My Reflective

I say "learning is the most exciting thing there is!" and I have thought of myself as a lifelong learner grabbing classes here and there wherever I was. When this opportunity came up, I jumped in with a great deal of enthusiasm. Working with the dynamic young teachers on our staff was a great deal of the appeal. Throughout the undertaking (and I use the term advisedly) of this course, I have felt like it has been the most difficult thing I have done in a long time...but no less rewarding in the final analysis. The formalizaiton of the research process and the standardization of this process and the three R's is exhiliarating as a concept that is not only past its infancy but well on its way to being recognized. The technical part was what was most difficult but the learning all that more dynamic as a result of it. The two parts of this that were most frustrating had to do with the introduction of these concepts whether in a District-sponsored class after school at 1930 Como or in one of our monthly sessions, I felt I needed everything to have been in such slow motion and it seemed as if the concepts were discussed but not while we could work along. Learning on my own had some promise as I could go at whatever speed I wanted but the little parts of using some of these technological concepts had so many little slippery slopes even in just creating an account and working your way though the website which might or might not have been all that user friendly. My decidedly poor form in trying something new militates against some success in that I try something and it doesn't work. Thus, I try it again, and do nothing different, and....guess what...it still doesn't work. The third time I do exactly the same thing with exactly the same results, I am shut down. The human interactive part is essential for me in learning experiences. Once I am shown a concept and I successfully use it, no problem.
So, despite the whining, I must say that I have been stretched in my technological capacities beyond belief. I would truly like to shadow a participant next year without the homework so as to get it all again having gone through it a little and being better able to take it all in.
I think it had been a long time since I had taken a class and this was a great opportunity for which I am very grateful.
Finally, working with the awesome staff members that I did made it truly "special." They have done great projects with their classes. They were already very competent young teachers but they have now added this exciting and potent media appreciation factor to their bag of tricks and I am lucky to have had this opportunity with them.
Thanks,
MM

More for Thing 16 - MnLink

A staff person was wanting a book for her daughter doing a college course. I decided to try MnLink and got into the resources held to discover that there was not only the book but a video of the book. My colleague was very interested.

Neither was I able to access on MnLink this time but I knew what was where in order to call and find out if the video were able to be loaned. It was at Augsburg and the Librarian was very helpful leaving me messages to call her back that regrettably she was working that night and yes the video was loanable through ILL.

I went to the St. Paul Public Central Library and requested both the book and the video at Augsburg. The paperwork was initiated there.

As I was leaving dinner with some friends that Friday night, I called Augsburg and got the same Librarian and we discussed the speed with which the loan could be consumated and assumed it might not take but a week.

Some problems: I had reserved the item in my name and with my library card number. With an ILL it is IMPOSSIBLE to change checking it out except with the person's card that reserved it. Luckily, I had given my colleague my card and she was able to check it out. With the online reservation system, there is no way to discharge the request without checking it out on the card with which it waas reserved.

I will have to give the online option another chance.

Thing 21 You Tube

You Tube and You Tuge are a lot alike except for the spelling! Especially late at night or early in the morning.

Thing 32 Wikis

I think Wiki has to be a resource with which to be reckoned. When looking up any general piece of information on Google, it is often one of the first of the resources listed. Although it can be manipulated, bad manipuations do not tend to linger. The information is indeed encyclopedic in the way in which it scatters a wealth of potential pieces of information relating to any one topic.

It has a series of news events such as: A series of bomb blasts in Jaipur, India kills at least 80 people.
An earthquake (epicenter shown on map) measuring 7.9 Mw strikes Sichuan, China with over thirteen thousand people reported dead.
Sudan cuts diplomatic relations with Chad, blaming it for helping rebels from Darfur to launch an attack on Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
An international relief operation begins after Cyclone Nargis strikes Burma, with at least 100,000 people reported killed or missing. The Burmese military regime conducts a constitutional referendum days after the cyclone's strike.
A tornado outbreak in Oklahoma and Missouri, United States kills at least 23 people.

It has the day's featured article such as :

Super Smash Bros. Melee is a crossover fighting/action game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in 2001. It is the sequel to the 1999 Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the 2008 Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl. HAL Laboratory developed the game, with Masahiro Sakurai as head of production. The game is centered on characters from Nintendo's video gaming franchises such as Mario, Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda.

