Because I work in the school library, I get to be involved with all 800 students in my school, from Kindergarten to fifth grade. Our school is in a small town in NC, but located on the edge of large towns. We have a range of economic needs in our school, giving us a high amount of free/reduced lunch students (fluctuates at about 35-40%), but just shy of enough for any federal Title I funding. Most of our school technology is dated from when the school opened in 2009, so it is becoming quite outdated for use with more current technologies.
I want all of my students to be engaged in projects, learn new skills, and have fun doing it so they learn that the library is not only a place to read, but so much more as they have fun, learn new skills, and look forward to learning!
Participating in projects in the school library helps even the field because every student comes to the library, regardless of their circumstances. Some of our kids have access to technology and lots of experiences with their families, while others do not.
My Project
I am always looking for new ways to excite my students about learning and tap into their interests while also honing technology skills and adapatability that will serve them in the future. There are several apps that I would like my K-5 students to have access to that will engage them in research and answering questions they are curious about! Now, we just need the tools. I want students to be able to learn new technology skills that are always changing and having 4 iPads is a good start toward working in small groups on cooperative projects using new ways to present information and share what they learn. Otterbox cases will help protect the iPads with heavy use by students in grades K-5. I have been to state library conferences and seen ways that other schools make these work and have tried out the suggested apps on my device at home, so I already have great plans on ways to use them with every grade level to impact over 800 kids!
Apps such as Chatterpix Kids, DoInk, and ShadowPuppets EDU will allow students to create presentations using green screens to make stop motion animation and videos with backgrounds, making photos "talk", creating photo slide shows with recorded narration, make digital books from their own writing and more!
We will focus on making classroom curriculum more concrete as students script and storyboard their presentations and present in a variety of ways. They can then teach each other as they share their creations and reinforce the concepts to the rest of the class. The younger students especially will be able to create and share without worrying about how well they can read and write.
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