Final Reflection

          Technology is constantly evolving and changing in order to meet and keep up with the needs of our students. I have learned that librarians are not only in charge of ensuring students develop a passion for reading, but we also have a huge responsibility in ensuring our campus is taking risks and becoming a campus of innovation and technology. This semester has taught me so many things about the importance of technology and how to use it even more in a classroom and library setting. I have truly enjoyed getting exposure to each of these tools, and I have loved getting more ideas from my colleagues and how to use these tools in the upcoming year. I am truly excited. Technology is the key to differentiation when used correctly and truly allows us to give our students opportunities that force them to gain a deeper understanding while also having fun and being engaged in the lessons themselves. It is a win-win!

          To be honest, all of the tools were very exciting to learn about. I found myself most excited about how to use the social media sites to my advantage in a library setting. I am already familiar with Twitter and Facebook however finding out how to use them appropriately for the library was something I really enjoyed. I also really loved learning about video creators like Animoto to create book trailers to get the students excited about upcoming events or book trailers to encourage them to read them. The opportunities are truly endless when thinking of all of the ways to utilize this resource. I also really liked learning about the QR Codes. QR codes are a great way to communicate with students, parents, and faculty members. QR codes can be used to quickly disperse information in a quick manner. They can be printed, downloaded, emailed, or embedded into webpages or wiki’s. I plan on adding QR codes to the backs of books, and linking the QR codes to book trailers that are posted on author websites.  I plan on creating QR codes about library procedures and information like how to use the self-checkout station and how to use the library’s OPAC system, etc. I also plan on creating a virtual library tour for students using a QR code to help the students become familiar with the library and where they can find certain materials. I also plan on making QR codes linking to video book talks, and then displaying them around the campus to get the students engaged and excited about the library and to come see me! 

          The infographics and the screencasting tools were definitely the most difficult for me. Infographics were a whole new world to me and although I do see the benefits my struggle was finding what information I should put into an infographic. I really liked the screencasting ideas however I do find that I need to spend more time on it to find out the true benefits of how and when to use screencasting. Because we are doing virtual teaching right now I feel like this tool will be a huge benefit to my toolbox. 

           I am so excited for my students to try all of these various tools, and I am excited to use them this upcoming year. I feel like it will keep things interesting for my students and really push me out of my comfort zone into unfamiliar territory. As educators we are lifelong learners and continuing to learn this tools is no different. The more we know, the better and more successful our students will be. Each tool had a different purpose whether it was to get the students excited about the library, inform them about specific things within the library, or even keep them engaged in lessons that go into the library. The whole purpose is to ensure the students and staff are using the library as a resource and consider it to be a welcoming and safe environment. By using these tools we are getting the students excited about the library and curious about what goes on in there. This is a great way to get them in the door and keep them there throughout the year by constantly updating social media or creating book trailers to get them excited! I can't wait! 

          I am also very excited about the digital storytelling feature that I have never heard about. After utilizing https://www.techlearning.com/tl-advisor-blog/30-sites-and-apps-for-digital-storytelling I realized how many different sites offer this feature for the student's to create presentations that fit their needs. They have choice and that is very important. I can see how to utilize digital storytelling as their presentation piece to an assignment or a project. I have created my final reflection into a digital storytelling format by using BookCreator. It was user friendly and easy to navigate. I wish it had a few more features on different fonts, colors, and sizes of the font however I liked that it was to easy to find pictures and add shapes to the story as I created it. Attached below is my final reflection in my digital storytelling format made by BookCreator.

Please click the link: 

https://read.bookcreator.com/xss3PeMlLtcNdGmTjaFic9LqkV43/tYIUhSgURPWNr-LVO5gZTQ 

Universal Learning for Design

The Universal Design for Learning is a framework that can be used by educators alike to help improve and optimize their teaching, and the learning for all students. The framework is based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Using UDL in lesson planning, educators can help to ensure that all learners are accessing and participating in meaningful learning opportunities. Universal Design for Learning is a way to look each student, with all of their strengths, struggles, and challenges and figure out a way to best reach them at their level by differentiating instruction. It is all about choice. The more choice students are given to showcase their strengths the more engagement you will have.  

