Conference Presentation

“Point, Click, Read! This is not your grandmother’s English class!” The days of chalk dust are behind us as we forge bravely into the world of technology. Join me as we explore technology tools that are fun and easy enough to open the world of language arts to our youngest students. Click the link here…

Staying Up to Date

Sandbox 8 – Staying up to date I have spent a semester trying out new tools online and experimenting with how to use them to make instructional tools for a classroom or library. Now that the semester is drawing to a close, I find myself with a new challenge. Without the pressure of deadlines for…

An Hour of Code…Minecraft!

“You have to play Minecraft for an hour for grad school?” my son gasped as he looked over my shoulder. While it wasn’t exactly like the Minecraft I have seen him play, I enjoyed spending an hour learning how to string a list of simple commands into a program and then watch Steve carry it…

Academic Library Visit

Simpson Library at the University of Mary Washington Digital Access Simpson library serves the 4300 undergraduate students and 350 graduate students of Mary Washington University, in Fredericksburg VA. Students of other Virginia universities are also given access. Residents in the surrounding areas can use the library for their academic needs as well. The website is…

School Library Visit

Digital Access –  https://sites.google.com/spotsylvania.k12.va.us/cheslibrary/home?authuser=0The library website is found by navigating from the student dashboard. It has a brief introduction to the librarian and the paraeducator followed by links to lessons, schedules, curbside pickup directions and a photo gallery from the 2020/2021 school year. Below that is their Bitmoji classroom which has links to their special…

Public Library Visit

Digital Access- Link for the Central Rappahannock Regional Library System- www.librarypoint.org Link for the Fredericksburg Branch (formerly known as Headquarters) https://www.librarypoint.org/locations/HDQTRS/?_ga=2.211371985.592500004.1629118698-736723921.1628527986 The website is well organized and easy to navigate. It is part of the larger website for the  Central Rappahannock Regional Library system. The system serves residents of Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Westmoreland, and Stafford Counties….

Special Library Visit

Library of Congress Audio-Visual Conservation Library of Congress Library of Congress Packard Campus, Culpeper, Va. [online photograph]. Retrieved July 18 from https://www.loc.gov/programs/audio-visual-conservation/about-this-program/ https://www.loc.gov/programs/audio-visual-conservation/about-this-program/ The Audio-Visual Conservation Center is a program of the Library of Congress dedicated to the collection, conservation, and preservation of the nation’s audio visual recordings. They are not open to the public…

Layered Reality

Sandbox 6 QR Codes, Virtual Field Trips, Layered Reality QR Codes It seems in the past couple of years QR codes have been popping up everywhere, and now I see why! They are so easy to make! Here is one that I made to my Digital Learning Assignment, Second Graders Stay Safe on the Internet….

Adding Audio

There are so many ways these tools could be used to have children give a voice to their writing. In second grade, students work with their teacher and the librarian to research an animal of their choice. We use PebbleGo as one of the tools for research because, along with being well organized and easy…

Infographics

 Growing up with a mother who was a music teacher, music has always been part of my life. In school, I was part of orchestras, bands, choirs, and small ensembles, playing several different instruments. School provided me with such wonderful opportunities to learn and play! As an adult, opportunities are not as readily available, but…