Thing 12: Social Learning & Learning Management Systems

     When I read the title of Thing 12, I was a little overwhelmed by the thought of what it would involve. But, I started slow and watched the two videos from Schoology and Edmodo. I realized then that working at pretty much a Google School, I might want to do some exploration on my own of all that Google can do for me. We had some recent introduction to Google+ and I have been looking at building communities for the groups I am involved with. So far, I have set up two - for two professional groups ~ our school mentor program and our shared-decision making team.  I belong to one of the student communities but I did not set it up.

     Then, of course, I got really busy and put off working on Thing 12 for several days.  That turned out to be a good thing because when I returned and started going through several other resources listed, I realized that I really can use Google for this assignment. I read all about Mightybell and began to set up a "student circle" in Google+. 

     An aside ~ At our school, we have, as a faculty, unofficially decided not to "friend" students on FaceBook. But, with Google+, we are trying to teach and work with our students to model good social media behavior.  We have several circles and communities of staff and students.

     Today, I joined the Mightybell Book Club. I don't really have anything to contribute to that right now. Hopefully, when things are a little less busy, I will. I have been a quiet member of Goodreads for a long time ~ just to see what people are reading and keep track of my own.  I really like the looks of Mightbell, but think most of what it can do, I can do similarly with Google.  We are going to be doing a school-wide staff read after break which we had intended to blog about. I could see Mightybell working well for that, but again, we will probably use Google+.  My hope is to watch and learn what Mightybell does and then apply that to Google+ and eventually set up book groups that look about the same as groups in Mightybell.

     I love Edutopia and have followed them for a long time on FaceBook and Twitter. I registered as an official user  several days ago.  I now joined several the their groups in order to get more specific information to share with my teachers and staff.  I find that they have a lot of offer!

     I have read about edWeb and decided to join that one, too. I am not sure how much I will use it, but I have read information from there that I like ~ so, I am giving it a try.  :)
     My focus for now is going to be on developing more connections to our students via Google+ circles and communities. I have started posting information for the students on the many books being made into movies, on being a good digital citizen, and giving back to your world and your community; all focuses for us at Colton-Pierrepont this year. 

     I also read the article entitled "Facebook, Edmodo, and Schoology. Oh my! Choosing a social network platform for learning". Reading down through all the different elements that were compared made me realize that Google can do almost all of that with its ability to share, create forms and docs for quizzes, polls, etc. and linking all together easily in Google+.  (I linked it so I can get back to it quickly from here.)  :) It might be worth adding to the list of resources that is on the Cool Tools Page ~ just my two cents.  :)  Thanks, this piece (which I originally thought I would not be able to deal with) has been really educational and helpful for me. 

     December 19 Update ~ Some positive information! I have already reached one of my goals for this course and that is to learn enough to help staff here with some of the projects they do. 

      After posting the information here on my blog, I went back to edWeb and registered. I joined several communities that sounded good, read through their "about" information, set up my profile, and did some searching. The next day one of our middle school teachers, who had just recently attended a Google Summit weekend in Montreal, came in to talk to me about one of her ideas. After she explained to me what she wanted, she said, "but I just don't know where to find another teacher from away who would want to do this with me." 

     Light bulb! I told her about my social learning assignment and EdWeb. I explained that you could search for different subjects and groups (communities) and told her I would do a quick check for middle school science; which I did. I emailed her and, later, she arrived at my door and said, "can you show me that site?" I showed her what she needed to do and off she went to do it. The following morning she ran in and told me she already had a contact who was interested in her collaborative idea. She was thrilled and so was I!! For me, this is a big piece of what Cool Tools for School does for me. I love learning to use these tools but when I can take one and say to a teacher that I think it would work for him/her, that makes it even more worthwhile.  

 

 

