Everything, Everything by N. Yoon

Summary:  My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

(Goodreads.com)
Quote:  “In my head I know I've been in love before, but it doesn't feel like it. Being in love with you is better than the first time. It feels like the first time and the last time and the only time all at once.”

You'll like this if you liked:  All American Boys by J. Reynolds, Written in the Stars by A. Saeed

Genre:  realistic fiction; romance

The Darkest Part of the Forest by H. Black

Summary:  Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

(GoodReads.com)
Quote:  “I wanted to be in love like in the storybooks and songs and ballads. Love that hits you like a lightning bolt. And I'm sorry, because yeah, I get that you think I'm ridiculous. I get that you think I'm hilarious. I know, I get that you're mocking me. I get how stupid I am, but at least I know.” 

You'll like this if you liked:  Beastkeeper by C. Hellisen, Otherbound by C. Duyvis

Genre:  fantasy

Beastkeeper by C. Hellisen

Summary:  Sarah is always on the move.  Her mom hates the cold, so her family (her mom, dad, and Sarah) are constantly packing up and heading for warmer climates.  Sarah has very little time to make friends at the many schools she has attended.  One night, Sarah awakens to the sounds of her father persuading his wife to stay with the family.  Sarah's mom refuses and heads out the door, much to Sarah's dismay.  Almost immediately, things begin to change at home.  Sarah's dad becomes almost beast-like, becoming hairy and eating rare meat.  He takes Sarah to stay with her grandparents, who she has never met.  They live in a dank, dark forest in a crumbling castle, which would be exciting if it wasn't so creepy.  Sarah learns the truth about her bloodlines, which hold a curse that will turn her into a beast as soon as she falls in love.  Sarah has to figure out a way to keep the change of happening as her world dissolves around her.

Quote:  “Sarah had discovered that while she liked to ask questions in the hopes that someone or other could answer them, adults liked to ask questions they already knew the answers to. She wasn't sure why exactly that was, and had finally decided that as people grew older, the more important something was the easier it becomes for them to forget. They had to keep asking as a way to help them remember.”

You'll like this if you liked:  Valiant by S. MacGuire, Monstrous by M. Connolly

Genre:  fantasy

Literary Circle #2: lunch lady and the cyborg substitute

Literary Circle #2

 Krosoczka, J. (2009). Lunch lady and the cyborg substitute. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Questions/Answers:

“Right there” questions:

1.  Where is the lunch lady’s secret lair located?  below the school through a secret door way

2.  What book genre does The lunch lady belong to?   graphic novel

“Think and search” questions:

1.       What kinds of inventions does Betty, the lunch lady’s sidekick, create?  A spatula that acts as a helicopter, lunch tray that is actually a laptop, etc.

2.  How is perspective used to give emphasis to certain parts of the story?    Some of the drawings are from up above, looking down on the subject, such as the panel that shows Mr. McConnell saying “Glorious!”  Other panels are shown from below, looking up at the subjects.

Interpretive questions:

1.       How does the lunch lady’s assistant help her? She comes up with inventions to help the lunch lady with her adventures.  The inventions are meant to assist the lunch lady with her quests.  She also keeps the lunch lady’s secret life as a crime fighter/detective a secret.

2.       Why does the lunch lady seem suspicious of the substitute when he says that he’s filling in for Mr. McConnell?  Mr. McConnell hasn’t missed a day of school in 20 years, so something seems odd about him not being at the school.

Critical evaluative questions:

1.  What does the limited color palette tell the reader about the book?  The use of black and white gives a neutral background for the yellow to stand out.  Yellow seems to be used to emphasis certain aspects of the story.

2.    How does Hector, a member of the Breakfast Bunch, end up handling the bully?  Instead of avoiding the bully or ignoring him, Hector looks him in the eye and said a confident “No!” when asked for his lunch money.  The bully leaves him alone after that encounter.

  

Literary Circle #1: Love that dog

Literary Circle #1

 Creech, S. (2001). Love that dog. New York: HarperCollins.

