Journeys

Action Plan

2012-01-29T12:43:00.005-05:00

I've had almost a week to process my experiences at ALA Midwinter; for the past few days, I've been participating virtually in EduCon. There is a conversational thread running through these and other gatherings, a sense that the time for talking is over, the time for acting is now.
How can I be part of the recasting of librarianship in particular, and education in general?

For all my talk of being self-embedded, there are limitations to what I can accomplish as an unattached teacher/librarian. With no students of my own, I must wait to be invited into a classroom. I am an afterthought, an add-on, rather than an integral part of the learning process.

I need to leverage my solitude, increase my productivity - and keep my sense of worth in the unfamiliar and unstructured world of retirement.

Here's my menu of possibilities:

continue to construct slideshares on topics that interest me, e.g. photography and storytelling
periodically remind members of my social network that I'm available via Skype for reading to, or chatting with, students
consider new options: would my friend's home-schooled child like to have a personal librarian or research buddy? Is there some way I could volunteer in our public or community college libraries?
spend less time chatting at conferences and more time actively participating in sessions, with the intent of investigating new topics for personal exploration
become more active in my professional organizations
seek out additional opportunities for writing

It's sketchy, but it's a plan. Retirement requires a tricky balancing act. I don't want to waste my time, I want to spend it wisely. Travel is fun, but after a while people tire of being around a dilettante.

In the words of the immortal Barbarella:

"A life without cause is a life without effect."

"Barbarella" by pellesten

The Self-Embedded Librarian

2012-01-12T20:23:00.009-05:00

I recently had the pleasure of returning to the school where I had served as K-12 teacher/librarian - not to read stories, but to speak to a photography class.

The art teacher, Leslie Gould, and I have remained in contact via Facebook, so she knew of my passion for capturing images. After a few postponements, I was finally able to participate in the first of what I hope will be a series of onsite classroom experiences.

Our planning was done via an exchange of messages and emails. After the students left, Leslie and I discussed how we might collaborate in the future. I've begun utilizing Pinterest to archive project suggestions and to display my own collection of photography- and creativity-themed books, so that she can match my resources to her curriculum.

I've interacted, via Skype, with students in a number of states, even another country, but there is something very satisfying about being physically present during a lesson. I would love to expand this aspect of my professional involvement, becoming a "blended" visitor.

As many of you know, I'm nominally retired, but still active as a writer, consultant, and collaborator. After years of learning about, and reflecting on, libraries and librarianship, I just couldn't walk away from the profession. For anyone in a similar situation, I've created a short SlideShare that offers some suggestions for reshaping your career after retirement. If you have additional pointers, please share your insights!

The self embedded librarian

View more presentations from Diane Cordell

"Welcome Mrs. Cordell" by dmcordell

Flickr Badge Generator

2012-01-02T21:06:00.007-05:00

This posting originally appeared on January 2, 2010. I thought that some of my friends, who are just beginning their first photo-a-day (in a leap year, 366) project, might be interested in the information contained here.

Many members of my PLN have decided to participate in a 365 Challenge, taking and posting new photos at regular intervals.

Although some people choose to set up a unique blog for the project, I found it easiest to upload and tag my images in Flickr sets, separate ones for each calendar month and an additional set for the entire year.

If you're a blogger and decide to use Flickr for the Challenge, it's fun to add a badge to your site. Just go to the Make a Badge page and follow the simple directions.

"There are two types of badge to choose from: HTML or Flash. You will be able to select to display things from your own collection, one of your groups, or everyone's uploads. You can also filter any of these options by a tag, if you wish."

Be sure to tag your photographs and send them to your group(s). I also share my "picture of the day" on Facebook, Plurk, and Twitter.

Inspiration for 2012

2011-12-31T13:02:00.009-05:00

I've noticed that many of my online friends are posting inspirational quotes on this, the last day of 2011.

With that example in front of me, I've selected some guiding thoughts and reminders for 2012:

Pay Attention to the Story

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/5762598591/

"There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story." -Linda Hogan

The Poetry of the Earth is Never Dead

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/5719341693/

"The poetry of the earth is never dead." -John Keats

The Fair Adventure of Tomorrow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/5782250450/

"The day shall not be up so soon as I, To try the fair adventure of tomorrow." -William Shakespeare

In My Own Time

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/6056551063/

"Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time." -Deborah Chaskin

The Dance of Life

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/6033860528/

“The journey between who you once were, and who you are now becoming, is where the dance of life really takes place.”- Barbara De Angelis

WHEN I AM AMONG TREES

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/5215544196/

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."
-Mary Oliver

2011: My Year in Review

2011-12-27T10:08:00.007-05:00

2011: My Year in Review

View more presentations from Diane Cordell.

Learning More Deeply

2011-12-22T14:33:00.005-05:00

"measuring up" by woodleywonderworks

In a recent posting, Buffy Hamilton took advantage of winter break to reflect on her professional practice:

"My colleague Kristin Fontichiaro inspired me earlier this year to hone in on helping teachers and students go beyond surface level knowledge and the 'shininess' of students merely producing something with a web 2.0 tool and to look at how digitally created content reflects rigor in terms of content and composition."

I would strongly recommend that you visit The Unquiet Librarian and read Midyear Reflections: Challenges of Supporting Student Digital Nonfiction Composition in its entirety. Buffy's self-assessment is tough but fair, displaying the type of rigor, that can be defined as "the quality of being extremely thorough, exhaustive, or accurate" rather than "severity or strictness; excessive sternness."

If our educational goal is to have students acquire knowledge, rather than merely complete tasks, we must provide the scaffolding, exemplary models, and formative assessments that Buffy is striving to infuse into her students' learning experiences.

"It might be easier to define rigor by noting what it is not: Rigor is not a synonym for ‘harder,’ and it does not mean moving first-grade curriculum into kindergarten, or algebra into the seventh grade. … Rigor means teaching and learning things more thoroughly – more deeply." -Nancy Flanagan

Five and Ten

2011-12-18T09:28:00.017-05:00

As I write a longer, more reflective piece about 2011, I'm pausing to note my five most read blog postings and ten most viewed photos of the past year.

I hope some of them have entertained or engaged you.

From Journeys:

May 16, 2011 Cat Among the Pigeons

A response to Seth Godin's posting, The future of the library: "Change is not only an option, change is an imperative. Don't just get your feathers ruffled: inquire, assess, learn, adapt. Evolve."

June 21, 2011 ISTE Update - Two Days to Departure

Getting ready for ISTE 2100, in Philadelphia: "I've added an exciting event to my ISTE planner: TEDxPhiladelphiaED. This (naturally) creates a conflict in my schedule, but a group of us will be leaving E duBloggerCon a bit early so that we can attend both events."

July 28, 2011 Never Underestimate...

Buffy Hamilton takes on Amazon: "Referring to the both the experience and the responses she's received, Buffy wrote this Facebook message, 'All I can say is the Amazon has truly underestimated the potential of the K12 market.' Someone in the corporate realm had better be listening."

October 16, 2011 AASL 2011 Learning Commons

Our spot to "Share, Connect, Grow" at the American Association of School Librarians conference: "The Learning Commons is the perfect venue for self-directed professional development. It's free and open to everyone at the conference. Consider the possibilities; join in the fun!"

January 22, 2011 The Power of the Product: An EduCon Conversation

Gwyneth Jones and I facilitate the creation of a crowd-sourced slideshow: "A conversation is only as 'Creative, Meaningful and Daring' as its participants. Come join us, and see what we can build together!"

From Flickr:

Looking into the Past 6/21/11
Dad took this photo of his new bride 65 years ago tomorrow, in front of the Queensbury Hotel. My parents were on the way to Montreal for their honeymoon.

Hometown Graffiti 3/20/11
Brigham Young basketball sensation [now signed as an NBA rookie with the Sacramento Kings] Jimmer Fredette has been "immortalized" on a brick wall in Glens Falls, NY, where residents take pride in the success of a local boy.

Digital Divide poster 8/07/11

The Frog Prince poster 4/27/11

Shoes of ISTE 11: Buffy Hamilton Edition 6/28/11
Librarian wardrobe essential: wedge heels with flowers - in silver, of course!

Anywhere's a Better Place to Be 8/14/11
School version.

Sunset, Dorado 3/03/11
We are in Paradise!

Good Morning, Buffy! 11/26/11
It was nice to open my morning newspaper and see a friend looking back at me.

Luscious 2/05/11
36/365 While the weather outside is frightful - sleet, ice and snow in a crazy melange - it's nice to contemplate a sweeter variety of frozen matter. This vegetable- and fruit-flavored gelato tempts shoppers in Philadelphia.

Fish Story 1/19/11
A Redeye Bass starts to show its true colors on my husband's drawing board.

To all my friends, old and new, face-to-face and virtual (but still "real")...thank you for visiting my blog. Whatever you celebrate, have a wonderful holiday!

#Eddies11

2011-12-04T22:31:00.003-05:00

My first Tweet:

"blogging, browsing my Google Reader, trying to figure out twitter!" 04:50 PM September 29, 2007

From such a modest beginning, my network has expanded and so have my horizons. I value the connections and the conversations. Just being part of such a diverse group makes me feel like a winner!

If you would like to vote in the 2011 Edublog Awards, please visit the official site.

A Portion of Thyself

2011-12-01T14:17:00.010-05:00

"Box with Gift" by Robo Android

It's that time of year when many people are searching for that perfect gift for someone special. Why not take the opportunity to do more than exchange "stuff;" why not exchange - and create - memories?

Here are some suggestions that will help you tap into the power of storytelling:

Charms and Jewelry
Among my mother's bits of jewelry was a charm bracelet, which my daughter now wears with an extender, as a necklace. Each tiny gold object represents a person, place or event. I enjoyed sharing the history of this heirloom with her as we remembered a dearly loved relative.

There are a number of popular charm bracelet options available, so if you haven't inherited such a piece, you can begin creating one now.

Lockets and Ornaments
Personalizing objects with images is a lovely way to remember special occasions and share family portraits with future generations. Either purchase a frame and insert your own photo, or visit a site like Zazzle to design and order customized items.

Audio Recordings, Books and Albums
Why not interview a grandparent, or just capture random musings about your childhood and days gone by? You can purchase picture books that will "record a story" in your own voice; fotobabble, where users create "talking photos," provides a free alternative.

There are dozens of sites where it is possible to write a book or collect photographs for private publication. It might be fun to include family members in the creation process rather than just present them with a finished product. Photos can also be share in a physical album, on a CD or archived in a website or wiki. Please remember to label and tag as much as you can!

Artifacts
When the urge to declutter hits (maybe a New Year's resolution?), select and share both objects and their stories with others. My family has had fun reminiscing about clothing, toys, household items, and, of course, books and photos. I treasure my mother's WAC dog tags and her apron.....the tiny bib overalls that both my children wore as babies... some of my father's WWII aviation instruments and one of the soft and snowy handkerchiefs he always carried with him. Sometimes the plainest, most ordinary things trigger the dearest memories.

The Gift of Time
American essayist and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said that “The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.” Although presents add to holiday merriment, making a conscious effort to spend time with those you love is the greatest gift of all.

Share your stories, help others create their own stories.

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” -Kahlil Gibran

Civil Discourse

2011-11-30T08:13:00.004-05:00

"couple yelling at each other" by hang_in_there

There have been numerous mentions in my network recently of an online petition to Save School Libraries, which recommends that:

"Any school receiving Federal funds should be required to have a credentialed School Librarian on staff full time with a library that contains a minimum of 18 books per student. Failure to have a school library open to all students and/or failure to have a credentialed School Librarian to run that library should be punishable by a immediate withdrawal of all Federal monies."

While many people supported this proposal, Buffy Hamilton chose to blog about Why I Am Not Signing the "Save Libraries" Petition. Doug Johnson voiced his agreement with Buffy in You can't mandate quality, but you can mandate mediocrity. Each of these postings was thoughtful, reasoned, dispassionate. Unfortunately, many of the comments added by readers were not.

During my classroom days, I sometimes shared with my students the Rules of Civility that were written by a teenage George Washington. Although we laughed at some of the caveats ("Spit not in the Fire, nor Stoop low before it neither Put your Hands into the Flames to warm them, nor Set your Feet upon the Fire especially if there be meat before it."), and shook our heads at others ("In Speaking to men of Quality do not lean nor Look them full in the Face, nor approach too near them at lest Keep a full Pace from them.") we found some recommendations that still hold true after more than 250 years.

In regards to conversation, Washington admonishes:

Use no Reproachfull Language against any one neither Curse nor Revile.
Let your Conversation be without Malice or Envy, for 'tis a Sign of a Tractable and Commendable Nature: And in all Causes of Passion admit Reason to Govern.
When you deliver a matter do it without passion & with discretion, however mean the person be you do it too.

Two hot topics in education today are cyberbullying and good digital citizenship. We cannot just pontificate on these issues. We need to model positive behavior for our students. Disagreeing with a professional colleague in a respectful manner is appropriate; personal attacks and name-calling are not.

When engaging in a public discussion, please remember to keep a civil tongue in your head.

Turning the Page

2011-11-10T15:03:00.008-05:00

Turning the Page: AASL 2011

It has been about ten days since I returned home from AASL 2011, in Minneapolis, MN. I get so involved and distracted at large conferences that I never blog on site, and only tweet during some of the presentations. My intent was to write at least one, perhaps two, postings on my experience there.

Life has intervened.

So I'll just highlight a few items, share what I did (and photographed, of course!), and recommend that those interested in more information pay a visit to the AASL11 Ning, which is still being updated and contains a wealth of content.

Exploratorium
This was my debut as a presenter in the E xploratorium, and I loved it. It reminded me of a school science fair, where people circulate and ask questions about projects. The space was nicely set up, with room to move around among the tables, which were arranged by topic. My partners - Shannon M. Miller and John Schumacher - and I talked about our collaborations: all of us in Club Click, and Shannon and John through the Two Libraries, One Voice series of activities. The information exchange worked both ways, and I feel that I learned as much from our visitors as they, hopefully, learned from us.

Exploratorium - Shannon Miller, Diane Cordell, John Schu(macher)

Sessions
There was an amazing, almost over-whelming, selection of general and concurrent sessions from which to choose. Full registration at AALS 2011 included the Virtual Conference, which offered both livestreaming of events and access to archived slidecasts, recordings, and speaker handouts. Conference videos and discussion forums can also be found at the aforementioned Ning (which is still encouraging presenters to share materials and engage in conversation on the site).

Definitions of Transliteracy - Buffy Hamilton

The Learning Commons
AASL 2011 National Conference Conference Committee Social Media Chair, Buffy Hamilton, did an outstanding job of organizing and publicizing all the many ways to share in this event, whether attending physically or virtually. By far, my favorite choice was the Learning Commons, a space for teaching, learning, connecting. There were short presentations, informal discussions, and casual conversations. The LC was, and should be, about networking and sharing knowledge. It succeeded on both fronts.

Diane Cordell, Tami Tagtow in the Learning Commons

Minneapolis
The city was a delight, with enclosed walkways, easy transport, good restaurants, plentiful shopping opportunities and, above all, friendly people. The closing celebration for the conference featured Minnesota delicacies, like pan-fried Walleye and a wild rice paella. Even the weather cooperated, sparing us the snow that my home state experienced while I was away. Given the chance, I will definitely visit Minneapolis again in the future.

Love from Minnesota

Looking Ahead
AASL 2011 was a valuable experience for those lucky enough to attend. Although the next national conference won't be held until 2013, in Hartford Connecticut, there will be a Fall Forum from October 12-13, 2012, in Greenville, SC. The theme will be Transliteracy and the School Library, with speakers to be announced soon. If you'd like to learn more about this increasingly important topic, please consider joining your fellow school librarians in beautiful South Carolina.

Resources
SlideShare from the Learning Commons, A Way of Knowing
A Livestream recording of my commentary on the slides
Wiki created for our discussion of library design
All photos are from my AASL11 - Minneapolis, MN set

School Libraries...Free eBook

2011-10-23T09:58:00.006-04:00

School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come

Ebook By Kristin Fontichiaro
Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: Oct. 15, 2011
Category: Non-Fiction » Education and Study Guides » Teaching
Category: Essay » Technology
Words: 45706 (approximate)
Language: English

A crowdsourced collection of over 100 essays from around the world about trends in school libraries written by librarians, teachers, publishers, and library vendors. Edited by Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton. Foreword by R. David Lankes. Photographs by Diane Cordell.

I've recently had the pleasure of contributing to this project, the brainchild of Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton. The essays were written by a wonderful mix of education professionals, and will hopefully spark many future discussions.

My essay can be found in Chapter 9, Collaboration - "Diane Cordell: Bridging Space and Time: Collaborating for Learning," and my photos are scattered throughout the book.

School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come is available for free download in a variety of formats at Smashwords. Continue the dialog by leaving a review on the site.

The Learning Commons at AASL 2011

2011-10-18T19:12:00.003-04:00

Come join us in Minneapolis, and take advantage of the opportunity to Share, Connect, and Grow!

To see the full-screen version, go to AASL 2011 Social Media and Learning Commons

AASL 2011 Learning Commons

2011-10-16T15:41:00.003-04:00

"Bloggers Cafe Joyce presenting" by msbrendadanderson

In November 2009, I participated in an exciting professional experience. Joyce Valenza invited a group of Teacher Librarians to join her in manning an area where informal exchanges of information could take place. We branded ourselves as the Geek Squad (now the Geek Tribe) and facilitated a participant-driven parallel "unconference " during the more formal AASL Charlotte Convention.

This year, at AASL 2011, we hope to offer the same type of opportunity via the Learning Commons, "a space where participants can gather to extend and sustain conversations from the conference experience as well as place where you can ignite new conversations for learning." Conference attendees are invited to sign up for a half-hour slot, during time which they can host a discussion, share resources and/or teach a new skill.

I've signed up for two sessions, "A Way of Knowing: The Power of Storytelling as a Connector in Libraries" on Thursday at 10:30 a.m (resources to come); and "Reimagining Libraries" on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. (reLibraries wiki).

The Learning Commons is the perfect venue for self-directed professional development. It's free and open to everyone at the conference. Consider the possibilities; join in the fun!

Visit AASL 2011 National Conference & Exhibition

Cohort D

2011-09-26T21:43:00.009-04:00

Cohort D: Michelle Fromme, Elisabeth Abarbanel, Buffy Hamilton, Diane Cordell, Heather Braum

For the past few days, I’ve been privileged to participate in the first Reimagine:ED conference, an exploration of the intersection of design process and library planning.

As many good learning experiences do, this exercise threw us a few curves, challenged participants in unexpected ways, and led to some exciting new perspectives.

The organizers of the event set up three “cohorts,” or large clusters, A, B, and C, divided further into small collaborative groups. Each cohort was assigned an overriding question, with the ultimate goal of creating and presenting a final product related to a new vision for school libraries. Guided by mentors, inspired by design professionals, visionaries, even jazz musicians, we worked to master some of the fundamentals of innovative design, always relating it back to the library experience.

On Saturday evening, I met with some friends for camaraderie and conversation. Excited by what we had discussed in our formal activities, we started to brainstorm “the library as...” generating quite a long and eclectic list. Although we had been assigned to different cohorts, one idea really caught our imaginations. In this situation, we were students, not teachers, and 21st century ones at that. We decided to follow our passion and form our own group - not because we didn’t value our experience with fellow attendees, but because we had something we really wanted to flesh out and share with others. Thus was born Cohort D.

The powers that be (thanks, Laura!) allowed us to add our presentation to the culminating program, encouraging rather than criticizing Cohort D’s deviation from the “rules.” And so we were able to share our vision, the library as...A Field of Dreams. Rather than dwell on tangibles, we tried to capture the universal qualities in that particular movie that would foster an emotional, sustainable connection between a library and its users, no matter the physical form into which that library might evolve.

We hoped to:

suggest possibilities
show the value of questioning and inquiry
emphasis permeability: the field could be entered from multiple access points, seamlessly
describe a non-judgmental, nurturing environment, a place of safety and growth: a community
celebrate choices: individual/team member; participant/spectator; mentor/student; with users being able to choose the role that is appropriate at any given time
encourage passion in learning
demonstrate how library could be a multi-sensory experience
highlight the importance of storytelling and the diversity of the many stories that wait to be shared and acknowledged
propose that the “sweet spot” of connection to the library is emotional attachment

Our goal was not to create a template, but to suggest key components that would be transferable to any library, easily customizable for a broad spectrum of communities of learners.

We were taught a process, then allowed to express our vision. I hope that you allow your students the same freedom.

Long live Cohort D!

Considering New Perspectives

2011-09-19T10:38:00.007-04:00

On Thursday, I'll board an Amtrak train in Fort Edward, NY, with a final destination of Atlanta, GA, where I'll participate in Reimagine: ED.

Our purpose will be "exploring the future of learning in K-12 education by identifying ideas, places, and professional roles that would benefit from new perspectives...[to] bring together diverse voices and use the design process to develop shared understandings and action steps for change."

With this goal in mind, I've been considering some recent personal experiences which have contributed to my life as a learner.

Open Studios Tour: Enchanting Art
This self-guided tour offered an opportunity to interact with artists in their working spaces, permitting a glimpse of some of the underlying structure that is necessary to a productive creative life. Photos.

Raptors in the Park
Community members dropped by to learn about native birds of prey. The audience was diverse and multi-generational, and information was delivered in an entertaining manner - a perfect blend of facts and fun. Photos.

Yaddo Mansion Tour
The public was allowed a rare glimpse of this private retreat, which has hosted artists from around the world since its founding, nearly 120 years ago. The guest rooms are spare but functional, each with a well-lighted desk (and dictionary); studio space offers a "blank canvas" for artists to utilize as they choose. Yaddo provides two meals a day, during which artists-in-residence can choose to interact with fellow guests or eat in a quiet area, where they can continue their thinking, undisturbed. Extensive grounds and beautiful gardens present other opportunities for reflection and conversation. If I could select the perfect venue for creativity and collaboration, Yaddo would be my choice. Photos.

Passions:
Paintings
Locating sites for en plein air painting is just a first step for my husband: both he and I track down sources that gives his artwork context and adds other levels of meaning. We became "citizen journalists" of a sort, when a local landmark burned down. Tim's painting, and my photos, were the most recent record of the building. And the facts he had gathered, from a railroad expert in his network, key facts about the purpose of the structure, gave some news reporters important background information. Photos.

Photography
My love for photography has resulted in some very interesting connections. When I recently posted photos of my mother's family on the Troy, NY Memories group in FaceBook, I was immediately contacted by relatives (of whose existence I was unaware) who provided genealogical information about the family dating back to 17th century France. With their help, I identified our mutual great-great-grandparents in a scanned image. This not only inspired me to learn more about a previously-unknown group of ancestors, it also triggered a rich storytelling and resource sharing burst that still continues. What better way to learn history than through exploring your roots? (I've blogged about my Italian heritage: In My Grandfather's Voice and Inquiry, Search, Results, Applications. Now I need to learn more about the Irish branch of the family tree). Photos.

But to get back to my original point: I've found that, for my learning experiences, I like a variety of spaces (intimate and expansive, interior and out-of-doors); opportunities for interaction but with an option for quiet self-reflection; informal exchanges of information; multiple modes of input and output; access to tools (typewriters, notebooks, laptops, etc.). I'm comfortable online but equally value face-to-face communication. I need motion as well as rest. I want to learn about topics that are of personal interest.

I look forward to participating in Reimagine:ED and will certainly share my experiences in future postings. If we truly desire a better educational system, we need to consider, collaborate, create, communicate.

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." -John Dewey

"The eternal conflict of good and the best with bad and the worst is on." -Melvil Dewey

Reprise: Our World Changed Forever

2011-09-11T08:51:00.004-04:00

It was ten years ago today that coordinated terrorist attacks on the United States profoundly changed our lives.

Even though a decade has passed, writing about this event brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. Four years ago, I blogged about a discussion I had with my students about September 11, 2001; another posting, from 2009, includes more of my memories of the day. I will let that stand as my record of a pivotal moment in history.

A few weeks after 9/01/01, our high school students gave a concert as a tribute to those who responded and those who died. While I'm not normally a country music fan, one of the songs they performed then still affects me whenever I hear it.

I AM proud to be an American. However you choose to remember this day, let that be your slogan and your comfort.

God bless the U. S. A.

Senior Moment

2011-08-21T19:25:00.005-04:00

A member of my network mentioned that today is National Senior Citizens Day, as proclaimed by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1988, and celebrated yearly ever since.

According to New Jersey Senior Citizen Coordinator, Paulette Drogon, "There is no set age when a person becomes a 'senior citizen.' The age requirements for federal and state programs and entitlements are established by legislative action," and range from 60 to 70 years and older, depending on the benefits sought. The AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) actively begins recruiting members once they hit the advanced age of 50 (much to the chagrin of some recipients of their mail advertisements!).

Although I meet many of the criteria for being considered a senior citizen, I hardly consider myself "elderly." And while I enjoy interaction with young people, I am honestly not in need of someone to "change a lightbulb" or perform other daily tasks. Some day, maybe, but not quite yet.

I had the chance to spend some time yesterday with a few of my high school classmates. All of us are around the age of 64. We continue to be active in a variety of ways, from the former police chief who now teaches forensic science, to the naval vet who flies State Police helicopters, to the "retired" nurse who is helping a friend renovate a large house. No one is sitting in a lonely room, waiting for someone to come in and entertain them - not now, hopefully not ever.

To coincide with the 2011 Treasure Mountain Research Retreat and the AASL National Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton are accepting submissions for "a collection of crowdsourced short essays on the future of school libraries from multiple perspectives, to be published in e-book format." My contribution to this project (in the Collaboration Chapter) is titled "Bridging Space and Time: Collaborating for Learning," and it represents my vision of a meaningful retirement.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on both the future of collaboration and modern attitudes towards aging.

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."

-J. R. R. Tolkien

"The road goes ever on and on..." by dmcordell

Variations on a Theme: Two Gardens

2011-08-15T12:30:00.007-04:00

Located in adjoining towns, within a few minutes driving distance of each other, Hovey Pond Park and the Rite Aid Community Garden share elements of the type of enchantment that Buffy Hamilton so eloquently describes in her presentations.

As I did in my Open Studios Tour posting, I'll try to analyze where the keys to an enchanting experience lie.

Trustworthiness
Hovey Pond Park is maintained by the Town of Queensbury and a squad of volunteer gardeners. Interpretive signs explain both the history and the environmental importance of this area. The land on which the Rite Aid Community Garden rests, formerly an empty lot, is made available to local residents by the adjacent Rite Aid store, as a public service.

Likability
The botanical gardens at Hovey Pond Park are complemented by an assortment of wildflowers which populate the pond and marsh areas (and sometimes "invade" the garden proper). Pathways, benches, a handicapped-accessible fishing platform, playground, and picnic areas invite exploration or quiet contemplation.

Individual plots at the Rite Aid Community Garden reflect the personalities of those who tend them. Whimsical bits of found art, hand-lettered signs, the choice of plants - tomatoes and cabbages cheerfully share their space with sunflowers and marigolds - are reminders that this garden is cultivated by people, not high-powered machinery. Even the tools in evidence reflect a very human, slightly nostalgic, influence.

Fantastic Product or Service
Each garden provides a green oasis; the Community Garden is particularly refreshing to the eyes, being situated close to the heart of the business district in Glens Falls, NY. Both sites are free to use (although you must sign up for a garden plot), environmentally friendly, and invite collaboration from the public. There are opportunities for exercise and multi-generational interaction: older adults and young children can often be seen fishing together at Hovey Pond; Brownie troops, church groups, and local residents of all ages garden side-by-side in the Rite Aid Community Garden.

Applications
There are certainly common elements found in these two gardens which might be applied to a school or library experience. These spaces invite purposeful play. Any rules are clearly written, publicly posted, and designed for the benefit of users. Information is acquired via text, in some instances, but also through human interaction with the environment and with with other people.

The school in which I taught had an open space, visible from my library windows. After being ignored for years, this little courtyard was prettied up with a trellis and some beautiful flowers. But a few years ago, something else was added: a vegetable garden, maintained by student volunteers. It would be wonderful if every school could have an actual, physical garden. But even lacking that, it's possible to add some garden-like elements, both literally and figuratively, to a classroom or library.

Gardens lend enchantment, and enchantment can lead to engagement, passion, and learning.

"Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there." -Thomas Fuller

From Flickr:
Hovey Pond Park Collection
Rite Aid Community Garden

Postscript:
Check out (!) this information from our local public library:

"One Community One Book is back, from its May 19th kickoff through the October 6th finale, featuring Kristin Kimball’s The Dirty Life. In conjunction with our Folklife Center’s “Foodways: Documenting the Local", enjoy the story of a city gal who meets and marries a farmer and moves from metropolitan NYC to upstate Essex. A little bit love story, a lot of dirt. Join the Reference Department for book discussions, alternative farming talks, and movies culminating with a meet the author night on October 6th in the Community Room.

The Children’s Department will present programming using the following: Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath.
Our teens will be reading and discussing Seedfolks by Paul Fleishman and visiting a local farmer’s market. They will also be enjoying Cooking Outside the Pizza Box by Jean Patterson and sharing in a pot luck dinner. Yum- this should prove to be a fun and delicious endeavor and a great way to congregate with our neighbors." -Crandall Public Library

What a perfect example of how to secure engagement by tapping into an area of interest and providing a diverse menu of related activities.

Sunday Musings

2011-08-07T14:54:00.005-04:00

spontaneous stochasticity: objects placed in a turbulent flow—even objects that are identical and are dropped into the same spot—will end up in different places. -The JHU Gazette

Mathematical physicist Gregory Eyink emphasizes that "It is crucial here that the flow is turbulent—as in whitewater rapids or a roiling volcanic plume—and not smooth, regular flow as in a quiet-running stream.”

Two truths: violent forces will push us in directions we can't anticipate; and moving out of the sphere of turbulence allows a measure of control.

Sunday musings.

"Near Butler Pond" by dmcordell

Never Underestimate...

2011-07-28T08:00:00.007-04:00

My friend, Buffy Hamilton, recently had a very unsatisfactory conversation with a representative from Amazon Kindle Education. According to the company, Buffy's LibGuides page contained incorrect information about the Amazon End User License as it relates to Kindle use in school libraries. Read the complete posting at the Unquiet Library blog.

The bottom line is that Creekview High School in Canton, Georgia, will no longer be purchasing Kindles for its library media center.

With Kindle sales contributing to "robust revenue growth" for Amazon, the loss of business from a single Georgia high school might seem insignificant...except for two pertinent facts:

this librarian is well-known and well-respected as a library leader; her opinion is trusted
Buffy used her social networking skills to get her message read: on the day the posting appeared, it received over 4500 hits

Some commenters, reacting to the information shared on the Unquiet Librarian blog, stated that Amazon's policies have convinced them to opt for the NOOK reader as being better suited for school library needs. "Mrs. ReaderPants" enlarges the conversation when she notes, " If Nook is what is in their school library, Nook will be what they are used to. When they are ready to purchase an e-reader for themselves, which one do you think they are most likely to buy?"

I own a Kindle and love its convenience. Amazon one-click shopping means I can purchase a title and have it instantly delivered to my reader electronically. However, if I were acquiring multiple devices for educational use, I would opt for the library-friendly Nook.

Referring to the both the experience and the responses she's received, Buffy wrote this Facebook message, "All I can say is the Amazon has truly underestimated the potential of the K12 market."

Someone in the corporate realm had better be listening.

