Portfolio Assignment/ Conference Presentation

Trek to EdgyTech

Proposal- Trek to Edgytech

Conference Theme- Librarians on the Edge

Librarians on the edge, you’re invited to bring you laptops and join us for a session to acquaint you with five user-friendly technology tools.  We’ll be focusing on avatars, audio tools, image editing, creating short videos, and infographics.  This session is designed for people working in the elementary school.

Presentation     http://www.slideshare.net/snewe003/edgytech-51368463

 

Great Blog to Follow

The Adventures of Library Girl http://www.librarygirl.net/

One of my favorite blogs written by a librarian is The Adventures of Library Girl, by Jennifer LaGarde.  Through her relevant, concise posts, it is evident that Ms. LaGarde has a great connection with the needs of the teachers and students that she services.  Her insights are reflective of the time she spent as a classroom teacher and the practical suggestions and ideas she discusses seem like they would be easy to incorporate.  I'd love to take part in her book club!

American Association of School Librarians Best Websites for Teaching & Learning 2015

Three Favorite Websites

My Storybook - Digital Storytelling            https://www.mystorybook.com/

This website and app is extremely user-friendly.  Students can create their own books and use a variety of stickers and scenes to enhance their text .  My Storybook also has drawing tools, a variety of color options, and the ability to upload pictures. Students can read others' books, as well as create, print, share, and publish their own books.  In the library, this would be fun to use collaboratively to create a class book as an extension of familiar literature.  Students could use this tool to display their understanding of some content or subject recently studied.

FlipQuiz - Manage & Organize           http://flipquiz.me/

Educators and older students could quickly create a "Jeopardy"- style game board with this tool. Clues/questions are placed under categories with point values assigned to each.  Students choose a category and point value to receive a clue/question to answer.  The number of categories and teams/participants can be adapted as needed.  Librarians can use this fun game to review genres, parts of books, story elements,  practice for Book Bowls, etc...

Gooru - Curriculum Collaboration                http://goorulearning.org/#home 

Gooru is a free website that teachers and students can use to search for online resources and lesson plans to use and create personal collections of various subject matter.  Users can also view and edit existing collections as needed.  This would be an excellent tool to use to create collections that would be readily available for students' reference on typical study topics and how-to tutorials. It would also be an easy, user-friendly way to provide resources to teachers.

Presentation Tools

Emaze        https://www.emaze.com/

Emaze is very user friendly.  This tool can be used in a classroom of young students.  It has a good selection of templates available to create simple presentations and the icons are easy to locate and understand.  Students could take pictures of their class projects, insert them into the template, and add their text.

Slidely       http://slidely.com/?tid=0

Slidely is another presentation tool that can be used with younger students.  It takes only a short time to add photos, music and stickers.  Slidely could be used for students to present pictures of shapes in their environment and label them appropriately with stickers. 

3-D Printing, Coding, and Robotics

This week’s readings were some of the most interesting readings to date.  I’ve heard people mention 3-D printing and now I have some understanding of what it is and how it can be used.  The concept is fascinating! Three of my favorite ideas for utilizing 3-D printing in a school or school library setting are creating props to be used in a stop-motion animation project such as making a digital book report, improving authenticity of learning by producing and using 3 dimensional objects that are related to topics that are being studied, and using 3D printing to create products that represent students’ solutions to contrived problems.

Another great way to promote students’ development of higher level thinking skills is coding. Coding requires the user to develop the skills necessary to think through steps to solve problems, understand cause and effect, and it promotes increased stamina to find solutions to problems. These skills are necessary for good decision making in everyday life and they will help students be more successful in any occupation they pursue. There are numerous resources available to get students engaged in activities that foster understanding and mastery of programming skills.  From utilization of board games for very young children to sophisticated computer games and creation work spaces for older students, opportunities for digital learning can be obtained in schools.

Robots can offer assistance, motivation, and entertainment. In the library, robots could be used to assist students with research or accomplish other tasks that are multi-step processes.  Robots can provide verbal instruction of task steps for students to follow and they can ask questions that would prompt students to verify that the required steps had been followed and all elements for completion of a task had been carried out.

