I just finished a two week workshop on Digital Literacy being offered by the Arts and Science Council in Charlotte, NC. Wow what a wonderful experience. It was a small class and that meant that we had time to converse and get to know each other better. We also had plenty of time to learn A LOT of new technology. There are so many creative people. The CMS network issues aside, we had a great time and it was well worth my time. Anyone can search the Lesson Plan database (you may have to create a user name and be approved) and find the lesson unit that I completed on Copyright, Plagiarism and Ethical Behavior with Intellectual Property. Kudos to our coordinator, Crystal Lail, she was the best!
Now, I'm sitting the PLN session of our Pinnacle Leaders Conference in Gaston County. We've already gotten our monies worth...and there are two sessions left, plus lunch. Gotta move on...
Monday, August 5, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
I am often overwhelmed by the awesomeness that is the School Librarian Media Coordinator PLC in Gaston County, North Carolina. Having spent two days with these wonderful ladies (and our director, Grant - Media Ladies, and Grant), I am so proud to be a part of this group. Truly we are leaders in the school and our media centers (learning commons) are the hubs of the learning communities in which we teach. What a great use of two days was our Summer Institute!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
I am totally amazed by the amount of information that is out in the cloud that proves the worth of school librarians (and any librarian, really). We are uniquely suited to the task of inquiry learning. Think about the reference interview. We are often leading students in the devBelopment of a thesis statement. We are trained to hone topics to be specific without being too specific. We are trained how to train others to be digital consumers and good digital citizens. Wherever the statement "Librarian: the original search engine" came from, it came from someone who understood that sometimes that personal contact is far more important than the information sought.
As I work toward making my physical and online presence more learner and inquiry friendly, I am awash with ways and how-tos. It's difficult to know where to start but perhaps, my friend, Jennifer LaGarde., has the answer. She has blogged her ideas for how to most effectively get our know-how out into the public view. (See her blogpost at http://www.librarygirl.net/
Time...if only there were more of it. I'm sitting now at the gate at my high school for a soccer game. What am I doing work, one might ask. Well, a teacher's job (and that's what all school librarians are first and foremost), can not be done within the confines of the contracted 7 hour day. I know many business people who guffaw at what they call a "do-nothing" job but they haven't been in the trenches. I've been in their trench before, having worked over 10 years in the corporate world. And, while it's no "walk in the park" in the business world either, it doesn't really hold a candle to what happens to teachers everyday. A lot of people give me the "well you get the summer's off" defense. But for the best teachers, even that isn't true. In two days, just this week, I've worked 20 hours and will work at least 9 on Thursday. That's 44 hours for the week, if I work just the contracted time and meetings already in place. This is a slow and short week for me. Add grading, inputting grades, lesson planning and suddenly you have a 50-60 work week (of which, I get paid only for 40 hours). It's not that I'm complaining, it's that I want people to understand, teaching is a calling, it's not a profession, it's something you do because you are passionate about children and the future. It certainly isn't for the money (with my degrees in the corporate world, I would probably be making at least twice as much), it isn't for the great hours, and it certainly isn't for the parents of students who never do anything wrong in the parents eyes. It's because we care, we want to make a better future and understand that our students can only succeed with quality education.
Try this on for size...How about we ask the teachers about teaching and leave the politics to those professionals who desire political power?
As I work toward making my physical and online presence more learner and inquiry friendly, I am awash with ways and how-tos. It's difficult to know where to start but perhaps, my friend, Jennifer LaGarde., has the answer. She has blogged her ideas for how to most effectively get our know-how out into the public view. (See her blogpost at http://www.librarygirl.net/
Time...if only there were more of it. I'm sitting now at the gate at my high school for a soccer game. What am I doing work, one might ask. Well, a teacher's job (and that's what all school librarians are first and foremost), can not be done within the confines of the contracted 7 hour day. I know many business people who guffaw at what they call a "do-nothing" job but they haven't been in the trenches. I've been in their trench before, having worked over 10 years in the corporate world. And, while it's no "walk in the park" in the business world either, it doesn't really hold a candle to what happens to teachers everyday. A lot of people give me the "well you get the summer's off" defense. But for the best teachers, even that isn't true. In two days, just this week, I've worked 20 hours and will work at least 9 on Thursday. That's 44 hours for the week, if I work just the contracted time and meetings already in place. This is a slow and short week for me. Add grading, inputting grades, lesson planning and suddenly you have a 50-60 work week (of which, I get paid only for 40 hours). It's not that I'm complaining, it's that I want people to understand, teaching is a calling, it's not a profession, it's something you do because you are passionate about children and the future. It certainly isn't for the money (with my degrees in the corporate world, I would probably be making at least twice as much), it isn't for the great hours, and it certainly isn't for the parents of students who never do anything wrong in the parents eyes. It's because we care, we want to make a better future and understand that our students can only succeed with quality education.
Try this on for size...How about we ask the teachers about teaching and leave the politics to those professionals who desire political power?
Thursday, February 7, 2013
I attended the 8th Annual Librarian to Librarian Networking Summit this past weekend. I was both heartened and depressed.
