Skating on the Shoulder

Professional Development

2012-02-17T00:48:00.001-06:00

PD...

I would have to say that in the course of my teaching career this term has brought groans and cheers from me and I don't think I am alone.

It's such a tricky thing. We are required to offer professional development - but it's so much more than just a requirement. Education is constantly changing...all of us know and accept that. But, we have very different views on ways to keep abreast of those changes. For some reason we seem to forget all we know about teaching and learning when we offer PD.

We know, for example, that our students are the most engaged with practical applications of the information and when we individualize that content as much as possible. Yet, PD is most often offered in isolated chucks in a sit and get manner with all teachers getting the very same stuff. No wonder many shut down. Instead the presenters must offer a varied level of delivery.

While on the topic of teachers...it is a SCARY thing to stand in front of a room full of your peers. I would take a classroom of students any day. I know how to attempt to manage a room of students. When they act up you use proximity, humor, and open commands. With a room of teachers - those techniques just don't work.

I have watched as teachers check their email, shop online, chat with their friends and nod off in a group. These same teachers would be appalled and irate if their students treated them with so little respect. Yet, we seem to forget that when we become the students. When we teach one another we have to offer the same grace, patience and respect that we would wish to receive and that we expect from our students.

Or...we need to accept the consequences.

There is nothing more demeaning than standing in front of a group of teachers and knowing that noone is listening to a word you are saying. How do you bring them back to you? I can't demand their attention like I used to with my 4th graders. I was told them more than once that I was the Queen of the classroom and I expected them to listen to the queen. A group of my peers means that we are all kings and queens in our own world and we want to continue to play that role in PD sessions. That just doesn't work.

So, what does?

honesty - I think we owe it to one another to be honest. Tell your peers when they are disrespecting you by not listening. Remind that pair in the corner that they are distracting you and everyone around them when they discuss the weekend rather than listen to the speaker.
respect - i know that you might rather be grading papers - but the truth is every person in the classroom would rather be grading papers and might feel that is necessary at that moment. Just like the kiddo in your math class feels it's more important to write a note to their friend instead of listening to the lecture. But - just as you feel that your math lesson is more important - so does the speaker think their info is more important
preparation - I have sat through way too many powerpoint presentations where the slides are read from the screen in minuscule print...if we are offering professional development to our peers we must be professional and we must be prepared. Use the best teaching techniques with adults - pair and share, partner reads, chuck the info. all the things that we do to be good teachers - we owe it to our colleagues as well.
content - the biggest failure of PD in my experience was the isolated nature of the info. Teachers, just like students, need time to process and incorporate new learning into their schemata. PD fails when too much content is covered with not enough time to apply. We create assignments for our students - why don't we do that for our PD? Allow a bit of time for churning and working over the material, give some time to brainstorm and discuss before a product is required to show that the information is being used.
fun and life - think of the best teachers you had. They were able to incorporate fun and reality into their lessons. Everything seemed to connect and create a story line or a common thread. The same applies for effective PD. Presenters need to remember that teachers lives are already full and overflowing and the thought of changing and learning one more thing is almost too much. But, if that one more thing is couched in fun and reality - then it's not another bothersome task. Sounds like sound classroom management strategies to me!

This is all especially importnat to me right now - we have a full day of PD tomorrow. The afternoon sessions are being lead by Technology Committee members. I've worked closely with the organization of the afternoon, as well as being one of the facilitators. I am excited about this new model - but also apprehensive. You never know exactly what to expect.

We offered 8 workshops to the teachers in the district. They signed up for one workshop that they will stay with for the next three professional development opportunities.

Our workshops are:

The Flat Classroom
Web 2.0
Google everything
iPads
Smart Boards
Digital Storytelling
Social Media
Independent Projects

Each workshop is facilitated by a teacher who is learning the subject along with the rest of the group. At the end of the three sessions - each group will have a culminating project of some sort that they will share with others in the district.

It is exciting to be a part of this. I continue to be SO impressed with the expertise and willingness of our staff to stretch themselves and reach beyond their comfort zone. Good things are happening at Mid-Priairie!!!

Google in the classroom

2012-02-01T00:50:00.000-06:00

I've had a google kind of week.

First I was privileged to spend 1/2 a day at L & M helping them out with an intro to Google. It was a great and receptive staff. I could see the wheels churning from the front of the room. I ran into their principal again last evening and he said that he already had 3 requests that day that focused on Google. That makes me feel good!

Then today I will work with 2 sections of 5th grade helping them create their Iowa County sites. We have changed the format for the traditional Iowa County projects as part of the Iowa history unit. In the past each student has researched a county and created a tri-fold display of the county to be shared during the county open house.

This year each student is still researching their county - but instead of posting information on cardboard - they are posting on their own google site.

Today was the day to begin creating the site. Things went well after they all figured out their password...that was a bit of a challenge! :) But, we got the site named and several pages added.

This all makes me think of the options that google offers and where exactly all this will take us. I keep wondering if google will continue to be free - or of they are hooking us and then the costs will begin to rise. I mean what an amazing treasure trove of options for us. Just watching the collaboration efforts is so amazing.

Until life changes - we will continue to take advantage of what google is offering... Does that sound a little too much like how our economy was 2 years ago??? hmmmmm.....

Summer Workshop!!!

2011-12-29T19:43:00.001-06:00

I am so excited! We are going to have an amazing workshop at Mid-Prairie this summer! We have just finalized Brian Mull from November Learning for two days of workshops, followed by Angela Maiers with another day of input. Then Shannon Miller will be there presenting and facilitating! Stay tuned for more details!!

My visual twitter profile...

2011-11-30T12:30:00.001-06:00

Plan, Plan, Plan

2011-11-30T11:06:00.001-06:00

iPads in the schools...they are wonderful, I think. They are also a complete headache, I think. I hesitate to admit that - I am supposed to be the one promoting technology in the schools. But...

Let me start at the beginning. Our district began adding a few iPads here and there last year. Nothing major - mostly teachers who wanted to try them out. This year more have been added - 5 in one building, 6 in the special ed department... and that is where the problems started...

We have teachers who have used their own personal iTunes accounts and downloaded free and purchased apps. We have teachers in a building with a building account with purchased and free apps. We have teachers with a special education account. In fact, one iPad has all three accounts. So, when you want to update apps - you have to use all three accounts depending on which app needs updating.

This is the fault of no one - but how to we work ourselves out of this dilemma???

I would love to hear what other schools are doing to address this problem!!

What a quarter!!!

2011-10-26T14:12:00.005-05:00

Well - it is already the end of a quarter and I haven't blogged a moment. Does that give any clues as to the whirlwind I've felt.

It has been amazing though...what a great and honest view of a district to be able to go into different classrooms and be a part of the technology. I am really lucky!! I even told myself that the day I taught 4 lessons in 4 different buildings in our district...now I didn't teach them all alone and one was actually to staff as a PD after school. But still, 4 lessons in 4 buildings. I don't plan to do that very often. And I know as a classroom teacher 4 lessons was an easy early out day...I keep reminding myself of that.

So -what have we been doing?

Well - I have taught keynote and powerpoint to students in the elementary and middle school. Helped 3rd and 2nd graders learn how to handle the brand new laptops in their cart for the very first time. I spent a week at the middle school and taught 7th and 8th grade classes about digital citizenship. That was great!! The 8th graders had me last year - so we turned them loose on some digital tools and watched the way they used them to share content. I really enjoyed problem-solving with them and seeing the ways they use the same old tools in a different way.

I have had great tech conversations with teachers. I think this has been my very favorite part. It's one thing to learn how to do an application or use a tool. But, that isn't really teaching. Instead, real teaching happens after the initial tech training when the teachers begin to see other possibilities. That is the time when you can see true teaching skills rising to the top. It's taking whatever tool a great teacher has at hand and using it to enhance student learning. I LOVE THAT! So, when I get to brainstorm ways that can happen - I am a very happy camper!

One other good part - I have really worked hard on the Tech Integration website. It has been so good for me to use Google Sites to create that. I am much more able to troubleshoot and make suggestions to the staff. I can also see some of the limitations. But all in all I am quite pleased with where the site is today. There is still much more to add - but for now...yippee!

https://sites.google.com/a/mphawks.org/mp-tech-integration/

There are parts of this past 9 weeks that I have not really liked...those are the things I am learning about myself. I have discovered how much I struggle to be a detail focused person. That really doesn't come naturally. So, when I have to be in charge of setting up a meeting time, place and agenda for a group of people I am destined to forget something - or many somethings. I HATE THAT! But, I am learning. I have been trying out several different notetaking and calendar tools - not all high tech! :) I am working on creating my own style. slooooooowly!!!

I also have been reminded of how much I do not like POs and writing them and all of that. Even though I pay all the bills in my family - this system keeps making me pull at my hair. I have made mistakes on POs that I didn't even know were possible (and I'm sure the secretaries didn't know they were possible either!).

I also keep realizing how much I need to learn and grow. Each time I think I have taken a step forward I find out I completely missed something. But, I am learning that is ok. After being a teacher for so many years I am enjoying being a learner and a learner with a steep learning curve. This field is as big as you want to make it...what an exciting prospect.

Finally - one of my goals for the next quarter is to do a better job of summarizing what I am doing. I created a document to send to the administrators about the first quarter. I felt good about parts and really sad about parts. But, it was so helpful to stop and stand still long enough to do that. I want to use this blog for that also. But, I thought that would happen first quarter...

Anyway - it's almost time for me to move on to the next part of my job - chair of the district tech committee.https://sites.google.com/a/mphawks.org/mp-tech-integration/

A new name, an evolving attitude

2011-08-08T22:05:00.004-05:00

I know it's getting closer to school because I've stopped sleeping much at night! I hate this rite of passage each August!!

I stay up until I am good and tired...12 or so...
I go to bed...
I close my eyes...
every part of my body welcomes the quiet, the darkness the peace EXCEPT MY MIND!

It begins to race and roam and I have no choice but to follow it and not look at the clock!! And sometimes I actually make progress on some of the issues that tug at my daily life...

Last night was one of those night! Yippee!!!

I started thinking about my attempts to move forward, which brought me to this blog.
I have hated the name of this blog...really hated it, Techie Ponderings...YUCK

And then I remembered an odd scene from a couple of years ago. I was driving home along a two lane highway late on a winter afternoon in rural Iowa. The road has only one hill on a curve and at the apex of the curve is a newish Amish house. As I came up the hill and rounded the curve I noticed a group of Amish children moving along the shoulder of the road. You could tell even at a distance that they were truly enjoying themselves! It wasn't until I passed them that I realized they all had ice skates on...they were actually skating on the shoulder.

The image of those children moving along at their own speed, seemingly oblivious to the cars flying past, has stayed with me. They were content and happy in their own world - clearly enjoying themselves.

So - as I lay awake last night thinking of the year ahead - I want to be one of those kids...fully present in my own world moving ahead at my own speed and enjoying every minute of it!

Here's to Skating on the Shoulder!!

another great reminder!!!

