A Library By Any Other Name

Turning the Page

2011-07-06T20:56:00.005-05:00

With the big change in my life called retirement, I am closing the book on this blog for now. I have had a grand time writing here about things related to my professional life with little bits of "me" thrown in here and there.

I started in November 2006 and think I have lived up to the objectives I set for myself in that initial post. It has been way more fun than I ever thought and has given me opportunity to do several other things that were exciting and fun. I have met many interesting people online and f2f because of my blogging efforts and for that I am grateful. I have learned a lot and had some really fun times with my blogging friends...even when the events didn't always seem to reflect "fun".

I am not leaving the blogging world...just turning the page for adventures in a new blog, a more personal reflection of my experiences and my thoughts about my new life and things that make me go hmmm. I am not counting on creating much of an audience with the new blog, but hope to create a record for my children and the few friends who are interested enough in what I think about things. If you come along for the ride, great! If you don't, I have enjoyed sharing information with you for whatever reason the last few years.

Take care and I'll see you on the back porch.

TASLA 2011: A Little Bit More

2011-06-09T08:41:00.004-05:00

I did not get this information posted in a timely manner relating to the administrator's conference in June. Life, my topsy-turvy life, got in the way! I wanted to go ahead and include it here, particularly because of the author Lester Laminack and his books! Charming word-involved picture books, but more importantly a master in drawing you into how to use his books or anyone else's for matter to convey an idea, share knowledge or create a mood. If you ever get the chance to experience him go for it! You will not be disappointed!

*****************

Day 2 is not starting off well...our Internet is being clunky! A room full of Librarians not connected is not a happy place. Grrr.

PSJA Reads Together...Catch the Reading Wave...Read!

A 7-year old community wide reading promotional program coordinated through the Library Department of PSJA ISD. Nora Galvan, one of my favorite TASLA friends, passionately is explaining it to us. It is a multi-level, multi-age program using lots of donated and half-pice books. Lots of book clubs giving the students a chance "to belong." Timeline seems to run by six-weeks periods.

Cute book Shiver Me Letters was part of her presentation. A very touching tribute to the New Orleans tragic hurricane--the film produced by middle schoolers was very emotionally charged for the book Ruined by Paula Morris. The high school example was for Speak. Another great production was for Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Incredible student productions! (with editing help from the district) You can't help but want to read the books.

Some of the featured books (and others) are here on a YouTube collective video.

Maybe this can be adapted for a school who could work with a high school video crew???? A collaborative opportunity.

Project Share - Lannon Heflin, Region 13 ESC

You can have a url as a part of this program..space online for you

www.epsilen.com/[your name once you register]

use it as a "teacher page", a training area, a whatever!

it can be your professional portfolio...something you really need to develop if you haven't!

There is a course catalog with projects developed and shared by others. You can see them by date or subject.

TEKs - updates & materials available for use

Digital resources .. free and otherwise

science resources will be here in place of the no textbooks plan.
open source content
NY Times digital archives - the speech example

Professional networking

Districts have space for PD (moodle, Blackboard idea)

student learning access - probably secondary level most beneficial. This part is just know starting, in the infancy stage.

Life-long teacher account. Has to be set up within an institution connection, but is ongoing.

Texas Education Itunes U - videos from colleges, univerisities, other entitites, free to use!

OnTrack - end of course prep materials

The Faces of Project Share - each school district has a presence.

Phase 3 - student account portion.

earth to space High School course - official online course for credit
OnTrack end of course info
other things I didn't capture

Lester Laminack - author

Three Hens and a Peacock

the after lunch speaker

keeps a writer's notebook

telling a good story is his reason for writing

The book he is currently working on ---Sam Loves Pink , 4 1/2 rough & tumble boy who just likes the color. A real-life experience he has had with a young kid; sounds fabulous.

Discussion of picture book uses...explanation of war

Playing War

Faithful Elephants - personally one of my favorite books..is NOT for young children or those who can't get through emotionally charged material!

Harmonica

Yellow star

erica's story

The woman's hat

scene from number the stars

railroad in the sky

under the the quilt of night

Ruby Brdges

Through my Eyes

Remberence

bullying

accentuate that we are the same

there is difference

be good to eddie lee

momma zooms

human beings can be acting based on their feelings love and fear

show active violent reactions...direct bullying

One (another title Zero)

the terrible thing

Bystander

Thank you Mr turrupt

critical literacy

Getting Boys To Read

ABDO has a list on web site

sophisticated media consumers by the time they enter school!

collection development ideas from boys' pajamas

using video games to develop collection

duty to have great football collection football literacy on the website

TASLA 2011: One More Time

2011-06-08T14:30:00.000-05:00

Eighth year for my very favorite professional gathering!

The Texas Association of School Library Administrators conference...a small group of school library folks, about 75-100. Heard attendance is around 90 this year even in the midst of the changes and cuts. Many, many new folks on board...lead librarians were really encouraged to come this year.

Remember when you read this...it is a rough cut!!

Selecting Multicultural Materials and the Tejas Star Book Award

Good list of books from ESC Region One for the 2011-2012 award.

5th year for this award. Let's get more students involved in these books..from across the state.

These books were originally written in Spanish or true Spanish/English bilingual format.

The year's list are all in the bilingual format.

Other lists to consider when working on collection development:

Pura Belpre Award

Mildred L. Batchelder Award - published in another language and translated into English

Americas Book Award

Tomas Rivera Mexican American Book Award

more later!

Facts worthy of thinking about:

English language learners in Texas schools - involves 86 different languages...86!!! 830,713 students. Almost 91% of these 830 thousand + students are Spanish speakers learning English.

Hispanics currently make up 16% of the U.S. population but only 2% of the books published have Hispanic characters and Hispanics make up only 2% of authors publishing.

African-Americans currently make up 12% of the U.S. population but only 5.2% of the books published have Black characters and African-Americans are only 2.7% of the authors publishing.

Advocacy for School Library Leaders: A Call to Action

Advocacy Action wiki

Judy Moreillon

What ONE role of the five that we do will save us!

The group voted this way:

leader 24

instruction partner 15

info specialist 11

teacher 7

program administrator 0

her group when she initiated this study chose instructional partner as the most influential.

My personal choice is teacher...in order to survive I believe we must be seen as a teacher first and foremost because the power brokers understand that position, that term itself. The other roles are natural partners to being an effective teacher.

As is my problem often, I think instructional partner is a semantic issue...to me collaborative teacher is the same thing!

And what I have know for a VERY long time is we must be ALL FIVE all the time!

But I still stick with teacher being my primary role if I am to survive as a school librarian.

Feel free to share your own thoughts!

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

God bless her, Gloria Meraz of TLA is trying to update the legislative/school financial issues as best she can with the positive approach she always presents. I just can't capture all the ideas in my head, much less try to put it on the blog. Read the papers, go to the internet, read what you want, write to who you think can influence the issues...it is just TOO much for me at this moment...maybe I can make sense out of it later. And remember one of the best ways to tell them how you feel...whatever side you are on, whatever group you support..VOTE. The primaries in March, the general election the next November.

Questions

SB8 vote next week

SB6 / HB6

instructional materials allotments

use the money to purchase databases, technology or textbooks "super fund"

must be spent on things that related to assessments....STAR, the tests

another version...must be spent on things that cover the TEKs

remember that allotments do not always get funded!

Moving from ratings to distinctions

School can earn distinctions in

fine arts

physical fitness

acquisition of foreign language, 2nd language (ASL)

academics

21st century workforce

and the new 6th one advanced learners - high performers ...this one is still in development

it will still be a "competition"

but think about how you as a librarian can help your school achieve these distinctions!

Remember - SILENCE GETS YOU NO WHERE

Ok...I need to close out this session...more later. I am overwhelmed thinking about all of this AND all the side conversations going on both in sessions and breaks and meals!!

Sharing at TLA 2011: Librarians' Know-How!

2011-04-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

Six terrific librarians from my district presented four sets of ideas to use in libraries during the first annual 1001 Great Ideas forum on TLA opening day 2011. We had 2 pairs of elementary librarians presenting ideas on bookclubbing using Skype and free resources and apps to use in creating student projects on Itouchs and Ipads. Two individuals, one in elementary and one in middle school, presented crazy ways to get kids hooked into books and how to make green screen movies, respectively.

It was so much fun and such a great way to start off annual conference. There were dozens and dozens of other ideas, projects, and adventures as well from school, public and academic libraries from across Texas! Can't wait to see what comes up next year!

I was so happy to be the "cheerleader" for the folks from my district. They represented a larger group of hard-working innovative people who are trying all kinds of interesting things in order for children to dream, to learn and to create. I took some photos and will share those a little later on this post when I get permission to use their names, but I also took some Flip videos just for fun.

This evening I played with the Flip Share software and in about five minutes (no kidding) created this little Quick Flip movie! I downloaded my not-so-good pieces of video and the software grabbed a few seconds of each and produced this 30 second video on its own! Similar to Animoto in a way!

More later about conference and all the good "stuff" that came from it. I'm beat...off to bed!

Social Media Has Gone to the Dogs!

2011-02-16T23:14:00.005-06:00

I love watching the Westminster Dog Show every year...and found this article describing all the uses of social networking at this year's event just as interesting. All kinds of devices, including QRs, were in use to keep people updated and informed.

Have YOU experienced a QR (Quick Response) code yet? Is your phone smart enough to do so? Check out more info about them here. Here is a sample of one.

Hickory is enjoying his filet mignon reward for winning. Lucky dog!

Photo credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

2010-12-02T14:10:00.002-06:00

From Library To Learning Commons.Ny.Slideshare

View more presentations from valeriediggs.

027.8 District 8 Overview: A Worthy Gathering

2010-11-01T09:21:00.009-05:00

Ok, I'm going to do my best to get back on track with my blog. I actually have missed writing and so many good thoughts and ideas are gone because I simply had no time.

So, let me begin my renewal with a short review of our TLA District 8 meeting that was held this past Saturday.

I was charmed by the author Gwendolyn Zepeda, a native Houstonian who has written both adult fiction and children's books. Her children's titles include Sunflowers/Girisoles and Growing Up with Tamales/Los Tamales de Ana, both bilingual books for children from 3-8. She shared wonderful little personal vignettes about her experiences in libraries as a child, a young mother, and as an author of children's books. It was was delightful! Being from the area, she might be someone you might consider for a visit.

The District 8 program offered a variety of things. Two colleagues presented sessions that turned out to be quite popular. As soon as I get their permission, I will link to their topics. I did a review of five things you can do to quickly become 2.0! Much of our time was discussing the difference between copyright and credit and how in an educational setting you have access to many things, but you still must credit them! That and the importance of hyperlinks..or making the info hot! such a simple thing, but o so important in adding depth to the online world.

Update: here is one of the sessions: Making It Work Together: Integrating Reading, LA, and 2.0 Tools

It was quite a memorable day for us. One colleague was asked to serve on a TLA committee and
the other was recognized for her length of service in libraries...36 years so far!! (and that doesn't count her many classroom years!) Yours truly...well, I have been to so many District 8 meetings no one (including me) can remember.

A good day, but I think for me personally, the highpoint was running into so many of my library school students...the ones who are working on their certification and degrees to become great school libraries. The eagerness and ethusiasm that registers on their faces and comes out in their comments really does me good. I am glad I have had a tiny little part in creating their readiness to take on one of greatest jobs, if also not one of the hardest jobs, in the world. They certainly helped me remember why I do it!

371.3 ISTE 2010: SIGMS Smackdown

2010-06-29T10:56:00.006-05:00

Ok...after a little rough start (some folks have never dealt with a hallway FULL of Librarians on a mission) we are all in and getting ready to hear a laundry list of resources and ideas given at lightning speed!

I am going to attampt to blog this live...so forgive the typos, etc. I will attach any links that are needed to make things clearer....Joyce is here, David Loertscher is here, and...

I have typed this much and my battery is already at 65%..it says 4 hours, ha I won't make 4 minutes at this rate! No power source available (see first sentence!) [update: the battery did last, but I am now sharing a plug with a lovely woman from NZ just in case for further needs this p.m.]

oh well... have the paper/pen back up ready!

while we are waiting for the fun to begin....

everyone is signing up for Wallwisher.com to participate behind the scenes. You create a wall and then can share with another wall...that is how they are going to share ideas today. Not sure I understand the concept at this point...but I'm listening carefully.

Joyce Valenza regarding wikiness (the twitter chatter)...the smartest in the room is the room itself rather the people at the front table.

On being a tribe - shared interest and way to communicate...stronger when we share...we built a geek tribe ...SIGMS, 2nd Life, School Library wiki...etc. we will survive because we are a tribe!
The tribe needs leaders, not just managers... web erases geography issues.

Th e panel presents these:
DIGITAL STORYTELLING
Reading 2.0 - using Technology to promote books - not replace them
Blabberize - web application create talking avatars from photographs
Google Search Stories
Voki - using to tell student story
Zooburst - virtual pop up books
toonDoo
Xtranormal
Prezi - look at Maximum ride example to see how is used to do storytelling

INFO FLUENCY

For phones:
Gale mobile apps - you have to have subscription!
Tag readers - red lazer, shot savvy ---loooks like 3 dimensional bar code (more on this )

And then others online...
Google Apps - all on a Glogster that Joyce created.
Google Timeline features - sample is whole bunch on the oil spill from all newspaers
Mashpedia - wikipedia + other resources in real time...do the oil spill as example...wow!
Pathfinder Swap - join and share
Build your own information space on iPad using Pulse...put your library there!

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

Get Your License - PBS
Mike Ribble book entitled ...
Digital Citizenship webquest
Brain pop free things on etiquette...district (Ed Tech) has subscription can get more
Digiteen from Flat Classroom Project...several things on NetEtiquette
NetLingo.com - shortcuts for texting....might be useful to look at to see what certainthings mean
Plagarism -proofing assignments by Doug Johnson
The disney video explaining fair use!
Creative Commons!! - it is hard to believe lots of people (librarians) don't know about it
21st Century citizenship - everyone is a copyright holder
and more that didn't get up before the time whistle

NETWORKING BUILDING

Twitter - worth lurking...more in another post about Mario Armstrong

TweetDeck - to manage what you follow...can make columns...more in another post. ha

Wikis - any product; keeping directions for teachers etc...so you don't repeat the same thing over & over

Google Reader and other RSS readers - helps you keep up with what has been updated!

DEN - Discovery Educator Network ..we already have the subsciption. take advantage of what is there

TL Virtual Cafe - transformative conversation

Social bookmarking like Diigo and delicious

Audience participation:
Ok...here is THE Link you need

SMACKDOWN WIKI aka http://tlsmackdown.wikispaces.com/

everything contributed on the left under the various catagories

Others for books:
schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces
bookleads.wikispaces.com

tagxedo! - wordle with a twist I think this is the winner! In fact, I tried to get in and the site was almost crashing! You need to look at it!

David Loestcher CLOSED

The Big Think time...

watch the game reviews...watch for patterns and trends...how will you win next time....

"So powerful voices out there saying all this is just fun and games...doesn't contribute to learning."

His challenge to us...what is learned. We must document the learning.

Use this and post it after every lesson, project, etc.

Because I used ______ I learned ___________.

More details later...

371.3 ISTE 2010: Overview So Far

2010-06-28T11:38:00.004-05:00

Have disappointed some folks because I haven't blogged live...have disappointed myself!
The nature of the conference for me this time just hasn't allowed for it.
Then when I got back to the hotel I have been pulled in other official ways. Tonight I promise details, pictures, and video!

I am waiting for a session to start on leadership...will do my best to capture highlights (in rough form).

In the meantime, I am experimenting with doing the day only with the iPad...so far so good and the battery life is great
Caught the tail end of informal session on how to bring administrators to the table...one bold statement...bold for me anyway: "What are you doing to hold your school back? The ideas being too locked down; not allowing risk-takers to try things; not being users,much less consumers themselves...
Can say we have made great strides away from this issue, but we all have lots of work left to do!

Ok...have found it hard to go back and fix my text. Needed space between the two thought!
***************************
session starting
They have put the tweet deck up for everyone who will be following that way

Innovative leadership. 21st C Innovations That Matter
Cheryl leek

Note: I lost the post and ability to type in it so I took some notes that I will add later.

David Warlick next!

006.7 EduBloggerCon 2010: The Fun Begins

2010-06-26T09:50:00.000-05:00

I am so glad they don't measure how often you post before they let you in this thing!

I'm here...already reconnected with a couple of people from 2 years ago! It's like a big family reunion full of happy family members. And to do it in beautiful downtown Denver is extra special...although the mountains in the distance keep pulling my attention away!

I drove up yesterday with the top open and the AC off. It was great. I got out last night and wandered around the 16th Street Mall...open air street fair and shops. It was lovely. Then I looked at the weather and all they talked about was how hot it was ! Huh? All a state of mind...yes it was 99 but not the same kind of 99 that those who share my normal physical space encounter!!

Anyway...the take so far is mostly catching up, but the tech word so far...I-PAD...it will be great to hear what all these talented folks have to say about it.

More later...

P.S. when you read the time, it's actually one hour earlier here!

028.9 TeenBookCon 2010: Some Reflections

2010-04-13T22:20:00.010-05:00

Enjoyed a nice day this past Saturday volunteering for a good pal at the TeenBookCon 2010. Got to hang out with some fun librarians from the local area, folks from our favorite neighborhood bookshop and some creative and clever authors!

I had a variety of little jobs that allowed me to interact a bit with teens who love and appreciate good stories. It was fun seeing their enthusiasm for the event and their excitement over the anticipation at being in the same room with the likes of Sharon Draper. All the buzz about "how good her books are " and "I don't think I could just say one is my fav" gave my librarian's heart a good jolt of "feelin' good!" One district Librarian colleague and I checked in some of the 400 students who attended and took their lunch orders. Who knew choosing between pizza nad Chic-fi-la would be so hard a task at 10:00 in the morning? Sometimes we had to revert to reference interview techniques to get an answer and get the line moving! (KR, enjoyed working with you as always...and solving several of the world's problems as well! :-))

One of my favorite duties of the day was monitoring the authors' break room and making sure they had plenty of coffee, food, cold water, food, sodas, food, ice, and did I mention, food! And the ever-so-important chocolate, of course! (My pal and I had had a fun adventure a few days earlier wheeling a cart thru Costco's aisles picking out just the right things.) Another Librarian in my circle allowed me to move into her slot in the break-room while she went off to serve pizza to the teens (Thanks CL, I owe you in more ways than one.)

Her generosity allowed me to have that few minutes of up close and personal where, among the delightful conversations I overheard, was the discussion four authors were having, not over the finer points of book writing and publishing, but the latest and greatest in oversize scanners. It made me laugh that they were deep in discussion about technology at a book convention! But I also learned something...the scanner is important in the working with large graphic panels that they create for their novels! (The weirdest little things just fascinate me.) They assured me they were having lots of book talk too! L to R: Terry Moore, the Fillbach Brothers, and Jimmy Gownley.

AND I also got to meet a blogger (& author)that I have been following for all the years I have been messin' with blogging...and if you want the skinny on anything bookwise, you should follow Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog . You can also read her take on the day. Yes, I feel connected online with all the folks I follow, but a f2f encounter is a grand ol' cherry on top of the hot fudge sundae.

Here's the whole wonderful group of authors and info about them!

Photo credits:

Pizza Handlers - from FlickrCC by libraryink

Registration - from FlickrCC by libraryink

4 authors - by VWB

CLS - by VWB
Author group - from flickrCC by libraryink

940.5318 The Diary of Anne Frank: A Classic Retold

2010-03-24T16:12:00.028-05:00

On April 11, 2010, Holocaust Remembrance Day, PBS and Masterpiece Theater will present a new version of the classic coming-of-age story The Diary of Anne Frank.

Click on the picture for access to a video preview.

The Great Books Foundation, a partner with WGBH, has created and gathered together all kinds of support materials to use in conjunction with this new production and the Holocaust in general.

One of the most interesting things is a VoiceThread where students, teachers, and others can go in and comment on the production and project. Voice Thread has given free access to this sample, but there is a registration involved to make comments.

Ciick HERE to go to VoiceThread.

Here is another brief preview through YouTube .

In researching this new production, I also came across the only know movie of Anne Frank herself. It is a brief few seconds of her in an upper window watching her neighbor's wedding departure. There is no sound!

And of course , with the recent death of Miep Gies (at age 100), the last survivor of the real-life members of the history-making event, there has been renewed interest in the story and will likely spill over to the new production. Here is a portion of an interview where she talks about the diary and giving it to Anne's father.

In our district, the book and the time period have always studied and discussed on several levels so we have some long-time resources that also will probably come to the forefront again with this new production. Check our "cool new"catalog for other resources.

The message remains timeless.

352.7 Census: Where's the Interesting Stuff?

2010-03-22T18:32:00.000-05:00

I did my duty over the break. I filled out my census form.

Yep...it took me less than 10 minutes for me to fill out the 10 questions...mostly because it is just me these days.

I was asked my name, age, date of birth, race and whether I lived in an owned or rented property and how many people resided with me.

What I miss are all the interesting questions found in previous census records. Being a family historian who has poured over old census records looking for facts about my family members, I was often drawn away from my primary task looking at interesting things I found on the old sheets and interpreting the spellings and handwriting of the day! I loved it...but then I am weird that way.

One of my favorite finds was on a family sheet of mine. For many census years, folks were asked their occupations. That was always very interesting and I would eat up lots of time reading what folks did for a living. Children were often listed as "at home" or "at school." The wives were usually "keeping house" as one would expect. Imagine my delight when I read that my Irish immigrant great-great-grandmother Annie's occupation was "kept tent!" It turns out that in 1880, she and her teamster husband and four daughters (soon to be six girls!) lived in a canvas tent with wood floor near the horse barns at Ft. Concho, Texas. WOW!

I later found out that they were able to move into an abandoned officer's house because Francis, the teamster, was retired from active duty and the fort was losing population as it was beginning the process of being shut down. I have seen a replica of the house...and yes, it was an improvement over the tent, but still was a tight fit for a family of eight!

Another interesting tidbit...Francis' job as a teamster...was to move the soldiers buried in the fort cemetery to the military cemetery in San Antonio...a part of shutting the fort down. No that was not found in the census forms, but there is so much that is.

If you have never looked at an old census form, the 1880 census is available on the internet for free at several locations including ancestry.com

I bet you a dollar you will find some interesting stuff!

I am really sorry that 72 years from now when the 2010 census becomes public record, the information will be so sterile and clinical and even missing the handwriting and ink spots of the day. I can't wait to see the 1940s records (and the gems they may contain) when they become public in 2012!

Here is a video about the 2010 Census and how to fill it out.

Images:

Census form census.gov

1880 form screen shot from personal collection

538 Magnets: Apps Fun!

2010-03-21T23:03:00.005-05:00

These are SO cute...magnets that look like I-phone/I-touch apps!
The company is currently out of stock...not surprised based on all the bloggers who are writing about them. They even come packaged like the front of a device!

At the rate I'm going, I would probably get more use out of these magnets instead of the real thing!

Images: from Jailbreak Toys

153 Thinking...on Many Levels

2010-03-19T10:15:00.010-05:00

Take two minutes (and a few seconds) and watch this...

Now react...

741.5 Make a Wimp of Yourself!

2010-03-14T01:47:00.010-06:00

Go here and "wimp" yourself!
Stay on the site a few extra minutes...it's fun watching yourself!

My wimpy self in action

A trailer of the movie coming out on March 19th is also available here.
Included at the site are some other fun things related to the movie and book.

027.8 Libraries: The 12 Steps to the Future

2010-03-04T00:00:00.004-06:00

Some people make things SO easy...

and Doug Johnson, the Blue Skunk guy (and one of my virtual mentor heroes) does it AGAIN with his latest post where he lists 12 differences in the libraries of yesteryear and those of the future! Go there and read them for yourself...all signify the changing, transforming libraries that I am seeing around me.

He DID ask us to "join in" so here's my thoughts...

#9 regarding organizing by a set of rules vs organizing in ways that make sense to users. Makes the cataloger's compartment of my little heart skip a couple of beats...YES, I want to be good to my users, but I also want them to be successful in any library they go into and if we get "too" creative in our arrangements, I fear we will suffer from the grocery store syndrome (why can't grocery stores adopt similar arrangements---I hate hunting for canned mushrooms in some stores!) Please, please, think thorough creative arrangements c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y...especially if you want your users to be independent users who can go from the catalog, take the address (call#) and actually find what they want and need without the librarian being the traffic cop!

#8 I definitely want whole-school ownership of the library. It is fabulous where I see it in action. But I still want the professional librarian there...and in my dreams, I wish for more than one professional librarian, but unfortunately dreams aren't coming true in these economic times so I will be content with one (and extra adult hands please?) Unfortunately, administrators and powers-that-be, because they really don't understand our purpose and our contributions to student success, often think they can eliminate the professional librarian because "everyone" and "anybody" can hand out books and equipment. This one worries me a lot because of how it can be interpreted.

I will take his six descriptors and last statement and put them right here where you can read them quickly and easily

Change IS tough, but if we want to be around to take part in the excitement of the future, we must!

027.8 Libraries, Librarians & Kids: Outta the Blogs of Babes!

2010-02-21T21:32:00.007-06:00

Super Star #4 paid homage to her Librarian and the excitement in her school library in a recent blog post

"The library is the BEST place in the history of the world!!!!!!!!!!!"

This young 5th grade girl likes everything in her library...the books, the technology, the contests, the freedom to explore what interests her. How lucky she is to have that kind of place to visit.

Her blog reflects her many interests in and out of the library and school. But I can tell that reading is a big part of her life because of all the attention paid to books in her blog posts.

Yes, she celebrated the addition of new MACs, but truly reflects the value of the technology she likes by U-S-I-N-G it to tell her stories! She makes Animotos like some of us make grocery lists...all the time! Sometimes to honor books, some times about her favorite animal--dogs, or her favorite sport--soccer.

I don't ever think she stops to wonder what she should be doing...she just does it because the opportunities are available to her...and her Librarian creates the atmosphere of choice.

But you know what jumped out at me...because of her Librarian (and other teachers involved in her learning,) this 5th grader has been telling her story for THREE school years...3rd, 4th and 5th in a blog! For one-half of her young school life, she has had a place to tell her stories to authentic audiences. She has had a place to come to experience all kinds of new experiences, be they thru a book or a keyboard. And she has had the support and safety net of the Librarian who wants her to reach for the stars in her path.

Super Star #4 is lucky indeed...and I for one can't wait to see what other adventures she shares with us!

028.6 Cybil Awards: Round 4

2010-02-21T18:37:00.006-06:00

The 4th set of Cybils Awards list is out.

For those who may be unfamiliar with this book award, all of these winners have been selected by a panel of bloggers who took extensive lists of nominated titles made by blog readers! All books were published with in the last year since the previous contest so these are the latest and greatest out there!

There are various catagories for different reading tastes and different ages. The groups include fiction picture book, nonfiction picture book, easy reader, early chaper book, poetry, graphic novel, fantasy and science fiction, middle grade fiction, YA nonfiction, YA graphic novel, YA fantasy and science fiction, and YA fiction.

