Reflections

MODULE ONE REFLECTION

What do those videos have to do with me as a Teacher Librarian and Who are my Patrons? What do they Require of Me?

First, the videos... Working toward being a TL has been (and continues to be) a revelatory experience. The videos just underscore that. They present our world as a constantly changing stage where we have to strive just to keep from being outmoded. I don't just mean TL's either--I mean each member of society regardless of age, race or socio-economic status. As a TL, I think my role will be to help students make sense of what is so rapidly changing around them--to help them identify and utilize tools and most importantly to provide a springboard for independent and creative problem solving. The students must move beyond me--they must leave me in the dust, or I will have failed at a key aspect of my job.

My Patrons are my students, my fellow teachers, administrators, staff and my parents. They are also my students' siblings and pen pals (do we even have them anymore?), and best cyber friends, and their parents' parents and co-workers and ... What I teach, what I provide-- is access to possibilities (along with some important skills). Upon discovering new worlds and tools, people get excited and they SHARE... Last week, I was on line at the grocery store and spoke to someone about a web tool--I don't even remember how the conversation started--but she got really excited and maybe she spoke to someone online about it afterward.

What is required of me? Professionalism, ethical behavior, expertise, flexibility, some technical savvy, a vast imagination, enthusiasm, vision and respect for all my patrons. And that is only the beginning of the list...

An invisible chain of knowledge and opportunity exists today and I hope to be a link on it somewhere. That is all. That is enough.

Week 2 Reflection

A Bit Easier I don't love technology. I have said before that I came into this field because I like kids and books, not computers. Last semester the intrusion of the big truth--that this field is actually rooted in technology caused a bit of a --OK a huge-- crisis in my life. I questioned my purpose and ability. I questioned everything related to this endeavor. My age is a big factor too--I will be closer to 50 than 40 when I finish my degree and who starts a new career at that age? That was a rough time, but I emerged from it with the sense that I was on the right path and that I just had to take things a bit at a time. (I wish I could say I had some grand epiphany and that everything "clicked" and that a total technophile now, but alas, that is not generally how things go for me. I require time and more time and more time to get comfortable with new ideas and to revamp my expectations.)

Things are getting better though: I used to be frightened of technology and now I am just intimidated by it. A big step for me that seems small when put into words. I remind myself that I have always been intimidated by not knowing how to do something--by learning a new skill. I hate that part of a process, but I also know that I have learned how to do thousands upon thousands of things in my life and that "technology" will one day be in the category of things I am comfortable with. It can be learned, and one thing I am is a good student. I still fret and struggle and worry that I am missing some basic chunks of information (see my next reflection), but things are getting better--they are a bit easier to do and to find and so I am a bit more at ease. Netvibes is actually a huge factor in the improvement (so thank you, Linda): although I had a problem setting up my public page (thank you again, Linda), it has proven to be a simple, convenient, approachable window to the technological world as it relates to LMS (not to mention, education--another area where I have no first hand knowledge or experience).

This past week alone, I have used information gained on Netvibes as the basis for 1) my next reflection (see below), 2) my second blog posting (coming soon!), and 3) as a tool to help my son to memorize new facts (memorize.com) . This third instance became relevant to my future work when I emailed his teachers for this year and last with the suggestion that they might find it useful as well. One replied with an enthusiastic thanks, one didn't reply at all--another lesson to cache away in my things learned file!

February 13th  Is it a Skill, or a Mind Set?  Doug Johnson, on his Blue Skunk blog wrote about me last week! (OK--not actually me, but someone who could have been me). He told this story: "One of our tech staff got a call the other day from a teacher who was having a problem. She couldn't figure out how to get a GoogleDoc onto a flashdrive so she could move it to another computer. And yes, the other computer was networked."

I could have easily been that teacher last year--maybe not anymore, but just because I know a little about cloud computing now does not mean that I am not woefully unfamiliar with hundreds, probably thousands of other techno-related things that my future students will take for granted. I am at a distinct disadvantage, but things are getting better for me (see Week 2 Reflection). Johnson's blog continues onto his point which is that perhaps teaching how is not enough to shift educator's perceptions and actions into the Web 2.0 sphere, but that why must also be explained. To me it makes sense not only that we include it, but that we start with it-- why is that important! When as a parent (or a teacher) you teach a young child to read, you start with letters and sounds--not whole sentences. Teaching your colleagues why things work as they do will ground them and give them a jumping off point and hopefully make the topic more approachable. Another thing I believe is vital to successfully leading your teacher colleagues into the 21st Century is an open and humble attitude--don't laugh as someone did in Johnson's story above --understand and accept that for many, this stuff is frightening and overwhelming and perhaps not immediately engaging. Then do your best to change that. This what I intend to do as soon as I have figured out about several thousand things for myself or, even better, find someone who is willing to spend the time explaining them to me.