Heartened by my colleagues and by the amazing new things that are out there to help us help students. Gail Holmes presented some great resources for digital learning, a few a new about but I learned about more that will be beneficial to librarians across the state. She is currently an educator on loan to NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI). She has a great site will many resources. Her wiki is even better.
Michele Oros presented a workshop on Grant Writing that is sure to be of use to those new to grant writing. She has some awesome information that will lead writers down the green path.
Gerry Solomon and Karen Gavigan, both ladies that I highly respect and admire presented information on tools that are out there to help School Library Media Coordinators (SLMCs) collect needed data and correlate the ability of the school media program to impact student test scores.
I was able to meet also, one of my heroes (or heroines, as the case may be), Frances Bradburn. This humble but confident lady helped to bring massive change to NC schools and is one of the authors of the IMPACT model with a host of other "big" names (including Gerry Solomon) from NCDPI. Names that I saw regularly in my teacher training program and later in TIPS (a Gaston County Schools initiative to support and help new teachers, which has been copied across the state). These people were my icons for so long, it was difficult to believe that I was seeing them in person!
IMPACT, a technology first initiative that started well before educators jumped on the proverbial technology bandwagon. Again, showing the vision of the NCDPI in staying ahead of the curve in the education of tomorrow's citizens.
Depressed, you may ask? Well, it's the decline of anything relating to School Library Media Centers. The Common Core coming to NC is a great thing. It brings critical thinking back into the educational arena - something that has, in my humble opinion, been sorely lacking. Common Core changes the horizon on high stakes testing, or does it? The advent of MSLs (Measures of Student Learning) seem to merely replace the all important, oppressive EOC (End of Course test).
Common Core has critical thinking at its heart. Critical thinking, a skill that requires inquiry learning and INFORMATION. Most schools in NC have an Information Specialist in their building. Librarians have a unique skill set that comes from study and experience. Most people do not know that librarians are required to have both an NC teaching license AND an MLS (Master of Library Science). I'm not suggesting that, necessarily, librarians are "smarter" than everyone else, just that our skill set includes the ability to locate information everything from beginning readers to technical manuals for subjects that only just been introduced. We know how to teach students about proper citation and use of appropriate resources (our libraries already have "pre-selected" authoritative and grade-level appropriate resources). We have, for years, matched to books/websites to readers, researchers, teachers, administrators, and in some case even community leaders. Librarians organize book drives, fairs, literacy nights - all with the betterment of student engagement in mind. We are uniquely qualified to not only assist teachers find resources, collaborate on projects, help students with inquiries but to filter the wheat from the chaff in terms of rhetoric and real life.
As teachers, we are all being pulled in multiple directions, asked to do more with less each year. Education takes the brunt of the "hit" for falling test scores and students' inability to achieve. No mention is ever made about parent and student involvement in the educational process. As librarians, we are often asked to perform tasks that are "specialized", even if not in our area of expertise. For example, many librarians are also the technology gurus at their school, being asked to fix equipment, troubleshoot computer problems, install equipment (all things that could be done by someone less qualified in Library Science and more qualified in Technology). But we do these things selflessly because in the long run, it will affect student learning and achievement.
I don't mean to complain, just to put my thoughts in words. Librarians ARE teachers and they ARE technology gurus and they ARE information specialists. We are ARE hard workers, we want to help, we want to impact students learning about life long learning and to instill a love of reading.
It's been said, and I agree, teach a student to read and you can teach them anything. Reading IS fundamental.
Hey, just my $.02 worth...
Heartened by my colleagues and by the amazing new things that are out there to help us help students. Gail Holmes presented some great resources for digital learning, a few a new about but I learned about more that will be beneficial to librarians across the state. She is currently an educator on loan to NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI). She has a great site will many resources. Her wiki is even better.
Michele Oros presented a workshop on Grant Writing that is sure to be of use to those new to grant writing. She has some awesome information that will lead writers down the green path.
Gerry Solomon and Karen Gavigan, both ladies that I highly respect and admire presented information on tools that are out there to help School Library Media Coordinators (SLMCs) collect needed data and correlate the ability of the school media program to impact student test scores.
I was able to meet also, one of my heroes (or heroines, as the case may be), Frances Bradburn. This humble but confident lady helped to bring massive change to NC schools and is one of the authors of the IMPACT model with a host of other "big" names (including Gerry Solomon) from NCDPI. Names that I saw regularly in my teacher training program and later in TIPS (a Gaston County Schools initiative to support and help new teachers, which has been copied across the state). These people were my icons for so long, it was difficult to believe that I was seeing them in person!
IMPACT, a technology first initiative that started well before educators jumped on the proverbial technology bandwagon. Again, showing the vision of the NCDPI in staying ahead of the curve in the education of tomorrow's citizens.
Depressed, you may ask? Well, it's the decline of anything relating to School Library Media Centers. The Common Core coming to NC is a great thing. It brings critical thinking back into the educational arena - something that has, in my humble opinion, been sorely lacking. Common Core changes the horizon on high stakes testing, or does it? The advent of MSLs (Measures of Student Learning) seem to merely replace the all important, oppressive EOC (End of Course test).