Here is a list of the top nominees in each of the catagories for 2009. If you are looking for new additions to your collection you may want to take a look at these choices and see if they meet your needs.

Past winners for 2008, 2007, 2006

Artwork: used wth permission by Cybils

551.5 Weather iMovie: Another Adventure with My MAC

2010-02-15T19:48:00.011-06:00

I had an opportunity to work with iMovie and have some expert help around while I doing it. I used an idea from D#1 as inspiration for the project. It isn't the best example, but did allow me to start understanding the process. Although it is more intense than PhotoStory, it helped that I had experience with the Microsoft product.

I was able to import a series of images from several sources and add sound effects and music from iTunes to fill out the project. Nope, no voice over yet...time ran out. Yes, I know I have said I don't like to record, but this time I really was going to do some, but the unit will be over if I take anymore time with this...and I have another much more important project to create. So voice-over will have to come later.

I did save the project several ways so that it could be played in on a MAC or PC or directly from my channel on YouTube. Again for practice. Also the reason for adding it to my blog...practice, practice, practice!

One thing I did notice...when saving images, save them at the largest file possible. I usually save Flickr CC images at medium size or around 500 psi, but I noticed some of these images were blurry when I viewed it in full screen. So I will check that out on the next one I do.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you have suggestions for better productions, please share.

UPDATE: I took the YouTube version down becasue too much was cut off on the right side...and this version, an mp4 upload makes it hard to read some text...o, well...I'll do better next time!

741.6 Another Image Generator: Seasonal Fun!

2010-02-11T22:13:00.004-06:00

Candy Hearts Generator

002 Print vs. Digital: A Contest or a Matter of Choice?

2010-02-11T20:04:00.007-06:00

Take a look: Do School Libraries Still Need Books?

Five people's thoughts. You decide for yourself.

Me...I think the advantage is being able to provide choice in this age of multiple formats.

Do some things make more sense?

A digital encyclopedia updated almost instantaneously vs. a printed version that is practically out-dated the day it comes off the press?

The multi-tasking approach of audio books vs. a spiffy little paperback that fits in a pocket?

The sterile look of sheets printed off an online file vs. the visual stimulus of beautifully photographed images or cleverly created characters?

I think it comes down to what works for you in the moment.

O, by the way...you will NEVER convince me that picture books meant to be used in a couch cuddle with parent and child or between two school buddies on the carpet in the corner will ever disappear from the school library shelves.

That 's one Librarian's opinion.

Photo Credit: Flickr CC by John-Morgan

371.33 Blog Anniversary: Three & almost 2/12 Years & Counting

2010-01-19T19:52:00.007-06:00

Yes, this anny post is WAY overdue...any post on this blog is now way overdue. I hadn't meant to let things go this long. I REALLY meant to post my anny review post during the Thanksgiving weekend as usual. I had several postings I wanted to share that now will remain forever locked in my brain because I let too much time and brain cells escape to make sense out of what I wanted to share.

I really can't point anything in particular that lead to ignoring my little piece of the blogging world. I still have 24 hours in every day like always. My job is still as busy as ever and not really any more demanding that it always has been at its high points. My family issues remain the same and their long distance relationships haven't gotten any longer or farther. My dog continues to demand his meals at the same rate as always and his outdoor visits no more than normal. And I still mange to sleep 6-7 hours a day, whether it is on my couch or in my bed.

So, let's see what else could have steered me in another direction the last few months...

the transformation of our libraries has occupied a lot of thinking time...we deployed (the district's term, not ours) lots of MacBooks and iTouches to our 39 campuses...have been fielding lots of questions and sharing how-tos because it is has been a long while since Apple products were part of our resources. I was re-learning right along with everyone else.

Part of my "free" time was taken up with Facebook. The district opened it up last Spring and we initiated some professional development opportunities for librarians, teachers, and others. I have a small group of friends and family and I continue to explore the finer points with them...admittedly a little more since Daughter #1's wedding this summer...used Facebook to share adventures and have continued playing around with the tool more than I thought I would.

And I have techno addiction that HAS robbed some of my free time...I have always played a few word games on the computer, but I got hooked on online Scrabble and I do know it did use some of the time I used for blogging! I guess I could say that it is a technology application that I have gained knowledge of, but really and truly it has just become an obsession. I am working on cutting back...I really am! Hey, I'm writing this blog post and I have not played one game of scrabble this evening or checked FB...in the last hour or so. :-)

Ok, enough ramblings. As with my other anny posts, let me quickly review some of the high points I found in my little corner of the tech world.

Animoto continues to amaze me...with the new pieces it adds and the various productions people in my circle create with it.

The new fun thing in my world is Glogster...if anything can bring about the demise of posterboard projects, this glitzy, colorful, razz-a-matazz, cool tool could be the one to do it! It is a great way to bring lots of things together in one place and the structure prevents the "death-by-PPT" syndrome of a presenter reading too much text and boring an audience to "death."

Clay Sharky's TED presentation "How Social Media Can Make History" is worth 17 minutes of your time, maybe more than once!

I wonder what the next year will bring!

Photo credit: Flickr CC by Pink Sherbet Photography D Sharon Pruitt

741.6 Glogster: A Different Way to "Present"

2009-10-23T00:00:00.002-05:00

741.6 Research Projects in the 2.0 World: Sharing the Learning

2009-10-22T22:18:00.014-05:00

Typical 4th grade research project - learning about Texas cities.

Typically done? Not on your life!

One of the librarians in my circle who has embraced the 2.0 tools almost longer than anyone I know recently shared her school's version of the "typical" project.

Yes, each student researched a Texas city...each one used typical resources available to them...print and digital. So they had experience accumulating information and using research skills.

The 2.0 finished project - trading cards using the Big Huge Labs site.

The interaction experience - ACTUALLY trading the cards (and some treats courtesy of the librarian)

The assessment - the librarian developed a checklist activity and found out the students really did learn facts about Texas cities...and did it in a fun way!

I am so fortunate to work with librarians (and teachers and school leaders) who recognize that learning CAN be done in interesting and creating ways...with fun thrown in!

027.626 Teens & Libraries: How Do YOU get 'em In?

2009-10-05T15:58:00.015-05:00

Over the last few years, I have been involved in lots of discussions about, plans for, and activities on getting teens to "use" our libraries. Most of the librarians in my circle understand that the 1980's version of the library is dead...and hopefully gone!

After all, the kids we work with these days weren't even around to know what we are talking about. Think about how many changes have come into your own life in the 20-25 years.

During the 1990's, the changes were coming faster and in bigger bites. I think we gave librarians and libraries passes who were still lagging behind because change is often difficult and is not cheap to accomplish.

But come on folks, the first decade of the 21st century is coming to a close. If you haven't changed, you MUST do it now. You must look at what libraries are doing to meet the needs of the teens.

Musty and dusty can no longer be the words associated with libraries...especially for teens! Let's try virtual, let's try visual, let's try music and sounds, let's try games, let's try F-U-N!

One of the librarians in my circle who really has grabbed hold of the change needed in working with teens is also so involved in using the 21st century tools that she has provided examples of life in her library these days.

Take a look. What you see is going on in lots of libraries in my circle...maybe not quite like this, but with the same excitement and enthusiasm. If your library doesn't "look" like this, maybe you should pick out an idea or two?

Yes, the videos are a little raw and rough. They were made with a little Flip camera and were made on the fly...with nothing but fun in mind. But the message is clear!

These kids LOVE to come to their library.

Students gather in groups to share the computers or wait patiently for their "turn" to use the Internet for what interests them.

Wii games have their own special little corner in this library. You can see friendly competition over baseball, boxing, and bowling!

But wait...these same kids read plenty of books and spend time looking for just the right one...and just the right reading spot.

And not all the fun and excitement happens on the computer. Traditional board games and card games are available to the teens at appropriate times!

Look at what the kids are doing in this last bit of video. Do you call that "virtual" skateboarding? I have never seen these miniature skateboard parks. Can't wait to see one up close.

Of course, all of this fun and excitement could not happen without the support of the school and the administration. The administration has supported the changes. Teachers help out with duty stations and participate in the fun with the kids. Volunteers have even been enlisted to help with painting and decoration.

O, and the negative side to all of this? Is there one?

Yes...

SO many kids want to come to the library that the librarian has had to create a schedule for the different grade levels for before school. There were concerns about safety and fire code. It also assures that everyone will have a chance to participate and play.

Don't you wish you had that problem?

Thanks to CL for the loan of her videos and pictures.

Her webpage. Her blog.

004.09 Did You Know 4.0: Stats about Our Current World

2009-09-17T23:46:00.010-05:00

Ok, it is time to be reminded that what we have been doing in the 2.o world is NOT being done in isloation...we are playing and learning and testing and learning and practicing and learning the very things that more and more of the world is doing every day as a part of its normal, everyday world.

Is it a perfect world? No. Is it a totally safe way to do the business of everyday life? No. But neither is the other world!

It will take you a little more than 3 minutes to catch up with the latest and be reminded that it is ok to move forward and think differently, communicate differently, react differently, and most importantly in our little education corner of the world, learn differently!

Enjoy the current update of the wildly popular Shift Happens.

P.S. I'm intrigued by the method used in creating the text strips and some of the graphics. Pretty cool and worth the time as well!

In case the embedded video is blocked in district, here is the link. You should be able to see it through teacher sign-on of your computer.

028.162 Pura Belpré Awards

2009-07-25T23:24:00.005-05:00

Author award:

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle

Illustrator award:

Just In Case, illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales

Here is a video provided by Yuyi Morales about her award. It features Señor Calavera, a character often found in her books.

Invited from Yuyi Morales on Vimeo.

629.45 Moon Landing Plus One

2009-07-21T07:39:00.004-05:00

My hometown's hip, hip hooray!

Check out the headlines from newspapers around the world.
Newseum has other things celebrating the 40-yr old event.
One online exhibit is about the video camera and the problem-solving
that went into the design and creation of the device.

629.45 Apollo 11: 40 Years and Counting

2009-07-20T22:32:00.003-05:00

I know exactly where I was, who I was with , and what I was doing on this date at about this time 40 years ago today. I was watching a scientific miracle, the culminating activity of years of hard work, and the dreams of countless others come to fruition.

Man...two men in fact, walked on the moon...and I, for one, was spellbound! I was 17 years old and on the brink of my own adventure---senior year in high school, but I had planned for this event as if I were in the module on top of the rocket.

You see, not only was I child of the 60s, a product of the Cold War and post-Sputnik jitters, I lived around the space program. My summer neighbors were teachers of the astronauts and friends with people who knew the chimps who had been taught the rudimentary tasks to be performed in space. We got visit some retired chimps in their New Mexico compound. School field trips were routinely made to rocket launches in the desert outside my hometown. My family wandered around the deserts and mountains of the same general area encountering signs indicating Government Property-Keep Out Signs because all kinds of things were going on and being tested.

It was an exciting time. My mom and I decided we needed a color TV so we rented one for the special night. We could not imagine this special occasion occurring in our house in mere black and white. Of course, neither of us knew that the actual event itself would be broadcast IN black and white, and grainy at best! And we watched every minute...and held our breathe along with all the guys in Mission Control until we too heard: "Houston, the Eagle has landed!"

If you ever doubted the reasons for it beyond the sheer need of man to explore where he has never been then take a look at these lists of the benefits from the needs of the space program.

It goes WAY beyond Tang, Corningware, and velcro.

http://www.spacecoalition.com/products.cfm

NASA Spinoffs

Medical Benefits

It was a team effort, a team success. If you want to see how a team works, watch the mission control room. Watch the teams that suit the astronauts up and lock them in the capsule. Everyone had a job to do and everyone had to rely on everyone to do his job. It was something!

Do I hope we go back? Do I hope we go to Mars? You bet....I just hope I'm around to see some of it. My daughter has selected Coringware for her newlywed home. Do I hope SOME day to get to tell some cute little munchkins all about when it was first made and how...you bet! Do I want to hear them laugh about renting the color TV? Absolutely! And will I hold my breath until the adventure ends...count on it!

P.S. My father finally stopped pacing that night and went down to Sears the next day and bought a little 20 in. COLOR TV on a rickty aluminum stand...it was to be our rocketship to the future. We had to be up with the times! Who knew a microwave oven was just around the corner!

92 Walter Cronkite: The Voice of My History

2009-07-17T23:37:00.008-05:00

The voice of history as I remember it was stilled today. Walter Cronkite was a part of significant events in my personal timeline of history.

That day in Dallas...

(I was home for lunch and was watching when the announcement came.)

That summer night in July...

(My family stayed up way into the night, waiting, waiting, waiting...my father pacing like I had never seen him do)

At school for almost any history lesson I had...

(His TV programs were adapted for school viewing and were major classroom resources during my 1960s public education.)

In his own words:

"And that the way it [was]."

306.093 Happy Birthday Happy Meals!

2009-07-17T08:56:00.005-05:00

Another pop culture icon, the McDonald's Happy Meal is 30 years old today. Probably one of the best market gimmicks to come down the pike. And we swallowed it hook, lime and sinker, didn't we!

My older daughter is just young enough to say she has never know the world without Happy Meals...and believe me, my two girls had their share of them and all the cute little prizes. I think I finally got rid of (or passed on) the last of them during my last move.

The report I saw this morning said over 200 billion Happy Meals have been served. The most popular toys were the Beany Babies (100 million of those) and in their honor, the company is issuing a new set to commemorate the anniversary. I do have to say that was also one of the saddest things I have ever seen. When a new Beany Baby was coming out, people would line up in the drive-thru, order multiple meals to receive the toys, and as they drove out, dump bags and bags and bags of uneaten food! I HOPE that scene is not repeated.

