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Willard Intermediate South Media Center
This has been said by many educators, but it is worth repeating. In all of my years of teaching, I have never been through anything like this. Educating students remotely has its challenges. Mostly we have the technology structures and experiences to provide remote learning for our students. However, the one factor that we cannot control is the lack of home Internet access for our students. Yes, most people do have smart phones and access to data, but many people have metered Internet access and lack technology (tablet or computer) to participate in online learning. I am proud that my district recognizes this and have made accommodations for our families. COVID19 highlights the twin issues of disparity concerning Internet access and technology. I predict these disparities will become a major focus for education the future. Continuing library services during this pandemic is difficult. We all want the books to be checked out by our students. We want our students to continue using library resources. We want our students to continue reading! How do we do this and keep our students safe? How do we do this when many of our students lack technology? This is what we are currently trying to determine. My goal is to do what I can to support both my teachers and my students. I’m choosing to focus on my circle of control. I am so glad that I had my students enroll in the LMC Google Classroom earlier this year. I know that some of my students are unable to check the Google Classroom. Others simply, for whatever reason, will not check it. I’m using it as a direct line of communication. I’m posting information and links. So far, I have posted links to free learning resources and my youtube read aloud. Providing students with a read aloud has been challenging. Before the pandemic, publishers were clear about their stance on the subject of posting an online read aloud. Publishers perceive this as a copyright infringement. What has never been clear is the fair-use guideline. Fair-use guidelines protect schools when it comes to published resources. There is a growing sect of people in education who believe that we are following fair-use guidelines as long as we are using the read aloud online in the same way that we would in the classroom and not using the read aloud texts as a means to make profit. Many of the publishers have temporarily lifted the confines of copyright and allowing online read aloud as long as it meets certain standards. These guidelines vary from publisher to publisher. You can find a complete list of publishing guidelines here from the AAP website. I am choosing to offer an online story time via Google Classroom. I am recording the video, uploading it to Google as a closed link and will remove the videos in June. I am trying my best to follow the guidelines. Providing our school communities with resources is something that we do as media specialists. However, there is an over-abundance of resources right now. Many publishers are allowing free access to online resources during this time. In addition, there are many free online resources that have always been free. It can be overwhelming to parents and students. I am choosing not to overwhelm. I have created an Google Slide app that lists a variety resources separated by type. Basically, this is a hack. You simply erase the Google Slide link up to “edit” and replace it with word - “preview.” Paste this into your tablet or phones browser and add the link to your home screen. When you click the link it forces it to automatically present as a slide-show giving it the functionality and feel of an app. The other issue that we faced in the library media center is how do we continue our news shows with our Media Leaders? I have decided to switch our platform from LumaFusion to WeVideo. With WeVideo, the students can access it from home using the Google credentials for school. It took some training for me and the Media Leaders. After I taught myself to use WeVideo, I created “how-to” videos for the media leaders. WeVideo still allow us to do all of the advance layering, special effects, and overlay titles and images. In addition, it allows me to assign collaborative projects for my media leaders. Now, we can produce the news remotely from our homes. So far, it seems to be working out great! I’m using Google Classroom to communicate, give assignments, and update scripts. Currently we have produced 3 remote news shows. Check out our most recent one for the week of April 13-17. Delivering library services during the unusual time is challenging, but not impossible. It is forcing us to grow, change, and adapt. I’ll keep you posted on further developments as we navigate these untested waters!
I have used these two robots for virtually the same activity, but for different purposes. Last year, I used the Ozobot Bit with the book The Water Princess by Susan Verde. The focus was on retelling the story. Students traced GiGi’s journey by coding the Ozobot Bit on a story map. As the robot traversed, students in small groups took turns retelling the story. This year the integration was with the fifth grade science classes. Our focus was more about the availability of limited resources such as water. Students traced her journey to retrieve water from the well.
