Information Woman!

2011-02-06T23:53:00.002-06:00

The Power of the Masses

2011-02-05T09:10:00.000-06:00

Crowd Sourcing and Revolution

S is for Semantics: Harnessing the Power of the Masses
The Johnny Cash Project

2010-11-23T13:09:00.002-06:00

Cyberbullying is insidious. It's easy to feel anonymous and powerful in the online world. As teachers we have to do all we can to get the message out. It's painful and life-threatening to be at the receiving end of bullying. Let's do all we can to help the students recognize that they have the power to delete it as well as perpetrate it.

History Day @ Your Library

2010-11-09T22:10:00.003-06:00

I am presenting a Breakout Session at the History Day @ Your Library training for teachers being held at the MN History Center in St. Paul on November 10, 2010. I'm excited about sharing! The training I do is usually connected to technology, but this is simply using technology(the faithful data projector and laptop) to communicate ideas. I like to find the story in everything--it's her story, it's his story, it's their story, it's our story, it's HISTORY!
The Shelfari widget I just added on the sidebar has some of the picture books I'll be sharing with participants as starting points for a discussion of Debate and Diplomacy, this year's theme.
A picture book is such an excellent teaching tool, people shouldn't abandon it after third grade!

Amazing New Computer

2010-06-18T21:42:00.002-05:00

April is National Poetry Month

2010-03-04T10:34:00.000-06:00

Poetry--definitely a good place to visit in springtime...words and thoughts growing and bubbling inside of you and finding beautiful release in rhythm and rhyme. I think children are natural poets and should have the reading and writing and listening experiences that allow them to express themselves through the magic of poetry. I'm sounding very lyrical about poetry, keying on it's beauty, but of course ugly, messy, angry poems have their place too. Poetry helps us see and understand what is real and true. I remember a poem I wrote (which I'll share tomorrow) called "A Cup of Tea" which helped me uncover a whole new understanding of my childhood and the directions my life has taken since. I don't think writing in a journal could have done the same thing--I don't think months of therapy could have done it either. There's something about poetry that requires you to look for the "essential" core of an idea or a feeling and to remove everything else that doesn't belong.
With the complexity of my life and the workload I carry, I think I've just reminded myself that I need to spend more time in the company of verse.

2009-11-04T10:28:00.002-06:00

The 8 Habits of Highly Effective and Creative People_Storyboard -

New Media, New School Year . . . and a New Resource | Edutopia

2009-09-15T18:09:00.001-05:00

New Media, New School Year . . . and a New Resource | Edutopia

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Librarians Are the Best...

2009-09-15T17:04:00.004-05:00

filters, that is, according Anne Collier who said “Librarians are the best filters,because they can teach students about the filter between their ears.”
I found this article in the School Library Journal worth reading because, among other things, it points out once again the value that librarians and media specialist bring to schools. While classroom teachers may feel more comfortable with their "doors closed" and their energy focused primarily on their own students; librarians and other specialists whose job it is to serve the whole school and the whole student body find it uncomfortable to have the doors closed. They often have a broader view of student needs and the context in which students learn.
Because of the different focus that specialists bring to their work, they are often more flexible and more open to new ideas. Our students need both types of caring attention: the sharp focus on immediate student needs and learning and the broader focus on the whole child over their whole educational career and that child within the broader context of school and community.
What we need is to raise the awareness of that value that librarians and media programs bring to schools...an awareness that can be diminished in economic hard times. What can you cut...those that not directly in charge of students. The learning is diminished for students.
We need to continue to raise that awareness and speak up when our work is not recognized!

Analyzing Websites and Using the Internet Effectively

2009-06-21T21:31:00.004-05:00

Analyzing Websites:
This is an excellent tutorial on using the Internet...something we all feel comfortable doing, but don't necessarily bring all our best thinking to...I know I need to remind myself to be more reflective and thoughtful about how I search and what I do after I get results.

