Search Tools (briefly):
It took me a while to find a topic that I really wanted to explore; initially, I browsed through Search Tools Ninja but did not find too many new ideas. One that I did like quite a bit though was Wakelet for sharing links of interest with others. It may be more of a curation tool than a search tool, but it works a little like Pinterest as it is searchable for many topics. I loved some of the collections that I found, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (awesome for teachers), Why Is Denmark So Happy?, The Marie Kondo Effect, and more. I decided to use Wakelet to create a collection of search tool articles that I want to read and explore when I have more time. You end up with a webpage with links contained in graphic boxes that would make the person you are sharing your collection with more likely to open them!! I have provided a link to my Search Tool Articles below:
Wakelet - Search Tool Articles
Presentation Tools:
I am familiar with Google Slides, Haiku Deck, and Prezi, but I did find some great new presentation tools in this lesson. My favorite would have to be Adobe Spark!! The art teacher at my school has been raving about it, but this is the first time I actually explored the options. I thought it was just a blogging site, but you can create much more than just a blog post. This is a super easy platform to create videos, slideshows, newsletters, digital portfolios, infographics, presentations (instead of powerpoint), demonstrate how to cook a dish or a DIY project, create photo journals, post items for an estate sale, etc.
I watched videos that students created about themselves and I can see this being an easy, fun, and creative way to document their lives to share with others at the beginning of the school year. It works from elementary to the high school level, but the older students could make a more in-depth presentation. I like the way one student shared the history of her family with pictures of events that were happening around the world at the same time, making history more relevant in the classroom. Students can add their own voice or use music. They can add text, an icon, or pictures. Adobe has templates for beginners or the user can start from scratch. Adobe also has free accounts for educators who can use it to set up assignments with templates or use the lessons available. Students can hide their identity and share their work directly into Google Classroom. I have created my own photo journal, which you can check out below:
Indy & Leo's Photo Journal
Lastly, I read a good article by Dr. Monica Burns on using Adobe Spark with Google Slides to collaborate and share student work. This could be used for reading responses to book quotes using images to enhance the quote - text in the slide can explain the quote. Students could also upload a video into Google Slides that shows how a science experiment is done. The slide template would be set up by the teacher with the students using one slide each to demonstrate their learning in an online collaborative format. I have saved the article to my Pinterest page, but I will also be adding it to a new collection in Wakelet on presentation tools.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Thing 22: Teaching & Learning with Primary Resources
I am so glad I decided to learn a bit more about primary resources for teaching and learning!! Sometimes we librarians think we know all the best sites - such as the Library of Congress and various databases that provide some primary resources, however, I now have some really good sources to share with the teachers at my school.
First off, I was fascinated to see the real "Green Book" used by African Americans during the Jim Crow years - our students study and write papers about this time period every year. By coincidence, there is a very popular movie showing titled "Green Book" that I am going out to see tonight & I had no idea why the movie had that title until now. Wow - I am learning something important that I can share at school and it will be incredibly useful and interesting to share this primary resource supported by the New York Public Library.
I also enjoyed reading the article by Hayley Glatter in the Atlantic magazine about using primary resources in the classroom to teach about current events - which are so relevant to the students at our school. Specifically, teaching about the Black Lives Matter Movement. Most textbooks are too out-of-date to discuss current events or to compare the past to things that are shaping our world today. Primary source documents, such as current news articles, can provide information in an objective format allowing students to form their own critical evaluation of the information. I love the quote in the article that stated "No one reads a textbook as an adult, - What do you read? You read the newspapers, magazines, and (Social Studies is) basically based on news." In addition, Common Core Learning Standards demand the use of more primary sources in education. Note: I realize news articles are not all primary sources...just the articles that describe the event as it happens on the day or time period in which it happens.
Some new sources that I came across were compliments of Larry Ferlazzo, an educator and prolific author of educational materials. His fantastic compilation of websites for topics covered in the high school classroom were awesome!! I especially liked his Websites of the Day and Best of the Week Websites. I found some unique sites that I have never seen before. I bookmarked his main website and will be passing Larry's website on to the teachers at my school.
