Category Archives: Guest Blogger

Guest Blogger, School Media Specialist, Services

CMLE Mini Grant: Dash and Dot Robots

This is a guest post from Amy Serbus, Media Assistant at the Kimball Elementary School Library. Need a Mini Grant to purchase materials or try an interesting new program at your library? Apply today! 

Students at KES have had a lot of fun playing with and learning coding from our new robots, Dash and Dot! Through various apps on an iPad, they are learning to program the robots to communicate with each other and perform tasks such as bringing messages to their teacher, play the xylophone, tell jokes on command and so much more. When using the apps, students can program, or code, the robots by connecting blocks with specific commands. For example, if you want Dash to tell a joke, you start with a block that tells him to “wait”, then listen for voice command of knock, knock, then say “who’s there”, etc. It teaches students the basics of coding and how specific and important each step is.

Conference, Guest Blogger

CMLE Scholarship: ISTE Conference

This photo is from a poster session featuring CMLE member Jessica Moore.

This is a guest post written by Mary Waite, Media Specialist at ROCORI Middle/High School. Do you need a scholarship to attend a conference? Check out our Scholarships page!

Attending an ISTE international conference can be overwhelming.  There is so much to see, learn, and explore.  With more than 18,000 people in attendance and navigating a large convention center, it can be a challenge. However, getting the most out of the experience with the least amount of anxiety and stress is doable if you follow a few recommendations.

The first tip is to realize you will not be able to attend every session or see every vendor. There are just too many to realistically schedule into your days. Getting over FOMO will make the conference more enjoyable. Go ahead and mark your dream sessions using the app. But know that you will need to make changes, and if a session is not for you, don’t stay in it. Presenters are not going to shine a spotlight on people who need to leave. Walk down the hall, and you will find the right fit for you.

Another tip is to take advantage of the simulcast sessions and the poster sessions. You can get a lot of great information walking through the many poster sessions. If giant crowds for keynote addresses are not your thing, go to a simulcast area where you can still get the advantage of the outstanding speakers.

My third tip is to bring a conference buddy. If you don’t know someone attending, look at the discussion boards to find out who from your area is attending. Conquering the sizeable conference is easier if you can share and trade information with someone else.

Don’t forget to leave some time to relax and recuperate. Explore the city with fellow attendees, wander through the exposition hall, or just find a quiet corner to meditate.

Finally, I would say “just do it.” The 2019 conference is in Philadelphia. Start planning now, and you will not regret the journey.

CMLE, Guest Blogger, Materials, Services

CMLE Mini Grant Report: Computer Science Tools for Elementary Classrooms

This is a guest post from Technology Integrationist Angie Kalthoff from District 742. Need a Mini Grant to purchase materials or try an interesting new program at your library? Apply today! 

The mini grant I applied for was to purchase a variety of tools to help bring Computer Science (CS) into elementary classrooms.
I am excited to report that they were a success! I was able to purchase many board games and use them in classrooms before the end of the school year and at our local CoderDojoGRRL.

Here are a few items I would like to highlight!

Robot Turtles Extension Pack

I already had purchased the Robot Turtles game. Now, I was able to purchase the extension pack. Using the extension pack I am able to introduce more complex challenges as students progress through the game. In the image below, students are learning to play Robot Turtles.

Dash and Dot Learn to Code Challenge Card Set

We have sets of Dash and Dot in each of our elementary schools. Last year, I was able to work with amazing second grade teachers who created their own challenge cards which aligned to our second grade math standards. These challenge cards align with Code.org’s Computer Science Fundamentals A-F curriculum which we encourage our students to use in school and at home. The challenge cards are a great way to give kids freedom in their creation of code for Dash, while aligning them with skills they have learned about in Code.org! In this picture, we are exploring the cards at CoderDojoGRRL!

Coding Farmers

Coding Farmers is a game for kids seven and older. I used it in a first grade classroom. The goal of Coding Farmers is to “teach real programming concepts in a fun and intuitive way.” Students use cards and dice to move around the game board. A better description from their website is “action cards, which describe an action, like “move forward by two spaces” in two ways: regular English, and Java code. By playing the game several times, kids learn to connect their actions with written code. They become programming literate all while having a blast – rolling a dice, maneuvering around obstacles and chatting with their friends and family.”

CMLE, Guest Blogger, Materials

Report from CMLE Mini Grant: KEVA Blocks

This is a guest post from Technology Integrationist Jill Schmitt at Holdingford Elementary School. Need a Mini Grant to purchase materials or try an interesting new program at your library? Apply today! 

We are in the process of creating a Makerspace in our Elementary School here in Holdingford. The majority of materials will be housed in one part of the Media Center and made available to classes on a check out basis. These materials rely more heavily on teacher direction and supervision to prevent misuse and to carry out specific tasks.

In the library, however, we wanted our students to have an opportunity to build and create using easy to handle, durable materials without the need for direct instruction. After some experimentation with other building sets, we found KEVA planks suited our students PreK-6 the best. Unlike other products on the market which are made of plastic and include step by step directions, KEVA planks are made of wood and can be used for the construction of any number of creations. Students are able to make simple or complex designs based on their level of comfort. As you can see in the pictures, our students are enjoying their new building materials! Thank you so much CMLE for the mini grant making it possible to add these fantastic building planks to our library here at Holdingford Elementary School!  See link for more information. KEVA planks

CMLE, Guest Blogger, Materials

Report from CMLE Mini Grant: Books about Empathy

This is a guest post from Media Specialist Jenny McNew at Talahi Community School. Need a Mini Grant to purchase materials or try an interesting new program at your library? Apply today! 

As I watch the students I work with each day interact with each other it became clear to me that something was different and there seemed to be something missing since our students weren’t being very nice to each other. I pondered this feeling daily and it became clear to me as I watched their interactions that what was missing was kindness and empathy.  

I began to do a little research and found that empathy can and should be taught. As I thought about adding one more thing to the plates of our teachers, it was clear that a great way to teach these topics with an attentive audience was through books. Through a classroom mini-grant from CMLE I have been able to purchase some beautiful books that emulate these topics in an entertaining and engaging way. I purchased, “UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World” by Michele Borba as a professional read for staff to help them help students take on the skills of empathy and kindness. For student discussion I purchased 35 fabulous titles, some which come with great discussion questions to help facilitate conversations with kids.

What I loved about these books is the characters were a mirror of the students we teach. “Listening with My Heart: A Story of Kindness and Self-Compassion” by Gabi Garcia; “I Am Enough” by Grace Byers; “You, Me, and Empathy: Teaching children about empathy, feelings, kindness, compassion, tolerance, and recognizing bullying behaviors” by Jayneen Sanders. As I read to first graders I heard comments like, “Jade’s like Quinn” and “We are all more than enough!” Thank you CMLE for this wonderful addition to our library!