This year, before school started, I created a website: iGould. This site began as a way for my classes and students to start each class, as well as provide resources and games they can use in their homeroom or at home. From there, it has morphed into a resource for parents, as well as a resource for teachers. This has easily become my staff development website and web 2.0 tool. The teacher section of the iGould website is broken into three sections: useful weblinks, my App and website blog, and resource modules. Teachers have expressed to me their appreciation for having many of the websites used within our school or district in one place. Some have even begun to use it as their home page on their school computer so they have an easy jump page to needed websites.
What needed to be added was a "2.0" area. This is what sparked the blog. Many teachers have asked me for useful apps or websites to work on various skills or concepts. On the flip side, many teachers also share with me many websites they find. The blog will become a place where I can share apps and websites I find whether on my own or shared from a colleague. This in turn allows comments from colleagues to discuss how they have used the item in their classroom, or even other tools they have found!
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Throughout the week, I have been helping Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Chen sort and shelf returned books. This is a daily (or more.... many times more) task. It has taken me a while to get the hang of the locations and placement of books in the library. Nonfiction is fairly easy, since it outlines the walls of the media center. Fiction is much harder. The fiction section of the Gould Media Center is split into two sections: Easy Fiction (picture books) and Fiction (chapter books). Within these two sections, the books are shelved depending upon the grade level that will be looking for them.
In the easy fiction section, books that have an AR level below 2.0 are shelved according to AR level. This helps kindergarten, first grade, and beginning readers locate books on their level quite easily. Books labeled as easy fiction with an AR level above 2.0 are sorted by author. The Fiction section is also sorted by author. However, some series in both sections have their own sections. Popular series within the school, such as Goosebumps, American Girl, Hank the Cowdog, and Geronimo Stillton are placed in special sections close to where their authors would be located. Remembering all the separate series and their locations have been the one hang-up I've had when helping sort/shelve books. This week I attended a Technology/Media Center Committee Meeting. During the meeting the team discussed various sources of grants and funding. The media center is looking for ways to enhance the technology available for teachers at Gould. Some of the methods discussed were various grants from local companies such as Gulf Stream and Georgia Pacific. Also grants from larger corporations, such as Walmart, Sams, and Kroger were also discussed. Below I am attaching the minutes from the meeting that were sent to all members of the committee. Similar to last week, I spent most of the week making sure hardware and software was installed correctly in classrooms. This week it was time for the Mimios! A Mimio is a bar that attaches to the teachers white board and projector. Teachers can then use a pen/stylus to control the computer much like a SMART Board or Promethean Board. The biggest difference between the Mimio and a true interactive white board (IWB) is the price. Mimios are only around $700 each, and are much more portable than an IWB. This week I went to each grade level, and made sure the Mimio was setup, projectors were calibrated, and software installed correctly on the display computer. For more information on the MimioTeach, check out their website!
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Jason SmithJason Smith is the 3rd & 4th Grade Gifted Facilitator at Gould Elementary. Archives
March 2017
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