So proud to be able to present one of my favorite tools (Wakelet!) with three of my favorite people (Kathi Kersznowski, Amy Storer, and Brad Dale!)
Wake Up! Top 10 Ways to Boost Productivity and Creativity With Wakelet - ISTE 2019 People's Choice Panel PresentationWakelet Webinar: Top 10 Ways to Use Wakelet in the Classroom
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With the new Flipgrid AR (augmented reality) your videos will come alive!
Create a MixTape for each of your students, combining their responses from various topics during the school year.
Kick it Old School with MixTapes □
□You pick what goes on your MixTape (any video Response from any of your Grids).□You set the order you want Responses to play.□MixTapes are view-only and can be shared anywhere.□Your community can Follow your MixTapes and receive an email when new videos are added. Ready to get rocking?
MixTape CoPilots are coming! This will make it even easier for teachers to create digital portfolios for their students.
Password protect those MixTapes so only friends and family can view them.
Create student ID badges.
Scan Student ID Badges with QR Codes for Easy Access
If your students don't have Microsoft or Google accounts, Flipgrid makes it easy to secure your Grid using Student IDs! Educators can add or edit their Student ID List at anytime and print out the...
Save time, and download multiple QR response codes at once.
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It seems that every company is getting in on the makerspace craze. Some are offering resources, materials, and programs that have little to do with inquiry and ingenuity by slapping the word "makerspace" on the package and hoping it sticks. Believe it or not, Microsoft is a company that has done it right! Here's why:
- Microsoft doesn't make any money from their Maker Space Project. The notebook is free to access, download, and print. Materials and tools can be purchased at hobby, electrical, and home improvement stores. Some resources can be found in the house, at the grocery store, or at the dollar store.
- Educators can easily integrate activities into their classroom lessons with the included Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and International Society for Technology in Education Standards (ISTE).
- Microsoft's makerspace projects help students to become college and career ready, as real world applications are included for mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software engineering, and data scientists.
- Until we can find ways to clone ourselves, educators will always have the problem of finding ways to assist all of their students, while differentiating instruction. Educators will find the embedded videos, diagrams, and sway presentations invaluable to helping their students develop into both independent and collaborative thinkers.
- Assessments abound in this interactive notebook through rubrics, reflective journals, and challenge activities. Whether your school is a Microsoft school or not, you will find this Maker Space Project to be a addition to your curriculum!
MICROSOFT MAKER SPACE PROJECT AT ISTE 2016 IN DENVER
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HAVING FUN AT HOME WITH PROJECTS
ON THE ROAD...
I love to travel. Meeting people and seeing new places is always exciting, but when it also includes a Day of Making then I get REALLY energized! After 5 hours in my car soaking in the beautiful upstate NY scenery followed by a delicious dinner with Diana Wendell, SLS Director & CIS Coordinator of Madison-Oneida BOCES, and her wonderful colleagues I was ready for a full day of collaborating, sharing, and learning!
AN ARTICLE BY MADISON-ONEIDA BOCES...
I enjoy connecting with other teachers and librarians across New York State. I find that our situations and goals are more similar than different, and it gives me a good perspective on what is going on in libraries and classrooms off Long Island.
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR VIDEOS...
From these videos you can see what great sports these librarians and teachers were. I am confident that their students are in good hands, by seeing how creative and open-minded these educators are. They really know what it means to have fun learning again!
ROLLING OUT A NEW BRAG TAG PROGRAM...
We all have those teachable moments in our lives, and this was one of them for me. But it was also a learning moment. During this workshop I was able to beta test my new "brag tags" program. Combining ideas from Brad Flickinger's Reward Learning With Badges: Spark Student Achievement, a discussion with my new friend Wanda Terral at Edcamp USA last month, and a request by Diana to incorporate standards into our workshop.....tada....I now know how to document learning during my Genius Hour program! Not only did I give brag tags during activities, but the participants gave them to one another and even themselves. Now, that's empowered learning!
Here are my Brag Tags for AASL and ISTE Standards. You can add Common Core Standards, if you like.
BLING YOUR BADGE...
"Bling Your Badge" is an introductory activity that combines low tech creativity and simple circuits. With paint markers, clear badges, lanyards, LED's, coin batteries, and tape participants created badges that showcased their personalities. This simple activity has so much learning "bang for your buck"!
MARBLE RUN...
So Dollar Tree was already out of pool noodles, but on a quick stop to Home Depot I was able to pick up some pipe insulation. It may have been more expensive, but the foam was SO much easier to cut and manipulate. This group were my guinea pigs, and such troopers! I had never done this with a group of educators during a workshop, but I plan to always make this an activity. Through collaborating, communicating, and critical thinking magic truly happened as individuals formed pairs, then teams, and then worked together as a full group. The dynamics that I witnessed during this activity truly made my heart sing. :)
"JUNK IN A BAG" CHALLENGE...
When my little sister used to come home from birthday parties, my mom would ask her how the party went. After sharing details about the games and the cake, my sister would inevitably rummage through her goody bag. Or as she would call it..."$%&^* in a bag." So, I've modified this challenge for schools and call it "Junk in a Bag." What are the rules?
- You may use as many of the 5 items as you need to for the particular challenge. In this case, the participants could use an unlimited amount of tongue depressors, craft foam, coffee filters, rubber bands, and pipe cleaners.
- Adhesives (glue, duct tape, scotch tape), tools (scissors, box cutters, glue guns), and decoratives (markers, crayons, and stickers) are freebies.
- You are allowed to use ONE more additional item that DOES NOT cost more than $5. Since I had so many goodies in my bag, bonus choices included pieces of soda cans, glow sticks, clothespins, pony beads, and paint chips.
BLOXELS VIDEO GAME DESIGNER...
When my little sister used to come home from birthday parties, my mom would ask her how the party went. After sharing details about the games and the cake, my sister would inevitably rummage through her goody bag. Or as she would call it..."$%&^* in a bag." So, I've modified this challenge for schools and call it "Junk in a Bag." What are the rules?
- You may use as many of the 5 items as you need to for the particular challenge. In this case, the participants could use an unlimited amount of tongue depressors, craft foam, coffee filters, rubber bands, and pipe cleaners.
- Adhesives (glue, duct tape, scotch tape), tools (scissors, box cutters, glue guns), and decoratives (markers, crayons, and stickers) are freebies.
- You are allowed to use ONE more additional item that DOES NOT cost more than $5. Since I had so many goodies in my bag, bonus choices included pieces of soda cans, glow sticks, clothespins, pony beads, and paint chips.
BREAKOUT EDU...
You've heard of 12 step processes before. Well, when it comes to my Target addiction I have a simple 5 step process:
1. Target Dollar Spot
You would have to be lying if you never bought anything in the Target Dollar Spot. When I used to shop for clothing in department stores (believe me, it's not fun trying on clothes with three little kids running around) I would head straight to the back of the store to the clearance rack. The hunt for a bargain is what thrills any female. Target is different. Target brings out the dessert cart before you ever touch your main meal! I could do some serious damage to my wallet within the first 5 minutes of entering the store.
The Dollar Spot is perfect for organizational materials (storage boxes, folders, clips), decoratives (posters, tags, signage), craft supplies (ribbons, markers, beads), classroom resources (flashcards, dry erase boards, and erasers) and incentives (bubbles, stickers, and coloring books). Prices are usually $1, $3, or $5. Once you see something you like, nab it! Chances are items won't last very long.
- Shop
- Smile
- Purchase
- Enjoy
- Repeat
1. Target Dollar Spot
You would have to be lying if you never bought anything in the Target Dollar Spot. When I used to shop for clothing in department stores (believe me, it's not fun trying on clothes with three little kids running around) I would head straight to the back of the store to the clearance rack. The hunt for a bargain is what thrills any female. Target is different. Target brings out the dessert cart before you ever touch your main meal! I could do some serious damage to my wallet within the first 5 minutes of entering the store.
The Dollar Spot is perfect for organizational materials (storage boxes, folders, clips), decoratives (posters, tags, signage), craft supplies (ribbons, markers, beads), classroom resources (flashcards, dry erase boards, and erasers) and incentives (bubbles, stickers, and coloring books). Prices are usually $1, $3, or $5. Once you see something you like, nab it! Chances are items won't last very long.
2. Clearance Items
Craft supplies, STEM toys, storage...Target has it all! Browse the various departments and you'll find something that you "just have to have." But, if you have the time to rummage through the end cap shelves or look for specific items you can save A LOT of money on clearance items. On my recent excursions to local Targets I saved at least 50% off the original prices...Ollie robots ($50 instead of $100), Disney Imagicademy Storymation Studio Stop Motion Movie Kits ($9 instead of $30), Meccano MeccaNoid G15 ($45 instead of $150), Makedo Ready to Build Kits ($4 instead of $12), and SmartLab Toy Demolition Lab ($9 instead of $26). *Note: These prices were in store, not online.
Don't forget that Target also has a price adjustment policy for 14 days, which came in handy when I purchased the Makedo and Demolition Labs $6 and $15 respectively a week earlier.
We'll match the price if you buy a qualifying item at Target then find the identical item for less at Target.com, select online competitors, or in Target's or competitor's local print ad. Price matches may be requested at time of purchase or Price adjustments within 14 days after purchase.
