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!
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