Thing 30: Flash Cards, Quiz Games & More

I absolutely loved this topic and had so so so much fun looking through all of the resources that you shared with us on this track. Games, quizzes, and flashcards are fun tools that students of all ages can enjoy using and I love the idea of creating my own so it is completely custom to what I am doing and what I am teaching. I find that my students love and kind of game that they can play when they are learning and they like it even better when they can be paired up and put into groups.

I had heard of Quizlet before and have seen some of flashcards that come from that website and many of the reviews from people are positive. I spent time going through the websites you shared but one of them caught my eye and that was Kahoot. I decided to look at Kahoot as one of my activities and I love love love it! It is so simple to use and crating whatever I want is as easy as 1,2,3. The website is set up really nicely and is very user friendly. I think that my kids will absolutely enjoy this and would have fun playing a game and not realizing that it was work. I am going to create an end of the year activity with my students to review everything that we have learned throughout the year and I will for sure be using Kahoot!

Thing 29: Open Educational Resources

While searching and exploring some of the websites that were listed I came across some fabulous lessons that I would love to use in my own classroom! I started by searching mainly for things that I teach every year to see what was out there and I was surprised to come across a lot more than I thought I would find. I really loved the Share My Lesson website and thought that website had the most to offer and was the easiest to navigate and find what I was looking for. I included some of the links to lessons that I will hopefully use next year with my students! Thank you for sharing all of this awesome information with us! J

https://sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/compare-and-contrast-unit-253522

https://sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/all-about-me-informational-text-unit-253668

http://www.curriki.org/oer/Compare-and-Contrast-Introduce-/

https://sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/text-features-informational-texts-269231

https://www.opened.com/video/the-newbery-award-from-1922-to-2011/40829

Thing 28: Online Learning & DIY PD

This track was an easy one for me since professional development is my thing! This year alone I completed over 302 hours of professional development and I can honestly say I enjoyed almost every last bit of it. I did whatever I could and chose to not focus on just one thing but to broaden my horizons and take whatever classes I could and learn whatever I could. It was a mix of online 45 hour classes, classes and workshops that my district or surrounding districts offered, and conferences that helped to obtain so many hours for the year. Some of my favorite classes were the online webinars where I was able to participate from the comfort of my own home and didn’t have to worry about traveling somewhere far from my home. With all that I have done I have thought about, and considered teaching some professional development classes one day and helping others just like my instructors did for me. I am always sharing with my colleagues everything that I have learned so why not go even beyond that and try to reach as many people as possible. My district is awesome about allowing me to take all of these classes and not only do I receive credit for my 100 CTLE hours but I also get credit towards step increases. I loved reading about the webinars, eCourses, and podcasts and will definitely be looking into more of them for next year!

Thing 27: Power Up Your Browser!

There are so many choices when it comes to web browsers and for me I try to find one that I like and one that I can use at home and work and wherever else. With all the devices that I have, laptops, and Macbooks, and iPads and iPhones it can sometimes be hard to keep up with what browser I use and where. At home I tend to use Safari since I have a Macbook but when I am at school we are encouraged to use Google Chrome since we are a Google school. I don’t mind having to switch all the time but sometimes it can be hard to get used to one browser and then have to get used to another one. I also find that sometimes when using different browsers I cannot open certain things that I could open on another browser and that can be frustrating. The browser itself is really easy to use and all the settings are easy to work with and easy to change what you want to change. I like that it is all simple directions and if you have a question you can google it and get your answer right away.

I decided to explore Google Chrome a little more since that is what I primarily use at work. There is so so so much to explore with Google Chrome and I don’t even think it would be possible to see and learn everything that there is to know especially since things are always changing as well. I’ve learned that Google Chrome is much much more than just a browser and it works with all your Google Services better than any other browser. I was already familiar with Gmail, and Google Calendar and Google Docs so I was excited to explore something else. Some chrome extension that I explored were QR Code Extension, Easy Reader, and Speakit, and Turn of the Lights. I really enjoyed learning about these and taking the time to explore. They were easy to install and remove if need be and I am looking forward to sharing with my colleagues and even my students. 

Thing 26: Makerspaces

Makerspaces are something that every librarian has been talking about lately and something that I know every librarian would love to implement in their libraries! I know some librarians that have immersed themselves in this already and some like me who keep saying they want to get makerspaces in the library but the timing or funding doesn’t seem to work. I know that there are many different options and things that can be done for cheaper but it still seems pretty overwhelming.

