Behind the Scenes at the LLC
Tech Tips Revisited (module 14)
Experiment! Play around with new resources- you can't break them.
Pay attention to what kids are using- learn those apps and incorporate them into your lessons.
Ask if you have questions- go to colleagues, the internet: Reddit and CNet are great places to ask "how to"
What are your colleagues using? Librarians love to share! So do teachers! Find out who the innovator is at your school and ask for favorite resources.
Take classes. I learned some of my favorite resources in Continuing Education Courses.
Follow other librarians & teachers on social media: Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, etc- we love to share!
Take notes. Save yourself some time and create directions and time savers. Chances are you'll end up using them to help colleagues.
Take screenshots. They go well with directions and make good reminders for tricky apps.
Keep up with updates. Platforms like Google are ALWAYS updating. Don't get caught off guard.
Pay attention to how you feel when you're using it. If it's too hard to learn, chances are you'll never use it again. If it's boring to you, your students will probably think so too.
Bonus Tips:
Have fun. This job is stressful- the point of finding new technology is not just to make your job easier- it's to make your job more fun too!
Keep track: you're gonna find LOTS of awesome stuff. Find an online bookmark manager like Wakelet (my new favorite), or Diigo, Evernote, Google Keep, Simplenote, Raindrop.io, etc.
The last one may be the most important- what's the point of finding all this nifty new stuff if you can't keep track of it? It seems obvious, but it was a big lesson that I recently had to learn!
The OPAC
(Module 13)
Excuse me, what's an OPAC, you ask? It's how you find books in the library and how I make them findable. We use Koha at our library, which a perfectly perfect system, as far as these things go. But there are others, a lot of them! And some of these others are designed specifically for school libraries.
I interviewed Christine Burke, at the Rockport Middle/High School about her OPAC and why she switched over ten years ago from the one she was using,
Winnebago Spectrum, to Atriuum.
Turns out she had to switch- Winnebago was bought by another big OPAC-provider, Follett. Instead of incorporating it into their system, Follett stopped upgrading WS.
They had three demos from Follett, Atriuum by Book Systems, and Alexandria. Atriuum won because it had the same bells and whistles Follett did, but was less expensive.
Here's something interesting, because the Rockport Rotary helped pay for it, the switch made the local paper. So, for a hot second, all of Rockport knew what an OPAC was!
What the heck is cataloging, anyway?
(Module 12)
Human beings love to categorize things. We name things, we classify them, we create phyla, and strata and grids and charts. We like to know what things are and where to place them.
Certain librarians love to categorize things almost more than anyone else; those librarians are called catalogers. When libraries acquire new items, it's our catalogers who decide which part of the library they go in. They create records for those items and put them in our computer catalog so the public can find them.
Cataloging isn't easy and I've successfully avoided it for most of my career. I know enough to get new items into O'Maley's catalog and I was happy with that.
But then I went back to school...I was going through life thinking I understood my job, my school, my place in the world. And then I started reading this cataloging book and I realize I understand NOTHING.
I'm kidding a little bit here, but cataloging brings me back to the days of high school math when I struggled to find something to connect with, something I could follow.
I'll get it eventually. I will probably supplement the reading (Catalog it! by Allison G. Kaplan) with YouTube videos- sometimes watching is a better way for me to learn than reading. I love reading, but I learn better by doing. So I'll be bringing this book to work with me and go line by line the next time I have a book to add to our collection.
I'm sure I'll be classifying, categorizing, and stratifying with the best of them in no time.
Rules & Regulations
(Module 11)
Librarians like rules. Not the kind you're thinking of, although those can be useful. No, I'm talking about rules of order, classification, putting things in their proper place.
When librarians classify books in order for you to find them, there are rules. More than I ever knew. Subtle distinctions, like keyword versus subject heading (I thought they were the same!), make all the difference when we're organizing information. Not only is the information we include important, but the order of that information is also essential.
It doesn't look like anything on the user end, but on our end , it's all about the rules.
What COVID Taught Us
(Module 10)
We all came out of this pandemic having learned different lessons. Some of us came out of it with PTSD. People everywhere finally understood what Marie Kondo was saying about all that stuff. We didn't realize we had so much stuff until we were surrounded by it day in and day out.
