Final presentation

I really, really hate how I talk.

Here it is. Please, for the love of all that's holy, don't try to read the transcript. 

And I apologize to everyone if I'm not as engaged as I'd like to be on Wednesday and Thursday with travel, etc.

A7 - Final Project Paper

 When I joined Franklin High School last October, the library was a mess, both literally and figuratively. The stacks were organized in an un-intuitive manner, circulation statistics were abysmal, and student awareness of the library as a place of learning was severely lacking. Students (and a lot of staff) honestly saw the library mostly as a place to hang out before and after school and a place for senior lunches. The space was fairly cold and unfriendly, and definitely suffered from an obvious lack of a librarian. 

In my first year, the library’s circulation nearly tripled, I reorganized the entire library and created a much more flexible, welcoming space. The impacts were quickly felt. Not only did circulation surge, but student engagement with the library increased notably. I received many, many compliments from students and staff about how different the library felt, and that it was a “Real library” now, instead of a giant space with lots of books. That being said, there’s massive room for improvement, which is the driver for this project.

I believe learning takes place when students feel safe and engaged. I think I did a good job with the former this year, but I’m hoping to drive significantly more student engagement this year through a multi-pronged approach. While I have the skills to be a techno-constructivist, I’m somewhere between that and a traditionalist, in that I think that we too often implement technology for the sake of the technology and don’t give enough thought to how that tech will help students learn and whether the tech is the best method of teaching/engaging the kids.

For my project, I will implement student book reviews using Follett Destiny Discover, which is the software we use to manage our library catalog. This is a system that I’ve never used, so there will be definite growth in my tech skills. 

This is important because giving students and staff access to create reviews serves multiple goals. It gives agency to students, allowing them to feel engaged and listened to. Their opinions will matter! In addition, students will be able to see what classmates and teachers think about the book as they’re looking for their next read. Doing so will empower them to make more informed decisions on their reading, which hopefully will create a more rich reading experience and encourage them to read even more!

I spent a good deal of time looking up options for this project. Several (such as WikiSpaces) seemed really promising, but are no longer functional. Others looked great, but cost money (LibGuides). There were a few promising free options, but I’m not willing to spend a ton of time and effort to build student reviews on a site that might become vaporware at some point. I did put out an inquiry to Follett’s other library management system (AccessIt), which supposedly has a much more flexible user interface, but haven’t heard back yet.

Destiny’s interface isn’t great, but it IS available and is a system we already pay for and use. The district has a budget problem, so paid solutions are simply not realistic. As mentioned before, I’m wary of long-term viability of free tools, so I’ll work with what I have.

Getting buy in will probably be an issue, especially at first. As mentioned before, the software isn’t super intuitive, and there obviously won’t be any reviews early on. There are a ton of ways to encourage the adoption of this system. I’ll create a tutorial and QR codes (perhaps using QRCode Monkey) for that tutorial and the student reviews and will pepper the library with the codes. I’ll use our smart board to put details and the QR codes up for regular viewing and might consider creating some neat, but basic, bookmarks with details and the codes, then I’ll put that bookmark in every book that’s borrowed. 

I’ll probably run some tutorials on how to use the system. My school will be implementing “Win Block” daily, where we have a flexible period of (I believe) 30 minutes every day wherein students can go see teachers for extra help or, conceivably, go to the library for mini-sessions on various topics. I’m already thinking about using this block EXTENSIVELY to make interesting sessions about various topics, including library content but also other topics or events (board game days, Jackbox game events, LGBTQ awareness, etc). 

If I can leverage the win blocks successfully, I think I’ll be able to drive a TON of engagement with the library. In this case, I can use the blocks to teach kids about the system, and perhaps drive a small book club to encourage reading. 

A6 - Summary of Shhh!! No Opinions in the Library

In her article "Shhh!! No Opinions in the Library," Amanda Vender takes on the issue of censorship in public libraries—specifically when it comes to “political” content aimed at kids. She shares the story of IndyKids, a progressive newspaper she co-founded that’s designed to help young readers (grades 4 to 7) understand and think critically about current events. Despite that mission, many public libraries, especially in New York, refused to carry it, claiming it was “too political” or not “balanced” enough.

Vender points out a pretty glaring double standard here. While IndyKids was turned away, other publications like Boys’ Life (from the Boy Scouts of America) and American Girl were welcomed without issue. This is odd, considering Boys’ Life featured things like Bible stories and gun ads, and American Girl focused heavily on fashion and beauty. Still, librarians didn’t see those as political—but IndyKids, with its focus on social justice, apparently crossed a line. Vender argues this goes against the American Library Association’s own principles, which say libraries should offer a wide range of viewpoints and not exclude content based on political or ideological disagreement.

A big point in the article is that truly “unbiased” news doesn’t really exist—every publication has a perspective, whether it admits it or not. IndyKids is open about its progressive lean, aiming to amplify voices that are often left out of mainstream media. On the flip side, many mainstream kids' publications claim to be neutral, but tend to support the status quo—favoring corporate or government viewpoints and ignoring more critical or alternative perspectives. Vender brings up examples like Scholastic News, which covered Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation by highlighting President Obama’s reaction, without mentioning the U.S.’s longtime support of Mubarak’s regime. IndyKids, by contrast, included the voices of Egyptian children.

In the end, Vender argues that kids deserve access to a free and diverse press. While adults often think they’re protecting children by filtering out the “hard stuff,” plenty of young readers actually want to understand the world around them. IndyKids’ growing popularity shows that kids are ready for thoughtful, honest coverage of real issues—they just need adults to stop gatekeeping what’s “appropriate.”

