Library Power

The winds of fall challenge my library role

2011-09-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

For the 3rd time this week I heard that our budgets will probably be cut again by up to 25% next year. I also have heard principals are questioning the value of keeping librarians in the face of all these cuts. They ask the why keep a librarian if they can get a full FTE classroom teacher that make more of an impact on kids?

My neighboring district to the south who has district employed/building specific librarians have already cut 1/2 their HS & Middle School librarians and just this year cut 1/2 their elementary librarians. Other districts are headed the same way. What does a half time librarian look like? Well, due to equity discussions- one librarian often serves two schools (sometimes a few days in one school then another, sometimes full weeks).

I'm really curious how effective I would be if I was only 1/2 time in a school? If a teacher is collaborating with me and gets behind in curriculum, maybe I can't float back and forth. How can I build relationships and trust so that I can collaborate if I'm only part time?

Perhaps a bigger issue is what is the role that librarians or teaching/collaborates will be playing in their buildings in the future?

Will we be Learning Specialists who focus more on professional development and 21st century learning standards as Allison Zmuda, Violet H. Harada suggest. Will we be developing a Learning Commons or instructional Facilitators as Koechlin Luhtala and Loertscher suggest? (February 2011 page 20)

I think if we are really going to be an active part of the future learning for our schools, we need to play an active role in the change that is coming. There may be some parts of our jobs that it is time for us to let go- perhaps some carry over from the "old librarian model". I'm not sure what those are, but I wonder what things we aren't willing to let go that might hold us back from serving our staff and students? Are you willing to give up reading picture books? Book talks? Being the sole coordinator of your collection development? What things keep us from being able to collaborate with teachers, training staff, work to support student achievement and 21st century learning skills?

Hmmm. Lots of thinking for a Friday am. I would be very curious to hear your thoughts! What will the new role look like? What can we do to best help kids? Thanks for your help!

Budget cut? Huge Classes? Make Lemonade!

2011-08-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

We use the team teaching model in our school. There is a bright young social studies teacher teaming with an English teacher for the 10th grade Integrated Social Studies and English class. We are on an alternating block schedule but students attend this class every day and will end the year with 2 credits!

It is a great interactive class because students learn about the history, read and write about it- often debating or do hands on research or projects. The kids learn tons, and gain meaning through the video and audio presented in class.

But the class is big - almost 70+ kids in it. We take down the partition between to classrooms for that hour and use one huge room. Mr Carpenter effectively uses short video clips to emphasis points and up until today we have had a projector/screen on one end of the room. We have been writing grants so that each teacher now has a projector and laptop (and raging sound system!). Just yesterday we were able to connect the two projectors together (with a 100' coax video cable through the ceiling), converter box/splitter for the VGA input from Mr Carpenter's Macintosh laptop. Learning is achieved!

I tell you this because I really think the librarians role is truly varied. I look forward to collaborating with both teachers very soon, but right now my work has been behind the scenes- troubleshooting to get this system working. Now, instruction can proceed seamlessly using technology in a way that highlights learning not impeding or being and end to itself. I know student's learning is stengthened!

Lucky day to be a librarian!

What is the value of a good teacher?

2011-02-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

What a time we live in! Colorado just announced their educational cuts for next year. (see Denver Post)

But if you want to hear an interesting discussion on how teachers can measure their success - listen to a recent podcast from NPR's Planet Money's What is a teacher worth. In it, he talks about how good teachers help kids be successful and then these students positively influence the gross national product.

The study highlighted in the podcast come from Eric Hanushek where he found that some teachers consistently produce higher performing students than their counterparts. These students then go on to be more productive and they earn systematically more money over their lifetime. These higher achieving student earnings result in an increased gross national product. The podcast takes the formula a bit further saying that a teacher with a class of 25 students that moves their students forward (in achievement) is worth over 1/2 million dollars every year (in terms of added value to the economy).

If we know this why are we even considering increasing course loads or increasing class sizes as Bud the Teacher notes in his blog? In the long term aren't we just making the problem worse? There has to be a better way!

Ancient Civilizations!

2010-08-27T11:03:00.001-07:00

This week I have been working with my social studies teacher to set up a intro lesson for ancient civilizations. He wanted to have students do some brief research about some of the major civilizations like Aztecs, Egyptians, Shang Dynasty etc. As a small group students were to find some basic information in the areas of geography, politics, inventions etc.

He wanted to make it more authentic for them so that they might get a scope of these empires. We decided to look at using google maps as a presentation tool. I found resources for each group and posted them on the website. We created one google account per classroom which allowed them all to be on at the same time, edit and change (even without sharing) and all the projects listed at once.

View Egyptian Empire in a larger map

We only gave the students about 40 minutes of class time to create this introductory lesson and they were to present the 2nd day. It turned out really nicely...and the teacher and I learned a lot. The students started presenting today and things got a good start. (They still tend to read right of the computer- but hey...we're still in the first week!)

Some ideas we thought of: different push pin shape for each topic, use several push pins to make simple points (2-3 lines or one picture), classmates take notes on the presentations. More and more.

Overall - it was pretty successful for the first try!

Seems like overnight...

2010-08-13T12:45:00.001-07:00

Working in my building this week with educators supporting the new teachers in our district. We have some very talented, bright folks here who really know their stuff!

I'm working tech support and liaison for our building and was asking the presenter for the plenary what equipment she needed for the next day. She said all she needed was an overhead in the auditorium for the 150 folks. I asked if she was joking. She was very good natured about it, saying that she knew she needed to step up...and use technology. I encouraged her and said to remember folks needed her content rather than be overwhelmed about adding bells and whistles.