Last year, the activity went very well. We had very little difficulty coding the robot via the story map. This year it didn’t work as well. The only difference, other than the focus is the robot. This year we used the Ozobot EVO. Constantly students were plagued with issues. Several times, we had to reset the robot to get it to complete the code. This did not happen last year with the Ozobot Bit. Student this year were ultimately able to complete the task, but it took them much longer. I purchased the EVO bots for the new library because I knew that the EVO robot comes with an iPad app that allows students to create block codes. Students have the choice to code through the app or by drawing black lines and color combination codes making it tech independent. The Bit robots do have an accompanying app - but it is different. Basically, it is almost like drawing the codes - but without the markers. The robot simply follows the color codes created on the screen. There is no block coding option for the Bit. Right now, there is very little difference between the pricing of the two robots. EVO bots are around $100.00 and Bits are about $90.00. Very little difference in price. I have seen the Ozobot bits down to $50.00 when they go on sale. For my purposes in the library media center - I am always concerned with time. Therefore, for me - the Ozobot Bit is a better match for our needs. We had so much fun with this activity! The sixth grade teal team ELA classes focused on recognizing and using figurative language in their writing. We took it a step further! Last week, we incorporated the “A” in the acronym of STEAM - the arts.
Students used the improvisation cards that they drew out of the basket. The scenarios gave them the situations to creat a short improvisation with their group of 2-3 students. I found these on Teachers Pay Teachers (Presto Plans). We directed students to include as many of the figurative language elements into their scenes as they can. We focused on the following elements: Students then took turn presenting their scenes to the group. During the performances the audience was instructed to raise their hands when they heard figurative language being used. We yelled - “cut’ and the actors froze to allow the audience to label and describe the figurative language being used. then, we would yell - “action” , and actors would then resume their scene. This was a great way for students to apply figurative language in improvised dialogue! We rolled out our MakerSpace for Intermediate South the week after Christmas break. I created MakerSpace passes for all of the classroom teachers. If students have their work completed and have no missing assignments - they can come to the MakerSpace to build, create, and experiment with the tools in the library. This is becoming an extremely popular part of our library media center. Students love the Keva blocks and the LEGOs!
The philosophy behind the MakerSpace is to provide students with opportunities to experiment and learn STEAM principals through self exploration. We have a wonderful, interactive STEM program in our school. It is part of our special class offerings - but the MakerSpace is different. My goals for the MakerSpace area in the library media center are to support our STEM program and to provide self exploration for students. We do have some duplicate resources; however, the goals are different. STEM focuses on class activities. The MakerSpace is free exploration without an adult agenda. I do offer students challenges, “how-to” books, and videos to guide them on their journey - but the choices they make are their own. They can take the knowledge about how to use the STEM technology (from STEM class) and go further with it in our MakerSpace in a self directed fashion. Currently we have Lincoln Logs, Picasso Tiles, LEGOS, Keva Blocks, Pattern Blocks, Marble Maze, Brainflakes, Makey-Makey, Snap Circuits, Ozobots, and Cue Robots. In addition, I have supplies for creating make it and take it such as origami. I have plans to add to this are with other STEAM technology such as the OSMO - I’m just needing more funds. (It is an expensive process opening a new library.) I would also love to add a 3D printer. This is an area that will grow and change as we begin to develop our culture as a school community. So, stay tuned!
The most popular place in the library is our green screen studio. At any point during the day, you might see students waiting to get into the studio. We are using it for school news, student projects, promotional videos or skits about the habits, book commercials, and library instructional videos. Often, I will have one group in the studio video taping and one or two groups practicing their scripts in various places throughout the media center.
