Throughout the LIBS 602 course I have come across many blogs posts, tweets, and pins about school librarians. I currently follow several different school librarian Pinterest boards and have found countless resources available to me as I learn and explore the tools used in this class. The day I stumbled across Adventures of Library Girl I was in heaven! I loved this blog and it gave me great ideas not only for the assignments I was working on, but ideas for my upcoming school year and future as a Library Media Specialist.
Since I am already familiar with and follow Adventures of Library Girl, I explored the other blogs and really enjoyed The Unquiet Librarian. Not only was the layout calm and easy for me to follow, but I also found the content be high quality and relevant to me as I progress through the Library Media Specialist endorsement program. The first post I came across was about makerspaces, which was perfect because it was fresh in my mind from our campus visit to ODU. I love the idea of makerspaces in school libraries and the Skype session with Mae Craddock really motivated me to learn more about how to incorporate this idea into an elementary school library.
The most recent post from The Unquiet Librarian titled, "Growing Learning Communities Through School Libraries and Makerspaces - Creating, Constructing, Collaborating, Contributing" really helped break down what makerspaces are through a slideshow that included definitions, purposes, examples, website resources, and images showing students using the makerspace in her library. It was a perfect combination of concrete information that helped drive home the importance and benefit of having makerspaces available to students and teachers in the school. Further exploration into this blog showed me other great resources, such as using Vine videos to show an explanatory conversation, students at work, or a demonstration.
I look forward to following more of The Unquiet Librarian and incorporating these ideas into my future library!
Sources
Adventures of Library Girl. (2014). Blog. Retrieved July 26, 2014, from http://www.librarygirl.net/.
The Unquiet Librarian. (2014). Blog. Retrieved July 26, 2014, from http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
AASL Best Websites for Educators
The American Association of School Librarians has a great resource titled, "The Best Websites for Teaching and Learning 2014." This list includes websites for media sharing, digital storytelling, file management/organization/sharing, social networking, content related sites, and curriculum collaboration sites. Each site includes a brief description, target age level, and a tip for its usage. Though I found that most of the target ages were for upper grades and less were targeted for K-12, I explored many of the sites and found that they an be adapted to any grade/age level. Of the list my three favorite were Alchemy Learning, Vocabulary.com, and Canva.
Alchemy Learning:
This website is a great tool for creating digital lessons. I love the idea of taking what you've taught in class and creating a digital version. This can be helpful for students who are absent for one day as well as those students who are absent longer for whatever reason.
Alchemy Learning can serve as a great tool for assistance with homework. Teachers can create short video clips with tips, tricks, and reminders for the homework; especially if the homework is based on a new skill taught that day. As a fourth grade teacher I see this as a great resource for math homework... fourth grade math is a struggle!
Aside from homework assistance tutorials, Alchemy Learning can be used to create a unit review in content for an upcoming test, and the video can be linked to the class website or email out to parents. It can also help with project assignments. I often find that I have to repeat directions for projects to both parents and students, and I also often have to show examples and sometimes do a small demonstration (trifolds, etc.). Alchemy Learning would be a great place to post instructions for projects and include examples from past projects as well as any other necessary tutorials. As with the test review, this can be posted on a class website to be readily available to students and families throughout the project time frame.
Visit the Alchemy Learning website here.
Vocabulary.com:
Vocabulary skills were a statewide area of need in fourth grade this past year based on previous SOL data. As a TAG teacher I am given some resources for vocabulary instruction, but the Vocabulary.com website can take vocabulary instruction to a whole new level.
In exploring this website I found that it can be completely adapted to any unit you are teaching. There are preset word lists available, but my favorite feature was the ability to create my own word lists. Vocabulary.com can incorporate cross-curricular learning by giving teachers the ability to create word lists from math vocabulary, content vocabulary, and even vocabulary from novel studies.
This site provides students review questions, sentence examples, and also allows students to track their mastery of words with badges. The "Leaderboard" tracks student progress and makes it a fun, challenging game-like activity while they are learning. Students can use this site in the classroom as a station rotation during any of of their subjects, or it can be assigned as a homework component as well.
Visit the Vocabulary.com website here.
Canva:
Canva is a great website for the creative side of learning. I try to create an environment of project based learning for assessments and this website is a great resource for students. Many of my projects are presented in a menu format where students choose up to three to create. Often they include items such as brochures, flyers, game boards, posters, and trading cards.
Over the years I have noticed a shift in the project mediums from handmade items toward digitally created products. Canva can provide students with the means to create their digital product with ease. Canva can help eliminate the stress of too many options by providing stock backgrounds, images, and fonts; however students can also upload their own images as well if they like. A great aspect of Canva is that it includes helpful how-to video clips (they helped me!) as well as design tutorials. This can help parents working with their child as they learn how to navigate through the site.