We chatted for a while and she felt pretty confident that she and her husband could work that evening and get her preso changed to Keynote. Next morning came- and she was incredibly confident and proud saying that she got it! (finished about 2am!:)

You might have guessed that not only was her presentation relevant and meaningful, but it was so well done that folks really got what they needed out of it. Not only that- she ran the whole presentation from a new app she downloaded on her iPhone! VERY COOL! :)

So- I guess I learned that sometimes we can be the people that gently nudge others to do great and important work. Sometimes change takes place overnight!

To post or not to post?

2009-10-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

We had the local city council candidates in a panel last week. Students had some good questions and things went pretty smoothly. There were some issues that have been running under the surface of the election that have been hot button issues that came to light during the panel. Voiced got elevated, fingers started pointing and there was lots of groaning/jeering from the students. Perhaps not the most flattering moment for these candidates.

Question- we have students that weren’t able to participate that would like to see it. We recorded the 30 minute segment on a flip cam and it is a rather large file. Our host/social studies teacher would like to just post it online on something like Youtube. He says there are lots of folks wondering about this and they should see the real thing rather than hear the stories. We didn’t have written permission from the candidates to film this public forum.

What risk do we run if we post? What things should we consider before we post it? Should be fun to hear what you have to say!

Dewey Know What is happening @ your library?

2009-02-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

Library Volunteers needed to rebuild library

Need to do some browsing @ your library? Well soon you’ll be able to do just that when Silver Creek’s library initiates the BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications) cataloging system. The “bookstore system” will make it much easier to browse and select books using subjects rather than the existing Dewey Decimal System. Mr Goerner, Teacher librarian said “I really think students would like to grab their latte and search the Technology & Engineering or Political Science sections when doing their 1920’s research. It seems like lots more fun than using the look up station to find Dewey sections 629.8 and 364.”

Why the switch? Well Goerner says that lots of things have changed since Melvin Dewey developed his initial classification system in 1876. “We need to reflect the current needs of our users” Goerner said. “The change will allow Silver Creek to be more like bookstores with nooks and corners aimed to create a sense of privacy."

Volunteer help is needed to transport and re-catalogue all 9858 library items. Work will be done to transferring from 10 current classification areas to nearly 50 “subject headings”. SCHS Book Buddies members commented that the change seemed like a positive one. Kira Gerbitz stated “I already have 527 books in my online Shelfari account and the categories will match Silver Creeks new system exactly! It will be very exciting to see how other Silver Creek kids will like it- it will be so easy to find everything!”

**Submitted to student paper February 09. Can you tell this is tongue in cheek? Hope so- would want you to think I was upsetting the apple cart! :)

DPS librarian preso...

2009-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Enjoyed presenting to the Denver Public Schools librarians last Monday. We looked at podcasts...here are some of my favorites!

Grammar Girl: Quick and dirty tips for better writing Nice blog and podcast for grammar tips.

Geek!ed is group of tech folks from MI who meet once a week to talk about what cool thing are going on in their schools. These folks love to laugh!

Radiolab: (WNYC.org) One of the best story telling podcast I have ever listened too. From NPR this is often a science-oriented podcast that offers topics like Choices, Wright Bros etc.

Library of Congress: Brand new site I found that looks like it has tons of booktalks, interviews, and lectures...seems to have a podcast on music.

Book Lust with Nancy Pearl Can't make a list without books. This is our own action figure Nancy Pearl as she interviews famous authors and poets on her Seattle-based program.

EPN: The Educational Podcast Network is a listing from David Warlick's Landmark Project that lists educationa podcasts by and for students and teachers.

The Wild Chronicles: great short videos created by National Geographic.

Geek brief tv: video cast by Cali Lewis about new tech toys and stories.

Slashdot Review: Is a great review of current tech news from Slashdot, Digg and Reddit. Andy McCaskey does a great daily job of keep us current in this concise podcast.

Promoting the Library

2009-01-29T18:01:00.000-08:00

Isn't it great to have smart friends? My library buddy has done some great promotional work in Adams 12. She has weekly fliers that go out to her staff and students telling the attributes of the library, books that are in or important events happening at the library. She does a different in"stall"ment for students and teachers. Teachers are really liking the version she makes them. I copied her idea (didn't want to be left out) and found the same in my building. Teachers told me that they really enjoyed reading what exciting things folks were doing in the building. Then, they come to me and ask if they could do those cool things too!
Click on image for full size view!

Teen Read Week 2008

2008-10-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

What a great time to celebrate YALSA's Teen Read Week™ October 12-18! There will be a very cool celebration every night that week @ Readergirlz. Each night next week they will have live chats with authors! The "epic lineup of published authors" and the five themed chats will take place at the rgz MySpace group forum, October 13-17, 2008, 6:00 pm PST/9:00 pm EST.

Student Collaboration

2008-06-23T12:37:00.001-07:00

Live blogging at CASL! Afternoon Workshop!

TIE is coming..

2008-06-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

OK- Getting ready for TIE (Technology in Education @ Copper Mountain) and I can't wait! There are so many very good sessions planned by educators that are full of great information. Finally the planning for my workshops is almost finished, and I have found some very cool toys for librarians to play with! Here is something I created with Wordle for my preso- it is made up of words from Standards for the 21st Century Learner.

What do you think?

Even if you can't attend- join us virtually for the conference! You can follow posts, pictures and more at David Warlick's Hitchhikr where the conference is named TIECO2008. If you post to your blog, add TIECO2008 and your post, photos etc will apprear for others @ Hitchhikr
Follow us via twitter with Hashtags: #TIECO2008 or http://hashtags.org/tag/TIECO2008/
See you there! Technorati Tags: TIECO2008

Marian Notes from 4/21

2008-04-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Beckie for facilitating and providing these notes!
** NOTE - next Marians Monday, May 19th!

· 21 skills are online learning in variety of ways: Blogging, video, databases.

· Virtual Campus is what St. Vrain is using. Classes are set up to use Moodle.

· Teachers are creating online professional development communities

· Alternatives to PowerPoint. Photo Story is an example

· The Program Destiny is used in Estes. When looking up books/topics in the library it connects to websites for research purposes.

· Transferable skills are what we need to teach.

· It was brought up that in Estes they are required to do 3-4 hours of professional development on computer skills.

Laura adds: great resources at:21st Century Skills

Also, the Framework for 21st Century Learning was presented at the CAL Pre-conference in November with Allison Zmuda. She was talking to librarians and principals and making sure principals knew that the skills businesses want to see in graduates are not necessarily the same skills be assessed in schools. Click here for her PowerPoint from that presentation.

CO Teen Literature Conference Authors

2008-04-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Teens had the opportunity to ask questions of Alane Ferguson and Gail Giles during the Teen Literature Conference April 5th 2008. (Notes for some of the conversation below)

Next year's authors were announced: Jordan Sonneblick (Notes from the Midnight Driver) and David Lubar (The Curse of the Campfire Weenies/Sleeping Freshman Never Lie). This should make for a great conference!

Mark your calendars now- see if you can join us APRIL 4, 2009!

Teen Lit Author Panel- Denver 4/5

2008-04-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

Authors Hilari Bell, Linda Collison, Laura Resau, Donita Tompkins talk about the process of writing and answered questions.

Alex Award winners...

2008-04-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Learning Gems, I now have a nice piece to tease ALA's 2008 Alex Award winners! Have a look:

CLiC notes for RSS 2.0

2008-04-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

Need some help with your administrator?

2008-03-27T20:27:00.001-07:00

Joyce Valenza wrote a great blog post today about a project she has been working on for schools in her area. Inspired by the Did you Know video, she has created her own piece to advocate that certified media specialists/teacher librarians be in place in all schools Well put together and good supportive material.
Take a look:
Libraries- a tale of inequity

For her complete post, click here: NeverEnding Search

What TIME is it?

2008-03-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

After finishing a research project on great poets in the AP English the students posted them in their classroom Google presentation account. They were to use this information to map the poet's birth or life span on a time line.

Some students used the new stylish looking Mnemograph time line creator. It is easy to get into so the students begin creating some pretty slick looking time lines. After about nine students, we had difficult seeing all the time lines though. **Note- just got an email from Michael R. from Mnemograph who thanked us for the feedback and said this would be a good addition. Within just a short time, Michael had adjusted the problems and we are good to go for today.

Some of the students chose to use Xtimeliner which is a social time line creation tool. Our students also found this easy to use and fairly quick to navigate. It has different options like collaborative editing and time line sharing that are kind of nice.

Since we were trying something new, it was hard for the students (and me!). Crashing computers, stalled work...but the student stuck with it and created most of their charts. The main goal was for them to begin to see patterns in the artists lives- and who was influenced by whom.

Turns out both tools work well for this. Even though we got stuck a few times the students liked the looks and feel of Mnemograph better. (At least today- we'll try with another class tomorrow!)
~guybrarian

Grab 'N Gab

2008-03-19T20:24:00.001-07:00

Today, upon completion of CSAP I invited all the staff up to the library for a kind an open house we called Grab 'n Gab!

It was a showcase of materials that we offer teachers that they don't normally see. We had district book sets like HS poetry, Forensics, audio books and DVD's playing. Cyberbully lessons from Netsmartz. I set out SLJ and Booklist for teachers to select books for me to purchase.

We provided mini-cheesecakes, cream filled strawberries, chocolate truffles and hot cider. There was a display of Information Literacy Standards. We even had book scavenger hunts for every subject area (yes even including PE and math). Lastly- we had cheesy prizes and opportunities to share some conversations.

It was a good lunch hour- Science, English, Foreign Language, Special Ed, administrators and even Math departments stopped by for a visit. Several of the books sets went straight into teachers classrooms. I even picked up some more work with ESL and special ed...great opportunities for future planning! Many thanks to my friend Kim for letting me copy her idea, my great clerk and new intern for making this possible. What a fun day! ~guybrarian

Question # Dos

2008-03-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

As a spin off from Teen Tech Week, my Spanish teacher is now using VOKI avatars.
Her current assignment is to have students tell their favorite restaurants, and foods. Even though it is not required, then can create a VOKI and respond right on her blog. She has been very pleased with the variety and amount of responses. Because of the technology, her year 1 Spanish students are loving it and doing good work.

Check out her blog: Clase de Espanol. Make sure to click on the little clipboard/notebook to hear and see the students responses!
~guybrarian

Teen Tech Week Workshops - part three

2008-03-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

(I almost called this THE REVENGE OF TTTW! ARGHHHH! This is part 3- read from below up to here! :) ~guybrarian)

Evaluation: Wow. Did I learn a lot! Here are some highlights:
1) Informal statistics
From my little polls I determined that 1/2-2/3's of my students have their own My Space accounts (only one student out of the 8 classes said they had Facebook).
About 1/3 of the students use an online photo tool, most use Photobucket
Most of them have been creating powerpoint presentations since about 4th or 5th grade.
There were 8 blocks of students that attended, filling every IMC computer. (Also a handful of teachers!)

2) What they don't know
They don't really know whats available to them online.
Most of the students had never seen the applications I previewed for them, much less used them for classroom work

They don't know too much about how to tag information
When we talked about online photo accounts, they used them but had never tagged their info in order to organize or even RSS them. Even the term TAG or TAGGING was new to them. I think this puts them at a disadvantage when they to sort information or research.