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." -Bill Gates

"Roxanne and Buffy Showing off the New Bouncing Baby Kindles!" by theunquietlibrary

Open Studios Tour: Enchanting Art

2011-07-17T19:30:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, my husband and I spent a wonderful day touring artists' studios in Washington County, NY.

I couldn't help but notice that the success of this event depended largely on the infusion of those elements described by Buffy Hamilton in her presentation, libraries as communally constructed sites of participatory learning: creating conversations and connections through enchantment. (video now on YouTube)

Trustworthiness

Open Studios is a juried event. The organizers of this free, self-guided tour made sure that only established artists, with an respected body of work, were featured. This was a celebration of fine art, not a craft fair.

Likability

Each artist was present and eager to talk with visitors. When I asked for permission to take photos, I was encouraged to do so; the artists themselves happily posed with their paintings. Hosts had stories to share: about the evolution of their career, the steps in the creative process, what they choose to incorporate into their art and why. This infused products with meaning and put them into context for interested viewers...both the artists and the art thus became accessible and likable.

Fantastic Product or Service

The Open Studios site advertised that "professional artists will once again open their doors...offering a glimpse into their creative lifestyles, and a unique opportunity to purchase great art directly from their studios," and they delivered on the promise. Artists offered special discounts and personally signed purchases. Casual browsers were greeted as warmly as paying customers. At each venue, some sort of refreshment was offered, from homemade cookies & lemonade to colorfully-wrapped Chinese sweets. In addition, Open Studios of Washington County and its sponsors hosted a complimentary reception for all tour visitors on the first evening of the two-day event, with hors d’oeuvres wine, and "a chance to meet with all the artists and other Open Studios visitors and to share stories and discoveries of the day."

Other Positive Attributes

choice...of locations and art genres [wouldn't it be fun to initiate a self-guided tour of local libraries, a mix of public, academic & school?]
each studio displayed both finished pieces and works in progress, giving visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how art is created
business cards, with website addresses, were freely distributed - interested people could ue the information they contained to learn more about the artists (and perhaps become future customers)
variety of architectural design: studios were located in renovated barns, farmhouses, and converted factories; common to all were good natural lighting, plentiful space, and numerous display options
setting: Washington County is largely rural, with small villages rather than big cities. Nature is nearby and evident, creating a calming, creatively-stimulating atmosphere

In the Library

Wikipedia defines an artist as "a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art." Librarians fit all of those descriptors, as they assist in the acquisition, creation, and dissemination of information (the artistic product).

In a logical extension of the concept of librarian/artist, libraries would become less like knowledge warehouses and more like artists' studios, incorporating interesting design, transparency, and personalized service.

Enchanting spaces.

See additional photos in the Open Studios of Washington County, NY Flickr set

"Open Studios of Washington County, NY" by dmcordell
"Three Artists: Leslie Parke, Adriano Manocchia, Leslie Peck" by dmcordell
Will Moses signing a copy of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for Hagan" by dmcordell
"110/i365" by Purple Phoenix

Possibilities

2011-07-12T10:30:00.009-04:00

"You begin with the possibilities of the material." -Robert Rauschenberg

Less than a week after returning home from ISTE 2011, I set out again, this time for a reunion of friends in Missouri. Our hostess planned a variety of events for us, and, as is my habit, I jotted down ideas, and took photos of things that caught my eye or presented opportunities for further exploration. The following is a compilation of some of these points of possibility.

On Play and Time Travel
One of our stops was the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City. Signs there reminded us that "Dollhouses used to help teach household management skills" [hands-on learning through play] and that dollhouses can serve as time machines, showing us how people lived, what they wore, their sense of style BUT an ideal, not necessarily the reality. When my husband and I did historic reenacting, we studied 18th century paintings to learn about clothing, tools, and other artifacts appropriate to the time period. It is interesting to consider using dollhouses for the same purpose.
*photographs were not permitted in the Toy and Miniature Museum. The dollhouse room below is from the Knoxville Museum of Art

The History of Art
After touring the Toy & Miniature Museum, we had lunch at the Cafe Sebastienne, in the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. The walls in the cafe are covered with an installation of 110 paintings, specially created for this space by artist Frederick James Brown, who explains,

"This is a project of love. It is a tribute to art and artists throughout the ages...The works in this exhibition are my interpretations of the selected artists and/or art. No attempt was made, nor was it ever the intent, to reproduce or copy any works of art."

My companions and I had fun guessing at the artists represented, and I couldn't help but think what a great curricular unit this would make: identifying Brown's tribute pieces, discussing why he choose these particular works, then having students construct similar walls of art - or applying the concept to photography, music, etc.

Current Events
On a day trip to Atchison, Kansas, we had the opportunity to observe first-hand the magnitude of the Missouri River at high flood stage. Now running 30-35 deep, the river is not expected to recede significantly until early autumn. Among the concerns are the possibility of breached levees and disrupted transportation, with some bridges closed and railroad tracks in danger of flooding. Teachers in any part of the world might use this situation to discuss extreme weather, disaster preparedness, the Army Corps of Engineers and their flood control plans, long-term impact (food prices, the local economy), etc.

Library Digitalization
With so many ways to connect online, work sometimes spills over into vacation time. One of my friends had to reschedule some meetings related to a Mellon Foundation Award. Knowing my continuing interest in libraries, she shared with me information about a digitalization project being undertaken by the Five Colleges of Ohio consortium, intended "to integrate digital resources into the curriculum."

"The five objectives of the grant are to (1) help faculty to identify, build, and integrate digital collections into their courses through a partnership with librarians; (2) enhance access to scholarly endeavors of both faculty and students; (3) create a professional development program for library staff to enrich their technological sophistication and implement innovative efforts; (4) establish a digital infrastructure to improve support for new initiatives; and (5) develop a portal that will function as a gateway to digital collections and a site for accessing digitization procedures and training documents."

I look forward to following this project, since it certainly contains elements relevant to all types of school libraries, from K-12 through higher education.

Networking
On one leg of the plane ride home, I was seated next to a semi-retired school counselor on her way to a conference in North Carolina. We had an interesting discussion about technology use in primary and secondary schools, and she shared with me a nice Technology Tips page from the Missouri Association of Student Councils. It made me wonder how many other associations have valuable resources to share - and if there is a central registry somewhere with a comprehensive list of educational groups.

Echoes of ISTE
One of the highlights of my ISTE 2011 trip was hearing the five amazing teacher librarians, Anita Beaman, Buffy Hamilton, Cathy Nelson, Gwyneth Jones, and Shannon Miller, discuss their visions for school libraries. Buffy's visit to a New Orleans restaurant, Bouche, provided the central image for her discussion of participatory learning through Enchantment, with its elements of trustworthiness, likability, and a fantastic product or service. During my time in Kansas and Missouri, I encountered this type of enchantment on numerous occasions.

Justus Drugstore provides a unique dining opportunity: innovative food served in the most unlikely of places, a converted drugstore. Wait staff was not just attentive: each person with whom we interacted took the time to explain, suggest, and add little touches that enhanced our overall experience. The chef visited our table, recounting the history of the business (his family ran the original drugstore) and sharing his passion for local products creatively combined to please the senses. I was delighted that the little hors d’œuvre we were served is known as an amuse-bouche ("mouth amuser")...if I hadn't been thinking of Buffy's enchantment before, the name of that delicious tidbit certainly brought it to mind!

The Indian restaurant I visited on my last day in Missouri had some of the design elements of Bouche in New Orleans. By simply draping fabric and hanging curtains as visual barriers, the owners created little private pockets for dining that gave the feel of intimacy in an otherwise open room. I couldn't help but reflect on how much my students would have enjoyed this type of separation in parts of our library, spaces to read and think and dream a bit.

Connecting
Many of us have had the "virtual vs. real" discussion with people who denigrate the value of online relationships. I first met the two women with whom I shared my Kansas/Missouri adventures on the social networking site, Plurk. We discovered similarities in our lives and shared interests, and last year we met for the first time face to face. We weren't strangers, even then; we were friends who already knew a lot about each other. This happens more frequently than I could have imagined when I first hesitantly tried interacting with "strangers" online. Some of my dearest friends are separated from me by geography but close in the ways that matter.

The possibility of finding these kindred souls may be the greatest possibility of all.

"Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude." -Alfred North Whitehead

"Morning Has Broken" by dmcordell

"American Summer Kitchen" by Knoxville Museum of Art
"Frederick James Brown "The History of Art" Cafe Sebastienne - details from window wall #3 installation" by dmcordell

"Flooding along the Missouri River" by dmcordell

"Justus Drugstore" by dmcordell

"Indian Restaurant" by dmcordell
"Tres Pals" by dmcordell

I Can Do That!

2011-07-01T18:49:00.007-04:00

Like many who attended ISTE11, I'm still processing what I heard and saw and learned.

This was my second such conference, the first being NECC08, in San Antonio. Three years ago, I was frankly overwhelmed by the size and scope of the gathering. My approach has changed, and the result has been a richly-layered experience.

In 2008, I spent most of my time in the Bloggers' Cafe, connecting with people from my slowly-developing network. In 2011, I only visited there occasionally, preferring to wander. While face-to-face interaction with my PLN is still very important to me, I also took the opportunity to strike up conversations with "strangers" - the Vermont technologist who asked to share a table, the photographer taking ISTE portraits, the magazine writer whose photo I snapped when he asked for directions. These random encounters added an element of the unexpected, and served to broaden my horizons.

During one of her presentations, my friend, Shannon Miller, recalled how, early in her career as a teacher librarian, she had heard Joyce Valenza speak and left determined to follow her example. Shannon wasn't discouraged by Joyce's depth of knowledge and innovative approach to librarianship, she was inspired by it.

It was a theme I heard repeated more than once: this person has embraced technology to benefit his/her students...so can I.

Another friend, Buffy Hamilton, spoke of a participatory culture that encourages, supports, and inspires its members, ultimately creating involvement and enchantment.

In many ways, ISTE11 followed this model, empowering attendees to say, "I can do that!" And believe it.

Psst!
Here's a link to the video of the Learning Tools Family Feud session in which I made a guest appearance.

And here's what I looked like on the prowl with my camera (thanks to the very talented Robin Henson for this great portrait!)

"ISTE 2011: Unlocking Potential" by dmcordell
"Portrait" taken by Robin Henson

ISTE Update - Two Days to Departure

2011-06-21T18:38:00.006-04:00

Since I need to take care of some family business tomorrow, my ISTE11 packing is beginning a bit early for my Thursday departure. I already have a good idea of what I'll be bringing with me, so the only challenge should be fitting things in (and whittling down, if necessary). In addition to clothing*, I'm including small items for friends, healthy snacks, and a few little boxes of wine. Essential stuff.

*If you're unsure of how to dress for a summer conference, my stylish friend, Buffy Hamilton, offers a few tips on the Tumblr blog, Librarian Wardrobe.

I've added an exciting event to my ISTE planner: TEDxPhiladelphiaED. This (naturally) creates a conflict in my schedule, but a group of us will be leaving E duBloggerCon a bit early so that we can attend both events.

Check the site to see if there are any more tickets available for TEDxPhiladelphiaED. As for EduBloggerCon, organizer Steve Harga don writes,

"Remember, you don't need to be registered for ISTE to attend EduBloggerCon (hurray to ISTE for everything associated with our putting on EduBloggerCon--room, wireless access, promotion, and this liberal entrance policy!). So please spread the word to educators within striking distance of Philadelphia, as everyone is most welcome and, since we are in a huge ballroom (Ballroom A) at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, there's room for as many as want to come! You don't need to let anyone know you are coming, but it is definitely fun to see who's attending, so you can use the following pages to indicate your attendance: The Classroom 2.0 event page or the Facebook Event Page."

And if you haven't reserved a spot at SIGMS Forum: There is No Better Time: A Dawning Era for School Librarians better do so - it's free, but you must pre-register. Here's a little taste of what you might expect from some of the presenters:

Gwyneth Jones

"Viva La Social Media Revolución! Tough times call for tough measures! Invisible librarians are vulnerable and invisible library programs can be visibly cut. But take heart! This is a dawning era of librarianship - we are now and we always have been educational revolutionaries! Making a few daring digital shifts in your practice & program will show the world that we are vital to vision and future of learning and more indispensable than ever!"

Buffy Hamilton

Another Forum presenter, Shannon Miller urges us to Bring It! to ISTE:

"Bring that spark, that urge to connect. Bring those ideas with you. Bring your passion for wanting to try something completely out of the box.
Because all it takes is that one connection with someone else to truly make a difference in not just the lives of your students, but also in yours!"

You could do worse than to follow her advice.

See you there!

"June 9" by radarxlove

"ISTE11_SigmsForum_Viva_La_Revolucion" by The Daring Librarian

Events and Opportunities

2011-06-13T08:30:00.010-04:00

In ten days, I will arrive in Philadelphia to attend ISTE 2011. The following are a few items I've already put on my calendar.

From my ISTE Planner:

EduBloggerCon 2011: The Social Media in Education Unconference

Saturday, 6/25/2011, 8:00am–5:00pm PACC Grand Ballroom A
Steve Hargadon, Elluminate/Blackboard Collaborate

Learning Tools Family Feud: Crowdsourced Edition
Monday, 6/27/2011, 12:45pm–1:45pm PACC 103BC Joyce Valenza, School District of Springfield Township with Steve Dembo, Gwyneth Jones, Chad Lehman, Shannon McClintock Miller, Nicholas Provenzano and Matthew Winner A favorite 70s game show with a fabulous 21st century twist. Listen in while our lively panel illustrates the results of a learning tools survey.

SIGMS Forum: A Dawning Era for School Librarians

Tuesday, 6/28/2011, 10:30am–12:30pm PACC 108 *ticketed event
Lisa Perez, Chicago Public School Dept of Libraries with Doug Johnson
Featuring Amy Oberts, Anita Beaman, Buffy Hamilton, Cathy Jo Nelson, Gwyneth Jones, Shannon Miller.
It is an exciting time for librarians as we seek new definitions for our profession. Attend and help create a vision for school libraries.

SIGMS Breakfast and Annual Meeting: Swimming in the Flow

Wednesday, 6/29/2011, 8:00am–9:30am PACC 108 *ticketed event - SOLD OUT
Lisa Perez, Chicago Public School Dept of Libraries with Will Richardson
How do we become literate at seeking, evaluating, synthesizing, and sharing relevant information to meet our learning goals? Discover how you can succeed in the new information landscape with blogger Will Richardson.

Personal Learning Environments for the Digital Age

Wednesday, 6/29/2011, 11:45am–12:45pm PACC 204B
Laura Deisley, The Lovett School with Wendy Drexler and Buffy Hamilton
Hear three case studies that explore student construction of personal learning environments that uniquely support authentic networked learning.

From my personal calendar:

Mural Mile Walking Tour (Shannon Miller and I are bringing our cameras on this tour!)

Friday, 6/24/2011, 11:30am-1:00pm
Guided walking tours depart daily from the Independence Visitor Center (6th & Market Sts.). See Philadelphia’s iconic Mural Mile, which includes 17 murals that provide an introduction to the Mural Arts Program. Tours often sell out, reservations are strongly suggested. $17 per person.

Rethinking Education, Sponsored by Follett Software Company

Monday, 6/27/2011, 5:30pm-7:00pm
Marriott Downtown Philadelphia Salon B Free registration required
Chris Lehmann, Shannon Miller, Dean Mantz, Diane Cordell, Kevin Honeycutt, Vicki Davis
This informal panel discussion will present an image of what could be for 21st century public education in America.

Meetups:

Edmodo Meetup

Tuesday, 6/28/2011, 6:00pm
Field House Sports Bar, 1150 Filbert St

Edtech Karaoke Tweetup

Tuesday, 6/28/2011, 7:30pm
Public House Philadelphia, 2 Logan Square (18th St between Arch & Cherry)

People:

The thread that will run throughout this experience will be, as always, the people with whom I'll connect. I eagerly anticipate reunions with dear friends, face-to-face meetings with online colleagues, and the chance to become acquainted with a diverse group of educators and innovators from around the world.

"It‘s not where we stand but in what direction we are moving." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." -Henry Miller

"ISTE11 logo" from ISTE event website
"ISTE11 Family Feud Poster" by The Daring Librarian
"Mural: Reach High and You Will Go Far" by dmcordell
"Friendship" by dmcordell

Connections

2011-06-01T08:20:00.007-04:00

Although I am a teacher/librarian by vocation, I am also a public library user by avocation.

Each year, the American Library Association publishes a number of Fact Sheets which summarize various aspects of its State of America's Libraries Report. According to ALA Library Fact Sheet 6, 19 states reported cutting library hours, staff, or services, with additional budget reductions frequently taking place at local levels. Despite these funding issues, the fact sheet notes that:

two-thirds of the 1,000-plus adults contacted in the survey said that the library's assistance in starting a business or finding a job was important to them
studies show that public libraries have a significant positive economic impact on the local economy and increase property value
taxpayers entrusted libraries with their tax dollars by approving 87 percent of operating measures on ballots across the country
library visitation per capita has steadily increased over the past 10 years; circulation per capita has also generally increased during the past 10 years
computer usage at public libraries continues to increase; 67 percent of libraries report they are the only provider of free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities

These last few items confirm what I have seen for myself: our local public library is always buzzing, with people browsing the shelves; parents and children participating in reading activities, both organized and informal; teens wandering in and out of their special area; citizens of all ages using computers. Print books AND music AND DVDs AND electronic resources are all available, a necessary blend for modern life. There is a Folk Life center, with primary source artifacts, and a schedule of exhibitions, lectures and programs. Citizens can do everything from complete tax forms online to watch a movie, in addition to selecting reading material or doing research.

Of particular interest to me were an exhibit and an individual.

The exhibit was a collection of webkinz stuffed animals, curated not by the library staff, but by one of the young patrons. Students sign up to participate in the "Guess What I Collect" program, and are then responsible for arranging their items in a plexiglass display case located in the children's department. Staff members tell me that this is a very popular activity, with a long waiting list. It's a wonderful way to personalize and humanize the library environment (and could easily be adapted to a school setting).

The individual was a young man I encountered in one of the reading rooms. My eye was drawn to a skateboard, resting on the window ledge next to his laptop, and I asked if I could take a photo of both him and his "stuff." After explaining who I was (retired librarian who loved taking photos of libraries and readers), and assuring him that the picture would respect his privacy, he willingly posed for me. This older teen told me that he came to the library to check on jobs and look up information about colleges, since he has no internet access at home. I have no idea whether or not he was telling me the truth about his online activities, but the point is not what he was doing, but that he wanted/needed to connect and the public library is the place that offered him that option.

I believe that libraries are about more than objects, they're about people and their interactions: with these objects, with apps, with other people.

Carl Sagan believed that

"The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries."

School, public, academic, specialty: whatever the type of library, it was created to fill a need, serve a purpose, serve people...like the young man with his laptop, like the older woman reading by a window, like the young children enjoying story time, like me. All of us learners, all of us seeking, and finding, services at our public library.

"That Paradise will be a kind of library" by dmcordell
"Display case" by dmcordell
"Connecting at the Library" by dmcordell
"A Quiet Spot" by dmcordell

Cat Among the Pigeons

2011-05-16T10:54:00.006-04:00

put/set the cat among the pigeons (British & Australian) to do or say something that causes trouble and makes a lot of people angry or worried -TheFreeDictionary

It's been a lively Monday morning on Twitter, due in large part to the discussion of Seth Godin's posting, The future of the library.

Although Godin specifically mentions public libraries, this conversation is much larger, encompassing the entire profession of librarianship.

Without rehashing the entire piece - which should be read and savored in the original - I might summarize the message as "evolution or extinction." Perhaps Mr. Godin wouldn't state it quite as starkly, but this is the choice which I strongly believe librarians must make: change to fit the needs of the populations we serve, or find ourselves made irrelevant or redundant.

There has always been a slight but discernible rift between "book" people and "information/research" people. Most librarians fill both roles, but those who see themselves as more literature-oriented can become quite heated when they feel their role as guide, consultant, expert is threatened. And yet...a good English teacher can perform the same service for students, and online sources which recommend titles by genre, author, etc. are available for readers of all ages.

Some argue that community members come to the library to use topic-specific databases. In my experience, even students only resort to databases in a school setting. Most of the public find their needs served as well by a Google search. For those who do require more scholarly resources, in most areas, anyone with a library card can access their public library's databases online. Need to ask a reference question? Many libraries already offer online options for that, as well.

In September, there will be an exciting conference, Reimagine Ed, which seeks to address the design of K-12 libraries. The larger issue will be, of course, the function of these libraries. I've been thinking a lot about this, trying to envision a school that IS a library, a library that visually and philosophically encompasses an entire school. In this facility, all teachers and administrators would be librarians, and librarians would expand their roles as teachers and leaders. Such a future would necessarily require real changes in both teacher and librarian training programs.

Godin ends by saying,

"We need librarians more than we ever did. What we don't need are mere clerks who guard dead paper. Librarians are too important to be a dwindling voice in our culture. For the right librarian, this is the chance of a lifetime."

Change is not only an option, change is an imperative. Don't just get your feathers ruffled: inquire, assess, learn, adapt. Evolve.

"DSCN1971" by ruurdz

Junkyard Archaeology

2011-05-14T08:47:00.007-04:00

Unidentified "flipped" car

My husband, Tim, and I took a hike recently in a wooded area near our home. The logging trails we followed abut an area known locally as Indian Ridge, because of the Native American artifacts sometimes found there.

We happened upon relics of a different sort: three abandoned cars.

Nature has softened, and, to some extent, integrated this impromptu junkyard into the landscape. Trees cradle the car frames, soil and plants enfold scattered bits of rusted metal.

I took a number of photos, and Tim did some research when we got home.

When exploring a topic, both prior and specialized knowledge come into play. Because of his familiarity with vintage automobiles, Tim was able to focus and narrow his efforts. A chance remark I made, that the logo we found on a seat belt reminded me of a Japanese trademark, also helped track down relevant information.

1955 Chevrolet Station Wagon

Once a tentative identification of the years of manufacture was made, we began speculating about how long the vehicles had been in their present location. Most of the trees in that immediate area were of a similar age and size. Some had grown from beneath the autos and bent to accommodate their metal frames, suggesting that the cars had been abandoned in a cleared space, where logging had already taken place.

Early 1970s Subaru Station Wagon

After further discussing things with a neighbor, Tim concluded that the three cars date from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s and had probably been towed to their present resting place around 1980.

Although I prefer unspoiled nature, it was fun to examine this little cache of automotive artifacts. It might not be possible (or safe!) to take a group of students to a similar site, but perhaps photos could be substituted to form the backbone for a project in Junkyard Archaeology.

Opportunities for learning are everywhere, for those who have eyes to see and minds open to inquiry.

Parts from the '55 Chevy

Feel free to use any or all of the photos from my Junkyard Archaeology Flickr set And if you can identify the "flipped" car, please let us know!

The Reader

2011-05-06T09:56:00.004-04:00

In honor of Children's Book Week, the recently-ended National Poetry Month, and my birthday, I'm sharing this poem, written by Richard Wilbur.

Although my methods of accessing literature have expanded, I will always be a reader.

The Reader

She is going back, these days, to the great stories
That charmed her younger mind. A shaded light
Shines on the nape half-shadowed by her curls,
And a page turns now with a scuffing sound.
Onward they come again, the orphans reaching
For a first handhold in a stony world,
The young provincials who at last look down
On the city's maze, and will descend into it,
The serious girl, once more, who would live nobly,
The sly one who aspires to marry so,
The young man bent on glory, and that other
Who seeks a burden. Knowing as she does
What will become of them in bloody field
Or Tuscan garden, it may be that at times
She sees their first and final selves at once,
As a god might to whom all time is now.
Or, having lived so much herself, perhaps
She meets them this time with a wiser eye,
Noting that Julien's calculating head
Is from the first too severed from his heart.
But the true wonder of it is that she,
For all that she may know of consequences,
Still turns enchanted to the next bright page
Like some Natasha in the ballroom door—
Caught in the flow of things wherever bound,
The blind delight of being, ready still
To enter life on life and see them through.

—Richard Wilbur

"October 1948" by dmcordell

"Me and my Kindle" by dmcordell

Building Bridges

2011-05-03T17:16:00.006-04:00

Ralph Ellison said that "Education is all a matter of building bridges." So is life.

I thought I knew what my retirement would be like, I had it all planned out. But the world changed, and so did my expectations. Things are not better or worse than I anticipated, just different.

This week I will celebrate a birthday and achieve an age that the Beatles turned into a landmark of sorts. While I sometimes

"...knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride.
Doing the garden, digging the weeds..."

I can, and do, "ask for more."

So I have become a bridge, of sorts: connecting with colleagues via social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Plurk; collaborating on projects in Google Docs; interacting with classrooms via Skype. I use what I've learned over the years and learn what they can teach me, in return.

Together, we bridge the past and the present, and work to create the future. We are fellow travelers on a grand adventure.

And we don't burn ANY bridges, we build them and cross them.

"Humber Bridge" by EOS_3

Tag is Better Than Hide and Seek

2011-04-23T08:36:00.005-04:00

I started using Flickr in August 2007, and now have 12,,814 (and counting) photos stored there. These items have been viewed 187,336 times, with referrals coming from Flickr itself, Google Images, Facebook, Twitter and various other sites.

When I started out, I had no idea of the volume of work I would create. It was easy enough to scroll through my account to find images that I needed. My first organizational tool was the Sets option, which allows the user to create albums of related pictures, which can then be manipulated as a unique entity. Collections are where I then group Sets of similar content.

By far the most useful tool, however, is tagging:

"Flickr asks photo submitters to organize images using tags ... which enable searchers to find images related to particular topics, such as place names or subject matter. Flickr was also an early website to implement tag clouds, which provide access to images tagged with the most popular keywords." -Wikipedia

I now tag each photo that I upload with as many useful keywords as I can think of - month, season, location, genre, etc. For example, Hometown Graffiti has some inherent visual interest, but by tagging it with "Jimmer Fred ette, " "Jimmer," "Brigham Young," and "BYU," I ensured a much wider audience: 525 views, to date.

There have been a number of interesting connections made because of my Flickr tags, as people search online for a wide range of information.

A woman in Washington state saw some photos I took in a local cemetery and asked if I could look for additional family headstones. When I was able to comply, she wrote

"The photos are perfect and are worth more than gold to me! Pictures support my family connections between Amos, Hannah and Amos Jr. conclusively... As I mentioned before, I am trying to tie up loose ends so I may present our family genealogy history to my dad for Christmas. I've been working on this project for over 6 years.
Thank you again for your thoughtfulness and generosity. You made my day!"

My Crandall Public Library set, taken in the newly-renovated facility, brought this request from Iowa:

"Hi,

My library is currently creating a slideshow illustrating our need for a new library building. I was wondering if I could use some of your photos as examples of what our library could look like.

Thanks"

The most recent contact, and farthest afield, came from Bonifacio Global City, Philippines:

"...We understand that you are the owner of the copyright of the Actaea Pachypoda Baneberry found in this link. We humbly ask for the high resolution copy of this image to use in the Kingdom Plantae exhibit in the Mind Museum and also for your permission to do so..."

How cool is that!

Unfortunately, I didn't understand the value of tagging when I first starting archiving my photos. I sometimes feel like I'm playing a game of hide and seek as I search for images I uploaded back when labeling was not a concern. According to my Flickr stats, 7,278 items are tagged, 5,536 are not. Believe me, it's much easier to tag as you go, rather than trying to backtrack.

Tagging only takes a few minutes of your time, but its value is immense. By consistently attaching keywords to photographs, you make it easier for yourself - and others - to locate and *use your images.

*Except for some portraits and my husband's artwork, I attach CC permission to the bulk of my photographs.

"Old Photos" by dmcordell

Emma and the Perfect Storm

2011-04-21T13:28:00.004-04:00

The term "perfect storm" commonly refers to a worst-case scenario caused by the combination of significant phenomena.

In this case, the contributing elements are all good, and the perfect storm is a best-case scenario.

Emma Durflinger is a 12-year-old student at Van Meter School, in Van Meter, Iowa. We first met when I became co-advisor to Club Click, the school's photography club; now we're Twitter friends and Skype contacts.

Emma is comfortable with all those 21st century skills that the education community values: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creation. She has participated in conference presentations, most recently the Iowa 1:1 Conference.

These accomplishments didn't just "happen." One component is, of course Emma herself, a bright and articulate young lady. But she might not have blossomed so early, if it hadn't been for a few key factors:

Emma attends a school that values and promotes integrated technology
her school librarian, Shannon Miller, offers students a number of interactive experiences with schools in other states, and serves as mentor and facilitator
Emma's family (her father, Deron Durflinger is the secondary principal at Van Meter) encourages her online activities and offers guidance as well as support

Emma isn't merely posting chaty Twitter updates. She is using her connectivity to stretch her wings and expand her horizons but with adult supervision and parental permission.

Emma is learning to ride the winds of change.

"I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship." -Aeschylus

"Sailboat # 8444" by Nemo's great uncle

Poetry and Images

2011-04-17T14:45:00.002-04:00

Although Poem in Your Pocket Day is over for this year, we still have a few weeks left of National Poetry Month.

My friend, Buffy Hamilton, was updating a topical display in her library when

"I began thinking about what I might feature in addition to student created poems, quotes about poetry, and images of favorite poetry books...it occurred to me it might be fun to combine favorite lines of poetry or short poems with a carefully selected photograph to unpack a feeling, idea, or image I associated with the lines of poetry or short poem."

Buffy's exquisite slideshow, "Using Photographs to Dwell in Poetry," is embedded here, but you should read her entire posting to see where she and a collaborating teacher plan to take this project.

Using Photographs to Dwell in Poetry

View more presentations from Buffy Hamilton

I have matched photos and poems before, but usually the image came first. Inspired by Buffy's example, I selected fourteen poems, then searched my own Flickr photostream and Creative Commons for appropriate pairings - which is not as easy as it might sound! This is my version, "Poetry in Words and Images."

Poems in words and images

View more presentations from Diane Cordell

While this type of activity is suitable for all ages, I would suggest that younger students be encouraged to choose poems that are concrete rather than abstract. A discussion of symbolism might be appropriate; knowing how to use and refine search terms and keywords is, well, key.

Final products could take the form of a collaborative slideshow, digital album, posters, or trading cards. Creating a VoiceThread or Animoto would provide the option of an additional performance component.

Of course, the enjoyment of poetry should not be limited to a single month.

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." -Dead Poet's Society

Poem in My Pocket, Students on My Screen

2011-04-15T17:00:00.003-04:00

Thursday, April 14, was National Poem in Your Pocket Day, an annual celebration which invites people of all ages to "select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends."

While this event was not designed exclusively as a library or school event, it certainly lends itself beautifully to those venues. Lacking students of my own, I was delighted to "borrow" some from my virtual colleagues.

John Schumacher started the ball rolling by inviting me, Shannon Miller, Jennifer Malphy, Kathy Schmidt, all school librarians, and teachers Donna Kouri and Stephen Gagnon, to collaborate in a Google Document, where we set up a schedule for Skyping throughout the day. For my part, I shared a few poems, read - and sang - a rhymed story, and listened to students recite their selections, some original.

Benefits for the students:

exposure to poetry
public speaking practice
the "cool factor" of connecting with adults and children in five states

Benefits for teachers:

having an audience made the experience more authentic for students
connections were made for future projects, possibly one involving photography and poetry

Our Skype interaction was the perfect example of using a tool to enhance and extend learning experiences. It was certainly not the only activity in which these students participated for Poem in Your Pocket Day, but it was a memorable one for all of us.

