Sunday, February 28, 2016
Thursday, February 25th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Thursday, Feb. 25th
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 163.75 hours
Today Maria and I met with the counselors and the Assistant Principal to discuss creating a 'boot camp' for new and transfer students coming to SRRHS. Everyone was on board so Maria will begin working on a layout for getting new students acquainted with the culture of the school-using laptops, google and Schoology accounts etc. It is an exciting project, and one that is needed in today's 1:1 schools. I will keep this in mind when I work in a school that uses student devices.
Maria also showed me her budget and we discussed those needs and what categories she has added. For example, I haven't really thought about a staff development area. This is what she uses to pay for her ITEM membership and TIES conference which is a great idea. Otherwise everything else seemed pretty standard. She doesn't negotiate her budget too much, but is given some flexibility with each area. So if she overspends in one area and under spends in another it is OK as long as it does not go over her total budget.
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 24th
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 155.75 hours
This morning I printed out the final lists of students going to World Read Aloud Day, and checked off who returned their guardian permission slip. Maria and I then headed to the bus, and we took roll call and collected the remaining permission slips. I got off at the first stop at Hillside, the ECC in Sauk Rapids. I took 4 pairs of students inside and was greeted by their media specialist. She showed the students to their classrooms and introduced them to the teacher. I then walked around and took lots of pictures! The teachers all had an activity to do with them as well because we were there for an hour, so they knew the little ones would not sit and be read to for an hour! Some played BINGO, sang different ABC songs etc. It was so fun to see the high school students read so well to the kids and to take part in each activity. When we left the kids were sad to see them go and jealous that they got to go on a bus :) The teachers and everyone at the school were really pleased with our visit, so that was awesome! Next we picked up Maria and the others at Pleasant View and headed over to Rice Elementary. Again, everyone did a great job reading and it all went extremely well. Some kids 'adopted' certain high school students and just didn't want them to leave, it was very sweet. When we returned, Maria and I talked about what worked, and what could be improved for next year.
After an exciting morning, it was calming to go back in the stacks and put on more genre stickers!
Tuesday, February 23
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Tuesday, Feb.23rd
Time Worked: 7:30-4:45pm
Total: 147.75 hours
This afternoon Maria and I met with the 42 students signed-up to do World read Aloud Day tomorrow. It was a quick meeting, but we were able to explain the expectations of them at the elementary schools, collect guardian permission slips and students partner up with someoneto read with at the elementary schools.
There have been a couple of odd things happening with the staff and student Mac books that Maria and I are trying to solve. One is that the login screen suddenly disappears. This creates an issue because you then have to log out of your computer every time you step away for it to be secure. However, I did find in the settings where the user can switch it to a log in screen, but again, having to do this each time is inconvenient. Another quirk is a student's computer keeps printing everything backwards. We found a mirroring option in the print setting but this still did not fix the issue. Maria says that the next step is to consult with one of the network administrators to work on this issue.
In the late afternoon I worked on the genrefication process.
After school, I attended a leadership meeting where the Principal played a video showcasing the standards and how to think about Project Based Learning opportunities. We then broke into small groups to discuss how this could be implemented at SRRHS and to keep in mind that there are no limitations or boundaries. It was an interesting meeting but my group was anti-technology and so it was hard to make real progress. We came back together as a large group to share ideas. There was nothing radical proposed and it felt a bit incomplete. I'm not sure the goal of this meeting was met.
Monday, February 22
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Monday, Feb. 22
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 138.5 hours
Today Maria and I worked on coordinating the World Read Aloud Day student meeting tomorrow, and making sure everyone that signed up has a guardian permission slip.
I continued putting on the fiction genre stickers. I should finish by next week. I already went through 2 boxes of Realistic Fiction and Fantasy stickers - 500/box! I noticed we were getting low in certain genres and running out of clear stickers to cover them, so I put a Demco order together and Maria ordered them. Hopefully they arrive by next week.
Maria printed out various lists of top books from 2015, and award winning books for me to check which ones they have and which ones should be considered for purchase. It's interesting because many of these books have a similar theme. I'm trying my best to decipher which themes/genres the collection is lacking, and which are also most likely to appeal to the students.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Thursday, Feb. 18th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Thursday, Feb. 18th
Time Worked: 7:30-11:00pm, 1:30-3:30
Total: 122.5 hours
Today I continued working on the genrefication of the fiction books.
I also helped Maria with a staff member who had her gmail account hacked into. We had to get assistance from the Tech Integrationist, Laura Mackenthun, to get everything fixed. It was quite a long process to get the account's password verified and reset, and to make sure that she was enabled and clear to send out and receive emails again!