Sources

Powell, B. (2014, November 17). ABC Eyewitness News: 3-D Printing is changing how elementary school students learn. Retrieved July 11, 2015 from http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3622112.shtml

Sansing, C. (2015, May 4). School Library Journal: 3D printing, worth the hype? Retrieved July 11, 2015 from http://www.slj.com/2015/05/technology/3-d-printing-worth-the-hype-the-maker-issue/#_

Tahnk, J. (2015, April 27). Huffington Post: Cool products for teaching kids how to code. Retrieved July 11, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeana-lee-tahnk/neat-products-for-teachin_b_7138030.html

Yam, K. (2015, April 14). Huffington Post: Cherry robot helps kids with pain during hospital procedures. Retrieved July 13, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/14/medi-robot_n_7057168.html  

Creating a QR Code

This QR code links to the website of my favorite photographer!    
http://christistandleyphotography.com/index2.php#!/Home   QR code created using QR Code Monkey Retrieved July 5, 2015
                                                                                              http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/

 

 

Video Creation Tools:

Sharalike             https://sharalike.com/

This app would be so useful in my personal life and my professional life.  It took only a few minutes to create an album, name it, change the music, rename the album, and experiment with several styles. I plan on making one of these albums to use for back to school night in the fall.  The students could use Sharalike to create albums documenting their creation of a project, record an experiment, make a class album to document “Signs of Fall”, display types of transportation, animals that hibernate, etc…

 

Animoto              http://animoto

Animoto immediately appealed to me.  The various background styles and numerous songs to choose from enticed me to create a birthday video for a family member before beginning my class project.  Even young students would be able to create videos using this program.  They could use Animoto to introduce themselves with an “All About Me” video, illustrate stories they’ve written, create a “commercial” about something they learned from the morning announcements (a motivator for listening), or make a “how-to” presentation about something they’ve learned.

 

Jing                http://www.techsmith.com/jng.html

I found Jing to be very interesting and something that would be most useful in working with older students or a tool for teachers and librarians to incorporate in their teaching.  Students could record their presentations to present at a later date, document ways to work math problems, record research, or “teach” something they’ve learned. There are numerous tutorials that provide visual, audio, and written assistance, along with practice and several ways to access help using this software.  When I get the opportunity, I would like to devote additional time to learn how to successfully use this tool. 

Library Websites

After reviewing many school library websites, I chose to share the following:

http://guides.rilinkschools.org/content.php?pid=548659&sid=4517818

http://wweslibrary.wix.com/wwlibrary

The first website contains a multitude of useful links and an incredible amount of information. It is possibly the most comprehensive elementary school library website that I have ever seen.  This is a terrific resource for anyone that is just beginning to create a library website or for anyone that is ons of useful nt,pdate their current website or begin a website--great resource for librarwanting ideas to update or enhance their current website. Possibly due in part to its extensiveness, it does look like it would take some practice for younger students to learn to navigate.  The very small tabs would not be conducive to independent use by early elementary age children.

The second website does not include everything that we have learned should be included in a school library website; however, I loved the idea of having a page for students that resembles the WWES home page. Even first grade students would be able to independently locate and use a web page with this type of design.

After looking at the website creation tools, I have chosen to use Weebly.  Based on comments that I’ve read, this could possibly be the easiest site for beginners such as myself.  Well, here I go….off to begin designing my first website.

Podcast

Podcasts can be used in numerous ways in the elementary classroom.  A few of my favorite ideas are student book talks, students reading their own stories, sharing research project information, promoting school events, conducting interviews, and creating a school or classroom radio show.

The podcast that especially interested me was the Let's Get Busy Podcast.  It is hosted by Matthew Winter, an elementary school librarian.  This podcast contains interviews with many authors and illustrators. I was immediately hooked when I heard his interviews with Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of Lunch Lady, and Dan Santat, author of The Adventures of Beekle. Another great feature is what Mr.Winter refers to as his "5 books in 5 minutes" book reviews.  This podcast is a wonderful resource for librarians and teachers.

http://lgbpodcast.blogspot.com/

Audio Tools

Voki

One of my favorite audio tools is Voki. It appeals to students, it is easy to use and it contains a variety of characters, backgrounds, and voice options.

Vocaroo

Another audio tool, Vocaroo, is extremely easy to use. It is simply a voice recording tool. The user does not need to create an account, but he/she must have access to a microphone.

Audio Pal

Audio Pal, another voice recording tool has more options than Vocaroo. Your message can be recorded through the use of a microphone, phone, text-to-speech device, or a MP3 file. Like Vocaroo, the user does not need to set up an account. Simply provide an email address where you can receive the link to your audio message.

Blabberize

Blabberize is an audio tool that allows the user to "talk through a picture". Audio could be added through the use of a microphone, phone, or a recording. Blabberize is not as user-friendly as some of the other tools that we've looked at, but it is always a favorite of young students.

Ways to Use Audio Tools in the Classroom

In the first grade classroom, I would use any of these tools to provide a motivating way for students to practice fluency, sight word recall, create a story starter or tell their ending of a story, retell stories, create riddles and rhymes, and improve expression and listening skills.

Infographic

Reading is Relevant!

After reading reviews of online tools used for creating infographics, I decided to use Picktochart.  I loved the idea of being able to embed videos into the infographic; however, it does limit how it can be saved and presented. 

My biggest challenges were manipulating the font and getting my work to actually save even though it indicated that it was saved.  For some reason, I could see other available fonts, but I could not get them to work.

