Evernote

So, I was excited to read about and explore Evernote this past week.  I thought this tool was so helpful, and it can be used in so many different ways and on so many different devices.  Check out evernote here:  http://www.evernote.com/
As a Library Media Specialist, I focus a lot on research and helping my students develop good research skills and habits.  For some of them it is so difficult to find the information they want, summarize it, and put it into another format.  Many times my students have come into the lab to do research, and they either leave with nothing, or way too much information.  
Evernote is a really awesome way to help students organize their research information all in one place.  It is web-based so they access it anywhere including PC, Mac, iPhone, etc.  Once students have signed up for an account and the software has been downloaded, they can begin to save text, videos, pictures, PDF files etc. into one place. They are then able to take the things they have saved, and add bookmarks, tags, notes etc. They can access their information either on or offline, edit it, and remove information they don't need.  The other feature I liked the most was that students are able to keep track of the reference information so they can cite their sources correctly!  I don't know how many times students can't remember where they found their information, and then they have trouble citing their sources. 
Evernote seems easy enough for my elementary students to use, but I can see it being extremely helpful in Middle and High School. 
I found the videos on this link to be extremely helpful when trying to find more information about this wonderful tool.  I'm so excited to begin using this with my 5th and 6th graders next year!

Twitter Chat

I participated in #libchat last Wednesday.  While I enjoyed the conversation, I felt it was more geared towards public librarians.  There were so many people participating in the discussion it took us 1 1/2 hrs. to answer seven questions.  It was not exactly the most timely discussion.  I did enjoy hearing different stories and ideas from all over the country.  I think the most interesting response was to the question "What has been your most interesting/rewarding reference question/experience."  The funniest was someone mentioned needing to help a dominatrix post a video to her website. Another one that made me chuckle was a patron asked the reference librarian for a blue book.  She assumed the patron meant the car blue book. The patron was actually referring to a children's book with a blue cover.  Funny stories, but not much I could relate to in a school library.  Another question was about using social media to promote libraries.  I was surprised at how many people said their library board didn't support social media.  I plan on trying another #libchat to see if there will be more questions that are more relevant to me.  It may have just been a night for public library discussions, I'm not sure.   I would also like to try some of the other chats, but it's hard for me to find and hour or hour 1/2 block of time to devote to Twitter Chat. 

Social Networking

Social networking is so amazing, and it's something that has grown tremendously in just the last few years.  It was interesting to read in our textbook about Ning. I had never heard of Ning before, and I spent some time looking and researching different Nings.  I did not create an account with Ning, however, because it costs money after the first 30 days.  I'm sure there are a lot of valuable resources, but there is so much out there that is free, I decided to look at those tools first.  I did join http://www.classroom20.com/ which I think has a ton of really great tools. I like how it is set up, and it seems very user friendly.  There is a chat feature on the main page that is helpful if you have questions for fellow members.  The left side of the page lists different ways to find information.  You can search by tools such as gaming, pod-casting, wikis, etc.  You can also search by subject or by area.  I thought there were a lot of helpful tools to use when working with diverse learners.  There is a whole section for bi-lingual education, English as a second language, as well as gifted education.  When you click on the different links, it takes you to discussion forums about the subject area.  I also found the link to the library 2.0 page helpful. It had lots of discussions post, helpful links, blog posts and links to events.

Networked Classroom

    I love the idea of having a networked classroom, and if I was in the regular classroom, I would be working towards this.  Since I am not in the regular classroom, I see my role as a librarian to help these teachers utilize these resources  and help them to create their own networked classroom.  Just in the last two weeks in fact, I shared some ideas with one of my second grade teachers. I made the suggestion of starting a classroom blog.  So her and I both did some research and found kidblog.org which allows students to safely post to a blog.  It requires you to have a username/password to access it which she has given to parents.  Even though she only has three computers in her classroom, they use this as a literacy center and they post to their blogs.  Parents and other students are able to comment on posted blogs.  For second grade, I am very impressed with what these students are doing and learning. I talked with her after she started the blog and asked how it was going.  She said the best thing about it is my kids want to write!  Which for some of the students was a huge struggle.  She said the worst thing about it is she has kids asking her all day if they can go onto the blog because they have something they want to share.  I think that's a great problem to have! 

     

    Chapter 3 in the Personal Learning Networks classroom was very insightful.  There are so many advantages to having a networked classroom.  I liked when the author used the term transparent.  No longer are students just confined to their classrooms, they are able to connect with students and teachers from all over the world.  Collaboration is another huge benefit to a networked classroom.  This gives students and opportunity to work with others and collaborate on new project  and ideas.  You can work with students from another part of the country, and be able to gain different perspectives.  One thing I have noticed when teaching is that a student's world can be very small - especially in a rural community where there is not much money.  Many students haven't ever traveled, and to some of them it's hard to understand there is life beyond their community.  Having a networked classroom would be greatly beneficial to them. 