The poem I shared was:

Pretty Words by Elinor Wylie

Poets make pets of pretty, docile words:
I love smooth words, like gold-enamelled fish
Which circle slowly with a silken swish,
And tender ones, like downy-feathered birds:
Words shy and dappled, deep-eyed deer in herds,
Come to my hand, and playful if I wish,
Or purring softly at a silver dish,
Blue Persian kittens fed on cream and curds.

I love bright words, words up and singing early;
Words that are luminous in the dark, and sing;
Warm lazy words, white cattle under trees;
I love words opalescent, cool, and pearly,
Like midsummer moths, and honied words like bees,
Gilded and sticky, with a little sting.

Still Learning

2011-04-09T17:41:00.009-04:00

While my husband painted en plein a ir today, I took the opportunity to wander with my camera.

We've been to this location before, a marshy section of Glen Lake, NY, bisected by the Warren County Bikeway. It's a lovely setting, but I was impatient for the wildflowers to make their appearance - snow and bare branches have lost their charm as photographic subjects.

An acquaintance and her hiking companion stopped to chat when they saw Tim's easel. Since they carried binoculars and cameras, I asked what they had seen on their walk. Luckily for me, both women are very knowledgeable about native plants; they were happy to "show" me a variety of shrubs and trees that I had barely glanced at before.

I take great pride in noticing details, but, without knowing what might be growing in that habitat, I had no foundation on which to build. After I photograph flowers, I use my research skills to identify and label them. Maybe I need to try a new approach and study the probabilities and possibilities before setting out.

Sue, one of the friendly experts, shared her favorite quote from Michelangelo: "I am still learning."

Obviously, so am I.

You can see my photoset of the Glen Lake Marsh here

"Artist at work" by dmcordell
"My experts!" by dmcordell
"American Hazel - female flower" by dmcordell

The Journey

2011-04-01T10:50:00.005-04:00

April is National Poetry Month, so I'll start off the celebration with one of my (many) favorites from Pulitzer Prize winner, Mary Oliver:

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Related postings:
In My Grandfather's Voice: Found Poetry
365 Project: April
Earth Day 2010
Poetry of Another Sort
A Poetry Sampler
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
The Bloggers

photo by Jackie Cordell

Look at the Edges

2011-03-28T11:12:00.004-04:00

Photography continues to simultaneously expand and focus my vision, frequently bringing insights that are applicable to other areas of interest.

Yesterday, my husband and I spent an hour or so near - but not on - frozen Lake George, NY. We both needed some fresh air and exercise, and I wanted a subject for my 365 project.

Some of the most engaging shots I found were on the edges: a transition from sunlight to shadow, the line where ice became water became shore.

Contrast, change, the tension between opposing concepts, all present the opportunity for perceptual growth.

At the edge, there is challenge, sometimes even danger. But that is where the excitement lies, and that is where new understandings originate...in photography, and in life.

"Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew." -Guillaume Apollinaire

"On the Edge" by dmcordell

Come Play With Us At ISTE!

2011-03-23T09:26:00.006-04:00

Learning is serious stuff, right? Well, not entirely. Add some fun to your ISTE 2011 experience by attending the Learning Tools Family Feud: Crowdsourced Edition...

A favorite 70s game show with a fabulous 21st century twist. Listen in while our lively panel illustrates the results of a learning tools survey.

The "lively panel" is composed of Joyce Valenza, Gwyneth Jones, and Shannon Miller for the Gals; and Chad Lehman, Nicholas Provenzano, and Matthew Winner for the Guys. Steve Dembo will serve as emcee, while Paul R. Wood and I have volunteered to certify survey data.

This event is scheduled for Monday, June 27, 2011 - 12:45pm–1:45pm More information can be found on the TLSmackdown wik i ; the survey itself is here.

Even if you're not able to attend the conference or session in person, please take a few minutes to make your opinions known (submissions close on Friday, June 17).

“It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.” -D.W. Winnicott

Come play with us, at ISTE!

"Learning Tools Family Feud logo" from TLSmackdown wiki
"Learning_Tools_Family_Feud70s" by The Daring Librarian

Never a Vacation from Learning

2011-03-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some random experiences and reflections from our recent trip to Puerto Rico:

Jane Stern Dorado Community Library

As I did last year, I visited the Jane Stern Dorado Community Library. While my sister-in-law registered as a seasonal borrower, I took the opportunity to chat with some of the staff members. I learned that the collection was begun by American professionals, relocated to Dorado for their jobs in pharmaceutical companies, who donated their personal libraries to the town when they returned to the States - hence the preponderance of English-language books.

Young people throughout Puerto Rico receive a bi-lingual education, but the library is currently building its stock of recreational reading materials for older, Spanish-speaking, users. There is a computer room, with a nominal fee for Internet access. Members of the Community Library are given passwords which enable them to use personal laptops within the building, free of charge.

Interesting sounds lured me to a pre-school mother/child session, where tiny tots were happily banging away on an assortment of musical instruments. The mom in charge assured me that I'd be a welcome volunteer for story time, if I happen to return again next year.

Dorado Academy

Before leaving home, I had contacted Mrs. Nancy Escabi, Headmaster/Director of Dorado Academy. At her invitation, I spent some time touring the school and learning a bit about education in Puerto Rico.

Dorado Academy is a private institution, originally founded by American ex-pats ("continentals"), but now maintained and supported largely by local families. Since the school is totally funded by tuition, the budget crisis plaguing the U.S. is not a factor here. All core subjects are taught in English, with some leeway allowed in "specials" like art and physical education. The only mandatory non-English courses are Spanish Language, and the History of Puerto Rico.

Students wear uniforms (as do all children that we saw, whether in public or private schools), in this case navy skirts or slacks, white polo shirts, and black shoes. More casual attire is allowed for gym classes and special dress-down days. Although the school is not air-conditioned (electricity is very expensive), an interior courtyard and louvered windows, help maintain a comfortable temperature. The gymnasium is constructed like a garage, with doors that can be raised to allow air circulation.

Mrs. Escabi, a native of New York City, is of Pueto Rican heritage. When I described where in NYS I lived, she reminisced about taking a ride on the Lake George steamboat, Minne-Ha-Ha, which docks just a few miles from my home! She is very attuned to current trends in education, and hopes to acquire eReaders for her two libraries. As with the public library, the school library collections are mainly in English: families recognize that their children's future depends on language fluency and the academy responds accordingly. The students I met in the hall were friendly and well-behaved, a credit to their school and their community.

Again, should I return to Dorado, I have an open invitation to volunteer. Perhaps there will be opportunities to connect online, as well.

Kites and Whales

Sometimes the best vacation memories are unplanned. While on a visit to El Morro, in Old San Juan, we saw hundreds of children flying home-made kites. The steady, strong breezes off the ocean were perfect for this outdoor activity.

Then, at the local Saturday beach party, someone alerted us that whales were jumping offshore, a rare occurrence for Dorado. Although I wasn't able to capture the event with my camera, it was a thrilling experience to see the huge splashes, knowing what they represented.

People, Language, Culture

Once again, we were warmly welcomed by the year-round residents of Dorado. They invited my husband to watch boxing matches on a projection TV screen, outside, under the stars. We sampled local food and agreed that rum and coke is a proper beverage for tropical climates. There was the traditional Friday night poker game, passionate domino competitions, and stunning sunsets to share.

I don't speak Spanish, but I'd love to learn how. It seems to be a language made for conversation and laughter. It suits our Puerto Rican friends. I will miss them.

Animoto of our trip to Dorado, Puerto Rico

Flickr slideshow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/sets/72157623478244885/show/

"Reflections by the Sea" by dmcordell
"Popular fiction, Jane R. Stern Community Library" by dmcordell
"Courtyard sculpture, Dorado Academy" by dmcordell
"Flying kites" by dmcordell
"Playing on the beach" by dmcordell

A Tale of Two Soldiers

2011-03-16T11:23:00.003-04:00

The Young Warrior:
Traveling in uniform, upgraded to First Class as a courtesy, recognized and applauded by airline staff and passengers.

The Old Warrior:
Humiliated, by being selected for a random body pat down, angered that his combat service in Viet Nam did not ensure dignity and personal freedom in his retirement years.

What is the price we are willing to pay for "security"?

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The Roar and the Splash

2011-03-11T05:28:00.006-05:00

Reflections by the sea:

The sound of the ocean is twofold, the splash of waves on the shore, with a powerful, constant background roar.

Is there a parallel in education? Does reform more closely resemble the steady energy of the roar, or the flow and ebb of the splashing tide? Is the normal wearing action of the waves enough or is a tsunami necessary, to sweep away old systems so that we can begin again?

I gather shells and contemplate the future.

"Reflections by the Sea" by dmcordell
"Tsunami warning sign" by dmcordell
"Conch curl" by dmcordell

Torrents

2011-02-21T09:28:00.005-05:00

torrent: A large amount of something, especially water or rain; a heavy stream or flow. (Internet, file sharing) A set of files obtainable through a peer-to-peer network... -Wiktionary

This morning I followed a link, shared on Twitter by Kathy Ishizuka, which led me to a blog posting about Kindle e-book piracy.

Author David Carnoy explains:

"Over the months I've received news of the occasional blog post and tweets, but more recently I popped open an alert to learn that my book was being pirated--both as a separate file and part of two larger Torrents called 2,500 Retail Quality Ebooks (iPod, iPad, Nook, Sony Reader) and 2,500 Retail Quality Ebooks for Kindle (MOBI). I had the strange reaction of being both dismayed and weirdly honored that someone had selected my book to strip free of its copy-protection (DRM) and include as part of a collection of 'quality' e-books, many of which were from very good authors."

Since I am nothing if not inquisitive (a good quality for a librarian, no?), I immediately tracked down the Torrents in question. Both are hosted on a site called The Pirate Bay, which lists these stats:

4.924.558 registered users
29.869.780 peers (20.024.436 seeders + 9.845.344 leechers)
3.652.205 torrents

Visitors can search by genres: audio, visual, applications, games, other, or all. Their legal threats page lists a number of challenges and responses, but The Pirate Bay boasts that " 0 torrents has been removed, and 0 torrents will ever be removed."

In his posting Carnoy noted that "the rise of the iPad has spurred some of the pirating, but now the huge success of the Kindle is also leading to increased pirating... At the time of this writing, 668 people were 'seeding' the Kindle collection while 153 people were downloading it."

As a Kindle owner, I have made use of free e-book sites like ManyBooks, even downloaded free public domain and contemporary titles from Amazon. I also purchase items - the one-click shopping, which automatically delivers new e-books to my Kindle, is all too easy to use, a seductive option for a voracious reader.

I don't wish to own everything I read, however. Some books are a pleasant diversion, nothing I would pay for or return to in the future. Our local public library is, of course, a logical source for this type of material. However, the only electronic options there are audio books (which I don't like) and Overdrive e-books, which aren't compatible with the Kindle. New sites like Lendle, which claims to be "The easiest, fastest, fairest, and best way to lend and borrow Kindle™ books," may offer another alternative to buying items.

I haven't knowingly downloaded a pirated e-book, and I don't see myself transferring files via a Torrent for recreational reading. As this posting points out, not all Torrents are illegal (Facebook and Twitter use BitTorrent to distribute updates) , but "Be advised: if you are downloading music or software that you would typically have to pay for, you are likely breaking the law, thus putting yourself at risk."

There are other caveats to using Torrents.

"Several studies on BitTorrent have indicated that a large portion of files available for download via BitTorrent contain malware. In particular, one small sample indicated that 18% of all executable programs available for download contained malware. Another study claims that as much as 14.5% of BitTorrent downloads contain zero-day malware, and that BitTorrent was used as the distribution mechanism for 47% of all zero-day malware they have found." -Wikipedia

I'm not willing to risk copyright infringement and malware to access a few novels. Let the Torrent sweep through my social networking landscape; it won't be swelling my Kindle pool.

"The Mighty Hudson" by dmcordell

Me and My Kindle

2011-02-13T13:29:00.007-05:00

I've had my Kindle for about six months now, but I've really just begun using it recently.

After a first "symbolic" purchase of The Complete Works of Jane Austen (all of her books are available for free online, but I wanted to make a statement), I didn't pick up the device again until I grabbed it to take on a train ride to Philadelphia. It's a fairly long trip, and I didn't want to run out of reading material, so I added a few titles to the Kindle and tucked it into my traveling bag.

The advantages of ebooks readers are many: they are lightweight, portable, easy to use and hold their charge for a long time. The fact that Amazon makes it so easy to buy books - one click, and my purchase is delivered to my Kindle electronically - is almost a disadvantage...certainly a temptation to an avid reader like myself! Fortunately, there are numerous sites that offer free downloads.

One of my favorite current author, Cory Doctorow, publishes his works under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license,

"which lets you share it, remix it, and share your remixes, provided that you do so on a noncommercial basis. Some people don't understand why I do this -- so check out this post if you want my topline explanation for why I do this crazy thing."

Doctorow is happy to post remixes of Little Brother ("A rousing tale of techno-geek rebellion, as necessary and dangerous as file sharing, free speech, and bottled water on a plane") as well as links to his novels and stories, via a blog.

Life with my Kindle hasn't been all smooth sailing. I found it necessary to reboot far too often, causing me to lose my place and my patience. A posting by Informania alerted me to the cause of the problem: my lovely green leather cover was the culprit. When contacted by phone, the customer service rep at Amazon pulled up my account information, offered a refund or an upgrade to the lighted model (which looks exactly the same, except for a retractable book light) and processed my order immediately. I didn't have to return the old cover; the new one arrived within a few days.

As I've said before, I don't feel that books are an either/or (paper or electronic) proposition. I still go to our local public library, continue to re-read old favorites from my bookshelf. The Kindle has just made it so much easier to carry and enjoy a personal library with me...to the table, to bed, or to more exotic locales.

Thomas Jefferson said, "I can't live without books." Well, now I don't have to.

Why ISTE? Why Now?

2011-02-05T10:28:00.007-05:00

I've never been much of a joiner, preferring to go my own way without reference to a "party line."

Since (semi-)retiring from my position as a teacher/librarian, I've reconsidered this stance and now maintain membership in a few organizations. Of these groups, I am convinced that ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, offers the most significant opportunity for effective change in education.

With the specter of deep cuts across disciplines and job titles, it is imperative that educators take every opportunity to update their skills, thereby proving their relevance and value...not just as window dressing, but as an obligation, in order to best serve the learners with whom they interact.

As a late adopter myself, I understand the fear that this prospect can engender in an established professional. The key is to remember that, in the world of technology, there is room for learners. Further, it is impossible to be an expert in everything. Sharing, collaborating, and creating must be the province of both "teacher" and "student," with these roles shifting back and forth in a facilitated, co-learning climate.

ISTE is uniquely positioned to sustain interactive, supportive experiences, offering Special Interest Groups (SIGs), Communities, professional development resources, and numerous other research and evaluation tools. It provides a vibrant environment in which all learners may thrive.

We owe it to our students to be able to help them locate and access appropriate technology at time of need. As an ISTE member, education professionals can feel more confident that they will be able to deliver this crucial service.

Full Disclosure: I have submitted an application for nomination to the ISTE Board. This is no guarantee that I will be chosen to run for office. However, going through the submission process has helped me to clarify my thoughts about the value of ISTE membership.

"circle of people" by PLCMC training account

The Start of a Journey

2011-02-02T10:30:00.004-05:00

I've been home for a few days now, and the ideas and insights generated from EduCon 2.3 are starting to jell in my mind. Reflection is an important component of the education process, so here are some random thoughts I'd like to share.

Sessions
Aside from one presentation that was perilously close to "sit and git," the scheduled sessions were interactive and inspiring. These events are meant to be conversations, and their leaders acted more as facilitators than as experts. Although there is sometimes the hero-worship factor, "Wow, I'm sitting here listening to that Twitter star ________," once things get rolling, there is an ongoing dialogue that energizes everyone in the room. Strangers band together for quick collaborative projects and share their products eagerly. There's a brainstorming mentality: everyone learns from others' experiences and anecdotes.

