7+refelections

My comments from reading the Discussion Board: 4-2-10 Compared to my totally online class, I like knowing what everybody looks like and that the discussion boards are an extension of class, not a replacement. I liked that everyone talked about the positive ways they would present their message to the BOE, even if the conversation group I was in might have been a little off track. Integrating technology needs to be an ongoing concept in everyone’s life. According to an article I read somewhere (sorry, I can’t cite everything I read…) the high achievers will be people who use technology to synthesize new applications to old problems. Computer literacy is the springboard for innovative achievements. Getting this message to the BOE needs to be central. Additionally, showing student achievement really makes adults glow. Another thread talked about economic inequality. Being in school is a great time to check out the “other side,” of where you’ve traditionally been. Simply call up the schools and say you’d like to come observe or intern and you will have an opportunity to see what’s working/not working in this country today. The tremendous inequalities will scare you. Being a librarian/educator means advocating for kids all the time. Learn about your student population. There were great ideas about using Animoto, weebly, photostory and getting kids to create digitally. This is a remarkable switch from doing book reports. It also gets kids to collaborate at an early age. I would suggest reading up on how to be a facilitator of groups. You want to make sure when you assign a group topic that everyone has a role. These discussions are a new way to interact, where everyone gets their say. It also empowers the quiet type of person, by requiring their input. The discussion boards will be a nice tool to use in high school classrooms, maybe to do a book chat. I would suggest that teachers use them. Schools could also use technology like this to keep in touch with the growing number of home-schooled kids.   

From LM NET 1st grade is harder because they can't read so well yet. Can you record voice? Could they pick a poem and memorize it, then record their voice? Fotobabble.com can record voice to a picture if you don't have a program that can do that. I would do it in Kid Pix. My kids love nursery rhymes and funny poetry (Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky).

Have kids memorize poetry if they can't read it!!! TS

"Education has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading" - George Macaulay Trevelyan

What a sad comment. I hope he is wrong.

Books I read them in the bathtub I read them in my chair I read them in my overalls And in my underwear.

I read them in the morning And late at night in bed And then when I am tucked in tight I dream of what I've read.

I loved this LM NEt posting on poetry. In order for kids to get a knack for words, descriptions and playing around, you need poetry. The posting librarians talk about how they cover poetry by keeping it around and asking kids to read poetry over the summer. That shouldn't be such a novel concept, but it is.

On another note, my mother's boyfriend always voices displeasure that my son is a Star Trek fan. He could be doing something better, he says. I feel that Star Trek for boys is very appropriate. Even though I didn't get into it, many boys do and many people who prefer sci-fi over regular fiction. . There are many books that are available on the Star Trek Theme. Star Trekkies also have a lot to talk about with each other. As a librarian, and as a mom, I want my kids developing their interests with literature that speaks to them. To say that he could be reading Dickens, or studying biology is in appropriate.

Tamara Silberman LIS629W Feb 27,2010 Responses to Libraries a without books Do School Libraries Need books? I am of the opinion that libraries need books. However, I never realized that this could be a point of disagreement. My personal home is filled with books. I can’t throw out many of them because they are irreplaceable and represent my own collection which I have grown to love. If I was asked on an interview, if libraries need books, I would say yes. I would agree with Liz Gray who says that there are many types of learners in schools, and librarians need to cater to them. Paraphrasing what she said, you can’t get deeply involved on a screen the way you can when you take a book into a corner. Books are more durable, and you can flip through them and hold them. One more very important fact: learning from a book costs a fraction of what it costs from having a computer, which requires an internet connection and subscriptions to various databases, all of which can be manipulated by one or two people. Removing hard copies of books and literature brings a new problem that is not addressed in this article: It leaves the past open to change. Several years ago there was a museum exhibit about immigration which featured the words of poet Emma Lazarus. However, what was omitted was “give me your teeming, your poor, your wretched refuse, yearning to breathe free.” If we do not keep and use hard copies, we will be subject to the vagaries of people with a political or religious mission. Part of literacy is learning to read literature in its original format, whether letters from George Washington in cursive, or reading the Old Testament in Ancient Hebrew from a scroll. When the only way to access these troves is through a computer you have built a solid digital wall between those who can achieve and those who can’t. As an aside, I also would NOT invest $12,000 in a coffee maker for a high school. Although glorified by Starbucks, human beings do not always need something in their mouth. The caffeine in coffee still has effects on the human body, such as staining your teeth and dehydration. In fact, since high schools serve as “in-loco-parentis,” they should be concerned that students receive adequate sleep and nourishment. Coffee hinders both.

March 3.

I spent two days at the Byram Hills High Library. The librarian is very nice. I have spent some time weeding books. Most of their history books date from the 1960s. The kids who come to the library either work on computers or hang out in groups. It's kind of used as a student lounge. It's hard to say which came first; kids stopped reading or the books in the library were too old to be relevant. Even in the 80s and 90s the internet had not supplanted reading. The librarians is trying to clear out space to turn it into a classroom. I did a cataloging project, cataloging new videos that are biographies of famous writers.

March 4. Mt Kisco Elementary has one of the nicest school libraries I've ever seen! It's a beatiful old room that was renovated sometime in the last 10 years. No dusty books here. The librarian read various stories to the children and then they took out the books they wanted. There was a cozy reading corner. A smartboard area. Unfortunately, out of the six classes I saw today, at least half were underachieving students.

[] National Standards for the Whole Country.

I am opposed to bringing in any more standards and imposing any more requirements on K-3 students. NCLB has enough flaws to satisfy even the most beaurocratic and profit - driven administration. Every time a new standard is required, it costs a bundle and deprives children of precious educational time while they are prepped for tests. The money would be better spent on anything else, including free lunch, affordable housing and health insurance. Children's brains develop at their own pace. Let them be.

[] This link gives info on cyberbullying and cybersexting. While most kids won't go there, some will and we need to give them the tools to learn about themselves and how to protect themselves