The biggest disadvantage I see to having a networked classroom, is the technology gap between some teachers and students.  The thing I fear the most is for those 28 kids in Mrs. __________ 5th grade class that are not able to do these things because she doesn't know enough about technology.  While the kids in the other two 5th grade classes are doing amazing things with technology. 

Twitter part II

I'm starting to use Twitter more, and I am beginning to see what a great tool it is for educators.  I was really struggling with what to tweet about, because I still feel like what I have to say is not very important. My professor posted a link to this page that has helped me tremendously.  It listed some very helpful ideas about what to post about, and made suggestions like asking for recommendations on lesson ideas, book recommendations, linking photos etc.  I also like that it gave sample tweets to see.

Another thing I started using were hashtags. Before this week I had no idea what a hashtag was, but they have been extremely helpful to sort my tweetdeck into different categories.  I joined a TWUB for MASL and I'm looking forward to tweeting during the conference in a few weeks.  

I'm looking forward to our twitter chat assignment and think it will be very interesting to chat with educators from all over the country.

Twitter - Who knew?

So, I've always thought of Twitter as a way to follow celebrities and get news updates.  I've had an account for a while, but I never really posted anything to it because I figured - "who really cares what I have to say."  It wasn't until I really starting searching that I found so many useful things!  I found several librarians I can follow, several libraries, teachers, authors, and publishing companies etc.  I thought about using twitter to do book talks.  When I get new books in the library, it would be fun to post to Twitter to let my kids know what new stuff is out there.  Students can also reply to my tweets and re-tweet to their friends. 

The book also had some really good ideas on how to use Twitter effectively.  It's a great tool to motivate and engage students.  They can use it to communicate with each other about a project or maybe something they have read.  It's a quick way to check for understanding on a certain topic or idea. 

I love the wiki also.  twitter4teachers.  What a great tool to have, and be able to access so much information all in one place!  I shared it with all of my colleagues, and heard many positive comments from them. 

I'm excited to use these new tools! I have learned so much already, just in these short few weeks. I had a teacher ask me the other day "how come librarians always spend the majority of their time on the computer?"  It's because we're constantly learning and researching new ways of doing things, and discovering ways to help teachers reach and engage students.  There is so much out there and this is such an exciting time to use technology!  

My Twitter name is ktsillman.

Personal Learning Networks

     As I was reading the introduction and first three chapters of our textbook, I couldn't help but feel excited (and a little nervous) about the tremendous amount of technology teaching opportunities there will be in the next several years.  One quote that caught my attention was on page 7 where it says "Just because students understand social networking and think it would be cool to use in schools doesn't mean they know how to use these tools for learning."  I never really thought about this, but it's so true.  Today's students are constantly using technology and social networking, but that doesn't mean they are using it for educational purposes.  It's our job as educators to help them take the knowledge they know about technology, and help them apply those skills to real world situations and other learning opportunities.  
     Chapter 1 lists the six different ways that the world is changing.  Moving from analog to digital, the first one mentioned in the book,  is changing things very rapidly.  More and more we are moving away from print materials and focusing on digital materials.  More publishing companies are focusing on eBooks vs. print.  Reference materials such as dictionaries and encyclopedias  are now available online.  This has been a huge discussion topic among librarians for several years now, and it is making a lot of them very nervous.  There is much uncertainty about what will become of the library.  I feel that libraries need to be keeping up with the current trends in technology while still providing books and materials for more traditional library users.  Chapter 1 also discusses what a personal learning network is, and how it's important for teachers and students.  We are now using the internet to not only connect with people for social reasons, but we are using the internet for learning purposes as well.
     Chapter 2 discusses five different examples of learning networks. Twitter, Diigo, Google Reader, Blogger, and Facebook.  I personally use all of these on a regular basis.  I don't enjoy Twitter nearly as much as Facebook, but I can see how all of these tools can create and enhance new learning experiences.  Chapter 2 is definitely a great resource for teachers who have never used these networks before.  It gives step by step directions to help you set up accounts.
    I thought chapter 3 was very interesting as it gave a specific example of a teacher creating a networked classroom.  The quote on page 61 summed it  up very nicely when it stated, "Instead of the teacher "teaching" and the students "learning," teachers and students become co-learners as well as co-teachers in the process."  This process encourages more learning and engagement among students.