iPad Thoughts - Part 1

Today I finally spent more time on the iPad I've been using to find APPS for teaching and learning in Brighton 27J.  Though there are some things I find very frusrating, I think now that I have it all set up for use, I will use it more.  This iPad is not 3G capable and I do not have internet access with it in the district.  I had to stay home (or go to a hotspot) to set it up and install the APPS to review.  And there are alot of them!! 

Downloading the APPS was frustrating.  There are pages and pages of iPad Education APPS.  Even with a fast wireless network, the iPad couldn't stay up with me.  At one point I was about 16 APPS ahead of the downloads.  To get to the APPS that were twenty pages in, I had to page through the entire twenty pages every time (did I miss something here?).  I did not like that at all, but I guess most people don't go downloading everything they can find in a category all at once or at least not after the initial first time.  I hope I don't have to do that again soon.

Dropbox was my first APP to load, and I like it for what I used it for - to load a CD's worth of files that I'd left at home on my MAC (but had uploaded to Dropbox) to my Hewlett Packard PC at work.  Worked great!  Still accessing those files from Dropbox as it is just easier.  But Dropbox can only upload video or photo files from the iPad it seems without finding an alternative APP.  So if you download a document type of file to the iPad, you have to find an APP to load it in to to edit it there and to be able to upload your revised version back to Dropbox.  Can anyone offer any insight into a better way to do this?

After I have review all of the free APPS for math, writing, reading, and etc., I will write part two of this blog post.  If anyone wants to share educational iPad APPS that they particularly like, please comment on this post.  Comment on the usefulness and quality of the APPS listed below if you have experience with any of them and thanks!

APPS to review include:

Books

1. Free Books
2. Umbrella
3. Wattpad
4. Kobo
5. DC Comics
6. Marvel
7. iBooks
8. Alice Lite

Language Arts

1. Word Search
2. ABC Phonics
3. Flashcards
4. Sight Words
5. NOVA Free
6. ABC Free
7. 123 Writing
8. Words HD Free
9. Phonics Free
10. Sight Words Free
11. ABC Writing Free
12. ABC Tracer
13. Play and Learn
14. Alphabet Racing

Math

1. Shapes Free
2. Dino Math
3. Dots
4. Piggy Math
5. Flash to
6. Math Ninja
7. Mad Math
8. Kids Math
9. Algebra
10. Math Play
11. Number Battle
12. Kosmic Math Lite
13. Math Board
14. Math Tour
15. Glow Burst
16. Graph Book
17. Under Sea Math
18. Kids Math
19. Units and Constants
20. Times Tables

Others

1. Mia's Playground
2. Virtuoso
3. Stack the States
4. Educa Food Free
5. Art HD

My New Second Home - Brighton, CO - Part 1

Today has been another reflective day for me as I get to know my new city, Brighton, CO.  No, I am not living there, but I am working there as Manager of Instructional Technology for Brighton School District 27J.  I am spending about ten hours a day in Brighton and the surrounding communities working to help use instructional technology as a tool in student learning. It is interesting how it feels to try to function in a new city when you don't know where the services you like or need to use are located.

The Brighton location of the Rangeview Anythink Library was one of my stops during my lunch hour.  I'd signed up for a temporary library card online which allowed me to request books and put books on hold.  Today I went by to get my official library card (so that I can access their online subscription databases) and to talk with Todd Cordrey, Anythink Manager, and Melody Costa, Guide, about working with the Brighton 27J school district.  My goal is to work toward registering all students and teachers as library patrons of Anythink.  Then they too can access the online subscription databases for school assignments and research.  Students throughout the district can have free access to safe, qualified resources through Anythinks subscription databases. For the district to purchase these databases would require funds of well over $50,000 annually.

One of my goals in my position is to find ways to most efficiently and effectively utilize the instructional technology tools already available to us.  I look forward to partnering with Lynda Freas, Anythink Adminstrator, to help all Brighton 27J students increase their access to information through Anythink membership and get online at school or at home using these 21st century tools to assist them in their learning. 

