Free Webinar Monday, November 1: Eyes to See–Using Digital Images In The Classroom

November 1st – 8pm EST
Guest: Diane Cordell
Host: Gwyneth Jones

Learn Central Page
Participation Link to the Webinar Room

According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, approximately 65% of the population are visual learners; the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text; visual aids in the classroom can improve learning by up to 400%.

With the advent of inexpensive, simple to operate digital cameras, teachers and librarians have the opportunity to involve students in activities that are engaging and enriching. “Eyes to See” will explore various ways to enhance curriculum through the use of digital images.

Although retired from her position as a K-12 teacher/librarian, Diane Cordell (dmcordell) remains involved with library organizations. She was a member of Joyce Valenza’s Geek Squad at AASL 2009 in Charlotte and helped setup a similar Learning Uncommons area at the New York SLMS 2010. In addition to serving as an editor, trainer, and facilitator forCyberSmart! Education Company, Diane is a an enthusiastic photographer, Tweeter, and blogger.

Resources and Links
SlideShare

 

New Features in Britannica

There are a couple of new features in Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition that provide great learning activities for students.

Create Timelines
Britannica Elementary
Compton’s by Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica High School

In addition to the Timelines feature that has been in Britannica for some time now, Britannica now allows students to create their own timelines in all levels of Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition. Students will need to create a workspace in order to save their timeline and come back and edit it. The feature allows students to add photos from Britannica, link to related content, and add information about an event and a citation in the description area.

Geography Explorer
Britannica Elementary

Need an activity to help students remember continents, oceans, major rivers and mountain ranges, and other features around the world? The new Geography Explorer interactive feature in Britannica Elementary that offers younger students a map of the world which they get to color in as they choose the correct geographic feature. Let them check it out and then see if they can beat their first time the second time around!

As always, if you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.

Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Some links may not work off site. Click the database name first for access.

Express Links for Databases Mentioned in this Post:
Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebs
Britannica Elementary: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebk
Compton’s by Britannica: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebm
Encyclopædia Britannica High School: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zehs
Find All Your Express Links (what’s this?)

Images from Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition

Connecting Our Stories

Today I received an interesting email when I arrived at school.  Chaela Herridge-Meyer, Senior Coordinator of Communications with the StoryCorps project, sent me a message requesting an interview about our Barrow Oral History Project.  Many of you know that last year our 5th grade students interviewed 27 former Barrow buddies from as far back as 1925.  During the project, students used online oral history examples such as StoryCorps and also used the StoryCorps National Day of Listening question generator to get ideas for the most effective interview questions.   After the project was complete, I posted the link to our oral history page on the National Day of Listening wall in the hopes that other people who were passionate about gathering community stories would find their way to our project.

Chaela and I had a wonderful conversation about the power of oral history projects bringing history alive for students.  We also talked about how our hope was that the students who participated in this project will go on to capture and preserve family stories to pass on to future generations.  Also, by sharing this project at professional conferences like COMO, GaETC, and the Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature we hope that other classrooms, schools, and libraries will sponsor similar projects.

November is national family stories month.  I invite everyone reading this blog to stop for just a moment, sit down with a family member, and interview him or her to gather some family stories you’ve never heard.  I invite you record your interviews to pass along through YouTube, video, photography, writing, scrapbooking, or any other means you discover.

The day after Thanksgiving is the official National Day of Listening.  Their website has resources for creating effective questions and recording quality audio.  I hope you will consider participating in this important day, but even if you can’t sit down for a family interview on November 26th, sit down sometime and listen.

“By listening closely to one another, we can help illuminate the true character of this nation reminding us all just how precious each day can be and how great it is to be alive.” -Dave Isay, Founder & President, StoryCorps

Here is a link to the presentation I did at COMO.  I will hopefully offer this presentation again at the Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature.