2009-06-21T21:20:00.001-05:00

Get a Voki now!

2009-06-21T20:29:00.000-05:00

Be Careful About Assumptions!

2009-03-17T21:33:00.004-05:00

As I was cleaning up some old e-mails I came across this article which I feel is worth revisiting. In our world today little time seems to be given to thoughtful reflection, replaced by quick judgments, which too often are based on assumptions. Then these assumptions are passed around as truth, with the speed of cyberspace. I am thinking about assumptions made about "digital natives"...those in the "Google Generation." We assume their comfort level reflects a corresponding level of competence All native speakers of English are not equally proficient in comprehension or expression; why should students be equally competent in technology?
The British Library and the Joint Information Systems Committee have a new study out that, depending on how you think young people use the Net, may confirms some assumptions and pop others. For full context, you'll want to read the report (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/reppres/gg_final_keynote_11012008.pdf ), which looks at the challenges facing libraries in the digital transition, but here's a sampling of its conclusions about the "Google Generation" (born 1993 or later):

* Assumption: They are more competent with technology. Verdict: "Generally true, we think, but older users are catching up fast. However, the majority of young people tend to use much simpler applications and fewer facilities than many imagine."

* Assumption: They prefer visual information over text. Verdict: "A qualified yes, but text is still important. As technologies improve and costs fall, we expect to see video links beginning to replace text in the social networking context. However, for library interfaces, there is evidence that multimedia can quickly lose its appeal, providing short-term novelty."

* Assumption: They have zero tolerance for delay and their information needs must be fulfilled immediately. Verdict: "No. We feel that this is a truism of our time and there is no hard evidence to suggest that young people are more impatient in this regard."

* Assumption: They find their peers more credible as information sources than authority figures. Verdict: "On balance, we think this is a myth. Research in the specific context of the information resources that children prefer and value in a secondary school setting shows that teachers, relatives and textbooks are consistently valued above the Internet."

* Assumption: They are the "cut-and-paste" generation. Verdict: "We think this is true; there is a lot of anecdotal evidence and plagiarism is a serious issue."

* Assumption: They are expert searchers. Verdict: "This is a dangerous myth. Digital literacies and information literacies do not go hand in hand. A careful look at the literature over the past 25 years finds no improvement (or deterioration) in young people's information skills.” My sense is you can have all kinds of big online players jump on the bandwagon but unless OpenID's benefits are well-explained, it will continue to languish."

Sharing Resources

2009-03-12T14:03:00.003-05:00

Today Diane and I had the opportunity to share our district's online resources with the district Tech Steering Committee. The presentation was successful and informative for our audience...whew!!!
The wealth of resources that are available to our students and staff is amazing and frankly, my dear, overwhelming! When I was a student in grade school and high school, the challenge was to find the information that you needed. ACCESS was the problem we faced as learners for centuries. (this is not from personal experience...despite what my son might say!) In the last fifteen years the learner's challenge has changed. Access is ubiquitous and now the challenge is to EVALUATE and SELECT the information that is accurate and relevant. We may have talked about "information literacy" for years...but it's importance has been heightened.
I'm not writing anything groundbreaking...just a reminder to myself that my eyes need to stay open to emerging trends...that we are really riding a wave of change.

Ideas--as wide as Lake Superior!

2009-02-27T11:43:00.006-06:00

As I was reading reactions to Obama's speech to Congress and to the nation in Atlantic Monthly, I followed a link to an interesting but controversial blog "Divided We Stand United We Fall". The thing that I found intriguing was his concept for linking different blogs and news articles about the event through lines in a song for a musical. He thought Obama's speech was full of "razzle dazzle", thus....Chicago! I could see this being adapted for classroom use. Take the powerful lyrics from "the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
Student researchers could find appropriate links for the history of the Chippewa, the origins of the name, "Gitche Gumee" and the history of shipwrecks in Lake Superior. Or, the teacher could embed links to websites that students would access through the lyrics. A pre-activity could include listening to the song and developing research topics or questions to be answered. What more do you need to know to understand what happened on that November day? What happened before? What has happened since? What are other disasters that have been immortalized in song, and why?
The use of music to connect to students and create meaningful content and context is amazing.
Some how I got from a podium in Washington D.C. to the depths of Lake Superior. The Internet allows our intellects to wander far and wide!
www.flickr.com/photos/52532834@N00/233759577

Hysterically Historical Librarians

2009-02-25T14:36:00.006-06:00

"The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different." Aldous Huxley

My friend and colleague, Kari, send me this link to a 1947-vintage movie about librarianship as a career. It is always worthwhile to visit our past, so we can more effectively understand our present and create our future.

Blogging as Professional Practice

2009-02-23T11:48:00.008-06:00

I just read a blog by the Liminal Librarian on the topic of blogging. She says: "Every bit of blogging serves as that same practice that morning pages (concept from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way) provide: Seeing what works for you, what works for your readers, and what works when you come back to it later; finding the nuggets of usefulness among everything you have to say; finding your own voice."
I am finding myself blogging more regularly now. It is becoming more a part of my practice.

Do You Have a Favorite Book?

2009-02-21T23:28:00.005-06:00

Books...reading books...owning books....talking about books. What better occupation? I've just been exploring a list of the 1.041 best books (or at least a compilation of a number of people's opinions.) There is a chance at this site to submit your own list of the 25 best books of all time. Try it, if you dare! My list is currently at 45 titles and no doubt I'll dream about books tonight and check my library shelves tomorrow and the list will grow. It will take some time to cull it to only 25! There was also a quiz there and I've adding my results. It only had six questions to find out your "book identity". It's true, I am fond of talking rabbits!

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Be Alert to Google Alerts!

2009-02-19T22:51:00.010-06:00

In our fast-paced world I often advocate for the concept of "less is more", in support of focus and simplicity. However, I am quite taken with the idea of "more is more" when I look at the tabs at the top of the Google page.That's where I located Google Alerts. Last month I wrote a grant and I needed to gather background and supporting information about current trends in professional development. By creating a Google Alert, I get a daily annotated listing of websites and blog posting that meet my search criteria. A quick look through this daily list gives me at least one or more things worth checking out.

I am not in desperate need of more e-mail...but this is comparable to having a personal shopper who brings me the latest fashions. I won't try them all, but some things are a very good fit!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefharris/526752443/sizes/s/#cc_license

Time Flies...whether you're having fun or not!

2009-02-17T13:56:00.007-06:00

What to blog about in the middle of February, when my driveway is a skating rink and an opposum is snacking out of our birdfeeder by the front door? Sometimes nature should take precedence over technology, but far too often I spend the hours of daylight and darkness staring at a computer screen. The Web 2.0 world has captured our collective imagination and people are finding amazing ways to create and connect. I have recently joined "goodreads"...a place to record the books you've read and connect with other readers. It's great! It's something I've wanted to have. I have hopes of recording all the books I own. Despite this enthusiasm, I don't have the time or energy to fully engage with this site because: Our family is also on Geni, a genealogy site...also wonderful and exciting. And, I just found out about Glogster, a site for making posters...I have lots of photos to load on Flickr and modify in Picnik...I just have to try to make a movie on xtranormal.com...and catch up with friends on Facebook. I'm suffering from an overload of wonderful!
After spending a whole Sunday answering e-mails and emerging with 275 emails still to go, it sometimes seems that technology has taken over my life. I think I need to spend time with the 'possums!

Finding a Tool that works

2009-01-28T10:01:00.004-06:00

Delicious is great!

2009-01-26T16:30:00.003-06:00

I am newly returned from Denver, where I attended the School Library Advocacy Institute at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. It was a great opportunity to meet like-minded people and discuss important topics, and visit the huge hall full of vendors. When I catch up on e-mails, I'll be sharing some ideas and links.

