Street View Treks - Multimedia explorations

A new way to explore

http://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/

On the Treks site you can view images, stories, and audio files associated with a number of stunning and interesting places:  Burj Khalifa in Dubai; the Canadian Arctic; Mt. Everest; the Grand Canyon; Australia's Great Barrier Reef; the Amazon Basin; and the Kennedy Space Center. There is only a smallish collection at the moment - let's hope more get added soon!

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Google Night Walk - In Marseille

Promenade Nocturne

https://nightwalk.withgoogle.com/fr/home

A great High School French virtual field-trip.... (Works best with Firefox)

Here's the "blurb" from the site:

"Night Walk" takes you on an immersive journey through lively Cours Julien, a neighbourhood of Marseille famous for its unique atmosphere and street art. Listening to your guides Julie and Christophe, you can wander around the vibrant streets as if you were really there, thanks to 360-degree panoramas that we captured at night. Your walk is enriched with photos, images, videos, sounds and interesting facts, allowing you to dive into this neighbourhood and learn more about its diverse culture and history. Enjoy your night walk!

Headphones or earbuds make for a great "surround-sound" experience, and you can select either French or English as your language!

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Google Night Walk - In Marseille

Promenade Nocturne

https://nightwalk.withgoogle.com/fr/home

A great High School French virtual field-trip....

Here's the "blurb" from the site:

"Night Walk" takes you on an immersive journey through lively Cours Julien, a neighbourhood of Marseille famous for its unique atmosphere and street art. Listening to your guides Julie and Christophe, you can wander around the vibrant streets as if you were really there, thanks to 360-degree panoramas that we captured at night. Your walk is enriched with photos, images, videos, sounds and interesting facts, allowing you to dive into this neighbourhood and learn more about its diverse culture and history. Enjoy your night walk!

Headphones or earbuds make for a great "surround-sound" experience, and you can select either French or English as your language!

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The magic of Whole School reading

How to turn your school into a "reading school" - DEAR!

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2011/nov/28/whole-school-reading

Teachers Louise Kanolik and Ela Turker write about how they went about creating a "reading school" culture at Loxford School in Essex.

...the most important activity a school could initiate was Whole School Reading or Drop Everything and Read (DEAR). This is an activity that involves every member of the school staff and at an allotted time each week, or if you are able, every day, every member of your school community drops everything and reads silently. In our school, we have a totally blissful and welcome 15 minutes of whole school reading during Thursday's afternoon registration time, when you can quite literally hear a pin drop around school.

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Capture the "essence" of a novel

Yasmine with an "e" - book collages rule!

http://yasminwithane.tumblr.com/tagged/bookcollage

How's this for a twist on the "book report"? Try using some of Yasmine's creations as inspiration. She choses phrases, conversations, key words, and graphic elements to assemble amazing and impressive snapshots of YA novels. Visit the link to see more of her collages and then try your own.

What does Yasmine use? I'm not sure but here are some starters....

• http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/create-graphics-for-social-media/
• http://www.toprankblog.com/2011/09/iphone-apps-social-media-graphics/
• https://itunes.apple.com/app/phoster/id396306670?6w2MZjx1tIA
• http://www.picmonkey.com/
  

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Librarydoor: Fixing Google-able assignments

Rethinking research assignments

http://librarydoor.blogspot.ca/2014/04/googling-is-not-college-and-career.html

Helping teachers (and TLs) rethink research assignments (especially from pre-packaged curriculum programs):

"We've boiled it down to 5 simple steps, because we know that brain research says the brain can't remember more than 4 at a time!

• Administer the Google litmus test
• Insert Essential Question at the beginning which will foster synthesis of those facts and conclusions
• Require credible library resources to be used
• Embed technology for engagement - somewhere
• Insure that students have an opportunity to "present" their knowledge

Now we really know that there is more to it than that, but these simple 5 will not scare them away from "Repackaging Research"

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Explore 3D Models at HHMI's BioInteractive site

Examine molecular structures and viruses in detail

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/explore-3d-printing

Fascinating 3D models - they can even be printed! These resources will appeal to High School Biology teachers.