Andy Plemmons

School Librarian

David C. Barrow Elementary

Athens, GA

http://barrowmediacenter.wordpress.com

http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/webpages/aplemmons

Library Haven – Personal Thoughts

With so much coverage of bullying/cyberbullying in the news media over the past couple of years, I’ve been looking at articles on the topic out of personal interest. I’ve discovered a myriad of articles on the topic, with some focusing on how the media specialist can help with such devastating behaviors on the part of some students.

A couple of excellent resources are The Role of the School Library Media Center Program in the Education and Prevention of Cyberbullying, by Shanahan and Farmer, and Mean Girls (and Boys): Cyberbullying and What Can Be Done about It, by Fredrick. These resources present a well developed discussion on how the library media specialist can provide resources and inservice training that explain bullying and ways to help build self-esteem in students. In her article, Fredrick states, “They [media specialists] can work with teachers to instruct students about cyberbullying and how to combat it. Since students are reluctant to tell when they are bullied online, it is important to let them know there are ways to combat the problem. Working with students on this topic is a natural extension of instruction related to Web evaluation and using online resources. Students can develop strategies to share with other students, produce anti- cyberbullying materials, and talk with others about how to combat cyberbullying.”

A second suggestion, on a personal note, is that the media center can become a place where students come to find sanctuary and support. I am amazed at how students develop a pecking order so early in life. I’ve seen so many kids who seem to follow a fatal pattern of first feeling ostracized, then alienated, then sometimes bullied because, for whatever reason, they were at the bottom of that pecking order. I can recall some students who fell in that category frequenting my media center. Maybe every day at lunch they needed a place to escape, or at break they needed a place to hide, or after school a place to feel safe. My main goal of providing information to users at the point of need was most important to me, but as I look back on my 30 year career in P-12 schools, nothing even comes close to the importance of the relationships I developed with the kids I called “mine” who just needed to be accepted and validated.

Amidst the constant hustle and bustle of my media center, there was always an inviting atmosphere. Even though sometimes there was a bit of a “roar” going on, students continued to seek the safety and acceptance they found within those neutral library walls. Over the past 23 years, I have taught university students how to catalog, design instruction, manage technology, automate a media center, select materials, evaluate reference tools, administer a media program, and the list goes on. But, the big question is: am I teaching my students that the library media center is so much more than a place to locate and access information. Do my students really understand that the refuge of a friendly environment with safe lodging can mean all the difference to a child? Do they comprehend that the media center may be the one place in the school where there is true equality, and fear is not allowed? I hope so, for the sake of the kids.

Phyllis R. Snipes,
University of West Georgia

Holidays and Celebrations in GALILEO

Looking for resources to support Georgia Performance Standards related to holidays, celebrations, and festivals? GALILEO has several resources with articles and book chapters to help students learn about these.

For information on holidays and festivals from all over the planet, Book Collection: Nonfiction offers book chapters for all grade levels, and History Reference Center includes articles for grades 5-12. From feasts and fiestas in Mexico to the Chinese New Year and from the history of Thanksgiving to May Day, students can find book chapters about the customs of a wide range of cultures.

Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition includes great background information on festivals and holidays around the world with articles about the origin of holidays current holidays celebrated in the United States and other countries.

Kids Search (elementary) and Student Research Center (middle and high) provide articles from newspapers, magazines, and encyclopedias as well as primary source documents and multimedia related to many aspects of celebrations. Search for a particular holiday or search for holidays in Kids Search or holidays in Student Research Center to see the breadth of what’s included.

Finally, for a peek at how Georgians have celebrated holidays and other special days over the years, check out the Digital Library of Georgia.

Do you have a favorite resource you use to teach holidays and celebrations? Post a comment and let others know about it.

As always, if you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.

Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Article and search links may not work off site. Click the database name first for access.

Express Links for Databases Mentioned in this Post:
Book Collection: Nonfiction: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbnf
History Reference Center: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbhr
Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebs
Kids Search: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbks
Student Research Center: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbst
Digital Library of Georgia: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=dlg1

Find All Your Express Links (what’s this?)

Image from Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition