Staying current in an ever changing digital world can be difficult, but not impossible. We as educators and librarians should always try to keep up with new technology and ideas. After looking at AASL website and their Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning list and archives, I have found a few I really like.

The first App that I really like is Talking Points, a messenger app for teachers and parents to communicate with different languages. I really like how easy this app seems to make the translation to over 100 languages. I have tried using Google Translate in the past and sometimes it is not a good translation. I like the idea that I can send a text messenger and the app will translate it for the parent to the language they need. We have had several students from Russia, Ukraine, and many Central American countries as well come to our school over the last few years and I know this will continue. So this app can be a game changer in communication for teachers and librarians.

After browsing the AASL archive list, I ran across Quizlet. This site looks very cool. You can create quizzes, vocabulary review flashcards, diagrams, and many other features. There are over 500 millions different study sets you can search to find the right review topic or create your own set to review. I was able to search a few SOLs and found hundreds of options to choose from. You can have students play a live game and they are randomly put into teams, so no child can be left out. They have to work together to complete the quiz. I think this could be used by teachers and librarians alike to review for test prep and the like. I can’t wait to use this with my students.

When looking for blog to follow, I really liked The Daring Librarian. Gwyneth A. Jones – The Daring Librarian: is a middle school librarian who enjoys sharing her ideas and presentations with other librarians and educators in hopes of getting more students to read. She has received many accolades for her involvement in the library and technology world in education. Ms. Jones shares her ideas in a fun, engaging website that invites you in right away. Her blogs are realistic and address what we all as future librarians will be dealing with in the future. She has also presented at a lot of conferences and shares her presentations on her blog site. I will definitely continue to follow her as I go through this process.

The AASL website is a great resource for librarians old and new. It has many great resources for librarians to use and helps keep us all up to date. I will be looking at the AASL website throughout this process and beyond to make sure I am offering my students the newest information.

As I type this blog, my brain is dead. I played on https://code.org/learn also know as Hour of Code for over an hour. I tried out various grade 5 Science recommendations. The first one I tried was a Food Chain one built with Scratch through Brainpop and i just couldn’t get started. I tried several times to get the parts to work and got frustrated.

The next one I tried was Sea creatures by Code avengers. This one was easier for me to grasp. It had several small step codes to try and gradually built up. I was able to complete each step fairly easily.

Next was Solar System by Tynker. I couldn’t even get past the first step to figure out the next step, so I quit. As you can see, I get frustrated quickly and can see some students doing the same.

The last one I played around on was RoboGarden which uses Blocks. I went on as a teacher and I was able to complete four of the six lessons before I got completely stuck and gave up. I was enjoying it until I got to lesson five. This one had multiple steps and my brain could not figure it out.

After playing around a while, I then began reading some of the articles. I really liked the article Eli Sheldon’s thoughts in “Computational Thinking Across the Curriculum.” In this article Eli states that students “when faced with challenges that are difficult to categorize, students will have a rich toolkit to draw from that crosses traditional subject borders.” I agree with this statement because I feel if students begin coding at a young age, it would make their patience levels and problem solving skills much stronger. There are many students that love gaming and I feel if some of these students could create their own games, it would strengthen some of their problem solving skills as they get older therefore making them better problem solvers in life. The author also states that we need to “Introduce some ambiguity in your projects, link lessons to real-world examples and evidence, and dream big—over time, your students may surprise you with the connections they make and their confidence in diving into new challenges.” I know I am guilty of not letting the reigns go enough because I want them to get to my answer, but through lessening our directions, they will create bigger and better things.

As an educator, I have always struggled with the kids that want to play on the computer all the time, but after reading David Dodge’s article called “So Your Kid Wants to Design Video Games” I can see a benefit. He states “Designing games for others builds cognitive abilities and imagination. Game design teaches valuable skills that can be used in a variety of fields – including software design, UI/UX (user interface / user experience), teamwork, management, and marketing.” I had never looked at it that way, but in our time of increasing technology, he is on point. Kids need to learn to design and create in order to keep up with the technology in our world.

Although I struggled with coding as an adult, I can see the benefit to teaching students how to code as a librarian. It would be a great resource for students as we move further and further into the 21st century. I think I need to practice a lot more, so when I do have my own library I can help move our students in the right direction.

References:

Dodge, D. (2018, May 04). So Your Kid Wants to Design Games? Here are 5 Practical Tips to Help Her Design Like The Pros. Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://codakid.com/so-your-kid-wants-to-design-games-here-are-5 practical-tips-to-help-her-design-like-the-pros/

Sheldon, E. (2017, March 30). Computational Thinking Across the Curriculum. Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/computational-thinking-across-the-curriculum-eli-sheldon

I enjoyed the few sessions I have watched of the Summer Institute. I really enjoyed the New Librarian Panel discussion. It was really helpful to see how other participants in the MLIS program are running heir libraries. I thought they had a lot of really good ideas and ways of keeping the students engaged. It was also interesting to hear them discuss the fixed versus unfixed models in their schools. As a fifth grade teacher my students do not get media classes. I have always thought they should, but their is not enough time in our days. We also have a librarian that is not user friendly. She is not willing to be flexible with check out times and it makes it extremely difficult. I look forward to running my library more like these speakers do.

