Thought Kandi

Trying to get the attention of a student today can be hard work. Integrating carefully chosen videos into the lesson usually goes a long way towards getting and keeping a student's attention. Videos can also be used to promote events and as a student product. I reviewed the following YouTube Channels. Each showcased creative students and teacher librarians.      The Unquiet Library Most helpful for students: https://youtu.be/3NhcLatjyQE   This video is a great tutorial about Creative Commons and Fair Use. Students would like the best: https://youtu.be/OZUTsyfY8m4   This video showcases a student’s research project work product that is not your typical report.      Pikesvillehslibrary Most helpful for students: https://youtu.be/Xg_MQe5zGn4   This video is helpful because it entertainingly makes the point of how important organization is to student success. Students would like the best: https://youtu.be/o3iihdaYAf0   This is a vi...

As a new teacher I once hoped to record my lessons but at the time had no idea how to do so. I thought this would help if I had to be out and would also help my classes run consistently without having to repeat myself 6 times a day year after year. I did get a tip from a colleague but never took the time to do so. Then the pandemic hit and school shut down and we were all thrown into remote learning whether we were prepared or not!  In the beginning I used Microsoft PowerPoint to record lessons and add comments to the information on the screen. Then I learned how to use Canvas Studio to make recordings since this was the Learning Management Software (LMS) chosen by my district. I tend to be a creature of habit so I leaned heavily on the first program I learned to use for recordings -PowerPoint. After a few bumps in the beginning I learned how to best use it for my style and it served me well for a year of hybrid learning. I now have tried a few new-to-me options and my initial impr...

 I have seen some impressive infographics but have never considered myself skilled enough to create one. That has changed. Now, I don't expect to find riches as a graphic designer by any means but I am confident that I can come up with some helpful infographics for my own little corner of the world. On this test run I used a small portion of information from the article The Internet and the Pandemic from Pew Research (linked at the end of this post) and created an infographic in each of three webapps. Piktochart I started with piktochart which proved to be my favorite. I thought that there were several good templates to choose from for the data I planned to represent. I found the template easy to edit and responded to commands that I use everyday within Microsoft apps. I was disappointed that the graphics available left much to be desired but fortunately the template I chose came with images that were appropriate enough for the information represented. My finished product from pik...