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).