It has the things that occured on this date years past such as: May 14th

1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition led by explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (pictured) left Camp Dubois near present-day Hartford, Illinois and began the first American overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back.

It has a featured picture such as the one above beside the Wikipedia symbol which is the lights along the fire line shown in 2007 to memorialize the Rotterdam blitz which took place in 1940 during German's invasion of the Netherlands.

These are only a few of its general features not to mention the lengthy articles on most any subject.

Thing 31 - Bibliogrpahic Tools

Bibliographic Tools - In going on Google to find some bibliographic tools, there was one

http://www.noodletools.com/tools/index.php

which caught my eye for a couple of reasons:
1) you had to pay for it; and
2) one of their catchy advertising ploys was that it "Teaches evaluation and analysis; not simply a "machine" that automates the process."

There are so many good resources that don't cost a thing that it seems somewhat foolish to think that the only way you can learn about these tools is to pay for them. To its credit, it does seem as if this course is a a veritable notetaking system not just a bibliographic citation device.

Nevertheless, who wants to analyze citation formats? I have always explained to the students that it is the most boring and tedious of tasks but unfortunately essential in writing a research paper. Furthermore, you have to know this at the onset of your paper as when you get to the end of your paper and then make ready to use the resources you have dig up and cannot find their sources, you have none!

One of our great English teachers utilizes Citation Maker which is a formulary to enter the information that you need and it creates it in the style you want. I like this although it does take a little getting used to it.

http://www.carmun.com/easy-bibliography-formatting-APA-MLA.php?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=bib&utm_campaign=apa

is one of these devices but her tool seemed less obtuse. Contact Bonnie Bellows at Humboldt Senior High for this.

Thing 26 - Digital Image Collections

I think the most interesting of image collections is the Minnesota Historical Library Collections.

After getting into the Minnesota Historical Society's website you can look under collections and find a photo and art database

http://www.mnhs.org/collections/index.htm

which has the most amazing of photographs. Under James J. Hill there were 167 images and although the rather formal and ordinary one is amongst them, I was able to detect the one that was a favorite of those of us that worked at Hill Library and had access to the more personal collections of his pictures and was that of one of him holding a cat.

It was 133 in the pictures and is a very warm and human picture of Hill as opposed to the majority of them that make him appear quite untouchable.

Thing 29 - Online Learning

http://www.iclasses.org/res_main.cfm was just one of the many online learning resources that came up when "googling" online learning. This one had math and science free online classes. I have a student that should have graduated last year but hadn't passed reading or math skills and think that something like this could be a good resource for him to use with access to a computer either at home or at the Public Library.

http://gtcni.openrepository.com/gtcni/ is an online access to research resources for teachers which provides scholarly articles on all sorts of research topics that would be specifically of interest to teachers.

http://www.ehow.com/ looks like a lively and multiresourceful fund of "how to's" such as how to untangle hair or ripen green tomatoes or raise a child alone which probably share some common elements I am sure!

Thing 28 - Photos and Images

Flickr is a huge resource of photo images that are real and interesting. I was looking at the pediatrician and child as a student I have been working with is doing a career study on pediatricians and we are trying to use a picture at the beginning of each of the pages of her report.
Of course, there is google.images and they are good too, but the Flickr seems much more diverse and fun.

Thing 21 You Tuge

There are so many exciting online informational resources for all sorts of purposes. In trying to catch up on a particular show that you missed of a serial, the television network will allow you to watch it,

Cathy Schrock's website has been an endless source of teacher assists including crosswork puzzle maker and lesson plans in all subject areas.

My most recent favorite one is You Tube and our Principal has used clips from it as inspirational pieces at a teacher's meetings. One in particular was to remind us that all students have gifts that need opening and that is our job. He used the British talent show piece on the cell phone salesman who was a little chubby, his teeth were definitely in need of some dental redoing for their going in all sorts of directions and he was admittedly self-conscious in even introducing what he was intending to do for his talent: opera singing. But when he opened his mouth, his looks were gone and all that was there was incredible passion and talent that took the audience to their feet and the most synical of the judges to a warm and uncharacteristically enthusiastic response.

