All posts by Angie

General, School Media Specialist

AASL Recommended App: Organization & Management: Three Ring

three_ringIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

Three Ring is an app that works by having the user capture student work via a mobile device and upload it to the Three Ring Website. The user can take pictures and record audio and visual material. The content can then be managed, tagged, shared, and organized online. This app is a good tool for making student portfolios. The content can be shared with parents through email. Check out their website for a great explanation of why this tool is important.

Check out reviews of the app in this post from EdSurge. This article from Instructional Tech Talk includes a video as well as examples for using the app in the classroom.

Cost: Free
Level: Elementary, Middle and High School
Platforms: iOS and Android

Books, Public, School Media Specialist

Somali folktales added to Ebooks MN!

Are you using Ebooks MN? If not, you should definitely check it out! You can access a wide variety of reading materials for many different age groups and subjects.

Some new additions to the Ebooks MN project are four Somali folktales, available in both English and Somali. “The books help to promote and preserve heritage languages and increase English literacy skills of refugee and immigrant families in Minnesota.” These stories will be especially useful in our Central Minnesota area!

Two of the stories in the collection include:

  • Wiil Waal: ” In this clever folktale, a father reluctantly follows his daughter’s advice and has astonishing results.”
  • The Travels of Igal Shidad: “Igal walks the drought-stricken Somali landscape, searching for a better home for his family and animals, asking for Allah’s guidance along the way. As he confronts obstacles, both real and imagined, he discovers his prayers can be answered without his even realizing.”

Check out Somali Kid’s Books for videos, books, and more bilingual resources!

 

 

Communication, General, Public

Behind the scenes at St. Paul Public Library

Library work is interesting!

We love to see stories about libraries in the news, especially when it highlights the important work librarians are doing! This article from the Pioneer Press is about the process at the St. Paul Public Library regarding ordering new materials for their library.

They interviewed librarian Katy Schulz and described her challenging work: “It’s her job to make sure the books are there, before people even know they want them.”

Continue reading Behind the scenes at St. Paul Public Library →

Academic, Books, General

A Good Time for the Truth Author Panel: St. Kate’s event

Last spring, the Minnesota Historical Society Press published A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota. The book is described as: “sixteen of Minnesota’s best writers provide a range of perspectives on what it is like to live as a person of color in Minnesota. They give readers a splendid gift: the gift of touching another human being’s inner reality, behind masks and veils and politeness. They bring us generously into experiences that we must understand if we are to come together in real relationships.”

Some of the authors featured in the book include Kao Kalia Yang (The Late Homecomer, The Song Poet), and Heid E. Erdrich (Original Local: Indigenous Foods, Stories and Recipes from the Upper Midwest), among several more.

St. Catherine University is hosting a free author event on Thursday, Feb. 23rd from 7-9pm. The authors will speak about their contributions to the book and answer questions, as well as be available to sign books. Find more information here or on the event’s Facebook page.

 

 

General, School Media Specialist

AASL Recommended Apps: Humanities & Arts: StoryCorps

storycorpsIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

StoryCorps is an app that allows users to record memories and stories of family members and friends, and archive them with thousands of others. It’s a good way for students to practice interviewing skills while getting to know older relatives, neighbors, or family friends. The app even comes with questions to ask, or users can come up with their own. Stories can be saved to the device, or uploaded to the StoryCorps website to be shared.

To get an idea of the powerful impact StoryCorps can have in the classroom, check out this article from the TED Blog. To get a more step-by-step approach to using the app for assignments, check out this blog post written by a teacher. Finally, the StoryCorps site includes several resources for educators or those interested in using the app.

Cost: Free
Level: All
Platforms: iOS and Android