Red's Journey Through Bookland

Well, this class has been very interesting and challenging. I am about a mid-level technology buff. I enjoy using technology in the classroom, but often struggle to incorporate it consistently. This class has shown me so many different options to use in the classroom. It also has inspired a new passion for me to continue finding more technology and applications that can be included in my classroom. Which technology we have studied in class made me most excited?  If I am honest, most of the visual and auditory applications were the most exciting for me to explore. Some things like Infographics, Cartoons & Comics, Screencasts, Instagram, and Flipgram were especially interesting to me. I think these were the most interesting to me because they are so applicable to my classroom and the students I serve. Since I teach middle school- my students are particularly visual. They love visual stimulation- all of the images they see on a daily basis and being able to create more visual...

Technology: Is medium truly the message? Any person who has been in a school, classroom, or library in the last few years have seen the importance that has been put on technology in the educational system. Each teacher tries their best to incorporate technology in the classroom for fear of falling behind in things like engagement, pedagogy, and the latest trends. With that said- I am not arguing that technology is not an integral or important of the educational space. I agree with the sentiment that Eric Sheninger said in his EdTech article "The key is to determine what we want our students to know, and then let them have a choice as to how they will demonstrate or apply their learning."  I think there are two ways we use technology in the classroom: presentation and creation. I think that media is the message in our presentation - bringing in the engagement factor for the students. While media cannot be the message in our student creation and application of learning. ...

I jumped on the podcasting wagon when I heard the first episode of Serial season one! I was in my first year of teaching and many of my colleagues had been talking about it. I already have a love for audiobooks- they allow me to multitask on so many levels- listening and driving, listening and working on lessons, listening and painting your new house! All of the possibilities!! The same goes for podcasts- you can find podcasts on nearly every topic. You can find educational topics, topics on reality tv shows, ya books, any topic of your choosing. Today we are looking at three podcasting applications and assess them for which is best to use in the classroom or library. Also, how can we use podcasts to our educational advantage? In my podcast, I will be doing a book talk on The Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman one of the BECK Reads books for next year- it was a nominee for the SC Junior Book Award. I am going to try to create this podcast on each site to see how it dif...

Today on the blog we are going to talk about comic and cartoons and their uses in the classroom. We will look at 3 different comic/cartoon creation sites called Toondoo , Pixton , and Make Beliefs Comix . First is Toondoo-I made each of my comics focusing on the steps of a Readers Advisory Interview. How do we get the right books in the kids hands? By redrobinson | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon Overall, Toondoo was an overall easy comic application to use. It is very simple- but did not allow for much customization. I think this would be a great application to use in the elementary age levels. I had only a few problems with using it. I think that since it really only allowed for 3 panels that I had to shove more information or conversation in each panel. This was made more difficult since the text did not text wrap inside the bubble- so you would have very long bubbles or multiple talking bubbles.  I also think this application would be great for...

Today on the blog, we will be talking about 2 different online video applications and a cool way of sharing coded pictures that can bring you to those videos. Youtube: So on youtube we were asked to look at 4 different channels created by varied libraries. These 4 libraries youtube channels have videos that show mini-lessons on how to find creative commons images, introduction to the library, student created videos for classes, library promotions, and even dance parties. The channels are Norman Public Schools by Calypso Gilstrap, The Unquiet Library , Pikesville High School Library ,  and BBMS Media . Which is the most helpful for students? Norman Public Schools: One of the most helpful videos that I saw for the students would be the "Getting Started with the NHS Library Website." The information in this video is super important for incoming freshman, new students, parents, and all those kids who forgot everything over the summer. The library's website is norma...

Today on the blog, we are talking about 3 visual web applications and how they can benefit you in the classroom. First up is Screencast-o-matic : Screencast-o-matic was relatively easy to use, but I did have some issues in general getting started. I had some issues with the amount of storage space available on my computer. I had to download the recorder launcher about 4 times before it downloaded properly to be able run the program. After finally being able to open the application- I then had more storage issues. Every time I would start a recording it would get stopped around 50 seconds in because I did not have enough storage on my computer. After a few hours  of cleaning out my computer storage, I was finally able to create a screencast. The process of making the screencast was honestly pretty easy and simple to use. I decided to create a screencast for my students in the new school year. This screencast shows how to find and use the library's online catalog (Destiny Qu...