If you would like to help with this project scaling throughout the district, please comment on this post!

The databases available through Anythink include: 

Academic Search Premier
Search for scholarly articles from over 8,450 journals, including the social sciences, humanities, education, engineering, applied science, and ethnic studies fields. Full text is available for more than 4,600 journals.

 

ALLDATA
Find detailed car and service information from 1982 to present.

 

Ancestry: Library Edition
Discover more about your family history by searching a wide array of sources, including census reports, birth & death records, and immigration records. Fill in what you already know with newspaper articles, yearbook photos, and much more.

 

Associations Unlimited
Find information on over 475,000 non-profit organizations. Search by subject, location, organization name or acronym.

 

Beacham’s Guide to the Endangered Species of North America
Search extensive data on the habitats and ecosystems of more than 1,200 species identified as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.

 

Business Source Premier
View company profiles and full-text articles from over 2,150 business publications.

 

Chilton Library
Find step-by-step repair instructions, maintenance schedules, recalls, diagrams and more. Search by specific year, make and model.

 

Consumer Reports
Get ratings and reviews, recommendations and buying advice for thousands of products across several industries.

 

Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco: Learning About Addictive Behavior
Approximately 200 articles cover topics ranging from binge drinking to the role of genetics in addictive behavior for researchers in grade six and above.

 

EBSCOhost
Search across multiple EBSCOhost databases simultaneously.

 

Encyclopedia of World Biography
Learn about individuals who have made significant contributions to human culture throughout history and the world.

 

ERIC
Find education literature and information about practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making and research in this online digital library.

 

FirstSearch
Find library catalog records, journal articles, or ebooks by searching extensive collection of databases, including WorldCat, ArticleFirst, and MEDLINE.

 

Fuente Académica
Access articles in Spanish from scholarly journals published in Latin America, Portugal and Spain, with particular emphasis on the subjects of agriculture, biological sciences, economics and more.

 

Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia
Search over 25,000 encyclopedic entries covering a variety of subjects.  

 

Gale Legal Forms
Find and print up-to-date legal forms and informational booklets online, including forms for power of attorney, divorce and bill of sale.

 

History Reference Center
Thousands of biographies, historical documents, full-text articles, maps, historical video and more are available. 

 

Infobase Ebooks
Over 150 ebooks are now available right from your desktop on a variety of subjects - from health to history. Geared towards readers grades 6-12, users can view, search or print any of the titles.

 

LearningExpress Library
Take comprehensive, interactive online practice exams for academic, civil service, military, and professional licensing and certification exams. Registration is required.

 

MAS Ultra - School Edition
High school students can find articles, photos, maps, flags, biographies and more for their school projects. 

 

MasterFILE Premier
Access thousands of images and full-text articles from over 1,700 periodicals, nearly 500 reference books, and more than 164,400 primary source documents. MasterFILE Premier also includes an image collection of over 502,000 photos, maps and flags.

 

MedicLatina
Find medical research and investigatory journal articles from renowned Latin American and Spanish publishers, including full-text articles in native Spanish.

 

MedlinePlus
Learn information about drugs, latest health news, and find answers to health questions. An illustrated medical encyclopedia and interactive patient tutorials are also available.

 

Middle Search Plus
Middle and junior high school students can find historical essays, biographies, maps, images and more to help with school projects and research.

 

Newspaper Source
Search full-text articles from 25 national and 260 regional U.S. newspapers, including the Denver Post, Greeley Tribune and Pueblo Chieftain, and transcripts from TV and radio news.

 

NoveList
View fiction reviews, award-winner lists, and recommendations. Includes breakdowns by age and genre as well as resources for book discussions and curriculum.

 

NoveList K-8
Fiction guide for young readers includes discussion guides, award-winner lists and recommendations.

 

PubMed
Access thousands of biomedical citations and abstracts from over 5,000 journals published in the United States and 80 other countries.

 

Primary Search
Elementary kids can find articles on every subject for their school projects.