Among the sessions I attended, I particularly enjoyed

Design Thinking: 21st Century Skills for the Real World - Christian Long, David Bill, Ethan Bodnar. Participants were split into groups and guided through the process of solving a real world problem for an attendee-volunteer. The five steps - Discovery Define Brainstorm Prototype Test - can be applied to any problem; the design does not need to be for a physical space but can include learning environments as well. Christian gave us one important guideline, "You can only be wrong if you’re not listening to the client/her story."
The Future of Student Inquiry/Research: Environmental Scanning and Scenario Building - Joyce Valenza, Gwyneth Jones, Shannon Miller. Although the three session leaders are school librarians, the conversation was inclusive of all educators. Participants collected and shared research tools, then defended their decision as to whether a statement like "Wikipedia is a good student resource" should be categorized as "Rocks" "Sucks" or "Not sure." The ensuing mini-debates challenged people to intelligently defend their choices. As with many of the session activities, this type of critical thinking exercise could easily be adapted for classroom use. I know we had fun with it!
What's Wrong With This Picture? - Darren Kuropatwa, Dean Shareski. An introductory SlideShare was the inspiration for the activity that followed, as participants were invited to "play and learn and talk." Table mates collaborated on a photo challenge ("Create video or image that depicts something unreal, preferably with no post production") now archived in a Flickr slideshow.
The Power of the Product: Creative, Meaningful & Daring Ways to Demonstrate Information Mastery - Gwyneth Jones, Diane Cordell. Again, two librarians facilitated a conversation for educators in general. This was my debut as a presenter at EduCon, and it was quite an exhilarating experience (thanks in large part to my partner and inspiration, the Daring Librarian). Our goal was to create our own product, a slideshow featuring less-traditional ways for students to explain and illustrate their learning. I enjoyed chatting with participants, including a group of young teachers from New York and Meenoo Rami, the founder and moderator of #engchat on Twitter. The SLA student streaming our session told me about a QR project in her English and Social Studies classes (researching Philadelphia buildings, then generating a QR code to link individual buildings with the students' information); I let her use my iPhone to scan the code on my business card so she could see and feel the scanning app in action. Gwyneth is still tidying up the slides that were created, but the finished product will be available here Additional resources can be accessed via the TL Virtual Cafe Power of the Product page.

Commonalities of Successful Sessions

active
interactive
inclusive
universal
product-driven

Stories
A number of session leaders talked about "stories." Schools need to focus more on storytelling: helping students to understand stories from the past, stories from the global community and, more importantly, giving them the tools to articulate, capture, and share their own stories.

Back in the "real" world
In one sense, EduCon can be almost depressing. As Liz Davis noted in her reflective posting, My EduCon Struggle,

"While I did have a great time seeing people I only see once a year, meeting people face to face for the first time, and bringing a colleague from my school, I'm not sure what I learned. That is very difficult for me to write. I know I learn constantly and I certainly took back some good ideas. But many of the sessions, all of them well done, felt like things we have been talking about forever.

I'm tired. I'm tired of complaining about what schools aren't doing. I'm tired of lamenting what kids aren't learning. I'm tired of struggling to figure out effective professional development. I'm exhausted by the term 21st century skills."

Before my retirement, I also struggled with this. For a few days in January, it seems like you move in a bubble of excitement and optimism. Then you return to your home district, where innovation is an afterthought and no support is given to those who long for permission to tinker and create something new and meaningful for their students.

My professional response then was to chip away at the establishment, connect wherever, and however, I could with individuals, keep petitioning my administrators for more freedom, more tools, more more more. It was frustrating and largely ineffective.

Now, I believe that real reform will not come from within the system but from without. EduCon offers the opportunity to connect with innovators. This year, I've either had direct conversation about, or indirect connection to, several projects that may be game changers. I'm going to use my greatest gift, the gift of time, to contribute what I can to some of these collaborative enterprises.

EduCon is not a destination; it's the starting point of a journey.

"EduCon 2.3" by dmcordell

The Big Society

2011-01-26T11:40:00.004-05:00

Can libraries be adequately staffed and maintained by volunteers alone? Author Philip Pullman says NO!

"...Nor do I think we should respond to the fatuous idea that libraries can stay open if they’re staffed by volunteers. What patronising nonsense. Does he think the job of a librarian is so simple, so empty of content, that anyone can step up and do it for a thank-you and a cup of tea? Does he think that all a librarian does is to tidy the shelves? And who are these volunteers? Who are these people whose lives are so empty, whose time spreads out in front of them like the limitless steppes of central Asia, who have no families to look after, no jobs to do, no responsibilities of any sort, and yet are so wealthy that they can commit hours of their time every week to working for nothing? Who are these volunteers? Do you know anyone who could volunteer their time in this way? If there’s anyone who has the time and the energy to work for nothing in a good cause, they are probably already working for one of the voluntary sector day centres or running a local football team or helping out with the league of friends in a hospital. What’s going to make them stop doing that and start working in a library instead?"

Read the entire article, "This is the Big Society, you see. It must be big, to contain so many volunteers" on OurKingdon: power & liberty in Britain

"Volunteer Sign-in" by rkeefer

The Power of the Product: An EduCon Conversation

2011-01-22T19:53:00.005-05:00

Gwyneth Jones (the Daring Librarian) and I will be hosting a session, The Power of the Product, at EduCon this year.

We're excited to be exploring this topic and hope you can join us on site or online.

One of our discussion tools will be a crowd-generated Google slideshow. Gwyneth & I will the ball rolling, and then invite you to add your own examples to the slide deck we're constructing. Additional resources are being archived at the TL Virtual Cafe.

A conversation is only as "Creative, Meaningful and Daring" as its participants. Come join us, and see what we can build together!

*and don't miss Gwyneth, along with Shannon Miller and Joyce Valenza, at The Future of Student Inquiry/Research session!

"PowerofProductSodaonDeskH2" by The Daring Librarian

Our Real Reunion

2011-01-22T12:00:00.005-05:00

Over the past summer, my high school class held its 45th reunion...which I chose not to attend. I felt disconnected from this particular group of people, not having seen, or spoken with, most of them since graduation.

This situation started to change when a classmate set up a website for the Class of '65. I was contacted by one person on Facebook, and soon there was a flurry of invitations and networking. I found that some of us were kindred spirits, with a lot more in common than I had anticipated.

But the most meaningful connections have been made recently, as one member of our class battles for his life after a heart attack and stroke. Each evening, at 10:00, we share prayers and good wishes, via Facebook, with J.R.'s family (his wife is also a fellow graduate). It has been a profoundly moving experience. Another member of our class shared this reflection:

Reposted, with permission, from Facebook

Classmates with Class by Paul Murray, Saturday, January 22, 2011
It has been my good fortune to shake hands with a former President, a few Governers and several statesman . I've been blessed to meet several pro athletes to include more than a few Hall of Famers in both the NFL and MLB.
After bearing witness to the events of this past week, I am forced to conclude that some of the most impressive people were those which whom I passed in the hallways of CCHS. The faith, love and generosity displayed here the past several days make me proud to call a good many of you friends and wish I had gotten to know others better. Salute!

Our class was large for the area, almost 500 members. Since it was a central school, many of us tended to interact with those we knew from our home parishes. Tracking - college entrance, business, etc. - also created artificial barriers. And, of course, there were the standard teenage cliques: jocks, brains, popular kids.

Time, age, and experience have erased most of these differences. Our lives have taken many different paths, but we have a shared history. Although we are interacting virtually right now, I believe that in the future, we will be more likely to seek each other out in real life.

I'm proud to claim these people as friends. We ARE "classmates with class."

"Joy: High School Yearbook" by dmcordell

Here's the Story: Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race to the Big Game

2011-01-21T09:47:00.006-05:00

You may have seen references on social networking sites that mention #MBteamS (or 3 other teams I choose not to promote here) and wondered what was going on.

As the Official Team S Storyteller, I feel it's my job to fill you in.

In mid-December, USA Today reported on Super Bowl ads that would "play the social media game"

Mercedes-Benz... plans to launch "The World's First Twitter-Fueled Race," which awards two new cars to the two-person team of social-media wizards that garners for Mercedes-Benz the most tweets, Facebook "likes" and social-media currency by game day.

Today, on its Facebook page, Mercedes-Benz USA issues a casting call for social-media users who want to compete in its Twitter-Fueled Race.

When the chosen teams were announced, I was astonished/happy to see that educational blogger, self-proclaimed "mayor of the Internet" and fellow Packers fan, John Pederson (@ijohnpederson) is co-driver for Team S, along with Todd Sanders, aka @tsand.

In the spirit of competition, fun, and avarice (participants will be eligible to win a V.I.P. trip and/or a Mercedes!), I followed the steps to join a team, claimed a spot as "one of our human resources" (librarian, photographer, and historian were already taken, but "storyteller" encompasses all of that) and stand ready to Tweet my team on to victory.

It promises to be an interesting social media adventure, and beyond all the hype and hyperbole, there is a worthy cause:

At the core of this contest, behind all the football, fancy cars, and social media silliness, is a $25,000 donation that Mercedes-Benz is making to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on behalf of our coach, Pete Wentz, and #MBteamS. Even better, if we do end up “winning” this thing, Mercedes-Benz kicks in an additional $20,000, totaling $45,000, to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. -ijohnpederson

So follow these three simple steps:

1) Twitter. Come race time, your tweets are our fuel. You’ll need a Twitter account. Follow both @tsand and @ijohnpederson.
2) Join Team S on the Mercedes-Benz Facebook page. http://on.fb.me/MBteamS

3) Finally, claim your spot as one of our “human resources” by giving yourself a role on our team. Visit http://mbteams.com/human_resources and add yourself in the comments.

Become part of our team, and help us write this story. It's social media with a goal and for a cause. How wonderful!

Photos from Mercedes-Benz USA

On the Home Front

2011-01-17T13:53:00.003-05:00

I sometimes get so caught up in my online life, with its multi-national connections and innovative slant, that I tend to overlook what's happening in my own community.

New York State school districts vary widely in demographics, resources, guiding philosophies. While I worked as a K-12 teacher/librarian in a small, rural, public school (graduating classes averaging about 39), my own children attended classes in a larger, suburban district (graduating classes near 200).

Today, my eye was caught by this item in the "Boos and Bravos" section of the daily newspaper:

"Bravos to the Queensbury Board of Education for coming up with an innovative way to solicit public input and include taxpayers in upcoming budget decisions. In February and March, the board will host three community forums in the elementary cafeteria in which citizens themselves will 'constructively and collaboratively' address issues relating to the budget, employee benefits and the educational direction of the district. Citizens will be divided into groups and asked to come up with solutions to several problems on their own. Board members will not participate in the discussions, but instead will observe and learn. This is a new approach that will get the public more involved in the decision-making. The board deserves credit for its openness and creativity." -The Post-Star

I like the participatory nature of this BOE-sponsored workshop, and the fact that citizens are being acknowledged as both stake-holders and partners in setting education policy. In fact, it mirrors what many of us would like to see happening in the classroom: constructive, collaborative, creative problem-solving.

Bravo, indeed, Queensbury Union Free School District. I'll be there.

"Too many decisions about changes are made by people untouched by the change process." -Peter Block

"A shared vision is not an idea...it is rather, a force in people's hearts...at its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question 'What do we want to create?'" -Peter Senge

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

Image from Queensbury High School Alumni webpage

Aerial Dead Reckoning: E 6-B

2011-01-12T13:04:00.006-05:00

It all started with the snow storm...

Since I've been posting 365 Project photos of ice and snow for the past few days, I decided to look for something from inside our home to feature today, for a change of pace.

When my siblings and I cleaned out our parents' home this fall, I ended up with an assortment of mementos. I've begun scanning pictures, starting with my father's WWII album. In addition to the photographs, I saved some other artifacts.

Today, my attention was caught by a gadget in a leather case, a U.S. Army Air Force "Computer: Aerial, Dead Reckoning" tool. A little research yielded a huge amount of information.

My initial keywords were "Aerial Dead Reckoning;" then I zeroed in on "E-6B."

I learned that this pocket computer is actually a circular slide rule:

"These flight computers are used during flight planning (on the ground before takeoff) to aid in calculating fuel burn, wind correction, time en route, and other items. In the air, the flight computer can be used to calculate ground speed as well. The back is designed for wind correction calculations, i.e., determining how much the wind is affecting one's speed and course." -Wikipedia

Included in the results, I found a forum discussion, an instruction manual, and an aviation blog with a photo of Dr. Spock using an E 6-B! There's a YouTube how-to clip, and a book that serves as both a history and a tutorial. Modern versions of the E6-B are still being sold to pilots, although the case is now vinyl, not leather.

After his discharge from service, my father studied engineering, graduated from RPI, and became a metallurgist (how I loved to fill that in on school forms asking for your parents' occupations!) for the General Electric Company. I'd like to think that this fascinating little metal "whiz wheel" contributed to his survival during wartime, and fueled his lifelong interest in science and mathematics.

A snowy day treasure hunt yielded a sweet little reminder of my family history.

"My eyes are dim I cannot see, I have not got my E-6B with me, over the Valley of the Ruhr." (World War II USAAC ditty)

"His computer is the instrument on which he stakes his life ... Don’t ask for his computer, for he’d sooner lend his wife." (Navigator's Song, 1943)

Related posts:
The Navigator's Daughter

"Computer: Aerial Dead Reckoning" by dmcordell
"Over the Atlantic" by dmcordell

Club Click

2011-01-09T20:11:00.005-05:00

One of the benefits of semi-retirement is having a flexible schedule that leaves time for interesting new ventures.

Shannon Miller is an online acquaintance who became a friend when we got to connect in real life at the SLJ Leadership Conference this fall. She and I decided to collaborate on a project: we would become co-advisers for her school photography club - Shannon, from the school library media center in Van Meter, Iowa; and me, from my home in upstate New York.

We Skype at times that fit into her students' schedules, keeping in mind the one hour time difference as we plan. Although an Internet problem forced us to cancel one meeting, Shannon, some Van Meter students (in grades 6 - 12), and I have managed to make a good start on organizing Club Click. School administrators have given their approval, an explanatory letter went home to parents, and we have about 20 enthusiastic members.

The Van Meter students are respectful, creative, and fun to interact with. Some have moved ahead quickly on their own: Kylee (who is old enough to have her own Flickr account) has been building an impressive collection of photographs. Alissa includes lovely photos in her blog postings.

And then there's Emma, who not only has a blog of her own, and a Twitter account (with her parents' knowledge and approval), but also has volunteered to set up and co-administer the official club blog, which will feature students and their photographic work.

Our Club Click Flickr group has more adult than student uploads right now, but that will change as Shannon and I determine the best way to allow younger members to share their photos.

In our Skype sessions, we've discussed some of the possible directions in which the club might move, from choosing themes to constructively critiquing each other's work to community service projects. I talked about the importance of tagging, and displayed some of the tools available on Flickr. Shannon and I have been stashing relevant resources in diigo; we want to offer students as many options as possible to feed their obvious enthusiasm for taking, editing, and sharing photographs.

For most Club Click members, this will be a fun hobby. For some, it may grow to be a lifelong passion. Either way, it's a privilege to be part of the adventure.

"I wish more people felt that photography was an adventure the same as life itself and felt that their individual feelings were worth expressing. To me, that makes photography more exciting." -Harry Callahan

"What is art but a way of seeing?" -Thomas Berger

"Skyping with Van Meter" by dmcordell
"Some Flickr options" by dmcordell

Pieces of the Puzzle

2011-01-02T14:26:00.003-05:00

As the new year begins, many of us have started, or continued, participation in 365 (photo a day) groups. A Twitter friend was lamenting the fact that she couldn't use Flickr for this activity - she doesn't have a Yahoo I.D. and therefore was unable to create a Flickr account.

Her comment triggered a vague memory, so I did a bit of searching. It gave me great pleasure to to inform her that new Flickr users can now sign up - and sign in - with Google OpenID.