Thing 11: Mapping & Geolocation Tools

      It is exciting to get started on the next round of "Cool Tools for Schools".  I have been doing a lot of exploring using my laptop, my iPhone and my iPad.
      I started several days ago and read through the information. Geolocation is definitely not something that I am comfortable with and so this seemed challenging. I loved the thought of doing a Google Lit Trip. But, because a couple teachers and I just finished working together on A Long Walk to Water, I am going to save that for another year but will hopefully have time to work on it later. I think that novel would make a great Lit Trip. 
    I started off exploring the new Google Maps, took the tours, added some pins, and looked at several Photo Tours. I moved back and forth from my desktop to my devices. I feel better now about Google Maps and what can be discovered.
    I decided that History Pins seemed like something I wanted to learn more about and so I created an account and began a small project called "North Country Libraries".  I have only added three pictures and pinned them to maps, but it is a start.  I like the "History Pins in Schools" and will continue to explore that more.  The "activities and downloadables" section has some great, fairly simple ideas to use with classes.  The one thing I am having trouble with is figuring out how to just find some of the collections.  I don't see a way to really search, but I am still looking. :)
   One of my favorite places to visit when I need to de-stress is located in the Adirondacks near Santa Clara, NY. It is called Madawaska Pond and is truly beautiful. I thought maybe I could add a picture on the map; but, I didn't see a way to do that. I did successfully add a marker to the spot I love on the collaborative map.  I am adding two pictures here so that you can see it, Polly.  :) 

   The things still on my "to-do" list are using QR codes to do a scavenger hunt and to definitely create a Google Lit Trip.  I feel better about mapping and geolocation than before I began and I have several ideas that seem like I could incorporate them fairly easily into some projects we do. Hurray! I think that is good.

Thing 10:Productivity Tools

     Thing 10 is a work in progress.  We are now in the midst of inventory so everything is on hold. But, I am looking at the following:
Dropbox and reading this article:
Dropbox
Evernote
    I hope to get back to both which why I linked them to my blog post.  :)

   The last tool I want to begin incorporating is:

Remember the Milk

I can always use help with reminders and organization.  :)


    Over the weekend, I set up an account with Hoot Suite.  I have been following this resource on Twitter for a while and decided to get started.  I really like the way it looks and I find it easier to navigate than Netvibes.  The two seem very closely related in what they offer, but for me Hoot Suite just seems a bit more user friendly.  I am still working on learning to use Evernote and Dropbox, both of which I have had downloaded as apps on my iPad for a long time, but have really never touched and certainly not thought about in an educational setting. So, as this course ends, those are the two resources I will save as yet-to-come.

Thing 9: Databases

    I am very lucky in that I have a school district that allows me to purchase several great databases. The first thing I want to mention is a plus for PebbleGo. If you are an elementary librarian looking for good solid information for your youngest students (grades K-4) PebbleGo has several wonderful databases for your to try: Animals, Earth and Space, Biographies, and now, Social Studies.  We love them.
   I did a couple tutorials within the Gale group. I  looked at a couple resources I might need to consider going to battle to add. I am not thrilled with the resources we have that support our Fine Arts projects, especially in the field of music research for middle school age students. So, if anyone has recommendations, please let me know. 
    What I did the most was to look over Google and the searching tips for use with a couple of classes starting research projects where Google would be used a lot. I did two screencasts related to this. One was on Boolean searching that I linked to our OPACs. And the second was on tips for searching with Google. I have that one for now on the library's main web page, but I am not sure that is the best place for it.
Here are the two:
Boolean Searching
Google Searching Tips

    I know I will spend more time with some of the information found related to this topic.  There are so many great tools we have been able to use. Of everything I have done, I have loved a lot of these tools which I know I would not have taken the time to explore on my own. Getting to know Twitter for professional use and developing screencasts are two things that have helped me so much and without this course would have been on a back burner for sure, if I had discovered them at all. ScoopIt has become my other "always open window". I use it constantly to save and review all sort of things. Polly, thank you so much for all of this!!

Thing 7...more

   Thing 7 has been great for me. I love Screenr and even have a couple of other teachers who are jumping on board after I used some screencasts with the classes. I have gotten better at screencasting. I have learned "script your work first", practice and then do the screencast.  If I do that, I have tools for my staff, students, and even the community that will really help and will really save me time. 
     For an English 11 I-Search research project, I made screencasts to help kids with citations of several of the websites they all use. I put the link to the screencasts on the same page as the hotlist. That way they could go to the website, watch the screencast, open NoodleTools, and cite as they went along.
     Here is the link to the hotlist on which you will see my screencast links:
11th Grade English I-Search Career Project Hotlist

    One last thing is a question. How and where are people putting information out for your students? Are you still using web pages? Do you have library facebook pages? Do you link resources to your OPACs? Do you tweet it? It seems we have a lot of formats to consider and I was just wondering how everyone still manages the  links to resources that they want to see used. 

