Book's Nook

Destiny and One Search

2011-08-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

I realize that I seldom post anything here at all. I suppose it is because I feel the hum-drum day-to-day work for my media center is nothing that demands a record.
And when I am doing something more exciting or important, I fully enjoy or experience it, then move on.

I am working on getting our Riverview One Search to work in Destiny with the ELM databases and it isn't going too smoothly. I can't figure out ProQuest - Yet!

One Search is a linkage within Destiny that will do a keyword search of subscription databases at the same time it is searching the local media catalog. It is a wonderful idea and I look forward to when it will work, but I'm not there yet! You can click on the image to see what I'm talking about.

2010-07-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

I just discovered this site: ProProfs.
You can create a FREE online quiz with reports and stats, FREE online Polls, and play online Brain Games like Sudoku.
I discovered this site thanks to the kmcintyre and her "Dragon Library Rules Quiz." Check out the Quiz I created to use with my 1st and 2nd graders. I think that I will have them pass this quiz before they can check out two books for 2 weeks (actually 8 days because we have a 4 day rotation). Until they pass, they can check out 1 book for 1 week.

LMC Rules and Procedures User s License - 1st & 2nd Grade » ProProfs Quizzes

Thanks for stopping by. Why not leave a comment?

Grearing up for MYRA! Each book links to the Mackin Booktalk for the title. I plan to put this on my Destiny catalog homepage.

2010-07-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Speed Booking Or Book Dating?

2010-04-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

This week the fifth grade will be doing one of my favorite lessons. Based on the idea of "Speed Dating," students are divided into eight groups - the group has about 3 minutes to "meet and greet" the books on a table before they move to the next. We have 8 tables, so we choose six or eight books (we always choose books that are "unknowns") from 8 genres. We are using Sci-Fi, Historical, Romance, Mystery, Humor, Adventure, Realistic, and Horror this time. We put a Genre sign on each table.
Student examine the books on each table for three things: the favorite cover, blurb and beginning. Each student may have three different titles or just one or two for each table.

When all students have visited all the table, I give them three or four minutes to go back to a table to grab a book that they want to check out. It is first come, first read; some of the scrabbling to get a hot book is comical and exciting.

I'll post some pictures of this lesson during the week.

Thanks for stopping by.

2010-04-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that one year ago, I left my job and home with no clear plan of where I'd be working or what I'd be doing! I had only the certainty that I could not stay in the job I had, and stay sane and happy. Luckily, I also had the love and support of my husband who said, "Go for it!" I had the inner certainty that I would find a position that I loved or that I would stay home and be a sub while I looked for something else. Now there are just a little over two months left of the school year and Farmington is a fantastic place to work.

I just received a new ARC book to read and review: "Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Catt" by David Dosa, MD. It is about a cat living in a nursing home. I haven't started it yet because I can tell it will be a tear jerker.

I also got The Excuse Me Your Life is Waiting Playbook which looks like it has some very interesting exercises. The main gist of the book seems to be limiting self-defeatist attitudes.

Thanks for stopping by.

2009-12-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to update my blog until the fifth graders finished with their "Welcome to the Web" activity. Reflecting on that activity, I have decided that I will make some significant changes to it next year, but will use it again.
The first part of the assignment was to complete this activity . It is a multi session lesson and most of the kids reported that while they knew something about many of the topics, there was new information too. A few really liked the lesson and commented that it was really fun and they learned a lot. A very few were "bored," because "they already know EVERYTHING about computers." LOL.

Next time I will have students journal about each activity directly after the student finishes with it instead of waiting till the end of the entire project.
In the second part of the lesson - exploring the media center webpage - I think I'll try having students post their answers on the blog instead of copying the questions and pasting them into a document. It might make a couple of positive differences. Firstly, reading all the responses with go much faster because they will all be in one space, and secondly, because a blog is an open forum where everyone can read their responses, I plan to redo the grading rubric to expect more from their answers.

Today is Christmas Eve and we are spending the day with our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, and DMiL at home. We are missing our son and daughter-in-law, but will see them for New Years. We are blessed to be with our family and hope the people who stumble across this post are similarly blessed.

