Thing #23: Thoughts about School Library 2.0

I can't believe it. I made it finally. Our district Library and technology encouraged all of us ( 7 K-5 LMTS, 3 6-8, 3 high school) to do this. She promised us incentives if we completed it and I am competitive I love challenges. I also feel so technophobic and feel like I am a tech idiot compared to my other colleagues so I thought it would be something neat for me to try to learn. Two of my colleagues completed it way before me, but I was also teaching 3rd grade summer school so I had to go at a slower pace. Thanks to their comments of encouragement and those of other library 2,0 team members, I can now join the team.


1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

• setting up a blog was so cool and neat. My husband even decided to make one, but did not update like I did
  
• Making images using imagechef, image generator, adding images to my posts
  
• Making trading cards
  
• Cataloging on Library Thing
  
• Playing with You Tube, watching videos, and inserting them
  
• getting comments from others including two of my favorite authors
  
• Showing my husband and colleagues that even though I am not a tech goddess I can do it
  
• networking more with other LMTS in my district

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

I did an online class through Chapman and hated it. I also hated video generated classes. I never thought that I would get into an Online class like I did with this one. I was constantly checking my blog for comments and was even able to teach my tech god husband a thing or too and he says that I should not call myself a media pspecialist or teacher because I always need help. This program really built up my confidence that I could do it. I never thought I would get past week 2 because I had trouble with my avator. I also got to know two of my colleagues better. I am now thinking of teaching blogging to seniors as I don't know if I can do it with my students yet but maybe adults.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I never thought that my husband would make a blog. My colleagues have created a LMT and lesson plan exchange blog that is helping me to learn more ideas since we can't always meet all the time. I even was able to share some of my ideas with them which for me was a plus as I always felt inferior because I don't have their tech skills. I learned about things like Wikis, and rss feeds that I never knew existed. I plan on continuing my blog.

4.What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I would prefer just thing numbers instead of weeks. Weeks maybe me feel like I was really behind.


5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
I feel so inferior and like a tech idiot compare to the other LMTS in my district. This discovery program really gave me the confidence to try new things. I would definately do it again.
6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities
Awesome. It gave this tech newbie alot of self-confidence.

I don't know how ready and confident I feel about teaching blogging to students, but I will continue to maintain my blog and also blog with the others LMTS in my district and show my colleagues and administrators my blog. Thank you for a wonderful class. i will also post comments to others that really encoraged me to keep going.

week #9: thing #22 E-Books and Audio Books

I think that audio books are great for ESL students, Special day students, and those that are visually impaired. They are even better when they can be use along with the book to see the words and view the pictures. Some of the other LMT's that I work with record books. I am not into making cd-roms for books. Many students don't have a way of listening to them at homeat least in my population and I don't want to have to keep track or replace if lost. I do not by audiobooks unless its a core novel for a grade level. I have a few but they don't get checked out much because our resource room and reading room also have collections. I wonder though if listening to a book is like reading Cliff notes instead. Is the author reading word to word or is it abridged?

There are some e-books sites that I have used for students like

• Starfall
• Children's Books Online the Rosette Stone Project
  
• TumbleBooks for Kids
  
• Children's Storybooks Online

These sites are active with pictures and texts. I could see e-books as a great choice to get kids to read more because they love computers or also if you need a book for class and bookstore is sold out and library does not have anymore. I have read e-books, but I prefer a print copy in case I want to lay down and read can't do on a PC.

Week #9 Thing #21 Podcasts

For me this was the worst and most unpleasant activity so far for Library 2.0. I spent several hours on yahoo podcasts and I did not find one thing that interest me. I typed in every topic that I even had the slightest interest in and every time I placed a podcast it put me to sleep. I am not an audio person. I do not listen to cd-roms and I will not play any because I always scratch and ruin cd's and my husband gets mad. I don't even like to listen to music nor do I own an ipod or cd player. I used to have a cassette player but it broke and they don't make them anymore. I could see podcasts working for someone who likes to listen to audio, but not me I listen to the radio in the car and that's about it. I also am not into itunes either, because my music is limited to listening to the radio in the car. I could see itunes useful for aerobics instructors making their own music. Maybe if I become a water aerobics instructor, I may have use for it, but since I'm not really into music I would have no idea what songs to even pick. Yes, I still use VHS's because i am afraid that I'll scratch DVD's as I have already ruined one.

I could see kids maybe enjoying podcasts to talk about something they posted on the web or a report, but they would have to ask another teacher for help because audio is not something I enjoy. I also read about Vodcasts. Maybe that's something I'll explore more because I am more a visual person.

The Library

Thanks to my colleague CRV for sharing this. The kids will never say the library is boring again.

Week #9: Thing #20:You tube

They say video killed the radio star. I don't know about that because I had too much fun. I commute about 50 miles to work everyday and I listen to the Bone 107.7. Sometimes they do paradies of popular songs like " Dirty Deeds Done with Sheep for AC/DC's Dirty Deeds done dirt cheap, "Curry and Rice Girl" for Hullaback girl, and "The Devil went to Jamaica" for Charlie Daniles The devil went down Georgia. I thought the songs were funny, and on You tube I actually found the videos, I was laughing silly.