I attended many conferences this year that were centered around makerspaces and the more I learn about them the more I have realized they aren’t as scary as they seem. My problem was that I did not think I would be able to afford many of the awesome games and such they have available to purchase but I now know that there are many things you can do without a huge budget. Pinterest has become my best friend when looking at makerspace things and there are so many great ideas on there that I plan on using in my library. The only problem that I am facing and many others that I know as well is that being on a fixed schedule it can sometimes be hard to find the time to get them into the library. Before school is not an option and after school is also hard to schedule. Working around the class schedule is really my only option but as long as you have teachers who are willing to work with you then you are all good! I loved reading all the resources that were available to me for this track and will definitely be coming back to the Cool Tools website next year to look back at the great articles and tips and tools!

Thing 25: App-palooza!

There are so many apps out there that sometimes it is hard to determine which ones are the best to use for not only your everyday life but also ones that you can use in your professional life and ones that you can share with your students. I love learning about new apps and being able to download apps for everything from teaching resources to games that  I can play on my phone and tablet. Apps have changed the world and the way that we do things and are something that just keep changing and evolving from day to day.

I am the most familiar with the iTunes app store and sine we have iPads in my building this is what we use when we would like to download an app. Even though we have Chromebooks we are not using them to download apps and since I do not have an Android device I have no used the Google Play Store to download any apps. 

One of my favorite things about being able to use iPads and apps with my students is that there are so many amazing ones out there that kids LOVE using. You can literally get an app for anything you want and students love using the iPads and are better at using them then many adults that I know. I have used many different reading apps in my library, apps for coding and even Pinterest with my students. I think they are a great learning tool and I will continue to use them in my library. I really enjoyed the article “Library in Our pockets” article by Shannon McClintock Miller and plan on now doing something similar in my library. I am not sure how well it would work with my younger students but I would love to try it with my 5^th and 6^th graders since many of them already have cell phones and iPads that they can use. I think it is a great way to get students and parents involved and to showcase what we do as Library Media Specialist!

Thing 24: Control the Info Flow with RSS & Feed Readers

Using an RSS might seem like it is complicated but it is actually very simple and something that I think a lot more people might take advantage of if they knew what it was all about. I also know that there are people who already do subscribe to an RSS feed without even realizing like those who subscribe to various YouTube channels or flickr. The best thing that an RSS feed does in my opinion is gathering all of the important information that you might be interested in and having it in one location so you do not have to go all over the place looking for it.

I never knew what that orange icon meant before and now that I do it seems to be popping up everywhere. I decided to spend some time on feedly because right away I loved that there was a box I could click that would let me do some exploring before I was required to sign up for anything. The site was simple and clean and I liked that. I searched using the terms library, school library, and elementary library. Some great results popped up and I was introduced to some fabulous new blogs I had never known about. One of the other things I really liked about feedly was that there were popular topics already chosen for me that I could click on and see a wealth of information.

Sometimes I feel like I have so much going on not only at school but also in my personal life that I don't enough time to read all the blogs that I would like to, or keep up with all of the newest trends as much as I would like to. I love the idea of having the information that I want sent to me when it is available. Not only does it save me time, but it also helps me to keep up with it and stay on top of all of the new information that is out there. There are a few library blogs that I have found in my search for other things that I have come to love and using an RSS feed to keep up with that information would be wonderful.

For me I think I would use an RSS feed more in my personal life rather than with my students. I think that using it to follow blogs and teacher librarians like myself where I can find new information and explore new things would be the most helpful to me. Libraries can definitely take advantage if this new information to share information around the world. I think introducing it to students in 5th or 6th grade and letting them explore and play around with it would be a nice way for them to learn about it and see what it is. 

After playing around and exploring I am still a little overwhelmed with it but that is usually how I feel when something is new to me. The more I explore the more I think I will get used to and maybe one day have it mastered. I found a few sites that I loved from playing around I am sure I will find a few more the more I explore.

Thing 23: Infographics & Data Visualization

Infographics are something that are way out of my comfort zone and it was a great experience for me to try and create something. I will admit I spent way to long on this topic and it was a lot of trial and error but it was a fun process. People use infographics for many different things and before this lesson I had never created one and did not have much experience with them. I knew what they were and what they could be used for but never thought to make one for myself or for my library.

