Monday, December 18, 2017

Thing 9: Search Tools Ninja

c.php?g=762166&p=5465148 . I love how LibGuides are meant to be a curated, one-stop shop for students and their teachers. I even figured out how to give the teachers the rights to update the page (although I suspect sending me the links to add for them if they have additional content will be easier for them). Another great thing! I learned so much and plan to use a ton with my Digital Literacy classes.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Thing 30: Flash Cards, Quiz Games and More

    As the end of the school year approaches, it’s nice to use interactive activities to keep students engaged in lessons. That being said, I thought it’d be perfect to do this “thing” and learn some new ways to motivate students in the final weeks of school.
    I decided to start with Quizlet. I was familiar with Quizlet in a general sense, but had not explored the new Quizlet Live feature. Students were mentioning it and expressing how much they enjoyed it, so I figured it was time to see what it was all about. After re-setting my Quizlet password and gaining access to the site, I spent some time learning about the basic Quizlet options. I had created an account a long time ago but never used it. Rather than create my own new Quizlet set, I searched for existing Digital Literacy Quizlets that matched the content I was looking for. I watched the “Quizlet Live” tutorial video to learn how the “Live” feature works. I then gave it a try using the quizlet I had searched for. I created a folder of my own called “Digital Literacy” and saved the Quizlet to that folder for easy access later. I plan to try this out with my students someday this week. I think they will love it! And I love that Quizlet creates the teams for me, so there’s no arguing and it is totally random.
    Kahoot seems to be quite popular as well, so I wanted to look further into this tool. It turned out that I needed to create a game for my 4H club, so I decided to use this for that particular activity. (I find that much of what I learn in this Cool Tools course can be applied to both personal and professional settings.) I think you can view the kahoot I created for my canine 4H club by going to https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/541caa16-34ca-42ab-b9af-2fc97d22d4f3 . I will definitely be using Kahoot with all of my classes as well! I love how it is searchable by topic and that you can use other people’s Kahoots very easily - either as is, or by copying certian questions. A great tool for sure!
    With our District’s migration to all things Google, I thought it would also be helpful and useful to learn how to use Google Forms for quizzes. I read the article Creating Quizzes with Google Forms and saved it for future reference. I found the directions in this article not completely aligned with how my Google Forms actually worked, but I was able to figure things out for the most part. I believe you can view my sample quiz at https://docs.google.com/a/millbrookcsd.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmXeKU9_VoP97igQUo0gCCb7E-fEs4IfWKlzOi2JzY64QCFg/viewform?usp=sf_link if I did it correctly! I e-mailed it to myself so I could “take” the quiz and learn how the scoring and grading features worked as well. Seemed pretty straight-forward, but I am not yet 100% confident to give this a try yet with actual students. I think I may test it with a small group just to see how the results and feedback look on my end.
    A couple of teachers in my school use Flubaroo and have lead an in-service on how to use it, but I haven’t fully embraced it yet, so I decided to also take a look at how this add-on works. To get started I watched the 3 minute demo to get an overview. The classes I teach are all “pass/fail”, so I didn’t really see a huge relevance to my own teaching for this particular tool, although it’s nice to know it’s available. I would use the Google Forms quiz more as a means of collecting information and for assessment purposes, but not necessarily take it to the level of spreadsheets and Flubaroo grading systems.
    Overall, this was another great “thing” and I definitely will be using Quizlet Live and Kahoot with my classes before the end of this school year!

Friday, May 12, 2017

Thing 25: App-palooza!

I am still getting used to the cart of Chromebooks I have in my Middle School library, and still learning about tools that are compatible with them. I decided to explore this “thing” in hopes of learning more about different tools I can use with my students for projects and presentations.
To get started, I read through We Put The "Library In Our Pockets" at Van Meter This Week and loved the idea! Unfortunately the students in our Middle School aren’t allowed to have their phones out during the school day though, so I shared the article with my HS colleagues. Next I checked out Should I Download That App? to get a nice overview of things to keep in mind when requesting an app be purchased for the District. I realized I don’t even know how teachers should go about requesting apps for their students - but I intend to find out as I learn more about how to utilize my ChromeBooks!

While browsing the recommended links, I came across another great article that I don’t think is included in “Thing 25” but might be added: 50 Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling . It’s a great list of resources that includes brief descriptions so you know right away which ones are Apple or Android specific. A useful site to bookmark for sure!

