Thing 42 -- Done? Reflection

Thank you to Polly for hosting the Cool Tools for Schools once again.  I always hesitate for a moment to sign up as the question arises... will I have the time in my schedule, if I sign up I want to to try something learned in my library and is that possible with everything else...  Needless to say I am always happy I sign up as I learned about new tools and get time (or make time) to try things out and think of ways they can be used in my library.

On thing that I tried to do the last few times was look at other elementary libraries and learn what tools they are trying and using.  As much as I have ideas of things, I always love talking to my colleagues and hearing the amazing things they are doing, but sifting through all the blogs to find those elementary examples were time consuming....  Thank you for organizing the blog list in categories!  It lets me connect with others in my same situations.. a little PLT thing happening I guess.

So from my online colleagues I saw:
1. flipgrid -- not sure how exactly I will use it, but it could come in handy for the self reflection piece we are being asked for with PBL.  Starting an environmental project with my fifth graders and could easily use this as an exit ticket...  or in the following years, could easily be used all year and add different questions or topics throughout the whole year instead of just one topic or project!

2. https://online-voice-recorder.com/ is a new one to me... like this a lot too.

3. http://soundbible.com/free-sound-effects-1.html -- might also come in handy for my fifth and fourth grade projects.

4. Love the idea of a library instagram account and keeping parents in the loop of lessons, new resources, author visits, etc...  So spot on!  Signed up now for our library and will start sharing things with our families!  I was thinking to share the info even start with an announcement with a QR code to get them there and following... Just trying to get all the good we do at the library out there!  Have to remember to take pictures of the hallway displays I create for families to see what their kids are doing.

5. http://www.storyboardthat.com/ is an interesting one too.  A bunch of elementary lesson plans are given too.  And it works well with http://www.photosforclass.com/.  This site puts the citation right underneath the photo so credit is right there.  Found another sit from a blog called: https://www.splitshire.com/ which looks interesting, but I like the ones we have at the ready for school already.

6. Sitting next to a colleague at a conference we were chit chatting and I saw that she had a few great apps on her phone including: common-core-standards and next-generation-science-standards.  So helpful to have it at the touch of a finger and not having to search elsewhere.

Thanks to Polly for a fun session with a lot of good resources including a lit to others working through the Tools and by level!  So many ideas... I decided to go back and read through all of my blog posts from the beginning (four sessions ago) and see what I found then and if I have used it or how I can use it next year.  I want to spend time this summer getting some ideas on paper and into my plan-book and really start using them with the kids.  Thanks for the spreadsheet.  Wanted to put it here so that I could always find it!

Thing 18: Student assessment & feedback tool

Recently discovered the recap-video-response-and-reflection-for-education app.  What a find!  Of course I downloaded the app on several iPads and it gets "stuck" before it loads the video... Very frustrating...  Going to test out in a different location to see if that helps, but my hopes are not high right now.  It really looked like a fantastic "exit ticket" response that was really engaging for students...

I have seen https://www.spiral.ac/ before and it looks interesting for older students.  Or for my scholars classes that I have for two hours and they can handle the collaboration in the time I have them.

https://edpuzzle.com/ looks like a great place too.  It links up with edmodo which is great and things can be assigned there for your students as well.  I can see this as an interesting homework assignment to peak kids interest before a project or the check in as you go.  Especially with NGSS there are some interesting videos that could be used too.  http://www.bozemanscience.com/ could really drive something home or get them excited.

I recently heard about seesaw, but hadn't had a lot of time to investigate.  http://web.seesaw.me/ looks like it would be great for the classroom teacher.  OR if I picked one grade level and one project, but it seems like it would really work well for the classroom!

Love the idea of digital exit tickets, and the ideas on this article are great.  One problem I have is is that I do not have lots of technology in the library, computer access yes, but no iPads for a super quick assessment.  Kids have to log into the computers and then go instead of something touchable.  I do hope this changes over the next year or so, but I may be bound to computers for a while longer.