Thanks for stopping by. Why not sign up with the rss feed and be notified when this blog is updated?

2009-11-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

Hello 5th Graders!

Answer these questions as a check list that you have explored all the important pages on the Media Center page.
Add your written answers to the Reflection page and save it to your folder:
1. Resources Page.
A. Try a search on each of the 6 Databases, and try out the Cite your sources link. We will be using these soon, so looking at them now will help when we begin the lesson!
B. Do you have a public Library Card? Check out the Homework Rescue Link! This is a FREE service, all you need is a FREE library card. If you do not have a library card, ask me how to get one - it is easy!
C. Go to the Tumble books link and explore the options. How could you use this page?
2. Literacy Skills Page.
Open the Writing Link and explore the Story Starter and Shape Books. How could fifth grade use these tools?
3. Grades 3-5.
Open and try at least three of the activities. List the pages you have tried and rate each one using the same rating that you used for the Welcome to the Web activity.
4. All Ages.
Open and explore, then answer this question. Is this page a good idea? Why or why not?

Congratulations for doing a thorough job on exploring the RVE Media Center Web page!

Thanks for stopping by. Why not sign up with the rss feed and be notified when this blog is updated?

Book Challenge Update

2009-11-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

I found out that I have been "cleared" by the challenge committee. They recognize that I followed the district selection process, but not heard anything about what they will do with the book. The title is "Kurt Cobain," a biography by Michael Martin. I selected it specifically with the (Spring) fifth grade biography project in mind. It is a 4.3 reading level and a 5-8 interest level. My thought was to find something for the student who reads below grade level, will not be interested in the more traditional biographies and may have heard of Kurt Cobain. I purchased a wide variety of musicians - this was one of them.

The issue began because I had just taught third graders how to use the search stations with keyword searches. A third grader typed in "guitar" and this book came up. He found it and checked it out. Mom and dad took issue with the book because it is begins with a sort of obituary. Over all is "negative," and talks a lot about his addiction to drugs and that he was never able to get out of that. I agree that it is heavy for third grade, and I think it is great that mom and dad read the book with the child and talked through it, but stand by my decision that it is a good choice for the population I was targeting. We will see :)

I am completely impressed with the way the school district is handling the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by. Why not sign up with the rss feed and be notified when this blog is updated?

Voki

2009-10-04T09:50:00.001-07:00

I'm playing with Voki today and experimenting with a talking Nook to greet visitors.
What do you think?

MEMO

2009-10-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Anita Beaman and Amy Oberts were the keynote speaker this morning at MEMO. They are great. Take a look at a few of the ideas they shared on their wiki! READING 2.0
They are talking about:

Ace Screensaver ($15) that allows you to make a desktop screen saver file and save it, then teachers can drop it on the screens in their classroom. Amy uses this to promote books that are in their book award nominee list.

Using an image of a book front and combining it with Wordle.
She has asked that the Gallery be blocked so that kids can't get to some of the wordles that are not age appropriate. Did you know that if you have a word that you want to be together in Wordle - you just use a Tilde "~" between the words and Wordle will keep them together!
Create a Wordle

Shelfari - You can use book shelf image as a screen saver.

Picturetrail - a very cool application to highlight particular books

Pathfinders for elementary - Jog the Web

Glogster - Poster yourself

Thanks for stopping by. Why not sign up with the rss feed and be notified when this blog is updated?

What do you call a library with no books?

2009-09-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

Cushing Academy has decided that the books in their library of 20,000 titles are too old fashioned and too bulky, so they are getting rid of them all! Instead they are replacing the library with only 18 Kindles (and Kindle type) readers!

I did not see what their student population is, but my question for them is, what are you going to do for the 19th student to come in for a book?
And, is the man in the photo wondering the same thing?

The school web page prominently features links that ask for donations and has a book store, so the image projected is similar to a college: however, I am sure that there must be students who can not afford the $300 for a Kindle or the approximately $10 per title that continued commitment to using this type of device demands. Personally, I would reconsider donating money to a school with administrators who spend $12,000 on a cappuccino machine and think 18 Kindles can replace a library of books.

