AACE Presentation (ED-MEDIA 2012)

1. David Eisenberg, MLIS
School Media Specialist, Vernon Township Public Schools
President, Sussex County Library Media Association
N.J. School Boards Association, 2012 School Leader Award Recipient

2. Contents:
I. Educational Technology: More Important Than Ever
II. Functional & Targeted School Technology
III. Applied Technology in Action: Programs at Glen Meadow Library
a) Session # 1: Data-Driven Analytics in College & Career-Ready Book Clubs (Recognized
Program by NJSBA)
b) Session # 2: Star Reading (NJASL Program Overview and the Renaissance Learning
Linking Study)
c) Session # 3: Novel Writing with Google Docs (our newest program)
d) Session # 4: Data-Driven Analytics in Math Book Clubs (AMTNJ Workshop Overview)
e) Session # 5: School Wide Broadcasting without TV’s (an AACE Best Practice)
I. Reasons to Sign Up for this Professional Development Course

3. “As our work and social lives come to center on the use of
electronic media, the faster we’re able to navigate those media
and the more adroitly we’re able to shift our attention among
online tasks, the more valuable we’re likely to become as
employees and even as friends and colleagues” (Carr, 2011).

4.  “Just because we can is not a compelling reason to use technology”
(Brophy, 2008).
 “Technology must be well-used, thoughtfully applied, and exactingly
targeted in its application to education” (Carr, 2011).
 “The increased demands of decision-making and visual processing in
hypertext impaired reading performance” (Carr, 2011).
 “The division of attention demanded by multimedia further strains our
cognitive abilities, diminishing our learning and weakening our
understanding” (Carr, 2011).

5. “Technology can easily provide access to much useful information and
store it for rapid retrieval later. It can also provide access to current, real-
time data” (Brophy, 2008).

6. What can I do with what I’ve learned?
• I’d like to write a novel or learn about getting published
• I’d like to help plan our Animal Lover’s Club (where students bring pets to school!)
• I’d like to be on or to help produce a Morning Announcements Show
• I’d like to be a peer tutor to help fellow students (in Math, English or Science)
• I’d like to make movies, or be part of a movie-in-progress
• I’m interested in gaming, graphic arts, cartooning, anime, or RPG’s
• I’m good with computers and like new technology
• I like to take pictures (photography) or to draw
• I like to plan parties and fun events

7. Name
Study
Hall
Period Writing Photo Animals TV Comics Computers Parties Tutor Movies
A 7 x x x x
B 7 x x x
C 1 x x x x x
D 6 x x x x x
E 1 x x
F 7 x x x
G 2 x

8. Star Reading helps teachers to demonstrate quantitatively improvements
in students’ proficiencies in areas targeted by the Common Core
Curriculum Standards.
Star Reading Enterprise provides regular progress reports and continual
assessment of individual student proficiencies in 36 reading skills in five
Language Arts domains:
Vocabulary Development; (2) Understanding Text; (3)
Reading Progress; (4) Literacy Analysis; and (5) Evaluating Text.

9. As I presented at the 2011 New Jersey Association of
School Librarians Annual Conference, Glen Meadow
Middle School Library received a grant to participate
in the Star Reading Linking Study. The Linking Study
demonstrated the relationship between student
success on the New Jersey ASK exam and
proficiency on Star Reading assessments.

10. • Quick computerized reading assessments that take only about 15
minutes every month or two to maintain
• Teachers receive reading levels for every student
• Printed parent & student reports useful for explaining and documenting
student progress in reading ability
• Student reading growth reports – print longitudinal reports showing
student reading progress in reading level month by month, toward
proficiency on the NJ-ASK reading test
• Proven alignment with New Jersey standardized tests
• Available online from anywhere, making Star assessments even
assignable as homework!

11. We’re making use of the bestselling middle school books by Danica McKellar,
who’s a mathematician, former star of TV’s The Wonder Years, and author of
Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Get Through Middle School Math Without Losing
Your Mind or Breaking a Nail.
Using a writing style similar to a teen magazine, McKellar’s books help make
learning math fun, especially for students who enjoy reading. While we may be
the first school attempting to directly address the NJ-ASK Math with her books,
McKellar’s books have for years been shown by teachers to improve students’
enjoyment, confidence, and grades in middle school math.

12. Glen Meadow Library has teamed up with St. Jude’s Children’s Research
Hospital and Scholastic to lead our selected students in helping cure
childhood cancer. Our students will become the official Glen Meadow
Mathathon Team, to complete the official Mathathon Fun Book, a curriculum
designed by Scholastic that both raises money for kids fighting cancer and
helps students practice for standardized tests, such as the NJ-ASK.