2011-07-27T16:09:00.001-05:00

Moving Forward

2011-07-27T12:16:00.003-05:00

I had breakfast this morning with my old 4th grade teaching partner. It is always good to reconnect with her. I feel privileged to still work in the district that hired me 20+ years ago...first as an elementary teacher, then the secondary Teacher Librarian and now in a tech role.

The transition 2 years ago from classroom to library was a little harder than I thought...I had defined myself as a teacher for so long - immersing myself in the politics, the people and the students completely. Suddenly I had four buildings in two different districts. I went from being a person who was involved and integral to places where I really didn't know the people very well...

At first I welcomed that anonymity with open arms. It was so refreshing to be rid of some of the weight ... then I started to really miss it. When something exciting or difficult happened...I didn't have 'my people' anymore, or so I thought.
Instead I was slowly making new connections.

It's been two years. And things have changed. I have learned a thing or two...

1. I can see the district as a whole now - not through the lenses of a single building.
That is REALLY important for me as I begin to work for the entire district. Our superintendent kept reminding us of the need to see the district as a whole - but I couldn't when I was entrenched in one elementary. I couldn't care about all 5 buildings - my energies were totally focused first on my classroom then on my elementary. I now 'get it.' But - I think it's an impossible and unnecessary task for classroom teachers. Their best energies need to be spent right there in their classrooms...administration is charged with seeing the big picture.

2. Every building is exactly the same and completely different at the very same moment.
I was amazed when I began to realize this. It was the moment when I stopped reminding myself of how we did things at Kalona Elementary and began embracing how things were done in different places. This is one of those DUH...understandings. But, it was rather profound for me. As a teacher who had only ever worked in one place I fooled myself into thinking that we had created the wheel, so to speak. The reality is each and every building creates their own wheel and they are incredibly proud of that brand new invention. Those of us who move from place to place need to honor that creation instead of comparing them!

3. Every person is doing the best job they can at that moment.
This is the most important thing I have come to believe. When I start to question another person's motives or commitments or energies I undermine the system. It's not up to me to hire our staff...instead I am called on to meet each person where they are today...no more and no less

4. I am beginning to learn my limits or I am not superwoman.
I used to believe I was. And in the context of one 4th grade classroom in one elementary in one small town I might have been. (I know - delusional!!!) Now I realize how far off I was.. I am one small cog and in the midst of a vast PLN I am hardly even a cog. What I teach kids or teachers today can be replaced in a heartbeat. I walked back into my classroom of 20 years a few weeks after school began and was slammed in the face with that understanding. There was not a gapping hole where Mrs. Swantz had been. There was another teacher smiling and ready to meet the students exactly where they were. No one was mourning my loss - well, I was... but that didn't count. Instead, I saw the building through new eyes - and that was the first step in understanding my limits. I try to respect those now...try!

5. I really like change and kids and books and technology and teaching. I am so lucky! I have a fantastic job that encourages me to learn and change and evolve.

Whew!!!

Lurking, Pondering, and Writing

2011-07-26T14:34:00.006-05:00

I've spent the last two years subscribing to scads of RSS feeds and following more and more people on Twitter growing my PLN. As the Google Reader icon on my Chrome browser climbed showing the number of blog posts I needed to read I felt like I was part of a community. Each time I turned on tweetdeck with my computer's sound up the pinging of tweets was almost constant. That too made me feel like I was part of something big and important.

But, here is the truth.

I am not.

I am an observer. I am so busy making sure I get through the right blogs and follow the right people that I don't have time to figure out what it means for me.

I have inundated myself with information with no moments to connect it - no processing - no real learning. Instead the pursuit of the new idea is/was my goal. My Diigo bookmarks are full. My webinar schedule set. I can tell you all the people who are moving and shaking. I can tell you the most popular apps and regurgitate the jargon. But, is it changing me? Is it changing the way I approach technology??

I have used the same method of increasing my learning that I HATE in classrooms - it's almost techno drill and kill!!

I think that has been the problem in too many districts. As I have watched the conversation from outside - I see a few people in the midst of things - creating and innovating and growing. Then I see TONS of others watching and hoping that by some miracle they can replicate the same environment and the miracles will happen for them as well.

So - it's time to turn off twitter and shut down my RSS feed for a while.
It's time to stop and think about my district
It's time to focus on my students.
It's time for me to stop searching and start doing.
It's time for something new...

This all fits together because I am changing my role in the district. I am leaving behind the library and becoming the district's Technology Integration Specialist. This is a brand new position. I am it.

As I figure out exactly how this is going to work I want to chronicle my process here...I plan to use this blog to keep track of what I learn, both the successes and the failures.

And maybe along the way I will grow a real honest to goodness PLN - my own. Not one that I have been spying on, but one that I actually belong to, that I can be a member of!

Join me on this journey...from lurking to doing!

Way Cool!!!

2011-07-17T16:49:00.002-05:00

Source: sayingimages.com via Vicky on Pinterest

I Feel Sick to my Stomach

2011-05-15T20:30:00.006-05:00

Just read the most disheartening blog post in my educational history...http://bit.ly/jZlSJu

I honestly feel sick to my stomach.

This is the ongoing saga of Teacher Librarians in the Los Angeles School District. The District has a rule that you must have taught in the past 5 years to be moved back into a teaching position. Many TLs in the district have been pink slipped and are now being grilled by a district attorney in front of a judge to decide if they are actually teachers and have the right to retain their job. This degrading grilling is reducing the Teacher Librarians groveling moment crunchers - not able to truly defend their profession - but only allowed to answer the questions posed by an attorney who is not an educator.

Seriously!! We live in a society where information rules each and every one of our lives and the teachers with who are the most closely connected to information skills, research and technology are defending their role.

How did we get here???

How have we rearranged our priorities so much that those who are teaching are the ones on trial?

What does this say for our society?

Who is standing up for these Teacher Librarians??

There may be those fellow teachers who smile quietly with relief that their position is not on the chopping block...
but good grief...
aren't we all teachers together?

Don't we stand together to defend our profession and the needs and skills required??

I could go on and on...

It all makes me profoundly sad.
As a new Teacher Librarian, I have talked to other teacher librarians
about their jobs
and their connections
and their futures
and it makes me profoundly sad.
We are the current scapegoats. The current seeming solution to a problem we did not create.

But, it is our children who are the real scapegoats.

As we continue to shave the edges of education we are creating a future with huge holes for our children.

I've been an educator for 25 years and this is the worst...
Speak out!
It's time to add your voice to the discussion before it's too late!!!

But...
what exactly does that mean? What does that mean for me?

1. I need to demonstrate to myself, my administrators, and my co-workers that what I do matters. That means being willing to do all the PD that I can, handing out an annual report and constantly seeking ways to tie in with classroom content.
2. I need to have my 2 minute elevator speech ready to deliver at any moment - to any stake holder (parent, community member, teacher) This speech should explain what I do and why it is so important.
3. I need to transparently share what I know students need to know about information skills and research with other TLs as well as my colleagues. That means blogging, tweeting and keeping involved in the larger TL community.
4. I need to try very hard to be positive and believe in what I know to be true and to keep my focus on the students!

What do you think???
Add your voice!!
Let's make a difference - not just talk to one another about it!!

Teacher Librarian Job Description

2011-05-02T12:43:00.014-05:00

I was wondering what our Teacher Librarian job description 'looked' like.
Click on the image to enlarge.

Rachel's Challenge

2011-04-27T12:40:00.003-05:00

We had an excellent assembly at the HS and MS today! It was presented by a friend of the Rachel Joy Scott family to honor Rachel. She was the first victim of the Columbine School shootings on April 20, 1999.

Rachel was a girl with a big and bubbly personality who believed that she would make a difference and the she wouldn't live to grow up. Her story told through a mixture of presentor story, video and challenges effectively drew the students in the MS in.

So what are RACHEL'S 5 CHALLENGES?

1. Eliminate Prejudice by looking for the best in others (treat others the way you want to be treated)

2. Dare to Dream set goals, keep a journal (like yourself)

3. Choose your Influences input determines output (accept others)

4. Kind Words small acts of kindness= huge impact (positive gossip)

5. Start a Chain Reaction with family and friend (forgive)

A link to the website Rachel's Challenge

Good luck starting your own chain reaction!!

Please, Please Say This ISN'T Your Experience!!!

2011-04-20T13:22:00.001-05:00

You might be a traveling librarian...

2011-04-18T11:13:00.002-05:00

Great Prezi by Texas Traveling Librarians -
Amy Clark, Northside Elementary & Clift Middle School (6th grade) aaclark@wisd.org
Amy Jensen, Shackelford Elementary & Waxahachie Ninth Grade Academy ajensen@wisd.org
Susan Jones, Felty Elementary & Dunaway Elementary sujones@wisd.org
Megan Mills, Library Coordinator & Waxahachie High School mmills@wisd.org
Misha Navarro, Finley Seventh Grade Center & Howard Eighth Grade Center mnavarro@wisd.org
Glenna Reisner, Marvin Elementary (PK & K) & Wedgeworth Elementary greisner@wisd.org

Top Ten ways to know that you might be a traveling librarian. on Prezi

Skype in the Classroom

2011-04-08T08:51:00.004-05:00

Just joined Skype in the Classroom.
Don't know much about it -but I'm looking forward to exploring. I love the idea that with this simple tool the world becomes smaller and portable. Wow! To actually be able to contact classrooms around the globe and across the US!
I am so impressed!!!

Join me!

Skype

One True Media

2011-03-21T12:23:00.001-06:00

A great tool to create a short little montage...30 seconds is free.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We Need Less/We Need More

2011-03-20T20:51:00.003-06:00

Doug Johnson at Blue Skunk Bloghas a great post of the things we as educators and Librarians need less and more of...

We Need Less / We Need More

Testing / Context
Right answers / Good questions
Attention on teachers / Attention on students
New technology / Well-used technology
Hardware / Staff development
Whining / Problem-solving
Entertainment / Engagement
Whole group / Individualization
Reading-listening / Making - doing
Focus on failures / Focus on successes
Basal readers / Children's-YA lit
Required classes / Electives
Pundits / Research
Helicopter parents / Involved parents
Disengaged parents / Involved parents
Data / Diagnostics
Leaders / Managers
Filtering on the network / Filtering between the ears
21st Century Skills / Skills
Memorization of facts / Development of dispositions
Textbooks / Bandwidth
Worksheets / Games
Restrictions / Responsibility
Lists / Essays
Labs / Personal student devices
Standards / Relevance
Competition / Social learning
Evaluations / Encouragement
FRP Lunches / Living wage jobs
Polarization / Balance
Your turn.

I think it's a great start...now what can we add...

whining/planning
limits/dreaming
everything/editing
excuses/realities
tomorrow/today

my ideas...do you have any??

Digital Life: Content

2011-03-17T20:41:00.000-06:00

Digital Life: Content and the Internet on Prezi

Digital Life: Conduct

2011-03-17T20:40:00.001-06:00

Conduct on Prezi

Day 2: Contact with the Internet

2011-03-16T22:29:00.002-06:00

Contact : Making contact with the internet as a digital citizen on Prezi

Another good day, but I ran out of time!

