Teacher Training

We are fortunate enough at our school to have 2 teachers and our librarian participate in the Library 23 things offered through the district. That being said, we realized the need for teachers to be aware of the tools that we have found helpful in this process.
We have proposed teacher trainings this upcoming year (2008-09) differently to our principal and she gave it the thumbs up.

1. We have already surveyed the teachers and received their input on interests.
2. Everyone will bring their own laptops with them to staff development.
3. Each month we will introduce a new tool: animoto, photostory, trading cards, wiki page, etc.
4. After explaining to the teachers a quick overview, it is time to “play”. Using the projector and laptop hooked up-we will walk them through the features and allow them time to explore and create with the expertise of the teachers/librarian already trained.
5. The teachers will have the flexibility to work on the project alone or with their teams.
6. This is the ideal time to use your librarian as an excellent resource. She also is an expert on copyright and fair use.


So in short
-we listened to the teachers.
-we are going to give the teachers an opportunity to use some technology without being intimidated or overwhelmed.
-we have built in time and flexibility.
-we are also capitalizing on the strengths of others.

The major difference will be the follow up and hands on training that has been missing from the equation. Many times we go to workshops to just think, "That was neat." but never have the time or assistance needed to complete the project.

We are excited to try this.

Thing # 23-I made it!!!

One word: Worthwhile
I am a lifelong learner and always looking for new challenges. Maybe that is why I have chosen to go back to grad school and pursue a MLS. I enjoy studying about things I never knew before and loving it.

This was an excellent way to get me to experience and learn new technology. I know this will help me in preparing for the future. Many of the tools I have already used in my classroom and look forward to implementing in a library. I will definitely participate in another technology learning experience like this one. I liked going at my own pace. I've found some things that I'll probably make use of and some that I won't, but it's good to know that these exist, even if I don't use them. My favorite exercises from this whole brouhaha were Trading cards, My del.icio.us, Animoto (I'm addicted), wikis and flickr.
Great job overall! What a wonderful learning experience this has been.

Thing # 22

I really enjoyed the Teacher Library Ning. I have never joined My Space or Facebook, so I didn't know what I was missing. I thought I was too old. There are so many benefits to social networking. Together we are much more powerful learners than we are as individuals. I enjoyed reading past posts from others in the same Grad program in other states. They have the same concerns that I do. I liked the advice from the practicing librarians. They have been there, done that!

Thing # 21

I started doing the podcast assignment yesterday and was frustrated with Audacity. I know I can't be the only one out there that is having trouble. I then switched to Photostory today and had more success. The steps were a lot more spelled out for someone who is technology challenged. I had no idea of what to make a podcast of: that was until I pulled up pictures on my computer. I have thousands of my daughter and thought this would be an easy one. I forgot to bring home my microphone from school, so I added music to the podcast instead.



I CAN'T GET IT TO LOAD!!!!



As for audio books, these are a great resource while traveling, multi-tasking, or just doing ordinary activities. I think ELL students and reluctant readers would really enjoy using these. I am curious about the playaways that I just recently learned about. Hopefully in the next few months I can actually get to use these.

Thing # 20

I have to be honest. I had never even gone to YouTube before doing the Library Thing. I don’t know if I would ever find much for an elementary student. I haven’t even been tempted when the news or a TV program reports a video that someone has downloaded.
I went to the sites suggested. I really enjoyed, the 60's and 70's musical videos and 1970 commercials. These were fun to go and remember the many days of yesteryear.


As for TeacherTube, I found a couple of videos that would be helpful in class. Well maybe entertaining.



This experiment was done the day before our Science night with the students (grades 2-5) to get them interested in coming to Science night. Our Science SIS did a demonstration for each grade and we had a record number turn out.

Thing # 19

I am amazed at how in-depth you can go into this. There's some really awesome sites. Many of the sites we have already visited in the Library2Play. So I looked at Yelp. It's a review site by area/city. I looked at restaurant reviews for Houston and Clearwater, Florida. They also have entertainment, real estate, home services, auto, etc. You can write/read reviews, search by neighborhood, and post a question or comment. It's very easy to use and it looks good. I learned of a bakery in Katy that I would love to try.

