In 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.
Web-based app Google Classroom combines the user’s Google Apps for Education account with all their Google Apps services (Gmail, Docs, Calendar, etc) and makes it easy for teachers to distribute assignments, communicate, and stay organized. Teachers can also see the status of assignments and post grades and feedback in real-time. A good form of communication in this app is the Announcements feature, which allows you to attach files, videos, and links to content to share with your class.
This article from eLearning Industry lists several pros and cons of using Google Classroom. And check out this post that gives 10 tips for using Google Classroom efficiently plus contains links to further resources about the using the app.
Cost: Free! Level: Elementary, Middle and High School Platforms: iOS and Android
School media specialists, tech integrationists, or anyone that works with teen writers – listen up! There is an exciting new publishing company started by a high school sophomore in Wayzata, MN called Sigma’s Bookshelf that is focusing on publishing books by writers ages 12 – 19. The company will work with the teen writer regarding editing, proofreading, and more!
Read on for the full explanation from the company:
In 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.
The app Spark Page is a web publishing tool that allows users to create digital magazines with motion. The app offers a variety of fonts and design templates, and allows users to use their own images from their camera or Dropbox, or choose from Creative Commons licensed images. Users can create newsletters, reports, projects, portfolios, invitations, and more. The app also includes active buttons, which make it a good choice for fundraisers or registration. Sharing is possible through social media, embedding, texting, or emailing. Take a look at their blog for more fun and practical ideas for ways to use the app.
The app has gotten lots of positive feedback online. This article from Free Tech for Teachers includes a video and several specific examples of ways teachers can incorporate the app in the classroom. Class Tech Tips features this article, which describes ways to use Adobe Spark to create “school stories” or share the events happening in classroom and across the school district.
Cost: Free! Level: Middle and High School Platforms: iOS
Earlier this week, I was able to attend an ALA webinar called “Liven up Baby and Toddler Storytimes with Sign Language” presented by Kathy Macmillan. I was excited to learn about this topic because I am hoping to learn to communicate through signing with my own little one at home, but also because I know many of our member libraries work with small kids and thought this could be a fun addition to their storytime routine!
Kathy began the presentation by laying out the multiple benefits of including ASL (American Sign Language) in your library programs. There were a ton! Some of which were: kids are able to sign before they can speak, signing stimulates language development, it reduces frustration, and learning one form of communication encourages more communication in general. Plus, signing is an instant way to get kids to participate!
Are you looking for a fun library activity to engage youngsters at your library or media center? Last week, CMLE’s own Office Bear Orville was able to participate in a fantastic event at the St. Cloud Public Library – the Stuffed Animal Sleepover!
There is Orville, surrounded by furry friends! (They are wearing superhero capes, just one of the event’s activities!)
Mary was able to represent CMLE at the event, and accompanied Orville as he got to meet the other stuffed friends and their chaperones, heard a story, then had some fun with crafting superhero capes and necklaces. Then it was time to say goodnight to the stuffed animals and leave them for the night, with instructions to “be good!” Library staff then got to work documenting all the mischief the stuffed animals created in the library!
Orville enjoyed playing with legos!
While we have several fun pictures to share with you here, we also have some exciting printed ones at CMLE HQ. Some of these include Orville riding Wally, the huge book sorting machine that is behind the scenes at the library, and also a picture of Orville and assorted friends working together to break into the Executive Director’s office! The printed photos of library shenanigans were distributed to each child when they arrived the next morning to pick up their stuffed friend. The kids got to enjoy a snack while they heard all about the adventures of the previous night, while admiring the picture display set up in the Children’s Department of all the stuffed animals and their troublemaking!
Orville had fun exploring!
He got to make new friends, too!
For the past four years, Dezra Rittmann has brought this awesome event to life, and works very hard to make sure kids and stuffed animals enjoy themselves! She describes it as a very popular program, and it’s easy to see why. In fact, it is so popular that registration is required!
CMLE had so much fun taking part in this event, and we think that it could be a great program for your library, too! Especially with school libraries or media centers – kids would love to see what mischief their stuffed animals get into after the school is closed! Let us know if you need more information, and we can connect you with the right people!
A huge thank-you to Dezra and everyone at the St. Cloud Public Library for letting us participate in your program!
Partnering with libraries for visioning, advocating, and educating
In 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.
