April 22
This afternoon, I went back to SAA to go over the results of the research project with Keith. He was pleased with the end product. The students had done well with their research and choices of sites. The media specialist said that she noticed an increase in the use of the media center from his students and most asked for the handouts that I had told them about.
1 hour
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
April 18
I spent this weekend with my daughter and her family. I know that seems to have very little to do with media (and truly it was 95% pure grandmother time), but both my daughter and her husband are teachers and that is where the other 5% comes in. Amanda teaches at the Medical University of SC; Ryan is a middle school history teacher. Both were interested in wikis so I got another shot at teaching the art of the wiki. Amanda liked the idea of using these for a sort of "web 2.0 evaluation chart for the students to use" - the students now carry clipboards and often have to work in groups for this excercise. The idea of a central location for information may work well for them. Ryan wants to use his wiki for the expected - homework charts, class updates and group projects, but he also wants to use it as a way for his students to get some well deserved recognition. His homeroom is collecting clothing, shoes, toiletries, etc. for an organization that works with the homeless. He would like to create a page that would be a place for students to note a general list of the things they had collected. I also showed him Animoto and suggested he create a digital story to go along with the list. He believes this will give them a much better sense of accomplishment than simply turning in a box of clothing, etc. - plus it would be used as an introductory lesson on how to use the wiki.
I spent this weekend with my daughter and her family. I know that seems to have very little to do with media (and truly it was 95% pure grandmother time), but both my daughter and her husband are teachers and that is where the other 5% comes in. Amanda teaches at the Medical University of SC; Ryan is a middle school history teacher. Both were interested in wikis so I got another shot at teaching the art of the wiki. Amanda liked the idea of using these for a sort of "web 2.0 evaluation chart for the students to use" - the students now carry clipboards and often have to work in groups for this excercise. The idea of a central location for information may work well for them. Ryan wants to use his wiki for the expected - homework charts, class updates and group projects, but he also wants to use it as a way for his students to get some well deserved recognition. His homeroom is collecting clothing, shoes, toiletries, etc. for an organization that works with the homeless. He would like to create a page that would be a place for students to note a general list of the things they had collected. I also showed him Animoto and suggested he create a digital story to go along with the list. He believes this will give them a much better sense of accomplishment than simply turning in a box of clothing, etc. - plus it would be used as an introductory lesson on how to use the wiki.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
April 14
Today was busy. At 1:30 I went back to SAA to do a follow up lesson with the psychology class. They did pretty well on the site review - only a few sites surprised them. I went over the rubric and the pre-test and test that would accompany the research with Keith and then sat in on the rest of his class...they watched Teletubbies and had to explain it based on one of six psychologists: giving the age and stage of development that it was aimed at, pointing out any "hidden messages" and discussing whether it was age appropriate or of no substance. This was the pre-test evaluation. It was a lively class!
At 3:00 I went back to Ellis to set up for the wiki lesson. This went really well even though attendance was a little disappointing. (Rebecca sent out an e-mail to everyone last week and made a reminder announcement this afternoon, but I think CRCT's had a lot of teachers preoccupied. ) Still those who came were very interested and stayed for almost an hour. They seemed to really like the idea of being able to back-up notes to parents and homework assignments with the internet. I was also glad to see that they understood the advantage of an outlet for the reluctant or shy students who seldom speak up in class. A couple of them asked if I would be willing to come back and help them set up their wiki...Dr. Repman, you would have been amazed. I was talking about hyperlinks and plugins like a pro. I am going to help Rebecca set up her wiki for the media center. She wants to set up a "news from the media center" page and book review wiki that could be linked to the school's web site. While we were talking I noticed a poster that featured Mrs. Skorupski from The Great Dewey Hunt. I told Rebecca about the book and promised to bring it along when I came back. We may work end up creating a Dewey Hunt for her Media Center.
3.5 hrs
Today was busy. At 1:30 I went back to SAA to do a follow up lesson with the psychology class. They did pretty well on the site review - only a few sites surprised them. I went over the rubric and the pre-test and test that would accompany the research with Keith and then sat in on the rest of his class...they watched Teletubbies and had to explain it based on one of six psychologists: giving the age and stage of development that it was aimed at, pointing out any "hidden messages" and discussing whether it was age appropriate or of no substance. This was the pre-test evaluation. It was a lively class!
