Flipgrids and how they can change a kid's voice!

                                                                Hello FlipGrid!!!

 Excitement in ELA classes with FlipGrid! 

     Today I want to share with teachers of ELA how fun it could be to use FlipGrid and how it can change a child's voice! As a former elementary school teacher in the grades of second and fourth, I was always looking for new ways to have students express their writing while using reading and interview skills as the focus. I searched for many ways to integrate technology into my lessons to make it exciting for students.  Technology is changing daily and as teachers it is really important as we are global 1:1 in our classrooms to research many ways to implement technology into lessons to change the way students do things. 

ATTENTION ELA TEACHERS! I have  found a great blog called The Library Voice and here is the address: https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com. We want to build students who are technology leaders in our world. We want to give them different experiences in their learning world. 

In the blog The Library Voice by Shannon Miller, she used FlipGrids ( a recording) of book talks for her class as a quick assessment of their understanding and a another way to  do reflections. Reflections is also another great way to assess understanding of what they are reading. 

Teachers of ELA, this is a great way to have fun with your students and give them a sense of taking control of their own learning. Students are able to record and have a partner observe what they recorded and share what they have learned with their book talk/reflections. 

Here are some great resources and an example of how to start your FlipGrid Book talks today in your classroom! Technology has become crucial element of teaching and learning and moving into the 21st century, we have to keep working on new and exciting ways to bring our lessons alive!  FlipGrids is a way to make a child's voice be heard and helps us listen to their thinking. 

Smith, D. (2010). Making the case for the leadership role of school librarians in technology integration. Library High Tech, 28(4). Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/07378831011096277

https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/

Media Literacy, Fake News and A Librarian's Information Diet

     Have you ever thought about learning and how it is hard keeping up with rapid change in technology? If so, then you must be in the world of a media specialist and information technology manger. As we move within such a media technology driven world, it is a must that we keep up with the changing world around us within technology. Learners who are taking in information from various sources need to give credit to the original ideas. 
     When given information, we have to not only process information but we have to decide how to process it. What that means is that information is given to use. When deciding on how to use that information, you must question what you want the reader to pull from the information shared. Learners take that information and create an opinion on the information provided.
     With the continuous opinions of "fake news", it is been found that many legitimate news coverage networks have been deemed as unpredictable news with a underlining targeted agenda. With this happening more and more, it is hard for many to decipher what to look at as real news. More and more there is some kind of reasoning behind what people report instead of it being credible information. 
     As librarians of today, we need to have an "information diet" that creates useful information for our media related technology. We have to know how to filter, search and plan out the information we are going to provide. We have to move with the "times" and help others with technology of today. We have to use information that we research and learn continually as lifelong learners. I try to stay away from politics until it is time to do my own research especially in local races. I find that when given information, I need to create a list of the positives and negatives. 

This a great video on Fact vs. Fiction and Kids today 

https://youtu.be/FI7sM7g8ecY

              Framework for 21st Century Learning. (2015)  Retrieved from https://blackboard.sc.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-13049461-dt-content-rid-94287088_2/courses/SLIS761-000-FALL-2019/P21_framework_0515.pdf 

            The Liturgists Podcast. (2017, March 7). Fake news & media literacy. Retrieved 

             from https://theliturgists.com/podcast/2017/3/7/fake-news-media-literacy 

                                       Moving Toward STEAM Accreditation
 

        If you would like to know what my life as a librarian is like this school year then it begins with four letters-STEAM. Our elementary school of over 800 students will be going through STEAM accreditation this year as the first elementary school in our district to proceed with this big overwhelming task. Over the past four to six months, I along with a team of teachers have been looking at ISTE standards along with state standards and AASL standards. During this time I have felt very overwhelmed in what is what and how to accommodate all of these together as a librarian, media specialist and a teacher for six library classes a day. 
     In my day, I see six classes with a forty minute lunch/break a day. I am also the chrome book manager and technology fixer of all things. So to understand where I am at on my journey, this information for pertinent for all of you to know. With that being sad, I am amazed at the information I have found through my journey of both set of standards. 
     Both standards guide the learner to set personal goals and both encourage end results. ISTE standards I have found creates learning opportunities that challenges the students to solve problems which are mostly self directed. AASL standards provides experiences and access to information which helps learners find possible answers with the investigative approach of questioning. 

   As we grow as librarians, our focus should be on the learners and what our students need. Freedman and Robinson talk about how the key commitment should be how to discover and innovate in a growth mindset developed through experience and reflection (AASL,2018, 38). When thinking about this and reflecting on the similarities of both set of standards, I feel that I need to challenge students more to reflect and discover on their own instead of creating the questions for them and having them answer them. In the article School Librarians Level Up by Jennifer Freedman and Alice Robinson, it specifically talks about many of these topics but one that sticks out in my mind is the structuring of activities to learners to collaborate and find a solution to a problem. With ISTE standards, I have found that they seem to be more geared toward students taking an active role in what they get out of their lessons and learning time. As we use maker spaces and blocks in the library, students using reading directions instead of waiting for directions. 

Throughout this whole process of learning through gearing up for our STEAM accreditation, I have felt that at times I struggle with knowing the difference at times and forgetting but I also know that both have similarities through reading information in any format and encouraging questioning through peers and self led discovery.