Just a blog away......

Well it looks like I am just a blog away (or so) from completing this class and it has been an eye-opening experience for me. I have learned so much, and even more important, I have become much more comfortable using and dealing with technology. Who would have thought that was in my future. I came into this program with visions of books, people, books, people, books, people, and some technology. I still see lots of books and people in my future but the technology has broadened my horizon. I will admit, I am still in awe of the people in the cohort that are sooo comfortable with all things computer. I will never be at their level because they have such a jumpstart on me. As I learn new things, they will also be learning new things. But .... at least I now know where to start and how to function and it will continue to grow easier and friendlier for me.

The Action Learning Project was invaluable to me. Not only did I learn more about the wonderful technology available to me right there at my own little school, but I feel I did a real service to the staff at my school by offering up some helpful training....provided by our own staff. The training will be continued this summer as new updates are added onto our SB this summer.
I have also sparked the interest of many staff members to further explore the usage of the SB with broadcasting and such. I have caught the interest (to put it mildly) of the principal and he has proven to be a big asset in everything I have put forth to him. As a side note, we are exploring small, inexpensive hand held video cams to use in the classrooms to record student activities to then share with the class on the ....... oh yes..... the SmartBoard. I videoed our workshops using one. I still need to iron out a few of the kinks, but it appears to be a very useful tool.

I respect and love my group. We work well together and these ladies have been very helpful to me. I look forward to working with them on other class projects.

This class has been a delight. The blogging has helped me put things in perspective and it has kept me on track......I have even gotten the swing of the discussion boards. That has really been a bear for me. I have enjoyed reading them and I am now comfortable with sharing my thoughts there. I have enjoyed learning from the cohort and hearing so many different opinions. It has been a very good thing.

WOOT WOOT workshop is a done deal

I completed my faculty workshop on Wednesday and it really was very successful. The feedback I got from each group was very favorable and they all seem excited about phase 2.....which will be another workshop this summer. We are having SmartBoard updates and the newer version of things being installed this summer so we decided to wait until then. This will be an all day workshop with the first half being optional for teachers wanting to review techniques and look into building up their SB expertise. The second half will be for more in-depth study and application....sounds exciting.

The faculty was separated into four groups for the workshop on Wednesday....K-1, 2-3, 4-5 and sp. ed., and 6-8. Our non-classroom teachers were invited to attend in whichever group they felt most comfortable and classroom assistants were invited to attend with their teachers. I videoed snippets of each group. It was wonderful to see each level working and discussing issues that were relevant to them. I had teachers with excellent SB skills leading each group. Non-classroom teachers were using the SB for the first time and they were amazed. Teachers were learning how to set up programs to benefit their classes. Teachers were learning the technical lingo and usage of the menu items on the remote. This in itself was an excellent lesson that few knew. The websites shared were amazing. At the end of the workshop, evaluation sheets were completed by each group and they were great.

Each participant received some tech credit and that was a big drawing card. But.....once the workshop began the worth of it became evident. I had teachers thanking me and sharing how much they enjoyed it and learned from it.....GREAT!! AND I met up with our system's curriculum specialist yesterday (at a funeral of all places) and she asked if my ears had been burning. It seems my principal was also very impressed with my project and its outcome. He was sharing it with the other principals at the principal's meeting.....wow!

ALP workshops for SmartBoard training

I met with my school's School Improvement Team to discuss the plans I had been making toward offering training for SmartBoards and also our new AirLiners. They were very interested and receptive to the plans I had formulated with the principal. As it stands, workshops will begin Wednesday after school. I am hoping to video a bit of each group as they meet and work with each other. I have separated the groups by grade level and have combined both people who are well versed in SmartBoard uses and people who need mentoring with SB techniques. Each group will be led by a member who is comfortable with their SB and who use it everyday in a variety of ways. Each of these people agreed to work with their group in their classroom. I am hoping these small groups will be very work well together and be comfortable within their group. I will send out one last email outlining the whole process and I will also talk with the whole group before they break off into their small groups. They will be able to earn technology credit for participating in this workshop along with some SB "homework". This is very exciting for me.

After this workshop to get everyone more on the same page, more indepth training will be offered. I have talked with the county tech people about doing this one. All that we have to do is set a date. I have also been collecting websites to share with the staff. Hopefully this will be ongoing as we explore and use more and more websites. There are sooooooo many of them out there.

Can't wait for it all to finally happen!! I am still itching to get into the possible broadcasting, but right now I can only do what I can do......

