Becoming Public...

I am still coming to terms with this blog being public. I even (gasp) posted a link to it in a report that was sent out to a couple of the administrators at the school. But I am going to try to follow Will Richardson's suggestion that I be a public blogger and actually let individuals know my name.

I keep it pretty hidden but I suppose, if I am trying to learn from other people and if individuals are reading this I should not be afraid of them knowing. Though, discussing where I work will remain private. It is just better that way though I am sure all you tech savvy people out there can figure it out.

Also, I added a couple of interesting edubloggers on the list to the right. I do not know how I will keep up with all this reading but it will need to happen. These are the people who are trying things out and discussing it and sharing it with everyone. If you are interested, you should definitely take a moment to add them to your RSS aggregator or just click around and read some posts.

PT 1 - Reaction Post - Blogs and educational uses

I am currently reading Will Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for the classroom. I am a proponent for using more (excuse the buzzword) Web 2.0 tools in the library and the classroom. I am part of a team that teaches are course with the word "technology" in the title. However, I find it challenging to even incorporate a small about of new technology in the curriculum. There is a lot of talk about implementing the use of these tools but for all the talk and support, there is also a large number of individuals who oppose it.

"What is the point?" they ask.

That is a great question. Why should we use these new tools? What good would it be to expose students to weblogs? podcasts? wikis? When is it age appropriate? Will it add more to my workload? These are all valid questions but if we are going to prepare our students for "the future" educators/instructors/librarians need to find a way to incorporate these tools to enhance their instruction.

I have just finished the chapters related to blogging and one quote that struck me is on page 40. Richardson writes, "There is no better way to understand the impact of the Read/Write Web than by becoming a part of it."

It took me a long time to start blogging. Actually, the first blogger I knew was Jason Toney . He blogged about everything even things I would have found too private to post. What my first impression of blogs were "open diaries" where you expressed practically every thing. I was fearful of them. I did not want to be so public with my thoughts or emotions and then, I started blogging. I started blogging about music and movies and food. Then when I started looking for a job after graduate school, I started blogging about my job search. I became more and more invested in writing and then people started commenting. I started a dialogue with fellow librarians, friends I met at SXSW and then one day, one of my favorite author's wife's emailed me. When would that have ever happened in my day to day life? For a person who is shy and pretty quiet, NEVER!

Now, the challenge is how to engage students in the process. We have a unit on internet safety where we discuss how things on the web are not necessarily deleted, that you need to be careful about what you post. If students have blogs, I think they will be more aware of the content they are creating, maybe it will help them be better digital citizens.

Another excellent adventure for Alex Rider (rated 5 stars)

Snakehead (Alex Rider Adventure)

by Anthony Horowitz

I thought he was dead, then he came back and was sent to destroy a space station. I thought he was stuck in space…but again, Alex Rider comes back to Earth and is coerced into another spy mission. This time with the ASIS, basically Australia’s secret service, and not only that, but Scorpia is back! Scorpia was the first book I read of the Alex Rider series that got me hooked on Horowitz’s young spy!

This is another action filled espionage adventure filled starting off the coast of Australia and the USS Kitty Hawk (which I am partial to because that was my Dad’s carrier) taking us to an illegal Thai fighting match through treacherous whitewaters and so much more.

If that does not make you intrigued, I do not know what will. I would like to add that students are already asking for the book and that Anthony Horowitz will be at the Santa Monica Public Library in January for a book signing. I cannot wait!

See more about Snakehead (Alex Rider Adventure)

Online learning catching on...NPR story

Working at a middle school, where we are trying to implement different Web 2.0 tools is challenging but this is what students are familiar with and are comfortable with using. Even if we are not comfortable does not mean we should not try out these new tools.

clipped from www.npr.org Online Courses Catch On in U.S. Colleges Listen Now add to playlist Morning Edition, November 28, 2007 · When today's college graduates get together for a reunion someday, they may decide to do it by computer. That's because right now, nearly one in five college students takes at least one class online, according to a new survey. For professors, the growth of e-learning has meant a big shift in the way they deal with students.

"Middle School Library Geeks" Podcast On Its Way!!!

I am so excited. A couple of my students, who have dubbed themselves the "library geeks," are interested in creating a podcast. We were supposed to meet this week but I have the flu and missed our first meeting. Of course, the sponsor of the project ends up having the flu. Hopefully, next week we will be able to meet and create something to share here or some where else. I still need to figure it out because it is a middle school.

This year, at IL 2007, I attended the "Podcasting and Videocasting Bootcamp" hosted by David Free and David Lee King. It was a very informative workshop where they showed the attendees how to create podcasts and videocasts as well as discussed the types of equipment needed and where to host these projects. I was really excited about creating a podcast but then I lost a bit of momentum because of the class load I have at the beginning of the year. It is a time-consuming and also getting students onboard has proved to be a bit difficult because even if they are interested, they are just as busy as we are. Hopefully, this works out. We will meet once a week to record and then probably take a bit of time to edit. I am hoping we have a segment a week. Am I being too ambitious?