Digital Life at Mid-Prairie Middle School

2011-03-14T20:52:00.007-06:00

Today was the first day of my Digital Life lessons at the Middle School. It was a great morning - we me teaching four classes - two 8th grade and two 7th grade. I will have them every day this week. Then next week I will have the other two 8th grade and 7th grade classes.

I embedding the prezi from today. It was a general overview of what digital life is. I am also including a compilation of the webspiration webs we created. Students werew to list the tools and actions they use in their digital lives. They also listed words describing their feelings about technology and their parents. It was a great way to start talking about digital 'natives' and 'immigrants.'

I am using much from the Common Sense Media lessons - Digital Literacy and Citizenship. They are filled with lots of great ideas and professionally created videos to illustrate. Because I have only 5 days and there are TONS of lessons - I am combining and cutting and creating sort of hybrids. I would recommend these as a great place to start though!

Online Safety

2011-03-10T00:01:00.011-06:00

The presentation to Mothers of Preschoolers went very well this morning.
The theme was "Safety" and the Moms were divided into four groups. Each group visited me for 20 minutes. It was sort of a rush to get through everything. But, I looked at this as a way to begin the conversation.

It was fun and rather energizing to present to them.

This is my prezi for the presentation.

Online Safety on Prezi

This is the handout I gave to the moms.

Now it's time to focus on the 7 and 8 grade classes I'll be teaching next week!

I'm a little excited!

2011-03-07T19:59:00.005-06:00

I am excited about some upcoming events in my library life.

Starting Monday I will be teaching Digital Citizenship for 5 days of 45 minute lessons to 7th and 8th graders at my MS. This is part of their health curriculum. I am creating lessons to take them through different aspects of Digital Citizenship.

I am putting a lot of pressure on myself - this is the first time I've been asked to teach stand alone lessons. Just me and me alone. And I want it to be significant and make an impression and connect to them and and and. You get the picture. So - I've spent a lot of time searching for just the right thing. It's time to get down to the details.

I posted a hit on LMNet (a librarian list serv) about this and got some really good suggestions...the one that made the big impact was sent by Mark Moran the creater of Finding Dulcinea
www.DulcineaMedia.com

My strong opinion is that if you want students to learn and retain the right message here, you MUST let them create the lessons themselves. If you create the lesson and give it lecture style, all they'll be thinking in their heads is "yada yada yada."

(see this article, which launched me down the path to realization that kids today learn best when they teach themselves, particularly when it comes to life's lessons: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Americas/2009/July/Peer-to-Peer-Drivers-Education-Program-Saves-Teen-Lives-in-Texas.html )

Ask them to create a 3 minute video on why you are never anonymous online, write a series of posters on cyberbullying (such as how the bullied students and his/her parents should respond), conduct a debate on whether children should be allowed to have a Facebook account before high school or ever use Formspring, etc.

If you do this, you should publish your materials. I'd be happy to assist you further with it.

Excellent advice...

And as weird as this seems I've also been asked by the local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) to present about internet safety for families. They have asked me to do 4 - 20 minute station stop lessons. (Moms will move between several different stations.) I have no idea if they knew about the lessons at the MS - or if I was just a name someone mentioned. Anyway - many of these moms will home school their kiddos, so I want to be significant, make an impression and connect to them and and and.

I will post my final ideas/plans/brochure as I get them finished.

Google Earth and World Cultures

2011-03-01T12:57:00.021-06:00

I am so excited about the Google Earth project we are finishing at the HS. This is a collaboration between the World Cultures teacher and myself. She came to me with an idea of an alternative to classroom reports using Google Earth.

First
We brainstormed what the project might look like and who was responsible for which parts. I used onenote to keep track of that.

Second
The classroom teacher led them through the research process and the requirements for the content of the Google Trip.

Third
I worked out the technical parts of Google Earth and created a handout with the details. I taught the how-to in the lab and then was a resource as students had questions or problems.

Last
The final step of this project will happen in a week...we will email the trip to the teacher's email account. Because this is Google Earth - gmail is the email of choice. Students do not yet have email accounts - so the teacher and I will log in and carry out this step. Then the teacher will have the trip to view on her own computer.

What we Learned
Through this process we discovered some glitches with Google Earth and limitations to our own knowledge.

For example, we wanted the pictures to be larger or smaller than the ones they were importing. One of the students knew a little about code and helped us add a bit more code to the image properties and the pictures were sized accordingly. We also discovered again and again how very touchy code is...one extra space or period in the wrong place and pictures don't appear.

Another major discovery wasn't as easily remedied. There are two World Cultures classes - two different blocks. Google Earth saw these different log ins as the same person. So the pins and information for both students was intermingled in the Google Earth Application. It was easily organized via folders, but that was tricky for some students. Especially the one pair...how in the world did we happen to have two people, both studying Germany on the very same computer??

There were also the common issues of Google Earth or computers freezing, problems with content and appropriate pictures. But, these were minor. We did discover that as long as your pins are in correct folder - they are automatically saved. If they are not in a "Places" folder - there is no retrieving them after the program is shut down.

Did it work?
It certainly worked from my perspective. This was a great way to bridge the technology/content gap. Each teacher was responsible for a part of the final project, each was involved in the planning stage and the tech work went so much better with two adults in the lab. This even worked with my scheduling issues - the teacher 'taught' the final step to one section because I was not able to be in the lab that day.

Will we do it again? I hope. Although this classroom teacher could easily do this on her own, I hope she will invite me to participate again next year... and we will work to improve the parts that were a little clunky.

This is why I wanted to be a secondary librarian!!! Yippee!!

This is what I want my library to be able to do....

2011-02-27T21:31:00.000-06:00

Why Librarians Should be in Charge of Educational Technology

2011-02-22T23:32:00.010-06:00

Doug Johnson revisited this subject in his recent blog post.

His points ring so true to me and give me something to think about and apply to my own situation. The points in bold represent his ideas and I've added a few connections and thoughts of my own in italics.

1. A healthy attitude toward technology
This is a biggie. My excitement or my frustration, is contagious to our students and our staff. That means I need to be realistic. I need to understand the limitations and the potential of each technology application I promote. I also need to keep learning - to keep imagining and to keep dreaming.
2. Good teaching skills
This is paramount! We are called on to teach a wide range of skills to students and staff..and much of that training occurs unexpectedly. A teacher stops by to ask a quick question which develops into a teaching opportunity for a new classroom project. A student catches you in the hall and asks about a problem with a project. And then there are professional development opportunities. The stronger our teaching skills, the more effective our process.
3. An understanding of the use of technology in the information literacy process and its use in fostering higher order thinking skills.
Research, research, research. Research is becoming the buzz word of this information society. Students need a strong and broad research base to succeed in college and beyond. As the role of librarians has evolved, this has remained one of our hallmarks. But, it's not our old research - instead research has been paired with web 2.0 tools to a new level. Most students how to get the information, but we get stuck with what to do next - what do you do with thousands of google hits??? That is my job!
4. Experience as skill integrators and collaborators
Librarians are collaborators. That's it in a nutshell. Our teaching needs to walk alongside what is happening in the classroom, embedding the technology and research skills into the existing content. This partnership works and will continue to work.
5. Been models for the successful use of technology
Librarians have been at the forefront of many technology moves in our district. Serving on the district tech committee, on building tech committees, maintaining promoting the online library card catalog as well as mobile and desktop labs have demonstrated ways that we are already involved. This involvement will continue to evolve.
6. Provided in-building support
This is built into much of what I have already mentioned - we are on call, we are available, we are involved
7. A whole school (district) view
Moving between buildings and even districts has completely changed my view. When your time is spent in one place - so are your loyalties. Librarians are in a unique position - we speak for multiple grade levels, multiple buildings and multiple platforms. We are lucky!!
8. Concerns of the safe and ethical use of technology
Librarians have been called the copyright police, with good reason. Our focus is information - the way it is delivered and used. That includes the safety and ethics. This is part of our curriculum and our task.

So where does this leave us? Teacher Librarians are integral and necessary for the continued education of our students! We can provide the connection between educational content and technology. We are integrators and innovators and inspirers. We are the lucky ones!!

Thanks Mr. Johnson for starting my thinking!

Is it really Impossible?

2011-02-22T23:24:00.003-06:00

Karl Fisch poses this question to us as educators and as learners...
and he adds an intriguing video to spur our thinking.

Check it out!

The Fischbowl

Jason Glass Prezi

2011-02-22T22:45:00.003-06:00

Jason Glass, new Iowa Director of Education asked Iowan educators these three questions....
1. What should we stop doing?

2. What should we keep doing?

3. What should we start doing?

He has created this prezi to share his responses...interesting

Start Stop Keep Iowa on Prezi

Link to his blog - Education Elements

Cell phone usage

2011-01-31T09:40:00.002-06:00

Very interesting data on cell phones and their use...

Via: Online IT Degree

So, what is my job?

2011-01-26T10:22:00.003-06:00

I received an email asking me to have a practicum student. It made me stop and think...what do I have to offer a new librarian?

I am a new librarian. I am still struggling to get my feet under me. I am trying to figure out what my priorities are and how to best use my time. What in the world do I have to offer?

Reality! That is what I can offer. My job is the changing librarian in our midst.
A little tech, a little books, a little teaching, a little secretarial, a little collaborating. None of these are done to my best abilities, none of these are monumental. But they add up to a very important role in our school system.

I am in the very unique position of being able to see the entire district picture. I also have the luxury of flexibility. I am able to rearrange and manipulate my schedule to fit with a classroom project.I can spend time finding websites or print material for a specific teacher and activity. I can serve on time-consuming district committees.

And every day I wonder if I am doing enough...if I can use my time in a better way...if I can impact students differently. And most days the answers are no, yes and yes...

So, how in the world could I be of help to a practicum students???

Hmmmm.....

2011-01-19T10:53:00.003-06:00

A link to a blog reporting NEA contributions last year. This ticks me off...
In a time of declining union enrollment in our district and others these decisions speed up that process.

Association of American Educators

My List of Three

2011-01-19T10:49:00.003-06:00

Jason Glass, the nominated head of Iowa Education has asked three questions on his website Education Elements

1. What should we stop doing?

2. What should we keep doing?

3. What should we start doing?

Here are my ideas...

Stop: Gutting school libraries!
Research shows how important an integrated librarian and library collection are to the learning process- research skills, digital citizenship, literacy, collaboration. These are all integral parts of a librarian’s knowledge base and SO needed in today’s schools – yet our voice is completely lost in the clamor for new and better. We are the voice of literacy and reading yet too often we are not even invited to the conversation.

Keep: Iowa Core
Many have more clearly articulated this important aspect of our curriculum

Start: Narrowing our focus to the essentials – students.
We have removed the face of the child from most of our conversations – they are subjects and items and numbers. We need to begin with who they are today. As others have said, we are preparing them for a world that doesn’t exist. So, we need to start with the skills of flexibility and problem solving. You can’t do that when our testing focused curriculum requires a regurgitation of list of dates.

It's Official

2011-01-19T09:15:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was the day...my dear friend, mentor and fellow librarian has announced her retirement. (I have to say my fingers are shaking a bit as I type this.)

