Tuesday Tips May 8, 2018

TECH TIP:  Sharalike

Each quarter, I do a quarterly report to highlight some of the happenings in the library.  It also gives me a chance to try out new presentation tools.  For 3rd quarter, I used Sharalike.  Sharalike is a program that quickly makes slideshows.  You upload your photos, select a style and a piece of music and you're ready to share!  There is no text feature, but students could create text images in a program like Canva and add those.  This could be a fun tool to use with students to create visual representation of their learning.  

Here's the highlights from 3rd Quarter! https://sharalike.com/s/q83n

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​BOOK TIP:  The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

For fans of The Nightingale, comes Kristin Hannah's latest novel, The Great Alone.  Ernt Albright comes home from Vietnam in 1974 a changed man.  He decides impulsively to move his wife and young daughter to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in a small cabin.  The novel is primarily told through the eyes of the daughter, Lena, as she is caught inside her parents toxic marriage, in Alaska, the Great Alone.  An incredibly powerful novel. 

Tuesday Tips May 1, 2018

 

On May 22, PBS premieres an 8 part series The Great American Read, which looks at the power of reading and story through the lens of 100 incredible books.  These novels were selected via a national survey.  ​The series will have interviews with authors and readers and examine themes that these novels address.  It will wrap up with a final episode where the best book (as selected via a nationwide vote) will be revealed. 

TECH TIP:  Take the Quiz to see how many of these 100 books you've read (I've read 53 - Have you me beat?)

BOOK TIP:  Check out the Full List of 100 Books (each has a little overview of the book and a bio of the author)

Tuesday Tips April 24, 2018

TECH TIP:  Screen Recording in PowerPoint

In PowerPoint, you can easily do a screen recording.  This would allow you to make how-to recordings or have students make recordings of their presentations and share those with you.  All you do is select Insert, and then Screen Recording and follow the on-screen instructions from there.  

BOOK TIP:  West Cork Audible Original Series

  So this is not really a book, but an it is an incredible audio story!  If you liked the podcasts Serial or S Town, then you will love this one. This is an original series from Audible, and is free to download right now.  In 1996, in remote West Cork, Ireland, a French woman was brutally murdered.  Who killed her is still a mystery.  A captivating true crime audio series!

Tuesday Tips April 10, 2018

TECH TIP:  Classroom Screen

If you often have your computer on your projector, Classroom Screen is a great landing page to have up.  It is a background page that allows you to customize it based on your needs.  You select the background image and then can add:

• Multiple Languages
• Random Name selector (type in the names then it will pick one)
• Sound level indicator (decide how loud you want it and then it will indicate when the class is over the acceptable noise level)
• QR code (students can scan the link you want them to go to)
• Timer
• Exit polls (post a quick question they respond to with emojis)

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BOOK TIP:  Free Book Table this Thursday!

Stop in and get some vacation reading with our free book table!

Tuesday Tips April 3, 2018

TECH TIP:  Cue YouTube: Create YouTube Playlists

Cue YouTube is an easy to use site that allows you to make YouTube playlists that you can quickly share.  On the left side, you search for the videos, and on the right is your playlist of videos.  If you have a group of videos you want students to watch for homework or on their phones, you add the videos here and then simply share the link with them.  You could also have students create the playlists and share with their classmates.  ​

BOOK TIP:  Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

   

This memoir reminded me of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  Tara Westover grew up in a fundamentalist Mormon survivalist family in Idaho.  She never attended school and violence ran through the family.  Despite such odds, Westover goes on to get her PhD from Cambridge.  An amazing story, hard to believe her resilience and perseverance.  

Tuesday Tips March 27, 2018

TECH TIP:  SIRS Issue Researcher

SIRS Issue Researcher is one of the library's databases and I shared it this week with Brian Leslie's Sociology class and Meghan St. John's Journalism class. It's a great resource that could be helpful in many of your classes and students have access anytime, anywhere to it (NOTE: if accessing from home, you will need to use the password you get from the library)  Here's what it looks like:

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BOOK TIP:  The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

​If you like a good suspense novel with lots of twists, or were a fan of Gone Girl, then you'll love this one!   Richard's former wife is going after his new fiancee, but this is a novel where you should never trust anything or anyone!  Put this one on your summer beach read list!

Tuesday Tips March 20, 2018

TECH TIP:  Write Arounds in the Library

I love when the library can be used as a creative learning space.  Meghan St. John and I collaborated in her Journalism II class for her unit on editorials.  We began by using the write around technique to introduce various types of editorials to them.  Meghan selected the editorials and I set up the library using the "low tech" tools of enlarged readings, colored butcher paper, markers and a on-screen timer.  The students then spent time at each station, annotating the editorials through a specific lens at each rotation.  We then used these table posters the next day to discuss the pros and cons of each editorial. 

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BOOK TIP:  Wellness Wednesday with the PE Classes

Ryan Kelly and Michelle Campbell put out a call to any teachers who wanted to lead a Wellness Wednesday.  Last Wednesday, all of the PE classes met in the library and I shared about the stress reducing benefits of reading, including a 2009 study at University of Sussex that found that reading can reduce stress by 68%!  We then let the students grab a sleeping bag or blanket and find a comfy place to curl up with something to read.  It was great to see how calm the students were throughout the period!  Here are some pictures from the day: