Friday, April 26, 2013

NYLA SSL Take-aways - 2013 Rochester, NY

Listed below are all the notes shared on the listserv from our NYLA SSL 2013 conference.   It was a great conference, and we are hoping to fund others next year! 


From Stacy:  Dr. Steven Layne

Clear Communication-
  •   The teachers night before Christmas- check out this book
  •    Igniting a Passion For Rding- professional, maybe add to pro collection
  •    Reading arsonist- love this metaphor! Fan the flame to grow the love of reading.
  •    This Side of Paradise- check out this book. For those that hate to read.
                Paradise Lost is sequel.
  •    Love The Baby- K-3- baby comes home. Adjustment to new baby in the house using rabbits.
  •    Mergers- possibly dystopian novel. No racial differences in this society, but babies of different races are born and need to be destroyed
  •    Crystal Apples by Sara Holbrook
  •    3 kinds of reading fires: 
  1. Bonfire- controlled fire, plan to light the fire. Get everything ready before you spark it and it burns furiously. 
  2. Flash fire- unlike bonfires, flash fire happens suddenly. Two combustible items come together and BOOM! 
  3. Wild fire- uncontrollable, extensive and can move in any directions allowing it to affect everyone around the fire. How do you choose to deal with them and think outside the box?  Reading wild fire- happen by accident.

 Shopping for books:  preview a book (how do you know about a book) classroom teacher, one piece is the dedication in the book (think about the dedication, who might it be). Explore the inside of a book to find out about the book. Read the dedication and dare child to stand up and tell the first thing that comes to mind. Reads the title- your first book that you ever created and have them think about the title, "If you published a book, who wouldn't Care about the title." "What if the publishing company wanted to change the title because they know better." Come to the library- "Someday book list" "books to consider" with categories from the preview lessons. The librarian has pulled many books on the tables with covers facing up. You can't talk to anyone, only use the previewing skills to put on their shopping list. Do this for 10-15 min and then talk to each other for 10-15 minutes about book choices.

Every person in a school should be a hero to a kid at some time. Everybody in the building should be someone's hero. =flash fire 
Session :  Assessment and Collaboration- Eastman

Web tools to use for formative assessment-
 1. Pre-assessment
          TRAILS- www.trails-9.org
                   Real time assessments- computer based test where you are given a code for each student. Program already creates questions. I do NOT create questions. Doesn't entirely match fluency continuum.

          Poll Everywhere- quick way to access an audience. Need to be able to use cell phones. Can choose to have number students call as text or tweet or email link. Can also have students use computers, devices are not needed.
       Can download data into excel spreadsheet or power point.

       Wallwisher/padlet- creates a wall. Students do not need to have a log in! Works with a smart board. Sticky notes are there with questions. Place where students can leave questions or concerns about a project. Set up so I can approve the question or comment. Spread out to see all the questions and answers. Different wall for each class or project. I can put question up there and have students answer those questions. Printing is a possibility.

Wiggio- looks like Facebook. Create a class and you can response. documents can be attached. has text feature where a new post comes up, students get a text message. Downside- sometimes issues with school filters. Once logged on, all is good. Issue is logging on. Positive- subgroups within the groups, pull in Google docs

Edmodo- can leave assignment for students to do when there is a sub. This and campus are better for education. This one slightly more user friendly.

My Big Campus- both of these are similar to wiggio. Has more- students can create a post and string of responses.


Story board- more of a summarize- storyboard that www.storyboardthat.com creating an electronic storyboard- very cool! Does cost money. $30.00 for infinite people to use. Can look at their progress when you can't get to all of them during class.

