Week 14: Revisiting the Top 10 Things Every Library Teacher Should Know About Technology

My reflections on my initial list are in pink.

1. Even with the growth of technology in the classroom, nothing replaces (or compares to) a teacher passionate about the subject s/he teaches. Students need your wisdom and experience to help guide them as 21st century learners. My wisdom comes from staying on top of the ever evolving changes in technology. If I remain current and well-versed in the tools I want my students to use, they are more likely to use them and understand how they can be used well.

2. Navigating a new app or Social Media tool is easier than you think. If it were too complicated, a company would not produce it because it wouldn't make money. You are savvier than you think when it comes to technology! This is a mantra (albeit a long one) that I remind myself of daily. I also find that now that I'm teaching technology, I find myself saying this to both students and teachers I am helping. 

3. You are not expected to be an expert on any one piece of technology-- ask for help, especially from teachers who you feel use technology supremely well! Yes, yes, yes. I was very intimidated to facilitate Hour of Code at my school. I had the chance to observe the IT in my building run an Hour of Code. She also gave me some great suggestions to prepare myself for running an HOC. I'm feeling confident and excited to facilitate HOC my school in the coming weeks. 

4. Join communities online to get support and to learn about how you can implement technology in the classroom. I'm now a part of MSLA and I'm already finding it so helpful. I love the idea of having connections to LTs across the Commonwealth. 

5. Do not fear change. The unfolding changes in technology offer new possibilities to make your teaching more dynamic and your classroom more innovative. Words to live by. It can be scary, but knowing that I am creating a network of people who can help me is huge.

6. Share your experiences with technology with peers. Encouraging others to explore technology can create opportunities for colleagues to learn and explore together. This is so important. Encouraging staff who are more hesitant to use technology, or a new tool, has been really rewarding.

7. Be flexible. You may feel like you've mastered your favorite digital tools or strategies for teaching with technology, but there are always new tools being created, and new ways to approach technology as the field unfolds. I still feel overwhelmed by the arrival of more and more tools, but reminding myself that I don't need to be the master of every tool (or even be proficient in each tool) is huge.

8. Don't get too caught up in all of the "bells and whistles" of a particular piece of technology. Make sure your students are using that technology as a vehicle for their learning and to create new knowledge. I've really kept this in mind the past semester. 

9. Use technology as a new way to communicate with parents is relatively easy but offers a big impact. When parents get a regular peek into your classroom to see the excellence occurring, you are not only communicating with parents, but you are cultivating advocates that can support and defend education and educational policies. I've created newsletters for my principal and supervisor, yet I can be sharing these newsletters with the community at large. Good reminder for me!

10. Learning new technologies is a humbling experience and a great opportunity for teachers to empathize with our students on their educational journey. I feel this daily. Recalling how I scared I was to even use the OPAC at my school back in September has given me the opportunity to be extra patient with students, teachers and parents who are using Destiny.

Week 13: OPAC

Like I mentioned in a post from the discussion board this week, I truly hadn't thought much about the OPAC used in my district. I am not that fond of it, but I had no idea there were so many options out there! Don't get me wrong, Destiny is a good OPAC. I find the assortment of searching options very useful (power search, visual search, etc.). I especially love all of the specificity options with the power search (including date of publishing, award winning, and interest level).

My biggest beef with it is the bibliographic records. The call number is not pronounced enough and I also don't like the way they communicate if an item is available ("0 of 1 available", etc.), that just feels too confusing for younger patrons. I also find the interface dated. It doesn't breathe excitement, the books don't jump off the screen, begging to be borrowed. Having some control of the settings (background design, widget options, etc.) would certainly freshen things up.

I'm still so new to this profession, which is both exciting and humbling. Admittedly, I would default to a key word search when helping one of my students find a book. After learning more about cataloging in general and OPACs, I'm finding that I'm become more well-versed in Destiny's search features, which I'm really grateful for!

Week 12: Cataloging Part Two

I had a really hard time connecting with Catalog It! So much information to process! My big takeaway is first, gratitude that Follett's Destiny does the cataloging for me. However, I do appreciate having the opportunity to go behind the scenes and understand how cataloging works. I found myself thinking about the ways I search for books in my catalog, or the way I've been helping my students, and have realized that by tweaking the subject information I'm in search of I can get to the source I'm looking for faster.

While my library does have some periodicals, they never hold up long enough for them to be properly cataloged. I've tried using magazine covers, but found them to be cumbersome and kids weren't drawn to borrowing them. However, if I move to a middle school or high school one day, it was interesting to understand how to catalog periodicals.

