Instructional Project

 Blog reflection on the process of this project as well as presentation. What was your thought process while choosing a topic? What was the most difficult part of the design process? What was the easiest part of the design process? How can you engage learners during a lesson? Do you feel you were able to engage your learners during the lesson? What surprised you when presenting the lesson?

This was easy to do but kind of not. Easy because we figured out the audience and what we were going to do. It was weird because there were two members not in class the day we chose what to do it on. Then once we chose the topic it was a free for all on adding things to the lesson plan that we shared via Google docs and the Wakelet we created. There were miscommunications it happens when communicating online we resolved it. When choosing a topic, it was a little hard but we thought about which ones are the most common programs that public libraries do. Food is a common theme that we thought of but how to go about presenting a tech aspect of it was the one that needed a little more thought. We decided on using Wakelet because it was something that we had learned in class and could be easily taught to the public.

One thing about presenting in class I thought of was how my library does it. If this had been a tech program that we had presented, there would have been either a handout or slideshow presentation. Which was something that I thought of as a handout but didn’t have time to do. Had a very busy weekend with work and other things that piled up. Then another group member sent us a slide show that they did so we could use it. Though it was shot down though I kind of wish we had used it because it had zoomed in to parts of the Wakelet that are kind of hard to see when presenting on Zoom. Plus, there wouldn’t be any worries if the Wakelet malfunctions or something doesn’t appear that usually do since we would have an image of what we are talking about.

Though something that was easy to do was the lesson plan. Which I haven't done but I have done very basic outlines of how a storytime will go. For me, it was kind of similar but we do storytime outlines for my library it is on a PowerPoint. So. if someone is off for some reason and was going to do a storytime that day anyone could do it. 

From having people send us their links to the Wakelets they created we were able to see that people were able to follow along with what we were doing. That is something that kind of sucks with doing an online program whether it is a class or an actual program for a library because you don’t know if people are actually listening as well as understanding. Though it went smoothly, at least it seemed like it did, we didn’t have much time to practice just an hour beforehand having divided who was doing what. We didn’t trip up on who was doing what and transiting to the next person was easy which really surprised me. Overall, this seemed easy to do. Here's a link to view the Wakelet we created for this fake program: Recipes for Your Busy Life. Hope everyone enjoyed the presentation. 

Pathfinder

 At first, when I saw examples of the assignment, I thought that it could be easy. I could just base it on an annual project kids do at a school. That could work for a school librarian, but as a public librarian, it's hard to do but not impossible. I thought to create a pathfinder on dinosaurs in Wakelet. I created my pathfinder based on the idea of either needing it for a research project or just to learn more about dinosaurs. Starting with resources from the library, to websites that offer facts about dinosaurs. Going down, there are activities that need to be printed out such as a memory game with dinosaurs. Further down there are YouTube videos that are about dinosaurs. Then at the very bottom are crafts or projects that one can do based on dinosaurs. For public libraries, I think using a pathfinder is more using it for fun topics and getting in touch with the local schools and asking them what big projects kids are doing. If say, National Hispanic Heritage Month is coming up, have a pathfinder with events coming up that month, book displays/lists that they have, and fun things to explore more information on the topic. I went back and forth on what kind of curation site I should use. Then also thinking is a curation site is the way to go for a public library or is it better to create a blog post technically creating on to the library webpage that a public library has. For example, Elmhurst Public Library has a page on their website to help writers titled Resources for Writers. Then Richland Library does blog posts one of them they did is titled “That’s Gross!” and they have videos and a list of books that they have in the post. I think that’s what most public libraries would do instead of using a curation site. Though using a curation site has its draw because using them one can add multiple items easily.

Here is the link to my Dinosaur Wakelet. 

Database Tutorial

Reflection on the process of creating a database tutorial

 The database that I went with is called Trueflix from Scholastic it was nice to do since I don’t see much promotion of the resources that my library has. The library pays for a subscription at least that’s what I think because it cannot be accessed otherwise public libraries or schools can access the website. I found doing this video was kind of easy but a little hard because I was thinking of doing a different database then I totally blanked on what it had to offer. So I switched it to Trueflix which was good for me. I had problems with filming it all in one go. Cause I seem to pause a lot then lose my train of thought. Even though I had written down what to say I seem to just bypass all that and say what I notice first. I even practiced I did 4 video takes before the 5^th one was the one that was it and I got it done all I wanted to say. I still had messed up in the beginning but it was an easy edit to clean up. I have never done a screen recording so for me that was new and interesting. I used screencastify I had never used it before but it was easy to use. Each time that I had to redo a video because I messed up on what I was doing I decided to try a different feature it offered. It was easy to use the editing tools that it offers. It was an interesting process.

Somethings I learned along the way in doing this is that even do you practice it still might not be great the first time. I had practiced and it still took me 5 times to get it right and that was after I had practiced and even timed myself. It is also okay to mess up because it can be easily fixed when editing the video. Open the database in multiple tabs if needed to say this is going to be the first thing I talked about and so on and so forth. Really it is trying it and seeing what works for you because for me it might have worked but for you, it might be the opposite. 

Here's the link to my database tutorial video: 

https://youtu.be/WKjrJrzwVeM

Gamification

 We had to create an escape room online something along those lines. Each of us created a different puzzle which was a little hard since we are a five-person group but we figured it out. Anyone who knew what they wanted to do chose their’s first and I had the idea of a word search but I was thinking about how to make that more of a puzzle instead of just an activity. I used Puzzlemaker Discovery Education which had a word search with a hidden message feature but in the end, I didn’t use it because I want to my word search to be with book titles. So I found other word searches that offered me the chance to put phrases but no hidden message feature. Then I found a video online on how to do a word search and make it interactive for students plus put a hidden message I followed the same concept that they did. If you would like to see it, it is called How to make an interactive word search puzzle in Google Jamboard. I feel like I just made it more difficult for myself in sticking to putting book titles into the word search instead of using other words that were not phrases. Since I did that I kind of stressed myself out but you know I kind of do that a lot so it's normal I decided to devote my day off to this word search and not think about it till about until after. Then I realized I forgot to write this blog post so this is more of a reflection of how it went I think at the moment I wouldn’t say I would do it again but looking I’m like yes I would do it but probably not that often. We figured out five different puzzles to do a crossword, memory match, trivia with a logic puzzle, word search with a hidden message, and a cipher. That was the most exciting part that we figured out five different puzzles to do without having to overlap. Everyone did their part as well as updated one another when they had finished their puzzle.

In any case, this would be a fun thing to promote to teens in a public library space. It would be seen as a passive thing or even as a live program event a mini breakout space at the library that people can do throughout the day. From there see if they liked it and if they would like to continue doing it.

Here is an image of the word search I created it is a word search of book titles from the Read for a Lifetime and the Abe Lincoln Book Award the nominees from this year and years past as well as past winners.