I signed up for a few websites that would assist me in creating an infographic but ended up using Easelly. Easelly seemed to be the most user friendly and there were templates already in place that I could use. It was pretty easy to use but there was some trial and error and it took me a little bit of time to get used to using it. I wanted to watch some tutorials that were available to me but my district blocked most of them so that made it difficult for me. I had to watch at home and then finish some of it at my house and the rest I worked on at my prep. I chose to keep it simple and since we had just finished a district wide book competition called Genre Madness where books compete against one another for an ultimate winner I created and infogrpahic which had the final two books going up against one another. To be honest creating this infographic was not one of my favorite assignments and I am not sure how often I would use one of these in my library. Every once in a while would be okay but I am not sure I will be creating these all the time. 

Thing 22: Annual Reports- Make Them Matter!

Data, data, data, data. Lately this is the only word that I seem to be hearing. Everyone wants data. They want to know how the students are progressing and what this number and that number is. I have heard the word data in my school in the last year more than I ever have in the past and I have even seen new data teams being set up in all of the buildings in my district. The teams are composed of teachers and staff who are in charge of collecting data from everyone in the school.

When I think of sharing the data from my library it sometimes overwhelms me and I don’t know where to start. One thing that I am always reporting and sharing each year are my circulation statistics, and how many items we have available in the library. Not only does my coordinator want to see this data but my local BOCES does as well. My stats have gone up since I started teaching 5 years ago and that is something that makes me extremely proud to say. I like to c heck these statistics throughout the year as well just to see where I am and am always pushing my students to want to check out more books throughout the year. Doing an annual report is something that terrifies me and I have actually never completed one. I have not been asked to in the past and I was grateful for that. I  never thought of the idea of doing an annual report in the form of a newsletter like Joyce Valenza did but I am loving the idea! Writing a newsletter is something that I am comfortable doing and would be a great way to showcase what is going on and happening in the library. A newsletter is something that I have done in the past and students and parents alike seemed to love the idea!

Another article that I enjoyed reading was “Why you should add Twitter Analytics to your Library Statistical Reports”. Just like the author I have also been making a more conscience effort to be on Twitter. I love how the author discusses how school librarians should consider including any other measurable social media statistics into their reports for administrators. I never even thought to include something like this but it does make sense to include anything that shows evidence of reaching out to tell about library services and stories since it is so powerful. I love how the author also states how it gives stakeholders a return on their investment!

Thing 21: Taking the Lead: Connecting With Your Stakeholders

Advocacy and marketing for your library are one of the most important things that you can do if you are a librarian, or a School Media Specialist! The library is the center of the school and whatever you can do to promote the library, the better! The library in my building is used by all students and almost all of the faculty on a daily basis for anything from lessons, research, a spot to hang out and read and even just a place to come and share new ideas. Without the library students and teachers would be missing out on so much and making sure this message gets out to everyone in the community is one of the best things you can do for your library.

In my library right now I always try to go above and beyond and advocate for my library even if I seem to be repetitive. My website is the first place I go to share with the world what we are doing. It is a place where anyone can go and find information on not only the rules of the library, and the online catalog but it is also a place where students can learn more information about me and what books I am reading and so forth. They can see examples of student work and see projects that students have spent weeks completing. I also have my Twitter page linked to my webpage so that it is easily accessible. Twitter is another tool I use to advocate for my library and I have really this year taken off with using it. It is a great way to promote what you have going on in a quick way and since so many people use social media to stay connected they have access to it. I also try to take part in any community events that happen and always spread the word of what is happening in my library.

I always like to attend professional development training's as well but I think there is always room for doing more and getting my name out there to as many people as I can. If I wanted to amp up my outreach and advocacy I think that this would be one of the best things that I could do. Any help would be much appreciated and things seem to spread by word of mouth quicker than anything else does! I really loved the 10 ways to librarians can be a marketing genius like Lady Gaga! It was by far my favorite article that  I read I agreed with everything The Daring Librarian had to say J Having an opinion and being passionate are so important when it comes to promoting your library and being different in a way that will set you apart from the rest!

Thing 20: Final Reflections & What's Next?

I learned so much from this class and am excited to take with me what I learned and share it with my colleagues. This class was a wealth of information and I know that I will be going back to all of the fantastic resources and use the ideas that were shared with me. I truly believe that using all of the resources that were shared with me will be so beneficial, and that if used the right way students will be learning new skills that they may not have been exposed to in the past. Lessons will become better than they ever have been and I am sure I will learn something new as well.