It's a New Day!

2009-01-20T15:12:00.008-06:00

The peaceful transfer of power occurred today in view of the whole world. Technology has brought fulfillment to Shakespeare's proclamation: "

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts

Barack Obama is playing his part on the
world's stage and the
world is his audience.

This event will no doubt break records and
how could it not,
with the power of his
presence and the power of technology.
Technological advances have been part of a number of
inaugurations.
I found this on the New York Times website:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/weekinreview/18spectacle.html
"Mr. Obama will break new technological ground by being the
first to use text-messaging and YouTube as part his festivities.
James Polk plowed a path in 1845 by holding the first
inaugural to be covered by
telegraph, while James Buchanan’s inaugural in 1857
was the first known to be photographed.
Calvin Coolidge’s inaugural in 1925 was the first
covered nationally
by radio, and Harry S. Truman's inaugural in 1949 was the first
to be televised
nationally. (John Adams was the first president to wear
long trousers during a swearing-in,
according to a list of inauguration trivia
kept by the office of the architect
of the Capitol. Apropos of nothing, this
irresistible factoid certainly deserves
its place in these parentheses.)"

My job in on the line, but its redemption is online!

2009-01-15T17:37:00.004-06:00

A strange title for my first blog in 5 months, but there it is. I have just spent way too much time writing on this little laptop of mine (on loan from the district, but just try to get it back!!!) but it's sort of like eating potato chips...it's really hard to stop once you get started!
My job as a tech trainer is on the line, because of, what else? , shortage of funds! Therefore, we have just written a grant proposal to maintain it for next year to accomplish some magnificent goals! So, my job redemption is online, in that the grant was successfully uploaded to the state department with 8 minutes and 52 seconds to spare!
4500+ words just made their way through cyberspace to a server in St. Paul, but the end result (yes--job, no--go back to bidding) is still in the hands of humans. Machines are faster; humans, I hope, have lots of empathy (and enough money to go around).
I think I can stop writing now, and go home and put my feet up (under a blanket, because it's still below zero!) I just realized that I include a lot of thoughts inside parentheses. (I wonder why?)

Wordles---everyone loves them!

2008-08-18T15:27:00.002-05:00

I just created a wordle with the names of my family and significant info. What fun!
What use in education?

How Far I've Come...How Far I Have to Go!

2008-04-16T12:56:00.005-05:00

A recap of the "Things" I've done:
Thing 1. What Are You Talking About?
Understanding Information Literacy.
This is a continuing challenge! The basics can be defined, but the specifics keep changing as the technology morphs and expands, changes and reforms into new iterations. This term,"information literacy" and all its cousins and shirttail relatives...technological literacy, visual literacy, etc; catch my eye in my professional reading and is something that Diane and I will again grapple with today as we craft interview questions to pose to interviewees for the media positions that will be open in the district.

Thing 2. Create Your Blog & Post About It
Blogging is valuable as a place to put ideas into words, but it also is "another thing to do" and requires a commitment to making it a habit. It has to rise to a higher level of importance than it has at this time in my life. I wish I could blog more and email less. A goal: find out how to master email and morph it into a more useful kind of communication within our department. Maybe Google Docs in discussion lines or a Wiki in Moodle. (Three years ago, if someone suggested I make a wiki in moodle, I'd probably have slapped their face--or asked them to stop talking baby talk!)

Thing 3. RSS & Newsreaders
My understanding of RSS is still tentative and I have not yet found it highly applicable for the work I do on a regular basis. I haven't tackled the time management needed to have time to read all the updated postings as they come.

Thing 4. Get to Know Your Public Library
I can't wait until the summer when I plan to make use of the museum access. I'm going to devote a day or two to visiting my favorite libraries and digging into things I haven't explored yet, although I do borrow books, audiobooks, videos and dvds, I search, reserve, renew on line, I buy used books , read reviews, sit and read magazines, and on and on...there are features I'm not using or letting people know about.

