Maker Space Magic

"Learning is experience. Everything else is just information." 

~ Albert Einstein. 

"I never thought I'd say this but I don't want to leave school! I just want to keep on making stuff!" 

~Arial, 5th grade.

"I learned something new today!"

 The Maker Movement is a BIG idea in school library media right now and in education in general. I have watched the MAGIC of maker spaces happen right before my eyes over the past few months. I've placed a few pop up maker spaces such as snap circuits or Legos paired with the Lego movie maker app in library centers each week. I expected these to be popular centers (and they were!) but I was surprised at how they also drew students into the media center for "how to" books and books about electricity, art and building.

I've been following this maker movement for a while now from educator gurus on Twitter, school library media conference sessions and numerous articles in School Library Journal and other sources. I've found numerous creative and useful ideas for creating maker spaces on Pinterest.

When the reading committee at my school was trying to plan a meaningful reward for students who met their reading goals. We knew a Maker Day would be the perfect fit! Our students are so often have to follow formats and formulas that they just don't have many opportunities to create and work on projects that inspire them to learn something new.

 Creative thinking is a life skill that is often missed when standardized tests drive curriculum. The Maker Movement recognizes the potential of empowering our students to dream, design, build and create. More and more careers require creative thinking and authentic problem solving skills. What better way to nurture life long learners than by providing resources for them to do just that!

We named our maker day "Creating Coast to Coast" in keeping with our year long theme, "Read Around the World in 180 Days." We asked for donations for supplies from parents and staff and purchased the remaining needed supplies knowing that what ever was left over would go towards a more permanent maker space in our school.

As the big day approached, students viewed a short video about the maker spaces so they could make informed decisions when they signed up for their favorites.

 Student Choices for Maker Day:

Design Lab: Design your own jewelry, paper crafts or paper airplanes, craft with duct tape or try your hand at interior design using templates and graph paper.

Construction Zone: Use building blocks and other materials to build your dream house, bridges, sky scrapers and more!

Digital Maker Space and Tinker Lab: Use online resources to create your own digital projects OR use tools to take apart a real computer and other equipment.

Knitting: Use yarn, knitting needles or looms to learn basic skills needed to make a hat or scarf.

Litter Bugs and Marble Run: Use recycled materials to create something new OR design and test a marble run or maze using recycled materials.

Art Studio: Use paints and brushes and paper to create your own master piece while listening to music. Then join the gang to make a collaborative masterpiece on canvas to display in our school.

Photography and Movie Making: Join the paparazzi as we take pictures and video around the school. Use iPads to create a photo collage or iMovie. OR make your own miniature movie set using plastic creatures and kinetic sand and direct your own movie.

Kindergarten students who signed up for movie making used kinetic sand in a large plastic container and plastic animals, trees and rocks to create their own movie set and story about two liztards, Lizard Jane and Lou Lou, and one creepy spider who became friends. They filmed and edited their movie on the iPad using iMovie.

The maker spaces worked their magic inspiring students to think outside the box, explore new ideas, problem solve and ask questions. Of course, the most frequent question of the day was, "When can we do this again?"

Maker Spaces do not have to happen all in one day, but when they do, it's maker MAGIC! Starting with a maker day was a great way to introduce the concept of maker spaces to our students and faculty. The maker day helped build excitement and ideas for the design and implementation of our future school maker space. Until then, mini maker spaces will continue to "pop up" in the media center for students to explore before school and during library centers.

Going Global!

Our school is going with a global theme this year so I decided to tag along for the ride with our school wide reading promotion. It really is a great theme for a reading promotion as reading really does take you just about anywhere.

Over the summer I met with a group of fabulous teachers and administrators who form our school literacy committee to plan out our reading goals and promotions for the year.  More on that later...

To get things started for our global focus I made this info graphic using a free app I just discovered called iVi Touch Lite that provides tools to make crisp looking info graphics in a snap.
Check it out!

One iPad. 28 Students. Here's How to Make it Work

I was fortunate enough to work as a school library media specialist at a school where there were 60 iPads that teachers could checkout individually or in sets of 6 or even in a classroom set of 30.  While more and more schools are acquiring iPads for classroom use there are still many more schools who simply don't have the funds to purchase these magical devices.  So what is a teacher to do if there is only one iPad in the classroom? Is it worth it?