This was my second year taking this class and I am so happy that I decided to continue on with this class. I am a big fan of a class that is a self-paced class where I can do the work when it is convenient to me. The expectations are clearly laid out and it was easy for me to follow along.

There was so much to learn that I know I will definitely have to go back in the future and spend some more time researching the various resources that were shared with me. I have already shared so many of the resources with my colleagues and they could not be more grateful for me ideas that they can use in the classroom. I absolutely cannot wait to take Track 3 next year and am hoping that it is something I can take!

Track 19: Social Reading & Book Stuff

I am a big reader (shocker, right J) and I find that I read so much sometimes I can’t remember what I read or if I liked the book and if it was something I could recommend to someone else. I also found that I would be in the store browsing through book shelves and writing down books I would want to read only to not be able to find the paper where I wrote the titles down. I would also always get recommendations from people about books I should I read and would always forget them. I decided that I need to find a way to keep all of the books that I read, and wanted to read organized and that is when I signed up for Shelfari.

I used Shelfari for a year or two and found that it was easy enough to use but I was not that happy with what it had to offer. I did not want to get rid of my Shelfari account so I decided that I would use it to showcase the new books that we had in the library. I changed the name and a few things to reflect that it was now a school account and once I had all the new books loaded into it I put it on website. It was a great way for the students to see the new books and the covers and be able to choose what book they might want to read.

I knew I was going to have to find something to use to organize my reading and that is when I found Goodreads, and I have been a user and lover of that ever since! Goodreads has allowed me to not only organize what I read, and what I want to read but it also allows me to read reviews and will give me suggestions about what books I should read next. I really like the layout of it and like how it is so easy to use. There are a lot of options as far as how you want the book lists organized and you can make it custom to how you want it. There is an option to connect it to Facebook but I chose to not do that because it is something that I use for myself and not for the rest of the world to see.

Overdrive is something that is somewhat new to me and now that I know it exists I have no idea how I lived without it! I was never originally a fan of the kindle because I thought that there was something special about holding a book but once I gave in and bought a kindle I could not be happier with the decision I made. It is the best thing to have especially if I am going away somewhere because I now do not have to pack my suitcase with multiple books. Overdrive has made it so easy to borrow books for free and there are so many titles available through my local library that I rarely have to buy a book anymore. Overdrive is organized and extremely easy to use and I love that I can customize certain things like how many days I can borrow the book for. I have helped more students than I can count in my building borrow books from Overdrive and I am working on getting some kindles for the library.

Track 18: Online Learning & DIY PD

As a teacher I am very aware of current instructional “best practices”. I am always participating in various professional development that will help me to be the best teacher I can be and taking what I have learned and using it in my classroom. I believe that it is important to keep up with what is going on in the teaching world and staying up to date with best practices. I am on all four committees in my school, and I follow library blogs, and subscribe to various journals such as School Library Journal and VOYA.I am a believer in always trying something at least once and if it does not work to move on to the next thing. Working with teachers and other colleagues is also another way I keep up with best practices, and we work as a team to implement them into the curriculum.

Webinars have become one of my favorite ways to earn professional development credit, but also more importantly a great way for me to learn an abundance of new things. Webinars have allowed me the freedom to be able to take a professional development class while being in the comfort of my own home. I also like taking courses that allow me to work at my own pace and give me the freedom to work on it even if it is 11:00 at night. I have always taken webinar classes that are through my district but I am interested in looking at some of the podcast ones that I checked out. They seem like they would be great to listen to when in the car driving back and forth from work and I am sure I could learn some great things. I have also taken many online classes through NYCTD and would highly recommend them to anyone. The teachers are great, the classes are informative, and since it is a self-paced class it appeals to everyone!

This class has been the best professional development class that I have ever participated in, and I am not just saying that!! I have taken my fair share of classes that have been completely irrelevant to my job and I was either forced to take them or did it so I could get the hours. This is one of the few, if not only, classes that is made for librarians. I hope to take track 3 & 4 in the future and would love if more came along! I have shared multiple resources with teachers in my building that I learned from the class and have learned so many new ones that I can’t live without. I wish that I could say my district would give me time during the day to participate in this class however that is not happening so after school and on the weekends will have to continue to be my work time!

Track 17: DIY- You Pick!