After investing numerous hours due to the fact that I had to recreate my entire infographic because it did not save, I decided to focus more on learning how to create the content that I wanted to include, remain concise, use current data, and utilize a good amount of variety. (http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2014/10/10/5-great-online-tools-for-creating-infographics.html)

Hopefully, my story is apparent.  In America, the ability to read, often has a great impact on an individual’s future, there are many benefits of reading, and there are ways we can help motivate students to read.

As I become more proficient at designing infographics, there will be additional time to focus on creating infographics that reflect the concepts of design that help to create products that look more professional.   I’m looking forward to learning more about creating effective infographics as I view the work of my classmates.

The following is the link to my infographic:

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/6492150-reading-is-relevant-copy-copy

Images

This week's information about the use of images, namely photographs, was very interesting.  Much of the information presented will be simple to incorporate personally and professionally to create products that look more professional.

The first image that I chose to use is an oak tree sapling.  It effectively represents my feelings as I am learning technology skills and information that I can use later to become a more proficient teacher.  Growth is not always easy!

Creator Unknown (2013) Pixabay.com. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/p-55325/ CC0
 Newell, S. (2015). Growth [photo poster]. http://bighugelabs.com/. CC By-NC

As noted above, Big Huge Labs was used to create a motivational poster. 
In the classroom, students could use this to create a page displaying their understanding of a concept they had learned.  For example, students could take pictures of various playground activities and label them as the type of motion that is being shown.   

Next, I used a photo frame that was on Image Chef.  This site allowed me to add, crop, and tint a photo and personalize the headline to "The Daily News".

Creator Unknown (2014) Pixabay.com. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/children-nature-development-516342/ CC0
 Newell, S. (2015). Daily News [photo poster]. http://imagechef.com/t/5er2/Daily-News. CC By-NC

Students could use Image Chef to create a poster with a picture and headline showing something their group had created.

Since we are all juggling many roles and responsibilities, I decided to include a photograph of a juggler.  This is definitely not a photo of highest quality but it was fun to use as I experimented with Tuxpi. I cropped the photo, then used Tuxpi to experiment with editing the edges, border, color, and tone. A swirl effect for the edges and color change was used to create the final product.

Royan, J. (2013) Two Clown Musicians and a Pretty Juggler [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMunich

 Newell, S. (2015). Tuxpi Photo Editor[photo]. CC By-NC

Students would enjoy using this to enhance their presentations. 

Foldplay could be used by students to create books which contain their stories or various other concepts such as patterns, fractions, parts of a plant, famous Americans, etc...

Puzzles created in Foldplay could be used for first-day introductions or team building activities.

I'm looking forward to utilizing some of these great tools to enhance my teaching and provide opportunities for students to create products to showcase their knowledge and understanding.

Back to School-Up Hill

Hello! My name is Susan.

I'm sure it is extremely evident that this is my first attempt at blogging! It has been quite an adventure.

I began working on this project much later than I had hoped as our moving escapade this weekend was quite eventful.  Please forgive me for not putting to use the many wonderful design suggestions that were included in this week's readings.  At this point, I feel I must concentrate on getting this assignment completed. I tend to be a perfectionist so this is really difficult for me to accept the fact that I am just going to have to move on.

The most rewarding part of my job as a first grade teacher is teaching students to read. My passion for helping to create strong readers is driven by my commitment to help children obtain the necessary tools to have a successful academic career and stimulate their love for learning through literature. Although I love teaching first grade, it is time for me to acknowledge my aspirations of becoming a librarian.  My experience as a classroom teacher has enhanced my desire to work with students of many different ages and reading levels in the role of reading motivator and encourager while working with teachers to support their endeavors. I'm excited about taking my first steps to becoming a school librarian.

I used Tagxedo with a blog post that contained many of the words that come to mind when I think of the word, endeavor.  Looking at my journey ahead and all that I will endeavor to do, Every Day Can Be A Starting Point: Make a new Beginning written by Mark Hermann seemed to be a likely source for words for my Tagxedo.

 

After experimenting with several available fonts, I chose Helvetica due to its simplicity.  I agree with Gary Reynolds as he refers to this font, "...may be neutral". (Reynolds, 2014, p. 42) I am so overwhelmed after working with two computers with limited capabilities today, that I really did feel like being neutral rather than choosing a font as a personal reflection.

 

M. Hermann.  Every Day Can Be A Starting Point: Make A New Beginning [Web log comment]. Retrieved May 23, 2015, from
     http://tinybuddha.com/blog/every-day-can-be-a-starting-point-make-a-new-beginning/

Reynolds, G. (2014). Presentation Zen Design: A simple visual approach to presenting in today's world  (2d ed.) United States of America:New Riders.