Midwest Google Summit - Focus on Close Reading and Mapping Resources

Midwest Google Summit

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Midwest Google Summit.   This post is jam packed with resources.  I have tried to break things down so you can choose which linked tools you may want to view and use.  

1. Close Reading - This session focused on preparing the lesson with Close Reading, other strategies to support students in making meaning in close reading including using a survey to guide reading for during reading questions, and apps that are great tools to use for close reading. A few to highlight are the Read, Write app extension, and current event tools such as Dogo News, Newsela, Youngzine, and TweenTribune.

2. The Motherload of Mapping Resources - Motherload is a well organized stockpile of mapping resources for Google Maps and Google Earth:  
Galleries of Google Maps - Highlighting a few resources, check out World of Wonders, Google Art Project, Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, Underwater Streetview for World Ocean's Day
Tools & Educational Content - Indoor Maps is great for students mapping their environment at home or at school
Fun & Games with Google Maps - Build with Chrome is a Google Maps with Legos
Expeditions Pioneer Program - Google - Teachers can take classes on virtual journeys to the bottom of the sea to the surface of Mars and more!
Help Tips with Google Maps
Google Earth
Earth Tools and Educational Content - One World Many Stories is one of several terrific Earth tools.
Fun With Google Earth 
Help Tips with Google Earth
Curated Resources of Google Maps and Google Earth - If you want easy access to all of the mapping resources above, save this link to the curated site.

Folllett Destiny is here!

Follett Destiny (click to explore) is here!

This week begins transformation, new learning opportunities, a new gateway to 21st Century learning, and excitement. The library media assistants will attend and participate in Follett Destiny   training Tuesday morning.  In the next weeks, I would like to meet with grade level teachers before or after school to provide logins and passwords, and a brief introduction to Follett Destiny's features. I will also be scheduling lessons with your class to open the doors of Destiny's access both at home and at school via an updated library media website.   I look forward to working with you and your students! 

Media Literacy Week and Follett Destiny is coming...

Media Literacy Week

Let's celebrate and embrace   

National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) is celebrating the first U.S. Media Literacy Week Nov. 2 - 6, 2015   CyberWise Media Literacy Hub explains What Is Media Literacy?  In conjunction with Media Literacy the new library media resource Follett Destiny is coming this month.  Diana Knight made the video below to share more information as to what this means for students, teachers and staff at SDSM.  I look forward to working with you and your students to teach Follett Destiny, an integral part of becoming media literate through active inquiry and critical thinking. 

Blogging in the Classroom

In the last month since Tammy Lind introduced Kidblog, several 4th and 5th grade teachers have introduced blogging in the classroom.  With that some teachers are raising some things to consider, such as:

Is there a theme for class blogging that should be considered?
What about Digital Citizenship and blogging?
How do I address student commenting?
How do I get students to write quality blog posts?

I have collaborated with a few teachers to address Digital Citizenship, particularly our Digital Footprint and appropriate commenting online.  In addition to teaching Digital Citizenship in a real world setting, I have been reading tips from Vicki Davis The Cool Cat Teacher blog, 12 Reasons to Blog With Your Students and Pernille Ripp's blog post titled, 14 Steps to Meaningful Student Blogging.   A few things in these blog posts that stand out to me address the encouragement of student voice, supporting student online conversation, student discovering of themselves.  If you are interested in blogging in your classroom, I would love to collaborate on any aspects of this terrific way to integrate technology into your classroom and promote authentic student writing.

Coming Soon...

  

Follett Destiny is coming soon!  This new library media database brings 24/7 access to our library media collections district wide as well as many other online resources available in a central location.  It also allow teachers and students to search books online in our school library media centers by Fountas and Pinnell guided reading levels.  

If all goes as planned, Follett Destiny will be ready by November 15th.  With that all library media aides will attend training to learn the features of Follett Destiny from 7:30-noon on Tuesday, November 10th.  

I am excited and look forward to sharing this new library media database with teachers and students this school year!

Digital Citizenship  

I have started lessons about Digital Citizenship in some classrooms.  The lessons focus on our Digital Footprint and Commenting/Posting Online.  I hope to reach more teachers and students with these lessons as well as lessons about cyberbullying.  If you would like to collaborate to integrate Digital Citizenship lessons into your classroom, please contact me.  

We Are Made of Stories

It is with great thanks to Hank and John Green and Patrick Rothfuss, and a great team that collaborated with many authors, storytellers, comedians, musicians, writers, producers and puppeteers.  I attended the inaugural NerdCon: Stories this weekend in Minneapolis.  I laughed, sang, clapped, and was thirsty for more stories, and look forward to NerdCon next year. NerdCon: Stories celebrated stories, how we tell them, and us as storytellers. Hank Green writes: "From the moment we could speak, we've been telling each other stories.  And since then, our stories have defined and created us.  Every human society that wants us to behave different first has to change the stories they tell.  The story was---and remains---the key to the marvel of human progress.  Stories in songs, in books, on the stage, around the campfire.  Stories drove the evolution of human language and fostered the massive burst of creation that accompanied it."  The stories shared at NerdCon made me think of how important storytelling is in our communities, schools, and classrooms like the story of E.W. Luther's 50 year anniversary celebration last week.  Let's continue to tell stories everyday!

Transitions in the Media Centers

With the support of the tech team, Diana Knight (the HS and MS Media Specialist) and I are excited to implement a new library automation system called Follett Destiny! With Follett Destiny students and teachers will have 24/7 access to each card catalog in our school district, be able to place holds on books from any school in the district, and access many reliable resources.  As we move forward with this project, we will be reaching out to teachers and students to help them learn how Follett Destiny will broaden the media center resources both in print and online.