I have a lot of experience using social media in my personal life but not as much in the classroom so I wanted to explore ways that I could use various social media outlets in my library. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat are just a few that I use. Since I teach elementary school I don’t always incorporate the social media into the classroom with the younger children but I try and incorporate into my lessons for the older students. It is challenging sometimes since our technology for the building is on carts and our class sizes this year are so big that there is not enough pieces of technology for every students. Yes we have brand new amazing pieces of technology but sometimes it is more of a pain. I do have a Twitter account for my Library and update that regularly so parents can see what is going on in my room.

I absolutely agree with the use of social media in the classroom and believe that when used in the proper manner can be an effective tool. I find that I have great relationships with my students because I try and stay up to date with what is going on so that I can relate to them on a different level. I use Twitter in the classroom to showcase what is going in my room and the kids love that I share information that way. I also think that parents appreciate the use of social media in the classroom and for many of them they like to be able to stay up to date with what is going on, and using social media helps that.

Students are without a doubt better engaged in the classroom as well when they are allowed to use social media. It is what they know and many of them are better at using it then most adults. To them it may not seem like homework for them to have to write a blog post, or have to tweet something out. All children express themselves in different ways and for some being able to do that in a different way is beneficial for them. I do not think that social media is going anywhere and we as educators need to somehow find a spot for it in our classrooms even if we do not personally like it.  I do understand that there are some cons like students taking advantage, students becoming distracted, and privacy being compromised but if these problems can be addressed head on and in the beginning I think it will be a good thing for both teacher and students alike.

Some lesson ideas that I think I could use in my classroom would be a Pinterest lesson where my 5^th grade students would learn about historical and current figures. They would each create a board about an individual that they chose and would have the option to pin anything from articles, images, and quotes. I would have the students follow one another so that they could generate ideas from one another and see what their classmates are all working on. They would be able to work on this project from home as well since the only thing they would need is Internet access. After doing the research part of it on Pinterest they could take all of that information that they collected to write a report or do a project on that person. When they present the project they will have their Pinterest boards up on the Smartboard to show their classmates. I think that my students would love this project and would enjoy using a social media website in school for a project.

I could also have students use Twitter to create a profile for their favorite story book character. They would have to do some research beforehand to figure out different traits about their characters. If they did not know some information like birthdays and such I would allow them to make that information up. Once the profiles were set and ready to go they would have to tweet once a day things that they think their characters from the book might tweet. I would teach them what a # is and how they can follow different ones on Twitter. I would choose the #storybookcharacters for them to follow. They would be able to generate some ideas for their character profiles that they created.  They can also dress up like their characters and post things. They would have the freedom to do whatever they would like as long as they were following and using the #storybookcharacters. This would be an assignment that they could also work on at home and tweet more than once a day if they felt necessary. I would of course teach internet safety as well and what would be appropriate to post and what is not appropriate to post. 

Track 16: Digital Tattoo & Digital Citizenship

When I was in my sophomore year of college Facebook was introduced to the world and since I was a college student I was one of the lucky ones who were able to get a Facebook account. The Facebook that I knew back then was completely different from the Facebook that I know now and as all things do it has evolved and gone through many changes throughout the years. Over the last few years I have joined more social media websites and I am sure my digital footprint has tripled in size.

I have always been very careful of what information I put out into the universe because I know that once it is out there it never really goes away. I have two younger sisters, one who is still in college and I always stress to her how important it is to be careful of what she puts out into the world. Many times young kids do not understand how damaging one inappropriate picture can be or what it can do to their futures. I know I probably sound like a mom to her and repeat myself over and over but I never want to see her in a position where something that she posted can damage her future.

I always teach a lesson to my students on Internet safety and what a digital tattoo is. Students today are using technology younger and younger and are sometimes they are better at using it then an adult is. I believe that as an educator it is our job to do whatever we can to make sure that students are safe. Many of my students have access to the Internet at sometimes they are not being watched by an adult. I want to instill in each and every one of them how important it is to be safe and make good choices when using the internet.

I am now obsessed with the first video where the amazing mind reader revealed his ‘gift’. Even though it was only 2 minutes it was an amazing example of what happens when you put everything out on the internet for anyone to see. The participants were shocked to see what kind of information could be found out about them and I am sure they never in a million years thought that could happen to them. The second video was also a great lesson on what your Digital Foortprint is, and I am going to show that to my 5^th and 6^th classes! I also really loved the article by Common Sense Education about having “The Talk” with students. The article listed five easy steps that educators can use before having “The Talk” and some great videos that can be used broken down by grade level.

