What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Avatars and LibraryThing
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It made me comfortable exploring in some areas that I would have not otherwise explored: delicious, technorati, for example.
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I still find it difficult to "join" all the blogs, feeds, etc. I'm not sure if this is an age thing (over 50) or a time thing or just a personal preference.
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Maybe more concrete examples of the benefits of social networking. A testimonial of how it fits into a busy teaching librarian's schedule.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
Yes, I appreciated the time and craft that was put into the exercises. I hope you will leave the site up. I've directed others to it already! Our department is using it for all of the librarians.
How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities?
Your thoughtfully crafted lessons made me comfortable with walking through scarey and sometimes frightening new vocabulary and technologies.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thing 22 Week 9 EBooks
I knew about the Gutenburg Project to digitize free books, but I was unfamiliar with the British Library site or the other site. Thank you.
One of our district's Enduring Understanding is "Books exist in many forms." We seek to show students (and adults) that a book is not always a physical entity that you hold in your hand.
Audio books support the learning process in many ways, including one of our school employees whose daughter suffered a brain injury from a car accident last year. The audio books help keep her brain stimulated.
There are also many "free" audio books downloadable from our public library. One of the complaints that the public librarians have is the amount of memory that the audio books take up on the computers once downloaded. This could be a way for school librarians to enchance the program for classroom and special education teachers, especially if they do not have many audio books in their own collections.
One of our district's Enduring Understanding is "Books exist in many forms." We seek to show students (and adults) that a book is not always a physical entity that you hold in your hand.
Audio books support the learning process in many ways, including one of our school employees whose daughter suffered a brain injury from a car accident last year. The audio books help keep her brain stimulated.
There are also many "free" audio books downloadable from our public library. One of the complaints that the public librarians have is the amount of memory that the audio books take up on the computers once downloaded. This could be a way for school librarians to enchance the program for classroom and special education teachers, especially if they do not have many audio books in their own collections.
Thing 21 Week 9 Podcasts
The links to the Yahoo Directory and Podcast.net did not work.
I found a great Children's Book Talk podcast on Podcast Alley directory. I think the most helpful of the directories listed was the Education Podcast Network. Because the podcasts were broken down into Subject specific areas, it was easier to find things that would be helpful to me -- like the information skills podcasts.
Overall, I believe that iTunes has the greatest selection of Podcasts. We have uploaded our student's podcasts there and the students get a buzz out of having their work published in such an open forum. It makes for great PR also when parents and members of the community can look up student's work. There is some very high caliber educational podcasts on grammar and mathematical concepts in the iTunes library as well as excellent NPR shows.
I found a great Children's Book Talk podcast on Podcast Alley directory. I think the most helpful of the directories listed was the Education Podcast Network. Because the podcasts were broken down into Subject specific areas, it was easier to find things that would be helpful to me -- like the information skills podcasts.
Overall, I believe that iTunes has the greatest selection of Podcasts. We have uploaded our student's podcasts there and the students get a buzz out of having their work published in such an open forum. It makes for great PR also when parents and members of the community can look up student's work. There is some very high caliber educational podcasts on grammar and mathematical concepts in the iTunes library as well as excellent NPR shows.
Week 9 thing 20 - YouTube
Ok, I chose Harry Potter Puppets to embed simply because my daughter and her friends get so much pleasure out of watching it over and over again! It just goes to show that you don't need special props or talent to really take the internet by storm.
On a more educational level, I have used YouTube videos effectively in teaching for English Language Learners. Last year when I had to introduce a lesson on the Mayan and Aztec calendar to an advanced Spanish class, I had fun with and end-of-the world video where the Mayan calendar predicted the world would come to an end in 2014 and used that as the focus of our research - were they correct?
I have yet to create and post a video to YouTube. Our school currently blocks YouTube and only allows TeacherTube, so we have to be creative about what we select to show students.
