VVS VOICEV O L U M E 2 I S S U E 2 F A L L 2 0 1 2

Heidi Escobar and I wrote a grant for a Summer Book Club for 3rd through 6th grade students at VVS. The culminating activity was a reptile presentation at JD George on August 15.

WOODCREEK REPTILES

Summer Grants

AP English class received books for summer reading. The Read2Day summer read was Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters through a grant from School Library Systems

AP Physics and AP Chemistry also was awarded a grant through School Library Systems for a Summer Read. However, due to unforeseen circumstances we will read it in the fall. Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics by Richard Feynman and The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean for Chemistry.

Fall Opening

I plan on coming around to study halls the first three days of school to refresh everyone on the procedures for the Media Center. Again, we do not have a computer aide so sign out from study hall is only to Media Center or Senior Lounge.Media Center will open Wednesday, September 12th.

Castle Learning

Castle Learning is back for 12-13

All student users have been uploaded. They must create a new password. Teachers are still active with current password. I do have admin ability if a new student needs to be added.

iPads

There are 5 iPads available for use in the classroom. They can be signed out of the Media Center. As of now they only have basic apps that are free. The paid apps will be coming.

Noodle Tools

Citation creator with many options like notecards, outlines etc.(more on page 3)

Sign up

Again this year the sign up for Media Center and computer labs will be via a wiki. Located on website - VVS - Media Center - Middle/High School - top left Media Center Scheduling Wiki or http://vvsonlinesignup.pbworks.com/w/page/27439536/VVS%20Online%20Sign%20up If you have forgotten how to access. Let me know.

Breaking News

Media Center News

Med ia Center News

We have the same databases as last year. The subscriptions are the same.

Log in from home

Passwords Passwords for the databases are located on the Media Center website. I have them in a locked page. Go to Media Center - Database Passwords (under Databases) - info4u is the password to unlock the page. If working from home and you forget the yellow pamphlet - look online. This happens to me quite a bit hence the online access ;-)

Highlights from Databases

NewsbankElectronic version of numerous newspapers

Sirs ResearcherMagazine article database. Great for comparing and contrasting issues.

CengageGreat resource for articles.

Science Reference CenterGreat articles on Science topics.

World BookEncyclopedia

Grolier OnlineEncyclopedia

Proquest only has educational journals. Great for resources when completing your masters.

DatabasesVVS Voice

New eBooks

TEEN CYBERSMARTS

We have the Teen Cybersmarts ebooks in our catalog. They are resources teachers can use to instruct students. They have a pretest among other options.The 5 titles include:Teens using social networksTeens stopping cyberbullyingTeens protecting their privacy onlineTeens playing games onlineTeens avoiding predators online

“If I was a book, I would like to be a library book, so I would be taken home by all different sorts of kids.” Cornelia Funke

Check it out!The electronic resources section of the Media Center website is continuously growing. Find ebooks, NoodleTools, Databases and a link to teacher wikis among other great things.

Go to the VVS Middle/High Catalog and search cybersmarts.Once you find the title click on “Click here to read this ebook”. Then log in with userid: vvsstudentpassword: info4u

Summer Workshop ActivitiesSLO’s workshop at School Library Systems. Thought about how to incorporate a formative and summative

assessment using Citations and Noodle tools. Was able to work with High School Library Media Specialists from Oneida, Liverpool, Camden and Rome.

Curriculum work with Social Studies Department. Working on incorporating the senior project in all senior social studies classes. Research paper was discussed.

Library Department curriculum work on citations, plagiarism and ethical use of information. We are creating a Scope and Sequence starting in K and going through 12th. Also a vocabulary list was started for information literacy terms pertaining to the Library.

Participated in an ELA data workshop. Looked at data from the 2010 Regents exam for VVS students. Noticed Author’s purpose was an area that was weak. Will try to focus on that skill.

Through School Library Systems Ken Regner, Lusia Hawkins, and Laura Rouse participated in a Moodle workshop. The four of us will have access to Moodle to create online classes. It was a grant that incorporates Library of Congress Primary documents. Ask any of us for more information.

Summer Leap instructor for 4th graders for the 2nd year in a row. Put together an online class for those students and monitored it over the summer using a blog, Study Island, Jing, and other Web 2.0 tools.

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Integrated tools for note-taking, outlining, citation, documentarchiving/annotation, and collaborative research and writing.

Student volunteer program will again be implemented. Reliable students are always welcome to assist us.

Noodle Tools

We have a subscription to Noodle Tools for the 12-13 school year. Each user must create a "personal folder" (i.e., select a personal ID and password) by clicking the "Create a Personal ID" button on the login screen. Access to your subscription is currently enabled via username/password and IP authentication. A user who enters NoodleBib remotely (i.e., not within the IP range) will be prompted to log in to the subscription when he/she clicks "Create a Personal ID" on the login screen. (use this username and password if creating your subscription at home)  Select teacher/librarian.

Username: vvsstudentPassword: info4u (please do not display on any publicly-viewable page)

Any questions, come see me.