The new apps by the Library of Congress were fun to play around with; Engaging Congress and Eagle Eye both seem like resources that can be used for our high school social studies classes. I really liked the Engaging Congress app, although it may be a little challenging for secondary students. The trivia questions are presented a little like the online game Kahoot - which is well-loved by students. I thought the video stories were fun with cartoon images explaining historical events and users can answer questions interactively by moving the correct responses into place. I would recommend this app to anyone interested in learning more about the U.S. Government.
Eagle Eye was a user-friendly interactive game where the user can sort primary source images into the correct area or put primary sources in the correct order. To do this, the user needs to take a closer look to get the correct answers. It is in this way the user learns about the source as he/she is sorting through. This seems like a middle school activity, but it can still be great for getting high school students to take a closer look at primary source documents. Teachers can create an account and do more, such as create individualized lessons. Video instruction is included with tips and other suggestions that teachers may need to use this site.
Lastly, I took a good look at NY Heritage and the Digital Public Library of America. I was aware of both sources and determined that I definitely needed to add DPLA to my library webpage for the primary source sets which were quite impressive! NY Heritage was limited as I did not find what I was looking for by doing a search and if I had a hard time finding a specific image or related document, then the students would not find it either. Compared to DPLA, it is not user-friendly, nor does it have enough collections of interest for the high school.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Thing 24: Google Drawings
Since our school is fully integrated with Google educational tools and uses Chromebooks, I thought I should see how Google Drawings could be used in the classroom or for personal use. Glad I did as I liked the many options for creating visual graphics.
Teachers and students could find many ways to utilize the graphic organizer templates in the Google Drawings Resources posted by Eric Curts. The training video explains how these templates can be used for a wide variety of subjects from the life cycle of insects to writing and word exercises. Math teachers could make use of Google Drawings with whatever shapes they want students to accurately measure (a video is dedicated just for math). Mind mapping could also be used with this tool. Students may prefer to show what they have learned by creating a graphic organizer to demonstrate their knowledge instead of writing an essay. Students can also organize their research and writing by using them. This free tool also allows the collaborative sharing of the templates. It is also easy to insert pictures, links, videos, etc.
I was excited to watch the video that Curts posted on creating greeting cards. I have done it in Microsoft Publisher and this is similar in the way it functions, except maybe a little easier. You just copy the template and begin to put in your own wording and pictures. The Research option helps you find a good image which can be dragged and dropped into the template. Users can choose from up to 700 different fonts too. You need to flip the message/images for the top half when you are done, but that is really easy with the rotate or flip vertically tab. I will definitely be coming back to this Google Drawing tool in the future. Check out my card with the link below. I tried to insert it as a picture but it was not working. It might be because I saved it as a pdf instead of a jpg.
Greeting Card with Google Drawing Tool
Another way the I can use this tool at school will be for creating pathfinders, brochures, newsletters, and posters. The posters can be interactive with any multimedia resource that you would like to incorporate. Infographics may be great as tutorials for technology instruction or as a way to share information in a simplified graphic. Visual learners will appreciate the many ways that the Drawing tool can create and share information.
Lastly, I have opened a free account with The Noun Project to get some really great icons to use in school publications and signage. This is the most diverse collection of royalty-free icons (over a million to choose from). You can even change the color and size. 'Love the simple reading and library icons. Check it out below:
Since our school is fully integrated with Google educational tools and uses Chromebooks, I thought I should see how Google Drawings could be used in the classroom or for personal use. Glad I did as I liked the many options for creating visual graphics.
Teachers and students could find many ways to utilize the graphic organizer templates in the Google Drawings Resources posted by Eric Curts. The training video explains how these templates can be used for a wide variety of subjects from the life cycle of insects to writing and word exercises. Math teachers could make use of Google Drawings with whatever shapes they want students to accurately measure (a video is dedicated just for math). Mind mapping could also be used with this tool. Students may prefer to show what they have learned by creating a graphic organizer to demonstrate their knowledge instead of writing an essay. Students can also organize their research and writing by using them. This free tool also allows the collaborative sharing of the templates. It is also easy to insert pictures, links, videos, etc.
