All posts by Angie

Check it Out:, Tech

Chat with other ClassVR Users in our Google Groups

Woohoo!

Sharing ClassVR headset devices has been the best start to our school year! Find more resources and information about this program here.

It’s been really wonderful to hear back from our school members that have been using the devices. Keep up the great work!! And thank you for the pictures!! 🎉🎉📷

If you haven’t had the devices yet at your school, or are unsure about how others have been using them in their curriculum, we invite you to join our Google Groups. We have two groups available and hope that you will be able to connect with each other for general VR discussion and also to share/solve tech issues and solutions.

Email us at admin @ cmle.org (no spaces) and we will invite you to join the groups, otherwise you can request membership below:

General ClassVR Discussion:

Tech Help ClassVR:

If you have any questions specifically related to VR, please email vr @ cmle.org (no spaces) and we will do our best to help! These devices are new to us too, so we are also in the process of learning how they work.

This program is funded in part with a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education using federal funding, CFDA 45.310 – Library Services and Technology Act, Grants to States Program (LS-00-19-0024-19).

Advocacy

Dec 4th 2019: Join CMLE at a Postcard Party!

Our mission at CMLE is to support YOU, our library community! We bring you resources, events, VR headsets, scholarships and mini-grants, and we advocate for library support to important stakeholders like legislators, principals, and School Board Members.

  • One of the ways we do this is by hosting Library Advocacy Postcard Parties
  • We provide the postcards and postage
  • We give you text examples of what to include in your postcard message
  • It’s a great time to connect with other library supporters in the area and to share with CMLE staff the challenges and successes happening at your library!

Join us on Wednesday, Dec. 4th from 3-5pm to write your own messages of library support! We will be working at the Local Blend coffee shop in St. Joe.

These are casual events, feel free to arrive and depart as your schedule allows. Email me with any questions: ajordan @ cmle.org (no spaces).

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended Apps: Equity Maps

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their picks for Best Apps for Teaching & Learning 2019. “Apps recognized foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration and are user friendly to encourage a community of learners to explore and discover. “

The app Equity Maps allows educators to “chart & record the interaction of students or colleagues to measure and graphically illustrate levels and types of participation. Participants are clearly labeled, and participation can be easily tracked by tapping on the student’s icon. There are also icons for chaos, pair/share, small group breakouts, silence, media, or teacher talk. Analytics are viewable immediately and can be broken down individually for the purpose of conferencing with students and providing feedback.”

Platform: iOS
Cost: $1.99
Grades: All

The Tech Coach site includes Equity Maps in this article about new apps with exciting possibilities for classroom use. This article on Edu-Tech tools shares one tech instructor’s experience working with teachers who have used Equity Maps to help grade their classroom discussions. Finally, this article from the Deerfield Scroll shares one school’s use of the Equity Maps app and opinions about it from both teachers and students.

This video (1 min) shows how the app works:

Check it Out:

Podcasting Books and Libraries: We Are YA

You probably know that we run a couple of podcasts here:

So, yeah – we are big fans of podcasts! They can be such a good way to share ideas with your community.

Each week we share a podcast about books and/or libraries, so you can join us in expanding podcast community and admiring the work others are doing to share cool info!

I read a lot of YA and there are some really fantastic YA book podcasts out there. A new one I’m really enjoying is We Are YA from Penguin Teen. So far they’ve had a great variety of YA authors, including Laurie Halse Anderson, Renée Ahdieh, and Gabby Rivera. The conversations are illuminating and funny and at the end of each episode, the author shares a book recommendation as well as someone they enjoy following on social media. I definitely recommend this one! 😊

From Penguin Teen: “YA books are longer than 280 characters. Conversations about YA should be too. Welcome to the We Are YA podcast! Host Anna Borges will be talking all things YA with the amazing authors that make up the modern YA community. “

Check it Out:

Episode 411: Children’s Biographies

Hello! Thank you for joining us on Reading With Libraries! We’re so glad you could be here to enjoy our book group podcast.

Check out our full show notes page here, with links to the books we shared, more info about this genre, and of course – links to the beverages we were enjoying!

This week we’re discussing biographies for kids! We’re excited to welcome back Guest Host librarian Kate!

Join us for this fun topic, and explore all kinds of interesting kid biographies.

Become a full book group member on Patreon! Click here to be part of the “inner circle” of this book group, and get access to behind-the-scenes info and photos. Support levels start at $1/month – and you get a postcard from Official Office Dog Lady Grey! More swag is available at higher levels of support; check it all out today.

We love doing this, but podcasts aren’t free to create; so thank you so much to our book group members who have joined us. We love having you as part of the team. ❤