In-Service

Yesterday and today, I have attended workshops getting ready for the new school year.  Yesterday, I got to spend quality time with others learning more about modifications and accommodations for special needs students.  It was very informative, and I have even more respect for the para-educators I work with - they are phenomenal.  Today, we are learning more about Internet safety.  Like the Internet, this area is constantly changing. I will try to update later.

Reflection

Looking back on this semester, I recall times of enlightenment, frustration, and relief. I don’t generally shy away from technology, so I wasn’t daunted by the challenges, but there were many things to learn and a limited time in which to learn it. Doing a group project via a wiki was probably the most challenging. Face-to-face group projects are difficult enough, but I found it very difficult to communicate with group members via our wiki. In retrospect, I felt we would have been much better off using mostly Blackboard communication tools for organization and communication, with the wiki simply being a place to present information.


As a “regular” classroom teacher, I have very limited access to technology for interacting with students. This is frustrating, as I see so much value in using the technology explored through class. We live in a world where students must be as technologically literate as we can help them become. As a digital immigrant, I sometimes feel like I don’t know enough to teach my students too much, but then I am reminded that many students are in-tune with social technology skills, but not educational technology tools. This is where educators must assert their knowledge and help guide students in terms of technology responsibility, fair use, and common sense.

School Library Media Specialists have a duty to guide students in learning about safe and fair use of technology and critical thinking skills regarding the use of information so easily accessible to technology users. When I think about all I have learned and have yet to learn, modern students must be overwhelmed with what is available, as I am.

Podcast

I listened to a podcast of the poem “Hold the Door” by Mary Alexandra Agner, read by the poet and introduced as a poem written shortly after the Virginia Tech shooting of 2007. I was expecting to enjoy hearing the poet read her own work, but I must say that I was slightly disappointed. After some thought, I realized that I like to read poems in my head and put my own voice to them. I also like to be able to look at the words and really study the poem as well. In other words, my disappointment in the podcast was not due to quality, but due to my own preferences and feelings toward poetry. Sometimes I prefer not to know anything about the poem other than the words that are set in front of me. I don’t want a picture or an explanation to go with it because I generally like to put my own spin and interpretation on it. Much like movies that are based on a book, nothing can compare to the written word.


I think it might be fun to have students record podcasts of their own favorite poems, or even have all students interpret the same poem in their own ways to compare. This might be uncomfortable for some students, however. Maybe some students could do the reading while other students added sounds, music, effects, etc. to a podcast. Podcasts could also be used as a reflective process related to certain assignments, or even for students who struggle with written tests to record their answers to share with a teacher instead of writing them down.

Recording my own podcast was certainly a challenge. I had limited dealings with Audacity, so I chose to use that program. I would have liked more time to “play” with the program as there were many options, but I felt I learned a lot about the basic process and would feel confident recording more and getting into more of the editing features. I could see the process being very useful with a speech class or research project. The possibilities are endless.

Book Trailer

After trying a variety of web story tools to create a book trailer, I found that One True Media worked best for what I wanted to do: combine still images with an audio track. Uploading the images was a breeze (even directly from my PC files), and the drag-and-drop was seamless. Even better, changing the length of time a still image was shown was super simple and the process was very quick. I'm glad I checked out other tools such as Voice Thread, VUVOX, Tabblo, and JayCut, because I found many aspects from each of them that I might be able to use for future projects. The learning curve seemed fairly easy on all of them, but each definitely has advantages and shortfalls. It will all depend on the project.

My Montage 4/27/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

Waiting for Normal Book Trailer

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Following Other Blogs

Infomancy
Certainly, there is much to learn from experts' websites and blog posts. Christopher Harris, the "Infomancer," brings the perspective of someone who has been in public education in a variety of roles such as a technology instructor, librarian, and administrator.  Not only is his blog intelligent and insightful, but he has written multiple articles which have been published in School Library Journal and Library Journal. 

Gerd Leonhard
Gerd Leonhard is a "Media Futurist" and a leader in the field.  He addresses such topics as Web 2.0, social networking, and education. As a prolific speaker/presenter, he also includes videoblogs.

Tim O'Reilly Community
Tim O'Reilly is an expert in Web 2.0 and has written many articles and books. The O'Reilly Community site has a plethora of blogs on various topics which are searchable.  This is a great place to visit to find links to other related blogs.

Kathy Schrock
Then, there is Kathy Schrock who is the Director of Technology for a school district in Massachusetts.  She admits to being called the "Gadget Queen" and she loves to share her educational technology knowledge with the web world! 

Blogging for Student Access

I know my digital native students would respond well to my library blog, but technology availability might make it somewhat difficult for all students to access. I would enjoy writing personal reviews of new library materials as well as research tips and library activities. In my ideal school library media center, I would have enough computers to accommodate a class of 30, and I would be able to control the students' screens as I demonstrated various tools and procedures. As an English teacher, it would be extremely beneficial to be able to work with a large group of students with research methods such as The Big 6. As it stands, our SLMS does an incredible job of helping my students with reading comprehension and getting students ready for the MontCAS tests in the spring.

Though I'm not entirely sure what my library will be, I look forward to learning more about 21st century technology and preparing to keep pace with the Digital Natives. Through the University of Montana Extended Degree Program, I am working on getting my K-12 Library Media Endorsement. If all goes as planned, I will be finished with the program after this summer's session. I don't know if I will ever be a SLMS, but what I am learning is very helpful in my English, speech, creative writing, and film studies classes (middle school and high school).