I was excited to watch the video that Curts posted on creating greeting cards. I have done it in Microsoft Publisher and this is similar in the way it functions, except maybe a little easier. You just copy the template and begin to put in your own wording and pictures. The Research option helps you find a good image which can be dragged and dropped into the template. Users can choose from up to 700 different fonts too. You need to flip the message/images for the top half when you are done, but that is really easy with the rotate or flip vertically tab. I will definitely be coming back to this Google Drawing tool in the future. Check out my card with the link below. I tried to insert it as a picture but it was not working. It might be because I saved it as a pdf instead of a jpg.
Greeting Card with Google Drawing Tool
Another way the I can use this tool at school will be for creating pathfinders, brochures, newsletters, and posters. The posters can be interactive with any multimedia resource that you would like to incorporate. Infographics may be great as tutorials for technology instruction or as a way to share information in a simplified graphic. Visual learners will appreciate the many ways that the Drawing tool can create and share information.
Lastly, I have opened a free account with The Noun Project to get some really great icons to use in school publications and signage. This is the most diverse collection of royalty-free icons (over a million to choose from). You can even change the color and size. 'Love the simple reading and library icons. Check it out below:
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Thing 14: Bitmoji Fun
Bitmoji Fun
In an effort to break the stereotype of a boring old conservative librarian, I thought I should try creating a Bitmoji for myself. Also, I use emoji's often in my text messages (and sometimes emails), so why not expand on the cute visuals with my communication, right?
I like the way the Daring Librarian has used them to enhance her signage in the library with her themed Bitmoji's. If I were working at the elementary level, some of this signage could be helpful to students that are not yet reading or have learning disabilities. When I worked in a special education classroom, we had picture exchange cards that our students could use to indicate what they wanted - very helpful for kids that were not talking or reading. They also had PEC schedules so they knew ahead of time what activity was coming next. If the teachers had a cartoon image of themselves, the students could know even more about what was going to happen that day and with whom. This may not sound like a big deal, but to children with autism, it can mean the difference between a calm understanding child or one who will become extremely distraught if the sequence of events is not what he/she expected.
So, I will use my new Bitmoji image with some of the signs that use in my library, my library newsletter, and on my updated bookmarks that I use for usernames and passwords to the district databases. The Back to School Bookmarks by Tiffany Whitehead were inspiring with the Bitmoji images and QR code. I am definitely excited to add my Bitmoji image to the library webpage as well - it could use a few nerdy cartoon images of me with books or promoting library services.
Unfortunately, I cannot download the Chrome Extension for Bitmoji on my school laptop so I will have to use it from my home computer or my iPad. I had no trouble using it on my phone - seems like it is meant for this device. Anyway, it will be fun to use these images of myself to relay a message to friends. If I can get it to work with my Remind App for the book club, that will be great, but it wasn't going through when I experimented just now (could not search for the image I needed). I don't like having to login everytime I want to use Bitmoji - that will definitely prevent me from using it on a regular basis (much easier to use with text messages).
I realize that Snapchat is connected to Bitmoji and it looked like there were some very fun (silly) ways to use Bitmoji with photos. I especially liked the Booksnaps and would like to experiment with that - as a librarian, this is a graphic way to highlight parts of the text that you want to share. I would need to connect with students on Snapchat first. Right now I have no "friends" on the service to send a "snap" to. I have never been comfortable taking selfies & it seems like that is part of the fun here. I probably sound as old as I am right now (in my 50's)!!
I used my phone to create my image in Bitmoji - quite easy and surprisingly specific with every facial feature. Here are a few Bitmoji's with my image. I think they look like a slightly younger & prettier version of myself, but I am okay with that 😉 The glasses were PERFECT. If you wanted a Bitmoji to make you look like an older person, you may not find a good representation offered.
In an effort to break the stereotype of a boring old conservative librarian, I thought I should try creating a Bitmoji for myself. Also, I use emoji's often in my text messages (and sometimes emails), so why not expand on the cute visuals with my communication, right?
