Tales of the Unexpected

Sometimes kids surprise us. They often demonstrate the ability to see tasks from a different perspective or they have ideas that we as adults/teachers had not considered. This especially so when it comes to technology.

An example of this happen just happened in a library lesson. The students were in small groups and had been given the task of reading the same book. They then had to summarise the story in the form of a Rap. Our Teacher Librarian expected a set of lyrics that would hopefully be performed with a few finger-click or hand-claps as accompaniment. The result was somewhat different. As the lyrics were being written, many students turned to their iPads for inspiration, and the phrase "There's an app for that" proved itself to be true once again. In the week that Apple announced that there are over 1 million apps available for iPad, it's not surprising really that there are a whole host of useful apps for Rap writers & performers.

The student's creativity shone through, with the support of the right technology to improve the whole process. I can't wait to see what results they come up with next week.

Digital Citizenship in the Library

Our students use an online library system called Destiny Quest. As well as looking up books and writing reviews, it also includes a messaging feature. The kids can look up other users and send them a friend-request. Once accepted, that are able to communicate with each other - in theory sharing views on books or making recommendations to their friends. Of course, they could message each other about virtually anything.

Our librarian, Miss Mandy, has used this as the perfect opportunity to introduce the children to the importance of being sensible and politer hen communicating with technology. Within this 'safe' online environment, they can practice using social media in a protected space, which is managed and monitored by the library staff. Hopefully, this will lead to a culture of safe and responsible online use as they grow older.