Final Reflection

Throughout the semester, I’ve learned about so many programs and applications that I’m very excited to implement in my classroom this school year.  I love integrating technology in my lessons because students get just as excited as me.  Some things I was familiar with because I was already using them; however, some were new and although they were a bit challenging, but I managed to learn them.  Throughout my reflection, I’ll mention my favorite, most difficult, and the ones I believe will be the most beneficial to my students in the classroom and in the library.   

The following is all the technology that we used for this class.  As you can see, the majority are new things I learned this semester, and that’s awesome!

1.     Facebook (learned before)

2.    Twitter (new)

3.    Infographics (new)

4.    Blog (learned before)

5.    Bloglovin’ Blog Reader (new)

6.    YouTube (learned before)

7.    QR Codes (new)

8.    Podcast (learned before)

9.    Online Book Communities (new)

10. Creating Comics and Cartoons (new)

11.  Instagram (new)

12. Vine (new)

13. Screencast (new)

My Favorite was creating comics and cartoons using MakeBeliefsComix, Pixton, and ToonDoo. Although all three were great, my favorite was ToonDoo because it had many characters and different backgrounds.

As for the most difficult, I would say was creating the QR code using www.qrstuff.com and www.visualead.com. I had a little more difficulty understanding and navigating through the both websites.  Despite that, I believe that with practice I can use it for many things like to create book trailers, to inform about plagiarism and other information.

Although they were all great programs, I believe the most beneficial for both my students and me was screencast.  I can record step by step screens that allow me to go back to something I’ve learned and in the same way my students can use it to go back to a lesson they missed or need to review.   Librarians and administrators can train others using a screencast, too.  It’s just a great resource that I wish I knew about sooner.

Since students use technology all the time, it makes sense that teachers and librarians use it with them, too. Thanks for all the exposure.  It truly was an eye opener and I’m sure it’s just a little taste about what is out there to be discovered.

Screencasts

For the screencasts assignment, I used two different websites that were very similar and easy to use. The first one was Screencast-o-matic. Using this one, I was able to create a presentation showing students how to do a bibliography using www.citationmachine.net. With the use of Screencast-o-matic, I was able to record the whole presentation in order to link to my webpage so that students can view it at any time. This will specially help students who were absent or those who simply need a refresher.

The second one I used was Screenr.  This website also allows you to capture the screens that you use to show students or anyone the process that it takes to do a certain task.   For instance, for this presentation I showed teachers how to navigate through our school's website, in particular our library link.  I briefly showed them the databases available and practice using BrainPop.  Just like with the other one, I could link this to the school's website for later reference.

  

Both Screencast-o-matic and Screenr are excellent resources for anyone to use. Using these two websites anyone can teach step by step the process that it takes to use any computer based program or online software. These two are great websites to use in the classroom. However, my favorite was Screencast-o-matic because it has more benefits. The recording time on Screencast-o-matic is 15 minutes while Screenr only gives you 5 minutes. Also on Screencast-o-matic you can save the recording on different formats like MP4, FLV, GIF and AVI while Screenr only gives you the option of MP4.  In addition to this, I personally had to have Java installed and updated on my computer in order for it to work.  Once I had it installed, then I had no problems.   

Instagram and Vine

Instagram is a very popular website where people can share photos and videos via social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.

Vine is a video-sharing app. This app is designed to film short, separate instances that will be linked together. This video can be embedded into a web page.

How can I use Instagram and Vine in my classroom?

Instagram	Vine
*Photo essays	*Class projects
*Science experiments	*Unit preview
*Art projects	*Memorize critical concepts
*Journalism class	*Practice vocabulary words
*Class activities	*Drama class
*Create characters for a story	*Short announcements or instructions

I will be sharing with you all some pictures I have on Instagram. I edited the pictures using an app called Photogrid. 

I took these pictures the last week of June; my family and I went to Cancun, Mexico and we had a blast! 

I took this other one during the week of Teacher's Appreciation Week. This is one of the gifts I received from my school administration.

Now, I want to share with you all a video I created using Vine. This video is about my favorite books.

 

Mining Pew

13 Things to Know About Teens and Technology

Rainie, L. (2014, July 23). 13 Things to Know About Teens and Technology. Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. Retrieved July 25, 2014, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/07/23/13-things-to-know-about-teens-and-technology

Gathering information from the Pew Research Internet Project’s national surveys; Lee Rainie will highlight 13 things about how teens use technology. Teens have tech saturated lives 95% use internet and 81% use social network sites.  Information is like a third skin and teens have a new attention layer. On an online survey of 2,462 advanced placement teachers, 77% said that digital tools have mostly impacted their students’ research work in a positive way. 87% agree that technology is affecting the teens; they get easily distracted and have short attention spans.

Now that we are talking about technology, what is the future of learning?

