Teacher-Librarian
Jun 3rd, 2010 by Amanda
Please follow me at Amanda Davis!
Since Edublogs is now charging if I want to embed video and widgets, I am moving to WordPress. If you are interested in how to import your old blog into a new one, just send me an email and I’ll send you some easy instructions:)
May 28th, 2010 by Amanda
WOW! So I managed to wait – not quite until the last minute – to complete my missing activities! Yikes! I really had a good time though. My favorite is Instant Messaging. I think it is such a great tool. I would love to be connected with others to collaborate on lessons and have our kids interact!
It has been great to read how others are using the tools and hopefully you have gotten ideas from me as well.
Obviously my favorite is Becca. She is so open with ideas and help it is easy to want to try new things.
Next, I want to continue the work I have started here!
May 28th, 2010 by Amanda
Activity 1
Wikipedia has a post for our school so I occasionally go in and add stuff for the Library. It seems like Wikipedia is losing a bit of steam for our kids. With the influx of widgets coming from our databases, it is making it very easy for kids to use. I would like to collaborate on a lesson with one or more of our teachers to have their kids find a Wikipedia article and have the kids add missing information.
Activity 2
This activity did not work out for me. I managed to add a page but couldn’t figure out how to link it on the list of participants:( Grrr.
May 28th, 2010 by Amanda
My username on Library Thing is adavismom. We can be “friends” and see what books you love.
I have a great story my sister-in-law recently shared. Last time we were together I mentioned how much I love Library Thing and how I use it. I have a list of books I have read, list of books I want to read (INVALUABLE), and a list of books for my two boys – read and to read. I helped her get set up. My SIL received her Doctorate last year and had a mentor she thought a lot of. About a month ago he passed away and his wife is donating his personal library to The University of Oklahoma. His wife allowed my SIL the opportunity to look through and make notes before the collection was catalogued. She contacted me and wanted help uploading to her Library Thing. She was ultimately able to scan everything in and tag according to how she knew the professor would have wanted. The library will of course catalogue and keep as a collection but now my SIL is able to create a list of her own that is relevant and meaningful. He truly created a legacy with his collection and had shared with her how different materials were used. Now she has forever, handy access to her mentor.
I am the queen of post-it notes but would like to have everything online. I use Remember the Milk to keep track of to-do lists. I have different lists – personal, work, websites to come back to, etc. It is SO handy. If I have a blog idea I type blog – idea, newsletter idea I type newsletter – blah blah blah. Good-bye post-it notes, ok maybe not good-bye but just a sometimes friend:)
May 28th, 2010 by Amanda
I used Slideshare this year with the Science department. It was a much more efficient use of time when kids presented. They didn’t have to log in to their folder or put flashdrives in and out. This also saved space on the server! Search for bvwdavis on Slideshare to view projects.
I have used Animoto several times – here is something I created for my mom & mother-in-law:)
I am having trouble with the embed feature so here is a link.
May 28th, 2010 by Amanda
I created this video to provide an overview to our Social Studies department. This is a new database for us this year.
Global Issues from Amanda Davis on Vimeo.
This is a great way to keep explanations short and sweet! Teachers may not have 30 minutes before or after school to get a demo but they usually have a few minutes during their plan. I received a great response from this and it really helped to jumpstart usage!
May 28th, 2010 by Amanda
Activity 1
Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.
This is a clever way to present a poem analyzing communication.
Becca used Animoto to create our Annual Report. I know I didn’t technically create this video but I was either in or taking pics and video used here. We have found this is a very effective way of letting our administrators know the impact of our library program.
2010 BVWLMC Annual Report
Not sure why these aren’t embedding so you see the video to click instead of just seeing the link – any ideas?
May 28th, 2010 by Amanda
This lesson is one of my favorite things to do! Let’s be clear, I do not have these natural abilities. My colleague, Becca Munson is the techy guru of my world! I am pretty good at figuring things out but not so good with staying “ahead of the game.” I vow to improve next year! More about that later…
Becca put a Meebo widget on our library webpage. We also use them on Libguides (pathfinder we subscribe to). We love it, the kids love, teachers love it, everyone loves it! It is great if we are full with classes in the library and someone in a computer lab has a quick question. We also will have a student in the library ask a quick question. Sometimes they know it is us, other times they think it is a cybrarian (I think I just made up a word:). Sometimes kids ask funny questions, dating advice, etc.
My all-time fav though is Skype. Oh how I love you Skype! In our library Becca and I sit at tables on opposite ends (18 student computers separate us). Everyone comments we are just missing the candelabras because we are facing each other at a very long table. We share links back and forth, inside jokes and random questions – ok, those mostly go from me to her!
Next year, Becca is opening a new high school – Blue Valley Southwest! I will miss her terribly! Good thing she isn’t here today – I am little, ok a lot, emotional:( But Skype, my love, will allow me to not only still send her random messages, I can use video:)
My Skype name is bvwdavis if you want to find me. I do get random requests occasionally so in your message be sure to tell me who you are so I will accept you!
May 28th, 2010 by Amanda
So how fast am I going to scramble to blaze through 23 Things? I am horribly embarrassed at how far behind I am and will save you the excuses:) I really do enjoy blogging and love this has given me my kick in the pants to keep going!
I am in charge of Advisory next year. This is a 45 minute block of time we use to create bonds with kids and is a district initiative for student wellness. It is not the most popular class at our school. There are a variety of reasons. A few I see – there are a variety of teaching styles. Not everyone feels comfortable doing the same activity, playing games, or having small talk with 20-25 kids. Our students seem to have heard the same themes year-to-year (bullying, drinking, drugs, sex, etc.) I know these lessons are important so maybe changing terminologies or approaches will help. I shared Advisory Ideas with a 23 Things colleague and a colleague from work. I would love your opinions as well! Any ideas for activities or topics your school successfully uses would be great!!
Feb 26th, 2010 by Amanda
I am so excited this worked! I used information from web2telegraph to create this panoramic. The scary part was downloading from IrfanView because I am just not comfortable downloading from the internet. I looked around the site though and it is sponsored by cnet. Not sure why that makes me feel better but all seems good for now. I will definitely let you know if I come across any issues. It was easy so that makes me even more nervous:)
I took pictures of our library, opened Irfanview, clicked Image, Create Panoramic Image. I browsed for the pics – which I had saved on my desktop. I added them in the order I wanted on the header but I noticed it rearranges them alpha or numerically but you can easily switch the order. After you get the correct order, click Create Image. The last step is to choose Image, then Resize/Resample. Change the width to 760 and the height automatically updates. Choose File and Save As – I saved to my desktop.
For your blog, choose Custom Header. Browse to locate where you saved the header you created, upload and voila! I really hope my downloads don’t mess up my computer because this was just too much fun:)