Even Channel 5 news has all sorts of tech tidbits and that and all the rest of the things that they broadcast can be accessed on their website on "as seen on Channel 5 news" and if you write and ask for help in locating a piece you were curious about, they are very personable and helpful in getting you linked.

Thing 19 Just for Fun

Image generators are a favorite device but in working with Big Huge Lab's mosaic maker, I didn't have too much success. I did a bunch of my cat photos and didn't find the instructions very user friendly. The one I managed to complete and actually see a mosaic wasn't what I wanted but our building tech took all my prom pictures and made a mosaic for me which was broadcast on the school's televised video information network that repeats news and sports and events. He also took a poem that a student from Kenya had created and made a face and the African Continent with the poem superimposed on it which was extemely interesting and very pleasing to the student poet. Perhaps I will have to have him show me how he does this. The students love it when I do my own mosaic of their baseball or basketball pics which I take at the game and make them a quadrant of them in 4's or 9's! I use picasa to organize them and then make them public so they can pull the up and do whatever. This has been a lot cheaper than the old fashioned way when I would develop several rolls after a basketball game and have them on display in the Library as a way of getting all manner of traffic into the library as a fun place to be.

birthday present

Last summer I was about to embark on a cruise. I told my daughter that I was going to get into exercising on the ship. For my birthday, we met in Madison to exchange my cat that she was going to babysit and also for her to give me my birthday present. She had gotten my a mac ipod in blue with charger in a cool little case that contained it all. She said I ought to come into the 20th century with my exercise headgear for my cruise.

Having been assured that I loved it and that I would want it, she brought out her laptop on which she had ready a hand-selected grouping of 120 songs that were some of her favorites as well as some that she knew I would like. We downloaded them onto my ipod.

On the vacation, not only did I exercise each day but with my certain exercises I would use the ipod and enjoy each song that she had selected wondering just why she had chosen it but glad she had and had thought to bring me up to date.

one student thing

In checking with students recently, one wanted to show me the movie he was in the midst of making and it was in a site we had trouble accessing due to not having updated means of opening his site as well as fighting with the District's filtering system.

I think most students would feel that the best way to communicate what you want a student to discover would be to put it on MySpace or FaceBook; I think the older generation should get on the bandwagon and call theirs the FaceLift. The other option for finding fun information for the students seems to be YouTube and I like it also.

MnLink

MnLink is a much more widespread manifestation of a service that I worked on starting: the building block known as CLIC. I was in charge of hiring the manual filers in the basement of Hill LIbrary and hiring the driver. We had a large Diebold Power File and statistically figured that the two shelves with the most cards would be B and S, interestingly enough. We manually interfiled the cards from the 7 private colleges and the UofMn and Hill so that there could be a more technologically sound way of getting a book from another of the cooperating libraries. At the beginning, there was some discussion as to whether we should deal with photocopies of articles...it later became one of our bigger businesses right away. We had events that I was in charge of to coalesce the different participants like two CLIC art exhibits. I am at this time looking up to see the black and white photo that I bought at the exhibit which is a desk of a table in the Hamline library with the sun shining in and bouncing off a manual pencil sharpener that I have above my upper part of my computer desk in my home. I looked up Killing Field by Christopher Hudson which a teacher has requested and I am having a difficult time locating copies that he wants to use for his class; there were two in mnlink.

Thing 14 - Reliable on-line resources

The Internet Public Library and the Librarian's Index to the Internet are so exciting and picturesque while still being reliable that one wonders when one compares them to the "web site under construction" signs that used to be more common on googlized web sites that led students on a wild goose chase and were largely frustrating and unsatisfying that regardless of reliable the reliable ones are just more fun.

Thing 12 - Other Search Engines.

I think it was Anne Smalley who posted some many reviews of Live Search Engines which I printed out and skimmed over and it included many more than the ones we use from the District. It discussed each included database pointing out its strengths, weaknesses, default operation, boolean searching proximity searching, and many other rather specific points relating to the search engines reviewed. Most of the information was a bit technical and I wasn't really very familiar with any of the search engines reviewed but it would definitely be in the category of a stretch and grow experience.

Thing 10 - Copyright and Plagiarism

Every time a student asks me to copy something for him on the copy machine, I will always copy the title page and write in the copyright date and explain that I have included that for them as they have to give credit to what they use and what parts and in what order.

