Millions of Books and Millions of Ideas, All Found on LibraryThing

 LibraryThing.com

   LibraryThing is an online resource that allows users to create their own book libraries. Users can search for books on the site and add them to their profile, organizing them by creating and naming book collections, as well labeling the books with curated tags. When a user adds books to their library, LibraryThing generates lists of recommended books they think the user would enjoy based on the genres, authors, and languages of books the user frequently views or adds to their library. Users can also search for books on LibraryThing using tags. The tags don't need to be specific. In fact, when a user searches for books using tags, they will be given search results of books labeled with tags curated by other users. This allows for users to connect and share with others their personal interpretations of said books. 

    LibraryThing also has a "Local" tab where users can input their location (user locations are not shared with other users unless one grants permission to have their location displayed on their profile) and discover "Little Libraries" found near them. This can be an invaluable resource to teachers, as both teachers and students alike can create their own libraries of books they've read or would like to read. Teachers can even create a class library via LibraryThing, where the books used in the course are displayed and are built upon throughout the school year. LibraryThing also has a widget--Teachers can use the widget on a class site for quick access for students. 

    It is also worthy to mention that LibraryThing isn't a direct source to read books--it instead offers links to sites and/stores that have the book available to read. Users instead can connect with one another through the LibraryThing community to discuss shared interests in books, book genres, and reading, as well as discover new authors and millions of new titles.

Purdue OWL

Purdue OWL 

    Purdue OWL is the online writing lab for Purdue University. As a student, I have referred to this resource countless times for citations, MLA and APA format, and to develop my writing. The website is open to the public, and I have had many teachers use their information for instructional purposes. I have found this resource to be a lifesaver in my academic writing. Along the left side of the website, there is a taskbar with categories such as citations, research, avoiding plagiarism, and subject-specific writing. Underneath these categories are subcategories such as different formats, the writing process, grammar, punctuation and so much more. The organization of the website allows you to find your writing weakness and target it. Purdue OWL has the most up-to-date information regarding citations, and when I have to write a formal academic paper with a bibliography or works cited page I head straight to the website. There are both instructions for manually citing sources, and they are in collaboration with Citation Machine. In addition, the ‘academic writing’ tab shows students how to formulate an argumentative essay, research papers, and paragraph writing. If you have already finished your paper, and are in the revision process this website can provide tips for voicing, sentence variety, word choice, and adding emphasis. My favorite part about this resource is that the content is put in the simplest terms possible. Examples are abundant and the information covers all the bases of the different types of writing. This website tells you not only how to do a specific writing technique, but also the function of the technique. I can’t say enough good things about this writing resource. My academic writing has improved a great deal since using this tool and I have received better feedback from both peers and professors. I hope you guys check it out at

https://owl.purdue.edu/ 

Blooket

We all remember when Kahoot! made it's way into almost every single classroom in existence in some way, shape, or form several years ago. I was in college when Kahoot! was developed and I had professors using the quiz game for exam reviews and peers using it for their semester end projects. Well, all those classrooms need to make room for the newest quiz game in town named Blooket. 

Blooket is extremely similar to Kahoot! anyone can set up a quiz and invite their students, peers, or friends to take their quiz. There must be a host who provides players with their game code that way it's a safe environment and the host can control participants and participation. 

Blooket has countless default quizzes for anyone to view and play. However, not all of them are educationally based. As I was scrolling through the dozens of preset quizzes I saw several that were math and history related and then right next to it a quiz that was based off of cartoons. While I do think this website offers several very beneficial quizzes, teachers would have to closely monitor if students were hosting quizzes themselves during school hours to play leisure quizzes. 

I decided to try and create my own quiz and the website seemed super user friendly. It's easy to navigate and all settings are clear on the first page. On this first page the teacher or quiz creator can add in whatever image they wish to be the face of the quiz, a title, and a description. The creator then chooses the privacy settings and creates the quiz. 