They don't know too much about RSS.
Making friends in my space- you bet! But we also talked about push/pull technology and it was pretty clear that they didn't know they could create spaces that would bring all their information to them in order to create meaning.

They don't know how to embed code into their web pages
When finished working with VOKI's it provides a script, and very very few of them knew what it was or what they could do with it. So, they didn't really know that they could adapt their online pages to become something that helps their learning.

They don't know how to create online workspaces that help them to be more efficient and organized.
When I showed them IGoogle (or pageflakes or netvibes) they had no idea that they could set these types of workspaces up for themselves. A few created them during our time, and saw the value in it.

They need practice on how to have productive live/online conversations.
While I was hoping that they could use the backchannel to clarify and share constructive information, my monitor ended up refereeing much too much for my taste. I just don't think students had a concept of what could really be accomplished here.

What does it mean? Successes:
Even though this didn't quite accomplish what I hoped there were some positive things.

A few students registered for online photo accounts and began organizing photos. I thought the avatar creator had less educational value than some of the other applications, so was a little embarrassed when students flocked to it. Then a teacher found a way to embed this cute avatar in her foreign language wiki. She set up an brief response to go with an assignment that I'm sure the students will love. (Check it out!) Lastly, I was very glad to see a few students create IGoogle accounts and began using them. This really seems useful for them and I wonder what it would look like to help students set these up for classes and activities.

The whole experience brought up many questions...
* What do students need to know so that they can create something of value to add to the web?
* How can we coach students to get to deeper levels when researching for themselves (rather than a prescribed assignment for school)?
* How can we best help students to productive and meaningful conversations on the web?
* What are some questions you have? :)
~guybrarian

TTWW TOO! (or Teen Tech Week part 2)

2008-03-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

(note: if you are lost- read the previous post about how I set up workshops for teen tech week @ Silver Creek library!)

Implementation: I started with my original plan, but changed it every hour. Students didn't know the tools I wanted to go over so it took a little longer. They loved playing with and creating avatars via VOKI, so spent quite a bit of time doing this. Had 3 or four teachers come in during their plan and created an extra handout for them, but they played with the VOKI too.

The night after the 1st presentation, I re-listened to Joyce Valenza's comments on Women of the Web 2.o podcast #65. Amongst other things- she talked about teacher her seniors how to create their own launching pages using IGoogle. So, the second day I incorporated that into the presentation by helping students to set up their own pages that could link to their teachers pages, the library and even have to-do lists.

Oh- and I tried to run a live backchannel chat during each session. It was managed by the Study Hall teacher back in her room and it was my intent that students could ask eachother questions and make helpful comments about the workshop. I also invited other librarians out of the building to poke in from time to time.

Evaluation: How did it go? Oh man! Wait till you read this...next blog post! ~guybrarian

Teen Tech Week Workshops, or TTWW??

2008-03-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Part I: Here at Silver Creek, we tried to set up workshops about emerging and current tech for students and teachers...thanks to a suggestion from Jennifer at Horizon High School.

SETUP: First I reserved the library computers and space for the last 1/2 hour of every block Thursday and Friday. Then I went to study hall teachers, guided study and others to get their students to sign up. I also made this available for students with a free period AND teachers. Classes were taught in the library. "Cheat Sheets" were created for each application if they wanted to explore on their own.

DESIGN: I planned on introducing tools that I think the students should be using: online multimedia tools like Voicethread or Slideshare; online photo sharing/editing tools like Flickr or Photobucket; book sources Library Thing; productivity software like Google and ZOHO and of course how to embed code in your blog/web presence- using VOKI as an example.

Process: 10-15 minutes of intro. 10-15 minutes of hands on work time. Then, 5-10 minutes of final links like Del.icio.us, Zamar and wrap up.

Implementation and evaluation...next post!

Teen Literature Conference

2008-03-04T12:27:00.001-08:00

Don't forget this is the week to register for the Teen Literature Conference held in Denver.

This years event will be hosted Saturday | April 5, 2008
On the Auraria Campus (at the Tivoli) in downtown Denver.

Authors Gail Giles and Alane Ferguson will both be speaking to the conference attendees. If you haven't been before, this is a great opportunity for you to take your students and enjoy good workshops and hear about new books. $25 Students and $50 adults.

Registration forms and more information is available online!

OUCH!

2008-02-11T18:29:00.001-08:00

(ok- this is a really a article I submitted to the student newspaper...but thought you might enjoy it too)~guybrarian

Ever slam your finger in a car door? You know it is about to happen. In slow motion you watch in horror as the door whooshes uncontrollably into your flesh. With a JOLT you are keenly aware of your senses and the incredible pain that this very REAL action caused. In many ways it changes your life for quite some time. You have to touch and grab things differently. You can’t point at things the same as before. The very real fact of this event is etched right into your fingernail- usually for weeks to come.

That is the idea behind Poetry Slams. They originated with Marc Smith who was a construction worker that loved poetry. He was fed up with stuffy academic poetry readings that appeared to have little regard for its audience. Smith created an event that included the crowd as judges and scorekeepers and where poets could present their raw, edgy and very REAL poetry. The audience in a way actually becomes part of each poem’s performance. At Silver Creek- we have modeled our competitive event after this model where each poet performs for five judges who award a numeric score to each poem. The highest and lowest score are dropped, giving each performance a rating between zero and thirty points.

While most slams go many rounds, Silver Creek only has time for two rounds during the lunchtime presentation. Even so- there is lots of time for good entertainment. Many rounds can be very competitive- with the top two poets separated by less than .7 of a point! Winners vie for highly coveted prizes like sidewalk chalk, water rockets or the amazing twisted animal balloon maker! It is always an interesting event, and continues to draws visitors from throughout the district.
Each slam is different, but there is always something that happens that jars your thinking…and with a JOLT you are keenly aware of your senses…in ways that change your thinking for quite some time.
By the way, props, costumes, and music are generally forbidden in slams. However for the March poetry slam organizers are opening it up to Sock Puppet poets. Come and join in the hilarity!

