Saturday, March 8, 2008

AUHSDteacherLibrarians

As if I don't have enough to do! After this weeks District TL meeting I created a Blog and Wiki for collaboration amoung our district Teacher Librarians. Every one of our TL's will be a contributor - I hope it catches on. What I am finding however is that some of the same information may have crossover from this blog to the district blog - I appologize ahead of time for the duplication.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

The Impact of Library 2.0

Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
- Greg Anderson

It has been an adventure to take part in the Library 2.0 experience. I have learned a great deal about Web 2.0 and have discovered many new tools to help me become a better teacher, collaborator, and teacher librarian. I thoroughly enjoy these kinds of activities and am a life-long learner at heart. I hope that there will be a Library 2.02 or maybe we will need a Library 3.0 soon.

One of the prompts suggested for this blog is to describe the program in one word or one sentence. I think the best descriptor I can give Library 2.0 is “POWERFUL”. Learning is just that, powerful. I can’t wait to put what I have learned into action and share many of these tools with my students and staff.

I hereby pronounce my completion of the Library 2.0 program, and will move in to the implementation phase of my learning.

I proclaim to:
  • Take the web2.0 skills I have learned and use them in my daily teaching and learning.

  • Provide students with the tools that will support and excite them about learning.

  • Encourage teachers to “take a risk” and step into the land of Web 2.0 where they can learn new technology skill that support student learning.

The important work of moving the world forward
does not wait to be done by perfect men.

- George Eliot (1819 - 1880)

#23 (WEEK 9) Copyright, Creative Commons, and Congratulations!

I love the video, “A Fair(y) Use Tale”. Although it does take some listening to in order to get and understand the message, I think students will enjoy the presentation instead of tuning out the message most commonly presented in a lecture or handout format. The Creative Commons web site and concept is another excellent way to bring home the idea of copyright and allows students to have something that they can use for their own work. I believe it is not until someone takes your intellectual property or other work that you really appreciate the concept behind copyright.

#22 (WEEK 9) Explore eBooks and Audio eBooks

I am an avid Books On Tape/CD/mp3 listener. There are points in my personal and professional life that the only time I have to read a book is while driving (which I find a bit dangerous). I have a personal digital library of well over 200 books on tape and am always looking for places to find good reads. It is also funny that just last week my principal requested the all our core novels be purchased on CD for student use. I will spend some time to see if any of our district core novels are available through the several sites listed in THING 22.

One of the links on the "Best Places to Get Free Books" site - #3 (BookCrossing - Where real books are released into the wild to be found by others - Thanks Engtech) was familiar to me. This is a site that is also advertised on the geocaching.com web site. If you are not a Geocacher and love to walk and discover new places check it out. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt activity for anyone of any age using a hand held GPS.