Craft supplies, STEM toys, storage...Target has it all! Browse the various departments and you'll find something that you "just have to have." But, if you have the time to rummage through the end cap shelves or look for specific items you can save A LOT of money on clearance items. On my recent excursions to local Targets I saved at least 50% off the original prices...Ollie robots ($50 instead of $100), Disney Imagicademy Storymation Studio Stop Motion Movie Kits ($9 instead of $30), Meccano MeccaNoid G15 ($45 instead of $150), Makedo Ready to Build Kits ($4 instead of $12), and SmartLab Toy Demolition Lab ($9 instead of $26). *Note: These prices were in store, not online.
Don't forget that Target also has a price adjustment policy for 14 days, which came in handy when I purchased the Makedo and Demolition Labs $6 and $15 respectively a week earlier.
We'll match the price if you buy a qualifying item at Target then find the identical item for less at Target.com, select online competitors, or in Target's or competitor's local print ad. Price matches may be requested at time of purchase or Price adjustments within 14 days after purchase.
3. Commitment to Community
Besides quality of products, good prices, an convenient one-stop shopping, I support Target for their commitment to the community.
Besides quality of products, good prices, an convenient one-stop shopping, I support Target for their commitment to the community.
Through Target's field trip grant, I was able to bring a group of students in our afterschool club to visit a working farm in upstate New York (Beaverwood Farm, Swan Lake). Students from our suburban, high-needs, culturally diverse district were able to ride horses, feed chickens, and milk cows. I still have students tell me what an impact this experience had on their lives.
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Currently, Target is partnering with DonorsChoose to donate up to $5 million dollars for kid-inspired projects relating to topics of health and wellness. Through this program thousands of students nationwide to receive the resources they need to help them about proper nutrition, exercise, and healthy-living choices.
Target's commitment is apparent in their store planning as they consider people's needs. Having a non-gender specific family bathroom and a variety of carting options is a thoughtful bonus in my book. There are motorized carts, children's carts, and even Caroline's Cart for people with special needs.
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How do you squeeze an ISTE experience into a blog entry? What do you focus on? Themes, sessions, educational companies, trends, sponsors, exhibitors, keynotes? How do you encapsulate almost a week long opportunity to connect and learn face to face with close 20,000 participants and exhibitors, and even student presenters, representing 73 countries?
For me, it is the people. Sharing the joys of teaching with Facebook and Twitter friends is an opportunity that technology cannot replace. Whether giving one another quick high fives in the Exhibition Hall, hanging in a Playground, sitting on a panel together, grabbing a bite and a cup of coffee, socializing at an after party, or sharing a room together attending conferences help us to rejuvenate our spirits so that we can be active participants in the global community of educators.
Having been to my fourth ISTE, I’m not a newbie so I have learned to make reservations early, pack lightly, and plan for a flexible schedule. But I’m not yet a veteran. I know the names of “big” people, am friends with a few of them, and become a nervous teenage fan when I meet most of the others. Almost a decade ago, my former district’s teacher trainer mentioned ISTE to me. He knew I loved learning about new technologies, even though we had only a few computers in our library. And so I went, and I discovered that there was a world of professional development beyond my classroom, my school, my district, and even my entire state. I went because I had been invited to the table, and I accepted the invitation.
At my very first ISTE in Philadelphia in 2011, I saw Kathy Schrock. And I was star-struck! I say saw, because I was too shy to actually introduce myself to THE Kathy Schrock. Years earlier, I had stumbled on Kathy’s Schrockguide on DiscoveryEducation.com while I was still a 7th grade English teacher. When I needed to find a website to teach my students how to write a research paper, cite their sources, and avoid plagiarism I didn’t use Google. As the saying goes, I went to a librarian, “the original search engine.” I went to Kathy. Kathy Schrock is a name that educators from fields other than library science recognize. Kathy Schrock was at ISTE because she understood that being a librarian means helping readers to navigate text, whether print or digital. She is a teacher librarian.
What stood out for me this year at ISTE were not the new and not-so-new “Kathy Schrock,” librarians like Shannon Miller, Joyce Valenza, Nikki Robertson, Gwyneth Jones, Jennifer LaGarde, Laura Fleming, Sherry Gick, Elissa Malespina, Colleen Graves, Diana Rendina, Andy Plemmons, Heather Lister, Jennifer Lussier, Michelle Colte (I could go on and on and on and...). What stood out for me were my library colleagues who were attending their first or second ISTE. Not just Facebook or Twitter friends. They were librarians who teach on Long Island with me who made the plane trip from New York to Denver. They came because they wanted “a seat at the table.” Whether encouraged by a supervisor or motivated by their own desire to learn and connect, these friends discovered a world beyond their bookstacks.