UPDATE! Yesterday I spent some time observing Cathy Gellman teach 7th graders about Novelist. Guess what one of the first things she said was? "I want you to know why you are doing what you're doing". She explained "why". It was wonderful.

February 20th

Websites:

Well, I have figured something out about designing your own website, it is a mind numbing, time sucking enterprise! I have spent quite a while on what I have done so far, and truth be told, I could spend days (even weeks) more. I think it is important for a teacher librarian to have a clear vision of what his/her website should look like and what is to be accomplished with it. Changes and updates are great--but the bones of it must be good, engaging, entertaining, helpful. It is not easy to design a good, clear, concise website. My inclination was to try and include every good thing I thought of. Definitely not a good idea! Too much, too soon. I do love weebly as it makes the process accessible to someone without programing credentials. That is the crux of web 2.0--making heretofore complicated, complex processes, accessible to everyday people!

March 7 2011

I really liked Module 4--what I enjoyed most about was seeing the way in which Web 2.0 technology can facilitate self-expression. It offers students (anyone really) a new dimension in which they can create meaningful products. You no longer have to be an artist (in the traditional sense) to be able to create unique pieces of art that you can share with the world! You no longer need contacts or influence to be able to meaningfully express your opinion about a concept, a product or a technique. Web 2.0 is in many ways a great equalizer. The playing field is open to anyone with access to a computer and the internet. (Wow, I just realized that I come from a place of privelege where pretty much everyone has access to those two things! I am probably naive in thinking that is the case for most kids and will have to give that some more thought. Possibly, a subject for another relfection!)

I was drawn to storybird as a tool to use with my students. I think for middle school students, I would like to collaborate with their creative writing teacher to help them find their authentic voice., I have an idea for a project--maybe called "life nuggets" or "memior bits" or something better since I don't love either of those titles. In which the students (any age beyond 2nd grade could do this) identify a moment in their life--a discreet event, or feeling, or circumstance on which to base a short story, an essay, or a poem (their choice). The details can be fictional, but the idea driving those details must be authentic. The goal would be for them to see that writing should start from the inside and work its way into the world through their hearts, head and hands. Storybird strikes me as a good tool for this, but truthully, the technology must be secondary to the process. I agree completely with Ohler's when he makes this point. Using technology--storybird or something better, is a great way to capture interest and generate excitement. It also, as I mentioned above, equalizes the playing field. Kids who are not considered artists in the tradiaitonal sense can draw on aspects of their creativity that might otherwise be left unexplored. Additionally (and importantly) the sutdents will be gaining media literacy skills. BUT if the act of crafting a story is not put first, if somehow manipulating the technology comes first, then the project will lose its value in my estimation. Hence, my insistance that the kids start from a point of truth in their lives.

Maybe I will call this an "inside out"story.

April Reflections

Working on Module 6 entailed reading portions of //Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action.// Boy, did I dread it. In fact, I dreaded it so much, I put it off and started a pot of chicken stock. Somehow, the stock making process and the learning process have intermingled and become the subject of this reflection. First, in order to make the stock, I used things I had leftover in my fridge---a chicken carcass and the fond (American term for French "sucs" which refers to the brown bits and concentrated liquids left in the bottom of a pan after cooking) from two previous roast chickens. Fond--especially from roasting chicken, is like culinary gold in my opinion and I will not waste it. It is deeply flavorful and rich and should never be washed down the sink! Anyway, in went the old stuff (bones, fond) and some new things--aromatics and water and out came a yummy stock--which could stand on its own as a sort of consomme (if strained) or may be used as a component for literally thousands of dishes.

I bet you are wondering just exactly how this fits with //Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action//? Well, the making of stock has become a metaphor for learning in my mind--especially as learning is understood in the//Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action.// Cooking, like learning, is a cumulative process. Each discreet cooking experience incorporates and builds upon prior experience and knowledge. For someone like me, who has been cooking for years and has roasted hundreds of chickens, the act of creating this dish is not a single event--it is a link in a chain of meals and rests upon all of my prior experience in the endeavor. In other words, my knowledge--what I have learned in all my experience is brought to every aspect of my cooking this dish. 21st Century learning is just like that. It is cumulative--each new learning experience draws upon past experience. It could be as basic as the growth in expertise in web 2.0 tool with each exposure to it, or it can mean something more complex, more layered-- such as realizing what search strategies work for you and why, or becoming someone who can express themselves effectively in multiple mediums and can share their expertise in a given subject in a comfortable, natural way. Learning is more than gathering facts and even obtaining knowledge--it is applying that knowledge to real life situations such as preparing a white paper with a group of colleagues or roasting a chicken. In either case, the more personalized the process, the better the product.

