All Things Library

Hair hair long and fair

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 02:04:00 +0000

This is me. Me and my hair. My hair and I are going to be really close for the next few months. I'll style it more. I'll admire it more. Because after March 26, we're going to be very far apart. Why? That is the day I will shave it off. (skip to bottom for my vlog if you don't want to read)

On March 26, I (and many others) will be a Shavee for a St. Baldrick's event my school is hosting. I've challenged my students to help me raise $2000 and they're at around $200 right now. I've also put the word out to friends and family and they've given me $330. This event is to raise awareness about childhood cancers and to raise money to go toward more research for cures. Those are things I can get behind and shave my head for!

To be honest, I've always wanted to shave my head...It all started for me waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in high school. A friend of mine shaved her head, just for the fun of it. That is ballsy! Since that day, I've always thought to myself, one day Erikka...one day you will shave your head or die regretting it. Finally, the day has come and the components I need have aligned (...the moon is in the 7th house, jupiter is in line with mars...haha!). I am at a place I feel confident about who I am and my appearence, I am doing it for reasons other than just challenging my vanity, and I will be setting an example for others around me.

I've decided to capture in photo, words, and vlog (video blog! my first!) my adventure in having hair (for the last two months of its current life) and the aftermath without it. Me. Me and no hair. Not just to be like "Oh my god, I like, have no hair now!" and you watch me cry for hours. More to talk about being a woman. Being a woman with hair. Being a woman without hair. And all the stuff inbetween and outside and around all those big ideas.

This is me and my hairvanture. Stick around and see how it all turns out!
#hairventure #stbaldricksfoundation #hairtonohair

ps. this is my first vlog, so...yeah. It's not like cinematic greatness....not yet!

@acrlulstech webinar on Digital Creation Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 21:09:00 +0000

My colleague and I just got off the internet in which we were attending a webinar through the ACRL. While we are not academic librarians, we are at a private high school and like to model our library programming on that of academic libraries. Yes, we also model after other private high school libraries, too but in my thinking, we're not cutting edge if we're not looking above and beyond us (the high school world).

The webinar was short and sweet and featured three speakers on digital creation centers. The three speakers were from the University of Tennessee @ Chattanoga's Studio (not THE Studio, just Studio), University of South Fl's Digital Media Commons, and Georgia State University's Curve (not THE Curve, just Curve). While the webinar was brief, it was enough to get some ideas, get some inspiration, and some quick contacts and online resources. Each speaker gave a short intro of their center, a glossy shiney look into its fabulous workings, and then the majority of the time was given to a Q & A session.

One of my questions was not able to be addressed in the time alloted and the moderator, Emily Thompson (@librarianofdoom), had the brilliant idea of throwing it out to the Twittersphere to see what would come of it. So, if you're interested (as I obviously am), what do YOU think the next big thing in technology will be? Answer via twitter with the hashtag #nextlibtech. And if you get the chance, check out the ACRL University Libraries Section webinar offerings. Attending one would be well worth the time.

Book Club for One - Walden

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 21:44:00 +0000

Walden by Henry David Thoreau (HDT)
p. 3-6 (new Riverside edition, combined with "Civil Disobedience")

I left off with HDT commenting on men and agriculture, his sentiments being that of seeing the toil of one upon the other leading to "the better part of the man [to be] soon ploughed into the soil for compost."

Where I pick up, the scope is broadened from agriculture to most pursuits of men, regardless of employment. HDT avers that men never know the "finer fruits" of life and work so much they "have no time to be anything but a machine." How true this seems even today! People work all day to come home, eat, sleep, and then do it all over again the next day. Whether for love or not, most people work more than they play, though I'm not sure HDT is referring to more leisure time here but instead to being in control of one's own destiny. I wonder what HDT would think of robots, automation, and the even more technology driven society. If what he alludes to of the "finest qualities of our nature...preserved only by the most delicate handling" is true, does the current lifestyles of most people encourage delicacy? handling each other with care? I think not. Because not only do most people spend 8-12 hours working, they then spend 4-5 hours online or watching tv. I see more of a disconnect now between people and these "finer fruits" of life than ever before.

