Prezi for NCCBA nominees

Here's a link to my NCCBA Prezi:  http://prezi.com/8gdyeq6iv4rc/nccba-2011-12/ (I don't like the way Prezi's embed feature works.) 

To be honest, I'll probably do the presentation over again in Animoto.  I find it easier, more like "video" and you can easily add music.  This took FOREVER and I don't really like the text.  I tried to group the books into categories, which wasn't easy.  It uses 2 clip arts images from Creative Commons so at least I can cross another challenge off the list.  None of the book covers were available through Creative Commons.  Hopefully they fall under educational use, etc.

Warning! Low-Tech!!

Thought I would share a bulletin board that I've been wanting to do for years but just got around to.  Here's my "Media - Old and New" board:

Hopefully you can see most of the items.  Here's a list:
Top - reel to reel audio, vinyl 45, vinyl album, cassette, 8-track tape, CD
Bottom - Edison Cylinder Phonograph, an old "View-master", reel film, slides, film strip, VHS, laserdisc, DVD

Once the board has been up for 2 weeks and the student's are still curious, I'm going to put up cards that describe each item and when it was invented.  And (sadly), I have had experience with almost every one of these items in my lifetime!  (Maybe not the Edison - I'm not that old!)

Facebook "friending" a student...

It's been ages since I posted because a new school year has begun and I've been swamped with low-tech stuff (bulletin boards, read-alouds, PLCs, shelf-marker lessons.......).  But I also just received my second friend request on Facebook from a current student.  Don't worry everyone, I didn't accept it!  However, it leads to a quandary about social networks and schools.  When a student friends me, I seek that student out at school, pull them aside and explain to them why I cannot be their friend on Facebook.  I usually tell them how great they are (because they usually are), but... it isn't appropriate for a teacher to be a Facebook friends with students, AND because Facebook sets an age limit at 13 (I think?) I would be seen as encouraging them to break the rules.   I've considered having a Holt Library page on Facebook so I could post book recommendations, library events, etc. BUT would that not also be encouraging under-age kids to create Facebook accounts?

I think social networks are currently not an option for elementary schools.  Anyone else have thoughts about using social networks with students?

Be Funky

I tried out a new online photo editing tool tonight.  I remember taking a Photoshop course in the 1990s and being amazed at the effects you could create with the software.  BeFunky.com lets to stylize many of your own photos and it's free (with some "premium" features).  My 19 year old son takes a lot of amazing pictures so I used one of his to create artistic effects.

Original:

 Impressionist effect:

Pointillism effect:

You can upload photos from your hard drive, but also from photo sharing sites such as Flickr and Picassa.  I see this tool being useful in art classes, particularly because as students study an art style, they can better understand the style by applying it to their own photos.  However, it would enable students in other classes to express themselves creatively.  You can add text to your photos, then upload them directly to your Flickr or Facebook accounts.  I've posted this on my son's Facebook page, we'll see what he thinks!

PicLits for writing practice!

I'm excited about this tool!  Not only can your kids easily choose an image and create their own text to describe the image BUT the text can be chosen from columns of Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs, etc.  How great that reluctant writers could just drag and drop text and learn grammar at the same time! The word to choose from are different with each image and when you drag and drop a word you are given the option to change the form of the word (butterfly can be changed to butterflies, stretch to stretches, etc.)  There is also a "freestyle" option for unlimited word choice.  Currently the site is free but the creators are weighing an inexpensive paid option.  The only thing that doesn't seem to work is the ability to post to a blog.  So click below the image to view the PicLit I just created (it's very simple - I'm no poet!). 

http://www.piclits.com/viewpoem.aspx?PoemId=108910

Top 25 websites for teaching and learning

The American Association of School Librarians have announced their annual list of "Top 25 websites for teaching and learning".  There are some cool (most free!) sites here.  I haven't had a chance to explore them all but I particularly loved Exploratorium and PicLits.  Check out all the winners:  http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25.cfm