Tech Support Please!, Regina Berg, Librarian, Brooks High School

This has been an intense year of: try something new, trial and error, and ask questions! I’m learning to let go, go with the flow and most of all rely on the expertise of others (including the fabulous librarians of CPS).

There were some initial problems with our Apple ID and account.  Nathan Campbell, who is a godsend, helped straighten things out and then made arrangements with OTS for Apple downloads during the school day. He stayed with us until the problems were solved. Amazing man.

The Tech Coordinator here at Brooks, Gian-Luca Ferme, has been an incredible support for me. Together we worked through the ID issues, set up our new syncing station and learned the intricacies of the VPP. Whenever I need him to troubleshoot, he is only a text away. Our iPads are now connected to a new printer and the Chromebooks are not far behind.

Then there are my teachers. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive, innovative group. So here’s to you: Ms. David, Mr. Hazzard, Ms. Lufrano, and Ms. Gillick (English), and Ms. Kennedy (Science). You have served willingly, shared graciously, and often with laughter. We have laid the groundwork for our work together next year. Thank you, all!!

Wanted: The Perfect Tool for a Quick and Simple Presentation, Nicole Guevara, Librarian, Washington High School

Washington High School has a specific focus on close text reading and argumentative writing. To support this initiative, our juniors take a College Prep class. In College Prep, students practice researching, close reading, annotating, forming arguments, and presenting. College Prep classes read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi for the last unit of the year.  As an introduction to the graphic novel, every student completed a webquest about the history and culture of Iran. I worked with two classes. They spent two days on information seeking and two days creating a short 1-2 slide presentation.

When creating presentations, I have found that students spend too much time on formatting instead of content creation. Because of this, I went on the hunt for the perfect presentation tool. I typically instruct students on Google Presentation because every CPS student has a Google@CPS account and it is great for group work. However, the formatting issue comes up every single time. Many students cut and paste and spend too much time on figuring out how to fix the various formats. If that isn’t the case, then it’s trying to find images before the content is even posted.

After asking around and searching online for assistance, I finally chose to use Haiku Deck with the iPads. I like Haiku Deck because formatting is quick, easy, and can be decided by picking from a few themes right when a presentation is started. You can’t change the font or font size. The letters simply get smaller to fit. I also like that it has an image bank built in where students can search using one or two keywords. The app has a quick learning curve. Students actually surprised me by how quickly they began to navigate the app with ease. They felt very comfortable clicking around to get a feel and even began to help each other with questions (always a goal)! Generally, formatting options are limited yet sufficient for a professional looking final product.  

I created a Haiku Deck account for this project, meaning all students used the same username and password to log-in and create their project. This was done so that the teacher and I would be able to view all presentations and also so that students wouldn’t have to create individual accounts. I had the app open on the projection screen so students could follow along with me for the beginning steps. 

In retrospect, there were several things I would have done differently. Since everyone was using the same username and password, it would have been more useful to project that information instead of the app. One class had an exceptionally difficult time getting logged on because of this issue. Also, when students logged in, they saw all of the presentations that had been created under that account. They weren’t properly prepped for this and became a problem when a student accidentally deleted another student’s project. If time allowed, it may have been beneficial for each student to spend the time create a personal account. This could be useful if a teacher plans on using it multiple times a year or if a students would like to use it in multiple classes. I know I will definitely be using it again with my students when they need to create a quick and simple presentation.

“Just Bring Them Back”” by KC Boyd, Librarian, Phillips High School

During this time of the year I have to scramble to to get my books back from my students.  Last year I stopped charging late fees to encourage my students to bring their books back and not keep them out of fear.   So far, the book return has been going very well this year.

This year I decided to kick up my end of the year book return with something fun.  My students love to create skits and act in front of the camera.  I challenged them to create a PSA about returning library books.  I gave them some basic information and encouraged them to be creative and to influence their peers to return the books in their own voice.   What I appreciate greatly is that my students really understand how challenging it is to get all of my books back at the end of the school year.

