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St. Cloud State University to help area students with history research during History Day Palooza @ SCSU

 St. Cloud – St. Cloud State University invites middle school and high school students to participate in “History Day Palooza @ SCSU,” which will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 in the James W. Miller Learning Resources Center at St. Cloud State University. Check in will begin at 8:30 a.m.

 St. Cloud State University and Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange librarians and SCSU History Day staff will provide training on library resources and research topics for area students working on their National History Day 2012 projects. They will be joined by Minnesota Historical Society History Day staff and a Minitex librarian. This year’s National History Day is focused on the theme “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.”

 Students participating in History Day Palooza @ SCSU will learn about the resources for doing history research that are available to them in the Miller Center library at St. Cloud State, and other libraries throughout the state. Librarians and St. Cloud State University history and education students will help students find books, articles and other resources in the Miller Center, write bibliographies, focus their topics, analyze and present their information, and add depth and personalized history to their projects.

 During History Day Palooza @ SCSU, students will also learn about materials available from other libraries in Minnesota and may request materials from those libraries through the interlibrary loan service provided by the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange.

 Students will be introduced to “Minnesota Reflections,” a growing collection of more than 85,000 digital copies of historical treasures from across Minnesota. They will also be introduced to the collection of resources available through the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM). Minnesota Historical Society will also be on hand to offer advice on History Day projects.

 Teachers should register their students, but, if necessary, students may register themselves. Registration must include any adults who will accompany the student or group, including volunteers and parents. Registration deadline is Jan. 25. Registration is available at http://research.stcloudstate.edu/page.phtml?page_id=344. Space is limited so register soon.

Parking in all SCSU surface lots, including the pay lot on the north of the Miller Center, is free on weekends. Parking is available on nearby streets as well. Fees apply in the parking ramp.

 History Day Palooza @ SCSU is sponsored by the St. Cloud State University Learning Resources Services, Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, the SCSU History Department, the Minnesota Digital Library, Minitex, the Minnesota Historical Society and the SCSU College of Liberal Arts.

The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.

 Submitted by: Mark Krueger, North Junior High School (St. Cloud) Media Specialist

 The TIES Conference 2012 was an excellent conference.  There were many great sessions to take part in.  It seemed like the focus was mostly on mobile devices and less on interactive whiteboards.  In past years interactive whiteboards were a major focus and drive of education.  Such devices that were discussed in many sessions were iPods and iPads.  One main session that I went to was Tips and Tricks of Mac OS and iOS for iPads.  There were many tools that were discussed, such as using Preview as an interactive tool.  They also discussed mini tips on ease of use of both operating systems. 

 I also went to a session called How to Use iPods in ELL Classrooms.  This was informative because it allowed me to see what other schools with large ELL populations are doing with mobile devices.  Some schools are using iPods as tools for reading fluency by using specific apps that record student’s voices as they read, and then the student can play the recording to hear their own reading of the passage. Teachers use these recordings to modify their teaching and will have students read the passages again later to see their progress.  Teachers also have used the iPods and the recording feature to make a slideshow with students narrating the text for the pictures to create a story.  These were just a couple of the ways that iPods were used with the ELL students.

 Overall, I thought TIES 2012 was worth the trip.  It is always a good experience to meet with other professionals in the area of education and technology.  It is also a great time to talk with vendors about individual school needs.  For example, I talked with numerous vendors for multiple hours about what they have that could contribute to my school’s success.  Such tools include projectors, document cameras, and iPad carts.  I would recommend the TIES conference in the future for any teacher or media specialist interested in technology and education.