13. Since selected students will be reading McKellar’s book, this is aimed at students who scored high on the
Language Arts NJ-ASK, while scoring substantially lower on the Math NJ-ASK test. We have examined all
seventh and eighth grade students and generated a spreadsheet allowing close analysis:
• Math Doesn’t Suck best addresses Problem Solving and Numerical Operations. We are looking for students
whose scores need improvement in these areas as our best candidates. When we include Kiss My Math and Hot
X Algebra, those books also cover the other subsets of the NJ-ASK Math. This will allow us to more
comprehensively address these students’ mathematics needs.
• Students with high reading scores will be best suited for this program
• Female students are these books’ intended audience.
Last First
LAL
Score
LAL
Prof
Math
Score
Math
Prof
Numbe
r
Prob
Solv Read Enrich Lunch
240 P 199 PP 11 18 48 1 6
223 P 190 PP 9 13 45 1 6
248 P 193 PP 11 19 46 8 6
228 P 205 P 12 18 43 5 6

14. “Technology allows for shared peer learning to occur in real time with other
students anywhere in the world” (Brophy, 2008).
College & Career Ready Book Clubs
2012 School Leader Award Recipient
New Jersey School Board Association

15. Glen Meadow Library’s
Student Novel Writing Project
 In pairs, across nine 7th grade classes, students are team-writing a
single, cohesive novel. Student authors and editors are gaining a love
for literature, writing, organization, character development, and an
appreciation for the editing process.
 Students learn from outside career professionals and subject-area
experts, including

16. Student Novel Writing Project
Special Guest Educators
 Students learn from outside career professionals and subject-area experts. This
will include award-winning published authors, a senior art director of a major
book publisher, a representative from a graphic-arts college, and a children’s
magazine editor.
 The Vernon Historical Society use PowerPoint, web-searching, photography and
video to teach our students about historical locations within Vernon Township,
the students’ novel takes place.
 This Spring, the historical society will return to lead our students on an
archeological field trip of Black Creek, the setting of the final scene of our novel.

17. Student Novel Writing Project
Special Guest Educators
 During our 2012 School Library’s Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention, named
an “Innovation in Education” by the New Jersey Historical Society (NJEA
Review, 2012):
 Students will learn novel-writing and publishing from award-winning fantasy author and
Glen Meadow Middle School graduate Noelle Kalipetis
 Our visiting Random House Books’ Senior Art Director will review student work, critique
and give feedback for students’ cover art and interior book illustration, demonstrating
professional graphics design in Photoshop and other industry-grade technology.
 Students, faculty, administration, and guests celebrate at their own Book Launch Party!

18.  With Google Drive, students write collaboratively
at school or from home and securely online. This
technology lets our students look at the same
document, and at the same time in different
locations, while even commenting on each other’s
revisions.

19. “2012 Best Practice”
World Conference for Educational Technology & School Media,
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education

20. Smarter Technology Costs Less!
 Traditional school broadcasting program includes TV Sets
in Each Classroom; Closed-Circuit Coaxial Cabling
throughout building; and separated room dedicated to
housing a broadcasting switchboard.
 Entire cost typically $150,000 - $300,000. Prohibitive for
less affluent systems, especially at lower grade levels,
such as middle schools.
 OUR WEB-BASED SOLUTION: $800 / year

21. Teaching Teachers &
Changing School Culture
 Enlisting the support of every homeroom
teacher in the school to take on additional
voluntary work in the morning.
 How do we make sure all teachers will buy-
in? Without their participation, the morning
show does not happen.

22. Student Tech Support Team
 Students 12-13 years old were given leadership
roles to enter teachers’ classrooms and make
sure they could log onto the new system.
 Called the “Student Tech Support Team”

23. The Result:
Glen Meadow Library’s
TV & Broadcasting Program
 Students were brought on a field trip to the county college TV Studio and
were excited by meeting their professors and touring a real Public
Access TV Station.
 Our Middle School Students now use Adobe After Effects, Premier,
Visual Communicator, Maya, Audition, and other professional tools to
produce a top-notch show.

24. • Refreshments will be served
• Learn practical skills to engage students
• Apply best practices acknowledged by both the Association for the
Advancement of Computing in Education and the New Jersey School
Board Association

25. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. EdMedia: World Conference for Educational
Media and Technology. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.aace.org/conf/
Carr, Nicholas. (2010). The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. W. W. Norton &
Company.
Good, T. L., & Brophy, J. E. (2008). Looking in classrooms. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
New Jersey School Board Association. (2012). School Board Notes: May 2012. Retrieved from
http://www.njsba.org/news/sbn/20120530/june-8-is-deadline-for-school-leader-award-entries.php
Renaissance Learning. Star Reading. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.renlearn.com/sr/
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Mathathon. (2012) Retrieved from http://www.mathathon.org/