I remind the students that if they copy something there is no learning that goes on and the point of responsible use of the information they are using has to do with some intimacy with the subject matter by interacting intellectually or romantically with the subject matter. They usually understand when you include the word "romantically." It also, of course, makes the material yours and is a responsible use of it.

Thing 9 - United Streaming Video

There have been two streaming video presentations in our teachers' meetings. I think they were both from U-Tube. Both made you want to cry. One had to do with the presenter's "hero" who was an African-American Basketball coach who rescued a young girl who was trying to remember the words to the Star Spangled Banner. The other was on Canada's Talent Show and involved a rather largely unattractive young man who was a cell phone salesman and acted a little shy and spoke to his interest in opera singing. The judges were all but laughing until he belted out the song he came to sing. He was phenomenal and a good reminder that what we see (in our students and their interests and talents) isn't necessarily what we get and not to be close minded.

Thing 8 - Dribbling Skills

I prepared a dribbling skill by using a short worksheet to get kids familiar with how to easily access the card catalog.

I prepared a little more extensive one on one of the District Data bases with a teacher and her students were thus thoroughly familiar with one web site which I felt would transfer to others as they could easily apply it.

Thing 7 - Get to Know the Research Project Calculator

In working with a student and her upcoming project, we utilized the RPC and she was delighted.

I showed it to our school secretary and she was really excited as she had a son who was taking lots of different classes and could use it with them!

I gave the brochure to a teacher who could have really benefited from it. He didn't even ever try it which was what I thought would happen. His kids would really benefit from it. Perhaps I'll try again one night after school and just demo it with him.

Things 6 Teacher Guide to Project Calculator

Putting in a project and its dates, it is important to click on the teacher resources small check box. As it all comes up, there is the gamut of numerous activites and checklists for teachers. You can click on all the information and get more. Teachers who have used this are sure to like it.

These are a few of my favorite things

Thing 17 - One new thing
A former student came back to ask me (after school) to help him with his taxes. Forgetting for a moment about "reliable resources" and hopping onto Google to find the government forms I entered what I thought would be a website with government docs.

Much to my surprise and to the student sitting next to me, came up a very pornographic site and buried in my memory I recalled some mention of such a site masquerading in some innocent wording such as gov docs.

My shock at having it open up and quickly closing it and explaining to the student that you should be careful to use reliable web sites with both of us crimsoning a little, it was definitely "one new thing."

I can't remember the web site due to the confusion surrounding it but you're welcome to explore it on your own....maybe not at school even though it obviously wasn't blocked there!

These are a few of my favorite things (maybe not)

Thing 3 revisited. Not being entirely sure how it happened, I subscribed to two different RSS Feeds and the one I found was actually not Aggrivating; it looked interesting.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Teaching with Wikipedia
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia of over two million articles that is open to anyone to edit. It does well in Google search results and is one of the most heavily used sites on the Internet. Students are increasingly using Wikipedia to conduct research. The fact that anyone can edit Wikipedia has raised concerns from many academics and some of them have banned the use of Wikipedia in their courses. Despite this, recent research reports in Nature and the Journal of American History have found the accuracy of Wikipedia comparable to the Encyclopedia Britannica and Encarta.

I was looking for "information literacy" as a topic and found Information Literacy in the Land of Confusion....it seemed match made in heaven for me. Actually the above article snippet was taken from that and I liked it. A lot of our Humboldt students use Wikipedia.

Here's the site from which the italicized part is taken: http://www.information-literacy.net/

These are a few of my favorite things

Thing 3 - RSS & Newsreaders
While we did this in class, it seemed to go too quickly for me to really "get it." It seemed to make sense at the time - a little bit; but waiting too long to practice it doesn't help. For this reason I think of the RSS Feed Aggrigator as more like a RSS Feed Aggrivator. With a little help from a couple of friends, I have used the RSS Aggrivator to set up two feeds to the Mili Blogs: one in Google and one in Bloglines; the more recent one is Bloglines and I used it because I couldn't find the other one.

I read some blogs and was surprised to find there was actually someone with less blogs than I had. That made me happy.

These are a few of my Favorite Things

Thing - 13 Subscription Databases

In thinking about subscription databases, I always think about the ones the District provides and how little many seem to use them; or, even explore them in all the ways in which they can be appreciated.