Google docs- with google apps

Class dojo- has an app. Can set up the classes and icon for each kid. Seems to be better for a librarian that is seeing the same kids every week or on a fixed schedule. Keeping track of behavior. Can add specific of assignments. Gym teachers too, great if teachers have iPads. Students get their own log in and can track themselves, simple program. Quick, easy and rapid. Works better in Firefox


**side note-
wiggio (www.wiggio.com),
google docs,

Summative assessment
curation (livebinders, ScoopIt. Diigo, etc.),
portfolios, smartresposne clickers,

Common Core and the Teacher in You

 "Curriculum is not an announcement"- ex. Today we are going to learn about the civil war
 Cone of learning- Edgar Dale


"Creative Group Research"
RAFT- role audience format topic (used for differentiated instruction)
         
Research the historical time period around a fictional novel- note: can be done with science topics too.  Note: research before to build prior knowledge

As a class, the six groups will create a large grid of resource, images and informations to learn from. -used bulletin board paper to cover the wall and make a living research paper. Note: good idea for 6th grade. (2 sources and 2 notes from each source) no two subtopics. Can't duplicate the same article amongst group members.

Below the column for each group the folder has the works cited. Text, citations and images are on the bulletin board paper above the folder.

Mini-research- images and lessons about how to caption images.

Observation-   questions-      interpret= show an image and they fill out a chart with            
I noticed...       I wonder....    I think....                                    these components
                      Then used these words to enhance their writing of their research.

Then from seeing the living research wall, they can choose a different perspective or keep the same to write their story using RAFT

"Research inform writing."

Highlight the parts of research that are in the story, poem, eulogy, etc. when they hand it in for a grade.

Interest in Pinterest
 Amy Reddy and Stacey's notes: 
ATBOT/The Book Bug- one person to follow that has much information about libraries.
Ms. O Reads Books: Pinterest & Teacher Librarians
Repinly- stats for Pinterest
 Visual images + discoverability of content + social relevance=powerful tool

3 ways to pin
Website -Click pin it button
On Pinterest
Create your own pin- need image to upload

LIKE- you can let the person know you liked it. The likes are also on your board. Good to use if you don't have a board for that particular item.
 Go to education category- see broad ideas for education.
Can make a  library board and put some recommended reading lists.
Can also search common core.
Copyright issues:  This is a big issue since you are taking images and information from websites and pinning them to your own board.  Use "Copyright Common Sense" to avoid getting in trouble:
    - Upload your own images and content.
    - Pin from pages that give you a Pin it button
    - Be sure you are not pinning copyrighted content.
    - Do not pin celebrity photos.
     -Users can be sued- safe= use own content, pin from pages that give you a
                             Pin It button, be sure you are not pinning copyright content, do not                    pin celebrity photos
 E-commerce-   Pinterest drives more sales than Facebook In business and websites section. 

- Secret Boards - these are new and only you can view them (these are ideal for weddings, surprises, etc).   Once you make them public though, they can never be made secret again.


 How libraries are using Pinterest:

  • - Karen suggested taking a look at Eduemic: 20 ways libraries are using Pinterest right now (http://edudemic.com/2012/03/20-ways-libraries-are-using-pinterest-right-now/)
  • can be used to get ideas and share ideas
  • can be used as outreach
  • use Pinterest for access to digital collections, reading programs, book clubs or reading groups
  • If you create a Pinterest board for your library, make sure you set up the account separately for your library and not as your personal Pinterest board; include the library's name in the Board title
  • To search for other libraries that are using Pinterest, use the "People" search and type in "School Library"
  • A few school libraries to take a look at to get ideas are:  Parkland High School Library, Rhinebeck High School Library, and Pittsburg High School Library.
  • Share out information
  • Get ideas
  • Student use- college definitely using, some high schools



If you make an account for your school
      Use a made up email account in gmail or yahoo or something not personally       
                     connected to you
       Make sure "school library" is in title so that when people search that term, they find
                     your school's Pinterest page.
      Search "20 ways libraries are using Pinterest Right Now" to get some ideas.