Questions/Answers:

“Right there” questions:

1.  Who is Jack’s audience throughout the book?  Jack’s main audience is his teacher, who stays silent throughout the book

2.  Why is Jack hesitant to write a poem about his dog?  Jack is worried that the poem about his dog, Sky, will make his classmates sad

“Think and search” questions:

1.   Jack worries that he’s “borrowing” too many of Walter Dean Myer’s words in one of his poems.  How does the teacher help remedy Jack’s concern?  Jack’s teacher suggests that Jack include the line “inspired by Walter Dean Myers” in his poem so that the poet receives credit for his inspiration.

2.  How does Jack label his poems for display?  Why does he prefer this method when his class mates can see his work?  Jack doesn’t want his classmates to know about his poems, so his teacher suggests that he label them as “Anonymous”. 

Interpretive questions:

1.  The cover of the book is bright yellow.  What kinds of emotions does this color evoke for the reader?  Why do you think the author chose yellow?  The bright yellow evokes a feeling of joy and happiness.  Even though Sky’s death was very sad for Jack, he ultimately came to the realization that he was happy to have such a great dog in his life.

2.  Jack said that to make a poem “you just have to use short lines”.  Is that true of most poems?  Why do you think that Jack considered that a requirement for his poetry?  Many poems have very long lines and can take up several pages.  Jack seems to like the spacing and format of poems with short lines.  He likes that his ideas are direct and to the point and don’t run on.

Critical evaluative questions:

1.  Jack’s poetry is written as a journal, with dated pages.  Why do you think that the author chose to write the story in this way?  I think that the author wanted to show Jack’s growth as a poet during the school year by laying out the poems in a journal format.

2.    Which of Jack’s poems is the climax of the book?  Jack’s poem about Sky’s death—“ My Sky”—is the climax of the book.  

Caldecott Evaluation: The lion and the mouse by J. Pinkney

Jessica Drinks (LIBS 642)

The lion and the mouse by J. Pinkney

GRAND CALDECOTT EVALUATION

                Jerry Pinkney is both the author and illustrator of  The lion and the mouse.  The book’s cover measures approximately 11 by 10 inches.  It has a very large illustration of a lion on the front of the book and the mouse on the back.  Interestingly, there is no title on the front cover.   Both of the size of the cover and lack of a title made me immediately pay attention to the large drawing of the lion on the front.  Once I opened the book, the title, author/illustrator’s name, and a short summary are located on the front dust jacket design.  The endpapers are completely covered by even more amazing illustrations—a full safari scene in the front with lions, elephants, zebras, and giraffes and a family of lions with their cubs giving the mouse family a ride on the back.  The inside of the back endpaper houses the “artist’s note” that explains the story’s basis in the Aesop fable.  The large number of illustrations really caught my attention and drew me into the story before I even began “reading” it (I put reading in quotes since it is a wordless book).

                The illustrator uses both watercolors and colored pencils to create the illustrations, which are done in a very realistic way.  The use of watercolor gives a lot of movement to the drawings and the use of white in the background instead of sky blue is very calming.  In the beginning of the book, the large illustrations take up two pages.  The use of such large illustrations suggests that the author is drawing the reader into the story with the sizeable, detailed pictures.  On some of the pages the illustration is very large and in your face, such as when the lion is caught in the trap.  This causes a heightened sense of danger for the reader.  On other pages, the illustrations are drawn inside panels, suggesting a sequence to the action for the reader.  The panels show that the reader should follow the movement from left to right, the way you would read a comic book.  The story of “The lion and the mouse” is a classic Aesop’s fable.  While the giant, majestic lion and the tiny, scampering mouse feel like opposites of the animal kingdom in a written version of the story, they are equal in heart in this wordless book.  The illustrator uses the cover to draw both animals the same size, suggesting that they are both worthy of being saved by the other.

 The cover shows both the lion and the mouse in an outdoor, wild environment, so I knew immediately that it wasn’t a story inside a zoo or other enclosure.  As soon as I opened the book, the inside illustrations show a large scene of the African grasslands with multiple examples of animals native to Africa (giraffe, zebra, elephant, etc.)  Because the cover shows both the lion and the mouse, we immediately recognize them as the main characters.  Even on pages with other animals in the drawings, the lion and mouse are always the main focus, either because of their size or location on the page.  For example, when the lion is caught up in the trap, there are howler monkeys in the background, shouting out.  But the lion takes up the majority of the page so that the reader knows the monkeys are not the focus.

