641.3 Peanut Butter: Fun with a Purpose

I Love Lucy ranks as one my all-time Top 5 TV shows ( I was a child of the 50s/60s) and so when I got to "live" one of my favorite episodes...wow! Remember when Lucy & Ethel switched jobs with their husbands and went to work in the chocolate factory...

Well, one of my best pals who is always up for a new adventure and I had an opportunity to do a shift at a peanut butter factory as part of a community service ... the Lucy & Ethel syndrome was very much on our minds as we drove to fulfill our commitment!

Yup, you guessed it...my part of the line was to control newly sealed jars of peanut butter as they made their way to the labeler...to send them down the next part of the line SPACED properly so the labels would be attached PROPERLY! Between machinery malfunctions and lack of rhythm, it was "nightmarish" at times! At times I couldn't keep up...the jars were too big for my hat so (with very special help) I was "dumping" them into grocery carts...without making them fall over!!

I took a screen shot of the exact turn I was responsible for from a YouTube video about the peanut butter factory. See that nice, neat spacing of the jars after the turn...well, about 65% of mine looked like those...the other 35%...thank goodness there are no pictures!

BTW, if you want to look at the peanut butter process, you can google peanut butter and there are several videos from YouTube and other sources!

Despite my "Lucy" moments, the whole experience was very interesting, lots of fun, and I was glad to share in the service project. I look forward in paying it forward sometime, somewhere, somehow!

Of course, I can't have fun like that without thinking about the tie-in to something educational!

If you find a useful video, you can talk about the science behind food processing, you can talk about jobs involved in making peanut butter, you can talk about the contributions made by George Washington Carver during a biography unit. And how appropriate that my adventure occurred at this time because March is National Peanut Month.

And naturally, I had to find some books to include
From Farm to Store
From Peanut to Peanut Butter
Make Me a Peanut Butter Sandwich and a Glass of Milk
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Play Rhyme
The Peanut Butter Cookbook for Kids
The Peanut Butter Party: Including the History, Uses, & Future of Peanut Butter
I Like Peanuts
Life & Times of the Peanut
Peanuts
Science Fun with Peanuts and Popcorn

And a little peanut butter poetry

I am Getting Sick of Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter Sandwich - Shel Silverstein
Hug Sandwich - sing it!

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And here is an oldie (another sign of my age!)...includes an audio clip you can play!

The Peanut Butter Song - I think we even had motions to it!

and another song Peanut Butter & Jelly - anybody 25 & under probably knows the tune...it was a big hit at my kids' pre-school back in the 80's. Audio clip

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Some other resources
Virginia Carolina Peanuts - activities, lesson plans

Peanut Butter Lovers - history, recipes, contest

The Peanut Institute. Eat Well. Eat Peanuts - nutrition facts
American Peanut Council - nutritional facts about peanuts Skippy Fun Page - recipes, Kid's Corner
Peanut & Peanut Butter Recipes
Video on making homemade peanut butter
How to make a PB&J sandwich Flickr slideshow - sequencing activity!

And a video on making homemade peanut butter cups!
Now isn't that a clever way to tie in the chocolate reference at the beginning.

I think I need a PB&J sandwich!

155.2 Nerd Test: Where Are You on the Scale?

Ok...I bit on another one of these because of a blogging buddy...no big surprises here...technically I am not a nerd....like anyone in their right mind would think I would be!
One field does indicate I do have some expertise/knowledge...duh, been studying it for 40+ years! Calls me a "cool geek"....hummmm?

If you are a "techie" or a big sci-fi fan, this is probably the test for you, for sure!





It was fun...and did make me think about some things!

Caution: it is a tad long, but not too time-consuming.

383.4973 Postmaster Trivia: The Fun Part of Cataloging

During a large portion of my workday, I work on catalog records. Occasionally, I have to "original-catalog" interesting items that the district librarians send me...and I get to see and read the most interesting stuff!

Recently, I worked on some career materials for some high schools and got to read a little about the post office and people who have had the job of postmaster for their community before becoming much more "famous" doing something else.