Whither the Postmodern Library?

Oh my William H. Wisner certainly does have his undies in a bundle. He gets so carried away with his rhetoric that I am afraid his meaning is lost. I was very confused by some of his writings. And what is it with The Pearson Integrated Humanities Program. Students actually got credit for this? It sounds all so very cult-ish and I would hate to think I had to sit through hours of 3 professors talking poetry with each other.....with no apparent curriculum or syllabus.....whatever their whim was their discussion.....Oh my goodness but the Spring Waltz certainly sounded romantic. He so eloquently waxed and waned on it enough...sorry I missed it.

When I first began to read his book I thought some of his ideas were sound and true, in many ways, to how I feel about libraries and librarians. I was increasingly more shocked and appalled as I read on. The man surely has some strong opinions and he is not afraid to state them.....I was wondering.........did he had to pay to have his book published? As he becomes more rabid, his writing becomes more disjointed and confusing. And I was really befuddled with all the talk of his father and his relationship with his father. And what of Mom?? She would drop him off at the public library when he was six or so.....all day.....unsupervised.....and leave him all day??

I did not and do not understand why his childhood literature is so painful to him?? Why?? I have always felt joy when sharing my favorite books as a child to both of my children and my classrooms of children. I may feel a bit nostalgic but that is to be expected with any of the wonderful memories you have of your childhood. I have read Wind in the Willows many times as a child and as an adult, to myself and to children. I do not understand his dread of this delightful children's book. Maybe it goes back to his days of being dropped off at the library, all alone, in the quiet (even if that quiet is timeless), without someone to share it with.

That is enough for now. I will continue this at a later date when my brain has had time to reflect more on these writings. I can't wait for class discussion to shed insight on some of his musings.

Web design

Well I have discovered another talent that I am sadly lacking......I am sure I can learn and become more comfortable with web design.....but not right now. I have a GeoCities website somewhere out there. I set one up for a tech course I was taking and then conveniently forgot about it....years ago I am afraid. Also in the Intel I course was PowerPoint and the finer points of Publisher, so I really did learn a lot ..... just not in Web Design.

My son has created many web pages......of varying interests. His best was on Haunted Houses and such. My daughter...a NYC girl ... has her own domain, but she had someone design that for her. She does keep it updated and it is soooo funny. Very much her own thing.

I can add a webpage under my school's web site. This is the only way I would do it right now. I may go and browse around on it and see if anything prods me into action. I doubt if it will but I will give it a shot.

Well our school web site is sadly out of date. It lists a librarian that has been gone a year, the 2006-07 TOY (we have just selected our 2008-09 TOY), and includes a 2006-07 calendar. I don't feel quite so prehistoric as I did before I checked. ha

Maybe next year..........or not........

Action Project thoughts (email to Dr. Rob)

I am planning face-to-face one-on-one or two-on-one mentor/mentee
> type training to get everyone on an even playing field. A teacher
> of moderate skill level will work with teachers who feel they are
> on a low to needy level. We only have one person at my school who
> feels like he is working on a high level of skill with SBs. These
> will be after our Easter break. Once everyone has a good
> understanding of the basic tools and basic SmartBoard usage, I have
> planned whole group training provided by our Director of Technology
> and Media Services. We will either do this in a few afternoon
> sessions, or (hopefully) on a Saturday.
>
> All of our classroom teachers have SBs. Some have had them since
> last year and received summer training if they were able to
> attend. Some received SBs this year with no real training at all
> other than what a neighbor has shown them or a few 15 to 20 minute
> whole-group mini-sessions (two to be exact). New staff who came in
> after school began are really at sea about all the boards can do.
>
> We have just gotten more technology this past week. Our principal
> (bless his heart and soul) has gotten Clicker sets, to be housed in
> the library, for the upper grades and AirLiner boards for all
> classrooms. (I am proud to say I was about the only staff member
> who knew what these were...thanks to our class and our cohort.) We
> are going to need training on these that can be incorporated into
> the SB training. We had about 20 minutes of training on each of
> these as a whole group. They will not be up and running until the
> county tech-team can install the software computer by computer
> (because of the deep freeze on the computers).
>
> Our librarian can troubleshoot most problems with our SB but he
> does not know how to use one. I think the training will certainly
> be an asset for him because it will enable to use this technology
> with his students. He will also be able to go into the classrooms
> and use this technology with students.
>
> I want to continue with the broadcasting project. I would like to
> see the whole school connected via SBs with the library being the
> MotherShip. It would be the studio from which the students (junior
> tech team....junior news team....junior reporters...something like
> this)along with the librarian, tech people (person) and classroom
> teachers, broadcast. Eventually perhaps the team could become a
> roving team.
>