                As far as visual elements go, Straight lines in the drawings give the pictures height, such as mouse balancing on tall grasses when he hears the lion’s roar after being captured.  The wavy lines on the lion’s mane and mouse’s fur give much realistic detail to their appearance.  Cross hatching gives depth to the drawings, such as in the grasses underfoot.  Curved lines give movement to the illustrations.  The illustrations are done in a very muted, realistic color palette.  The color fills the page, not just with the main characters but also the detailed backgrounds.  The realistic coloring makes the reader wonder if this story could actually happen in real life.  Some of the pages include illustrations completed inside square panels.  The use of these panels almost acts like a frame around the illustration, giving it emphasis.  The drawings of animals are done in natural, curvy shapes without jarring, harsh straight lines.  There is so much texture in the illustrations that some of the pages almost feel like photographs!  The illustrator showed so much detail and texture in the environment (grasses, rocks, trees), animals (fur, eyes, faces), and supporting details (rope, net).  The rope looks braided and tangled, not flat.  The lion’s mane is large and fluffy.  The tree bark is uneven and rough as the mouse scampers across it.

                The use of panels in the rescue sequence draws attention to the plot of the lion.  In the first panel, we see the mouse climbing grasses, going about his daily routine.  The text “RRRROOOOAAARRRRrrr” is shown above his head.  The next panel shows the mouse running along the branch in search of the lion.  The next panel shows the mouse pausing and looking up, trying to find the location of that distressed call.  The fourth panel shows the mouse discovering the rope that holds the lion in the trap.  This arrangement of panels gives a sequence of movements to the story in the way that a single drawing could not do.  We follow along with the mouse as he suddenly becomes aware of the lion’s distress and then finds the lion in his predicament.

                In my opinion, the most outstanding feature of this book is the fact that it’s wordless.  The illustrations make words unnecessary in this story.  The detail of each illustration leads the reader through the story without being bogged down by dialogue.  And honestly, while animals can communicate within species, animals from different species don’t usually communicate.  So I found this story to be realistic, even though it’s based on a fable.  The very few times that text is used in the book show the importance of those instances, such as the “RRROOOOAAAARRrrr” across the top of two pages when the lion is first trapped and the tiny text that shows “squeak, squeak, squeak” in the mouse’s den.

Kitchen Drawer Classification Assignment

For this assignment in my LIBS 677 class, I needed to take a Powerpoint of 20 kitchen items from my professor and classify them into 4-6 categories based on a set of rules that I created.  My completed assignment is shown here:

Kitchen drawer assign -jessica drinks from jdrin001

Author Study Poster - Doreen Cronin

For my LIBS 642 (Children's Literature Class), I created the following author study poster.  I chose Doreen Cronin because my children LOVE her cow and duck books!

(click image above to enlarge)

Bibliography

About Doreen Cronin (n.d.).  Retrieved August 20, 2015 from http://www.doreencronin.com/

Association for Library Service to Children (2015).  Caldecott Medal and honor books, 1938-present.  Retrieved on August 30, 2015 from http://www.ala.org/ alsc/awardsgrants/ bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal

Cutler, C. (2010, October).  Click, Clack, 123 [Review of the book Click, Clack, 123 by D. Cronin and B. Lewin].  Teaching Children Mathematics, 17(3), 199.

Doreen Cronin's Biography | Scholastic.com. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2015, from

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/doreen-cronin-0

Doreen Cronin Lesson plans for Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2015, from http://www.webenglishteacher.com/cronin.html

Drew, N. (2014).  Fact or fiction:  learning about worms using Diary of a worm.  Retrieved on August 30, 2015 from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/fact-fiction-learning-about-778.html

Moody, K. (2012).  The Legend of Diamond Lil:  A J.J. Tully mystery [Review of the book The legend of Diamond Lil:  a J.J. Tully mystery by D. Cronin].  School Library Journal, 58(3), 118.

