Getting ready to start school in the 2020 Pandemic Universe

I am sure many others deal with the same issues as me when the first day of school approaches every year.  My brain is full of "to do lists."  If I am able to go to sleep, I usually wake up anywhere from 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM with my brain circling in faster and faster twirls.  This year is worse for me because of how much I have learned or tried to learn in getting prepared for what is to happen August 3.  

My district has announced plans to begin fully in-person school 5 days a week.  We begin school the first Monday of August.  As I am writing this, that is 2 weeks away.

Students do have the option to receive distance learning for a semester instead of coming to school in person.

This summer has been packed with virtual professional development for me.  I intended to take my Level 2 Google Certification training and exam but I am now out of time.  Part of me would like to teach from home (i.e., distance learning) but related arts/creative arts teachers are not given that option.  However, we are supposed to have weekly activities available for those students enrolled in distance learning.  That is where I have focused my summer learning-how to "teach" library, books, literature, and research in a distance learning environment.  Because, let's face it, the likelyhood of school continuing through the fall without going to a hybrid model or completely distance learning, is pretty low.  Locally, our COVID19 numbers are getting higher and higher.  Thus, many of my days have been spent sitting here at this laptop creating pieces of lessons or borrowing from freely made public pieces of lessons and activities.

                                                 

Plans

I plan on doing more read alouds this year.  It would be fantastic if students could just listen and answer simple verbal questions I ask without having to produce some major proof of learning.  I am not a fan of all pieces of literature and text needs to result in an assessment or have a huge purpose behind it.  If you stop to think about it, that focus might be contributing to the dislike of reading we continue to see in our society.  Students are rarely allowed to listen or read for pure enjoyment.  Why should they get excited about reading or listening to someone reading when they know they are going to be asked to pick it apart, analyze it, and respond in a big writing or project assignment?  But I know I am in the minority with my opinion.

One of the focuses I will have this fall regardless of in-person, hybrid, or distance learning will be using Tennessee Electronic Library (T.E.L.) to access Gale in Context Elementary (formerly Kid Infobits.)  I will use it much more than I have used it in the past.  Students will also have access to eBooks from Gale.  Camp Cameron's Wellness eBooks for social/emotional learning are available 24/7 to all of our students.  Hopefully I will create links to make these accessible to students from inside Google Classroom.  Gale Virtual Library is another source for research and eBooks.  My early lessons will focus on how to access, how to use, and why to use these resources.

MackinVIA is another source of eBooks and magazines for students to use.  Students will use their Google account to log on to it.  A lesson on accessing their account in MackinVIA will be an early lesson.

Through our T.E.L. account, we have access to World Book Online.  World Book has a collection of eBooks available, too.  Again, another lesson to teach students how to get to it, how to navigate, and when to use it will need to be created.

I have worked with our district's IT department to enable students to use their Google account to log in to our library software Destiny Discover.  I usually teach how to use the electronic card catalog to 4th graders but I definitely will be teaching almost all of my students how to access the library software, how to search for eBooks, how to place physical books on hold, and how to navigate the software.

Our public library provides access to TENNESSEE READS from Overdrive for eBooks and audiobooks.  A lesson will teach students how to access it and how to check out items.  At least half of my students do have public library cards.

Because of current events taking place across the United States, I plan on teaching more about diversity and choosing books for read alouds that support that goal.  

If you have not seen Bitmoji Virtual Classrooms, you are missing out on the creative expression many teachers have spent time creating for distance learning.  There is even an entire Facebook group dedicated to Bitmoji Classrooms!  Many of my lessons will be delivered through my Bitmoji Virtual Classroom.  Therefore, I am working on creating, modifying, and editing Bitmoji Classrooms. Here is an example of one of my classrooms.

So you can see why I have problems getting back to sleep.  So much to do!!

My next post will be a list of resources that I have used, heard about, links to lessons, etc.

Technology Tips and Professional Learning

Many educators across the United States are probably spending this summer immersing themselves in technology professional development.  Particularly on the elementary level, the use of technology as a method to deliver content and instruction as well as assess student learning has been far from universal.  If a teacher is over the age of 40, many are not as comfortable using technology other than to use the projector, document camera, and a slide show to aid during class instruction or the occasional use of YouTube to show a video.  I am not talking about all teachers over 40 but my experience has been that teachers over 40 are less likely to have grown up being surrounded by technology in one form or another.  Therefore, they are more hesitant to try new technology or methods.  They feel less confident in their own ability and tenacity to learn new technology.  Many teachers want to be shown how to use a tool and be provided with when and where to use it in their instruction.  The bridge between innovative teaching using technology and just mastering a technological tool can be difficult to cross.