Professionally speaking, I too, have too much stuff. Mostly in the form of websites I wanted to remember for later. Paper notes, online bookmarks, pinned tabs to the top of my internet browser. So many tabs my students poke fun at me.
I put a lot of these important websites in a spreadsheet for teachers to access during remote learning. It's here if you want to see it. You should look. It was a lot of work.
But I've recently done a deep dive into organizational tools online. Among those Evernote, Diigo, Google Keep, Wakelet, and a fond farewell to Delicious. Who knows how much I lost when they went defunct.
I finally settled with Wakelet- it works the way my brain works- with pretty pictures and groupings by topic. I made a Wakelet for my professional life and it's here if you want to see that. It's a work in progress, so don't judge. Or go ahead and judge, just don't tell me about it.
Here's the thing about organization- good organization helps you remember what you have, yes, but it also helps you determine what you don't need anymore. I'll try to remember that when it's time to organize my shoes.
Adaptations
(Module 9)
Librarians have always been masters of adaptation. In order to stay relevant it's been a necessity to adapt our services, stretch our budgets, innovate and create. There constant articles about ways libraries need to evolve to meet the needs of our users and the onset of Coronavirus was no different.
"Welcome to Your Post-Coronavirus School Library" by Wendy Stephens is just such an article, and while Stephens specifically references strategies necessitated by the virus, I argue that most of her advice can be used at any time.
Her 4 main tenets:
Assume the Mantle of Leadership: Librarians are leaders whether our coworkers or bosses realize it or not. Running a library, communicating with faculty, meeting the needs of shareholders, instructing students, planning and facilitating programs, managing a staff (if you're very lucky), managing a budget are all leadership activities. The real message should be: don't let anyone forget what and how much you do.
Connect: Connect with your administration and your faculty- show them how much easier you can make their lives via the services you offer. Connect with students- keep them coming into your library and engaging with you and your materials. Connect with others in your field.
Support All Types of Distance Learning: Even though all the schools here in Massachusetts are back to in-school learning, that doesn't mean we can't repurpose the tools we used when we were remote. Some of those services are ideal for scaffolding, some are great for ELLs. There's always a possibility that we'll end up learning at home again, so don't lose those skills and keep advocating for access for everyone.
Change Futures: That's what we've been doing all along. Don't listen to anyone that says libraries will be obsolete in ____ years. As long as there is economic & social inequality libraries of all kinds will have a place in our society. We are the great equalizer and we make everyone's future brighter.
Stephens, Wendy. Welcome to Your Post-Coronavirus School Library. Teacher Librarian vol. 48, #2. December 2020.
Exploration
(Module 8)
Part of my job is making sure I'm always improving on the services the library offers, my curriculum, how I communicate with others, and how I organize my own work. The only way to be successful in this is to make time for exploration and experimentation. Thanks to grad school I'm reminded of the importance of this. As busy as we are it's far too easy to get stuck in a rut and not even realize it. This takes time and conscious effort so I really appreciate the apps and tools that don't take too much of my precious time. Here are five of them:
Parlay Ideas: Parlay Ideas is a discussion tool that's designed to teach students the ins and outs of effective, thoughtful, respectful discussion. The lessons are designed to be incorporated into any classroom subject.
News Literacy Project: "Fake News" has been around as long as there has been news to share, but with the rise of the internet misinformation is more and more prevalent. The NLP makes its mission to educate the public about how to be thoughtful consumers of media. NLP is a non-partisan national educational non-profit. They have lessons for educators, a newsletter, and so much more.
Padlet: Okay, so Padlet isn't exactly new to me, but I rarely used it until this latest bout of exploration. Padlet is a great way to get people's ideas on a topic in real-time. It's graphically interesting, easy to set up, and easy to use. People can participate with their names or anonymously.
Actively Learn: Actively Learn is all about bolstering students' reading comprehension through articles relevant to their lives and engaging activities. I love assigning their articles when I can't be in the classroom with the students. There are all sorts of adaptions for students who struggle with reading as well.
Wikimedia Commons: Part of the Wikipedia family, Wiki Commons has millions of free media files for anyone to upload and use. There are other similar sites, but unlike many of them, Wikimedia Commons isn't blocked by my school's filter.