I know, some of you are saying, one iPad would be nice! Right now we have zero... Hang in there. Consider other sources such as PTA and educational grants. Some teachers even use their own personal iPads in the classroom (gasp!). Once you have an iPad in hand, evaluate the apps carefully. Explore educational apps on the iPad (many are free) and take time to play with them.  Consider how user friendly the app is and its educational value for your curriculum and your particular students. Here are a few tips to get you started:

VGA adapter

1. Whole group activities: Connect the iPad to your digital overhead projector or ActivBoard with a VGA adapter. These cost about $30. This converts your tiny screen into a large screen. Now everyone can easily see the iPad screen.

• Use navigation applications such as Google Earth and other maps apps to locate places as they apply to your curriculum. Estimate miles from your school to a specific destination and check it with the app using the "Get directions" feature. These apps are also great for building background knowledge for the setting of a story or understanding where specific historical events took place. 
•  Don't have a whiteboard? There is an app for that! Apps such as Whiteboard and Show Me can serve as a white board that the teacher or students can write on just as you would a traditional dry erase board. Try several different ones out (most are free) before you decide which one to use in the classroom. They all have a unique feel and you will likely find one that you like more than others. Several of these apps have a recording feature that will record your writing or drawing and your voice and play it back for you. 
• Skype! Use the Skype app (also free) or Face Time (free from iPad to iPad or iPhone) to connect with another class in another state or part of the world or host your own virtual author visit by Skyping an author. You can read more about using Skype in the Classroom and see a video of how I've used it with 2nd graders.

2. Small group / Centers:  Set up the iPad as a center activity or Learning Station. Communicate high expectations for appropriate use and care of the iPad and take away the privilege if it is abused. You will likely find that your students enjoy using the iPad enough to meet or exceed your expectations.

• Read an e-book together as a class to demonstrate first, then set it up for use as a small group activity or even as an incentive for individuals to reward good behavior. Many e-books are free and run off of various free apps including the Kindle app (my favorite). The highlight and margin notes features work great for taking and sharing notes as you read. Sometimes the most reluctant readers will be the first to volunteer to read an e-book simply because they are attracted to the technology. There are even wonderful e-books for beginning readers. Check out the app I Like Books, which has 37 nonfiction colorful easy readers your kindergartners and first graders will love.
• Set up the iPad as a small group activity for researching the solar system using NASA's excellent educational apps as a starting place. 
• Use the camera and video camera on the iPad to document events in your classroom. Set up a classroom blog (there are apps for that!) and assign students to be responsible for updating the blog each week. Be sure to share the blog link with parents and even other classrooms so they can see all the great learning going on in your classroom. 
• Set up the iPad as a center activity for literature response, creative writing, or to share information learned from a research project. Use creative apps that allow students to create a story while recording their own voice. Students will be actively engaged in the writing task just by having a new purpose and new tools with which to write. Suggested apps: Puppet Pals HD, Sock Puppets, Show Me, and Toontastic.
  

3. Classroom Management: Incorporate the iPad into your classroom management tool box for smoother transitions and increased student interest.

• Use a timer app to display a countdown clock on the big screen. Most timer apps are free and you can choose from several fun sounds instead of a buzzer. When students can see exactly how much time they have left for a task, they are more likely to better manage their own time. 
• Use the iPad as an incentive for good behavior by rewarding students with time to use the iPad as individuals or in pairs. Select specific educational apps for students to explore and create a folder for them on the iPad so students will be certain of their perimeters for exploration time.
• Explore apps made especially for classroom management to assist with record keeping, grading, anecdotal notes and class calendar. Use clock and calendar apps to set reminders about when small groups leave the classroom for pull-outs such as speech or tutoring or for grade level events such as assemblies. 

Chances are your students know a bit more about iPads than their teachers. Include them in the discussion. Ask them to share educational apps that they find and use at home. Ask them how we could use the iPad to support learning in the classroom. You might be surprised at their resourcefulness! 

Keeper of Books?

This is what a 21st century school library looks like. Check it out! 

When asked what I do, my reply is usually, "I'm a school media specialist." Then I wait. I know it's coming. Assumptions: "Oh, you're a librarian. You check out books." That's about the time I bite my tongue, smile, take a deep breath and try to explain what it is that we media specialists really do and why it is, in fact, the best job in the school.

