The thing I like about the blogs I read is that every time I read them, I find another great idea. Two blog posts I read today gave me great ideas I want to use in my library someday. The first is book trailers. I've read and seen a lot about book trailers, about having kids make them, but I didn't really get it before. Then I watched this book trailer on TLC = Tech + Library + Classroom

Now this is a professional looking trailer but boy is it it fun and catchy. Now I get how I can use them. I think these can be a great tool to get those kids who aren't "readers". They may find this visual much more engaging than reading the description or even a book talk. 


Reading the blog about the video trailer also lead me to A Year of Reading blog where I found another great idea. Here the author talks about getting to think of kids as readers and describing what that means. I think this can be really great and the list of items she came up with to start her 100 things about me as a reader list is great. Doing this kind of activity can really open kids up to the possibilities of reading as they may think of it in a whole new way. I would think it would be especially helpful to have kids share some of there 100 things to give each other ideas. Love these ideas. 


I also want to share that blogs are great for personal things too. I learn a ton about cooking, scrapbooking and fun activities to do with my friends and family through blogging as well. So although this is my professional blog where I can reflect about what I'm learning in Grad School and through work, I always remember that learning doesn't stop once I leave school. In fact, I taught myself photoshop through online scrapbooking sites such as this: http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/  Through this blog I learn about scrapbooking and about fun activities as the author, a pro at all this, shares her life and her love of scrapbooking. 

I recently had a great experience in reading a blog post and the related comments and I think it's a great example of how blogs can be used for greater conversation. 


First of all, I read the following post: http://www.walkingpaper.org/2917 and thought, WOW, what a great idea. As I continued to read the comments however, I started rethinking my initial reaction, as others brought up good counter points. 


This is something that happens often when I'm ready any number of blogs. I've heard some people argue lately that there is a reason people go to journalism school and that not everyone should be able to write whatever they want, but I disagree. I think this is the perfect example of the greater conversations that happen through blogs that aren't really possible by reading a newspaper. Sure you can write to the editor, but it's not the same as having that instant feedback and conversation connected to the original writing.  Letting only the journalists write, even if it's on a blog, limits the number of conversation that can go on.  Sure there are some bad writers out there, so we all just need to learn to ignore them, OR even better create conversation about the piece whether it's to improve the writing or the ideas in the post. 


So for this blog post I'm suppose to be writing about something I learned via a blog. What I'm saying here is that yes I've learned from this particular blog. I've gotten an idea that I could potential use  but more importantly I'm learning from more than one person. I'm getting more than one side of the story and then I can decide for myself what I think in regards to this particular topic. I will continue to learn from many blogs and the many conversations that happen in relation to them also. 


Part of that earlier conversation about who should be able to write and who shouldn't was around our kids and whether they know what is good and what is not. I see the point here but I guess I think it's important that we adapt to changing times and spend a bit more time teaching kids about reliability. Yes, that may take away time because it's an extra thing we didn't necessarily have to teach before, but the problem isn't going away, so we have to face it head on. 

Blogging is something I've been working on for about three 2 years now. It's not something I enjoy like many bloggers I know, but I do enjoy reading a lot of blogs and have seen some amazing things happening because of blogs or through blogs.

Kevin and I started a blog when we moved to India to stay connected with our friends and family and keep them up to date on our many adventures. While we did a good job for the first year or so on keeping it up to date, it soon became a choir that neither of us looked forward to after returning from vacation. I think in particular, I don't like blogging because I'm not confident in my ability to write for an audience.

I've also recently started this blog as a journal and reflection I've been doing in my graduate course work. This is a completely different sort of blog than our personal blog, although I still find it difficult to write here.

The interesting thing to me is regardless of how I feel about writing blogs, there are so many different uses and purposes of blogs. Blogging is a great way to create conversations, share ideas or just connect to others.

I also think it can be a great tool for student writing. Although I don't always enjoying writing for an audience, I think if students begin blogging in school as part of their language arts and other classes, it can become more natural for them to share their writing. I also think that when we write online, where there is an audience, we tend to put a different kind of effort into it. It's more important for it to be correct when more than one person sees it and it will always be out there. This is a great lesson for kids to learn early.

