Library Media Tech Talk

This was the second year for the Library Media Tech Talk Blog. The blog was created in March 2014. We hope that our posts have been both interesting and helpful to all educators! As 2015 comes to a close, I want to share our most read articles of the year. Top 5 most read blog posts of 2015 1825 pageviews:  Our First Mysteryskype! 1535 pageviews:  Our First Makerspace Day In The Library 1154 pageviews:  How My Wife Became Super Librarian 926 pageviews:  Tweet Us Some #Inspiration 819 pageviews: Students "Teach The Teachers" Prezi At Lunch In The Library Thank you for reading this blog! Happy New Year, friends! 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 (LH...

I've noticed over the past few years if I am passionate and excited about something, this energy is usually contagious. One of the things I have enjoyed since high school is playing music on saxophone. I spent 12 years as a public school band director. It was a very rewarding job that I especially miss during the holiday season. I liked helping my band students prepare for a winter holiday concert each year. Luckily, I married a musician and can enjoy playing music anytime! My wife Cindy (who is also a school librarian) plays piano. We enjoy playing together in church and other local engagements. I have always wanted to record music since my college days. It is now  possible to create recordings using a simple laptop computer and microphone setup. These recordings can be combined with video to make exciting music videos (or for digital storytelling, etc). Use your skills to model technology projects for students & teachers This might be an option for some students to ...

I attended the Schools Without Walls (SWOW) annual conference just a few weeks ago. The conference was held in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I enjoy attending the conference each year to learn the latest about educational technology! The sessions always challenge my thinking. This year, I was excited to hear a presentation by keynote speaker Ginger Lewman (follow her on Twitter @GingerLewman). Ginger asked great questions: "Are we transforming curriculum with technology or are we substituting digital worksheets for paper worksheets?" This helped me reflect about my role as a library media specialist and technology consultant. I can help teachers enhance curriculum in their classroom with technology... In what ways am I doing this? (something we should all ponder as school librarians) "How do we ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn outside of our walls?" My three biggest takeaways from SWOW: Genius Hour Ginger explained that this comes from Goo...

Lakeside High School Library Media Specialist, Misti Bell, presents this article about a recent library collaboration program: On October 29th, our library hosted Africa Day for the third time (go here to see how this event started in 2012).  Once again the library staff, tenth grade English teachers, and Chartwells collaborated to make this year’s Africa Day the best yet!  The tenth grade students are reading Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and this event was developed to help the students have a better understanding of the Igbo people of Nigeria in the late 1800’s.  Stations This year we focused on giving students more time at each station.  Students participated in four learning stations:  food, art, music, and games.   Students spent twelve minutes at each station; this provided them an opportunity to go more in depth and have a more meaningful experience.   Taste of Africa was our food station; Chartwells (our food se...

On a Saturday in late September, one of our Lakeside High School Assistant Principals, Mr. Mathew Thornton, (@Mat_Thornton) mentioned me in a Tweet. The message was from Dina Moati (@dinamoati) who is a Professor of Education in Ontario, Canada. After seeing that Dina was looking for volunteers to speak to her class of aspiring educators, I Tweeted a message to her immediately! I love sharing about how Twitter has changed me professionally! I have also been looking for opportunities to connect our learning community to educators outside of the United States. Dina Moati leads the Virtual Experts Panel I knew this could be a first step to lead the way to more international collaboration! Dina messaged me back and the date was set.  Stephan Hughes This event took place for two of Dina's classes as a Google Hangout forum with two other educators: Stephan Hughes from Rio de Janeiro ( @ stephwurking ) and Tammy G. Neil from Florida ( @ TG_Neil ).  T...

We have been privileged to host a Dust Bowl collaboration with 8th grade English classes for the past 4 years. If you want to read about how this started, go here . The program is designed to help students understand Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. Our 8th grade science teachers asked if they could join in the collaboration by adding science experiments to the program last year. In addition, the Chartwells food service catering manager also wanted to include a food station last year so learners could get a taste of the Dust Bowl era. Luckily it went so well that these additions were kept for the 2015-2016 school year! As an added bonus we used a 1934 painting in our two day program to illustrate how art can be a primary source. We want to share about the setup and reception of this library collaboration. The program took place over two days. Day 1 consisted of four learning stations with a general focus on the era. Day 2 consisted of three learning stations with a focus on the ...

Mrs. Misti Bell, LHS Library Media Specialist, presents this installment of Library Media Tech Talk . She and 11th grade English teacher, Mrs. Jerrie Stanage, collaborated for a second year on this wonderful student led program: The Crucible Event:  The Mock Trial of Abigail Williams by Misti Bell Abigail Williams is NOT a witch!  On September 30 th , 2015 the junior English classes participated in our second annual mock trial of Abigail Williams.  After reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, students selected roles from the play, created costumes and scripts, and portrayed the characters.   The students were divided into defense, prosecution, witnesses, jury, bailiff, and judge; the judge being the most powerful player in the court.  Students, teachers, and principals were placed in the stock when the judge deemed them “out of order”!    The defense and prosecution prepared witnesses and plead their cases....