Hello!
I attended an NCCE convention and noticed that there was a lot of talk about BYOD or Bring Your Own Device. More and more students are bringing iPads, tablets, laptops, or smart phones to school and the rationale was to put to educational use the devices that students were using already.
The positive side to BYOD includes:
1. Students already own them, so the school does not have to provide them.
2. Students are also responsible for any problems that may happen. It is a personal device, not a school one.
3. Students know how to use it already.
4. It provides a 1:1 student to device ratio.
The job of teachers is to educate students that these can be learning tools, not just a device to text or play games on.
Of course, we know that there will always be problems with students having their own devices. I would expect that schools have filtering software installed for student protection, but teachers must teach students about internet safety and proper use of the internet, dangers of cyberbullying, and being safe with social media.
Are you ready to adopt a BYOD policy? Do you have a policy in place to help protect the school in case of misuse? If your students are bringing cell phones to school, what is your policy on this? These are things that we need to think about before we find ourselves in a sticky situation.
Check out the BYOD policies that other schools have and see what kinds of things they include.
If you already have a BYOD policy for your school, I would love to see it and compare with the one I am working on for my school.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Monday, September 15, 2014
Teaching Dewey
Greetings!
I am teaching the Dewey Decimal Classification system to our students here during library classes. My assistant uses a great method using hand motions to help them remember the hundreds.
The Dewey Decimal System is arranged a little like a person growing up.
100’s - Who Am I? (Psychology)
Finger Motion: Hold up one finger and point to yourself.
When we are little, we think only of ourselves. The books in this section have information that a person might want to know about himself. Books on my thoughts or how I feel would be included in this section.
200’s – Who is My God? (Religion)
Finger Motion: Hold up two fingers and point up toward heaven.
As we grow a little older we start to wonder where everyone came from. These books explain the world and how it was created. Books on religions are located here. (Also books on Mythology, but we don’t usually include these in our lessons!)
300’s – Who is My Neighbor? (Social Studies)
Finger Motion: Hold up three fingers and sweep horizontally across the classroom including everyone.
Once you learn about other people, you want to find out more about others. What do they do and where do they live? Books on careers, jobs, holidays, folktales are located here. These books are all about the social world.
400’s – How Do I Communicate With My Neighbor? (Languages)
Finger Motion: Hold up four fingers and put them to your lips. I wiggle them because kids like movement.
Now that we know something about other people, we might want to communicate with them. We need to learn their language, so books on other languages are here.
500’s – Man Sees the Things God Made. (Pure Science)
Finger Motion: Hold up five fingers and sweep the room with your hand as you say “Everything God made.”
Books on science and nature are in this section. We learn about the heavens, the animals, and the world God made.
600’s – Man is Clever and Learns “How To’ Use the Science and Nature information to Work for Him. (Applied Science/Technology)
Finger Motion: Hold palm of one hand flat and use your index finger on the other hand as you would a tool to twist back and forth on palm. You have the five fingers of one hand (What God Made) plus the finger of the other hand (Man uses What God Made) to make six fingers.
Books on cars, airplanes, building bridges and other things, caring for your health, books on diseases, cookbooks, caring for pets; all these subjects are in here. This section is the “How To” section. The animal books are in the Pure science section, but caring for them (How To) is in the Applied Science section.
700’s – Man Enjoys Leisure Time. (Fine Arts)
Finger Motion: Palm of one hand is flat and the other hand used Index and middle finger as legs walking on the palm.
Since Man has learned to use science to work for him, he now has time to enjoy things like sports, crafts, music, drawing, and other hobbies.
800’s – Man Likes to Tell Stories About Himself. (Literature)
Finger Motion: Hold both hands like an open book with thumbs folded inside. Focus on this being stories to read for enjoyment, not informational.
900’s – Man Likes to Leave a Record of His Doings, Goings, and Comings. (History, Geography, and Biography)
Finger Motion: Hold your fingers as if around a ball creating a ‘globe’ for geography. (One thumb inside.)
000’s – General Information. This includes books like encyclopedias, media, newspapers, and books that have a lot of general information such as question and answer books.
Finger Motion: Hold up two fists (showing zero fingers) and say this is ‘General Junk’. You could use the term ‘General Information’, but the kids like the words ‘General Junk’ and they remember it which is the whole point.
This category has information that does not fit into just one Dewey number. For example, the encyclopedia has maps, history, science, biographies, and more. It can’t be cataloged into history because there is more than just history. Since there are so many kinds of information, it is cataloged in general information. Question and answer books also fit in this section. They have all kinds of information in them and there is no one place to catalog them, so they are general.