Currently, we are using the DoInk Green Screen app for the green screen effect. Students select videos or pictures from the Internet to place in the background. They are learning how to layer these images into filming their projects and are becoming adept at doing this. After taping their projects, students are learning to use iMovie and LumaTouch to edit projects by cutting clips, adding music, transitions, and special camera effects. I think they are enjoying this process more than the actual taping. Sometimes, students are not using the studio. Instead, they are taping videos onsite throughout the school. The process of creating and editing videos is a powerful learning tool in our school community. It is a great way for students to demonstrate learning, provide information for the student body, promote school events, and reinforce the school and classroom connection. When students engage in video production, it is a rigorous process. Before they can produce the videos, they create a script that is divided into scenes or segments. They need to plan out what the video will look like in order to set up the different shots (begin with the end in mind.). They need to find background images to enhance their scenes. Students are making decisions about transitions, camera angels, music, sound effects, and overlaying text in order to enhance their video production. Literally, they are the director. Students are required to synergize, think win/win, and listen first in order to work with their cast. Students also need to think about their audience. Who will be watching the videos and how will you get your message across to them? Producing supports our goals of Leader in Me. I’m so grateful to watch these 5th and 6th students develop skills that they did not know that they had. Many other talents such as script writing, acting, and sense of humor has been revealed throughout the video making process. We have many students that are going to thrive in the speech/debate, and theater programs at the middle school. One of the issues we have been working around is audience. Their productions need to have an audience, and creators of the project need feedback from the audience. The videos are not perfect, and it is difficult for me to stop fixing their videos to make them better. However, if students receive feedback from an audience - they will know how to improve their video product. Not all of the student projects are shown to an audience because of the lack of time in classrooms. I definitively think that we need to find a way around this. I am going to show some of the projects to students during their check out days. Our news shows are shown in the classroom on Monday mornings, but this isn’t the case with classroom projects. The other issue is how to share the videos. I created a YouTube account for the school. I upload most of the videos here and share them with the school via e-mail. I also use Google Drive to upload the videos so that students can share them with their teachers and download segments to other devices in order to edit videos in the classroom or at home. Here is the link to our video channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYYy4UkhksbBRSZLVbzwN-w . My goal is to expand the green screen studio. Currently, we are using a mobile green screen on a stand. It is not ideal, but it is necessary. I need to repaint the walls in the studio the correct color of flat green. We also need to purchase a large screen television and an AppleTV streaming device. This will help students create better videos. If they can see the actual green screen effect - they can better interact with the images. I would love to add better lighting located across the ceiling and a small sound system. Eventually, I will add other applications such as WeVideo so that students can learn about other video production software and applications. So, stay tuned! Here are some of the productions that students have created. 6th Grade Classroom Project5th Grade - Library Instruction - Sholanda Show6th Grade - Leader In Me - Being ProactiveApps for Video ProductionThe library media centers in the Willard school district are fortunate to have the Follett Destiny software as our circulation/catalog system. There are many advantages to using the Destiny suite. Two of these advantages are Destiny Collections and the Destiny Chrome Web Extension. These two features make our circulation/catalog system and integral part of the classroom.
