Bess Brannen Elementary's Bronco Lunch Bunch




The Bronco Lunch Bunch is Bess Brannen's Book Club. The first semester is open to 3rd and 4th grade students only. We have a set list of books that students may read and then they join us in the library for lunch and book discussion. Check out the Bess Brannen Library website for the full list of books.

The first Lunch Bunch was over the book Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli. We had 56 3rd graders and 27 4th graders who joined us for lunch over 2 days.

The video above is just the 3rd graders.

The next book is Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney, read it by October 30 and join us for lunch.

Bluebonnet Projects - Wordles

Jason D. created this wordle for The Golly-Whopper Games

Trading Cards

Trading Cards
http://bighugelabs.com/deck.php

You will use the pictures I have saved on the desktop of the school laptops to create the practice trading card.

Bluebonnet Chapter Book Preview

Well the first week of library classes has been great. The third and fourth graders have been introduced to the Texas Bluebonnet Picture books nominees with the photo story in the previous post and now as promised is the preview video of the Texas Bluebonnett Award Chapter book nominees.
Bess Brannen's cutoff is Friday, January 22, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. Our voting and party will be on Friday, January 29, 2010.
To vote all 3rd and 4th graders need to read 5 of the books off the list.
To come to the party, 4th graders need to read 6 of the books and both 3rd and 4th graders need to complete a poster or another special project with their favorite book.

Thing #21 continued

Here is my photostory.
I created one to go along with the 2009 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominees, just the picture books!
I plan on making another one for the chapter books and then having this run on one of the computers in the library.

Thing #23 - The End?.....or Just the Beginning?

This has been a unique learning experience this summer. I had the pleasure of having one of the Kickball captains as a professor and knew that if he had anything to do with this it would be an awesome program. I am so grateful to the wonderful people in Spring Branch who allowed us to participate with them.
My favorite discoveries on this learning journey were first a tangible definition of what Web 2.0 is. Now when colleagues ask me I can give them a definite definition - anything that invites participation from the global community. Secondly I really like making and maintaing the blog. I find it inspiring to read my colleagues thoughts and receive their comments. Thirdly, I must say the Mashups gave me some unique ways to break away from the "poster of your favorite book" requirement.
My lifelong learning goals have always been to embrace what is new and do whatever I can to learn the newness. I do not want to get stuck in the TTWWADI(Thats the way we've always done it) syndrome. Students are experiencing things we never dreamed of and we must prepare them to be lifelong learners and how can we do that if we do not continue to learn as well.
My views on Wikis completely changed after using them here. I can see the value so much clearer than before and will work diligently to get Wikipedia and other wikis unblocked. We have to teach students to analyze information and what better way than checking the validity of what is written in Wikipedia?
I am not sure what you could do to improve this program. The self paced aspect was very liberating. I was able to sit on the deck of a beach house and work on these posts. The thought of having to sit in a classroom tomorrow for an all day in-service is .... yuck!
I will gladly participate in any other discovery program you all offered, in fact I plan on continuing with the 11 and 1/2 more things during the school year.
I would like to create something like this for my students. Discovery education does so much for children.
ONE WORD - Participation
ONE SENTENCE - Inviting participation from the global community!

My plan is to keep this blog up to date for the next school year and encourage student, staff, parents and colleague participation.

Thing #22

Nings are such a wonderful tool. I do not have a Facebook or Myspace, so Nings were my first real attempt at social networking. Having 2 teenage daughters they think it would be weird for mom to be on Facebook. I like the fact that this is a social network with people who have the same professional interests as you. I also appreciate that you can be members on different groups with separate interests. I think this would be a great help in connecting with other professionals and asking for advice, posting suggestions, or just sharing all our common knowledge. It provides us with the platform to share with others who will appreciate what we have to offer.
I am planning to join the Texas School Librarians Ning and the Teacher Librarian Ning and I plan on sharing this at our first faculty meeting of the year.