The role of the media specialist in the 21st century has changed drastically in just the past 10 years. Hey, it's changed drastically in just the past 2 years! As technology continues to change at lightening speeds, the role of media specialist evolves and changes continually too. Long gone are the days as the keeper of the books. Much of the role of a media specialist today revolves around technology and staying current on all the latest, ever changing resources that are becoming increasingly available to the entire learning community. The 21st century media specialist has the unique role of bringing the vast array of resources (both print and digital) to teachers and students while equipping them with the training and skills needed to be effective and responsible users and sharers of information. Even with all the changes in school library media, one thing remains constant: the challenge and joy of fostering in students (and adults!) a genuine love of reading. The wise school library media specialist meets students where they are by using digital media, Web 2.0, and other new technologies to spark student interest in the old fashioned art of reading a book. 

Last spring I had the opportunity to observe Andy Plemmons, Media Specialist Extraordinare, at Barrow Elementary School in Athens, GA. Mr. Plemmons blends information literacy, new technologies and a love for reading into his media lessons in a way that sparks students' interest and makes learning fun. You can almost feel the excitement these students have about learning in Mr. Plemmon's monthly media center report. Check it out!

School Librarians as Common Core Partner

Teacher of year advocates for school librarians as Common Core Partner

With the implementation of Common Core curriculum, now more than ever, school librarians are a vital partner for the school learning community. Despite this growing need for the expertise of school librarians across our nation's schools, a growing trend in today's dismal economy is the elimination of school library media specialist positions due to budget constraints. Unfortunately, outdated stereotypes of school librarians as merely a 'keeper of books' has shaped the misconception that schools will get along just fine without them. To those who reason their school budget can't afford to keep a school librarian, consider this: How can you afford not to?

The ever changing digital age in which we live and teach requires our students to not only be proficient in using the latest technology but in being masters of transliteracy  in which students are expected to merge how they read and respond to what they get from traditional literacies with how they interact with new and emerging literacies such as digital media and Web 2.0. In an age where anyone can publish anything online with the click of a button, the 21st century learner must be able to use current technology and print resources to interpret information effectively, evaluate information sources critically and share information responsibility.  How can we expect teachers to teach these skills without access to their very best resource and Common Core partner, the school librarian? Better yet, how can we expect students who don't have access to this valuable resource to compete with students from other schools who do?

In light of this growing need for advocacy, I'd like to offer a big shout-out to Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Kimberly Shearer, who advocates for school librarians as Common Core Partner. She states in the July 2012 issue of Kentucky Teacher digital newsletter that, "school librarians have the resources, training and knowledge to help us make those meaningful connections between the Common Core Standards and our students’ interests and lives." Shearer goes on to list reasons why teachers and students need school librarians "now more than ever." Amen, sister!

Student Book Selection Committee

Upon arrival at my new job as media specialist with a less than desirable media collection, I set out this past fall seeking and applying for grants that would help us purchase much needed library books. Midyear I was notified that we won two separate grants for our school-wide reading program called Just READ. With money to spend I asked teachers to nominate a few students to help select new library books for our school. In a matter of hours our student book selection committee was in place. I had previously arranged for a book vendor to bring book samples for the students to preview. They eagerly began previewing and sorting the books into three piles: Yes, No and Maybe. Our experts took their task very seriously in selecting titles they were interested in as well as titles they thought the other students at our school would want to read. In the end we were able to purchase 100% of the titles in the Yes pile and many of the titles in the Maybe pile. When the books came in our student book selection committee became walking advertisements for the new books. Excitement really is contagious!

School iPad Checkout Forms

We began this school year with 45 new iPads for use in the classroom and by the end of the year we had almost 60. Being one of the first schools in our district to have school iPads, we quickly found ourselves in need of creating our own policies and forms for iPad checkout. Below are some of the forms that worked for us.

• Maintenance: We found it helpful to keep the following chart on a clipboard attached to each iPad cart to help keep up with maintenance issues or noticed damage to the iPads. This way teachers could write down issues as they noticed them and we could be sure they were attended to as soon as possible. 

• Teacher checkout agreement: At our school, we posted the iPad reservation schedule for teachers to access online. This allowed teachers flexibility to reserve six iPads for a small group activity or an entire cart / class set of iPads as needed. As teachers came to the media center to check out the iPads they reserved, we used the following form to help us have a visual of where the iPads were for the day.  