Credit: www.epictop10.com

Perhaps the gap exists in part because of the stress our federal department of education and our state department of education places on standardized testing.  "How do we know if a student is learning anything if we don't test them?" appears to be the prevailing question among legislators and policy makers.  "How do we know teachers are actually doing their jobs and giving their best efforts if we don't require yearly teacher evaluations and put pressure on them that their test scores will impact their evaluations and show they are being effective?" also appears to be another prevailing question.  Many teachers feel this pressure and stress daily because they can never be "good enough."  Some teachers don't have the mental or emotional health to try to tackle something new that may or may not work when so much is on the line for them.  I could go on and on about the culture of testing and such that is currently the modus operandi for the United States but I will stop there.

Testing by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

Local education agencies are scrambling to make decisions on the best (and for most, the cheapest) digital platform to use when and if wave two of the pandemic hits and schools are asked to shut down the physical buildings.  What devices should be used? What software? What about Internet access across a district?  How should the teachers be trained on using it to deliver their content?  What are resources teachers can use to help make the transition between standing in front of students guiding instruction and learning to being digital and virtual?  In addition, how do related arts/special teachers fit into this digital model?  How can a PE teacher teach virtually, digitally, online?  Shouldn't main subject content be the focus of digital, virtual, online learning?  Math, English, Reading, Science, and Social Studies are the core curriculum.  If students have to spend time on an electronic device every day, we don't want them on the devices all day.  Therefore, art, music, PE, library, and such might not be allowed to have much time each week for instruction in the digital virtual world.  But we just don't know.  We still don't know if we will start in our buildings like normal in August, have a hybrid week with part of the students some days, and the rest of the students the other days, or if we will be 100% virtual.  So, many teachers are cramming technology training in this summer.

I have suggested to my small school's teaching staff that they take home a few of the traditional assessment items that they use after our fall break.  I have challenged them to create a digital method of the assessment.  For some, it will be creating a Quizziz.  For others, it will be creating a Kahoot.  Many will create a Google Form that will self grade.  There will be a few that will use Google Slides to create an assessment that students will be able to manipulate and type in answers for the teachers to view.  Just scanning a test or worksheet and making it a PDF is not the solution because the students' ability to interact inside the PDF is limited.  Add to that, the amount of time a teacher will have to spend looking at each document, making comments, grading, etc., can be overwhelming depending on the number of students and classes a teacher has.  

Even though teachers in my district are learning Google Classroom, going through the Google Level 1 educator training, completing a free state of Tennessee professional development online course taught through Trevecca University in Nashville, completing a set of training modules created by a teacher tech leader, watching YouTube videos of experts and experienced teachers using technology, and more, how to apply the learning and tools is still somewhat vague and scary for many.  

As for me, I am listening to podcasts by technology educators, going through the Trevecca PD course, doing a book study from Kasey Bell's Shake Up Learning book, and will probably tackle Google Level 2 Educator training and certification.  All knowledge is helpful even if I fail the first time.  I learn best by making mistakes and figuring out how to fix it.

Thoughts after School Shutdown in March 2020

It is now early June.  We are post COVID19 first wave attempts to flatten the curve.  My school district left 3 days early for our spring break and then did not return to classes.  Based on recommendations from the governor of Tennessee, schools remained closed.  We were allowed to enter the school buildings a few hours on a couple of days in May which included scheduled times for students to enter to pick up personal belongings, etc.  Our school year was over.

I won't dwell on the thoughts and emotions of life basically put into a holding pattern.  I did pick back up journaling some thoughts and emotions during those 6 weeks of uncertainty.

Even though I physically isolated myself,  I stayed beyond busy trying to assist teachers with providing students with online and digital materials, keeping our Facebook group updated several times a day, recording read alouds (and watching the buffering circle go on and on and on),  and helping my husband provide content in his role as a pastor of a small congregation.   

I used some of that time to finish quilting a baby quilt, cleaned out and organized a couple of storage closets, worked in the yard and flower beds, and of course, I read.  I also started listening to two tech gurus  (at least they are to me).  