Thing #21

I will be giving a workshop on Monday, Aug 3 on Podcasting so I will post something here once that inservice is complete.
I have looked at Photostory before and feel confident that I can make one with no problems. I would like to do one on the current Bluebonnet books as an introduction to the program for the 2009-2010 school year.

Thing #20

I am VERY frustrated! You Tube was very easy to use and find videos, however Teacher Tube was HORRIBLE! I tried logging in to Teacher Tube on 4 different computers and all of them would load part of the site and then BAM!! You would get a notification that Internet Explorer had encountered an error and had to close. Then you would have to shut down the whole computer before you could get it to unfreeze. I noticed that it would have it's issues when it was trying to access a ..................googleads/xxx.html.
I know that Teacher Tube has many great videos and lots of possiblities for use but this has been a terrible experience.

I have tried everything I know on my computer to try and solve the issues but nothing has worked, maybe it was on the Teacher Tube site and I will try again later.

So I have no video to post from Teacher Tube since I could not get that site to load,
however I really can relate the the Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZblrRs3fkSU
I have included a link above because I can not seem to embed the video. On my page all I see is a box with small box in the top left corner.

I think this would be something to share with faculty just for them to think about at first.

Thing #19

The Web 2.0 awards have awarded many of the sites we have looked at in these 23 things. I use iGoogle and have a page set up that gives me all the gadgets and tools that I like in one place. This will be very helpful next year during school since I will not have to look around at all the different websites to get the information I need.
I have created a Delicious account, a Library Thing account, used Google Docs to share and edit files, used Flickr, looked at Google Earth and Google maps, and used Rollyo and Youtube.
All of these are execellent sites and will be very valuable, I will just need more time to really use them and become familar with them, but they all offer tools to make our lives easier.
After looking at the list the one I really looked at was Wikispaces. I created 2 wikis, 1 for the AR comittee at our school and one for the Bronco Lunch Bunch which is our book club at school. I plan on using the AR wiki as our virtual meeting place for the committe to collaborate and for the Lunch Bunch to use to discuss the books we are reading as a group.
I like the fact that I can have multiple wikis all under my account and that I can chose to make them public or private under one account.

Thing #18

I have heard about Open Office before and I do like the office products, however I already use the Google docs and do like it. I am planning on using this to edit our AR folder and logs with the AR committee. I see this as being a great tool for collaboration. The students can use this when they are doing their collaboration for research.
Some of the advantages to using an online tool is that you can see the changes or addtions/deletions instantly. I know that many of my teachers have a hard time saving an attachment to their computer and then trying to use the markup tools in office is well impossible and then asking them to attach the file and send it back is really too many steps.
A disadvantage is that you will have to register and then a short training will be needed to use the sharing.
I do feel that this is similar to a wiki, but just centers around one document.

Thing #17

Rollyo is wonderful. I see this as a wonderful tool for teachers to use in the classroom and for librarians. I created a blog roll called Library Resources in which I put all the websites I go to for lesson plan ideas and other resources to use in the library. Now when I search for a lesson on the Dewey Decimal system for example, I can quickly search all the different sites I included instead of going to each one and trying to remember where I found them.

I plan on setting a Roll for Texas sites that our 4th grade teachers can use when they do their research unit on Texas and one for dinosaurs that our 2nd graders use when they do their dinosaur project. There is truly no limit to the things you can do with this. Personally it will be great to create one for recipes to search the recipe sites I use most frequently.

I put a link to my Rollyo on my blog and you can search for different lesson ideas right here.

Thing #16

Wikis are wonderful. I can see so many applications for using a wiki. One way is for our CIT (Campus Improvement Team) to create a wiki just for the different discussions we have monthly. We do not take formal notes in the meetings and this would be a great way to have the grade level leaders go back to their groups for the input that our Principal needs. Each group could just cite it on the wiki and it would cut down on the emailing back and forth.
I can also see this being used with our Bronco Lunch Bunch groups. The lunch bunch is our book club. Students, parents and teachers just need to have read the book by the date and then we bring our lunches into the library for an extended period and eat and discuss the books. I am thinking we could have the students create a wiki entry for each book centered around a question or two prior to the lunch bunch date.
The possibilities for wikis are limitless.