My son, who is finishing up a college degree, has recently purchased a Kindle because his school has made certain texts available as a download. The Kindle is a good option for him because the cost of the Kindle was essentially the same as buying the entire print version of the books; however, expecting k-12 student to provide their own texts will force the chasm between have and have-nots even wider.

One reason that I find this article so upsetting is that I have had students who don't have enough to eat on a regular basis. I see students whose parents have a hard time providing basic school supplies for their them, and if the lending library of books disappears, then classroom teachers and media specialists will have an even greater challenge of reaching these students. But more importantly, these students will have an even greater challenge of developing into readers and discerning users of information!

Don't get me wrong, I love technology, I love the idea of Kindles and would love to see every student have access to one of their own. On the other hand, I agree with Keith Michael Fiels (ALA), who said that the books ... won’t be digital until the e-reader can tolerate sand, coffee spills, and have unlimited power.
I will add to that by saying that when a Kindle can withstand the use and abuse of a child for at least a year, and the price is low enough that the parents (or more likely, the school) could replace the reader every time it fails, then and only can we consider limiting access to books!

Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear what you think, please leave a response!

Minnesota Youth Reading Award

2009-08-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

388 cases, 30 huge bags...

2009-08-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

of packing, and seven Mackin employees working for over three hours!

It is simply astounding the amount of packing needed to safely ship books!

But it is worth it because our shelves are filled with books, glorious books, something for everyone!

This is a sight I have never before seen.
Almost 14,000 brand new, never opened by a reader before, books. Waiting. Poised to be chosen by an eager reader!

What is left to do? Signage for each column, Popular Author names, and posters to welcome our readers!

Thanks for stopping by. Why not sign up with the rss feed and be notified when this blog is updated?

We Become

2009-08-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful Mackin shelving team working on the Picture books and another working in the fiction section.

Another wonderful Mackin shelver working on the last few sections of fiction! As you can see I didn't remove all the signage yet, but the books look perfect!

I'll post the rest tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by. Why not sign up with the rss feed and be notified when this blog is updated?

The Books Arrive!

2009-08-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

388 Cases containing almost 14,000 books arrived on Wednesday morning, unfortunately, the rain met the truck at the door!

Three of the pallets went through the front door on hand trucks and a flat truck. It looked to be a long, long delivery.
But, with the rain was coming down really hard and assessing the project, our wonderful principal, Kim Grengs, arranged space on the loading dock!

The truck drove up and the rest of palletts were moved into the hall adjacent
to the media center.
The job went much faster because we had only a short distance to move the books by hand truck! In just 3 short hours, we had all the cases staged for unpacking and shelving!

I was sooooo tired, but the LMC looked poised on the threshold of something great!

Thanks for stopping by. Why not sign up with the rss feed and be notified when this blog is updated?

Just One More Book!!

2009-08-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

I have had this site on my rss feeder for quite a while and read with interest the weekly posts, but I had some time today and decided to explore the site. I'm glad I did!

Every person who reads to kids before bed has heard this cry. In our family, Solomon (who is now 5-years-old and starting kindergarten!) always tried to negotiate for "just one more book."
These days, he has two "youngers" (Abraham, 3-years-old, and Eden (who at three months has no words, yet) to help him convince whom ever is reading to read just one more book.

Luckily for me (and for you), there is a podcast and website that is dedicated to reviewing and discussing childrens books! If you haven't looked at this site, you should! The podcasts that I have listened to feature a variety of people, including kids, talking about the title.
The site is search-able by age level, by author, and subject category.

Whether you are looking for something to read to a child in your family, or a library professional, or teacher, there is something valuable here for you. Seriously, check it out!

Just One More Book!!

Thanks for stopping by. Why not sign up with the rss feed and be notified when this blog is updated?

Reader's Advisory

2009-08-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about working as a media specialist is talking to students about books.
Learning what books they have read, and liked, and discussing what they might like to read next is one of the reasons I became a library media specialist.

Now that I am at a K-5 school, one challenge will be to get a better grasp on all that there is to offer reader's at the pre-reading, beginning reading, and transitional reading levels. I know about Fancy Nancy, Junie B., and Arthur, but there are many that I have yet to explore!