Social Media, Part 2
(Module 7)
I read some good stuff recently about the power and positivity of social media and games in the lives of teens. If you're interested, check out the titles below:
Boyd, Danah. It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.
Teens deeply crave connections, their time online has purpose and value.
Dell-Antonia, KJ. "Teenagers Leading Happy Connected Lives Online". New York Times, August 6, 2015.
Did you know that 57% of teens make friends online?
McGonigal, Jane. Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. New York: Penguin, 2011.
Seriously, games can do much more than waste our time.
Where Would I Be Without Social Media?
(Module 6)
Believe it or not, Social Media made my career possible. If it wasn't for the Massachusetts School Librarian listerv I never would have gotten my certification to stay working at O'Maley. I reached out to Massachusetts school librarians and they responded with offers of help, advice, and a mentorship.
I've used social media since then exhaustively; looking for lesson plan ideas, makerspace activities, videos to bolster a boring lesson topic, book reviews, and more. Librarians and teachers are an incredibly helpful group of people, willing to share their hard-won knowledge.
Here are a few great resources I found:
Book Bloggers: Epic Reads and Teen Ink both review YA books, but the reviewers at Teen Ink are actual teenagers.
YouTube: Wellcast: a great resource for managing the pitfalls of youth
Code.org: want to learn more about coding and computers: These folks
have great videos for kids of all ages.
Media Wise: want to be savvier about the internet? Media Wise has great
videos to help.
Goodreads: Love to read? Love to see what your friends are reading? What about your favorite author? Want to find more books to read? Goodreads is like a book club but without having to leave your house!
Who Do You Know?
(Module 5)
I always tell my students that they don't have to have all the answers, they just need to know where to find them. That's kind of my librarian mantra.
This was never so true as this week when I was trying to find out who in our district was in charge of assistive technology. I am lucky enough to be colleagues with the world's nicest "Hearing Impaired Specialist". It was Amy that told me that it isn't just one person in our district overseeing all assistive technology- it is the specialist in each field.
Sometimes we find our information not from books or websites, but from people. Experts in their field are resources themselves, which is something we tend to forget. Plus, it's a lot more fun for me to call up Amy and ask her questions than to peruse the district website or send emails to people I don't know in my quest to find answers.
Do you want more information about services for hearing impaired students at O'Maley?
Then call or email Amy Natola at X26216 or email her at anatola@gloucesterschools.com
Information on services for the sight-impaired?
That's Janet Sacca and she can be reached at jsacca@gloucesterschools.com
Rebecca Perry is our Learning and Life Skills Special Education teacher and she can be reached at X26305 or at rperry@gloucesterschools.com
Podcasts- Easy Listening
(Module 4)
I've found a few really fun podcasts that even the kids like! Thanks to Common Sense Media and Wired Magazine I've found some great podcasts for my classroom:
Brains On- science
Short & Curly - asks hard questions about life in a fun way
But Why? - all those burning questions you have? Answered here!
Shabam! - science...and zombies!
Cupid and the Reaper - how would you feel if you just found out you were going to be the next Grim Reaper?
Stuff You Missed in History Class - History, but, like, really fun
Explore, Experiment, Integrate, & Teach
I'm looking at new online tools and apps almost daily- sometimes for myself, mostly for my classroom, and often for the use of fellow faculty. I keep a few things in mind as I look: what can I use this for? How long will it take to learn? How hard would it be to integrate it into a lesson? How easy/difficult would it be to teach to other staff members? To students? Is it appealing to me? To students?
There are other factors as well: Is it free? Will it get through my school's firewall? Can I use it in multiple ways (personal, professional, etc). Do I get excited at the thought of using it? There are some tools/websites I've had at the bottom of my tool box for years but never really dove into. Chances are they'll stay there (I'm looking at you, FlipGrid).
The next several sites are ones I've perused and actually look forward to putting on the top tray of my toolbox- you know, the one with the handle that lifts out.
Big Huge Labs: Upload and manipulate your photos in all sorts of cool ways. Great for my after-school photography club, and my 6th and 7th graders who create PSAs on Bullying and Online scams respectively.