Thing # 18

Like others have stated, OpenOffice took a while to download. I must have missed the boat. I always have a difficult time getting started on these new tools. I watched the demonstration and saw how the presentation was a lot like power point in MS. I have not mastered that yet and now I am trying something new. ARGGGGHH! I like the fact that it is FREE! The price of Microsoft is steep and this is a great alternative to do word processing, presentations or spreadsheets. The time learning the new “software is not worth it at this time. I’m glad to know it exists however.
Now GoogleDocs is fantastic. I already made a spreadsheet. I am very familiar with Excel so that wasn’t a stretch. I made it for a family trip we are taking and kind of put our itinerary on there. I put choices of excursions for each port that each family might not have researched yet. It is much like a wiki that others can access and share information. I will use this much more. Again, the downside for students is that they have to register. But the upside is they can access it from home, school or any computer. I think it is a great resource. Google is amazing and FREE!

Thing # 17

I made a post in the Sandbox. I like everyone's ideas. I really want to try having a faculty committee wiki. Instead of going to committee meetings, this would be a great way to use our time for meetings. We usually turn in minutes to our principals, now they could just explore the wiki. I think this would be a easy way to introduce the faculty to a wiki without too much stress. The collaboration would be endless.

Thing # 16

Wikis-I am really seeing some awesome ideas to use in my classroom. For Dr. Bishop's class, our group started a Habitat Wiki page. It was really fun and easy. I will be using this with my second graders this semester. I first was introduced to a wiki through our librarian. She made one for the Salad Guy. You know how school lunches taste. It seems to be a hit. Every day when I go into the lounge for lunch, there are several orders there, ready and waiting.
After going to wetpaint.com I decided to try one for an upcoming family reunion. Our family is huge and spread out all over the US. So far the people who have actively used it are the nieces and nephews that are in the late teens, early 20s. My sisters and brothers had to be coaxed into signing up. Don't even get me started on my 87 year old mom. Wiki? What is it? We got her signed up, but she really has not a clue how to go about adding information or editing pages. She says she just enjoys reading the other people's comments.

Thing # 15

As a teacher, I am enjoying Library 2.0. I have learned so much already about so many neat tools to use with my students, but I know there is so much more out there. I have only scratched the surface of the possibilities. The sad part is, my students probably already know about several of these tools. I'm the one trying to play catch up.
One thing is for sure, the librarian/teacher relationship needs to change. There needs to be more collaboration on lessons and discussions on the best way to approach a subject/research. By learning new resources to use in the classroom, I can’t wait to share these with my students.
After reading, Away from the “icebergs”, I thought about how librarians need to keep up with the ever changing trends. As a librarian, I would start with my teachers who are the “cheerleaders” of the school. You know the teachers I am referring to-the ones who are always willing to try new ideas. They love learning, so why not bring them onboard to help? Personally, I love when a brand new teacher joins our campus. They may not have experience in the classroom, but they bring in a fresh new perspective to teaching. Sure they are going to make mistakes, but so are some of us older folks who aren’t trying to reach the children with new approaches.

Thing # 14

Wow-you can spend hours in Technorati. I could never get the first video to come up. However, I managed to forge on.
It was fun to explore, but after seeing the word "F******" under More Rising News Stories, I know I wouldn't use this for students. I'm not a prude by any means, but I find foul language so tacky and juvenile. Tags make looking for things easy. It helps get you organized, something I am trying to do with my life. I chose not to claim my blog.

Thing #13

Well after much procrastination, I finally completed this assignment. I first went to this Thing about tagging and Del.cio.us at school, and found many of my favorites were on my home computer. So darn! Didn’t want to start something I couldn’t finish.
After coming home, I watched the Common Craft guys clip. Very well done!
Finally after putting my daughter to bed, I decided to give it a try. I tried to do only school related favorites this time. It took awhile. I didn’t realize everything I had saved. At least I got to weed out some sites and just add the ones I really use.
I love it. I want to go back and add some hobbies next.
I will be using this since now I can get my bookmarks at school and home. Yeah!