I like the way the Daring Librarian has used them to enhance her signage in the library with her themed Bitmoji's. If I were working at the elementary level, some of this signage could be helpful to students that are not yet reading or have learning disabilities. When I worked in a special education classroom, we had picture exchange cards that our students could use to indicate what they wanted - very helpful for kids that were not talking or reading. They also had PEC schedules so they knew ahead of time what activity was coming next. If the teachers had a cartoon image of themselves, the students could know even more about what was going to happen that day and with whom. This may not sound like a big deal, but to children with autism, it can mean the difference between a calm understanding child or one who will become extremely distraught if the sequence of events is not what he/she expected.
So, I will use my new Bitmoji image with some of the signs that use in my library, my library newsletter, and on my updated bookmarks that I use for usernames and passwords to the district databases. The Back to School Bookmarks by Tiffany Whitehead were inspiring with the Bitmoji images and QR code. I am definitely excited to add my Bitmoji image to the library webpage as well - it could use a few nerdy cartoon images of me with books or promoting library services.
Unfortunately, I cannot download the Chrome Extension for Bitmoji on my school laptop so I will have to use it from my home computer or my iPad. I had no trouble using it on my phone - seems like it is meant for this device. Anyway, it will be fun to use these images of myself to relay a message to friends. If I can get it to work with my Remind App for the book club, that will be great, but it wasn't going through when I experimented just now (could not search for the image I needed). I don't like having to login everytime I want to use Bitmoji - that will definitely prevent me from using it on a regular basis (much easier to use with text messages).
I realize that Snapchat is connected to Bitmoji and it looked like there were some very fun (silly) ways to use Bitmoji with photos. I especially liked the Booksnaps and would like to experiment with that - as a librarian, this is a graphic way to highlight parts of the text that you want to share. I would need to connect with students on Snapchat first. Right now I have no "friends" on the service to send a "snap" to. I have never been comfortable taking selfies & it seems like that is part of the fun here. I probably sound as old as I am right now (in my 50's)!!
I used my phone to create my image in Bitmoji - quite easy and surprisingly specific with every facial feature. Here are a few Bitmoji's with my image. I think they look like a slightly younger & prettier version of myself, but I am okay with that 😉 The glasses were PERFECT. If you wanted a Bitmoji to make you look like an older person, you may not find a good representation offered.
Monday, December 31, 2018
Thing 27: Notetaking Tools and Skills
Over the last month or so I have noticed our students seem to lack the ability to stay focused when someone is teaching, lecturing or performing for any extended period of time. It was embarrassing to me as a teacher librarian to witness them talking and on their phones during a performance at Geva theater or when a guest speaker came to our school to share important information with them about issues of social justice. I felt they should have been responsible to answer some basic questions outlined ahead of time by the teacher. That would have required them to be focused while listening for specific information and taking notes.
After listening to the podcast Notetaking: A Research Roundup, the benefits of handwritten notes is clear. I loved the information in this Cult of Pedagogy podcast by Jennifer Gonzalez and have added this series to my podcast library of shows in my iPhone. I will also share this with teachers. It would be beneficial for students to receive some lessons on taking notes. From my perspective, they are not good at it. Our school doesn't allow cell phones in the classroom anymore, but they all have access to chromebooks. Hopefully, they are not doing all their notetaking digitally. I read the NYT's article about the problems with students using laptops instead of a notebook for recording notes. I agree that they are generally too distracted by other options on the laptops while a lecture is taking place. Also, the evidence in favor of written notes and memory is strong. Hopefully, the students can still write legibly with paper and pen (probably considered old-fashioned). The biggest disadvantage is the need for digital devices for students with special needs - who will not want to be singled out, when they are the only ones with a Chromebook. Still, this was a great article - event the comments were interesting.
