Learning in Progress

For the last five or six weeks my third graders have been hard at work discovering their inner genius through our "Genius Hour" research time in the library.  Links to handouts and resources are in blue throughout. Genius Beginnings I first learned about the concept of Genius Hour or 20% time in the Fall, and I worked to figure out a way to tap into it to help generate excitement for research and build research skills.  Essentially, Genius Hour originated with an idea from Google, where employees are allowed 20% release time to pursue their own passions and interests as long as those interests/research could lead to something that could benefit and be used by Google.   Seriously Genius Resources Really though, if you want a much better explanation and some excellent resources, you should check out the Genius Hour website by Chris Kesler and follow him on twitter  @iamkesler .  Joy Kirr ( @JoyKirr ) keeps an excellent LiveBinder of Genius Hour Re...

I spent hours over the last few weeks putting together a presentation for 21st Century Book Talks , and then "The Technician" (my local computer genius) introduced me to the ChatterPix app, and a whole new idea for creating book talks was hatched! ChatterPix , by Duck Duck Moose, is a hilarious app that allows you to take a photo, draw a line across an area of the photo, creating a mouth, then you add in a voice over.  Once complete, you have a video in which it appears that an object in the photo is talking. You could easily have students do a 30 second book talk using this app.  All they would need to do is take a picture of the book cover using the app, select a character or object on the cover, and create a voice over that explains why someone should read it.  Here's an example of one I made for James Dean's Pete the Cat Old MacDonald Had a Farm . How to Make it Happen Open up the ChatterPix app Choose Take Photo Take a photo by pressing th...

I just finished reading an article by Audrey P. Church in the March/April 2014 Library Media Connection  "Embrace the Opportunity: Annual Professional Performance Review" and can't help but think about the idea of how we can use our performance review as a means to build advocacy for our school library programs. Currently the state of Kentucky is in the process of transitioning to a new format for evaluations called the PGES - Professional Growth and Effectiveness System.  Under this system, teachers, including teacher librarians, will be evaluated using a Framework for Teaching, based on the work of Charlotte Danielson .  The Framework (see the download on the right side of the PGES page) includes evaluation in the areas of: Planning and Preparation, Professional Responsibilities, Classroom Environment, and Instruction. As with anything new, this system is sure to generate some anxiety as teachers and teacher librarians try to figure out how to demonstrate that t...

Links are in blue throughout Stephanie Griffith @StephGriff1  and I are presenting at KySTE this week, and we're excited to be sharing what we've learned about 21st Century Book Talks. Participants during our session are going to learn about resources and tools to help them, their teachers, and their students create book trailers and book talks and method to share your work.  The session will feature information about using programs like Microsoft Movie Maker, the iMovie app as well as using features of Destiny, QR Codes and Augmented Reality to share the work. Below, you will find our Prezi and some additional resources that might help you as you plan and work with students and teachers. Here are some additional links and resources to help you. Book Trailer Storyboard - can be used with any book trailer program Book Talk Planner - could be used with Aurasma or Podcasting iMovie Book Trailer How To Playlist - includes tips for searching and saving imag...