October 30, 2013

TV and Production Class

Sharing...

Here's a really nice video the students in my TV and Production class produced last week.  It's a promotional video for my school, Wendell Phillips Academy High School.  

Enjoy!

Schoology @Phillips HS

Yes, my school is a Schoology school!

     Schoology is an online learning, classroom management, and social networking platform that improves learning through better communication, collaboration, and increased access to curriculum and supplemental content.   Teachers in my building use this website heavily and the students love it.  Many students have downloaded the app on their Android/iPhone devices and enjoy completing their classwork and homework assignments with greater ease.

     Below is a video highlighting how my co-worker, Ms Decker effectively integrates Schoology into her daily lessons.   Library Media Specialists:  This is another way you can support the curriculum at your school. Videotape your peers teaching lessons that successfully integrate technology and share it with other teachers.  Maybe just maybe, videos like this will inspire teachers to try integrating more technology in their classroom.

     Sorry for the shaky camera work.  I had the flu when I shot this video.


If you would like to learn more about Schoology, play the video below.

A Gift From My Students


My students have given me a gift...the flu then a very bad cold.  
I haven't had the flu since 1999, so this bug really hit me hard.   
All I have to say is....I suffered, I endured and I am now over it.
Now it's time to play catch up on EVERYTHING.....I'm so far behind.

Everyone please take care of yourself!

Struggling Readers & the Common Core

Last week I was a panelist on webinar hosted by Booklist Magazine.  It was fun, and I gained so much information from my fellow presenters.  Click the link below so that you will be redirected to the network recording player.  Just click on the playback button and enjoy the webinar.  
(October 22, 2013) 
     The goal of the Common Core is to accelerate students’ reading achievement to grade level by the end of 2014, but educators can’t begin to make an impact on young adults who are reading below grade level without rich resources to aid them.   In this webinar, sponsored by Orca Book Publishers and Saddleback Education, an expert panel will offer tips about how to implement the Common Core State Standards with struggling and striving readers in the middle- and high-school classroom.

October 19, 2013

iMovie and Librarians

Today I am presenting at the Chicago Public Schools 'iPads for Librarians Professional Development Session'.  This journey describes by 18 month journey using the powerful iMovie app and how it has changed my job description and duties at my school.  Just click the arrow at the bottom to advance each slide.

Enjoy!


October 13, 2013

Blown Away


     Recently I was blown away by a message on Twitter.  On October 1st, I posted a story describing a co-teaching lesson I did with the Leadership Department about Emmett Till.  I shared this post through my social media networks and was contacted by the The Mamie Till Mobley Foundation.   I really worked hard on this presentation and to receive this message from the foundation's @EmmettTillTalks Twitter page was an honor.

     Make sure you visit the website and Twitter page, I conveniently created direct links above highlighted in blue.

All I can do is say, WOW!
The foundation re-tweeted my post!

Girls and Technology


INSPIRATION!
Picture courtesy of Google Images
I just love the Young Women's Academy Leadership classes at Phillips.  I just wish this was in place when I was enrolled in high school.  I'm proud of my female students, in particular with their ability to grasp onto new technologies this year.

Yes, my girls rock!  Whether it's their cell phone or a computer, my students definitely know how to use technology.  I've been quietly observing some of the class projects and assignments over the last couple of week and they look really good.  Once the grading quarter is over, I'll share some of them with you.

Until then, here are a couple of pictures of the girls in action.
Students use the Ask3 app in their Leadership Class
to post comments on a discussion thread..
I call this 'Art Meets Technology'.  A student logs onto her classroom
laptop so that she can complete a DO NOW assignment.
What would they do without their cell phones?
Two sisters these Galaxy 3 cases!
Now my girls have influenced me.  The case on the left is mine!

#WorkFlow


   A couple of you emailed and wanted to know how I start my day and what my circulation desk/area looks like.  Well here it is!

     I try to begin my day with forgetting all of the things that annoyed me the day before.  Since I'm on the run in the morning, I have to be creative.  Smoothies and my detox drink are my weapon of choice.  As far as what my circulation desk looks like....A HOT MESS!  I'm a solo librarian so I try the best I can to circulate/shelve books, support the curriculum/technology integration and keep a tidy space.
   
     Here's a couple of pictures I've taken over the last eight weeks that I'm willing to share.


One of my Fall book displays, my students helped me with this one.
The clock is just struggling on the shelf since it had a disagreement with the wall.


Breakfast smoothie:  cucumbers, melons and strawberries.

This is the most uncluttered part of my circulation desk!
My trusty Mac Book Pro and LMC iPads.  I try to drink a jug of my
detox drink of cucumbers, lemons, limes and fresh mint everyday.
One of my new Fall Book Displays.
Some of my students created this one and did a good job!

Pictures of family, friends and former students.
I keep my Librarian bling shirts on display at all times!
Another bling shirt and pictures with various authors and entertainers.
I use this as a conversation piece for my students.
This sign is in support of my football players who are avid readers.
I had to move the football behind the circulation desk.  The boys
were having a little too much fun with it on the floor.






Struggling Readers and Common Core

I will be participating in an upcoming webinar!  See the announcement below.