 

ReferenceUSA
Research businesses and individuals for class projects or market research for small businesses. Search for professional biographies, brands and products, or contact information.

 

Regional Business News
Search articles from regional business publications and full-text for more than 50 sources.

 

Science Reference Center
Learn about topics from biology and chemistry to environmental science from this comprehensive research database of science-oriented content, including full-text for over 600 science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals and more.

 

TopicSearch
Find over 139,800 articles on current events topics like aging, crime, drugs, energy, health, human rights and world affairs, from over 4,800 sources, with 1,650 full-text periodicals.

 

TumbleBooks
Online, animated talking books for kids in English, French and Spanish. Includes puzzles, games and audio books for independent learning.

 

TumbleReadables
Search online collection of read-along titles for elementary, middle school and high school students featuring adjustable online text and complete audio narration.

 

TumbleTalkingBooks
Listen to high-quality audio versions of classics of American and world literature, non-fiction, fiction, and children and teen books. Ideal for readers of all ages and abilities, those learning English as a second language, and people who may be visually or mobility impaired.

 

Illumination and Transformation - 2010 CAL Conference Exciting Sessions!

What a great conference this year!  The brand new facility, the keynotes, the presentations, the layout of the conference all were fantastic!  Thank you CAL Conference Committee for all of your hard work!

This was my 6th year to attend CAL and my 3rd year to work on the signage for the conference.  Here are the events from which I benefited.

1. Keynote "Beyond Information to Transformation".  It's all about choice, fun, hospitality, no guilt, relationships, community, favorites, tools and simplicity. For more information, click on the linkable title to go to the website by the presentators.
2. Session "Uncover...Discover...and Read" - a digital book talk on teens and tweens books by Brighton 27J Teacher Librarians Tiah Frankish, PVMS and Dawn Lewallen, Stuart Middle School. Check out their blog:  ConsumedByBooks's Blog.
3. Session "Library Advocacy with the Maasai in Residence Program at ThunderRidge High School" - where their library hosted a Maasai warrior from Tanzania for a week of interactive lessons and cultural exchange.  If you want to get in on it, he'll come to your school for a full day for $500.  Contact Paula Busey at ThunderRidge.
4. Keynote "I'm Sorry You Hated This Book:  A Conversation with Censored Author Lauren Myracle" - an Intellectual Freedom best-ever session in my opinion.
5. Session "Unconference within a Conference:  School Librarians and the new Content Standards:  Taking the Lead with 21st Century Skills".  Wow - click on the session linked title to see all of the great information on their CASL wikispaces! 
6. Session "Becoming Anythink - How Rangeview Library District turned everything upside down or at least sideways".  They eliminated fines, thought totally out of the box for Summer Reading, energized themselves into such positive power houses individually and as a group.  I went to this session specifically because in my tours of my new district, I've seen their mobile libraries at our schools.
7. The Colorado Association of School Librarians Board Meeting - At this meeting I joined the Awards Committee and will be doing the publication of this effort through Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the like.  We also as a CASL membership are doing a letter writing campaign to publicize the awesome stories going on in our districts through the local newspapers.  Thank you to the CASL Board for preparing all of the collateral material needed to make this easy for us.  This project aligns right in with a project we brainstormed in our District Leadership monthly meeting - marketing our schools and our district by sharing positive stories that are happening everyday in our schools.
8. Session "Libraries:  Are we the center of our community?  John Creighton, public policy researcher, community organizer and St. Vrain Valley School District School Board President, presented his finding from his analysis of public trends and community values and forecast impacts on our institutions. The shifts that are impacting communication, school districts, and politics impact libraries as well.  John's visonary thinking enabled me to see and understand how we need to look at our potential roles for the future differently.  It was a new way of thinking for me and I must say exciting!

All of the session handouts will eventually be available on the CAL Conference Handouts Link.  Check back occasionally so that you can benefit from these great sessions as well.

Did you attend CAL?  What were the"bests" for you?

Thank You Everyone!