Learning as transaction	Learning as a process
*Knowledge is objective and certain	*Knowledge is subjective and provisional
*Learners receive knowledge	*Learners create knowledge
*Knowledge is organized in stable, hierarchical structures that can be treated independently of one another	*Knowledge is organized “ecologically” disciplines are integrative and interactive

(Rainie 2014)

According to Rainie in 2020 the brains of multitasking teens and young adults are wired differently from those over age 35 and overall it yields helpful results. 

13 Things to Know About Teens and Technology from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

55 pages read

Comics and Cartoons

MakeBeliefsComix

It’s easy and fun to create & save comic strips when you access this website. Something cool that I like is that it gives you the option of author’s name, so everyone can know who created the comic strip. They have many characters, lesson plan ideas, homeschool and family fun. They even have an option for different languages. Students from all over the world can use this website.

Pixton

Pixton is another website where you can create & save comics easily . Something cool about this website is that you can create your character, including face emotions. This website contains different sections where you can browse or preview your own comics or other comics. It has another tab to create a comic book. You can invite your friends. It has a discussion forum and many other cool features. Something that I didn’t like is that you cannot change the character, once you create your character, it will appear on all the comic strip.

ToonDoo

ToonDoo is a place where you can create comics. This particular website contains many features, different characters and backgrounds to put in your comic strip. It was easy to save my comic strip. Here you will find favorite, most popular, recent and viewed comics. You can also create a comic book. It has a section for the most admired and the editor’s pick. Overall this is very complete website where students will find everything to create the perfect comic strip. This was my favorite!

Incorporating comic strips into teaching is very interesting. Students will have fun at the same time as they are learning new stuff. The three websites above are very easy to navigate and students will easily be able to start using the websites. 

How to use a comic strip in the classroom:

1. To practice vocabulary words 

2. To create an autobiographical comic strip 

3. To introduce creative writing 

4. To strengthen conflict resolution skills 

5. Just for fun (as a reward)

I also created a Gami. Tellagami is an app that lets you create and share a quick animated message called a Gami.

Click on the link to access my Gami: https://tellagami.com/gami/JQCYHX/

Online Book Communities

Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, Booklikes, Biblionasium are online book communities where people can upload information about the books they have read or would like to read. This is also where people can find recommendations for which books to read. Other members post comments on the books they have read and depending on those comments people can decide if they want to read the book or not. Some online book communities are easy to navigate, others are a little complicated, but I will mention each one and I will give you information about my thoughts, likes, dislikes, advantages, disadvantages, ease of use, most pleasing to the eye, which ones students would like best and many other things.

www.biblionasium.com

Biblionasium is an online book community that is very inviting to navigate and it contains different things like a shelf where you can put the books you have read or would like to read. Teachers can create groups of students and give them challenges. It contains the reports of the books. It also has a section for suggested reading. Teachers can also set goals, run reports, send letters to parents. Biblionasium is my favorite, and this is the one I will start incorporating in my class. I want to also use this one in my library in the future. This is an excellent website for students, parents and teachers. 100% user friendly. 

www.goodreads.com

Goodreads is very easy to navigate. It contains different sections. One of the sections is My Books here I can find my bookshelves, and in my bookshelves I have the books I have already read, the ones that I am currently reading and the ones I want to read. Here I can also find the list of my owned books. I can also find recommendations, most read authors, etc. It also has a section for groups, recommendations and explore. I do not see any disadvantages. I would recommend this webpage to students as well as teachers and people that like to read.

www.librarything.com

Librarything is a website that has a lot of information about books. This website contains a section where you can add your books, a section for groups, recommendations, reviews; it also has a talk forum. Under your collections you will find a section for currently reading, to read, read but unowned, favorites, wishlist. Something I really like about librarything is that you can search for books on different places like Library of Congress, Overcat, Amazon and many more. This was one of my favorite websites. I would definitely want to use this one not only as a teacher but as a librarian. I do not see any disadvantages.

www.booklikes.com

Booklikes is a website where you can find information about books. It is very easy to navigate. When you move the cursor to the Dashboard it gives you options to navigate to different things like blog, shelf, timeline, explore, discussions friends, giveaways, daily deals, goodies, etc. Something that I really like about this website is that it has a section where you can ask a question if you need help. I do not see any disadvantages. I would definitely use this website in the class with my students.

www.shelfari.com

Shelfari is a website for books. Here you can use your virtual shelves to post the books you have read. Here you can rate, review, tag and discuss about the books. Here you can also create groups, other members can follow you, discuss about books. You can access shelfari when you have an account with amazon. I do not see any disadvantages. I would recommend this website to every student. It is easy to navigate.

After creating an account and reviewing all these five online book communities; I can see that there is so much stuff you can do in the classroom using these websites. I think that my students would like to use biblionasium more than the other ones, because it is very easy to navigate; parents and teachers can accessed too. I like biblionasium more than the others. All of them are very complete and I don’t see any disadvantages on any of them, but I like this one more than the others, because once you open the website the colors and everything looks very inviting to navigate. The search engine is easy to use, at the same time a student can use this website without or very little help. I believe they would get excited if they see the books they have read on their shelf.