Podcast Wiki by David Free:
http://davidfree.pbwiki.com/il2007

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!!

Hope everyone has a lovely and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Things I am looking forward to today:

• My cousin, Cynthia's, turkey - she's a chef (though my sister's turkey rocks too)
• Pecan cookies (Joy's specialty - i can finish i giant ziplock bag of those in one sitting and i am not ashamed)
• My uncle Frank's roast beef - i don't even like roast beef
• My auntie Auring's salad
• mashed potatoes
  
• sweet potatoe pie

Things I am thankful for:

• everyone having a pretty healthy year
• everyone's pretty safe and made it through those fires
• great family
• wonderful friends
• having a pretty fabulous school year
• the new Alex Rider Book - Snakehead
• Three days off!
  

Hope everyone has a great holiday!!

Great quick overview

Isms: Understanding Art

by Stephen Little

If you are wondering about different art movements or need a quick review, Stephen Little presents a very straight forward overview of different movements. The key is very easy to understand and he also includes a short list of important artists as well as a list of similar or opposing movements. It is such a small book but it is filled with a lot of information as well as great color reproductions.

See more about Isms: Understanding Art

Paper Planes and Bib Cards

Before I forget, "Happy Thanksgiving!!!" I cannot wait to eat. Too bad Thanksgiving is not tomorrow then I can get to all my favorite foods sooner.

I am almost done with the library lessons portion of class. This is where the librarians teach a bunch of 7th graders how to conduct research. We introduce them to the library and staff, familiarize them with the various tools available for their use, and help them understand the research process. It is a great and important class to have because I know for a fact that not a lot of students get this kind of hands on and practical instruction.

Though these classes are important, at this time in the school year, I am exhausted and a little burned out on the lessons. I do not know how some teachers/instructors stay motivated when they teach the same lesson one class after the other. Luckily, today's class was on bibliography cards and most of the students were pretty successful in completing the task. We had enough time at the end to make paper airplanes and have a mini contest.

I was being a little selfish because I was gaging how many students would be interested in a paper plane flying contest. A couple of the boys, who had finished the assignment, took part and I was very impressed with what they created. The rules were just folded paper planes, no glue, paper clips or anything other attachments. A couple of them made really great gliders. At the end of class, they asked if they could throw them off the balcony. Some times, you need to be a little lenient to engage students and gain their trust. They were well-behaved, there were not a lot of people in the library and it was research for me.

Reading and test scores

I read this study in the NYT about how a drop in time spent reading correlates to a drop in test scores. I do not disagree that individuals should read more but it is making me ruminate over how learning is changing. I have been reading a lot about how schools need to change their approaches to teaching. Maybe the way we test students is not taking into account how these students learn. Maybe we need to change how we test? Maybe these tests fall into such an "old" way of teaching and assessing knowledge, that the tests can no longer reflect what an individual actually knows.

I was never a good test taker. I never felt that test scores proved anything about my ability to complete a problem or analyze a text. I still do not feel they are a great reflection on how much an individual will succeed in school or in life.

But I did think this was an interesting study and it is making me ponder how we instruct students.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Among the findings is that although reading scores among elementary school students have been improving, scores are flat among middle school students and slightly declining among high school seniors. These trends are concurrent with a falloff in daily pleasure reading among young people as they progress from elementary to high school, a drop that appears to continue once they enter college. The data also showed that students who read for fun nearly every day performed better on reading tests than those who reported reading never or hardly at all.

Hello! Moodle!

We get to use Moodle to enhance some of classes. I am very very excited about this. I used Moodle in a class taught by Dennis O'Connor for UW-Stout called "E-learning for Educators" last year.

I have started setting up my class page and am actually using some of the techniques I learned about in Dennis' class, like setting up an "icebreaker" activity so that students can familiarize themselves with the how the page works. Since this is the first year, I am going to use the multitasker game from My Pop Studio.com. I am a little worried that it is geared towards girls but I think the boys will have fun with it.

I have been reading a lot about how students spend a fair amount of time online and I think this will be another way for us to engage them in discussion. I do not think it will add too much to their schedule because they will be online anyway. I am interested in using the chat feature one day just to see how it works and also to see how students react to it.

Feeling a little overwhelmed

I have not been able to post at all. I wanted to post more often and also write a bit about the IL conference but I just keep running out of time. I think I need a secret hour, like in Westerfeld's Midnighters series, so I can just catch up on reading and writing.

Some cool things I am checking out:

• Flock - social web browser
  
• My Pop Studio - for digital literacy and critical thinking skills amongst middle school girls
• reading SLJ about Twitter & Libraries

That's about it for now. One day I will catch-up. Hopefully.

I just claimed this bloggie thing on Technorati...wOOt!