You can't take a quiz without questions though, right?! Now comes the fun part, creating the questions and filling in possible answers. I truly thought this process would be much harder than it was but it was incredibly simple. I simply had to write my question, give four possible answers, and then select the correct response. For each question you can choose the length of time players have to respond and whether or not answers will appear at random.

What makes Blooket stand out from Kahoot! is there are different game play modes available for players. This is where the true element of fun comes in for students. They feel as if they are playing a video game but the only way they can progress to this game play is by answering questions correctly. Game modes can be changed when beginning the quiz. 

Overall, while there are many quiz sets that are not educational. Blooket is another great resource for teachers to use in their classrooms for exam reviews, pop quizzes, or Friday afternoon activities. Students also have the ability to take advantage of creating sets for course projects or activities. It's a safe and free resource that can be accessed anywhere at anytime by simply entering a game code. 

Click on the link provided to check out Blooket for yourself:  https://www.blooket.com/play 

Virtual Field Trips

Field trips are something that almost every student looks forward to. It is a welcomed change of pace to get out of the classroom and experience something first hand. But, how do we do this in the midst of a pandemic where some schools are not even conducting face to face learning? Easy, a virtual field trip. While a virtual version of the field trip comes at the expense of not being able to see, smell, and touch the things you normally would on a regular field trip; it still offers a fun and memorable experience for students! While many teachers look forward to field trips as well, the bonus of virtual field trips is not having any students wander off or goof off when their supposed to be engaged and learning. 

There are many websites that offer virtual field trips. Some major names like Discovery offer a variety of online field trips as well. However, today I will discus a website called The Nature Conservancy. This website offers a variety of field trips to various locations and discusses extremely important topics like climate change and the importance of protecting our environment. The Nature Conservancy offers loads of materials for teachers to create lesson plans and host virtual field trips for their students. The most amazing part? Each virtual field trip comes with a teacher's guide containing questions for students (with an answer key!), worksheets, organizers, and vocab words.  

This past week I decided to use the virtual field trip titled Borneo: Symphony of the Rainforest during my weekly tutoring session. I felt like each session was becoming the same and a tad boring so it was time to switch it up and add a new element. My tutee's eyes lit up when I said we were going to do a virtual field trip. Before beginning the video, I took some questions off the guide for teachers and rephrased them to ask my tutee what he thought we would see, hear, and learn about during this field trip. I gave him things to look out for and questions to answer as he went along watching the video. I know he learned a lot about the rainforest and so did I from taking this virtual trip. Throughout the virtual field trip the host also presents activities to the students. In the Borneo trip they played four different animal calls that were previously discussed and students had to match the sound to the correct animal. 

Hopefully some day soon teachers and students will have the ability to take in person field trips again and have a full hands on experience; but until then, these are a great way to change up the pace or even have a fun Friday activity. Some things will never change though, most of us will never get to take an in person field trip to the rainforest and yet it is something we all learn about in school. So why not take a virtual field trip? While it would still be virtual, students could still experience the sounds and sights of the topic they are learning about. 

To take your own virtual field trip to Borneo or another location click here: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/how-we-work/youth-engagement/nature-lab/virtual-field-trips/#

Or to check out out The Nature Conservancy website click here: https://www.nature.org/en-us/

Happy virtual travels! 