January Marians

2008-01-17T10:40:00.001-08:00

What a nice meeting yesterday with some great Marians in attendance. If you missed, Axel shared his teacher collaboration and planning form. (see that cute miniature? :)

Also he facilitated a good conversation on note taking, and queried as to the teacher librarian's role in this. (I wonder if we often find ourselves teaching this along with good research strategies) He shared some great resources along with the techniques he uses.
There are some great paper manipulative plans from Dina Zike that are fabulous to work with students. Take a look! See ya at next month's Marians! ~guybrarian
PS - Here are the dates:
Feb 13th, March 12th, April 21st and May 19th!

Are you talking? Save the date!

2007-12-17T14:55:00.001-08:00

There is a plan in the works for Coloradoans to participate in robust conversations about learning, or is it Learning 2.0! Come join others interesting in education February 23rd, 2008 from 9-3pm at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado.

The theme for the day is: Education is conversation-Conversation creates change. and this more information about this FREE conference, take a look at Bud the Teacher's blog. Also- here is a tentative schedule, and make sure to register to get the FREE LUNCH! Wow- this sounds like fun! ~guybrarian

Library 2.0 Course- Winter Fun!

2007-12-16T05:40:00.001-08:00

Rob Darrow and his California State Library Association is at it again...they are now offering “Winter Fun” for those who want to learn more about Web 2.0 applications that can work in the school library.

In his blog California Dreamin' he points to the School Library Learning 2.0 (CSLA) blog where it explains the 23 things Winter fun! If you haven't taken this course yet I would highly recommend it! I know a few folks that have done it for professional development credit as an independent or group study. Nice format, and it should be done by April fools day. WOW!

2007-12-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

Need a Golden Compass to find your way?

2007-12-07T11:38:00.001-08:00

Michelle Pulley reminds me about the release of the Golden Compass movie which comes out tonight 12/7.the movie coming out tonight...she suggested this blog from Rick Riodan’s blog, that contains a fellow author's thinking....I like when he says:

I can think for myself, and I give young readers enough credit to believe they can too. Sharing ideas, especially ideas we do not agree with, makes us all stronger thinkers. That is what good education, and good reading, is all about.

I've read some interesting email concerns hovering around these issues. Library podcast Lib Vibe reports that Toronto Catholic boards of education have pulled the series and are considering what to do.

On Teacher Librarian ning I asked: "What do you think this email frenzy and movie release will do for our readers?" So....what do YOU think? :)

Kindle your reading habit!

2007-11-27T05:13:00.000-08:00

Your new reader is here!

Amazon just introduce Kindle, an e-book reader. While it is kind of pricey, if boasts NY times bestsellers for $9.99 and claims it can hold up to 200 books! Amazon is offering support for this wireless device too- saying that it offers 90,000 titles that can can be accessed with Kindle.

It might be possible to use it as your RSS reader too- Amazon will sell you monthly subscriptions to magazines, books, newspapers, and even some blogs. But don't worry about ordering today- the Kindle sold out in 5.5 hours and isn't scheduled for re-release until late December. Hmm...folks must be ready for this!

Marians in October!

2007-10-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some resources we talked about at Marians tonight:

Kim presented on TRAILS- an tool from Kent State for realtime assessment of information literacy skills. All Adams 12 High Schools are going to use this with their freshman this year. Several of our Middle Schools are already using this. (I'll even try it)

CAL- Get Radical at the DIA Holiday Inn November 8-10

Several professional development opportunities for you:
Librarian Days at the Tivoli in Denver February 1st and 2nd

K12 Online conference...going on right now! Many great workshops and exciting events! I just finished one by a 8th grade math teacher called Release the Hounds. Tomorrow, I want to start the class on COPYRIGHT...it looks helpful too!

Kim doesn't want us to forget Colorado Council for International Reading conference in February 6-9...Tools for Literacy

Cool! See you at all these!

LIbraries- Front page Denver Post!

2007-09-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

The Broncos pull off an overtime win- but the picture on the front page of the Denver Post is the companion to an article about Public Libraries. How cool is that? Check it out...the article talks about the changing role of libraries to include-

37 million online transactions
librarians as research trainers
teen attractions
askcolorado.org
laptop check out

Love to hear your comments on this one!

Register for Teen Read Week!

2007-09-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

Did you know you might get a free book if you register for Teen Read Week with YALSA?

Here is an excerpt from their site:

Why should you register? YALSA is a non profit organization that depends on its members for support. By registering, you are letting us know that teen literacy is a concern and you are willing to do something about it! By registering, you are telling YALSA that this program is worthwhile, and we will continue to sponsor the week.

Be sure to download the Teen Read Week LOL logo to include on your promotional materials and check out the official Teen Read Week products brought to you by YALSA and ALA Graphics. Also- visit the Plan Your Event section of the YALSA site and the Teen Read Week Wiki.

GOOD LUCK getting ready for October!

Check this out for new info!

2007-08-31T09:06:00.001-07:00

Joyce Valenca has a wonderful new tool called VoiceThread. She developed a presentation for database use called: Why I Love Databases. It’s a good idea- I think we should adapt it for our own schools!

Axel Wins!

2007-06-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

Wow- I caught the Channel Four Denver News...and saw our own Axel Reitzig accepting a huge check on behalf of his school. Seems like it might have been the Qwest Technology grant!

I'll try to update this as we find out more...but in the mean time- congratulations Axel and Trail Ridge Middle School!

Phone Home!