The Grolier Online Database brings to mind the day when you considered a set of encyclopedias in competition with an online version of the same thing. At first I thought the online version was ridiculous because each person could actually handle a letter of the alphabet with that volume in their hands whereas online there was only room for one person on the computer. However, when the person who had a particular volume and wanted it copied, it would be necessary to run to a copy machine. Thus, the supposed savings of paper in printing the set would be lost to the printing demands.

Grolier Online is easier to use, shows you how to cite the article in a pop-up menu.

Grolier has many other cites in an article's information provided with more information as well as in pictures and weblinks.

It's fun and easy.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Thing 11 - All About Google

In attending the Memo Conference in Brainard this Fall, I attended a session which was entirely on Google. In looking on the Memo 2007 Conference site to recall the particulars, the name of the presenter was Kristen Mastel but I thought it was someone else.

As a Librarian I had tried to get the staff and students to "get off Google." It was quite an eye opener to know there were so many aspects to this search engine. Yes, I knew there were images, maps, and gmail accounts which had a lot of intracies.

There were tutorials, videos, and various other search engines.

There are language choices.

For a site named Google, there is a lot to it.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Thing 5 - Create and Maintain a Teacher Web Page

Having taken an Urban Planet Workshop with Leslie at Humbold Senior High with our staff and the staff of the Junior High, I worked on my web page using an "avitar" which was a free one from on line. I condensed biographical information to a philosophy in keeping with Sharon Draper's. I included a little news about RIFas well as some information about the Research Project Calculator.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Thing 4 - Get to Know Your Public Library

Having worked for 3 years at the Red Balloon Book Shop as a bookseller and 8 years at the St. Paul Public Library as a part-time Librarian as a second job, I feel lucky to have some solid connections in the book world besides my school.

It was especially convenient to actively engage students from my school in the public library world either to get cards or clear up their records so they could start using their cards again.

When a book is requested, I sit the student down and we go into the Public Library Catalog and find the book and then check on the Library Card and if active reserve the book at the nearest Library for ease of use by the student.

For other students and some staff, I reserve the book and check it out myself to facilitate getting the material of interest. I know the people and the places and how to get things easily.

Sometimes my friends will facilitate my getting materials by meeting me with the book or putting it in their front porch where I pick it up later.

Fines and adjustments can sometimes make it easier to get problems out of the way between the student and his use of the facility. I usually try to relieve the particular student with fines or a lost card by reminding them that only good readers loose books or cards!

One of my favorite stories of this particular use took place when I was at Johnson High. A female student was doing a report and I told her that if she came down to the Central Downtown Library where I was working that night that I would help her find material and we could print out relevant articles. She did come and with an entourage of males one of which was her brother. After getting her articles, I walked them up from the Children's Room where I worked to the Public Reference Desk. I didn't want to just direct them up there as their shyness can work into avoidance at the critical time in seeking materials. We got the name and location of some relevant material and were walking that way. The brother had been staring at me and finally couldn't resist asking if I had a sister. I said, "No." He continued, "Well, you sure look a lot like our High School Librarian. The sister cut him off, "She IS our high school librarian, stupid!"

I often asked the brother if I could tell "our story" and he usually let me.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Thing 2 - Create Your Blog and Post About It

I have created and I are posting.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Thing 1 - What are you talking about? Understanding Information Literacy.



Wordy Blog 1 discusses random attempts at informational and technological literacy prior to coming to the class use of this term academically broken down into the four parts of: research process, technology use, reading and media literacy and responsible use of technology and learning. This blog recognizes the value of the organizing for instruction in order to get past random and get into a more competent use of information and technology so as to develop lifelong skills.



Idea for vocabulary use: a word wall.



Collaboration works with staff as with students through relationships developed in many ways not the least of which is this experience.



Standards and Scope and Sequence for 9-12 plots specifically the things done previously in a ramdom manner.



Articles for suggested reading contains the great humor concluding Mr. Nishimuro's article on Information Literacy which has many quotes from earlier times of which my particular favorite:

(Television) won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after six month. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. ---Darryl F. Zanuck, Head of 20th Century Fox, 1946

(taken from "Newsweek" January 27th, 1997)