Library Media Tech Talk

This was the first year for the Library Media Tech Talk Blog. The first post was in March 2014. The number of views per month have slowly increased. December 2014 went above 1000 views in one month! Thank you for these views! Top 5 most read blog posts of 2014 374 pageviews: The Great Gatsby Collaborative Project (11th Grade English) 301 pageviews: The Dust Bowl Collaborative Event (8th Grade) 294 pageviews: Building on the 8th Grade 9/11 Collaboration program in 2014 289 pageviews: September 11, 2001 8th Grade Common Core Project 268 pageviews: Morfo App for iOS - Animate Your Photos for Class Projects Please Subscribe  if you are enjoying this blog. Please, put your email address in the box on the right side of the page. You will receive notifications when I post new blog entries! Contact Me/ Follow Me Email:  stony_evans@lakesidesd.org Are you on Twitter? Follow me : @stony12270 Follow our library (LHS_Library): @LHS_Library1...

If you are interested in collaborating with colleagues across the country (and world), consider using Twitter more in 2015! I created a Twitter account in July 2011. I didn't really start using Twitter as an effective networking tool until the summer of 2014. I'm not an expert, but I do know more now than when I started.  What are the benefits? Skeptical about how you can use Twitter? In the short months that I have used Twitter as a Personal Learning Network (PLN) tool, I have connected with hundreds of teacher librarians, teachers, and administrators across the country. My Twitter followers have increased from around 140 back in the summer of 2014 to 841 as of December 2014. I have learned a lot about emerging technology (such as 3D Printing and how school libraries are starting to use it). Because I have an ever growing PLN on Twitter, more people are reading this blog since I use Twitter to tweet out my links to new blog posts. I see numerous excellent dai...

Now that most of us have visited our families and had at least a week off for the holidays, it's nearly time to start thinking about returning to school for the second semester. Before you do, remember to take some time to rest! It's crucial to disconnect from the stresses of work for a time. I'm learning this important task as I get older (and it is a challenge for me to separate myself from work... here I am writing a blog entry on December 28th). Take some time to turn off the devices that consume you, and spend time with your close family or friends. Sometimes it is good just to get by yourself and reflect. Whatever you need to do, now is the time! I hope each of you rest and are energized to make a difference in 2015! Happy New Year! We took this photo at Petit Jean State Park in March 2014 (a great place to rest and reflect!) How visiting Walt Disney World changed my thinking.  Two ways we brought music into the school library. Please Subscribe  if ...

This article was also published in the Fall 2014 edition of the AAIM Journal (Arkansas Association of Instructional Media). Many thanks to Dr. Michael Mills, Journal Editor, for giving us a voice in this issue!  By Stony Evans and Misti Bell The “Throwback Thursday” concept has become a popular way to post old photos to social media outlets.  Last year, one of our library media assistants began posting Throwback Thursday pictures of teachers; students would then guess who was in the photo.  Those guessing correctly were put in a drawing for a prize.  Students and teachers enjoyed seeing the photographs each week and then finding out if their guesses were correct.  This was fun for our students, but more importantly it led them into the library. This year, we have taken this concept a step further by building our Thursday library/media programs around “Throwback Thursday”.  On Thursdays, in both of the Lakeside High School Library/Media ...

Our latest Lakeside Squared Google Hangout with Lakeside Junior High in Springdale, Arkansas was a great success! LJHS Library Media Specialist, Mr. Brian Johnson had an idea for us to connect during lunch and have their choir perform via Google Hangouts. We decided this would be a great way to wind the semester down with some entertaining Christmas music. He asked if someone could perform from our school. I volunteered since I always play a few holiday favorites for students on my saxophone this time of year (I spent 12 years as a school band director, and I still love to play!). For a video sample (from 2010) of this on my YouTube channel click here . Brian said he could finish the program by reading  The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry. The students really enjoyed this! The audio quality was great on our end! It was like watching a video on YouTube the whole time. This was a lot of fun for our students. We will keep experimenting with new ways to use thi...

