Gail Borden Public Library System- Main Library in Elgin, Illinois

https://www.gailborden.info/about-the-library/main-library

Udell, E. (2021). A disproportionate pandemic: Library patrons with disabilities face compounded challenges. American Libraries, 52(3/4), 26–29.

http://proxy.lib.odu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=149005477&scope=site

I was drawn to the Gail Borden Library after reading the article about an 18 year old autistic man who visited the library three days a week. Two of those days were spent dusting, alphabetizing DVDs, and performing other jobs. The third day was spent with his family to check out books and play games.  He was used to a very strict schedule. Once the pandemic hit  and closed the library, his world was turned upside down. 

The website is very thorough and has lots of information for patrons.  There are several ways to contact the library such as by telephone, email, text, or mail.  They offer a drive up window for those who are not yet ready to return to in person visits. They offer a 24/7 elibrary, online databases, and a wide variety of eBooks and eAudiobooks. You can get database and research assistance as well. They have many online “extras”  like a place to go and share memories of the area, Freegal Music and Hoopla Digital Media, movies, and an option to rent a Roku Digital Media Player. They offer several community activities, both in person and online.  Some of those include the “Terrific Twos”, Spanish Cafe, a piano performance, STEAM workshop for kids,  and a poetry writers workshop.  You should go check out the inviting interior of the library by taking the virtual tour on their website!

https://sites.wp.odu.edu/amull032/wp-content/uploads/sites/24944/2021/10/Library-Visit-2.pptx

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16jnzlqPSw2muDxM9lQVMixh8Giyf2dnEle1V0rlTOnQ/edit?usp=sharing

After watching the videos and reading the articles in our lesson this week, I decided I was pretty interested in the 3D printing. Our school has a 3D printer and has printed some pretty cool things on it. We have a student, teacher, and support staff of the month, and the trophy they keep for the month was printed on a 3D printer. I spent my time exploring Tinkercad. I thought the tutorial was very beneficial. It took me step by step through the process of creating an object. I attempted to create a bear, but it didn’t turn out too well. It would definitely be something I would have to spend an abundance of time on to get the hang of it. After reading Jennifer Snelling’s article in the School Library Journal, it made me realize that I don’t have to be great at the printing and coding. I just need to understand the concept. Chris Stephenson, Google’s head of computer science education, says, “We think of coding not as a skill but as a literacy. We don’t teach reading because we believe everyone will write War and Peace,” she says. “And we don’t teach computer science with the belief that everyone will be a computer scientist. We teach it because it is increasingly a skill we need to operate in and understand the world around us.” (Snelling, 2018)

In “Computer Coding and Literacy: Librarians Leading the Connection” Mary Moan discusses how most people believe that libraries are a place for books and magazines and don’t need to be involved in computer sciences, but in fact, “…proponents see that computer coding helps develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and these are at the core of our professional mission: to help people understand how to solve problems using information effectively, which are skills that support people as lifelong learners.” (Moan, 2016) Librarians should certainly work to have our kids find a love for reading and books, but they should also be open to exposing kids to all things technological. If kids don’t stay up to date on all of the tools they have to use, they will be left behind.

Snelling, J. (2018, April 3). Don’t stress about coding: Focus shifts to teaching problem solving not computer skills. School Library Journal. Retrieved, July 24, 2021 from https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=dont-stress-coding-focus-shifts-teaching-problem-solving-not-computer-skill

Moen, M. (2016, September 30). Computer coding and literacy: Librarians lead the connection. International Literacy Association. Retrieved July 24, 2021 from https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-now/2016/09/30/computer-coding-and-literacy-librarians-lead-the-connection

For my virtual field trip, I chose to explore “Making Sounds.” As I have said before, I am a lover of all things musical. Although I play piano and played several instruments in the band, I did learn some technical info while on my field trip. It just deepened my appreciation for instruments and the people who were smart enough to come up with the concepts. I was given lots of facts on a wide variety of instruments, and I didn’t have to go to multiple sites to find them.

