Thanks to the Sacramento County Department of Education, we now have school wide access to the California Learns Educational Portal. This will provide teachers and students FREE access to numerous databases– some geared for research, others geared towards improving teaching strategies. And some of the databases provide access to streaming videos. This is definitely one to peruse when you have some time.

http://portal.californialearns.org  username: your school email   password:portal

The student version of this portal contains access to research databases, primary source information, and access to free copyright images. You’ll also find online encyclopedias, a database specifically for students wanting to take the GED, as well as resources categorized into different subject areas.

http://teens.californialearns.org   username: sheldonhigh    password: school

This all looks pretty cool! I hope you find it useful!

I subscribe to lots of different educational and teacher librarian blogs and listservs. Here’s a few websites that I’ve taken note of that might be useful for your classroom.

1. Click HERE. This is a comprehensive list of teaching strategies that you could implement tomorrow. Looks pretty interesting!

2. Click HERE to visit the Khan Academy. This is an awesome website that hosts educational videos. Most are from YouTube but this website is much easier to navigate. I can’t believe how many math videos this one has. Very awesome!

3. Click HERE to get to Quest Garden, an online lesson generator that takes students to internet sites that you have pre-selected.

4. Click HERE to check out Dipity, a free digital timeline website. With this website, you’re able to put information on a timeline for a slightly different perspective that students might understand.

5. Click HERE to see how digital devices are being used in the classroom. This goes beyond cell phones, but also talks about the value of podcasts and video streaming.

OK, so our students are not using iPads in our classrooms but many of them have smart phones. And most of you have either a smart phone or an iPad (or both!). So check out these sites for the best apps in education. Some of them cost money, but not much at all. Browse around these apps, download them, then let your students know they are available!!

1. http://www.edgalaxy.com/journal/2010/12/16/10-essential-ipad-apps-for-high-school-students.html

2. http://education-portal.com/articles/Essential_Mac_Apps_for_Students.html

3. http://www.appsineducation.com/index.php?/category/high-school-2-2.html

4. http://palmbeachschooltalk.com/groups/ipadpilot/wiki/70925/High_School_iPad_Apps.html  This is a very comprehensive website on apps for a wide variety of classes.  You might want to start here first.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE………

If it’s been awhile since you’ve see the library website, click HERE to see what’s new. This is also the homepage to all the computers in the library so it’s viewed often. Let me know if you’d like me to add a project that you might be working on, directions for a particular unit, or websites you want your students to visit.

Welcome back everyone! As we start off the school year, one of my goals is to use this website on a much regular basis. Please subscribe to this website so you’ll automatically be notified when I make changes.

I know you have a ton of work to do but I would appreciate it if you could take the time to read over the library’s policies and procedures handout by clicking on the link below. Since the elimination of our library technician position, the library cannot operate the way it used to. This updated document will let you know how the library has changed and what I can offer you. Thank you for taking time to read it!

library policies and procedures

We all know that among the randomness of videos found on YouTube, there are some great videos that we’d like to share with our students. But YouTube is blocked at our school site! So where should you turn? Try these two different educational video sites. I have found everything from student created videos to videos created by teachers to embed in their school websites. You’ll also find documentaries, both historical and current. Give them a shot! You just might find the video you’re looking for!

And best of all, the basic versions of both sites are FREE!

Click HERE for SchoolTube and HERE for TeacherTube.

Another fun video site where you can find great historical documentaries is at http://freedocumentaries.org. I’ve been very impressed with the videos found on this site and many of them contain not just clips but the entire video. And as the name states, it’s FREE!

As you can see from the glog below, Glogster can be used as a great way to enhance a particular project, assess student achievement, check for critical thinking, all while providing students a way to creatively and technologically engage with your curriculum. And it’s FREE! Click HERE to learn more about Glogster for Education. I’ll be happy to brainstorm ideas with you on how you would like to incorporate it into your curriculum as well as provide you with library computer lab time where I will teach the students how to use it. I plan on showcasing a different Web 2.0 tool bi-monthly that you can immediately use. Stay tuned for more!