At 3:00 I went back to Ellis to set up for the wiki lesson. This went really well even though attendance was a little disappointing. (Rebecca sent out an e-mail to everyone last week and made a reminder announcement this afternoon, but I think CRCT's had a lot of teachers preoccupied. ) Still those who came were very interested and stayed for almost an hour. They seemed to really like the idea of being able to back-up notes to parents and homework assignments with the internet. I was also glad to see that they understood the advantage of an outlet for the reluctant or shy students who seldom speak up in class. A couple of them asked if I would be willing to come back and help them set up their wiki...Dr. Repman, you would have been amazed. I was talking about hyperlinks and plugins like a pro. I am going to help Rebecca set up her wiki for the media center. She wants to set up a "news from the media center" page and book review wiki that could be linked to the school's web site. While we were talking I noticed a poster that featured Mrs. Skorupski from The Great Dewey Hunt. I told Rebecca about the book and promised to bring it along when I came back. We may work end up creating a Dewey Hunt for her Media Center.
3.5 hrs
April 13
This afternoon I went to Ellis to do a practice run of the Wiki Lesson. I met with the MS to set up the promethian board and download the PowerPoint. I also wanted to double check that I could still pull up pbwiki. After I did the run though, Rebecca and I ended up talking about wikis for some time. She was very interested in creating a wiki for the media center that could be connected to the school's website. We also went over her monthly report and discussed how to find it on the school systems site. Her report is basically a fill in the blank form, but it was interesting to pull up past months and compare the numbers.
1.5 hrs
This afternoon I went to Ellis to do a practice run of the Wiki Lesson. I met with the MS to set up the promethian board and download the PowerPoint. I also wanted to double check that I could still pull up pbwiki. After I did the run though, Rebecca and I ended up talking about wikis for some time. She was very interested in creating a wiki for the media center that could be connected to the school's website. We also went over her monthly report and discussed how to find it on the school systems site. Her report is basically a fill in the blank form, but it was interesting to pull up past months and compare the numbers.
1.5 hrs
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
April 7
This was a good day. This morning "Lizzie" reappeared in the media center. Lizzie is any lizard that young students find in the media center and oddly enough, there are a few around. (Last year a 2nd grade student ran screaming to tell me there was a lizard in the MS. I told her that it was Lizzie and that she had my permission to come in and look at the books as long as she didn't hurt the pages. It spread that I had a pet lizard, so now anytime one is spotted I just say it is Lizzie. The young students love the idea.)
This afternoon I had lunch with Dr. Repman before we headed to Savannah Arts Academy. Dr. R. was observing my lesson on choosing internet sites. Lunch was a lot of fun and I think the lesson was a success. The students at SAA are really good and the teacher is an out of the box kind of guy - great to collaborate with. I gave the students the website list to evaluate. Their responses are due on next Thursday. I will be going back to go over these with Mr. Pyn and the students before I go on to Elllis to present the Wiki Lesson.
Tonight after work, I worked on my portfolio for awhile and now I am finally going to bed.
2.5
This was a good day. This morning "Lizzie" reappeared in the media center. Lizzie is any lizard that young students find in the media center and oddly enough, there are a few around. (Last year a 2nd grade student ran screaming to tell me there was a lizard in the MS. I told her that it was Lizzie and that she had my permission to come in and look at the books as long as she didn't hurt the pages. It spread that I had a pet lizard, so now anytime one is spotted I just say it is Lizzie. The young students love the idea.)
This afternoon I had lunch with Dr. Repman before we headed to Savannah Arts Academy. Dr. R. was observing my lesson on choosing internet sites. Lunch was a lot of fun and I think the lesson was a success. The students at SAA are really good and the teacher is an out of the box kind of guy - great to collaborate with. I gave the students the website list to evaluate. Their responses are due on next Thursday. I will be going back to go over these with Mr. Pyn and the students before I go on to Elllis to present the Wiki Lesson.
Tonight after work, I worked on my portfolio for awhile and now I am finally going to bed.
2.5
April 6
Today I went over to SAA to do a dry run of the "Choose Wisely" presentation with Keith. It went pretty well. The computer is at the back of the room so I realize I am going to have to walk back and forth a bit, but it can be timed to work.