I also participated in one of the Coffee chats. I really liked how the moderators were very open with their responses to the participants questions. They were very open and honest about the program and what to expect as I progress. This is very important to me since this i my first class and they definitely reinforced that we need to stay on top of our assignment and keep the portfolio in our minds constantly.

The last session I watched was the session on Internships. Dr. Burns did a great job of really explaining where to find all of the required documents and when we should do them. The chat on the side also really helped answer a lot of questions. I was surprised to learn how early you have to have the background check. But I feel as a teacher in the district where I plan to intern this should be fairly easily done.

I look forward to participating in the Summer Institute next year. I hope we are able to do this in person so I can actually meet some of our fellow classmates. I think it was a very informative institute and I look forward to watching a few more videos over the next week or so.

I had a really good time looking at all of the websites, however I really delved into a few of the school library sites as I felt they focused more on what I envisions for myself. The first site I really liked was the Bella Vista High School at https://www.sanjuan.edu/domain/334. The first thing I noticed was the use of the Virtual library picture. The librarian used this well. It had links to various items for students such as English Novels by grade level, Online textbooks, and information about citing sources. The number of resources available through the website was astounding. I really liked how it was student friendly and it caught my attention for sure. She also used links to get to the school social media sites and research tabs. I think I would like mine to look something like hers because it is appealing to students. This site was my favorite!

The next site I enjoyed was the Mashpee Middle High Schools Library Learning Commons at https://mmhslmc.wordpress.com/. This website was my second favorite. It was appealing and also used the Bitmoji and virtual library set up. She had two virtual spaces, one was about home resources reading and the other was suggested reading. On the suggested reading virtual library, she had links to video book trailers, which I think would be very beneficial. Another link was to a Flipgrid for the students to share the books they were reading. I really liked all of her suggestions.

Lastly, I looked at Makalapa Elementary Library at https://makalapalibrary.weebly.com/. I also enjoyed this website. The tabs at the top of the page made it easy to maneuver from section to section. I really liked the book trailers that were done by students. This was awesome!! She had a link to the online library catalog and a link where students could find some of their favorite authors and it would take them to their web page. I think elementary kids would really enjoy that. Finally she had a virtual tour of a Palace in Hawaii for the students to explore. I think these websites have some great features and I can’t wait to use some of them on mine.

This week’s lesson is quite interesting. I have used QR codes but never knew how to make them or why they may be beneficial to me in a classroom or library. After exploring and reading the various articles, I can see some good uses, but as an elementary teacher right now I am not so sure. Students do not have access to devices that can scan the QR codes at my school at this point. Now if they are at home, I can assume some will have access to a phone or tablet, but not all.

That being said, it was easy to create and seems like something the students would think is pretty cool. Not having to type in a web address or search would be very beneficial if I wanted to students to use a certain website or go straight to a certain page or activity in our online textbook. I can also see having students use them I have them create an infographic through Canva or another presentation activity.

Virtual field trips are definitely on the rise due to our current COVID-19 crisis. I think these can be helpful to teacher or librarians to get students interested in what they are teaching or sharing in a lesson. I was not a big fan of the virtual tours and think some students would get bored as I did. I found them to be a bit frustrating as well when they wouldn’t move as quickly as I would have liked them too.

Now the virtual classrooms look very interesting. This may be something that as a current classroom teacher I may find I need at some point. I also think librarians could definitely use the virtual classroom to get students interested in different books or other ideas.

https://girlsleadstem.com/virtual-field-trip/

I choose the virtual field trip through Girls Lead STEM a website through the Girl Scouts that have a neat virtual field trip. I liked the virtual field trip because it deals with STEM and getting girls involved in Science, Technology, and Math. The video is 25 minutes and actually kept me interested, which seems difficult these days as my attention span has gotten very short. I added the QR code to the Girls Lead STEM activity guide. The activity guide has a few pre and post activities that go with the virtual field trip and I really liked that. The students would be more involved as would the teacher who is using it virtually.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rPRu0QaVDHtL_0zb_67FGI7_Ywl81H7F/view?usp=sharing

Video sharing can be very beneficial especially in the world we are dealing with today. However, I am not a video fan if they are created by me. I do not like my voice and I hate seeing myself on video. With that being said, there are some good options to use. I used Loom to create my video project. It was easy to use and I was able to record and download my video in one easy step. This was s self made video entirely by me and it was not as bad as I thought. But in our virtual world we have several other options. I liked Powtoon and Animoto because you could create videos with pictures and sound but it did not have to be a self made video. They both had many tools to choose from which made them appealing. I am not a Zoom fan, but that is probably because I had to have so many Zoom staff meetings and I got over them quickly. There were several other options as well, but I really liked being able to record and go with Loom. I need to play with the site more so I can add images, music, or something else.