Abruptly, HDT shifts focus to point out that the seemingly exterior forces at work against man are truly more interior forces. He refers to those readers living lives of servitude or slaves to debt of some sort. HDT wonders why more thought and attention are not paid to this type of self slavery when "Negro Slavery" is seen as unacceptable, for "what is worse when you are the slave-driver of yourself?" Perhaps he makes this brief connection to shock people, to get the reader to see that it is not society or someone else making them work, but themselves. For is poverty as bad or equal to slavery? No. Related, sure, with similarities, undoubtedly. Poverty is sometimes a chosen course. People work and live under false pretenses of what they want or need. These false wants and needs drive the work hours up and the time to think (the "finer fruits") down. HDT believes this is the more serious problem as it is "what he thinks of himself that it is which determines...his fate." As cliche as many quotes are, there is a ring of truth to Ghandi's words - "...thoughts become words,...words become actions,...actions become habits,...habits become values,...values become your destiny."

This idea that one's mindset determines one's fate continues in the next paragraph when HDT states "it is never too late to give up our prejudices," as long as we are willing to examine them anew again and again. He reminds us that the "sun rose clear" every day, starting a new day and a new chance at life. People get mired in their mindsets, rutted in their routines, and letting challenges and choices to "in silence pass by" to live easy and safe in the "falsehood of tomorrow." What is true today, may be false tomorrow, and only those who are open to learning and growing will experience life. HDT ties this to the struggle between the young and the old, the old and the new, and the Mentor and the student. He spends a lengthy paragraph berating old people! Literally, the old have not uttered "the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice" in his opinion. He goes on to say that we each have our "own experience" which has "been so partial," how can we think to advise others from such a biased standpoint? Instead HDT sees life as an "experiment to a great extent untried" by each person until they alone face a problem and resolve it in their own way. This could be a refreshing and freeing way to look at life - each and every person is a unique and single story. Instead of seeing "what are really necessaries to life" to me as necessaries to all, I should try to see that my necessaries are "in others luxuries merely" and even further, "entirely unknown" to others. This is at the heart of HDT's scorn of the old as they tend to think they've seen and done it all and maybe forget that what works for one may not work for another and that life is in the TRYING regardless.

With that comes the conclusion of the second installment of the book club for Walden.

Book Club for One - Take II - Walden

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 14:05:00 +0000

Walden by Henry David Thoreau (HDT)
p. 1-3 (new Riverside edition, combined with "Civil Disobedience")

First off, over the years since this book was published, HDT and Walden have been both acclaimed and shamed. Acclaimed because the book is the story of one man going back to the land and finding his life's essentials. Shamed because some people call the man a hypocrite and a fraud; he was never as solitary as he is made out to be nor was he living solely off the land. Why should he be a famous naturalist? After re-reading this book a lot, and in this new re-reading of the first three pages, I think both views are skewed and the truth lies somewhere in-between, as truth most often does.

HDT opens the book with this quote:

"I do not propose to write an ode to dejection,

but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning,
standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up."

HDT will be like the rooster, who every day lets out a cock-a-doodle-doo loud and clear, regardless of anything else. HDT is going to share his experience loud and clear regardless of what people may think or say, then (or now even!). The quote goes on to say "if only to wake my neighbors up." This is ambiguous, and rightly so - HDT thinks he has something to share from his time at Walden, but he does not know how other people will respond. Will they even care? Or will his message simply annoy his fellow citizens at an untimely hour? Obviously the reader knows HDT hopes to wake them up metaphorically from the lives they've been leading, that he will rouse their spirits to find their true calling and authentic way of life. But he acknowledges that "they will accept such portions as apply to them." HDT will still tell his tale like chanticleer, come what may.