I highly recommend two blogs and podcasts I listen to:  Shakeuplearning by Kasey Bell and Google Teacher Podcast.  I have learned so much from these blogs and podcasts.  And I am glad I did because I have been asked to help train and prepare my faculty for potential virtual learning or a possible blend of in person and virtual classes.  

No matter what July, August, and September bring to our schools, we are attempting to plan for at least 3 scenarios to make sure students are still able to learn.  No easy task.

One glaring problem that became abundantly clear throughout this time period is technology inequity in our community.  Add to that major internet infrastructure holes and gaps especially in more rural communities.  Society was unprepared to go home to work and do school at home.  One solution is to have something on the electric poles that criss cross America.  Like the old law that made electricity available to all rural communities, the same thing needs to happen for internet service. 

Next post will be about reading and books so check back.

January 2019 News from TDS Library

I can't believe I have not updated my blog since June!  Sorry about that!

Today's post covers some things I learned at the 2018 Tennessee Educational Technology Conference.

Book Reviews and Green Screens!!

I have two voluntary after school book clubs.  Each club meets once a month.  I limited the club to the first 20 students who returned their signed permission slips because I found that allowing more than 20 makes for a very chaotic and unproductive hour.  One book club is for 2nd and 3rd graders.  The other book club is for 4th and 5th graders.

The first semester book club groups filled out book reviews on books sent by Abrams/Amulet Books, Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky, and Fabled Films.  I collected the reviews and mailed the set to 2 of the 3 publishers.  I am still holding onto one envelope because I have been unable to find out which address to use to send them.  The kids were so excited when I told them after Christmas that one of the publishers, Fabled Films, sent me an email about the reviews they received!  I am trying to work out with the publisher a time that my book club students might be able to Skype with the author of the series of books they sent to us-The Nocturnals.  It will be very exciting if the students are able to communicate, even if by camera, with a real author!

This semester, I decided to try something different.  I bought green fabric from Hobby Lobby.  On sale, I spent about $11 for 4 yards.  I already had my library iPad so I downloaded the inexpensive ($2.99) app DoInk.  My students will be creating video book reviews!  My plans are to have it formatted similar to Reading Rainbow or such and then with parent permission, publish them on our school YouTube Channel!

One of the sessions I attended at TETC was facilitated by a teacher from Avaco Elementary School in Bristol, TN.  He walked us through how he set up his green screen recording, went over prices, gave advice on things to avoid, and helpful how-tos in getting our own program started.  He posts (with parent permission) the videos that his students create on their YouTube Channel.  Such a great way to reach out to the community, advertise for the school, show student work, etc.

I have a former director of the morning news show on one of our local TV stations who came to assist in our first attempt.  She gave me tips and suggestions on simple things to change or try and pointed out items I can purchase if I can get some grant money to help cover the cost.  Things such as portable lighting and tripods.

Reading Rainbow style book review lesson  I came across this lesson plan while searching for templates for a video book review.  I haven't tried it yet, but will add it to my toolbox!

Google Tips

One of the best tool I learned about at TETC is Toby.  Toby is a holding spot, collection, or set of browser tabs that you can save into a collection that you name however you need to name.  So, as I do research on sites for my students to use for researching (so I don't just get Wikipedia and Google as answers!), when I find a great site or source, I can add it to the collection in Toby.  Then I can share the URL for that collection with my students in their Google Classroom!  For example, I have 5th graders doing a 9 week long social studies research project.  They each have their assigned topic and a choice of templates or end product options to work with to demonstrate knowledge, etc.  I created a Toby collection for resources that I found to assist them.  I can add to the collection throughout the 9 weeks as I find new or better resources.  I can guide them to specific, high quality sources such as WorldBook through our Tennessee Electronic Library.  Here is a sample of my Toby collection for the research project.

Hopefully, I will be able to blog soon about more tips and ideas I learned at 2018 TETC!

Happy reading!!

Summer Musings and Things I Have Learned This Summer

Several of my fellow county librarians were able to attend the 2018 Google Summit.  They have collected many ideas, tidbits, and app information that they are sharing with those of us who were unable to get a seat at the summit.

Some of the apps they mentioned are Flipgrid and ScreenCastify.  They also heard that Shorten URL to get QR codes will be discontinued soon from Google.  Not sure what will replace it.  One person heard that Bit.ly is also going away.  I hope not!

