My Principal... My Glogster Hero!

Last year I had my 4^th graders do state reports on EDUGlogster and they did a super job.  This year I was planning on having the current 4^th grade do a country report since their teachers wanted to do the state report project later this school year.  I figure they can cut their teeth on the country report and be all set to do the state report for their teachers. So, I went to my old Glogster accounts and low and behold it was going to cost me 99 dollars to do the same project I did for free last year.  I didn’t want to give up my 4^th grade Glogster report! Enter my new principal, my knight in shining armor who is almost as much of a technology geek as I am! I go to him hat in hand and he says sure what do you need! My hero! My principal was kind enough to pay for 200 student licenses for me to share around the school. That is enough for not only the 4^th grade but for at least another grade level to all do Glogster reports this year. I am very happy and excited to get started.  But I must say I am getting frustrated by the bating and switching that is going on with educational web applications. Bate and switch is the only way I can describe it, educational websites get you hooked on their free product and promise it will always be free and then a year or so later you have to pay for the same services you were getting for free. Glogster  is not the only website that has done this, JayCut went away all together... poof... gone, and it is frustrating. Now that I know I have to pay for Glogster, I will plan my budget accordingly next year. But what if Glogster is gone next year?  This year was bad enough, it threw me for a loop! Luckily, when I went hat-in-hand to my principal and begged he gave me the money for the licenses. But what happens in those school districts that do not have an extra 99 dollars hanging around? How can we fund these sites that we all use in education to keep them free? There’s got to be a way if we all put our heads together.  

Blabber a Book

I just created this on Blabberize as a sample to show my students. We may be creating these after Thanksgiving if I can gather enough working microphones. It took me just 5 minutes to create but two of those were spent looking for a usable microphone. I think it will be a fun project for the students, talking about a book they have read recently in a new way may get some other students interested in reading the books as well.
 

Tundra Connections Webcast - Polar Bears International

All of our third grade classes and our afternoon kindergarten class took part in this webinar this afternoon... check it out. Tundra Connections Webcast - Polar Bears International

We the People Music Video- Constitution Day Library Project

The first time I attended a DEN event I shared a wiki I created that highlights Discovery Education videos that go along with pictures my library was awarded through the Picturing America Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Because of that little bit of sharing I was chosen to attend a workshop with Dr. Lodge McCammon that changed the way I approach teaching and the use of technology. Dr. Lodge shared various techniques for using Flip video cameras in the classroom through a project called FIZZ.

I had avoided using video because of the amount of time it took. I only see each class of students in the library for 50 minutes a week. Video was too time consuming. Dr. Lodge’s methods changed my thinking and the result was learning and the learning was fun! Fun for me, and fun for my students, they actually said, “that was fun.” Imagine having fun in library class! I downloaded Lodge McCammon’s song, “We the People,” from Discovery Streaming, it is also available on his website along with the lyrics. I made copies of the lyrics and handed them out to my students.

I was a lot worried because the song says it is recommended for grades 6-12 and I was handing it out to 4th graders. I felt a little better looking at the Discovery Education Teacher's guide because it recommended it for grades 5 to 12 but I was still a little concerned. After a little tweaking of the assessment provided in the teacher’s guide, I brought the students into the library and showed the students the video on Dr. Lodge's song page.  And I explained what they were going to do. I told them in order for this to work they had to work together while listen to the song over and over again. Practice a lot and read the lyrics over and over to better understand what they were doing. I had a table full of props and told them they could use whatever they wanted and create whatever was not there that they needed.

I know it worked with the adults in my DEN group but would these 4th graders be able to handle it? You be the judge here is one of the videos my 4th grade students created for Constitution Day. Perhaps the best part of the whole adventure took place the following week when the students got to see their video and then take the tweaked assessment. The entire class did exceptionally well on the assessment! So not only did we have fun… it was even educational! Oh, and make sure you notice that Patriot Pete took part in the chorus!

Patriot Pete visits Arrowhead Elementary

Just a glimpse of Patriot Pete's time so far at Arrowhead Elementary Library.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

We are all going to miss Pete when he moves on to another elementary school!

Am I doing enough to prepare my students for the future?