I am thrilled to find a newly launched website that will be a great help to any elementary and middle school level library media center staff. "A Book and A Hug" was created by Barb Langridge, and it is beautifully designed!

Barb has some excellent pointers on how to connect to boy readers, as well as reluctant readers of all shapes and sizes. I am sure that once you visit A Book and A Hug it will become a favorite resource. I think her four categories of guy readers is spot on target, and the search features works great!

Gearing up for MYRA

2009-08-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

Check out my MYRA kick off commercial!

Riverview students in grades 3-5 will have the opportunity to participate in the Minnesota Youth Reading Awards (MYRA). Since this will be the first time I have participated in the award as an elementary media specialist, I expect there will be more excitement in the program than I have ever experienced, so I thought it would be fun to make a commercial to advertise it. I started one, then I found a commercial for a "Read it Forward" program (which, by the way, I would LOVE to do!) out of a school in Texas. This is an adaptation of that commercial.

More pictures of the new LMC

2009-08-04T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is my office from the doorway.
I love having the side table
and plan to add a couple
of chairs for conferences.
The Cat in the Hat is made
of papermache and was a
gift from Kim Boe and students in D.L.

The poster above my bookcase
has been every classroom or office
since I was a student teacher.
It talks about following your dreams.

To the left of the bookcase is a
window that looks into the
media center.

These pictures are of my
lab classroom. It is in disarray,
but has 32 computers,
really nice chairs,
and a projector. Very nice!

More progress on the LMC!

2009-07-24T11:00:00.001-07:00

Notice the huge skylight I don't know for sure, but my guess is that it is between 30 and 40 feet long! You may notice that there is no place for computers, but there will be! Notice the monitors on the circulation desk! We will have 8 computers on table just beyond the circ. desk. My media classroom with 30 computers, is adjacent to the LMC. I'll post those pictures next time!

A Smart Board will replace the white board. This area will have 8 round tables with chaird and a laptop on a cart for a classroom area. Through the windows is a large media workroom.

The view looking toward my office (look closely and you can see my cat-in-the-hat art), past the six free standing book cases that will house the fiction collection and along the 52 feet of shelving along the wall where part of the nonfiction collection will be.

Looking back toward the door where I stood to take the previous photo. Additions to this area will include a colorful area rug for students to lounge on while reading.

Standing in the same place as the previous photo. On the left side is another 52 feet of shelving that will hold nonfiction and reference. The four free standing bookcases on the left will hold the Everybody/Easy books. Each of the free standing bookcases are 9 feet long and double sided!

Another view of the wall bookcases and part of the circulation desk and four of the book trucks (there are several more in the media workroom!

Media Center in Progress

2009-07-09T17:02:00.001-07:00

Ten, 9' long and 48in tall, book cases are being assembled this week!
As you can see there is loads of space...Even though I have ordered over 15,000 new books, I'm sure that I'll have room for many more!
I will have round tables in the foreground of the top picture for my classroom area.
I'll post more pictures as I have something to show!

My New Media Center

2009-06-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

Next Thursday I will, officially, be the media specialist for Riverview Elementary School in Farmington, MN. We will have a student population of 675 students in grades k-5.

Riverview is a brand new elementary with a brand new media collection! I have ordered over 15,000 titles (so far) and have quite a few more to go! It has been a a few weeks of flooding myself with a fantastically, fun, frolicking, feast of fabulous books!

Last week we interviewed for my media assistant and offered the position to an affable and smiling woman who has worked as a special education paraprofessional in the district for many years. I think she will be perfect and am looking forward to working with her!

On interview day, I stopped into see the new media center and it is wonderful! It is huge and has an really large skylight that takes up most of the center of the ceiling! There will be 8 search computers in the media center, a classroom area with a Smart Board, a leisure reading area, and a media lab where I will teach many of my classes! There is also another media lab for classroom use!

As soon as I can, I'll post pictures of the transformation.

The trouble with Twitter

2009-03-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Dare I say it?

I am not a Twitter fan. I don't want everyone to know what I'm doing every minute of every day, and I don't want to know what everyone else is doing every minute of every day. This vid. expresses my Twitter thoughts pretty well.