Roach, J.  (2014, November/December).  The case of the weird blue chicken:  the next

misadventure [Review of the book The case of the weird blue chicken:  the next misadventure by D. Cronin].  The Horn Book Magazine, 90(6), 88-89.

Walther, M. (2007, September).  Powerful book, inspired writers, part III:  modeling the traits of good writing—voice and conventions.  Book Links, 17(1), 41-44.

Walters, C.  (2014). Learning about word elements with Click, clack, moo!  Retrieved on August 29, 2015 from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/learning-about-word-families-847.html

Picture Book Soak

     I headed over to my local public library right after school yesterday.  I work in a middle school, so I arrived early enough to beat the elementary school crowd.  Our local library was relocated to an old school for a couple of years while the current location was doubled in size and remodeled.  The “new” library has been open for almost two years now, and the designers were very aware of creating a soothing, quiet, and inviting space.  The librarian’s extensive use of signs meant that I found the folklore and poetry section very quickly after introducing myself to the assistant librarian at the main circulation desk.  I was very surprised to see the sheer number of books in both sections.  I had assumed, based on my limited experience as a child, that those sections would be small because I was never attracted to those genres.  Most of my childhood was spent with the Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley Twins!  I flipped through some interesting reads for about an hour and then headed to the picture book section.

            I have four children myself, so I’m no stranger to the picture book section.  I have always been impressed with how well the section is laid out.  The wide aisles and low shelves made it easy for me to pull up a stool and start working my way through the many, many books.  It was great to read through books that my children would probably never select, so I felt like I was learning about so many new books!  It was difficult to select only four to write up for class. 

            One book that I really liked was The toy farmer by A. Pelletier.  It was a fictional

story of a little boy, Jed, who wakes up to find that his old farmer toy has come alive in his room.  Soon his carpet starts to sprout little seedlings and vines take over his walls.  Large pumpkins start to grow and Jed enters one in the county fair, winning first prize.  When he wakes up the next morning, the farm in my room has vanished and Jed is sad.  His dad lets him in on a little secret—he also won a ribbon in the fair with his pumpkins when he was a child and assures Jed that the toy returns to life for many more adventures.  My son is currently in love with tractors and farming, so I liked the book immediately for the subject matter.   I found the illustrations to be beautifully done.  The background images of Jed in his room were done in muted, realistic tones, while the farmer toy and the growing plants were done in brighter, primary colored drawings on top of the background.  The illustrations covered the pages, making me feel immediately like I was being drawn into the story.

          

  A book that I can’t wait to use with students is The gingerbread man loose in the school by L. Murray.   The story of the gingerbread man is already familiar to most children, but this story adds the fun twist that the cookie was baked by students in a school as a class project.  The gingerbread man is left behind to cool as the children head out for recess, but he panics that he’s going to be forgotten.  So we get to read about his exciting adventures as he tries to find his class.  The illustrations are adorable and simple.  They really help tell the story.   I would choose this book to read aloud to my class because of the amazing rhyming in the story.  It flows so evenly and perfectly, I almost feel like I’m singing a children’s song while reading the words. 

            It was difficult to find a book that I didn’t care for that was published after 2006. 

Most of the ones I didn’t like were old, poorly illustrated, or the storyline was out of date.  I finally found one that was published in 2011 called Princess super kitty by A. Portis.  The illustrations were simply drawn, but almost had an amateur feel about them.  I was mostly turned off by the storyline.  A little girl pretends to be a kitten and her mother goes along with it, feeding her lunch in a cat dish and throwing toys for her.  The girl decides that being a cat isn’t enough, so now she’s a super kitty.  She puts on a cape and orders her older brother and parents to follow her commands, which consist mostly of going to get her things.  After she becomes bored with that scenario, she decides she is princess super kitty and adds a tiara to her getup.  I was quickly bored with the book.  It felt like the author was just adding more and more twists to the story to keep it interesting, but I found it to be long-winded.  I didn’t like that the parents and brother followed the little girl’s commands because I think some kids are power-hungry enough without the encouragement from this book.  I could picture my daughter trying to immolate the story by ordering me to go get something for her and I can guarantee she wouldn’t like my response!  The illustrations did not to draw in my attention.