2007-05-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

OK gang- we just found a way to help collect books at the end of the year. First, we create a list of ALL BOOKS OUT.

Then, we work with our attendance person to set up a parlant call. (Phone Home!) She helped us get our own account using the school software. We input the list of names with overdues and set up the time and date the call will go out. Then- I record a message to the parents and save it. Once we are all done, the calls go out when we specify and the books come rolling in!

Tonight will be the 3rd time we have tried it- and I am amazed it its success! Try it!

CO Teen Lit Conference

2007-04-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

Just pictures- you'd better ask me for stories:

Karol S

2007-04-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie to let you know Karol's presentation at the Colorado Teen Literature Conference was the best! People were flowing out in the aisles. Nobody (and I mean nobody) does book talks like Karol! She is simply fabulous :)

Joyce Valenza's New NING

2007-04-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Yes you read it right- I said NING. TL extraordinaire has set up a social network just for Teacher Librarians! There are only about 65 of us so far- but what a great way for Marians to read/meet and send each other great info. It is really a cool way to communicate and get ideas! TAKE A LOOK!

Longmont Makes LibVibe

2007-04-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Many of you already listen to the LibVibe library news podcast. When I was listening recently - I heard some news of Longmont Public Library on this national podcast about meeting space. Wow! Marv has started to do interviews and incorporate them into his podcasts too. Nicely done!

Speaking of libraries- the Longmont Pulbic Library is about to hold their spring book drive May 2nd. Make sure to contact Kim if you need books!

Who's your favorite librarian?

2007-04-12T17:57:00.001-07:00

In a recent search on Askville today, I ran across a question in the top ten questions...it went something like this:

"Most people have a favorite teacher or two, but do you have a favorite librarian?"

What a cool question! There were lots of nice answers to this question (you can read them yourself! - click here)

Most of you folks ARE librarians, but how would you answer the question? Make a comment on this post and we'll all read about your fav's! ~guybrairan

technorati tags:librarian, favorite, teacher

Powerpoint evil for educators?

2007-04-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

Attention presenters! Australian researchers have found that powerpoints are not necessarily the best tool for education!

In the article Research Points the Finger at PowerPoint researcher Peter Costello presents findings that show there are limits on the brain's ability to process and information in keep it in short-term memory.

So- reading straight from the bullet points on a PowerPoint is actually supposed to be worse for education. Bummer huh- However he also says:

"It is effective to speak to a diagram, because it presents information in a different form. But it is not effective to speak the same words that are written, because it is putting too much load on the mind and decreases your ability to understand what is being presented."

OK- I think I can do that!

BTW- next Marians 4/26- see you there!

St Vrain Valley's Teen Tech Week - UPDATE!

2007-03-01T20:09:00.001-08:00

Students are lining up to present at the very first Teen Tech week organized by Holli Buchter of the St Vrain Valley Schools District Media Serviles. Over 50 entries will be presented Thursday March 8th at Silver Creek High School. The projects represent the best student work from throughout the Middle and High Schools in St Vrain Valley. Projects vary, but some include DVD's, Website designs, Digital Photography and even a solar collector.

The work was inspired by American Library Association's TEEN TECH WEEK celebration! Check out their web site for really fun things to try with your kids! It is great fun! ~guybrarian

Blogged with Flock

The power of Lucky!

2007-03-01T19:57:00.001-08:00

Oh my! Isn't it interesting what a little book can do for you! My friend Kim gives me a hard time because I don't think I have enough controversial books on the shelves. Is your district struggling with this Newbery award winner? Ours is- we don't have endorsed librarians at the elementary level and the book is being withheld until it is approved for those schools. I can't wait to get my copy!

Here is a nice response from Susan Patron, (found in Publishers Weekly) author of The Power of Lucky- she starts with:
"I wrote The Higher Power of Lucky for the 10-year-old who lives inside me. That girl was curious about everything and sometimes went to great lengths to get information about the world and how it works." "I was shocked and horrified to read that some school librarians, teachers, and media specialists are choosing not to include the 2007 Newbery Medal winner in their collections because they fear parental objections to the word scrotum, or because they are uncomfortable with the word themselves." YIKES - we librarians have some work to do!

Perhaps this book and the struggles that ensue will help us become stronger and more helpful in getting the kids what they need, rather than being the gatekeepers! ~guybrarian

Blogged with Flock

Illinois Senator proposes a "MY SPACE" ban!

2007-02-20T11:45:00.001-08:00

Last week, Senator Matt Murphy filed a bill proposing that all social netowrking sites be blocked in ALL libraries.

Take a look at part of the bill-

"Provides that each public library must prohibit access to social networking

Web sites on all computers made available to the public in the library."

I personally don't feel total censorship is going to be the answer. Folks should use find ways to make good decisions and thoughtful responses on their own without being censored. Here is an original post on SLASHDOT.

They are having another, better crafted the Internet Safety Education Act introduced by Dan Kotoski - as TEACH42 says- "it doesn’t sound as flashy as Deleting Online Predators, or Social Networking Website Prohibition Act, but maybe something good can come of it." There are some nice parts to it- take a look! ~guybraian

Blogged with Flock

Second LIfe Strikes again...

2007-02-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

Did you see Second Life made January 29th's issue of Newsweek- Politics: Pelosi in Pixels? Well, Kim and I have been searching SL's Capital Hill for Senators and Representatives stumping on the issues. So far I haven't heard any speeches, but I have seen some nice history displays. Here is a picture of my avatar in the chambers. You can see the speaker's podium, and up above are some viewing screens (they can project videos there).