Bubbl.Us: Mind maps for everyone! Great for teaching organization skills to my 8th grade students before they start working on big projects. I also think this would be helpful for project proposals and grant writing.
Doodle: A scheduling app for meetings. I used to use this all the time at one of my previous jobs, but it fell by the wayside when I moved to a school. I think it's even more useful now with the number of remote meetings we have.
Survey Monkey: Create and distribute surveys. Great for conducting simple surveys. I've used this in my public library jobs when asking for patron feedback.
Venngage Timeline Maker: Our 7th grade Social Studies teachers assign timelines to students every year. This would be a great tool to introduce them to. I also think it would be great for project proposals and grants.
Piktochart: Infographics creator. This one is already in my toolbox- not at the top, but not down at the bottom either. I introduce my 7th graders to this when they create their PSAs on online scams.
Checkology: "The News Literacy Project". My big mission in my teaching is to make critical thinking less of a chore and more of a norm for students. Checkology is a tool I'm truly excited about.
Diverse Book Finder: What more could a librarian want? I'm in a school district with a rapidly increasing ELL population and in a world where people are finally paying attention to representation. This will be shared to all of my colleagues and on this website. And don't let the fact that they are picture books stop you- picture books are great learning tools for any age group.
Pixton: Get your message across using digital comics. There are so many opportunities to use this in the classroom. Set up a choice board and add Pixton to it!
One of my main jobs as librarian is to find information and disseminate it. This means when someone asks me a question I figure out what they're really asking for, find the information they want, and figure out how to translate that information in a way they'll understand. This isn't always easy and in an information era like we're living in now, it can be overwhelming.
Today I just want to talk about tools of the trade- ways teachers and librarians share information with students - and ways students respond to what they've learned. There are so many tools available to educators these days it's amazing. and completely overwhelming. I'm embarrassed by how many bookmarks, G. Docs, pages in notebooks, and slips of paper I have making note of neato websites, apps, and tools.
Sometimes I get frustrated when I find the coolest tool, but no one wants to use it. But I get it, we're all ridiculously busy and with library, school, and home budgets the way they are, we only get busier. It takes TIME to learn a new tool.
It also takes time to incorporate a tool into everyday use, lesson plans, or whatever you need it for.
So here's my list of my favorite tools that don't have a steep learning curve- the gaming edition:
So Much Information, So Little Time
The Gamified Edition
Blooket Supplement your students' learning with a game Blooket isn't as old as Kahoot! which means it doesn't have the same depth of topics, but it's got a variety of game types and it's easier for you (and the students) to make your own Blooket than Kahoot, which can be less intuitive.
Kahoot! The wider variety of topics makes this easier to use with all types of lessons, and of course, you can make your own. There isn't as much variety in game play as Blooket, but students still enjoy it.
Typing Club Typing Club gamifies learning touch typing. I like to assign it to students when I'm out sick. It integrates nicely with Google Classroom
Wonder Stories A tool designed to create engaged readers, Wonder Stories keeps kids reading by including puzzles, questions, and mysteries in the books. The only drawback to me is that it needs to be installed on student devices. It's 100% free.
Ten Tech Tips for Librarians & Teachers
Experiment! Play around with new resources- you can't break them.
Pay attention to what kids are using- learn those apps and incorporate them into your lessons.
Ask if you have questions- go to colleagues, the internet: Reddit and CNet are great places to ask "how to"
What are your colleagues using? Librarians love to share! So do teachers! Find out who the innovator is at your school and ask for favorite resources.
Take classes. I learned some of my favorite resources in Continuing Education Courses.
Follow other librarians & teachers on social media: Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, etc- we love to share!
Take notes. Save yourself some time and create directions and time savers. Chances are you'll end up using them to help colleagues.
Take screenshots. They go well with directions and make good reminders for tricky apps.
Keep up with updates. Platforms like Google are ALWAYS updating. Don't get caught off guard.
Pay attention to how you feel when you're using it. If it's too hard to learn, chances are you'll never use it again. If it's boring to you, your students will probably think so too.
Bonus Tip:
Have fun. This job is stressful- the point of finding new technology is not just to make your job easier- it's to make your job more fun too!