Cool Curation Tools

Cool Curation Tools

Sometimes, when I discuss curation with someone who isn't a library media specialist I see their eyes glaze over.  A few minutes later, the person will admit that they don't know what curation is.  I then blather on about storing information but recently I realized a picture (or in this case a video) is worth a thousand words.

I have compiled some of my favorite curation tools in the area below. Many of them are my favorites because they provide me with the following:

1. The ability to select what I share with the public.

2.  A format to share various online resources (video, images, etc.).

3.  They are free.*

4.  They are easy.

5.  I can use them to develop a professional network.

6.  I can use them with my students and other members of the school community.

7.  It helps me put information in one place so I can refer to it later.

Livebinder

Think of Livebinder as a virtual three-ring binder.  You pick what information to put in the your binder and you create the tabs where the information is stored. Livebinder does it all.  

You can use it a professional tool, as a personal tool, and as a tool to curate content for your students.  Some people even use it as a resume builder.

Storify

Storify gives you a chance to publish content that is retrieved from Twitter, RSS feeds, Google +, and much more. View a few samples here.

Instagram

Instagram is an easy way to create visual memories. Many people use Instagram as a personal curation tool but it is great way to document what you are doing professionally.  

As a library media specialist,  I love Instagram because it's an easy way to document what is going on in the library.   Whether it's a video of the kids in the Lunch Bunch, a picture of the students reading or clips of co-teaching, Instagram is one way to "brand" the library and advertise what is happening inside and outside the library walls. 

Before using Instagram, make sure you are aware of the policies your district has for social media.

Edmodo

Edmodo is similar to Facebook but it is for your school community. I use it to store content for various lessons, as well as to share information and alerts to students and staff in my school.

Top Three Reasons to Use this with your Students

1.  It's private.

2.  You are able to select the content you share with the students.

3. You are able to select the content you share with others.

I love Edmodo so much that I made a video.

KidBlog

A great way to promote writing, KidBlog gives your students a chance to create a blog.  The teacher selects who is able to view the information and is able to add or delete users.

Top Three Reasons to Use KidBlog with Students.

1. Private.

2.  Promotes the writing process

3. Advertise 

View a sample here.

Twitter Lists

It seems like everyone uses Twitter now but not too many people use the Twitter List feature.

Curate your favorite Twitter Connections and hashtags by creating a list of Twitter users who discuss the topics you wish to focus on the most.  It's a great way to filter and curate all the information that comes your way.

YouTube

Have you ever watched a YouTube video? Have you ever thought about making your own channel?  Produce your own channel by uploading videos.  You can even create a playlist of your favorite videos based on topics.  This curation tool can be used as a professional and personal tool.

Top Three Reasons to use YouTube as a curation tool.

1. Advertise your work.

2.  It's dynamic.

3.  Create a playlist of your favorites videos.

View the wmms_smartzone channel

Pinterest

Many people use Pinterest as a form of information.  You can also use it to curate your favorite Twitter favorites, images, videos, etc.

Symbaloo

A dashboard for your favorite websites, Symbaloo is a great tool to use for all of those websites you visit the most or even the websites you want to visit but sometimes forget.

Symbaloo is also easy access for students and other users.

A few cautions when creating a Symbaloo:

1.  Less is more.

2.  Choose sites that are updated regularly.

3.  Don't be afraid to make changes.

Scoop.it!

A visual newspaper.  You select the links that you wish to use.  Scoop.it even offers suggestions.  You can just scoop the links you want and discard the ones you don't want. 

Scoop.it samples
http://www.scoop.it/u/tlovebooks
















Watch the video to the right to learn how to use Scoop.it.

Visit the livebinder that I created titled, Cool Curation Tools to get more information about these cool curation tools, as well as to gain access to quick tutorials.

* I mentioned that many of these are free and they are.  A number of them do ask for payment if you wish to enhance the tools and/or to increase the storage space.

Future Lesson Ideas from Scholastic

Check out @ScholasticTeach's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ScholasticTeach/status/594842341913014272?s=09

Creating more co-teaching opportunities within the school community

For a number of years, I wondered,
"How can I get more teachers to work with me as they present units to their classes?"
I remembered the advice
I received from a library media specialist years ago. The advice was that I should work with those who wanted to work with me. For a number of years, this advice worked (somewhat). I presented PDs about online databases, the primary/secondary resources in the library, and the ways teachers could utilize the library collection to bring their units to life.

The one set back was the amount of teacher transition in our building. Each year a number of teachers would leave our building and nearly twenty percent of the teacher population would transfer, retire or leave the teaching profession. The relationships that had been formed would have to be formed again. With each new year, new teachers would arrive to the building and the cycle of introductions and advertising the library program and its resources would begin.  It became daunting and the advice to wait for those who wanted to work with me seemed ill-advised.