I showed this to our AP Government teacher- he is excited to try this and might create groups for his kids and meet online with them after he explores it.
~guybrarian

Teen Tech Week - March 8th

2007-02-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

For those of you not in our district- we are running a contest in conjunction with YALSA's teen tech week. Here is some of the information on my promo flyer that my student aide created:

Want $ 280 in 10 minutes?
Then what are you waiting for go NOW!
Enter Teen Technology Fair
See Mr. Goerner in IMC for more Details
Before this Friday, February 16th 2007
Individual
Grand Prize – Highest Score - $280 gift card
1st Prize Individual-– MP3 (Nano)
2nd Prize individual - - MP3 (shuffle)
3rd prize individual- - $40 music
(gift card)

Group Prize
1st prize one middle one high – $ 200
2nd prize one middle one high - $100
3rd prize one middle one high - $40

Thank you to our sponsors!

SO HURRY and go see our Mr. Goerner in IMC NOW!!

Behold- the power of BLOGS!

2007-02-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I finished working with the upper level English classes. They have decided to use BLOGS as a way for the students to complete their SAT vocabulary words. This energetic student teacher set up four blogs (one for each of the four classes) and invited each student to be a member of their class's blog.

On their assigned day, each student must define their word using the format designed by the teacher. The blogs are working very nicely when they need to talk about the mnemonics...They love adding cool graphics.

It is a good idea and the teacher is willing to "muck around" a bit to see if it works! I have great hope- so far they are only on the A's!
~guybrarian

Sorry, to get in- you will need a ticket!

2006-11-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

Remember how many of your teachers say to their students- "and your ticket to get out is this assignment". Now you can print them out.

Kim prowled around Concert Ticket Generator website (thanks to Librarian in Black- one of our great blogs). You can use it to create digital tickets for just about anything. She made one for our next Marian's gathering on December 8th.

How cool is that! ~ guybrarian

Aggregators Unite!

2006-11-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

There are several choices for aggregators these days. (Remember these are those things that let you know when a blog or podcast you are following gets updated)

The all time librarian favorite is BlogBridge which is software you need to download and install on your computer. This is a tough option for schools and educators that don't often use their own machines.

The second best choice for educators is to open a free account on Bloglines.com. Then you can click the "feeds" tab and select ADD FEEDS to paste the URL of LibPower into Bloglines.

The new version of Internet Explorer 7 has the capability of adding FEEDS too. But if you are going to download and install that, get FLOCK - another blog friendly search engine. (I think it is better.

If all else fails- try clicking on the ATOM feed button on the side of this blog and add it that way! Keep getting updates - and share great blogs that you have read! ~guybrarian

How are your students doing?

2006-11-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

Recently, an interesting article on Inside Higher Ed about the information literacy skills for college kids. While the title is not that flattering, I found the study they cited interesting. According to the article they interviewed 6300 students and 63 universities and found their skills to be less than stellar.

This has some good messages for us- about reaching kids and helping them to be proficient at info lit standards. For example:

"...when asked to select a research statement for a class assignment, only 44 percent identified a statement that captured the assignment’s demands. And when asked to evaluate several Web sites, 52 percent correctly assessed the objectivity of the sites, 65 percent correctly judged for authority, and 72 percent for timeliness."

The study says that less than half students surveyed found a site that met these criteria.

So- I think we can do better...but we could help each other out by sharing ideas of how we do this. How do you teach resource evaluation? What activities do you do? How do you reach the most kids? Let me know in a comment. ~guybrarian

Library 2.0 and Students Blog?

2006-11-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

In the November 2006 SLJ, read the article, A Matter of Radical Trust by Christopher Harris. He explains Library 2.0 (a concept I keep hearing about but didn't have a firm grasp of...) Harris says it's the concept of library services that encourage a more interactive engagement with patrons via blogs and other Web 2.0 tools. OK, that makes sense - interacting with our students & teachers using computer technology.

But that leads me to ask this question again - what is Web 2.0 then? Guybrarian Phil gave me a good explanation of Web 2.0 that I can paraphrase. He said the original web was one that we went to and took information from. The new web (2.0) is something we interact with using wikis, blogs, podcasts, etc We aren't only users of it, but are a part of it!

So Library 2.0 is an extension of Web 2.0 I think. We can have our teachers, students, and fellow librarians interact with us using web tools. I'm thinking of how that could happen and want your input.... I could have my fellow Marian Librarians write on this blog instead of sending emails to our group. I could have students post book reviews on a blog. I could have students do book reviews as podcasts that are on my LMC website - I like that one!
Your thoughts here.....

Back to the article, Harris writes that "the open and dynamic nature of Web sites is...a serious concern to schools." He asks "what if someone puts up something innappropriate"... on his blog for students. Good question! I had a brief discussion just like this with a history teacher here. She blogs, but she wouldn't include it as part of her classes for exactly that reason. She feels that being the blog facilitator is a huge responsibility that she doesn't want. More food for thought...

Kim's First Post

2006-11-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

Phil Goerner, guybrarian extraordinaire, has spent the last hour trying to get me to be even more techie than I already am! He's stretching my brain. Now I will be a regular blogger and podcaster, thanks to him. I have a new account with Delicious, bloglines.com, and this one (LibPower).

Marians Meet...

2006-11-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

At our most recent Marian's meeting Dr Laura challenged us to think about an aspect of collaboration that I had not before...methods of assessment. We viewed a philosophy from a library that included assessing for knowledge and misconceptions about a subject BEFORE you teach your collaborative lessons. Then finding active realistic methods of assessing She stressed that we "must continue to show that we are active partners of all aspects of collaboration- even assessments." Yeah!

LISZEN is a unique search engine for libraries that allows you to search over 500 library blogs using Google’s new Custom Search service. I haven't tried it too much but I think it could be very useful!

I found a really good library pathfinder site from Lakewood High School with 100's of cool resources for units that the librarian teaches with her staff. I think there are almost more here than Joyce Valenza has! Either one you choose - these are great resources.

