I can't believe I'm going to write this . . .

I think I'm over Non-Fiction books.  I honestly can't see a use for them in 5 years. Now I know that this is probably a pretty unpopular opinion out there in the world.  But just hear me out.  Yes, I'll give you that there is just something about the feel of a book in your hands.  I cannot argue that, and that is why I'm only saying this about Non-Fiction.  The primary purpose of the Reference/Biography/Non-Fiction section is research.  Yes, there are students who check out these books to learn for pleasure, but they are few and far between.  I can think of three students in my school of 300+ who consistently check out Non-Fiction books.  All other patrons are in those sections for purpose only; the purpose of fulfilling a teachers' need.  Now, my problem with this is these students need up to date research that can attract them and be user friendly.  The books on my shelves are neither.  Think about how long it takes a book like that to reach my shelves from the author handing it off to a publisher.  About a year.  That means the information is out-of-date when it gets to me.  No matter how "new" or whatever you call it; I can search it online and find more up-to-date information than that book has.  Plus I can find videos and more images than that book can ever contain.  Plus, have you seen what a kindle, your iPhone, or any computer can do with an e-book?  It has out of this world research possibilities.  You can be looking at a book that has links built into it, while connecting to the link in a browser, while using the built in dictionary to find unfamiliar terms, while using the search function to locate only the sections you need.  It definitely makes me sad I got my undergrad when I did.  I would have been unstoppable and efficient back in the day.  But all of this brings me back to my original point; I don't see how we can justify continuing to pay the same price for a book that will get worn down or unused.  There will be a tipping point sometime soon, and while I still don't think that will change anything about the fiction collection, the Non-Fiction section may have met its match this time around. 

Pro/Con.org

Pro/Con Website
As an information specialist I am often asked to gather resources to support teachers in their instruction of a difficult unit or topic.  When the sixth and seventh grade teachers got together with me this year to discuss their upcoming projects on debating, I was left wondering what I could get my hands on to help them.  Obviously, I began by searching the print library to see if there was anything of use for a debate in 2011.  While we did have some materials, I came to a tough realization that I will talk about in my next blog.  This led me to look at our digital resources.  ECSD has an extensive collection of electronic resources available to them thanks to the selections by our District Library Media Coordinator.  However, I found it difficult to find any peer-reviewed argument and looking at two sides of an issue sites.  EBSCO host has one but it is only funded through the high schools; additionally this site is geared a bit high for middle school.  So this left me in an obvious conundrum.  I needed a better resource for my teachers to help their students succeed in this learning target.  I did have resources, but they are better suited for gaining background knowledge, not digging into the hear of issues.  That was when my master teacher, Mary Liebl, told me about a site she had used once called Pro/Con.org   This site has it all.  From interesting topics, they have 42 currently, to a rating system for the "experts" it has on its site.  I have recommended this site to other media specialists and all have found it highly useful.  It is a free, peer reviewed, site that is geared towards students researching topics for debates.  There are Youtube videos, ways to get in touch with authors and creators, excellent citations and links to official studies that raise the interest level and usability all the way to college.  This website has it all.

NWEA

So the last 2 weeks have been a non-stop NWEA proctor-fest.  There was a time where I would have been nothing but relieved to have multiple days sitting and proctoring; but not now.  In our library there has not been an inventory done in a looooooooong time, which leaves the responsibility to me.  Don't get me wrong, I'm finding this fascinating as I've never done one of these all the way before.  But back to the thesis; NWEA is killing my ability to get the inventory finalized.  I've got 69.87% of my inventory done, but that last 30% is causing me headaches because I've already scanned EVERY book that is physically in the library.  So what that means is that I have a lot "treasure hunting" to do in these last 9 days of school.  And by the way, 9 days is not enough; because that 30% is roughly 5,000 items.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  However, having watched several of these NWEA tests in all 3 disciplines now, I must say that I think this test is something else.  The fact that it is able to essentially differentiate itself to each individual test-taker is quite impressive.  And I have to say that I have yet to be surprised by a score at all.  When I have recorded benchmark scores in the past I have noticed major discrepancies in both the month-to-month individual scores and some of the single scores I have seen that are completely not indicative of the students' ability.  NWEA is a program that, while I do not support the quantity of testing students today have, challenges appropriately and provides, what appears to be, solid data that truly values the students abilities in a given subject.  Additionally, there is the matter of the time limit, I have seen students get bad scores for moving too quickly, and I have very rarely seen a student that put in multiple hours on the test not be rewarded.  However, it does lead to the idea that we have students (approximately 20%) that are spending at least 2 hours on this test.  And we do this for 3 weeks.  That is quite a bit of a load on the brain stress-wise and normal workload-wise.