This month's blog is authored by LHS Library Media Specialist, Mrs. Misti Bell Tellagami is a popular app that our teachers are beginning to implement into their lessons.  This app allows you to create a gami; a gami is an avatar.  You make the decision for how you want your gami to look, act, and speak.  Tellagami is a free app; however, there is a paid version if you are looking for more variety for your gami.  Book talks, reports, speeches, and presentations are just a few ways that Tellagami can be used in your classroom.  A student will be able to use his own voice to record what his gami will say.  Tellagami adds an innovative technology piece to the classroom, providing the student with a hands-on opportunity to create and then present the gami.  A verbal book talk in front of the class with a detailed hand written outline is a method that we are all familiar and comfortable with; however, we, as educators need to i...

We continued our September 11, 2001 collaborative program for the 2014-2015 school year! It has been a favorite of students and teachers since we first unveiled it in 2012 (for a detailed description of this common core program/ book talk click here ). The success of the program centers around the story of Navy SEAL, Adam Brown. Adam grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas and attended school at the Lake Hamilton School District. He overcame many challenges in his life to become one of the most respected SEAL warriors in the United States Navy. He gave the ultimate sacrifice in 2010 while protecting our country. Our students can easily connect with Adam because he is from the Hot Springs area. They absolutely love reading the book ( Fearless  by Eric Blehm). We are always overjoyed to see the books fly off the shelves following this program each year! This year we had the opportunity to connect on webcam with Lake Hamilton Junior High all day during the collaboration via Googl...

I just attended two days of the Arkansas Library Association Conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas. While there I heard a great keynote from futurist, Garry Golden . He brought forth some important points we should all consider. One of the most important concepts I walked away with was that "libraries are destined to become social spaces and makerspaces in the next decade." I agree with this idea! Since this summer, we have been trying to master the new MakerBot 3D Printer in our high school library media center. Students (and teachers) are still experimenting with this new device. For those of you that have never seen a 3D printer, it is essentially an open box with a print head that moves over a small platform. It uses spools of plastic (that look remarkably like what your weed eater uses) that come in different colors. The print head heats the plastic and shapes it into the form programmed into the printer. One of our high school students helped print a ge...

I started this blog only six months ago. As I write this, the blog has been viewed over 2800 times! Thank you for viewing these pages! I chose to author this blog because I wanted to share successful programs and activities that we have implemented at Lakeside High School. Virtually everything I write about is a collaboration between our library staff and the faculty! Continuing the spirit of collaboration, I want to invite you to tell us what great ideas you are implementing in your schools and library media programs! I would like to share some of these great ideas here on the blog in a future entry or at least have some good discussion in the comments section below. Let's get some interaction going! Feel free to comment below or email me at either stony_evans@lakesidesd.org or stony12270@gmail.com. If you have pictures, please send those too! I look forward to reading your ideas and sharing them with our library staff! We are always seeking new ways to reach our learning ...

While attending a technology training in 2013 at our local educational cooperative (Dawson Education Cooperative), I learned about an app that will allow you to animate photos. The app is called Morfo, and it is free! You can animate a photo of a person that you take with a device or a picture that you find online! It will allow you to record up to 30 seconds of audio in a movie format in addition to making the Morfo animated face show basic expressions (smile, frown, scowl, etc). You can even make your Morfo headbang to a rock beat! (Students love doing this.) http://www.morfoapp.com I would like to briefly share about how we have used this app over the last two years. I will also provide student example Morfo videos. Finally, I will share a link to our new YouTube video showing how to use the app! How We Got Started With Morfo While visiting with our Spanish teacher during a brief lunch break in March of 2013, I told her about this new app I had learned at a tech ...

One of the many things I enjoy doing as a School Library Media Specialist (SLMS) is teaching teachers and students about great educational tech tools. This summer I was asked to present two hours of technology to our history department at Lakeside High School. Whenever I am asked to present technology I usually always try to find out if there are any specific needs that the group wants me to address. Teachers have precious time, and I want to make sure to make the best of the time they invest with me! I also try not to show too many concepts or apps. (We have all been to sessions where the presenter will show 60 apps in 50 minutes- that's too much!  I've found that few people can remember useful information presented in this format.) It's usually best to focus on just a few concepts. If the few things I present make an impression, the teachers will usually seek additional help, or they will investigate on their own. For this session they specifically requested SMART ...