Thing 5. Create and Maintain a Teacher Web Page
Friday Diane and I are meeting with one of our webpage developers and the district graphic designer to work on a new interface for the media website. We want to have something that looks like the Springfield High School media site.
I've been doing webpage training this year. I really enjoy working with teachers on learning this...I learn a lot too!

Thing 6. Use the Teacher Guide to the Research Project Calculator (RPC) AND

Thing 7. Get to Know the Research Project Calculator (RPC)

I like this a lot, but I haven't had a chance to use it with students. It would be a good idea for me to take one of the upcoming projects we have around the office and run it through this system and see if it also works for other kinds of things that require research and planning. Yes, Jean, that's a good idea!!!!

I've already talked about these things in previous posts, but review is a good thing!

I get a Kick out of KIC!

2008-02-19T10:19:00.002-06:00

I am attending a monthly KIC (Key Instructional Contact) meeting at the TIES building in Roseville. Today's topic is student response systems. We have heard about Activotes from Promethean, Quizdom, Senteo from SmartBoard and Interwrite.
Here is another learning curve issue for the teachers, but something that we can consider as a technology that will be here to stay and will become integral to instruction. It seems to have acquired enough momentum because of how well it ties in with effective instructional strategies, supports assessment goals, and also how it can become another source of income for technology manufacturers, textbook producers and others who serve the education market. They are part of a movement towards technology aided interactive instruction and the amount of content that is becoming available for teachers to use, should make them more palatable and accessible for larger numbers of teachers. They also have the potential to save teacher time and give them more data that could effectively impact instruction.
I am going to guess that within 5 years these tools will be much more transparently integrated into classrooms, with some painful hills to climb in between.
Will one format rise above the rest, as Blu-Ray has just done over HD-DVD? the interactivity is changing from the IR (infrared) to RF (radio frequency) to highspeed wireless?
I always wonder about the negatives and the things that will be lost when we choose a path to go down.
Robert Frost spoke of the road not taken...I wonder more about the roads that are taken.

2008-01-18T14:25:00.000-06:00

I decided to add an RSS feed for School Library Journal today. I am also applying for an exemption from the standard 24 hour day so that I can read all the interesting things that I can find on the Web.

Catching up in the new year

2008-01-09T10:30:00.000-06:00

Email may well be the most insidious invention of the recent past. You can become buried in a virtual avalanche of correspondence that can take you away from personal contact and meaningful work. "Didn't you get my email?" "Yes, probably, ..." It's easy to find email, usually, less easy to determine what is significant and what is not. Regardless, it's back to my virtual desk, to clear off the virtual mess!

Blog Bogged-Down in Snowstorm of Work and Ennui

2007-12-14T16:16:00.000-06:00

As someone who should be setting a good example, I'm a failure. I have however, been engaged in technology!
Just yesterday, I got to meet with Bob, Terry and Ban Lang from Wellstone to help them work on their building technology plan. They are proving to be real leaders in their school community. Way to go!
Ennui...is that the right word for what I'm feeling and experiencing? I think I'll check it out on this great dictionary source I discovered serendipitously: http://www.visuwords.com. It defines words in a graphic interface that's quite amazing!
Ennui doesn't work...I'm not bored...maybe overwhelmed would be better.
I have done Things 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 23, 24, 27, 29, 35, and 36. And I will write about them, after I paint two rooms, get my floors carpeted and assemble and fill 7 bookcases in my home library. I better go home and get busy!

You've got to try these resources!