Firefox  or Goggle Chrome works better for searching on Pinterest- issues when using
              Internet explorer


"CREATIVE" GROUP RESEARCH
  
RAFT Project-double duty project that combines non-fiction research and creative writing Used with To Kill a Mockingbird (grade 11) and Night (grade 10) Learning Goals Use Noodletools collaborative group works cited and notecards Understand historical context Be able to use and cite books and ebooks for research Use research to inform creative writing

1. rank the provided research topics from 1-6
1 most interested, 6 least
2.Choose groups-teacher chosen
3. In the groups research approved subtopics 4. Must bring in two reliable sources that talk about subtropical
5 Cite sources and create one notecard that describes its information in 4-5 sentences.
6. Create a single bibliography for entire set of resources 7. Group finds 5-7 images that connect to larger topic.  Each image must have a caption of 2-3 sentences.
8. As a class 6 groups create a large grid of resources, images and information for everyone to learn from.  Research grid/big green wall/wall of information 9. RAFT Activity-students take on role of person of the time period and write in a certain format (diary, interview, newspaper article, etc.). This is a grid paper where students choose a ROLE, AUDIENCE, FORMAT and TOPIC.
Research must inform the writing...students become historical fiction writers themselves.

Project requirements:
2 sources
1 book and 1 other outlet
2 notecards
Images
Citations
Project ends with a Gallery Walk and then students are able to write the research paper based on all the research found by everyone in the class.  After Gallery Walk, students can choose whichever subtopic they want, even if it is not their own researched topic, to write the final creative writing. 

Great APPR material
Follows Danielson Rubric
Student thoughtfulness was very evident with final products.  Students went so far as to look up how to age paper on YouTube.
3 days in library for research
35 minutes to Gallery Walk
Student interest is very high

       From Barbara: 
§  Josh Perks led a session on suggestions for having students shoot video and then edit it in Windows Movie Maker.  He had some excellent instruction but I did not think that this session was very useful since to learn, we must be doing it ourselves.

§  Evaluate your library program.  The Assistant Superintendent in charge of curriculum recently implemented a plan in a Rochester district school where every department had to have a review of their program every 5 years and last year the entire library department sat down with members of various departments, administrators, board and community members.  See general guidelines on their web page: http://www.bcsd.org/district.cfm?subpage=44497 The advice they gave to planning out an evaluation is:
o   Think about the end goal.  What type of data do you want to gather.
o   Determine desired information and its availability before the process begins.
o   Do the SLMPE rubric as a baseline.
They were able to add staffing and additional funds to their book budget due to the results of their evaluation!

§  Is Your Digital Toolbox Getting Rusty? By Melissa Jacobs-Israel.  Check out the AASL Best Websites for Teaching and Learning: http://www.ala.org/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsites These are vetted websites that are high-caliber and support inquiry-based teaching and learning. The following are among the best sites she recommends for content
o   History Pin http://www.historypin.com/ It pins photographs to all locations in the world dating back to 1840.
o   Arkive http://www.arkive.org/ this gathers the best information on endangered species.
o   DocsTeach http://docsteach.org/ This site is for teachers and librarians and not students.  You can locate documents and then share the URL with students.
o   Iwitness http://iwitness.usc.edu/SFI/ This site created by Stephen Spielberg has videos of holocaust survivors stories.  This is searchable and students can create videos by pulling from the content and create new meaning.

The following are among the best sites she recommends for Constructing:
o   Spiderscribe http://www.spiderscribe.net/
o   LiveBinders http://www.livebinders.com/
o   Tagxedo http://www.tagxedo.com/ this is wordle on steroids!

From Terese:
Skype session presented by Jane Reeves. She showed us how easy it is to set up Skype, but not to worry about technical problems. We had the opportunity to Skype with Denise Kiernan, author of The Girls of the Atomic City. The author was excellent and I plan to order the book. A couple of resources:


From Sharon Stone:  
All of the author talks were wonderful.

I attended the Kathy Schrock session on infographics.  While I came away with a list of web sites to use to create the infographics what I was really interested in was the assessment piece promised in the title.  There was little discussion of assessment in her presentation.  Kerri Burch posted a great list of resources from that session.

I attend the “App-pealing”  workshop.  As soon as I sort through all of the stuff I brought home I will copy and post the bookmarks provided.

I also attended the “Evaluate Your Program” session.  This was a bit overwhelming for me, what a huge daunting task.  Kudo’s to the librarians in the Brighton School District who went through this process.  Every aspect of their program was looked at and discussed.  They received more funding in some areas and in others had their eyes opened to their weaknesses.  They were very honest about the process and would be a great resource for anyone considering this process. 

