Tuesday Tips February 28, 2017

TECH TIP:  The Atlantic's Life Timeline

This is a fun interactive site to explore and bring back some memories.  You enter in your date of birth and Atlantic magazine puts together a list of major events from your lifetime.  Each return comes with links to stories the Atlantic has done about many of these events.  It even ends with a forecast for events yet to come in your lifetime.  For me, I have never lived in a world without Sesame Street and we will explore Mars by 2035.  Could be a way for students to jump start papers or stories about events that have shaped the world they've grown up in.  

Found this tip from Larry Ferlazzo's blog.

BOOK TIP:  This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Wow.  A powerful page turner that looks at what can happen in a high school in under an hour.  At a school wide assembly, the doors to the auditorium are locked, trapping the student body, including faculty, inside when a lone shooter takes the stage.  The novel is told through many viewpoints and gives you insight into how several students deal with the situation.  A book that I found hard to turn away from.

Tuesday Tips February 14, 2017

TECH TIP:  Automotivator Image Generator

 Automotivator is an online image generator that quickly and easily makes motivational posters.  You upload an image, add in the motivational title and then a bit of text.  Could be a fun way to decorate your class or have students create these highlighting a theme being studied in class.  BONUS PRIZE  to anyone who can recognize these students from the top of their heads!  

I learned about this prize from the Edutech4Teachers blog.

BOOK TIP:  It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

In honor of Valentine's Day today, a romance novel!  This novel was the highest ranked romance novel on Goodreads for 2016.  Lily moves to Boston from Maine and falls in love with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid.  However, her former boyfriend comes to town and what she has built with Ryle is threatened.  A good romance for vacation!

Tuesday Tips February 7, 2017

TECH TIP:  Biteable Video Maker

Each quarter, I put together a Quarterly Report of statistics and events of the library.  This is also a time when I learn how to use new presentation tools like Biteable.  Biteable is a free (there are paid upgrades you can do) site that makes animated videos or slideshows of images you upload.  You add in text and statistics, then select a piece of music from the music bank and hit render.  The video is then produced and you can share the link or upload the video to your YouTube account.  This could be a great tool for students to use to do book report, overviews of historical people, or share mathematical statistics.  

Here is a link to the video of the library's 2nd Quarter Report:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhSF4GZIvaU

BOOK TIP:  Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

This is the latest novel by Ann Patchett, the author Bel Canto.  The novel follows the children of the Cousins and Keating children over five decades and how a chance encounter between their parents at the youngest child's christening changes all their lives forever.  Patchett is a masterful storyteller.

Tuesday Tips January 31, 2017

TECH TIP:  Canva Graphic Design Tool

I use Canva for all of my graphic design work in the library.  It is a free tool that gives you all kinds of templates to follow and customize to your needs, or you can design your own image.  It makes all of my signage look very professional, without a lot of work!  Canva could be a good tool to have students use to make posters or other artwork for your classes.  This is an example of a table sign I made for the library tables.  

BOOK TIP:  The Mothers by Brit Bennett

This book was on all of the best of 2016 book lists.  It is a debut novel by writer Brit Bennett and follows the lives of three young people through their teens into their early adult years and a secret pregnancy that binds them all together in unique ways.  A powerful new voice in contemporary fiction.