          

  A book that caught my attention was Stella brings her family by M. Schiffer.  Stella’s teacher announces that they will be having a big Mother’s Day celebration in a week.  Stella becomes quiet and distracted with her friends while she tries to figure out a solution to her “problem”—she has no mom and two dads.  Her friends ask her who ties her shoes and makes her lunch, and Stella points out that she has two dads to take care of her every need, she just doesn’t have a mom to bring to the celebration.  Stella ends up bringing her entire family including an aunt, uncle, and grandparents to the celebration.  The other students are thrilled that Stella came up with a solution that makes her happy once more.  I liked that the book included examples of nontraditional families, including a classmate of Stella’s that has two mothers and another student who is being raised by his grandmother.  It came as no surprise that the book was published this year considering the modern theme.  It seems like a necessary and appreciated addition to the library.

            Overall, I was very happy to participate in this assignment.  When I visit the library with my own children, they are pulling me in different directions, trying to find their favorite authors.  I rarely have time to select a book from the adult section for myself, let alone explore the picture books.  This assignment opened my eyes to the fact that I will have to be familiar with all types of books when I become a librarian, not just the genres that I enjoy reading. 

Bibliography

Murray, L., & Lowery, M. (2011). The gingerbread man loose in the school. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Pelletier, A., & Nash, S. (2007). The toy farmer. New York: Dutton Children's Books.

Portis, A. (2011). Princess Super Kitty. New York: Harper.

Schiffer, M., & Brown, H. (2015). Stella brings the family. Chronicle Books. 

Staying Current in the Digital Age

     It's certainly an exciting time to be getting my degree in library science!  There are so many technology-based resources at my fingertips, and I'm having a great time exploring them all.  One way that I can stay current with the happenings in libraries is to read blogs from fellow librarians.  One of my favorite blogs is Mrs. Reader Pants .  I first found her blog while looking for recommendations of YA books to read for one of my classes.  Her book reviews were thorough and entertaining (for example, she gives a short synopsis of the book, includes her personal opinion, and gives her age/grade level recommendation).  Her blog is very easy to use with tabs along the top for options such as "book reviews", "book talks", "library ideas", "book fair tips", etc.  I think I have read through all of the tabs several times each!  She also labels per posts so that you can easily click on the a specific label and see all the book reviews for that topic (such as romance, bullying, chick lit, etc.).  So if you had a student that only loved to read action/adventure books, you could click on that label and pull up a bunch of book reviews for that genre!  
     I recommend Mrs. Reader Pants to everyone I work with because her blog is so easy to read and is chock-full of helpful tips and tools. 

AASL Best Websites of 2015

I returned from my summer institute all pumped up and ready to jump right back onto the librarian bandwagon!  Those three days got me very excited about the sorts of activities and resources I can use with students in the future.  I checked out the AASL Best Websites of 2015 list and was pleasantly surprised to see that I am already familiar with quite of a few of them!  Yay!  That means that I'm actually paying attention in my LIBS classes!  
But seriously, here are three websites that I thought looked especially interesting and short description of each.

1)  Storyboard That 
Calling all English teachers, this is THE website for you!  I immediately loved the setup to the Storyboard That website, and I found it to be intuitive to use.  Students can use the website to pick among 6 different layout choices:  classic, T-chart, grids, Frayer models, Spider maps, and timelines.  With a free account, you can make up to two storyboards per week.  There is no software to download and students can save their projects on their accounts.  As the website says, students will really be able to "bring a book to life!".

2)   Google Classroom
What I love about Google classroom is how it is already so familiar to the students.  Some of the teachers at my school already use Google classroom and the students are very impressed with how easy it is to use.  They create documents in the Google docs and upload them for the class (and teacher) to see.  Another great feature of Goggle docs is the collaboration that is available with groups of students.  Multiple students can be working on the same document at the same time!  Assignments can be organized into folders, which makes it easy to keep track of students' work.