For thing 2 we have been asked to reflect about web 2.0 and it's implications for teaching and learning. What is there to say? What isn't there to say? 

I love technology.  I think it's important and that it's changing the way the world works. I think it's extremely improtant that we are using Web 2.0 and much more in our classrooms, because they are part of life. We can't pretend like the rest of the world isn't using these tools and the many new things that are being developed every day.

On the other hand, it's important that we don't let these tools get in the way of good teaching. If and when we use Web 2.0 in the classroom, it's enhancing what the students are learning and motivating them and it's not just there as a shiny new tool or just to say we are using it.

So while we must think of ways to use Web 2.0 and any other technology, it must enhance the teaching we are doing.

During the first week of our K12 learning course, the instructors gave us the 7 1/2 Habits of Effective Lifelong Learners. Those 7 1/2 things are as follows:

1.     Begin with the end in mind
2.     Accept responsibility for your own learning
3.     View problems as challenges
4.     Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
5.     create your own learning toolbox
6.     Use technology to your advantage
7.     Teach/mentor others
7.5.   Play

As I mentioned in the Voicethread, I think one of the biggest challenges for me is the teaching and mentoring bit. As I've recently begun my own teaching career, it's not really the young students I worry about in this regard however, it's mentoring and teaching colleagues or older adults. Or more specifically anyone who have a fear of technology.

I just recently had a conversation about this very topic with my parents.  While my dad is very tech savvy and willing to jump into new things, my mom is a bit more weary. As we talked about it, she mentioned that although she doesn't avoid it completely, learning new technology is often a slower process for her.

I think this is important to keep in mind as I work with colleagues and other adults. While I feel a part the digital native generation, I have to remember that there are a number of things that may come more naturally to me, but that doesn't mean others can't learn just as much as I can. Like learning anything, people learn a different paces and what is important is that they are learning.

If you try to push people to fast, then they might get frustrated and give up. That of course, would have a detrimental effect on a persons ability and desire to be a lifelong learner. 

It's hard to believe (and yet I can't wait to be done), but this is my final semester of my masters! I'm very excited about the last two classes I'm taking, 661 and 663. Both are vital to being a School Librarian, and I have already learned a ton of new things this semester that would have been helpful when doing my internships and practicum. I'm looking forward to learning much more about teaching and general school librarianship.

For some reason on top of my normal masters, I've been pursuaded by my husband to sign up for another professional development opportunity this semester. Over the next few weeks, I'll be working on "23 Things" as part of the K-12 Learning 2.0course. A lot of the things in this course I know, but I'm hoping to improve upon my skills over the next few weeks, such as regular blogging ;-) and learn a few more web 2.0 tools on top. I believe there are around 30 members of our school doing it, so it should be a great learning experience for all.

So look for some more updates about my final semester as well as posts about the many new "Things" I'm learning about!

Now that we are well into the Fall semester, it is once again time for me to get back to my blog and reflect upon the learning I did over the summer.

My husband and I were fortunate enough to be able to head down to South Africa for the first half of the World Cup. We saw some amazing football games and some even better history and nature. (Check out our family blog if you want to hear more about this adventure and see the amazing photos that go with it).

This adventure took up the first part of our summer vacation and so when that was done, I headed straight back to Syracuse, NY to do my Elementary practicum. This was an amazing experience and had the privilege of working with Monica Minion at Bellevue Elementary as part of the Say Yes summer school program. During the program I got a chance to both see Mrs. Minion in action as a teacher as well as a teacher librarian, but I worked with several several different grade levels doing research. We created Glog's about Spain, learned how pasta is made, and researched rain forest animals. Some of these things you can see evidence of in the portfolio section of my website as well.

As an overall reflection, I would say I learned an amazing amount in the month I was there. From teacher to library administration. It also gave me more confidence to work with younger students, who I have less experience with than older students. I now feel like I would really enjoy working with any grade level.