I just reread my blog for Thing 22. That seems like a really long time ago. I did a lot of exploring of Evernote and Delicious. I haven't used either of them again since researching them for this class. I can see how they may be useful with older students. I wonder about people who have time to "follow" others on social media. I rarely have time to follow myself! I didn't think of Delicious as a type of social media but if you have the option of following others, then I guess it has some features of social media. I don't think Thing 22 was my favorite Thing this year. It was informative and it got me to explore things that I would not have otherwise...which is the point of this class, I know. It is amazing to me how many sites there are out there that are used by millions of people but are unknown to millions of others...even those who use technology in their work and personal lives all the time.
I have used the links in On-line learning many, many times since completing Thing 18. I will probably repeat this one again next year if it is offered. I can't get enough of free on-line learning. I absolutely love it. I have been working on Crash Course in World History which I found on Khan Academy and have since discovered that there are many "Crash Courses" by John Green on YouTube. I also just discovered that John Green is the same John Green that wrote some of my daughter's favorite sad books. She is a romance fan who does not consider a book good unless it makes her cry. And cry she does. I like a good tear jerker every now and then but have to happen upon them by accident. I will rarely pick up a book on purpose that I know is going to make me sad. I have also started the Art History Course on Khan Academy but that one is going to take a while. There are a lot of courses on EdX that I want to explore. I am excited to have time to do this over the summer.
I also learned about Genrefied (spelling???) libraries in Thing 18. I think I am going to do some reorganizing by genre over the summer. My students ask for specific genres often, especially "scary" books and I want to be able to point out a section that includes more than Goosebumps books. I am going to look for some genre labels that fit the categories that interest my students. The pre-printed ones that are inherited when stepping into a school library are not the same terminology that students are used to or are asking for. For example, I have a ton of "mystery" labels but none that say "scary" or "horror". I think if I can design my own, I will go with "scary" over "horror".
Creating a Resource Guide probably had the least amount of information in my blog but the greatest amount of work attached to it. I created a Libguide that was a LOT of work. I also used it for a collegial circle that I belonged to this year. A group of librarians in my district got together, read a book about Growth Mindset and created projects that tied into teaching with growth mindset qualities. Here is the link again. Resource Guide I am still adding to this Libguide and plan to continue to do so over the summer. I would also like to make it a priority to actually use the Libguides submitted by the other librarians in my group. All of them did a resource guide with great information and lessons. Examples of some of the other guides created are: Lessons, Information, and Activities for Banned Book Week; Reference Lessons; Poetry Reading, Writing, and Celebrating; Maker Spaces in Libraries; Digital Citizenship & Cyberbullying;
I just discovered Ted Ed. It is another online learning site. I love the short videos that explain literary elements. I'm wasting lots of time this evening listening to them. I just learned that there are 3 kinds of irony. I have been confused about that word and now I know why. Irony is different depending on how it is used. Cool beans.
I am going to be attending an all day Google Learning Summitt on the 21st of May. I haven't looked at the catalog of courses for the summer yet but I think I am going to take a few elearning courses and attend the Tech Camp for librarians in August. Other than that, I am going to be working on the Crash Course that I started on World History. I am also going to finish the Art History course. I also plan on reading a lot of fiction....mostly mindless murder mysteries. I am visiting my best friend from college who is also a book buddy...we text about what we are reading all the time. She lives in North Carolina and I will be spending 4 days with her in July. At the end of July, my boyfriend and I are going to the Dominican Republic with another friend and her family. I think that trip is going to include more drinking than learning (it's an all inclusive resort). It will be my first time out of the country besides Canada.
I do intend to participate in Cool Tools again next school year. I really enjoy this course. I will likely only do 5 again because I have so many other PD's that I have to do. This year I have over 45 hours counting the 10 from Cool Tools. It's probably more like 50 hours but I didn't keep track of some of them so I don't think I will get credit.
Have a great summer and I will "see" you in the fall!!!!
Sylvia
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Thing 36: Flash Cards, Quiz Games, and more
I really don't know what is happening with this blog. I have written two entire blogs for this "thing" and they have both just disappeared. I hadn't published them yet but when I went back to add to them they were gone. It was annoying the first time, but this time, the second, I am ready to cry. I had so much written. I guess there isn't anything to do but start again. After I cry.
Take 3:
I am going to go back and write about what I have already written about later. I am currently playing with Quia by looking at the St. Joseph's School Quia page. I like the Genre game that they have that works like the millionaire game where each question answered correctly brings you closer to a million dollars. Is that called Who Wants to be a Millionaire? That doesn't seem right but it's something like that. I don't like that you automatically lose the game if you get one question wrong. I can see that causing a riot in the library! That is just like the game show though. This librarian created a ton of games! I do agree with your statement that the games are a bit dated but they are fun.
