Debbie's RUSSL Blog

Here is the East Hanover Middle School blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:29:00 -0400

East Hanover Middle School IMC Blog
http://ehmsimc.blogspot.com/

NB: Still a work in progress. I hope to interview my new principal tomorrow AM and shoot some stills at school and then upload before class.

Any comments would be appreciated.

I got the idea for using twitter as a way to let teachers and administrators know what you do everyday from Linda Braun "All the World's a Twitter" in the Information Searcher newsletter Vol. 17, no. 1.

I think I am going to make this my PIP this year! I keep thinking of new things to add.

Debbie

Lacemaking Demo

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Mon, 6 Aug 2007 17:12:00 -0400

A good friend makes lace the old fashioned way-by hand. It is fascinating to watch. She teaches classes in lacemaking and gives demonstrations at fairs. She also travels to Denmark to the International Lacemaking convention and takes classes there.

We filmed outside to take advantage of the natural light but there is some background noises-traffic, koi pond bubbling, and dogs barking. Oh, well. It is my very first attempt at filming anything!

Here is a direct link to the video-Lacemaking Demo

I also added the demo to blip.tv Here it is in a pop-up window

Click To Play
Here is the Permalink

One Happy Island-Aruba (WMM)

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Mon, 6 Aug 2007 16:54:00 -0400

I have traveled to Aruba over 13 times. I own a timeshare there and absolutely love it. It is quiet and safe. I love to scout out the grocery stores for different food tastes. There were thousands of pictures on Flckr of Aruba. As I browsed through them, I decided I don’t need to take pictures any more! Since I usually travel by myself, I am never in my pictures. The pictures that people were sharing were MUCH better than my own. All I need to do is find my favorites from Flckr!

Here is my Windows Movie Maker video from YouTube

Here is the direct link ARUBA by ddscils598s07

This is what it looks like in blip.tv pop-up player

Click To Play

Here is the permalink (right click to save) to the file

Sites of Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 21:05:00 -0400

Click To Play

Sites of Paris

Sites in Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 20:56:00 -0400

Here is a link to click on in case the video does not work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eij5j5QSucw

Monty Python Youtube Video-Dead Parrot Skit

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 20:06:00 -0400

If the video doesn't work, try this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GipFyAsYK1M

I chose this video, because I love the old Monty Python skits and this is one of my favorites!

Thoughts on Picturetaking Field Trip July 31st

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 10:00:00 -0400

Library Sign
Originally uploaded by ddscils598s07

This picture is one of my favorites. I am not really a photographer so looking at it now, I would try to center it better. Some of my other pictures were blurry so I didn't even upload them. All in all, it was an interesting experience.

Here is a link to the complete set of SCILS pictures I took.

Here is a link to the SCILS598s07 Group pics. Some people are very talented!

Flickr Test Image Post

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:22:00 -0400

Thoughts on Brown Chapter 8

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:46:00 -0400

Here is a link to my podcast.

Some of my thoughts are

Distance education is still changing rapidly.
Classes taught online need to be taught in different manner than face to face classes
Schools can't just rest on it's prior reputation

Debbie

What else have I learned? I hate the way my voice sounds and hope it doesn't sound that bad when I am talking!!!!

Oh No! More Tasks To Do!

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 08:23:00 -0400

I had never even heard of these two services- Library Thing and Shelfari! I played around with them both for a bit. I have never thought about cataloging my books. I read mostly fiction-thrillers for pleasure. I don't often buy them though. If I am reading and think maybe I have read the book before, either I'll stop or keep reading because I can't remember the ending. I do have a collection of over 400 cookbooks and while I could see cataloging those, I don't know when I would ever have the time.

I can see some use in discussing books or getting new recommendations but I would rather join a f2f book club or find the title through serendipity. I do use Novelist to get reading ideas sometimes. I really don't feel a pressing need to share my reading list with others. I spend enough time alone in my house and don't need other things to do (no matter how intriguing they may be) that will keep me inside.

I thought both services were easy to use. The cost factor of Library Thing would not deter me. Maybe when I am finished with this program and am more settled in my job I will use this type of service.

Some Thoughts on Webinars

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:05:00 -0400

Yesterday I joined 170 other people in a webinar about "Technology Competencies for Library Staff." While it turned out to be more of a "how to start developing competencies and how to introduce training to the staff" rather than actual competencies, they did give links to manuals that had the competencies in them. It is interesting to note that the issues that plague schools are also present in libraries.

The webinar was free. You logged on to the site around 10 minutes ahead of time. You were supposed to run a test first to see if everything worked on your computer. (I had to install a newer version of Quicktime.) You could see the presenters screen. It looked like a Mimio or Smartboard to me. You could enter in messages like a chat room. Another feature I liked was that you could turn on closed captioning.

At first the audience had access to and could use the tools on the board. For example, you could write on the board and even clear the screen. The presenters asked people not to do this after the presentation started but someone kept doing it. They were writing comments on the screen while the presenter was talking. It was RUDE!!! Finally they turned off the audience control. I couldn't believe that grown-ups would behave this way.

Here is a link to the webinar
http://www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=17556

It works differently than Sirsidynix but is similar.

Here is a link to the mission statement of WebJunction
http://www.webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=14862

Debbie

Group 3 Wiki

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:36:00 -0400

Here is the link to the wiki for Group 3.

Brown-Chapter 5 Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:10:00 -0400

Here is my belated homework assignment.

I talk about

the difference about "knowing about something" versus knowing "how to do something" and its relationship to teaching computer and library skills to elementary students
the value of "stolen knowledge" that is to say knowledge that is picked up by observation from others
the need to keep patrons' needs in mind when planning offerings for patrons

Thanks for listening

Click To Play

Thought For Today

"Do androids dream of electronic sheep?" One of my favorite book titles. It was written by Philip K. Dick and was the basis for BLADERUNNER.

My First Podcast!

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 21:04:00 -0400

Text TEXT TeXt tExT text

Click To Play

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:40:00 -0400

Finding an example of a library blog was more difficult than I thought. I searched in Google for "media center" blog "middle school" Many of the links were to blogs that had no updates in 2 years! Some were password protected. I finally came across a site that I would go back to again and again.
http://www.sbschools.org/schools/xrds/mediacenter/web2.0.php
Crossroads Middle School in Monmouth Junction, NJ What I liked particularly was the examples it gave for classroom use of blogs, wikis, pod-casting, and video-casting. What was even were interesting were links to other sites by names I think I will begin to recognize as leaders in the Web 2.0 and its use for education. For example,

David Warlick
Anne Davis
Will Richardson

My searches reminded me that it VERY frustrating if not kept up!

First Post

noreply@blogger.com (Debbie's RUSSL Page) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:29:00 -0400

Well, here we are in class making our first post in our first blog!