Thing 8: Collaborating, Connecting, Sharing

    It has been a while since I posted. But, at Thing 8, I feel behind...way behind.
    I  did do a couple of things related to this topic. I worked on several boards within my Pinterest account and added lots of things for my elementary teachers to use. I also worked on boards for me.
Three boards I developed"
http://pinterest.com/melindawm/education-resources-for-my-teachers/
http://pinterest.com/melindawm/education-library-and-information-pins/
http://pinterest.com/melindawm/education-digital-citizenship/

   The one for teachers has gotten quite a few repins.  :) That one seemed easier to find pins for. Digital Citizenship I need to work on quite a bit more. Although, I have been using ScoopIt for the same purpose, basically. That seems quicker and I have had good responses to that, too.

    Personally and in work, I have been working with Google Calendar, too. I am trying to do more with that.

   Last, we are pretty much a Google school with kids in grades 6-12 with Chromebooks. Our use of Google docs in huge.  We have gotten really good at sharing all sorts of things. A tool I wanted to mention because it has added a huge sharing feature, and because I just love it, is NoodleTools.  Built into this program is an ability to share whole project via Google, but also teachers/librarians can set up assignment boxes within the program and students can share their citation work as they go. As a librarian, I can go to my "shared with me" folder and check their work and make comments. I love this feature. One of the reasons,\ I am so far behind here is because we have lots of research going on with several classes using this feature. One other thing to mention is that the tech support and help within NoodleTools is amazing. I love these people and this tool which is SO much more than a citation maker.
   Okay, that is Thing 8 for me.  :)

Thing 7

        Things got pretty crazy over the last few weeks. So, I am skipping over writing about Thing 6 for now; and, jumping into Thing 7.  
      I have been playing with Audioboo and ScreenR.  Tonight I made my first little screencast. Well, actually I made several but, I deleted them until I got one that seemed okay.  
     Screenr is pretty easy to use. What I found difficult was changing the screen size as I went along, which is often noticeable. But, I am working on that.  I think there are all kinds of possibilities for both of these tools in the school library world.  Both are fun and fairly straightforward. I hope that as life calms down a bit, I can continue to play with these and create some useful screencasts for my students.  I am hopefully about to embed the first little screencast I made. We will see.  :) Here we go!
     I need to figure out how to move the screencast over a little bit, obviously.  But, there is my attempt number one.

Thing 5

     My experience with digital storytelling (on the fly)

     I can see that digital storytelling is not something that you can whip up too quickly or too easily if you want it to be meaningful. I have tried to put together a little PR piece using Animoto and Tagxedo. My music is a Soundzabound clip, a music resource we purchase for projects.  
     I am learning that there is a lot I do not know, like the difference between adding a link and embedding a link.  I would love it if someone would tell what embedding really means and why I might use it instead of just clicking the "link" button.  
      Animoto looks to have lots of uses for both students and teachers. But, with the free version allowing only 30 seconds of material, use are somewhat limited.
      I used PhotoPin and Flckr, too, but decided to create my own visuals for the PR piece.  I did make a short clip on reading which is also linked below. It would be great if there were the time to work for a while without interruption (hahaha) and create some worthwhile clips.
      Learning to use these tools has been fun and educational, even if it ends up being only for the purpose of getting students started with some and not so much for my own uses.  
     Goals to still accomplish:  Learn to use Prezi, VoiceThread, and a few others.

(Still working on this, but a meeting calls.)

     Okay, here is what I have "created" thus far.  

• In this clip there are many of the keys verbs that describe our library and how it is used.  We do love our library. It has a lot to offer as far as resources and the physical environment.  Last Friday, pone of our kindergarten students standing in the checkout line said, "I love our beautiful library." I replied, "I do, too!"  Isn't that awesome?

Our Library video clip
     

•     My earlier attempt is a short little clip to promote reading (and not my best work).

Just Read!



     

Thing 4 and Thing 5 practice

     Happy New Year!

      With the start of 2013, I am trying to get back to our lessons. I am using Photo Pin, one of the photo tools, to update my library facebook cover with some pictures relevant to school libraries.  Then I am going to try Animoto to make a little presentation. One photo that I found that I really like is an infographic (credit at the bottom of the post):

 

There are so many graphics from this site, it is hard to decide. But, here are the other two I chose:

 

 

 

     If anyone knows how I can give credit for these pictures on the library facebook page, please let me know.  I needed to update it without having to go into school (tomorrow is soon enough) and thought I would use something I had practiced with before.  :) I am including a link here to the page and hopefully with the links below, all is fine copyright-wise: Colton-Pierrepont Library Media Center Facebook page



photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/librariesrock/4064275305/">Carol VanHook</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/silversprite/5724570380/">WordShore</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/azuaje/8319701768/">El coleccionista de instantes</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a>