Edmodo in Elementary Library programs

Our school recently started using Edmodo in third through fifth grades. The kids love it, and the teachers are slowly buying into this program.  It takes some extra time to moderate, but there are so many good reasons to use it.  There are opportunities to post quizzes and assignments, as well as a way to share files with each other.   The kids can collaborate online, ask each other questions about homework, share Powerpoint files with each other, and so much more.  There is an online backpack where the students can store great websites and their own MS Word and Powerpoint files. 

Why am I so excited about it?  As an elementary school library media specialist, it is a little frustrating at times that I get so little time with the students.  There is so much to teach them, and Edmodo is the perfect avenue for this.  Because I want to introduce them to new cool websites and Web 2.0 apps, I setup a group for all the students to join called Media Mania.  I post assignments and videos with me teaching them how to use all of these tools, and they watch the how-to videos on their own time and work on learning these new tools outside of the media center.  Many are coming in during recess or before school to watch the videos and work on the assignments.  Since I do not give grades, they can earn badges on their Edmodo profile for completing the assignments correctly. 

In addition to creating Media Mania, we also created a group called AES Chatterbox to give the students a chance to interact online with constant guidance by our guidance counselor, myself and our principal.  After reading the article, "Social Media: It Does have a place in the Classroom," we decided to give this a test-drive for the rest of the school year to see how it goes.  Every student post is public, and there is no opportunity for instant messaging so the students are simply chatting, sharing websites, jokes, and more.  Teaching our students social networking ettiquette is the least we can do to help them prepare for a digital world of social networking around every corner.  In addition to providing this venue for chatting, we can also post websites about internet safety, cyberbullying, and more.  There are so many possibilities and we are hearing nothing but positive feedback and even more school spirit than before!!

Apple TV

My husband finally asked the question... "So what's on your Christmas list?"  Wow!  Things have been so busy, I have not really stopped to think about it.  Maybe an Iphone alarm docking station would be nice...or what about a new Apple TV?   So I immediately decided to check it out to see if it is something I might find useful.  As you can see from the picture, it easily fits into the palm of your hand and can do so much.  So many possibilities!

You can project home videos, movies, tv programs, photos, youtube videos, apps, etc.  onto your widescreen tv.  You can also access your photos and videos in the Apple icloud through the Apple TV. 

Since I got my Iphone last year, I look back and wonder how I ever lived without it.  I am so connected now.  I see so many others with Iphones, as well, and I am always sharing my favorite apps with friends and colleagues.  Wouldn't it be great to share some of these apps with parents and colleagues in some kind of inservice or staff development!

What better way than with the Apple TV! The Apple TV projects the screen of your Iphone up onto a widescreen tv.  Check out the Youtube video below for a quick demonstration of Apple TV Airplay Mirroring.  The drawback seems to be that this feature is only available to the newer Iphone 4s and the Ipad 2. 

For more information about the Apple TV, check out Apple's official website @ http://www.apple.com/appletv/

Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

As an elementary librarian, I am asked quite often for David Shannon books.  He is a popular author of children's picture books, but the kids seem to favor his books with his most-popular David character.  One of my favorites is Bad Case of Stripes.  Camilla Cream, the main character, loves lima beans.  She will not eat them, however, because she is afraid of what other kids might think of her. 

I love teachable moments, and I cannot tell you how many of those moments are talking to students about the importance of being true to yourself and embracing our differences.  This story takes this lesson to the next level and really allows for some great discussions, especially with some of the older students.  We recently had a Book Character parade at our school, and I took the opportunity to share this book with as many of our students as possible.  The kids got such a kick out of it.  My husband woke up 45 minutes early that day to help me "get into character," shaking his head the whole time!!  It was so much fun.  As I popped in and out of classrooms that day, we read the story, making predictions along the way and discovering new vocabulary words like "contagious."  In one of the child development classes, after discussing "contagious," the classroom teacher wanted a photo of the kids with me.  One child was so cute, saying "Do I have to stand beside her?  What if I get sick too?"  They are too precious!  If looking for a good read-aloud with a good lesson, Bad Case of Stripes is your pick.  Happy Reading!!