On a more educational level, I have used YouTube videos effectively in teaching for English Language Learners. Last year when I had to introduce a lesson on the Mayan and Aztec calendar to an advanced Spanish class, I had fun with and end-of-the world video where the Mayan calendar predicted the world would come to an end in 2014 and used that as the focus of our research - were they correct?
I have yet to create and post a video to YouTube. Our school currently blocks YouTube and only allows TeacherTube, so we have to be creative about what we select to show students.
Thing 19 Week 8 Library Thing
This might be my favorite of the 23 things yet! Parents have been asking me for "lists." What a great way to create customized lists of different kinds. The PTO recently asked me for holiday lists for various grades. Not only can I recommend books, but they are directly linked to Amazon where they can get the reviews of the books plus see how other book lovers ranked them!
I love the widgets and looking at the comments of others. Some of the other "things" did not resonate with me but the LibraryThing is a winner for sure!
Right now, I just added books that I have used recently in class. I will be modifying this list shortly.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kofplibrarian
I love the widgets and looking at the comments of others. Some of the other "things" did not resonate with me but the LibraryThing is a winner for sure!
Right now, I just added books that I have used recently in class. I will be modifying this list shortly.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kofplibrarian
Thing 18 Week 8 Zoho Writer
Thing 18 Week 8 Zoho Writer
As part of our district technology goals this year, we are supposed to be using GoogleDocs. We will be using GoogleDocs this year to create a Procedures Manual for our Department. I have used it as part of a team before, but never set up a collaborative group. Last year during our Classrooms for the Future training one of our team set up a GoogleDoc and then we all took notes. It was very handy because different people caught things that others missed. It was a great reference tool after the trainer left. I have also used GoogleDocs with collaborating with a classroom teacher across
I had not used Zoho writer before. I am working collaboratively with another new librarian in our district. I created a Zoho document and shared a lesson with her.
As part of our district technology goals this year, we are supposed to be using GoogleDocs. We will be using GoogleDocs this year to create a Procedures Manual for our Department. I have used it as part of a team before, but never set up a collaborative group. Last year during our Classrooms for the Future training one of our team set up a GoogleDoc and then we all took notes. It was very handy because different people caught things that others missed. It was a great reference tool after the trainer left. I have also used GoogleDocs with collaborating with a classroom teacher across
I had not used Zoho writer before. I am working collaboratively with another new librarian in our district. I created a Zoho document and shared a lesson with her.
Thing 17 Week 7 SandBox Wiki
Thing 17 Week 7 SandBox Wiki
My school is very sensitive about using actual photographs of children with their work. I want to have the children create an Avatar to post with their work on-line. Creating an avatar to represent a character in the book suddenly makes a book report come to life! Or having a representation of yourself to attach to poetry or other responses to literature, including VoiceThreads solves a problem for me when it comes to posting online. (This ideas was posted as item 19 on the CA wiki under avatars.) I will bookmark (Delicious) this page of other good ideas for future curriculum development!
My school is very sensitive about using actual photographs of children with their work. I want to have the children create an Avatar to post with their work on-line. Creating an avatar to represent a character in the book suddenly makes a book report come to life! Or having a representation of yourself to attach to poetry or other responses to literature, including VoiceThreads solves a problem for me when it comes to posting online. (This ideas was posted as item 19 on the CA wiki under avatars.) I will bookmark (Delicious) this page of other good ideas for future curriculum development!
Thing 14 Week 6 Technorati Tagging
Thing 14 Week 6
As I mentioned in an e-mail last week, I had trouble with the Technorati search. I could not tell the difference between searching in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Most of the blogs I discovered when I searched for “School Library Learning 2.0” were for my fellow classmates! I seemed to get more of what I wanted in the Blog tab than in the general search window. If I hadn’t clicked on Popular, I would have never seen a photo of Sarah Palin in the 1984 Miss Alaska competition!
I was able to “claim” my own blog.
