Lego Challenges @ Ross
Parkway School District
Know & Go Updates @your Library
Library Services
What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
Volume 5 | Issue 6
Notes & Reminders Answers to FAQs
Hour of Code The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2017 Computer Science Education Week will be December 4-10 or all year long if you choose. Shannon Miller McClintock shared a Collection within Destiny a few weeks ago on her blog.. Check out the apps, games, and sites she put together for students to use at home or school. Also out a few weeks ago was the Gearing Up for Hour of Code podcast by Casey Bell and Matt Miller. Some of the featured content shared in the Google Teacher Tribe: ● Hour of Code – Dec 4-10, 2017 Hour of Code Tutorials ● CS EdWeek– ● CS First: The CS First curriculum is free and easy to use — no computer science experience required! ● CS First is a free program that increases student access and exposure to computer science (CS) education through after-school, in-school, and summer programs. All clubs are run by teachers and/or community volunteers. ● Made with Code ● A Beginner’s Guide to Coding in the K12 Classroom ● Coding resources from Shake Up Learning ● Other coding resource curated by Shannon at SWM
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Library Services Site
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#Future Ready Resources
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Library Services Policies (Schoolwires login required)
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Librarians List 2017-2018
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Who To Call
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Makerspace Ordering Sheet
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Ordering procedures
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Follett ordering w/screenshots
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Follett Acct #'s
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Follett req Instructions
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Building budget Sub librarian list
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Sub Training Videos
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Ordering/renewing databases HS only
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Destiny FAQ
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Free Lib Books @ Lib Serv
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District Surplus Property Procedures
Ways to tie coding into your curriculum: ● Math and science: natural connections ● Social studies and English: logic/order in writing code is similar to making a case for writing an essay ● World languages: learning coding like a language ● Primary: fits in math and science, teamwork, problem-solving, etc. Do you have pictures and resources to share? Please put items in the Hour of Code 2017 Google Drive Folder!
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Record a PD event
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Travel & Reimbursement (BOE) Guidelines
Empower Students as Creators
More on the Hour of Code As we celebrate the Hour of Code, we are really inviting students to think like a computer or how it runs, which is the use of computational thinking. This is actually the most important concept a student learns through coding and developing computer programs. As we work with students on coding it is important to remember it’s about the process of thinking not the actual coding itself. So, what is this skill set? It is best described as the important steps taken to solve a problem and come up with a solution. Where do you want your students to use computational thinking skills? ● Decomposition – This involves the ability for students to look at a problem. and Through careful observation students break down a problem or system into smaller, more manageable parts. ● Pattern recognition – Now that the problem is broken down students must look for similarities among and within the problem. What patterns can be seen and what does this mean? ● Abstraction – At this stage students begin focusing on the valuable information only, ignoring irrelevant detail. It really is time to look at the specific trees while blurring the forest. While determining what is important… how does this relate to a possible solution? ● Algorithms – At this point students should be able to develop a step-by-step solution to the problem. They maybe able to also identify rules and procedures to solve the problem How could this skill be expanded in the library or classroom? ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Take time to embrace the verbs in the standards Facilitate and assess the 4C’s… assessment by teacher, peers, students Encourage metacognition and the “Habits of the Mind” Promote collaboration as it expands and enriches the understanding of all involved Embrace, demand, and facilitate inquiry Think Webb’s DOK and upper Blooms Remind…. algorithms are steps that anyone can follow, not as many can write one Support students making and using computational thinking to expand standards Support standards that are aligned and assessed through making and thinking Provide content with thinking,,, plus doing and making
Read the entire article,Makerspace, Standards and a
Look at Computational Thinking by Michael Gorman at Tech & Learning.
Events @your Library
Leading Beyond the Library #ParkwyReads Best Book to Movie Adaptations for Every Grade Level As we know, the book is almost always better than the movie—but book-movie adaptations can be great for talking about how stories get translated into different forms Here are some favorite book-movie adaptations to use at every grade level.