Maria and I discussed some issues with the budget, like paying for busing for the World Read Aloud Day event, buying Makerspace items, and how to fund raise. For example, we are still contemplating organizing an Art & Book event B&N offered to us as a fundraising option.
At the end of the day I assisted the Media Clerks in checking-in the devices and putting them in the correct charging station.
Friday, Feb. 19th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Friday, Feb. 19th
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 130.5 hours
I have made it to the H's this week on genrefying the fiction collection. Feels good to be making my way around the book shelves! Maria is also having me weed out some of the books as I go along placing on the stickers.
This morning I attended a 2 hour long District Technology Meeting at Mississippi Heights Elementary School. The meeting's agenda had been sent out prior to the meeting and was shared via google docs. The layout gave everyone a chance to jot down their ideas before the meeting started. The progression of the 1:1 program, handling the process for registering damages/repairs to 1:1 devices,and current projects happening in the media center's were all topics discussed during the meeting. I took notes and got some good information to consider when setting up a 1:1 program.
I created a sign-up sheet and TV slide to promote the World Read Aloud Day event coming up on the 24th. There are about 25 students who have signed up and we need 40. Hopefully some will think about this weekend and sign-up on Monday. Maria and I also filled out the transportation request, and prepared the parents permission forms ready to hand out on Monday. I'm learning more about the process of setting up a field trip!
Wednesday, Feb. 17th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 17th
Time Worked: 10:30-3:30pm
Total: 117 hours
I worked for a while on the genrefication process of the fiction books.
Maria taught a few classes today on how to use Garageband to splice their songs for an essay project. I helped students download Garageband from the Student Service Center on their MAC and made sure everyone was following Maria's steps. I also overheard some questions about the project as I was helping them, so at the end when Maria asked if there were any questions and no one answered, I said that I heard there were some questions about if the audio button shows when you play the Pages presentation, what to do if Garageband won't download etc. Maria was then able to answer those questions that for some reason the students didn't want to ask in front of the whole class. When class ended those students came up to me and thanked me for asking their questions. It felt great to be able to help out in a classroom situation!
Tuesday, Feb.16th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 16th
Time Worked: 7:30-1:30pm
Total: 112 hours
In the morning I helped the Media Clerks check out the daily laptops. It's good to learn this process and engage with some students. Maria and I discussed how working with the laptops has put her in contact with more of the students then she had before going 1:1.
I continued placing genre stickers on the fiction books. It is taking a bit longer than expected because some books are not placed in the correct genre, so it takes a few minutes to figure out the best genre for the book.
I also assisted Maria with a staff member's gmail account. It somehow got linked to a student's gmail account who had used her computer. We finally found the correct setting under one of the privacy settings, but it took google a while to reset the account and reflect the changes we made.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Thursday, February 11th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Thursday, Feb. 11th
Time Worked: 7:30-11:00pm
Total: 106 hours
The genre stickers arrived this morning! I worked on placing these genre stickers onto the spines of the books. It is taking me longer than I thought because I need to find the books on the shelf. Therefore, this process is also getting the collection completely in order and ready for spring time inventory!Wednesday, February 10th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 10th
Time Worked: 7:30-2:00pm
Total: 102.5 hours
Today I completed weeding the nonfiction according to the list I created with Maria. I ended up weeding five regular sized book carts! Maria will also do a quick run through these books to see if there are any that we should keep.Feels good to have this portion of the weeding completed. It will assist us when Maria goes through the rest of the genrefying process and moving the books.
Tuesday, February 9th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 9th
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 96 hours
I continued to weed the nonfiction according to the list previously created. I am 3/4 of the way finished. The sections that were most difficult are the ones I am interested in learning. This was a good insight, because I tended to want to leave more books on the shelf simply because to me they are interesting! I had to step back and think about our criteria for weeding these books.I watched a few more Atomic Learning videos with Maria about Acitvboard's Inspire software.
Monday, February 8th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Monday, Feb. 8th
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 88 hours
Today I worked on weeding the collection. Maria and I created a list of nonfiction books that were published before or on 1978 and have never been checked-out. I used this list to guide my weeding. I looked at each book and evaluated its condition and checked to see if the content is relevant or valid. I worked my way through 1/4 of the nonfiction collection.I also visited an English teacher's classroom to give a quick 10 minute explanation of how students need to find, download and upload music for their memory book presentations. This went well and the teacher was pleased with my presentation.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Friday, Feb. 5th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Friday, Feb. 5th
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 80 hours
This morning I helped the Media Clerks check devices out to the students.Today we almost finished genrefying the fiction collection! The genre stickers should arrive next week, so we'll be ready to put them on the books.