I am often plagued by this question. Did I do enough today to get my students ready for their tomorrow. A tomorrow that may take them around the world in an instant. And honestly I am not sure. I often wonder how much control I should give them in the library because giving up control in the past has often been loud. In a library built in the 70's without any walls, in the center of the building, loud is not always looked upon as a good thing even when loud means learning is happening. Thanks to this video I am again re-thinking my pedagogy. Am I doing what is best for my students. I ask this question of myself every day. Let me know if you have an answer to this age old question. In the meantime enjoy LibrarainTiff's video.

Constitution Day

I attended a Dr. Lodge Fizz session at PETE & C a couple of years ago and I have been fighting myself about how to do this for Constitution Day. Every time I think I have it, it seems too confusing for 4th grade. So now I see this on Lodge's website. Am I crazy to try this with 4th grade?

Behind the Name Part 2

E:\grade 4

View more presentations from Janice Conger

Here is one of the PowerPoints we made in 4th grade a couple of years ago. At that time it was easy to upload a large file to SlideShare but now I would have to buy more space. So, this past year each child got a CD (yes going backward).

Behind the Name

For several years I have been doing a "Behind the Name" project with my 4th graders in March (which is designated as Name Month). We read the book "The Name Jar" by Yangsook Choi which delights the growing Asian population in my school. After we read the book we research our name, create a Wordle of what our name means, write several different types of poems about our name and put it all into a PowerPoint. Today I found this "Behind the Name" project on SlideShare and now I am thinking of incorporating a PhotoStory instead of just a PowerPoint into the project and adding some interesting new dimensions to this fun, painless research project.

What's in a name Workshop

View more presentations from aidenyeh

Thanks aidenyeh on SlideShare for sharing your project and informing my pedagogy!

Infographic on 6 Emerging Technologies in Education

Here is an Infographic on 6 Emerging Technologies in Education... do you use any of them? How will they change our teaching?

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Via:Saint Xavier University's Master's in Curriculum and Instruction

Comic Creator

I just learned about a new comic creator called Make Beliefs Comix that is very easy to use and is quickly becoming my new favorite because it is so simple. I created the comic below in about 5 minutes. I am thinking it may take students (K-4) a bit longer but if we do it in the computer lab everyone could be working at the same time and it should not take longer than a class period to come up with an exciting comic as part of Constitution Day activities.

Book Care

Book Care is one of the fist lessons school librarians teach at the start of every school year and depending how things go, they may teach it again after break. George Mason University has a very cute video to show proper book care at the university level. I was considering using this with my 3rd and 4th grade students and telling them that proper care of books is something that will follow them to college, so they should start practicing now. However as cute as this video is, it made me wonder if my students will even be using books by the time they get to college!

Matt Damon at Save our Schools March

This past weekend Matt Damon spoke in favor of teachers and against testing at the Save our Schools March. He was introduced by his mom who is a teacher. What do you think of his comments?


My suspicion is that Matt didn't fit the mold of the perfect student and my suspicion is that none of our students do. Like he said each one is a puzzle and parents and teachers are he ones that put the pieces of the picture together.

Library Signage that does not take up too much space...

I have very little shelf space left in my library and it is not because I don't weed. Signage is a problem, there is not room for it on the shelf. What I need is signage that does not take up too much space on the shelf. Take a look at the video and see the solution to my problem! I love it!

ISTE 2011- SIGMs Forum- A Librarian's Take Away

I am so happy that someone posted these videos from the ISTE 2011- SIGMs Forum.  I was so impressed with Buffy Hamilton's talk about Enchantment and so excited that someone besides me knew Guy Kawasaki who I have been following on Twitter from the beginning. Buffy's talk inspired me to see my students in a new way.



Times are difficult for librarians. We are constantly being forced to defend our positions only to have them cut anyway. Gwyneth Jones- The Daring Librarian talked about making a shift.  The shift she is talking about is what this blog is all about.  We are the choir she is preaching to! We are the ones making the digital shifts! We should all be PowerLibrarians so we can shift the perceptions of others and be ready for the flood of people heading to our door!



Having a strong web presence is not showing off, it is not having a big head, it is what Librarians need to do to survive. What do you find when you Google yourself?