Of course, "everyone" knows that the multi-talented Benjamin Franklin served as the country's first postmaster general. Presidents Lincoln and Truman served as postmasters. Did you know that John Brown, abolistionist; Bing Crosby, entertainer; Walt Disney, cartoonist; William Faulkner, author; Rock Hudson, actor; Adlai E. Stevenson, govenor/presidential candidate/UN ambassador; Bill Nye, the Science Guy; and Charles Lindbergh, pilot, were also postmasters?

And people say cataloging is not fun!

The list came from an Institute for Careers Research c2007 pamphlet.

P.S. More interesting stuff about Postmaster General Franklin that I found while researching for this post.

371.002 First Day of School: A Celebration

One of my regular readers sent me a message wondering where I have been. This post should help explain my absence and is a celebration of sorts at the same time.

Yesterday was the first day of school for our district (and many others throughout our state due to a new state law.) It was a marker in my personal calendar of educational experiences in that it was # 33 for me. My 33rd year of "the first day of school" from the teacher's side or librarian's side of the desk...50 years if you also count those 17 years I sat in the "unfriendly to left-handed students" desks of long ago (17 you say? 13 + 4 years of college!!!) My life has revolved around the September-May calendar for virtually all my life. Yes, I know we go in August now, but you get my drift.

But more importantly, it was the first day as a teacher for Daughter #1...that is where my mind, my body...and my checkbook have been for the last month! I have been mentoring her through this exciting time. And it has been exciting! She is a 4th generation teacher...there has been someone in her family teaching for around 100 years...in the State of Texas.

If you have done it a few times like I have, you tend to "forget" some of the excitement, but you also forget the "scary" parts too! And there have been a few moments of uncertainty and frustration, but that's all of part of it. Do you know how fast bulletin board border runs out...even in a city as large as Houston? and do you know what works as a replacement in a pinch---blanket edging!! Pretty colors, wide enough to cover a multitude of sins, and long enough for a s-e-v-e-n-t-e-e-n foot long board...there should be a law! And technology issues are not exclusive to any one district!

Moving and starting a new job is a hard combination anyway, but if you add trying to finish up details on several other jobs you have had all at once (in order to survive), it has been a pretty hectic month. I returned home Saturday evening feeling comfortable that all was well and spent a little time getting myself into the frame of mind for my new year...although because I work all year now and had already spent about two weeks with various aspects of staff development, the first day was not that significant...except for the mark on my calendar.

I admit it was a long first day...because I was anxious for the results happening about 200 miles away. If i hadn't been so busy trying to catch up on some things I let languish, I might have paced back and forth. Every time the phone rang, I wondered. But don't worry...all is well. The day went well, the icebreaker went well, there was plenty to occupy the time period so no one had to sit and drum their fingers on the desk. So my First Day Jitters were not necessary!

The phone call came to an abrupt end however, when she made the statement "well, I guess I better go figure out what I'm gonna do on the second day"... arrggghhhhh, a mother's worries never end!

I know many of you had a great (or at the least, an interesting) first day and I bet you used some of these in many creative ways. Congratulations!

[P.S. Wasn't that a clever way how I turned a "personal" post into an informative and useful one?]

027.8 Librarian - Teacher Collaboration: Learning & Doing Together

Last week a group of librarians and teachers spent an intense week collaborating over lessons and infusing them with various types of educational technology. Elementary and secondary teams came together for a whirlwind tour of technologies, Web 2.0 services, and other online resources.

Beginners and advanced alike all learned something new to make lessons more student-centered and real-world relevant while using technology to make the delivery of instruction more inviting and the culminating activities different learning experiences for their students.

Subjects included Greek mythology, food groups and good eating habits, the water cycle, career exploration, famous Americans and their contributions, and good behavior habits. One way the group made sure the lessons were student-centered and true collaborations between librarian and teacher was to deconstruct the lesson by making lists of teacher, librarian and student responsibilities.

Everyone had opportunity to learn PowerPoint tips and tricks, how to create a Photo Story, how to work with videostreaming, how manipulate photos, how to add music, and create podcasts. A special presentation was made about the ActivBoard and all the great teaching and learning tools available with that special technology. There was lots of looking for the sign-up list to get one! The group learned how to create a rubric using Rubistar, an open source software available to all who want to use it.