The company also launched a Happy Meals website last year. If you don't have munchkins in your house and don't know about it, it probably is worth looking at, if, for no other reason than a nostalgic look back. Come on, if you are less than 40, you know you had your fair share, and if you are not, you have had kids who did!

McDonald's Happy Meal 30th Birthday - ABC News

Shared via AddThis

070.5 Working Out The Kinks with Bookr

2009-07-17T07:39:00.004-05:00

In one of the online summer professional development programs we have going this year, one of the activities to make and post a bookr. We were having trouble at one of our f2f recesses trying to get this particular book to load. So I promised I would play with it this weekend. I needed a place to post it ...and so you reap the benefits of technology trial and error.

What did I do to get it to post? Absolutely nothing! Apparently all the stars were aligned and I held my mouth just right and boom, up it went ...with no hassle. And it fits the blog...no edge overhang...another issue that has popped up with these this summer. So I will make a note that I do it with my Mac. (Will try my PC later.)

Patience is one of the tools you have to have in the 2.0 world. When at first you don't succeed, [be willing to] try, try , try again!

Anyway, enjoy the lovely insect collection put together by Honey Bear. And if you've not put a little visual treat together for yourself, go grab some Flickr pix and play. There is a huge archival collection (7000+ so far) for your viewing pleasure as well.

629.45 The Adventure Begins: we Choose the Moon

2009-07-16T06:29:00.004-05:00

Five...four...three...two...one...

We had lift off this time 40 years ago!

The first manned mission to the moon is being celebrated this week.

A new website We Choose the Moon with enhanced video will be "launched" today.

The entire audio record from launch to splash down of the event is also available.

Apollo 40 Years Interactive Landing

Quote this morning from one of the astronauts: "You hold more technology ability in the palm of your hand than we had on the mission"

Image fron NASA

363.34 Natural Disaster Preparededness: You Better Practice A Lot!

2009-07-12T10:11:00.003-05:00

A friend sent me this link (might be re-thinking that relationship after this experience.) It's a game, but not like checkers is a game; more like chess is a game...for masters!

Stop Disasters! A simulation game for all kinds of natural disasters...wildfire, flood, tsunami, earthquake, hurricane. You are given an amount of money and time to strategically buy resources that will protect lives and lessen the economic impact.

I failed miserably when I played with the tsunami...yes, that is what they said "failed miserably." I did better with the flood...only a few lives lost, but it would not have been a pretty community because I put up every safety measure possible. This time I was awarded a medal. I took a picture of it, but lost the screen shot in all the confusion...you will just have to believe me!

Great for the classroom. Background information and teacher plans included. FAQs include the suggested age of 9-16. Timing would work with class periods (provided procedures and practice were done ahead of time.)

Would be a great collaboration project... and then pit one team against an other.

ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Relief) is the sponsoring agency.

658.8 Double Meaning: A Lesson (and Laugh) in 2.0 Vocabulary

2009-07-12T01:18:00.007-05:00

When I saw this on TV this week, it made me laugh out loud. I loved the company's take on the 2.0 term "social networking."

Coleman - AirtightÃƒâ€šÃ‚Â® Inflatable System
Shared via AddThis

They have a companion video that I featured here.

And not to ignore the print part of the world, the Coleman Co. included one for magazines, etc.

Hummm...2 posts about ads back-to-back? Nothing but coincidence!

Visual & video available here.

659.102 100 Best Ads: Little Bits of Cultural History

2009-07-11T22:56:00.004-05:00

Comments from bloggers can take you to the most interesting blog posts/sites.

The latest one lead me to the The Top 100 Advertising Campaigns, not necessarily a new site, but new to me. I had fun going down the list and remembering all those little mini-movies and stories that entertained us between breaks in the stories we were watching on TV. Most of these

became household icons because A. we had no remotes and B. we had only 3 TV stations to watch for a really long time.

Granted there are a handful from as far back as the 1920s included, but the vast majority made the list because of the time they spent on the airwaves, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s...up to and including the infamous 1984 Macintosh computer commercial!

As is my usual plan, I went thru the list thinking about a visual to include...one of the campaigns that was a personal favorite of mine. Most of the symbols, etc. were found on sites that had rights reserved so I decided on Smokey, the fun icon of my childhood who taught me a lot about how to be careful in the forests of my summertime home.

Once I started reading, I found out the campaign is the longest PSA (public service announcement), Smokey has a very comprehensive interactive website with all kinds of safety info and history of the real Smokey and the ad campaign itself!

By the way, Smokey doesn't remind you that only you can prevent forest fires. Starting in 2001, it was changed to wildfires...doesn't have quite the same ring...messes with the cadence of my brain, but nevertheless, is still an important thing to remember. AND even an icon as important as Smokey does have to undergo a makeover every once and awhile so "GetYour Smokey on!"

Ok, ok, I digress...back to the list of ads. There are so many on it that were fun: Where's the Beef...inspirational: Keep America Beautiful's Crying Indian...and even some that go straight to the heart: Hallmark anything! Come on, you know you tear up sometimes!

Now it's your turn. What's a favorite for you? What memory didn't make the list and should have?

P.S. Not sure what criteria was used in making selections and the information attached to the list doesn't always talk in the "lovely memories" tone of this post. Each to his/her own. That's what great about the 2.0 world!

Visuals from SmokeyBear.com

770.79 A Burst of Photographic Fireworks

2009-07-04T12:06:00.003-05:00

Happy 4th to all!

I played with this particular image generator Tag Galaxy awhile back (months, years?) but just came across it again. It uses photos from our friend Flickr...who doesn't?

If you are in a playful, messin' around mood just go and throw out a keyword or two and see what happens. You will have to pull yourself away!

No, I don't have any ideas how to use it in an educationally settings...not sure how you would pull pictures off (except thru screen print) and even less how you would credit them. Sometimes, things are just fun ...and should be enjoyed just for the fun!

It is as simple as this:

006.7 EdubloggerCon: One Year Later

2009-06-27T19:29:00.010-05:00

Gosh, one year ago today...I was attending one of the best educational gatherings ever (for me anyway)... EdubloggerCon08 that was held in San Antonio. I learned SO much on several levels about working in the virtual world, learning in the virtual world and just how much fun all of it can be. The big plus was meeting and talking and sharing with like-minded people! I was floating and didn't need Second Life to do it!

The whole week (as it moved into NECC 08) was so overwhelming...all the things there were to see and learn and all of the people who wanted to share.

If you click here, you can review the posts I wrote while there.

The results from my attendance:

1. After seeing almost EVERYONE working on a MAC, I was determined to bring MAC back into my life and I did and I love it just like I knew I would!

2. I AM a part of the revolution and PROUD of it.

3. I came away even more convinced that I must be an agent of change and do as much as I could to bring about change in my own little circle of influence. In my mind, it is not that education (and school libraries right along with the bigger picture) need to change ...they HAVE to change...and not everyone involved believes it...yet!

and I almost forgot one of the most important things I learned...

4. be sure and bring the power...the power strip that is! If you have an extra plug or two available, you get to meet the coolest people up close and personal. That is Cathy Nelson of TechnoTuesday who shared a bit of power time with me! I really enjoyed the 2-3 brief encounters we had thru the week.

I came across the pictures while searching for something else in FlickrCC and just decided to mark the anniversary by showing you I was there! :-)

Here is the link to this year's EduBlogger Conference...including the traditional "stair" picture and notes from the discussion.

Here is the link to NECC 09 and all of the resources.

To everyone there, have a grand time...I am definitely there in spirit! And I will be checking in as much as I can.

Credits: The Edubloger08 pictures are from kjarrett

428.1 Save the Word: Vocabulary Builder of Out-of-Fashion Words

2009-06-14T23:41:00.005-05:00

This is the coolest vocabulary site: Save the Word...you will want to adopt a word or two...or many! The words call out to you, begging you to select them and save them from old word extinction.

Try it...you will NOT be able to resist. I dare you!

909.08 Iconic Photos: Another Collection Worthy of Your Time

2009-06-14T22:58:00.007-05:00

Spent some time this weekend catching up with the thoughts of some of my favorite bloggers and David Warlick at 2 Cents pointed me to this photo collection found at WebDesigner Depot.

It is another group of 100 historically significant portraits/photographic portraits of individuals who have impacted our world for many reasons over the last several hundred years. Yes, most of them are from the last 100 years or so, simply because of their photographic format, but there are classic portraits of much older, and no less significant, historical characters.

I am not here to debate the whys and wherefores of some people being included and others being left out of the collection. Just look at it for who is there and the shear beauty of many of the visuals themselves. As for uses in the classroom and library-related projects...please, there are SO many!

Now, the nagging question is, can these be used for educational purposes? I think you will agree with me that many of them are available from other copyright friendly locations (some are in the LC collection and some are found in the recently uploaded Life/Google collection) so I am assuming this one is as well.

What is the significance of the 4 photos I have chosen to included here, you ask?

Anne Frank -- I have been haunted by her eyes ever since I read the book at about the age of 12 (and many times since then). I have NEVER been able to put myself in any situation, real or imaginary that I assume she encountered. I C-A-N-N-O-T imagine, pretend, or even dream...

Migrant Mother -- this picture simply represents what the Dust Bowl/Depression looks like to me....and after becoming a mother almost 30 years ago, I have learned to "see" other things in her face as well.

Afghan girl -- I remember when she came out on the cover of the National Geographic magazine back in the mid-80s. I remember holding onto that copy for a long time and returning to look at it many times...not knowing that the true significance of the photo was not her green eyes (which really was the focus of the story), but the fact that she represented so much in a region of the world that captured our attention so completely a few years later. I followed the story also when the photographer/reporter went back to find her and see what fate had dealt her. I can't help it...as trite as it sounds...she is hauntingly beautiful on many levels.

And the final photo--Buzz Aldrin on the moon reflecting back a smaller image of his partner (and photographer) Neil Armstrong...a pinpoint of time frozen in my mind...the Apollo 11 moon shot is a HUGE marker on my personal timeline....I can close my eyes and remember vividly historical details of those few scary, and yet, exciting days...both inside and outside my own house!

Ok, enough nostalgia for now...go hunt up some of your own.

TASLA 3rd Morning Session Google Docs, legislative Update

2009-06-12T08:42:00.005-05:00

Google Docs
Debbie Schwarz, Mesquite ISD, talked about using Google docs. They collect their end-of-year stats on Google docs. She opened up the presentation portion which I really never have spent time with. I was glad to be reminded of it.

She showed how forms could be sent, filled out and then the spreadsheet would be populated automatically. She created one as an example. It is under New, Form. You can give help for the blanks so they would know how to answer properly. you have different types of questions...short answer, paragraph, multiple choice, check boxes, choose from a list (drop-down), scale. You can even add a theme to it to "decorate." and you can save it to different formats including MSExcel.

I see lots of uses for this new (to me) tool! It is good that others explore so I can take advantage of their ventures.

Legislative Update

Jennifer LaBoon

Key Issues for Schools that did not successfully get all the way

K12 Databases

Full time librarian on every campus using counselors standard (1 per campus of 500 or more) -- would have been unfunded mandate. The timing was just not right to push any herder this time on this.

One of the issues raised was tying it to accountability that each campus has librarian...would solve issue of exemplary campuses who have no librarian.

two opps to help --can you help? Contact Jennifer or Cindy Buchanan

PTA Summer Leadership conference in Austin, Jully 24-25

TASA/TASB Conference in Houston October2-3

Julie Todaro

the results of the public survey on libraries

http://www.txla.org/html/pr/survey.html

(FYI: If you want a source to lots of data go here)

SOME results of the survey:

strong, intense voter support

women, older and Hispanic voters, public library users most intensely support need for school libraries

essential because of opportunities to learn to read

under the funding part...concerns about cuts in hours and resources, do not want less available

the voters do see connection between student achievement and strong libraries

this the point she considers the point to use as the hook to all this info....

Question from audience: what was her perception of legislature receiving this data:

stunned looks that data exists

their curiosity was peeked..so other data was put up also

**************

It was a good conference. Yes, I learned some new things...I always do. But the most important aspect of this whole thing is the opportunity to get to spend time with people I admire, enjoy, and learn from each and every time I am around them.

TASLA 2nd Afternoon Session Training Librarians

2009-06-12T08:39:00.006-05:00

Training new librarians

in Ft. Bend...they attend a summer course on electronic resources or information literacy as a participant because they will be expected to teach one of the course during their first year.

new librarians have separate meetings (similar to ours) in addition to regular monthly meetings

Dallas ISD...summer sessions 5-6 days, unpaid in fall 4-7:30, unpaid various courses cover a variety of classes

Overview of Librarianship--photostory format instead of a course.

have “notebook” as they receive info..put it in their notebook

Northside ISD...mentor program

established librarians did a think tank of ideas...

application process for the mentors...principals had to give permission so there would be no surprises

6 meetings with mentors/mentees $200 stipend

monthly checklist for mentors

orientation for mentors...create goodie bag for mentee

Denton ISD...

new program this year (based on Garland’s program)

5 days of training...3 unpaid days in summer, 2 during the year

veterans come in to talk about different topics

this is a day in the life of ....

how do you match a book with reluctant reader

database training

Round Rock ISD...

new librarians workshop 1 day unpaid

what kinds of things are on their mind?

contract between mentor/mentee

they have 4 meetings with each other...list of what to talk about each time

online manual with instructions

acceptable use , copyright, book selection are covered before school on the training day

XXXXX

training library paraprofessionals

Title 1 requirements

that Book Woman...the traveling librarian

uses Raganathan’s 5 laws of library science to generate discussion

Make Them Smile---customer service from Todaro

weeding

management of students -- routines

book selection

TASLA 2nd Morning Session Part 2 Book Awards

2009-06-11T10:41:00.004-05:00

Exploring State Book Awards - Janet Hilbin & Jane Claes

49 states have some kind of an award now...190 awards given, not including recommended reading lists...Mississppi is only one currently not giving one

does not include Lone Star, Tayshas type lists

some go back 60-70 years!!

children had some voice in nomination, selection or voting for winners

Bluebonnet is one of largest...used as collection development tool in the state

criteria for nomination varies greatly! purpose is more standard...encourage reading!

Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Award 1940

Kansas had first individual state award 1952

of 95 looked at

21 by adults only

11 chosen exclusively by children

rest are adult selections with student selection of winners

often winners of big awards like Caldecott, Newbery can not be nominated

since 2004:

Eragon 21 awards

Twilight 16 awards

Lightning Thief 16 awards

Tale of Despereaux 15 awards

Loser 12 awards

only picture book with 10 or more My Lucky Day had 11

in total 450 books received awards..76% of the books only got one award (vast majority being picture books)

question: how many have been banned...not sure, but thought only 3-4

top 5 winners are all considered fantasy/science fiction, magical realism

25 have add movies made or are in production

Kehert, Clements, Gutman are top winners but have never won national awards

only 5 awards given exclusively for nonfiction, but 41 non fiction books have won various awards

27 books about dogs won 47 awards

8 adult titles won 19 awards

this data can be important for collection development

they have be thru selection process

trends in student reading

librarians not necessarily using this info

they are publishing this in a book (Linworth) to be out in the fall Coast to Coast: Exploring State Book Awards by Janet Hilbin and Jane Claes from the beginning to 2008

there will be some author interviews included ..they talk about impact on them and how they feel about kids reading

Guess what! Lunch!

TASLA 2nd Morning Session

2009-06-11T08:41:00.003-05:00

Reminder: live blogging = typos! more links to come

k12 Databases program review -- Marti Rossi, Region 20

all the wonderful online training materials including videos that can be embed on your own pages

survey results were positive regarding the successful use of the materials...opportunity to have things they could not otherwise have. here is the link to all the materials regarding this resource

http://web.esc20.net/k12databases/training.html

the graphs of usage will be added to the tasla wiki so they can be used in resource discussions.

TEA Report (no link available on wiki at this time)

Anita Givens, Karen Kahn

good budget session for the agency at this point; however next go round may be different.

technology allotment was funded

k12 databases continuation of funding

TxVirtual School Network 20 million for 2 years

professional development dollars

HB 3:

changes to high school graduation plans

recommended/distinguished plan 4X4 is still there...6 electives, 5 electives of r distinguished

fine arts at middle school has been added as requirement

career/tech courses....what courses could count for 4th yr. math and science

opportunities for librarians to assist middle schoolers make decsions on what to take in high school based on future plans...

HB120, 136, 3643 all talk about prek education and full-day prek classes

must pass 5th, 8th grade TAKs to be promoted, can be retained at parent request

Funding HB 3646...

added are these parts:

SB 197 personal financial literacy responsibility course for students...banking!

SB 199 provide training to teachers on financial literacy so they can work with students

SB175 top ten percent change for UT

lots of changes in health curriculum...impact on library resources?

HB4294

textbooks, e-textbooks, instructional materials, tech equip

use textbook money to select electronic materials and equipment to use

possibly will be vetoed

HB 3646

affects Virtual school network

funding for online courses will be the state's responsibility instead of students

count for ADA even if at home...pays district that proves course and district that must provide equipment to have courses...helps with 4X4 in small districts

HB4294 computer lending program...agency can provide computers for home

also having access until 7:00 3 nights a week!! impact on library...be thinking about this

HB1332

holding students responsible for electronic materials/equipment just like print textbooks

CHANGES

new curriculum website

several empty spots for positions...especially in math

science TEKs PD being set up

Tech Apps writing team to be set up

Texas College & Career Readiness program

new tech apps will start being reviewed in the fall...this IS something librarians should be involved with

Federal Update

58 million from stimulus..addition to what state normally gets

Target Tech in Texas (T3)....21st century classroom grants

collaboration, one ELA target should be part of application

target focus area FOR libraries...learner-centered technology and info access (Tx School Library Standard III) for info: t3@tea.state.tx.us

Other Funds for Technology

NCLB website is good source

performance measures can be found on OMB website

GPRA...

percentage of school personnel who meet their state technology standards..librarians are a part of that count (librarians SHOULD be filling out star charts on themselves?)

percentage of students who meet state technology standards by end of 8th grade.

end of this portion...it is break time...more networking!

TASLA Session #3 biblios and Speedgeeking

2009-06-10T17:39:00.003-05:00

Remember: this was live blogging...there will be typos!!

David Schuster from Plano is talking about biblios.net and how it could be used to create a state-wide database for all our records that could then be searched and downloaded! He is demoing how records can be created and edited...of course we could import what we already have!

It sounds like something that could be possible. The discussion even went to thinking this program might be an alternative to things like Marc Magician.....now, no one in my district get too excited. We are NOT changing anything at this point!!!! This is a discussion of possibilities only.

There was also some discussion about ownership of the records and even parts of the records vs ownership of the database where records reside. This part hurt my head. Marc records are just records, for goodness sakes. Oops, my opinion is creeping in!

Back to biblios.org -- it lives outside the firewall! That is a good thing.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in SpeedGeeking...a smorgasbord of 10 Library 2.0 tools...Animoto, Glogster, Flickr CC, flip camera, netbooks, ipod touch, kindle & sony reader, ning, voice thread,shelfari.

I did an Animoto of the learning that was going on.

Ok, now on to more networking... the f2f kind...over dinner!

TASLA Speedgeeking

2009-06-10T16:13:00.001-05:00

Groups of library administrators enjoying quick looks at 2.0 tools

TASLA Session #2 Peggy Rudd TSLAC / Second Life

2009-06-10T10:36:00.008-05:00

This crazy picture will not move right now...it is part of the Second life discussion below...do you know who it is ? Answer below!! :-)

TSLAC Report:

Peggy is giving us the annual report ...the state of libraries speech so to speak!

Legislature info/results

increased funding for K12 databases...keep what we have and expand

state-wide catalog plan...share our info..as librarians do naturally

Not successful!

thought we had 2.5 million dollars but did not move forward

people are still plugging away to bring about success.

creative budgeting (federal $) should protect the databases for now.

may have to scale back on support and training part which are important, but it may have to happen.

more training comes more comfort

technology pupil allotment will help in some ways.

TEA, Higher-Ed got lots of stimulus $. wish some could have come our way.

maybe some resources from TEA could go into the database budget.

eligibility for k12 has not changed. can't expand to private schools..that did not happen.

they will continue to have to work thru service center program to get best price.

in 2010...TexShare database, k12 database bid will occur

since $ resources did not increase, probably won't increase database resources

k12 databases and teacher prep

this was the 2n

d most requested wish after funding

trying to get info to decision makers in the schools..they need to be aware of the importance of the database

online course...State library site

services to librarians tab

Everyone Wins When School and Public Libraries Work Together

she talked about the state Library of Texas....some can't connect because of district restrictions. maybe larger k12 libraries could add their records

NEW TOPIC

SECOND LIFE http://www.secondlife.com

we saw A Starry, Starry Night presentation..actually saw the site being built...that was pretty cool! (o btw, she just said it is not there anymore!!) there is a video of it.

Look who is here in Second Life at the ALA site...Barry BigBoots (sorry, I shook as I took the picture)

Othe virtual worlds for kids

Habbo Hotel..teen

Webkinz..little kids

Gaia Online ..teens

Ty girlz 10-15 girls

machinima...machine + cinema; filming inworld

Why Second Life?

ALA has an island

another event

The Bookbinder's Ball...annual event

book discussions go on all the time...in the Reader's Garden

a book she talked about Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

global collaboration

California Library Assoc has had some

used Animoto to show us a virtual tour of one the events...good way to show it off (as youknow, I love Animoto!!)

virtual classrooms

feel the sense you are in the room with others at the same time!

the land of Lincoln...the details of the school room

sandboxes are available in SL for learning

she tried to show us around but of course, technology did its usually trick! but I will link ot her presentation later and you can see lots of "stuff"

p.S. forgot to mention..we still have those important breaks called ...eating !!

we back channeled this conversation at http://todaysmeet.com/TASLA

we hope to have an archived copy if it later...cross your fingers!

TASLA Session #1 21st Century Educator

2009-06-10T08:32:00.001-05:00

Remember these are ROUGH notes...P.S. it was very good and fun...will do some linking later!!

Kim Cofino, International School in Bangkok

http://mscofino.edublogs.org/ Always Learning

This is being done thru Skype and she will demonstrate screen sharing as well.

The power of personal learning networks...

The Networked Teacher...

traditional tools AND 2.O tools

PLN or PLE

24-7 learning

immediate responses/feedback during the learning process

can include personal interests as well as professional interests

interconnect but the groups of learners can change

global connections are possible

you have to build your own PLN, a community happens--you join that

it is your responsibility to go out and get the info and learning ---it DOES take time

Evolution of an educator

pre-PLN wasa time of isolation, a few colleagues

a list of books that was her start (Warlick, Richardson, Wikinomics, Long Tail)

K-12 online conference was another first that got her started

reader

forming groups...and the personal connections that can be made

collaborations of a ling distance nature came next

joining communities (nings)

constantly connecting...Twitter

where are you in your evolution

Grow your own PLN

The steps she would follow if she could do it all over again...

start small...can’t do it all at once..

start with one tool like readers (RSS)

learn by lurking

it comes to you...you look at it on your own time

you find your little group...you don’t have to follow everyone

social networking

professional connections in Facebook maybe...broaden your connections

start sharing ...thru a blog!

develop your online identity...being anonymous is not always in your best interest...

personal conversations...with things like Skype

personal connections even long distance

online conferences...2nd Life and other events

as structure or unstructured as you want

be connected constantly...Twitter

tidbits of info over time tell the story of this person

she talked about Flickr Creative Commons as the primary source for her pictures because she has permission based the CC

She also talked about a site where you can select only things that can be shared search.creativecommons.org

Presentation Zen...book for making presentations better

Here Comes Everybody (The Power of Organizing without Organizations)...another book she recommends

Back Channeling at TASLA

2009-06-10T08:25:00.003-05:00

The annual administrator conference for library leadership ...TASLA starts in just a few minutes. If you want to follow along in a back channel .... click this link, put up a name and join us!

http://todaysmeet.com/TASLA

We are using the service that we can save the info.

Let's hope I'll be successful at doing that...yes, this is my first time!

028.162 Bluebonnets 2009-2010

2009-06-06T01:03:00.001-05:00

For your viewing pleasure!

004.165 MacBook Pro: Grab That Screen Shot

2009-06-03T23:20:00.003-05:00

Slowly, but surely, I am getting more comfortable with MY fabulous MacBook Pro...I have spent one session at the Genius Bar (needless to say I was NOT the genius in the conversation) and got to spend two days with a Mac trainer trying to absorb as much as possible and remember as much as I could on how the Mac acts differently from the PC.

I have trouble with the smallest, most insignificant things with technology quite often and I continue to be flummoxed by the smallest details of the Mac as well. Thought I would go out of my mind trying to easily copy URLs...duh, 1, 2, 3 clicks, command-copy!

Ok, now to the main purpose of this post. You know HOW much I love to use screen shots and how fun I think it is that on a Mac, you actually get to hear the camera "click!" In case you are missing the screen shot key from the PC keyboard, on the Mac it is command-control-3.

BUT if you really intend to use the screen shot, that is a whole

other story! After piling up a bunch of junk on my pretty, clean desktop that were totally useless (on several occasions), I FINALLY clicked Help tonight and read about GRAB...an application that allows you to select the portion of the screen you want before clicking and allows you to save your shot in the format of your choice in iPhoto.

So ridiculously E-A-S-Y! Why do I insist on making things difficult? Help is on a computer for a reason!

GRAB is now is now a permanent resident of my Dock.

797 Water Fun & Games: Thinking About the Beach

2009-06-03T19:49:00.008-05:00

School's almost out and thoughts turn to water fun.

In looking for something else completely on a different subject (as I often do), I came across a notice for this new online game prepared by NOAA. Looks interesting.

Then I discovered that NOAA has a whole page of games ...and also links to two water-based sites created by National Geographic and PBS

Jump in and have fun!

648.5 Cleaning: Necessary Tips Even in the 2.0 World

2009-05-26T23:30:00.003-05:00

Good article for keeping the Wii Fit Balance Board sparkling clean...especially when you are encouraged to use it barefooted!

Now don't get too excited...I am NOT saying you should encourage the kids to do that at school...it is just what the article hooks you with!

And realizing that everyone in my district has been using their laptops for a year now (gosh, time flies when you are having fun!), here is an article on how to clean a laptop keyboard. The ol' turn it over and shake isn't necessarily the best thing to when the keys are attached to the unit itself. :-)

Nice website overall...good tips on lots of stuff HowtoCleanStuff.net

028.162 Bluebonnet Reviews in a Snap!

2009-05-23T22:15:00.004-05:00

ReaderBuzz has a short, sweet and to the point list of reviews for the current list of Bluebonnet books. Takes about a minute to read her good and bad points about each title!

...and we agree on our favorite one! ribbit!

Enjoy!

P.S. She also has thoughts about books for older readers.

371.2 Certificates & Awards: End-of-Year Activities

2009-05-07T22:45:00.004-05:00

I will admit to almost being a image generator junkie these days. I LOVE all the free stuff you can do with pictures these days like here and here and here...and more ideas here.

But, boy, o boy, here's JUST what any one with end-of-school ceremonies, award assemblies, and parent programs luming on the horizon needs...a huge fantasitc, easy-to-use FREE web site full of certificates and awards called My Award Maker.