• Overnight iPad checkout agreement: Our teachers often request to checkout a school iPad over night or over the weekend so that they may become more familiar with the apps they want to use with a particular lesson. We use the agreement below for this: 

Using Skype in the Classroom

Fakebook

Looking for a new idea for those school projects? Try Fakebook. Fakebook is sort of like an online template for educators and students. Fakebook can be used for creating a facebook-ish page to highlight a famous person or event in history. Fakebook could also be used for an innovative spin on book reports or science projects. Check it out!

Knowing How to Read is Not Enough

Thanks, Carmen! I couldn't have said it better myself! The demands of today's society require students to not only be skilled at reading and comprehension but to also be confident gatherers of information who can evaluate, analyze, synthesize, apply and share that information in authentic ways. This learning magic happens when teachers and media specialists collaborate to provide meaningful lessons that naturally blend content area curriculum with information literacy skills.

Top Ten Tips for Creating Classroom Websites

Recently I spent quite a bit of time researching classroom and media center web pages from various surrounding county schools in hopes of improving my own media center web page. I wanted to find out how I could make the most use of our online presence to promote the media center and all it has to offer. As an outsider who is unfamiliar with these particular schools, I was able to test the sites' user friendliness and see if the over all layout made sense to the average user. It didn't take long before I began to notice trends among the most outstanding websites. I used this experience to make my Top Ten Tips for Creating Classroom Websites:

1. Consider your reason for having a classroom website. What information do you want to share and why? Write this down. It is your overall goal for the website and will help shape how you proceed from here.
2. Consider who will be your target audience / users for the classroom website. Parents? Students? The community? All of the above? Keep this in mind as you create and maintain your website.
3. Keep it simple! You don't need to be a web designer to make your site look good. I recommend using a website creator such as Weebly.com that is user friendly and guides you through the process. The great thing about Weebly is that it is free, easy to use and set up to help you succeed in creating a sharp looking website. 
4. Consider how you want to break up the information on your website. Use tabs and pages within the website to organize your information in a way that will make sense to your audience / users. Take a look at other class webpages for ideas that work well.
5. Images speak louder than words. Take pictures of your classroom, school events and students at work and add them to your website where appropriate. Weebly allows you to add slide shows, videos and photo galleries in a matter of minutes.
6. Leave the 1990's clip art and flashing, animated backgrounds in the 1990's. You wouldn't want your viewer's to get a headache just looking at the website. 
7. Cut the clutter. Ask coworkers, family and friends to take a look at your site before you publish it. Ask for honest feedback on what you should keep and what should be cut. Remember clean and simple is much more eye-appealing and user friendly than busy and cluttered. 
8. Set aside a regular time to update and maintain your website with current information.
9. Use it! This is your space to showcase what students are learning in the classroom. Also, think about the information that you are frequently having to copy for students or parents. Can that info be incorporated into your website for easy access?  
10. Get your student's involved! Once you feel comfortable with the overall management of your website, involve your students in certain features of your website by having them write book reviews, class blog entries, news stories, or serve as class photographers for the week.

Humdrum vs. Heartbeat

"You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians" ~ Monty Python


In the past two years I have visited a lot of different school library media centers (K-12) either as part of my field experience or as a substitute teacher. It always amazes me how each and every school library / media center is unique. I recently visited two very different high school media centers that were both built within a year of each other in the same county and boasted of beautiful rounded windows with lots of natural light, new materials and the latest in technology. They even had the exact same building design. But each space had it's very own feel... er... personality (if indeed a space can have its own personality).  For the purposes of this post and to avoid confusion, I'll call the first media center "Humdrum" and the second "Heartbeat." 
     Humdrum was crazy quiet throughout most of the day with little student traffic. It's stark white walls surrounded bookshelves, computers and a few tables with hard chairs. There were plenty of books and abundant workspace. It just didn't feel comfortable, like a jacket that's so tight you just can't wait to get out of it. There were no colorful book displays, no cushy furniture inviting you to sit down and stay a while. After only five minutes at Heartbeat, however, it became clear that Heartbeat is the heartbeat of the school. Students and teachers seemed to claim that space as community space. They obviously felt welcome and comfortable there as they gathered around the cozy sofas and cushy chairs. The eye-catching new book displays drew a lot of attention and started conversations. It didn't quite have the feel of Barnes and Noble but it was comfortable and welcoming. Students came in frequently before school, during lunch and between classes to check out books, work on group projects, use the computers and read magazines.
     Unfortunately, media centers like Humdrum often give media centers like Heartbeat a bad name. It is no secret that school libraries and librarians have a boring stereotype to either live up to or to prove wrong. Here's to proving them wrong! This is the 21st century! Libraries aren't what they use to be. The 21st century school library media center is an exciting place to be. It is the largest and most expensive classroom in the school. It is the center of the learning community. It is a place for reading, learning, discovering, collaborating, connecting and sharing. 