8 Ways To Make Your Library More Visible Now As our library program went through the evaluation cycle and guidelines were created it was clear that our impact wasn’t always apparent, and our roles were in question. Those guidelines emphasized the need for advocacy (main topic 1). School Library Journal put together some helpful strategies and examples for increasing the visibility of school librarians. Some ideas require time beyond school hours, but connecting with staff, students, and parents outside of the school day leads to increased interaction during the day. 1. Take photos. This is the best way to capture the variety of literacies occurring in the library. Use the photographs in a presentation, newsletter, or on social media. Photo Op example: The library opens 30 minutes before students report to their first class. Take a panoramic shot, and email it to your principal with the catchy caption. 2. Create social media accounts based on your audience. These should be separate from your personal accounts. Keep it professional by posting photographs and information to promote the incredible happenings in your library, and try to post every week (put it on your calendar as a “to do” item. 3. Lead professional development. Don’t wait for someone to ask you. Example: When changes were announced to the 2016 SAT, librarians designed a 15-minute presentation about the new format so students would know what to expect on test day. 4. Serve on multiple committees. Find more ways to serve that meet your library program and building goals. Inquire about committees that would benefit from your expertise, strengths, and interests. 5. Involve students in decisions. In addition to input on book purchases, include students in other decisions, such as makerspace items and library space configuration (furniture and zones). Example: When considering shelving for fiction by genre, post a survey on your website to get perspective on this initiative. 6. Volunteer at school events. For open houses, ask administrators if they need your help, and if not, use them as a public relations opportunity. Create a half-page infographic with facts and statistics about your library program including the number of classes taught, student visits, hours, and of few of the available resources (website, blog, your tagline logo). 7. Attend extracurricular activities. The next day, send an email to faculty and staff with a positive comment in the subject line. Praise the choral concert, compliment the students in the talent show, and applaud a sports event. Your visibility increases with each email you send and shows that you’re invested in the school. 8. Transform your mindset and space. Help people see new possibilities in the library space. Transform what happens in the library. Provide the space where students and staff want to be. You are the Heros of collaboration@your library. Taken from the SLJ Advocacy Toolkit Series.
Empowers Students as Creators Scaffolding Maker Education Learning Experiences What is the role of an educator, in the context of maker education? According to the User-Generated Education blog it is to scaffold learning experiences so the end result is students becoming self-determined learning. Thinking about the importance of learner autonomy and independence one approach is to facilitate maker education activities with direct instruction initially with the goal of learners to eventually go into self-determined directions. There has been some criticism leveraged against out-of-the-box maker education kits, programmable robots, and step-by-step maker activities, but the thought is learners often don’t know what they don’t know; and that giving them the basic skills frees them to then use their creativity and innovation to take these tools into self-determined directions.
#ParkwayMakes
This is just one way to think about the Stages of Maker Education. See examples on getting started below. Ozobot: ● Copy – Ozobot Basic Training ● Create – for creative use of Ozobot https://youtu.be/2C-jbsfBJvA and https://youtu.be/OtUXrVGW3r0 Scratch: ● ●
Copy – Using Scratch Cards and/or doing Scratch Starter Projects Create – for creative examples of Scratch, scratch.mit.edu/studios
Sphero: ● ●
Copy – beginning coding activities found at edu.sphero.com Create – for ways that Sphero creatively for cross-curricular activities stemeducationguide.com
Builds Instructional Partnerships Thoughts to Share with Teachers
Thinking Differently: Engagement vs. Empowerment In a recent blog post, The Principal of Change by George Couros, he shares Three Myths About Empowering Students in Schools Today. The idea is to push the idea of how important an “empowered environment” is to create, going beyond compliance and past engagement. As with any new narrative that comes into education, “empowering learners” has pushback in what it means for education, George dispels the myths around empowerment. Why empowerment over engagement? Empowered environments allow our connections and impact to move beyond the classroom walls and continue to be powerful, long after our students are out of sight. There is no better time to be in education than right now. Education is the bridge to so many opportunities for our learners. We must step aside as the gatekeepers and instead move next to our learners to take the journey together.