Event status:(Register)
Date and time:Tuesday, October 22, 2013 1:00 pm
Central Daylight Time (Chicago, GMT-05:00) 
Program:
Booklist Webinars
Duration:1 hour
Description:
The goal of the Common Core is to accelerate students’ reading achievement to grade level by the end of 2014, but educators can’t begin to make an impact on young adults who are reading below grade level without rich resources to aid them. In this hour-long, free webinar, sponsored by Orca Book Publishers and Saddleback Education, an expert panel will offer tips about how to implement the Common Core State Standards with struggling and striving readers in the middle- and high-school classroom.

Presenters:
KC Boyd is a library media specialist in inner-city Chicago and author of the popular blog The Audacious Librarian.
Troy Fresch is the Assistant Principal at Tustin High School in Tustin, California and has served on the Tustin Unified School District’s Common Core implementation team.
Tim McHugh is the co-owner and VP of Sales/Marketing at Saddleback Educational Publishing.
Andrew Wooldridge is publisher at Orca Books and the editor of several series of successful novels for middle and high school readers.

October 1, 2013

Bronzeville History


Students are viewing a clip from the award winning series, "Eyes On the Prize"

Wendell Phillips Academy High School is located in Chicago's historic Bronzeville south side neighborhood.   Bronzeville served as place of 'new opportunities' for millions of African-Americans when they left rural southern states to come 'north' for a new life.  Many stopped in Chicago, while other families continued on to Detroit, New York and California.

The Leadership Department at my school decided to create a unit for the entire student body about people in history who displayed admirable leadership/courage during trying times.  The topic they selected was The Murder of Emmett Till.  Through this lecture I've been giving this week, the students are learning about the leadership/courage of:
- Mamie Till Mobley (mother of Emmett Till),
- John H. Johnson (Publisher, Ebony/Jet Magazine),
- Ahmed Rayner (funeral home director)
- and Mose Wright (uncle of Emmett Till).

The goal of this lesson was to not only discuss their displays of leadership, but to also educate the students about the historical influence the key players had as it relates to their grassroots in Bronzeville.  So far, the students have really enjoyed the lecture/presentation.

I will like to add that I've taught this lesson off and on for over ten years.  Each time I teach this lesson, I learn something new.  The Keith Beauchamp documentary called, The Untold Story of Emmett Till, provides historians with a new and fresh perspective about the unsolved civil rights era murder.  I credit much of my lecture to the new research provided by Beauchamp's film.

The Emmett Till story is an important story that must be re-told to generations to come.  Below you will find the powerpoint presentation as well as a internet pathfinder.  The teachers that I am co-teaching with have plans to load this pathfinder into each classes Schoology pages for further discussion and study.

Emmett Till Internet Pathfinder
Compiled by KC Boyd, M.L.S., M.A., M.Ed.

Online Interactive Resources
PBS American Experience - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/index.html  
The Murder of Emmett Louis Till: The Spark that Started the Civil Rights
Movement - http://www.edwardmalone.com/Murder.htm Emmett Till Murder - http://www.emmetttillmurder.com/
Emmett Till – Biography Channel -
http://www.biography.com/people/emmett-till-507515

The Courage of Mamie Till Mobley and Jet Magazine Editor/Chief
Emmett’s Legacy: A Mother Keeps Her Son’s Name Alive
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-09- 05/features/9509050005_1_tallahatchie-river-mississippi-naacp-black-race
The Face of Emmett Till -
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/05/14/731205/-The-Face-of-Emmett- Till-UPDATED
Emmett Till – A Story With Lasting Power -
http://barrybradford.com/2013/08/29/guest-post-emmett-till-a-story-with- lasting-power/

Videos
Eyes On the Prize: Emmett Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxK8u58PqTE
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvijYSJtkQk
Very short account of the Murder of Emmett Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7Dn5fw0cY
The Emmett Tlll Case Re-Opened: 60 Minutes (Ed Bradley) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQC5WJMYaug

Books
Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America by Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson http://www.amazon.com/Death-Innocence-Story-Changed- America/dp/0812970470/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 3&keywords=emmett+till
Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till By Simeon Wright and Herb Boyd http://www.amazon.com/Simeons-Story-Eyewitness-Account- Kidnapping/dp/1569768196/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223046&sr=8- 1&keywords=emmett+till
Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case By Chris Crowe
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Away-Murder-Story- Emmett/dp/0803728042/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 2&keywords=emmett+till
A Wreath for Emmett Till
By Marilyn Nelson
http://www.amazon.com/Wreath-Emmett-Till-Marilyn- Nelson/dp/0547076363/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 5&keywords=emmett+till

Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin Comparison
A Longer Look at the Emmett Till- Trayon Martin Comparison
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolaus-mills/emmett-till-trayvon- martin_b_3606636.html
NAACP Compares Trayvon Martin Death To Emmett Till Lynching
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/07/16/NAACP-Compares- Trayvon-Martin-Death-to-Emmett-Till-Lynching
Justice Denied: Is Trayvon Martin Post-Racial America’s Emmett Till?
http://www.nationofchange.org/justice-denied-trayvon-martin-post-racial- america-s-emmett-till-1374329793

Picture of Ahmed Rayner
Courtesy of Pamela Rayner, October 2013