The UDL framework is split into vertical and horizontal guidelines that are meant to be mixed and matched in order to help educators to foster students who are "resourceful and knowledgeable, strategic and goal-directed, and purposeful and motivated." 

The guidelines include the three principles of UDL which are engagement, representation, action and expression, access, build, and internalize. 

Principle 1: Providing multiple means of engagement is a crucial element to all learning that takes place. All students learn differently and are motivated in a variety of ways. There is no cookie cutter student, so we must provide multiple options of engagement to ensure that all students' needs are being met. 

Principle 2:  Providing multiple means of representation is principle 2. It is based on on the fact that learners differ in the ways that they perceive and comprehend information that is presented to them. Students approach content differently, so multiple representations should be used.

Principle 3: Providing multiple means of action and expression means learners differ in the ways that they can navigate a learning environment and express what they know. Action and expression also require a massive amount of strategy, practice, and organization. 

After reviewing the framework, I realized that I am already using and practicing many of these guidelines on my own in my classroom already because they are considered best practice.

 Some of these best practices that I've already been implementing into my classroom include: 

           

Engagement

 

Checkpoint 7.1: Optimize Individual Choice and Autonomy

         I utilize technology and choice boards often in my classroom. I give students choices on how they want to attack a project or an assignment. I will give them guidelines on what must be in their assignment however what program they want to use and how they want to create their final product is completely up to them. They can choose whatever technology application they would prefer such as Adobe Spark, Padlet, Flipgrid, Piktochart, Screencastomatic, Pixton, Podbean or create a hard copy of a final product such as a pamphlet, poster, book, or a flyer. 

Checkpoint 7.2: Optimize Relevance, Value, and Authenticity

         Each year the students participate in Genius Hour where they pick topics and ideas that they want to learn more about. They focus on how it impacts their community,  how their topic/project change or effect the world. It is relative to their lives and their interests. I also teach the GT class, so they also have a GT project that they work on all year that focuses on their interests and passions in life. 

Checkpoint 7.3: Minimize Threats and Distractions

         Something I strive for each year is creating a safe classroom environment where all students enjoy coming to and feel important every day. We have a routine that we follow daily, so all of the students know what to expect. There are rarely surprises, and if our day may look a little different then the students are notified first thing that morning. In order to ensure that all students participate in discussion I try the popsicle stick method to ensure all students have been called on, and I've even tried the Wheel of Names.

Checkpoint 8.1: Heighten Salience of Goals and Objectives

         When giving lessons, we have the learning objective and success criteria that we discuss daily. As we are discussing the lesson I regularly ask the students to tell me what we are learning, why are we learning it, how will we know that we were successful in learning that skill. Students are also responsible for creating goals each nine week and monitoring their progress each week in their data binders. The goal can be anything that is related to school i.e. behavior, attendance, grades, study time etc. Each week I check in with them, and they do a progress update to hold themselves accountable for their progress with their goal.

Checkpoint 8.2: Vary Demands and Resources to Optimize Challenge

           I create a lot of blended learning experiences where my students are able to work through a unit at their own pace. I give them videos, discussion posts, check ins, assessments, and last but not least a final product of their own choice to create. This allows for differentiation because students move at their own pace and because their responses are open-ended, it really pushes them to strive to be the best. 

Checkpoint 8.3: Foster Collaboration and Community

           In my classroom, students are constantly working with partners and groups. Each week we would have book clubs. I had six different groups reading six different books that were appropriate for their reading level. Each week they would read through a specific number of chapters, complete their job role sheets daily, and then on Fridays they would participate in a book talk. Each person would present their findings for the week, and they would all discuss collectively. They would then use a rubric and checklist to determine how they did as a group and individually for the week. We do a lot with turn and talk partners throughout the day as well as partner or group projects/assignments. 

Representation

Checkpoint 1.1: Offer Ways of Customizing Displays of Information

Checkpoint 1.2: Offer Alternatives for Auditory Information

Checkpoint 1.3: Offer Alternatives for Visual Information

          In my classroom each day I incorporate all three of these checkpoints into my teaching. As I am talking, we are taking notes as a class that include different colors, font styles, and even illustrations/diagrams. Students hear the information as well as visual the information when illustrations, graphs, or charts are created.