On the following two pages, Thoreau points out the unhappiness and burdened lifestyles led by his fellow citizens. He is so bold as to say this is the plight of all New Englanders. While this is a generalization, back in the 1800s it was probably mostly true! People had fewer options and were in the midst of remaking the landscape while living from the land. HDT is especially adverse to large scale farming and the industry of agriculture, referring to those unfortunate souls in those roles as "serfs of the soil." What was all that effort and toil worth in the end? HDT seemed to see people giving up their individuality in the hopes of a better future that never came. The more stuff they accrued, the less freedom they possessed. One farming for profit and mostly for others on a 60 acre farm versus one who farms less than acre for oneself are two very different moralities and philosophical stands. HDT's decision to live on Walden Pond had some impetus from these observations and more. And that to find solace from these burdens, HDT chose to live self sufficiently to reconnect to his individuality, makes all the more sense.

Lastly, in three pages alone, HDT references two Greek myths and hints at larger societal concerns that show the reader his own social status - well educated, well read, so probably well off as in those days, not everyone read. It was not until WWII and the rise in popularity of the paperback that reading really went mainstream (Manning, 2014). This ease with which he name drops literary works always reminds me of my (seemingly psuedo) status as an English major. I do not remember ANY Greek or Roman myths! I hardly read the classics! Yes, I too can name drop and I do consider myself well read, but in comparison to HDT and the standards of the 1800s reader, I would probably be in the class of pleasure reader. I don't think I even read enough nonfiction to merit a higher status! And every time I read Walden (as I do, often, re-read this particular book), I think to myself, "This is it! I am going to read the Greek and Roman myths!" Yet I still have not. Both qualities - my curiosity to want to read more and HDT's thoroughness in reading - are inherent in a reader though, so at least I can count myself one in that lot. Some people would give up at the merest hint of some title or person unknown, or count themselves too uneducated so adverse to reading things out of their league. Not the true reader! The true reader embraces these clues as a treasure hunt of knowledge yet to be known.

As a writer, I do wonder if HDT recalled the details of the myths he references or if he made a note of which he'd like to reference and looked them up later? HDT worked on the manuscript for Walden for close to ten years, so his writing process was very thorough and very calculated. This long period gives credence to the theory that naysayers would like to believe - HDT as manipulator and exaggerator of his true circumstances to make his time more than it was and himself seem like more than he is. Or, from one writer to another, I see it as careful thought and attention to a master work. HDT knew this was not merely a journal of his time at Walden, this was a powerful, political, and intentional piece of writing. Though he called this bragging, he knew his message had the potential to change life as people knew it. Wouldn't that go to anyone's head just slightly?

With this, I conclude the first reading of pages 1-3 of HDT's Walden. As HDT is quite verbose and does not have short, natural breaks at which I could pause at, I had to awkwardly choose where to stop. And so as to really dive into the text, the amount of pages read had to be minimal. Each line has so much to think about and discuss.

Until next time...

A Thing of Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 12:20:00 +0000

From The Great Northern Express by Howard Frank Mosher -

"Why hasn't Vivien Jennings (or another great independent bookseller) won the Nobel Peace Prize? Aren't independent booksellers the last public guardians of our human rights and, along with librarians and teachers, the keepers of our cultural and literary traditions?"

If I were in Paris...

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 15:00:00 +0000

I just finished reading the delightful graphic novel French Milk by Lucy Knisley. Now I want to go to Paris. With my mom. I know! #WTF am I thinking?! But, my mom and I went to Ireland together for 10 days and both came back alive, I think we could handle Paris. My mom speaks French...Canadian but close enough, and I'm a great navigator.