A5 - Quickie tutorial on how to use WeVideo

I was the video club director at my old school, and found a great collaborative online video production tool - WeVideo. Think of it as your pocket video studio, accessible from your browser or phone, and perfect whether you’re making a travel vlog or a birthday shout‑out.

1. Dive in – Make an account

You can sign up for an account in under a minute. WeVideo’s dashboard—bright, clean—greets you with options: Start New Project, Access Media, View Tutorials. It’s like opening a fresh page in your journal and deciding what the story will be.

2. Upload media

Click “+” to upload your footage—whether it’s clips you shot on your phone, voice notes, or royalty‑free music from their library. I love that you can drag and drop, and preview stuff as you go. You get a solid feeling of control, even before editing starts.

3. Hit the Timeline

Here’s where it gets fun. Your clips line up on a visual timeline. Want to slice out that awkward pause? Click, drag, cut—just like editing text in a doc. Add transitions with a few clicks for smooth fades, or overlay a title sequence that feels like something David Attenborough might narrate.

4. Customize Effects & Audio

WeVideo has a toolbox of filters, speed‑controls (try slowing bits of clips to 50%—instant cinematic feel), and voice‑enhancers. I once cleaned up background noise from a shaky interview with a single toggle. Music tracks auto‑adjust volume when someone speaks—no more drowned‑out dialogue. =

5. Share, export, repeat

When it’s ready, hit Finish. Choose resolution: web‑size or HD. WeVideo processes on its cloud engine—so my Chromebook didn’t groan under the workload. Within minutes, I grabbed a link to embed in a blog, share on YouTube, and download an MP4 to keep.

Tips I picked up

• Start with their templates: You could use a “Travel Diary” preset with titles and transitions already baked in—great inspiration.

• Use green‑screen mode: Users can remove backgrounds for fun overlays (like turning a living room into the moon).

• Take advantage of cloud saving: You can edit on phone then pick up the project on a laptop. D

  
  
  
  
  
  
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Why I keep coming back

WeVideo nails the balance: more creative horsepower than a basic app, but still intuitive enough that I’m not lost in menus. The automatic save, cloud rendering, and accessible interface take a lot of the friction out of video editing. And honestly, it feels like telling your story—not wrestling with software.

If you’ve been thinking about editing your own clips—whether it’s family moments, short films, or social media bursts—WeVideo is an easy, friendly place to start. Just upload, trim, add a title and music, export—and voilà. Your video, your vision, made simple.

A4 - Steps for final project

I'm not necessarily good at planning, but here goes.

The goal of my project is to drive engagement with the FHS library. I intend to do so in multiple ways, but will focus on the idea of incorporating student reviews into our library system.

Here's my to-do list:

• Do more research into systems and processes that allow students to do so with minimal work from me. Maybe AI could help?
• Write the paper
• Make the presentation
• Present
• Celebrate

Note - I wrote this on Thursday and then realized today that I hadn't published it. My bad!

A3 - Final project

I have a bunch of ideas about my final project, but really haven't decided what I'm going to do. They will focus around getting students to use the library more, but there are truly multiple directions to take, and I'm simply exhausted right now and am going to brainstorm it more tomorrow in class. 

Of course, I might be up at 2am re-writing this, but who knows?

A3 - AI as a tool in the classroom

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about AI in the classroom—not as some looming dystopian force or magical teaching solution, but as a tool. A very fast, very sometimes-weird tool. Reading the recent Education Week piece curated by Larry Ferlazzo only confirmed what I’ve been feeling: this tech isn’t going away, but that doesn’t mean we need to panic. It means we need to get curious.

The teachers featured in the article weren’t wide-eyed cheerleaders for AI. In fact, many of them started with suspicion—worrying about cheating, depersonalization, and whether it’s even ethical to lean on AI for support. Valid concerns. But what struck me is how each teacher came around not because they were forced to, but because they discovered small, practical ways AI could help without replacing anything essential.

One teacher, Donna Shrum, compared AI to the leap from wooden plows to steel ones. That image stuck with me. Not because AI is revolutionary in the same way, but because it reframes the conversation. If a tool saves us time and energy—the kind of low-burnout tasks that drain teachers—shouldn’t we at least explore it?

I’ve used AI tools myself for drafting emails, brainstorming project outlines, and giving early-stage feedback. Never the final product. Always the starting place. That’s what Donna emphasized, too: it’s not about letting AI do the work, it’s about letting it start the work. Like letting a student turn in a rough outline before the real writing begins.

Another contributor, Bonnie Nieves, talked about using AI to help students access scientific research. Not dumbed down—just clearer. More approachable. If we say we want all kids to access complex texts, isn’t it our job to make that possible? AI isn’t the only way, but it’s one more tool on the shelf.

Of course, there are boundaries. We still need to teach kids how to think critically, how to write with their own voice, how to struggle productively. But I don’t think AI necessarily undermines that. If we’re thoughtful—if we keep pedagogy first and tech second—then AI might actually free us up to do more of what matters.

Cautious optimism feels right. Not starry-eyed. Not cynical. Just open enough to try the new plow, and wise enough to know it still takes a human hand to guide it.

NOTE - This was written by ChatGPT. The initial prompt was "Using https://natescape.blogspot.com/ as an example of writing style, give a 300-500 word analysis of the attached document, explaining that the author is cautiously optimistic about the use of AI in classrooms." The response was too much of an analysis of the piece, so I added the second prompt, "Please rewrite that to be less of an analysis of the piece and more of a cautiously optimistic view of AI in education from Natescape's point of view, with occasional reference to the PDF."