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Tuesday Teacher Tips - April 23, 2013 - FollettShelf & Safe Image Searches


Click on the underlined text below to go to the links.  If you’re having trouble viewing the links, email me and I’ll send them to you directly

Introducing Ebooks

I am excited to announce that we now have ebooks available through our Destiny catalog! If you have a browser and a username/password, you can view our books!

screen shot of FollettShelf icon
To see our selection go to our JES Destiny account, click on FollettShelf on the left side of the screen, and log in with your usual school username/password. 

Once you are logged in, the site is fairly easy to navigate.  When you hover over a book cover, it will change to an “Open” prompt.  If you click on the book, the book will open in another screen and you will be able to begin reading right away.  To help you get started, I’ve made a few screencasts that will walk you through what you need to do.
The FollettShelf page on my website currently has two videos: Part 1—explains how to get started using FollettShelf & Part 2—explains how to use the interactive features.  These ebooks can be used in centers, individually or as a class, and there are plenty of ways to use the interactive features to assess student learning and aide them in comprehension. 

If you’re not a staff member at Johnson, but you’re interested in trying it out, let me know and I’ll send you a guest pass.

We currently have 42 selections available, but in the next few weeks, I’ll be adding over 100 more!  Be on the lookout for more information about how to use our ebooks on your tablet or iPad!
Other Ebook Resources
Your local, county libraries have tons of ebook resources available to you for free!
One of my favorites is Tumblebooks.  You will find links to this on many of the children’s pages of your county libraries.  Check out Kenton County Public Library’s Children’s page as an example.  Don’t miss the Magic Wall—where you can find ebooks in a visual search.
Kentucky Libraries Unbound (Overdrive) is another awesome resource.  All you need is your library card to check out books.  Campbell County Public Library is a great resource for these downloads.

A Better Way to Search for Images Online


Many handouts we make and projects our students do can be enhanced with photos and clip art. 
Often, when looking for an image, the easiest thing to do is just go to Google Image search, where we could end up seeing anything—some of it inappropriate.  Finding an image this way is also a really good way to walk into a situation of copyright infringement.

There are plenty of websites that you can use that offer access to open source photos, but they aren’t
always the easiest pages to navigate.

If you have a subscription, like we do, to Britannica Image search you can log in and search through millions of beautiful (and student safe) images that have been copyright cleared for educational use.
If you aren’t lucky enough to have a subscription to such a service, you can set your search parameters on Google, to search safely for images that are free to use, share, and modify, even commercially in just a few steps.
Steps to Search Google Images Safely
· First, turn on SafeSearch by going to www.google/preferences and put a check in the box that says “Filter explicit results”, then click Save at the bottom of the screen
· Go back to Google, then click on Images at the top of the screen
Screen shot of Google Images search

· Type in your search terms
· Click on the Settings icon , on the right side of the screen, above your search results and select “Advanced Settings”
Next to Usage Rights choose one of the options that would apply to your need—you would likely want to pick images that are free to use or share, although you may find that you need to modify it or even use it commercially.
Screen shot of Advanced Settings Page


Remember, no matter where you get your images, it's best practice to always give credit to your source!
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