Korman, G. (2017). Restart. New York: Scholastic.
Korman has written a wonderful book looking into the world of bullying. He shows the life of Chase Ambrose from before his accident and after his accident. Chase does not remember the Chase from before he fell off his roof, but everyone else at his Middle School does. He discovers things about himself that he is not proud of. Before his accident he was the biggest school bully. He befriends the people he bullied the most without even realizing it. The book allows the reader to see the perspective of all the characters from first person.
This is a great book to read with young people to show them how bullying others can make them feel. The consequences that can develop from what they think is innocent fun, but others do not see that way. I like the twist on how the book makes one see that just because one acts a certain way it does not mean they have to be like that. People can change for the better.
Check out these resources to help with bullying:
Edutopia
NAESP
Stopbullying.gov
Over the summer I have spent a lot of time exploring and engaging with digital technology tools. In this post I am going to reflect on my favorites, least favorites, some that may have given me challenges and which ones I think will benefit students the most.
My favorite tool to explore and use was Animoto. I loved being able to create a book trailer for a book that I read. I posted my creation on Facebook and received so many likes and comments. My friends thought I was a genius. The feeling of accomplishment and praise that I got made me feel like a real producer and contributor. The program itself is really easy to use and create with. I think students will really like using the tool to make visual summaries of books that they have read to share with others.
The podcast tools were the most difficult for me (PodBean, Pod-O-matic and SoundCloud). Trying to decide on what I wanted to create took me some time. Once I decided and got started it was easy, until I wanted to upload my podcasts. I struggled with being able to upload. Just recently I have discovered that the Wi-Fi in my house is not working properly. The upload speed is very slow. I will have to try again once we change out the router. I hope it will work much more quickly. I have several ideas as to how to use the podcasts and QR codes together. Another reason podcasts are my least favorite is because I am not an audio only learner. I really need the visuals. Which is why I really like Infographics. My first podcast I ever made I had to make it into a vodcast - a video plus the audio. I could not just do the audio file it just did not feel right to me. Granted the vodcast is more work, but I like the end product better because I have something visual to help me link what I am hearing. Which helps my brain better process the information. Which I think is why I really like screencasts and plan to really use this tool to help all learners in the library be able to better access information. Screencasts are a great tool to help support teaching mini-lessons in real time - 24/7.
I think the technology tools that allow students to use their learning styles and creativity will be the most powerful. So students will need a variety of tools to use when they want to create and share information with others. As the librarian and technology support on a school campus it is my job to explore and provide the resources that will work for all learners, not just my favorites. Always remembering that every learner is different is so important in education. Just like in collection development I will not have only fantasy and romance books because they are my favorite. I will provide quality resources in as many different genres that are available so all students have access to what fits their interests best.
The key to knowing technology is being able to evaluate it for the pros and cons. Thinking about all learners when evaluating the tool. Then when sharing the information about the tool being objective and transparent with the user so they can select the best tool that fits their learning style and needs.
