I like the idea of "inside the book" discussions - how many times have I been reading (quietly, to myself, by myself) and felt so moved by a section of a book, a passage, a chapter, that I've wanted to immediately discuss it with someone! Sometimes, if I know it's a book a friend has also read, I may do just that - copy/paste a section of the text into a text message, as I almost exclusively read ebooks these days, often just on my Android phone through the Kindle app. I can absolutely see the appeal of reading as a more social activity; however I'm a (sometimes antisocial) introvert who highly values time to myself, and quiet time. I like that books are a way to be alone, but are engaging, that they shut out the outside world (if the book is a good one). I've always loved losing myself in books, since I've been able to read. So do I want this, my most beloved of "alone time" activities, to become another occasion in which I have to interact with people (exhausting!)? For this reason, I do like the somewhat static environment of Goodreads. I love Goodreads for tracking what I've read and whether or not I liked it. After reading, I'll often read others' reviews to see how other people felt about a book. If there's a point that is left ambiguous or is just unclear to me, I like the questions and discussions on Goodreads. But I'm a lurker, not a poster. I've never taken part in a discussion on Goodreads. This "Thing" may have been enough of a gentle nudge to make me take more of an active role in my reading - instead of just quietly swooning/raging/dropping-my-jaw to myself, perhaps the next time a book moves me, I'll post about it, see what like(or unlike)-minded people have to say.
Professionally, well, I'm a librarian. I like to talk books, to share what I've loved, and hoped others feel the same. I still remember, when I was in a school, having happy kids come back into the library after reading a book I'd recommended. "Miss Hough," (these were days pre-marriage) "this book was SOOOOOOOO good!" - nothing made me happier. Kids love sharing their opinions with each other, and as we're constantly being told, kids are "digital natives" and as such, I can see the appeal of live Tweeting reading, sharing thoughts and helping one another understand what they're reading.
Rereading what I've written so far, I'm seeing a paradox of "yes, social reading," "no, it's my quiet time!" in my thoughts, but maybe that's ok. Some books need to be talked about, are better shared, need some brainstorming to really get to the root of their meanings; and some don't. Sometimes when I'm reading an ebook, there will be sections highlighted that a previous reader has selected (because nearly all of my books come from libraries) - I love to see what has caught another reader's attention.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Thing 18: Online Learning & DIY PD
With Common Core and the ever-increasing rigors of standardized testing being at the forefront of educators' and parents' minds, it gives me hope to read about "Genius Hour" and "20% Time" - and these seem like perfect opportunities to draw on the talents of the school librarian. If I was a classroom teacher planning to implement "Genius Hour" with my students, I think I'd have the kids brainstorm on paper about topics they're interested in and want to learn more about, then I'd work with the librarian, including some class time spent in the library/lab, guiding kids toward information sources on their topics of interest. I can't think of much that would be more thrilling to a kid than telling him or her, "learn about anything you'd like."
When I was in graduate school, I had a professor for my Emergent Literacy class who gave us the first twenty minutes of each class to free read - with the caveat that it had to be from a (long) prescribed list of books covering topics on early/emergent literacy and early childhood education. I always valued this time and the quiet, thoughtful start to class that it provided. While "Genius Hour" isn't quite the same, I think a focused autonomy in learning is a wonderful idea, one that is likely to increase productivity during and after the "hour."
DIY PD is something I think most devoted professionals are constantly doing informally, provided said professional works in a field of his or her own interest. Personally, I'm always reading book reviews to see what to purchase for our consortium; I read School Library Journal not because I have to, but because I like staying abreast of new developments and educational practices. My husband works with computers and is always, always learning more about his specialty.
When I was in graduate school, I had a professor for my Emergent Literacy class who gave us the first twenty minutes of each class to free read - with the caveat that it had to be from a (long) prescribed list of books covering topics on early/emergent literacy and early childhood education. I always valued this time and the quiet, thoughtful start to class that it provided. While "Genius Hour" isn't quite the same, I think a focused autonomy in learning is a wonderful idea, one that is likely to increase productivity during and after the "hour."
DIY PD is something I think most devoted professionals are constantly doing informally, provided said professional works in a field of his or her own interest. Personally, I'm always reading book reviews to see what to purchase for our consortium; I read School Library Journal not because I have to, but because I like staying abreast of new developments and educational practices. My husband works with computers and is always, always learning more about his specialty.
Thing 16: Mapping & Geolocation
I worked on this "thing" about three separate times, so this time I'm going to finally wrap it up and write down my thoughts. I played with a lot of the listed tools for fun, but haven't gotten to into the curricular aspects of them. I can see how they would be a really interesting way to delve deeper into a topic, learn more about the background information of a book's setting for an English class, or as a good way to tie English and Social Studies together.
In particular, I liked What Was There. It was a lot of fun to see the old photos, see what modern cities looked like years ago (I especially like the more recent past, as so much has changed in the past few decades). I also loved the collaborative Google map. That might be a fun back to school activity to replace the old, "What did you do over summer vacation?" Even if you didn't leave home, you could still place a marker and post a little description of where/what you did.
In particular, I liked What Was There. It was a lot of fun to see the old photos, see what modern cities looked like years ago (I especially like the more recent past, as so much has changed in the past few decades). I also loved the collaborative Google map. That might be a fun back to school activity to replace the old, "What did you do over summer vacation?" Even if you didn't leave home, you could still place a marker and post a little description of where/what you did.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Thing 15: Digital Tattoo & Digital Citizenship
This was an interesting Thing. I don't deal directly with students, generally, so I am not employing Digital Citizenship lessons, but some issues I'd been wondering about personally were addressed.