I browsed through a few more of the suggested sites to gain an overview of what is out there. My final stop was at the list of App Task Challenges . What a great resource to use when learning new tools! As suggested, I decided to do a couple of these challenges as my learning activity for this assignment. Like I try to do with most of these Cool Tools assignments, I thought about teacher collaborations I am working on, and decided to re-visit the digital storytelling project I am starting with the 7th grade English classes in two weeks. The students will be writing their own bedtime stories, and the English teacher has asked me to assist them with somehow digitizing them. I’ve been thinking about different possibilities (some of which I’ve learned how to do during this course!) and trying to decide what to do. Thanks to these App Task Challenges, I had the opportunity to try out a couple of new options.

First I looked through the list to see which ones seemed to be related to publishing student writing. I started with the “My Story” app task challenge. Although fun and easy to use on my device, I was concerned about how well it would work on my library ChromeBooks. I decided to look at another app task challenge before testing them on a ChromeBook. I immediately LOVED everything about the “Spark Video” app task challenge and the program. I had a student log in using their school google account on a ChromeBook to make sure it worked, and success!! I believe you can view the mini-project I created at the following link:

See my story: Carmella the Therapy Pony

https://spark.adobe.com/video/IhapHLKTi3LuG

I have no doubt my 7th graders will have a great time digitizing their bedtime stories using this program! The educational value of this app is endless: technology skills, writing skills, language arts, collaboration, digital storytelling - the list goes on - and all in an easily sharable / publishable format that showcases student learning. I can’t wait to use it! Thanks for another great learning opportunity through Thing 25!

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Thing 34: Collaborating, Connecting, Sharing

As I was browsing the topics and deciding which “thing” to work on next, this one caught my eye. At first I didn’t think it’d be one to delve into, but when I noticed the option for an “EasyBib add-on” for Google Drive, my interest was piqued! My library has a cart full of ChromeBooks, so I’ve been learning many things Google new this year. Interestingly enough, I happen to be teaching citations and EasyBib to my 6th graders this week! The other new tool I explored more in-depth was Kaizena.

I started by reading through the reviews on the link provided and found some mixed reviews. It sounded like the EasyBib add-on works great for basic sources, but is not the best for higher education and more complicated documents, speeches, etc. I decided to try it out by adding the regular link to EasyBib on my library website ( http://mms.dboces.opalsinfo.net/bin/home ) with a tab for “Citation Tools”. Up until this year I’ve used Knightcite, so that is also still shown as well.

Students found it easy to enter websites and book titles into EasyBib. They generated their list of citations, and could then check off the ones they wanted to include in their research project. (Sometimes students ended up with duplicate citations, so I had them be sure to select only one if they were identical.) I was amazed to discover upon clicking “export” that EasyBib sends the citation list directly to Google Docs for my students! It clearly identifies the document name, and was super easy for my 6th graders to work with. The only downside besides the occasional duplicate citations (which could very well be student error!), is that we failed to realize that if the student didn’t finish citing all of their sources in one sitting, the citations they DID complete would not be saved for the next time. Oops! Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way and when my 6th grader exclaimed, “Wait! It didn’t save the citations I made yesterday!”. Lesson learned! I will definitely continue to use EasyBib with Google. I need to check in my Tech Director to see if I am allowed to activate the add-ons myself, or if that is something she needs to manage.

Next, I decided to learn more about Google add-ons by browsing the article “15 Best Google Drive Add-Ons for Education”. I had no idea Google could things like this! I tweeted the article out to my Twitter followers, tagging a couple of my fellow educators (@MCSDlibrary). There is an add-on for everyone, whether English, Math, or Library! Amazing! I explored a couple of them, including Kaizena, since I noticed it appears on both the “thing resource list” AND within this article. As I watched the video tutorial, I couldn’t help but think it was much like Google Classroom, which students are already familiar with, and didn’t think Kaizena was something I would look into adding. I suppose it would depend on the student population a teacher works with, since it allows for the audio commenting rather than just textual. For me, I don’t see myself continuing to use it at this time.