A librarian cannot be categorized by just one Dewey call number. You see, a librarian has many roles, the most important of which is to be a researcher. We research ways to support our administrators, our teachers, and our students. We leave no stone unturned. Even if we aren’t the curriculum expert, we know how to find the information. But what brings us to conferences? We need human connections. We want to see for ourselves what we can bring back to our schools. We want to want to make new friends.
Seeing my local colleagues experience ISTE for the first time made me realize that as long as there are librarians who are “invited to the table” or “pull up a chair” themselves, libraries will always be the center of learning. Our strength is our appreciation of all subject areas, and how learning is interconnected. As Lady Bird Johnson once said, ““Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.” Attending conferences such as ISTE, helps us to connect with educators whom we might not meet normally. It helps to branch out and to learn about trends in other subject areas. And it helps others to realize the importance of well-funded library programs staffed by certified librarians, no matter what title we have.
For me, it is the people. Sharing the joys of teaching with Facebook and Twitter friends is an opportunity that technology cannot replace. Whether giving one another quick high fives in the Exhibition Hall, hanging in a Playground, sitting on a panel together, grabbing a bite and a cup of coffee, socializing at an after party, or sharing a room together attending conferences help us to rejuvenate our spirits so that we can be active participants in the global community of educators.
Having been to my fourth ISTE, I’m not a newbie so I have learned to make reservations early, pack lightly, and plan for a flexible schedule. But I’m not yet a veteran. I know the names of “big” people, am friends with a few of them, and become a nervous teenage fan when I meet most of the others. Almost a decade ago, my former district’s teacher trainer mentioned ISTE to me. He knew I loved learning about new technologies, even though we had only a few computers in our library. And so I went, and I discovered that there was a world of professional development beyond my classroom, my school, my district, and even my entire state. I went because I had been invited to the table, and I accepted the invitation.
At my very first ISTE in Philadelphia in 2011, I saw Kathy Schrock. And I was star-struck! I say saw, because I was too shy to actually introduce myself to THE Kathy Schrock. Years earlier, I had stumbled on Kathy’s Schrockguide on DiscoveryEducation.com while I was still a 7th grade English teacher. When I needed to find a website to teach my students how to write a research paper, cite their sources, and avoid plagiarism I didn’t use Google. As the saying goes, I went to a librarian, “the original search engine.” I went to Kathy. Kathy Schrock is a name that educators from fields other than library science recognize. Kathy Schrock was at ISTE because she understood that being a librarian means helping readers to navigate text, whether print or digital. She is a teacher librarian.
What stood out for me this year at ISTE were not the new and not-so-new “Kathy Schrock,” librarians like Shannon Miller, Joyce Valenza, Nikki Robertson, Gwyneth Jones, Jennifer LaGarde, Laura Fleming, Sherry Gick, Elissa Malespina, Colleen Graves, Diana Rendina, Andy Plemmons, Heather Lister, Jennifer Lussier, Michelle Colte (I could go on and on and on and...). What stood out for me were my library colleagues who were attending their first or second ISTE. Not just Facebook or Twitter friends. They were librarians who teach on Long Island with me who made the plane trip from New York to Denver. They came because they wanted “a seat at the table.” Whether encouraged by a supervisor or motivated by their own desire to learn and connect, these friends discovered a world beyond their bookstacks.
A librarian cannot be categorized by just one Dewey call number. You see, a librarian has many roles, the most important of which is to be a researcher. We research ways to support our administrators, our teachers, and our students. We leave no stone unturned. Even if we aren’t the curriculum expert, we know how to find the information. But what brings us to conferences? We need human connections. We want to see for ourselves what we can bring back to our schools. We want to want to make new friends.
Seeing my local colleagues experience ISTE for the first time made me realize that as long as there are librarians who are “invited to the table” or “pull up a chair” themselves, libraries will always be the center of learning. Our strength is our appreciation of all subject areas, and how learning is interconnected. As Lady Bird Johnson once said, ““Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.” Attending conferences such as ISTE, helps us to connect with educators whom we might not meet normally. It helps to branch out and to learn about trends in other subject areas. And it helps others to realize the importance of well-funded library programs staffed by certified librarians, no matter what title we have.
My local colleagues, the inspiration for this blog post...
MARY CHARTERS
SUSAN NAPODANO
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LISA LINDEMAN
AMY CSORNY
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Just settling in from my first day at ISTE in Philly, and I have already met three of my professional goals: connect with educators in my PLN, listen to the welcoming remarks and keynote, and learn something new at the poster sessions. Check out video interviews of presenters you might have missed.
Remember - this is an open forum. Press "+" to create your own video interviews of educators and vendors. Let's see how big this grid can be.
Remember - this is an open forum. Press "+" to create your own video interviews of educators and vendors. Let's see how big this grid can be.
Kristina A. Holzweiss
Ed Tech School Librarian
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