Sketchnoting is an interesting concept and I expolored it for a while. I will definitely share the presentation by Sylvia Duckworth with our art teacher, but I think basic notetaking is more important than learning to add sketched visuals in your notes. Visuals are great though, especially for this generation, so my favorite digital notetaking tool is Google Keep as it has many advantages:
FREE for anyone with a Google Account
Available on Chromebooks, which our students use
Super easy to learn & use
Nice visual layout - appeals to younger users
Can add photos
Easy to organize by color
Automatic syncing to other digital devices
Reminder bell - just click to choose a day/time
Quick search feature
Collaborate with others
Audio notes transcribed automatically
Students are already using Google Docs but for notetaking, I like Google Keep better - it is just more fun! I often see students taking photos of important information & they can send the photos to Google Keep to organize according to subject. I have my own account which I intend to use a bit more. FYI, if you are looking for an awesome "list making" app, I highly recommend Wunderlist, which I use almost daily, especially to keep track of what groceries to pick up at the store.
Lastly, I just received a new iPad for Xmas and will be checking out some of the cool apps for sketchnoting once I am all set up. I like the idea of annotating photos, especially for teaching. I also learned some handy features with the iPad Gesture Guide - thank you!
Over the last month or so I have noticed our students seem to lack the ability to stay focused when someone is teaching, lecturing or performing for any extended period of time. It was embarrassing to me as a teacher librarian to witness them talking and on their phones during a performance at Geva theater or when a guest speaker came to our school to share important information with them about issues of social justice. I felt they should have been responsible to answer some basic questions outlined ahead of time by the teacher. That would have required them to be focused while listening for specific information and taking notes.
After listening to the podcast Notetaking: A Research Roundup, the benefits of handwritten notes is clear. I loved the information in this Cult of Pedagogy podcast by Jennifer Gonzalez and have added this series to my podcast library of shows in my iPhone. I will also share this with teachers. It would be beneficial for students to receive some lessons on taking notes. From my perspective, they are not good at it. Our school doesn't allow cell phones in the classroom anymore, but they all have access to chromebooks. Hopefully, they are not doing all their notetaking digitally. I read the NYT's article about the problems with students using laptops instead of a notebook for recording notes. I agree that they are generally too distracted by other options on the laptops while a lecture is taking place. Also, the evidence in favor of written notes and memory is strong. Hopefully, the students can still write legibly with paper and pen (probably considered old-fashioned). The biggest disadvantage is the need for digital devices for students with special needs - who will not want to be singled out, when they are the only ones with a Chromebook. Still, this was a great article - event the comments were interesting.
Sketchnoting is an interesting concept and I expolored it for a while. I will definitely share the presentation by Sylvia Duckworth with our art teacher, but I think basic notetaking is more important than learning to add sketched visuals in your notes. Visuals are great though, especially for this generation, so my favorite digital notetaking tool is Google Keep as it has many advantages:
FREE for anyone with a Google Account
Available on Chromebooks, which our students use
Super easy to learn & use
Nice visual layout - appeals to younger users
Can add photos
Easy to organize by color
Automatic syncing to other digital devices
Reminder bell - just click to choose a day/time
Quick search feature
Collaborate with others
Audio notes transcribed automatically
Students are already using Google Docs but for notetaking, I like Google Keep better - it is just more fun! I often see students taking photos of important information & they can send the photos to Google Keep to organize according to subject. I have my own account which I intend to use a bit more. FYI, if you are looking for an awesome "list making" app, I highly recommend Wunderlist, which I use almost daily, especially to keep track of what groceries to pick up at the store.
Lastly, I just received a new iPad for Xmas and will be checking out some of the cool apps for sketchnoting once I am all set up. I like the idea of annotating photos, especially for teaching. I also learned some handy features with the iPad Gesture Guide - thank you!
Friday, December 28, 2018
Hi Everyone,
Hope everyone had a great holiday!! I am getting a late start with Cool Tools...preparing for Christmas, decorating, attending parties, baking, wrapping gifts, etc has been taking far too much of my time. I promise to start focusing on getting through my required 5 lessons in Cool Tools!
I am a high school librarian at School Without Walls Commencement Academy in Rochester, NY and I this will be my third time signing up for the program. I am looking forward to learning some new technology and reading about the experiences of my colleagues.
Outside of work, I love audiobooks, cooking, baking, cycling with my friends, listening to music, spending time with my sons and my nine-month-old kitten.
