Journal Notes regarding a PLN (W7)
I was not an early adopter of Twitter but it has become a central source for me to curate ideas, information, help others and get help FROM others.
#1. Google's Education Blog and Twitter
It is important for me to stay up to date with all the Google offerings as trainer but also now as a leader in a school that uses GSuite tools. The Blog sends me an email update as I am subscribed. I also have them set up for Twitter notifications. This keeps me in the know and allows me to also share with my PLN. I also subscribe to the Google Edu newsletter.
#2. http://classtechtips.com/ @ClassTechTips
I like Monica Burns (even though she works for vendors, everyone needs to earn an income!). She highlights apps and tools that we can use in our schools and provides really great introductory instruction.
#3 Joe Marquez @joemarquez70 | http://sonsoftechnology.blogspot.com/
Joe is innovative and dynamic. It is more helpful to keep up with him on twitter. He uses tools in innovative and creative ways and is a fearless leader for change and advocacy for learners. I have mobile twitter notifications turned on for him. He is great about using a variety of tools such as Flipgrid, Nearpod, Kahoot, Google, Breakout, etc.
Journal Notes
Priorities moving forward are to continue to develop a network of LMS slowly as I don’t want to take more than I can give. I am mostly lurking and learning from a variety of online resources and twitter chats around library and developing a sense of priorities. Running a full time business, taking this course, managing a household and preparing for a new job this fall (not replacing adding to my workload) is a bit overwhelming at this time. As I am able to work myself away from my business and grow more focused with my new position as an LMS it should become more manageable if I don’t completely burn out or break down first (currently battling a bout of food poisoning).
I have been defining and redefining my list of ideas to develop which is currently:
Focus on students & teachers
Johnson, Doug. (2013). The Indispensable Librarian: Surviving and Thriving in School Libraries in the Information Age (2nd ed.).[Kindle Version] Retrieved from www.amazon.com
Jhabley. "Tools." American Association of School Librarians (AASL). 25 June 2017. Web. 29 July 2017.
"LibGuides: Learning Resources, Centers, and Services: Advocacy Ideas." Home - LibGuides at Plymouth State -LIS. Web. 29 July 2017.
"School Library Infographics: Research and Advocacy." NeverEndingSearch. Web. 29 July 2017.
Week 5 Journal Notes
I'm going to have to get bold with the budget to get some updated tools in the library. We have NOTHING just too many old LCD's and overheads, some flip camera's and a few Apple TV's. I would LOVE to create some excitement with Google Expeditions and the new Chromebooks so those will be the first things I propose. It will be in everyone's best interest to get into the latest tools for learning as already Google Expeditions is in a new phase of Augmented reality. I would like to survey and evaluate current use of creation tools and students creating end products as part of inquiry based learning. The new Chromebooks running Android and Chrome OS will assist with modeling this and getting early adopters on board.
Surveys have been on mind this week looking forward to evaluating the current collection and resources and planning ahead. I was given the periodical, book and magazine orders for next year and I question if I need to spend $1600 on Newsbank and $800 on magazines. There is not a ton of money in the budget so I need to know how to leverage those before asking for additional funds.
Barach, L. (2012). The League of extraordinary librarians. (Cover story). School Library Journal, 58(11), 24-27. (The 2012 SLJ Technology Survey Results)
Johnson, D. (2013). The Indispensable librarian: Surviving and thriving in school libraries in the information age (2nd ed.). Kindle Edition. Retrieved from www.amazon.com
Blair, N. (2012). Technology integration for the new 21st century learner. NAESP. Retrieved from http://www.naesp.org/principal-januaryfebruary-2012-technology/technology-integration-new-21st-century-learner
Cavanagh, S. (2014). New standards sway buying plans. Education Week, 33(29), S22-S25.
Dickinson, G. K. (2004). Budgeting as easy as 1-2-3: How to ask for--and get--the money you need. Library Media Connection, 22(6), Retrieved from Library Literature & Information Science (H.W. Wilson) database. (NOTE: Old but still good ideas.)
Dickinson, G. K. (2013). The New math of librarianship.Library Media Connection, 32(3), 6.
Hertz, M. (2010). Integrating technology with limited resources. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/free-tech-integration-resources
SLJ (2017, March 6). SLJ Average Book Prices 2017. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2017/03/research/sljs-average-book-prices-for-2017/ (Average print book prices. Use this for per volume pricing in your budget. This is always published in the March edition of School Library Journal.)
Silva, S. (2013, rev). Budget and fiscal management. [PowerPoint presentation focused on Budgeting from a NH perspective with a target audience of those new to this type of work. Professor Silva taught this class for several years and felt this PowerPoint helped students who had not done any budgeting. You need PowerPoint or Keynote to hear her discussions.]