Looking ahead to the future, I was excited to be introduced to BIBFRAME. Granted, it will probably be a long time coming before I have the opportunity to use it, but I appreciated getting a brief understanding of how it works and how it can better serve patrons and librarians. I am interested in hearing how BIBFRAME will impact school library cataloging systems in the years to come.

Week 11: Cataloging

While I did struggle with the assigned reading this week, I did take away a lot of important information and certainly have a better understanding of how cataloging in general works.

Having the opportunity to expand my knowledge of Dewey was really helpful and frankly, I find his classification system fascinating and brilliant. While I don't believe students need to know what each 10 main classes of the DDC are, I do think it's helpful that the understand that there is a system, why there is a system, and how to access the system. I also really appreciated understanding why folk and fairy tales were classified as 384.2 as well as why poetry and graphic novels are in non-fiction as well. I like the flexibility that is accepted for school librarians to organize the remaining types of fiction in their own departments. Personally, I like having graphic novels remain in the non-fiction area because while students are browsing, they may discover other books in the 700s (or nearby classes) that they would not have found otherwise.

I was unfamiliar with the Metis and Bookstore models until reading Catalog It!. I like the idea of organizing a library in the 26 designated categories, because this can be a way to introduce students to more non-fiction during browsing. With that said, I don't feel confident pioneering a new organizational program at my library since I'm still new to the field and position.

The challenging part of the week was understanding the MARC records. I had a hard time understanding all of the components of a MARC, but I do respect the system. The vendors I purchase from create the MARCs for me, but it is important to understand how a title is classified. I definitely haven't hit mastery with this yet.

All in all, for an organizational lover like myself, this was great reading to tackle and I enjoyed learning more about the inner workings of cataloging.

And let's not forget the Top 5 Tools...

Creation tools are now a must for me. I particularly love: VoiceThread because you can use it for high or low tech type projects. Prezi is such a dynamic and powerful way to communicate with an audience (albeit more challenging to learn and navigate with elementary students, at least those in the lower grades).

Animoto is very kid-enticing and can certainly get a student more excited about a project than if the student had to produce an essay or poster. Tumblr is my new go to for images and inspiration. My goal is to connect a private school blog to it. Finally, I love podcasts. The 10 minute formats of ones like #edchat offer an easy way for teachers to stay abreast of trends. I do also love how students can create their own podcasts to share their knowledge.

Week 10: Teaching the teachers

For this week's assignment, I chose the option of creating a PD for teachers who wanted to learn about Social Bookmarking. The idea for this came about in a very organic way. About 6 weeks ago a teacher came to me to get some good research websites. I noticed the teacher jotting down each URL and when I asked if the teacher used Social Bookmarking, the teacher had no idea what I was talking about. Cut to the teacher's lounge during a lunch break a few days later. I casually inquired about Social Bookmarking and none of the teachers in the room had heard of it. I'd made a mental note to create an overview presentation but hadn't gotten around to creating it until last week.

As much as teachers (myself included) focus so much of our energies helping our students learn new tools, I find that we don't give ourselves the support we need to discover new ways of doing things. I decided to use Prezi since it's a more exciting and dynamic way of presenting information. I also wanted to explain what Social Bookmarking is without being too preachy or heavy handed. I also included YouTube basic tutorials so I wouldn't be standing in front of the crowd talking for the entire time.

Following this mini-PD, I would survey teachers to see which platform they were interested in learning more about. Then I would hold mini intro workshops on Symbaloo, Diigo and/or De.li.cious.

Week 9: Tech-Infused Unit Plan(s)

The big challenge for me this week was figuring out which app or tool would fit most appropriately with the lessons I was creating. I found that a "one size fits all" was certainly not the case as I brainstormed potential projects and/or exercises students could use to demonstrate their learning and to create new knowledge on a topic. In other words, I couldn't just choose an app, such as VoiceThread, and plunk it into the lesson. Not that that is my style, but what I'm trying to say is that each app or tool offers its own set of opportunities for student exploration. If I felt that retelling was important to students, using VoiceThread or Animoto would be helpful. If I wanted my students to connect with other students during the research process, or just after completion, Padlet would be a better fit.

Having had the chance to speak with my AT was so valuable, because now I have some very useful tools that I can offer all of my students to help them as they process information. I also like that I created a strong variety in the types of resources students could use to help them process what they were learning and to share their new knowledge in a purposeful way.

One area I do need to learn more about is helping my ELL students. I couldn't help but think a lot of my assignments would be difficult for them if they didn't have an aide with them. I know there are translation apps, but I wonder if that would slow down the learning process?

I was very intentional with the units I created. Since it's November (aka National Picture Book month) I'm planning on using the essence of these lessons with my students. I also am making good connections with the 2nd grade teachers and I like the idea of educating myself on the China mini-unit they teach in January. By doing so, I can reach out to them confidently in December and share some ideas I have to help support the learning in their respective classrooms.

Week 8: Adaptive and Assistive Technology

This has been such an informative week of exploration for me.

Of all the resources explored, I was most intrigued and inspired by Universal Design for Learning. I was last in grad school 15 years ago where I learned about adapting lessons for students with IEPs, etc., I was amazed to see the advancement in this field!

The idea of offering more nuanced options for learning makes so much sense, and I love the way UDL emphasizes that designing curriculum with learning experiences for those "in the margin" benefits everyone. This is the exact opposite of how I have always approached lesson planning. I would think about a lesson that targets the general group of students, and then think about ways to adapt the lesson to meet the needs of students with IEPs and 504s. I'm not understanding how focusing on the latter group of students first benefits all-- including the teacher! There is less work involved in modifying, which frees up a teacher's time to plan more creatively or add meaningful extension activities to the lesson.

My other big takeaway came from Hopkins' 2004 article. Specifically, her suggestions for reasons why Library Teachers should be focusing on AT strategies in the library resonated with me. I feel for those students who experience social isolation. Since libraries can be a very social place with collaborative work, it is so important for LTs to offer opportunities for students who rely on AT to feel included. Hopkins writes: "Technology that promotes increased interaction with others helps to prevent social isolation. Assistive technology that allows a student to access information, communicate or participate in school promotes acceptance."

I am in touch with the SPED team at my school as well as the AT point person for the district. I was thrilled to learn that my district has a UDL wiki tool kit. Cue the confetti! I'm really excited to learn how to adapt library policies, procedures and learning experiences for students that rely on AT, which will then certainly benefit all of my students. LTs in the district are also updating their respective LibGuides and I'm excited to share links on the UDL wiki with those on my LibGuide.

Week 7: Student Interest (Communication and Gaming)

This was a very challenging week for me as I explored the various resources. I use the word challenging because I couldn't help but view the material through multiple lens. While I tried to remain professional and first look at each source through the perspective of a library teacher, I found myself shifting to that of a parent of two young children who will one day be teenagers, when who knows what technology and communication will look like.

The fear of my kids being swallowed up by devices is real for me. At the same time, when I read the PEW research report on the importance of gaming in relationship to a teen boy's friendships I could completely understand why this is the case. One stat that stood out for me was: "78% of teen online gamers say when they play games online it makes them feel more connected to friends they already know. That amounts to 42% of all teens ages 13 to 17."

I certainly don't want my son to be limited socially because his mom was too fearful of letting him play MMO games or VR games. This is reality, this will certainly be the future, and having the opportunity to explore the importance and positive aspects of gaming and online communicating was valuable for me.

Week 6: Promotion and Social Media

The timing of the theme of this week coincided perfectly with the 6 week marker of being back in school. Now that I'm settling into a routine and getting a sense of the scope and sequence of the school year, I'm ready to start connecting with people and sharing what my students and I have been working on in the library. I created a type of 'Return On Investment' GoogleSlides presentation for my principal and supervisor, but now I see that using Vine as a tool is another way to give a little taste of smaller moments occurring in my library.

I also appreciated LinkedIn as a tool for connecting with fellow library teachers and those in the world of school libraries. LinkedIn feels more formal and resume-y than, say, Twitter. But I do believe this kind of platform is helpful to make meaningful professional connections.

I loved the opportunity to explore Twitter for inspiring school library people. In particular, I was thrilled to see Betsy Bird on Twitter. Her tweets are going to be so inspirational and educational for me.

I also think Instagram is such a great tool for elementary library teachers, since it feels like so many parents of elementary students are on Instagram. Sometimes it's more meaningful to see a single photo of a moment in the library, than reading a blog post on everything that's been happening.

Recognizing the importance of promotion is huge for today's library teachers and I'm very excited to dig into these resources further to start creating my own professional footprint.

Week 5: Online Multimedia tools

I really enjoyed exploring this week's online multimedia tools. There's so much out there I feel both thrilled and overwhelmed at the same time!