If we were to recreate the stops that Lucy and her mother made while in Paris, here is where we would go:

the Pantheon (church)
The Abbey (a bookstore)
Le Procope (cafe)
The Pompidou (art museum)
the Marais District (tiny shops and bakeries area)
Falafel Hanna (food)
Eiffel Tower
Champs-Elysees
Arc de Triomphe
Market Moufftard
St. Germain and Rue St. Jacques (shops)
Shakespeare & Co. (bookstore)
Notre Dame Cathedral
Ile de la Cite (market)
St. Eustache Church
St. Severin Church
Jardin des Plantes
St. Sulpice (church front?)
Rue Gregoire du tour (for food)
Blvd St. Michel (shopping)
Hotel Deville (art displays?)
L'as (in Marais, food)
Laudree (cookies)
Pierre Herme (cookies)
La Louvre
L'Orangerie (museum)
Cafe Angelina
Musee D'Orsay
Maison Rouge (modern art)
Le Grand Mosque de Paris
Montmartre (flea market)
Sacre Coeur
Marche aux Puces
Chez Louisette (food in marche)
Moulin Rouge
Cafe Moufftard (food)
Palais de Tokyo (modern art)
Musee d'Art Moderne de la ville Paris (modern art)
Musee de Cluny
Printemps and Bazaar Hotel Deville (department stores)
Versaille
Pere Lachaise Cemetery
L'Hotel (bar where Oscar Wilde had last drink - Latin qtr)
Chez Janou (food)
Place des Voges
Richard Lenoir Market
Red Wheelbarrow (bookstore)
Les Ombres (at top of museum Branly)
Musee de Quai Branly
boat tour of monuments
Sainte-Chapelle (church)
Montparnasse Cemetery
Deux Magots (food near Eiffel Tower)
Jeu du Paume Museum
Closerie des Lilas (food)
Rue Monge (specialty shops)
Au Pied de Cochon (The Pigs Foot bar!)
Picasso Museum
Le Balzar (food)
Le Coupe-chou (food)

Before we go, we must watch Funny Face and any and all other movies set in or about Paris. We must also read Talk to the Snail by Stephen Clarke.

Sometimes

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 18:41:00 +0000

Setting the stage:

Me - sick, no voice, 0% energy and no assistant (#firstworldproblems, I know)

Library - packed for half of day, busy, need to be "on"

Solution - no laptops for loan. (they fly out like hot cakes, students get crabby and want them yesterday, I didn't want to deal with any of it and we have 18 desktops that are never used)

And begin scene:

Student: No laptops?

Me:

Student: But why?

Me:

Student:

Me: (scribbling on paper) I am sick and alone today, this helps me.

Student: Can I still have a laptop? I feel like that's why you're here, just to check out laptops. I mean, isn't that your job?

Me: (furiously shooing him away with my hands)

This is my life as a librarian.

Among Others by Jo Walton

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 13:26:00 +0000

This whole book is an homage to libraries, reading, books, and literature. However, here are some direct props that I have to share :

"It's wrong for libraries to have limited budgets," I said.

"The could take the money from building enough nukes to kill all the Russians and give it to libraries. What good does an independent nuclear deterrent do Britain, compared to the good of libraries? Somebody has their priorities wrong."

"Interlibrary loans are a wonder of the world and a glory of civilization."

"Libraries really are wonderful. They're better than book shops, even. I mean, book shops make a profit on selling you books, but libraries just sit there lending you books quietly out of the goodness of their hearts."

"I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books."

There will probably be more; I still have 1/4 of the book left. This author is a wonderful writer and storyteller. Even though I do not read enough Science Fiction to truly get all the mentions she makes of other books, I want to get them! And overall, not getting it does not detract from the story, the characters, and the British and Welsh landscapes portrayed. Such a "brill" book!

Web 3.0 - it's more than just technology

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:05:00 +0000

For my online class, I watched a series on YouTube titled Us Now. The main idea is discussing how online tools are changing the way humans interact, think, and organize as a society. From what happened in Egypt, people saw and know what the power of giving people a collective online voice and a place to organize online can do. But maybe forget, since many countries are not engaged in a "revolution," that these tools and principles still apply to THEM. I am guilty of this line of thinking myself. What do I mean precisely?

As a Library Media Specialist, I have a very specific lens through which I view my online world. I forget that the power of the tools I use for research, organizing and sharing information, or whatever task is at hand, is GLOBAL and that could bring the level at which I use the tools up like 20 notches from how I am using them. Duh. Right? Isn't that the basic idea behind the internet? It IS but how often do I remember and actually act/think/create with a thought to global collaboration while I am online? How often do YOU think globally?