Checkpoint 2.5: Illustrate Through Multiple Media

          In my classroom we utilize notetaking, discussion, as well as creating songs and dances for my kinesthetic learners. We go through the notes and discussion first then I teach them the song and movements to go with it. For example, The Writing Process, The Weathering Song, Expository, and we often draw illustrations of the various concept to help the students connect easier.

Checkpoint 3.1: Activate or Supply Background Knowledge

           Each day we start our lesson off with completing a Quick Write. This is 2-3 minutes where I tell students what we are going to be learning about today. Then I ask them what they know about a specific concept. They must write the entire time giving me definitions, drawing pictures, giving examples etc. If they are unsure, they must make an educated guess. This is to gauge what the students know. At the end of the lesson the students participate in a Quick Write Summary where they have 2-3 minutes to tell me everything they now know about that same topic. Throughout the lesson I make cross-curricular connections as well as real-world connections in order for the students to understand better.

Action and Expression

Checkpoint 5.2: Use Multiple Tools for Construction and Composition

           It is imperative each year that my students are able to use a dictionary and a thesaurus correctly. We work with dictionary skills, and the students are encouraged all year to use these resources on a daily basis whenever they are unsure of how to spell a word. Each day when taking notes for the Quick Write and Quick Write Summaries I provide sentence starters for the students to think about and use in their writing. Students are also given math manipulatives to use both in class and at home.

Checkpoint 6.3: Facilitate Managing Information and Resources

           Every day when we take notes in all subject areas the notes are set up the same way. The students know what to expect and are familiar with how to complete note-taking because they have mine as an example to view however the students are used to the structure for note-taking. The students have data binders that they are responsible for keeping up with throughout the year. It has graphs, forms, and trackers for the students to utilize and keep track of their grades and progress throughout the year. Students are also given graphic organizers in their notes such as main idea, the writing process (Kernel Essay) graphic organizer etc. in order to help them stay organized and complete any of the work successfully by utilizing these graphic organizers to solve the problem or answer the question.

Checkpoint 6.4: Enhance Capacity for Monitoring Progress

          We use checklists and rubrics on almost all assignments in the classroom. Students are constantly engaging in peer feedback during the TAG protocol (Tell me three things you like. Ask any questions you may have or get clarification. Give suggestions on how to improve.) The students would use these protocol on any assignments, but especially during the writing process and when assessing someone else's project or work.

Although I do implement these guidelines into my classroom currently, I have definitely not mastered them with all of  their complexity yet. I would like to focus on these checkpoints and master them in my classroom this year. I did notice that my weakest principle is Representation, so this leads me into the right direction of knowing where to start.

Checkpoint 8.4: Increase Mastery-Oriented Feedback

Checkpoint 9.2: Facilitate Personal Coping Skills and Strategies

Checkpoint 2.1: Clarify Vocabulary and Symbols

Checkpoint 2.2: Clarify Syntax and Structure

Checkpoint 2.3: Support Decoding of Text, Mathematical Notation, and Symbols

Checkpoint 3.4: Maximize Transfer and Generalization

Some of these guidelines and checkpoints look great however I do feel as though I will need more guidance and support when implementing them into the classroom because they are things I don't feel as confident with. 

Checkpoint 5.3: Build Fluencies With Graduated Levels of Support for Practice and Performance

         Learners must develop a variety of fluencies (e.g., visual, audio, mathematical, reading, etc.).Curricula should offer alternatives in the degrees of freedom available, with highly scaffolded and supported opportunities provided for some and wide degrees of freedom for others who are ready for independence.I feel like I would need a lot of clarification on what this would look like especially the differentiated scaffolding techniques. What would this look like for each individual student in my classroom? Most of the time curriculum does not offer these specific resources, so I feel like it would be a huge challenge to take on.

