Library Media Tech Talk

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 ...

Back in April, Misti Bell (my partner SLMS) and I decided to encourage two students to lead our final book club for 2013-2014. They chose the novel, Divergent by Veronica Roth. They came to me with ideas and activities for each of the meetings. I gave input as needed and served as a facilitator. We had nearly 20 participants (including a teacher)! One of the meetings was even on webcam (via Google Hangouts) with another school in Northwest Arkansas (Lakeside Junior High in Springdale). There is a blog entry on that session here ! Due to the success of the student led sessions, I decided to try a summer book club on the novel Insurgent (continuing the Divergent series). I had a student offer to take the lead. Together we brainstormed ideas for the club and decided to have three meetings. We had five students participate during the month of July. The first two meetings were mostly discussions led by our student leader. We also experimented with Twitter as a way to have mini d...