My library has some amazing resources that can be used for research projects.  I know it is tempting to have students get the bulk of their research from Google, and don't get me wrong, there are some amazing resources out there but it is necessary and important for students to gain exposure to a multitude of resources.  In this blog post, I would like to explore two of my favorite databases

• EBSCO Explora
• Sirs Discoverer

EBSCO Explora

Are you using either one of these databases?  I would love to hear how you are using them with your students.

My students really enjoy participating in the Monthly STEM Challenges that are available to them during an open media center time.  Even though we are a middle school, our students still have a daily recess.  This really gives them time to unwind, so they can focus on their academics.  During recess students can sign up to come to the library.  The STEM Challenge is just one of the activities students can participate in.  Students can also use a computer, study, check out a book, read, play a board game, or use the makerspace.  The Monthly STEM Challenge consists of a challenge that has a STEM focus.  Students are given a month to work on this challenge.  At the end of the month, the challenges are put on display, so that students in the school can vote on their favorites.  A small prize and certificate is given to all students who participate in the challenge.

In September our STEM Challenge was Create a Marble Maze.  Students were provided with:

• Cardboard
• Straws
• Tape
• Glue
• Popsicle Sticks

Here are some pictures of some of my students who participated and their finished challenges.

Bloxels is an innovative way for students to create video games.  The games can be turned into an educational game simply be adding white story blocks to the game.  How many times do we ask our students to showcase what they learned?  A book report, a science topic, a moment in history, a math lesson.  The possibilities are endless.  Next time instead of going for the traditional Google Slides or Poster try out Bloxels.



So you are probably wondering, how does Bloxels work?   Your students really only need a Bloxels Kit (Our library has 11 of them, an IPad, and the Bloxels (free) app.   To begin, students create their game board by inserting the colored cubes into the Bloxels black board.  The colors are extremely important when designing the game board.

Green = Terrain
Blue = Water
Purple = Enemies
Orange = Exploding
Red = Danger
Yellow = Coins
Pink = Powerups
White = Story blocks


Once your students have finished building their game boards, they are able to take a picture of the board using the Bloxels App.  The Board will now magically be added to your Bloxels program.  Students can easily assign meaning to some of the types of blocks such as Enemy Blocks, Powerups, and Story Blocks.  This is completed through the Configure setting.

Once students have configured their game, they can choose to begin playing their game, or create their own game character.  The process for creating their own game character is very similar to creating a game board.  Students can build a game character using the Bloxels black board and take a picture.  The picture that is taken turns that character into a real game character,  The game character can then be inserted into the game and students can begin playing the game.

Bloxels has included a teachers manual with directions for playing, as well as lesson plans.  This is available both in print and online.



Recorded Version of Bloxels Presentation

Over the summer, Google made some exciting changes to Classroom.  Some are extremely noticeable and others not so much.  If you are using Classroom on a regular basis, you may have already noticed the changes.

1.  The Stream Screen Has Changed

Last year, another teacher from my district I were lucky enough to get funded through our Education Foundation for six of the Breakout Boxes and a year long subscription to their games.  Most of the teachers at my school were shown on an inservice day how to facilitate a game.  In case you don't know how Breakout works, here is some quick info.

Breakout Edu is very similar to the Escape Room Experience.  Students are given a scenario that they must escape from.  Clues are both dispersed throughout your room and inside of locked boxes.  Students must solve a series of clues in order to physically break open the locked boxes.   Students work in groups to complete their tasks.  There are games available for virtually every subject available.   Preparing the boxes can take a little bit of your time, but the end result is completely worth it.  Students are engaged and excited to learn!  There are also digital games available.  In these games, students open up a virtual box by solving clues.

Here is the presentation another colleague  I created and presented last year when we shared on Breakout Edu





This past week, I worked with our 8th grade language arts teacher on a library orientation.  We decided to do a Breakout game with her four classes, in order to keep her students engaged.  Her students learned the same things they would have learned through a traditional slideshow, but it was so much better because of how involved they were in the activity.  When I started looking into a game to play, I could not find one that worked in a 15-20 minute timeframe, so I wrote my own game.  It was really easy, and really gave me a chance to be creative. 