Edmodo

I am now on Edmodo.  Our school district is staying on top of the newest web tools available to help us all stay connected.  I have always said that there is no need to recreate the wheel...just tweak it!  Edmodo is the educational equivalent to Facebook.  It is a great way to connect with colleagues and share ideas, files, etc.  I am @ http://www.edmodo.com/dwest001.  Let's connect and start sharing!! :-)  Oh...and don't forget to download the Edmodo app to stay connected on the go!

 

Jing

I have heard of Jing, but I never took the time to play around with it to see exactly what you can do with it.  Jing is a simple program that downloads quickly and is at your fingertips within a few minutes.  It gives the user capabilities to capture image and video screen shots.  When doing any kind of work with images, this is a must-have.  Let's say you want to make a quick image for your webpage.  You could use a simple program like Microsoft Publisher to create the image, take a screen capture image of the image in Publisher, and you have a web-ready image in a matter of minutes without using any complicated graphics programs. 

I wanted to create a colorful image for our school webpage, so I used Microsoft Publisher to quickly use the shape and text tools to create the image and used Jing to capture it as a web-ready image. I then uploaded it to the web.  Super easy!  Check it out on the web at http://ae.horrycountyschools.net.  Now that I know about Jing, I don't know how I ever lived without it.  There are so many other uses, as well.

It can also be used to capture images on the web.  Many Smartboard users who have access to Smart Notebook know about the screen capture options available to create interactive documents to use on the Smartboard, but there are also those still teaching without Smartboards.  Let's say you are on the web and run across some useful worksheets, and you only want to use bits and pieces of different ones instead of printing a whole worksheet.  Capture sections using Jing and import into Microsoft Word or Publisher to put together something that will work in your specific situation.

I hope you find this free tool as useful as I have.  Enjoy!
http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html

Proper Email Address Etiquette - Correctly Using To:, CC: & BCC: Addressing | Russ Harvey Consulting

When sending emails with long lists of recipients, it is proper etiquette to remember that everyone values their privacy, even when considering email addresses.  This is why it is important to use the BCC email addressing option when sending emails to more than one person.  What is the difference in TO, CC, and BCC?  Below is a link to a website explaining these in more detail; there is also an example posted below.  Basically the BCC option hides the addresses from view when the recipients receive the message.  Let’s say I am composing an email to several recipients.  The best way to send this email is to place my email address in the TO field and the remainder of the addresses in the BCC field.  This ensures privacy for all receiving your email… just something to think about!

Proper Email Address Etiquette - Correctly Using To:, CC: & BCC: Addressing | Russ Harvey Consulting

Forwarding Email Hoaxes

The weekend is finally here.  We are sitting at home kicked back checking the fifty emails we did not have a chance to check at work today while hearing "Mommy, Mommy" in the background!  What fun!  Among the emails are several that begin with "Fw:" which means someone finds us worthy of recieving a very important forwarded email.  We are touched that our friends and colleagues think of us, yet we eventually realize the email about Walmart giving out free gift cards is actually a hoax.  While we enjoy the forwarded jokes and inspirational messages if time allows, many forwarded emails are quite often fake petitions that need to be signed, baby car seats beside the road luring women for gang initiations that never happened, prayer requests for children who do not even exist, etc.

I thought I would take a few minutes on my blog to introduce Snopes.com.  What is Snopes?  This is the place to go if you have a question about the validity of an email.  Please take a moment to check out this site's credibility by visiting http://www.snopes.com/info/articles.asp.  You will find Snopes has been recognized as a reputable fact-checking service by ABC News, CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Reader's Digest, and many more.  It is so important to check out information in our emails before passing it along.  If you receive an email about a car seat beside the road, simply go to Snopes.com and check it out.  There is a search box at the top to type in the search, and a true or false response is returned with sources cited and the email explained in detail, along with the many variations floating around in cyberspace.  As educated individuals, it is so important to realize that everything in our inbox is not true.  I guess it is the information specialist in me, but I have a strong feeling that if we know the information is false, there is no way we would continue to forward them.

I know that so many of us would be embarassed and feel almost violated once we realize
the email that found its way into our hearts...
the email that took time away from our children to read and forward...
the email that truly tugged at our heartstrings...
the email that resorted to rage and calling up a political official...
the email that brought tears to our eyes...
the very email that we took our precious time to forward to our dearest friends and colleagues...
is actually a hoax that has been circulating since 1975.

Hope you find this information useful in your future emailing!  Have a great weekend!