I'm confident with both YouTube and TeacherTube, so I didn't spend much time exploring them. However, I was totally unfamiliar with Vimeo. Wow-- what a great tool. I love the design, clarity and ease of searching. I can see myself using Vimeo of sharing student book trailers, or offering extension videos/animations to books we've read in class. For example, my 2nd grade students and I explored the Russian folktale, "The Turnip." Having read the book now, it would fun fun for them to see videos that tell the story of the turnip in different ways.

I learned about VoiceThread over the summer in another class (great tool), so I focused more time
poking around various podcasts. "#edchat" to be my favorite. For starters, the length of each podcast was really appealing. When I know I only need to commit myself to 10 minutes to get the latest in the education world I'm much more likely to hit 'play' than if I have to commit myself to a 50 minute podcast. I found their topics fresh, relevant and onpoint. "Talks with Teachers" was also a podcast that resonated with me for the anecdotal approach. Sometimes data needs to be pushed to the wayside and a teacher needs to tell her/his story of challenge that eventually led to success.

I explored ABCya's Animate (as suggested by Richard Byrne). There were many things I liked about this tool including the bright colors and simplicity of tool accessibility. I think ELL students in particular, would feel confident using this tool. However, I can't realistically say I'd be clamoring to integrate this tool into a library lesson plan because of the time factor. Creating an animation can be very laborious and time consuming. Since I only have 30 minutes with my students each week I think ABCya's Animate would eat up too much class time. With that said, I would definitely still introduce it and encourage my students to use it, but more in the context of an out of school extension activity. I would certainly welcome students to share their final product with the class.

Week 4: Digging into those digital tools

Here is a summary of my experience exploring these tools:

My favorites:

Flickr. This platform was completely new to me. While I love the search features via Geotaggings to explore images from around the world, and I do like the quality and clarity of the pictures, I found myself feel overwhelmed by how much I can explore on Flickr.

Here is a link to my Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/144787860@N05/

Timeline. I loved, loved, loved this product. It's very easy to use so both students and tech-skiddish teachers will be able to create a timeline with minimal support. I see this tool being especially helpful for social studies and writer's workshop projects.

Survey Monkey. The bulk of our staff meetings for the year have focused on collecting data to better educate ourselves on the types of skills, concepts, etc., that we need to address in our teaching. I can totally see myself using SM with students, teachers, and library volunteers to create new channels of communication in regards to how I (and the library) can best service members of my school community. Yea!

Bubble.us. I adored this site. It was so easy to generate brainstorming visuals and it's such a helpful tool for students to explain their thinking, generate ideas for a topic or project, as well as for classroom teachers to map out information.

Good, but...
So Zamzer is a brilliant concept, but I didn't like that I had to pay for the service. I know, sounds very ridiculous since they are offering a service, but I wish they offered a basic non-subscription option. I don't see myself using it enough to justify the $9 service charge.

I like the concept of Voki, but I only have my students for 30 minutes a week in library and I can easily see elementary kids getting caught up in the details of their avatar, instead of focusing on the content of their work.



TOOL USAGE LIST

1. FLICKR. A fifth grade class creating a project about life in Colonial American can use their search to find photos of national historical landmarks to be included in a presentation (i.e., Buckman Tavern in Concord, Bunker Hill monument.

2. BIG HUGE LABELS. Students can create spine poetry, then take pictures of it and import photos to Big Huge Labels to create puzzles. The custom puzzles can be put in activity bins that can be dispersed to classrooms for rainy day or quiet time activities, or be kept in the library for centers.

3. TIMELINE. When creating a library volunteer presentation, the library teacher can highlight the arc of the year in the library by creating a timeline. This will help volunteers get a visual sense of the themes during the course of the year, specific programs that occur, etc.

4. GLOGSTER. When students are learning about American symbols, they can share their knowledge by creating in Glogster. Students are assigned to one image and their interactive poster shares information about said symbol. The teacher and/or library teacher can compile the posters for a presentation to post on the class or library blog.

5. ZAMZER. When the previous library teacher leaves PDFs of manuals and passwords, the new library teacher can use Zamzer to convert the PDF to a DOCX to make changes and updates, instead of handtyping the PDF into a new document.

6. SURVEY MONKEY. The library teacher overhears teachers at lunch talking about how annoying it is to book mark a page in Safari. Said library teacher suggests a social bookmarking tool and the teachers look at the LT like she has three heads. The LT uses Survey Monkey to get a sense of how well-versed the faculty at her school is with using social bookmarking. The results of the survey can help guide a potential PD workshop on the topic.

7. DOODLE. Pigging back off of the last scenario, the LT uses Doodle to find a time to host the PD on social bookmarking, since the district she works in offers a ton of PD workshops. By using Doodle, the LT can choose a date that will be most beneficial for the teachers at her school instead of randomly choosing a date.

