Reflections on my website project July 21, 2007

I am so glad to have had the opportunity to learn the basics of HTML and put it to use in the design of a simple website.  I chose to design the site about the Literature and Lunch Book Clubs I offer at my school for 4th and 5th grade students.  I wanted something simple enough for kids to look at and be able to read. 

As for design elements, the “Look & Feel” is consistent on each HTML page. I have green swirls as the background on each page.  The navigation bar also ties each page together.  Under each main heading, I have 3 links to the other pages that are flanked by a simple book design.  On each page the navigation bar is right under the heading.

 I understand the mechanics and detail involved in adding colors, italics, etc. much better now.  However, don’t ask me to add anything more than a simple table!  That one gave me fits!  The first day I worked on the website I was frustrated.  I ended up asking a lot of questions of my tablemates and Michael.  Everyone was very supportive.  If they hadn’t been, I might have thrown in the towel right then and there. Slowly, after each session, I felt more confident with the basics. 

The exercises we did in class were good introductions to the formats we needed to do the project.  The storyboard was a valuable exercise to do before starting the coding.  Even if I changed the design in the middle (which I did), I was able to always refer back to my storyboard and see what I needed to include.  Like many things on the web, it is very easy to get caught up with trying different formats and colors and graphics, and…   I just needed to say “Stop!”, “Enough!”, this looks good.  Because of all the practice, I learned to troubleshoot for that one missing quotation mark or slash.  I found it very helpful to have book resources available at my fingertips.  I purchased The Web Wizard’s Guide to HTML which was very useful.   I know this sounds goofy, but one of my proudest moments was making the pdf all on my own!

I hope to work to make my own little website for my school library.  Whether I do it on my own or use a design program, I feel more educated on the nuts and bolts of HTML.  I am pleased to have tried my hand at another new technology that may come in handy in my position as school librarian.

Post #5 – A Librarian’s Responsibility July 21, 2007

I recently read a blog posted by Kathryn Greenhill on librariansmatter.com.  It was a post entitled “20 reasons why learning emerging technologies is part of every librarian’s job“.  Wow!  It sure hit home.  I must say that I came into Internet Fundamentals and Design rather oblivious to Web 2.0 and all of the technologies out there.  I now feel grounded enough to continue exploring and experimenting.  There are some librarians out in the world who may want to hide their heads in the sand and ignore the emerging technologies.  If that is the case, they are not doing their jobs.  The 20 reasons listed by Ms. Greenhill are all very valid.  I would like to highlight a few important ones. Core business.  We chose to be librarians to link people and information.  We have to use all the technologies available to do this, not just the ones we learned years ago that is outdated.  Understanding all formats.  What if our users come to us and we have to tell them that we don’t use or know a certain format?  Well they use it and can’t get the help we are there to provide.  We have just lost a patron.  Finding out what other libraries are doing. We can enhance our library and programs by finding out what libraries around the world do.  However, if we don’t understand a certain technology, it is our patrons that lose out.  The other 17 reasons are worth a look.  See if you agree.

Sometimes librarians need a push even when they know they should become more familiar with technologies.  The Public Libraries of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Counties in North Carolina has developed a program to support Learning 2.0. It is “a discovery learning program designed to encourage staff to explore new technologies and reward them for doing 23 things.   23 Learning 2.0 Things  has broken the task into do-able pieces.  Asking librarians to try out a few things each week such as posting a blog, starting a wiki or subscribing to an RSS reader.  It is self-directed with a few people available for assistance.  The prizes are just the carrots dangling to entice people.  It is amazing that some libraries have to go to this extreme to have their staff learn new technologies that are needed for their jobs now and in the future.  Any more procrastinating on some people’s part and libraries could lose a large portion of their users.

Post #4 – Reinforcing Web 2.0 June 28, 2007

I’ve learned a lot in this class. But I have to be honest…when it comes to technology, I don’t pick it up that easily.  That’s why I agreed to go to this ISLMA workshop with my friend.  She knew nothing about Web 2.0 except for what I tried to show/tell her.  So there we were today, about 22 school librarians playing around with blogs, wikis, RSS, and social bookmarking.  The two leaders were middle school librarians from Libertyville and Lake Bluff.  Thankfully it wasn’t all new to me and I felt rather knowledgeable.  It was nice to have the opportunity to play around with the tools. 

The blog we made was from Blogger through Google.  I found it very helpful to compare that blogging tool with what we are using on WordPress.  I think they are VERY similar.  We then explored wikis.  Never having explored an individual wiki before, this was interesting, but definitely more time consuming for me.  I’ll have to get back to this and possibly link it to my school library blog.  As an introduction to wikis, we saw this short video called ”Wikis in Plain English“ - it’s worth a look!  We used the Google RSS feed reader.  I have to say I did find a difference with this and the one we have on NetVibes.  I like the NetVibes format much better.  It is simple to see what is read and what has not been read.  The only thing that Google has is the starred items that you want to save.  This is helpful and very easy to use.  I know.  You are probably thinking that NetVibes has a way to do this too.  Probably.  I just haven’t experimented enough with it yet to know how.  The leaders shared some of the feeds they have subscribed to.  Not to make LIS753 points or anything, but…they said that Tame the Web has great stuff and that Michael Stephens is on the cutting edge of Web 2.o.  (I am not making that up!)  We then had some time to explore del.icio.us.  It’s interesting to see the power of the tags, as well as to see what others have bookmarked.

At the end of the day, the two leaders shared some final fun Web 2.0 tools.  Michael first introduced me to LibraryThing.  I got excited about it all over again today.  There is also an avatar creator that looks great. 

Reinforcement of all of these tools really helps me (not of the Millenials). What I found most beneficial at this workshop was that I heard ways other school librarians were using Web 2.0 in their schools.  And as an added perk, I made contact with the two leaders and asked if I might come observe them sometime!  

Post #3 – Digital Age Literacy June 14, 2007

I have read and written about school libraries that are using Web 2.0 technologies and are making the effort to stay current.  It is a bigger task to get an entire school district to make the necessary changes to prepare students for the future.   I recently read an article in the June, 2007 issue of Edutopia entitled “Fast Forward.”  and the follow-up article “How To: Create a Web Site That’s a Learning Community.  Five years ago Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township in Indianapolis knew they wanted to make some changes.  They applied for and received a $5.9 million grant. Then they set out to meet the needs of the kids looking toward the future while focusing on student-centered teaching.  It is obviously taking a lot of teacher coaches to make this happen.  Being in the school now, I can see that initiatives only work if teachers and staff are adequately supported. The push is on critical thinking, cultural competency and a fluency in technology.  There has been some resistance, but when one teacher learns something they are passing it along. The real push is in the lower grades and then district officials hope it continues and blossoms in the middle and upper grades.  The hope is that students and parents will demand that what was started will continue as the kids grow older. A little peer pressure never hurt anybody! 

The district website was developed by a group of staff members.  They felt that this would be an integral step to help meet the needs of everyone.  I tried to see what functions were on the site.  You need to have a username and password to access the inner workings of the school and classroom options.  The article does mention that teachers are able to post homework there as well as have discussion forums.  Already, the staff has set up e-classes where students and parents can get information and share thoughts. This is definitely the start of something good.  My new technological eye can see the promise and possibilities of blogs, podcasts, wikis, etc.  The teachers have had a lot on their plates, but they can’t stop now.  Things are still changing. 

Though Information Literacy was one of the seven digital age literacies that guides the district, I was disappointed that no librarian was quoted nor mentioned.  I know for a fact that this kind of initiative is going to be more successful with the school librarian’s help.  My guess is that if there is an outdated collection and an old fashioned librarian at the school, things will progress extremely slowly.   They have come a long way.  However, I wonder how things will continue now that the grant monies have run out and the district is on their own? 

Post #2 – The Future of School Libraries June 2, 2007

Being in my second year as an elementary school librarian, I still feel the need to explain the importance of the library and the importance of my role in the school.  We librarians know the difference we make.  Sometimes teachers know.  But hardly ever have I seen a principal, district official, or member of the board of education that truly understands the magnitude of our involvement in student progress.  In the last ten years, studies have been done in different states that link libraries and student achievement.

 

I did some internet research and one name kept coming up – Keith Lance, Ph.D.  Dr. Lance and his staff have conducted many studies linking school libraries and student performance. An overview of his work shows that there are similar findings in many states.  He points out that the size of the library staff and collection is a direct predictor of reading scores.  Other influences include having a professionally trained librarian who works collaboratively with teachers and plays a leadership/instructional role in the school setting. Technology is also a bigger part of the equation.  Remote access to the library catalog and licensed databases in the school lead to higher test scores.  All of these things reinforce the knowledge that school libraries are integral in the education of students..  I want to run out and hand out a copy of these studies to every administrator and board member in my district.

The 2005 Illinois study entitled “Powerful Libraries Make Powerful Learners” was authored by Keith Lance.   Much of what was mentioned above is reiterated in this study.  On this site I did find a great eight minute interactive video summarizing the findings.  It was reported that elementary ISAT scores in reading were 13% higher in schools with a library.  More books per student and the currency of those books is vital.  The one thing I really connected with was the importance of the relationship between the librarian and student.  I have found that even after two years, I am better able to connect a child with a book or find a way to tap into the curiousity of a child to teach a concept.  I am well aware that I am the only consistent teacher that a student has from kindergarten through fifth grade.

What is not included in any of these studies is the new Web 2.0 technologies.  They are a new entity to much of the education world, as well as to me.  Some of the basic technologies such as blogging can be used effectively in the elementary grades.  I continue to research to find how others have used Web 2.0 in the younger grades.   I can easily see how they can be implemented to a much greater extent in middle and high schools.  And so my education continues.

Each year I find myself in the position of explaining the value of my library and my position.  I will continue to rely on these types of studies to support me.  I will also explore various methods that others have found useful in the elementary school to promote student achievement. 

Post #1 Podcasting May 19, 2007

Before this week, my experience with podcasting was limited to listening to a couple of current events podcasts from ITunes while I was really there searching for songs to download.  In my mind, most of the podcasts out there were what I equated to stream of consciousness thinking out loud.  Boy, is there more out there than I thought!

This week I spent time exploring the world of podcasting – and trying to focus on its usage in the elementary school setting.  I am the librarian in a K-5 building with 870 students.  I wondered what the value of podcasting was, and if it was worthwhile to try and use this tool in the library classes I teach.  So…I went to good ole Google and searched under “school library podcasting”.  Rather quickly I found a site that blew me away.  There is a very techie school librarian at Grandview Elementary School in New York State (www.grandviewlibrary.org/Librarian.aspx).   Her whole website is amazing.  I quickly learned that she does a lot of innovative things with the teachers in her school.  She is obviously known as a podcasting expert outside her school, too, since she has links to her contributions to School Library Journal Online.  She had a podcast with images displayed.  So I watched her explanation of podcasting and it was phenomenal.

Another school heavily into podcasting was the International School in Caracas, Venezuela (www.cic-caracas.org/elementarylibrary/).  The librarian there had a great podcast done by the second graders.  They had read books from the “Black Lagoon” series by Mike Thaler.  Then they wrote their own story.  The students took turns reading one page each in their very own podcast.  The fourth graders wrote their own “Just So Stories”.  The stories are then put in the podcast which is accessible through the school website.  Some schools also showed slides of student artwork that ran as the podcast aired. 

The more I explored what elementary schools were doing, the more I got excited.  The uses are many.  Podcasts can be a portable way for students to learn, or sometimes a way for remediation.  The more they hear something, the more they understand it.  What if they missed something during class?  If it was available for them to hear again, the lesson might become clearer.  Podcasting is an alternate method of showing what students have learned.  Tuning into the podcast, parents can find out what their child, and other students, have learned in class.  Podcasting offers a method of bringing a featured speaker from another location or archive to students.  This is something I have struggled with.  How do you overcome the cost of bringing an author to a school?  Podcasting is one way to do this.  My school is a dual language school.  I found podcasts that help you to learn a second language.  Though the podcasts I found were geared toward adults, there might be some for students that I have yet to find.

Having finished my undergraduate degree twenty years ago, new technologies come slower to me than to those people recently out of college who have grown up with computers.  My online research of podcasting proves to me that finding out about these new technologies is worth the effort.  I can’t wait to try out some of these ideas in my school.  Baby steps…

This is my first post! May 13, 2007

Greetings! This is my blog for LIS753 at Dominican University. Look for my thoughts on interesting topics in the future.