Library Weekly recap: 5/5 - 5/9
TLDR: AI Image Lesson, creating instructional videos using my own voice in an AI voiceover, a big release read that disappointed
📚The Library Lowdown (Overview of the week)
This week was a jam-packed week, so I didn’t get a lot of time to write things down, but here are the major things I worked and and taught.
AI Images Lesson
I was finally able to give this lesson on how to look at images to determine if they are AI generated! Only took pretty much the whole year! Lol. The lesson went off without a hitch! I was very pleased with how this lesson was short - only 15 minutes - the students found it engaging and were, in the end, able to detect if an image was AI generated or not! You can see my video below I created to teach the students. I show them this right off the bat and then I go into a very short mini-lesson on reverse image search and using our observational skills to determine if an image is AI generated. The video is only 1 minute and 30 seconds long, but I think it does a good job of showing how reverse image search works in 2025 with Google Lens. You can also see the video on YouTube HERE.
After I show them this video, we go over the rest of the mini-lesson and they get 5 minutes to determine if two pictures are AI generated or not. You can get a copy of the lesson HERE.
Instructional Research Videos
Another one of my projects this week deals with the health research project that was going on last week. I felt a need to update some of my instructional videos. I show them a couple of videos showing them how to use a print book for research, how to use the databases for research, how to filter search results, and how to use our note taking digital journal. In the past, I’ve done this in more “live lecture” format, but, honestly, it wears me out. There are 6 to 7 of these classes I do back and back to back. I need to save myself! So I’ve created some instructional videos along the way to make it easier on myself AND it also helps students who are absent. Missed Tuesday? Oh, watch the video hyperlinked right here!
Even though I’ve done screencasts in the past, this time I mashed together a few tools. First, I used Canva to create the video so I could be a little more clear in my instruction. Next, I used Screencastify to do some video demonstrations when I felt it was necessary. Finally, I used an AI voice over generator I pay for (PlayHT) to create the voice overs. However, I used a voice clone. I uploaded an MP3 of my voice doing an instruction video and had it clone my voice. So all I had to do was create the script, feed it into the AI voiceover program, and have it use my voice clone voice! In general, it all came out sounding good! I hate recording things like this, so it worked for me. You can check out an example below.
📖 Currently Checked Out (By Me!)
I’ve slowed down my reading a lot because I’ve been bogged down by life, but I finished a few books. . . .
I finished this big release last week. I absolutely love Emily Henry. She’s the queen of banter and loveable characters. I love everything she has written so far. . .until this one.
I was so disappointed by this book! I did not care for either storyline and jumping back and forth between them both did not work for me. She was trying to re-create The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and it doesn’t work with her style. Gone was the laugh out loud Nora Ephron-esque dialogue and characters that I love about her. There’s nothing wrong with getting “serious” with her storylines, but it was done in a way that was fragmented and made me not care about any of the parties involved.
So if you’re trying out EmHen for the first time, please do not start here. Funny Story or Book Lovers are much better bets!
🔨 Behind the Shelves
So close to the end of the year! I will only have one more of these for the year, and then I’ll be off on summer vacation!
Start book collection
Finish independent reading classes with a EOY book recommendation activity with Padlet
Collaborate on AI keynote speech for next October’s district PD
Count down the days until the END OF THE YEAR!