Checkpoint 9.2: Facilitate Personal Coping Skills and Strategies

        Providing a model of self-regulatory skills is not sufficient for most learners. They will need sustained apprenticeships that include scaffolding. Reminders, models, checklists, and so forth can assist learners in choosing and trying an adaptive strategy for managing and directing their emotional responses to external events (e.g., strategies for coping with anxiety-producing social settings or for reducing task-irrelevant distracters) or internal events (e.g., strategies for decreasing rumination on depressive or anxiety-producing ideation). I feel as though I have seen BIPs in action and created checklists for my behavior students however I would like to do it better. I need more options and more ideas from the counselor.

I feel like something that I would really like to research further and gain more knowledge about is determining the needs of each student group and how I could best reach each child by providing more differentiated learning opportunities. We always hear the word differentiated instruction, but I feel as though I could use more examples of what this means and what this would look like in a classroom/library setting. How do I ensure that each of my students is being successful and that I am reaching them according to the UDL Standards. I have attached some resources all about differentiation. 

Guido, M. (2020, May 25). 20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies & Examples: Prodigy. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://www.prodigygame.com/blog/differentiated-instruction-strategies-examples-download/

Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000). Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. 

          ERIC Digest.  ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Miller, A. (2016, January 08). 6 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction in Project-Based Learning. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-strategies-pbl-andrew-miller

What Is Differentiated Instruction? (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/what-differentiated-instruction/

What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples and Strategies: Resilient Educator. (2020, July 02). Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/examples-of-differentiated-instruction/

Podcasts

Podcasts are free radio shows—like those on National Public Radio (NPR). One can listen to podcasts at any time in any place. Imagine hitting "play" and listening to your favorite podcast sharing the newest trends, ideas, experiences all while commuting, waiting on line, or doing chores. Podcasts are an effective way of archiving library programs and making them accessible to patrons who are unable to attend. This can be used in trainings or to share information at any time and at any place with faculty, students, and even the parents in the community that you serve.

Podcasts can be implemented into the library by having discussions about what you're reading, current events that are going on in the world, the library world, the most popular books that are trending, author talks, and podcasts even allow you to talk about the services that are offered in the library. This is a great time to go into detail. They can be short and sweet or longer and more elaborate. It all depends on the topic. These podcasts can be beneficial for everyone that has access to the library. You can also record events as a podcast that way people can go back and participate in the event online if they couldn't attend in person. You can use podcasts to give shout outs to awesome readers that week or highlight something great that is going on in the library. You can include book reviews, storytelling, or even interview an author. For the staff, you can give how-to's or reminders of what services are offered in the library and by the librarian. The options are endless!

Click on the link (Podcast Project: The Deep Web) to view our podcast project that we created about the Deep Web. I chose to use PodBean as my platform for my podcast because of how user friendly it was and easy to navigate. I know one of the hardest parts for me is realizing how beneficial podcasts can actually be. The part I don't like is hearing my own voice on a recording! I get nervous and feel like I fumble my words or that I sound insane. Getting over that fear would allow me to utilize this digital tool much more often with my campus and truly get everyone excited and involved.

Some podcast apps that I experimented with included Buzzsprout, PodBean, and Anchor.

Buzzsprout has been going since 2009, and they now have 100,000 podcasting users. Their core focus seems to be on creating a smooth experience for new podcasters. Their interface is easy to use and intuitive. The submission to iTunes or Spotify is done via clear step by step guides. The stats are easy to understand. You can use their free site or link to a WordPress website for more control. For the free account you can access up to two hours of audio. There are no ads however each episode is deleted after 90 days. It has great customer support and is very user friendly. The free account does lack a variety of options and would be considered very basic. It is a really great program for beginners!

Anchor is an all-in-one platform where you can create, distribute, and monetize your podcast from any device for free! Everything is free and unlimited. You can record from your computer, mobile device, or browser with up to 5 people at once! Sounds too good to be true right? The only downside is that although the service is free Anchor does reserve the right to distribute the content worldwide. This means they can take your podcast, reproduce it, and market it themselves if they chose to do so. Their customer support is also not the best, so if you need any help good luck trying to get the answers to your problem. Fun fact: Most people that have well-known podcasts do not use this site because it is more for beginners.