Curates Digital Resources & Tools
Spice Up Projects with Digital Sign Generators Looking to add a little flair to student words and presentations? Try a digital sign generator. It will make your titles and headings pop! Digital sign generators are just plain fun. And with a little creativity, you can turn these little oddball web tools into something useful. I know what you’re thinking: that is a pretty big stretch. But so untrue! Without much effort, you can easily spice up the following with a self-made title or inscription. Use these tools in Google Slides, HyperDocs, Student or staff congratulations, name tags, bulletin boards, blogs, websites, virtual courses, book reports, newsletters, green screen backgrounds or props, story starters, puzzles for a Breakout EDU or digital breakout game, and library advocacy and promotion. Digital Sign Generators Here are a few fun resources for digital sign generators to get you started: ● Inspired by the Netflix series, Stranger Things, Nelson ● Wigflip has a dozen different designs. My Cash created a Strangify Title Generator favorites here are the speech bubbles, makeitstranger.com motivational poster, green street signs, and ● Einstein Writing on the Blackboard the sticky notes. hetemeel.com/einsteinform.php ● Addletters has Harry Potter, Disneyland, and ● Custom Medal Maker and Road Sign Bronze Colored the Wrigley Field Marquee generators. Medal or Blue Road Sign Caution! When I checked out this site, ● Make an Eye Chart eyechartmaker.com inappropriate ads were visible. ● Two websites for designing your own “Breaking News!” ● With Image Chef, you have 45 options for classtools.net/breakingnews or breakyourownnews.com creating digital signs. ● Atom Smasher Sign Maker has 12 signs that you can ● Classic choices available at RedKid.You can’t make. Caution, the Las Vegas Strip sign is probably not help but love Scooby Doo, Pink Panther, and age-appropriate for students. My favorite three from this the iPod Billboards of yesteryear. One more website include:Highway Sign Generator, Road caution age advisory caution: on this site, you Construction Sign Generator and Bar-B-Q Sign can make a sign with an Absolut vodka bottle. Generator To see more fun and creativity digital sign generators see the TechNotes Blog.
This Chrome Extension That Helps You Find Books to Borrow Library Extension is a free Chrome extension that will show you local library listings for the books that you viewing on Amazon, Google Books, Barnes & Noble, and other popular book retailer websites. Library Extension currently shows listings from more than 4,000 public library databases in the United States, Canada, UK, New Zealand and Australia.
Applications for Education Library Extension could be a useful extension for students who are using Google Books as a part of their research processes. The extension will quickly let students know if a book that they have found in Google Books is available to borrow at a local library. One drawback to the extension is that you can only view results from one local library at a time.
Personalized Professional Learning
Program Evaluation Guidelines Topic 1: Advocacy Parkway libraries will strive for clear communication of the role of school librarians. EdCampSTL February 10, 2018 8:00 - 3:00
Curated Resources from #AASL17 and #NOTATAASL Hashtags
Ritenour High School 9100 Saint Charles Rock Rd St. Louis, MO 63114 Click here for registration
This LiveBinder of resources can be found at bit.ly/notataasl and includes items collected before, during and after the National Conference for the American Association of School Librarians, Nov. 8-11, 2017. Enjoy!
Visit the edWeb Calendar for upcoming free webinars. Now you can also easily search and view over 1300 recorded edWebinars.
Parkway Credit One option for earning Parkway credits is to participate in webinars and events, such as Edcamps, SLAA events, makerspace open houses etc. In order to earn participation credits watch the webinar or go to an event, then record your participation at tinyurl.com/webinars-events. Remember that district credit is based on the number of clock hours that you participate. Credit is issued as follows: six clock hours will get you .5 credit and 12 clock hours will get you 1 credit.
Contact Information
Vendor Contacts:
Bill Bass Innovation Coordinator: Instructional Technology & Library Media Twitter: billbass
Undelivered Post Dispatch: Russell Ham rham@post-dispatch.com
Kim Lindskog Library Support Specialist Twitter: klindskog
Undelivered USA Today & New York Times: Wesley Trammell wtrammell@ebsco.com
Amy Johnson Digital Learning Specialist Twitter: ajohnson106
Topic 2: Responsiveness to Community Parkway libraries will be responsive to the community and have a finger on the pulse of each individual building. Topic 3: Instructional & Programming Parkway libraries will support classroom instruction and provide relevant, timely programming to meet the needs and interests of each individual community. Topic 4: Educational Leadership & PD Parkway librarians will strive to be seen as leaders in buildings and will have access to just in time, targeted professional learning for librarians. Topic 5: Library Physical Spaces Parkway libraries are multi-use spaces that are inviting and available for learners of all ages.
Access the Library Services Webpage using the QR code or www.pkwy.info/pkwylibrary
Ebsco Host Misty Fields MFields@esco.c.om Back Issues of Know & Go: Current & Previous Years
Nancy Ikemeyer Administrative Assistant Twitter: NancyIkemeyer What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?