The Machine Stops

I was fascinated by the short story The Machine Stops. I have always enjoyed Science Fiction/Fantasy but this story was amazing because of when it was written. I would have thought it to be contemporary SF. It was also really depressing. There was no quality of life. People did not leave their room----they barely even left their chairs. No family ties, no face-to-face socialing, little sensory enjoyment, no ambition, no recreation as we know it.....nothing real except what you could get virturally from the chair, in your room, all alone. This is not living, this is just existing. I do realize the woman was content with this. She had her lectures and her contacts but she also had such fears of the outside, which wasn't even outside but inside. There was little to no emotional ties with her son, who, bless him, tried to make a better life for himself and even tried to include his mother, but her world (her life) had just become too small.

As the machine began to fail and the world as they knew it became smaller and less comfortable, the people just accepted it. They made calls and complaints, but nothing was ever fixed or improved. The people changed their outlooks and their lives to fit their world as it became less and less and less. They did not communicate with each other. They did not try to escape. They did nothing but sit there and let the time pass until the machine finally stopped and the world ended for them. How depressing!!

I grew up in a big, rambling house outside of town. As my brother, two sisters, and I grew up and moved away, we always returned to the big house for family get-togethers. After my dad passed away, Mother stayed in the big house, but she lived in 'less' of it. She closed off some of the rooms not being used. As her health began to fail, she once again lived in 'less' of her house--she moved her bedroom into the den. By the end of her life she was living in barely three rooms of her big, rambling house. She rarely left her three rooms unless it was for a visit to a doctor. This was not from want of us trying to get her out. She would rarely leave her comfort zone. We brought everything she needed or wanted to her. So I can see how people can give up all independence and live on the whims of others. But I sure don't understand it. I do not foresee a world such as was in the story or a world such as the one chosen by my mother.

Portfolio questions and other thoughts

I am on my way with my project but I am a little concerned with the portfolio part. I do have some notations of meetings with the principal and librarian. I also have the email I sent out and the replies I received. I have collected several interesting websites for SmartBoard ideas and I have talked with different teachers about helping with some faculty training. But is this enough?? I am not sure. It is what it is. I will continue to research and make notations on meetings and discussions with different people. I really am not sure what is expected. This will be a question to discuss in group and/or in class.

Had to write in pink because Spring is just around the corner. We enjoyed Read Across America today. The children love to play the games at Seussville.com. They have some very easy games and some not so easy so all my children could play something. I think the matching game was the favorite of the day. We will continue to visit this site all week. We invited the PreSchool class to our room to hear some Seuss books and to also play on the Seussville games. They do not have a computer for the children to work on in their class......I had no idea......This is shameful. **Need to see principal and librarian about this.** Maybe this could be a mini-action project.....to get this class a computer....

Reflections on case study and other thoughts

Our giroup met in the classroom on Thursday night and worked on the case study. It was much harder than I thought it would be. We work very well as a group and seemed to have similar thoughts and opinions. All of us are classroom teachers and herein perhaps the problem lay. We all felt most of the problem fell right at the principal's feet. She was an ineffective and inefficient leader and failed to communicate her desires for these two new hires. Would we have felt differently if we were administrators.......I don't think so but.......maybe.

I don't see how this case study has relevance to me in the MLS program.....I can't imagine I would ever have to deal with faculty problems such as this. Nonetheless, it brought our group together in a thinking and working situation. So that is a good thing. (And I can say with certainty that I have NO desire to ever go into administration.)

My project is going along well. I have received a bit more feedback on my faculty poll. I don't want to belabor the point, but I will probably send out another email to see if a few more people will reply. You know teachers.....sometimes they need gentle reminders. I work with great people so I don't think they will be annoyed with me .... yet. Once I have more input I believe I can go back to my principal and talk with him about what the faculty would like to learn and to do with our SmartBoards. He is so supportive in this endeavor that I hope he won't be too disappointed when he hears the teachers really would like more training first and then they may become more excited about our broadcasting with them. I do need to research a bit more on training options since there is so many different levels of SmartBoard knowledge within the staff.

