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.
Monday, October 31, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
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.
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.
Monday, October 17, 2016
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.
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.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
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.
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.
Monday, October 3, 2016
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.
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.
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