Book Spine Poetry Contest -- National Poetry Month -- April 2016

If This, Then What?!?

I've been trying to get a handle on my social media posting.  Basically I want to be able to post once and have it feed to all of my media outlets.  I finally figured out this recipe through ifttt.com...

If I post to Instagram, it posts to Twitter -- picture and text...

Twitter posts forward to Facebook.

If I post to YouTube, it posts to Twitter...then to Facebook.

If I post to Instagram, it saves a copy of the picture and the text to an IFTTT Google folder.

Then it hit me....what about folks not on social media?  So, I added a PGM Announcements blog:  pgmannouncements.blogspot.com

Now, if I post to Instagram, it creates a new post on the pgmannouncements blog.

January/February 2016

January and February have been rough months this year....

Wanting to drum up reading to kick off 2016, I started 16 Reading Resolutions for 2016.  Students who complete the 16 resolutions by May 11 will be invited to the library picnic in May.  Here are the resolutions:

1. Read a new book from your favorite author.
2. Read one book related to your favorite subject in school.
3. Read an autobiography or biography.
4. Read a book that takes place in another world or another part of our world.
5. Read a book that your best friend recommends.
6. Read a random book from the library.
7. Read a book from a series.
8. Read a book your teacher recommends.
9. Read your parent’s favorite children’s book.
10. Read a blue book.
11. Read an historical fiction book.
12. Read a book that is also a movie.
13. Read a book you can finish in a day.
14. Read a book published in the year you were born.
15. Read a Newbery Award or Honor book.
16. Reread your favorite book of all time.

Students pick up a log from the library to record their meeting the resolutions. Here's that log. Feel free to make a copy, edit, and use.

I also took the Getting Going with GAFE course from Richard Byrne and learned A LOT! (Resources from the class saved in Google Drive in the folder GGWG.)

We prepped for a Groovy Book Fair that even though we did a Family Night with free Spaghetti Supper, still didn't do very well. I don't think February is the ideal time to hold one with folks still recovering from Christmas. The STEM Night, however, was great with our three grade level BLAST groups showcasing their current project.

Here's the Save the Date:

Here's the Agenda for the night:

The event was covered by the Valdosta Daily Times, and here's the article.

We then connected with a class in Ontario, Canada and another in Maryland via Twitter and Google Hangout to discuss biodiversity among our three vastly different areas.  

We also rebranded our social media so that we maintained the same handle across all platforms.  We went from being either PGMVikings OR PineGroveMiddle to being just PGMVikings.  That way when we are tagged on one social media channel, and those posts are forwarded on to other social media, we are tagged there as well.  Well worth the time and effort to simplify.

March Madness kicked off at the end of February so that we have enough time to narrow down our brackets from a starting lineup of 50 books to the final matchup.  The brackets are hung in the hallway with the starting 32 that made the cut.  Folks can vote to narrow 32 down to 16 through Sunday, March 6.  Here's what the hall looks like:

Media Specialist Job-Alike Feb. 25, 2016

Making A Makerspace and Marketing Your Media Center
Lindsey Martin - Hahira Middle School
lindseymartin@lowndes.k12.ga.us

Click here for Lindsey's presentation.

MakerSpaces

10-minute Maker Challenge -- make the tallest structure with uncooked spaghetti, marshmallows, and masking tape

Find Maker challenges on Pinterest.  Funding from Dollar General Literacy Grant - - visit the Dollar General website for grant details and application.  Follow Lindsey on Pinterest - @lindseyrmartin

How can you set this up in your library?  Use a room in the library, corner, or a CART.  Who comes up with the project ideas?  YOU and the students.

Catapult Challenge -- popsicle sticks, marshmallows -- make a catapult to propel the marshmallow the farthest.

Green Room for Student Projects
Green Screen App by DoInk
iPad mounted to tripod
Green wall/green outdoor carpet
Allows students to create projects that put the student IN the location.

RESA Media Specialist Job-Alike

Thanks for your enthusiasm during Thursday's RESA Job-Alike session.  Please accept my apologies for talking so fast -- I get terribly nervous speaking in front of adults and tend to talk fast when nervous.  In case I went over something too quickly, I thought I'd add a review of the things we seemed to talk about the most.  Here's a copy of the Google presentation I used:  Presentation

First, if you aren't on Twitter, I encourage you to join.  Even if it's just to stalk.  It's a great avenue for professional development.  I'm on Twitter as me (@hmmorin) and as Pine Grove Middle (@PGMVikings).  Alice Keeler is a great person to follow if you are interested in Google (@alicekeeler).