Next I looked at https://dotstorming.com/.  Kind of neat especially with adding pictures or pins to have the kids vote or express ideas on something.  Just finished a Fairy tale project with first graders and this could be another fun way to get their responses:
https://dotstorming.com/b/

Thing 29: OER

I guess I didn't realize I do some of this, but not enough!  I am a Follett user and we have OER sources on the catalog, not to be better about using them myself and showing the students and teachers to goldmine they have at their fingertips!  I take to the kids bout "Creative Commons" and this year we have worked hard to make sure they cite where they slurp things from and the use of copyright laws... for some this is too big to understand... small chunks at a time for us.

So I have been gathering information for a fifth grade project that is based on the question: What environmental concern makes you want to advocate for us?  I started out finding images through Britannica ImageQuest and taking to them about many issues that we face from global warming to climate change, from endangered species to invasive species, from deforestation to oil spills and how plastic may have been good for many reasons we are now seeing how plastics pollute the world.  They have been doing their own research through or science database: Scienceflix and PowerKnowledge to gain so background information along with possible solutions.  We are taking our information and going to be writing action plans that we will type and send off to a government official of their choice to see if they will advocate for us too.  So I have discovered through: http://www.curriki.org/ an design your own invasive species project from http://www.arkive.org/education/ which has a ton of resources and lessons broken down by age!  Amazing.  May have to revisit this site for my other grades for more ideas.  There is also a Persuasive writing letter too.

OpenEd had an interesting video on invasive species that might help illustrate this to the students. A lot of the resources I found we geared for a higher level, but also found a video for why does climate change matter which might help spark a few more kids to advocate for change.

OERCommons lead me to Connecting Kids to invasive species. And Litter life which talks about a different danger of plastic... how invasive species travel across the water to make new homes.

Ck-12 was set up as a searchable resource allowing easy limiters on grade levels or types of lessons you are looking for.  I stumbled across Ecosystems: New to the neighborhood whic may help a few of my students.

As much as I love Pinterest because it is easy and I am a visual person, trying OER in various places might be the way I try to research a new type of lesson for myself or to get inspired by other educators work.  https://www.edutopia.org/open-educational-resources-guide has a nice list of resources and videos why OER is important.  I would like to share these findings with my faculty to help make some things easier for them as well.

And I am going to put this link https://search.creativecommons.org/ on our Library resources page.  Good for teachers and students!  Interesting list of places to acquire materials: https://creativecommons.org/about/program-areas/education-oer/education-oer-resources/ Something for everyone here.

Thing 28 :Online Learning & DIY PD

For many reasons I wanted to learn sway, so I thought I would combine the online learning with
Introduction-to-Sway.  A teacher in my building tried it with her students and would love to try to support their learning and add this to their list of growing software successes.

I also joined an online book group through Library Learners back in January.  We are reading the same Professional book chapter by chapter, implementing in the classroom and then commenting to each other.  I had picked up the book a while back because I loved the idea, but never had a chance to read it.  I try to read at least one professional book a year between the ones I read for the library, and gain a heightened awareness.  I am enjoying not only reading the book, trying different things in the classroom, but also hearing what others are experiencing and learning from them as well.  It is one thing to read a book, but to actually put it into practice and talk with others about the same experiences is really helpful!  Things I hadn't thought of or those "me too" moments are wonderful!  I am trying many of the ideas form the book: "Reading Picture books With Children" and it is great to see the kids pick up things before I do.

Recently I started investigating https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/fundamentals where an educator can go through the online course with lots of training to become a certified Google Educator.  They have two levels and may come in super handy in my future.  I have started the first level, but may really only get more time when summer rolls around.

I am constantly signing up for Webinars all over the place.  Even If I don't get to them live, they usually send the digital recording.  Our district allows you to send a completion certificate or send over the notes you write during the PD as proof of completion.  So both are good options to continue to further whatever i see cross my screen.  Just sat and listened to one on the future of Coding and how to get more girls involved.  Was a lot of what I already know, but I found a few new sites to try out including the tickle app.  Will go back and try that soon.

Last week I also started looking in to and touching base with a few librarians and Technology Integrationists about doing some visits to see how technology runs in each school.  I am excited to be given permission to take the time and go to local schools and see how they use technology on a daily basis.  While do other research I found the EdCamp and saw that one is being offered local to me in early July.  Can't wait to try this and bring a few of my colleagues to get them excited about our new influx of iPads and laptops in our building.