Distribution Systems

Say the word Distribution System at my school and wait for the sighs, moans and groans from our teachers (I keep my sighs, moans and groans to myself or in the the solitude of my office). The distribution system has been both a blessing and a curse.

One great service our distribution system plays is that it distributes our directTVchannels through the whole school. We have 4 VCR/DVD combo units in which we can play select channels through. I am often emailed by coaches asking me to change the channel to show the game they are watching, but normally we have Fox News, CNN, Food Network and ESPN running.

There are also 4 solo DVD units that can only be used to play movies. Movies can also be played on the DVD/VCR units, but those are our last choice, as the are used to route the directTV channels. The movies can either be controlled by the Media Specialist directly or they can be scheduled and controlled by the teacher using a computer program. The program is relatively simple to use, but the teachers do not like using it. Many teachers are annoyed that they cannot take the videos to their classroom and they also cannot show videos that don't have administrator approval. Another disadvantage is that the DVD players often shut themselves off between classes and they have to have the Media Specialist or I turn it back on. If i was in  the classroom, I think I would probably use the computer as my DVD player as they mostly do. The computers are all connected to the hanging flat screens in every classroom.  

We have one other channel that is available for use by our broadcast journalism class for morning announcements.(Last year, we had a few semi-successful weeks of video announcements, but the program is yet to be up and running this year.) I really hope that we can get the program running again soon.

Another feature of the distribution system is being able to show things on the attached computer. I create a PowerPoint  show daily of school announcements and teachers have the option to have these scrolling announcements on their TVs.

Social Networking in Schools

Today's student is extremely comfortable with Social Networking and communicating via the internet, sometimes to a fault. But using various Social Networking sites is an opportunity to work with students using a platform in which they are comfortable. There are multiple ways these tools can be used in the classroom in facilitate learning and create a lasting learning experience for students. One standard that we as school librarians are expected to fulfill is to create lifelong learners and by collaborating with teachers on something like this, we could help to do that.One example is that I love the goodreads.com site and think that this could be very successful for encouraging student reading and encouraging literary discussion between peers.

One of the most depressing things about my job in a high school library is the ridiculously strict filtering enforced in our system. I often read articles about Web 2.0 tools and the fantastic ways that school libraries around the country are using Social Networking and then find myself blocked from attempting to do the same.

One way that our teachers have somewhat gotten around this blockage is by creating similar projects, but not using the actual sites. Our teachers have students create Facebook pages for book characters, such as Beowulf and Hamlet. This way students can communicate their learnings in a format that they understand and find exciting. It has been fun to watch students create these projects.

Another way we 'get around the system' is by using the county blog format on our webpage. I added a blog widget to my book club site and my kids really loved it. This year I shared this with an English teacher and he has begun to see similar success.

There are so many options and opportunities for classroom success with Social Networking, but currently there are many hurdles. Hopefully one day school systems will be able to get past the negative stigma of the sites and allow this opportunity to blossom.

A few years ago social networking sites would have no place is education but today my mind is opening up to the possibilities and experiences these sites could bring to students, parents, and teachers. These sites can be the portal to connect reluctant parents and hesitant students to caring and devoted teachers and school staff. Children and parents do not find school intimidating because it is, they find it intimidating because of the stigma behind school. Parents and students need to see teachers and faculty as partners in education that are here to support and educate. Social networking sites may be the key for parents and students to see educators as “regular” people that they can communicate with on their level. Many parents do not come to the school but are willing to communicate via telephone or email on a regular basis.
Social networking can be used to showcase and entire school (probably hard to maintain) or an area (media center, art, music, physical education, or other special areas).If a networking sight was going to be used for an entire school, at least one person per team/area would have to be in charge of maintaining, revising, editing, and updating. For subject areas the sights could showcase big projects/units, events happing, important information that parents/students need to know, homework help guides, reading lists, vocab to know, and background information necessary for success. For the special areas they can showcase grade level units, club times/dates, chorus/band shows, what students can do at home that will help them in school, and facts/tidbits that there isn’t time to share during the usual learning day.
A media centers webpage could house hours of operation, staff biographies, a link to the OPAC, suggested summer reading lists, award winning books, and events (spelling bee, reading bowl, book fair, morning reading club, etc). A feature that might encourage student participation is a showcase of the month where students can rate or review the book on “display.” Parents will be encourage here to come to volunteer or check our books for their children. A page can be devoted to open source software and educational web sites.
Social networking sites like facebook and myspace are on the staff blacklist and will not pull up. unexpectedly, I could access and sign in to blogger sites including blogspot.com.