Go have lots of fun! (And save yourself a lot of work!)

745.5 Voki Fun...and Questions

2009-05-06T14:25:00.008-05:00

Was helping someone set up a blog with avatar today. She selected a Voki. So I made the one you see in an attempt to answer questions that came up as we did hers.

Does anyone know if you can remove the comment button on the frame?
If you have tips and can point me to any help, I'd appreciate them.

Get a Voki now!

027.8 Library of Congress: Going Where the Users Are!

2009-04-25T00:17:00.007-05:00

Library of Congress videos on YouTube...potential overdose for this history & trivia dabbler! But how cool of them to take all their great stuff and put it out for all to see and use! Going where the users are instead of sitting back and waiting for them to come to them.* Aren't libraries just getting so smart these days! ;-)

Look at the two samples I pulled up in the first five minutes I was in the new collection.

[I have requested conversions of these from Zamzar so they can be seen in district. When I get them and have a few moments to upload them...I'll add them. Even more reason for this important resource to be available at school...ALL schools!]

Enjoy!

*I intend to still get there some day to the "real thing" and be able to stare up into that beautiful dome!

027.8 A Good List of Librarians

2009-04-24T22:53:00.003-05:00

If you want to check out what blogging librarians are talking about these days, here's a Top 50 list...although it really is a Top 40s + 10 Tweeters...and I won't go there tonight...still trying to wrap my head around that concept. Suffice it to say, the Tweeters have plenty of important (and fun) things to say too!

I have read and follow regularly 9 out of the top 10 plus a bunch further down the line. And I am pleased to say that I have had opportunity to hear many of these fine folks in person...an extra treat! I have a feeling I'll be adding a few more once I give myself time to completely work through the list.

There are a few missing from the list in my opinion. Among them are Blue Skunk and Library Stuff who have been teaching me a lot over several years! But it's not my list. Enjoy what is there!

Take a look...you'll learn something...all the time!

612.8 The Power of Touch

2009-04-21T10:09:00.004-05:00

A good friend sent this to me.

Please take the minute AND 40 seconds it takes to watch the ENTIRE video. It is worth it!
And then tell me you couldn't make several lessons for any age level.
I dare you!

And then go hold hands (even virtually) with someone!

004.165 Shouting from the Rooftops: I Have a MAC!!

2009-04-14T21:26:00.008-05:00

Yippy skippy! Good things DO come to those who wait...can't help it...I have a brand new sleek, slick, shiny new MacBook Pro with ( yes, screen envy made me do it)... a S-E-V-E-N-T-E-E-N INCH screen!

Just look at how beautiful this desktop is. One reason is it is clean...new computers are just so clean aren't they? And second reason...the picture is gorgeous...many in my circle will understand the significance of the view!

I will admit I do miss the adobe/little blue window/chili pepper desktop of my old PC, but not all the PC drama! It has been a long, often painful wait to come back to Mac.

Can't help it, it's cool. My NECC adventure last summer...when virtually all the cool people people doing the coolest things were ALL doing them on Macs...it sealed the deal...and dropping my PC during my post-IKE move last September didn't hurt...hummmm, did you say subconscious "accident"...just now thought of that. No, I really did just now think about that!

The trash can is in the lower right corner where all good trash cans should be...and it is a cute little silver mesh one...and when you throw something away...you hear the crumbling of the paper. But the best...screen shots...yup, you hear the little camera click!!

and look at the cute little stickies

Yes, I know simple pleasures...

but I don't care...it's mine and I get to play with it all I want! And I intend to have a lot of fun!

973.0992 Presidents: Playful Presentations

2009-04-10T17:32:00.010-05:00

Gave myself permission to spend some time playing so in doing so I made a stop by YouTube and look what I found.

I did take time to convert these two videos using the Zamzar site so that it would be available in district (and other places where YouTube is blocked.) This time it was successful although the uploading sure did seem to take a long time. Guess I just need to remember patience is a virtue and all good things come to those who wait!

Anyway...this first video morphs the presidents from Washington to Obama. I found myself concentrating on the eyes as the changes were made. Take a look...I think you will find it interesting on some level.

This second video is a rap of the presidential list, again from Washington to Obama. Catchy little tune goes with it!

I know neither of these items is heavy-duty in the learning and education department...not brain surgery or nuclear science...but they are fun...and similar types of activities could be created by students and a lot of learning value could be had.

For now, I'm just asking you to enjoy!

P.S. Visited the Educational Rap site. Would be worth some time. It also has its own channel on YouTube as well. Who knew there would be a rap about photosynthesis!

The morphed video was originally uploaded by polvideo.

025.4 Dewey Decimal Fun

2009-04-06T00:00:00.006-05:00

Can't help it...too much fun not to share.

I went ahead and converted it from Youtube with Zamzar because I wanted you to see it whenever you wanted! UPDATE 4-10-09: Got the converted file to load so now you can see in district or wherever Youtube is blocked.

Anyway...think the kids got more out doing this than just learning the DDC...you bet!

Originally created and uploaded to YouTube by scooterstories

028.5 Multi-tasking Librarian: In the Right Place

2009-04-05T22:23:00.004-05:00

I have said it many times, but it is never enough. I work with the greatest bunch of school librarians. I have made a promise to try and show them off as much as I can. I started my efforts here and here.

Check out the latest efforts of this elementary librarian. When a gift fell into her lap, she jumped at the chance and gave some of her students a wonderful experience with an author and his very popular books...all the same time she was preparing an outstanding presentation to give to administrators seeking answers to how libraries (and more importantly, librarians) can impact student success! Check out the Animoto of her kids. She is a walking advertisement for that type of success.

027.8 Librarians at Play: TLA Presentation about 2.0 Tools

2009-04-04T20:17:00.001-05:00

A 23 Things friend asked me to visit her TLA presentation during TLA conference last week. I am glad because it was a great discussion of using things pre-K /12 and I saw some ideas that were new to me...and fun and exciting!

There was a group of private school librarians who were presenting 2.0 things that they had used with their students during the past year. Some of them work in schools where every student has access to a laptop and nothing on the internet is blocked. Others operate with similar roadblocks that the rest of us must endure. But everyone encouraged the audience to do what they could!

As a group, they realize that security, working within the context of existing tools, advertising issues on some sites, filters, and time are all things that have to be considered with learning new things and teaching them to students.

Some statements that stood out to me were:

"Try everything! Try a few things, but try something!"

"It is ok to fail."

"Joyce Valenza for real people" --paying homage to the queen of library 2.0 matters, while recognizing that not all of us can do it at her level!

My friend presented the project that her 2nd grade students did with Flat Stanley and tied it to a Google maps activity. They mailed Flat Stanley to long distance family members and asked them to take him along on an adventure and send pictures back. Here is a link to an Animoto about the project.

Her 4th grade students studied about magazines and then created a magazine cover using animals and other science topics as the themes for their magazines. Here is an Animoto about them.

Another presenter uses Library Thing to advertise the new books that have been added to the school's collection. If my notes are correct, she scans the bar code on the back of the book and that pulls up a cover which she adds to other titles to make a collage. The collage is placed in emails to students and teachers and she also prints out a copy for reference when students come in. They often refer to the books by cover rather than title! I am not familiar with this procedure myself, but I'm sure it something for which there is more info. She also writes about books in her blog Print Matters.

Another librarian talked about the benefits of Google docs, especially with middle school students who can't drive themselves to collaboration opportunities. She told the group that her students come form 28 zip codes!!...and to do group projects is often impossible because the students live so far apart. But Google docs eliminated some the problems. She did mention that Google docs dow not support PPT 2007, but they found that Zoho docs does so when they need to, they use that resource as well.

A few more topics covered in the presentation included:

Creating a ning for historical people of importance. Group them according the time period. The students write profiles, etc. based on the individuals they are studying.

The Horizon Projects...a wiki with lots of things from the educational 2.0 world.

Pandora.com...radio and music for the library

LinkBunch.com...bunch links under one link to make sharing easier.

Their TLA conference handout Get Busy: Unique Challenges in Private Schools and Web 2.0 is not active yet, but if it does become available, I will hot link it here.

025.3 Checking Out Cataloging at TLA

2009-04-02T10:15:00.012-05:00

There were several cataloging sessions presented at TLA this year and I decided that they would be at the top of my list as much as possible. I know you are asking why and there are several very good reasons. First off, I am the cataloger of record in my district, and although we have a very serious rule of "buy processed," I still get asked some tough questions by the librarians in my circle of influence and I have to be on top of what is what so that I can be sure the vendors "do it right" as well. I am teaching cataloging to some new librarians and I wanted to be sure I was teaching the right stuff...turns out I was/am with one small exception which I will touch on later.

Several of the topics were simply interesting...and some of the presenters are simply "rock stars" in the field and deserved my time for what they know!

As anyone who has attended TLA knows all too well, you can't see and do it all so there were some cataloging sessions I missed. One was Cataloging Reconsidered: Is LOC Still the Nation's Cataloger. The link takes you to some useful information found on the LOC site. Another session, Not the Dreaded Cart Again! A Cataloger's Nightmare is currently not active in the session handouts section. The info was presented by Scott Piepenburg who has put several books together that do help a librarian who finds herself/himself having to take care of cataloging issues.

I did attend the session about MarcEdit. another session that currently does not have an active link on the

TLA page I hate to admit that I came away not totally understanding it and all that it can do for individual librarians. But the website is very comprehensive and I do plan to go thru it carefully for any assistance it can provide.

I also attended the session Cataloging 101 for School and Public Librarians presented by a true rock star of the cataloging world, Joanna Fountain. She knows everything, but has such a realistic view of what busy school librarians can and can not spend time on when it comes to cataloging materials. I have always appreciated how she takes large amounts of information and distills it down to the essential components. You can learn a lot from her sample book as to what is needed in records covering all formats.

Some her comments during the session included

what is the catalog for

to show what the library has

and what ELSE does the library have

Users should be able to make successful choices based on the info...that is an important job of the cataloger to be sure that can happen and then also being sure that the info to find the material is properly complete.

The librarian/cataloger must understand the audience, know the system that will contain the records and understand content rules, be they AACR2 or the upcoming RDA

As far as having a classification tool, the Dewey abridged is sufficient. LC subject authorities are available online for free at the LOC website

Fountain did explain with the change in the rules that are being worked on, the term preferred instead of authority will be the new term of choice in RDA

Steps the librarian/cataloger must think about include:

1st what is this item?

2nd what is chief source of info for this kind of item?

3rd is there a MARC template for this type of material to guide in deciding what is needed, and needed correctly?

Fountain also brought certain things about some fields/tags and sub-headings:

245 - Keep all the diacritics in the title and author , but watch the system you use. Some systems turn them into weird characters!

And the same thing I have to remain my students...Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns in any titles...for get what you learned in English...for the moment!

260 - Why is the place of publication important? Because it can affect the version selected. And what about all those publishers and imprints...go with what appears on the title page...even if it is an imprint! And just as I have always tried to explain...there is a difference between publication date (printing) and the copyright. If you choose to use the copyright date, it always needs the "c" before it. It is best to use the newest date, but very important to be consistent. I know in our district we have that consistency. Newest date first!

When talking a little about AV, Fountain reminded all of us that when working on videos, we now have to think about VHS (on its way out), DVD, or Blu-ray...the newest format that will need to be included in 538.

She also mentioned that the 2nd indicator in the subject fields (600, 650, 651, etc.) should be filled with a "1" indicating that the material is in a children's CATALOG, not necessarily that the material is a child's book!

Fountain also shared information about the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations. There is lots of info about cataloging electronic materials...useful for libraries trying to keep up with all the great stuff online!

She indicated that she would try to answer questions fountain@thegateway.net

Time well spent!

027.8 School Librarians, Libraries and Administrators

2009-04-02T00:21:00.003-05:00

Today was the first full conference day at TLA. The Strong Libraries, Strong Scores Administrators' Conference was held today. We had about 85 principals, assistant principals, central office staff and some trustees from around the state come to hear learn from, and work with a series of speakers who filled them in on the value of their school librarians, libraries, and the contributions of both to the overall school success.

The early reactions seem to be all positive. The administrators' learned and shared and went away with lots of information to use in making changes back on their campuses...OR left knowing that their programs are indeed contributing to success already!

Keith Curry Lance, Marla McGhee, Barbara Jansen and two local principal-librarian teams from Pasadena and Spring Branch shared valuable statistics, important concepts and LOTS of practical things to use and do. Both presenters and participants alike asked and answered lots questions and covered lots of concerns.

This is the 5th time that administrators have been invited to participate in this event that was conceived from the White House 2002 meeting about school libraries. And with anything worth doing, this year added to the success found during each of the preceding years. Lots of school children and teens will benefit from the gathering today. That's the best anyone can wish!

P.S. Thanks to the group responsible for the fun and games at the party earlier this evening...especially the music! I knew all the words. Needless to say, the great band that played, played lots and lots and lots of oldies, but goodies. It was hard at time to know who was having more fun---the performers or the audience!

027.8 Teamwork & School Librarians...With a Little Multi-tasking Thrown In

2009-04-01T23:12:00.011-05:00

Today was a busy day at TLA. The Strong Libraries, Strong Scores Administrators' Conference was held today...more about that important event in detail a bit later! That necessitated a committee of school librarians who were willing to give of most of one day at conference to help this mini-conference happen.

And this year, this all-important volunteer opportunity fell on a group of librarians from my district, who, when I asked, stepped up to the plate and said yes to whatever! Some parts of the morning were busy, some parts were a tad stressful, but most parts were just plain boring with a lot of sitting around...waiting, and waiting much more patiently than I!