For my QR code, I decided to link Act 1 of The Crucible. That is one of the novels we read in the 11th grade. My kids usually prefer that I read aloud to them, (yes, even 11th graders want their teachers to read to them) but reading a play is a whole different story- no pun intended. I have some groups who enjoy acting it out, and I have other groups that make it the most painful experience possible. Sometimes I have them listen independently and work at their own pace, to an extent. I always listen to several recordings to find the most interesting one. A QR code would be useful because I could post the code in Google Classroom, and they could scan it with their phones when they started their assignments. This would ensure they are all listening to the same recording.

The first tool I tried was Prezi. I found it a little hard to figure out at first, but then it got a little easier. I liked that you could video. That would be something I could probably incorporate during a virtual learning activity. Next, I tried Haiku Deck. There were a lot of images I could access, and I liked that I could type in what I wanted and get a list of images. You are only allowed three decks, and they seemed to really want my credit card info. It did seem to be easy enough to navigate, but it wasn’t my favorite. Emaze offered a lot of options of things to create. It can be used in the classroom, but I think I would rather use if for personal use. You can create photo albums and make ecards. I didn’t really feel like it would be as useful in school. My last and favorite was Genially. It asked for my role and age group that I teach. It had options like presentations, infographics, video presentations, and interactive images. There were a ton of presentation templates, so you can go basic or psychedelic. There was a template for everyone. Here is my summer presentation…

Citations for pics:

Mullis, A. (2021). Squad. [photograph]. CC0

Mullis, A. (2021). Squad on the beach. [photograph]. CC0

One of the video programs I explored is Kapwing. I thought it was a good program, although I found it a little more difficult to use than some of the others. It had a lot of options, and I think if I had unlimited time, I could have done some impressive things. I thought I could find something a little more user friendly. I also played around with Loom. I think the kids would like to use it because they seem to love seeing themselves on camera. However, I do not. I knew I wasn’t planning to use my face on my video (except in a picture or two.)

I decided to go with Animoto. When deciding what to do my video about, I decided I might as well use all the pics and experiences I had in my two weeks traveling across the country. Animoto was very simple to use and had lots of options for layouts and music. I decided to just use music that was free and not pay to upgrade.

I wouldn’t necessarily use this video in my class, but I think it would be cool to have my yearbook kids use pics they have taken at assemblies, games, etc and make them into a video we could show on the televisions throughout our school. The student body would enjoy seeing the pics, and it would be something different than just presenting them in a slideshow formation.

I have never been much on listening to podcasts. There is no particular reason why, I just haven’t. I did some exploring this week, and I found my favorite in the Librarian Podcasts- Book Riot. I thought I needed some laughs, and it seemed like it might be the place to go. In the top 13 must hear list, the Drunk Librarians Podcast jumped out at me. I am not a drinker, but I just didn’t know how I could go wrong with that choice. “Where the Crawdads Sing” was my favorite. That is one of my favorite books of all times, so I wanted to see what the drunk librarians had to say about it. There was a lot about the book and a lot about things only a drunk librarian would think about. They got sidetracked pretty often, but it was an entertaining description of the plot.

https://www.drunklibrarianspodcast.com/episodes

I did some exploring with all the audio tools. As a high school English teacher and yearbook adviser, I don’t think I would use most of these in my classroom. Of course, being the music nut that I am, I naturally gravitated toward Chrome Music Lab. I had a really hard time deciding whether to major in music or English, (every time I give an English SOL I kick myself for not choosing music) so I am just imagining I was teaching music now. I loved the Rhythm and Piano Roll the most. I have been playing piano since I was young, and I love the options it has for that. If I was teaching music, I would love the rhythm option to help kids “hear” the beat of the music. Voki was a really cool program. I am hoping to be a librarian in a high school, but I know I could end up in an elementary school. This would be really cool to use. The kids could choose a book they think they would like. After reading it and getting familiar with it, they could use Voki to make the characters come to life. I ended up choosing Vocaroo to use to embed because I think it could be used in any classroom. This would be a great program to use to record instructions for assignments, do notes, or send messages to the kids. This would be something different than just typing instructions for assignments in Google Classroom. I just did a short recording of instructions I would post for my English kids.

I followed the instructions to embed, but it said it couldn’t do so because of security reasons. I am going to post the site instead. https://vocaroo.com/13kIFK25bV3N