Poetry isn’t my favorite, but it is what it is. I think I’ve only ever written two poems in my lifetime. In the past, I loved blackout poetry because it gave my students a creative outlet to express their thoughts. Last year I wanted to do something a little different. I looked to Buncee to help me create a digital magnetic poetry template that I could share with students during poetry month. I know many of you may not be familiar with Buncee or have a subscription, so I am including two versions in this blog post for you to reference. The first is my Buncee template which you can also find on Buncee’s Ideas Lab. All you have to do is login to Buncee, visit the link, and make a copy. You can then share the link with students when they’re logged in to their own accounts and have them create their own digital magnetic poetry. They can use the audio, video, or both features to record their poem.  It would also be fun to curate all their poems on a Buncee board to highlight their work. 

Now, if you are a Google Slides user then the good news is that I created a separate template for this purpose. It took some time to create because while I used the backgrounds I created on Buncee, I made the “magnets” on Canva. I did this because if I created a “magnet” in a text or shape box on Google Slides, the students would more than likely double click and they could accidentally reformat the text. There are a total of 200 words included. I am attaching the links to the Canva template in case you’d like to change the words. Since there is a maximum limit of 100 pages on each Canva design, I made two sets. I downloaded them, extracted the zip file, and drag & dropped them into the Google Slide. I was able to resize them with ease. 
​Digital Magnets Set 1 Canva Template
Digital Magnets Set 2 Canva Template

This link to the magnetic poetry Google Slides template will prompt you to force copy the template. As you can see in my example, I rearranged some tiles to create my poem, titled it, and added my voice by using the Mote Chrome extension. If students need to add video, they can use the Screencastify extension and upload their video if needed. Another idea would be to use the screenrecording feature on Flipgrid and students can add their poetry readings to a class collection. I prefer Mote...lol. If you've never used Mote before for Google Slides, I recommend watching the video tutorial below on how to make that happen. It's such a great and simple tool. Hope this is helpful and if you have any questions please reach out to me on Twitter or Instagram @cuethelibrarian. 

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I wanted to share a little something with you all. First of all, this year has been far from what I imagined. Regardless of many obstacles we all have had to face these crucial months, the truth is we all succeeded. We did the best we could and continue to to the best we can to ensure the success of all our students. However, don't forget to take time for YOU. Set limits, take breaks, disconnect, and most importantly, remind yourself that you are doing the best you can.
Working from home has forced me to stay organized and you'd be surprised how creating a custom background for my desktop with an updated calendar helps me out tremendously. Plus, I keep all of my computer files nicely organized. If you feel like this would be beneficial for your workspace, feel free to download the background I'm using this month by clicking on the image to direct to you the download. I hope these help and while this month is extremely busy, if you need anything at all don't hesitate to reach out. Thankful for you, my wonderful PLN! 
​

Oh! & if you want last year's November bookmarks you can find them here. 

If it's one thing I've enjoyed about working from home, it's the real-world application of all the digital tools I have learned to use from workshops and courses. My favorite finds though are the ones I stumble upon whenever I scour the Internet for productivity tips. Many of us are working from home and the key to anything during this time, especially if we have kids, is to make sure we're using our time efficiently. I made a collection of screencasts for my students highlighting various apps that I knew they'd need access to during their distance learning. Based on a survey I sent out, more than 60% of my students are working solely with a cellular device therefore, I needed to make sure my screencasts provided that additional support. I had to think of a way to mirror my iPhone to my MacBook so I could create a Screencastify videos displaying how to access GSuite/Office apps both on a desktop and phone. I didn't want to purchase any form of 3rd party application to install a screen mirroring program, so I began my search for the easiest way to achieve this. I found something that is completely free and super easy. Using Quicktime and your iPhone USB! Please note that this method is for Apple devices. I am not sure how it works for Windows, but I can always post an update the screencast once I figure that out. 
​​

Okay, so that's done. I don't know about anyone else, but once we started working from home I needed to do some major file management on my laptop. I made a customized desktop background on Canva and customized my folder icons. I made a tutorial on how to do this for your Macbook if you'd also like to check that out. 

I hope you can find some use out of these tips and as always, I want to make sure you have something to literally "take away" from this post! I don't want to leave you empty handed! Below is a link to some PNG files for your desktop icons and a customized desktop background for April.  Wishing you all the best during distance learning and stay safe! ILC You Online! - Q.

Happy New Year, friends! 2019 flew by so fast I feel like I'm still catching my breath. Let's raise a glass to new beginnings! I'm making it a point to stick to documenting my reading journey on Goodreads. I've even joined the 2020 Reading Challenge and set a realistic goal of 50 books this year. It seems that January is synonymous with the word "resolutions" and reevaluating our habits to make room for personal growth. As a librarian, I like to refer to my yearly reading goals as "readolutions". This is something I love to share with my students. One of my favorite lessons at the beginning of a new semester is brainstorming what makes a good reader, making lists of what kind of reading resolutions are attainable, and deciding on what readolution is best for us. Students then create a visual of their readolutions using Buncee. We then add everyone's individual creations to a "vision board" and share with the class. The lesson example is below.

My goal for this month is to make their projects into an interactive bulletin board  using Buncee's QR code feature.  Feel free to make a copy of the lesson if you'd like to spark a discussion with your readers about the importance of reading for pleasure and setting attainable goals. You can also use the free bookmarks I have listed at the end of the post if you'd like them to jot down their ideas first. I also use these to write down books people recommend or quotes or words that resonate with me while I'm reading. If you happen to create your own readolution Buncee share it with me on Twitter by tagging me @cuethelibrarian. Until then, I wish every single one of you a wonderful New Year and hope it is filled with many opportunities and blessings!

I love December so much!!! It's a month that I cherish because it's a wonderful time to share what brings us together as family, friends, and as a community. My dad and sister both have birthdays this month and it's always fun to gather at our ranch and share funny stories and eat cake. What's a party without cake, amiright? Not to mention the fun time I have Pinteresting holiday dessert and drink recipes and text messaging them to my mom so we can come up with our annual Christmas menu. The presents are fun too, but above all it's the moments I get to spend with my family that I look forward to the most. It's also a great opportunity to meet up with friends who I don't get to see often. One of my FAVORITE things to do during the month of December is the holiday romance book swap that Lispy Librarian (check out her vlog lispylibrarian.weebly.com!) and I do every year!! It's become our annual tradition and it's been SO FUN reading a book together and then pouring out our emotions. I highly suggest you do the same with a friend, or group of friends, because it's such a cute thing to share with people that you love. This is our third year doing this so we've only read two, but this year's is a modern take on Pride and Prejudice which paired nicely with last year's because it was a modern twist on A Christmas Carol. Below are the books we've read/are currently reading--

I can't wait to get through this year's novel and share all my emotions on my blog and Twitter. I'll be adding a review of the book to my digital bookshelf Wakelet collection "Cue's Book Queue" that you can find by clicking here. And in case you need something to help you keep your place in all the amazing books you'll be reading this season, feel free to download some of my free December bookmarks! I wish every single one of you the best this holiday season and an even better NEW YEAR! See you in 2020!