The Spartan Librarian

I have been reading Innovator's Mindset by George Couros. In the book, he explains how he taught an educator how to use twitter by having her watch a Twitter in 60 second video.  She was inspired to have her students create 60 second videos of their own to teach science concepts. I showed my 5th grade students the Mitosis in 60 Seconds videos I found on YouTube and explained to them that we would be making our own videos using Science Vocabulary! I learn so much from my students, and with a lot of trial and error using white boards, dry erase makers, and iPads to video, one student asked if they could use the Zing  Stikbot  Stop Motion app !  Genius!!!  So much easier for my young students! After a little more experimenting, my students created their own videos (not quite 60 seconds, but it is a work in progress)!  We will be using WeVideo and iMovie to edit and clean up our videos during next week's class! Let my students know what you think by le...

I saw this post by Tricia Fuglestad on Twitter !  She is an elementary school art teacher, and tech integrator extraordinaire!!!  I found lots of inspiration on her Twitter page and her Weebly! I was so inspired by her whirligigs, I had to do a lesson with my 4th graders!  We also have a Whirligig Park in our state, and we watched this video to explain to the students what a Whirligig is!  We just finished our Maker Faire, so they were intrigued by these moving contraptions! Wilson, NC Whriligig Park Tarheel Traveler Segment, WRAL By the end of today's lesson, we used our research skills, learned new science terms, reviewed polygons, and drew a plan for our own whirligig. I gave each team of two kids a card with a science term on it.  They had to research the term and come up with an animal that fit their category:  nocturnal, amphibian, reptile, a bird, a mammal, etc. Once they decided on an animal that fit their category, they had to dra...

Although our attendance numbers were low, Technology Night Was a huge success! Union Intermediate School students, staff, and administration came together to celebrate Digital Learning Day  Thursday, February 23rd. Teachers and students were excited to show our parents all the digital tools we are using this year to make Union Intermediate School 21st century ready! Following a hot dog (Bright Leaf of course) dinner cooked by our principal, parents and students visited a variety of stations set up around the school.  Parents got to see students demonstrate different learning programs, creative tools, and presentations that teachers have been using in the classrooms. Parents were shown how to access student grades and given instructions to sign up for Accelerated Reading Home Connect Program. If you missed our event, here are links to the programs and resources we used! Power School Parent Portal   (Contact Glenda Estrada for student access codes) Accelerat...