As a result of this new approach, I noticed that students began bringing the books back frequently.   ,  students used iPads and a MacBook Pro to shoot and edit the video.  They also included a funny voice over along with two things that I love:  Bob Marley music and cats.  Intrigued?  This video is short, sweet and to the point.  It truly emphasized that my students enjoy reading but are sometimes a little late in returning books.  

The outtakes in the video are hilarious. Emanuel, Briana, Jordan and Cameron did an excellent job with the production of this video.   The students were also really critical about shooting the video and making it just right.  I'm proud of them and they did a great job!  Take a look at this funny presentation.

End-of-Year iPad Projects, Amy Stipp, Librarian, Corkery Elementary School

The iPads were certainly great to have for EOY projects!  My favorite project we did was students writing thank you letters and/or poems to their teachers for all their hard work this year.  The students were familiar with using “Notegraphy,” “Haiku Deck,” “Phonto,” and “Word Mover” because they had used those apps for projects throughout the year. It was fun to do a culminating project of gratitude with those apps.  The students were given the option to use any of those familiar apps for their project.  They e-mailed their projects straight to their teacher.  What a delight for their teachers to open up e-mails of carefully designed and worded products from their students about what great teachers they were and how they had impacted their students!

One logistical change I have made with the iPads is instead of having students fill out their cards and place them together in a pocket beside the iPad charging station, they put the sign out card in the slot where the iPad belongs until they return it.  This method is much easier for me to see who has yet to sign out their iPad.  And it makes it easier for students when putting their card back in their iPad pocket.  They merely lift their card from their slot and place it back in their iPad pocket rather than shuffling through the stack of cards to find theirs.  

Colleen Herman was a golden nugget in my purse this month.  She helped me in so many ways.  She helped me get connected with configurator and helped me access my VPP.  She also suggested I use reflector, which allows me to project the image that is on the iPad for all students to see.  

In addition, Colleen connected me to Katherine Hlousek.  Katherine is a fellow librarian who teaches at Zapata, a neighboring school a stone'

s throw away from Corkery.  Katherine reached out to me and so generously came by after school one day this week and walked me through some lessons she has taught and showed me what has been helpful and not helpful to her library program.  She is on her game and her ideas are sharp and her enthusiasm contagious!  I look forward use what she showed me and learn more and grow in my iPad teaching skills.

Bringing Characters to Life Using Chromville and Write About This, by Katherine Hlousek, Emiliano Zapata Academy Librarian

During the fourth quarter, second grade library lessons focused on bringing our characters and stories to life and action with iPads.  Over the course of six classes students worked in teams to design characters using the app Chromville and then write and record an original story using the app Write About This.  This library unit supports and extends the second grade classroom character traits unit and further develops students’ writing, fluency, technology, and creation skills.     

Second graders had an absolute blast using Chromville!  Chromville is a new free augmented reality app that brings characters to 3D life.  Visit the Chromville website to download and print the character pages.  There are six different character options available for download and more character pages will be added in the future.  To allow for greater creativity, there is an option for students to design an original character with the Customizable character page.  Tip - In order for the character page to work with the app, students need to color in the lines and avoid coloring the Chromville village icon in the corner.

Chromville is easy to use.  First open the Chromville app and click play.  Then locate the village icon on the character page and click the corresponding village icon on the iPad.  Next, hold the iPad over the paper to scan the character page; this is similar to scanning a QR code.  Scanning the character page might take a few tries since students need to hold the iPad still for three seconds.  Try putting the character page on the floor or a chair for easier scanning.  When the iPad is lined up with the character page, the iPad screen will turn green and will count down (3, 2, 1).  Then the character will become 3D and will move around, wave, and dance, among other actions.  Students can take a picture of the 3D character using the camera option within the Chromville app.  There is a camera icon and the photo saves to the iPad camera roll.  Using Reflector and AirPlay, second grade students shared their 3D Chromville character photo with the class.

The Chromville characters provided the perfect starting point for students to work collaboratively in teams to create an original story.  Students used an Elements of a Story Storyboard Planning Worksheet to map out their creative story.  During the next class students used the Write About This app to write and record their original story featuring their Chromville characters.  Students took turns in their teams writing and recording the team story.  Lastly, students added a picture of a Chromville character to the story.