I'm also sharing the new Google's tools for educators (we are using calendar and spreadsheets) quite a bit, but I'd like to play with Sketch Up some more.

Have a good week- I've got to go fix a projector!
~guybrarian>

The Librarian

2006-10-29T06:00:00.001-08:00

Don't you just love inspiring movies about us! Too bad we can see this in most schools!

2006-09-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Banned book week is here! Thanks to inspiration from Kim and the Exploratorium museum, ideas from Lynn - we came up with a few displays. In addition- we teamed up the public school librarian to present 1st amendment rights using Vamos a Cuba and the Miami Dade County School District.

All in all, we saw over 400 students and I really feel that after playing a parent, student, judge, librarian or even a school board member- they wrestled with what a book challenge is all about. Many thanks to Kathleen, my Longmont Public Library partner. It was cool!

Bifurcate to Survive!

2006-09-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Kim sent me an interesting observation:

Just an interesting observation.... In September's American Libraries magazine is an article called "Bifurcate to Survive". That means, cut into two pieces. The author says "to today's students, libraries means "books", not "information". What a simple, but helpful idea! If we can get today's techie kids to think of the library as a place to get information, and not just a place to get books, we might be able to hook them on how helpful we (and databases) are.

She got me to thinking about what I've recently found within Library 2.0 info...the idea is that libraries have always been providers of information. Now, that information isn't necessarily within the walls of the library. Think about it...our databases span throughout the world, we teach our students research skills so they can find, see, hear and do things from within or outside our walls. All this whether our staff is present or not. hmmm...

So...remember reading about Second Life in SLJ in June? It is a virtual community. The teen Second Life Library construction was spearheaded by Lori Bell, (in real life she is the Director of Innovation at the Alliance Library System). When I visited the library, there was an online reference desk with live chat capabilities. There are events like the monthly Book Discussions where folks gather to talk about books like On the Road, Fire Sale and The House on Mango Street. The Main library has Reference Services, Books, Audiobooks, Special displays (like the Declaration of Independence for Constitution day!)

Sure makes you wonder what our students will do next huh!
~guybrarian

Marians Meeting

2006-09-14T05:39:00.000-07:00

What a lively gathering we had the other day. I'm always amazed at the passion of my peers for their library work. Sitting down once a month or so with a diverse set of folks is very invigorating. I often find that I leave our gatherings with more energy than when I came. (with that in mind...maybe we'd better meet tonight- what a week!)

OK. I promised to share some things with my buddies. So here goes:

I talked about how an aggregator can use a web feeds to find things like weblogs, podcasts or anything that is updated. They actualy save use time because they go out and find our subscribed pages and look for updates. They are extremely useful tools, and most of them are easy to use.

Blogbridge is my favorite for PC's, and I've heard lots of librarians use it. You can organize your favorites in a variety of ways, and it will display the new material right in the window.

My new favorite browser is FLOCK which is perhaps best described by librarian Kathleen Gilroy on her Library 2.0 blog. She really does a nice job of explaining how this browser is a search engine, photo aggregator, news aggregator and blogging tool. (You could use this instead of Blogbridge if you want) I really like it and had the district install it on my machine here at school.

Some of you were interested in online conferences. There are two really good ones that I know of. One is a K12 Online conference that our own Bud (the teacher) will be speaking at. Another library specific online conference will be happening in February, but there has been a call for presenters. Meredith Farkas is one of the team members setting up this conference titled Five Weeks to a Social Library.

Lastly, we are all working on a online manual to help us with Horizon. Marium is a wiki that is pretty simple to edit, create new pages and links that add valuable information. I would love for you to add info- just contact me for passwords! It is also searchable (which helps me tons!)

Hope this helps! ~guybrarian

¡prohibamos los libros!

2006-09-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

Here I am getting ready for banned ALA's Banned Book week September 24-30 and this great story pops up from Miami Dade County School Board banning a book. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the decision stating that they had violated the rights of students and parents, and sent the issue to Federal Court.

I looked up several of the stories that surround this issue, and it is quite emotional. I wonder how we get our students to struggle with ways to combat inaccuracies in the books. Of course I would love for this to happen without removing books, perhaps by finding more stories to stack on our bookshelves. Here is the news from the Sun-Sentinal:

A federal judge sided with the ACLU, ordering the books back on the shelves in a preliminary injunction, but the school board voted Aug. 22 to appeal that decision.

Ronald Bilbao, 18, immediate past president of the Miami-Dade County Student Government Association and a plaintiff in the ACLU suit, served on the district-level review committee, which voted 15-1 to keep the book.

"It's ridiculous that we go to school to learn and to have every educational tool available to us and the school board is hindering our education by removing tools like books," he said.

Hmm, how do we stimulate our students to help them to think and speak in mature ways? Looking for ideas....~guybrarian
Listen to NPR BOOK podcast about this issue!

Card Catalog Creator!

2006-09-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

OK Marians- you too can create your own Catalog Card from the blyberg.net generator. I'm teaching a class on Library 2.0 stuff next week, so I've been playing around with new cards. It is pretty fun to add handwritten notes and text. If you don't like a style, click Make It again and you can view a new style. Enjoy!

....and we're off!

2006-09-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

This blog is an opportunity to have an ongoing conversation in order to share events, resources and even our different perspectives with one another. Projects, collaboration techniques and successful programs in our school settings are great things to write. From time to time we may present issues or concepts that we are wrestling with. In fact, let's really push each other to provide the best services we can. Let us know your needs and struggles- we'll work on them together. I have invited some Marian editors to help out- but if you would like to comment- just click on the comment section and leave us a note!

Using the wisdom from all of us- we can excel!
~guybrarian