When I got back home, I created an outline of the presentation to hand out to the students. I also went on line and pulled up 8 or 9 databases and websites that represent good and bad sites. These will be given to the students with instructions to visit each site and rate it as a usable or inappropriate site for research.
4 hours
Today I went over to SAA to do a dry run of the "Choose Wisely" presentation with Keith. It went pretty well. The computer is at the back of the room so I realize I am going to have to walk back and forth a bit, but it can be timed to work.
When I got back home, I created an outline of the presentation to hand out to the students. I also went on line and pulled up 8 or 9 databases and websites that represent good and bad sites. These will be given to the students with instructions to visit each site and rate it as a usable or inappropriate site for research.
4 hours
April 4th
I realize I have not posted in a few days. I spent the first part of spring break with a stomach virus and the last part catching up with prep for my lesssons on the 7th and 14th as well as a project for my other class which will eventually make its way to the portfolio. I have produced a movie that is intended to promote reading and completed a power point that will be used to explain wikis and suggest ways that teachers can use a wiki in their classroom. To go along with this I have created a Teaching wiki to use as a demo for the class.
The movie was created with Microsoft Movie and was harder/more fun than I thought it would be. Ray (a friend who had just performed in Pirates of Penzance at a theater here) agreed to don his costume and play a pirate in my movie. Two students from my school also appear. We spent a Saturday morning filming at the media center and I spent the better part of another morning editing it. I think David and Emma had a lot of fun - though their favorite part seemed to be when I let them try on the hoop skirt and try to walk around and sit down....wish I had filmed that!
12 hours
I realize I have not posted in a few days. I spent the first part of spring break with a stomach virus and the last part catching up with prep for my lesssons on the 7th and 14th as well as a project for my other class which will eventually make its way to the portfolio. I have produced a movie that is intended to promote reading and completed a power point that will be used to explain wikis and suggest ways that teachers can use a wiki in their classroom. To go along with this I have created a Teaching wiki to use as a demo for the class.
The movie was created with Microsoft Movie and was harder/more fun than I thought it would be. Ray (a friend who had just performed in Pirates of Penzance at a theater here) agreed to don his costume and play a pirate in my movie. Two students from my school also appear. We spent a Saturday morning filming at the media center and I spent the better part of another morning editing it. I think David and Emma had a lot of fun - though their favorite part seemed to be when I let them try on the hoop skirt and try to walk around and sit down....wish I had filmed that!
12 hours
Sunday, March 28, 2010
March 24
Today was the final lesson with the first grade. Tuesday we did an activity with sound words that related to the Dr. Seuss book, today the activity was with actual sounds which related closer to the nonfiction book. I took in a trifold project board to use as screen and created sounds using real objects that the students the students had to identify. We used velcro, bubble wrap, tape, a soda can opening, a bell and a t-mobile phone (which got the biggest response). These students have so much energy, they love to learn and have been such a treat. I will miss them.
Tonight I took all of the pictures that the students drew for the sound words project and created a picture quilt on the project board that I had used for todays lesson. I also added in some stills of the pictures I took while these masterpieces were created. Then using animoto I created a digital story of my time with Ms Michele's class. I will deliver these to the class tomorrow.
3 hrs.
Today was the final lesson with the first grade. Tuesday we did an activity with sound words that related to the Dr. Seuss book, today the activity was with actual sounds which related closer to the nonfiction book. I took in a trifold project board to use as screen and created sounds using real objects that the students the students had to identify. We used velcro, bubble wrap, tape, a soda can opening, a bell and a t-mobile phone (which got the biggest response). These students have so much energy, they love to learn and have been such a treat. I will miss them.
Tonight I took all of the pictures that the students drew for the sound words project and created a picture quilt on the project board that I had used for todays lesson. I also added in some stills of the pictures I took while these masterpieces were created. Then using animoto I created a digital story of my time with Ms Michele's class. I will deliver these to the class tomorrow.
3 hrs.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
March 21 & 22
This week I have bee working with a 1st grade teacher using primarily two books as reading enhancement for a science lesson on sound. Yesterday, I read the two books to the class. The non-fiction book, Hearing Things by Allan Fowler went into recognizing voices, loud vs soft sounds, high vs low pitches and the three main parts of the ear. The favorite page was the one depicting the parts of the ear, the students thought it was cool but gross (one boy said the inner ear looked like a snail), but the favorite activity related to the book was a toss up between making low and high sounds and closing their eyes to really "hear" the quiet. The fiction book was Dr. Seuss's Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You? I am reasonably sure the classes on either side heard the success of this book...with each "can you?" the students proved that they could! The favorite here was the fish kiss - again rated "gross" by some. We discussed the term "sound word" in relation to such words as "moo" and "tick tock" that represent a sound. I also tied in a quick discussion of fiction vs non-fiction and author vs illustrator.