3) FlipQuiz
This website allows students to create their own game show-style boards for review.  What I love about this website is that it displays the game shows on the screen instead of the students having to create paper-and-pencil style games (like the old paper version of Jeopardy, taped to the front board of the classroom).  This website offers a much easier and faster way to create review games for students, and the students can make their own (instead of the teacher creating the review game).  It's a great opportunity for students to take responsibility for their own learning!  

Presentation Tools

For this week's module, I explored several presentation tools.  Wow!  There is so much to choose from out there!  Long gone are the days of creating a standard Power Point for every occasion.  I gave a few of them and try and had some surprisingly good results.
1)  Slidely
The first site I explored was slidely.com.  It recognized me because I was able to log in through my Facebook account, which is helpful when I'm on my computer at home but won't be an asset when I log in at school (we have no access to FB on my school's network).  I was able to start making a presentation in just a few minutes!  It's a very user-friendly site, and and I could see myself using it to make presentations for my classes at school and for professional development applications.  I've never heard of slidely.com before now, so I don't think many of my colleagues are familiar with it.  I like how easy it is to incorporate photos, videos, and audio into the presentation.
2) Prezi
I next tried out prezi.com.   I have seen many Prezi presentations but have never made one myself.  I found the program easy to use and the templates and color schemes were very modern.  I know that my students like to use Prezi for their school projects, so it would be helpful for me to know more about the program.  The one thing that isn't so great about Prezi is the movement from area to area in the presentation.  I almost feel like I'm getting sea sick from all the swaying motion!  But that's just me and my personal taste.  I first became familiar with Prezi when I started reading the "Mrs. Reader Pants" blog.  All of her book talk presentations are done with Prezi-- check them out here!
In conclusion, either of these programs would be easy to use for my final presentation and would give me modern, clear results with minimal frustration.

References
http://www.slidely.com
http://www.prezi.com
http://www.readerpants.net/p/booktalk-presentations.html

3-D Print Creation

For this week's module, I needed to create a 3-D object that followed some guidelines:  no bigger than a quarter of an apple; neutral, solid color; relates to reading or libraries.  We are having a contest in class where we will be voting for the "Top 3" ideas and those objects will be printed at our Summer Institute in a week.  
I drummed my fingers on the computer desk for a while and thought, "What represents reading to me?  Or a library?  Or librarian? Hmmmm.........".  My husband volunteered "worm" for a bookworm, but I thought I might have trouble with wavy lines in the programming.  And I wasn't sure how to make a "bookworm" look any different than a regular old earthworm!  I finally came up with the idea of a kite because reading can "soar you to new heights and take you farther than you ever thought possible".  The kite has some great symbolism to go along with it.  To drive home the "reading" aspect even more, I made the kite part into a book and even put "LIBS" (for our class) on the text section of the book so that it is more identifiable.  I had a hard time thinking of how to make bows on the tail of the kite until I thought "Bingo!  Do the number 8 sideways!".  I think it turned out pretty good!
I used tinkercad.com to create the kite and then saved it as an STL file.  You can see the progress below!

