Highland Lights

Thing 15: Collaboration

2008-03-20T08:34:00.000-05:00

I find the collaboration between media specialist and teacher to be just about the most satisfying thing I do. It's really what it's all about - the classroom teacher's set of skills combined with the perspective of the library media specialist and the resources of the media center.
Last week I attended a BER workshop called "Using Innovative Technology Projects to Strengthen Content Area Learning." Kathy Audette also attended, so it was very helpful for me to have her input as a classroom teacher as to what was valuable and usable. Kathy and I have collaborated on lessons in the past, and I always feel that it allows me to see math taught in a way that makes it interesting for all of the students.

Things 6, 7, and 8 - RPC

2008-03-06T14:39:00.000-06:00

These "Things" that have to do with the Research Project Calculator contain a wealth of information. I've spent time over the last few weeks going through the features, the research process, and the dribbling lessons. I love the fact that these resources are available to us.
I've used the assignment calculator with many classes, and students find it to be a valuable tool. So far, however, it's been mostly used for keeping things on track, and not so much for delving into the stages of the research process. As we become more sophisticated with the level of research, I think that teachers and students will come to realize what's here and how they can use it.

Thing 14 - Reliable Online Resources

2008-03-05T12:52:00.000-06:00

The reliable online resources that our school district provides are really excellent. I use every chance I get to teach the students about them. When a class comes in to the library media center, I do a little homework ahead of time and find the databases that will help them to find what they need. That way they can experience success, and will be encouraged to try again.
Probably the most effective thing that I do regarding the online resources is to have the ninth grade advisories come to the computer lab, one class at a time, and work through some exercises. The first half has the students read descriptions of five databases and find which ones are being described. The second half is a lesson that I adapted from one of Linda Wise's, having the students do an advanced search on Grolier Online. It's amazing that such a little bit of familiarity gives them the confidence to use the resources on their own.
Still, in spite of all of my best efforts, students' first inclination is often to go to Google or Wikipedia. My response is that I love those resources, too, but that for the purpose of scholarly research, they can do much better. And gradually they seem to be coming around.

A LMS in Every School

2008-03-05T10:37:00.000-06:00

Last week I spent a day at the state legislature. It was Library Legislative Day and it was my first time to attend. The purpose for being there was to meet with senators and representatives throughout the day, and then to lend support at the Senate hearing for a bill requiring every school in Minnesota to have a licensed media specialist on staff. The bill was voted down, in spite of excellent testimony on its behalf, so it was of course disappointing. There's still hope that the House hearing will have a more positive outcome.
In the week since, I've thought a lot about the experience and about the process of ideas becoming reality through the passage of laws. I've also wondered about the chances of this bill passing. So I was very interested to read Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog this morning, in which he quoted Roger Sween. Mr. Sween had much to say on the issue, and it resonated with me, particularly the part about it taking "at least ten years of incessant trying" before Minnesota enacted the requirement for public library service. I hate to think that it will take ten years, but I suppose we were optimistic to think that it might have happened the first time through! I highly recommend this posting to anyone who's interested in the subject. You'll find it at http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/ under the posting "Roger Sween on school libraries".

Frontline - Growing Up Online

2008-01-23T09:41:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Leslie's heads-up, I watched the TPT Frontline program, "Growing Up Online", last evening. It was fascinating. It was an open, honest look at teenagers' use of social networking sites, both at school and at home.
From the school point of view, it's evident that there are teachers who are eager to embrace new technologies and feel that we need to meet the students where they are; we need to be entertainers or we won't keep their interest or attention. But there are also teachers who are "dinosaurs" who feel that students still need to have slower, quieter time to carve out answers and think things through. I suppose that most of us are somewhere in the middle and that subject matter makes a difference, as does access to technology.
From the parent point of view, the producers interviewed several families who had different approaches to their children's internet use. The mother who was the PTO president and who monitored her children's every move on the computer, even asking them for their passwords, alienated them to the point of damaging their relationships. The parents who learned of their daughter's secret on-line life as a goth glamor girl ended up working with her, supporting her, and having some good communication. And the parents who were completely oblivious to the fact that their son was being bullied online, made the discovery after his suicide.
The message from the program was that it's a different world from the one in which most of us grew up, and we had better learn to deal with it. It's much more useful and productive to have open access and communication; the internet isn't going away, and our kids are going to continue to socialize online. The more we can be involved, in guiding, directing, and teaching, the better. But we also can't smother.
I plan to set up a display at parent-teacher conferences tomorrow, and I'll have this program running on my laptop. It's available for viewing at www.pbs.org, and in addition to the actual program there are expanded interviews and other resources for teachers and parents. I recommend checking it out.

Thing 32: Wikis

2008-01-10T08:39:00.000-06:00

Creating a wiki at our Metronet meeting yesterday was a great exercise, and great fun. It's so easy to see applications for staff use and for classroom work. At one point, when we were stealing the lock from another group, it was almost like a game! I could well imagine a computer lab full of students working on a class wiki - which would be relevant for not only their class but for future classes. The collaborative, ongoing nature of a wiki is far different from a paper written by one student for an audience of one teacher.

