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.

Tuesday Tips January 17, 2017

TECH TIP:  Animoto Slideshow Maker

This is a tool I've mentioned here a while ago (and ties into the Digital Skills for Teachers inforgraphic section on "Creating Interactive Video Content"), but Brian Leslie recently asked me about using it with a class for their midterm, so it's worth noting again here.  Animoto is an online tool that makes video slideshows out of images that you upload to your Animoto account.  You add in text, which you are limited on the number of characters to add (like Twitter), but this does force students to be concise and use their own words.  You then select a background template and a piece of music and then the software renders the video for you.  This is an old Quarterly Report from the library so you can see one in action (and you can see some former students!).  

In order to get all access to Animoto, there is an educator account that gives you a code for your students.  I'd be happy to help set this up for you and your students!

BOOK TIP:  Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

This book came up on all the best of lists for 2016 in the category of historical fiction.  An epic generational story that starts in Ghana with two half-sisters at the height of the slave trade in the late 1700's.  One sister stays in Ghana and the other is sent to America as a slave.  What follows are the interconnected stories of their descendants.  A beautiful novel.

Tuesday Tips January 10, 2017

TECH TIP:  Clyp.it Audio Recording Tool

From last week's infographic on Digital Skills for Teachers, one of the categories was to Record and Edit Audio Clips.  Clyp.it would be a good tool to do this.  This could also be a good tool to use with end of the semester assessments, students can post their reactions in an audio, record a poem they've written, or record an historical speech.  You can do a recording without making an account, but if you make an account, you can set the recording to Private, so that only those with the link can hear it.  You can also share a direct link to the recording.  

BOOK TIP:  Scythe by Neal Shusterman

In a futuristic world, all disease has been eradicated, allowing people to live forever.  You can reset your age as you get older, they call it "turning the corner".  However, in order to control population, the Scythedom was created.  Scythes are the only ones who can kill people and are charged with killing a certain number each year.  In the first novel of the series, two young people are in training to be Scythes, but only one can get the title and the winner must "glean" (kill) the other. 

Tuesday Tips January 3, 2017

TECH TIP: Digital Skills for Teachers

I found this infographic over vacation and I will highlight some of these skills and tools in the coming weeks.  Might give you some ideas of new tech tools to integrate this year in your classes!

BOOK TIP:  Personal Book Shopping

For Holly Freadman's 9th Grade English class, I did some personal book shopping.  For each student, I put together a packet of books based upon their interests.  It's like getting a little gift!  I would love to do this for your classes or tailor a booktalk to something your class is working on.