What's a #BookSnap?

#BookSnaps are a short and simple way for students to demonstrate learning and comprehension of the books they read. A BookSnap is much like a Snapchat story in that it starts with single image that is further enhanced with text, stickers, audio, or emoji.

In a Twitter post, Tara Martin, the founder of BookSnaps says that "#BookSnaps allow students to draw meaningful connections to the text" @TaraMartinEDU. In an article from BookCreator.com Tara states that "To me, the best part of #BookSnaps is the unique REALness the strategy reveals about the creator. Therefore, #BookSnaps need not be ruled by a rubric to produce what we want, but rather allow the students to draw connections based on what’s meaningful and relevant to them." 

Projects such as this allow students to share their unique voice, while applying critical thinking skills in a new and exciting way.   

Students can share thoughts, opinions, inspiring, or important passages quickly and easily. There are many ways to create a BookSnap, but Seesaw and Book Creator are two of the more popular choices.  

This BookSnap example asks a question of its audience and can be shared in apps like Schoology, Seesaw, Padlet, or FlipGrid to foster more complex discussion between students.

BookSnaps made in Seesaw are easy for students to edit and share with teachers, classmates, and parents. Please click here to watch a quick video demonstrating creating and sharing BookSnaps in Seesaw.

Creating a BookSnap in Book Creator allows for a more personalized products using tools with enhanced options for self expression. Please click here to watch a video demonstrating creating a BookSnap in Book Creator.



 

Barrington 220 Teacher Librarians Share Learning from the #ICE2018 Conference

Several teachers and administrators attended the ICE (Illinois Computing Educators) Conference #ICE2018 that was held February 26–28, 2018. The conference location moved closer to Barrington and was held for first time at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL. Over 3,500 educators attended the largest gathering in the state devoted to the use of technology in education.

In a recent district meeting, our Barrington 220 Teacher Librarians who attended ICE shared some of their learning from the #ICE2018 Conference:

Mary Marks (Hough) attended a session presented by EdTech pioneer Kathy Schrock, EdTEch Passion. The session included a great visual to explore meaningful use of technology. Schrock also discussed how educators can create tasks that target the higher-order cognitive skills (Bloom's), as well as design tasks that have a significant impact on student outcomes (SAMR). Also mentioned were technologies gaining momentum in schools across the world, including sketchnoting, sketchquoting, and coding as a literacy.

Amy Rolain (Lines) attended a session packed with resources from Steve Garton, Senior Manager Common Sense Education (@sgarton121), News and Media Literacy: Building Critical Consumers and Creators: Garton asserts, “Fake news is not new, but it’s harder to spot, easier to spread, and harder to control.” Some highlighted resources include:

• News and America’s Kids: How Young People Perceive and Are Impacted by the News
• Michael RobbGrieco’s 2012 Media Literacy Education Graphic
• Deconstructing Disney Curriculum
• News and Media Literacy Toolkit
• Five Key Questions Form Foundation for Media Inquiry

Becky Banach (Grove) attended the session Making Virtual Reality a Reality. The session described how to use VR in curricular topics and shared ways to help students become VR creators in the classroom.

Stacey Lang (Roslyn Road) attended a session by Julie Smith, author of Master the Media: How Teaching Media Literacy Can Save Our Plugged-In World. Smith's topic was Beyond Bullying: What We’re Missing in Digital Citizenship. Follow her on twitter (@julnilsmith).

Janet Anderson (Barrington High School) attended a day-long Administrator Academy with Eric Sheninger and Thomas C Murray. The academy included many great points which can be found in their recent book, now available in the BHS Library, Learning Transformed. One point that resonated with Janet was, "If you are not telling your own story, then who is?" The presenters shared the value of prioritizing the time to write and share your story to your stakeholders via vlogs, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other online platforms.

Campus Instruction Introduces Score Analysis

Infinite Campus recently enhanced Campus Instruction to include the option for teachers to view a Score Analysis for each assignment. The following is information shared from Infinite Campus on how to use the newest Campus Instruction feature. The new features will be available for Barrington 220 staff beginning March 8, 2018. 

