Webby Wednesday - BUNCEE

Appy Friday - Make the Internet Work for You

Apps of the Week

I have tried a few new apps recently, but I have not found one that proved to be an indispensible tool for a while....

and then I stumbled across the lists below 

from Silvia Rosental Tolisano on Langwitches blog.

I can already spy half a dozen I want to check out immediately.

Book Trailers... Who is Doing the Learning?

Thursday was one of those days that, despite the busy-ness, I was invigorated at the end, rather than exhausted.  The teachers and students I work with inspire me!

Once again, Mr. R, a Grade 6 English teacher, and I teamed up for a collaborative project: student-made Book Trailers.  Up to now, I had learned how to make trailers, promoted books via trailers, and offered to teach trailers, but the opportunity to actually TEACH how to make book trailers to real students had eluded me.  Making trailers takes TIME, of which no one seems to have enough.  But Mr. R decided his students needed this opportunity to use their 21st Century skills to share their recreational reading, and he took me up on my offer.

Using resources I have gathered from Teresa Schauer's workshop at TxLA as well as Mrs. H's website, I consulted with our Tech Coordinator to better understand with which software applications most grade 6 students are familiar.  Mr. R and I discussed how designated classtime would be used, and when I asked about evaluation criteria - to make sure I addressed what was necessary - he told me he had not planned to evaluate this assignment, since it is part of the students' recreational reading.  Can you believe that!?!

Our Plan

Monday

Before he brought his students to the library, Mr. R instructed his students to begin thinking about which book they would like to use, to select a partner if they so wished, and to watch a few trailers to identify what they liked and didn't like.

Wednesday

Students were given a story board outline to help them think about the sorts of images they would like to use.

Friday

Class was held in the library, where we reviewed the definition of copyright and plagiarism.  Students were shown two sources for copyright clear images and how to properly cite them.  They created folders in their EDU2.0 accounts to hold the images as well as the Word document with the citations.

Tuesday

Serendipity brought the same students to the library with another teacher to research images.  Students are in the process of desgining and creating robotic bugs, and used their library time to find inspiration for the color scheme and overall design of their insects.  Although royalty-free images and proper citations were not necessarily REQUIRED for the specific project they doing in Design Technology, their wonderful teacher seized the opportunity to have students practice their searching and citing skills.  I introduced Google advanced search, and how to select "free to use or share" under usage rights, as a third source of images.

Thursday

Students returned for a double period.  The Tech Coordinator joined us to help with trouble-shooting issues, so there were three teachers on hand to assist.  It was suggested to students to use Keynote, since they are all familiar with this program, but they were allowed to use any software application of their choice, such as Animoto or iMovie. What could have been disastrous was a wonderful informal assessment opportunity for me.

Four students were able to complete their projects by the end of class, with many others very, very close.

This was one of those "Hollywood" lessons, where the students were completely absorbed in their work, they were teaching each other, and the teachers spent a lot of time observing... and learning from the students.  Students would ask questions of us, all the while looking around at their classmates, and ending their questions with, "X knows how to do that... I'll ask him!"

What I Learned Today

• Where to locate royalty-free music (see below)
• How to access and save on our school's groups drive
• I knew this was possible, but had never actually done it.
• How to embed music on a Keynote presentation as a soundtrack
• I have been a PowerPoint girl for years.  But I am at an all-Mac campus, so I have committed myself to learning Keynote this year.
• What my students need from me.  Students here are well-equipped with tech skills, so I found that what they needed instruction with was:
• The books they choose.  We suggested they choose a book they could picture in their minds as a movie.  Many chose books that had already been made into movies, and therefore wanted to use movie images and video clips... which, as a plus, did create teaching moments about copyright issues.  In the future, I would make it a requirement that books that are already movies not be used for their first projects.  
•  The types of photos they choose.  Often, a LOT of time was spent finding the "perfect" photo of someone/something that precisely matched the book's description, rather than accepting a representation.  Helping students focus on one or two details (the feathers on the wings) rather than the whole scene (a girl with a 14-foot wingspan soaring over a cityscape) was a frequent conversation. 
• Proper MLA format.  There is a great variety of citation formats in this first batch of trailers.  While credit is given to sources, we still have some work to do to get it right.
• Application of visual bookmarking program:

This was also the class for which I built my first Symbaloo.  While not outstanding, I am comfortable sharing:

Next Steps

Students are expected to polish and upload their trailers to the groups drive in the upcoming week.  I will be reviewing trailers, uploading them to our YouTube channel, and then embedding them in our Digital Hub.  The Tech Coordinator is going to take students through the process of creating QR codes, and my assistants will attach the codes to the books.  A blurb will go out in our weekly newsletter to our greater school community.  And then it will be time to begin the process again...

Grab the Popcorn

Here's a sneak preview...