I like that the Us Now series reminded me of the wider world while at the same time it validated and empasized the importance and power of any group colaboration. One of hte most striking lines to me was - "everything can be accomplished by letting people help each other."

Wow.

Do you feel the truth of that statement?

If we think back to Matt's post on reframing our thinking, I seen now we need to reframe more than just our thinking on technology in the classroom. Or how students use technology. We need to reframe how we think of society adn what w think our soviety values today. Think about your classroom, your colleagues, your neighborhood, your town - what are the first words that come to mind? What do you think of those groups? Don't censor, be honest. I know I think mostly about apathy, lack of community, cynicism, and isolation. In the series, someone said people are naturally cooperative and collabortive, we just have to "create the circumstances that allow people" to be cooperative and collaborative. I wonderd, how ofte do I create a space or a place for my students to help each other? Or my colleagues? Or my neighbors? More often, at least in the classroom, I see teachers 'worried' about letting students help each other, afraid that letting go and stepping out of the lead role will lead to chaos instead of possibly something new. And awesome. This thought really blew my mind. And as soon as I am able I want to try to create a space like this during my class time.

What thoughts blew your mind from the series?

Human Tech

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 15:32:00 +0000

As I was looking through the Edublogs "Best Blogs of 2011" list, I came across the below video posted at Tech With Intent.

We live in a world where connections between unreachable places are now at our fingertips. Maybe something is lost with this ease, but something far more valuable is gained. And it is that which we should be imparting to students if we are teachers - the ways in which technology can make us more human. The ways that technology can show us how we are far more like our neighbors than we thought.

Do you think technology makes us more or less human?

Share something you've found that shows tech being used in a humanizing way or just a story that tells a situation that shows the same.

Oh to be a Snow Day

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:41:00 +0000


Teachers like the library!

The nook is never vacant.

Just another LRL morning.

It's Where to Be

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:42:00 +0000

Ranger Pride

Some people don't like the camera ... TRISH!

Just another day in the library...

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:31:00 +0000

In the Study nook

Busy time

Tag You're It!

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:32:00 +0000

graffiti art on the doodle board!

Thanks Devin!

What's that my dear Watson?

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:36:00 +0000

Oh Brittany, stay silly!

Timely

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:31:00 +0000

"Age wrinkles the skin. Quitting wrinkles the soul." - Douglas MacArthur

The quotes I put outside my library every day are not just for my students. It's my simple reminder to myself to ponder a profound aspect of life, to take a moment for meditation. In the short time that it takes for me to write the quote on the dry erase board, I think only of the quote, of who it originated from, and of how I think my students might receive this particular quote.

There are times where I feel I am ONLY writing the quote for me, wherein I start wrinkling my soul with doubts and despair. It is those days in particular that I am usually surprised. One day I decided not to write one. I left the board blank and rationalized to myself that one day didn't matter. Midway through the morning, a young woman, a senior, one whom I would've pigeon holed as someone who isn't into reading or the library, caught me as I was waiting on line for the bathroom.

"Ms. Adams where's the quote?" Sheepishly, I mumbled something, excusing myself with the good intentions that I would do one tomorrow, what's one day?

"Well, I read them every day," she responded. My attitude immediately shifted and I started back to the library. "I will put one up right now for you! Thank you for reminding me," I said. And I meant it.

Sit-a-thon 2011, Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:39:00 +0000

The winners of the Library's 1st Annual Sit-a-thon arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre -

Serenity NOW!

Emily who gets a $10 gift certificate to a local holistic shop

AND...

Raven and Chelsea who get a $10 gift certificate to Ming's House (yum!) for Chinese Food.

I don't know!

Sit-a-thon 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 17:45:00 +0000

Lake Region! Thank you SO MUCH for your support in the Student Library Advisory Board's (S.L.A.B.) sit-a-thon. This was the first fundraiser/activity they and I have completed together and with your help, it went AWESOME!