Started in 2006 and hosting more than 400,000 podcasts, PodBean is quickly making a name for itself. In fact, you might already be familiar with this New York based company thanks to its popular player, which works with iOS, Android and even Amazon’s Alexa. The basic account is user friendly and easy to figure out for beginners. I did not like that you cannot use PodBean on a desktop computer-it has to be used from a mobile device which I found a little frustrating. I wanted to record the audio from my computer however I didn't have that option to record directly from PodBean itself, so I had to record the file and then upload into PodBean. Because of how straightforward and user-friendly PodBean is even from a mobile device I preferred this app for podcasts. It is completely free. You get five hours of storage space and 100 GB of bandwidth per month. With this it has to be completely recreational podcast usage because you cannot monetize from it. To be fair, I have also used PodBean previously, so I was already comfortable with the options on the basic plan and how to navigate through relatively seamlessly.

Some educational podcasts that you should definitely check out are:

• The Librarian is In: The Librarian Is In is the New York Public Library's podcast about books, culture, and what to read next. Every other week, Rhonda Evans and Frank Collerius discuss the books they're reading, pop culture and the literary zeitgeist, and the world of libraries—and welcome special guests.

• Pint and Click: This podcast examines off-the-beaten-path recommendations of books, movies, television shows, apps, and music. Each week, hosts Dave Steinke, Tony Hahn, and Joel Sawyer bring in a piece of pop culture to share, and then the gang goes into a deep-dive discussion about it. The hosts are frequently joined by guests, usually fellow librarians or librarian assistants, and all bring a perceptive insight to the different topics at hand.                               
• Books Sandwiched In: This podcast features the library’s monthly book discussion of nonfiction books, led by local community figures ranging from local university professors to Knoxville’s mayor. Each book selection reflects the host’s professional or personal expertise, and while the host changes every month, each host provides a passionate examination of the text in question.                                                                                                                                        
• The Lone Reader: Librarian Cameron Johnson gives a concise appraisal of the book he’s currently reading. Each review clocks in under three minutes, and Johnson’s bare-bones style pinpoints why patrons will (or will not) flock to each selected book.                                             
• Shelf Life: Now forty-three episodes in, the staff has their format down to a science, where each episode lasts about twenty minutes and savvily introduces listeners to the staff and services of the library. The podcast is divided into several different episode types, some of which include: The Past is Present, where a staff member talks with a local history librarian about Libertyville’s history. Recent topics include how the library got its name and Libertyville’s nineteenth-century claim to be the source of the nation’s best water; Authors Out Loud, where staff members interview authors, most recently Lori Rader-Day; Locally Sourced, where local business owners are interviewed about a significant book in their lives; New at the Library, which highlights the latest services offered by the library; and Interviews with Bookies, where the host talks to one of the library’s “Bookies,” the librarians who provide the library’s book, movie, and music recommendation resource. These discussions are a great way for patrons to get to know these librarians and see how their tastes align.

Comics and Cartoons

Now I have seen comics done and utilized numerous times however I have never actually created one myself until this assignment. Here is a breakdown of my experience with each comic creator website.

Pixton was my absolute favorite! (https://edu.pixton.com/educators) The possibilities were endless with using this website and oh my gosh it was so easy. I love all of the characters you can choose from, the backgrounds, their movements, and how easy it is to type in the speech bubbles. Using the free version was so simple, and it allowed me to look like a pro comic creator because of how easy it was to use. Downloading and saving it was also extremely simple and gave me no issues at all. Pixton was by far my favorite site that I feel I could utilize regularly both in the classroom and in the library. I feel like my students and the teachers would get a kick out of it, and it is very engaging for all ages! This is also a great tool for the students to use in order to show what they have learned or to create a comic strip as their final product for a specific assignment.

The next site I tried was http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/. I wasn't very impressed with the site. It was relatively simple however it did not have many backgrounds, characters, or objects to choose from. It was very basic. Although I was able to navigate the site relatively easily, I did not find that students or teachers would find this comic strip as engaging because it did not have much to offer. In order to save it you have to create an account online. I also did not like the fact that a lot of this was in black in white, maybe for some things this could be an advantage. 

