I kept working on Thing 16 so I skipped writing about it but I guess it is time to get it all down.....
Well...I had decided to focus on my school website. Most of the design was dictated by my district trying to keep things cohesive. Probably a good thing to keep me focused!
I had a bunch of irons in the fire....I wanted to improve on my presenation to the staff about databases, ebooks, audiobooks and online sources. Then I wanted to create some professional development to share with my staff...."If your research paper can be answered with a google search then it is void of higher level thinking". LOL I have been inspired by the book RX for the Common Core: Toolkit for implementing inquiry learning! And then I thought I really need to develop a better web presence with links to all the sources I wanted to share. So that is where I began.
My web page: http://www.ichabodcrane.org/Faculty/jtwoaxe/www/index.php My hands are tied regarding the layout and colors but overall it does the job. The link on the left...looking for a book? a database? - click there and you will see a link all the way to the right for SYMBALOO. It is still a work in progress but I love symbaloo!! I had a tendancy to list links I thought students and teachers would find useful but they got long and cumbersome....so in comes symbaloo! Easy to use - visual - easy to organize and edit! My favorite link on Symbaloo is my JUST FOR FUN link...check it out!
Unfortunately I created my symbaloo pages and then found out that Symbaloo released a version developed specifically for teachers. SymbalooEDU, this new version comes with new features aimed to assist educators in gathering the best educational online resources. Educator's refer to this visual aggregation as a Personal Learning Environment (PLE). This is something I plan on revisiting.
In researching what to use for my bookmarking I came across StumbleUpon. It will ask for your interests and then select content based on those topics. But instead of scrolling through lists of links, you can click the "Stumble" button, and StumbleUpon will send you directly to a webpage that's relevant to one of your interests. Once you land on a page, you can vote to “Like” or “Dislike” the content, and StumbleUpon will take your vote into consideration when choosing future content. Lots of good information I wouldn't have found or stumbled upon on my own.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Thing 20 Pathfinders, Student & Professional Portfolios
I started this one with reading Joyce's list of what I read to be 20 things she wished librarians would learn and I instantly panicked!!! Luckily I reread the title and it was UNLEARN! I can breathe again!
I chose to look into creating an electronic portfolio. I saw it years ago for high school students and I thought what a great way to record their work, thoughts, interests etc... beyond what a standardized test, facebook, twitter and instagram can show! Keeping an e portfolio throughout high school will hopefully leave them prepared for marketing themselves for future endeavors...college, careers etc... and the creation of these e portfolios are not just for art students! I am hoping to approach my administrator about creating a class or having the creation of an eportfolio as mandatory for all high school students.
An article that got me started: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/e-portfolios-in-the-classroom-mary-beth-hertz
I spent a lot of my time looking at different platforms to create e portfolios - google, dropbox, evernote, foliospaces and pathbrite. I started one on weebly but I am struggling. It seems a bit too basic. I am still working on the resume and other content I am going to share but I have to pick a better platform. This is going to be a continuous project this summer...I am anxious to have a professional place to share who I am and what I am doing outside of the 4 walls of the library. We all know the importance of the librarian in schools and the effect we can have on student achievement. But I feel we are constantly having to sell ourselves...showing everyone just what we can do. Hopefully my eportfolio will help do some of that work for me...if I do it well! Instead of preaching to the choir...maybe I can reach more ears!!
Some other articles:
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2013/03/are-eportfolios-still-relevant-for-todays-students/
https://sites.google.com/a/brvgs.k12.va.us/senior-projects-2012-2013/mchs
I chose to look into creating an electronic portfolio. I saw it years ago for high school students and I thought what a great way to record their work, thoughts, interests etc... beyond what a standardized test, facebook, twitter and instagram can show! Keeping an e portfolio throughout high school will hopefully leave them prepared for marketing themselves for future endeavors...college, careers etc... and the creation of these e portfolios are not just for art students! I am hoping to approach my administrator about creating a class or having the creation of an eportfolio as mandatory for all high school students.