She has been my rock and my inspiration for many years.

She has also been the face of technology in our district as her role of librarian has evolved. She pulled and prodded and drug our district from the dark ages of technology to a truly wonderful place - honoring those teachers who didn't, wouldn't or just couldn't with gentle prodding and amazing examples. She has been the diplomat and the behind the scenes worker - making sure the yearly District Tech Plan was finished, heading the District Tech Committee (chairing endless meetings both in the fun days when the money was plentiful and in today's absent budget), all the while pushing herself to present, teach, promote and purchase. She has made herself face her fears and presented tech info at conferences both local and national.

She changed the elementary schedule to flexible scheduling years ago to allow more project based learning. She developed a library curriculum for K-5 which included a technology infused research based activity long before districts realized this was an important thing. She collaborated with teachers before it was a buzzword and became Laura Ingalls Wilder before the blogosphere told us that was the way to teach.

She is the perfect example of a 21st century librarian - picking up skills and books and seamlessly weaving them into a presentation style that welcomes children to her.

And I will miss her infinetly.

Thank you for mentoring me, for encouraging me and for inspiring me!!!

Skills for the 21st century teacher

2011-01-19T09:06:00.004-06:00

This is list of skills purported by Digital Learning Environments

20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have

By Laura Turner

Technology has changed a great deal in the last 5-6 years and the skills we need have changed along with it. Although no one would use all of these technologies, we should be knowledgeable in what each of them is and how it could be/might be used in a classroom.

1. Google Tools Knowledge
2. Google Earth Knowledge
3. Wiki Knowledge
4. Blogging Knowledge
5. Spreadsheets Skills
6. Database Skills
7. Social Bookmarking Knowledge
8. Social Networking Knowledge
9. Web Resources in content area
10. Web Searching skills
11. Web2.0 Tools
12. Interactive White Board skills (SmartBoard and Promethium)
13. Website design and management skills
14. Presentation Tools
15. IM knowledge
16. Video and Podcasting
17. RSS feeds
18. Mobile and Handheld Computing
19. Virtual Worlds
20. Collaboration & Communication Tools

Skills 1-5
Skills 6-10

I think it's a pretty good list - but it's just a list. I feel like I keep looking or the perfect list, the perfect starting place, the perfect ticket. And then staff and students will be ready - if we just have the magic list.

Reality is - it's time to stop looking and start honing this list. It's time to move from what someone else thinks to what really works for us. As long as we continue to research what others think we need we will be blown from place to place - not really planting our roots and knowing what and where we are.

So - it's time to begin taking root!!

What's happening on the web

2011-01-13T13:39:00.002-06:00

This is really amazing!!

Digital Citizenship prezi

2010-10-03T21:02:00.001-05:00

This is a GREAT Digital Citizenship prezi!

Digital Citizenship on Prezi

A great google docs prezi

2010-07-14T09:58:00.002-05:00

This is an excellent prezi by Cecelia Foster - and you get double the bang for it! Not only is the content exactly what you need - but the format really highlights the possiblities with prezi.

Google Docs Presentation on Prezi

Leviathon by Scott Westerfield

2010-05-24T17:48:00.002-05:00

This is a world war I story that is like none other. The world of Europe has been divided into two groups...the Darwinians and the clunkers. The Darwinians have figured out how to create an entirely new type of animal-created by melding the life threads of different animals. They have created incredible hydrogen filled whales that fly through the skies...
Then there are the clunkers who have created incredible eight legged walking war machines. In the middle of this altered world are two teens...one is Alek the son of the murdered archduke. All of the German army is looking for him. Then there is Deryck, a boy? Actually a young girl pretending to be a boy in order to join the English army and work aboard the whale ship Leviathan.

Another excellent presentation!

2010-05-14T09:16:00.002-05:00

A Prescription for Healthier School Librarianship: Transforming Our Practice for the 21st Century

View more presentations from Buffy Hamilton.

Finding Lubchenko and The Rise of Lubchenko by Michael Simmons

2010-05-04T13:38:00.004-05:00

Start with a frustrated high school boy with a major attitude add a stingy, grouchy multi-millionaire father and you get a perfect excuse to steal technology tools from a medical business - the one your father owns. That is where Evan finds himself at the start of this story. Then things start to go wrong! A man is murdered at Evan's dad's work - and his dad is accused of the crime and sent to jail. That would be bad enough - but Evan just happened to steal the dead man's computer with his friend Ruben - and there is evidence on the computer to free his dad....

If he admits his crime his father will ground him forever and may even send him to jail. If he doesn't admit his crime his father may rot away in jail. Even though that is almost a pleasant thought for Evan, he does have a conscience.

Enter a mysterious email from Lubchenko asking the dead man to meet him at a cafe in Paris. Evan, Ruben and their friend Erika decide the only thing to do it take a trip to Paris - where they hope to find Lubchenko and get the information they need.

Oh did I forget to tell you that the company Evan's dad owns makes vaccines for different diseases...including small pox. And, there is the chance that the company is selling live small pox virus to a group of terrorists? That might be important.

Life for Evan is never what he thinks it is - but it is rather exciting - what with dead men, guns and evilterrorists...

The story continues in The Rise of Lubchenko. The Paris trip is over, even though horrible things (that I can't tell you about) have happened life seems to be returning to normal. Evan's dad is off on another trip leaving him at home, on the eve of a huge party Evan receives a phone call...a mysterious voice tells him that his dad's business partner, Mr. Richmond, is about to murder Evan's dad, Evan, Erika and Ruben.

The three decide the only way to stop Mr. Richmond is to find Lubchenko - again. So, off to Paris they go and then all over France, Switzerland and Belgium. And, I really can't tell you much more - because I don't want to give anything away. But let me tell you there is fear, gunfire, small pox virus and well...you just have to read it!

These are exciting books - sort of Bourne Identity-ish. Read them and let me know what you think!

Find these books at the Middle School library.

Plagiarism Video

2010-04-13T11:38:00.007-05:00

paulrobesonlibrary — November 13, 2007 — Developed by the Paul Robeson Library. This video is an educational parody of a typical classic 50's classroom environment. This is part 1 of 3 of the series. Contact bowman@camden.rutgers.edu for more information about this comical tutorial or educational content. This video was created at Rutgers University in Camden NJ.

Film credits

A Nation Without Libraries

2010-04-08T08:50:00.003-05:00

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MAP UP CLOSE
A very sober statistic!!

The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade

2010-04-07T12:37:00.001-05:00

Meet Modo a talented and misformed child being reformed by Mr. Socrates. Mr. Socrates, the rich Englishmen, rescued Modo from a carnival buggy when he was just a toddler. He was to be a prize possession and the future centerpiece for this gypsy carnival. But, for enough money - all sorts of deals can be made.

Modo is locked into a house with only a housekeeper and a Indian trainer for the next 13 years. He is not allowed to see his face or leave the premises. He is trained both mentally and physically - he can climb a rope, jump from place to place, converse on all types of subjects and discern the identity of a approaching stranger by the sounds of their footsteps.

Modo has been formed in the image of his master - but who is Modo. When he is finally shown his misshapen face, and acknowledges the horrible hump on his back he recedes into a deep depression. It is through the love of his housekeeper that he comes to accept both his limitations and his skills.

It is then that Mr. Socrates allows Modo outside... But, he takes him to London, dumps him off on a street corner and forces him to find his own way.

Now - all of that happens in the first couple of chapters...it is then the assignments really begin. London is being harassed by an unseen force that steals children and returns them as hairy raving lunatics. It is also home to a mysterious scientist who has a skill with clockwork and potions that is completely unknown to others. Modo and his new friend Octavia join forces with Mr. Socrates to try to rid the world of this mad scientist, Dr. Hyde.

This is another in the clockwork genre. The first by Arther Slade, but not the last. If you liked this one - check out Leviathan.

New book at the Middle School

Photo Story Demonstration

2010-03-23T13:05:00.002-06:00

Photo Story 3 Example

2010-03-23T12:33:00.006-06:00

Ruined: A Novel by Paula Morris

2010-03-23T07:31:00.003-06:00

In this exciting ghost story set in New Orleans, Rebecca Brown is forced to move from her beloved New York to the odd little crooked house of a long lost relative. Her father needs to move to China for 6 months and without relatives, he has sent her to stay with a voodoo queen/fortune teller/tourist attraction 'aunt' named Claudia and her daughter Aurelia.

Rebecca starts school at a snooty academy and settles in to the routine of the wounded 10th grader. That is until she wakes up one evening and sees a group of kids going into the graveyard across the street. Rebecca is drawn to the graveyard where she meets another young girl, both seemingly hiding from the snooty kids drinking on the graves of their ancestors.

Rebecca is drawn to the graveyard and her new friend Lisette. Eventually, Rebecca realizes why Lisette is only seen in the graveyard - she is a ghost. Not only that, but Rebecca seems to be the only one who can see her.

Meanwhile, Rebecca is slowly falling for Anton - the rich young son of one of the prominent families - and a complete no-no. As Rebecca's friendship with both Anton and Lisette grow she finds out about a curse that has surrounded the Bowman family for generations. A curse that involves Lisette.

With a Mardi Gras parade twist, a graveyard fight and an incredible fire - all becomes known.

This is a book that keeps you reading. There are twists and turns - sort of like chasing a ghost through a dark, overgrown graveyard late at night!

Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

2010-03-23T07:15:00.002-06:00

Kayla Reed lives in a future world that is disintegrating. The government requires all adults to have a bar code tattooed on their forearm. That seemingly simple bar code is fracturing families, causing job loss and even death.

Kayla is convinced there is more to the tattoo than just the code...why would just a simple code make her father depressed enough to commit suicide? Or why would the code cause her best friends family to go from one of the wealthiest families to barely being able to survive. Suddenly the bank just cut off their money. And then she finds part of the secret. There is more to the tattoo, the government is making decisions about the futures of families based on...
I can't tell you. It would give too much away... I will tell you a little more about the story - because it doesn't end there.

Kayla joined a group of students against bar codes - these outcasts form a bond as they try to educate others. But then things fall apart. The government requires 17 year olds to get the tattoo..Kayla refuses - but with that refusal she also forfeits all access to money.

So, she is on the run. To a place she has only heard whispers about, a place where others are gathering to defy the government, to learn how to live.

Will she make it?

This is an exciting and unsettling look at a future that is not very rosy. It also makes you think about tattoos in a completely different way.

Dairy Queen and Off Season and Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

2010-03-07T07:23:00.003-06:00

DJ Schwenk is not your average high school sophomore. She lives on a dairy farm in Wisconsin that takes most of her free time. She is the third in a family of four - all the others are brothers. Her two older brothers just happen to play for BIG university football teams. And she is totally immersed in their football life. All that seems like it could happen.

BUT - DJ hates to talk. I said she wasn't average.

Each of these books follows DJ through several mini - problems and one or two really huge ones!

The first book: Dairy Queen finds DJ helping out a spoiled, rotten future quarterback (Brian) for the rival football team. He needs to learn some work ethic and the Schwenk farm is just the place for that. The more time they spend together - the deeper their friendship grows and shock of all shock - DJ starts to talk. And then she starts to think about a lot of things - like playing football. There is even an appearance in People magazine - which keeps appearing again and again.

