TheonlyZoe(TL)

If I had to pick only one tip to take with me from this module and course into the field of librarianship it would be that no matter what tools, books, or widgets are around it is the person teaching/learning that must be flexible in any moment. Technology is ever changing. In the article "Librarians share their predictions for education trends in 2017" solidify my belief that it is not the program that truly makes a difference but the person implementing the program that matters.  What stood out that I know will be useful for  me as I move into my new profession is that time is always ticking, it is my job to keep moving forward with it. I can not settle to be stagnate with learning one tool, but I must continue to want to grow with the times and not stay stuck believing what I learn this year will be relevant for the next. I know I must stay connected to technology to identify the trends on the horizon of school librarianship. As I have stated earlier tech

Name: Layar Layar was founded in 2009. Layar is an augmented reality app. The Layar app allows teachers and students to extend the physical world with virtual overlay. The Layar App can be downloaded on iOS and Android devices. Layar was once one of the world's most popular platform for AR. Layar is part of the Blippar Group.The Layar app is free, but the Layar Creator is not. Once the app is downloaded you can scan pages and/or QR codes by tapping the "Scan" in the menu. Align the page or QR code in the on-screen frame and tap the screen to scan. Make sure to keep your device pointed at the page or QR code to see it come alive with digital content. Beth Holland on Edudemic has a helpful article " How to Start Using Augumented Reality in Education ". In the article she compares two of the most popular tools for creating Augmented Reality, Layar and Aurasma. She also shares links to other educators who use AR in their classrooms. Layar in Education: Bring Lea

Blog:  Makerspace Starter Kit   Makerspace Starter Kit Updated  Tools: Sphero Mini  and Creativity Can Gwyneth Jones The Daring Librarian has an informational blog to help anyone start a makerspace. She created a blog about three years ago called Makerspace Starter Kit , in this blog she gives information about how to start up a makerspace with three stations 1. Makey Makey Coding Corner 2. Lego Creation Station 3. Duct Tape Craft Cubby. The one take away I felt was important from the blog was to start small. The blog gave great resources on how to acquire what was needed to get started. The best part about this blog is that it has been updated this year. The updated blog by Gwyneth Jones is  Makerspace Starter Kit Updated . The updated blog has better insight on what worked, and what failed for her makerspace. She talked about how her makerspace is operated, great information for newbies. She also list her Amazon stater kit, great place to start from, especially with all the tools

Cyberbullying! October is national bullying prevention month! As an educator and parent of two preteen daughters, bully prevention is a topic we often  discuss in my house, but only because of my career.  As an educator I have been afforded the opportunity to become trained on many topics, and I use my knowledge of these trainings with my children daily, but out of all the trainings bully awareness has given me the dialog most needed as a parent. With that being said, what stands out the most regarding cyberbullying, is that even with all the resources out there about it, I only knew of them because of my trainings and grad school classes. As a busy working parent I would not have looked on my own for information regarding cyberbullying as a preventative.  According to Faucher, Cassidy, and  Jackson a lack of awareness of bullying is due to underreporting (2015). Many suffer in silence. Shocking? Students are afraid to report bullying, but why? According to Orech's article &

https://www.prodigygame.com/ As a former second grade teacher, I know how important it is to have engaging tools for students to use while working independent. Prodigy is a math game to do just the job. Prodigy can be integrated into the math workshop model. As the teacher is meeting with small groups, the teacher can assign a set number of students to work on an assigned lesson in Prodigy to reinforce previous skills mastered or skill that may need extra practice. What is Prodigy? Prodigy is a free, Pokemon-style math game that has been proven to improve student scores and confidence!  Prodigy was designed with three primary goals in mind:  1. To create deep engagement so students double their math practice time at school and home.  2. To equip teachers with reports and assessment tools to inform their instruction.  3. To provide curriculum aligned content for free, regardless of a student’s demographic. It takes teachers less than 5 minutes to sign up and get s

