Thing 12: Final Reflection

Unfortunately, I only put one of my newly learned skills to use during the the school year and that was using Bitmoji.  However, it was fun and the  kids certainly got a kick out of it.  I also have the ability to use Bitmoji with my Gmail since I installed the extension on my Chrome browser. Hopefully, I can have them create their own avatar using one of the other options that you mentioned.   

As usual my biggest challenge was sticking to a timeline to complete learning tasks in a timely manner.  The last time I participated in Cool Tools I didn't finish until the very end and I said I wouldn't do that again, however history repeats itself. I am grateful to have a week after school to continue to work on it though.  In the end, I walk away with more knowledge and enthusiasm. My big fails will only be if I don't complete the goals I set for myself for the upcoming school year. 

Those goals are:

1) Begin and maintain a book blog

2) Revisit Million Short and create a lesson using this search tool.

3) Introduce Choosito  to my students and see if it's a search tool that would be beneficial to them (free version).

4) Implement Makerspace Mondays!

5) Create a project using a green screen

I can have students create an avatar using DoppleMe or Avatarmaker as a  makerspace activity (that just came to me)!

I really do like participating in Cool Tools.  I always learn many new things.  I am inspired by the work and experience of others.  I always learn more than what I blog about.  I visit and read many of the tasks before I choose one to work on.  I love that I have the flexibility to spend as much time on a topic as I would like and that I can choose when I will work. I will participate again, but hopefully stick to my self - imposed deadlines!  

Thing 38: Makerspaces

Makerspaces are still an unchartered territory for me . . . . well, I actually dabbled in it a little.  I bought different sets of blocks on Groupon and Amazon. I had the kids work in small groups to create various items (bridge, house, etc.). We reviewed what it meant to work as part of a team and how to resolve issues as they arose.  The kids loved it and worked well together.  They would ask throughout the year if they could play with the blocks so there was definitely an interest to work with their hands and create! 

Reading about other makerspaces has inspired me to take it one step further this school year.  Last year I thought about having Maker Mondays and this year I am actually going to go through with it!  I've been collecting items (cardboard, egg cartons, bottles, tape, etc.) so I have materials for my students to work with.  Space is an issue so I have to think about how I am going to organize and store materials and students projects until they are finished with them. I did find some good ideas from the links.

Students love making and creating!  They love sharing with me (they get super excited if I'm taking pictures). They love answering questions about their work too.  We all love to create we just don't always have the time and space to do it!  Library can offer the perfect place for this to happen!  

What I have witnessed over the past year is that often times those students who may not necessarily shine with computer work or paper and pencil work, really shine when they are allowed to allow their creative side to thrive! The benefits are two-fold! It's amazing to watch the student who may often need help from others be the one who is now the helper!  It levels the playing field and changes the learning environment completely! 

When students are given the space and the time they are able to be creative, the more creative they are, the more self-confident they become which in turn gives them confidence to be more innovative! 

I am going to let the students decide what kind of things they'd like to create in the library!  This idea I got from a blog post on Coo Tools.We  will figure this out together!

The happy creators of a "Bridge Challenge."

Thing 9 : Search Tools Ninja

So I played around a lot with various search tools!  I am intrigued with introducing students to search tools other than Google!  Yes, it's my go to search tool simply out of habit!  Google has absolutely made my life easier BUT it isn't always the best or most appropriate search tool to use especially when working with elementary students.  I use DuckDuckGo with some regularity and I also introduce this tool to my 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students and explain how this search tool doesn't track your data and explain the relevance of that.

I did a search using Google, Million Short, and DuckDuckGo.  As you might expect, the results varied between the search engines.  However, the best results came from Google!  I was looking for  "Corinth, NY fun activities."  The top five results in Google were all relevant while the other search tools both gave my results about Corinth, Mississippi and some irrelevant pages about activities for Corinth, NY but it wasn't really about Corinth, NY.  I will have to revisit Million Short again and play around with it (I see a lesson !).  I checked out ScoopIt and found some great book trailers to use in my library! I'm not sure I will use this regularly but it's worth more time.  I did sign up for a free account.

I was excited to learn about Choosito! As I was able to get search results with grade/reading levels attached to them but to use the free version of this tool you are limited as to what you can access.  It appears that this company has done a really nice job of allowing students to think about and rate websites from the search results! Visually, I like the way your results appear and I think it's very kid friendly.  What I was really impressed with is how it allows students to actively participate in website evaluation which is so important, however, you must be a paid subscriber to access this! That's too bad.

PS - Many of Bill Bradley's links for search tools are dead links.  He hasn't updated this page so I'm not sure it's a very useful resource still.

Thing 16: Bitmoji Fun

 Here is my revised Bitmoji!  I created one awhile back when I got a Snapchat account but only because my daughter had one for her Snapchat account.  It's good that my kids don't think I am living in the Dark Ages! Now with my new knowledge from Cool Tools I know some fun ways to use Bitmoji in school! 