The Off Season - picks up right where Dairy Queen ends. This is a different kind of book - rather tense. There is a football injury that has the potential to tear the family into little tiny pieces. I don't want to give anything away - but this book makes you stop and ponder. It's much moodier and heavier. Brian is back and even that friendship is dark and moody.

DJ is the center of everything in Front and Center. It's her time to play basketball and be able to shine in the sport she truly loves. But, she can't simply play, she needs to think about the future - even though she is just a junior. And the future includes offers from basketball coaches from all over the United States - some from huge schools like University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin and others from dinky little places like Ibsen college. DJ is faced with decisions that make her want to hurl - on a daily basis.

Reading these books made me glad to grow up in the midwest, glad to live in a rural area and REALLY glad not to milk cows!!

I think you will enjoy each of these - whether you are a jock, a farmer or just someone interested in a great story!

MS library - all three books HS library - 1st and 2nd books

The Year We Disappeared by John and Cylin Busby

2010-03-01T07:07:00.005-06:00

If you are looking for a true story of police work, unsolved crimes and gruesome injuries, this is the book for you!

John Busby is a cop in a small New England town. On a routine drive into work he is shot through the window of his VW bug. He is hit in the jaw.

So begins the story of a life changed in an instant. This book is told by John and by his daughter Cylin who was 9 at the time. It is a raw and telling tale of the anger John feels knowing who was responsible for the shooting and watching his department simply ignore the evidence.

It is also the story of a little girl who admires her daddy's good looks and has a horrible time adjusting to the changes in their lives. Because when your daddy is a cop who has been shot, the bad guy just may come for you next.

This is told honestly and clearly taking us through that first year of adjustments and changes.

Find this in the High School Library
An Iowa Teen Award nominee for 2010

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

2010-03-01T06:53:00.005-06:00

This fairy tale takes place in the mountains of Transylvania, and yes there are vampires. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This is the life of a family of sisters, told by Jena number two of four. Years ago they discovered a portal to the land of the fairies. Each full moon they open a secret staircase and descend to the edge of the lake to be shuttled across by their personal dwarf boatman to a land of unbelievable creatures and night of dancing.

This all begins to change when their father leaves for a winter buying trip. The merchant business is left in the hands of his brother and son. But, when Papa doesn't correspond they begin to think the worst has actually happened. Then uncle is killed in a freak hunting accident and the lives of the girls are taken over by their cousin Cezar who seems to think he owns the girls, their home and all the business.

As the full moon approaches he becomes obsessed with eliminating all of the fairy folk in the forest. The Night People (vampires)retaliate and Cezar really goes off the deep end.

One of the most important characters is a rather odd frog who is able to talk to Jena - but only Jena. He stays with her all the time, sitting on her shoulder or riding as a wet lump in her pocket. He is her confidante and her strength. He is also something quite different.

The story builds to a rather unexpected climax. One that reveals much of the character of Jena, Cezar and the frog Gogu. It's a story of forbidden love, magic, spells, and worlds unknown to most of us.

Find it at the High School Library.
An Iowa Teen Award nominee for 2010

Graphic Novels...

2010-01-28T13:07:00.012-06:00

So, this is the beginning. Our middle school library has only a couple graphic novels - the Bone series. And these are the ones I chose to begin our collection. I'm not sure what I think or who I expect these to appeal to. I took them home last night and quickly devoured them.

They are very different.

Rapunzel's Revenge modernizes the Rapunzel story to create a sweet, innocent girl with amazing abilities to use her long red hair as a deadly whip thanks to four years trapped in a tree tower. She rescues herself and begins her trek to free her mother from the hands of "Mother Gothel" the evil woman how pretended to be Rapunzel's mother. She crosses paths with Jack the Giant Killer and they join together to cross a bleak western expanse of outlaws, starving citizens and Mother Gothel's reach. There is action, a little romance and twists of fairy tales woven into this comic format.

Storm in the Barnis another Jack story - but completely different than Rapunzel's fairy tale world. This is set in 1937 in the midst of the Kansas dust bowl. Jack's sister is slowly dying of Dust Pneumonia, his father is depressed and angry and Jack is picked on by the local town bullies. In his inability to stand-up to anyone or anything he escapes to a very mysterious barn. Periodically the barn flashes with lightning - the lightning that will not show itself across the prairie. Jack reaches a breaking point and stands up to the stranger in the barn, the stranger who holds the power to change the world. This is world illustrated by the grays and browns of the dust bowl - the comic book layout and sparse text add to this atmosphere.

Then there is David Almond's The Savage. This is a completely different story. Blue Baker is working through his father's death by writing a story about a savage who lives alone on the edges of the civilized world and is free to allow his emotions to rule him. As Blue creates the story he includes parts of his own world: Hopper, the bully who constantly taunts him, and his little sister, Jess. The Savage interacts withnthese characters as an observer - yet in the end it is the actual contact of the Savage that changes Blue and his family forever. David McKean's illustrations of dark ink against washes of blue and green bring a memorable savage to life. But, who really is the savage and how in the world does it....

I'm not going to tell you...just read it. And the others too. I'd love to hear what you think!

this is just a test

2010-01-25T21:05:00.001-06:00

I’m trying out the new windows live writer to see how it works…so disregard!

Whoa – that was super slick…. may need to look into this a little deeper.

Personal Kanban...an interactive to do list

2010-01-25T20:40:00.004-06:00

This is an absolutely brilliant idea! Simple and focused personal management style...how would it work with kids???
I used something sort of like this when we were doing in class podcasts. We overtook the white board with our to-do lists and it worked amazingly well!

Personal Kanban 101

View more documents from Jim Benson.

A great read!

2010-01-17T11:21:00.001-06:00

This is the series I've been looking for. It was exciting. It was enticing. It was hard to put down. There was love, friendship, family issues, werewolves, vampires, mundanes (regular old humnas), demons and Shadowhunters (those who protect the world from the demons).

I LOVED IT!!!

It is a three book series following Clary Fray from her life as a nondescript New Yorker to a new life as daughter of the most powerful and corrupt Shawdowhunter with abilities to tap unprecedented powers against her evil father.

Clary meets Jace in a bar and is drawn to his power and his presence. Through Jace and his adopted siblings Alex and Isabel she is introduced to a world that exists just under the radar of mundanes understandings. A world filled with all the creatures of nightmares and ancient stories. A world her mother escaped from and hid her from. A world that is poised to be overthrown by an incredibly twisted man who just happens to be Clary's father.

These books were sort of Twilight meets Star Wars with a bit of Lord of the Rings thrown in...

Clary is a much stronger heroine than Bella who just seems to stand and scream and brood. There is some of that - but Clary gets it and taps into her own abilities. I liked Clary much more than Bella. And thankfully Jace is NOT Edward - although he is a bit moody. But his personality doesn't dictate Clary's world. Together they forge a friendship that strengthens each of them and prepares them for the final battle in City of Glass.

AND...unlike Twilight...these are not as predictable.

I read the final book - all 541 pages in an evening...and a morning...
I finished about 2AM!! They were recommended to me from an 8th grade math teacher!
I would whole heartedly pass on the recommendation!!!

Another amazing tool from Joyce Valenza

2010-01-10T19:46:00.016-06:00

To embed this use the code from Valenza's SLJ page
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334/post/20051802.html

I had to change the width from 100 to 50 and reduce the height to 700 for it to fit on this page

On to the next semester...

2010-01-10T19:22:00.003-06:00

All through our Christmas vacation I thought I would get back to reading blogs and blogging myself. But, it just didn't happen. I took a much needed break away from all things school.

I spent time reading books of my choosing. Adult books. Ones that I wouldn't necessarily recommend to YA readers. I spent a lot of time with my family - just chatting and shopping and enjoying my daughters.

It made me begin to realize what I've been missing as I've immersed myself in grad school and a new job and all the trappings that go along with it.

It also refreshed me and helped prepare me to come back and jump in to a full semester! It's hard to believe I am 1/2 way through my first year as a librarian.

It also gave me a moment to look ahead and cringe just a bit...

It's certainly a full spring!!!

>Site visit at Keota
>Middle School Book Fair
>Practicum in IC at SE Junior High
>Practicum at Keota Elem
>Research project/poster session
>Graduation
>A HUGE sigh of relief!!!

So - here we go!!!

Another Brilliant Tech Presentation

2009-12-09T23:31:00.004-06:00

While cruising the blogs I found this excellent presentation of tools..
Great compilation..but the very best part is the suggestion on slide 26...
print out one page of the presentation a week and distribute to all staff members...a quick and easy way to pass along tech tips!

It goes by really fast - so use the pause/play button to toggle between

Dewey Decimal Rap

2009-11-30T08:15:00.001-06:00

I'm working on a lesson plan for my grad class...4th graders and Dewey Decimal system. I came across the most hilarious video called the "Dewey Decimal Rap." It's excellent! I had seen mention of it on twitter and other library postings - but hadn't actually watched it! Tee! Hee! Enjoy!!

Prezi Presentation for Monday Meeting

2009-11-15T16:51:00.003-06:00

HS links

2009-11-15T15:46:00.003-06:00

HS links

This is a list of links for the HS compiled by Beth Swantz through Diigo.

Professional Development

2009-11-07T08:33:00.009-06:00

Yesterday was an all district in-service. The morning was dedicated to technology! We had a rather amazing technology showcase - different teachers from all 5 buildings shared projects they are doing with students which use technology. It was great to see progressions and variety and innovation! I must admit I was more than a little proud!

Phyllis and I made a commercial "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" It was silly and fun! Elementary Library Site
This is a link to Phyllis' website so you can see the commercial

I also made an animoto highlighting activities in the district the first quarter of the year.

Budget cuts...

2009-10-26T20:17:00.005-06:00

Today was the day the budget woes became official. The superintendent and the business manager presented what our district will be doing to try to deal with $570,000 less for the rest of this year.

Schools are in a hard place..what do you do when 80% of your budget is already spoken for by contracts and yet you have to cut this much money. But, as scary as that is - you know that next year will be even worse. Then the contracts will be on the table.

So - we need to be creative and positive and trusting. It's hard to be all those things when the future looks precarious. But, if we begin to loose even one of those descriptors - things can spiral downhill very quickly.

As a new person in a different position - it's really hard to know what to think or what to do.

So - I wait and hope and wait...

maybe I'll read a bit while I wait...that can only help right???

Reading as a job

2009-10-25T22:38:00.004-06:00

This weekend I read. It was wonderful and it was work and it kept me from interacting with my family and it kept me from getting my homework done and it was wonderful!

I was totally immersed in the world of Gregor and the Underland.

This is a series of 5 books by Suzanne Collins. She is some kind of writer! I absolutely LOVED and HATED Hunger Games and Catching Fire! They were wonderful and awful and I couldn't put them down. They are also a more high school theme.

These books are also WONDERFUL and AWFUL! and I loved them and couldn't put them down. They are more focused on a Middle School audience.