There are so many different ways that we can teach our students to be safe when putting themselves out on the Internet and it is one of the most important things we can do for them. I would hate to have any of my students live with some kind of regret when they are older because of something silly that they did when they were younger. 

Track 15: Web Presence

I am one of the lucky ones in that not only do I have control of my website that is offered through my district but I also have control of my schools website. My principal and I are the two people who have control of the website and because of that I am able to make sure that the library is front and center! I also have control of the schools Twitter account and Facebook pages which is great because I can post not only what is going on in the building but also what is happening in the library.

I believe that it is so important to have a web presence especially because there are still some individuals out there who do not understand how important a library and Library Media Specialist is! I do whatever I can to promote my library and all of the wonderful things that I am doing to show the world that we are needed! Many times the website is like the first impression of you so you want to make sure that it is filled with positive information about you, your program, and what you believe in.

Since I am happy with my platform for my webpage I decided to go in and make sure that it included all of the information that I would want to share with parents, students, administrators, and everyone and anyone who would want to take a look. Some of the things that I always make sure to include on my website are my rules and expectations that I have for my library, the online catalog where the students can find the resources that they are looking for, and the databases that we have for our school. I also have different reading activities and parents can do with their children and some book talk videos that I made showcasing some of the new books that we have in the library. I have library FAQ’s which answers anything and everything you need to know about my library. One thing that I never forget to include is a section about me. I think that the students and parents should be able to get to know me a little bit even if it is only through a computer screen since I do not get to see the parents all the time.

One thing that I explored this week that I LOVE is the online portfolio. I was so interested in this and think that it would be a really great way for not only parents and students to get to know you, but also for your colleagues to get to see a different side of you and see how valuable of a person you really are! I started to create this and even though I am not ready to share it with the world just yet I am excited for what it will hopefully become. I think that this could be a great way to network with others as well and be able to share ideas and other information with Library Media Specialist’s from all over the world.

At one of our committee meetings my principal mentioned creating a newsletter for next year and Smore seems like it would be an amazing tool to use! We were brainstorming ways that we could simplify creating a newsletter and I am so excited to share this with my colleagues. The cost is not bad and for all of the features that are included and would be a great way for parents to stay in the know! I like that it has a simple look and there is not a lot going on. It also seems to be easy to use but one concern that I have would be whether or not I could fit all of the information that our school wanted to share.

Track 14: Media Skills

Since my job title is Library MEDIA Specialist I figured that this topic which is all about media is one of the most important topics in this class! Media really is everywhere we turn and in my opinion isn’t going anywhere anytime soon! I have students who are better then I am at using technology and in order to keep up with my kidos I need to make sure I am on top of not only the new technology that comes along but also how to do simple tasks like scanning a document or taking a screenshot.

One of the ways that I learn new things is by playing around and exploring anything and everything about something so that I know all of the ins and outs! If there is something that I do not know how to do I will not stop until I accomplish what I set out to learn. Taking a screenshot on a computer, phone and iPad are something I know how to do, and it is something I actually do on my phone all the time. I use a PC at work and a Mac at home so sometimes I have to stop and think which device I am on so that I know what I need to do to take the screenshot. Being able to take a screenshot of something is very helpful to me when I am at home since I do not have a printer. By taking the screenshot I can then save it and email to myself so that I can print at a later time. This is one tool that I use all the time on all of the devices that I have.

Many of the tools and resources that were listed are ones that I am familiar with and have used in my classroom and also on my own time. One tool that I had never heard of was snaggy and I was intrigued and wanted to check it out. It seemed that it was an easy way to be able to share the snapshots of my screen with not only other people but it seemed like it could be an easy way for me to be able to save images so I could print them without having to email them. It is really very simple to use and I like that it is not blocked at my school so I can actually use it J I also LOVED the article on Free Range Scanning about how to scan something using your phone or table. I am always in need of a scanner and most of the time the one that I have at my job is terrible. The videos that she linked were great and I am planning on sharing this with everyone I know because I know my teacher friends will love as well!