3-D Printing and its Applications in Schools and Libraries

The hot topic this past year around my school was "3-D printing".  When I see the sheer number of articles on schools using 3-D printers, it comes as no surprise that they are in high demand for student use.  My county's local paper just recently ran an article (you can read it here) titled "KG Students Make Magic with 3-D Printer".  The article explained that a drafting class at the high school designed and printed a bow tie for the principal to wear to the graduation rehearsal.  It turned out great and really brought some recognition to those students and the level of technology that they are using today.
As the robotics coordinator for King George County, I have seen the 3-D printers in action at other middle schools (we even had one at our recent summer camp) but until recently, our school was not one of the lucky ones.  Lo and behold, my assistant principal came to me with a grant from Northrup-Grumman and said, "They will give us up to $2500 for something technology-based....what do you want?" and I immediately said, "3-D printer!".  It's set to arrive next month and will be the first one in a county school.  We settled on a FlashForge printer because that is the one we used at camp, and it's reviews are outstanding.  
So this topic could not have come at a better time because I'm actively trying to learn as much as I can about 3-D printers and design before ours arrives!  The first article I read--"Cool Products for Teaching", had some great ideas of introducing code writing to students.  Because we implement the LEGO Mindstorm robotics program with all 330 of our seventh graders, the students are introduced to code writing along with robotics.  But I like some of the programs and apps that she describes and believe that those programs would be a good introduction to code for the novice student.
Chad Sansing makes a good point in his article "Coding Skills Empower Us All" when he writes that teaching students to write codes doesn't mean that each of those students has to go into technology as a career.  However, when we teach all students to use code, we give them the opportunity to use it more efficiently in the future or to advance their skills in a future career, if they choose.  Teaching all students to develop their coding skills will only benefit them in a world that is becoming more technology-savvy every day.
I think that 3-D printers should be welcomed with open arms to any and all schools and libraries that can get one.  They are a perfect tool for exposing students to writing code, 3-D design, and graphics.  Who knows how many students will be inspired to take more science and math classes because they love using their school's 3-D printer?  The effects of 3-D printing can branch out through all content areas and achievement levels.

References

Tahnk, J.  (April 27, 2015).  "Cool products for teaching kids how to code".  Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeana-lee-tahnk/neat-products-for-teachin_b_7138030.html

Cook, P.  (June 9, 2015).  "KG students make magic with 3-D printer".  Retrieved from http://journalpress.com/king-george-and-dahlgren/king-george-news/4400-kg-students-make-magic-with-3d-printer

Sansing, C.  (May 11, 2015).  "Coding skills empower us all".  Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2015/05/technology/coding-skills-empower-us-all-the-maker-issue/#_

LEGO Mindstorm homepage (2015).  http://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/?domainredir=mindstorms.lego.com

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is a new term for me.  Once I looked up its meaning, I realized that it was one of those concepts that I was already familiar with, I just didn't know that it actually had a name!  One of those times when you think to yourself, "I can't explain it, but when I see, I know it!"  I just finished up a week as the assistant administrator of a STEM Academy that we run with the help of the College of William & Mary each year, and one of the other administrators brought his Google glasses.  He let the kids try them out, and the adults were probably even more excited than the kids!  Google glasses are a great example of augmented reality as they flash information in front of your eyes.  Unlike virtual reality, which completely immerses you in a created world, augmented reality merely enhances your reality with additional graphics, sounds, smells, and sensory feedback.  

In the National Geographic article on augmented reality, it was neat to see that smartphones could be used to find much more than directions.  If a student was on a field trip, a smartphone could be used to find points of interest and additional information about monuments, constellations, landmarks, museums, etc.  For example, while visiting nearby Fredericksburg, VA, students could use their phones to not only see a map of the soldier's cemetery, but could also see pop-ups with biographies of famous soldiers buried there and historical facts about the battles fought in the area.

Photo credit: Keoni Cabral / Foter / CC BY

I found some great ideas of incorporating the use of QR codes into the library by researching on the internet.  One of the first sites I opened included "40 Interesting Ways to Use QR Codes in the Classroom" (click here to check it out!)  To expand on their ideas, here are some that I thought could be adapted to use in the library:

• Add QR codes to students' worksheets so that they can check their answers when they have completed questions.  For example, if a worksheet about the Dewey Decimal System had 10 questions, it could be made into a table with the question in one box, an empty box for the students' answers in the second box, and a QR code in the third box that could be scanned to "self check" once the answer was complete.  
• Use QR codes to advertise library events, such as book club meetings, book fair dates, etc.  They could be printed in bright colors on qrstuff.com  and displayed in the hallway outside the library for students to access easily.
• Add QR codes to the back of library books to enhance and extend the information from the material.  For example, if a student had just finished "Divergent", the QR code might link to the book trailers for "Allegiant" and "Insurgent" to entice the student to keep reading the series.  QR codes might also be linked to videos, such as interviews with the author, student-made book trailers, or a close up of locations that are described in the book.
• Display a QR code in a prominent place (such as the circulation desk) that links to the "video of the day" and change it daily/weekly/etc.  It might relate to a recent book talk, a best seller at the book fair, or a special library focus such as "banned book week" or "poetry month".
• Create a virtual tour of the library and link it on a QR code.  New students could access the QR code and "tour" the library before visiting it.  The QR code could also be used during library orientation.