Please check out my new holiday bulletin board below.
Diane
Hope everyone had a great holiday!! I am getting a late start with Cool Tools...preparing for Christmas, decorating, attending parties, baking, wrapping gifts, etc has been taking far too much of my time. I promise to start focusing on getting through my required 5 lessons in Cool Tools!
I am a high school librarian at School Without Walls Commencement Academy in Rochester, NY and I this will be my third time signing up for the program. I am looking forward to learning some new technology and reading about the experiences of my colleagues.
Outside of work, I love audiobooks, cooking, baking, cycling with my friends, listening to music, spending time with my sons and my nine-month-old kitten.
Please check out my new holiday bulletin board below.
Diane
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Thing 27: Power Up Your Browser
Add-Ons and Extensions for browsers are handy tools to have on your bookmarks bar, but I have not taken advantage of them as I should. In Google, I had added dropbox, email templates, Flash clipper, Google Hangouts, and Grammarly. With the exception of Grammarly, which functions automatically, I have not used them much (highly recommended). So, I added some more extensions to my Google Chrome browser that looked liked like easy and helpful tools. I am now trying out the Bookmark Sidebar which this pops up whenever my cursor moves to the left side of the screen. I bookmark a lot of sites so this should be a good one for me. I also added Google Keep, which is an app on my phone that I rarely use, but I might use it more for remembering things if I noticed the icon on my bookmarks bar. Similar to Google Keep, I added Sticky Notes as I like to keep lists of things I need to do. I already have this on my laptop at work and have recommended it to one of my colleagues.
I added the Print Friendly & PDF extension, which will allow me to print only the essential parts of an article. I can remove ads and images that I don't need, saving on ink and paper. I can also change the size of the text and convert the document to a PDF file. For saving images and text, I have added Awesome Screen Shot and Google Drive. I played around with Awesome SS and liked the added tools that allow you to add text, blur images that need to be private & save or share the image. I also created a "project" or collection of images - this is a great feature, but you can only create one project on a free account. My sample screen shot from this site is below - note the blurred face on the left, the added text, and I did crop the image as well.
For my Firefox browser, I added some fun extensions like the Emoji Keyboard and for wallpaper background, Japanese Tattoo (very pretty). Some practical added extensions were Ad Block Plus and UBlock Origin and No Script Security Suite. They all had excellent reviews and will increase my security in ways that I may not detect. Ads drive me crazy and can be sources for online viruses, so eliminating their presence with Ad Block Plus and UBlock Origin is very helpful. I tried NoScript for a week, but it was blocking every site that I normally visit, so I disabled it.
I added Reader to my Firefox browser. This can change the text size, font, background color and read the text to me. Some of these features are not really necessary for me, but I will try it out a few more times to see if I like it. It is very easy to use.
Chrome Web store has so many extensions and apps that it can be overwhelming. The same can be said about Google Drive add-ons and apps for your mobile phone. I appreciate the suggestions offered by Polly and hope to be able to advise my colleagues and friends on the best ones to add to their browsers for web-based services, online security & creation, collaboration/connection with the digital community.
I added the Print Friendly & PDF extension, which will allow me to print only the essential parts of an article. I can remove ads and images that I don't need, saving on ink and paper. I can also change the size of the text and convert the document to a PDF file. For saving images and text, I have added Awesome Screen Shot and Google Drive. I played around with Awesome SS and liked the added tools that allow you to add text, blur images that need to be private & save or share the image. I also created a "project" or collection of images - this is a great feature, but you can only create one project on a free account. My sample screen shot from this site is below - note the blurred face on the left, the added text, and I did crop the image as well.
I added Reader to my Firefox browser. This can change the text size, font, background color and read the text to me. Some of these features are not really necessary for me, but I will try it out a few more times to see if I like it. It is very easy to use.
Chrome Web store has so many extensions and apps that it can be overwhelming. The same can be said about Google Drive add-ons and apps for your mobile phone. I appreciate the suggestions offered by Polly and hope to be able to advise my colleagues and friends on the best ones to add to their browsers for web-based services, online security & creation, collaboration/connection with the digital community.
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