Though Canva says it is for grades 6-12, I can easily see my students working on this at the elementary level. Teachers can do an in-class tutorial, or team up with their Library Media Specialist and ITC to demonstrate for students. Great for at home projects, Canva can also be used in the classroom for a long range project (similar to the service learning projects) or for a fun school-wide activity, such as "Design a poster to promote your school library's upcoming Scholastic Bookfair."
See the Canva website here.
Sources
Alchemy Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2014, from http://www.alchemylearning.com/.
Canva. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2014, from https://www.canva.com/.
Vocabulary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2014, from http://www.vocabulary.com/.
Alchemy Learning:
This website is a great tool for creating digital lessons. I love the idea of taking what you've taught in class and creating a digital version. This can be helpful for students who are absent for one day as well as those students who are absent longer for whatever reason.
Alchemy Learning can serve as a great tool for assistance with homework. Teachers can create short video clips with tips, tricks, and reminders for the homework; especially if the homework is based on a new skill taught that day. As a fourth grade teacher I see this as a great resource for math homework... fourth grade math is a struggle!
Aside from homework assistance tutorials, Alchemy Learning can be used to create a unit review in content for an upcoming test, and the video can be linked to the class website or email out to parents. It can also help with project assignments. I often find that I have to repeat directions for projects to both parents and students, and I also often have to show examples and sometimes do a small demonstration (trifolds, etc.). Alchemy Learning would be a great place to post instructions for projects and include examples from past projects as well as any other necessary tutorials. As with the test review, this can be posted on a class website to be readily available to students and families throughout the project time frame.
Visit the Alchemy Learning website here.
Vocabulary.com:
Vocabulary skills were a statewide area of need in fourth grade this past year based on previous SOL data. As a TAG teacher I am given some resources for vocabulary instruction, but the Vocabulary.com website can take vocabulary instruction to a whole new level.
In exploring this website I found that it can be completely adapted to any unit you are teaching. There are preset word lists available, but my favorite feature was the ability to create my own word lists. Vocabulary.com can incorporate cross-curricular learning by giving teachers the ability to create word lists from math vocabulary, content vocabulary, and even vocabulary from novel studies.
This site provides students review questions, sentence examples, and also allows students to track their mastery of words with badges. The "Leaderboard" tracks student progress and makes it a fun, challenging game-like activity while they are learning. Students can use this site in the classroom as a station rotation during any of of their subjects, or it can be assigned as a homework component as well.
Visit the Vocabulary.com website here.
Canva:
Canva is a great website for the creative side of learning. I try to create an environment of project based learning for assessments and this website is a great resource for students. Many of my projects are presented in a menu format where students choose up to three to create. Often they include items such as brochures, flyers, game boards, posters, and trading cards.
Over the years I have noticed a shift in the project mediums from handmade items toward digitally created products. Canva can provide students with the means to create their digital product with ease. Canva can help eliminate the stress of too many options by providing stock backgrounds, images, and fonts; however students can also upload their own images as well if they like. A great aspect of Canva is that it includes helpful how-to video clips (they helped me!) as well as design tutorials. This can help parents working with their child as they learn how to navigate through the site.
Though Canva says it is for grades 6-12, I can easily see my students working on this at the elementary level. Teachers can do an in-class tutorial, or team up with their Library Media Specialist and ITC to demonstrate for students. Great for at home projects, Canva can also be used in the classroom for a long range project (similar to the service learning projects) or for a fun school-wide activity, such as "Design a poster to promote your school library's upcoming Scholastic Bookfair."
See the Canva website here.
Sources
Alchemy Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2014, from http://www.alchemylearning.com/.
Canva. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2014, from https://www.canva.com/.
Vocabulary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2014, from http://www.vocabulary.com/.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Layered Reality
Here are two my two QR Code Creations:
Shelver Game QR Code Voice QR Code
Having been familiar with link based QR codes, I chose to also create a voice QR using QR Voice (http://qrvoice.net/). On a positive note, this site was very easy to use. I assumed that I would have to record my voice, however all I had to do was type in the sentence that I wanted read aloud. It was quick and simple, and when I finished typing my sentence I clicked the QR code icon and my QR appeared below. On a negative note, this site lacked many features. There was a character limit in the text box, and so it took several attempts to come up with something meaningful that fit. The site did not offer any options to choose a different color or add a logo, nor was there any way to download or save the QR code. I was provided with a link to access the code in the future, but I ended up having to take a screen shot of the image and save it as a PNG file for future use. For this voice QR code I chose to record a reminder for students to return books while at the self-checkout station.
Augmented reality was an entirely new concept to me. In an effort to better acquaint myself with this exciting new tool, I viewed the Aurasma TED Talks (2012) video that demonstrated how to create and use the Aurasma (http://www.aurasma.com/) app. I also visited several websites and blogs that demonstrated finished products and offered suggested uses for augmented reality in both the classroom and school library. I really like the idea of taking a still image and having the capability to make it come to life. It can take visualization and your imagination to a whole new level, especially when applying Aurasma to fiction books.