Technorati Profile

YA Book Review: "Cleopatra" by Kerrily Sapet

Cleopatra: Ruler of Egypt (World Leaders)

Kerrily Sapet

I have never written a review on a nonfiction y.a. book. I am a little nervous so please do not judge me too much. Plus, I do not feel like I am a very good book reviewer but I try. So here it goes:

Morgan Reynolds Publishing is one of the more popular nonfiction teen publishers. They have a great series on World Leaders that features leaders such as Genghis Chan to Adolf Hitler to Woodrow Wilson. This is the first book in the series that I have read. Kerrily Sapet offers an objective view into the reign of Cleopatra. She presents an overview of the time from Cleopatra's birth in 70 or late 69 b.c. to her death in 30 B.C. She weaves the history of the Roman empire into how Cleopatra's formative years lead her to be the famous, adept leader that individuals have come to know.

Sapet draws from many resources and her account of the events that lead to Cleopatra's reign as well as its demise offers a clear and thorough history of Cleopatra. She also includes primary source information and quotes as well as boxed information that is relevant in understanding why Cleopatra portrayed her self the way she did. For example. there is a information box about Mystery Religions that gives insight into why Cleopatra portrayed herself as Isis, the Egyptian goddess. The narrative also contains quotes from Plutarch and Suetonius that describe certain Romans disdain for the Egyptian Queen. It is full of intrigue that will engage a young reader to search for more information. Sapet alludes to the corruption of the court and the Roman government and the conspiracies that seemed to run rampant at the time. She does not go into graphic detail about the relationships Cleopatra had with various Roman Generals but she also does not lighten what occurred between them.

The book is easily accessible to a young historian and flows smoothly between the major events that occurred in Cleopatra's life and during her reign. She also includes a time line as well as an interesting list of bibliographic resources. Sapet remains as objective as possible to the end and allows the reader to decide their own opinion of Cleopatra.

If you are looking for an accessible, fact-filled history on Cleopatra, this is certainly one to add to a library collection.

What's in a title? professionalism in the information studies & library field

When I started out in the library and information field, there was talk about the de-professionalism of departments within the field, like cataloging departments and at times, reference departments. I was cataloging even though I was not formally trained as a cataloger and that was my title, "Cataloger" not assistant cataloger.

After I graduated from UCLA, I would talk to my friend about titles. Her assistant was titled, "Librarian" not "Assistant Librarian." At the time, I could see her point, she worked hard for her degree and had a masters specifically in "Library and Information Studies." But then I wondered if she was being too sensitive. I am also trained as an archivist and while working in various archives, some of the archivists I met did not have degrees. But they had worked in the field for a long time and their experience made them "archivists."

Where am I heading to with this? Today I received an email from my sister-in-law (whom I love, she's amazing) but under her name was the title, "Librarian." She works at a professional college and she does work in the library. She is in charge of assisting professors with collection development, she is responsible for acquisitions, and basically, she does most of the work in that library. However, she has only worked there for a couple of months. She does not have a degree. Why am I feeling so sensitive about her using the title? Probably because I spent 2 years working on my Masters and also worked for 9 years in the field before I was accepted into graduate school. I am not sure if I am being too sensitive. Does it even matter?

Google Sketch-Up and the Classroom : How would you use it?

I was reading Boing Boing today and Mark Frauenfelder linked to a review of Google Sketch For Dummies by Aidan Chopra and I thought I should write about the Google Sketch-Up club.

The image on the left is one of the first buildings on our students created using Sketch-Up. He is a lot more skilled at using it than I am and the things he creates get more and more incredible over time. So, this is just to give you some idea of what the students are doing with it.

Currently, it is only a club but a couple of weeks ago one of our teachers approached me about using Google Sketch-Up in conjunction with Google Earth for a class project. I thought it was a great idea, I just was not sure how to implement it. However, I was impressed last club meeting when one student decided to try to re-create the Step Pyramid of Djoser.

However, currently, some of the students simply use Google Sketch-Up as a fun "game." They build things like snowmen, draw it in or just create really fantastic buildings. However, some students take it all very seriously and are have created some amazing cities. They have utilized the "warehouse" and download people, buildings, cars and whatever else is available. It is extremely time-consuming for more elaborate projects but I think for say a project on Ancient Civilizations, students could include a sketch-up model in a slide show or other type of presentation.

Another point of interest is that a lot of girls are using Google sketch-up. Normally, boys are the only ones interested in trying these things out but it has been great seeing more girls creating buildings or other things in the lab.

It would be interesting to see if we could get some visitors in to talk to students about architecture and 3D rendering.

I am not sure how else we could use Google Sketch-Up but if anyone out there has any thoughts or have used it already, I would be interested in hearing what has or will be done.

Grades and Comments

After IL2007, I had to work on grades and comments so I have not been able to post about the conference. I need to spend an evening just writing about all the different panels. It has been a very hectic couple of weeks so I will get to it at some point. Once all the madness dies down and I can have a moment to sit and write. I have been doing a lot of thinking about Social Network Sites and their use in education. There were so many cool things that I learned about and that I would like to implement in some way into the curriculum or into the library that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.

But I am also beginning to question my own privacy online. How private do I need to do? Should my comfort level change?

There were so many wonderful bloggers that presented that I feel like I would like to be just that open and accessible.