Some of the resources listed in this “thing” that I was already familiar with. I am already a very active user of Google Drive, and use it to share documents with students and colleagues quite often, and I learned about appear.in while working on one of the other “things” in this course (maybe last year?). I created an appear.in account and now my son actually uses it to “meet up” with his fellow 4th grade buddies after school virtually. He uses it more than me! My daughter introduced me to a similar app that isn’t mentioned in this “thing”, so you may be interested in checking out “HouseParty” as well. At first I was put off by the name, but it does work well for collaborative efforts (my 8th grader uses it to work on collaborative homework projects with her classmates).

I also took a look at the Six Tools for Collaborative Brainstorming – A Comparison Chart but wasn’t immediately drawn into anything on the chart (plus my school does not have BOX so it wasn’t easily compatible to view in Google Docs).

The Best of Breed 2016 website was great though, and I bookmarked that one. It will be a good reference when I need to look for a particular type of learning tools. I especially appreciate how it is laid out into the 4 categories for quick selection!

Lastly, I check out the “New Tools” libguide from Springfield township, and WHOA! What an amazing collection that is! Another bookmark went in for that one… a bit much to digest at once, but it will be a great resource when I am looking for something specific.

I love how I am able to glean so many new resources in every “thing” I complete. It keeps me motivated and always trying out new things with my students. Another great learning activity!

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Thing 35 - Web Presence

As I read through the assignment for thing 35, I reflected on the experiences I’ve had with both Blogger (which I use for this course) and Weebly (which I’ve used in the past in my personal life). Both are straightforward and easy to use, and I would say I like both equally. Since this is my third “Cool Tools” course, I appreciate how I can continue adding to the same blog via Blogger. It’s very useful to have this a reference for myself when I want to go back use some of the things I’ve learned but need a refresher.

My school uses several Google products, but I’ve never explored Google Sites before, so I decided to look at some examples of ways it is being used. I visited the Holliston High School page and went to see how the library webpage looked. I found it rather simple, and not all that visually appealing. Interestingly, the Staples Library Learning Commons site was TOO visually stimulating for me! The varying layouts were good to show the flexibility of Google Sites though - clearly it can be customized quite a bit!

When I saw LibGuides included on this “thing”, I was very excited! I’ve heard of them, and seen them come up in Google searches before, but never really knew what they were. I didn’t even realize they are something I can subscribe to! I will be reaching out to my School Library System coordinator at BOCES for sure. I always thought “libguides” was a generic term and that librarians were just making them themselves! Since I don’t currently have a subscription to LibGuides, I tried my hand at making my own version. Check out the tabs called “SS8 Settlement of the West” and “Science 7 Elements” about half way on my library homepage (powered by OPALS): http://mms.dboces.opalsinfo.net/bin/home I think they turned out pretty good!

I found the “tips” helpful - especially the reminder to keep your webpage fresh. I need to do a better job of updating it and making it more dynamic. For my “learning activity”, I chose:

“Examine your current web site: what needs to change? Look at other school library websites and get ideas. Create a plan for moving to your dream site!”.

I explored the library webpages of nearby school libraries to get ideas. Overall, I think my webpage looks okay (link is included above). I’d like to add more pictures that I swap out every week or two, as well as post photos of student projects. I also plan to add more of my homemade “pathfinders” as I collaborate with different teachers & content areas. Now that I realize what the LibGuides are, I hope to also gain access to them officially.

Thank you for another great “thing”!

Friday, March 3, 2017

Thing 16: Media Skills

Since I teach a Digital Literacy course, and pride myself on my knowledge of Web 2.0 tools (mostly thanks to these “Cool Tools” courses!), I had to check out Thing 16’s updates for this year. I read through the whole assignment, and took a look at a couple of the examples. I love the photography scavenger hunt idea, and forwarded that link to my husband who has a Middle School Photography Club in his school district.

After looking at the examples, I browsed through the learning activity suggestions. I already knew how to do a screenshot of my computer, so I moved on to other ideas for something new. The animated GIF creator and Instagram “FlipaGram” each caught my eye - I’ve tried (unsuccessfully) to create the animated GIFs on my way own, and I’ve never heard of a FlipaGram - so these two seemed the perfect places to get started.

I looked at the flower GIF as an example, and then began with the GIF tutorial video featuring www.Makeagif.com and www.giphy.com (good selection of actual GIFs to see how other people are using them). I love how the tutorial clearly explained the Makeagif website’s tools and options. I learned that there are different types of GIF files: series of still images that tell a short story, series of drawings that create a fluid animation, slide show, etc.

