A Spanish teacher at my school shared a resource with me which I am passing along here.  It is called Make Beliefs Comix. Students put characters and thought or talk balloons into each panel. The possibilities for this are endless.

• Elementary students to make students with beginning, middle, end.
• Foreign language students to create a conversation about a particular topic.
• English to discuss symbols, synonyms, plot, or any other literaty device.
• Special education to discuss conflict resolution, applying for a job, practicing grammar, etc.

How would you use this website?

Another great resource I grab the code for and embed in my school library blog comes from PBS.  They have activity packs concentrating on topics.  For example, in Social Studies, I can find an activity pack for patriotism.  PBS makes it easy to grab the code for your blog or to post to any social service (ex: Facebook).  Grab your own activity pack today!

A Spanish teacher at my school shared a resource with me which I am passing along here.  It is called Make Beliefs Comix. Students put characters and thought or talk balloons into each panel. The possibilities for this are endless.

• Elementary students to make students with beginning, middle, end.
• Foreign language students to create a conversation about a particular topic.
• English to discuss symbols, synonyms, plot, or any other literaty device.
• Special education to discuss conflict resolution, applying for a job, practicing grammar, etc.

How would you use this website?

Another great resource I grab the code for and embed in my school library blog comes from PBS.  They have activity packs concentrating on topics.  For example, in Social Studies, I can find an activity pack for patriotism.  PBS makes it easy to grab the code for your blog or to post to any social service (ex: Facebook).  Grab your own activity pack today!

I'm trying not to make this an angry tirade.  But - Fact: My district just decided to invest $325,000 so the golf team (which, as of last year, consisted of 11 high school students) could play at the private golf course.  Fact: My district also just hired a "superintendent elect" for $170,000; $20,000 more than our current superintendent who says he has no immediate plans to retire.  Fact: Our textbooks are falling apart; some halls have 1960 bathrooms; our library collection's average age is 1986.  So, where is the accountability?  Obviously, not with the superintendent who is a MEMBER of the country club the district is planning to pay.  Obviously, not the board members, three of whom are also MEMBERS of the country club.  Yes, all four of these people were in on the planning and vote. 

I live in a different district, so my taxes do not go to this fiasco.  But, I am furious.  Furious for the 95% of the kids who will not get to set foot on the golf course (and some of those would get arrested if they tried).  Furious for the money spent on 12 students could have given supplies, technology, or books for 1550 students to use.  You should be furious, too.  This is a prime example of what many districts do.  Oh, maybe not to this extent or this blatently.  But, there is misuse, missappropriation, and mismanagement across our nation. 

As to losing a library, offices for four AIMS counselors, one literacy coach, and one tech guru exist - whereelse? - in the media center.  I feel like a main office.  An assistant principal came down, scoping the area, looking for an office for yet ANOTHER person - this time a mental health counselor.  I am concerned about confidentiality.  But, I am more concerned about our library turning into office central.  There is a possible solution.  The library was built when the school held 3,000 students.  We now have 1550.  It would actually help us out to wall part of it off.  So, let's build a temp wall across part of the library and create office space.  Create an entranceway for students to go directly there, so they do not have to walk through the media center.  I have to wonder, though, how someone looked and saw office space in the first place?  What have we not done?  Our predecessors were not welcoming.  There were two offices in the media center for other employees when we walked in the door. Since then, we tripled circulation and class research use.  Maybe, it isn't our fault or any bad perception others may have.  There simply isn't enough space.  Now, if I can just get that assistant principal back down here to show him the new plan .....

I read the news article on The Washington Post titled The Digital TV Switch.  The gist of the article is simply this - President - elect Obama wants Congress to delay the digital switch.

My husband and I made the decision last year that we would let our TV "die".  We never purchased cable.  Whenever we visit our family that does have cable, we spend most of our time clicking the channel change button because we can find nothing interesting on.  Our tv at home is on for Survivor and, very occasionally, the news. 

I find it quite interesting that there is a request for a delay.  Let's think this through.  Converting to a digital tv requires purchasing a convertor thingee IF you have regular tv.  Who, statistically, would have regular tv and not cable?  The poor, of course.  What would they do if they didn't have tv?  What would they do with the time?  Possibly read possibly which would increase their intelligence.  Possibly walk which would lead to them knowing their neighbors which could possibly lead to safer neighborhoods.  

To quote the article: "insufficient support for problems"

To follow my dark thoughts further, let's keep the poor stupid and entertained by bread and circuses (the tv).  Let's keep them scared and in their houses. 

Am I too cynical?

Email, blog, instant messaging, wiki.... The list of ways to keep in touch is endless.  As a librarian, I try multiple ways to communicate and gather information.  For staying in touch with other professionals and getting answers to questions, my favorite communication device is Plurk.   

Plurk is a microblog.  Twitter came first, and most people reading this are now nodding their heads in understanding.  So, why Plurk over Twitter? 

Conceptually, Plurk has huge advantages over Twitter.

First, Plurk lets the user know when new postings have been made.  Just click View by the words "new responses".

Second, click Mute by the threads you don't want to follow.  Don't want to follow a conversation about someone's birthday party, click Mute on that conversation.