Fotojet (https://www.fotojet.com/features/misc/photo-comic.html) was my second favorite comic strip creator. I loved all of the templates that it offered, and that they were completely customizable. I love the fact that it gave you real pictures that you could utilize in your comic strips, and that there were so many to choose from. There was no way to save this piece unless you signed up for the 7-day free trial which forced you to input your credit card information. It was a little frustrating because you have the watermarks and things on your comic strip for the free version. I like what it has to offer however for the free version you do have to jump through a few more hoops in order to get it done.

Comic strips could be used as all about me's, book reports, character biographies, and even with lessons on digital citizenship. You could utilize comic book strips as how-tos for the library like how to check in or check out a book, how to find a book etc. It is much more engaging for all ages when you have something visual with what you are teaching about. You could use comic strips with the staff as ice breakers at trainings, simple cartoon strips of how-to's for the library, strips for how-to get your help for something. You can create them on fliers or send them out in regular e-mails. The sky is the limit to keep your teachers engaged!

https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/26-ways-to-use-mbc-in-the-classroom/

Videos and QR Codes in the Library

YouTube:
Norman High Library
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheNHSLibrary/videos

Most helpful for students:

Video students would like the best:

The Unquiet Library
https://www.youtube.com/user/theunquietlibrary/videos

Most helpful for the students:

Video students would like the best:

Pikesville Highschool Library
https://www.youtube.com/user/pikesvillehslibrary/videos

Most helpful for the students:

Video students would like the best:

BBMS Media
https://www.youtube.com/user/bbmsmedia/videos

Most helpful for the students:

Video students would like the best: I couldn't choose between these two!

What if your school blocks YouTube? 

Here are some safe alternatives! 

1. School Tube is a website dedicated to the sharing of videos created by students and teachers. School Tube allows teachers and schools to create their own channels for sharing their students' works. School Tube also provides excellent how-to resources, copyright-friendly media, and lesson plans for using video in the classroom.

2. Teacher Tube provides user generated videos for teachers by teachers. Many of the videos on Teacher Tube have teachers sharing lesson plans in action. I have used this website regularly in order to gain a greater insight into a particular lesson or piece of content.

3. Next Vista is a nonprofit, advertising-free video sharing site run by Google Certified Teacher Rushton Hurley. Next Vista has three video categories. The Light Bulbs category is for videos that teach you how to do something and or provides an explanation of a topic. The Global Views video category contains videos created to promote understanding of cultures around the world. The Seeing Service video category highlights the work of people who are working to make a difference in the lives of others. This sounds like a really great resource because the categories enable you to choose what you may be interested in.

4. Academic Earth is a video depot for individual lectures and entire courses from some of the top universities in the United States. Visitors to Academic Earth will find lectures and courses from Yale, MIT, Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford.

5.  View Pure: prevents the accidental display of inappropriate "related" videos or advertisements. I use this quite often in my school district. It is user friendly and easy to use.

6. Safe Share: prevents the accidental display of inappropriate "related" videos or advertisements. 

7. A Cleaner Internet: prevents the accidental display of inappropriate "related" videos or advertisements. 

         Using videos to promote the library is an extremely beneficial tool because the options are truly endless. You can create videos of all of the fun and engaging things that go on in the library. This would allow the students to view the library as a safe, fun, and inviting space that they can come and experience more than just reading. They can participate in book clubs or be interviewed or interview an author or staff member. You can highlight an author each week or even create book trailers using the videos provided in order to get the students exposed and interested in some new reads! Using videos can be both informational as well as for fun which makes them an asset to every librarian. 

Book Trailer:
          Animoto was simple and easy to use. I enjoyed utilizing this application. It inspired me to feel more confident with making book trailers for my students because it was easy to use. It gives you a variety of templates to choose from and the stock pictures and music is great! It gives you a large selection to choose from, so it has the potential to fit for any book that you may want to create a trailer for. There are many more options if you choose to upgrade, so if you plan on using this tool often I would highly consider upgrading to the next level to use all of the awesome tools that Animoto provides. I was able to create my first book trailer ever on Zane and the Hurricane while using Animoto. It was an interesting experience that took me a little while to navigate through from signing up to trying to find the correct template. I feel if I utilized this application more, it would obviously become easier however for the first time I feel like I did well. The sky is the limit!