Thing #15

Tom Storey says the embodiment of Web 2.0 principles are simplicity, rich interactivity, user participation, collective intelligence, self-service, novel and remixed content. In a previous post I defined Web 2.0 as anything that invites participation from the global community. I think that as librarians we need to be open to the possibilites that Web 2.0 provide for us.

In Into a New World of Librarianship by Michael Stephens he says we need to embrace these Web 2.0 tools and that this librarian recognizes how services might be enhanced by the Read/Write web and how new services might be born in a climate of collaboration.

I think the future of libraries will revolve around Web 2.0 tools. We will have to listen to the needs of our patrons and shift the way we create our spaces and collections, especially to include the interaction of what the new Web 2.0 will have to offer.Librarians will have to become involved with and engaged in these tools ourselves..

Thing #14

The keyword search in the Technoratil blogosphere yielded 3,349 blog posts for the School Library Learning 2.0 There were only 139 blogs with that in the title and in just tags it gave no results.
The most popular blog was Boing Boing. According to Technorati it is a "weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies." I was curious enough to click on it to check it out and well let's just say "Weird!" I was intrigued by the pictures of state fairs post. I found the picture of the Princess in the freezer having her likeness carved out of a huge slab of butter. This is a site to go to when you are bored or just want to know what kind of "stuff" is out there.
Technorati is a good place to go if you are looking for blogs to subscribe to.
Tagging is the key to all this however. Just like we do subject searches, searching different tags sometimes give you more hits, if people will tag their blogs. I am going to do a better job of putting tags on each of my blogs.

I tried to claim my blog but Technorati was having technical difficulties so I will go back and claim my blog later.

Thing # 13

Delicious will make keeping a list of bookmarks easy. No more going to each computer to add the links you need to favorites or putting them on the link toolbar! Delicious has great potiential for research. Students can work in groups and find online resources and then create tags for these using a specific tag for their group so that all members can access this. I wish I had access to a site like this when I was taking my college classes, it would have made it so much easier to keep up with all the different sites I was using.
TEachers and librarians can use this site to share bookmarks. I know that I spend alot of time looking for sites to use in my library program, the problem is that I keep the bookmarks in my favorites on whatever computer I am using and then frustration sets in when I am looking for a site and I realize it was bookmarked on the home computer and I am at school.
In the podcast I learned that you can use a specific tag, such as BISD on sites that you want to share with colleges and then when they go to search all the interesting sites that we have found can be easily shared.

I looked at several of the other bookmarking sites, however I felt that Delicious was easier to use.

Thing #12

My definition of Web 2.0 is anything that invites participation from the global community. Web 2.0 sites unlinke websites are no longer static pages that only change when the format is changed or new links are added.

Commenting on blogs is what keeps blogs alive. Cool Cat Teacher said "Commenting is part of this global conversation. People who make meaningful comments understand that this new Internet is about discussing our common concerns and coming up with solutions in a more expeditious and helpful manner that does not exclude anyone." I think commenting is what makes blogs a Web 2.0 tool.
With that said, Cool Cat Teacher's first suggestion is most important "Write a meaningful comment." If you are going to take the time to make a comment then you should write something that means something either telling the author why you agree or disagree, and I think you should put something personal in it. Giving of yourself is what makes you part of the conversation. No one just spots out facts. If you are going to give facts then definitely you should link to where you got them. (That is the researcher in me. Always give credit!)