I am a pro at Instagram and making videos but wanted to share one that I made of my dog Riley!

https://instagram.com/p/yX5ABomFK2Df8dGUwCKP2YIETVdfNnsDbP1gY0/

Track 13

Track 12: Collaborating, Connecting, Sharing

I am always collaborating with my colleagues and working with them to create and plan lessons and projects that will meet the learning needs of each and every student. I like to meet with them as much as possible and attend things like grade level meetings so that we are on the same page with one another. I also dedicate a lot of my time to going over not only my curriculum, but also each of the grade levels that I teach. This is a great way for both my colleagues and I to be teaching similar topics at the same time so the learning needs of all students are met. Whether it be a sit down meeting with my colleagues, or an impromptu 2 minute meeting in the hallway I always make the effort to communication with my colleagues. Not only do I take the time to meet with my colleagues but I also collaborate with colleagues in my department all the time. They are my best resource and I am always working with them on new lesson plans, and we can always count on one another for small things like book loans and general questions that only someone in out department can answer. We attend professional development together and bounce ideas off one another. I will also be meeting with three of my colleagues this summer to go over and share lesson plans and ideas.

I chose to talk about Pinterest because I am actually in the middle of a lesson that I am working on with my 5^th graders. I have so many boards and enjoy browsing on the website to find fun and new things that I can pin for school, my house and even my dog! You need an ID and log on and that can be an email or you can also sign up through facebook and link it that way. The website does require you have a picture but if some parents are concerned about a child having an account and a picture they could always put a cartoon picture up or something that is not an actual picture of them. Depending on how you have your setting set on the website will determine whether or not you have a public or private profile.  If you are public anyone can see the boards that you have made (unless they are secret boards) and the things that you have pinned. If you are a private account then only people you allow access to can see the boards and the things you have pinned. Pinterest is a website that people of all ages use and they all use it for different things. Some use it when designing a house, others for school related things, and some to get new recipes. Children could for sure use it for a project and it could be customized for their age.  A great thing about Pinterest is that it can be accessed by not only a computer at school or home but anywhere where you can get an internet connection. There is also an app for the website that I personally have on both my iPhone and iPad. I am always sharing my love for Pinterest and telling anyone who will listen why they should sign up!

A Pinterest lesson that I am doing with my 5^th grade students is having them learn about historical and current figures. They are creating a board about an individual that they chose and  have the option to pin anything from articles, images, and quotes. I am having the students follow one another so that they could generate ideas from one another and see what their classmates are all working on. They are able to work on this project from home as well since the only thing they need is Internet access. After doing the research part of it on Pinterest they will take all of that information that they collected to write a report or do a project on that person. When they present the project they will have their Pinterest boards up on the Smartboard to show their classmates. I think that my students will hopefully love this project and will enjoy using a social media website in school for a project.

I also took a look at Skype and had some of my students use it to connect with another classroom. I have a friend who is a teacher not far from here and we decided that we wanted to do something where we could connect our students even if it was something as simple as them making a new friend. We decided to have the students read the same book and then discuss it with one another via Skype. It worked out really well and my students seemed to enjoy it. I think next time I would use it with more students and maybe make it a classroom lesson! Skype was really easy to use and even though I used it with 4^th grade I am sure some of the younger students would have no problem with it!

Thing 11: Coding

I am so happy to be back and to be participating in this class again! This has been one of my favorite professional development classes that I have taken and I have already learned so much I cannot wait to see what else is in store for me this year!

So this first topic is right up my alley since this year I have started to consider whether or not coding was something I was going to do with my students. I really am no coder and I did not know much about so this was perfect timing for sure! I had considered doing hour of code but decided that if I was going to do it I would do it at a later time maybe more toward the end of the year. I spent time playing around with a few of the examples that were given to us and even though at first I was not sure what I was doing I seemed to get the hang of it fairly quickly.  There are many teachers in my district who participate in Hour of Code and have been sharing things with me but it wasn’t until I actually sat down and experimented with it myself that I realized how cool it really is!

I knew right away that the Hour of Code Minecraft Game would be something that a large population of my students would love to do. Minecraft is extremely popular in my building and the students cannot get enough of it. As for the girls the Frozen one with Elsa and Ana on the code.org website I already know would be something they would go crazy for! I played around with Flappy Bird for a while and enjoyed that. What I really like about coding is that there are so many options out there and you really are able to cater to all of your students and find something that they would all be interested in. One of my favorite articles was the 17 apps to try and that is something I will be sharing with my colleagues and can maybe even reach some people who are skeptical about coding.

Using any of these tools you can show students that coding can be fun and something that they might be interested in the future to take a better look at. Who knows maybe they will be so inspired they will want to go into a computer science career! I think that including coding in school is a no brainer and that it is something I will be doing with many of my classes not only this year, but for years to come!