Today I returned to the class to do two activities based on sound words. I asked the students if they remembered what the term for a word that represented sound was and then asked them for 5 or 6 examples. I got some direct from Seuss's book such as "moo" and "boom", but also got some new ones: "vroom" and "sssss". Then I asked the students to choose two of the words and draw a picture of something that made that sound. The second activity was an even bigger hit. I bought 24 masks - 4 each of 6 animals. The class was divided into 6 groups. One at a time each group was blindfolded and had one style of mask put on. They had to ask "what sound do I make?" and then guess what they were.
Tonight I gathered more materials and went over the plans for the final lesson on Thursday. Friday I will take the class a slide story from the pictures I took today and will take Thursday. (They all wanted their picture taken today so it will be tough selecting a limited number.) We are going to make a display using this and the pictures that the students drew today.
4 hours
This week I have bee working with a 1st grade teacher using primarily two books as reading enhancement for a science lesson on sound. Yesterday, I read the two books to the class. The non-fiction book, Hearing Things by Allan Fowler went into recognizing voices, loud vs soft sounds, high vs low pitches and the three main parts of the ear. The favorite page was the one depicting the parts of the ear, the students thought it was cool but gross (one boy said the inner ear looked like a snail), but the favorite activity related to the book was a toss up between making low and high sounds and closing their eyes to really "hear" the quiet. The fiction book was Dr. Seuss's Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You? I am reasonably sure the classes on either side heard the success of this book...with each "can you?" the students proved that they could! The favorite here was the fish kiss - again rated "gross" by some. We discussed the term "sound word" in relation to such words as "moo" and "tick tock" that represent a sound. I also tied in a quick discussion of fiction vs non-fiction and author vs illustrator.
Today I returned to the class to do two activities based on sound words. I asked the students if they remembered what the term for a word that represented sound was and then asked them for 5 or 6 examples. I got some direct from Seuss's book such as "moo" and "boom", but also got some new ones: "vroom" and "sssss". Then I asked the students to choose two of the words and draw a picture of something that made that sound. The second activity was an even bigger hit. I bought 24 masks - 4 each of 6 animals. The class was divided into 6 groups. One at a time each group was blindfolded and had one style of mask put on. They had to ask "what sound do I make?" and then guess what they were.
Tonight I gathered more materials and went over the plans for the final lesson on Thursday. Friday I will take the class a slide story from the pictures I took today and will take Thursday. (They all wanted their picture taken today so it will be tough selecting a limited number.) We are going to make a display using this and the pictures that the students drew today.
4 hours
Saturday, March 20, 2010
March 19:
I had another meeting with the high school teacher I am collaborating with. We basically had to start over on the actual unit we will be working on. Since I had to be out of town for so long, time passed for the original lesson. Fortunately the lesson I planned to give on the guidelines for choosing an internet site will still work for the new lesson. The new lesson will deal with one of the stages of developement and the different views of several researchers and psychologists.
1 hour
March 17:
While a large portion of Savannah and its guests were downtown, I was catching up on some of my projects and happy not to be in the madness. Some of my time was spent running a few errands, picking up some things for next weeks lesson on sounds with the 1st graders. I bought a trifold board to hide behind while we make the sounds that the students will guess and some animal masks for the students. The board will be used afterward to display the artwork created by the students during one of the lessons. I thought I might put a mask on each student without them seeing the mask, then guess what animal they are by asking what sound they make.
The rest of the day, I began work on a powerpoint for a lesson on how to create a wiki that I will be presenting to a group of teachers next month. The PowerPoint will be used to introduce them to the concept of collaboration through wikis and give them some step by step instructions to refer to later. I also set up a new wiki that I will use with them to demonstrate how they can use these in class and amonst themselves for planning.