The kids (my students) got a kick out of it, when my image showed up on their Google Doc. It seems that giving them feedback with a picture made them more receptive to reading my feedback (if that makes sense!).  I also used it on a Google Slide as an end of the year Menu of Library Choices for what students could do during their library visit.   As we have a new web filter a school I customized and saved a Bitmoji to Google Keep (I added some text to the image).  I will put it at the end of my post as I am having trouble pasting it into my blog without it taking up so much room.  I was also challenged by changing its size in a Google doc.  I can change the size but the image ends up being smaller than I would like it to be.

I also added the Bitmoji extension to Chrome.  I was surprised and found it interesting that the app had more options for creating your Bitmoji than the site itself! 

In addition, I checked out Booksnaps and created a custom image using the book One Crazy Summer  by Rita Williams-Garcia .

 

The directions from the video were great!  I am still a work on progress with this and I didn't tweet it but I am really excited about how much more comfortable I am using Bitmoji as a educational/PR tool!  This may be a great way to make book trailers or book slides to advertise what's in my collection!  I would love to show my upper grade students how to create their own Bitmoji and have them create comics in Google Slides.  I have to practice at school over the summer, to see how it would work under a student login.

My Google Keep image!

Thing 1: Blogging

I am Laura Gable.  I am currently finishing up my 2nd year at Latham Ridge Elementary School in the North Colonie School District. This will be my fourteenth year as a school librarian.  I also had the pleasure of working as a part-time librarian at the Clifton Park Library until recently.While I really enjoyed working at the public library, with my new position at North Colonie and two kids that are now involved in sports that require travel, sadly I had to resign from that position at (least for now). 

This will be my third time participating in Cool Tools and I swore my experience would be different than the last time but sadly I will finish just under the deadline. While I say I will do it differently next time I find myself in the same boat.  However, I have to say that I ALWAYS learn new skills and get new ideas by taking part in this program.  So that will remain my take away always. Sorry Polly for all the "late" assignments!  At least I am predictable. 😊


I haven't kept an ongoing library blog.  However I think it's a great idea.  Not just to let others know what I am doing but as a reflection tool for me regarding my teaching and my library program.  In September I will begin my third year at Latham Ridge & I am going to begin a blog!  After reviewing some other elementary library blogs I will model mine after the England & the Falmouth Libraries.  Both seemed more simple than other blogs, so that inspired me and to keep it from seeming like a daunting task I will begin by writing a book blog and see where that takes me!  📕

THING 10: FINAL LEARNING ACTIVITY

Well this is the second time I participated in Cool Tools!  My expectations are always higher than what I actually achieve.  I was going to complete 10 Things but I am only completing 5 Things.  How do I put these tools into action at work?  Well I did download the Twitter app on my phone and I have read some really useful articles that have benefited me professionally! I've also kept up on some school events!  I am not a regular tweeter though! I don't blog regularly for work or in my personal life but I do enjoy reading other peoples blogs.  I will most definitely use what I learned about search engines and  I intend to go back and read up a little more on the databases.

Things that I did not complete such as Productivity Tools, Student Portfolios, and Web Design really interested me and I plan to go back and look those over. I scheduled 1 hour for each item on my calendar to look at during the summer.

My biggest challenge is sitting down and making the time to complete a "Thing." You see, I  sit down and I would read and learn about a topic but I wouldn't complete the task (for a variety of reasons - kids, a commitment, etc.) I always found myself saying I will do it tomorrow & here I am at 10:56 PM on June 3rd!!!

I definitely plan on sharing what I've learned. I enjoy learning at my own pace and being able to learn from anywhere.  The convenience is HUGE!  For me personally I wish there were mini - deadlines, maybe one Thing completed every four weeks. Maybe I am just someone who needs a deadline and no matter what I won't finish until the clock strikes midnight - lol.

I would participate in Cool Tools again.  I always learn new information and that makes me happy and fulfilled.  Thank you for the opportunity.

Thing 9: Databases & Search Tools

As I was looking to choose what to complete next "Databases and Search Tools" caught my eye. This year I started working with high school students again (it had been 12 years since I had)!  Topics and search skills will vary from elementary to secondary.  I read Do Your Students Know How to Search?  I thought to myself, no they don't.  What I found out was I don't either!  Yes, I know how to how to search and maybe better than my students but what I found out was that I too could use improvement!
  
I really enjoyed the article and the two video clips included in it!  The article was informative and I will most definitely pass on the  information to my students.  I can say that it made me a better searcher.  I Learned about "Filter Bubbles" and that Google News is a good place to access primary documents!!  This is very exciting!

Although I teach my students about DuckDuckGo and Sweet Search, I hadn't really looked for more search engines to see what they can do. Choosing this topic was a reminder about other options.  InstaGrok is interesting, I think I like it but the presentation is a little different so I have to get used to it. I am undecided if it would work well for my students, I need more time to decide!  And, yes I had to try THINGA and I have to say I really loved it! It's a nice little search tool for the youngsters.  There are lots of videos so it may be good to use as a reward after finishing a project or watch a video and see what kind of questions your students come up with!  From there they could begin some genuine inquiry and that could be so much FUN!!!

Can't wait to check out Scoop.It

Regarding "Articles & resources to Explore," I must say that the save directly option from GALE to Google School Apps is AWESOME!!  It really makes researching and saving articles so much easier!!  I love it and so do my students!