But never let it be said that this group of librarians ever let an opportunity for bonding, relationship building, collaborating, and /or sharing go by. Some were sharing knowledge about personal learning devices (aka fancy phones!), some were learning tips and tricks from each other while allowing a colleague to practice a presentation, and others were just taking time to get to know each other a bit better...all at the same time remaining poised to take on any conference task that bubbled to the surface.

The group of librarians in my circle of influence and my learning community are the greatest, and today only proved the point one more time! Nothing, absolutely nothing did they let go by...they took care of details, large and small, and with smiles on their faces. They counted and recounted simply because I asked; they made trips down the long halls or over to the convention center just because I needed something checked on...again! Some of them even babysat lunches...while important sessions over in the convention center went on without them.

They know who they are, but here is a visual record of my all my right-hands from today. They insisted that I had to be part or there would be no visual record. I am proud to be among them even though I did grumble a bit!

And now for the multi-tasking part: I took advantage of sharing their smiling faces along with how proud I am to call them not only colleagues but friends, but to also showcase two samples of image generator sites...one new to me-- BeFunky, and a favorite Dumpr and a particular technique found in both. Pretty cool don't you think?

P.S. Thanks AGAIN to the team...and to BF, a helper from a neighboring district!

027.8 TLA Week in Texas: LibrarySpeak 24/7

2009-03-31T22:18:00.004-05:00

It's time for the annual conference for all the librarians in Texas to come together to learn, collaborate, and...yes, even play! Three and a half days of action packed sessions with experts on all levels about all kinds of things! Books, authors, reading incentives, everything technology-wise you can think of and everything in between that makes a library a library and THE place to be today...no matter its location or type!

Even though the event is in my hometown, I still moved downtown for the week. Why you ask? Have YOU ever driven to downtown Houston on a week day for an 8:00 a.m. anything? But more importantly, conference time has become an important time to catch up with friends and colleagues from across the state and to have lots of time and opportunities for some good old-fashioned visiting along with new fangled collaboration!

Just in my first day, I have caught up with about ten members of my Tall Texan class, had two in-depth conversations about the 2.0 library world and how to help technology and district leadership understand the importance of "open" resources, reviewed 23 Things staff development with some folks contemplating doing it in their community, and finalized details for an adminstrators' conference on the value of libraries to their schools' success! The FIRST DAY!

Made it to one formal session where two school leaders from Mesquite and Spring Branch discussed the 23 Things program in detail...and got to meet f2f some players from last summer's adventure. Lots of us got to share how we all are incorporating the 2.0 tools into our teaching and learning as we visited after the program. So much enthusiasm and excitement in the air!

I think that is one reason I enjoy conference so much. For one week at least, all things are possible...roadblocks disappear, be they the people or financial type...new ideas emerge and old ones get refreshed. All books are new and full of promise. And the day ended with the best hot-fudge sundae (complete with brownie pieces AND cherries) high up in a hotel where the view of the city lights and the lingering clouds made for a magnificent close to a very good day indeed!

Stick around this week...I have made a promise to myself to try and blog about some parts of the conference that come my way!

808.06 2.0 Book Reviews: "Rap" Your Brain Around This Idea

2009-03-29T23:48:00.005-05:00

Want to try something new to promote books? Want to give kids an alternative to the worn-out version of a book report?

Go here to see what one of the librarians in my personal learning network has produced!
She has gone even further and issued the challenge to her students to one-up her!
Check out here what else she is doing to make the library a happening place!

Check out your "berry" cuz your visit's overdue!

741.6 WriteOnIt: Another Image Generator

2009-03-09T22:10:00.008-05:00

Librarian Philospher passed this site on to me! Write On It.

Played around a little.

Add it to your image generator collection.
Caution: some of the frames may not be appropriate for young kids!

P.S. That's my Copper in the middle and the azaleas outside my front door in the bottom one! Springtime IS here!

688.7 Happy Birthday Barbie!

2009-03-09T11:00:00.002-05:00

No picture of the original Barbie here...out of respect for the copyright notice on the web site stating that it is copyrighted material!

But that doesn't lessen the fact that I choose to celebrate the 50th "birthday" of an American icon. Yes, there are plenty of reasons to say otherwise...I have heard them all over the last 50 years.

I was seven, but I had to WAIT a WHOLE year until I was eight before she got to come live at my house. My birthday was only a few short weeks after hers so she was just one...and she was just a few months short of 50 when I laid her to rest...but that's a sad part of this story and this is day for happy stories!

I loved her. I didn't think she would ever be mine. My parents weren't much into "the latest and greatest" and turned deaf ears to such things as "EVERYBODY has one!"-type statements. At the time, she was hard to find and again, my parents not being super shoppers, well, it looked hopeless.

Now you have to understand...I was not a girly-girl. Anybody who knows me, can figure that pretty fast. I did lots of other things besides play dolls. I really don't remember the particular fascination with Barbie...even my mom didn't recall.

I DO remember the day however...only I didn't know at the time. All five of us were in the car driving from place to place and ended up at a drugstore ACROSS town one evening. My parents told my brothers and me to stay in the car...you could do that back in the 1950s. About 10 minutes later, they came out with a store sack...we didn't ask...we knew it would do no good. My parents were great parents...they just weren't free with information that they thought you didn't need to know!

About 3 days later, I turned 8. My party consisted of a group of 7 friends, my mom and me attending a ballet performance in our Sunday finest! It was grand and even more special because we got to stop afterwards and have ice cream sodas. That's when she was presented to me...in front of my friends...with her golden blode ponytail and back & white striped swimsuit. That began some of the greatest times I ever remember. The last time I actually remember playing with her was in the summer I was 13 with my summer friend. We would spend hours making up adventures and changing her clothes to fit the adventure!

You see, back then (at least in my circle) you had ONE doll and you shopped for clothes and accessories. We poured over the catalogs, saved our babysitting money, and put our choices on Christmas and birthday lists. And we NEVER messed with her hair!

When Barbie turned 25, I was back into the Barbie business but as the mother of two girls eventually! You bought all kinds of theme-Barbies that came with special outfits and accessories. My girls didn't have many extra outfits; they had big storage boxes of Barbies...all with messed up hair!

Things changed, but things stayed and continue to stay the same. Barbie is fun. Barbie is magic. Barbie is memories!

Happy 50th Birthday Barbie!

More stuff about Barbie and the celebration

http://barbiestyle.barbie.com/history.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/6300277.html Barbie trivia quiz

http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/

028.6 Cybil Awards for the 3rd Time

2009-02-22T22:05:00.005-06:00

The winning titles of the Cybil Awards for the 2008 year have been announced and can be reviewed here in detail.

I love the nonfiction picture book Nic Bishop's Frogs selection of course...in fact used it in a catalog class situation last week. It is a perfect example of why kids can't get enough visually-stimulating science books! Here is a podcast with the author of the winning book from the Just One More Book site!

The only other winner I am familiar with enough to even mention knowing is the haunting, somewhat disturbing, YA novel Hunger Games. So much to think about on many levels.

Information about past winners can be found here for 2006 and here for 2007.

Happy Reading!

551.5 Winter Weather in Texas: Never a Dull Moment!

2009-02-22T21:16:00.004-06:00

I had an opportunity to do a 1200-mile circle around part of Texas about a week ago and got to see the effects of weather in several ways...the terrible effects of drought in central Texas, the wild winds of the West Texas Plains...and the freakness of a hailstorm that happens when a cold front meets warmer air coming up from the Gulf! Earlier this school year, we got to experience a little snow at home in Houston. Take a look at what I ran into coming down off the Caprock between Post and Snyder! NO...it is not snow...it is hail and thank goodness it fell about a hour before I passed thru the area...or my cute red car may have been pelted and dented!

741.6 ObamiconMe: A "Sign" of the Times

2009-01-24T00:12:00.009-06:00

The Obama Hope campaign poster ...and the more recently created inauguration poster ...by Shepard Fairley have inspired another creative group to develop ObamicomMe, an image generator where you and I can play around with the technique. Here are few of my favorites from the gallery of creations.

From these examples above, I see lots of ways they can be used in libraries and classrooms. Don't you?

Here are some of my efforts.

It does require you to register in order to save your creations, but it is super easy and a whole lot of fun!

image 1 & 3 of my creations: Microsoft Clipart

image 2: personal colection

025.8 Adminstrators' Conference: The Value of Libraries

2009-01-21T12:58:00.016-06:00

Are you a TEXAS SCHOOL Librarian?

If so, have you nominated your principal, your assistant principal, or other administrator to attend the 5th Annual Strong Libraries, Strong Scores Administrators Conference to be held Wednesday, April 1st during the Texas Library Association Conference in Houston? The nomination process has begun.

Nominate

Restricted to TEXAS School Administrators & Trustees

The administrators will hear how strong school library programs CAN positively effect TAKS scores. The evidence will be presented by nationally-known experts and teams of successful administrators and their librarians. There will opportunity to share experiences and ask questions on how to make current programs better!

Questions?

973.932 A Sign of the Times: What a Difference a Day Makes

2009-01-20T23:24:00.004-06:00

I clicked a bookmarked site this evening (that I had just used yesterday) to do some fact checking and presidential trivial surfing and look what I got! The furniture movers who changed out two households in a matter of hours were not the only ones busy making change happen today!

Not to worry...all the stuff you are used to finding at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ is still there. It's just been virtually moved around a bit. The search box allows you relocate your information!

973.092 Presidential Facts: Trivial Fun for an Important Historical Day

2009-01-20T09:21:00.012-06:00

With these simple, few words

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

a major cornerstone of the process we in this country hold dear took place for the 44th time today as the 43th man to do so took the oath of office and became President of the United States.

Despite all the campaigning, the talking, the debating, the wheeling and dealing, the compromising, the organizing, the planning, it really comes down to those few words that brings about the transition...the change...in the power of our government.

It is amazing in its simplicity.

***************

Now for the traditional first facts portion of my thoughts.

It was reported recently that Barack Obama official photograph is the first to be taken with a digital camera...no film to fade or get scratchy, disintegrate, or fall apart!

President John Quincy Adams was the earliest person who served as president to be photographed by the Bishop & Gray Gallery although his picture was not taken until 1843, some 14 years after his 1825-1829 term ended.

There seems to be some controversy over who was the first sitting president to be photographed, but general consensus gives the honor to James K. Polk, the 11th President who served from 1845-1849. The reason for the confusion is that Matthew Brady and his team of photographers and other photographers of the time were busy taking pictures of lots of famous people and dates were not always carefully noted. Some important photos include only ranges of years as the time marker!

The missing piece of my historical puzzle is which president is the first to be photographed in color? The best guess I could determine in the small amount of time I allowed myself to research this trivia is that there exists a piece of colored film of President William Henry Taft made in 1912 that was put through a process to created a colored single frame or "picture" of the 27th president.

Why does this photographic history pf presidents interest me? I take digital pictures...love the ease of them, but worry like a old person of the 20th century that I have nothing to "hold on to" for 99% of the pictures I have taken for about the last 5-6 years except for a computer file "somewhere" on some computer, old or new, while at least 2 dozen years of personal history taken on film are neatly filed away in boxes..to become faded, scratchy, disintegrated relics of times gone by!

O, yeah, and a simple little picture that I personally own that was created by the Brady team that contains the likenesses of 6 participants of the Civil War...among them, a gruff-looking, old codger with whom I share a family tie (and unfortunately, a familiar look)...and one of his staff members who later became the 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison!

Will I share this photograph? You bet...just as soon as I find the digital copy I carefully put away...somewhere!

P.S. This post also contains my favorite piece of presidential trivia no matter who is president. I love to ask "how many people have served as president?" and have them give me the number of presidents we have had. Why do these 2 numbers not match? The same person served as both the 22nd and 24th Presidents. Now it's your turn to figure out who! :-)

"Artwork" of the oath created using Wordle.
Photographs from Library of Congress files.

363.12 The Hudson Miracle

2009-01-17T23:54:00.006-06:00

I have been watching the news on the Hudson River air crash the last few days and have truly been amazed at the stories that have come out of the event.

The Captain and his strength, ability and level-headedness at landing the plane so carefully is of course, a wonderful part of the miracle that occurred. But the individual challenges of all aboard are really something. Everyone helped each other, pitched in where it was needed, gave a hand out or an encouraging word...and turned the praise they received back towards the others.

And the images...gives new meaning to the old saying "on a wing and a prayer."

953.63 The Qatar Experience: A Worthy Flat Classroom Adventure

2009-01-16T22:32:00.003-06:00

Early last month, I posted about a group of SBISD students who are trying to collect funds to help them attend the Flat Classroom Project Conference in Qatar next week.

The group did not meet their goal of raising enough money for all 9 students to attend, but came together, adjusted their plans, and now have three students and two teachers ready to go. The students still need some dollars for their expenses...meals, visas upon arrival, ground transportation and other incidentals needed for a few days in a foreign country.

The group embraced the goals of the program, worked hard with their fellow world-wide classmates, earned awards for some of their work, and have admirably represented what learning in the 21st century is. They DESERVE to be at the showcase...they NEED to be at the showcase representing all of us back home who are also working hard on transforming our learning, our teaching, our schools, our libraries, our world.

These kids have sacrificed much to reach this goal and so have their families. It has not been easy for anyone. Our area has been hit hard economically over the last several months...our community has been affected by the downturn in the general economy as has the rest of the country and the additonal punch that IKE caused to many of our neighbors and friends did not help! Donations have been hard to come by and many individuals in the area simply could not help when asked.

The group going only needs about $1000 more to cover everything. A thousand dollars for a life-changing experience.

The 4th student in line needs $3000 dollars to be able to jump on the plane with his classmates next Tuesday, January 21st. He has his passport...there's seat on the plane...and a spot in a hotel room. He's ready...except for $3000.