When I was in high school, we used to love babysitting at someone's house who had MTV. I had a blast from the past going through You tube and finding videos that I used to love to watch in high school. With all the reality shows on MTV, I don't watch it anymore. Now that I know about You Tube, I can always find videos I like or used to love. You Tube is also a great tool, if a patron comes to the library and asks for information on a video. For example: How many times has Dolly Patron's song "Jolene" been made into a music video? Go to You Tube to find the answer


On to the library side of things, I found the Conan the librarian video to be cool. Every year I show my first graders the Reading Rainbow video Alistar in Outer Space and it has a Conan the Librarian cartoon clip. Maybe this will empower students to learn the Dewey Decimal System or to return books on time. Library Dominoes reminded me of the wild dreams a kid has on playing dominoes with library books. As a kid, I would play with my grandparents dominos and try to do the domino effect. i also remember the question I got right on the MSAT, that communism was like a domino effect. Once the Berlin wall came down, it was the end to communism in Eastern Europe. I think the only communist countries left are: Cuba, Laos, China, Vietnam, and North Korea.


My favorite of all that I have to share is the 1987 Betty Glover Library Workout Tape ad. This was hilarious and brought me back down memory lane to things we don't see anymore like the old phonograph and card catalogs. Good for teaching library history ha!ha! Great 80's music too.

Week #8 Thing # 19 Check out Library Thing

I was just looking at Craigslist and a local nursing home was looking for someone to help catalog their collection of 200 books. Wow maybe I should email them about Library thing. One of my colleagues told me that I should give my tech god husband a name. Problem is there is no goddess of books in mythology Athena/Minerva, the goddess of wisdom is the closest. The only one that could be close to technology I think could be the Roman god, Janus, god of gates, doors, and new beginnings. Maybe new beginnings is technology and there have always been Luddites and neo-Luddites who were and are against it. Well I'll just me the goddess of books and my husband can be the tech god or god of technology.


Well back to Library thing. I looked up a few young adult books that are near and dear to me. The White Mountains by John Christopher. I read all of his books in the Tripod Series (When the Tripods came, The White Mountains, City of Gold and Lead, and Pool of Fire..This series is so similar to The Matrix movies. This book was introduced to me in library school as a coming of age book. Will lives in futuristic England, he is about to be "capped" ( when children become adults they receive a metal cap on their head and are slaves to the Tripods), but he decides to make a joruney to the White Mountains (Switerzland) where he will be free. 364 others chose it too.


Books I like that deal with American Indians teens are: DogWolf by Alden Carter and A Woman in her Tribe by Margaret A. Robinson. Annette and Pete are mixed bloods who live both in the white world and Indian world. They both are unsure about their place in society until their elderly Grandparents help them to find that link. Both of these books are special to me, because Annette is a Nookta from Canada and Pete is Metis ( mixed blood French and Indian). In Canada, I was considered to be Metis. The books are not so well-known because Dogwolf only has 5 others choosing it and A Woman in her Tribe only has one other.


I have always been fascinated with the Falashas (Ethiopian jews). I am not Jewish, but my first teaching job was at a Jewish school and I have some dear eldery friends who are Jewish. I met a Falasha at SJSU who adopted by an American rabbi and his wife. The Return by Sonia Levitin follows Josas, Desta, and Alamaz as they escape from Ethiopia to Israel. The most powerful scene in the book is the end. Operation Moses has stopped. Desta goes to the Wailing Wall and prays and feels touched by God. She feels that she has returned home. The Falashas believe that they are descendants of the Queen of Sheba and are often called Queen of Sheba's heirs. Only chosen by 11 others.


Last on my list is Summer Hawk by Deborah Savage. Taylor hates leaving Philadelphia for the country town of Alton, Pennsylvania. She finds an injured baby hawk and forms a friendship with a wildlife biologist and a boy she can't stand at first and learns about love, forgiveness, and raptors. Only chosen by 5 others.


I showed this to my Techgod. He was amazed and things maybe we can catalog our home library collection. He was like wow there even are pictures of some books and maybe you could swap the book with someone. This tool could be used for Classroom teachers to catalog their classroom libraries. Also many schools have reading incentives contests. Why not have students set up a library thing catalog and catalog the books as they read them along with writing a short summary for each book?

Week 8 Thing #18 Online Productivity Zoho

Oh Wow! This was so easy to do. i set up an account in Zoho and use their word processor. Very similar to word. here is my post it worked. Next I'll try a spread sheet

I asked my tech god husband if he ever heard of ZOHO. He said no. He also said why bother with it just send documents as attachements. I explained to him that if I am not at my computer at home I can get the document from anywhere as long as its in ZOHO.  I have had trouble emailing documents from new computers to old computers so hopefully Zoho will make them easier to read.  It also will be easy for students to access files they make in school at home as long as they have internet access.