An article that got me started: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/e-portfolios-in-the-classroom-mary-beth-hertz
I spent a lot of my time looking at different platforms to create e portfolios - google, dropbox, evernote, foliospaces and pathbrite. I started one on weebly but I am struggling. It seems a bit too basic. I am still working on the resume and other content I am going to share but I have to pick a better platform. This is going to be a continuous project this summer...I am anxious to have a professional place to share who I am and what I am doing outside of the 4 walls of the library. We all know the importance of the librarian in schools and the effect we can have on student achievement. But I feel we are constantly having to sell ourselves...showing everyone just what we can do. Hopefully my eportfolio will help do some of that work for me...if I do it well! Instead of preaching to the choir...maybe I can reach more ears!!
Some other articles:
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2013/03/are-eportfolios-still-relevant-for-todays-students/
https://sites.google.com/a/brvgs.k12.va.us/senior-projects-2012-2013/mchs
Monday, May 12, 2014
Thing 19: Online Learning & DIY PD
I have to start by saying...I need more hours in a day or atleast some staff in my library to help with clerical stuff so I can develop some great PD for my department!!! In our district we are often stuck with PD/workshops that have nothing to do with the library. I have had the opportunity to teach some PD sessions and really enjoyed it. I have been able to open the eyes of my staff as to what the library can do for them. Some of the teachers really had no idea...technology, databases, ebooks....we have it all!
After I read the articles about 20% time and Genius Hour I have my motivation for my summer work. With all the talk about the importance of student directed learning I am going to develop a plan to incorporate this - using the book Passion-Driven Classroom by Maiers & Sandoval. Our day is based on four Blocks on a rotating Day 1 and Day 2 schedule and I believe it will suit this movement quite well!
As I looked into developing the DIY Professional Toolkit....my eyes were opened to Twitter! I knew how it work...I knew all my students were on it but I really just saw it as another social media network....like facebook and do I really need to know that you are doing laundry while eating hagen daas at midnight!!
But Twitter really has value...I was so thrilled to see all of the educators sharing their resources. I loved that you don't really need to participate...you can just lurk! It is such a great way to connect that I am writing a brief article for our teacher newsletter trying to entice teachers to sign-up on Twitter. I loved Twitter4teachers.
I also signed up for Emerging Technology and Tech Tools - again I don't participate but I am always finding things to try out and take a look at...I am starting to feel guilty about not adding my two cents! LOL
MOOCS is something that I looked into last summer and always seems like such a great idea but then when I found something the timing never seemed to work out. I love the idea and all the different avenues it opens up not only for teachers but for our students. I have tried out EdX...there was nothing library related but I did follow up on an art history course and a Jazz Appreciation course. Both were archived courses but you can view all of the materials - watch the videos and audit the course when you are done. Again...I just wish I had more time in a day!
So I am now writing a proposal to see if some of these fabulous opportunitites for meaningful learning will get us the PD credit they so deserve!
After I read the articles about 20% time and Genius Hour I have my motivation for my summer work. With all the talk about the importance of student directed learning I am going to develop a plan to incorporate this - using the book Passion-Driven Classroom by Maiers & Sandoval. Our day is based on four Blocks on a rotating Day 1 and Day 2 schedule and I believe it will suit this movement quite well!
As I looked into developing the DIY Professional Toolkit....my eyes were opened to Twitter! I knew how it work...I knew all my students were on it but I really just saw it as another social media network....like facebook and do I really need to know that you are doing laundry while eating hagen daas at midnight!!
But Twitter really has value...I was so thrilled to see all of the educators sharing their resources. I loved that you don't really need to participate...you can just lurk! It is such a great way to connect that I am writing a brief article for our teacher newsletter trying to entice teachers to sign-up on Twitter. I loved Twitter4teachers.
I also signed up for Emerging Technology and Tech Tools - again I don't participate but I am always finding things to try out and take a look at...I am starting to feel guilty about not adding my two cents! LOL
MOOCS is something that I looked into last summer and always seems like such a great idea but then when I found something the timing never seemed to work out. I love the idea and all the different avenues it opens up not only for teachers but for our students. I have tried out EdX...there was nothing library related but I did follow up on an art history course and a Jazz Appreciation course. Both were archived courses but you can view all of the materials - watch the videos and audit the course when you are done. Again...I just wish I had more time in a day!
So I am now writing a proposal to see if some of these fabulous opportunitites for meaningful learning will get us the PD credit they so deserve!
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