I also think you should "Remember the power of words," Cool Cat Teachers #7. Just as much as it is ok to disagree with an author you should do it with tact. I have always told my children that you can think whatever you want, but you should realize that once you let those thoughts take on a voice it is sometimes hard to quiet that voice or even make it shut up! and you can never take back something once it comes out of your mouth, in this case however it is what comes out of your keyboard. The written, and posted word can never be undone. So people should make comments based on that theory. You are allowed to have your opinion, but so are other people and bloggers give their opinons on their blogs, not just about what they think in their own right, but what they think and feel about the world around them. You must agree to disagree occasionally.

We have 9 members from BISD "playing" this summer and I try to comment on all those blogs, maybe not everyday, but at least when a new post is made.

When creating the RSS feeds with Google reader, I subscribed to several different blogs mostly about technology and library information. I have commented on Free Technology for Teachers which gives many great websites and ideas for incorporating them into the classroom. Each post also has an applicaiton for education part to it.

I have also responded to some of the groups in Library Thing. I have not joined any groups yet, but I have commented on some. The Hogwarts Express is interesting to read with all the excitment around the upcoming movie.

Thing # 11

Library Thing
I created an account at Library Thing and it truly was simple. I chose 5 different books, 2 that I am currently reading or just finished and some of my cook books. It was very easy to add the books. I liked the suggestions of other titles from the Library Thing site as well as other readers suggestions. I even signed up to receive advanced copies of books from publishers, that is one of my favorite parts of TLA!

I looked at the records that were created and can see this being useful for books that are problems to find records for. It will at least give enough information to get a book in the system so students can check it out and then later you can go back and complete the record.

The book groups were interesting. The challenge of reading 50, 75 or 100 books in a year looked up my alley. The list of books that some users created have good suggestions.

The Hogwarts Express group caught my interest, since as you can see I am waiting anxiously for the release of the 6th Harry Potter movie. (Yes I will be at the theater on Midnight, July 14th! No I will not be dressed up as my daughter and her friends said that I was not allowed to go if I wore my witch hat or cape. However, I am taking my wand in my purse though and Yes I am rereading the book right now!)

I added an RSS feed to my google reader for Library thing. It is definitely a site to check back with often.

Thing #10

I love the Wordle tool. I can see so many different uses for this! I like the fact that you can put in random words all about one main topic and get something so interesting. I can see this being used with students doing short research projects. For example you could have students research 10 facts about a topic, and put the facts into as few words as possible and create a wordle to share with others. I can also see this as an alternative to book reports. What a great tool. The one I created was about the library that I work in and some of my favorite books and authors.

Thing # 9

How many blog subscriptions should one person have? Add in all the news RSS feeds and the entertainment feeds and pretty soon you can get overwhelmed! What kind of blogs should you read, need to read, want to read? I used Technorati to search for different blogs, but at first it was confusing as to what exactly I was looking for and how to use the search, it kept going to posts instead of blogs. Once I got that figured out it was an easy tool to use.
I also looked at the edublogs award winners, however one of the ones that won an award had to be shut down because of inappropriate student information - I am not exactlly sure but after the blog was "closed" the person kept blogging about what was happening to him so how did that blog win an award?
Atomic learning looks like a very useful tool too bad our district does not subscribe.

RSS feeds are a wonderful tool, but I think we can bog ourselves down with too much information so we must carefully pick and choose what we want to spend time reading. An RSS reader will help with that since you can see just small portions of all the blogs you subscribe too.

Smile

Happy 4th of July to all you 23 Thing Bloggers! Yes I changed my avatar just for the holiday. Changing the avatar and designing the background for the blog is really addictive.
I also skipped ahead and looked at You Tube for links to fireworks for all of you who don't want to sit out in the mosquitoes and heat to watch fireworks.
Here is the link to some cool fireworks in Washington D.C. along with Patriotic music!
Or, here is one link to see the Wishes firework display currently at Walt Disney World. It is probably the best fireworks I have ever seen!

I am a little prejudiced since my oldest daughter is at Walt Disney World doing an internship and I won't see her until August! She has been there since January! But she is having the time of her life!