One thing that has sat uncomfortable with me in the past several years is employers (and schools, it would seem) use of social media as a means of vetting or investigating potential employees. Yes, it is foolish to put anything terribly objectionable or offensive online; you should always be careful about what you put online. But more in the interest of being a good "digital citizen" than because you're afraid you won't get a job. This article addresses many of my concerns and I agree with its author that rather than strictly warning students to beware what they post online, we should be letting employers and schools know that this is an invasion of privacy and we are not ok with it. What is personal should remain so, but I'm firmly in favor of separating personal and business.
On a different note, the Digital Leadership Continuum chart by George Couros is a valuable piece of self-reflection for educators and administrators, with an emphasis on the latter. I think it's doing students a disservice to block all social media and not inform them of how to use such sites wisely, kindly, thoughtfully.
Lastly, I'd like to mention that I really appreciated the link to the article from Computer World about how to remove your personal information from data mining sites. When I do a Google search on myself, not much comes up at all. I have my Facebook profile fairly locked down and the fact that I use a nickname sometimes and my full name sometimes, helps, too. (And I wonder if the fact that my last name doesn't sound like it looks, to English-speakers, anyway, helps?) I plan to use the provided opt-out forms from the above linked article to remove the bits of information I did find on myself using the pipl search that was also listed in the Thing 15 resources.
Thing 14: App-palooza!
I have an Android phone that I use for pretty much everything, so that's what I used for this "Thing." I really liked Shannon McClintock Miller's idea of the "Library in Your Pocket" and created an "SLS" folder on my phone for work/library-related apps so they'd all be in one place. Included in my "pocket" are the following apps: OverDrive, Follett Destiny, Nook, QR Code Reader, YALSA's Teen Book Finder, Wonderopolis, EasyBib, Oxford Dictionary of English, Questia, and Office Mobile. Some of these were apps I already had on my phone, but others I downloaded specifically after reading through Thing 14.
In my position at Capital Region BOCES, I sometimes travel to schools to help librarians and their staff with various library-related problems. The OverDrive app is really nice because you can add more than one library to it and store your log-ins. For example, I have a BOCES OverDrive account and an Upper Hudson Library System OverDrive account. It's nice and streamlined to be able to just access one app for either library catalog. The Follett Destiny app is good to have for teachers and other library staff members for those times when they might not have or want to do traditional checkout at a circulation desk (library on a cart, teaching from the computer lab, etc.)
Prior to reading through this Thing, I didn't realize there were so many free reference books available through the Google Play Store, probably because I primarily use my phone for personal business. Through the "reference" search in the Play Store, I found Oxford Dictionary and many other free and useful apps, though I did not download them all -- topics including MS Office product tutorials, coding apps, and math guides. If I was still a student, this would be really a great resource for homework and research help. Many of the reference guide apps were free.
In my position at Capital Region BOCES, I sometimes travel to schools to help librarians and their staff with various library-related problems. The OverDrive app is really nice because you can add more than one library to it and store your log-ins. For example, I have a BOCES OverDrive account and an Upper Hudson Library System OverDrive account. It's nice and streamlined to be able to just access one app for either library catalog. The Follett Destiny app is good to have for teachers and other library staff members for those times when they might not have or want to do traditional checkout at a circulation desk (library on a cart, teaching from the computer lab, etc.)
Prior to reading through this Thing, I didn't realize there were so many free reference books available through the Google Play Store, probably because I primarily use my phone for personal business. Through the "reference" search in the Play Store, I found Oxford Dictionary and many other free and useful apps, though I did not download them all -- topics including MS Office product tutorials, coding apps, and math guides. If I was still a student, this would be really a great resource for homework and research help. Many of the reference guide apps were free.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Thing 13: School Library Web Presence
Forgive me for going really easy on myself for this "thing;" my job involves using several of the tools on a fairly regular basis, and one of the examples, the Capital Region SLS LibGuide, is a site I helped create. I also regularly contribute to our eNewsletter, have helped edit/modify the BOCES SLS website using Microsoft Expression, and we as a department have just recently purchased a subscription to Smore, which I focused on for this exercise.
We are hoping to boost usage of our Instructional Media (IM) resources, and one way we're trying to achieve this is through "advertising" through Smore flyers. The sample I made is pretty basic, but it's still a work-in-progress. One of the teaching tools we have in our IM collection are literature boxes; these sets compile classroom sets of a single title, a collection of various works by an author, or a collection of titles united by a common theme. One of the most recently gathered literature boxes focuses on contemporary realistic YA fiction that focuses on various "difficult discussions," so I created a Smore for this box. While all of this information will be available through SNAP, and teachers will still have to request materials through SNAP, this is a more user-friendly, visually appealing format than the very basic and somewhat austere format of SNAP. Though my sample flyer is not graphics-heavy, one of the nice things about Smore is the ability to add images, link out to other websites, include biographical information, and embed music and videos. There are a variety of typefaces, styles, and background images to choose from, and you can upload a custom background, too.
Smore does have limitations in the formatting of the text boxes, which is somewhat frustrating. It has a pretty low character limit for titles and subtitles, and the sizing and alignment of text cannot be changed, nor can text color. Still, it has a reasonable subscription cost for educators and is hopefully going to be a useful tool for us.
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