Twouble with Twitter

Have you heard about Earth Hour?

2009-03-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

The idea is that whole communities turn out all the lights for an hour across the world. I wonder just how much energy would be saved in that hour. I bet it is enormous!

8:30PM local time,
wherever you live on planet earth.
Saturday 28 March 2009
Earth Hour Home

I think where ever I am on Saturday evening,
I will join in this effort.
How about you?

Digital Pioneer - That's me!

2009-02-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

Kathy Schrock posted this video on Facebook the other day and no their is a new Ning Group for Digital Pioneers. Are you a DP too?

Digital Pioneer: The Movie from Kathy Schrock on Vimeo.

Thing 25

2009-02-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

Hmmm,
I guess I jumped the gun for thing 25 with the snowfall and blogcasting (see Gabcasting below). Oh well. The widget vidoes were well done and provided a good basic introduction to widgets. I had not been to Technorati before and enjoyed browsing there.

I have played quite a bit with widgets, but truthfully, I see most of them as a waste of time.
I have used the US map of places I've traveled and places my travel bug (with geocaching.com) has traveled. For this blog, the snow was fun, but I'm about done with it. I like having the Youtube videos based on my interests, but I don't care to advertise my music choices, countdown to anything, or play games via my blog, so am passing on most of the thousands (yes, really) og Blidgets, widgets, and gadgets.

I have used Animoto in a Powerpoint presentation and it worked well, but I'm not sure that it was worth the amount of time I put into it. It is doubtful that I will use it again because I am looking for things that do not add significantly to the time I put into a presentation.

I may add a comment box or a "Star" tool. I've looked at shout-out boxes, but the ones I seen are too big and gaudy. I guess I'll just keep looking.

Thing 24 - Refresh My Blog

2009-01-25T14:33:00.000-08:00

Technically, this is a completely new blog because during the first 23 things, I was in a school building where Blogger is blocked. I tried to convert my old blog, at Blogmeister, to a classroom/miscellaneous classroom blog, but it didn't do what I wanted so, I moved here.

I did change/add a couple of things though...
Firstly, notice the snow? It is a cute gadget that I'll leave here for a month.
Secondly, I added Random books from my LibraryThing. Love my Librarything! I participate in the Early Reviewers Group and just got "The Cross: 38102 miles, 38 years, one mission" by Arthur Blessitt. It is a fascinating look at this devoted man and his lifelong mission to follow Jesus. If you want to read it when I'm done, let me know.

I also watched/read the 25 Basic Styles of Blogging slideshow which is similar to the Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes by Jakob Nielson article I read a couple of months ago. I have to say that my opinion has not changed. My blog doesn't fit into a category. I'm not writing it to influence people or get on anyone's list :)

ITunes, Audio Books and slow transfer time

2009-01-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

I listen to audio books while I drive via my iPod. I love the sound quality and clean elegance of not having to switch CDs as I drive.
Currently, I have an 160G iPod with video and TV capability, but I seldom use those features - I wanted a large HD so that I could have a whole library of podcasts, books, and music at my finger tip. My ability to continue this practice was all but eliminated during the past month or so - until today!
Just before the holidays, I was reading "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die," published in 2005 by Cassel and saw the best Jazz album "ever." My husband loves jazz, so I searched until I found the album on CD and was thrilled when it came just before Christmas. Because it was a used album, I decided to play it once to be sure that it was in perfect condition. I popped it into my computer and waited for iTunes to open so that I could play it. That didn't happen; instead, the drive sputtered and music stuttered. The "best jazz album ever" sounded like a cat caught somewhere painful...
Surely, the music was not supposed to sound like that! So, I checked the CD, but it looked pristine. I called Dell and went through a long discussion to test my optical drive, it too seemed to be optimal. Then I got too busy with the holidays and family to think about it any more.
My "research assistant" also known as my husband, had time to do some research on the problem and discovered a solution, and I had time to test it out today.

According to ZDNet Blog, the problem is probably because of a driver in Apple's iTunes 8 update. I went through the article and checked everything it suggested, then popped in an album. It loaded in record time! Yeah!