                                       

Newberry Honor author Rodman Philbrick presents a gripping yet poignant novel about a 12-year-old boy and his dog who become trapped in New Orleans during the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. Zane Dupree is a charismatic 12-year-old boy of mixed race visiting a relative in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hits. Unexpectedly separated from all family, Zane and his dog experience the terror of Katrina's wind, rain, and horrific flooding.

Facing death, they are rescued from an attic air vent by a kind, elderly musician and a scrappy young girl - both African American. The chaos that ensues as storm water drowns the city, shelter and food vanish, and police contribute to a dangerous, frightening atmosphere, creates a page-turning tale that completely engrosses the listener.

Based on the facts of the worst hurricane disaster in U.S. history, Philbrick includes the lawlessness and lack of government support during the disaster as well as the generosity and courage of those who risked their lives and safety to help others. Here is an unforgettable novel of heroism in the face of truly challenging circumstances.

©2014 Rodman Philbrick (P)2014 Scholastic Inc.

Be sure to scan the QR Code to view the book trailer I created on Zane and the Hurricane! Make sure you wait until after the ad pops up...it takes a few seconds to load. :)

QR Codes: 

            QR Codes are a great tool that can be utilized both in a classroom and in a library daily. They are great for scavenger hunts, station work, posting videos or questions of the day, name that author etc. You could put a QR code under each genre name and have the definition of that genre or most popular books of that genre when the students click the QR Codes. It keeps the students engaged and accountable for their learning. You can have a QR Code for the problem and another one with the answers, so this way the students can check their work. This keeps them completely accountable and responsible for their own learning. For example, you could have the students guess the name of the novel by clicking on a QR Code that may have a quote, summary, or picture of a character from a particular novel. The students would then have to guess the novel and then check their work. This is also great for Bluebonnet books and Matchbook Competitions. Ensuring that the students are remembering what they have read throughout the year is critical, so this is a fun way to test their knowledge by using QR Codes. You could even assign the students tasks on each QR Code or ask a particular general question about the book like how did the character change? The opportunities are once again endless for using QR Codes in a library setting. All you have to be able to monitor is their use of technology and QR Readers. 

Screencasts

Screencasts are an amazing tool that make it so easy for teachers and librarians. It changes the game however it also means you have to plan plan plan ahead to ensure you can use this tool appropriately. If you know you have something difficult coming up you can create a quick screencast for your students that shows them how to access a website or be successful with a concept. Screencast-o-matic was a little problematic for me in the beginning. It took me about an hour to get it all figured out and able to actually record my screen. I think the culprit was I am low on space on my computer, so I had to delete a few things to make it happen. That being said once I got onto the site it was user-friendly, easy to use, and straight to the point.

I chose to create one of my screencasts on Padlet because you can utilize it in so many different ways in the classroom/library. There are so many different templates to use, and they are visually appealing. I really enjoyed using Padlet because it was simple and straight to the point. I feel like the students could grasp it easily, the only part that may be a struggle would be sharing it and saving it. On the free account, it only allows you to save three Padlets. I can see how that would go quickly, so the students would have to learn how to archive their Padlets which would just take time. You can save the Padlets as a PDF or a JPG file which I really like. This would allow them to be posted in another forum for all students to see. Students are even able to collaborate on eachothers' padlets if they share them with eachother. I can see Padlet being utilized in an author study for a biography as a timeline of the author's life. I can also see the timeline being utilized as a plot rollercoaster where the students can type in important events from the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYiQVC5Erk: Padlet Screencast

I chose to create my other screencast on Flipgrid because it is interactive and so engaging for the students. Flipgrid is user friendly for the librarian/teacher and the students even when technical difficulties arrive. I love the fact that you can get student input constantly throughout the year about things that are going on in the library. I also really like the Book Recommendation grid that can be utilized all year. Flipgrid is a site that can be accessed both at home and at school, so they can contribute to this forum at all times. This means they may put more thought into it. I love it that any student from any grade level can see the grids as long as they have the access code that could be specific to the library. This opens so many doors for the students. This is also a great way to introduce yourself or talk to the students about things that are upcoming in the library. They have a board that you can write on and you can also make a video and the students can respond specifically to that video. There is also not a limit to how many grids you can create for the students to reply to. You can make different grids for different grade levels to only access. You can create a book club and each week ask the students a question and have them respond to it. The possibilities are endless!

