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Curious George!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Thing #5 Flickr!

This was what I did almost all Saturday. What can I say -- I'm a slow learner. Actually, I got bogged down in looking at all the cool pictures that were posted for public viewing; then I worried that I would post somebody else's pics incorrectly, so I browsed through the images that had specified ok to share if credit was given to the owner. Then I thought, wouldn't it just be easier if I downloaded my own photos? I think once I've done this whole thing a time or two, it will go much more quickly. I can see using this for library purposes, because you can save your photos to Flickr and not to the school server, therefore making them easily accessible at home, when you're working on the website from there. And I like the privacy options Flickr offers, so my fears have been put to rest about inappropriate viewing of my family pictures!

Thing #4 How Can I Use a Blog Educationally?

. . . let me count the ways! No kidding, just about anything that you can do in the classroom can be done on a blog, except face to face contact (and if you had a webcam, then maybe. . .) At my school, I'm about to start a reading club, with the help of two awesome 5th grade teachers. It's aimed at 4th and 5th grade avid readers (and maybe some reluctant readers will be excited enough to join in, too!), and they will be reading individually between our twice a month meetings. While they're reading, they'll be expected to journal. How cool it would be if they journaled onto a blog! The down side of that is, not everyone has access to a computer at home. However, maybe they could blog while in computer lab.

Here's the Buzz . . .

Last week I read I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry to the younger crowd at Thompson. They loved it, especially when we defined the word "brag" and gave Mr. Giant Squid a giant attitude,complete with a snap, a head cock, and arched eyebrows. Of course, like every braggert, he gets his come-uppence when he faces his day at Ninevah (so to speak!), and we learned the meaning of the word "humble". But you can't keep a good giant squid down, and of course, he has the last word, and the kids leave laughing. I heartily recommend it!

#3 Creating an Avatar

Wow! This was fun. A little frustrating at times, but fun. Like playing paper dolls when I was little. Now I've just got to figure out how to change the background, clothes, and accessories once I have them in place. I've spent the last hour and a half trying to do it, to no avail! Ouch! I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Oh, well, we learn through mistakes, right? I guess that will make me a master!

I sure do want that girl to look more casual. She needs to relax in the Carolina mountains. With her trusty black Lab. And some good books. In the fall . . . .

I'm sure it will happen for her very soon.

Thing #2 The Easiest and Hardest Things . . .

The 7 1/2 Habits of Learning were very informative . . . and one of those things I wish I'd come up with. The easiest thing for me was "Begin with the end in mind". I think I do this as second nature. I'm a global thinker (as opposed to an analytical thinker), so it's much easier for me to think "big picture". It's in analyzing just how I'm going to work my way to the end that gets tricky for me!

The hardest part was first in choosing which of the remaining six habits were going to be the hardest for me to do! I finally settled on "View problems as challenges", for the simple reason that at times, my problems in the library can mount up to be more than just challenges, but as looming monsters! At least in my perception. That will be the hardest thing to consistently overcome, I think.

Some of the challenges that tend to mount and loom over me are clerical in nature, because they accumulate and wait for me, drumming their long dirty fingernails on the library counter while I try to do the important things, like discuss books with students, help students locate books, talk with teachers about how we will work together on future research units, and conduct those research units in the library and computer lab. That incessant drumming on the counter gets louder and louder, and I keep nervously looking over my shoulder at those clerical tasks that, as time passes, seem to take on an uncanny likeness to the Grim Reaper. Soon, I'm giving in to the Reaper's intimidation, and I'm shelving those books, or I'm caught behind the checkout desk during research, or I'm stressing about how many books are not where they should be on the shelf.

What's a librarian to do?

One thing I did recently was to send a Volunteer Wanted letter to parents, for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised at the great response I received!

Now I just have to figure out how to train them all in the most time efficient way! A challenge, not a problem!

Thing #1 What I Want to Learn (from doing all this fun stuff)

I'd like to get more comfortable writing online, and make it habitual, for one thing. Actually, it seems kind of narcissistic. I find myself thinking, who's really going to care about what I think about books, or anything else for that matter? I'm just one person in the great big cyber-universe. I have a few more credentials than the average joe in terms of literature, but . . . who cares? But maybe that's my "digital immigrant" persona speaking out. I know my twenty-one year old lives and breathes on the internet, as does my eighteen year old. They wouldn't think about going on a trip without a laptop -- forbid the thought! How else would they be connected with their friends? In that respect, I've been introduced to the 2.0 world, through looking over their shoulders (before they shriek, "Mom!"). However, I don't understand WHY you would want to SHARE your precious photos with the world through something like flickr.com. That's private, for Pete's sake! But, maybe I'm thinking too broadly. Maybe it's only certain people that you can share these things with, people you designate. That would be okay -- like family or friends who you would want to share with, and not use the snail mail to actually physically send photos to. That's certainly a more reasonable thought than posting photos of your beautiful daughter for every molester to ogle online.

Okay, I'm ready to fly with this thing now!