Module 7

__ Sorry, Anne, I just don't buy it. __ As I sat listening to Anne Colliers presentation --"Rethinking Net Safety Together/Online Safety 3.0, I experienced a myriad of emotions. My first thought as I listened was "shoot!"--I just spent hours constructing a pathfinder on web safety and I got it totally wrong! I am a generation behind the current thinking (a thought I have very frequently with regard to things technological and educational). She seemed to make so much sense--she was logical and methodical and carefully constructed a case which undermined the conventional wisdom that children are at risk from internet predators and that they need to be warned and educated to ensure personal safety. Somehow I had joined those fear mongering people like law enforcement officials who were needlessly scaring our kids! We are not hip to the real dangers of peer bullying and potential statutory rape (meaning adults ((over the legal age of consent which generally means 18)) openly pursuing minors for sex)).

WAIT--STOP--THIS IS AS FAR AS I GOT.

I went to do some research to refute Anne's statistics since I thought hers were suspect. Like a good researcher, I looked for a reliable site with legitimate information--I found lots of frightening statistics, but they were all from websites I did not trust. Then I found the Crimes Against Children Research Center, a n nonprofit organization funded by grants from child advocacy organizations and family foundations. It's stated mission: "  is to combat crimes against children by providing high quality research and statistics to the public, policy makers, law enforcement personnel, and other child welfare practitioners. "Ah, here is where I find the real info", I thought. Guess what? It turns out I already has the correct information. I had gotten it when I listened to Anne's presentation. (&X#*@! I really am behind before I even start & munch, munch --the sound of me eating crow). Not sure why I had such a strong aversion to her presentation but what I can say is that I thought she sounded flippant and dismissive of what, as a parent, I view as a legitimate concern: how to keep my child safe from the really scary people we hear and read about and from the terrible tragedies that befall some kids? I know the proportion is tiny and that it really is only a handful of children abducted and killed each year, but as far as I am concerned, 1 child is too many. So here is the question: how do I balance my gut reaction and reflexive need to keep kids (my own and everyone else's) with my professional obligations? How to synthesize and present an accurate picture of the risks associated with being online so that it is not dismissed by the kids as just another adult trying to scare them with untrue statistics? How do I make it reasonable to kids, so that they are actually willing to listen to what I have to say and consider following the guidelines? In this instance, it is time to go to the experts--two of whom are: Connect Safely and Crimes Against Children Research Center. They seem to promote a reasonable and balanced approach to raising awareness of online risks and suggesting strategies to minimize such risk. Are they more low key than I feel inside? Yes. It is for that very reason that the most at risk kids (teenagers) will be more likely to listen. Luckily they both provide a lot of great free resources and suggested methods for dealing with the issues of online safety.

Module 8

5 Technology tools that can benefit special needs students:

1) Kindle--read aloud technology a huge benefit for struggling readers, dyslexics, and reluctant readers 2) Bubblus/graphic organizers--helpful for visual learners 3) Animoto / Prezi- methods for nonverbal students to express feelings and visually demonstrate learning 4) iPad (mac)--absolutely amazing number of apps for every thing from improving communication and organization to help everyday skill building and compensating for color blindness 5) Live Binder--I see this as a great resource for kids who struggle with attention issues to aid in organizing information.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">I have to say that I think this is one of the most important modules I have done this semester. Technology tools can be learned, in fact must be relearned all the time! Beginning my teaching career with an awareness of and appropriate mindset toward kids with special needs is of paramount importance. In connection with doing my observation hours this semester, I had an encounter with a learning disabled student that had me crying on my husband's shoulder the night I met him. (Nothing untoward happened. The LMS was kind and friendly, but it just made me sad.) I remember saying to my husband "I don't know how to help him". After completing this module, I at least have inkling. I love the suggestions and helpful tools that the articles provide. I do wish (and would be willing to put my time and money where my mouth is) that there was an additional required class on serving special needs children in the LMC.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Module 9

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">I read the Educational Leadership article on multitasking (I saved all the other article from that issue to read later) and I was struck by how succinctly it, and the the Deep Reading article, supported my conviction that the simple, unprepossessing book is still vitally important. No hyper links, no highlights, no tags--just words (and in some case artwork) on paper given life through the reader's imagination. My love of that is really why I want to be a librarian. I was fascinated by both these articles as they gave me insight into what my brain is doing while I am reading--the types and levels of thought and various aspects of brain involvement never cross my mind (pun intended) as I read--I just enjoy it. Wanting to encourage kids toward similar experiences remains a deep desire of mine. Reconciling that with the technological component of being a LMS has caused me a great deal of angst in the last two semesters as I thought that the former had to be sacrificed to the latter. I am more convinced than ever now that that is not the case. Reading is the gateway to deeper understanding and the ability to use information creatively-- to share it, apply it and expand upon it. Technology cannot replace that and no matter how cool the tools become, our mind is still the coolest tool of all.