More Things on a Stick!

2009-01-23T20:35:00.000-08:00

Time flies, and it's time to get back on the stick!
For all of you, my three faithful readers, the original 23 Things on a Stick was a self-paced online web 2.0 learning program. I participated in and thoroughly enjoyed the first program, so I plan to begin working my way through to 47 this time!
I'll be posting the things, and reflecting on each thing as I finish with it, so stay tuned!

Even though I love reading and books...

2008-12-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

These are some amazing alternatives from Offbeat Earth
I especially like this piece by Kaspan.

Boolean Searches

2008-12-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

For quite a few years I have used Rockwell Schrock's Venn Diagram to teach Boolean operators and searching, but today I discovered Boolify, a new visual search tool that illustrates Boolean searching in an authentic way.
I think it will be a nice addition to the information specialist "bag of tricks."

Thanksgiving part I and II

2008-11-29T20:20:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely day Thursday with our daughter's family. Here are the two grand-boys and me in my chair reading a book and "vegging out" after a traditional dinner.
Saturday our son's family and my dear MiL made the trip for another celebration of food and family!
It is my habit to leave a couple of books on the bedside tables in our guest rooms and I am always tickled when a guest connects to a book and takes it away with them to read.
This weekend, my daughter-in-law brought "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" back that she began reading last time she was here. I wonder which of the books she will connect with this visit :)
I put "P.S. I Love You" in my mother-in-law's room and I hope she will like it. Time will tell.
This weekend, I paused in my reading of "Work Hard. Be Nice." to quickly read the House of Night series so that I can put them on my bookshelf at school on Monday. I can think of several students to whom I will recommend these titles.

The Vault and other wonders of Minitex

2008-11-23T10:26:00.000-08:00

Friday, I spent an enjoyable afternoon at the UM Twin Cities Campus. Though I was very nervous and there for a job interview, the staff was so welcoming and relaxed that I almost felt like it was a visit with new friends.
One major highlight was a visit to the Vaults! I had heard about an enormous underground cavern (about a mile underground) with ceilings more than 20 feet high that seemed to go on for miles. Well, the real caverns are about 80 feet underground, and huge, but I'm not sure about going on for miles. In many ways, the truth is far more impressive than the stories. Most of the complex is double walled. The outer wall is the sandstone and shale of the cliffs lined with concave shaped, poured concrete sections that are 22 feet tall. My guess is that they behave similarly to an arch, which you may know is structurally very strong. To preserve the integrity of the ceilings, they had to place long iron "bolts," every couple of feet, through all the levels of sandstone and shale, then secure the bolts with a kind of washer and nut - this is a simplistic explanation, but I pictured something like rebar in cement but with big washer/nuts on the ends. The entire ceiling is covered with metal mesh, as safety precaution, so one can not see the washer and bolts.
The inner walls are nearly as tall and lined with poured cement sections, and a separate ceiling. This inner structure is completed watertight. There is a space of about 5' between the outer and inner walls that serves as insulation. I got to see this through a cool window in a section of inner wall. Through the window one could see the limestone, the concave cement sections and the way the moisture from the walls were beginning to create tiny stalactites.
The temperature and humidity is kept at a constant 62 degrees and 50% relative humidity, which is almost what is is naturally at that depth! In the areas where people work everyday, the temperature is higher, but one of the librarians who works in the archives, said that the first year they all had to wear those open finger-tip gloves and fleece jackets!
My favorite part of the tour, though, was the vaults! These enormous spaces really are the length of two football fields laid end-to-end! The ceilings really are about 20 feet tall and contain floor to ceiling shelves! I really wanted to run up and down the stacks and look at everything. I love browsing.
Anyway, the books and other items stored in the two vaults belong to the University and to public libraries from everywhere in the state. These items may be used only occasionally in the library of origin, but here, because of Minitex, they are available for use by every MN citizen with a library card!
That brings us to the next most interesting area of the tour - the Minitex circulation department. I learned that there are "1000 requests" for items every Monday (that number doesn't include the requests arriving every other day!) and that trucks, of all sizes, arrive and leave everyday to shuttle the items requested to hubs around the state where they are sorted and moved off to the individual library sites. To take advantage of this service, simply have your library card number handy and search for what you want here: MNLink
I'm sure that very few library users have any idea of the massive number of items that are moved through the system on a daily basis, and that tells me that the librarians at Minitex and around the state are doing a great job.