Please, readers of this blog...you regular readers and any new readers who may have been prodded by someone to read this post and its accompanying links...please go to the CHIPIN site and donate what you can.

Give up a coffee or two and give a kid a lift! It will give you a better buzz than the caffeine

551.72 Snowflakes: Generate you Own Pile

2008-12-13T00:07:00.011-06:00

Those of you who live with snow day in and day out for several months a year...forgive me. One more fun activity generated by the excitement of our recent snowfall.

Make-a-snowflake image generator. Use virtual scissors to cut out your own creation from a piece of virtual paper...and no mess to clean up! Possibly the cleverest part of the whole activity is watching the computer take the "paper" and magically fold it for perfect snowflake cutting! ( Hey, simple pleasures...what can I say!)

You save them or upload to the gallery...which contains thousands and thousands of entries. That is my one contribution at the top of the post. And below is an Animoto slideshow where I pulled samples from the gallery for your viewing pleasure.

551.57 Snow: A Surprise Visitor

2008-12-11T00:23:00.007-06:00

The weatherman kept saying it might happen...and it did! Snow fell within the city limits of Houston today...the first time in over 4 years!

It was a major news event all day...and caused all kinds of excitement...it actually feels like Christmas around here! (as opposed to the feeling one gets in December when you are STILL swatting mosquitoes.)

It was a good feeling...my old dog Mr. C was actually frisky after walking today...another new neighbor and I met each other for the first time and actually stood out on the sidewalk and let the flakes accumulate on our jackets as we exchanged our first neighborly tidbits...it brought out the bloggers around here and here as well!

But the WEIRDEST part of it all (and the main reason I ended up posting) is I hit (literally) on this YouTube video THIS EVENING by accident...it was fate! Enjoy!

Pretty cool, isn't it?...and I'm somebody who just doesn't "get" spreadsheets at all...I admittedly have "spreadsheet" envy on something like this!

P.S. I hope this bit of winter weather wonderland doesn't create a mess in the morning for all the drivers!

[Video from the Google Collaborative Spreadsheet Art collection on YouTube converted by Zamzar so it will be visible in district]

006.6 Dumpr: TOO Much Fun!

2008-12-10T09:20:00.006-06:00

I have records open on my desktop that I SHOULD be cataloging, but I am taking a few minutes of virtual hookey time to show you Dumpr. Maybe it is not new to you and maybe you are not hooked on image generators as I am, but this one is pretty cool, ridiculously simple, very fast...and mostly FREE...the best kind!

I pulled up an old picture of a friend...those of you who have been in some of our department's staff development will recognize him! Look at all the things I can do to him.

Some of the things on the site do cost $$, but are marked pro so it is easy to tell. They can be saved, printed, uploaded to Flickr, or embedded almost anywhere in the 2.0 world you can think of!

Ok, ok, ok...I gotta get back to my cataloging. Go have fun!

P.S. The squishy one is really fun...you do the squishing. You HAVE to do that one at least!

953.63 Qatar or Bust: Community Effort

2008-12-07T19:58:00.008-06:00

Since the inception of our Library2Play 23 Things professional development almost a year ago, there have been many players who have embraced the 2.0 world and given their students new keys to learning.

One such player is Estie Cuellar, a CATE teacher in our district in Houston, TX. From her culminating comments about the 23 Things adventures:
"I have become proactive in seeking out and learning new technologies that will help me grow as a teacher professional and affect positively the lives of my students."

She has done this thru many things:
"Kids today are in sync with technology...it's practically in their DNA. They are proficient multi-taskers. They cannot be reached in a one-dimensional classroom. I understand this.... The vast majority of my lessons are interactive. I play music in my classroom everyday. I make sure that my students conduct Internet research and complete online activities. This year, I will incorporate blogging to replace notebook journals as the students' reflection piece after completing lessons."

She also created a TeacherTube video about her teaching:

Estie has a group of students who have been particpating in the Flat Classroom Project this Fall. In this adventure the students have been working with students around the world on various topics. It is now time for these students to come together with their global peers. The meeting is to be held in Qatar in January.

These nine students need YOUR help. It is going to cost $20,000 for the students and their teacher to make the trip. These students can not do it alone. The Spring Branch Foundation has set up an account for donations towards this life-changing trip for these students.

If you would like to see more that Estie has done, please go to her wiki and blog.

Here is the Qatar Conference blog she and the students have created to talk about the summit and their plans...and needs! The students rap:

[converted from a YouTube video to a wmv file by ZamZar]

On the blog page is a form for contributing to their trip. You can contribute by check made out to the Spring Branch ISD Foundation or use a credit card as well. I chose to write a check.

This is a tough time of year to be asking for funds...especially this year in our community. Many folks are recovering from IKE in our area and are facing the national financial crisis in many ways. Plus the holidays are fast approaching and we all have obligations in that area as well. But please, if you can, help these kids. They deserve to go as much as any other member of the project.

Please consider leaving off that extra fancy coffee or two...take peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a couple of times for lunch rather than doing take out. Reach down in the sofa cushions or shake some coins outta that change jar on your dresser. Please.

Bloggers are known for creating community. Please widen the circle a little today and include Estie and her students. Please put a little money where your keyboard is. 'Tis the season!

398.2 It's Santa Time!

2008-12-04T00:08:00.002-06:00

Happy Christmas to all!

The Animoto guys have added some fun Christmas music and made it possible for you to send your creations as holiday greetings directly to family and friends. Check out the fun!

P.S. The photos in this one all came from Microsoft clipart.

973.932 The Next Step in History

2008-12-03T22:41:00.007-06:00

A recent event caused the need for a new Dewey Classification number - 973.932.

It is a fine tuning of a much broader view found in 973.93 and will go into effect soon.

Can you determine how these numbers are related?
973.931
973.929
973.928
973.927

Care to make a guess in a comment? Bonus points for the exact date!

Our catalog won't help too much because of our "rule" for the benefit of our patrons, but our friends at Houston Public Library (any public library actually) can provide sources for your research!

If you want to take the easy way out and peek, you can go here for the answer to the first part. The other pieces should then fall into place just like a nice stack of dominoes

Who said cataloging can't be fun?!

371.33 Blog Anniversary: Two Years and Counting...

2008-11-30T11:35:00.010-06:00

This blog is two years old this holiday weekend. I am fast running out of time to meet the anny deadline, but I am getting it started and will write on it a bit all day as I shoe-horn it in between life in general and the list I set for myself over this long weekend!

I am proud that it exists and that it is two years and counting. In the past I was not comfortable with my writing and very little exits, but this does...mostly because I could write down thoughts to be "used" by others. In my mind that makes it possible to accomplish because it is (hopefully) for the benefit of others.

There is very little original thought here. I simply report what I find or that others share with me (and thousands of others.) One of the BEST things about the online world...the possibility of sharing!

This second year has been a busy one. My team and I came across the 23 Things phenomena that has been making the rounds so we created our own version and have conducted it twice...so far! The first go-round of Library2Play included about half of our campus librarians, a few district teachers, an administrator, and a few brave souls from around the state who heard about it thru the Internet grapevine. THEN we repeated it in the summer...where we were joined by 300 district librarians, teachers, and several administrators along with educators from a wider state circle and 3 other states! What a terrific experience these encounters were and continue to be...several participants have kept their blogs active and share their online adventures with all of us.

I got to attend NECC this year, basically because it was right down I-10 in San Antonio and I went to the EduBloggers' thing the Saturday before the official conference began. I got to be in the same room with SO many of the bloggers who I have admired from afar...it was a BLAST!! It was THE highpoint of this two-year experience. And the rest of the conference was an adventure itself!

And yes, I do consider myself a part (a tiny part, but a part nevertheless) of the revolution in learning!

And of course, there was that little event in December which gave me an opportunity to visit a bit in Second Life...all of it... from the "surprise" beginning to the virtual world visit was so surreal.

I have gotten to meet so many wonderful people thru the blog...first establishing a relationship online and then thru events like TLA Conference, NECC and staff development trainings, I have had opportunities for face-to-face encounters. Several have become long-distance friends now. The blog will also be the vehicle to keep up with one special friend who been transplanted east...WAY east. I will get to see her sing and dance and watch her grow! O, yeah and keep up with her mom, too! :-)

Animoto remains my favorite tool...not necessarily the most effective or efficient tool in my toolbox, but it is so fun...and gets better and better! I couldn't live without my Reader, my various wikis that I have created to park various bits of info and Google Docs. Most of it all relates back to my blogging experiences in some form or fashion.

Now we are trying to experience FAceBook from an educator's point of view and how we can help students use it properly and safely. I'm a bit behind the circle with this particular social networking tool because it's just a tad too much for me...tends to be too "up close and personal," but I have put it on my list...and yes, that includes going thru the long list of friends-in-waiting!

And games... we are trying to show how games of all kinds belong in the library and the educational plans of our kids today. I love the Wii...bowling is my favorite right now, but gosh, every time I turn around TV shows us something new! I spent a fun afternoon recently watching kids fool around with Guitar Hero...how fun it was! Card games, board games, online games...they all belong. Watch...I'll be writing about some as time goes by.

Both personal and professional things took time away from my blogging fun. I hope to get things back on track and keep up a little better and a little more regularly. Looking forward to what awaits. Hope you will continue to check in and keep the conversation going.

Here's to Three!

005.2 Animoto: In a Word or Two, the Fun Continues

2008-11-30T09:45:00.003-06:00

My favorite fun just gets better and better!

The folks at Animoto recently added the capability of adding text to your creations.
It does cost you a picture here and there if you are using the free 30-second version, but you can solve that by either paying the 30 bucks a year for longer ones or going after the educational "scholarship."

A few days before that, they added a preview feature so that you can look at the details of your pictures while in the design stage. A nice feature...especially if you are trying to decide which one or two has to go to make room for the text.

And now they are teasing that December 2nd holds another new feature...

Here is my not-so-great first attempt to use the text feature. The pictures are just pictures, but I will find another reason to use the catchy litte tune again!

759.4 Can You Picasso? ANOTHER Fun Generator

2008-11-30T09:11:00.006-06:00

I just love the adventure of the Internet! Especially when one of the guides leads you to something as fun as creating your own Picasso-like drawing! Go have some fun with Mr. PicassoHead. You are viewing my results.

You can send your creations to others (or yourself.) You can post in the site's gallery. There are only 790,000+ images...created since 2003!

To capture it, you will have to use that magic "print screen" key and an old friend like a PPT screen. (at least that's how I manage it.)

'Tis the Season to be Thankful

2008-11-24T22:15:00.003-06:00

I'm going to take a few minutes and write a very personal post. You won't learn anything new...except that I have many reasons to be thankful this holiday season.

I am healthy...crippled, yes, but basically healthy. Stairs are a nightmare, but mostly it's my own fault. Didn't do some things I probably should have and did some things I shouldn't have done at all...hauling huge loads of books AND TVs upstairs...by-my-self!!

I have a pretty new-to-me little treehouse that is all mine. I can paint it whatever color I want and put as many nail holes into it I want. If I could just find the last few cubby holes for a few more treasures, then it would be perfect. I really did get rid of lots of stuff...I really did, I promise. That is my goal for the break...the top of the dining room table will be clear and the door to the study will open all the way.

My family basically had two birthday seasons a year and the Thanksgiving turkey often shared the table with a birthday cake or terrible rendition of the birthday song. always added an interesting twist to the holiday. (In case you were wondering, the other season involved a bunny and lots of eggs.)

November has also become a season of remembering. My mom has been gone almost a year. It's hard to believe it's been a year and just how much I missed her. Crazy as it sounds, I think baseball season was actually the hardest time...and the series just came and went. It just wasn't the same...my mom loved baseball. My niece and nephew lost their mom a few years ago this month as well...they are great kids and my brother is a super parent, but I know this time in November holds many thoughts of the way things were for them all as well.

Today my baby brother would have been 53 under normal circumstances. But he left us when he was only 29. I miss him as much today as I did the first day that terrible day in July so long ago. His son missed a lot. He was one of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever know but I think I miss laughing at his stories the most. He could make me laugh SO hard it hurt.

I am thankful these people were in my life...for a little while or a lifetime.

I am lucky to have two great kids...they drive me crazy at all the appropriate times that kids do...even now that they are grown women, but I love them to pieces and to the very bottom of my heart.

My family, crazy as they are, are mine and I love them all...and all their craziness! I definitely belong to the right family!

I have a fun and interesting job that just brings all kinds of adventures to my little world. I have done lots of fun and interesting "stuff" (ok--yes, there have a been a few boring moments, but just a few.) I have learned a lot and found some new friends in new and different ways!

So my family, my friends, my work, my home...my peaceful life.
I THANK my lucky stars I'm me!

741.5 Comic Book Generator: Check Out the Possibilities

2008-11-24T21:34:00.007-06:00

I was introduced to a comic book generator and some online comics from a site called MashOn. Click on Spore on the menu bar to get to the generator. Click on comic strips to get one of 3 sets of strips: Chaotic, Holiday, or Urbaniacs. I have not checked yet (ok--I have forgotten!) to check and see if it is available in district, but it looks worthy of some time even if it is only available away from school. [Hurray! it is open in district!]

No I haven't actually made a comic...yet.

If you have noticed, I haven't had much blogging time either, but I did want to get this site out there so all you adventurous souls can try it out after the turkey dinner is eaten, your favorite football team has fallen in defeat, and the mall holds no interest on Black Friday.

I have be advised that it is kid-friendly. How young-friendly it is, I'm not sure. I am not even sure if registration is a requirement to creating something or added benefit to what you can and can not do on the site.

So, please go try it and see what you think...share what you think!