Action Learning Project and other musings

I am using green in my blog today because I am feeling much easier and more peaceful with my project and with this class. I love the exploring and wandering around on the AETzone, but I am a person who needs more direction. I was so relieved to get this direction in class on Thursday night. I feel like I can do this now.....I have had my doubts because I have just been exploring without really knowing what I was exploring. Well it turns out I actually have been exploring in the right direction......I have talked with my principal and, as I have said before, he will be very supportive. I have talked with my media specialist and he will also be very supportive. I have, via email, polled my fellow staff members about what they feel the needs are with our new technology.....the SmartBoards. They feel a BIG NEED for more training and they are also interested in schoolwide broadcasts other than the intercom system. I have gotten several good web sites and I have even gotten some volunteers to help with training and broadcasts....if it comes.....NO......when it comes to that.

So where do I go from here? Well I guess I will explore the options of staff development with the SmartBoards since this seems to be the biggest area of need. And the needs are all at different levels. So......where to start? Maybe with the more digital ones helping the lesser digital ones. Me definitely being a lesser....but I am learning. I think the staff with the most needs probably need to be brought up to speed and then perhaps whole staff training would be more meaningful to all. I need to "explore" more on the individual needs perhaps. It seems as this may be an ongoing action plan to get everyone at a more desirable level of knowledge, especially as new staff members are added. Of course, the young staffers take to it much easier than some of the older. I will just have to think about all of this and discuss it with my group. (My group is really terrific!)

I found the theater today on AETzone. Watched 2 videos that made me feel really inadequate as an educator but so very excited for the students of today. I watched (I am really not good with names) the one about Digital Learners and the one about Library 2.0. I am going to do a straw poll tomorrow to see what technology my students have in their home. They talk a lot about video games and computer games but I don't really know what they have......I do have 2 students with cell phones......6 years old......who would have thought.....maybe more have them. I have only seen the 2. Funny thing though......they love filmstrips and the overhead projector. What can I say.....they are young. **and it is all in the way you introduce something.....to them it is new stuff and fun to use**

Action Learning Project.....part 1

Well I am feeling a little edgy and slightly confused. I have so many ideas popping into my head for this project and then I start to get a bit nervous. I have a questionnaire being answered by my fellow teachers at my school now trying to narrow down my scope a bit. I really like the idea of school-wide broadcasts using our SmartBoards.....but many of the staff feel that more training and sharing of ideas and skills with our SmartBoards is also (more?) important and very necessary. It would seem that the staff would like more training but the principal wants to go straight to the broadcasts. He is also most interested in me discussing my ideas with the people from whom we got the original grant for the SBs. He feels we can receive more matching funds for our broadcast needs because my ideas are contagious and exciting. Yikes!! I would be glad to do this.....but I just don't think I am quite ready for this.....let me explore it a little more and get more feedback from the other teachers. Actually it kinda scares me to death. If I had a little scared to death icon I would put it here ______! Well good luck to me and my contagion.....hopefully I will not feel so "under duress" next blog. :-(

Games

Happy Valentine's Day!!! This has been a big week for me. Our 5010 class learned all about the Belk Library through a virtual class online. I was so worried about that being able to actual do that but it turned out to be very successful and quite easy. I look forward to really getting to know the library and using it during my course work. (even though I hold it in great awe....ha).

I have been reading all about the using of games as an educational tool. We use lots of online type of games with the younger children in the classroom. There is so much offered online that we can use. Just today we played a Valentine game where the Cupid bops the bad guys on the head. It is a great game to help the children become accustomed to the keyboard arrows. They will need that in future virtual worlds. And they have to work out the pattern they need to use to be successful at bopping as well as figuring out the best bopping strategy. ( Oh dear, this game sounds violent but it really wasn't.....reading about challenges and censorship really makes you think about what you bring into the classroom.)

This generation of young people thrive on gaming. I watched my children with wonder as they just instinctively knew what to do, how to do, and when to do. I just don't get it. The new Wiis and PlayStations, Guitar Hero and Game Cubes just amaze me. When the GameBoy first came out my son could beat me hands down. I think he was maybe 5 or 6 years old at the time. He would play the game and figure out the way to do what you had to do by some manner that was absolutely unknown to me. It is still pretty foreign to me.....except for the 'old people' games like Tetris.

The educational potential of games is vast. As James Gee pointed out in our reading....."gaming is a new kind of literacy" and "the mind is engaged in ways that benefit other literacies" I have seen this first hand with my children and my school classes. The higher levels of thinking skills needed to figure out the strategies are being developed as they work their way through the levels. They are learning and developing these skills independently and with the repetition of the game they are practicing these skills with every move. And it is just so much fun for them!!