7 hours
I had another meeting with the high school teacher I am collaborating with. We basically had to start over on the actual unit we will be working on. Since I had to be out of town for so long, time passed for the original lesson. Fortunately the lesson I planned to give on the guidelines for choosing an internet site will still work for the new lesson. The new lesson will deal with one of the stages of developement and the different views of several researchers and psychologists.
1 hour
March 17:
While a large portion of Savannah and its guests were downtown, I was catching up on some of my projects and happy not to be in the madness. Some of my time was spent running a few errands, picking up some things for next weeks lesson on sounds with the 1st graders. I bought a trifold board to hide behind while we make the sounds that the students will guess and some animal masks for the students. The board will be used afterward to display the artwork created by the students during one of the lessons. I thought I might put a mask on each student without them seeing the mask, then guess what animal they are by asking what sound they make.
The rest of the day, I began work on a powerpoint for a lesson on how to create a wiki that I will be presenting to a group of teachers next month. The PowerPoint will be used to introduce them to the concept of collaboration through wikis and give them some step by step instructions to refer to later. I also set up a new wiki that I will use with them to demonstrate how they can use these in class and amonst themselves for planning.
7 hours
Monday, March 15, 2010
March 15: Ellis
I went back to Ellis this afternoon to deliver my finalized lesson plan to the first grade teacher. I am really looking forward to this reading enrichment lesson. I also spent some more time with the Media Specialist. We looked at grants and she gave me some suggestions. When I got home I worked on this and have just finished it. I am "applying" for an Ezra Keats grant. It will be for money to create two 2-part creative reading aloud lessons for parents of pre-K and Kindergarten teachers. I read some studies that found that how you read to young children not only created more interest for them, but also showed improvement on cognitive progress as well. The money will buy 2 books for each parent (one fiction, one non-fiction) and allow for lessons in the importance of reading to your child, ideas on how to read and fun activities to do with your child that involve the book (illustrations, reader's theater, etc). This grant has no real deadline, so I am keeping it in my computer. When I have my own media center, I may try to apply.
3 hours
I went back to Ellis this afternoon to deliver my finalized lesson plan to the first grade teacher. I am really looking forward to this reading enrichment lesson. I also spent some more time with the Media Specialist. We looked at grants and she gave me some suggestions. When I got home I worked on this and have just finished it. I am "applying" for an Ezra Keats grant. It will be for money to create two 2-part creative reading aloud lessons for parents of pre-K and Kindergarten teachers. I read some studies that found that how you read to young children not only created more interest for them, but also showed improvement on cognitive progress as well. The money will buy 2 books for each parent (one fiction, one non-fiction) and allow for lessons in the importance of reading to your child, ideas on how to read and fun activities to do with your child that involve the book (illustrations, reader's theater, etc). This grant has no real deadline, so I am keeping it in my computer. When I have my own media center, I may try to apply.
3 hours
March 14: Home
I spent the weekend organizing my portfolio and re-evaluating some of my projects. I would like to rework some since I have learned a lot over the last year, but unfortunately my trial periods are over and I am not sure how to solve that other than subscribe - which I cannot afford. Also due to my lack of knowledge I did not save some of the original pre-completed work, so reworking was made difficult....I know better now!
I really made headway with the portfolio though and am beginning to feel a little more hopeful about actually finishing this on time. My biggest worries are the Instructional Partner and Leader requirements which I lost momentum on and also had to reschedule because I was away.
7 hours
I spent the weekend organizing my portfolio and re-evaluating some of my projects. I would like to rework some since I have learned a lot over the last year, but unfortunately my trial periods are over and I am not sure how to solve that other than subscribe - which I cannot afford. Also due to my lack of knowledge I did not save some of the original pre-completed work, so reworking was made difficult....I know better now!
I really made headway with the portfolio though and am beginning to feel a little more hopeful about actually finishing this on time. My biggest worries are the Instructional Partner and Leader requirements which I lost momentum on and also had to reschedule because I was away.