Four of us attended the Lincoln County-Fayetteville Books and Bytes workshop on June 5, 2018.  The keynote speaker, Dr. Jeanne Gilliam Fain, from Lipscomb University, hit the highlights of the ALA Notable Books.  Several of the books sound like something that would go great in our ELA and SS TN standards.

One session covered https://edpuzzle.com/    The neatest thing about this is you can grab YouTube videos and trim/edit them for classroom use.  Thus get around YouTube inappropriate advertisements and firewall issues that many school districts have accessing YouTube.  You can build in questions to assess students during a video, too, and it grades it for you.  There is a free Chrome extension called edit edpuzzle to use to edit the videos.  You can also incorporate TED talks, Vimeo, and CC videos.  Sounds like something I will be trying in the 2018-2019 school year.

Another session was taught be a very knowledgable and great Technology Instructional Coach from Williamson County, TN.  She presented different ways to edit and use Google Drawing in classrooms and libraries.  Words cannot describe the great the presentation and information.  She provided ready-made templates and collaboration projects with suggested curriculum connections!  Check her out on Twitter at @BevNOzburn.  

At the elementary round table session, one idea on creating and using Reader's Theater in the library is to have students write their own Reader's Theater about a certain topic.  One librarian had the students write a Reader's Theater on Aesop's Fables.  An alternative to Accelerated Reader might be https://www.whooosreading.org/   Several Tennessee school districts are losing access to Accelerated Reader due to budget cuts and are struggling to find a free or lower cost alternative.  https://classroomscreen.com/ is a great tool to use for timers, etc., to display on a projector.  We were encouraged to look into the free trial for a younger Bill Nye the Science Guy type of science videos at https://www.generationgenius.com/  

The last session I attended discussed Genrefying an elementary library.  Lots of neat ideas.  The presenter started with the nonfiction.  She created a color code for the different genres.  She purchased see-through color labels to go over her existing spine lables instead of printing all new spine labels.  Acknowledging that the books might be somewhat disordered within the section but all of a genre are together was a big point she made to us.  

Part of my summer resolution is to clean up my files.  I primarily use Dropbox.  Google Drive is what my district provides with my Google Classroom account but I have problems having what I need where and when I need it.  At the same time, I have multiple copies of quite a few files as well as my personal photos.  So, I am spending a few days getting all of that cleaned up.  I chose to use Ashisoft's Duplicate File Finder found here.  

I have plans to go through Google Suite certification training on my own this summer!  Hopefully I will be able to post how that went!

Enjoy your summer!  August 1 will roll around before you know it!  Our district gets out Memorial Day weekend and students start back on August 1.

Bulletin boards and things

I never seem to get caught up and my youngest recently said, "You know, I think you work too much."  That is a reflection on how hard I find it to say "no" to people.

But, I do all of it for the kiddos.

In March, we are doing a March Madness version for TDS.  I am calling it the TDS Tournament of Books.  I pulled reports from my library circulation software to give me the initial 32 top picture books and the 32 top chapter books based on number of times checked out this school year.  I included graphic novels in the picture books.  Then I drew the brackets and printed book cover images, and began the process of creating QR codes and ballots in Google Forms.  The students are loving the idea of voting and seeing which book is going up against another, etc.  I originally got the idea from http://brownbagteacher.com/book-madness-march-book-display/  Here is a picture of what I ended up posting on our bulletin board.  

In February, I started two after-school book clubs.  I have 27 1st and 2nd graders signed up to stay about every 2 weeks on Monday until 4:00.  I have 20 3rd through 5th graders signed up to stay about every 3 weeks.  We have a snack (popcorn mostly) and have book talks/reviews of the books, and they choose new books. 

The first 2 times the 1st and 2nd grade group stayed, we chose from my Caldecott collection.  The 3rd time, they were able to choose from sets of early chapter books or popular titles such as Stink by Megan McDonald.  Early chapter books includes the first A to Z Mysteries book The Absent Author by Ron Roy, the first Magic Tree House book Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne, the second Magic Tree House book The Knight at Dawn also by Mary Pope Osborne, Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, etc.  I provided a cute little form that asks questions like "If you wanted to convince someone to read this book without giving away the ending, what would you say?" "What is one thing you really liked about this book?" I also included a thought bubble and asked the students to draw how they would picture the main character(s).

The older group started out choosing a Newbery award book.  They did a brief review of the book and a few students did a brief book talk.  The second time they met, they got to either choose a stand alone Newbery book or a book from sets I provided.  I have students reading A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, etc.