Type to Learn

 Type to Learn 

    I decided for this post I would head back in time to middle school and look at a program called Type to Learn. I wasn’t sure it existed still but I found the website and as it turns out it is still used and on its 5th version. I mostly wanted to see if the technology resource was still around or if it had become obsolete. I had Type to Learn in my 6th-grade educational technology class called keyboarding. The entire class was based around Type to Learn, and learning how to type effectively. Type to Learn is a game-based learning tool to help students K-12 learn keyboard skills. Per the website “Keyboarding is wrapped around a captivating, futuristic world of adventure where students become members of an ancient society to save the world from a major communication breakdown.” I absolutely loved this as a kid, and it made the class period go by so fast. I remember sitting at my computer in class and not looking away because I was so focused on the game. It has been a few years since I have interacted with the program but based on the website the basic features seem to be the same as when I used it. Schools can buy the program as part of their ed-tech curriculum for about $230 a year, or parents can get it on the computer at home for students that are homeschooled or just need extra practice for around $35. The program gets harder as the levels go on, and I never actually beat the game. Some kids finished the program but I never got that far. It focuses on speed, accuracy, and technique. The levels adjust to your accuracy, so if you keep typing the words wrong it will get a little bit easier, and if you are excelling it will continue to get more difficult. The program tracks progress and student achievement in each student’s own personal login. A new feature that was not present in the version I used is the Spanish and ESL support as well as the accommodations for hearing and visually impaired students. The program is compatible with laptops, Ipads, and Chromebooks. I would like to know if schools still use this program in their ed-tech curriculum and if they find it to be an effective enhancement to their program or recommend it. I personally found it to be helpful, and it was a fun way to learn keystrokes and the proper way to type. I have not had the opportunity to go into any educational technology classrooms so it would be interesting to see if they still use this to teach keyboarding, or if there is a new best practice for teaching keyboarding. 

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H.I.P Pocket Change

 Money is a such a important and vital concept we all must learn in school. However, thinking back to my education learning about money was never really a fun topic to learn about. Maybe a lesson or two included using fake money but for the most part we counted change and dollar bills that were printed out on worksheets. Learning about money could really be quite an interesting topic if 

Our government has this really awesome interactive website for children to learn money in all sorts of engaging ways. The website is called United States Mint- H.I.P Pocket Change Site. There are several different activities available on the website such as scavenger hunts, designing your own coin, a library that explains all the various coin programs, and countless educational videos regarding the history of currency in America... just to name a few. 

Educational videos offered on the website consist of child specific videos discussing concepts such as the making of coins, coins in outer space, mint tours, coin design, the relation of STEM to coins, and the history of coins. Each topic area contains a few short videos to view that quickly explains currency in relation to that given topic. 

There are several free games available on the website as well. Games can be played individually or educators can choose to incorporate the games into their lesson plans. The website frequently adds new games as well so teachers can vary videos included in instruction and students can play new games whenever they choose. 

Even though at first glance this website seems almost too fun to be academic, it provides an incredible educational platform that is entertaining and engaging for students. It also provides teachers with countless resources to keep their students interested when teaching about currency. I am a firm believer in adding fun and relatable ideas into lessons as frequently as possible. Not only does this make lessons more interesting for the students, it's a fun way for the teachers to incorporate technology into their classroom as well. This website does an great job of incorporating fun in the very important learning lessons about money. 

Check out the link below!

https://www.usmint.gov/learn/kids/coins 

Education.com

    I would like to introduce a website called Education.com. I stumbled upon this website looking for activities for a student I was tutoring last semester. This website is a goldmine for elementary and middle level activities and lessons. The website includes free resources such as printable worksheets, lesson plans, games, and even entire workbooks. You have the option to choose from over 5,196 worksheets, 833 interactive activities, and 545 lesson plans. You can search for specific subjects, and concepts by using the learning library, or even use the worksheet generator if you have a concept that is not represented on the site. I used Education.com for their many different handwriting/alphabet practice sheets. The child I worked with absolutely loved to do them, and I found them to be well put together. I did not find any of the worksheets to be simply “busy work” but actually enhanced the learning experience for optimal success. I did a little digging into the other features of the sight and was just as impressed. The lesson plans are aligned with the Michigan Common Core and are well detailed. The online games are age-appropriate, and a great way to engage students. A unique aspect of this website is the free online stories. The books are separated into grade level and reading level. I opened one up and there is an option to have the book read to students, or they can read it themselves. After reading the book there is an option to assign a worksheet on it or play a game related to the story if you are a premium member. 

I signed up and created a free account and still have access to an incredible amount of their resources, but they do offer a premium membership for extra features. Since I am not a teacher I did not opt for the paid membership, but if I were teaching right now it would be something I would look into. I get emails from the website letting me know when new material has been added to the website and other improvements. There is so much to explore on Education.com and I highly recommend it to teachers, parents, and elementary education students.