Week 4 Journal Notes
I start the readings thinking we need to support independent thinking. I wonder how many public school libraries are slanted and biased to provide positive materials for left-winged ‘liberal’ topics and people and less than desireable if any at all on the right-winged ‘conservative’ counters.
My experience with filtering has led to to be a proponent for every teacher having access to unfiltered internet as needed but not just unfiltered or they won’t be aware of when a site is not going to load for a student. Librarians and technology integrators should have the ability to override and allow sites. There should be a FAST way for any teacher to get an override and if there is a disagreement it goes straight to the principal to make a call. If the librarian and technology integrators are too restrictive and constantly holding up the process then a third party or training may need to be set into place.
Reconsideration committee is not a bad idea which would allow for a historical documentation of any site that has been banned or removed such as YouTube. It would be good to know where the request came from, the analysis, recommendations and decision. This way if it comes up again or review you have all of that at your disposal.
We also need to remember that the Internet provides us with ‘teachable’ moments and if we can mentor and guide students when either intentionally or unintentionally accessing material, isn’t it better than if they only access these when no one can help?
In Chapter 10 of The Indispensable Librarian, Johnson, mentions the ‘Tech Nazi’ of many which I have worked. Some were better than others. It was the most flexible and least restrictive tech directors who were the most educated and supportive. He goes on to list a few other nicknames he learned about throughout the years. My alltime favorite, personally, is ‘Captain Jackass.’
In regards to getting websites unblocked, I think in most cases you should be able to trust your staff enough to make a request and have it granted. If you require too much reasoning and documentation, staff may not even ask, thus reducing them and their students access to material to learn from. Use the lengthy steps when there is a bigger ‘objection’ at stake.
Chapter 11 in the Indispensable Library reference to aligning the budget with the goals is key. As a technology administrator and integrator I had to create budgets collaboratively for technology that aligned with the technology plan and educational goals for the school. Having a budget align with goals is a sound practice.
I am a huge proponent, bandwidth permitting, to give students access to email, social networking sites and the ability to use the tools for personal reasons during their breaks and free study periods. It just makes sense to treat them as if they live in the ‘real world’ and most folks on their job are able to do just the same.
>Getting up to speed on adaptive websites, software and device options would be a good thing to learn about over time.
I don’t have a problem with any and all Internet history at work or school to be archived and retrievable. If you want to protect your personal privacy do those personal things at home. The trade off for doing them at work is that they can be viewed. Its a fair policy. You are not paying the bills at the school or for the services so you should expect some type of give and take.
Help counteract plagiarism by showing easy ways to document sources (aka EasyBib Add On) and help teachers create performance based assessments that cannot be easily ‘plagiarized’ such as a digital story, personal images, cartoon strips, with reflections, etc.
Social Networking ~ for professional exchange it is ok to use Social Media with students. If a student were to ‘follow me’ on Twitter, they would get a wide range of technology and educational exchanges. I would not, in return, follow the student back. I might make a Twitter Account for school to use with students at school where we follow each other and use it as a learning medium, same for Facebook and G+.
Focus on what you CAN do in regards to copyright! Great point. And don’t hyper-comply. That stifles engagement and learning.
AASL. (2012). What is intellectual freedom? Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslissues/intellectual_freedom_brochure0212.pdf
Anderson, C. (2010, September 20). Social Networking Scenarios: Carl's Take.Retrieved from Blue Skunk Blog: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2010/9/20/social-networking-scenarios-carls-take.html
Batch, K. (2014, January). Fencing Out knowledge: Impacts of CIPA 10 years later. Retrieved from http://connect.ala.org/files/cipa_report.pdf
COSN. (2013). Rethinking acceptable use policies to enable digital learning: a guide for school districts. Retrieved from http://www.cosn.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Revised%20AUP%20March%202013_final.pdf
NHEON. (2016). Technology planning toolkit: policies and resources. Retrieved from http://www.nheon.org/techplanning/policies.html
2. Helpful Resources for this class and beyond:
ALA. (2016). Office for intellectual freedom. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/offices/oif
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2015). Mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect: State statutes. Retrieved from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/manda.pdf#Page=1&view=Fit
Children's Internet Protection Act. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act
NH RSA. Section 201-D: 11 (2009). Library user records; confidentiality. Retrieved from http://gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XVI/201-D/201-D-11.htm
W3 Journal Notes
Becoming more familiar with the daily life and situations that arise in the library will be interesting. It sounds like a lot falls on the shoulders of the librarian. It would be great to find ways to bring students into the problem solving and decision making either formally or informally, structured or non structured.
I began searching for student centered libraries and found a nice podcast from the Cool Cat Teacher, Vicki Davis via http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2017/03/creating-student-centered-library-where.html and guess what Micki Uppea says ‘relationships’ are the key!
