Linda Librarian's 12 Days of Christmas Gifts To Staff

Gifts? Already?photo © 2007 Kasia | more info (via: Wylio)


Good morning Colleagues,

Here are the 12 Days of Christmas Gifts I emailed you, all in one spot, for easy access at your convenience. I hope they bring you enjoyment and inspiration for this semester.

1st Day

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Here's The BEST of 2010, arranged by Topic, for the BEST GROUP of People I Know.

My Best of Series: Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/about/my-best-of-series/

I hope you find something you like.

2nd Day 

Merry Day-after-Christmas, Everyone,

Here's a nice list for you to browse.

130 Tools in 160 Minutes
http://www.librarystuff.net/130tools

Although it says 130, I see only 106 (I guess the content has been updated) -- it's definitely worth a scroll to see if any of the tools pique your interest.

And if you've already using some of these tools and can recommend them, please let me know so I can pick your brain.

3rd day
 
Merry 3rd day of Christmas! Yes, I'm aiming for 12 crème de la crème links -- we'll see how it goes.

Maybe there are some points mentioned here you haven't thought about:

A Dozen Ways to Teach Ethical and Safe Technology Use 
by Doug Johnson (one of my library gurus)

Re: Points #11 and #12: Roberta and I are building a website for students and parents: Internet Safety>Citizenship>Outreach. Let us know if you want to contribute (the Outreach section needs help). Please feel free to use the (anonymous) suggestion box on the site.

4th Day

I know you could write your own idea blog if you had the time and the inclination (seriously), but you might find some gems here:

100 Seriously Cool Classroom Blogs for Teaching Ideas & Inspiration

The blogs are listed in the following categories: General Elementary, Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Middle School, High School, Language Arts, History and Social Studies, Science and Math, International, Technology, and Elective Courses.

5th Day 

Holiday Edition: 47 Alternatives to YouTube

Here are three from the list that caught my attention:

12. CNN Student News
26. In addition to resources for learning languages, LangMedia offers a section called Culture Talk, LangMedia Culture Talk
41. The Futures Channel has come to the rescue of Math teachers who are constantly asked the question, "when are we ever going to use this?"

6th Day

Who doesn't love a quiz that's super-easy to grade? I know some of you already use them (I would love to hear about which ones you use)

Here's a great, quick tutorial on:

YouTube - Using Google Forms to Create a (sic) online Quiz

I just learned how to use Google Forms and I love it. Here's an example of a Suggestion Box I made: Suggest a Link or a Book  that's on the new library site (officially unveiling the site on 1/10).  Feel free to make a suggestion now, if you want -- it's anonymous :D

7th Day  

For the 7th day of Christmas, I'm happy to share some goodies from Louis, Martin, and Makalani ...

Student Class Evaluation Form by Louis using Google Forms
http://spreadsheets.google.com/a/seaburyhall.org/viewform?formkey=dElhMU0xSmJTbHdXVjVBVXlIdWpxRVE6MQ

SH Paddling Page w/ Photos & Video, created by Martin using Google Sites
https://sites.google.com/site/seaburypaddling/home

Video: "Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU
(This is Andrew Park's 4 min. illustration of part of Steven Johnson's TED Talk 17:46)
Shared by Makalani, w/ a note from her: "This is encouraging for teachers working with the internet generation." I'm ordering 2 copies of the book, titled: Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. Let me know if you want to borrow.

8th day

Happy New Year, Everyone,

Today is the 8th day of Christmas, and I hope you enjoy these 1-page COMIC tutorials, done by Gwyneth Jones, the Daring Librarian:

#1 some of you have asked about,
#2 is a great source for professional development,
#3 is a bit of information geekery -- a hot topic these days,
#4 you may be surprised that I included -- read the comic to see why,
#5 no explanation necessary
    1. KEEP VID - How to Download YouTube Videos to your computer for school use
    2. TWITTER at a Glance
    3. QR CODES
    4. Teaching WIKIPEDIA
    5. BACKING UP  YOUR FILES Using the Burn Folder
All the best to all of us, in 2011.

9th Day

Good morning, Folks,

Here are 3 goodies for the 9th day:

#1 explores the work of Seabury grad Dr. Stephen Macknik '86 (and his wife), with visual and sensory awareness
#2 is an ad-free, free site for sending photos and video in various ways
#3 is a fun global project, to chronicle and share a year of your life
  1. Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysology | Macknik Lab
  2. Scrapbooking, Greetings, Slideshows and More at SMILEBOX
  3. Take a Photo a Day: 365 Project 
10th Day


Just as I was preparing to send this 10th Day of Christmas gift to all of you,

Ten Best Podcasts for Teachers | Edudemic
(Roberta is an expert at doing podcasts. If you want to do one of your own, be sure to get her advice.)

I received this email from Sally.


"allison made a podcast about a play that she developed in chicago.  it is based on shakespeare entitled "choose thine own adventure"

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/audio/Interviews/AllisonPowell.mp3

awesome."

11th Day

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr is an interesting study. We have one copy: a gift from one of our faculty, and now being borrowed by another -- I'll get a couple more copies to lend, if there's interest.

Here's a nice list to keep us grounded in the very important basics:

What Good Readers Do

I like the mantra at the bottom:

"You get out of reading what you put into it. Good readers do MORE than just read the words. Good readers think, wonder, reflect, and connect while they read.


12th Day

Well, here it is: Day of the Epiphany  -- the day before, actually -- how did that happen? :D

Here are some sites for looking for your NEXT read:

The Book Seer
What Should I Read Next?
Story Snoops (my personal favorite)
Whichbook
...more...

Blessings on us all, in 2011 and beyond, both professionally and personally.

Enjoy,
Linda Librarian

(◕‿◕

P. S. The dialog about some of these gifts has already begun -- hurray!