We start learning Dewey in Kindergarten in a very informal way. First and Second graders begin to learn the hand motions, and we do a review with Third and Fourth grades. Third and Fourth graders also participate in a Read Around the Library program. I have a card for each student and we encourage them to read from each Dewey section in the library. As they complete a book, we mark it off the card. In March just before spring vacation, I have a Dewey Celebration for all who have completed their Dewey card. Last year the card had sixteen spaces to fill, so there were at least sixteen books they read during the months from September through mid March. This year I am doing a Bingo card – very similar to last year, but there are twenty-four books to read. However, they will receive a prize for each Bingo they make. I hope that the smaller goals will encourage them to read from the whole card.
I hope these ideas help you with teaching Dewey to your kids.
I hope you have a terrific week,
Audrey
I am teaching the Dewey Decimal Classification system to our students here during library classes. My assistant uses a great method using hand motions to help them remember the hundreds.
The Dewey Decimal System is arranged a little like a person growing up.
100’s - Who Am I? (Psychology)
Finger Motion: Hold up one finger and point to yourself.
When we are little, we think only of ourselves. The books in this section have information that a person might want to know about himself. Books on my thoughts or how I feel would be included in this section.
200’s – Who is My God? (Religion)
Finger Motion: Hold up two fingers and point up toward heaven.
As we grow a little older we start to wonder where everyone came from. These books explain the world and how it was created. Books on religions are located here. (Also books on Mythology, but we don’t usually include these in our lessons!)
300’s – Who is My Neighbor? (Social Studies)
Finger Motion: Hold up three fingers and sweep horizontally across the classroom including everyone.
Once you learn about other people, you want to find out more about others. What do they do and where do they live? Books on careers, jobs, holidays, folktales are located here. These books are all about the social world.
400’s – How Do I Communicate With My Neighbor? (Languages)
Finger Motion: Hold up four fingers and put them to your lips. I wiggle them because kids like movement.
Now that we know something about other people, we might want to communicate with them. We need to learn their language, so books on other languages are here.
500’s – Man Sees the Things God Made. (Pure Science)
Finger Motion: Hold up five fingers and sweep the room with your hand as you say “Everything God made.”
Books on science and nature are in this section. We learn about the heavens, the animals, and the world God made.
600’s – Man is Clever and Learns “How To’ Use the Science and Nature information to Work for Him. (Applied Science/Technology)
Finger Motion: Hold palm of one hand flat and use your index finger on the other hand as you would a tool to twist back and forth on palm. You have the five fingers of one hand (What God Made) plus the finger of the other hand (Man uses What God Made) to make six fingers.
Books on cars, airplanes, building bridges and other things, caring for your health, books on diseases, cookbooks, caring for pets; all these subjects are in here. This section is the “How To” section. The animal books are in the Pure science section, but caring for them (How To) is in the Applied Science section.
700’s – Man Enjoys Leisure Time. (Fine Arts)
Finger Motion: Palm of one hand is flat and the other hand used Index and middle finger as legs walking on the palm.
Since Man has learned to use science to work for him, he now has time to enjoy things like sports, crafts, music, drawing, and other hobbies.
800’s – Man Likes to Tell Stories About Himself. (Literature)
Finger Motion: Hold both hands like an open book with thumbs folded inside. Focus on this being stories to read for enjoyment, not informational.
900’s – Man Likes to Leave a Record of His Doings, Goings, and Comings. (History, Geography, and Biography)
Finger Motion: Hold your fingers as if around a ball creating a ‘globe’ for geography. (One thumb inside.)
000’s – General Information. This includes books like encyclopedias, media, newspapers, and books that have a lot of general information such as question and answer books.
Finger Motion: Hold up two fists (showing zero fingers) and say this is ‘General Junk’. You could use the term ‘General Information’, but the kids like the words ‘General Junk’ and they remember it which is the whole point.
This category has information that does not fit into just one Dewey number. For example, the encyclopedia has maps, history, science, biographies, and more. It can’t be cataloged into history because there is more than just history. Since there are so many kinds of information, it is cataloged in general information. Question and answer books also fit in this section. They have all kinds of information in them and there is no one place to catalog them, so they are general.
We start learning Dewey in Kindergarten in a very informal way. First and Second graders begin to learn the hand motions, and we do a review with Third and Fourth grades. Third and Fourth graders also participate in a Read Around the Library program. I have a card for each student and we encourage them to read from each Dewey section in the library. As they complete a book, we mark it off the card. In March just before spring vacation, I have a Dewey Celebration for all who have completed their Dewey card. Last year the card had sixteen spaces to fill, so there were at least sixteen books they read during the months from September through mid March. This year I am doing a Bingo card – very similar to last year, but there are twenty-four books to read. However, they will receive a prize for each Bingo they make. I hope that the smaller goals will encourage them to read from the whole card.
I hope these ideas help you with teaching Dewey to your kids.
I hope you have a terrific week,
Audrey
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