Welcome to 2011! With the new year, come new changes to the library hours. On Mondays and Wednesdays the library will now be open from 3:15-4:30. Students will be able to use computers, check out books, and/or study quietly. So pass this information along to the students who you think could benefit from longer library hours. So here is a breakdown of the library hours:

Mondays and Wednesdays  7:15-4:30       Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays  7:15- 3:15

The library computer lab is still open for students during lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Book checkouts on these days should be after school or before school only. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the lab is closed but I have 5 computers available for student use.

And finally……… more professional development coming soon……….. check back later for details!

There are some excellent ways to incorporate technology into your curriculum using web 2.0 sites. These sites are collaborative, engaging, and innovative. Instead of simply reading what a particular website says, the user engages with it, manipulates it, and shares it with other users. Here’s a few samples of web 2.0 sites.

1. Animoto– This is a free and easy way to create a short, customized video. Students can grab images off the internet or upload their own. They can also add text and music! 30 second video clips are free. Any beyond that must be paid for. Check out my 30 second video here:

2. Glogster– Getting tired of the posterboard projects? Then you must try Glogster. This is an interactive, online poster. Click HERE to see one a student created on the 1920s. Click HERE to see one on the American Revolution. Students can make glogs on any subject! There is an educational version of Glogster that the district is subscribing to as well.

3. Edistorm– This is an online and interactive brainstorming website where students create and arrange virtual sticky notes. Great start for group projects!

4. Wikispaces– Try this new way to do group work. Students create their own wiki where everyone can add, edit, and delete content. Check out our EGUSD librarian wiki by clicking HERE.

None of these sites will be blocked by the district’s filtering.  And as with any of these projects, I would be more than happy to collaborate with you on designing one that would fit your needs. And you’ll have the computer lab available, too!

We were fortunate to acquire a new database from ProQuest this year called eLibrary. It’s similar to the one we’ve had in the past, but this one has at least twice the amount of articles and more interactive features. Here’s a list of features eLibrary provides:

1. Access to ProQuest Learing Literature– customized database for learning about authors, classics, modern literature, and literary criticism.

2. History Study Center– database that searches articles from journals and magazines for both US and World History.

3. Customized Book Cart– this allows the teacher and the librarian to work together to build a list of suggested articles for students to read on any given unit or project. The list can then be emailed, exported, or uploaded. I’ll show you how to do this is if you’re interested.

4. The ability to take notes directly on the article– great active reading component. eLibrary then saves all the notes students used.

5. The ability to email articles or share them on a social networking site.

6. Provide student accounts that hold all articles students have used for research.

If you’d like to preview eLibrary go to http://proquestk12.com     username: sheldonhs    password: huskies        

Then click MY PRODUCTS PAGE and you’ll see the databases to choose from.

Welcome back teachers! I hope you had a restful summer and are ready to come back. Let’s hope this year brings a little less budget drama. As you know, the library will remain open for upcoming school year. However, due to budget cuts, we have lost our library technician. This means that library services will be changing. Here’s a breakdown of what those changes are:

The library will be open from 7:30-3:15 daily.

• Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays the library will be open for studying and book checkouts. THE COMPUTER LAB WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE!
• Tuesdays and Thursdays the computer lab will be available for typing, research, and printing. THERE WILL NOT BE BOOK CHECKOUTS OR TABLES FOR STUDYING AVAILABLE.
• Wednesday mornings will proceed with quiet study time from 7:30 until 9:00. The computer lab will then open at 9:00am until the first bell rings.
• Please only send students to the library on passes DURING THE LAST 15 MINUTES OF EACH PERIOD. I will most likely be with a class up until that point.

Remember, if you have any questions or comments, please email me or call me at x8092.