Here was the Game:  Breakout of the Library!

1. Students were given a clue with a key to a small box taped to the clue.  The clue led them to the library Teen Fiction shelves where a small box was put.
2. Inside the small box was another clue which told them to look up a specific book title in Follett Destiny (our new online catalog system)
3. Once they found the call number on the catalog they had to go over to the shelf and find that book.
4. Once that book was found they found a QR code inside the book.
5. They scanned the QR code with the IPad, which opened them up to a Google Forms survey
6. Once they completed the survey, they were given a response to their survey that said "Thank you for filling out this DEAR form"
7. They had to use their brains to figure out that Dear was really Read backwards and that word would open up the large box which held a Congratulations We Broke Out Certificate, as well as jolly ranchers.

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It's the night before my first day of 2018/19 school year, and reality is finally sinking in.  This was truly a summer of learning.  I started out by attending the Raspberry Picademy in Jersey City, NJ, attended and presented at ISTE in Chicago, attended the Birdbrain Technologies Training in Pittsburgh, PA in July, and presented at many of the local New Jersey conferences during my break.  I was also able to take a couple of beach vacations with my family to take advantage of my time off.

This summer, I was really inspired by so many of the Facebook posts on my many librarian groups.  Many of the posts created menus of their library services.  We have had many changes to our library over the summer and I decided to promote this to my teachers.  The theme I choose was Have a Sweet Year: Let's Collaborate.   I also decided to use my Bitmoji for all of the items I created.  If you haven't used Bitmoji, it is a great way to make things adorable and really give them a personal touch.  It's easy to create an account by simply going to https://www.bitmoji.com/  Once you create your Bitmoji you can add an extension to your desktop/laptop and even use it on your phone.

The first step I took was creating a menu of services the library can offer the teaching staff.  

A little over a year ago, I found out about NJ Future Ready Schools.  My friend Elissa Malespina, mentioned her involvement with the program through a Twitter conversation.  I was well aware of Elissa's involvement in the national future ready initiative.  Elissa is the middle school librarian at Somerville Middle School in New Jersey.  In addition to working as a school librarian, she is the ISTE Librarians President,  a national presenter, and has received numerous technology and library educational awards.  Here is one of Elissa's presentations on Future Ready Librarians.

What is Future Ready Schools?

This past summer I took on the project of genrifying our fiction sections.  I serve 5-8 grades, and because of this age range, my library has two fiction sections (middle grade fiction and young adult)  If you are unsure what genrification is - it's the process of organizing library books by genre.  Some librarians are also tackling their nonfiction section, but I choose only to tackle the fiction sections, since nonfiction books are already organized by topic.

There is quite a bit of controversy over the genrification topic.  Many librarians are very traditional and believe the best way to organize library books is by author, while the more contemporary thought is to organize by genre because students can find their favorite genre books in one place.

Prior to genrifying, I spent much time asking other librarians who had genrified, reading all that I could read on this idea, and attending presentations on this topic at conferences.

So why did I decide to genrify my collection?

How did I genrify my collection?

How did I decide on the labeling?

What Genres Did I decide to use?

About four years ago, while attending the PETE&C (Pennsylvania Education Technology Expo and Convention, I found out about Canva for the very first time.  I was instantly hooked.  Canva makes me look like a graphic artist.  I have used it for everything from creating pieces for my library website, posters, brochures, and even task cards for our library makerspace.   Just recently, I introduced the program to my 8th graders and they are loving it.

If you've never used Canva before, it is a free program with the possibility of upgrading to a Pro account.  Personally, I have never paid for anything, and find that there is enough that is free, upgrading is not necessary.

Creating an Account

Creating With Canva

Layouts

• Font 
• Font Size
• Boldfaced
• Italics
• Justification
• All Uppercase
• Bullets
• Spacing
• Copy an item (note this is not how you copy an entire project)
• Arrange (Moving items to the front or back)
• Transparency
• Adding a Link 
• Deleting an item

Elements

Text

Backgrounds

Uploads

Saving, Printing, and Downloading your Canva Project

How I Use Canva