Thank You, Media Clerks

This post is long overdue. I want to share with all just how rewarding the Library Learning 2.0 for Media Clerks PST really was. We all agreed on our path, learning more about the Read/Write web, and were excited to learn new tools for sharing and enhancing our own learning. That we did. But, what I wasn’t expecting was the phenomenal affinity, communication, and sharing that this group experienced.

We all have the same job title, but our jobs are so different. We are all valued at different levels. We all have different comfort levels with technology and digital resources. But, in this classroom, we were all learners. We were frustrated, intrigued, ready to quit, and exuberant. We laughed and cried out in joy upon mastery of new skills. We all hung in there together. And, we learned a lot. It was exciting to see everyone’s blog develop into a personal platform and a great reflective journal of our learning journey. This professional study team turned into so much more – a valuable personal learning network. The conclusion of this class is not the end, but only a jumping off point to keep learning on our own.

This is my “hats off” to all the clerks who participated and all of their hard work for 12 weeks. Thanks for the new friendships and sharing your learning journeys. I look forward to our next professional study team endeavor.

Desperate for more open windows

No, I don't mean the air flow type. I have now hit tech land where I can simply not keep loosing my open windows in Citrix. What a nussance to have to keep going back and reopening the sites. I know we glossed over something that does this, and I think it's Foxfire, but I need the "you can learn this in less than two minutes" tutorial. Can you help... (Myra).
Also, I got an email form the Wikispaces people and I am so happy we can now play with the fonts, colors, etc. I just wish free time came with this offer.

Trouble in River City

I am having trouble with getting my picture in a post turning out right. I use the add image icon. I find my image and pick my layout. But when posted it never looks right. The picture and text are not close together and look good. What am I doing wrong?

SPRING BOOK DISPLAY IDEA

Spring sports just started last week in our district. I took a $1 green plastic tablecloth (the dollar store by Kmart has become my new best friend!) and cut it in half. Use one half to cover a box and the other half to cover a table/counter, etc.

I pulled various non-fiction books about golf, baseball, track& field, and soccer, then displayed them on this table. I also found some fiction books about baseball.

"Jump into a good book" "Swing into a good book", etc.!

Just an idea for an easy display!
Ann at LYMDSR

Flickr Editing

Flicker picture editing tip.
I found if I was in Citrix I could not download the Flickr editing program. When I closed out of Citrix I could. It is basic but it works just fine for my needs at this time.

Periodicals

Per our Media Clerk meeting today regarding periodicals, I wanted to post this question:

What periodicals work for your library and what Library are you located in? We are weeding out a few, and adding a few new. I would like a good technology magazine for teens, and a snowboard magazine (both Middle School level). Have you had any luck on these topics where they are popular with your students, and if so what magazines are they?
Thank You!

Flip Video Camera Update

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by Bud the Teacher

Well...we love the ease of use, the portability of the video files, the price, and all the ideas for use in the library. We plan on getting, at least, a couple more to get into the hands of teachers and students for projects. When everything works...

A word of caution: There does seem to be some issues with the Flip Video Camera software working on the district server. It won't work on the Citrix environment, either. The software actually resides in the camera, but the computer still has to recognize it when it is plugged into the USB port.

Our hero, Nick from DTS, spent a lot (a lot) of time trying to make this work for us. So far? ...well, it is still showing some errors when we plug the camera in. We'll do some more playing, editing, and investigating to make sure this is a great camera for use in the library.

Just a note: I plan on getting one for my own use. It works like a dream on a non-school computer (my laptop or home computer). When time permits (?), I'll post a sample video here for you to view. Coming soon...

Photo: Multimedia message Originally uploaded by Bud the Teacher

Flicker Frustration

I have decided to trust Flickr and have begun to upload my many, many pictures from my documents files. What I am getting frustrated with is the slowness of this program. So far I can only load 6 at a time. This is too labor intensive when you have tons. Has anyone found an easier way to download more at a time? Also, Flickr only is set up with three "sets". Surely they jest. How can anyone have but three identifiers. I understand the tag vs set but I don't see using the tags as I would use the sets. Can anyone help me?