Disadvange of Tagging: Tagging is helpful but since it is not standardized, it is sometimes redundant. What’s the difference between the “library” tag and “libraries”? Advantage: Tagging does get to the essence of a post, however, which is helpful. I don’t know if it is a generational thing, but it is hard for me to spend hours clicking around hoping to find something that will be of use. I guess that’s why some people find a guru like Joyce Valenza and follow her work.
As I mentioned in an e-mail last week, I had trouble with the Technorati search. I could not tell the difference between searching in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Most of the blogs I discovered when I searched for “School Library Learning 2.0” were for my fellow classmates! I seemed to get more of what I wanted in the Blog tab than in the general search window. If I hadn’t clicked on Popular, I would have never seen a photo of Sarah Palin in the 1984 Miss Alaska competition!
I was able to “claim” my own blog.
Disadvange of Tagging: Tagging is helpful but since it is not standardized, it is sometimes redundant. What’s the difference between the “library” tag and “libraries”? Advantage: Tagging does get to the essence of a post, however, which is helpful. I don’t know if it is a generational thing, but it is hard for me to spend hours clicking around hoping to find something that will be of use. I guess that’s why some people find a guru like Joyce Valenza and follow her work.
Thing #13 Week 6 – Tagging
Thing #13 Week 6 – Tagging
Our CFF Coach tried to get me interested in Del.icio.us last year. I explored it on a few different occasions. I can see the wisdom in bookmarking off-site, especially since it helps you locate your favorites when you move from machine to machine. Moving to an entirely new district was challenging for me this summer because I had to copy and move all of my favorites and bookmarks from my desktop and laptop computer.
I found a few interesting tools like a site to make posters out of a photo and a story-making tool. But, when I clicked on Popular, there wasn’t a title that interested me.
Tagging is helpful but since it is not standardized, it is sometimes redundant. What’s the difference between the “library” tag and “libraries”? Tagging does get to the essence of a post, however, which is helpful. I don’t know if it is a generational thing, but it is hard for me to spend hours clicking around hoping to find something that will be of use. I guess that’s why some people find a guru like Joyce Valenza and follow her work.
Our CFF Coach tried to get me interested in Del.icio.us last year. I explored it on a few different occasions. I can see the wisdom in bookmarking off-site, especially since it helps you locate your favorites when you move from machine to machine. Moving to an entirely new district was challenging for me this summer because I had to copy and move all of my favorites and bookmarks from my desktop and laptop computer.
I found a few interesting tools like a site to make posters out of a photo and a story-making tool. But, when I clicked on Popular, there wasn’t a title that interested me.
Tagging is helpful but since it is not standardized, it is sometimes redundant. What’s the difference between the “library” tag and “libraries”? Tagging does get to the essence of a post, however, which is helpful. I don’t know if it is a generational thing, but it is hard for me to spend hours clicking around hoping to find something that will be of use. I guess that’s why some people find a guru like Joyce Valenza and follow her work.
Thing #12 Week 5 ROLLYO
Thing #12 Week 5
At my new school district, children at the elementary level are not allowed to search the web. Websites must be pre-selected for them. Of course I can post hyperlinks on my webpage or wiki, but I like the ideas of Rollyo, because I can pre-select the websites and yet still give children the freedom to search and teach them good search strategies. Just for fun, I created a simple Halloween fun website collection. Within this collection, kids can search for costumes, coloring pages, etc.
At some future time, I can see that teachers could share this with their students and this would be a good place to create a type of webquest—students creating searches for others students – or collaborating across schools. This would be a great higher order thinking exercise: evaluating students on the quality of the websites THEY selected for the rest of class.
http://rollyo.com/kofplibrarian/halloween_fun_for_ki/
At my new school district, children at the elementary level are not allowed to search the web. Websites must be pre-selected for them. Of course I can post hyperlinks on my webpage or wiki, but I like the ideas of Rollyo, because I can pre-select the websites and yet still give children the freedom to search and teach them good search strategies. Just for fun, I created a simple Halloween fun website collection. Within this collection, kids can search for costumes, coloring pages, etc.