Media Center Web Pages

     Its a techie world and if you want to be current and seen as in demand, it is absolutely necessary to have a Media Center website to represent your Media Center and the role you play in your school. It is an absolute essential to your relevance as a School Librarian to have a great and regularly updated website.
     This website is in many ways your digital portfolio that shows your administrators, teachers, students, parents and community at large what you are doing and what resources you provide to the school. This website is free publicity and beyond using it as a resource for collaboration an d providing information, you should be using this site to promote your school library program! You have a book-fair coming up? Post some signs and information about it! You are hosting the county science fair? Post some pictures and snippets of what happened! You are having a read-a-thon? Let the people see the great time your students had! Utilize this wonderful tool to show the world everything you do to make your program memorable. Beyond all of the wonderful things you can do with your school library website, you have to use this opportunity for PR.
     On our school library website, we use it as a chance to communicate a collaborate. We use the main page to post our hours and current events. We also post link to our services and about us, this way students can get a feel for what we are about and what the library can do for them. We collaborate with teachers on current projects and post relevant information to our page. We create pathfinders on different projects and post them for students to access. We can reuse these every year, as long as we make sure we check the links. For instance, we have a Greek Mythology page that both the Social Studies and English departments use. This helps us to communicate with students and teachers.

You should make your web page your own! Be creative! Let people know what your program is all about!

School Media Center Web Pages

Media center web pages can encourage parents, teachers, students, administrators, and community members to visit the media center or see it as just another room full of books. The web page can show just how involved a media specialist is with collaboration and incorporating technology or that they simply maintain a book collection. Web pages can be a gateway for parents to access information to help their children in their homework. The web page can connect teachers valuable tools, explain the policies and procedures of the media center, and show them how to incorporate technology in their classroom. Students should be able to access the OPAC, review a list of book awards, and find educational online activities. Media center web pages can be as interactive as a media specialist can make them. They should reach all grades and ability levels. Through web pages media specialist can connect to patrons on a daily basis by telling about current events in the media center (book fairs, read all days, Dr. Seuss’s birthday, early bird readers, etc). Web pages should always include the staff names, contact numbers, emails, hours of operation, and the address or location within the school.

The best pages are those that are maintained regularly. It is so disappointing to see a great link name but then not be able to access the information because the webpage has been moved or does not exists any more. If pages are overly colorful and have lots of buttons and links then it becomes confusing. Having groups of similar links in the same color boxes makes the sight more user friendly. Having helpful links and information on a website can spark conversation between users and the media specialist. I’ve email links to colleagues and they always seem to come back & tell me about their experience with the sight & if it was or wasn’t helpful. This can lead to more collaboration!

I feel a must have on the page is some sort of saying that if a user cannot find what they are looking for or are having an issue to come & see the media clerk or media specialist because we’re always here & love to help!

Wikispaces

I have never used wikispaces before I started the media program, but have come to love them. Wikispaces allow the user whether it be teacher or student to create simple and attractive web pages. This link is an article discussing the many ways wikis can be used in an educational setting, and the article itself is created.... using a wiki! Also, if the idea of this editable web page is still getting you stuck, watch this quick video which demonstrates how a wiki is used.

What is easy about a wiki is that any user can come straight to the Internet and create a webpage in a matter of minutes. They do not need a graphic designer or page coder to have a functional webpage. One great use of wikis for media specialists are from creating pathfinders. These pathfinders can be great for collaboration with teachers. The media specialists can meet/speak with a teacher about an upcoming topic, and pull in sights that will aid the students in research. The only draw back to this is that if students are limited only to using the sites on the pathfinder, the media specialist will need to search for a good many of sites to include. Another reason wikis are favored, is because they can be saved and shared easily. Teachers/media specialists can refer back to these the lessons and other items when a similar or the same topic is needed again. A downfall to this method is that some linked pages will no longer be accessible or will be expired; to solve this issue, media specialists should review a reused pathfinder before using it for a class lesson.

Finally, I think that adding a function similar to that in Google docs would make wikis the ultimate collaboration tool. Being able to create a word, excel, etc document on the Internet with the input of several authors and being able to download them into this format makes creating files quick and easy. I'm sure that wikispaces will one day adopt this into their system!