On the DL
Notes from Digital Learning and School Library Services
January 2023
Welcome to the refreshed monthly newsletter from the BCS Digital Learning and School Library Services Department. The sections below were designed for quick, efficient browsing that prioritizes the importance of empowerment, reflection, and innovation in education. Have feedback on this new layout? Please let us know what you think using the form linked below!
Empower
The BCS Digital Learning Department is thrilled to share our monthly calendar! Feel free to use these resources in your classroom as a way to celebrate the various days featured on this calendar.
Please log in to Clever before accessing any of the linked calendar resources below, and always be sure to preview resources before utilizing them in your educational setting.
Reflect
Let's reflect on current practices in our school communities, including our amazing library spaces!
Winter Wonderland
in the Waccamaw Media Center
Students at Waccamaw School celebrated Computer Science Education Week 2022 by participating in various coding lessons in the Media Center. Coding is a set of instructions that tell a computer what it can or can not do and it is used to program websites or apps. Elementary and middle school students completed online Hour of Code activities.
Students also used robots called Ozobotsas part of their Computer Science lessons. Ozobots will follow black lines until they reach color coded blocks that give them another set of directions to perform. The students were very excited when they realized they were in control over the movement of a mini robot! It didn't take them long to get creative with their Ozobot path designs. Students enjoyed the variation in the coding activities and are looking forward to tackling more advanced lessons!
Also during the month of December, we focused on kindness. We teamed up with CIS Success Coach Corri Proctor to complete a Kindness Project. Part of this project includes community outreach. We chose to make Christmas cards for nursing home residents. These cards were distributed to local nursing homes along with Christmas goodies.
During the last week before winter break, first through fifth grade students participated in a Gingerbread Cafe book tasting. Five students from each homeroom were chosen to visit the library where they were introduced to new books and asked to review them based on the summary and first impression. These books were put on display, along with the reviews, for others to view and check out. We always encourage students to “sip, taste, and read” new books!
Students learning to code the Ozobots!
Students enjoyed learning about new books!
From a Reader: For books that are recorded and already on YouTube, is it safe to share in Google Classroom?
Publishers have been incredibly lenient during this recent pandemic about teachers using and posting recordings of texts. First, I don't expect this leniency to last forever. Second, you can link these in your Google Classroom, just be aware that they may disappear without warning should a publisher file a copyright claim with YouTube.
Essentially, the Google Classroom, Canvas Classroom, or SeeSaw Classroom is an extension of your classroom and fair use applies as it would there. That does not give you free reign to digitally create a book copy and hand it out to your students via Google Classroom and not purchase the readily available digital copies, but it does mean that read alouds can be conducted as they would in the regular classroom. Be mindful of distribution and any loss of revenue that may result. These are measuring points for fair use.
-Acacia Dixon, Director of School & Library Services
Innovate
Looking to embrace new ideas and products in your learning environment? Below are some professional learning opportunities as well as links to some of the many resources BCS Digital Learning & School Library Services provide!
Are you in need of CEUs? The Digital Learning Team at DPI has curated a list of Self-Paced professional learning opportunities that are available! THIS linked document contains a list you can search to find just what you need!
Once you find the perfect fit, look it up in NCEES and enroll.
Did you know that NC is the first state to provide ISTE memberships to educators? Be sure to claim your FREE membership to ISTE (the International Society for Technology in Education) - Look for the icon shown above in NCEdCloud!