Myth #10 - All Librarians are Created Equally

Note: Like so many, my 2012 ended in reflection over the events during my first semester at a new school and 2013 began with a review of my Library Action Plan.  As I pondered how to ensure my next steps take the library program in the direction I truly want to be leading, those thoughts collided with a blogpost that I had been chewing on for several weeks.  Thus, I busted….

 Myth #10: All Librarians are Created Equally

At one point in my last district, there were only three certified librarians, each working at a different school.   

• One of us was a secondary English teacher and a master of literacy.
• Another had a background in science and was the tech guru of us three.
• The third started teaching in elementary grades and had a passion for the research process.

We were all very different, yet we shared a very common purpose in our work with students.  Mind you, we all three tackled tasks in all areas of librarianship, with some roles coming more naturally to one or another of us.  We often laughed about our differences, and joked what a team we could make if we all three worked on the same campus. 

Three different backgrounds, three different focuses, but one passion.  

As fellow librarians, we have so much to teach and learn from each other.  

Are you learning from your colleagues?  Or do you see those differences as a threat to your comfort zone?

All Librarians are NOT Created Equally  

As individuals, we bring our unique strengths, weaknesses, and personal interests to the circ desk and build a library program uniquely ours.  We collaborate, teach lessons, build collections, implement programs... make our mark... create a reputation.  And when we move on, due to choice or age or budget cut backs, we leave a particular gap, as unique as our individual fingerprints. 

As I reviewed my mission statement and goals at this mid-point in the year, I was struck by a question that refocused my work and made my vision crystal clear:  

What will be my legacy?

I began to ponder:  At former schools, what was I known for?  What do past students and coworkers remember about my work?  What mark did I leave? And most importantly, was it what I was trying to accomplish?

Teresa Schauer is known for her passion for book trailers...

Mr. Schu is breathing life back into Newbery classics…

Joanna Fountain made her mark through cataloging and subject headings…

Toni Buzzeo has authored books to help us teach library and information skills…

The librarian I replaced this year was a gifted storyteller.  He frequently incorporated music and singing in his lessons, and it is what everybody misses about him.

Another librarian I knew called herself a “Rehab Librarian” for her ability to rejuvenate aging libraries... ruthlessly weeding badly outdated collections, rearranging shelving and furniture, and creating a fresh, inviting environment before moving on to another “old” library.

What are your strengths? Which weaknesses are you going to commit to strengthening this year?

Where do your specialties lie? Who do you know with a different specialty you can learn from?

What kind of librarian are you? What legacy will YOU leave behind?

Facebook Graph Search

Facebook launched its search product yesterday.  It is still in beta, so if you do not yet have access, go to http://www.facebook.com/graphsearch and scroll to the bottom, where you will find a link to try it or join the waiting list.

What is Facebook Graph Search?

A search engine that is not a search engine..

Graph Search looks through information and people and things that are already on Facebook.... unless it has no idea what your search terms are asking and then it goes to Bing.

A way to sift through social information...

Like finding which restaurants your friends like in Albequerque, photos of the Grand Canyon taken in 2002, or your own posts without scrolling through your entire timeline.

It give you answers, not links.

Pose a question, facebook trolls through posts, photos, and links, and returns results ranked by your relationships and the number of likes.

You may want to double-check your privacy settings, so that your photos, locations, and comments are not shared with the public unless you want them to be shared.



Thanks to the Lone Wolf Librarian for sharing these videos that explain Facebook's new Graph Search:

AASL's Best Websites - Part Two

App of the Week - TeacherCast Pro

Read a blog,

 listen to a podcast,

 read app reviews,

 find a job,

 watch educational videos....

 This mobile version of the website TeacherCast.net allows you to have all of these great features on the go.

 Jeff Bradbury, the webmaster behind the site, is a music teacher.  

He has assembled an entire social network of contributors to his comprehensive site.  

If I only had one educator app, this would be it!

Myth #1 - Libraries are ONLY about Books

Earlier this week, we sent out a survey asking what comes to mind when you hear the word "Librarian". Take a look at the Wordles Ann created from the responses we received:

,

The general public DOES think of BOOKS when they think of librarians.... 75% of all responses included the words book or books.

But look at what LIBRARIANS think of:

Books are definitely a major part of our job, but so are students, information, teachers, and technology. Only 30.1% of librarian responses contained the words book or books. Almost the same number, 28.5% included the words teach, teaches, or teaching.

It was suggested that answers be kept to one word, but very few people could do that. Answers were typically 2-3 word phrases. Some of our favorite answers included:

They take care of a libraries. The like to read books. They are kind.

---It is my dream that every student, and teacher, encounter a librarian who fits this description.

collaboration technology programming

--- Look, ma! No books... but such essential tasks.

Helps you find books. Helps you find information (in books, in databases, or online). Helps with technology questions.

--- We are the go-to people. Does everyone at your school know this?

We want to hear from you... We know that great things are being done... Let's spread the word...

What you are doing to help bust the myth that libraries are only a place to check out books?