Greek Mythology Unit with 6th grade - Danielson's Domain 3b and 2b

Click here to see Greek mythology presentations video -

MY REFLECTION

WHAT: This artifact is a video that I made with my two teams of 6th grade students and is part of a unit I did in collaboration with two 6th grade teams and their LA teachers. The teams were the Avatars and the Challengers. 

SO WHAT: This is an example of Danielson's Domain 3B: Collaborating with teachers in the design of instructional units and lessons. It is also an example of Danielson's Doman 2B:  Establishing a culture for investigation and love of literature. Students had numerous days in the library as part of this unit. They were able to choose a Greek God, Goddess or Monster to research and present an argument with their research as evidence of why that character is the most powerful in Greek mythology.

Students learned how to research using books and library databases and websites; how to cite their sources; how to share their work on Google docs with me and their classroom LA teacher. 
They came back to the library another day, dressed in character to present their research findings in the TRMS video lab. I was involved in the production, filming and editing of these videos including choosing art to go behind students that was appropriate to their presentations. 

Finally the classes came back another day to view and take notes and evaluate their own and other's videos and reflect on their projects and outcomes.

I think this project is an important example of collaboration between me and the classroom teachers as we plan the project together and execute it together. It is also a great project for students to get to use the TRMS library video lab and learn how to present themselves both verbally and with appropriate costumes or props to convey their message. Students really cared about this project and it got them excited about literature and technology and created a culture of professionalism and love of literature.

NOW WHAT: I plan to meet with the teachers who did this project to get feedback on what parts of this project worked well and what we need to modify for next year. This is the second year we have done this project. One thing I have already suggested to the teachers is that 

Timberlane's Got Talent VIdeo

Student Talent Show Video

Click here to see Student Talent Show video -

MY REFLECTION

WHAT: This artifact is a video that I made with my 8th grade advisory students after one of my students after we were brainstorming together of what we should do for our next video project. We heard one of our students singing a song on the morning announcements and got the idea of a student talent show.

SO WHAT: This is an example of Danielson's Domain 4c  of Professional Responsibilities of Service to School: Communicating with the larger community. This video is now posted on both the school website and the website VIMEO and is something that showcases the talents of boys and girls in our school from all grades sharing what they consider a special talent. Not only does this video reach out to the larger community with the engaging talent acts of our students, but within our school it helped the library reach out to all students no matter what their talent was and draw them into the library and the video lab within the library. 

Today the video began running at lunch and I walked into the cafeteria during a 6th grade lunch to find the entire annex in the cafeteria filled with students watching and singing along to songs they knew and showing real interest and excitement about the videos they were watching.

In addition to the positive outreach this video created with the school community and the larger community, I believe it was an excellent learning experience for my students in the 8th grade advisory. They were able to repeatedly practice their video and editing skills and use their creative problem solving to find appropriate artwork to enhance the videos on the green screen.

NOW WHAT: In the next 10 days students will be watching the video in advisory or on their own, or in the cafeteria. I am putting the link for this onto the TRMS Library's website and students can watch and vote. I think the next step for me and my advisory is to see if we can draw enough TRMS staff into the library to do an adult talent show, that would also be a good community building activity.

Anti-Bullying Video

MY REFLECTION

Anti-Bullying Video

WHAT: This artifact is a video that I made with my 8th grade advisory students after one of my students came into morning advisory crying because she had been bullied in the cafeteria. I suggested to my students, who were all comforting the girl who had been bullied, that we make a video so that people know what bullying is and what to do if you see it happening.

SO WHAT: This is an example of Danielson's Domain 4  of Professional Responsibilities of Service to School. I identified the needs of my own advisory students to feel like the were able to do something in response to an unpleasant situation. This video helped my students work through the emotional sadness of what had happened by talking to other students and adults and filming the video. 


NOW WHAT: I asked Mr. Zanello to help me put some finishing touches on the video and load it to Vimeo. I emailed the TRMS Staff the video link and asked that they show it in their advisories soon as it highlights ways to avoid being a bully and how to stand up for someone who is being bullied.

Research Day 2 in the library with 8th graders

 Click link below to view video of lesson in library on how to set up a Google document to take notes, share with teacher, and begin citing note sources within the text of the notes.

http://youtu.be/An12wWxt4IY


Reflection

What
In this video, 8th grade students learn how to set up a note-taking document in Google docs and begin note-taking from research articles they found on school Destiny databases last week. I also introduced to them the concept of in-text citations


So What
Google docs as part of our Google apps for education account with Timberlane Regional Schools allows students to use 21st century skills to collaborate and to work remotely. With the large amount of snow we have been getting this winter, this skill will serve students well as the number of snow days increases. By sharing the document with their teacher, students are able to get feedback as they are taking their notes. This was something that was never easy to do in the past and now is so easy and immediate. The portion of the lesson involving in-text citations is important because it helps students to understand that every piece of information that they put into a report must be cited not only in the bibliography, but within the text for academic integrity.

Now What
Now I realize I need to talk to the technology teachers about this process in tn-text citations so that they understand that when they are doing lessons with students on Google apps/Google docs, that include a research aspect, that they also reinforce citing text within a report in order to promote consistency at TRMS.

Introducing Nooks to the TRMS Library!

My Reflection
What:
After a year or so of research, interviewing librarians and Barnes & Noble experts and getting organized, I have added and 12 Nook Simple Touch e-readers to the TRMS Library. I will document the steps involved in setting up the program for a future posting, but of the 12 Nooks I have, six are designated for YA books and six for non-YA books. This will allow me to not have to alter content of Nooks before circulating them.

So What:
The importance of having ereaders like Nooks is that students who are wanting to read a certain book that the library does not have a print copy of can request it be purchased on the spot for the Nook. Also for students who are huge readers, the Nooks will allow a student to have all the books loaded on a Nook and only counts as one book checkout. I also might use these Nooks for my new after school book club and that would save money on books as I have two Nook accounts and each one puts up to five other Nooks that are linked to that account.

Now What:
Now I need to get the word out to students that these Nooks are now part of the TRMS Library and begin setting up a procedure for making sure students know how to find the Nooks and how to care for them so they do not get broken.