I wanted this to be an opportunity for the stronger readers in each grade level to be able to get together with like-minded students to discuss and be excited about books. So far, they love it. It is a noisy, exciting time in the library on the Monday afternoons of book club!

4th and 5th graders read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle then we took a trip to the local movie theater to watch it. 5th graders are answering questions about book versus movie, etc., in the library. It is interesting to hear the discussions.

Students have been working toward earning the end of the year celebration in AR and earning the honor of going to Readapalooza. It seems every time I turn around, someone is handing me a reading log!

The book fair is right before spring break on March 22 and March 23.

4th graders are doing a research project in conjunction with the classroom social studies teacher. They have a person that is listed in the 4th grade social studies standards. I am providing a variety of templates and options for reporting their information through Google Classroom. They are very excited about using these templates. Trying to teach them to cite their sources, even a picture they find on Wikipedia or just from a Google search is quite challenging.

We have the ongoing myOn county-wide challenge that continues as well as SmartyAnts and Achieve3000 reading going on.

Through June 30, 2018, students have access to Tumblebooks Premium free. Mackin Tumblebooks Account. Students need to search for Discovery School, Dickson Tennessee then type in       thediscoveryes        as the username and       discovery       as the password to access these free books. Only until June 30, 2018.

Life is certainly not dull in the TDS Library!

Until next time, enjoy a good book!

2017-2018 Here We Come!

Well, new carpet in the library, new paint on 3/4 of the walls, nonfiction section moved to a different room, much junk eliminated, and a new schedule for this school year means we will have big changes to The Discovery School Library!

Students will only be coming to the library once a week this year instead of twice a week.  That is a BIG change for the students.  I will be doing intervention instruction all day long 2 days a week and the last day is reserved for my RTI managers duties including data/tier meetings every 4 to 5 weeks.

My plan this year is to primarily focus on students choosing a good book to fit their likes and abilities.  Students will be able to check out up to 3 books at a time.  However, I plan on doing ongoing chapter book reading with grades 2 through 5.  Students will be writing reviews, summaries, and predicting as part of these library visits.  I feel my role is to help foster the love of reading and the excitement of getting to know characters, settings, and stories.  Sometimes that will mean just quiet time to read.  Sometimes that will mean discussion and debate.

Last year, the 4th grade created a TDS Library Constitution based on the United States Constitution.  After reading the US Constitution, reading a book on it, discussing it, each table in both classes created what they thought would be a good library constitution.  Then, the students went to each of the other tables and voted on which one was the "best."  The next step of our lesson involved editing, debate, and discussion about each and every word.  After the edits were made in both classes, the final version was presented and voted on.  I had plans to post the finished product in the hall with the student signatures, my signature, and the principal's signature but somehow the document got lost in one of the classrooms.  I plan on creating a second copy and having the signatures put on it then enlarged to post on the wall.  The best part of the process was the day a few of the students sighed, rolled their eyes, complained about how long it was taking and how boring it was to these particular students, etc.  We had a good discussion on how Congress actually is just like this tedious process and how long it took for the lawmakers to create the original Constitution.  They agreed that our process was much easier.  They gained a new appreciation for the role of the elected officials attempting to pass laws.  It was a great few weeks of hands-on experience for them.

This year, the library will have a Chromebook for each student to use while in the library.  Each student has a Google Classroom login that can be used anywhere. They can log onto their Google Classroom account at home, too. They can use the Chromebook to research, look up books in the library Destiny software, access myOn to read online, and work on Google Classroom assignments.  My hope is that by the end of the year, 3rd through 5th graders will have become more comfortable with using these tools.  Middle school teachers expect a certain level of proficiency that I hope to help students achieve before leaving TDS.  If you have any questions about the Google accounts, please send me an email.

As many other teachers, I spend my summer scouring Pinterest for lesson ideas, bulletin board ideas, Google docs and Classroom ideas, and classroom management help.  It can become an addiction!  I am finding lots of things to create on my original Cricut machine and a borrowed Cricut Explore Air.  I look forward to exploring more.  Pam Artis Cricut for the Classroom board.  Shannon Lee's Circut Classroom Uses.   Cricut's School and Education Projects.  The Kinderhearted Classroom  

Hopefully, I will be posting how the school year starts soon!  Keep reading Explorers!