Well.... Good BBQ, Beach, Lake, or inside hiding from the heat, or whatever you do on the fourth. Be safe, have fun and see you next week.

Thing #8

RSS Feeds and Goggle Reader
I knew about RSS feeds from an EBSCO training we did last year, however I never really used them or put them into practice. Google Reader will probably make it easier to keep track of things. I also think it could be one more list of things that I will have to get to. I can see this becoming to big to read all at once so I like the way Google Reader gives you ways to organize the feed into folders and the list feature will all you to browse through what you really want to read and what you can skip.
I think this technology will be very important in both school and personal life. I can see it being very useful to help keep things in one place. I spend so much time trying to visit all the diffferent web sites that I like and some I just never seem to have time to look at. This will give me just little bites of information that will help keep me up to date with the ones I look at most.

I can see that my Principal especially would benefit from this technology. She subscribes to many blogs both personally and professionallly and I do not think she keeps them all in one place. I am excited to be able to show her something to help make her life a little more streamlined.

Thing #7

I could spend all day exploring the cool tools that Google has to offer.
I spent several hours using the Google Advanced Search and looking for information on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. I even found articles about School Library 2.0 at School Library Journal. The ability to search for a specific file format lead me to all different types of Power Points that are already created that could be used in a setting with administrators and teachers. The article What is Web 2.0 by Tim Riley was the first to coin the Web 2.0 term and gave some good information about what all this "stuff" is.
I also spent a lot of time with my igoogle page. It was fun choosing the gadgets and then the themes and moving things around on the page. I spent several hours again and still didn't get through all the gadgets.
I can see this being very useful for teachers. They can desing the page to use all the things they need for the day. I am going to set one up for our school since a lot of this information we need for the morning announcements and this would put it all in one place.

Thing # 6

I love playing with the mashups! I could lose myself doing these. The one at the left is a movie poster created with the FD filckr toys. I was able to take the picture from Flickr and make a movie poster with it. I did not like the fact that you can not enlarge the font (or if you can I could not find it)on the top and the bottom. I can see the students creating posters for books they have read in the library. I have 3rd and 4th grade students make a poster for their favorite Bluebonnet Book for the current list as their ticket in the door to our voting party. I could see them creating these and putting them online instead of the old pencil and paper way!

I also looked at the Flicktionary game it is so cool, but it did not work and after several attempts I gave up.

Thing # 5

Flickr is a great tool for pictures. I can see so many uses for this site for teachers and students. So many activities came to mind for both the library and in the classroom.

This picture is titled Poster_Web2.0 and I chose it because it does a great job giving a visual of what Web 2.0 is all about.

Thing # 4

I have sent my email to Vaughn to publish my blog, and now I am listed on the libray2play site.

Thing #3 Creating a Blog and Avatar

Creating a blog has been more difficult than I thought it would be, not the actual creation of the blog, that was easy, but the creation of the content was rough! I thought about the title for the blog for a good 3 or 4 days before I came up with something, and I am still not completely happy with the title, but it encompasses my feeling that everything can be categorized under the "library" heading in schools.
Creating an avatar has also been a problem. For some reason the HTML/Java Script gadget was not working. I had to download the avatar as a picture and then put the avatar in as a picture gadget and it was there.
I have viewed other blogs while they are being created. This has been a wonderful bonding experience for the group of us who are meeting. "heavy sigh!"

23 Things........Thing # 2

Thing #2 - 7 1/2 Habits of Life Long Learners

There are 3 of the habits that seem easy to me. Confidence in myself as a competent effective learner, Use Technology to my advantage, and Teach and mentor others. Of course #71/2 Play is also one I embrace! I feel confident that I can learn anything given enough time. Technology is not scary to me and I like being able to teach and help others.
Probably the most difficult is to Begin with the end in mind. I know where I want to go or get to but I don't always consciously begin knowing what I ultimately want to get out of what I am learning.

23 Things........

Thing #1: This is going to be an awesome experience! Can't wait to get started.