This little interaction highlighted for me one of the huge benefits of a PLN (personal learning network): it allows you to tap into the collective wisdom of your colleagues. In our information age, no one can be an expert in everything...but everyone can contribute something to the conversation, frequently more than they realize.

That trick or tool that's been in your repertoire for months may be a revelation to some in your network. A frustrating technical problem could be a quick fix when you crowd-source the issue.

It's nice to know that the answer to your quandary may only be a click away.

"Puzzle pieces" by liza31337

It's On My List

2010-12-29T11:38:00.007-05:00

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” -Susan Sontag

From a dimly remembered visit to California in 1949 (right after his graduation from college, my dad drove cross country; mom & I flew there to join him. I was two years old at the time) to a wonderful trip to Chicago last month, travel has always been a part of my life.

My first tour of Europe came between my junior and senior year of college. Three years later, I was lucky enough to spend some time on the Greek Island of Rhodos (Rhodes).

When our children were small, family trips tended to be shorter and less expensive, although we did make the pilgrimage to Disney World one spring vacation.

Now that I'm retired (sort of), I'm starting to indulge my love of travel again. My husband will join me occasionally (this year, we went together to Puerto Rico, Ohio, and Maine), but the conferences I attend without him always include friends and friends-to-be with whom I can associate.

This was my 2o1o itinerary:

January - EduCon (Philadelphia, PA) - my favorite gathering, a relatively intimate and always stimulating series of conversations

March - Dorado, Puerto Rico - my husband's sister and brother-in-law were kind enough to invite us to visit them at their winter home, a small but pretty condo within sight and sound of the ocean

June - ALA 2010 Annual Conference (Washington, D.C.) - this was my first ALA conference, offering the perfect opportunity to meet with some of my library colleagues and tour our nation's capital

July - Ohio (and the Schinkers in Queensbury) - we went to visit some online friends, and some other online friends came to visit us

October - U.S.S. Hanson Reunion (Portland, ME) - another first, as we attended a reunion of those who served on the Hanson, including some who were shipmates of my husband's during the Viet Nam War

November - SLJ Leadership Summit (Chicago, IL) - this was a gem of a gathering, sponsored by the School Library Journal: authors and illustrators and speakers, oh my

These trips were more than just sightseeing jaunts, although that was part of their charm. Three of the six were conferences; all involved connecting with people. Transforming acquaintances into lifelong friends and learning partners; blending virtual and real life, personally and professionally: that is what travel does for me.

In 2011, we're hoping to visit Puerto Rico again. I may travel to Buffalo, NY in May for the SLMS/NYLA Spring Conference. I plan on seeing Philadelphia in winter (EduCon) and summer (ISTE 2011). There's AASL National Conference at Minneapolis, MN in October; I'd love to fit in another SLJ Leadership Summit, if there's no scheduling conflict. And wouldn't it be fun to meet up with the student members of "my" photography club (and co-advisor, Shannon Miller) in Van Meter, Iowa!

When I created this little map of my journeys, I noticed that the U.S. West Coast, the Southwest, most of the Midwest, and a large part of the rest of the world, aren't represented. I need to do something about that.

Map created at http://www.communitywalk.com/

“Clay lies still, but blood’s a rover / Breath’s aware that will not keep. / Up, lad: when the journey’s over there’ll be time enough to sleep.” -A.E. Housman

It's Not Nothing

2010-12-25T13:25:00.004-05:00

There's been an interesting conversation going on recently regarding "transliteracy."

Medical librarian David Rothman questions whether this concept is any more than a new buzzword for the same type of information literacy with which librarians have always been concerned. Rothman's stance is that "the world changes as technology changes. Education and libraries adapt (well or poorly, but they adapt). There’s nothing new here. There’s no need for a new movement, a new term, or so much discussion about nothing."

I strongly disagree.

The location, evaluation and aggregation of factual information will always be an essential component of the library experience, whether in a K-12, university, specialized or public facility. Providing materials for scholarly and recreational reading, listening, or viewing is a second key service.

But modern life require something beyond accessing and searching resources...and that's where transliteracy skills become necessary. Our students, our citizens must be skillful in collaboration and creation. They are expected to process, reconfigure, transfigure raw materials (be they data or ideas), sometimes while working with virtual colleagues across the world. They don't just find information: they create and disseminate it.

And they must perform these tasks with tools that are rapidly evolving. Information users need to be adept at learning new skills in a constantly changing information landscape, able to identify, investigate and utilize powerful new instrumentality for storing or communicating information.

In “The Librarian Militant, The Librarian Triumphant," Dr. David Lankes says

"What will kill this profession is not ebooks, amazon, or Google. It will be a lack of imagination. An inability to see not what is, but what could be. To see only how we are viewed now, but not how that is only a platform for greatness... It [librarianship] only survives if we, librarians and the communities we serve, take it up, renew, refresh it, and constantly engage in what is next."

There's an army of librarians working to keep librarianship relevant.

Bobbi Newman has given the term translitercy new traction with her Libraries and Transliteracy blog. Buffy Hamilton's Unquiet Librarian blog and innovative SlideShares highlight the elements of both transliteracy and participatory librarianship. Joyce Valenza, Gwyneth Jones, Shannon Miller, Carolyn Foote, Cathy Nelson and others model the rich, multi-layered learning that can take place when transliteracy is regarded as a medium for learning.

Perhaps Mr. Rothman, Information Services Specialist at the Community General Hospital Medical Library, doesn't see evidence of transliteracy in his professional life. But any K-12 teacher/librarian can testify that information literacy is only a part of what their students need to learn. Exemplary student projects demonstrate mastery of the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks.

In a world that demands learners and creators, not just consumers, "transliteracy" makes sense to me.

"Lighting enTrails/Tunnel Trails/Tunnel Vision" by Mr Magoo ICU

Holiday Greetings

2010-12-23T15:25:00.006-05:00

Christmas Past...

Christmas Present...

I don't know what Christmas Future will hold, except that it will be infinitely better for your presence in it.

To Family and Friends, both near and far: Have a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

2010-12-21T09:11:00.004-05:00

Tired of serving as the IT person for your extended family? Google has created an interactive "letter" that can help you construct an instructional package tailored to a recipient's needs.

Although Google has named the site "Teach Parents Tech," these tutorials would benefit anyone new to computers - from grandparents to students to teachers - as well as help fill in the gaps for those of us who have acquired our digital skills haphazardly over the years.

This "gift" is free, doesn't require wrapping, and will last a lifetime. Pretty good deal!

Thanks to @pfanderson for sharing this link on Twitter!

Reflections At the End of the Year

2010-12-15T13:16:00.004-05:00

As the calendar year draws to a close, many bloggers are posting reflective pieces. Some people focus on achievements won or lessons learned. Others resolve to be better, stronger, more effective or more famous (because, let's face it, no one is altruistic all the time).

These past 12 months have been interesting ones for me, with some unexpected disappointments that were more than offset by surprising bonuses. There's no need to be more specific: I know I am blessed in family, friends, and the freedom to choose my own path.

Two songs drifted through my mind today, each appropriate in its own way for this pensive time of year.

Make of them what you will - they are an early Christmas gift from me to you.

John Lennon - Happy Christmas (War is Over)

"So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun"

Alanis Morissette - You Learn

"You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn"

A Way of Seeing

2010-12-13T10:59:00.004-05:00

Want to get your students started on a photography project? Here's a quick introduction to spark discussion.

A way of seeing

View more presentations from Diane Cordell.

"What is art but a way of seeing?" -Thomas Berger

Cross posted on Resources and Links

Absolutes? Absolutely Not!

2010-12-11T11:13:00.004-05:00

Absolute can be defined as "expressing finality with no implication of possible change;" that which is "pure, perfect, or complete."

As I grow older, I realize that there are few absolutes in life - and this is a good thing. Without absolutes, there is always the possibility of new ideas, deeper understanding, and broader knowledge.

Mentors are simultaneously mentees; students and teachers can become co-learners; old dogs might acquire new tricks.

Everything becomes a work in progress. The journey is the destination.

Image from Absolut Bottle Generator

Juan Proteus

2010-12-08T18:15:00.003-05:00

A twitter friend, William Chamberlain, commented to me today, "I really need to learn more about that period [the 1960s] since it is really affecting our culture today." Later in the day, P.F. Anderson used the phrase "Singing rocks of Greece." These two seemingly unrelated tweets resurrected a long-forgotten family story.

On July 19, 1968, Life Magazine published a feature about "Young American Nomads Abroad." Reporter Thomas Thompson visited the Greek Island of Crete, where he found "40 or 50 caves filled with young people," one of whom called himself "Juan Proteus."

There are levels of isolation here. At the outer edge is Juan Proteus, an American, 24, thin, blond, who has lived for a year on Crete. Hardly anyone knows him because his cave is across the bay from the colony, halfway up a cliff, reachable only by a good climb that you feel quickly in the backs of your legs. You can see Juan, though, because he sits outside his cave much of the day, and if you walk on the sea rocks below him, you can hear his exquisite guitar music.

I caught up with Juan as he carried water back from the village. I introduced myself and wondered if he would talk to me. “I wouldn’t have anything to say,” he said. He sat down and started playing the guitar. It sounded like Scarlatti, but he had written it himself. He. told me he had gone to Annapolis, then to Hunter. He pointed to Mount Ida, which you could see in the distance across the sea, and told me it was where Zeus had been born. His cave was neatly swept; he had built a bed. There were no books, no radio. There were the beginnings of a wall of stone he was putting up outside his cave. He spoke in the manner of a man who had not talked in a long while; the words were dry and few.

“Why have you stayed so long?”

“I don’t think they’re gonna drop the bomb on Crete,” he said. “It’s not of strategic importance.”

“Are you going back to America, ever?”

“It would be a cultural shock to go back...What’s gonna happen is gonna happen. All the rest is irrelevant.”

Was his last name really Proteus? “Yes.”

Many days later, when I could find a book on Greek mythology, I looked up “Proteus.” It said: “The prophetic old man of the sea; he knew all things, past, present, future, but disliked telling what he knew. Those who wished to consult him had first to surprise and bind him during his noonday slumber in a cave beside the sea...”

My father showed me this article, and kept a copy of the magazine tucked away on a shelf in his bedroom closet. The enigmatic Juan Proteus was, in fact, my mother's nephew, my first cousin. He was an intelligent young man from a loving family. After asthma ended his sojourn at Annapolis, he began what must have been a personal quest for meaning. His journey finally ended in Hawaii: when a hiking companion was injured on Molokai, Juan went for help, and was never seen again. It is presumed that he fell from a cliff and his body was washed out to sea.

Although I know his birth name, I won't reveal it here. Juan Proteus is the identity he chose, and I will honor it.

So, @wmchamberlain, if you want to learn more about the 1960s, you could do worse than to read this issue of Life. Among other things, there is an editorial about whether the voting age should be lowered to 18; a review of the movie, The Green Berets, starring John Wayne; an ad for Vista volunteers; a photo spread about Julie Nixon (daughter of Richard Nixon) and her future husband, David Eisenhower (grandson of Dwight D. Eisenhower)...

...and there is a brief conversation with Juan Proteus.

Related post:
Age of Aquarius

The Character One Needs

2010-12-06T09:13:00.005-05:00

Those of you who are on Facebook must be aware of the campaign to post cartoon avatars as a protest against child abuse.

Recently there have been warnings - with vague mentions of the FBI - that these cartoons are being used by pedophiles to mask their identity and make contact with children.

Snopes addresses both these issues, and reminds us that:

"Real problems don't disappear as a consequence of 'slacktivism;' they're fought through the mechanism of donation of time and/or money. The character one needs display to the world is not that of a cartoon, but of a benefactor."

A further note regarding adult online predators

Police agencies and family safety groups (as well as purveyors of child safety software) warn parents that

"Sexual predators do exist and are a very real threat. They target both boys and girls of all ages and use the anonymity of the Internet to their advantage since they can be whomever they want. Many are master manipulators with skills that can cripple any child's sense of awareness." -Family Safe Computers

How real is this threat?

"While the abduction, rape, and killing of children by strangers is very, very rare, such incidents receive a lot of media coverage, leading the public to overestimate how common these cases are. Most sexually abused children are not victims of convicted sex offenders nor Internet pornographers, and most sex offenders do not re-offend once released. This information is rarely mentioned by journalists more interested in sounding alarms than objective analysis." -Predator Panic: Reality Check on Sex Offenders

Based on his research studies, David Finkelhor, head of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, testified at Congressional hearings that

"...the public's perception of Internet pedophiles tricking children into revealing personal information and then stalking or abducting them is false. Most Internet sex crimes begin with weeks of explicit conversations that exploit a teen's sexual curiosity and desire for romance and adventure...To prevent these crimes, we have to take on more awkward and complicated topics and start with an acceptance of the fact that some teens are curious about sex and looking for romance and adventure...prevention efforts should focus on educating teens about drawbacks of a sexual message" (Foster's Online, 7/25/07, linked from CCRC in the News)

So...change your avatar, if you like, but back up your convictions with RL advocacy.

And share the University of New Hampshire's CCRC factsheet, Internet Safety Education for Teens: Getting It Right with your students and family members.

If you truly care about children, give them the knowledge necessary to function freely and safely in their connected world.

"My South Park Character" by Clearly Ambiguous

Because They Wanted to Connect: My Tribe and the Edublog Awards

2010-12-05T12:17:00.009-05:00

"And it turns out that tribes, not money, not factories, that can change our world, that can change politics, that can align large numbers of people. Not because you force them to do something against their will. But because they wanted to connect." -Seth Godin

Voting is now open for the 2010 Edublog Awards, a yearly opportunity to acknowledge the blogging and tweeting efforts of educators who choose to connect and share online.

The "Best librarian / library blog" category is a roll call of some (but by no means all) of the best and brightest in my field. I am happy to note, however, that teacher/librarians, and their sites, appear under a number of other headings:

best individual blogs (Never Ending Search, Not So Distant Future)
best individual tweeter (buffyjhamilton, dmcordell, shannonmmiller, wawoodworth)
most influential tweet series (#tlchat)
best group blog (Libraries and Transliteracy)
best new blog (Eliterate Librarian, Libraries and Transliteracy)
best resource sharing blog (Librarian in Black)
most influential blog post - Joyce Valenza’s Things I think teacher librarians should unlearn (20 & counting)
best school administrator blog (Doug Johnson)
best educational support blog (Cathy Nelson)
best educational use of video/visual (Gwyneth Jones)
best educational wiki (TL Virtual Cafe, Copyright-Friendly, MHMS Tech Wiki, New Tools Workshop, School Library Websites Wiki, The UDL Tech Toolkit, WebTools4u2use, World of Warcraft in School)
best educational use of a social network (Helene Blowers, 23 Things)
best educational use of a virtual world (ISTE-SIGMS)
lifetime achievement (cybraryman1, Doug Johnson, Joyce Valenza)

I believe that these nominations reflect a necessary broadening of our profession's vision and a continuing commitment to explore new ways to better serve our students and staff members.

Vote for excellence, not for job titles, but be proud of those nominees who represent TLs in this very public forum.

Good luck to my friends and colleagues: Buffy, Carolyn, Cathy, Doug, Gwyneth, Joyce, Shannon, and all the rest of our Tribe.

"There ain't no rules around here. We're trying to accomplish something." - Thomas Edison

P.S. I've been nominated for Best Individual Tweeter. If you feel it's warranted, I'd appreciate your vote!

"The Group" by Grzegorz Łobiński
Badge from the 2o1o Edublog Awards site

Magic Mirrors

2010-12-03T09:27:00.010-05:00

History can be defined as "the aggregate of past events," but also as "the discipline that records and interprets past events involving human beings."

It's the human element which sometimes gets lost.

I've recently come across two options for exploring family histories, one digital, the other, at least in its initial stages, very low tech.