So, I have written about Study Stack a number of times....I really like Study Stack but the website is a bit temperamental. Sometimes when I go to the site, it is flashing like a light bulb going off and on and I can't get the site to work. I have spent a lot of time (that I don't have to spare!) playing with some of the stacks that other people have set up. My favorites are the ones where you have to match authors to books. One person made a stack with over 1,800 items in it! Although I didn't know a lot of the authors...because most of them are classic authors, and this is one of my areas of brain blanks, I had fun guessing and actually learned a bunch that I didn't know before.
I had a link to the 1,800 stack in my lost blog. I can't seem to find it now....it's one of those things that you can't let go, so I spent way more time than I should have trying to find it. Here is one that I made to use in my library. It is authors and books that are popular in my library at school #3. authors & books by SBKendrick I included the one I made and the following stacks in my Libguide that I did for the Resource Guide "Thing". I will include the link to my libguide in this blog also. I have done a lot of work on it since I posted it for the Resource Guide Thing. Here is another one of my favorites: Dr. Seuss Hangman which was created by kellihenry.
Here is a Stack of library & book terms that was created by deb.teigland but I edited some of the terms and definitions to better match my students and how I teach. I would like to know more about what happens when you edit a study stack that someone else created? Is it edited for everyone, or just for me? Good question, huh? Library Trivia
The last one that I shared on my LibGuide was this one Created by: MAMS-reading. Literary ElementsIt works well with the crossword, matching, hangman, and the flashcards. Not all types of entries work well with all of the games and options offered. You kind of have to play around with what and how you enter terms.
I looked at the Quizlet Live option and thought it looked like a useful tool. I played with your flower cards. Very nice. I am still trying to figure out how to use it. I made a small set of study cards for Dewey Categories Dewey Flash Cards by me . I set up a Quizlet Live for my last class today. I wanted to be able to see what the students were going to see on their computers before they got there.
I found a list already created by someone else. It is matching songs to Hip Hop artists.
Very cool. Good way to engage 5th graders with less than civilized manners at the end of a long day. I don't like how it sets up teams because I cannot move my kids around once they are signed in. I can reshuffle the groups but can't make the groups myself. So I started a game with the fifth graders. Not the most patient people in the world...I'm just sayin'. Somehow I clicked off of the "teacher" screen on my computer and although the game continued, I couldn't see the score anymore and couldn't figure out how to get back to it. It's strange that the kids could keep playing even with the "control" computer being off the website. I was thinking of paying the $25 to upgrade for the year but if it is as cumbersome to control as it seems to be, then I am having second thoughts. I don't like how the correct answer is not visible on everyone's screen. I did explain this to the students but they didn't seem to get it because they kept yelling, "The answer's not here!" They did eventually get the hang of it and really enjoyed playing. There is a minimum of 6 students that have to be logged in for a game to start. That was a problem because I only had 5 show up today. I might explore this a bit more and see if I can tell the difference between the free functions and the ones available if you pay the $25.00 for the year?
I was talking to a 7th grade teacher today and explaining Quizlet.live and she mentioned how she uses Kahoot all the time so I am going to check that out and get back to you. I just created my first Kahoot Quiz. I'm going to try it tomorrow. It took a lot of time. I wonder (wish) if you can edit other people's Kahoots and save them under a new name? Here is the link: Library Kahoot
Looked at Quizlet.live again for ideas. I found a really fun one that someone else made. It is a list of quotes and you have to decide if they are from Shakespeare or from a hip hop song. I might try this one with my sixth graders.
Very frustrating. I created the Kahoot, made paper strips with the website and PIN number on it and got everyone to go to the site and enter the PIN. They were not seeing the questions or the answers. They just had blocks of color representing the answers. At first they were just guessing and clicking on colors so I thought it was working. Then they finally told me it wasn't showing them any choices. I ended the quiz and had them enter again.....lots of yelling and repeating myself. Same result. Crazy end to a long day. I couldn't get it working and was therefore without a plan B for a lesson....my mistake, ALWAYS have a plan B when technology is involved!
Now they are all calling each other gay and talking about their mama's. I'm ending this blog here. I think I have explored exhaustively. On to my reflection and last Thing.