At some future time, I can see that teachers could share this with their students and this would be a good place to create a type of webquest—students creating searches for others students – or collaborating across schools. This would be a great higher order thinking exercise: evaluating students on the quality of the websites THEY selected for the rest of class.
http://rollyo.com/kofplibrarian/halloween_fun_for_ki/
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
#Thing 16 Week 7 Wikis
Coming from a Classrooms of the Futures school, we used wikis quite often for our library. A good use of wikis is for collaboration and to push out information quickly. One of our very creative chemistry teachers collaborated with me on a project where we used a medical primary source e-book to research 12 topics. The teacher assigned groups across three classes. The students researched and shared their information via GoogleDocs and wikis and pushed information out to their teams.
My team of librarians at Upper Merion posted all of their handouts and lessons for the PSLA workshop they presented in May on a wiki and then linked it to Joyce Valenza's wiki. We also are working collaboratively on curriculum and lesson planning using a wiki.
On the other hand, simply transferring webpages to a wiki format is not a good use for a wiki. Wikis should be fluid and collaborative.
My team of librarians at Upper Merion posted all of their handouts and lessons for the PSLA workshop they presented in May on a wiki and then linked it to Joyce Valenza's wiki. We also are working collaboratively on curriculum and lesson planning using a wiki.
On the other hand, simply transferring webpages to a wiki format is not a good use for a wiki. Wikis should be fluid and collaborative.
WeekFive Thing 10 Image Generator
Generate an image for your library website, newsletter, or bulletin board.
In my previous school, Upper Merion Area High School, we often used these images as icons on our website and wikis to create interest. The students really enjoyed it when we released our new look at the beginning of the year last year. This is the website from my former school using the image chef icons. http://www.umasd.org/13331071191957590/site/default.asp Sometimes it is a challenge to get icons that convey messages and yet are small enough to fit in the place you need them to be.
This week I did a lesson for our author visit using Eileen Spinelli's Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch. A nice icon to post on my website would be below.
In my previous school, Upper Merion Area High School, we often used these images as icons on our website and wikis to create interest. The students really enjoyed it when we released our new look at the beginning of the year last year. This is the website from my former school using the image chef icons. http://www.umasd.org/13331071191957590/site/default.asp Sometimes it is a challenge to get icons that convey messages and yet are small enough to fit in the place you need them to be.
This week I did a lesson for our author visit using Eileen Spinelli's Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch. A nice icon to post on my website would be below.
Week4Thing8 - RSS Feeds
What do you like about RSS and newsreaders? How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life? How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
I find RSS feeds very annoying. I know they are very hip and modern, but I like to seek out news when and where I want it. I get enough email without having my in box full of automatic things news feeds coming to me. HOWEVER, when researching, I thing the RSS feeds from a subscription service like EBSCO can be invaluable and I teach upper level students how to use them frequently.
Right now I am advising (unofficially) a doctoral student and she was thrilled to learn about RSS feels and how they could save her time in her research.
I have to admit, getting the RSS feed from School Library Journal helped me solve a problem I've been working on--trying to get information on the David Macaulay webcast on October 7th, so that's a good thing.
I find RSS feeds very annoying. I know they are very hip and modern, but I like to seek out news when and where I want it. I get enough email without having my in box full of automatic things news feeds coming to me. HOWEVER, when researching, I thing the RSS feeds from a subscription service like EBSCO can be invaluable and I teach upper level students how to use them frequently.
Right now I am advising (unofficially) a doctoral student and she was thrilled to learn about RSS feels and how they could save her time in her research.
I have to admit, getting the RSS feed from School Library Journal helped me solve a problem I've been working on--trying to get information on the David Macaulay webcast on October 7th, so that's a good thing.
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