I also manage all of the PGM social media accounts, so if you're looking to get started with it, checkout the kinds of things we post!  We're on Instagram as @PGMVikings.  We're on Facebook as PGMVikings.  We also have a YouTube account where I share clips from pep rallies, chorus and band concerts, etc: https://www.youtube.com/user/PineGroveMiddle.  It's the most effective way to get the word out and to toot your own horn!  I created a "recipe" via the If This, Then That website (www.ifttt.com).  Our recipe specifies that I post on Instagram first.  Anything that is posted to Instagram automatically posts to Twitter and then to Facebook.  It also specifies that if I post an image to Instagram it also saves a copy of that image to a Google Drive folder that is shared with our yearbook sponsor.  IFTTT is a cool site to use that will really help you work more efficiently!  There are all kinds of recipes you can create and all kinds of already created recipes you can borrow.

The next biggie was Hour of Code.  That's just the idea that every student is given a specific block of time to try coding -- writing the set of directions that tell a computer what to do.  For more information and to get involved with your school, check out www.code.org.  Feel free to use and share the Symbaloo I created full of coding resources:  https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/coding131

We all shared our great success stories from this year to our Padlet, and the group favorite was the ability to make Destiny sing different sounds when checking in and out books.  Laura shared some directions in an email, but here they are as well in a Google Doc.  Thanks to Cheryl Youse for typing them up and sharing them:

Back Office>Site Configuration>Circulation>Circulation Sounds (all the way at the bottom), hit change and then upload what you want (our computer is currently gobbling) and don't forget to hit save. They should all work. Can't be longer than 2 seconds and must be wav files. Feel free to add any you find or create (I use audacity to edit.)!

I think we have a lot to share with each other as a group, so to help us all stay connected, please take a moment to fill out the information spreadsheet and also share the spreadsheet with other media specialists in your district so we have a good collection of resources in our area.  Here's a link to the spreadsheet: CPRESA Media Specialist Spreadsheet

Feel free to email or call me if I can ever be of help!
Heather Morin
heathermorin@lowndes.k12.ga.us
229-219-3244

November 2015

November was a blur between the GaETC and the book fair. We coupled the book fair with the 6th Grade Thanksgiving lunch and then hosted a parent night in conjunction with the 6th Grade Choir Show. The result was one of the best book fairs ever. We began working on the development of our MakerSpace to take the place of the media center office. We ordered kits from LittleBits, an Ozobot, conductive ink and LED lights, and a Raspberry Pi GoGrove kit from Dexter Industries. For the moment, the plan is to create a "genius hour" to give students the opportunity to solve engineering challenges or to simply "make". The First Annual PGM Film Festival was carried out throughout November with all Film Festival submissions due on November 30. The following are the criteria for movie trailer submissions:  

--Must be no more than TWO MINUTES.

--Must include the title and author of the book and your name on the title slide at the beginning of the trailer.

--Must upload the video to your Google Drive and then share the video with Mrs. Morin OR email your video to heathermorin@lowndes.k12.ga.us if the app you’re using doesn’t allow you to download the video.  (See Mrs. Morin if you have any trouble submitting your video!)  

--Must be original material created by YOU! Be mindful of copyrighted music and images.  See Mrs. Morin if you need help with copyright.

You may create the video in any software program or app.  It can be live action, stop-motion, cartoon, LEGO, slideshow -- whatever!  Checkout Videolicious, Animoto, Windows MovieMaker, iMovie, Shadow Puppet (app), Tellagami (app), Blabberize, JellyCam, OSnap, WeVideo or any other app, software, or web-based video creation tools!  The only limit is your creativity!

On November 30, there were two submissions. I uploaded them to YouTube and then embedded them in a Google form for voting. The two videos are:

https://youtu.be/e29fL2mXDSQ -- Ben Hardy's Percy Jackson video

https://youtu.be/_V8XnCjb1rE -- Dariana Waters's Payback video

Hour of Code Symbaloo