Podcast #2

2008-11-21T13:59:00.001-08:00

Gabcast! Podcast #2

Tighter Focus?!

2008-11-17T05:28:00.000-08:00

Today, I miss having an Interrobang (!?). Whomever decided to drop it from the readily available punctuation options

I was listening/reading to a session from the Not K12 Online 2008 Conference and a speaker referred to good blog design. As is the norm for me, my interest was peaked and I immediately jumped over to look at the article: Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes by Jakob Nielson. Even though it is from 2005, the points he makes about blog readability and design are timeless and worth reading; however, I have a small problem with No 8, called Mixing Topics. Nielson says "The more focused your content, the more focused your readers. That, again, makes you more influential within your niche."
I guess the assumption is that one wants to be "influential in my niche?!" Just so you know, this blog is about the day-to-day life in Book's nook. There is no tight focus. My life is all over the board and so is this blog. While I know several people who have more than one personal blog, most do not keep them up on a regular basis. I personally, would rather read a blog that is updated regularly and may have a personal rant thrown in, than have to follow four blogs from the same person.

Podcasting with your cell phone

2008-11-15T19:51:00.001-08:00

Podcasting made easy! The days of needing a special microphone to make a podcast are over. Gabcast is a free service that allows you to call a toll free number and record your audio podcast anytime and almost from anywhere (the sound quality is as good as your cell phone reception).

I will be using this app with my students this week so come back to see the results.

Just trying to keep up

2008-11-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

This week I have been at Moorhead State University for a two day American History Seminar. I was lucky enough to win a spot in the Teaching American History Grant program with a focus for this year on Early American History.

Margaret Sankey, MSUM History Professor, spoke about the British perspective of pre-colonial America, and I was fascinated by the anecdotal information on the monarchy. Everyone of the speakers was great and I learned so many new history tid-bits. It was a good time.

In the meantime, some of you may know that I have been pursuing the possibility of a new job in a library, and I got a message inviting me to come for a job interview in the Twin Cities next Friday. I will need to make a 10 minute presentation on something that I might be teaching in this position. There are so many things that I could talk on for 10 minutes, so I have been thinking about and exploring possibilites. I conducted an informal survey and found that only about 3% of the teachers I work with know about and use Delicious, Skype, or RSS.

My first thought was to do something with ELM, but that seems too expected, so I have decided to look at something int he Library 2.0 category. I emailed a few professional friends asking "what have you heard of lately or do you wish you knew more about?" Of the three friends I wrote, all mentioned Blogs and RSS.

One thing that I am particularly interested in right now is mobile podcasting. Gabcast is a versatile application that allows a person to create a podcast from any phone, then, and this is really cool, it posts you podcast into your blog!

The other thing I'm working on is lesson plans for my Social Studies classes. After all I am still teaching! World Geography is in the Middle East, and US History is beginning the Industrial Revolution.

Podcast #1

2008-11-15T11:57:00.001-08:00

Gabcast! Podcast #1

Adventures and misadventures at the ALC

2008-10-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting week at the ALC
Monday a speaker visited our school. A couple of English classes are reading "Downriver," a novel about a group of teenagers who go down the Colorado River at flood stage. The visitor is a professional white water rafter. He spoke to the whole student body for about three hours. I was so proud of the way our students acted. The man had slides and spoke slowly, the projection screen was on the small side, and they could have chosen to let those things get in the way of enjoying the presentation, but they didn't. For almost three hours they sat and watched the slides of a group of six as they progressed down the Colorado River.

Sometime in the third hour one student had a medical emergency and we had a to have an ambulance come. The speaker stopped the presentation for a while, but once everything was under control finished up and the kids were dismissed to return to classes. They all behaved so maturely. I was proud of the actions of everyone of them.

The student who had the medical emergency will be okay too.