7 hours
Thursday, March 11, 2010
March 11: Charles Ellis
This afternoon I met with a 1st grade teacher to go over some ideas I had worked on for a science unit on sound that we will conduct the week of the 22nd. I will be conducting three sessions - one each on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday - with her class as well as create a wiki for her that will list the resources in her school library plus some on-line resources. We plan to get together again on Monday the 15th to concrete the details, but so far it looks pretty good. On Monday, I will read one non-fiction book (Hearing Things by Allan Fowler) and one fiction book (Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?). I chose these because both deal with sounds, but each in a unique way. We will discuss sounds and the fact that the sounds have to be written as words such as buzz or swish to represent the actual sound. I will also cover some book basics such as the difference in fiction and non-fiction, title and author. Since one of the books is by Seuss, I will also discuss the rhythm of sound. (covers indicators 1.1.1., 1.1.2, 1.1.3 , 1.1.4, 1.1.9) On Tuesday we will readdress the sound words by reading some of the words and having the students draw a picture of something that makes that sound - we will read "buzzz" and they will draw a bee, insect, etc. (indicator 1.1.6). On Thursday we will reinforce actual sounds by creating a sound test. We will make actual sounds (velcro, pop bottle opening, etc). The source of the sound will be hidden. The children will work in small groups to decide what they believe created the sound. Also, because the non-fiction book makes a point to say that you can recognize and differentiate the voices of different people, we will invite some "secret quests" (principal, art teacher, etc.) who will talk behind the screen and the students will guess who they are. (indicators 1.1.9 & 2.1.5) 3.5 hours
This afternoon I met with a 1st grade teacher to go over some ideas I had worked on for a science unit on sound that we will conduct the week of the 22nd. I will be conducting three sessions - one each on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday - with her class as well as create a wiki for her that will list the resources in her school library plus some on-line resources. We plan to get together again on Monday the 15th to concrete the details, but so far it looks pretty good. On Monday, I will read one non-fiction book (Hearing Things by Allan Fowler) and one fiction book (Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?). I chose these because both deal with sounds, but each in a unique way. We will discuss sounds and the fact that the sounds have to be written as words such as buzz or swish to represent the actual sound. I will also cover some book basics such as the difference in fiction and non-fiction, title and author. Since one of the books is by Seuss, I will also discuss the rhythm of sound. (covers indicators 1.1.1., 1.1.2, 1.1.3 , 1.1.4, 1.1.9) On Tuesday we will readdress the sound words by reading some of the words and having the students draw a picture of something that makes that sound - we will read "buzzz" and they will draw a bee, insect, etc. (indicator 1.1.6). On Thursday we will reinforce actual sounds by creating a sound test. We will make actual sounds (velcro, pop bottle opening, etc). The source of the sound will be hidden. The children will work in small groups to decide what they believe created the sound. Also, because the non-fiction book makes a point to say that you can recognize and differentiate the voices of different people, we will invite some "secret quests" (principal, art teacher, etc.) who will talk behind the screen and the students will guess who they are. (indicators 1.1.9 & 2.1.5) 3.5 hours
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Feb 26: I have been out of touch for the last couple of weeks. My mother had a stroke on the 15th and I was in LaGrange with her until she passed away on the 24th and then remained for the funeral on the 27th.
I did take some time on the 26th to visit the new Frank and Laura Lewis Library at LaGrange College. (My brother is a chemistry professor there and introduced me to two of the professors who were extreamely welcoming and helpful.) Loren Pinkerman, Director, gave me a wonderful tour of the facility. The Electron Resources Librarian, Mary Lou Dabbs gave me a virtual tour of the resources she deals with and graciously helped me with some problems I was having with a couple of projects. The most popular area of the library is the coffee house/study hall that is open often when the library itself is closed. It is a friendly comfortable place for students to gather and work together - something that is stressed for lower school libraries as well. I could really see the reality of this idea working in this space. The library also offers other comfortable reading areas on each of the three floors as well as private study/conference rooms. The classroom/lecture halls are equiped with all the latest technology and Dr. Pinkerman eagerly showed me how some of them functioned. But dispite the technology, which included electronic books that could be borrowed, I was pleased to see thousands of books on the shelves with room for growth and a large archival room which contained artifacts along with primary source written materials. Both Dr. Pinkerman and Mary Lou agreed that these would always be an important part of the library. (2 hours)
I did take some time on the 26th to visit the new Frank and Laura Lewis Library at LaGrange College. (My brother is a chemistry professor there and introduced me to two of the professors who were extreamely welcoming and helpful.) Loren Pinkerman, Director, gave me a wonderful tour of the facility. The Electron Resources Librarian, Mary Lou Dabbs gave me a virtual tour of the resources she deals with and graciously helped me with some problems I was having with a couple of projects. The most popular area of the library is the coffee house/study hall that is open often when the library itself is closed. It is a friendly comfortable place for students to gather and work together - something that is stressed for lower school libraries as well. I could really see the reality of this idea working in this space. The library also offers other comfortable reading areas on each of the three floors as well as private study/conference rooms. The classroom/lecture halls are equiped with all the latest technology and Dr. Pinkerman eagerly showed me how some of them functioned. But dispite the technology, which included electronic books that could be borrowed, I was pleased to see thousands of books on the shelves with room for growth and a large archival room which contained artifacts along with primary source written materials. Both Dr. Pinkerman and Mary Lou agreed that these would always be an important part of the library. (2 hours)
Monday, February 8, 2010
2/5/2010: SAA
This afternoon I checked in with the teacher who has agreed to help me with the Instructional Partner requirements. We went over the skills his students need. These students are all frequent computer users and have no problem locating information, but they do have a problem selecting the best site to use. He has asked me to teach a unit on how to recognize the best website for their research. The actual unit is not completely nailed down, but will deal with human development and psychology. The students will research several psychologists and their views on a topic such as the difference in nature and nurture. They will probably work in groups and give some sort of final presentation. We are hoping that this is something we will be able to film - which should be fun.