Collections is somewhat like the “List” feature; however, collections are a little more powerful. The List feature allowed Destiny users (Media specialists, students, and staff) to create resource lists of items that are in our libraries. For instance, you could create a list of all the 6 Trait picture books in our collection. Collections allows the users to create resource lists of items in our collection, web links, Google Docs, and YouTube videos. Basically, if a resource has a web address, it can be added to the collection. I am finding this to extremely useful. So far, I have created Collections for text structures, Ancient Egypt, and our LightBox resources. The best aspect of collections is that you can share the link with your students and staff. These links can then be put into hyper-docs or Google Class to be shared. You can make the collection private, public, or shared to the building level. Here are the collections that I have created so far - Ancient China https://collections.follettsoftware.com/collection/5e1772ecfbc71500121e8c77?h=a9fb39f0a12b594bd7970bcad12940feb858b1d7fdeffaf44d3f3629d38ea848 LightBox Interactive Books https://collections.follettsoftware.com/collection/5dea7ed2d2b39c001201582e?h=8a03367d0530fc199213d98ef0f8a3221b1f902ebed8ebd5a81d5940fd031ee6 Text Structures - Description https://collections.follettsoftware.com/collection/5da7395c2fbd660012bdadca?h=e801d63321b0fe776902f66fd1e8f142fb6e2a1e472a71b6ebd293e501aabd63 Text Structure - Cause and Effect https://collections.follettsoftware.com/collection/5da743e831fb9b00122a2098?h=17bb491e777019efdb03698bdf4bc05113cab56f8d2c68fb05754675a175ba88 The Destiny Chrome Web Extension is a wonderful thing! This extension will connect patrons to the card catalog when they are performing a Google search. Your resources will be displayed first in the results. Students simply need to click on the Destiny results to be automatically connected to the card catalog. It is extremely easy to install. Simply type - “Destiny Chrome Web Extension” in the search box. It will probably be the first link listed in the results. Click on this link and follow the online instructions for installing it. Our district down not block this access. After installing the extension, make sure you click on the gofollett.com link. From here you will need to select your state from the drop down menu and then the name of your school. Now, you should always be connected to your Destiny catalog! I have written about these resources before when I was the library media specialist for Willard South Elementary. Lightbox resources, in my opinion, are excellent digital resources created by Follett. I like the pricing and the concept. Lightbox resources are priced at approximately $40.00 per digital package. This package includes a physical book that you can add to your collection and an online resource that basically your library owns once you have purchased it for $40.00.
The digital online resource includes maps, video, audio, quizzes, and activities that can be incorporated into instruction. I think they can become an important part of the flipped classroom that utilizes hyperdocs. Teachers can link the Lightbox resources into their hyperdocs for the students to use as a major resource to guide their learning rather than searching the Internet randomly, and the resources are multi-user. Therefore, multiple students can access them at the same time. In addition, questions and the activities can be incorporated into hyperdoc as well. Students and teachers do not need usernames and passwords (Destiny credentials) to access these resources in the building; however, most of our students do have Destiny credentials. Both teachers and students will need to use Destiny credentials to access these resources from home. There are a few issues with these resources. The accompanying audio for the text sounds robotic, especially with the older Lightbox books. Recently, Follett has made some attempts to correct this. The newer resources have audio representing a more human voice. (Students do not like the robotic, computerized voices.). The other issue concerns the activities that accompany the resources. These activities and quizzes can be downloaded in .PDF format - but teachers or the media specialist need to download the answer keys from Titlewave (Follett’s online catalog). Not all of the resources on Titlewave have complete answer keys. Teachers will need to do a little work to create their own. I have created an online collection of the resources that we have at Willard Intermediate South. I’m planning on meeting with teachers to show them how these resources work. If you click on the image below you can see our collection of Lightbox resources. Book Fair - 12/2-12/6, 2019
If you haven’t already heard, book fair is coming. This will be our first one ever at Willard Intermediate South. Don’t forget to shop the book fair, December 2-6, 2019. If we make enough money, and I hope we do, the funds will be used to purchase a large screen television and an Apple TV streaming device. Why? We need this for our green screen studio. At this time, students have no way of interacting with the images on the green screen. Currently, we are directing students as to how to move or interact. If we have a TV with a streaming device, students can see themselves and move accordingly. This would be great for not only our Media Leaders, but for all students. In fact, we are getting ready for an integrated project with all of the 6th grade students utilizing the green screen studio. If you would like to donate to our cause, I will have a donation jar set up at the book fair.
Numbered Heads Together & Text Structures
Last week, 5th grade Green Team ELA (Mrs. Mize) and I used the Kagan Structure Numbered Heads Together to review text structures with students. I used the old software program published by Kagan to set up the activity; however, it doesn’t work like it use to on the older computers. We modified the activity to make it more of a competition between teams. We gave students a short passage, and as a team (3-5), they decided which text structure fit the passage based on signal or clue words. Students were required to discuss with their team the answers. In addition, they were required to reach consensus and everyone needed to know the answer. Then a member (selected randomly) from each team stood and displayed the answer in writing. Points were awarded for correct answers. It was a great review activity - except for the Kagan software no longer works well. Next time, I will make this a game using Google Slides, and I will require that students defend their answers. This will kick it up a notch for student engagement.