I just want to say how amazed I am at Collins. She creates a world so detailed and interesting and repulsive and alluring all at the same time. Each of these stories made me so happy to live in the time and place that I do. But, each of these two very different settings haunted my thoughts and my imaginings for a long time.

Collins has a knack for creating characters that you really relate to. In Gregor some of those characters are giant cockroaches, rats and bats. Yes, you read correctly - giant bats. and they are the good guys!! Each of these characters are human sized and larger and they can all talk.

So how in the world do you bring life to a clicking cockroach? You have it become totally and completely mesmerized by a sweet two year old girl and then have the little girl be as taken by the cockroaches. Weird and wonderful...

Gregor is an eleven year old boy who is drawn in to the prophecies of the Underland as their new warrior. He is called on to be so much more than his 11 years should need to - but he understands the responsibilities and really tries to live up to the Underlanders expectations. Yet, under all he is just a boy. He reminded me so much of Katniss in Hunger Games. Both were asked to carry devastating responsibilities for others and yet their true nature was not subverted!

The world of the Underland is constantly at war. Yet, there is a governing code of honor between species. When the line is crossed late in the 5th book it is devastating and brutal. Contrast that to the world of the Hunger Games where the very idea of children fighting to the death is not really a code of honor - but rather brutal survival and anything goes.

Even though they may sound a bit gruesome, I would recommend both of these series with no reservations. They are amazing.

When I finished reading the 5th Gregor book today, I felt a bit hollow. Although the series ends with this book, the story does not. All the ends are not tied up. The imminent danger is passed, but life is not all neat and tidy.

I think that is my favorite part of all of Collins books. Life is not all neat and tidy, but the characters don't expect that. Rather they are immersed in ebb and flow of life - and the never ending cycle of war and peace and war and peace.

Maybe that is the real theme of all of these Collins books regardless of the series. Ending the cycle into which you have been born. Opening your eyes and helping those around open theirs as well. Seeing what the possibilities are - hard as they might be. But, really imagining a future that is different from where you are. It's hard work to create and sustain that future! That's the part that I like!

So - Suzanne Collins... You rock!!!

A Teacher's Guide To Web 2.0 at School

2009-10-18T19:53:00.001-05:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

A Teacher's Guide To Web 2.0 at School

View more documents from Sacha Chua.

Hmmm....

2009-10-17T20:30:00.003-05:00

Who are blogs for? I've been thinking about that a lot lately. After our ITEC time and all the talk of PLNs I was all fired up. I've been reading more blogs, adding ideas to this blog...

But...

I'm talking to myself. Does that negate my PLN? So - if I am using this blog to rumintate on what I'm reading that's still ok, isn't it.

It has made me understand how important it is to provide an actual audience for students as soon as they enter the world of the blogs. If you want to be read and heard..we as teachers need to make completely sure they will be!

David Warlick and ITEC day 2

2009-10-14T10:26:00.006-05:00

Again the future was a big part of the keynote on day 2.
David Warlick's take was a little different...

His beginning premise was...
for the first time in history - we are preparing our student for a completely unknown future.
What do our children need to be ready for this future?

>Make sure they can teach themselves
- stop integrating technology for the sake of integration and make it a new
literacy
-this is what our students will need
>Teach students to be digital detectives.
-teach them to ask questions of print - not blindly accept as we were taught to
-teach students to find out who is publishing the website, is it legitimate,
is it current

Warlick's Contemporary Literacy

>Exposing what's true
>Employing the information
>Expressing ideas compellingly
>Ethical use of the information

He also said that schools who have dropped the arts are no more than factories!!!
That got a big cheer!!

I then attended three workshops that he led...
1. PLN - professional learning networks
2. RSS - Really simple syndication
3. Second Life

He was an excellent speaker - pleasant southern drawl and incredibly thought provoking ideas!

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/
http://davidwarlick.com/wordpress/
http://landmark-project.com/

Daniel Pink

2009-10-14T10:20:00.003-05:00

Daniel Pink and David Warlick both shared an understanding about our students futures that sort of haunts me.

Pink quoted an administrator who said..." We need to prepare kids for their future not our past."

His ideas focused on the current school system as very left brained...linear, sequential, a list of facts or processes. This prepared students for jobs that were the same way.

Today - those jobs are not on the continent. Instead our students face a future that is constantly changing - filled with tools that are constantly changing

is 21st century skills were...
>Design - thinking about the way things are put together - ideas and items
>Story - beyond the facts - the delivery counts
>Symphony - seeing the big picture
>Empathy - seeing another's view
>Play - obvious!
>Meaning - purpose

Finally, he applied this to education this way..

1. Explore new metrics - we need a different way to test
2. Get real about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) employers want more than students who know the content
3. Rethink motivation - study results say that rewards stifle creativity!!
4. Promote and defend autonomy - need self direction
5. Infuse arts education throughout the curriculum - change it from ornamental to fundamental

http://www.danpink.com/

ITEC ponderings...

2009-10-14T10:10:00.004-05:00

I must start out by saying I dreamed about ITEC last night...very scary. I was sitting in a perpetual audience listening to David Warlick and imagining my future. When I woke up this morning it all made sense to me...my mid-morning I have absolutely no idea what ah ha moments I understood.

But, does that show you what an effect this conference had on me?

Tech CLub Animoto

2009-10-12T00:06:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow's presentation

2009-10-11T23:39:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow I will attend ITEC and I will co present a workshop in the afternoon. Phyllis, my mentor, friend and elementary librarian, and I will lead a workshop on Elementary Tech Clubs. We have been leading a Tech Club at our elementary school for the past two years and are going to share our experience.

This is the third presentation we've done together...the past two were about podcasting and I was incredibly nervous...

This time - I am not. I'm not sure why that is...I think it's becasue I feel much more connected to my content and we aren't dependant on technology for things to go well.

I made an animoto video showing an overview of club meetings and a short iMovie of 6th grade testimonials. THey both turned out really well. Animoto is so cool! It makes everything look so sophisticated and important when it's actually a dump and mix program. I love that kind of thing!!!

Anyway, we shall see how everything works out...

PLN questions..moving from me to others...

2009-09-20T22:27:00.004-05:00

I finally had some time to catch up on my Google reader blogs and twitter feeds.
It's been awhile.
It ticks me off that I let it slide. Because, each time I spend time reading I find new ideas and get recharged.

It makes me amazed...

There are so many different ways to broaden my horizons. So many different people for me to learn from. So many different sites for me to read. And yet for a long time I was content to just stay in my own world - following my own colleagues.

Through my classes, my internet searching and my reading my horizons have continued to grow. Now...how do I convince others of the importance of using their precious time this way?

How can I use my role as librarian to share and encourage? How can I be an advocate for this type of professional development?

As I ponder that movement I want to share a few of my findings tonight...

One of my favorite blogs is the CoolCat Teacher Blog. She has such excellent posts...
This one is on some if the things to remember when you start the new school year...they are not earth shattering - but they are realistic and things you can do right this minute. I like that!

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2009/09/ten-totally-random-tips-for-teachers.html

I also worked on my twitter account.

I wanted a different background and was able to figure that out.
I also found a mashup list ... of educators and librarians to follow. I spent way too much time cruising between these twitter pages and the blogs they belong to.

And I think I came up with the beginnings of an idea. I need to start some type of newsletter - or web-based info page with sites that would be of interest to the teachers I work with. I think...
It's at least a start.

Middle School Library Video

2009-09-18T10:16:00.001-05:00

Orientation video

Made using Animoto and the educator's account! Lots of fun and very easy to do!!
http://animoto.com/

you just never know...

2009-09-15T22:00:00.007-05:00

When I got to the other district where I work today - their school life was in a bit of a tizzy...
Yesterday afternoon the computer that controls the bells and the intercom had suddenly forgotten it was part of the network.
So - there were no bells.
There were no intercom options.

I spent the first hour + on the phone trying to figure out what in the world we could do to solve this.

It eventually was solved - for today.
I wish there was a clear and plain solution. Instead, we think that some of the internal parts of the network are just plain dying...

This is when things got interesting. One of the switches had orange lights blinking - I took that to mean something wasn't working. My tech director told me that I had to unplug that switch and reconnect to see if it helped the problem.

What if it never comes back on??
What if I am the cause of that...

But, I didn't create the network,
I didn't create the cabling problems,
I didn't create this aged equipment predicament.

That is what I need to start learning...I am not the cause of this. And who really cares who is the cause - that doesn't solve one single problem. Instead, I need to focus on ways to be part of the solution.

So - I was brave and I pulled the plug and nothing crashed down on me, no sirens blew and no computers exploded in smoke.

Nothing was fixed either.

And that's when things became even more interesting...

There was a person almost 100 miles away who had several switches to donate to us - we just needed to go and get them. It was decided that taking a road trip today and picking up the equipment was the best use of our afternoon.

It was a BEAUTIFUL trip - through the rolling countryside with the changing leaves of the grain fields flying by the windows and the blue sky framing everything above.

So -what did I learn from all of this.

There are many times where the hard and the good walk side by side.

I am learning and growing into a different person
- one who is part of the problem solving team. (There were times this morning that I actually made suggestions and some of them worked!!)
-one who other people listen to because they think I know... and I do...

Wow!! I guess sometimes you do know!

I taught my first class today...

2009-09-14T13:39:00.004-05:00

Today was a big day for me because I taught my first class...
That sounds like more than it actually was...

Actually I taught part of a class today about databases and plagiarism.
Sound exciting? That is about how excited the kids were too...

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time creating a brochure of the steps for using the different databases that we have..

I also edited a PowerPoint about plagiarism. This was one that had been taken from Purdue's OWL writing lab by my predecessor. I made changes and gave credit to Purdue. That seemed important since it was about using someone else's work.

Then as I got started presenting I just sort of rolled...
I wasn't nervous. That surprised me. Instead, I felt confident and like I knew my stuff. And I did now my stuff...

So - how did I do?

Don't really know...but that's ok.
It's a start and that makes me excited!

a weird thing happened on the way to my blog design...

2009-09-06T17:24:00.005-05:00

I was busily trying out new looks for my blog. Surfing, cruising the web and downloading an assortment that I really liked. I had tried out several different ones and had settled on the new look when my 13-year old and three of her friends came in to see what I was doing.

I showed them the options I was thinking of using, starting with the design that I had decided on.
They hated it! It was very stark and simple with a large @ key at the top and a chain hooking that to the side. They were appalled I wanted a chain in my title. I hadn't even really thought of that.

I showed them the other options and they unanimously decided on this design. Not, even in my top three choices.

So, why am I giving in to my daughter's opinions? Why do I even care?

It intrigues me what each of us focus on. I liked the simple lines and sparse design. They liked the colors and the movement of the watercolor design.

How does this all fit in to my library thoughts? I am interested in the different perspectives we bring to book choice. I know what I like and why and I seem to believe that every one should/would/must feel the same way. But, each of us have that same thought process. So, how do we help one another?

I think I need to be reminded in a million little ways to listen first and talk second.
To pause and listen.
To slow down and pause and listen and then talk.

