Chris over at Infomancy posted a link to this great Firefox download manager plugin called DownThemAll. I just snagged every handout from the AASL conference for my perusal in a matter of seconds. Great plugin, great resource. Thanks Chris!
The Chronicle of Higher Ed has a piece on a new report: “The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy,” released by American University’s Center for Social Media.
Because they are afraid of violating copyright, “teachers use less effective teaching techniques, teach and transmit erroneous copyright information, fail to share innovative instructional approaches, and do not take advantage of new digital platforms.”
I would say this goes double, triple for schools. Only Freedom of Speech and Free Access to Information seem to be given up quicker than Fair Use in schools these days, if the listservs and newspapers are any indication of the real situation.
Here’s a new phrase for me: hyper-comply
Hyper-comply…some people… over-comply with copyright law, and even forego using legitimate teaching tools and techniques for fear of violating copyright.
Flotsam, by David Wiesner, Red Clover book and recent winner of the Quill award was a real fun read with the primary grades. First, we went through the book together (Wordless books are a challenge for read aloud. What works for me is letting each student narrate one page as I project it. Elmos are fabulous for this. )
Then, inspired by the wonderful illustrations and the fun ideas in the book, we made some great art.
We made our own versions of under-the-sea fantasy worlds and took photos within photos over time, like those in the book. It was really fun helping the kids figure out where they would be in the finished product. The last kids often said - aw, we’ll be so tiny! Then, after some thought they’d realize it went backward, and the most recent photo was the largest.
Oh, and there’s a beautiful book trailer at this site that might come in handy for anyone booktalking Flotsam.
I’m usually not one to get all mushy and anthropomorphize animals. But since Owen & Mzee is on the DCF list this year, and since I’m doing non-fiction informational texts & animal research with my 3/4 grade right now, I thought it would be a good read-aloud. It was.
Plus, there’s a nice video on the book’s website. I showed a segment in class and the kids enjoyed seeing the animals. They also have some fun animated shorts.
And then wouldn’t you know it? This little gem was sent to me today.
It’s part of a talk on animals at play by Stuart Brown. A great story about a polar bear playing with a husky, with amazing photos. Wow, wow!
I can’t wait to show them tomorrow.
I don’t use much video in my lessons, it’s not a popular medium at my school and I really don’t like to encourage too much screen time. But this short video from Google does such a good job of explaining how they collect information on their users that I think I might just try it out on my JH kids.
I’ll certainly show it to the teachers, I get many questions on privacy and search engines.
Link to the Google Video On YouTube
I had a great time at the VSLA fall conference yesterday. What a super bunch of librarians there are in this state.
My page of links is here, for anyone interested.