"Our 3D-models are linked to other BioInteractive educational media, such as short films, lectures, and classroom activities, to further support learning key concepts in biology and earth science. All our models are based on current research data."

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“Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons"

A model for developing and implementing library learning commons

http://www.infodocket.com/2014/06/02/new-report-leading-learning-standards-of-practice-for-school-library-learning-commons-in-canada-2014/

"Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada, 2014 presents a model for the development and implementation of the school library as a library learning commons. It provides educators with a common set of standards of practice for moving forward. CLA President Marie DeYoung stated that the organization considers this publication as a "definitive learning support that is critical for all Canadian schools."

PDF download: http://clatoolbox.ca/casl/slic/llsop.pdf

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For Educators : Juno Beach Centre

Learn about Juno Beach  - Online Resources

http://www.junobeach.org/for-educators/

"The Juno Beach Centre offers this collection of online archives, websites, and Canadian history resources designed to help Educators incorporate primary research and learning in their classrooms. You will find useful links to other institutions and projects relating to the Second World War, tools for researching Canadian military records, and First Nations culture."

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READ poster idea

Create "READ" posters of your staff and students

Snap a picture of a staff member reading in their natural environment. Import the pic into BigHugeLabs and use the motivational poster template. (I chose portrait mode).

http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php

You can change the message, the subtitle and the colours to match the photo you've chosen. Your finished product can be printed "letter size" on a colour printer, or used on a webpage. (If you want to pay for it, BigHugeLabs will even print a real poster for you and mail it.)

You can make this even more fun by using the SmartBoard software (Notebook). Import a staff picture, use the "Set image transparency" feature to remove a single colour background and then superimpose it on a second image. (ie an amazing background - cliff edge, Everest, Pamplona, etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2p3MqXaMlI 

The final combination result can be captured as a screen shot and uploaded to BigHugeLabs and used with the poster template.

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WebPath Express - now search by Lexile

Want to make your Webpage searches more useful?

Destiny's WebPath Express searches a database of webpages carefully selected by Follett. These results are ranked by age/grade-level and tagged with topic terms, type of resource (ie. biography) and come with a short description of the site. You also have the option of restricting by domain, language, format and source. What's new is that you can now sort your search results by Lexile.

Access the eLibrary from the Destiny page, and choose "WebPath Express" from the left-side tabs:

Run a search on your subject of interest, and then in the results, select the Lexile range you want, and click the "Get Results" button. This should help you find more usable websites.

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Dictionary of Canadian Biography - added to HS Visual Tab

"A biographical reference work for Canada"

http://www.biographi.ca/en/

"There are now almost 8,500 biographies on this website, comprising the complete contents of volumes I to XV, which describe the lives of those whose deaths or whose last-known activities occurred in the years 1000 to 1930. Also included are entries on voyagers whose verifiable dates precede 1000 – Saint Brendan (Bréanainn), Eirikr Thorvaldsson (Eric the Red), and Herjólfsson Bjarni – and more than 70 biographies of individuals who died after 1930.

Secondary schools will notice the addition of the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online" to Destiny's Visual Tab. (Also viewable in French) The complete work will span 1000AD to 2000. Content from Volume 16 is currently being added and the remaining volumes (up to 22) will be added over time.

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Mathematics and Science in SD38 - Janice N's blog

Want some great Math and Science ideas?

http://blogs.sd38.bc.ca/sd38mathandscience/

Janice shares some of the work she has been doing in Math and Science. Many of her ideas incorporate iPad apps as a way of representing learning and documenting findings. (Some of her video content is still on her original blog: http://sd38mathandscience.blogspot.ca )

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Grade 7 shelf anyone?

What are your Grade 7s reading?

Some TLs are building a shelf to entice Grade 7 readers and give students something to look forward to in their last year of Elementary school. What defines a Grade Seven Shelf? "Edgy but not too edgy! Socially relevant! Controversial (maybe just a bit), lots of drama, challenging themes ....etc. etc." What are your criteria? Share the titles you label Grade Seven Only and help your colleagues generate a must-have list.