I also spent some time with Vivian. We pulled up the Georgia DOE site and printed out several articles including the 2010 Evaluation Rubric. SAA is an exemplary site.
2 hours.
This afternoon I checked in with the teacher who has agreed to help me with the Instructional Partner requirements. We went over the skills his students need. These students are all frequent computer users and have no problem locating information, but they do have a problem selecting the best site to use. He has asked me to teach a unit on how to recognize the best website for their research. The actual unit is not completely nailed down, but will deal with human development and psychology. The students will research several psychologists and their views on a topic such as the difference in nature and nurture. They will probably work in groups and give some sort of final presentation. We are hoping that this is something we will be able to film - which should be fun.
I also spent some time with Vivian. We pulled up the Georgia DOE site and printed out several articles including the 2010 Evaluation Rubric. SAA is an exemplary site.
2 hours.
2/4/2010: Charles Ellis
This afternoon I returned to Charles Ellis to go over times and projects with Rebecca. She would like me to teach a group of middle school teachers how to crate a wiki rather than the website. She liked the idea of using it as a collaboration tool as well as a tool that students could use. This is to be scheduled in the next few weeks. She is going to confirm the teacher/reading enrichment project with two first grade teachers. They will determine which curriculum in their schedule will benefit most from this project and let me know in the next week.
1 hour.
This afternoon I returned to Charles Ellis to go over times and projects with Rebecca. She would like me to teach a group of middle school teachers how to crate a wiki rather than the website. She liked the idea of using it as a collaboration tool as well as a tool that students could use. This is to be scheduled in the next few weeks. She is going to confirm the teacher/reading enrichment project with two first grade teachers. They will determine which curriculum in their schedule will benefit most from this project and let me know in the next week.
1 hour.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
2/2/10: Savannah Arts Academy
I returned to SAA this afternoon to finalize the reference order. I went over some details with Vivian including doublechecking discounts, making sure that I included any necessary shipping and making sure that I added processing instruction and fees...processing fees ranged from .45 to .65 per book. This covered creating the Marc record and attaching the bar code with a protective cover . It is not free and you do have to note on the order that you want this done, but it is well worth the price.
While I was there, I observed Vivian give a lesson on the use of the World Book internet site that SAA recently purchased. The students immediately took to the site as they researched "excentric inventors".
Finally, I delivered the "yoyo man" yoyo to the teacher who has agreed to be my Instructional Partner. (It succeeded in bringing his class to a short halt - I would bet he was teaching them to "walk the dog" or "rock the baby" as I left.) We set up a time to meet on Friday to go over the lesson and begin a plan. It looks like we may be creating a research project on human development.
Tonight I worked on completing the reference order adn looked over the lesson plans for the colaboration.
4 hours
I returned to SAA this afternoon to finalize the reference order. I went over some details with Vivian including doublechecking discounts, making sure that I included any necessary shipping and making sure that I added processing instruction and fees...processing fees ranged from .45 to .65 per book. This covered creating the Marc record and attaching the bar code with a protective cover . It is not free and you do have to note on the order that you want this done, but it is well worth the price.
