Category Archives: School Media Specialist

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended App: Humanities and Arts: NMAAHC Mobile Stories

This summer, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2017. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.

 

The app National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a story driven app. It allows the user to experience the museum virtually through images, audio/text transcripts, and video clips. “Designed to be used during a museum visit, students can virtually experience the museum by viewing the exhibitions online and seeing artifacts like Harriet Tubman’s shawl, James Baldwin’s passport, and a segregated railway coach.” For questions and activities that can be used with students, check under the “For Families” section.

This article from Clearly Innovative gives a detailed description of the app and its capabilities. For videos and to learn more about the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, check out their Youtube channel here. 

Level: Elementary +
Platform: iOS and Android
Cost: FREE

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended App: Organization and Management: IFTTT

This summer, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2017. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.

The app IFTTT stands for “If This Then That” and it is used to create applets. Applets (also called “recipes”) have the ability to link two services (your apps or devices) together as conditional statements which then automate certain tasks.

Level: High School +
Platform: iOS and Android
Cost: FREE

Some of the examples of ways to use the app include “get an email when a new bestseller appears on the NY Times list; save favorite tweets to a Google spreadsheet, get an email whenever the President signs a bill into law; back up photos to Google Drive. The opportunities are endless!” Get more ideas for ways to use the app by visiting their blog.

PCMag has a review of the app, and they awarded it Editors’ Choice for productivity services. Digital Trends also has a great review of IFTTT and they include some tips on ways to get the most out of the app.

Watch this video for a tutorial specifically for teachers using IFTTT:

Programs, School Media Specialist

Discover some fun Back-to-School ideas for your school library!

If you aren’t already back to school, you will be soon! We thought this list from School Library Journal had some great suggestions that you could potentially use in your school library this year!

Read some of the ideas below, and check out the full list here.

  • This idea sounds both fun AND delicious: “I’m really excited to be getting a small hydroponic garden system for school-wide use,” says Ellen Luca, media specialist at Brookdale School in Bloomfield, NJ. Reflecting the school’s implementation of Next Generation Science Standards, Luca’s media center “is becoming a hub for STEAM-related activities.” Students will plant lettuce and basil, with the goal of making pesto. “
  • We love how this school librarian is getting the word out about her awesome media center: “Jaime LeRoy, library media specialist at Cross Timbers (TX) Middle School, is looking forward to another year of sneaky library advertising with her Bathroom Book Blurbs, advertisements for popular titles, in student bathrooms, as well as her Potty Mouth newsletter, housed in faculty restrooms, with news about library happenings, new books, tech tips, and more. “I am willing to do whatever it takes to promote the library and its goings-on!” she says.”
  • This school librarian has a fun way to get her students to experience her collection: “Anastasia Hanneken, who recently genrefied her school library’s fiction collection, is planning an “Around the Library in 180 Days” program. Students will receive a passport “and will be asked to read a book from each genre, including nonfiction and biography.” Prizes await students who complete the genres in their passport.”
  • Learning math with dancing robots? Yes, please! “Laura Gardner, teacher librarian at Dartmouth (MA) Middle School and SLJ 2016 School Librarian of the Year finalist, has been collaborating with the school’s math department using Ozobots. Last year they worked with students to teach the mini-robots how to dance, and this year they will use lessons found on the Ozobot website to explore the concepts of pi and slope.”
  • This public library is teaching students some very important adulting tips: “The San Jose Public Library will continue offering a series of Life Skills Academy programs, says Berman. Teens ages 14–19 can attend sessions on topics including “Pizza Is Not a Food Group,” “There Are No Potty Breaks in College,” and “Why You Shouldn’t Have 27 Credit Cards.”
  • This media specialist has a cute and relatable idea for her program: “In her new position as media specialist at Falmouth (ME) Elementary School, Amy Reddy will offer the passive program “Once Upon a Time…We Were Your Age, Too!” Teachers and staff will share photos of themselves as kids, with a favorite book. Students will guess their identities, and winners will receive gift cards. At Reddy’s old school, “Students made connections to the teachers and often chose a teacher’s favorite books to read.” Plus, “they realized their teachers were children once, too!”

Are you trying out a new or exciting idea in your school library this year? We’d love to hear about it! Share a comment or consider writing a blog post for us about it!

 

 

http://www.slj.com/2017/08/programs/33-winning-back-to-school-ideas/#_

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended App: STEM: Swift Playgrounds by Apple

This summer, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2017. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity. 

 

Swift Playgrounds by Apple is an app for iPads that makes “learning Swift interactive and fun.” Apple created the programming language Swift, and this app helps students master the basics, no coding experience required! The app also includes challenges that encourage students try more advanced creations.

You could incorporate this app into your classroom or media center by using it during the Hour of Code, Genius Hour, or in your makerspace.

CNET has a review of Swift Playground you can read here, and it sounds like the app can be fun for all ages! And this article from The Verge shares that kids can use their own coding from Swift Playground to “control any number of real-world toys and machines,” including robots and drones! Sounds like fun!

Level: Elementary +
Platform: iOS
Cost: FREE

Learn more and watch how the app works in this video:

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended App: Books: Radio Jones And His Robot Dad

This summer, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2017. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity. 

Radio Jones And His Robot Dad “tells the story of a boy called Radio whose Dad is too busy to spend time with him. So, using all his skills as a coder and maker, Radio builds himself a Robot Dad, and together they set off on a wild adventure.”

Check out this review of the app from The Horn Book and watch the trailer below:

Level: Elementary
Platform: iOS
Cost: FREE

Radio Jones And His Robot Dad from Nexus on Vimeo.