Landing Library News

I Wonder If . . . .Doodle For Google - Spring 2008

2008-10-09T15:37:00.003-05:00

Here are some of the many Doodle for Google posters my students made last spring. We used the Google contest as a teachable moment for boolean searching, databases and verifying authentic sites. The kids and I used Animoto.com to put together this slide show. Enjoy!

Google Academy

2008-10-09T11:45:00.003-05:00

(sung to the tune of What would you do with a drunken sailor)

What would I do with a day of learning?
What would I do with a day of learning?
What would I do with a day of learning?
at Google Teachers Academy?

Post, link and interaction
learn, dream and collaboration
try, test and understanding
from Google Teachers Academy

How would I share what I learned in NY?
How would I share what I learned in NY?
How would I share what I learned in NY?
from Google Teachers Academy?

Class, posts and inservice meetings
pop-ins, drop-ins and "lunch & learnings"
wikis, websites and blogging lessons
from Google Teachers Academy

Why should you pick me for the conference?
Why should you pick me for the conference?
Why should you pick me for the conference?
In New York this November

Because I'm new and really excited
Because my kids love Google already
Because I can share with all my colleagues
when I return from the conference

Please please pick me to join you
Please please pick me to join you
Please please pick me to join you
at Google Teachers Academy

bubbl.us | Home

2008-07-26T12:09:00.000-05:00

bubbl.us | Home

A final thought

2008-07-24T08:09:00.015-05:00

I thought this was the best way to show my learning process throughout this class. I chose to use bubbl.us because of it's user-friendly nature, and because I want to use it over and over again in classes. Ironically, this web 2.0 tool has given me the hardest time of them all. The above hot-link brings you to the graphic organizer in a different layout than I would like, but it seems to actually connect. These past several hours highlight the 'on your feet' skill set needed to be a cutting (if not bleeding) edge lifetime learner of technology issues.

Watch this particular post as it changes and morphs until I do get the correct process to embed my bubbl.us image. This is a reminder to us all that things don't always work the way we want to, and yet, that's ok. We can and will make do.

Day by day, hour by hour throughout this course I found more and more things to make me a better teacher/librarian/media specialist.

Thank you to Ray, Joanne and Karen for making this experience so rewarding and life learning.

Podcasting Tips

2008-07-10T13:29:00.001-05:00

What's in a Ning?

2008-07-09T10:37:00.003-05:00

We've been woring with these all day. We know what they are, and we know what they do but "ning"? What's up with that? Well, I went to every kids favorite reference tool - Wikipedia - and found this:

Ning is an online platform for users to create their own social websites and social networks^[1], launched in October 2005. Ning was co-founded by Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini. Ning is Andreessen's third startup (after Netscape and Opsware), and gets much of its notability from Andreessen's successes with those companies.^[2]^[3]
Ning means "peace" in Chinese, as explained by Gina Bianchini on the company blog.^[4]

and remember boys and girls . . . . don't forget to cite:

"Ning." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 8 Jul 2008, 13:51 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 9 Jul 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ning&oldid=224351738>.

Finally, a File Cabinet I Can Take With Me

2008-07-08T12:35:00.007-05:00

I am sooooo excited! Finally, I have a way (and understand how to) put all my favorites from my:

3 computers at home
4 computers at work
my 3 aol accounts
my school account

in one place. I knew there was a way, but up until now, I've just been emailing links to myself right and left. You nave no idea how many unnamed emails I have.

I'm also excited about using this tool to create webliographies for my students and their projects.

Picture This

2008-07-08T10:39:00.005-05:00

Spending this morning playing with photo sharing tools once again has my mind racing in many directions. There are so many LMC applications for these tools, mostly motivational, it's hard to narrow down my ideas.

What I'd like to do when I get home, is to pull out my curriculum map for next year and jot down a few of these tools for each lesson. Then, hopefully I won't forget them.

This was a problem I had last year. As a brand new slms I was learning everything right along with my students. It was exciting, and more than once a little scary. I would pick up a few great ideas at every conference and meeting I attended, through my readings (magazine, book, web articles and blogs), and through my conversations with other slms and classroom teachers.

Remembering all that I've learned, and remembering when and where to apply that knowledge is definitely my 'work in progress'.

Our group conversation about uploading student photos was on point. I've been thinking a lot about it, and while I will leave the Animoto videos on this blog for the class (It's private) I won't use them on a public blog. I will also shoot more creatively when planning another Animoto project for a blog.

What Blogging Can Do For My Students

2008-07-07T12:45:00.003-05:00

I am really excited about using this tool for my two libraries next fall. I have several ideas floating through my head at the moment and they range from stand alone library class projects to collaboration with classroom teachers for their assignments. The projects we did last year could all be adapted to incorporate blogs and/or wikis, now I just need to work with the teachers to set them up

One of the biggest problems with using a blog for classroom work is the fear that either the site itself or the links will be blocked or that students won't have access to it.

In watching the video, I listened to the teachers discuss students not being able to say they didn't have the assignment. There is a large segment of my student base that have no access to the internet after school hours (and their access is extremely limited during school hours).

I realize that we cannot be the nay-sayers and that we must work diligently to gap the 'digital divide' especially in economically disadvantaged communities - but I'm not yet quite sure how.

One thing that became quickly evident to me is to self edit my thoughts prior to clicking "PUBLISH POST". If this is out there on the web anyone can see it. While I can change my post later, there are still applications that allow earlier posts to be viewed. This is an extremely important lesson to share with our students.

Here we are

2008-07-07T11:46:00.009-05:00

Today is the first day of the Web 2.0 class, and we are starting out by blogging.

My mind is spinning from this morning. I want to check out all the sights and tools we saw in the power point.

I am enjoying the Daniel Pink book. I got a lot out of the inservice dvd we saw, but the book delves into his ideas much further.

The blog from Bangkok was really interesting. I liked the way she discussed collaboration and really opening the lines of communication for her students. My niece is in an elementary school in France, and I'd like to use skypes and/or video conferencing with my students and her classmates. I want to talk with Karen about her "Team" project.

As for the Technology / Johnson article. I've been playing with that one all spring. One of my colleagues attended the Nassau Boces conferences and gave us this info. We are using much of this to justify new technology in the media centers. What I do find frustrating though is the question of which standards do I align my lesson plans with? These? ELA? Social Studies? All of the above?