Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Not everything on the Internet is useful...
I know, it's 2011 and we still have to reiterate that not everything on the Internet is useful. But, there it is. Not everything on the Internet is useful. This week, I've been helping first and second graders finding information online (assigned by their teachers), and after scrolling through 20+ pages of web results, gave up in frustration over a couple of animals. This helped me to remember that we need to reiterate a few research rules when assigning classroom projects:
1.) Always pre-research to know what your children are going to find.
2.) Discuss with your librarian a menu of options before assigning animals so that you know what they are going to find.
3.) Make a research note template with your kids first to help them organize their information.
4.) Be aware that information online is written with adults in mind and younger children will need support.
5.) Many elementary school children lack even basic internet search skills. Help them out by setting up a curation tool such as livebinder or sqworl or limit their searching to an online encyclopedia like factmonster.Remember, your librarian wants to help you out with research, so let him/her. It'll save you some time too.
1.) Always pre-research to know what your children are going to find.
2.) Discuss with your librarian a menu of options before assigning animals so that you know what they are going to find.
3.) Make a research note template with your kids first to help them organize their information.
4.) Be aware that information online is written with adults in mind and younger children will need support.
5.) Many elementary school children lack even basic internet search skills. Help them out by setting up a curation tool such as livebinder or sqworl or limit their searching to an online encyclopedia like factmonster.Remember, your librarian wants to help you out with research, so let him/her. It'll save you some time too.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Book Shopping?
The holidays are nearly upon us and it is a time when many people give books as gifts, in print or in ebook format. The New York Times just published gift guide with many different book lists for books that might make great gifts. Another website that could help you find books for kids is abookandahug. Of course, you can always ask your librarian for what book he/she recommends. Happy shopping!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wall Wisher, a tool for digital colalboration
Below is the wall wisher wall created for our user group. What a great tool for digital collaboration!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
And this, my friends, is why school librarians are essential:
This week, I found three different articles focused disparate needs amongst today's youth, all of which are skills/qualities taught by school librarians when there is one present:
The first was from wired.com, entitled "Why Kids Can't Search." And yes, online searching is most definitely a skill taught by a school librarian. (See the AASL's 21st Century Learner Standards for proof.)
The second was a Pew report entitled "Teens, Kindness, and Cruelty on Social Network Sites." It is, of course, about the role of digital citizenship and the online presence of those under age-18. While the information focused on teens, those that are under 13 also have an increasingly strong online presence. And yes, digital citizenship is a school library skill.
Finally, the third article was from ASCD (October 2011) entitled "The Coach in the Library." In this article, the author, Carl Harvey, articulates that librarians do more than just check out books. He says, "A school librarian worth his or her salt must be involved with enriching the literacy, technology use, and curriculum of the school. That means collaborating to design instruction and assessment and coteaching lessons." He then goes on to elaborate as to how school librarians serve as coaches and concludes by saying, "In these hard economic times, schools must use each staff member to the fullest. School librarians have great knowledge about 21st century skills, technology, literacy, and much more. Schools should take advantage of the opportunities this knowledge store can create and run with them--for the benefit of our students." If those skills aren't reflected in the school library, where else would they be taught? It is, after all, a fundamental part of our national school library standards.
The first was from wired.com, entitled "Why Kids Can't Search." And yes, online searching is most definitely a skill taught by a school librarian. (See the AASL's 21st Century Learner Standards for proof.)
The second was a Pew report entitled "Teens, Kindness, and Cruelty on Social Network Sites." It is, of course, about the role of digital citizenship and the online presence of those under age-18. While the information focused on teens, those that are under 13 also have an increasingly strong online presence. And yes, digital citizenship is a school library skill.
Finally, the third article was from ASCD (October 2011) entitled "The Coach in the Library." In this article, the author, Carl Harvey, articulates that librarians do more than just check out books. He says, "A school librarian worth his or her salt must be involved with enriching the literacy, technology use, and curriculum of the school. That means collaborating to design instruction and assessment and coteaching lessons." He then goes on to elaborate as to how school librarians serve as coaches and concludes by saying, "In these hard economic times, schools must use each staff member to the fullest. School librarians have great knowledge about 21st century skills, technology, literacy, and much more. Schools should take advantage of the opportunities this knowledge store can create and run with them--for the benefit of our students." If those skills aren't reflected in the school library, where else would they be taught? It is, after all, a fundamental part of our national school library standards.
Wall wisher
Wall Wisher is a free webtool to allow for creative, collaborative, online brainstorming. If all participants have computer access, they can post their questions on the wall created for that purpose. This is a great way to replace butcher paper and post-its in a PD setting or even in a classroom.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Why do we teach information literacy and netiquette?
I teach information literacy, web safety, digital citizenship, netiquette, and more on a near-daily basis. I hear people ask all the time why I bother--after all, this generation is born practically with an iPod in their hands. This infographic explains pretty clearly why it is essential to teach students how to use technology:
Via: OnlineEducation.net
Via: OnlineEducation.net
Battle of the Books glog
Mr. Patterson made the following super-cool glog about this school year's Battle of the Books. Check it out and way to go, Mr. Patterson!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Website Evaluation
One of the most valuable information literacy skills that we teach in library is how to evaluate a website. Check out the linked glog for a form to help you do it!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Free ebooks Livebinder
I've been playing around with Livebinder, trying my hand at a better-for-students form of web curation. Check out this Livebinder I just made about free kids' ebooks:
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
sqworl | Library Skills - Dewey Decimal System
I've been thinking about starting a sqworl account for my website collecting, but am not sure how well it will get used. This is a sample of one that is publicly available. What do you think? Should I do it or not?
sqworl Library Skills - Dewey Decimal System
sqworl Library Skills - Dewey Decimal System
Monday, October 24, 2011
School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come
Hot off the metaphorical presses! The completely crowd-sourced book School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come is now available as a FREE ebook, available in .mobi, .epub, and .pdf formats. Check it out!
Friday, October 21, 2011
It's ok to be Beta...
At our WLMA conference, Joyce Valenza said something that resonated as I struggle to figure out how to best use web tools in my instruction. She said, "It's okay to be Beta. You don't have to be perfect out of the box." Wow. How awesome is that? I can figure it out as I go and it's perfectly ok. If it's good enough for Google, it's good enough for me.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
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