with Edmodo and had to send a school ID for verification. At first, I felt inconvenienced, but this inconvenience only reinforced the safety and security the site must have.  Then, I began to explore the site. I set up a classroom, but that is where I began to feel overwhelmed.  I found a YouTube video explaining the basic use.  Finally I found the “Support” link and immediately downloaded the teacher’s guide.  I definitely want to explore the “Support” section and its resources more deeply to better understand how I can use Edmodo.   I look forward to seeing how it all works, especially at an elementary school level. 
 
4.      FUTURE USE
I can definitely see using this tool with students in the future.  I would love to use the assess section to see how students can meet certain standards.  I love that I can plug in standards and it will automatically create a quiz with those standards built in.  It would be great to use for entrance and exit slips too.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, October 27, 2014

Professional Journal Entry 10 - Library Journal


  1. RESOURCE NAME  - Library Journal http://lj.libraryjournal.com


  1. SUMMARY

The Library of the Century – Design 4 Impact

Library 21c is the latest library addition to Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) with “centralized education and experimental hub”.  In short, it technology learning opportunities and production centers (“makers”) for patrons, young and old.
 

              Movers and Shakers 2014

Movers and Shakers 2014 are made up of 50 individuals recognized for their passion for libraries as not just a place to go, but “a place on the go”.  The 50 selected individuals from more than 225 nominations are broken up into the following categories:  Advocates, Change Agents, Community Builders, Innovators, Marketers, and Tech Leaders. 

 

  1. RESOURCE RESPONSE

Both articles that I read were helpful for different reasons.  The Library of the Century got me excited about possibilities for bring my school district’s library closer to a 21st century learning hub.  While Movers and Shakers helped me better understand the roles of all members that have a positive impact on libraries.  I could see me using this resource in the future.  I could schedule time for it to be a regular resource I reviewed in order to stay current with issues that are impacting the library.  I could also use it as a reference tool for particular subjects as needed, such as technology or specific library services (webcasts available too).

  1. CONTENT RESPONSE

The Library of the Century – Design 4 Impact

This article was incredibly exciting to me because it highlighted a library’s role and importance within the world of technology.  Libraries are not only a place to check out a book or conduct your standard research project.  Libraries can literally be a hub for technology and creation.  As a school librarian, this article would be helpful to better my understanding about how school libraries could step up their focus on technology.  I could also refer to it to understand how a project like this may be funded.  I do still have questions that I would want to research further.  What tech updates are realistic in my school district libraries?  What funding is available currently?  Which grants or funding opportunities could we pursue?  Even starting out small, where can our district look to make upgrades?

 

Movers and Shakers 2014

Movers and Shakers is an annual program with new movers and shakers nominated and selected each year.  This article reinforced what I already knew, but hadn’t explored deeply – there are so many crucial members of the library community.  I learned about specific individuals, such as Tom Blake, head of Boston Public Library’s (BPL) Digital Services Department.  Rather than just focus on cataloging and digitizing, he had a bigger vision. He worked with BPL to preserve their historical documents, their culture, and their history.  He made it more than technology.  I could use this as a school librarian to better understand how people can positively impact the library.  I would want to do more research with this by exploring all of the categories and profiles.  These Movers and Shakers are inspirations and proof that one person can make a difference.  A question I would have, aside from reading more about the Movers and Shakers, is what could I do to be nominated? What makes me stand out?    

Monday, October 20, 2014

Professional Journal Entry #9 - KidBlog (Symbaloo Alternative)


 

  1. LINK www.kidblog.org  KidBlog

 

  1. LIKE  There are many aspects I like about KidBlog.  It’s safe and secure.  It does not require any personal information from the students.  Teachers have administrative all student blogs and accounts, and must approve a blog before it is posted.  There are no ads.  Parents can also access their student blog.  Students can access KidBlog anywhere that they have a device with Internet access.  Also, it’s free (for a class of 50 students).

 

DISLIKE – It’s hard to really see what KidBlog is actually like just by checking out the site.  There are many testimonials, but not tutorials that I could find.  I had to find tutorials on YouTube. 

 

3.       SUMMARY – As noted above, it was challenging to see how KidBlog functioned on the site.  I did dig up some tutorials on YouTube.  I tracked down a Support Page that offered some FAQs in the form of a blog.  There is a great deal I’d like to take time to explore with on KidBlog.  I’d like to set up one or two classes with KidBlog and pilot its use.  I won’t do any more at first because after 50 students, I would have to pay.  My likes outline the aspects of KidBlog that impressed me. It’s so safe and the teacher has so much control. 

 

  1. FUTURE USE As mentioned, I definitely could see using this with students and I plan to in the next couple of months. Since I work as the LRC/computer lab teacher, I believe I will start using it with students to either – share favorite books or with a digital citizenship project.    I will have to plan carefully since my student data base can’t exceed 50 students and I work with nearly 500. 