Reading Club
Reading club created a book fair preview commercial. They focused their efforts on books that were not in the flyer or the Scholastic video. Check it out!
Library Leaders - Winter Concert & Holiday Fun Commercial
Library Leaders created a commercial for the Winter Concert & Holiday Fun! They wanted to make it look like nighttime outdoor scene. I think they accomplished their goal.
Media Leaders and WIS News
They have been hard at work! I’m amazed that we were able to put out a show with only two and 1/2 days of school - but they wanted to make it happen. Next week, might be more of a challenge with book fair.. Check out their last two news casts!
Collection News
We have added many new books to the collection, and we are almost at the 8,000 item goal. There are several more materials to add. In fact, we will need more shelving soon. Recently, I added over 100 digital resources, Lightbox books. These resources are not only text with an audio option, but they also include short videos and activities that have curriculum connections. I’ll write more about these in future posts.
Book Fair is Coming!
Our book fair is scheduled for the week of December 2-6, 2019. On most days we will open at 8:20am and end 4:30pm. However, we will remain open longer during the Winter Concert and Holiday fun activities, 8:20am-7:00pm. Currently, I am looking for volunteers. If you would like to sign up access the following Goggle Doc to sign up. Simply, type your name next to the slots you would like to cover and leave your email for me. I’ll send out reminders when we get closer to the actual day. Watch our book fair commercial created by Library Leaders for more details.
VOLUNTEER SIGN UP Library Classes
Library classes are learning how to use our card catalog, Destiny Discover, to look for books, access audio and digital resources, and to place holds on materials for themselves. I have created a Google Classroom form them to use which includes short “How-To videos.” I’ve also included the Mark Twain and Truman reporting forms in the classroom.
WIS News and The Virtual Tour
We have created our first news cast! Our goal is to attempt one show per week. It might be a little challenging for us when we have a short week - like Thanksgiving break, but we are going to try. I’ve embedded this weeks news cast.
We have also finished the virtual or video tour of our school. This took a long time, but I think that students are learning so much about using microphones, getting good shots, using synergy, and seeking first to understand. So, many of the Leader in Me skills/habits went into making this. I am proud of their efforts!
Picking a book that is a good fit can be a daunting task for young readers. I have been working with Mrs. Tutton’s ELA classes on how to choose a “just right” book. There are several models out there for teaching students to find books that are good for them. I chose the I-PICK model. The letters in I-PICK represent an action in the process of selecting a book. It is an acrostic, mnemonic device to help students remember what they need to do in order to locate a book that is right for them. The only part of this I-PICK process that gives me pause is the “K” - Know. The model encourages kids to evaluate a book by accessing how many words they know. I do think that it is important for students to choose a book that they can read without frustration, but I also believe in students taking risks. If a student is interested in a book because they like the genre or the plot line intrigues them, they should definitely try to read it. I do not want our students to get hung up on reading levels. There is much to say about reader’s choice and motivation. I have often witnessed students who are motivated to read a challenging book, and finish it. It doesn’t hurt a student to read a book that is too difficult or too easy. In fact they will become a better reader in the end. I don’t think that we create readers by limiting their possibilities. Although I am teaching them to use the “Five Finger Rule” to help them determine if a book is too difficult, it is entirely up to them to regulate and not me. Library LeadersLibrary Leaders had their own fall party this week. Students were able to choose a few goodies. They deserve it! They have been working hard. Next week, they will be paid in Dewey Dollars and can choose things from the Store. Media LeadersMedia Leaders are hard at work on the video tour of the school. This is really challenging for them. They are learning about reshooting when shots don’t work out. We have a lot of work to do.
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Mr. David Stockton
Library Media Specialist Willard Intermediate South |