Thing 8 comments

I first saw this video on my librarian list-serve, plus a sexier man-in-the-shower one. They made me smile and appreciate all the creativity that is out there. I remember way back in 5th grade some classmates wrote a hilarious Star Trek parody. Now they would shoot a video so the world could see it instead of just the kids in their class. But a good video still requires a script, a storyboard and other forms of writing, so I don't think we need to fear the end of the written language. Will we eventually teach video composition in elem. + middle schools along with written composition? Or will some students pick it up on their own and others be left without, as in the digital divide.

Library commercial (a la Old Spice)

A great advertisement for libraries!



from Brigham Young University, Utah

Thing 7

You Tube is an incredible phenomenon which went from nothing to everything + everywhere in only 5 short years. (I looked it up) It is a big time waster and an incredible resource. I laughed so hard at Carol Burnett and loved laughing baby, but I found my attention span shrinking. I often did not watch a video to the end.
I looked for middle school book trailers and found some very nice ones. I would love to try some with my middle school students. There are endless possibilites for school use, but I do think it is blocked at JWMS. Access and appropriate content are the big roadblocks, I think.

Thing 6

First I had to go back and name photos from 3 separate trips that were only ID'd by number. This taught me to name them when you save them! I was not comfortable with sharing any recognizable people pictures just yet, so I chose scenery and one gorilla photo. I have a friend who is very good about creating albums and writing descriptions of each picture, but I am not there yet.
There are many potential applications for school, especially since students today are so visually oriented. Again, I must think about access at home, availability of school computers and keeping middle school students on task. I can imagine asking students to create a magazine cover featuring an inventor or scientist, but then keeping them focused on the task could be difficult. I know that the computer lab has the program which enables the teacher to see all the students' computers on the teacher station; maybe we need this in the library and the other computer lab. But if we only think about the problems, then we won't do anything, ever! I should be more trusting of my students while anticipating potential situations.

Thing 5

I am very interested in all things Asian, so I searched for pictures of Tibet. It is such a beautiful corner of the world with limited access, so Flickr seems a wonderful way to take a virtual vacation there. It is difficult to stop looking at this scene.

Thing 4

I already have an iGoogle custom home page, so I looked at gadgets to add to it. I already have weather, day + date, BBC news (for a different perspective), daily quote from the Dalai Lama (for inspiration), and the Daily Puppy picture because they're so cute. I added an interactive calendar that I can fill with birthdays and important school events.
I think that I would want to have a separate 'professional' custom home page that would not be so personal. I am conscious of keeping a wall between my personal and professional lives (just ask that superintendent who went on Facebook to tell about his first day at work!) But I can imagine all sorts of educational and/or library gadgets, such as a daily posting from the Library of Congress. Well, I just added "Children's Book of the Day" to see what that turns out to be.

Thing 3

I am very interested in using blogs in the school library as a way to connect students and teachers with books. The library catalog has interactive features that I demonstrated to many classes last year, but I was disappointed that its use dropped way down after the initial demonstration. A few students wrote book reviews throughout the year, but not as many as I hoped. I should talk to the teachers to find out how a library blog might tie into their classes and how digital book reviews could be treated as assignments. But then I would be concerned about students without home computer access, so library access would have to be built into this plan. I really want to figure out a way to make this happen because I think it is one of the best ways to use technology to promote reading.

Thing 1 and Thing 2

I am participating in 23 Things to learn about using new technology in the school library. It is now so easy for students to locate all kinds of information, but librarians and teachers are needed to help them use it in creative, collaborative and appropriate ways. I do not tweet and have never even texted, so I hope to explore all kinds of interactive media.
Thing 1 showed an ideal situation. It is very exciting to think about all the possibilities, but schools are still constrained by budget, access, security and accountability questions.
I remember writing out first drafts by hand and then typing the final copy, so writing on a computer is a piece of cake. I just have to remember to go back and re-read everything before hitting 'send' in order to catch typos and other mistakes.