Padlet When students are engaged in collaborative work, Padlet is a great assistive tool for the classroom. It works like a bulletin board but digitally. Students can post in several different forms. Padlet works as a starting point where any student can participate. It is easy, universal, and inclusive. Padlet supports just about every file type and has an App for almost any device. It creative, fun, private, and secure. Padlet is flexible and versatile for any student to use. Using Padlet is simple, just go to the Padlet website and sign up for free to create an account and make you first board. When you have done that you share the board to your students with a QR code, link, or which ever option you choose from Padlet.  Uses for Padlet in the classroom are endless, if you need some ideas, Lucy Renard has 30 Creative Ways to use Padlet for Teachers and Students . In the article she explains how to use Padlet and then list 30 ways to use it. If 30 seems to be overwhelming, Educati

The document camera! A document camera is also know as a visual presenter. In simple terms a document camera is a combination of a digital camera, a microscope, and an overhead projector. It allows you display anything in the grand scheme of things. It has taken the place of and enhanced the over head projector, but you will still need a digital projector, and a computer to make it work. The R.A.T. Model As previously stated the document camera replaced the overhead projector and can be used in the same ways but, now teachers do not have to make a transparency sheet to display for students (Replacement). Teachers now have the ability to ensure each student can see the read aloud book from the grand display (Amplification). Teachers can even think out of the box with the document camera. Did you know you can use a document camera to record a lab that a student missed or even go global and skype with another classroom from across the world (Transformation)? The document camer

FlipGrid When searching around for a new-to-me concept, teaching with tech approach or tech tool from a library-related blog I came across a blog with  27 Tech Tools Teachers Can Use to Inspire Classroom Creativity  As I reviewed the list of tech tools one, FlipGrid kept popping out at me, and then I remembered why.  In April, I help host EdCamp Palmetto. It was there where I first heard about the tech tool  FlipGrid . I didn't think much of it then. As I browse twitter I continued to see #FlipGrid from some of the tech teachers I follow. So I thought, "let me see what teacher librarians are doing with this tech tool FlipGrid?" In my search, I came across the blog The Library Voice  by Shannon McClintock Miller. In the blog post Shannon explains how she learned about FlipGrid and how she implemented it into her library with her second graders in the way of book talks. What a great way to show a real life example of the tech tool to readers. She then list other ways to u

Information literacy, technology, and digital/media are like the cycle of life, ever changing and continuous. Too much of anything is not good for you. I feel information is just like food, "everything in moderation". I had a friend who recently had the doctor tell her to take a break from the news because she was an avid news watcher. She watched multiple news channels everyday and also larked on social media in her free time. Her stress levels were higher then normal. After a month of watching less news and fasting from social media her levels normalized. Listening to the podcast made it obvious why this helped her situation. So just like it is important to watch what you eat it is also important to watch what information read, watch, or listen to. The song was hilarious! It is important as professionals in library and information science that we understand how to dissect and digest information in order to help others.  I feel that Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz have

Intellectual Freedom and Library Standards A few years back my youngest child (age 6) came home with a book from the school library about parts of the body. The outside of the book looked just like any other student friendly picture book. We took it out to read at bedtime and I was shocked. It had colorful engaging pictures and told the story of how babies were made. As a parent I not only took the time to read the story with my child, but to also explain to her she was not to share it with anyone in her class or talk about it to other students. I felt it was not her place to introduce other six year olds to that type of material. The book was geared to her age and was written for her to understand the topic, but I was still concerned as to why it was in my child’s library for her to check out. At the time I informed the librarian and principal about the book and they agreed to take it off the shelf of the library and give it to the parent advocate as a parent resource for parents

Hello everyone, my name is Zoan pronounced (Zo-Ann) Stokes. I am now in my third semester in the MLIS program at USC. My angel grandmother Rosie raised me in Aiken, SC.  I am a graduate of South Aiken High School (go thoroughbreds). I received my bachelors of science in Early Childhood Education from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg SC.  I am also a graduate of The Citadel where I finished with a Masters of Education in Literacy. Most recently, I have been trained in Reading Recovery through Clemson University.  I am the mother of two beautiful daughters (Genesis 11 and Zaida 9) and the wife of a dedicated music educator (Gerard).   One of the best educational online tools or apps that I have used recently is myOn a digital book library https://www.myon.com/index.html . I used it this summer when I taught at a summer reading camp with no library.