Unique Perspective

     So as I'm thinking about how to submit all of my work for this grant; I'm left wondering if I'll have to reinvent the wheel, again.  For this class I created an entirely new curriculum that I modified and worked through this year that is now a sleek and sexy curriculum that is both doable for the student that walks into my class with a tech background as well as for the student who comes to me with nothing.  I guess my big question is, does my current curriculum meet the standards of this grant?  I've developed both a server based syllabus location and a Google webpage for at home viewing.  What I'm looking at here is the fact that my class isn't really a lesson 1,2, 3, etc.  My class is somewhere that all the work for the trimester is given at the beginning of the term and students are expected to work independently on each project until all 7 have been completed.  This makes the whole "unit" idea very troubling.  My "unit" is actually my curriculum.  I suppose that you could say I have an Office unit and a "separate tools" unit, but I view this curriculum as something that does not build on itself too much.  Granted, it would help to do the Word section before the Power Point because there is some word processing involved in Power Point, but with my Jing videos, examples, and rubrics I have not had a student have any problems solving my 7 challenges while doing them in whatever order they wish.  My question is, what do I need to modify in my course to make it fit into the requirements for this grant?  Do the documents the students see count as my lesson?  I guess not because there are no standards on them . . .

So why do we pay for them?

     Recently, I have found myself in a bit of a quandary when it comes to accessing the electronic resources that the district subscribes to.  Were it not for the librarians in the building would anyone really use WorldBook Online?  How about Marshall Cavendish Digital?  Oh, wait, you don't even know what the second one is?  Hmmm, maybe that is due to the fact that you are a "Google'er" or a faithful disciple of Wikipedia?  Don't get me wrong, both of these sites have their positives.  But when doing research on a topic for an academic presentation, they make your life a lot more difficult to cite and ensure credibility.  My main question is, why is the district not "forcing" these resources on teachers?  All that seems to ever happen is during the "Motivation and Engagement" seminars the district will trot someone out there who tells you how wonderful these sites are and then you never hear about them until the next August.  Am I the only one who feels that this is both a waste of our tax dollars and extremely ineffective?  I went to a training this year on one of our databases where I was the only person in the room!  Does that mean that all teachers in the county feel confident to use our databases?  I think not, I've worked with many a teacher who doesn't even know how to get onto their schools' library webpage where these resources can be accessed!  I don't blame the teacher here because they have enough on their plates; but at the same time shouldn't they be inquiring about these resources they have been hearing about each August?  The beauty of these sites is how easy they make researching for students.  So, why wouldn't everyone be using them?  If we are here to promote how much of a 21st century district we are, then why are we still letting our students and teachers use what is essentially an almanac for research papers?  Because its just easier, that's why.  We as adults have become too comfortable in our usage of Google to ever stop using it; I myself must admit that whenever I need a fast answer that's where I go.  However, if you re-read that last sentence carefully, you'll see that I only use it when I need a quick answer.  When I do research now, my first place to go is the BCMS library webpage where I can find peer-reviewed resources that also provide a pre-made citation.  After all, why wouldn't I?   

Wait, Twitter did that?

Civil War on Twitter
      Recently, during the lead-up to the Civil War anniversary, Twitter did something that, to me, is extremely useful and outside of the box type thinking.  A historian created an account where he was going to use the actual dates and people associated with major events of the times leading up to the Civil War and tweet as if they were happening real-time.  I can't imagine a better use of Twitter for educational value than this.  The fact that we had someone who had studied this period in history and then wrote about it as if it were happening today is just so cool! 
     When I think about Twitter and its primary use in this world (allowing people that most of us really don't care about to describe their most intimate experiences at Starbucks.) I find myself stunned to see such a practical and educationally appropriate use for this tool.  Now don't get me wrong, I do have a Twitter feed of my own, but just like my status update on Facebook, it never gets used.  However, a feed like this could be used as a daily warmup activity for students in a Social Studies class to determine what important event happened on this day and how might people have felt during this time.  To me, this is a great way to use Twitter; instead of making it all about yourself, use it to teach others about themselves and create a connection to history.

The Complexities of Creating a Tech Curriculum from Scratch

     This has been something that has caused me a great deal of time and stress this school year.  When the year began, I was told I would be teaching technology to 6th and 7th graders.  "Great," I said, so what foundation has been laid that I can modify to meet my skills?  Then I found out that there were none.  The previous teacher had not had a curriculum that the students worked from.  This caused a great deal of stress for my beginning of the year.  Having never explicitly taught technology I was worried about the realization that this curriculum would come exclusively from me.  However, I was given the opportunity to join the E2T2 grant and this provided me with a framework for what and how I could create the class' work. 
     Through this class I was introduced, in greater detail, to the world of ISTE and its resources in helping build curriculum and skills that students would need to succeed in the future world.  So, I began the journey of creating a full trimester worth of assignments that my students could create and use to show a beginning level of computer competency.  The first trimester was somewhat successful, but there were major problems in some of my assignments.  Whether it was sentence agreements, or answers that were taken off the databases, or assignments that did not make sense I began the process of editing and "bettering" my curriculum.  I found after the second trimester that there were fewer changes to make, but the changes were more profound.  In this round of editing, questions were asked in more detail, questions required a deeper search using online resources and the skills necessary to complete the assignments were ramped up a bit.  I began to create lessons that required students to search the help and use online tools to help them with the software; just like I would do if I were learning on my own. 
     In the end I feel that my current curriculum is streamlined and very user friendly.  This trimester I have not had hardly any questions from my students concerning how to do any of the projects.  With the combination of the rubrics, explanations, examples and jing videos my students have had great success in working independently this trimester.