QR codes can serve as an interactive means to deliver information, such as providing directions to students (as in the voice QR code I created) or a link to the library website. Library bulletin boards can feature QR codes that show information about the bulletin board content, such as display on Read Across America or the Scholastic Book Fair. Students can use voice QR codes in their library media lessons by recording their voice with a review of a book they have read or narrating a digital storytelling project. Augmented reality can assist students with biography research projects by having a biography show a video clip with information on that famous person. It can also highlight an author to showcase an interview with the authors of a book or series. Augmented reality can also serve as an interactive genre scavenger hunt with students as they find clues throughout the library. Incorporating layered reality into the school library can provide a technological boost to attract students, teachers, and families.
Mills, M. (2012, June). Matt Mills: Image recognition that triggers augmented reality. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_mills_image_recognition_that_triggers_augmented_reality.
QR Code Monkey. Digital image. http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/. QR Code Monkey, n.d. Web. <http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/>.
QR Voice. Digital image. http://qrvoice.net/?id=1kaBROQ. QR Voice, n.d. Web. <http://qrvoice.net/?id=1kaBROQ>.
Reynolds, G. (2014). Presentation zen design: A simple visual approach to presenting in today's world. 2nd ed. New Riders/Pearson.
Shelver. (2013). Shelver. [Flash game]. Retrieved from http://www.mrs-lodges-library.com/play-shelver.
Shelver Game QR Code Voice QR Code
I have worked with QR codes in the past as part of a musical for my current elementary school, so I am familiar with their uses and purposes. With that being said, I have only worked with QR codes that served as links to informational websites (our school musical website), not multimedia tools. I visited QR Code Monkey (http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/) to create my first layered reality tool. This site was incredibly user friendly and provided many options for creating the QR code. To create the code I was able to simply copy and paste the website link into the box. I had the option to choose a color, create an effect on the QR code icon, or add a logo to the front of the QR code. QR Code Monkey allows its users to save their QR codes as PNG images; a format that supports “lossless compression” (Reynolds 2013) and features a transparency effect that is ideal for websites. I chose to link my QR code to a library game called “Shelver” (2013) where students are able to virtually sort books on a shelf by their fiction call numbers or by Dewey Decimal. I thought that this game was not only a fun game for students to play, but also content relevant as it reinforces the ABC order skill.
Having been familiar with link based QR codes, I chose to also create a voice QR using QR Voice (http://qrvoice.net/). On a positive note, this site was very easy to use. I assumed that I would have to record my voice, however all I had to do was type in the sentence that I wanted read aloud. It was quick and simple, and when I finished typing my sentence I clicked the QR code icon and my QR appeared below. On a negative note, this site lacked many features. There was a character limit in the text box, and so it took several attempts to come up with something meaningful that fit. The site did not offer any options to choose a different color or add a logo, nor was there any way to download or save the QR code. I was provided with a link to access the code in the future, but I ended up having to take a screen shot of the image and save it as a PNG file for future use. For this voice QR code I chose to record a reminder for students to return books while at the self-checkout station.
Augmented reality was an entirely new concept to me. In an effort to better acquaint myself with this exciting new tool, I viewed the Aurasma TED Talks (2012) video that demonstrated how to create and use the Aurasma (http://www.aurasma.com/) app. I also visited several websites and blogs that demonstrated finished products and offered suggested uses for augmented reality in both the classroom and school library. I really like the idea of taking a still image and having the capability to make it come to life. It can take visualization and your imagination to a whole new level, especially when applying Aurasma to fiction books.
QR codes can serve as an interactive means to deliver information, such as providing directions to students (as in the voice QR code I created) or a link to the library website. Library bulletin boards can feature QR codes that show information about the bulletin board content, such as display on Read Across America or the Scholastic Book Fair. Students can use voice QR codes in their library media lessons by recording their voice with a review of a book they have read or narrating a digital storytelling project. Augmented reality can assist students with biography research projects by having a biography show a video clip with information on that famous person. It can also highlight an author to showcase an interview with the authors of a book or series. Augmented reality can also serve as an interactive genre scavenger hunt with students as they find clues throughout the library. Incorporating layered reality into the school library can provide a technological boost to attract students, teachers, and families.
Sources
Aurasma. (2014). Aurasma Systems Limited. [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://www.aurasma.com/.
Aurasma. (2014). Aurasma Systems Limited. [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://www.aurasma.com/.
Mills, M. (2012, June). Matt Mills: Image recognition that triggers augmented reality. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_mills_image_recognition_that_triggers_augmented_reality.
QR Code Monkey. Digital image. http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/. QR Code Monkey, n.d. Web. <http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/>.
QR Voice. Digital image. http://qrvoice.net/?id=1kaBROQ. QR Voice, n.d. Web. <http://qrvoice.net/?id=1kaBROQ>.
Reynolds, G. (2014). Presentation zen design: A simple visual approach to presenting in today's world. 2nd ed. New Riders/Pearson.
Shelver. (2013). Shelver. [Flash game]. Retrieved from http://www.mrs-lodges-library.com/play-shelver.
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