At the conclusion of the unit, we had a story celebration!  Students shared their team stories created using the Write About This app.  Second grade students had tons of fun with Chromville and Write About This and are very eager to use Chromville again in third grade!

Video of Chromville App in Action

Stop Motion with Knuffle Bunny and Character Ed, Viviane Kraus, Librarian, Franklin Fine Arts Elementary School

The students  enjoyed creating character education Stop Motion videos.  Students loved being in control and “running the show.”  For example,  using cameras, ipads, creating, etc.   I would like to take a minute to discuss how the book blends real photos with drawings.  This book takes objects in children’s real word that they observe (school, streets, laundromat)  with things that they imagine (Knuffle Bunny).  This book’s combination of observation and imagination is something that students are naturally drawn to.

The unit worked well because it allowed kids to use technology, storytelling, drawing, writing and organization.   An additional surprise was that students were given an opportunity to practice character development by working in groups to get a task completed.

What I and the art teacher would have done differently…

We would take it to another level and add sound on the final product.

We would have student use Google Drive to organize their material.

Sabin iMovie and Prezi iPad Projects!!, Meghan Gabler, Librarian, Sabin Magnet Elementary School

I am beyond thrilled with my 5th and 6th graders and how well their iMovie and Prezi projects turned out. Each student, solo or with a partner, chose a college or university of their choosing and built a presentation around it. Our whole school has been college focused this year and this was a great way to end the year and make the focus more  attainable for them.This is what I wrote my final lesson plan about and it is also what I made my second video about. Please check those out to learn more about the details of the project! However, the students began this project at the start of the 4th quarter and just finished it this week. I have to give them so much credit for the weeks of classes missed due to testing:(. They still kept their pace and their final projects were great! I will be uploading more of the individual projects to my website this summer because they are great examples for my future students. It was great to see my 5th graders get excited about a college, speak of it as it was the place they were choosing to go, and something that they can focus on the next few years. A few students loved the project so much they have asked if I could adapt it to high school research because that is nearer in the future for them. I will definitely be doing that!!

The Prezi app on the iPad ended up being a life saver for those students that chose to make Prezis. As they worked on the desktops originally, Prezi would freeze, or the internet would lose it’s connection frequently, forcing the students to have to pause continuously. Once they moved over to the iPad’s they were easily able to add pictures, type and do what they intended without losing connection. Having the Apple TV also made it possible for the students to present from their iPad to the Smart Board without having to stand next to the board. I am glad that I spent the time in the third quarter having every 5th and 6th student that I see create a Prezi account so they can continue to use it. It took a few steps and definitely some patience, but once they were logged into their own accounts they had fun teaching themselves the different tips and tricks.

General iPad status. It has been a struggle keeping the iPad’s both secure and charged, but I would say I have managed quite well. Through an observation with my A.P. she noticed how well the lessons were going with the iPad’s so she let me “borrow” two more, so that my larger classes of 24 and 25 students (I know this is small in comparison to other CPS schools, my apologies) could have enough iPad’s to work in pairs. She also then purchased 30 stylus’s for the students to use. They have worked out really well when it comes to drawing and typing and even just general searching. The students take good care of the stylus’s and even use the microfiber cloths to wipe off any smudges before and after using the iPad’s. However, with much perseverance and persistence, I am finally getting a cart that will hold all of the iPad’s and the Chromebooks! It should arrive soon and I am already making space for it in the library. My administration has been more and more helpful the more I share the great student work with them.

Looking forward to next year. When I met with Colleen she suggested that I clear off the iPad’s at the end of the year. So I will be moving student projects and other artifacts to my MBP to use in the future. It's great to use these student work samples as examples for future students and projects. It will also be helpful to start with clear iPad’s so that when I assign them an iPad to work with next year they will have a clean slate, with no other student artifacts remaining. It will also be helpful to configure the apps that I need for the start of the year versus what I have been using at the end of the year. EIther way, I am excited to start a new school year with the iPad’s having already learned so much but also ready to learn more this summer!