Maria showed me how to run collection reports in Alexandria, and we created a list of nonfiction books that have never been checked out. This generated 18 pages of books that have never been checked out! Maria is going through this list for classics or books she feels need to remain in the collection and then we are going to weed out the remaining books. We also discussed how one can approach weeding, and what determines under her selection policy which books should stay or be weeded. I'm excited to begin this task next week!
I also viewed a few more Atomic Learning videos on Activboard software.
At the end of the day I also assisted the Media Clerks with checking in student devices and storing them for the weekend.
Thursday, Feb. 4th
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Thursday, Feb. 4th
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 72 hours
I continued making progress on genrefying the collection. Getting to the bottom half of the list! It feels good to be moving along so quickly, although I know this is just one step in a long process!Maria and I attended a meeting on the district's state testing schedule. It was interesting to learn how they set-up their testing sessions, who is in charge, where they take place etc. I have experience administering these tests, and I'm glad to see that I do have a good understanding of this process.
I also spoke with Maria about training Media Clerks and her daily interactions with them as part of her staff. We discussed how to get them on board with the activities and events that happen in the media center. There is a shift happening today with what Media Clerks did in the past vs. today with the integration of technology. What I took away from our conversation is that it is key to have good communication between the LMS and Media Clerk(s) so that everyone is on the same page with where the media center is headed.
Wednesday, Feb 3rd
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 3rd
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 64 hours
Today I spent time working on genrefying the fiction collection. We are making good progress, and I think we will have things done by early next week!Today I shadowed Maria a bit more in regards to the troubleshooting she does with students and their school laptops. Each district has their quirks with devices, filters, networks, LMS etc. and I have my own tricks and "go-to's," but it was interesting to learn about what she has to troubleshoot on a daily basis. Some of the things she encounters I do not have experience with, like having to login to a portal to agree to the network terms or printing from their own devices. Maria also showed me their Google docs that she fills out when devices are damaged, or returned by the user. These were very helpful to see as I am sure many districts have something similar in regards to their 1:1 programs.
Today's Learning Lunch sessions were about Schoology. I was a Schoology Administrator at another district, so this was very familiar to me. Knowing this, Maria let me lead this session as well. I was able to cover setting up the grade book, grading groups, showing them how to unenroll a student, and embedding material into an assignment. These were very productive sessions, and the teachers left with a better understanding of these specific Schoology tools.
Tuesday, February 2nd
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 2nd
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 56 hours
Today I focused again on entering the genre for the fiction collection. I have found that the Goodreads and B&N site provide the genres which is helpful.Maria was also contacted by Jennie Weber at B&N about doing a Book & Arts event at B&N. This would involve showcasing some student work at B&N and then a portion of the purchases made during that time would go to the SRRHS media center budget. Maria is open to trying this event, so we spoke with the art and robotics teachers about them having their students showcase their projects. They are also very receptive to this idea, so Maria is thinking of doing it at the end of April so she can showcase the student poetry written for April's Poetry month event. It is good to be a part of this collaborative effort and learning more about the details that go into organizing this type of event.
Today's Learning Lunch sessions were on Activboard, and it went very well. I am familiar with Smartboard's Notebook software so I was comfortable with leading these sessions. I began by asking the teachers what they are familiar with and what they are interested in learning about Activboard. When they wanted to learn something new, I showed them the tools Maria and I focused on learning about yesterday. I was glad they were able to easily follow my instructions and were receptive to me even though they are used to working with Maria.
Monday, February 1st
Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (SRRHS)
Mentor: Maria Burnham
Date: Monday, Feb. 1st
Time Worked: 7:30-3:30pm
Total: 48 hours
Today I worked on looking up the fiction books and marking which genre they belong to in a Google drive spreadsheet. The goal is to have these books classified by next week so we can begin labeling their spines with genre stickers.This week, Maria is leading Learning Lunches which are recaps of last Friday's professional development technology sessions. One session is on Activboard, so today Maria and I watched some Atomic Learning videos to learn more about Promethean's Activboard software.Then we both practiced some specific tasks such as; understanding which browsers are capable of certain tasks, creating a container, making things linked to a specific action, and linking images to a URL. Maria would like me to assist her in facilitating this Learning Lunch. I'm excited for the opportunity!
Today's Learning Lunch sessions were about using Google Drive and Google Calendar features. I am familiar with these tools, so I was able to go around and help staff with their specific laptop questions as Maria proceeded with the next step. This helped everyone keep on track and not fall behind.
At the end of the day I helped the Media Clerks check in the daily devices. It is good to be learning more about Alexandria.
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