Thing # 12

Rollyo was interesting to say the least. At first I was totally confused, then I got into it. I don't know how often I will really use this. I am going to be optimistic and say I'll come back for more. I do know that I ended up finding a lot of information on the subject I was looking for.

I went back to Rollyo and did more exploring. I don't like leaving a stone unturned. I didn't realize that I could search through only a selected number of my favorite sites. Neat! It has its advantages over Google and Yahoo.

Thing # 11-Library Thing

Well-I'm not sure I can remember how many things I have signed up for as of now. I enjoyed LibraryThing though. I added just one author that I have in my collection (27 books). I searched for others that read her books also. I then found many similarities in the reading material the others and I have. When I get some free time I will add more. This seems like a good way to see if other people with similar interests recommend a certain book.

Thing # 10

This assignment was fun! I enjoyed exploring each link. I found Comic Strip Generator simple.

I also had fun with the trading card maker. As I posted in Thing #6-I think using this for GLAD strategies is ideal. I got my trading card to finally downnload. It is at the top of this post.

# 9 Finding Feeds

GoogleReader is my choice of searching for feeds. It is the easiest for me to navigate. I have become aware of sites I often visit now with that little orange box. I only added one blog while doing this assignment, and I had to copy and paste the web address to GoogleReader. This was not enjoyable for me. It was too overwhelming.

Thing # 8

I have to say I was intimidated by this thing # 8. I had never heard about RSS feeds. I had avoided doing it, but when I finally got in and learned what it was, it was simple. I have set up a GoogleReader account and subscribed to several blogs, both personally and professionally. I couldn’t believe how much information comes daily. I hope that I can keep up with it. My husband was interested in learning about RSS and now he has an account also. This should make our lives easier.

Thing # 7

Google has so many neat tools, you can definitely get lost for hours. I couldn’t think of anyone to try in Google Alerts. I installed the Google Toolbar. Ebay was the first thing that popped up. Interesting.
After doing Flickr-I just couldn’t play for another 2 hours if I wanted to stay married. Note to self: Come back another day.
Google Scholar will come in handy in grad school. I have used the Google Earth many times: Latest was finding two mom and pop motels right next to each other for our family reunion in Clearwater, Florida.
Google has always been my favorite search engine-never knew all the other things Google had to offer.

Thing # 6

OK-this site was fun. I enjoyed making trading cards. There are endless possibilities for them: faculty, students (All About Me), Active Participation signs, character traits, GLAD strategy cards. For those of you who haven't attended GLAD, these are cards that you give out periodically about the subject you are studying (birds, habitats, historical figures, landforms, etc). It is a fun way to help students remember the important data.

Now the mosaic was dangerous for me as a scrapbooker. Playing with all the different layouts and pictures was awesome. I already have a ton of projects on my agenda- in my free time of course! Ha-Ha

Thing # 5

Today I finally got around to Flickr. Sweet! My mind was racing of all the ways to use this tool (both personally and professionally). I need to go back and play/learn some more.

Thing # 4

I'm in!
I have completed #1-4 and I am ready to start my adventure.

Thing #1

Well-this sounds exciting. I cheated and looked down the titles of everything we will learn and all I can say is WOW. I can't wait to get started.

Thing #3

Making the BLOG was surprisingly easy for me. It was Avatar that was my challeging moment. I enjoyed scrolling through and picking out the clothes etc. but exporting my picture was difficult. My husband walked in after he saw me frustrated and said why don't you try... Of course, it worked. I hate when something so easy, gets me flustered. I am thankful for the different spin. No telling how long I would have sat here.

Thing #2

Lifelong Learning-I am always looking for new ideas and ways to challenge myself. I made it through Things #1, 2, 3.

I definately know how to play!