While I was there, I observed Vivian give a lesson on the use of the World Book internet site that SAA recently purchased. The students immediately took to the site as they researched "excentric inventors".
Finally, I delivered the "yoyo man" yoyo to the teacher who has agreed to be my Instructional Partner. (It succeeded in bringing his class to a short halt - I would bet he was teaching them to "walk the dog" or "rock the baby" as I left.) We set up a time to meet on Friday to go over the lesson and begin a plan. It looks like we may be creating a research project on human development.
Tonight I worked on completing the reference order adn looked over the lesson plans for the colaboration.
4 hours
Saturday, January 30, 2010
1/30/09: Home
This morning I worked on the second part of the Leader requirement. I combined information I had collected over the past and added to it in order to create a wiki on copyright and fair use which can be accessed through: http://copyrightcopywrong.pbworks.com/
2 hrs
This morning I worked on the second part of the Leader requirement. I combined information I had collected over the past and added to it in order to create a wiki on copyright and fair use which can be accessed through: http://copyrightcopywrong.pbworks.com/
2 hrs
Friday, January 29, 2010
1/7/10: Savannah Arts Academy and Charles Ellis Elementary
Today I met with Vivian Scott at Savannah Arts Academy. This first meeting was primarily to go over the syllabus and sort out the projects that might work best at SAA and which would work best at another level. Vivian was very interested in the Reference Section project as she is still in the process of weeding and building that section of her media center. A social science teacher happened to be in the media center while I was there and was interested in working on the collaboration project - especially when I offered to give him my official Tommy Smothers Yo-yo Man Yo-yo as a thank you gift for his help - seems he had just lost his yoyo. I think he may be a fun, out-of-the box type teacher to work with. (1.5 hours)
Vivian offered to call Rebecca Cummings at Charles Ellis to set up a meeting with her. She was willing to meet with me that day, so I went over after finishing at SAA. Rebecca was very helpful and aggreeable. She was interested in the Reading Enrichment project and excited about teaching the middle school teachers how to create and use WebQuests. She has also written grants and offered to help me in that area. Before I left, Rebecca suggested I get in contact with Susan. (1 hour)
1/12/10: Jenkins High School
I met with Susan Smith at Jenkins High School. Susan has been working as the Media Specialist there for two years and just completed her masters through GSU last year. I met with Susan today. She is going to be a huge help, not only because she understands the process and the projects but because she is more knowledgeable in technology and seems to use on a regular basis. She went over her portfolio with me today and showed me some interesting new internet resources. (1.5 hours)
1/26/10: Savannah Arts Academy and Charles Ellis Elementary
Today we tackled the Reference section. When Vivian inherited this Media Center, it had just been renovated and books had been boxed and divided with another school. She has spent years getting the center to its current condition. Some of her books are old and need weeding, some are very new. The one section that needed the most work was the 500 section. The students here are well above average. They are studing new innovations in science along with the basics of Biology and Chemistry. We wanted to update the reference section with books and sites that would not only be more current, but enhance the studies of Genetics, Psychology, Health, Global Warming, Alternative Energies, Forensics and Ethics. (1.5 hours)
When I had completed the survey on existing books and we had discussed ordering issues such as trusted vendors, discounts, bid numbers, purchase order policy and the ABC book, Vivian gave me a quick lesson on entering books and running reports on her system. SAA uses Safari which seems like an excellent system. From what I have seen, it seems to offer more in a more user friendly fashion than Spectrum which is the system I am used to. (.5 hours)
1/27/10: Home
Tonight I worked on the Reference Collection Project. After listing the books currently in the SAA media center, I decided to weed five units based on age and condition. This represented roughly 1/3 of the collection. I used the catalogues that Vivian had suggested to select 8 new units for her collection. Four of these (from the Salem Health and Science Series) come with free access to the online versions. I also found an interesting online resource through Gale that offers a free trial introduction called Global Issues in Context. This site offers international news and views on subjects from health and the environment to cultural and economic reviews. It was highly recommended by Choice. I suggested the school order the trial version and retain enough of the budget to purchase this site should it live up to its reviews and prove an interesting and appealing alternative resource. (4 hours)
1/12/10: Jenkins High School
Met with Susan at Jenkins High to go over portfolio and other websites
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