Google Docs - again

2007-12-21T11:20:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had so much fun presenting Google Documents to English classes. Because my intern, Karen, was here to mind the shop, I was free to leave the library and go to the classes of one of our Metronet participants from last year. What made it fun was that the students were raptly attentive, and their responses were along the lines of "Ohh," and "Wow!" and "I want to do that!" It's the fact that they can see a real-life, important, pertinent application.
This morning one of the girls ran up to me in the hallway and said, "I'm a Google Documents success story!" And isn't that what it's all about?

Google Groups at HP

2007-12-10T09:09:00.000-06:00

We're making strides, technologically speaking, at Highland Park. We've resurrected our Technology Advisory Group which has languished for a couple of years, so that in itself is a big deal. After last week's inaugural meeting, one of our members set up a Google group where we now have posted the meeting minutes and the discussion items for the January meeting. Then, to add to the good news, our principal consulted with a couple of us about setting up a Google group for the entire staff to formulate our staff statement. That G-group is now up and running, with staff members joining in each day. As our principal says, there's no need to have 100 people sitting in a room hashing things out when we can do it online. It's really great to do things this way, and it will also serve the purpose of familiarizing our staff with the resources that are available, and helping them to envision uses for their classrooms.

Thing 17: One New Thing

2007-11-21T09:55:00.000-06:00

Something new today is the Amazon Kindle, an e-reader that is hitting the market as this post is being written. I've been reading about it in the Newsweek magazine that arrived a few minutes ago, and also in Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog. It is supposedly the future of reading, the shape of things to come, the best improvement on the 550-year-old technology called "the book." I'll let you read about the features of the Kindle in the Newsweek article, or in Johnson's blog at http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/. Suffice it to say that it's a device the size and shape of a trade paperback that allows you to download novels, magazines, and newspapers and read them from the screen. The initial investment is $400 for the device, and the downloads of course have a price as well. But at $9.99 for a best-selling novel, it could pay for itself.
My initial reaction was, who'd want to read a screen? And my co-workers of a certain age tend to agree with me. But when I show the photo and article to students, I hear, "Wow!" and "Cool!!" and "I want one!!!" They're all for it. Then we talk about the ramifications of having volumes of information contained in a small device - an entire library in 5 Kindles? All of a year's textbooks in one Kindle? It could do away with heavy backpacks. English teachers could study different novels each year by choosing different downloads. The World Book could be updated with information as it happens. It's almost too much for a dinosaur like me to take in!
I don't plan to be an early adopter of the Kindle, but I'll be watching it closely.

Thing 13: Subscription Databases

2007-11-15T12:27:00.000-06:00

What a great meeting yesterday! It was a real luxury to have time to explore a database (United Streaming for my group) and then to learn what others had discovered in their explorations. And it was surely a good thing to get to work with Kathy, my co-worker; usually our times to work together are squeezed into the snippets between classes or during a quick meeting after school. Karen guided us so expertly through the process, and it felt productive and useful.
I felt that I really benefited from hearing what the other groups learned about the databases. Although I have looked at them, and have spent time familiarizing myself with what they have to offer, they're so extensive that there's always more to learn.

Thing 4: Get to Know Your Public Library

2007-11-14T08:06:00.000-06:00

Public libraries have always been a part of my life. Some of my earliest memories involve trips to the big old Carnegie Library with Dad and my four sisters. Mom was an avid reader but I'm sure she stayed home from the library trips to enjoy the peace and quiet, knowing we'd be gone for hours!
The public library that I frequent now is the Wildwood branch of the Washington County Library in Mahtomedi. I first visited there 27 years ago, having just moved to the area and looking not only for books but for connection to the community. It has been all that and more over the years. It's been story time for my children, community meeting space, source of the latest good books, computer access before we had that in our home, on-line databases when doing college course work, books on tape for long car trips - well, just too many things to count.
One of my favorite library programs is the "One Book, One Community" event held every November. The community reads a book by a Twin Cities author, then meets for a discussion/q&a with the author. Last evening Jim Klobuchar discussed his book Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset, with a good turnout of the community.
What would we do without public libraries, and librarians to make it all happen?

Unplugged

2007-11-10T11:52:00.000-06:00

Because of my new laptop, I was able to do a very efficient job of weeding my library collection. On a day when my intern, Karen, was here to "mind the store", I put my computer on a book cart and wheeled it to the far back corner of the library, the corner that contains the ancient books about ancient history. As I pulled each volume off the shelf, I used my laptop to check the circulation record, and to delete those that hadn't been checked out in recent years, right on the spot. Handled each book once, instead of multiple times. I'm always looking for ways to lift and move heavy books as little as possible, so being unplugged and untethered from the desktop really helped in that regard.

Thing 9 - Streaming Video

2007-11-02T12:41:00.000-05:00

I did an exploration of United Streaming as it relates to research, and found some interesting video clips. I looked at "Netfiles #301: Research Applications," and within that, the clip called "Learning to Recognize Valid Research Sources on the Internet." It was informative for me but not the sort of video that I would show to a group of students. The most interesting thing I learned was a site I hadn't heard of, called refdesk. The url is, of course, www.refdesk.com. It really does contain a wealth of information and links that I would encourage students to use.
I'm intrigued by United Streaming and plan to continue to explore what it has. We're also going to have a training session for the staff here at Highland to introduce them to this resource.