I started a new job this week with Brighton 27J.  The position is Manager of Instructional Technology - the same position I had with St. Vrain Valley School District for the past five years.  During those five years at St. Vrain, I worked with and got to know many, many wonderful folks.  Holli Buchter, the Coordinator for Media Services, I believe, has had a hand in a very positive first week for me.  Some how many of these great people found out that my new job started this week and every day so far, I have received emails wishing me well in my new position!  Hearing from everyone such positive and loving comments has really made my week and I so appreciate it!

Thank you so much everyone!  The emails of support and care as well as those that have me and my best in their thoughts mean so much to me.  You guys are really making me learn all over again what true friendship is all about.   I am so lucky to have you all in my life!

The picture above is from my second year with St. Vrain's wonderful library folks.  It is one captured memory of some of the kind and loving men and women I am honored to know in the library world.

Friendship - you've all certainly shown me its value and reward.  I hope that my girl's realize its value over the long term and get to experience such a wonderful feeling of warmth and caring.  You are all very special to me and this feeling and experience has really helped make my transition to my new district a positive, exciting one.

By the way, I am loving my new opportunity in Brighton and look forward to having a positive effect on the achievement of Brighton 27J's students.  Wonder if I should present the idea of  a Student Technology Fair in Brighton?  :)

Hugs,

Connie

One of the Best Learning Adventures

A learning adventure that I only remember once during my youth (at age 14 in the White Mountains of Arizona) is camping.  My memories of that particular camping experience were my brand new white tennis shoes getting wet in the creek and my Mom putting them by the fire to dry and theyir suffering a burn :) and brushing my teeth over the creek (we wouldn't do that anymore).  I wish I had had more camping experiences, but have made up for it as an adult and parent.

Reflection is at its best in the flames of the fire at night with an alternate view of the Milky Way,  the trickling of a waterfall in the creek over the rocks and pebbles, and walking alone with your thoughts and feelings, but also with family and friends on a hike with millions of views of nature along the path.

Normally we see beautiful rocks, flowers of every color and size, boundless greenery as well as pine trees dying from bark beetle infestations, remains of past fires, bones of animals, feathers of birds, beaver dams, animal tracks including domestic ones and most anything else you can imagine.  This past weekend was a first - "gillions and gillions" of mushrooms.  Every size and color and quantity!  

Beautiful red!!

We called these popcorn!

Where are the fairies?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We saw white, orange, brown ones.  You know - the ones you always see.  But we also saw gold and purple tops like the red one.

This was the first camping trip ever for my new daughter.  I dare say the five mile hike in the wilderness with the 700' elevation climb was a first as well.  It was awesome to see her intrigue with the rocks of every shape, size and color. We were lucky to have additional family to mentor her along the way.  Change - denial, anger, sadness at what happens to you in life can be reflected upon as you walk safely in nature.  It is hard, hard, hard.  But as hard as it is, it is good, releasing and healthy.

I had to leave early to get to another commitment, but I heard that  both daughters with us were awesome breaking camp!  Yea!  Great kids! Almost adults. . . Sad though, they didn't want to go back next weekend like we older folks do.  Hope we didn't over do the hike length.  Time will tell.

What have you learned, reflected upon as you camped?

A New Learning Adventure!

3X School starts today for my "triplet" 17 year old high schoolers. Yes I said "triplet". This week we gained guardianship of a friend of Jacey's so my twins now have another sister! She spent the summer with us and I watched everyone grow as a result. Now we all have the opportunity to grow and learn even more. I plan to journal our journey over this next year, so stay tuned. She is our second daughter through guardianship. We learned and grew so much with our first guardian daughter - I am excited about what this next year and on will enable me to learn. Join me in the journey. Happy First Day of School!

How Can We Help Those Students That Should Be Entrepreneurs?

What programs are out there to support a passion for entrepreneurship? Do K12 schools address this? What universities are offering this field as a major? This TED idea really has me thinking? Let me know of positive opportunities of which you may know. Thanks!

Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. At TEDxEdmonton, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish -- as kids and as adults.