Look for a post here and an announcement on LR News, Tuesday, to see how much money was raised and who the lucky WINNERS are of the Ming's Chinese food gift certificate and the 1/2 Hr massage gift certificate.

Stay tuned ....

Poetry outLOUD!

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:30:00 +0000

Here she is folks, the Lake Region Poetry Outloud finalist, Michelle (Mizzy) Corriveau. What does this mean? Mizzy has won an all expenses paid trip to Barre Vermont where she and other VT school winners will compete to be the State Finalist representing VT in Washington, DC come this April.

The two poems Mizzy chose are Edgar Allen Poe's "Alone" and Sir Walter Raleigh's "Nymph's Reply to the Shepard."

GOOD LUCK AT THE STATE FINALS MIZZY!

Vampires Gone Wild

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:49:00 +0000

When I was in high school ... I cant believe I just typed that ... LJ Smith's Vampire Diaries series had just come out. That's right students - you're reading a book from 1994-1998 - totally old school! From page one I was hooked. Dark, mysterious vampire boy, tormented lonely human girl, who wouldn't get sucked into such drama? I avidly read each book as close to its premier date as possible and waited anxiously until the next would one would come out. The whole series was great; I remember no disappointment at the end of any singular book or the series as a whole.

Somewhere between high school and college, I forgot about LJ Smith, I forgot about vampires. Since then I've seen YA vampire series rise and sink in popularity. Not once have I been hooked into reading a series. I stooped so low as to give Twilight a try. Never again! I will watch the movies over reading pages and pages of Bella whining and wondering why someone as perfect as Edward loves her undeserving self ANYTIME.

But! The point of this post is this - I have been hooked again.

Unintentionally, I am reading a vampire novel. For adults. And it is breathtaking. It is gripping. I cannot stop reading and the book clocks in at 784 pages. I started it about 3 days ago and have a little over 100 pages left. The closest approximation to the storyline is The Road (book, by Cormic McCarthy) + 28 Days Later (movie) + vampires = THE PASSAGE.

Because this book is aimed at an older audience, it lacks the fluff and drama of the LJ Smiths and Stephanie Meyer variety. This does not mean it is not DRAMATIC because whoa nelly, it is! This book is action packed, soulful, probing, and beautifully written. I will not say more than this because the less you know the better the reading you will do of this book.

Get it. Read it. Love it.

Virtual High School (VHS) in YOUR school

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:15:00 +0000


Amanda, Zach and Crystal - VHS alumni!!

Yesterday's informational meeting on VHS classes had ONE student show up with questions. I see even one student as a minor success as she got all the attention and focus of FOUR VHS alumni. Plus this was new this year, so it will take time to establish this as part of the Virtual High School routine.

After the short, but informative session, two alumni, Amanda and Zach, and I headed out to to meet up with Crystal for a VHS celebration. They maintained grades above a B in their VHS courses. Their reward - PARKER PIES! These students worked hard and got the area's BEST PIZZA in return.

Seen, but not seen.

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:40:00 +0000

In January's issue of SLJ, one of the library world's greatest advocates, Joyce K. Valenza (a school librarian in PA), states that "having a strong library web presence is no longer optional" (Valenza, 37). Where I agree with her sentiments, and have my school library page tech'd out and ready to go, I have a problem with embracing the mission behind her words. I believe in modeling and using new tools in order for students and teachers to begin using them. However, there's just one, tiny issue that holds me back here from being all "Gung ho, Web 2.0" - ACCESS.

While I have full access to better connection speeds and all that comes with it at my house, not everyone here does. Luckily, in my school there is broadband, wi-fi throughout the building, lap tops, computer labs, kindles; in one word - ACCESS. As soon as students leave the building, who knows what they are accessing at home. Internet connectivity runs the gamut from dial up to broadband with the majority of homes being in the former category. We are about as rural as rural can be these days and while a part of me loves that about this area (heck, it's one reason I moved here), another part of me bangs my head in frustration at how that limits my students, other teachers and myself.