Take 3:
I am going to go back and write about what I have already written about later. I am currently playing with Quia by looking at the St. Joseph's School Quia page. I like the Genre game that they have that works like the millionaire game where each question answered correctly brings you closer to a million dollars. Is that called Who Wants to be a Millionaire? That doesn't seem right but it's something like that. I don't like that you automatically lose the game if you get one question wrong. I can see that causing a riot in the library! That is just like the game show though. This librarian created a ton of games! I do agree with your statement that the games are a bit dated but they are fun.
So, I have written about Study Stack a number of times....I really like Study Stack but the website is a bit temperamental. Sometimes when I go to the site, it is flashing like a light bulb going off and on and I can't get the site to work. I have spent a lot of time (that I don't have to spare!) playing with some of the stacks that other people have set up. My favorites are the ones where you have to match authors to books. One person made a stack with over 1,800 items in it! Although I didn't know a lot of the authors...because most of them are classic authors, and this is one of my areas of brain blanks, I had fun guessing and actually learned a bunch that I didn't know before.
I had a link to the 1,800 stack in my lost blog. I can't seem to find it now....it's one of those things that you can't let go, so I spent way more time than I should have trying to find it. Here is one that I made to use in my library. It is authors and books that are popular in my library at school #3. authors & books by SBKendrick I included the one I made and the following stacks in my Libguide that I did for the Resource Guide "Thing". I will include the link to my libguide in this blog also. I have done a lot of work on it since I posted it for the Resource Guide Thing. Here is another one of my favorites: Dr. Seuss Hangman which was created by kellihenry.
Here is a Stack of library & book terms that was created by deb.teigland but I edited some of the terms and definitions to better match my students and how I teach. I would like to know more about what happens when you edit a study stack that someone else created? Is it edited for everyone, or just for me? Good question, huh? Library Trivia
The last one that I shared on my LibGuide was this one Created by: MAMS-reading. Literary ElementsIt works well with the crossword, matching, hangman, and the flashcards. Not all types of entries work well with all of the games and options offered. You kind of have to play around with what and how you enter terms.
I looked at the Quizlet Live option and thought it looked like a useful tool. I played with your flower cards. Very nice. I am still trying to figure out how to use it. I made a small set of study cards for Dewey Categories Dewey Flash Cards by me . I set up a Quizlet Live for my last class today. I wanted to be able to see what the students were going to see on their computers before they got there.
I found a list already created by someone else. It is matching songs to Hip Hop artists.
Very cool. Good way to engage 5th graders with less than civilized manners at the end of a long day. I don't like how it sets up teams because I cannot move my kids around once they are signed in. I can reshuffle the groups but can't make the groups myself. So I started a game with the fifth graders. Not the most patient people in the world...I'm just sayin'. Somehow I clicked off of the "teacher" screen on my computer and although the game continued, I couldn't see the score anymore and couldn't figure out how to get back to it. It's strange that the kids could keep playing even with the "control" computer being off the website. I was thinking of paying the $25 to upgrade for the year but if it is as cumbersome to control as it seems to be, then I am having second thoughts. I don't like how the correct answer is not visible on everyone's screen. I did explain this to the students but they didn't seem to get it because they kept yelling, "The answer's not here!" They did eventually get the hang of it and really enjoyed playing. There is a minimum of 6 students that have to be logged in for a game to start. That was a problem because I only had 5 show up today. I might explore this a bit more and see if I can tell the difference between the free functions and the ones available if you pay the $25.00 for the year?
I was talking to a 7th grade teacher today and explaining Quizlet.live and she mentioned how she uses Kahoot all the time so I am going to check that out and get back to you. I just created my first Kahoot Quiz. I'm going to try it tomorrow. It took a lot of time. I wonder (wish) if you can edit other people's Kahoots and save them under a new name? Here is the link: Library Kahoot
Looked at Quizlet.live again for ideas. I found a really fun one that someone else made. It is a list of quotes and you have to decide if they are from Shakespeare or from a hip hop song. I might try this one with my sixth graders.
Very frustrating. I created the Kahoot, made paper strips with the website and PIN number on it and got everyone to go to the site and enter the PIN. They were not seeing the questions or the answers. They just had blocks of color representing the answers. At first they were just guessing and clicking on colors so I thought it was working. Then they finally told me it wasn't showing them any choices. I ended the quiz and had them enter again.....lots of yelling and repeating myself. Same result. Crazy end to a long day. I couldn't get it working and was therefore without a plan B for a lesson....my mistake, ALWAYS have a plan B when technology is involved!
Now they are all calling each other gay and talking about their mama's. I'm ending this blog here. I think I have explored exhaustively. On to my reflection and last Thing.
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