In the 2013-2014 school year, I had an idea to get more teachers to use VoiceThread (VT) with their students. I had just completed a summer course on VT and was excited about the stories I had learned about teachers using the online discussion tool to reinforce learning. By using VT, teachers had used the tool to get students to discuss their ideas in the online forum and to enhance their lessons.

My thought was that VT would help the teachers in my school flip and blend the learning in their classrooms while they integrated technology into their lessons. I also saw it as an opportunity to work with teachers. With the backing of the principal, I created a plan for a series after-school workshops that would provide teachers with the information they would need in order to create their own VTs and use the VTs with their students.

During the summer, I created VT accounts for all the students enrolled in our school. Information about VT was shared with the teachers, an Animoto video was made to increase interest and a representative from the Office of Technology agreed to come to the school to present the workshops. I also created a Livebinder  (an online resource used to store information in a virtual three-ring binder format) which included samples of VTs, suggested procedures, resources, and a synopsis of the workshops. The workshops has a number of issues: attendance and willingness to commit. At first, teachers were excited to try the new technology; however, once testing, PBAs, and other assessments began the excitement for the initiative waned. The number of attendees became problematic and the desire to create VT that could be used with students lessened.

After the workshops, a few teachers used VT with their students; however, the vision I had of co-teaching a variety of lessons was not fully realized. I did assist a teacher as she planned her VT lesson and aided in the implementation of the lesson. While this planning and implementation only occurred twice, it was an increase in my work with the math department. My secondary hope was to see an increase in the number of math classes that used the computer lab and an increase in co-teaching opportunities with the math department. Although the opportunity only presented itself twice, it was an increase from the previous year (zero encounters) to two lessons in the 2013-2014 school year. While it was an improvement, I had hoped for more and realized I had to do some reflection.

Based upon my experience with the after-school workshops, I wouldn't initiate it again. One set back was the requirement that teachers attend three of the four face-to-face sessions. For requiring attendance was important for two reasons. First, a representative from the Office of Technology (now Digital Learning) was coming to the school to present the information to the teachers. By doing this, after school, he was sharing his free time to help teachers learn more about this tool. Second, VT classes were offered three times a year through the county for credits; however, many teachers had one or more of the following complaints: the locations for the courses were too far away, the times for the classes didn't fit their schedules and/or the dates for the courses didn't work with their schedules. By offering the workshops in the school, once a month and after school, my thought was that the convenience would make the workshops more attractive to the teachers; however,
the requirement of attendance seemed to lead to some resistance.

The resistance (I feel) was a factor in the low number of VT lessons and co-teaching opportunities that occurred during the school year and once the workshops completed. To be frank, this resistance was problematic for me and lead me to my conclusion that I wouldn't initiate the concept of an after-school workshop again. Instead, sharing resources with teachers through department meetings, as well as utilizing the school newsletter to promote resources ideas became my focus. I share the resources, offer suggestions and work with those who wish to utilize my skills and the resources of the library.

I also put more focus on the students and increased my efforts to build their excitement for new tools and library resources in a variety of after-school get-togethers.  One tool was the use of video to advertise the resources in the library. Below is a sample of a video that was shared with students in order to advertise the library program.
WMMS: Building a Reading and Research Community
Stay tuned for more information.

Tool I Want to Use Part One

This App Lets You Control Presentations with Your Hand

Planning for Next Year

Now is the time to do a bit of reflection.  The school year is winding down and I need to determine how I can AMP UP next year's library program.  Instead of depending on my memory to serve as a barometer for change, I am asking for teacher feedback. My hope is that their input will guide me as I decide what changes to make to the library program at our school.  Here are a few of the ideas rambling around in my head:

1.  Offer Tech Tuesdays once a month, where teachers can come into The SMaRTZone and participate in an Edcamp style workshop to discuss new technological tools and tricks.
2. Offer Tech Tuesdays once a month, where students can come to The SMaRTZone and present tips and tricks for students when it comes to various Web 2.0 technologies.  NOTE- Topic approval will be required.


For now, I am sending our a survey to teachers who used the library during the school year, to get a sense of what changes (if any) they would like to see in The SMaRTZone. Wish me luck.

Growing up with a Love of Reading

One of my goals for the upcoming year is to share more of myself with others. I tend to hide behind my glasses, my hair...everything.  However, after having a conversation with a former student (I, the teacher, became the student), I decided that being vulnerable is something I need to work on.  In this case, vulnerability is about being open and willing to go outside my boundaries.  Here is one step in doing this. I'm going to share some information with you. I've had a conversation with a few people about why I love to read and I thought I would share the information with everyone.