My district did not require us to teach with Zoom or any other platform this year. They created paper work packets and I just had to call, text, or email my parents and families at least once a week. Next year is another story. I think using video to record lessons is definitely going to be coming my way. After exploring and seeing some of the video tools in action, I feel like recorded videos will be better. Students can watch them at their pace and not interrupt me while I am teaching. With Loom or Powtoon, I can create simple videos to teach my lessons. I can then use Zoom to have meetings to make sure students that need help can get it. I think with more practice, I would get more comfortable with recording my self and creating Powtoons or Animoto videos.

Wow! I had no idea there were so many presentation tools other than PowerPoint and Prezi. I have always used PowerPoint or Smart Notebook software since I have a Smartboard in my classroom. I learned about Prezi from a former student teacher of mine and have used Prezi once or twice, but I am not a huge fan.

I created my presentation 4 different times. I used, Canva, Haiku Deck, Emaze, and Genial.ly. Essentially I created the same presentation in each program. The first program I used was Haiku Deck. I created the assignment fairly easily. I liked the formats and images available to use and it was just neat to see a different program other than PowerPoint. However, when I went back several days later, I had a hard time changing it and this frustrated me. So on to the next porgram.

The next website I used was Emaze. I was not amazed at all. I found this program to be more difficult to use. I couldn’t find how to bring forward my image or move my text and again I got frustrated. I also did not feel like they had as many images available for use. Thank you Emaze, next please.

The next website was Canva. I did like using Canva. The images were varied and I had a lot of options to choose from. I created the presentation without incident, but since I have used this one before, that may be why it was easier.

Finally, I tried Genial.ly. This was my favorite. Genial.ly was easy to use and had great images to choose from. It was easy to move images and flip text back and forth. I also liked the grid lines that would come up to help me. I was also able to close my presentation and come back the next day and edit it without issue. This was why I choose to share this presentation as my favorite so far.

https://view.genial.ly/5eea3046314cb30d8fd5bbe1/presentation-running

I do have one question. If we use these presentation sites, do we have to cite the images that we use that they have available in their programs or is that included with the Creative Commons through their websites? I feel like if they are available through the program we don’t have to cite them, but I am not 100% sure.

http://tinyurl.com/yaf428j6

Using audio in your classroom or library can have its benefits and challenges. I am not into recording myself, but when I created my Voki I was able to type what I wanted it to say. I did like that aspect. I can see students loving to create their own Voki or using some of the pre-made ones. They would also love recording their voices and such. This could be used in the classroom or library on various assignments. If they chose an animal, they could have the animal Voki give their report. Or they could have their character tell their story for a writing assignment.

Some of the other options to add audio includes voice recordings on Speakpipe or creating music on Clyp. Some students would really love this idea. I can see students creating a report and taking turning recording their parts or even parts for a presentation, especially if they are shy and do not like to talk in front of others. This could be used to have lower readers record themselves and then listen back to see what they missed.

I would worry about the students who would inevitably record or say something they shouldn’t, but that’s going to happen sometime or another anyway. However, this would be a good time to discuss what is allowed and not allowed and to think about what they make public on social media. Even recordings can be used to hurt someone. Overall, I think the students would enjoy recording themselves and creating the Voki.

Podcasts

I am not a podcast fan. I am a visual, kinesthetic learner that has a very difficult time listening and recalling what I listened to. I tend to tune out. I guess this is why I have never been able to get into books on tape or Audible. So with that being said, I choose to listen to 10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Vicki Davis. Her podcasts vary from 8-12 minutes, which appealed to me way more that the thirty plus minute other options I found. I think if I practiced listening to them, I could get used to them. They are short and to the point, which is what I need and I feel most students would as well. Each day she does a new podcast which is amazing since she still teaches each day. I would recommend her for a newbie like me.

I have always wondered how people made all of these different, flashy handouts and now I know. I had no idea these websites even existed. Canva.com is super easy to use. I really enjoyed making the Science is Amazing infographic. I think that would look cute on my desk or my classroom door. I liked how you could choose the colors and formats. Using the presets also made life easier.

I also used pixtochart.com. I found this site more difficult, but still it had lots of cool ideas and ways to create different infographs. I created the Sound and Light comparison chart using pixtochart.com. It was much more time consuming because there were so many different things to change and I admit I got frustrated. However, I really like how it turned out. I like the images and simplicity of it.

I use photos from the internet all of the time in my lessons for my students. I never thought about having to cite them or gain copyright privileges. Creative Commons make it much easier to not break the copyright laws. I used tuxpi.com to make changes to the Southern Most point picture. I was able to use the vignette and the news border to make it look like a breaking news story. After using these tools, I can see how using different tools to alter pictures or images to gain the students attention. You could highlight a certain feature, add text, or even blur out other distracting portions of the image. Using these editing tools can help make our presentations more focused for the learner. As a librarian, this is something I could use to teach skills or teach the students to use when creating presentations or projects.

With sunbeams through the pines, I am trying to see the sunshine through the chaos we are currently in. A pine tree fell on our house and we are being uprooted from where we have lived for 20 years. It is chaos right now, but I know eventually we will see the sunshine through the pine trees around us that caused the havoc we are currently enduring.

Key West trip cancelled! Our son is graduating high school this year and he wanted to go to Key West to celebrate his graduation. Due to Covid-19, we have had to cancel our trip this year and hopefully reschedule for next year.