Common Core has critical thinking at its heart. Critical thinking, a skill that requires inquiry learning and INFORMATION. Most schools in NC have an Information Specialist in their building. Librarians have a unique skill set that comes from study and experience. Most people do not know that librarians are required to have both an NC teaching license AND an MLS (Master of Library Science). I'm not suggesting that, necessarily, librarians are "smarter" than everyone else, just that our skill set includes the ability to locate information everything from beginning readers to technical manuals for subjects that only just been introduced. We know how to teach students about proper citation and use of appropriate resources (our libraries already have "pre-selected" authoritative and grade-level appropriate resources). We have, for years, matched to books/websites to readers, researchers, teachers, administrators, and in some case even community leaders. Librarians organize book drives, fairs, literacy nights - all with the betterment of student engagement in mind. We are uniquely qualified to not only assist teachers find resources, collaborate on projects, help students with inquiries but to filter the wheat from the chaff in terms of rhetoric and real life.
As teachers, we are all being pulled in multiple directions, asked to do more with less each year. Education takes the brunt of the "hit" for falling test scores and students' inability to achieve. No mention is ever made about parent and student involvement in the educational process. As librarians, we are often asked to perform tasks that are "specialized", even if not in our area of expertise. For example, many librarians are also the technology gurus at their school, being asked to fix equipment, troubleshoot computer problems, install equipment (all things that could be done by someone less qualified in Library Science and more qualified in Technology). But we do these things selflessly because in the long run, it will affect student learning and achievement.
I don't mean to complain, just to put my thoughts in words. Librarians ARE teachers and they ARE technology gurus and they ARE information specialists. We are ARE hard workers, we want to help, we want to impact students learning about life long learning and to instill a love of reading.
It's been said, and I agree, teach a student to read and you can teach them anything. Reading IS fundamental.
Hey, just my $.02 worth...
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
As strange as it may sound, I've only just discovered Scoop.it! thanks to Carol Koechlin and David Loertscher and their great webinar on Virtual Learning Commons (VLCs). Scoop.it! has become one of my favorite sites at this point, as an app for finding and disseminating information about the changing face of librarianship.
“Libraries aren’t a place to be silent anymore,” says Mary Beth Wiseman, Director of Technology for Elizabeth Forward School District. “They’re a place to get together and share ideas.”
http://www.sparkpgh.org/http://www.sparkpgh.org/2013/01/22/with-digital-technologies-can-school-libraries-help-transform-learning/2013/01/22/with-digital-technologies-can-school-libraries-help-transform-learning/
Just found this article on Scoop.it! The quote above shows my ideas about libraries and the future of education as relates to media centers and technology - hence the name of the blog. Libraries are active, not necessarily loud, but not quiet spaces that should be being used as technology and learning centers.
For many years the library was in the physical center of the school. With the coming of Common Core, libraries should also now be the virtual center of the school as well. For as long as there is information, there will be a need for librarians to catalog, store, and sort information. There will also be a need for teaching students how to access, use, and retrieve valid and timely information.
Teaching students only about their positive digital footprint is not enough. We are charged to educate students not only in responsible use but in how to glean the wheat from the chaff, to use a slightly tired phrase. We are challenged to meet the needs of students whose learning is different from our own experiences. Shouldn't we meet them there?
“Libraries aren’t a place to be silent anymore,” says Mary Beth Wiseman, Director of Technology for Elizabeth Forward School District. “They’re a place to get together and share ideas.”
http://www.sparkpgh.org/http://www.sparkpgh.org/2013/01/22/with-digital-technologies-can-school-libraries-help-transform-learning/2013/01/22/with-digital-technologies-can-school-libraries-help-transform-learning/
Just found this article on Scoop.it! The quote above shows my ideas about libraries and the future of education as relates to media centers and technology - hence the name of the blog. Libraries are active, not necessarily loud, but not quiet spaces that should be being used as technology and learning centers.
For many years the library was in the physical center of the school. With the coming of Common Core, libraries should also now be the virtual center of the school as well. For as long as there is information, there will be a need for librarians to catalog, store, and sort information. There will also be a need for teaching students how to access, use, and retrieve valid and timely information.
Teaching students only about their positive digital footprint is not enough. We are charged to educate students not only in responsible use but in how to glean the wheat from the chaff, to use a slightly tired phrase. We are challenged to meet the needs of students whose learning is different from our own experiences. Shouldn't we meet them there?
Monday, January 7, 2013
Wanted to start a blog for my thoughts and ramblings.
I am a Teacher-Librarian (School Library Media Coordinator to NC State) in Dallas, NC at North Gaston High School.
Currently, I'm working as the facilitator for the High School Media PLC in Gaston County Schools. I seek ways to help SLMCs effect student achievement and learning in a positive light.
Join me for this journey!
I am a Teacher-Librarian (School Library Media Coordinator to NC State) in Dallas, NC at North Gaston High School.
Currently, I'm working as the facilitator for the High School Media PLC in Gaston County Schools. I seek ways to help SLMCs effect student achievement and learning in a positive light.
Join me for this journey!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)