8. BUBBLE.US. Students in 2nd grade use Bubble.us to map out the defining characteristics among China, Ghana and Mexico over the course of the year in their Social Studies class.

9. VOKI. Students in 5th grade are creating presentations about the impact of explorers on the new world. They use Voki to create avatars of two students having a conversation about this topic.

10. JING. The 5th graders have started a lunch bunch book club program in the library and want to spread the word to let other students know about it. The students take pictures from the book club meeting and then use Jing to create a screencast narrating the experience. That is then posted to the library blog for the community to view.

11. ANIMOTO. A new library teacher wants to show her principal what's been happening in the library so she creates a 90 second animoto to share with the principal and the community at large.

Week 3: Exploring new technologies

While I wouldn't describe myself as tech-savvy, I've been able to hold my own my tech needs. However, having the opportunity this week to explore a lot less obvious tools and apps has been so helpful.

I was most intrigued by Flipboard. I hadn't heard about it before and now I'm raving to my family and friends about its offerings. I love the idea of curating an assortment of stories that interest me from a wide variety of publishing platforms. While I'm a die hard New York Times fan, I do like the idea of having information from other sources coming right too me instead of me tracking them down. I think this is a great tool for students to help them develop an appreciation, love and eventually reliance on getting a daily dose of non-ficton information in one's reading diet.

LiveBinder is a brilliant concept and an app I had not heard of. It makes total sense to have an assortment of lesson plans grouped by theme, all available on-line. I like the collaboration component of LiveBinder-- very web 2.0. I also like how the main binders for the education component are not based on traditional subjects, but audience (substitutes, parent resources, admin, etc).

Padlet is an app that I found so appealing because of its ease of use. My school has a lot of iPads and I can easily see myself using Padlet with confidence. I like that students can each "have a voice" during a lesson without me necessarily having to call on them. I also like the idea of using Padlett at the end of class for anonymous feedback regarding what worked, what didn't, etc.

Finally, I humbly admit I know nothing about RSS stuff. After exploring the 10 RSS link, I'm going to give Digg a whirl and see how that plays out.

Week 2: My Wiki start up experience

Building my wiki (http://underwoodmockelection2016.wikispaces.com) was not as intimidating as I thought it would be. I looked at both PBWorks and Wikispaces and decided to go with the latter because I liked the design template options.

So far I have included 3 sub-sections to my wiki: election videos, maps, and read aloud. I envision this wiki for teachers, primarily, and then for parents, in order to encourage them to engage with their children in the upcoming presidential election. I love the idea of providing resources for parents and teachers to help them educate and connect with children about the election.

I do also envision my students (upper grades) contributing to the wiki as well. I'd envision them sharing their reactions to presidential debates, sharing essays on why they would chose one candidate over another, etc.

The challenge for me with this wiki is providing materials that are accessible for each three, without isolating one group in the process.

We'll see how it all goes!

Jean
September 19, 2016

TOP TEN THINGS EVERY TEACHER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TECHNOLOGY

1. Even with the growth of technology in the classroom, nothing replaces (or compares to) a teacher passionate about the subject s/he teaches. Students need your wisdom and experience to help guide them as 21st century learners.

2. Navigating a new app or Social Media tool is easier than you think. If it were too complicated, a company would not produce it because it wouldn't make money. You are savvier than you think when it comes to technology!

3. You are not expected to be an expert on any one piece of technology-- ask for help, especially from teachers who you feel use technology supremely well!

4. Join communities online to get support and to learn about how you can implement technology in the classroom.

5. Do not fear change. The unfolding changes in technology offer new possibilities to make your teaching more dynamic and your classroom more innovative.

6. Share your experiences with technology with peers. Encouraging others to explore technology can create opportunities for colleagues to learn and explore together.

7. Be flexible. You may feel like you've mastered your favorite digital tools or strategies for teaching with technology, but there are always new tools being created, and new ways to approach technology as the field unfolds.

8. Don't get too caught up in all of the "bells and whistles" of a particular piece of technology. Make sure your students are using that technology as a vehicle for their learning and to create new knowledge.

9. Use technology as a new way to communicate with parents is relatively easy but offers a big impact. When parents get a regular peek into your classroom to see the excellence occurring, you are not only communicating with parents, but you are cultivating advocates that can support and defend education and educational policies.

10. Learning new technologies is a humbling experience and a great opportunity for teachers to empathize with our students on their educational journey.