And in the pause and the listening I need to be sure that I will actually hear and not be so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I won't even hear.

To new blog layouts, 13-year old daughters and the wisdom of listening!!!
Happy Sunday afternoon!! :)

Reading...

2009-09-06T15:33:00.004-05:00

Now that I am in the midst of the library - I am finding I have less time for some of the things that I really love. I sincerely hope that is a passing trend. I haven't picked up a book to just read all week. YIKES!!!

I remember a conversation I had with a public librarian many years ago. She came over to talk to me as I was loading my arms with another round of books from the new book display, the first thing to greet you as you enter the library. I had been steadily reading my way through the current stock of books - and was looking forward to new titles appearing. I remember the wistful tone in her voice when she asked me what books I had especially enjoyed and which authors I preferred. I asked her the same.

Her answer is what brings back this conversation..."Well, I really don't have time to read anymore. Everyone seems to think that is all librarians do. Ha!"

I'm sure our conversation continued on -I am always ready to tell someone about my current reading favorite. But, I have come back to the sadness in her voice and the matter-of-fact tone. How could a librarian, a lover of books, surround herself in a world of books and not have enough time to read?

I was thinking of that this week as my life has filled up with all the other things I need to do. Since my title has changed from teacher to librarian, reading has sort of moved from pleasure and escape to a 'have to.' Not like laundry and cleaning out the refrigerator - but more like checking emails on the weekend or making the rounds to say hello to all the staff members after a holiday. I like doing those things, they are necessary and important, but there are other ways I would prefer to spend my time.

I WON'T let reading get to that place in my life.
I absolutely can't.
Reading has been too important a part of who I am.

But, my book recommendation blog has been stuck since the middle of summer. The stack of books by my bed has not moved an inch - except to be bumped by the vacuum cleaner.

I don't want to add reading to my to do list. I want to believe that this week was a blip, a momentary hiccup to remind me of my priorities. I am so ready to crawl back into the world of a book and relax.
Ahhhh....

A day in my life...

2009-08-25T22:35:00.002-05:00

It's hard to break down what my days will be like. Everything is changing right now. Because of that, I don'[t really have a normal. I've heard that from classroom teachers before, but I never understood it in the same way that I do now.

Tomorrow is the first day of school at Mid-Prairie. It is the day that I worked toward and geared up for each year for the past 20 years. And tomorrow I will be working in a completely different district...weird!

I will spend tomorrow in Keota working with Josh to get computers up and running for their first day, Thursday.

...I'll be out of my district working...

I knew things would change - but this feels really weird...really weird.

And the weirdest of all - it doesn't bother me nearly as much as I would have thought. Instead, it's kind of exciting to start something completely different. REALLY hard - but exciting...

So - a day in my life...nothing to base the pattern on yet.

Meetings...meetings...meetings

2009-08-24T20:28:00.003-05:00

It's been really interesting taking part in multiple building meetings this year. Much of the basic content overlaps and intermingles. The people tend to be a bit interchangeable as well. There are the doodlers, the nodders, the smilers and the frowners. There are also those who take notes often and those who wouldn't consider holding a pen. Then, there are the whisperers.

But, today I saw a new breed. It made me mighty sad.

As the principal was talking and explaining and expounding on ways to improve the building and engage the students one teacher stood up, walked to a sheet of paper on the table behind the principal and signed up to use the computer lab later in the week.

No one in the room gasped or snickered or jeered. The principal continued to talk, the teacher finished writing and returned to the original seat.

I know I am still like a visitor. This isn't really my building yet. I haven't become a part of this mostly millennial staff. But, watching this I'm not sure if I want to. To be so self-absorbed and self-centered...

Hmmmm.....

Anyway.

I think I need to take the advice of a veteran meeting attender...she told me I need to perfect the ability to daydream!!!

New Library Website

2009-08-14T22:57:00.003-05:00

One of the things that I've been poking away at all summer is an updated website for the Secondary Libraries at M-P. Previously there was a separate website for the Middle School and the High School. I really wanted to have one website - easier for me to keep updated and many of the links are used by both.

I started with the suggestion of our Tech Director using Squarespace.com. It's a great website for web design. There are simple click and move elements to use in their precreated templates. They provide a 2-week trial to play.

I really liked the options - I found it easy to use and manipulate. So - after two weeks I took the plunge and purchased a one year committment. Our site is housed on their servers and can grow as needed.

With the Tech Director's help we also bought a domain name...so rather than having 'squarespace' as part of our web address - it's just...

http://www.mpreads.org

It's not quite done...but I'm really pleased with it so far. It was SO VERY helpful to have a great site to start from. The former librarian had great links and that really helped guide me.

So - one thing almost off my list...

It's about time too...next week we start the teacher workshop days - the first one is an optional tech day and I am teaching a workshop on Online Resources and highlighting many of the places we visited this summer. I'm really excited to share! Thanks to Kristin I feel ready!!!

Yeah!

Another step forward...

2009-08-14T22:46:00.006-05:00

I had decided not to make many changes in the libraries this fall.
I wanted to see how things worked and then make decisions.

But...

I really wanted to do a little rearranging. Just a little.

What I didn't know is that rearranging shelves in a library is not an easy task. You can't just give them a shove and expect them to end up where you want them to go. It's a major undertaking.

But...

I really wanted to see the change.

So, I talked to the janitor about moving a section of shelves.
I started weeding the section that needed to be emptied.
I emptied the rest of the books off that section.
And in the afternoon when the janitors came in to move, we (the media secretary and I) were ready to help.

The shelves were moved with much shoving and lifting and rearranging of moving carts.

When they were rolled to their new home I knew I had to love them there...no matter what.

I held my breath

and

I did.

Now - I hope I am not the only one that loves them there. :)

That one day of panic...

2009-08-11T01:36:00.004-05:00

Each year about this time I have a day of pure panic. It's late summer - school is nearing and I am certain that I should have so much more done than I really do. I wake up early in the morning and stay awake late at night running in circles trying to prepare.

So, my normal pattern is to make lists and spend the day making sure I have all the things I need to jump right in and get ready.

Today was that day! But, this year my patterns are different. I don't have a classroom to get ready - instead I have two libraries.

So - I woke up at 4:00 this morning, wondering and worrying about what this year will hold. I stewed and I worried and I pondered because my confidence was pretty non-existent!!!

Then I grabbed a hold of myself and starting doing something productive! I spent some time cruising the listserv and seeking out the advice of seasoned librarians. I looked back over my notes and idea files from classes. I started feeling a bit better

Mid-morning I decided to go to the High School and spend some time in the library working on the website and getting caught up on some paper work.

And it was there that my panic really changed...

When I arrived one of the media secretaries was working on another project. I am so fortunate to have two very positive, very capable, very dependable and very amazing ladies working in the HS and MS libraries. My stress level drops each time I chat with either of them. They know these libraries and are dedicated to making all the pieces fit! WOW!

After chatting for a bit, I felt so much more focused and excited!

Then a little later the high school secretary stopped in my office. My stress level dropped another notch! Both of the buildings have very positive, very capable, very dependable and very amazing secretaries! (I tell you M-P is a great place!!!) Chatting with her helped me feel welcome and relax a little more.

Finally, our district Tech Director stopped in to ask me to help out with a tiny project. After he left, I was down right peaceful!

Each of these three conversations put things in perspective for me. Each person gave me a bit of concrete advice to apply immediately, and I was ready to go!

So, although it's really early in the morning and I should have gone to sleep looooong ago...I am past my panic. Instead, I am just excited!!

Change....

2009-08-06T07:58:00.002-05:00

This is from a blog called the "Unquiet Librarian"...It's all about making the changes based on what we see from the outside...Interesting food for thought...

So what might these “pivot points of change” look like in a school library? Here are some examples I’ve brainstormed this evening:

Keep books and print materials in your library, but add and promote the formats in which their content appear (i.e. audio books, databases, e-books, downloadable books (such as NetLibrary), free online versions of periodicals).
Keep teaching evaluation of online resources, but teach students (and teachers) to apply those same principles of information to traditional sources of information—they are not immune from bias or inaccurate information, either.
Keep your traditional sources of authoritative information, but let the research topic and mode of research guide the integration of social media information sources and tools for delivering that content.
Keep teaching information literacy skills, but focus on the bigger picture of helping students devise personal learning networks that they can apply to any learning situation instead of a topic specific research task.
Keep teaching students Internet safety principles, but also shift your focus on the concept of digital footprints and teaching students how to create and maintain a positive online identity.
Continue creating a warm and welcoming physical library environment, but give equal attention to developing a virtual library presence that is accessible to students via 24/7 with elements such as a virtual learning commons or online classroom through a platform like Elluminate.
Keep teaching quality resources like NoodleTools for managing and citing information, but teach additional tools for this student toolbox by using tools like Zotero.
Keep school rules in mind, but explore ways to tap into the power of devices like cell phones and iPods for student learning and present a plan for using these tools to your administrator so that you can provide service where your students are.
Keep writing a vision statement and annual PDEP (Program Design and Evaluation Plan), but compose it in a different format, such as a mindmap format, video, or other multimedia/visualization medium.
Keep positing literacy as a primary focal point of your library program, but expand that definition of literacy to include new media literacy and information literacy as mainstream literacies equal in importance to traditional literacy.
Keep adding Web 2.0 tools for information delivery and access, but market your library in places where your parents may be more so than students (such as Twitter or Facebook) to share news about your library program and to network with your parent community.

PLN

2009-07-21T14:20:00.003-05:00

This is from a response on the Classroom 2.0 PLN forum page. The responders name is Marsha Ratzel - and I think this is so very interesting!! It's very down to earth.

The best way I've found is to keep a list going. Use Word or Stickies or
whatever makes sense for you about topics, ideas, quotes, stats...anything that
makes you want to stop and and think. Then when you have time to blog, you can
go back to that idea file and pick one out to blog about. I read lots of other
bloggers...and I feel that is super important. It builds community if you read
and comment on other people's blogs. It maybe one of the best ways for you to
start

FInal Post Wordle

2009-07-20T11:41:00.003-05:00

Final thoughts...

2009-07-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

So - it's time to turn around and reflect on where I have come.

I have spent a lot of time playing with many of these tools before class started- but that's all it was...playing. I had not made the jump between my personal experiments and my library. This summer helped me to pull those two pieces together. It gave me time to hone my skills and discover new places to explore! I loved that!

So - what are my take aways??? IN A WORD...GOOGLE

First: Google Reader.

I love this tool. I had a list a mile long of blogs I followed now and again...but they are on my DEAD computer. Google reader makes it possible for me to access the blogs from whatever computer I have in front of me. I LOVE that!

Kristin's organization and usage suggestions also made this a more helpful tool. I had played with Bloglines and just got more and more confused. This is clean and easy.

But - her most important suggestion is to keep a short and managable list. This is something that I REALLY need to work on. I keep growing my list.

Goal for this year: Cull my list to those I am really interested in. That will be my focus.

Second: iGoogle

This is another awesome tool. I've changed my home page to iGoogle and keep tweeking what I want to appear and where. This is such a great way to organize the things I really am interested in. This also solves my stupid dying computer issue. Because it's online I don't need to worry about loosng links.