2007-11-19T12:50:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday I helped facilitate a full day workshop with middle school social studies teachers on preparing for History Day. In the course of the day I shared information about WorldBook, Destiny, and NetTrekker. We invited JoEllen Haugo from the MPL to share Minneapolis's rich resources. That's a BIG WOW! It could take weeks just to look at everyone of them, without getting in depth. Todd Pierson also shared two excellent research tools that are available online: Think Tank and Note Star. Think Tank allows users to narrow down a topic and create powerful subtopics. NoteStar is as you can imagine, a notetaking program that can be managed by a teacher and allows collaboration between teams of students. Both programs come from the same group, http://4teachers.org, which has also created a rubrics program. Think Tank and Note Star can theoretically work together, but there are problems with the length of subtopics created in Think Tank and a cut and paste method works better. http://thinktank.4teachers.org/ and http://notestar.4teachers.org/

A Spooky Day at the End of October

2007-10-31T13:35:00.000-05:00

Know what's really spooky? How many libraries are available at your fingertips. (Maybe not spooky...but cool, isn't it?) I personally have an Anoka County card, but frequently go into Forest Lake and use the Washington Cty library, or stop at the Ramsey Cty library by Har Mar Mall. I'm a member of the Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library and enjoyed the trips I made to the Franklin library and the North Regional library with pre-K students this summer. The ITS staff has made us of the meeting room at No Regional for a quiet work session and I am always reserving books that I come across and want to read.

What next? I know I don't utilize the online resources very much beyond reserving books, but here I go! In my next post I will go into what I learn from the public library.
I will be developing an online resources class that I'm going to deliver through Moodle. That is a new experience for me.

Somewhere on a Monday

2007-10-22T16:14:00.000-05:00

I am currently proofreading a grant application that another district technology person has been working on for the past few days. I am researching various things to tweak or add depth to the application. One question that I have been pursuing is:
What is the purpose of education? What is our priority for students? Here are some of the possibilities I have found:
1. to mold and develop our young children into positive, caring and intelligent individuals.
(Educational Priority: Character Education Jack Bowen, Guest Author Character Education Partnership Advisory Board June 2001)
2. to prepare students for success in the job market
3. to widen students' horizons and help them develop a love of learning
4. to educate students to be responsible citizens (The purposes of education, http://www. publicagenda.org)

Each one of these goals shapes the discussion differently and calls for different pedagogical approaches, different curriculum, different assessment tools. What do you think? What is the best research on the subject and how does it all fit in with our stated national educational goals
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/GOALS2000/TheAct/sec102.html

Second Night

2007-10-17T19:06:00.000-05:00

I have just been listening to an audio cd about the Great Books. The latest lecture was about the book of Job, so I am thinking in Biblical terms about this project. After two classes with a deluge of new ideas, concepts and tools, I feel distinctly underwater and in need of an ark! Having been hired by the district as a tech trainer I feel that I need to fill the role of Noah and rescue other drowning souls. Maybe I am more of an Evan Almighty and will turnout to be a box office disaster!!
I know a lot, I learn quickly, but I'm not a kid anymore and I have the baggage of many years of thinking in certain ways. Experience is not valued as much as it used to be. Flexibility and agile thinking are more vital in an exponential world. I know that I do sieve new learning through old filters. However, if I am thoughtful about the process, I can present information more clearly to others that also have "filters of experience".
There is a mixture of emotions that people deal with when they are presented with new learning, technological or otherwise. There is excitement! There is fear and uncertainty? There is opportunity for both success and failure. There is a sense of responsibility to make the most of your new learnings. I did figure out how to post a picture!

First Night

2007-10-15T19:07:00.000-05:00

The group has gathered, the adventure has commenced. Minneapolis MILI is a go! We have teachers and media specialists from three Minneapolis high schools and the guidance of Ann Walker Smalley, Karen Eidem and Deanna Sylte. We have discussed plagarism, shared proposed research projects and did a post-it note activity about our place (comfort,ease, knowledge) on the continuum of cutting edge technologies. It made a colorful picture of our varied skills and opportunities for growth. Dinner was delicious...falafel from the Holy Land, and amazing, still fresh! Who knew that "Nordeast" was really the Middle East?