Monday, February 11, 2013
Resources for Black History Month
Here is a list of various resources that could help you in teaching lessons about historical black Americans this month:
Friday, February 8, 2013
Here is a great post by guru Doug Johnson about the advantage e-readers provide our students. Great food for thought!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Copyright Resources
Look, none of us want to be the copyright police, but unfortunately it comes with the territory. Students (and teachers) will straight rip off others' work without a second thought. Crediting sources seems to be a foreign concept to many.
Here are a few sites that might help:
Teaching Students About Copyright With YouTube *Yeah, it's blocked. But if you watch it and then give the kids a synopsis, that might be a close second.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Library Vision Around the U.S.
Library Vision was named one of the "Top 100 Blogs for School Librarians!"
Check us out (Scroll down to Professional Learning and Development), and also take a peek at some of the other blogs listed on Edudemic as well.
http://edudemic.com/2012/07/librarian-blogs/
Check us out (Scroll down to Professional Learning and Development), and also take a peek at some of the other blogs listed on Edudemic as well.
http://edudemic.com/2012/07/librarian-blogs/
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Not in Kansas anymore...
Ever moved to a new city? If you’ve not been through this,
it’s quite an experience. Originally from the coast, moving to this area about
ten years ago turned my whole world upside down. The interstates are much more
complex here than they are down South, so it was difficult to navigate. Well before GPSs and
Google maps, I literally could not even make it to the grocery store without
calling for help. I didn’t know the tornado culture of Birmingham at all, and
had an all-out panic attack when suddenly one Wednesday morning sirens erupted
in our neighborhood. Another aspect that made the move difficult was starting
over again on friends. It was hard to know who to trust and who could be counted
on. These are things that only time could help.
Transitioning to a new school this year has been very
similar to a geographic move. Having spent the past five or so years at a
quaint little elementary school (and the five or so years before that at
another heftier elementary school), middle school has been a new adventure for
me in more ways than one!
The first order of business has been figuring out the people. Who works here and where are their classrooms? The school website has been a great resource for determining who is in which department and which grade level. Using this information, I created email groups in my contact lists to ease communication with them. This has helped me begin to memorize who teaches what and in what grade levels they belong.
I believe that one of the single most powerful indicators of
becoming successful in a new environment is learning the culture. The “hidden curriculum,” so to speak. When I’ve
been accustomed to working with one administrator and now there are three, who
do I go to about what? How does the copier work and what are the rules? Where
is the faculty restroom? When do I have bus duty and what are the procedures?
How does the financial secretary prefer me to submit paperwork and book fair
money? I’ve never had to submit grades or attendance before, so how do I log in
to iNow, set up my grade book, and post grades and attendance? What is a
department meeting and in which department do I belong? These are only a few
from the eternal list of questions that have flown around my brain this year.
Next, because I know that understanding what the teachers
teach is the springboard to collaboration, I began reading and reviewing the curriculum for each grade level. I miss
being able to know exactly when the 4th grade teachers are going to
cover certain objectives in their social studies curriculum, and exactly when
the 2nd grade teachers cover the life cycle of a butterfly. My first
attempt to fix that has been to print courses of study from ALEX and organize
them into a nice, neat binder. I read and reread those standards every chance I
get, in hopes to know it like the back of my hand like I did the K-5
curriculum. It is helping to initiate some dialogue with the faculty about
teaching lessons with them.
Also important has been adjusting to the library facility itself. At first I was
frustrated because I could not print (all devices were disabled as we were
setting up 21 new desktops) and couldn’t find scissors, paper, pens, tape, etc.
An abundance of basic supplies were HERE, I just couldn't find them. It has taken some
time to discover and reorganize to suit my own style and preferences. I also
have several maps scribbled out as a guide for rearranging the main library
space. That will take some time for sure, but I would like to accomplish minor
renovations as I settle in and make the place my own.
Other differences for me this year have been learning the
quirks of the equipment at this school, how to manage student aides, and
dealing with the incredibly destructive nature of middle school students.
(Seriously, why do they break everything?!) A few months into my move, everything
seems so incredibly difficult that I kept wondering if I had made a mistake. The
kids were great, the teachers were great, the administrators were great…it just
didn’t feel like home yet.
With all these adjustments, though, over time I have grown to
really love my new school. I’m still learning and trying to figure things out,
and hopefully will continue to do so for years to come. But…it is beginning to
feel like I just might belong here after all.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Digital Learning Day - February 6
My library will be celebrating on Tuesday with an afternoon BYOD - Bring Your Own Device Day. The library will be open from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Students can bring snacks and I am supplying the lemonade. Up to 40 students can sign up.
One of my library aides made a huge sign with butcher paper to advertise the event and hung it in the hallway. She then taped up a sign-up sheet with a pen taped to the wall. So far 30 students have signed up and the pen has not disappeared!
We are going to share information about great Apps and I will talk for one minute about Internet safety. The rest is up to them!
Please share what you are doing for digital learning day!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
CBS 42 One Class At a Time Grants
Are you in the market for a grant?
Alabama teachers can apply for a $1,000 grant for classroom supplies, software, or other "educational necessities online at CBS News online.
It is simple to fill out the application. It literally takes less than a planning period!
So, what do your students need to be successful? Good luck, everyone!
Need ideas?
Books for teen book clubs
Software for learning
Art Supplies
Technology
I-Pad or I-Pad mini
Digital Cameras
Easy Readers
Hip-Hop Genre Books
Common Core Books
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