http://metcalf.intand.com/index.php?type=reports&action=show&id=27
So after our last class and hearing the rave reviews about Diigo, I decided to use this as my last tech entry. The above link is something I used Diigo to bookmark-it's personal, but it worked.
I really struggled to use this at first because I was using my iPad. In the library I carry my iPad a lot throughout the day, so I thought it would be a great app to have and use. Initially I struggled to get the web highlighter to upload which was REALLY frustrating!! After what seemed like a million tries to get the highlighter to work in my safari browser, I finally had to ask my husband to help me-that part was annoying!!!
From the iPad app standpoint I think it was really hard to get Diigo ready to use. There are directions but they are not (in my opinion) easy to follow. As a user, you cannot keep the directions on the screen while following the steps-now maybe it's just me (and I readily admit to this as user error!), but it was frustrating when I could not get the app to work. Once I got it up and going, I used Diigo to do bookmarking for a few personal things like the above link to my daughter's volleyball schedule. I also bookmarked ABC Family's Christmas t.v. schedule as well.
As a resource I can see how this will be useful when I am exploring blogs, reviews, and other online information for the library. I do not understand when I will use the highlighter function so I would like to explore that further. I also am struggling to figure out how to use Diigo on my MacBook so I am planning on devoting more time to this as well. I just don't think it is as easy to use as Evernote and Pinterest.
Will I use it regularly? I'm not sure. I don't really care for Diigo as much as other tools as I said above, but I know that my fellow classmates love it-maybe I am doing it wrong?
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
The Unquiet Librarian-Reading Journal
http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com
This week I landed on the blog called The Unquiet Librarian which is written by Buffy Hamilton-a librarian in Georgia. I chose this blog to explore because I liked the name-it is catchy and intriguing. I needed something fun to explore.
I did a lot of exploring on this blog. I read an article about choosing an eBook platform for the K-12 school library, explored personal information, an article about a library on wheels, and then I stumbled on slides from a recent presentation that Buffy did as a keynote speaker at a conference in North Carolina. The power point was AMAZING!! While I am sure it was much cooler to actually hear her present with the slides, I still learned a lot from the presentation and was able to make connections with recent discussions from our own class.
The resource was good. I enjoyed the library on wheels article (something that we could incorporate with our 5-8th grade students at study hall time so that they have an opportunity to get books!!) and I REALLY enjoyed the presentation that I found. I did not care for some of the guest posts-they did not apply to my age of student and were not as interesting as other articles I read. The site is user friendly-although there were a few dead links that need to be fixed. I will return to this blog and will also be passing it on to the 7th and 8th grade team at our school. I want to share the power point presentation slides because the presentation touches on standards based grading which is being utilized in our building. I know that these teachers are looking for supportive evidence that they can use to share with parents as our building transitions to a new style of grading, and this information would be most helpful to them. I will also be creating a "pitch" in regards to a library on wheels for study hall times. I'm not sure how that would really work, but I think it is a cool idea and one that I will be pursuing. I am going to add Buffy to my RSS feed so that I can continue to follow her.
I learned a lot from the content on this blog. As I shared above, I learned how easy it would be to put books on a book truck and wheel down to a study hall room where kids are under utilizing their time. Since we do not see the 7th and 8th grade students for fixed library times, I think this would be a cool way to stay in contact with the students, present them with an opportunity to check out books, and could encourage those readers that are slipping away to grab a selection and try something new. I also took notes on the presentation that I've been writing about in my entry. Buffy has so much information that is applicable and immediate that I will be going back to review this entry again. I took notes on the idea of enchantment and how it is the sustained voluntary delight that is mutually beneficial-if the students are enchanted with reading/research/what they are learning, then they see the benefit of learning, engaging, etc. I noted Buffy's ideas that relationships are the cornerstone of libraries and that the library is the shared story of the human experience. I thought a lot about our last class and how technology is a piece of this human experience-but not the overall arching role that is played in a school library. This led into a section that I took notes on regarding participatory learning. Buffy took this idea of learning and noted that school librarians can be the "catalyst to spark larger change in a learning ecosystem:-how cool is that? I could go on and on with all that I learned! It is worth a peek! I am going to do more research on the idea of participatory learning, engaging students, and the role of the librarian as the catalyst but looking at the blogs of R. David Lankes and Henry Jenkins. Both of these men were on individual slides and as I read the entries that Buffy had posted, I realized that taking the time to read these would be worth it.
Even though Buffy is a high school librarian, the information shared on her site is applicable to all grade levels. I really learned a lot-more so than any previous blog that I have visited. The information here got my brain working and wondering-how we can make our school library better? How I can become more involved with my school's ecosystem? What can I do to create that sense of enchantment within our students?
Definitely good stuff here!
This week I landed on the blog called The Unquiet Librarian which is written by Buffy Hamilton-a librarian in Georgia. I chose this blog to explore because I liked the name-it is catchy and intriguing. I needed something fun to explore.