Connecting the Library and Technology: Ideas from the Technology Coordinator, Jeanette Simenson, Technology Coordinator, Goethe Elementary School

As we close out the year and get ready for our planning for next year, I think to myself we have two months to plan, learn, and grow with each other through the vast world of the Internet. My library teacher and I would like to spend endless hours meeting and planning but unfortunately with toddlers and teenagers we are booked solid. But not from the hours of 1-3pm and after 8 at night. Why can’t we share a folder, an email, or a great link? We can create curriculum through virtual means. We can share ideas and ask questions and start our own professional learning community. Why not invite other teachers to join in? So before you leave and say farewell till next year, think about creating a way to build your virtual community for those that want to connect over the summer. I think Marcia and I will start small with a few teachers, a couple of emails, and a task list that we would like to complete. When we find out new information or gain insight we will share it over our Google docs. Many of your technology coordinators want to be a part of planning and have great ideas for apps and curriculum connections.

Marcia and our staff are excited to have the Chromebooks next year along with all the great iPad apps we have used. The students will have a rich, engaging experience, one that we can share digitally with parents and our greater community through our website. If you have a computer lab teacher you can build lessons together and have students continue their research or collaboration in both the Library and Computer Lab. We are the hubs of our school and we can show others how to connect technology to the content in ways that teachers don’t know are possible yet. Make sure to consider this when using technology: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and some great resources through Common Sense Media.

If you have any technology questions or just need an idea please feel free to reach out to me as well. Have a great summer and hope to connect with you all online.

Jeanette Simenson

jrsimenson@cps.edu

Using Thinglink in the Library Classroom, Marcia Mariscal, Goethe Elementary

Thanks to the iPads, I was able to have the students explore Kids InfoBits.  They worked with partners opening the different tabs, clicking on the sound button, and adding information to their backpacks.  The third graders were able to email articles of information to their cps gmail account.  This was the first time the students were able to explore the sight in class.  On the second day of class the students picked a specific animal to research.  The students worked with each other answering a series of questions to gather more information about their animal.  Because I encouraged them to read two to three articles depending on the age of the group, the gathering of facts took two 50 minute class periods.

As a teacher, I knew I wanted the students to do research on a topic using the CPS database, but now I had to think about how they would share their learned information.  The traditional safe route for me would have been to create a project, a poster that students could pour all their learned information on.  But because of the iPads, I decided to think outside the box and plan for the students to use technology to share their new learned knowledge.  But What?  I decided to go the expert for advice.  My tech teacher Mrs. Simenson, who suggested to use Thinglink.  Thinglink?  I had not heard of it and was definitely not familiar with the app.  Thinglink is an app that allows you to add an image from your camera roll and add informational tags, as well as, add video. What’s great is that you can create an educator account which allows you to set up student accounts.  They generate your email domain and provide you with a password for each student.

Well I decided that my 1st through 3rd graders would be using the Thinglink app to display the information obtained from their research.  A word of advice, when you create your class list, change each of their password to a more manageable one.  The domain and the password they provide is too complicated for kids.  I made sure I changed all their passwords to one they could remember.  To make it even easier, I chose the same password for all my students.   Another tip I would give myself before I do this again, and therefore letting you know, some students did not know or forgot how to type an underscore.  Because the username they generate contained their first name, underscore, last name; it took a while to login to the website.  I also found that first graders needed help adding the @ sign. Once these small hiccups got resolved, it was smooth sailing from that point on.  The students picked up on the app very quickly.  I thought the first graders would have a hard time understanding, but boy was I surprised.  They were done adding their facts to their tags in no time.  I was so excited to see them clicking on a tag and rereading their information.

Besides displaying their information in a new way, what I found positive about this app was the sharing of information that goes on.  Students are able to see other classmates work and comment on it.  They are able to see my stream with other grades and comment on them as well.  Now it is not just their class, but 1st through 3rd are sharing information with each other.

It truly is a community of learners.  I know that I want to continue next year working with Thinglink and teach my students how to embed videos into their interactive image.  I am very excited for what next year will bring thanks to the introduction of technology into our library.