Text Selection Tool for Students - Whole Novel:Whole Class

This is a very interesting post from Ariel Sacks and a really useful tool for evaluating text for groups of students. Worth a look if you are looking for a way to measure the qualitative merits of novels to decide how to use them in a classroom or library reading club setting.

Text Selection Tool for Your Summer Planning! | CTQ

Are Dewey's Days Numbered? Discussion

Just read the article at http://www.slj.com/2012/09/librarians/are-deweys-days-numbered-libraries-across-the-country-are-giving-the-old-classification-system-the-heave-ho-heres-one-schools-story/ 
which was from an issue of SLJ last year.

I am curious if anyone has transitioned away from Dewey in the libraries or if they know of some that have.  The librarians in my district have talked about it but haven't jumped on it yet - mainly because of the huge time commitment.  A district about an hour from us made the switch this summer.  I will be able to see one of those schools in early November at our Maine Association of School Librarians meeting.

Thought?  Comment?

Updating Those Acceptable Use Policies

Jessica King

Chaplin, H. (2012, April 6). Welcoming mobile: More districts are rewriting acceptable use policies, embracing smartphone and social media in schools. Spotlight On. Retrieved from http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/welcoming-mobile-rewriting-acceptable-use-smartphones-and-social-media/

            Chaplin supplies a thorough examination of the initial thoughts and fears surrounding the Web, the growing use of the Internet, the impact CIPA had (and is still having), and how that has shaped current views of Internet use in schools. She acknowledges that perceptions of the immediate dangers the web poses are changing but caution should still be used. These changing views and the increasing usage of technology in and out of school needs to be addressed in updated Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs). To emphasize her points she pulls from multiple examples of how schools are bringing technology and the Web into the their daily teaching activities.  

            Many schools are now allowing increased amount of Internet use in their schools but they will not be prepared for challenges that may arise because their AUP is outdated. The AUP is not just there for schools to use in case upset parents approach about their child coming across something ‘inappropriate.’ Chaplin (2012) asserts, “schools ought to be providing safe environments for students to learn how to be responsible digital citizens.” This is absolutely true, the filters mandated by CIPA were not meant to keep students from everything the Internet has to offer forever and part of the mandate was that the schools teach students digital citizenship skills. The AUP needs to reflect this dedication to students learning these skills and understanding their responsibility when it comes to using this tool. 

The inside story on LA schools’ iPad rollout: “a colossal disaster” | Digital

Rene Hohls
October 7, 2013

The practical problems of the iPad in LAUSD...

The inside story on LA schools’ iPad rollout: “a colossal disaster” | Digital

Discussion: 7 Data Viz Sites to Inspire Your Creative Eye

Rene Hohls

October 7, 2013

From the Mashable.com website, these apps and sites for visual data display are part of a very interesting group of digital literacy tools used in various professions, including education. In designing my PLE's, it is becoming obvious to me that the visual display (and shorter attention span required to process it) is one of the fundamental elements that distinguishes the digital natives in our K-12 schools from their teachers. I also realized in making my PLE's that I could eliminate all those bookmarks in my IE and Chrome bookmark lists and give myself a visual display of my bookmarks. The more I use it and manipulate it to suit my needs and my own thinking, the more efficient and useful it becomes. I am wondering what other people are finding and how is it changing the way you organize yourself in the digital sea?


http://mashable.com/2013/10/01/data-viz-sites/


10/9/13 UPDATE - I used Symbaloo to create my 2 PLE's: a Personal Webmix and a Professional Webmix. When my 12 year old son saw what I had - he wanted me to show him how to make one for his school work. In one day, we had cleaned up our desktops, tightened up our bookmarks, eliminated clutter on our Chrome start-up pages and made our work streamlined and much more efficient. And of course, now all his friends want to know how HE did it! It's our little secret ;)

Discussion - Bigfoot Article

Did anyone else read the Bigfoot article that was sent to us? 
https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-09-25-spotting-schools-version-of-bigfoot

What do you think of standards based, competency based learning?  Are schools in your area trying it?  How is it working?  The district I work in and the district where my daughter attends are both working towards it.  It is messy but I think the idea is good.

I especially liked the teacher's idea of the game board to help students pace themselves.  At your own pace doesn't mean you take all year on one standard ;0
 

An all-digital library --BiblioTech

Lauren Frederick

Cottrell, M.(2013, September 18) Paperless libraries, American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved on September 30, 2013 from 
http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/article/paperless-libraries

This article caught my eye, even though its about a public library in Texas. Bexar County opened an all-digital library, called BiblioTech. This facility is bookless and serves an unincorporated area outside of San Antonio, "offering more than 10,000 titles available for digital download and 100 e-readers on loan, as well as computer stations, digital literacy classes, and a coffee shop."

With access to technology and no print, it allows for the county to spend less money and have less space, allowing the librarian to help patrons connect with information as opposed to circulation.

The reason I thought this to be relevant to the Learning Commons, is that the learning environment is much more fluid. At The University of Texas at San Antonio they opened a digital library as well, and in this space the computer stations and modular furniture can be moved to accommodate groups. In school libraries, with the books on the wall and the stations similar to this, a Learning Commons can exist. The access to all the technology would allow for this as well. I am not sure how beneficial the lack of books would be to the schools, but upping the ante with additional e-readers and computer stations could definitely help any library.

“What I’m seeing is this movement acknowledging that these services libraries provide are as important as the books. Libraries are being acknowledged as to how central they are to communities.”