Podcasting about Credible Sources

In today's world, students have information at their fingertips.  All they have to do is click a button and ask Siri or Alexa anything.  One job of the librarian is to teach students how to recognize if the information they find online is credible.  Listen to my podcast at https://tinyurl.com/ycoxxtrf to hear three ways  parents, teachers, and librarians can help students identify credible sources.

On a side note, I am super excited to try out podcasting for the first time.  I used Podomatic as my environment, and it was great at giving advice and walking me through the steps in creating my first recording.  This experience was definitely outside of my comfort zone!  Let me know how I did, and ways I could be better next time.

Digital Publishing Reflection

Smore.com

This week I learned about digital publishing.  Digital publishing is so important for librarians to understand since it is a great way to tell the community what is going on in the library.  For my digital publishing project, I created a newsletter through Smore.  If you have never tried Smore before, I highly recommend checking it out.  It is very user friendly and has a lot of great features.  You can embed YouTube videos, add links to websites, and include pictures.  Once you are done creating your newsletter, you can easily send the link to anyone.  Here is my newsletter on digital footprints.

https://www.smore.com/3vzc2

Let me know what you think.  I love the feedback!

Visualization

Need a great book to teach visualization?  Check out The Stories Julian Tells by Ann Cameron.  Read pages 12-14, stopping at the bottom of each page so that the students can draw what they are seeing in their minds.  Discuss how the boy's beatings and whippings were not what we thought

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Extra! Extra! Read All About.... Digital Footprints!

According to the 2017 Library Horizon Reports, librarians have the responsibility of teaching both students and staff about digital footprints. 
A digital footprint is the trail of data left behind every time a person posts, tweets, or comments online.  Check out my newsletter on digital footprints to learn more:

https://www.smore.com/3vzc2

On a side note, this is the first time I used Smore.com to create a newsletter.  Let me know what you think!

New Media Consortium, University of Applied Sciences Chur, Technische Informationsbibliothek, & ETH Library. (2017). NMC Horizon report: 2017 library edition. Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium. 

Online Tests and Assessment Reflection

This week I wrote about online tests and assessment.  Through the process of creating one myself, I learned that it is very important to know the purpose of the test.  I know this seems obvious, but there are so many online assessment environments out there, it can be overwhelming!

If the purpose is to get feedback from a large group of students, Plickers, Kahoot!, or Socrative is a great choice.  These websites allow classes to participate in game show type environments where the students' answers are displayed on the Promethean Panel or screen.  Student names are not displayed, so no one feels put on the spot if the answer chosen is incorrect.  The best part is that teachers can access the information privately.  By doing this, they can learn who did or did not understand the information.

Another purpose for online assessment is to actually give an online test.  Class Marker and Google Forms are just a couple of the many programs out there for online testing.  The teacher can choose the types of questions to ask, like true/false or multiple choice, and the results of the test are instant.  The students can also learn right away how they did on the test. 

For librarians, surveys are a great way to use online tests.  We want to know what our stakeholders need from the library, and how to best serve the school community.  When needing to send a survey to patrons, I recommend Survey Monkey.  It is easy to use, and a librarian can easily send out a link to anyone. 

I hope what I learned about online assessments is useful!  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think,

Online Questioning and Surveys

This week's topic for my blog is online tests and assessments.  Boy are there a lot of options out there!  I was pleasantly surprised to see how many online testing tools I am familiar with already.  

Every online tool is a bit different.  Decide on the purpose of your assessment and then pick an appropriate website tool.  If you are looking for a way to quiz students in groups or as a class, Plickers, Kahoot!, or Socrative are all great options.  If you want to make online quizzes for students and receive instant feedback or grades, I recommend Class Marker.  One unique feature in Class Marker is the ability to ask a question in the form of a video.  This would be great for spelling tests or younger students.  Google Forms is also a great way to quiz students, and it can be integrated in the Google Classroom very easily.

The online assessment tool I became familiar with this week is Survey Monkey.  Surprisingly, I had never used it before.  As a librarian, I want to be able to easily receive feedback from teachers and students so that I know exactly how I can support them in the classroom.  Survey Monkey is a great way to do this.  Check out my survey on Technology.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CDYV6VJ

Then come back and leave a comment on what you think.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Creating a Blog Reflection

Reflecting on creating a blog, I have to say that it was much easier than I thought.  I think the hardest part for me was deciding what I should post.  I know that cool things happen in my classroom, but sometimes I do not realize others might want to learn from me.  I am working on it, and am looking forward to sharing what goes on in Third Grade.

There are many blog sites out there.  I picked Blogger.com because it had high ratings and reviews said it was easy to use.  The one thing that drove me crazy is trying to figure out how to create a subscribe button.  I am still trying to figure it out!  If I were to give any advice to future bloggers, I would say just jump in and give it a try!

Stamina Reading

When teaching procedures at the beginning of the school year, do not forget to teach students your expectations when they read quietly.  I explain to students that there is wow reading and oops reading.  Then we practice.  And practice.  And practice some more.  But it is totally worth it.  In the end, most of the students do improve on their stamina reading.  The few who do not get to meet with me in small group to go over expectations again.

Using Storybird

Hello again!  Good News!  The reading label was a success!  Now I want to tell you a great way to integrate technology and writing.  If you have never heard of Storybird, I suggest you check it out!  Using Storybird.com, students write, illustrate, and publish their very own stories.  Teachers can also use the website to create their own books to teach a skill.  To learn more, check out the video.

The Signposts.... They Changed My Life!

I'm trying to organize my posts by topics, so I am going to tell you about something that changed the way I taught reading (so that I can then give this post the "reading" topic... lol).  A couple of years ago I was introduced to the Notice and Note Signposts.  Some of you, who know me well, are probably thinking, "Here she goes again with those signposts!"  But I just love them so much!

It all started a couple of years ago.  We were days away from the first day of school, and my IS said that she just had to share with us an awesome way to teach close reading.  As she was explaining the six signposts from the Notice and Note book, my teammates and I were hooked.  Thanks to Pinterest, YouTube, and of course the book, we were able to teach our students how to notice the signs authors leave in their books and think deeply about them. 

If this sounds like something you would like to know more about, check out the introduction video I share with my students every year when I introduce the signposts. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRA9Ftz49kc

As usual, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave comments.

I'm actually blogging!

This is it!!  My first blog!  I never thought I would give something like this a try!  Even though I am super nervous about posting my words for all to read, I am super excited and want to thank all of you out there for taking the time to read what I have to say. 

Pursing a Masters in Library Science degree has stretched my learning in more ways than I can ever imagine.  One way is through a technology class that I am taking this semester.  I actually love technology, and am usually pretty comfortable using it at home and at school.  However, there are some things I have never had time to figure out.  Blogging is one of those things.  In my technology course, I will be blogging weekly about different technology implementations.  I can't wait to share what I learn!

Besides technology, I will also be blogging about the wonderful things happening in my classroom.  I can't wait to share!  Thanks again for going on this journey with me.  Please keep coming back, and leave comments to let me know how I am doing!