The Shelf Elf Helps Out

Third Graders continue to explore the Dewey Decimal System with the help of the Shelf Elf in "The Shelf Elf Helps Out."  In this book, the shelf elf shelves books from a return cart explaining in rhyme what is typically found in each hundreds section.  These seem to resonate with students, as many exclaimed, "Wait!  Is that how our library is too?"  Uh...yeah.

How Could They Be So Wrong?

Fifth Graders followed up learning how to find the good stuff by finding the good stuff and correcting mistakes they found on the All About Explorers website.  Part of the project was to email the webmaster and students have already told me that they even got a response!  What a worthwhile, applicable, and downright awesome project.  Thank you again to the creators of the site for sharing with educators and teacher librarians!

Book Talk: Chicken Soup with Rice

Last year was my first year in the library and I was mystified when all the students in a particular kindergarten class began to demand the book, "Chicken Soup with Rice.". Mrs. succi explained to me that this happened each year as a K teacher introduced the book to her class and they instantly fell in love. And who was I to stand in the way of love...with a book. Since we only had one copy, there was quite a waiting list and arguments would erupt if one student insisted that another had already had the book. During my summer ordering, I placed an order for a few more copies to have on hand. Both for students in the kindergarten class as well as the now first graders who are still bubbling over with soupy enthusiasm. My concern was that, since the book was originally published in 1962, it may not be available through normal channels. But I was wrong. It was easily available. Chicken Soup with Rice chronicles the main character's enjoyment of soup through each month of the year. There is rhythm and rhyme, sweet illustrations, and soup, soup, soup. You may not be able to recreate the demand that we see in our school, but if you haven't in a while (or ever before) check out Chicken Soup with Rice.

Destination: Online Book Fair

This year, our book fair was hugely successful thanks to the support of our teachers and parents.  Thank you to everyone who came out to our book fair this fall.  I'll post some wrap up notes from our fair.  I had fully intended to post throughout, but it got busy in here!  This year is also our first online book fair.  It continues through Monday, November 28th.  Any orders placed online will be delivered to the school after November 28th and will be delivered to classrooms at that time.  To place an online order, visit our online fair.

Double Friday Tech Tip (Pine Road Edition) QR Codes

I missed posting a tech tip last week as I was in book fair bonanza mode.  So, you don't really get a two for one, but this is also for this coming Friday...so make of that what you will.

QR Codes or Quick Response Codes can be found on billboards and marketing materials, but (at least it seems) QR Codes themselves were never marketed, so most people don't really know what they are, what they're for, or what to do with them.  Some savvy smartphone users may have downloaded a free qr code reader on their phone.  Using this, the smart phone and its camera can make sense of the mess of a black square which really directs you to...something.  Either a webpage, or a video, or another piece of online media.  Now that you know what they are, a scannable link, let's discuss how you can use them.

Kaywa is the site I most associate with QR Codes.  To generate a code, I use Kaywa's QR Code generator.  Super easy.  You copy and the link you want to connect to and paste it into the URL box.  You can also generate a code for text, a phone number, or a text message.  And...it's FREE!

You can choose to make your QR Code square small, medium, large, or XL depending on your purposes.  Click generate, and you get a code.  You can then copy and paste that code however you like.  In the school library, I have used QR Codes for a few different purposes.

• Business Cards for Back To School Night (the code takes you to our library homepage)
• Bookmarks for Back To School Night (three different codes take you to our homepage, catalog, and this very blog)
• Bookmarks for Library Volunteers (the code takes volunteers to the sign up page for our information session)
• Book Fair Online Fair (the code takes interested buyers directly to our online book fair)

How I hope to use QR Codes...one day

• Book Trailer links affixed directly to books
• Scavenger Hunts and/or Webquests for Library Lessons

And, how are other educators using QR Codes

QR Codes in Education Prezi
QR Codes in Education Slide Share
The Savvy Technologist
Social Me Wiki
You don't need to have a smartphone to access a QR Code (though it does help) an iPad or other tablet with a camera, or a web cam hooked up to a computer will also suffice for scanning.

And here's a food for thought infographic.

Friday Tech Tip: Zombie Schoolwires Pages! (Murray Avenue Edition)

Hello everyone -

This is from the 'learn from my mistakes' file... 

All of us to some degree or another maintain a professional website for school using SchoolWires (that's the software we all use to make edits and changes to our sites).

If you are like me, you may have some pages that you are not using at the moment, but don't want to delete.  So, Schoolwires allows you to change thier status from 'Active' to 'Inactive', rendering them invisible.



'Active' & 'Inactive'
states in Schoolwires.

 ...or so you might think!  I had put together a blog through schoolwires for a class I taught last year, and wanted to hold on to it in case I wanted to repurpose it later, so I rendered it 'Inactive.'  Task completed, move on to the next million things to do.  But then...

...I get an email from a parent who had 'Googled' her child, in an effort to examine her digital footprint.  In the process, Google served up the Schoolwires page I had rendered 'inactive'.  Back from the dead to haunt me! She asked me to remove her daughter's name from the page, stating that she hadn't given her permission to post her name.  That's all true.  So, I think there's really two lessons here:

1. Don't inavertantly expose your students:
   Our district has a policy in place regarding this kind of thing.  It's in the document titled "Lower Moreland Township School District Website Guidelines", and can be found at http://www.lmtsd.org/Page/84.  I've excerpted the passage that's relevant to this discussion here:
   
   

   Full student names are not to be used in any Lower Moreland Township School District related webpage where the Lower Moreland Township School is identified. When mentioned in text, use of the student’s first name and the first initial of the last name is appropriate.
   

   So: first name & last initial.
2. The second lesson is that an inactive schoolwires webpage can still be found by Google, and likely through other search engines too. 

Hopefully, these two little tips will help keep you and your students safe.

A word about Edmodo, especially since so many of us here at Murray have started using it.  Edmodo is more secure - using the 'Group Code' method of controlling access.  If you have questions or concerns about your or your students privacy, I welcome your questions - it is a timely & relevant topic that all of us who are bringing social media into our lessons must get right.

Hugo: The Movie

Check out more info on the movie, Hugo based on the book by Brian Selznick (who I had the honor of seeing at the Free Library of Philadelphia).  I was blown away by the preview and thought I would share it with you too!  The movie comes out tomorrow, November 23rd.