Our local newspaper shared a project called "the memory jar." According to blogger Carol McDowell, of Burlington, Vermont, "the best Christmas gift" she ever received started with a jar full of questions and a journal in which to record the answers. McDowell placed 52 slips of paper, each with its own question, in a decorated Mason jar and asked 89-year-old Ruth McDowell to answer one each week, then return the completed journal to her granddaughter for a Christmas gift.

"My grandmother loves to tell stories, so she not only did the questions, she pasted in old pictures and newspaper bits that she had saved. I ended up with a most cherished piece of her that I probably would never had known and she enjoyed every minute of doing it."

While McDowell's project involved paper and pen, a new website, Proust, offers the opportunity to digitally archive the same sort of information.

Still in beta, Proust aims to help people "discover stories you never knew about your family and friends, gain insights you'll long cherish, and enjoy sharing your own memories." A few of the sample questions might seem a bit trite: What did your mom always pack in your lunch? but such details make up the fabric of a person's life and may, in fact, serve as the key to unlock deeper truths.

Proust is a free service; information is kept private, only shared with chosen family members and friends. Individuals can use questions from the site or substitute their own queries, with the option of adding images or video clips.

The Memory Jar project and Proust share a common goal: to capture and preserve personal history. Imagine the power of combining the two! Ms. McDowell could record reminiscences in her grandmother's own voice, scan the fragile clippings and photos, and preserve them all on Proust. Not only would they then be accessible to other family members, but there would be less danger that these artifacts might be lost or destroyed.

As the holidays approach, why not plan to initiate a Family History project, whether on Proust, Voicethread, Flickr or elsewhere? Create a gift that will have value long after the ornaments and tinsel have been packed away.

"Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present and future." -Gail Lumet Buckley

"If one could make alive again for other people some cobwebbed skein of old dead intrigues and breathe breath and character into dead names and stiff portraits. That is history to me!" -George Macaulay Trevelyan

"23 Reasons" by ShawnMichael
"Mom, WWII" by dianecordell

Copyright Caution

2010-11-23T10:54:00.004-05:00

The holiday season is about to kick into high gear, and so is the energy level of students. Many schools, particularly at the elementary level, choose to schedule movie screenings as a fun group activity.

Unfortunately, this practice is illegal, in most instances.

Copyright and fair use regulations can be difficult to decipher. Tools like the Fair Use Evaluator recommend that users "collect, organize & archive the information you might need to support a fair use evaluation" while cautioning that "Only a court of law can definitively rule on whether a use is fair or unfair. This tool does not assume or predict a court outcome."

When it comes to movies, however, the rules are quite specific:

"the showing of copyrighted motion pictures (videos and DVD's) outside of a classroom educational setting (including such uses as after school programs, student rewards, rainy days, lunch hour movies, summer camps, clubs, assemblies, staffing emergencies and idle periods between state testing) constitutes copyright infringement." -Showing Movies at School

There are some exceptions:

Under the "Educational Exemption" copyrighted entertainment movies may be shown in a school without copyright permission only if all criteria are met:
A teacher or instructor is present

The showing takes place in a classroom setting with only the enrolled students attending

The movie is used as an essential part of the core, current curriculum being taught. (The instructor should be able to show how the use of the motion picture contributes to the overall required course study and syllabus.)
The movie being used is a legitimate copy, not taped from a legitimate copy or taped from TV
-Movie Licensing USA

Schools districts could, of course, obtain a Public Performance Site License or a One-Time License (as do public libraries) and eliminate any question of illegality.

I was recently contacted by a fellow teacher/librarian who was frustrated by administrators' response to the sharing of this information. They blatantly ignored it. My professional experience has been similar.

Teacher/librarians don't want to be perceived as "copyright cops." But we do feel that teaching and modeling good digital citizenship is part of our role as educators.

How can we preach responsible use to students when adults in authority fail to exhibit ethical behavior?

Now you know the law. Follow it.

"At The Movies" by Clover_1

Of Innovation and Roadblocks

2010-11-16T10:16:00.004-05:00

I've been planning to blog about my friend, Buffy Hamilton, and her new Creekville High School Library Kindle lab.

Buffy has been modeling best practices and transparency, taking us through every stage of the Kindle project, from preparing the devices for circulation to compiling a resource guide; recording a student Kindle promo to documenting the first Kindle checkout.

Wishing to build on this early, success, Buffy attempted to place an order for additional Kindles...and was blindsided by a new Amazon policy:

Due to strong customer demand, the current quantity limit is 3 Kindle devices per customer. We will forward your inquiry to the Kindle team and someone will contact you if we can meet your requirements and schedule.

A long phone conversation with customer service reps resulted in the same response. No exceptions for classrooms or libraries. Three per customer, period.

What has this policy accomplished for Amazon? In the short term, the loss of an order for 20-25 Kindles might seem an insignificant drop in the bucket. But there may be long term repercussions:

educators who have been debating the relative merits of Kindles, Nooks, and other eBook readers might decide to choose the more school-friendly alternatives
students will purchase (or request as gifts) the device with which they are familiar
as the reader goes, so go the book purchases

This could well be a temporary, pre-Christmas, quota system, but if so, it would have been politic for Amazon to indicate this in response to Buffy's queries.

I have to wonder if Amazon is subtly (perhaps not so subtly) trying to discourage Kindle use by libraries in general, rather than make concessions regarding the lending of eBooks.

Visit The Unquiet Librarian blog and follow the progression for yourself: from enthusiasm to frustration; adoption to...alternatives?

What are you thinking, Amazon? Really.

"CVHS Student Caitlyn Checks Out the First Unquiet Library Kindle" by theunquietlibrary

The Edublog Awards

2010-11-15T10:16:00.005-05:00

I've always had a difficult time choosing the "best" of anything - books, movies, even desserts. Absolutes make me feel hemmed in, and I can usually imagine alternative scenarios that would justify a different response.

That said, I feel a responsibility to participate in the annual Edublog Awards. I read, enjoy, and learn from a variety of feeds in my Google Reader. It's time to recognize some of the bloggers who contribute to my personal and professional growth.

Here are my nominations for the 2010 Edublog Awards:

Best individual blog - David Lankes/Virtual Dave...Real Blog
Best individual tweeter - Beth Still/@bethstill
Best resource sharing blog - Wesley Fryer/Moving at the Speed of Creativity
Most influential blog post - Carolyn Foote/Listening to teacher voices part 2
Best teacher blog - Sylvia Tolisano/Langwitches
Best librarian / library blog - Buffy Hamilton/The Unquiet Librarian
Best educational tech support blog - Cathy Nelson/Techno Tuesday
Best educational use of video / visual - Gwyneth Jones/The Daring Librarian
Best educational wiki - Joyce Valenza/New Tools Workshop
Best educational webinar series -The TL Virtual Cafe
Best use of a PLN - Alec Couros/@courosa
Lifetime achievement - Doug Johnson/The Blue Skunk Blog

You can nominate your own favorites. Simply follow these directions:

Step 1: Write a post on your blog linking to:

The Edublog Awards Homepage
The blogs & sites that you want to nominate (must be linked to)

You can nominate:

For as many categories as you like,
But only one nomination per category,
A blog (or site) for more than one category
Any blog or site you like but not your own blogs (sites)

Step 2: Email us the link to your nomination post

Use the form (on the Edublogs Awards home page) to contact us, please include a genuine email address (spam free, just in case we need to confirm identity) and the link to your nominations post.
You can’t submit your nominations without writing a blog post

Please note: You will receive an automated email reply when you successfully complete the contact form.

An important part of being an educator is self-reflection. Please take this opportunity to review your RSS feeds and social networking sites, determine what content has proven valuable to your life as a learner, and acknowledge those who have influenced your thinking in a positive way.

Reflection

2010-11-05T10:26:00.005-04:00

Edmund Burke said that "Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting." I believe that the same is true of presenting.

As a teacher, I asked that my students practice self-reflection as an integral part of their learning. I wanted them to critically examine their work, to decide what was successful, what didn't quite make the grade, and how they might use their experience in constructing new knowledge.

On Monday, November 1, I presented my first webinar, Eyes to See, for the TL Virtual Cafe. One of the great benefits of using Elluminate as our venue is that the entire session is archived: slides, audio, chat, etc., so I was able to revisit the experience and "see" it from a number of perspectives.

After the initial shock of hearing my own voice, I started to notice speaking strengths and quirks. Pacing wasn't bad, not too many "uhs" but a previously undetected predilection for the word "now" as in "Now sometimes...Now this project..." which immediately brought to mind a sweet family memory. When my daughter was small, she would gather her toy ponies, unicorns, mermaids, and fairies, and begin weaving tales. Frequently the first word of these sagas was "Now..." Did she pick up on that from me, or did I unconsciously echo this totemic word when I began sharing stories with others? At any rate, it was a connection that made me smile.

The content of my slidedeck was appropriate, I felt, if limited by time constraints. In order to supplement and expand the resources shared in the webinar, I've started to build a wiki, Using Digital Images, which I hope will become a useful resource for myself and others.

I had wondered about the dynamics of a webinar. Practice runs left me worried that I would sound stilted, sitting alone and talking into a microphone. I found, however, that even though I couldn't see the faces of my audience, their presence was very real. The online interaction was lively, and it was nice to see familiar names popping up.

Most valuable to me, as both presenter and co-learner, were the comments in the chat section, which I had been unable to follow while speaking. Participants shared projects and links that deepened the conversation; they will provide a rich source of additional material for the wiki.

There were a few technical glitches, mainly due to a prior Elluminate session that hadn't properly exited the room, but the always incredible Gwyneth Jones, handled the situation with great aplomb and even created a special handout explaining how to access the archive.

What I Knew: I was familiar with the content of my slides and comfortable with the topic in general

What I Wanted to Know: How to effectively communicate in a new (to me) format

What I Learned: Practice sessions are important (thank goodness Gwyneth pointed out that an exterior microphone was vital!); an experienced hostess makes everything flow smoothly; webinars are fun!

Would I do it again? Absolutely!

Related Resources:
Archived session, Eyes to See
SlideShare, Eyes to See
Using Digital Images wiki
Resources and Links blog

See a listing of upcoming webinars on the TL Virtual Cafe here

Eyes to See

2010-11-01T21:18:00.003-04:00

This is the slidedeck from tonight's webinar at the TL Virtual Cafe.

Eyes to See

View more presentations from Diane Cordell.

Thanks to all who attended!

TL Cafe: Eyes to See

2010-10-27T16:32:00.006-04:00

On Monday evening, I'll be the guest presenter for a TL Virtual Cafe webinar. A link to the Elluminate room will go live shortly before the session begins.

If you can join us, please do. I'd love to "see" you there!

Eyes to See: Using Digital Images in the Classroom
November 1st - 8pm EST
Guest: Diane Cordell
Host: Gwyneth Jones

According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, approximately 65% of the population are visual learners; the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text; visual aids in the classroom can improve learning by up to 400%.
With the advent of inexpensive, simple to operate digital cameras, teachers and librarians have the opportunity to involve students in activities that are engaging and enriching. "Eyes to See" will explore various ways to enhance curriculum through the use of digital images.

SLJ Leadership Summit 2010: The Future of Reading

2010-10-25T10:21:00.016-04:00

Last week, I attended my first SLJ Leadership Summit. Here are some of my impressions, thoughts, and, of course, photos.

The location: Although I've passed through Chicago many times, this was my first real visit to the city. Without much time to sight see, I did manage to walk around a bit, exploring the stores on the Magnificent Mile and snapping pictures of the amazing skyline.

The people: re-connecting with my Tribe was, as always, a joy. But, on a broader scale, it was wonderful to be at a conference where everyone had a similar focus and a common vision regarding the profession of librarianship and the importance of both books and technology in libraries. This wasn't a print vs. eBooks crowd: speakers and attendees engaged in a rich dialog regarding the necessity of many tools to enhance and enrich the library experience of the students - and teachers - that we serve. It truly was a summit for Leaders.

The presentations: Keynote speaker Stephen Abram set the tone by considering "The Future of Reading in 2020." Although he envisions changes, it's more of an evolution than a revolution, with librarians not just participating but leading. Abram concludes by assuring us that "It gets better. Librarians can help."

Student Voice was represented at the Summit by students from University Laboratory High School, accompanied by their librarian, Frances Harris. These articulate young people shared some insights about their life as readers. All of them had been read to by their parents, as children; their favorite genres are sci fi/fantasy; finding the time for recreational reading is a problem, due to packed schedules; all prefer print books, though they might consider eBooks for college texts (price is a definite issue).

Members of the Carnegie Council for Advancing Adolescent Literacy shared data pertinent to this topic, then discussed their recommendations for adding value to eReaders for classrooms and libraries. This list is still in draft form, and contains important points that need to be considered by both educators and developers: for example, the Council wants devices to have multiple capabilities that can be enabled or hidden by the librarian/teacher depending on student needs. In response to audience feedback, Council members agreed to incorporate strong language regarding the key role of librarians as leaders in the adoption of new reading technologies.

Author Patrick Carman talked a little about his personal relationship with books, then demonstrated how he enhances his stories with interactive features that turn the reader into a co-creator of the narrative. Trackers, for example, is "told through a collage of videos, text, and websites." It is not merely a book that you read; it is a world that you experience.

Caldecott-winning illustrator Paul Zelinsky walked us through the evolution of his newest picture book, Dust Devil. Although Zelinsky would appear, on the surface, to take a more traditional approach to books and reading - and was passionate in expressing a preference for print - his presentation included both electronic and "steampunk style" tools.

There was much more to hear, discuss, and ponder at the SLJ Leadership Summit. Many of the sessions were taped, and School Library Journal will be sharing archives on the conference site, as they become available.

Thanks to the corporate sponsors, and School Library Journal, for offering this opportunity to convene, connect, and construct.

My photos of the conference are here. The SLJ Summit 1o group can be found here.

Sometimes Good Things Happen to Good People

2010-10-14T14:20:00.007-04:00

"Library Dream Team: Tammy Beasley, Buffy Hamilton, Roxanne Johnson, Dr. Bob Eddy" by theunquietlibrarian

Congratulations to a dear friend, and tireless worker for all that is positive in school libraries,

Buffy Hamilton

who has just been designated "Georgia Library Media Specialist of the Year for 2010"

In August, Buffy (aka The Unquiet Librarian) and her fellow librarian, Roxanne Johnson, received recognition as one of two “exemplary” high school library programs for the state of Georgia.

On October 12, Buffy was named to the National School Boards Association's list of "20 to Watch" for education technology leadership.

Today, the Georgia Library Library Media Association honored Buffy Hamilton for excellence in her profession.

Well done, Buffy, and well-deserved!

"Friendship" by dmcordell

Listen and Learn

2010-10-12T10:05:00.006-04:00

"Do not pass by my epitaph, traveler.  But having stopped, listen and learn, then go your way." -Roman Tombstone

I have always been fascinated by old graveyards, those rambling, untidy cities of the dead. Love and longing, loss and sweet remembrance all find expression there.

Our American children celebrate Halloween, All Hall ow's Eve, by wearing costumes and harvesting bags of treats from friendly neighbors. This harmless fun stems from the ancient Celtic belief that

"the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm." -Wikipedia

The Catholic Church has recast this pagan tradition as two Autumn feast days, All Saints' Day (All Hallow's Day), November 1, and All Souls' Day, November 2, both intended to honor the Christian dead.

There are many stories to be told in cemeteries, and the cross-curricular possibilities are endless.

I've gathered a collection of links and resources in a cem eteries wiki that is available for use by any interested educator.

Suggestions range from mapping grave sites to analyzing tombstones; composing epitaphs to writing dramatic "tours;" preserving history to researching ancestors.

The Poets' Corner memorial plaque for T.S. Eliot reads, "The communication of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living."

Listen and learn.

Related posts:
Remembering
Truthville
The Brisbins of Saratoga County

"Requiescant in Pace 11/01/09" by dmcordell
"Alonzo P. Stinson" by dmcordell