Goal for this year: Keep organizing and subtracting from this page.

Third: Google in general

I was in an ITEC (Iowa Tech Convention or something like that) workshop a couple of years ago on google and all it's extras. It was too much for me at the time. There are so many pieces of this that I really like and want to learn...after the summer spent loving iGoogle and Google Reader I think I'm ready to play with a few more toys...like Google Earth, Google docs and all the Educators possibilities

Goal for this year: Explore Google for Educators and share with my new staff

This Google love is all so unexpected. I have sort of felt that it's trying to take over the world and now I am becoming a believer...little scary! But it's just too good to miss!

This takes me to my PLN...like my blog list it just keeps growing...I have started using twitter and am trying to figure out how that fits in to the whole PLN idea.

I will continue to follow Joyce V and Kathy Schrock and Kristin S and Will Richardson and Warlick and and and...

That continues to be my problem. But - as I use twitter the posts are short and focused - in some ways that's easier for me to deal with than long blog posts. I tend to be a skimmer and twitter may be my best friend.

I also plan to stay connected with the amazing talents that I have been attending grad school. There is so much knowledge and experience and energy in our cohort - I'm really looking forward to growing up our skills together! I feel honored to be a part of that network!!

More books...

2009-07-18T11:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a day that I gave myself to read...just to read...and to see Harry Potter!!

And read I did...I read Marcelo and the Real World in the morning and Graceling in the afternoon and evening...and into the wee hours of the morning...I LOVED THEM!!!

I just kept thinking...why wasn't I reading these during class. BOth are sweet and interesting and a bit inspiring - ok Graceling only inspires me to wish I had a Grace and want to learn to sword fight(but I digress).

So - it makes me wonder about my previous opinions about YA being only dark and depressing books.

Both of these books have heavy themes - Marcelo's investigating lies at his father's law firm and Katsa is trying to figure out what to do with her gifted killing skills while rescuing a little girl.

BUt, there is something in the way they are treated that isn't as heavy handed. Maybe it's because it's not realistic fiction - but Marcelo is. I don't know.

I just know I got to the end of them with hope and inspiration...maybe that's a little heavy handed and sappy...

Now I need to write a couple of responses and my final post...truly I'd rather just be reading! :)

Twitter post from Warlick...

2009-07-16T14:07:00.002-05:00

THis is a really great website that Warlick tweeted on...

http://necclibrarytoolssmackdown.wikispaces.com/

It is REALLY full of stuff...

Have fun!

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

2009-07-15T15:37:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to my latest podcast...

http://bethswantz.podOmatic.com

Where I'm From...

2009-07-14T11:46:00.002-05:00

This little movie is inspired by a poem written by George Ella Lyon. It shows just a little of what comes together to make me...

Fryer...

2009-07-12T15:11:00.002-05:00

How powerful to hear the actual person telling the story. I think that was my favorite part of this presentation. It was also very cool to hear his daughter tell how easy it was to make a voicethread...I think we may have chosen to disagree in the beginning of our learning.

Years ago my students did family tree project. They made a family tree and as they shared their tree with the class they had to 'tell' at least 2 stories about some member of their family on the tree. This would be a perfect way to share that project!

Great ideas!!

2009-07-11T11:35:00.001-05:00

What it all Means -Richardson

2009-07-11T10:48:00.002-05:00

I appreciated this culminating chapter, but...

Much of this is way out of my control. I know every little bit helps - but sometimes you just feel so alone. When you stand in front of a group of teachers showing them another tech tool and you know their inner dialogue has already labeled you a wacko...it gets a bit hard.

I think that's where the PLN comes into play. Being a part of a PROFESSIONAL network helps you to know that you really aren't alone. You are part of a movement that is challenging the standard and encouraging change.

So, when I read the epilogue and imagined how seamlessly all this fit together - it made me cringe. I really don't believe my district will be to that point before I retire...in the next 15-20 years. I hope that I can come back to this post and know that I sold us short.
But, I'm afraid that is not the reality.

We are but drops in the ocean! But, after all, the ocean is made of of only drops! :)

Podcasting...Richardson ch. 8

2009-07-11T10:25:00.004-05:00

I've been dabbling in podcasting with my 4th graders for the past 3 years.

Three years ago we did a podcast called "News To You." For this the students worked in teams to interview teachers and staff members at Kalona Elementary to make a twice monthly podcast. They also told jokes, celebrated famous birthdays and had a run-down on the district sport teams.
This is the white board that we used to plan the podcast - each student was on a team and played a role in the recording of these.

We had a great time and received some nice press due to our involvement - channel 2 news from CR came down and did a segment on us! :)

This is a closeup of our goals for these podcasts. I think the last one is the best...NOT BE BORING!!!
The kids worked really hard on that!

The next year we did podcasts on the 50 states - 1 per state. So I posted 50 of these on the class site. Students again worked in small groups. The podcasts focused on facts, places to visit and activities on the states. Groups also wrote test questions based on their podcast.

One of the major benefits I saw was the change in writing from the beginning to the end of hte project. As the students realized that there was a real audience - their writing improved. As did their speaking voices!

4-2 Class website - this is a link to the very outdated class website. There is a tab at the top that says USA PODCASTS - when you arrive at the page - click on archives and it will take you to the list of our podcasts. The NEWS TO YOU tab and the earlier podcasts no longer work...clearly this page has been ignored last year...oops!!

Last year - NO PODCASTS. I just didn't have the energy to continue as I worked through grad classes. These projects take a lot of teacher energy. The students are thrilled to be doing this - but it's all new. There were times I felt awful about that - I had an amazing class and they would have loved the process. But, I just couldn't seem to make it happen.

Next year - new schools, new jobs, new grade levels...Don't really know what will happen.

Ch. 6 - Implementation

2009-07-10T17:22:00.002-05:00

I think the quote from Eric Hoffer on page 164 sums up this whole idea...

"In times of change learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves
beautifully equipped to work in a world that no longer exists."

WOW! That is the world of our students - but isn't that also the world that we are entering as librarians!

Our job is not to use these products because we think that we have to - instead it is to use these products because it is the way the world works. It is the only way to inherit the earth and the children we are called on to teach!

I am just going to jot down two of the quotes that knocked me upside the head...almost off my floating mat. (Remember - in the pool!)

160 - We are realizing that teaching technology today would make as much sense as teaching pencil was in the 1950s and 1960s. The shifts in our information landscape have impacted on society and caused us to rethink what and how we teach, not advances in technology.

161 - We have to think differently about teaching and learning, not simply use new tools.

I love the idea of the PLN - and that is because I've felt the benefit of that already in our cohort. I am convinced of the need for it...now I need to convince others.

Chapter 5 - Ethics and Context

2009-07-10T17:07:00.002-05:00

This is probably one of the MOST important chapters in this book. I have sometimes felt that this is the tedious and policeman part of my job...but after reading this chapter - my attitude has been adjusted!

The story about the Piper, Kansas school was such a great example - but Warlick didn't stop there. I got that part that these parents needed a kick in the rear. But, that didn't seem to be his point...The paragraph explaining the difference in our attitudes toward knowledge was really insightful!

"This imbalance of power between information producers and consumers
instilled in us, the consumers, a perceived right to do with information
what we wanted...We were taught to create a bibliography, but not why." 139

This is a topic that our students will need to deal with for the rest of their lives... as will we. We just haven't used information in the same way - so we don't realize that we need it!

To move our students into the realm of information property holders seems like an enormous shift. When they are involved in the creation of information that we deem important enough to add their name to the copyright or attach a CC license to it - the issue of plagiarism is spun on it's head. Now they understand the idea of information ownership in a completely different way. COOL!!

Is this another example of how the process and the product are becoming more important than the content? To help our students continue the learning process as functioning adults - this is a lesson they will need to learn again and again!

Warlick - Expressing ideas Compellingly (ch. 4)

2009-07-10T16:47:00.006-05:00

I read this chapter while hanging out in my pool this afternoon...what a great way to dream about the future!

So many things in this chapter caused me to pause and ponder - sometimes with my eyes closed...but it wasn't really a nap! :)

I was very interested in the diagrams on page 110 and 111 illustrating the ways students interact with text in the blogging and wiki worlds. What a change from our old methods of interacting. It makes me think about this class's organization. I enjoy reading the text - but I must admit my ah-ha moments usually come from reading one of the other blog in this class. It is in hearing the actual uses and applications of what he is talking about where my learning occurs. That is exactly what he is demonstrating! We are good!!!

The section on communicating with images was very intriguing! Working with students and cameras -their first inclination is to snap and snap and snap - especially now that they don't have to get film developed. I really like his reminders to look for the story and to teach it that way - use that language as you use images.

As I reflected on this I was reminded of a school board presentation that we, the Tech Committee, had to two years ago. We decided to take PowerPOint as an app and show how students develop their use across the ages.

So - we started in 4th grade where we teach it and showed an "All About Me" presentation with tons of noises and odd transitions. From there we showed some really boring PowerPoints done by middle school students and ended up with a couple of HS presentations. The one that sticks out was a final report on world hunger. The music was haunting, the text flawless and the images linger two years later...

The images of those presentations expressed our purpose - our goal in infusing the curriculum with technology.

I think Warlick would have liked it!

An ooops in Blogland

2009-07-10T14:33:00.002-05:00

I loved my old blogger template. I don't know what I clicked today...but it all went haywire! So - that must means that I needed to find a new one. How in the world does it suck so much time...

It reminds me of those Family Circus cartoons where the kids are supposed to go from A to B and end up all around the town and back. That is exactly how my afternoon has gone.

And my list...

not much progress.

Oh well - it's only Friday! :)

Kalona Elementary Tech Club and Arnie Abrams ideas - a great match!

2009-07-10T13:18:00.007-05:00

I found this webinar to be very interesting! I wish I had seen it before we started our after school tech club - because much of what we figured out to do with the kids he had presented in such a pleasant format. We may use some of his handout for when Tech Club starts up next year.

Our Tech Club was made up of 24 4th and 5th graders who met every other Monday night for 8 weeks. There were 2 adults - myself and the elementary librarian. We also invited 3 kids from last year's Tech Club to help out. It was so much fun and so much work!!

We worked on taking images - the nitty gritty. Then we taught them some simple editting techniques and they eited photos. With that info they did a short project where they took pictures to teach a skill and made a wordless slideshow in iPhoto.

Then we showed them how to manipulate the images and mix it with video and they made an iMovie about a place in the world they would like to travel to.

Finally we taught them how to do podcasts with pictures and they did enhanced podcasts of their favorite nursery rhyme.

We also had a year 2 Tech Club. This was a group of 8 kids who met on the alternate Monday nights. These were kids that had been in the club last year - so they were all 5th graders. They worked on creating a movie that could be given to new students and Kindergartners to show them about our school.

For this one we used storyboards, had production meetings, did lots of brainstorming and team trouble shooting. We simply ran out of time. It is a shame - but these projects take LOTS of time if you want to share them with the general public. So - next year I think the year 2 kids - even though they will be different kids - may start where last years kids ended. We shall see