 

Podcasting in the Classroom/Library

A podcast is an online audio file that can be accessed by the public. The use of podcasts in the classroom/library will enhance learning.  It is very easy to create a podcast and students will enjoy doing it, not only because it will be something new for them, but also because they will learn something that will be of great use for the rest of their lives. Some ideas that come to my mind on how to use podcasts in the classroom and library are to create book talks, oral stories, literature circles, historical information, drama, pretend meet the author of a book, critiques about different subjects, science processes, biographies.  

I created a book read. I hope you like it and I had to do it with my children since it is summer and I don’t see my students during summer. This is something that your students will enjoy doing. 

I also want to share another podcast that I created for another class. This recording is about Joyce Valenza, a very important person in the Library Science. You can also use this tool to create biographies, just like I did.

Videos and QR Codes in the Library

These are the most helpful videos for students:

These are the videos that students would like the best:

How to use videos to promote the library?

One of the best ways to reach to the community is by using videos. A benefit from using videos is that every student that has access to the internet will be able to learn what the library has to offer. Librarians can use videos to train people on different things. Also to teach students about different things like how to research, how to manage certain websites. Etc. 

I would like to share a book trailer of the following book:

Martina the beautiful cockroach doesn't know coffee beans about love and marriage. That's where her Cuban family comes in. While some of the Cucarachas offer her gifts to make her more attractive, only Abuela, her grandmother, gives her something really useful: un consejo increíble, some shocking advice. "You want me to do what?" Martina gasps. At first, Martina is skeptical of her Abuela's unorthodox suggestion, but when suitor after suitor fails the Coffee Test, she wonders if a little green cockroach can ever find true love. Soon, only the gardener Pérez, a tiny brown mouse, is left. But what will happen when Martina offers him café cubano?
After reading this sweet and witty retelling of the Cuban folktale, you'll never look at a cockroach the same way again.

Scan the QR code to view the trailer:

How would I like to start using QR codes in my library? 

When I started researching for how to use QR codes in the library; I discovered that there are many ways to use them. An example I can think of is to create book trailers, another one could be to put a QR code next to the research designated area in the library, and there students can find QR codes that will contain information about plagiarism, how to find information on databases and how to research correctly. I plan to have a comic section in my library; there I can have QR codes that will take the students directly to fun and appropriate jokes online. Nowadays technology is so advanced and believe it or not we have students that have the latest technology available. 

Blogs & Blog Readers

The blog reader that I decided to use is Bloglovin’. I like Bloglovin’ because it keeps you updated on all the information the blogs you are following are posting.  You can get the app on your phone. I checked the other ones on the list (Feedly, Bloglines, Newsblur, DiggReader, and Newsvibe, and I felt more comfortable with Bloglovin’ because it is easy to use.

These are the blogs that I am currently following:

A Leisure Moment is a blog written by Deitre Helvy. I decided to follow this blog because this blog presents meaningful reviews as well as reflections about literature to the readers. It contains reviews about children books, middle level and young adult fiction. You can find the following blog at: http://www.aleisuremoment.com

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer is a blog written by Kathy Condie Habel. As the title states Kathy loves to read, but not to write. What I like about this blog is that the reviews are simple and straightforward. On the reviews you will find her opinions about the book. This blog has recommendations on what to read, book blast and book tours. You can find the following blog at: http://www.iamareader.com

Library Educated is a blog where you can find book reviews, silly lists, author highlights, themed books lists, genre highlights and posts about the creator of the blog. Since I am a Science teacher I am curious about science things all the time. I like that under themed posts she has a section called space week; there she provides information about interesting things about the space. You can find the following blog at: http://www.libraryeducated.blogspot.com

Primary School Library Diva is a blog written by Tula Shamhart. Something interesting I found about this blog is that it has a section called book challenge. Here the students can pick a reading challenge and start reading the books on the list provided. This is something that I will consider to add to my blog whenever I become a librarian. You can find the following blog at: http://www.primarylibrarydiva.blogspot.com

Last but not least is Library Patch. This blog in my opinion is unique it has so much information that a teacher and a librarian can use. This blog is written by Sonya Dykeman. This blog contains lesson plans, research, teacher resources, virtual bibliographies and so much more. It also contains a section for freebies you can find online. You can find the following blog at: http://www.librarypatch.com

Tumblr is a platform where everyone that creates an account can post text, links, quotes, audio clips, videos and images. Similar to Twitter, posts made by people you are following will show on the dashboard. I created an account on Tumblr.  I plan to post things about science since I am a Science teacher; I think this will be a great place where students can find information about Science. Later on when I become a librarian I will create an account for my library. You can find my blog on: http://nancy031681.tumblr.com