The Score Analysis tool is available through the Grade Book and Control Center. It allows teachers to see a distribution of student scores on an assignment and visually break down how each student scored.

Access Score Analysis
Open the score analysis window for a single assignment from these two places:

From the Control Center, click Score for an assignment. Click All, then select the assignment and click the graph icon in the top right. Score analysis opens in a separate browser window.

Access Score Analysis from the Control Center.

From the Grade Book, expand an assignment and click Score Analysis:



Access Score Analysis from the Grade Book by expanding an assignment.

To view score analysis for all assignments in the section, click Score Analysis from the Settings menu of the Grade Book:



View Score Analysis for all assignments in a section from the Settings menu.

Single Assignment

Score analysis for a single assignment displays a score distribution graph representing all scores for the assignment. The percentages on this graph indicate the number of students who received that score. For example, the image below shows that about half of the students earned a B- or higher on the assignment. Hover over each section of the graph to see the score it represents and how many students received that score.

Below the distribution, the breakdown section lists each student who has received a score, displaying score information and an individual graph.



Score Analysis provides a distribution of all scored students and a breakdown showing details for each score.

Filter the student breakdown by clicking sections of the distribution graph. Hold SHIFT or CRTL to select multiple scores to include in the breakdown.

Click Export as CSV to export the breakdown, with present filters, to Excel. Click Create Student Group to create a group of the students currently included in the breakdown.

Click one score or use SHIFT and CTRL keys to filter the breakdown.

For example, create a student group of the students who received 60% or lower on the assignment and give them a followup assignment. Hold the CTRL key while clicking the lowest two scores on the distribution and then click Create Student Group and enter a name. The student group is then available to modify in the student group and to select on assignments.

Multiple Assignments
Score analysis from the Settings menu of the Grade Book starts with just distributions of all assignments in a section. Assignments display in order by Due Date, starting with the most recent.

Click on one or more sections in the distributions to view a list of students below.



From the Grade Book Settings menu, view the score distributions of multiple assignments.

Seven New and Exciting Features in Padlet!

Padlet recently announced seven exciting new features available for use in the Padlet app or through a web browser.

1. The new draw feature allows the user to sketch using the pencil drawing tool in a variety of colors on a black or white background.
2. The voice feature allows students to capture their thoughts by recording audio with the iPad microphone.
3. The snap feature allows students to take and post pictures using the iPad camera.
4. The film feature allows students to record and post video using the iPad camera.
5. The Google feature enables students to safely search for websites, videos, images, and more right from the Padlet wall.
6. The map feature allows students to search for and add maps to the Padlet wall. There are four map types to choose from.   
7. And last but not least, an existing Padlet can now be opened within another Padlet.  

#BSD220TwitterAwards for February 2018

Twitter continues to be used as a great tool for teachers and administrators to share exciting events happening in classrooms and to connect with other educators around the world. This month we continue our series honoring those who use Twitter to share the ideals of our One to World Vision and Mission.

Each month, we honor four Twitter users:

• One Staff Member, Grades PK–5
• One Staff Member, Grades 6–8
• One Staff Member, Grades 9–12
• One Administrator Grades PK–12

February 2018: Staff Member, Grades PK–5, Twitter Award

Congratulations, Theresa Sayre, @TsayTweets!

February 2018: Staff Member, Grades 6–8, Twitter Award

Congratulations, Brian Splinter, @Splinter_PE!

February 2018: Staff Member, Grades 9–12, Twitter Award

Congratulations, Kurt Weisenburger, @WeisenburgerBHS!

February 2018: Administrator, Grades PK–12, Twitter Award

Congratulations, Mike Obsuszt, @BHS220Athletics!

As always, you can find all of the Barrington 220 accounts by searching the hashtag #bsd220 or searching my Twitter handle, @iJoeRobinson, navigating to Lists, and then following the #bsd220 List.