Some possible cadidates:

• http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/grade-7
• http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/grade-7-shelf
• http://www.shelfari.com/groups/84781/lists/read
• http://www.shelfari.com/groups/96404/lists/read
• https://www.librarything.com/tag/grade+7
  

See also: MiddleShelf Digital Magazine

Middle Shelf is a digital review magazine about books for middle grade readers and features author interviews, reviews, excerpts, and more

http://www.shelfmediagroup.com/pages/introducing-middle-shelf.html

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Creating a Culture of Reading!

We're All In This Together

http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/were-all-in-this-together-by-emily-meixner/

How do we create a culture of reading? Emily Meixner offers some important steps we can take:

".... The truth of the matter is, we can't really establish a culture of reading in schools unless everyone is on board, unless everyone is, at some point or another, visibly a reader.  From the administrative offices to the library to classrooms to the lunch room to the locker room, we have to become one big team with one very explicit mission: to prove to students that when it comes to reading, we're all in this together.  We're totally and fully and happily in cahoots with each other...."

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SLJ SummerTeen 2014 Conference - online and Free

A must for anyone who loves YA/teen literature.

http://www.slj.com/summerteen/

This free online event features authors, illustrators and editors of teen titles. It's completely virtual conference—no traveling and no cost! SummerTeen is a must for anyone who loves YA/teen literature.

"The third annual SummerTeen virtual conference presents popular YA authors talking about their writing experiences and current and forthcoming titles in an engaging, conversational format, including live Q&A with the audience. Get up close with co-keynoters Matthew Quick, author of Silver Linings Playbook and The Good Luck of Right Now and Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay."

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"One Best Thing": A Collection of Multi-Touch Books

Explore a unit, a lesson, or a best practice

http://blog.isaacpineda.com/2014/04/apple-launches-one-best-thing.html

This set of iBook format resources is well worth checking out. Just do a search on the iBooks store for "One Best Thing". These materials are free, and produced by educators for educators.  Apple describes the "One Best Thing" collection as:

A collection of books, created by Apple Distinguished Educators, that demonstrate the use of Apple technologies to transform teaching and learning. Each "One Best Thing" book shares a unit, a lesson, or a best practice and is designed to help another educator implement a successful practice.

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eBooks and pBooks - what do the numbers say?

Do you read eBooks?

http://ebookfriendly.com/libraries-matter-library-infographics/libraries-are-forever-infographic/

[Link to graphic file]

There has been some controversy in the media about the relative merits of paper vs screens for fiction & non-fiction reading. This infographic has some interesting data about the use of eBooks by the general public. Electronic or print – it may not matter in the long run - what really matters is finding that "good book"!

For more info: http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

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2014 Summer Reading List | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

Reading Lists with new and exciting titles

http://www.ala.org/alsc/2014-summer-reading-list

"Updated Summer Reading Lists with new and exciting titles!  Three Summer Reading book lists are available for K-2nd, 3rd-5th and 6th-8th grade students. Each list is available to download for free in color and black and white."  

(Lists can be customized - PDFs have blank customizable fields in the middle panel of page one of the flyer. Put your school and library name, as well as a "plug" for reading!)

The suggested titles page for each list could also be passed on to classroom teachers so they can promote selected novels with their students.

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Tech project changes how a district views its librarians

School librarians are part of the team leading digital transformation

http://www.districtadministration.com/article/tech-project-changed-how-we-view-our-librarians

A district in Nebraska recognizes and embraces the valuable role of teacher-librarians in leveraging the use of digital resources and facilitating technology integration.

"[I]t is vital that school librarians and media specialists are part of the team leading the digital transformation, maximizing resources and expanding knowledge in our schools. [...] They are instructional leaders aligning the curriculum with subscription and open-source digital content. The librarians are showing our teachers, students and parents how to access these curated resources. [...] Leaders are everywhere and media specialists and librarians have this natural opportunity to meet and know all students, and to meet and work with all teachers," Edwards says. "It just makes sense that we would activate and really build capacity for that leadership."

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