Lots of work time was built into the week so that each team could present a good representation of their lesson to the whole group. Even during this time, there were exchanges of ideas and expressions of "O, I can do that too with mine" or " Gee, I can add that to my lesson." So much so, that the "final" lessons will not be posted for about another week so that all the good ideas can be incorporated and added.

Comments from participants include:
"...long set of ahas as we learned all these wonderful tools."
"Don't be scared or intimidated. You will have lots of help & learn way more than you expect."
"If [I] can learn this, anyone can!!"
"Wow! How much fun is my class going to have dazzling our school with our technology pwoness!"

"I really had to use problem-solving skils to make my powerpoint do what I wanted it to do. The normal rules just didn't apply..."

"Using hidden text releases a big headache because I can create a key and "hide" the answers."

"Flash drives are my new best friend." One participant, my friend G, also blogged her thoughts.

371.22 Educational Technology: Videostreaming Resources

Hopefully, your school district has access to educational videostreaming products such as Unitedstreaming and Power Media Plus. They are subscription services, require passwords to access, and are worth e-v-e-r-y p-e-n-n-y your administration pays for their use!

However, there are other sources for videos that can be used quite successfully in the school setting with proper planning and attention by teachers and librarians. Probably, the best know of these is the video sharing site YouTube which has been discussed in this blog earlier this year. Individuals can create videos and upload them for all to see. There are many, many, many appropriate videos for school use...BUT... my and many other school districts block this resource.

So, as with many things technological, someone came up with a "work around"-- in this case, a site called TeacherTube, a video sharing site devoted to videos create for and quite often by students and their educational needs. It too has previously been discussed in this blog. Great stuff...you NEED to take a look. And that is possible at school! What a pleasant surprise!

There are the traditional news services such as CNN, MSNBC, ABCNews, Fox News and USAToday along with other educational and institutional sites that provide current events, science, social studies and other educationally appropriate video resources. But it would a lot of work to check all of these sources and the dozens of others available on a regular basis.

Hurray! To the rescue comes Blinkx... a video (and audio) search engine. You can put in your search term and get a list of videos from over 130 sources. You can then select the appropriate ones for your needs and can usually play them without additional software or other technology.

Often, because these videos come from reputable sources, they are not blocked. However, it is possible that the Blinkx site might be blocked, but you could locate the video from home, capture the address, and then be able to see the video from within the school district.

A word to the wise. Be sure you check these videos out before turning them over to students. They are not exclusively educationally appropriate items. Some are user created and uploaded to services such as MySpace, but the Blinkx crawler will find them.

Have a look at all of these..either at school or at home. You will be pleased, I think!

027.8092 The Librarian of the Year!

Hip, hip, hooray!

Dr. Barry M. Bishop was named Texas Library Association's 2007 Librarian of the Year today at the annual conference in San Antonio.

When he is not in San Antonio winning awards or participating in his 3rd Strong Libraries, Strong Scores Conference for Adminstrators from across the state, he is the Director of Library Information Services for Spring Branch ISD in Houston, Texas, home of one of the most-used school library webpages for the last NINE years!

The pragmatist that I am, I consider myself extremely fortunate that he is the visionary I get to follow! It has been a grand adventure for 10 years and I only look forward to what may come as it continues.

P.S. Thanks to ALL who kept the best kept secret ever! It worked...he was surprised!

020.23 Librarians: Vocational Guidance

Love the last one!!

More about this later after I have had time to digest the whole post!

333.702 Careers for 2007: Librarians Count!

According to U.S. News and World Report being a Librarian is a top job for 2007. One reference to the list states "...even though anybody can do a Google search, for instance, librarians will be needed more and more to help us navigate all that digital information." The list of 25 careers and the high points (and low points) of each can be found here. More information from the article and other related pieces can be found here.

We still have a ways to go to be the top rated as far as salary or prestige goes, but it is something to be recognized for our contributions to the information age...especially when so many of us still continue to hear (from the uninformed, but none the less, often highly regarded,) remarks such as "Librarians aren't needed" or "everything can be found on the internet so we don't need books or Libraries."

No one ever said it was an easy job. It is good to get some notice however!