Conference Handouts: 


 Stephen Layne's session  gave us three ideas to bring back to our schools that help reach those readers who can read, but don't. These ideas involve more than just librarians, although they can all be modified.

3 strategies for motivating the aliterate readers:
Elementary Cafe- once a month
·         PE, Art, Music, Librarian, Reading teacher
·         Mothers made food and drinks.
·         Art teachers made posters (LOTS of POSTERS). They had a picture of a the host and a picture of the book that will be featured.
·         A different host or hostess each month a different book that is going to be featured. Students don’t need read the book prior to session. The host or hostess picks a book that isn’t in the curriculum. 10 minutes you tell the kids why you picked the book and for 20 minutes you read experts. For 10 minutes get to ask questions and then they check the book out. For elementary you can do three books.

This Book was First Read By:
The First Read Club: students get to see new books before anyone else gets to see them. They get to bring one home read it. Then they set up an interview with adult in building and then they have a discussion. Did you like the book if not, what kind of a person would like this book? Then you put the sticker in the book that is said This Book was First Read By: _________________ and put in the cover of the book. Have teachers be sponsors of the program who the student will talk with about the book.

Reading Log Selections:
Teacher hangs logs outside in the hallway, every teacher has one hanging outside their room. Kids can fill in their readings.
Each student has their own small one.

Name____________________________________  Grade: _______________

Quarter                           Title                   Author                     Genre                Rating

Can read anything: directions, magazine, poem,  recipes, brochures

Common Core Conversation Session:  
  • we should have a place to collect all of our resources on the CCSS: LiveBinder, Website, GoogleDocs.   
  • She shared her website for CCSS resources with us.  www.commoncoreconversation.com- this was the best takeaway.   
  • Why not visit other states sites? Why are we stuck on searching just EngageNY?
     Utah is awesome!!!


She briefly touched on a few resources that I will be using:
www.vocabgrabber.com- visual thesaurus

readwork.org : search units by skill & strategy

myoldradio.com- Has old radio shows (great primary source)

Readwritethink.org : Bio cube- create cube for research. Has blank cube creators that can be used for research projects.

Sharon

Minerva


Jacqueline Woodson. She is a very eloquent and personable speaker, and shared anecdotes and gave insight into her writing process and her working relationships with illustrators.Some of the thoughts she shared:
  • some of her books, like "The Other Side," came from her experiences living in Brooklyn and traveling in the US and witnessing the segregation that still exists in our country. 
  • her books had female characters almost exclusively, so she began to write from boys' points of view, which was challenging. 
  • what she read around 5th and 6th grade (which is when she decided to be a writer):  Judy Blume, Sounder (did not like it), The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
  • when she starts a chapter book, she knows the first line and something about the characters(s).  Does not know the end until at least 1/2way through the book.
  • picture books are the most difficult books to write (she didn't start writing them until later in her career) because young children are so easy to "lose" if something isn't right or good in the story, and because the scarcity of words in a picture book  makes choosing the right ones so much more important.
  • She mentioned the the idea of creating the "fictive dream" in her writing a few times (she referenced John Gardener).
  • "Beneath a Meth Moon" is being made into a movie.
  • You Tube, her web site and Teaching Books web site all have video of her speaking and reading.  I would highly recommend looking at some video of her.  A few times during the presentation, she performed/recited from some of her books.  It was very moving and  powerful to hear her voice speaking her words.  She is the Knickerbocker winner and will be giving a speech at our dinner tonight.  I'm sure it will be great!

§  Translating the Common core Standards into instruction Information Fluency by Olga Nesi
 If you do not already have this 466 page document in the print format then go to the following website: http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1A931D4E-1620-4672-ABEF-460A273D0D5F/0/EmpireStateIFC.pdf 

o   We looked at the Priority Benchmark Skills which divides out the skills that the students need to have learned to be ready to perform that skill independently.
o   We then looked at the Assessments that are listed.  We don’t have to use these exact templates when assessing, they are just the useful guidelines.
Remember to Model the task that you are going to ask your students to perform!!!
I came away with a better understanding of the organization of the enormous binder and how to best utilize the materials with my students. 





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