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYiQVM5E0x: Flipgrid Screencast

All in all after comparing these two applications, I must say that although they are both great for different purposes I feel like Flipgrid can be used more often in a library setting. It is engaging for the students and a great way to get them excited about the library itself. Since we see the entire school population, this makes it easier to organize the students by grade level or as an entire school, but still keep everyone aware of what is going on in the library at all times. What a great tool that is flexible to meet the needs of all of its users. I highly recommend it!

Message Design and Infographics

            After reviewing the information about infographics and familiarizing myself with the tools associated with them, I realized how beneficial these can actually be to the viewer. They provide a visual aspect that the reader should be able to analyze effortlessly. In order to come up with information that was relevant to today I researched the Pew Research Center Project website where I was able to locate an article about the Covid-19 pandemic and the role that digital technology has played in the United States. I created my infographic based off of the information I found to be most useful in understanding this particular concept.
           Creating infographics is a task in itself especially if you are a newbie and have never attempted this task before. Reading the articles, listening to the podcasts, and TedTalk was helpful however the three websites created specifically for the purpose of infographics made life tremendously easier. Anyone is able to utilize these websites.
           I started off exploring Easelly (https://www.easel.ly/). The name sounded appealing to me and right off the bat I saw all of the templates it offered for use even with a free account. No watermarks are included on your final product, and it makes your presentations and reports much more visually appealing. As I dove into the actual free account when I signed up, I picked a template and found myself quite frustrated within the first three minutes. I liked how the infographic was set up however I couldn't make changes to the template easily without it being a complete hassle. I felt as though I should of just started from scratch however I had no idea where to even begin. I tried to add graphics to my presentation, and I was only given about 5 to choose from. In order to see the rest I had to upgrade my plan. I was a little disappointed with the gallery that I had to choose from when I input a variety of search words. I feel as though with this site you have to be more familiar with infographics and what you are doing before you are successful in Easelly.
            I then tried Piktochart (http://piktochart.com/). I love the way that it is set up for collaboration, the menu is organized and has a clean look. The menu even gives you options for different projects that you could potentially work on such as inforgraphics, presentations, flyers, posters, reports, and social media. The options seemed to be endless! I immediately got drawn in and selected a template that I felt could work with my information. It was seamless to make the changes to the template. I understood what the toolbar would give me, and I was able to click on literally everything on the template and change it to whatever I desired. It was completely customizable and that was such a great feature. The way the website was set up allowed me to focus on the information first and foremost and Piktochart made it visually appealing. The site gave me the basics to get started even though I had never created an infographic before. The only downside is that there is a watermark on all projects created unless you pay for your account. You are able to upload your own images or choose from a huge gallery of options. I found everything I needed....for FREE! Here is my final infographic product.

                                                                                                                                                                                    The last site I explored was Infogram (https://infogram.com/. With the free account there are a lot more stipulations on the account. You can see the content that is public, you can create 10 projects, up to 13 maps, and you can include object animations in your presentations. You can also include only 5 pages per project. The template designs are professional and laid out nicely. There are a variety of project options to choose from on this site as well from maps, posters, infographics, Instagram Posts etc. It is organized and easy to understand. When I selected a template, it was also user friendly and easy for me to use. With this site, instead of the words being written out to explain what each icon meant on the toolbar, I was left to just click and press the icon to see what each one did. All in all it created a nice presentation however there are many stipulations on the free account unlike the other two sites. 

                                                                         References

Anderson, M., & Vogels, E. (2020, May 31). Americans turn to technology during COVID-19 outbreak, say an outage would be a problem. Retrieved July 01, 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/31/americans-turn-to-technology-during-covid-19-outbreak-say-an-outage-would-be-a-problem/

Create and share visual ideas using infographics. (n.d.). Retrieved July 02, 2020, from http://www.easel.ly/

Create engaging infographics and reports in minutes. (n.d.). Retrieved July 02, 2020, from http://www.infogram.com/

Create Infographics, Presentations & Flyers. (n.d.). Retrieved July 02, 2020, from https://piktochart.com/