ILL Checkin

Good morning, Everyone! I'm just doing an update to the issue that I brought up at the last MC meeting. Lynn was nice enough to run a test with me and I found that when she returned to me the book that was ILL'd to her...I checked it in, but the CI window came up with no text in it. When I rescanned the barcode, I got a "this book wasn't checked out" error window. However, when I checked the barcode in the system, it showed "shelving cart". So, even though the first scan produced no text in the CI window, the book actually had been categorized properly. My suggestion is that instead of having a blank window show up on first scan, have it show "shelving cart" as it does with any other checked in book.

Have a great day, Ladies! Kim

Library Learning 2.0 for Media Clerks

We are now in our third week of learning about Web 2.0 tools, applications, and ways to use them for our own productivity and in the library with our staff and students.

So far? Blogging, RSS, Technorati, Flickr, Image Generators, and lots of exploration ...a TON of learning going on; discovery, laughter, some frustration, some jubilant outcries, and some chaos. What fun.

You can visit our path and progress here. Take some time to browse, see what we are up to, visit a few blogs, and maybe even leave a comment or two.

Media Clerks Cherry Coffeecake recipe

Holli asked me to post this recipe for the cherry coffeecake that I brought to the clerks meeting.
Cherry Coffeecake Ann @LYMDSR 1/08
2 sticks oleo
1¾ cup sugar *
4 eggs, add one at a time
1½ tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
½ tsp salt
1½ tsp baking powder

1 can cherry pie filling
1 tsp almond extract

Cream oleo & sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
Add flour, salt and baking powder. Spread ¾ batter in greased 12x15 inch pan.
Add almond extract to cherry pie filling. Spread cherries over batter. Drop remaining
batter hit and miss over cherries. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes.

Make icing: Warm 2 Tablespoons oleo and 2 Tablespoons milk until oleo melts. Add
½ tsp vanilla. Stir in 1 cup powdered sugar to make a thin icing. Drizzle over warm coffee cake. Cool. Serve!
*high altitude tip, I always reduce the sugar in any cookie or cake recipe, for every cup of sugar in a recipe...use ¾ cup sugar and ¼ cup powdered milk.

Book suggestions for 9th grade girls?

Does anyone have some book suggestions for a group of 9th grade girls that have read the three books by Stephanie Meyer? They like romance and loved the Meyer series of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse.
Any suggestions would be quite helpful! Ann @ LYMDSR.

The Darkest Evening of the Year

The Darkest Evening of the Year, by Dean Koontz, was next on my shelf of holiday reads. I like to be scared, I like supernatural, I like thrillers, and I like Golden Retrievers. It should have been a home run. Not quite. After reading some really good books lately, this one didn't make the grade.

In typical Koontz's style, this is a story of evil building for a confrontation with good. Intermix some supernatural elements and you have his formula. He used this story for the advocacy of Golden Retriever Rescue and a plea for the humane treatment of dogs -- that is a good thing. But I felt that it got to the point of lecture, not story. I also found the horrible things that his antagonist(s) thought and did very distasteful -- perhaps the scary part was that humans perhaps do have the capacity for that kind of evil.

Even with the supernatural elements, my love of Goldens, and the triumph of good over evil, this is not one I will recommend.

The World Just Got a Lot Smaller

As I ponder the possibilities in 2008, my first task is to let go of the remorse for things left undone in 2007. On the bright side, my to-do list is already populated for the new year. As I look forward to the new year, I am excited about the prospects -- and all of those prospects all revolve around education – more precisely, learning. My learning journey.

I am 54 years old and I feel like I’m just entering a new realm…again. The world continues to shrink – I am amazed that I can participate in world conversations via the Internet. My goals, this year, are to become an active participant in that world and create some personal learning networks. But, I won’t go alone. I plan on taking lots of people with me, as this is too big of a thing to keep to oneself.

Learning is my keyword for 2008. Not just my own, but I am fortunate enough to be in education – not as a teacher, but as one who can influence. Maybe that's even better.