Photo credit: bmann / Foter / CC BY-NC

References:

http://aftech.pbworks.com/f/40_Interesting_Ways_to_Use_QR_Codes_in_the_Cla(1).pdf.  Retrieved on June 28, 2015.

 Roth, V. (2013). Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books. 

http://www.qrstuff.com.  Retrieved on June 28, 2015.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/14/augmented-reality.  Retrieved on June 28, 2015.

My QR Code

I feel like this post should start with a disclaimer:  My name is Jessica and I have almost no experience with QR codes at all.  Whew, nice to have that out of the way!  Like most people, I see QR codes everywhere--the grocery store, classrooms, my kids' homework assignments, etc.  My son had a very technology-savvy math teacher who used them in her Algebra lessons two years ago.  And while I knew what a QR code looked like, I didn't know the wide selection of resources that you could link to them.  During a quick internet search for more information about how QR codes could be used in the classroom, I found out that there are full websites devoted just to QR code activities in school.  
I created a QR code using a QR Code Generator at www.qrstuff.com.  It allows you to make QR codes in different colors,which would be great if you did an activity that divided the kids into different groups.  My QR code links directly to Mr. Parr's YouTube channel.  I play a lot of his songs in my science class and the kids really like them.  Mr. Parr uses current songs and just changes the words to reflect science content, such as "The Water Cycle song" or "Biomes".  They are a great introduction, review, or reward.  With a QR code, students can access his songs with a click of their phones.

References

http://www.schrockguide.net/qr-codes-in-the-classroom.html

http://www.qrstuff.com/

Making Videos

For this week's Sandbox activities, I explored some website for creating videos.  I already have some experience with Windows Movie Maker because my students create amphibian metamorphosis movies each year when we cover different phyla of vertebrates.  I provide them with a pile of Play Doh, some digital cameras, and the laptops, and they run with it!  They make Play Doh models of the different stages of egg, tadpole, young adult, and adult frog and take pictures of each stage.  The students then put the photos into a filmstrip and add effects, titles, and credits.  Movie Maker has been my only experience, so it was fun to explore other sites.
I first visited animoto.com.  I didn't want to commit to an account, but I was required to in order to use the program.  I identified myself as a teacher and got extra time for my movies--bonus!  The site was easy to use--just upload your photos and add the pizazz!  My students would probably love this site, and I could see us using it for our amphibian movies instead of Movie Maker.  We could also use the site to make videos of different processes in life science, such as mitosis, DNA replication, or photosynthesis.
 I next visited photopeach.com and found a very user-friendly site.  T doesn't have much in the way of special effects, so after you put in your photos and add some captions, you have pretty much exhausted its capabilities.  My students would probably find this site to be very limiting.
I tried out Pixiclip because it seemed like a fun site for creating drawings/illustrations/pictures instead of video.  I saw from the site that I could add video with a webcam or record my voice.  I chose to just use the drawing tools and create an illustration of the cell cycle.  I found the drawing tools to be somewhat limiting (only two thicknesses of pencil and marker), limited color choices, and no preloaded shapes to drop into the picture.  I felt like a kid using an Etch-A-Sketch to get the drawings to somewhat resemble cells during replication!  Thank goodness for the "text" tool so I could add a label!  
My last visit was to powtoon.com.  I saw this program used in a training but have never used it myself.  I watched the tutorial and found it very easy to use!  I was making a movie within three minutes of opening the site.  My first attempt at a movie came to a halt when I tried to save it and was told I have to upgrade my account because I had used "premium" images.  My bad!  Instead of changing out all of the images, I just started from scratch--lesson learned!  I steered clear of any themes that included the word "premium" and was good to go.  
Check out my movie below:


References

Powtoon (2014).  http://www.powtoon.com

Animoto (2015).  http://www.animoto.com

Photo Peach (2015).  http://www.photopeach.com

Pixiclip (2015).  http://www.pixiclip.com/beta/