I agree with Gee that the lecture method of teaching as the main way of providing information is outdated. Our techno-saavy students need so much more than this. Libraries and classrooms need to look long and hard about updating the materials and the information-seeking skills used by todays students. This generation knows games and as such libraries need to use them as one important tool in education.

(I think it is just too late for me as far as games are concerned......)

Digital Natives

The video and article concerning digital natives and digital immigrants were very interesting and thought provocative. I agree with many of the points made in both but......I think it does not pertain so much to younger children. And if younger children are introduced to books, reading, writing, and other..more tactile than virtual..things that they may retain their love and need for this type media their whole life. My kindergarteners listen with delight as I read the classics (Make Way for Ducklings, The Biggest Bear, Blueberries for Sal, anything Dr. Seuss, etc.) to them and they want to hear them again and again. They also enjoy looking at these books over and over again. They have such pride and get such pleasure in taking home books they can read to their parents. The children cannot wait to take a new book home to read for 'homework'. They enjoy writing (with pencil, marker, crayon, blood--just kidding--, paint, etc.) their own words. They need the feel of the writing to get the full learning process. They love the manipulatives we use in math and science. And what child doesn't love center activities...home center, blocks, puzzles, art, geoboards, sand and water tables. You can't get that from a keyboard or a SmartBoard. The digital media is essential but the younger children need both digital and 'the old way'.

The parents of these young children are probably some of the first digital natives but I know they get much pleasure from their children learning the old way, being taught with books, paper and pencil, manipulatives, and lots of talking and interacting with the teacher and with each other. I try to give them experiences in both worlds but in a small, rural school this can be difficult. I know they are learning...I see that everyday...and it's wonderful. Would they learn more or better in a digital world? No I don't think so. Would they have more fun in a digital world? No I don't think so. Would they miss out on a lot of interaction, social skill building, and just plain fun in a digital world? YES I do think so.

First blog.......I have cleaned my house, finished my laundry, run my errands, reviewed articles for projects, and even watched a little of the ballgame on tv.....but alas the blog must be blogged. I don't know why I approach this so reluctantly....but I do. Thank goodness I have a definite topic. I think the randomness of blogging is what makes me feel hesitant and frankly inadequate. Nonetheless, I am here and I will speak!!

My interview was with Mr. Richard Tysinger, the media coordinator of my school (Boonville Elementary). He was very cooperative and very eager to help. This is Mr. Tysinger's first year as media coordinator. He has just completed and graduated from the MLS Program. He admits to being a bit overwhelmed. He is a "wearer" of many hats and not all of them are a comfortable fit.The recurring statement from him seemed to be "there is so much to do and no time to do it". He also realizes that his program is financially limited.

He wishes to offer more training in SmartBoard tech. He wants to plan more tech skills activity for the students. He would like to have more collaboration with the classroom teachers. He would really like to work more with the actual 'hands on' library tasks such as cataloguing (which he really enjoys), but there is no time. He feels very frustated at times but he does love librarianship.

He wants to replace outdated software, keep the computers within the library in good running condition, supply each classroom teacher with good, dependable equipment, and also continue to build the inventory of books, magazines, videos, and other necessary media but there is never enough money for all on his wishlist.

He has learned much just by troubleshooting, which he remarked, (with a laugh) that has become very good at. He is very frustrated by the school's computer filter system and the system's deep freeze. He does not have the administative leave to over-ride either of these. Mr. Tysinger is frustated by there not being guidelines and/or a curriculum to follow. On the other hand he does enjoy using the USWISE Owl system and he is pleased with some improvements that have been made with the reporting of tech problems to the Central Office. There are also several computer programs being used within the school that he sees as worthwhile and successful. He thoroughly enjoys working with the students.....though he was surprised at first just how hard that can be. He admits he was very idealistic and naive coming into a public school.

He sees the need for a secure wireless system but he also understands it would be extremely costly.....other words....it probably won't happen. He also sees a very different possible future for school media centers. He fears they may one day be all digital with a traveling media specialist that would only be present part of a day or part of a week. He thinks para-professionals may have full-time positions at the schools to run the media centers.

He came into the job full of optimism, idealism, and with a love for all things 'library'. He is still optimistic, idealistic, and full of love for all things 'library'. We are lucky to have him as a part of our school family.