Steps from the video tutorial to create basic slideshow GIF:

-Gather and save all images I want to use to a folder on my computer

-Go to makeagif.com (create free account), and add pictures

-Choose order images appear, speed of photo changes (faster speeds give illusion of movement)

-Add details and rating, create GIF - and it’s ready to share!

After watching the video, I decided to give it a try! I found a video on YouTube of one of our horses, Zoe, galloping around the arena. I selected a “dramatic” segment on the video and used it to create my first GIF! It can be viewed at http://makeagif.com/i/djP1Ni . This was really fun, and I’m excited to try it with some still images as well. I think my Digital Literacy students will enjoy creating GIFs of their own as we start our research projects. For those, I plan to use the still image “slideshow” animated GIFs.

Next, I moved on to the FlipaGram tutorial. I had to start by downloading the app to my iPhone. I had some photographs of my Middle School Yearbook Club members on my phone so I decided to try it out using those three images along with some music in the background. The tutorial walked me through the entire process, and offered extra information I didn’t try out yet (like adding text). I posted the FlipaGram to my school Instagram account viewable under username mcsdlibrary (Millbrook Library Media Center) - sorry I couldn’t figure out how to link to it directly in this blog!

I really learned a lot from this “Thing” and look forward to implementing both of my focus areas with my classes. The GIF creator is something I will have my students actually use to create content relevant to their class projects and our upcoming author visits. The FlipaGram will be most useful for me professionally in keeping up with technology and using my creations on my library social media - must stay fresh and “relevant” to the students! Thanks for another great “thing” learning experience!

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Thing 33 - eBook Creation

eBook Creation - Thing 33

Having just completed the Digital Storytelling “thing”, and keeping my upcoming ELA7 collaboration in mind, I was very excited to see this new “thing” with ideas for creating eBooks. It seemed like the perfect topic to continue with! This is the first year my school has fully embraced Google and Google Classroom / Google Drive so I am still learning how to use all the features. When I saw that Google Slides could be used for eBook creation, I was super excited to explore that option. I have 24 ChromeBooks in my library, so using a Google “app” for this 7th grade project would be an ideal way to get “my feet wet” with both eBook publishing and extending my knowledge of Google applications.

Before I got going with Google Slides, I explored StoryBird so I’d have something to compare Google slides to. I found StoryBird a bit too “young” feeling for what I have in mind for the 7th grade project. It was simple to use though.

So on to Google Slides eBooks! I opened a new Google Slides project and followed the directions to customize the layout. I then went downloaded and printed the Google Cheat Sheets eBook and printed the detailed information on How to Create an Interactive eBook on Google slides. After browsing through this information, I began creating a Google Slides eBook about our upcoming visiting author Wendy Mass.

I entered some basic information onto slides with varying backgrounds within the theme. I experimented with doing my own master slide edits, but found it simple enough to customize the regular Google slides template on my own, so I didn’t really explore changing the master slides too much. The video tutorial moved pretty quickly, and did not have voice-over, so that will take a couple of viewings the fully comprehend. I did see how the author was able to change the template with the gray header box and create space holders. I was inspired to attempt bringing a YouTube video into my eBook, though, and found the movie trailer for Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (one of her books that was made into a movie). Success!!

After I finished adding content, I went back to the tutorial to learn how to export the eBook and publish for the web. I already knew how to download/export as a PDF, but had never created anything for direct web publication. It was so easy to do! You can check out my eBook about Wendy Mass that I created by visiting the following URL:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16wLzjWHpD6OhR6ijMv9YbwhVvGTwdlJvcXpWXlUYIO0/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

After going through this exercise, I’m not 100% sure that this will work for the 7th grade project, since they are looking at more animation & sound features for the bedtime stories project. However, I now better understand the difference between digital storytelling from my earlier “thing” and eBook publishing. Since I have several ChromeBooks in my library, I looked at Book Creators for Chromebooks to get specific ideas for publishing student eBooks to my library webpage in the future. I plan to introduce eBook publishing with my 6th graders for sure - they can publish digital version of the Zines they are making in preparation for our Wendy Mass visit. It is something I think they will definitely enjoy - just like I enjoyed learning about eBook creation using Google slides!