Growing up as the child of a retired Marine (Semper fi), my family traveled a lot. We practically traveled every two years.  As soon as began to make friends and create a niche for myself, it was time to move.  The one constant, in all of those moves, (nine moves by the time I was 16) was my books.  

A love of reading was something that my father had fostered in me.  I don't remember reading Dr. Seuss or any easy reader books. What I remember was reading an illustrated Bible from beginning to end and being in awe of the pictures.

I remember listening to my father read a John Saul's, Comes the Blind Fury  and wondering what was going to happen to the family as they dealt with the evil that was in their home.

I remember reading a book of Christmas carols and learning all the songs so that we could sing them Christmas Eve.  

I remember escaping with Mary Poppins as I devoured the entire series and then following that series with Dorothy and her friends down the brick road as they went on their adventures in Oz.

My books were my constant companions and I grew to love reading more and more with every move. Through them, I gained a knowledge of people, history, places and things that I had (yet) to experience; that love of reading followed me into my adulthood.

To do

I think I will get this so I can do more with this blog.

THE Answer

Months ago, as I was preparing to leave for the ISTE conference, I read an article in The New York Times about staffing cuts in public libraries.  The article also discussed budget cuts in the school libraries around the U.S. Due to budget cuts, some school systems in Oregon and Illinois chose to cut library programs as an answer to saving money. The answer (I thought) was ridiculous. The article angered me so much that I had to write.  This poem titled, THE Answer was created.

Thinking about the poem, The Hangman by Maurice Ogden, I tried to create a piece that would highlight the absurdity that closed libraries don't affect student performance.  Keep in mind, it's a work in progress.  One of the first people I showed this to compared it to a Dr. Seuss story.  Not exactly what I was going for... Your comments and suggestions will be appreciated.

NOTE- Please link people to this blog if you wish to share the poem.

THE Answer by T.K. Love

Into our school, the governor came to visit.

Looking important in a pressed suit…resplendent.

Gathered was a group of teachers, students, parents

Looking forward to the governor’s comments.

The governor scanned the crowd, looking quickly.

Looking for constituents…but bleakly.

Briskly unfurling the budget, grasped in hand.

Calmly the governor shared the budget plans.     

“This state is in need of a fiscal diet.”

I’m here to trim the fat.” The crowd stayed silent.

“Shrink this budget in half, by one million.

Then gauge other excesses, I’m not feeling.

Two schools will become one, no more P.E.

Get rid of any clubs for diversity.

The school day, I’ll just cut that thing in half;

each school will get rid of forty of their staff.

Or…we could close the libraries. Save tons.

Who uses them anyway? Your daughters? Sons?

Why not spend the money on technology?

Do research on Google and Bing. They’re both free.”

The governor’s closing statement had the mob.

Just by closing libraries, they could save jobs.

Just by closing libraries, kids would have computers

There’d be less  thinkers in the world.  More doers.

With one quick stroke of a pen and one fell swoop,

Libraries in the state were closed. Other points…moot.

The library books were stored in warehouses.

Dells and Macs  were moved – enhancing tech prowess.

It didn’t haunt them until a year later,

when the state’s test scores were in the newspaper.

“Lowest of the low” the bold headline stated.

“Why State’s scores Head South” were topics debated.

The first year, a state panel was created.

The topic of the schools’ decline were debated.

The second year, studies of the score meltdown.

Professors and researchers visited towns.

 Third year…the state still saw a steady decline.

Parents and teachers were losing their minds.

Not until the fourth year, at local diner was it said,

That maybe the scores were low because no one read

for enjoyment, information… gather info.

Could scores be low because the libraries were closed?

Students had no place to go with their questions;

they could no longer expand their classroom lessons.

Surfing the web had become a way to be.

Maybe, just maybe these kids needed to read.

“Just read?”  some questioned.  “How could that be a need?

Closing libraries was the answer. We agreed.”

So public and school libraries remained closed

And to this day, no one in the state knows

why the state’s scores declined, but I’m sure that you do

because your public and school libraries were left open to you.

Check it out!!

Teenreads.com

Some people wonder what resources I use to locate books that may interest me. One source is teenreads.com. It's a great website that offers reviews, contests and dialogue about YA Lit. The website also has a section about books that have been made into movies, a question of the month, and a poll. You can even choose to have a monthly newsletter sent to your email address. Check it out!!

Follow @tlovesbooks

@tlovesbooks: I will share my summer reading list with you by Sunday. RT @WeAreTeachers: 8 tips for putting together a summer (cont) http://tl.gd/ai8emh Shared via Tweetcaster

USA Today- book round up

Book roundup: Young-adult novels http://usat.me/47317000

An author talks about her book - Divergent by Veronica Roth

Watch "Author Veronica Roth on Divergent" on YouTube

One of my #books to #readin2011

Watch "DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth - Book Trailer" on YouTube