Cornell Notes

Notetaking continues to be an effective way to transfer knowledge to long term storage in the brain, and also offers a means for faster recall of information.  With the inclusion of technology in the classroom, it remains to be seen what impact typing vs. writing might have on this phenomenon.  Regardless, notetaking is an important skill that can be done in variety of ways, but Cornell Notes is an effective means for both traditional and digital means.

Cornell Notes was developed by Dr. Walter Pauk at Cornell University.  This focused means of taking notes allows for greater retention.  There are ten steps to the Cornell Way:

1. Create Format
2. Organize Notes
3. Review and Revise
4. Note Key Ideas
5. Exchange Ideas
6. Link Learning
7. Learning Tool
8. Written Feedback
9. Address
10. Your Reflection

You can read more about this method here or watch a video about it here.

A printable version of this format can be found here.
A digital version for use in Google Drive can be found here.

Reflection and returning to these notes is an important piece of retention.  It is important to scaffold instruction to return to the information and allow students to interact and reflect on their notes.

Digital Citizenship

This June, it will be 11 years since the iPhone was first released. The first iPod was released almost 17 years ago. That means our seniors have probably never bought a CD, nevermind made a mix tape with recordings from the radio.

With great technology comes great responsibility. While we encourage the use of technology in our classes in order to create greater access and possibilities for our students, it also means that we need to inform them about what constitutes being a good digital citizen. This has become more relevant than ever with the institution of the 1:1 program at the middle and high school. So with that in mind, here are some resources for teachers and students. This will serve to begin a conversation about how to improve 1:1 instruction and integrate this as a topic of our everyday interaction with students.

My favorite resource for Digital Citizenship resources is Common Sense Media, which is also great for parents and I first learned about from Chris Long (thanks, Chris!). As part of the 5th grade specials rotation, I would use a number of resources on this website to expose kids to these topics in an engaging way. Here is a rundown of the best resources for each level.

For teachers
https://www.commonsense.org/education/training - This training is for any level teacher and is different depending on the one you choose. If you choose to participate, you will receive a certificate and you can turn it in to receive 1 hour of Act 48 credit. I did the one for high school and found it to be really engaging and helpful.
https://www.commonsense.org/education/posters - These posters are free to print and display in classrooms.
https://www.commonsense.org/education/recognition-educators - Receive a digital badge to showcase your skills as a Common Sense Educator.
https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/digital_citizenship/course?reset=QE9BL64Q - Complete this training with Google to touch on the most important topics related to Digital Citizenship and Safety.

For elementary
https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-passport - This is for grades 3-5 and has several modules on digital citizenship and internet safety in game format.
https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en/resources - From Google, could be high elementary or middle.
https://assessments.commonsensemedia.org/ - Use these questions to gauge a student’s mastery of digital citizenship concepts. When they finish the 20 question assessment, they will receive a percentage grade and a certificate.

For middle school
https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-compass - This game is case studies in decision making online, but presents kids with options and choose their own adventure. It talks to them about the reasons for choosing the correct answers and the consequences of poor decisions.
https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en/resources - From Google, could be high elementary or middle.
https://assessments.commonsensemedia.org/ - Use these questions to gauge a student’s mastery of digital citizenship concepts. When they finish the 20 question assessment, they will receive a percentage grade and a certificate.

For high school
https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-bytes - This is designed for high school students and has them hear from other teens, but then actually has them create a project to voice their thoughts on the topic of digital citizenship.
https://assessments.commonsensemedia.org/ - Use these questions to gauge a student’s mastery of digital citizenship concepts. When they finish the 20 question assessment, they will receive a percentage grade and a certificate.

Please reach out if you have questions or comment. We will continue this discussion in the future at all levels.

Your Next Book

You'd like to read a book, but you're not sure what to read next.  Unsure of what you're in the mood for or what will be "good," you don't know where to turn.  Sound familiar?  Have no fear, your friendly high school librarian can help!

Websites
These websites' primary goal is to help you find your next book.

• What Should I Read Next?
• Your Next Read
• WhichBook

Reading Communities

• Good Reads
• LibraryThing

Book Talks, Trailers, Teasers

• WRHS Student Book Talks 2015-2017

Browsing Your Library

• WRHS Library
• WRMS Library
• Turbotville Elementary Library
• Montgomery House Public Library

Classroom Screen for Classroom Management

Do you use your smartboard to show a variety of tools as part of a lesson?  For example, giving students a timer and indicating the countdown for how long they have to complete the task?  Or maybe you want to do a random name choice to choose a volunteer.  Maybe you keep a traffic light in your room to indicate appropriate volume level while working.

Classroom screen has combined these all into one place and made a toolbar to quickly bring up these options.  When you have this page open in chrome, your page will look like this:

The menu at the bottom allows you to add different options on the screen.  They are:

• Language - change to another language such as Spanish or French!
• Random name - import your class list and choose a random volunteer
• Sound level - allow it access to your computer microphone and it will show when the volume is getting too loud
• QR code - tell it a web address and the kids can scan the code on the screen to go to a certain website (K and 1, this is GREAT!)
• Drawing - draw function, similar to the smartboard tools
• Text - same idea
• Work symbols - another volume management, but with the options for "Silence", "Whisper", "Ask a neighbor" and "Work together"

• Traffic light - volume control
• Timer - Start a countdown and tell those kids how much time they have to do a task / break out / etc
• Clock - give the time (analog and digital)

This has great possibilities to help manage class flow.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

Vocaroo for Voices

Vocaroo is a simple online tool for recording and sharing audio files across the internet.  After allowing your microphone, it literally takes two clicks to create a recording.  After that, the file is easily shared with an auto-generated link, or can be downloaded as an MP3, or get a QR code.  Since it is a web-based services, it's a natural friend to Chromebook users.  And, since it is web-based, students and teachers can use Vocaroo anywhere!

Ways for Students to Use Vocaroo

• Students at all levels can practice their reading and speaking skills.  Beginning readers might find it helpful to hear what they sound like reading a book and following along.  Older students could read drafts of essays aloud to catch mistakes.
• Practice presentations before giving them.
• Music students can share songs they sing or play with teachers and other students.
• Foreign language students can practice their fluency.
• Peer-to-peer feedback.  Students could even paste the link in a comment on a Google Doc or Slides.

Ways for Teachers to Use Vocaroo

• Leave instructions for your students when you have a substitute.
• Record a summary of what you did during the day and post the link of your website or Sapphire page.  (You could have a student do this too!)
• Give feedback to individual students.  (I know my hand cramps up after writing a lot, this might be a new way to give students feedback on a paper or larger assignment.)

How to Use Vocaroo

• Go to http://vocaroo.com
• Click the red button to record
  
• Click the green check mark to allow the service to use microphone
  
• Click to tell the browser to allow the microphone
  
• NOW YOU'RE RECORDING, WOO HOO!
• Click to stop recording
  
• Now you have the option to retry, listen, or save.  "Retry" will delete and start over, "listen" will allow you to listen to your recording, and "click to save" will give you options.
  
• This is what you see when you "click to save:"
  
• You can simply copy the link and send that wherever you want.  Or you can download as an MP3 to be used later, email it directly from the site, or create a QR code.

A quick tip: If you decide to have your students create recordings and share them with you, it would help to organize them with a Google Form.  You can create a simple form with a place to put their name and a place to paste the link, and then Google Form creates a spreadsheet with that information.  That way it's all in one place for you to access at your convenience.  Click here to get started with Google Forms.