Another great article I found is The New School Library from the National Association of Independent Schools that really highlights what is important in a library of ‘today’ including a teacher that will go to a classroom to collaborate.
https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/summer-2013/the-new-school-library/
How to create a more positive library experience
One thought I have is to get students to do a collaborative recommendation 'slide deck' and then save their slides as image files and have them rotating in a digital frame near circulation or the book areas.
James, C. (2017). The journey to greater access. http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/journey-greater-access/
It is great to make headway in calming the storm of thoughts and ideas. I have a lot going on in many areas of my professional life so trying to narrow the scope of what is important now and in the upcoming months is essential. The feedback on the resource was super helpful. Right, why worry about maker space and long term when I need to focus on library programming, getting my new year in place, building a website, ordering books, accessing a new budget, etc.
For the SWOT and Long Range Project I am working on my new library but don't have all the information I need (YET) as I want to get all planning documents and the collaborative vision and mission that was developed for this new space integrated into my thinking.
A resource I found particularly helpful was the article by Ray Palin on library space. That complemented the feedback I got about focusing but also identifying areas for everyone ~ that it can be a collaborative chatter but also creating nooks for quiet and alone space. A chatty vibrant environment might turn off the 'introvert' or the 'quiet thinkers' so we need to be conscious of that in planning. Some of my take aways:
Consider balance for quiet spaces and collaborative
Palin, Ray. (2014). Looking for Peace & Quiet. Knowledge Quest. Retrieved from https://issuu.com/markisan/docs/kq_marapr14_final_tagged/18
Assigned reading notes:
In Know the ISTE Standards for Coaches: PD & Program Evaluation, Helen Crompton outlines effective professional development with program evaluation. In order to fully meet the criteria and address all the needs, Helen emphasizes the need for teacher evaluation. Working with teachers without evaluation and goal setting will limit teacher growth and development. Ask for evidence after PD of an authentic tool or lesson they have created as a result, analyze and give feedback. Observe and give feedback, then set goals for future PD. Great advice.
Crompton, H. (2015). Know the ISTE standards for coaches: PD and program evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=504
As far as the 'Design Thinking Toolkit' goes, I just not have had the attention span to really get into the entire Design Thinking Process although I understand the concepts behind it. It would be worthy to develop some collaborative explorations here with other teachers and the toolkit could be excellent. “Adopting a designer’s mindset enables you to see problems as opportunities and gives you confidence to start creating transformative solutions.” [IDEO, 2014]. I can see this being a valuable skill for students.
IDEO. (2014) Design thinking for libraries. Retrieved from http://designthinkingforlibraries.com/
Another great thought I formulated as I read Claire Nolans article on the Transformative Community Based Library is that bringing students into the process such as analyzing how check out works, late book returns, etc. and asking them to be involved in improving a system to making a change, even for advice about promoting or making displays. Getting students involved as decision makers and problem solvers can be an avenue to make the space more inclusive and inviting. I would want to explore a student 'Chrome Squad' or 'Tech Team' in the future that is someone connected to this concept.
Nolan, C. (2014). The ‘Transformative community based library’ in school Librarianship. LIS Theory, Retrieved from http://listheory.prattsils.org/the-transformative-community-based-library-in-school-librarianship/
Finally, I'm developing goals and working on my long range plan. Chapter 3 in the The Indispensable Librarian got me thinking about setting goals that are aligned with the responsibilities outlined for this new position which directly support the school district vision & mission.
Short Term Smart Goals.
Johnson, Doug. (2013). The Indispensable Librarian: Surviving and Thriving in School Libraries in the Information Age (2nd ed.).[Kindle Version] Retrieved from www.amazon.com
Week 1
Right now I just need to get my focus really directed to build my knowledge, understanding and connectedness in regards to LMS.
Due to the nature of my recent profession, the focus has been on Google EDU and #GIESummit and it is really important to me to 'branch out' and 'see a bigger picture' beyond the scope of a GAFE network but having #gafe as a tool that is really part of my #library future!
Great resource from ISTE 2017: http://renovatedlearning.com/reimagining-library-spaces/
Standards to Keep Handy:
AASL. Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards/learning The updated AASL Standards will be released at AASL 2017 in November in Phoenix.
Last edited: Sunday, 6 August 2017, 10:23 AM (3348 words)
Pamela Harland Thursday, 10 August 2017, 7:16 AM
Grade: 20.00 / 20.00
Your Google knowledge and experience will help everyone in this class and in your school! Thanks for always sharing.
I also think as you move forward in this career more librarians will see the great work we can do while using GAFE. I'm so happy you are here!
You always exceed expectations in your work for class and your PLN journal is no exception. Well-done!