Thing 5 - Teacher Web Page

2007-10-31T13:51:00.000-05:00

I have created a web page using Urban Planet, and have linked it to my blog. The web page is a work in progress, and as I use Urban Planet I become more comfortable with it. Of course it takes time, which is a scarce commodity, but it's nice to have a website to use as a teaching tool.

My Visit to San Francisco

2007-10-24T09:58:00.000-05:00

I spent MEA weekend in San Francisco where, among other things, I visited a private high school in a wealthy suburb. Of course the school is well-funded, the teachers are well-supported, and the students are bright and eager. But, you know, we have some pretty amazing teachers at our school, and some bright, eager students, and there are some very wonderful things happening right here. It's always interesting to get away and to see things from a different perspective, and I was able to take some ideas away that I can use in my own work. So all things considered, it was a successful visit.

Thing 1 - Understanding Information Literacy

2007-10-17T10:23:00.000-05:00

The article from Techknowlogia called "Information Literacy: How does it differ from traditional or computer literacy?" is the article that made me think about the concepts that we deal with. Information literacy takes the mechanics of reading and writing, plus the skills of finding and understanding information, and the art of collaboration, and meshes them into a new form. The result is the ability to solve problems and take advantage of information technology and networks. The challenge, of coures, is to bring our students up to speed, and our teachers also.

Thing 11 - Google

2007-10-08T10:57:00.000-05:00

Karen, my Metronet intern, told me last week about a Google feature that could prove to be very useful to our students. It's Google Documents, and it allows anybody to create a document and work on it from any computer, home or school. It can also be used for collaborative purposes. But it's the accessibility aspect that intrigues me. That's because every day, nearly every hour, students come to the library needing to print papers but can't, because they can't access them. Sometimes it's because they've emailed the paper to a hotmail or yahoo account, and sometimes it's because they've used an old computer at home that has old programs that can't be read here by our computers. And oftentimes it's because they've stored it to a floppy disc, and we don't have computers that have disc drives. So this aspect of Google is yet one more valuable tool for our students. Thank you, Karen!

RSS

2007-10-04T14:51:00.000-05:00

If RSS stands for Really Simple anything, it's a misnomer! I registered for Bloglines last summer and never could get past the username and password this afternoon. (I will spare you the details but it might have something to do with forgetfulness...) So I registered for Google Reader instead. The process was, indeed, really simple. I was lucky to have my Metronet intern, Karen, here to discuss the pros and cons of Bloglines vs. Google Reader.

New Laptop!

2007-10-01T14:57:00.000-05:00

I got my new laptop this afternoon and immediately took it out for a spin! It's GREAT!! I've spent the last hour reading Metromili blogs - fun and interesting. I like the structure of this year's project with the hands-on "things" and am finding that I enjoy working my way through the 23.

Thing 2

2007-09-28T13:13:00.000-05:00

Success at last! After seeing avatars on you other folks' blogs, I realized it was time for me to join the bandwagon. It was fun, but, immigrant that I am, I ran in to several stumbling blocks. Not the least of which was to click on the "accept" box. Guess it's this immigrant's "accent" that I have that sometimes makes it hard for me to understand the language!

My Blog So Far

2007-07-19T14:10:00.000-05:00

Creating a blog and adding posts to it has been an eye-opening experience. It's made me aware of the blogging world and of the vast amount of information that's out there, that people take the time to write about. It's amazing!
I have to say that I'm really enjoying the professional blogs and now that I've discovered that resource, I'll plug in and keep up with several of them. Being able to read posts from former professors, people I've heard lecture, and people whose books I've read is invaluable. It gives a continuation to the experience, and a depth to the knowledge that these people have to share. And it makes it crystal clear that we need to give our students this same experience. Exciting timies are ahead.

The Value of Blogging

2007-07-17T10:17:00.000-05:00

In the first 24 hours after creating this blog, I can see the absolutely tremendous value in the activity. I was elated when my colleagues posted their comments! I can only imagine what students will feel when they get the chance to do this.
Will Richardson writes on page 31 of his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, "Writing stops; blogging continues. Writing is inside; blogging is outside. Writing is monologue; blogging is conversation. Writing is thesis; blogging is synthesis...none of which minimizes the importance of writing. But writing becomes an ongoing process, one that is not just done for the contrived purposes of the classroom."

Highland Lights launched

2007-07-12T10:22:00.000-05:00

I've just created my first blog! And it was easy!! So now I've made another step towards tech literacy.
I'm very interested in exploring the use of blogs for classroom use. It's exciting stuff that I believe would tap into our students' interests - meet them where they're at, so to speak. The possibilities seem endless. As teachers, we so badly need to use the Internet and its vast resources to connect our students to the rest of the world. As a high school library media specialist, I plan to explore this technology and offer to lead the teachers in our building in exploring it also.