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Hard Questions

Considering current conversations about budget cuts in education nationwide, budget committees, school board members and administrators are beginning to take a closer look at the effectiveness of school media programs. Are they worth it? Are they making a difference in the education of today's students? Can school media centers operate without a certified media specialist? Do students really need all those books with the increase in digital books and resources that are available?

These are questions that bring great concern not only to current media specialists but to recent graduates in school library media (like myself) and those seeking  employment in the field (like myself). Many media specialist are also concerned about how the drastic budget cuts will affect their media budgets. The questions aren't going away and they must be answered. Some feel threatened by these questions. I believe now more than ever that media specialists have the opportunity to prove our worth and the value of school library programs.

Consider for a moment the technology, books and other media resources that are currently in place in most schools today. I believe that the true value in these resources is in how we use them. Without a trained staff in place to teach students and teachers how to use these resources, the resources are no longer valuable to the school. When informational resources are not available, it is our students who will ultimately pay the price. If we want our students to be competitive and successful in today's global culture, we must support them by making available current information resources and teach them how to use them appropriately. We need to be teaching them how to go about inquiry, how to evaluate informational sources, how to filter the information that they need, how to synthesize that information and how to share what they find in a responsible and ethical way. We need to be teaching students how to be safe and responsible with their digital imprints and online identities. And amidst all this technology, we need to be teaching them how to access and make use of print resources.

In addition to teaching these life skills, school media programs need to encourage students to read for pleasure. It has been said that readers are leaders. Students today have so many  choices to fill their free time. Now more than ever, educators need to be intentional in our efforts to encourage students to choose to read. We need to communicate effectively through social media and in person to get them excited about reading. Our media programs should include casual book discussions, book talks and book promotions as well as blog posts and web links about new titles including a variety of genres, interests and reading levels. 

Considering the conversations surrounding the recent school budget cuts, we simply can't afford to cut school library media programming or media specialist positions. While our schools continue to have increased class sizes and higher student-teacher ratios, state and national expectations for increases in student test scores and overall quality of education continue to rise. If we expect our students to succeed, we must support them and their classroom teachers through the school library media program. 

The 3 P's in a Pod

A recent class discussion centered on the following question: 
Is your library, your content, and your services you offer portable, participatory, and personal? What strategies are you and your library using to make your information ecology portable, participatory, and personal?

My answer to this question is based on the library where I recently completed my field experience.Portable: Students check out books which, of course is portable... Students and teachers can also browse the online library catalog from home as well as access info. links from the library's website. Participatory: The MS welcomes suggestions and has a box for students and teachers to request materials (books, tech equipment, etc.) that are not currently in the collection. She also has a feedback/ contact form on the media website. In addition, students and teachers are polled annually about the media center and any improvements or additions that need to be made. Students also participate in creating and producing the morning news show.Personal: In order to appropriately build a media collection, the MS must know the learning community so that needs, interests and skills can best be matched. Teachers are also encouraged to personalize digital materials to better meet their needs. The MS provides a sign up sheet for teachers to request the MS to teach specific lessons based on what their classes are currently studying. The MS can then integrate info skills with content areas.

Social Media

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, social bookmarking, etc. allow teachers and media specialist to network, share ideas, collaborate on projects and share resources. Social media is the world in which our students live. The cutting edge media specialist embraces those platforms and uses them in innovative ways in educational settings. When using social media with students, caution should be exercised instead of fear. Often social media is feared by teachers and administrators because of the lack of control of content to which students might be exposed. While this is often true, teachers and media specialists can use social media platforms in controlled settings effectively if caution is exercised and the learning activity is well developed through the creation of closed groups within those social media platforms.