Third, tweak your profile.  Grab a theme from hundreds of gorgeous ones on Flickr or custom make your own with some CSS coding.

Finally, and this is the most important point, follow and participate in a conversation easily.  Unlike Twitter, Plurk lies on a horizontal timeline.  In Twitter, the original post about using a document camera and a related answer get seperated by posts about cake recipes, hi messages, and questions about dying hair.  In Plurk, start a thread asking how to share picture books with teens.  It lies on the timeline.  People click on the thread and post their responses.  It all stays together in one coherent rectangle.

I love Plurk.  I am on there multiple times a day.  I follow professionals in my field, related fields, and people I just find interesting. 

Try Plurk out!

I've gone flakey.  Pageflakes to be specific.  What a great tool!

The first time I saw Pageflakes I was not impressed.  I looked around at personalized Web2.0 type homepages like iGoogle, Yahoo, etc.  I found Pageflakes and played around a bit.  I liked Google better.

So, a year later, I take a look at what the library does on the Internet.  We have a webpage, but it is woefully inadequate.  No way to incorporate anything but text and images (and even the image part is limited) because the district invested in EChalk.  While it is a great WYSIWIG for people who know nothing about webpage design, it is terrible for creativity.  So, I set up and started our blog.  I guess I could add more widgets.  However, I do not like too much visual clutter on a page.   I searched for Web2.0 and how to use that in a school library.  Several results mentioned Pageflakes, so I took a look.

Then, I started playing.

Then, I was hooked.  What an amazing tool!  RSS feeds, blogs, videos, links, sticky notes, calendar, calculators.  I could create a page for math, a page for science, a page for the library, and point students to great resources.  It is interactive.  Easy to set up but very flexible.  I can  make it look the way I want. 

Now for the toughest job - promoting my Pageflakes site to the students and faculty.  Take a look at the SHS Library Pageflake and let me know what you think.

Going to the OBGyn is an exercise in patience.  All the women who go thte same group I do deserve to be nominated for sainthood.  Look to us when you need patience.

My appointment? 3:15
When they called me back? 3:35
When the doctor actually saw me? 4:10

In contrast, my dentist pulls me back on time if not early.

While I wait for the doctor, I sit naked on a table covered by a robe (opened in the back of course) and a sheet of tissue.  This is quite funny since the doctor is going poke and prod.  Not sure why they bother with the fake modesty.  Anyway, I am enjoying the room which is devoid of any decoration save for the poster of the female reproductive system (talk about taking the romance out of sex).  Yes, devoid.  No magazines.  There is a lovely acrylic strip along part of one wall.  Not sure what THAT is there for.  

Did I mention the color?  A pink/peach color.  Sort of hovering between the two.  Not exactly on any color pallete that I have ever seen.

So, my doctor comes in.  He is a really nice guy, so this post is in no way anti him.  It is anti The Establishment and Way of It All.

The question:  Why do doctors take so long as opposed to dentists?  Any ideas?

Imagine Queen singing "Keep Yourself Alive".  Now sing the title to that tune.

How DO you keep your Web2.0 product alive?

For example, a local Spartanburg County library group started a wiki.  One person has collaborated so far.  How does the organization get more people to interact?  More emails asking people to join?  Better links so the wiki appears in Google and other searching?

Maybe it is the perceived lack of interactivity and immediacy.  For example, I can create a wiki.  It takes a bit of effort on the part of the members to keep up with what is new.  Discussion runs like a bulletin board and responses may not be immediate.  Compare that with Plurk.  Quick, interactive, easy to see what threads are new.

This post is actually backward.  It should start with the question - How do you get your Web2.0 off the ground?  Again, emails, flyers, advertising....

The crazy calendar gene kicked in.  It lay dormant.  Quiet.  Bided its time.  Now it is full rage.

That is the ONLY way I can explain my utterly insane decision to throw another event onto my already full calendar.  It was going to clear up.  At least a microscopic tad.  My son was playing his last game of soccer at the Y.  He is only five so soccer at the Y is a big deal.  This is the only after school activity I have him in.  

Well, the sign ups for basketball came around and stupid me signed him up.  So, this week, I have a department chairperson meeting on Monday, Tuesday is doctor AND basketball for son, and Wednesday is a faculty meeting.

I just know that this gene originated with some prehistoric Mom wayyyyy back when.  She was sitting around filing her cave nails with the flint nail filer and thought, "Hey, I am going to grab the cave kids, take them in the stone wheeled SUV, and go to twenty gazillion activities starting with plant gathering 101."

If I could just go back in time....

I needed to share a blog I posted to our SHS Media Center site.

"You don't understand.  It is not just A book."

Two of the students got in an argument about a book.  One of the administrators pulled one of them to the side and said, "It is just a book."  This was her response.

Yes, this post is about Twilight.  One of the hotest titles in the library media center.

This is not the only book students "fight" over.  We had two students pulling on another title earlier in the school year.

We are thrilled you are all so excited about the selection here in the media center.  We even applaud your defense of the titles (see quote above).  However, we say, "No fighting over the books dear."