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Professional Journal Entry 8 - Booklist


Booklist Interview with John Green
(found on The Booklist Reader page under Some of Our Favorite Vids)
 
1.       RESOURCE  Booklist Online www.booklistonline.com and The Booklist Reader www.thebooklistreader.com

2.       SUMMARY   Booklist Online contains a myriad of information about books for the average book reader, book club member, book club leader, parent and more. I started on the home page and began to click on articles that interested me.  I read the glowing “Review of the Day” about Richard Ford’s Let Me Be Frank with you.  I hopped over to WEB exclusives and “Celebrate Banned Books Week with Graphic Novels”.  This article provided librarians information for approaching banned books via graphic novels and including all readers in the program, from parents to children, teachers to librarians.  Finally, I clicked on The Booklist Reader advertised as “Your new favorite bookmark.”  This had a great deal of information broken up clearly into different categories and also had a comprehensive list of tags for linking to additional information such as “book group tips” or “Gr. 2 – 4”, 

3.       RESPONSE TO RESOURCE  Honestly, I was overwhelmed when I first when to Booklist Online.  I was worried that I would not be able to access most of the information because I was not a subscriber.  Fortunately, after clicking around, I did find that I could access a great deal of the information. I did not like the front page.  It was overflowing with information and unclear categorizing/organization, the text was tight and though some subheadings were bolded, the font was small and sometimes difficult to read (i.e., small, bold, white text articles under “Web Exclusives”.  I did like when I clicked on The Booklist Reader.  Ahh. . . .it made sense, it was easy to see the organization and navigate.  The category Book Group Buzz even prompted me to sign into Good Reads, which I haven’t done in eons, and add a book to my “to read” shelf.  I was relieved to see the tags where I could finally see how I could search books by grade level. I definitely see myself using The Booklist Reader again in the future.  It may one day become a regular visit, but for now I see visiting it on occasion when I am looking for recommended book club pics or student pics. 

4.       RESPONSE TO CONTENT From this source, I learned that there is a lot of information out there about books, book pics, book recs and more.  As a librarian, I might use this information to build my library collection or as a source for creating lessons or projects such as the banned books program explained above.  I have many questions about Book List and Book List Reader, but it is really a matter of understanding what more it has to offer and how I can best use its tools and resources.  That will come with more time and more research. Therefore, I do plan to come back to it and explore it more. 

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Professional Journal #7 - (Google Drive) Socrative


1.  RESOURCE  Socrative – www.socrative.com

2.  LIKED – There was so much I liked about this tool that I immediately started working with it as I learned about it.  I like that it is interactive and provides the teacher live feedback, allowing the teacher to see student responses in real time.  It allows teachers to get a quick picture of student learning and engagement during or after a lesson (multiple choice quiz or exit slip) or a more in-depth assessment (in-depth quiz with short answers).  Teacher control (anonymous, immediate student feedback, etc.) is a key component of the tool.  The reports after assessment are informative and allows for quick and easy data recording.

DISLIKED – I am still getting to know Socrative, but found it confusing that there were no FAQs or tutorials after the teacher log-in page/dashboard.  The only way I found to get more information was to go back out and into the original home page at socrative.com.  It would make sense to me if there were links to guides, tutorials or FAQs on the bottom of the log-in page.  Perhaps they want the teacher page to be dedicated to assessment only. If so, mission accomplished. 

3.  SUMMARY  There were quite a few things I was unable to figure out on my own because of the dislike noted above.  However, once I found the tutorials and videos, I found them incredibly helpful.  I was able to create an account.  I also created an assessment tied to my student growth goal which I plan to give to students in just a few weeks.  I also tried the student side of things and logged in as a student on our home computer while monitoring student activity on my laptop.  I am incredibly impressed by the ease of pulling together the assessment, tracking student engagement and the reporting.  I am excited about the simplicity of student log in and participation.  I really want to get into Google forms and Google docs, but the fact that my students don’t have emails at an elementary level really makes that a challenge.  I don’t have to worry with Socrative.  There is a great deal I still want to explore and will likely start with checking out the user guide in detail.  I already emailed my 2 principals and the curriculum director about it and can’t wait to share Socrative with staff.

4.  FUTURE USE – As mentioned, I plan to use Socrative with my students both before and after (possibly during) a cyberbullying unit that I teach in the LRC.  As far as managing and promoting the library, I see many possibilities.  Socrative could be used as pre and post assessments of library skills. It can be used to survey student interest to build the library inventory and understand which authors, genres or specific books students are interested in reading.  Socrative can also be used to survey teachers and understand what they need in terms of resources and collaboration.  I can’t wait to start using Socrative. 
 

Monday, September 29, 2014

Professional Journal Entry #6 - The Horn Book


RESOURCE  The Horn Book   http://www.hbook.com/horn-book-magazine-2/#_

SUMMARY

Recommended Books – This section title speaks for itself.  It is a section that supports The Horn’s editorial mission of promoting good books for adults and children.  The annotated list provides the basic book information, including reading level and pricing along with a summary.

RESPONSE TO RESOURCE

LIKED - This section could definitely be helpful for teachers and librarians to keep current with quality titles.  I liked that the list included a variety of genres and topics, from YA to books that support Shark Week.  The tags (i.e. boys reading, biographies) helped narrow the search and connect to similar books/topics.

DISLIKED – This isn’t necessarily a dislike, but the list was lengthy.  Perhaps a top 10 of the year would be helpful.  Or maybe there is a top 10 and I haven’t found it yet. 

FUTURE USE – Absolutely!  Whether it’s using the list as a reference to stay current, or to search specific topics or genres, I could definitely see using this in the future on an as needed or on occasion basis.   

 

RESPONSE TO CONTENT

LEARNED- This is a great reference list for recommended children’s titles.  Much like Amazon’s tracking, I can click on the tagged subject and find similar recommended titles (i.e. Back to School).

USE AS A SCHOOL LIBRARIAN – I could definitely see using this when I wanted to add to my library, whether it is looking at freshening up the collection or building up a certain area such as boys reading (mentioned above). 

QUESTIONS – So many book lists!  Which ones are the best?  Why these picks?  I definitely would like to explore this resource further to understand how the recommended list is pulled together as well as build a better understanding of children’s book lists (i.e., Caudill).