I did a lot of exploring on this blog. I read an article about choosing an eBook platform for the K-12 school library, explored personal information, an article about a library on wheels, and then I stumbled on slides from a recent presentation that Buffy did as a keynote speaker at a conference in North Carolina. The power point was AMAZING!! While I am sure it was much cooler to actually hear her present with the slides, I still learned a lot from the presentation and was able to make connections with recent discussions from our own class.
The resource was good. I enjoyed the library on wheels article (something that we could incorporate with our 5-8th grade students at study hall time so that they have an opportunity to get books!!) and I REALLY enjoyed the presentation that I found. I did not care for some of the guest posts-they did not apply to my age of student and were not as interesting as other articles I read. The site is user friendly-although there were a few dead links that need to be fixed. I will return to this blog and will also be passing it on to the 7th and 8th grade team at our school. I want to share the power point presentation slides because the presentation touches on standards based grading which is being utilized in our building. I know that these teachers are looking for supportive evidence that they can use to share with parents as our building transitions to a new style of grading, and this information would be most helpful to them. I will also be creating a "pitch" in regards to a library on wheels for study hall times. I'm not sure how that would really work, but I think it is a cool idea and one that I will be pursuing. I am going to add Buffy to my RSS feed so that I can continue to follow her.
I learned a lot from the content on this blog. As I shared above, I learned how easy it would be to put books on a book truck and wheel down to a study hall room where kids are under utilizing their time. Since we do not see the 7th and 8th grade students for fixed library times, I think this would be a cool way to stay in contact with the students, present them with an opportunity to check out books, and could encourage those readers that are slipping away to grab a selection and try something new. I also took notes on the presentation that I've been writing about in my entry. Buffy has so much information that is applicable and immediate that I will be going back to review this entry again. I took notes on the idea of enchantment and how it is the sustained voluntary delight that is mutually beneficial-if the students are enchanted with reading/research/what they are learning, then they see the benefit of learning, engaging, etc. I noted Buffy's ideas that relationships are the cornerstone of libraries and that the library is the shared story of the human experience. I thought a lot about our last class and how technology is a piece of this human experience-but not the overall arching role that is played in a school library. This led into a section that I took notes on regarding participatory learning. Buffy took this idea of learning and noted that school librarians can be the "catalyst to spark larger change in a learning ecosystem:-how cool is that? I could go on and on with all that I learned! It is worth a peek! I am going to do more research on the idea of participatory learning, engaging students, and the role of the librarian as the catalyst but looking at the blogs of R. David Lankes and Henry Jenkins. Both of these men were on individual slides and as I read the entries that Buffy had posted, I realized that taking the time to read these would be worth it.
Even though Buffy is a high school librarian, the information shared on her site is applicable to all grade levels. I really learned a lot-more so than any previous blog that I have visited. The information here got my brain working and wondering-how we can make our school library better? How I can become more involved with my school's ecosystem? What can I do to create that sense of enchantment within our students?
Definitely good stuff here!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWEekO4ufwM&feature=related
Alright. I should probably be ashamed to admit this, but here goes. I honestly have never gone to YouTube to...well just go. Sure I have gone to upload my Faces of a Librarian project; and yes I went to see an uploaded video of my daughter being serenaded by seventh graders last year-but I always thought it was..hmmm....a waste. A bunch of weird, inappropriate people who were posting stupid videos of stupid stuff.
So for my technology posting this week, I decided to put myself out there and visit YouTube to see what it was really about. Why did I choose this optional tool? Because as I stated above, it's about time to check this out. Would it have value beyond my prejudicial mindset? Or was I pretty spot on with my assumptions?
From an entertainment standpoint, sure I liked it. Seeing Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake do the history of rap on late night TV was fine by me. Did I like all of the other links that popped up on the right hand side? Did I appreciate the sexual innuendo and profanity that were shown in the comments directly under the video? Not so much since my kids were sitting by me when I went on the site. The search tool was a good way to quickly find videos that I could view. But again, even when I searched "innocent" videos like animals, babies, etc. there were still vulgar comments and images that came up. I'm sure that doesn't happen every time, but it seemed like it did happen a lot-which is one of the reasons why I haven't really made YouTube a habit.
From an educators point of view I was still skeptical until I used the search bar. I found a really cool video for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (the above link) that I will be using with the preschoolers that I work with. I also found a cool Will-I-Am video with Sesame Street characters that I will use as well. I also know that my colleague has used YouTube when showing informational videos on Olympic athletes and history.
The site is user friendly. I didn't see any tutorials but also didn't need one. I will go back and explore more videos using the search option-but I am not sure I feel comfortable letting my own kids just search the site without supervision. I do think that my original opinion is still pretty spot on-it isn't that I think the entire site is "bad", I just think it stinks that so many inappropriate images and language pop up.
I will use YouTube with my students in a very controlled way. I will seek out the videos that I think are applicable to my classes and then have them ready to show prior to class. I know that my colleague has done this very think with her students and it has been successful. I think that YouTube does have value but still think it is disappointing that there are such obvious ways that kids can read inappropriate language (even under the Will-I-Am clip there were comments using profanity), see images that are unnecessary, etc. when innocently searching.
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