For the majority of students here, computers and the tech that goes with them are annoyances, one more thing to do and learn that they see never using again. Who wouldn't be annoyed with interrupted connections? Lost work? Sign in failures? Incompatibility of one program with another? No computer at home? Instead of promoting my new tech'd out website or demo'ing cool tools, I'm fixing simple tech problems or teaching the basics of basic computer skills. This does not leave a long lasting, positive impression of technology with students or other teachers.

I know I'm not the only school librarian dealing with the issue of access. And I know it's not just our rural setting that plays a part in ACCESS. Was it not just last month that Educational Leadership magazine did a whole issue addressing this very problem - the Digital Divide. Sadly, the message I took away from that issue was not that the divide is being repaired, or diminishing rapidly. No,the divide is growing. Students without access to computers or the internet are being left behind because it is just too big of a hassle to fix. Too much money. And at the rate that new tech stuff is being created and communication is changing, there just isn't a way to slow down time.

So while I agree with Ms. Valenza about maintaining a web presence, I cannot ignore a more pressing question I have to answer first - what does a web presence mean if students can't see it?

Digital Does Not Mean Dumber.

noreply@blogger.com (Akkire) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:36:00 +0000

The LA Times just ran an article discussing a widespread myth/theory - the age of Web 2.0 tools and digital transformation makes students (or just people) dumber. As a library media specialist, connecting curriculum with new tools, technology, and methods to enhance learning is my job. Do I think my job makes my students dumber?! Of course not...

Though, I will admit...there were times I had a small doubt in my mind. Maybe Web 2.0 and tech gadgets did not make students (or people) dumber, but I've often caught myself thinking they add to an already super-fast, on demand, over stimulated intellect and culture. So the doubt was more related to a bigger question - is knowing how to get information easier and faster the same as being intelligent? Is that learning? I've never admited that to anyone because somewhere in my thoughts was the opposite hope - that I was missing out on how these tools and transformations make my students SMARTER! That yes indeed learning to be faster, more resourceful information seekers IS learning.

Thanks to Mr. Chabris and Mr. Simons, there is some validity and support for this new kind of learner. A major fact the article pointed out is the difference between being distracted and paying attention. It is not the Web 2.0 tools or the technology causing intellectual problems. Students are not dumber for texting, typing, or using the internet. The culprit here is DISTRACTION! And if students were not distracted by a text message or Facebook, it would be something else! Distraction and what distracts us has just evolved along with technology. Instead of doodling, instead of looking out the window, students' attentions are pulled away by quicker, faster, more tech heavy means.

This is where an educator, like myself, can use these new Web 2.0 tools and technologies in her or his favor - to take back that attention! To cut down on distraction! Students LIKE these new means of communicating, why not USE them to hook students attention to what they are learning? Instead of ignoring the shift in learning, let us embrace it and use it. Let us acknowledge that it is not the textbook or student alone anymore, that "it may make more sense to think about the individual plus the cloud of technology and information that he or she has access to at any given moment" (Simon/Chabris), which includes textbooks, teachers, and ANYTHING on the internet. That's right, anything.

Anything.

We must prepare our students to be navigators of this "cloud of technology and information" or they will get lost in that cloud, the classroom content along with them. The cloud is available anywhere. Anytime. We are not. This seems like an insurmountable obstacle, but it is not. Let us look at our practices with new questions in mind - how well am I using this new information cloud? How well am I incorporating new methods and tools where needed and appropriate? Can I be more accessible and available to my students without losing my sanity and my life?

Educators no longer have to be alone in addressing these issues. Turn to a friendly Library Media Specialist! Or Technology Specialist! Or whoever is ready, willing, and able to work with you to create opportunities for you and your students to best utilize the "technology and information [we] have access to at any given moment" (Simon/Chabris). Only when educators begin accessing the cloud of information more and more in classrooms, will the potential for students to see the tools they play with as possible tools for learning. Until teachers feel confident in using all the cloud has to offer, the tools will remain just one more mode of distraction to already distracted students.