Alice in InfoLand - Info SkillsBloghttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/2010-04-13T15:24:29ZSquarespaceSLJ's Learning 2.0 programhttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/sljs-learning-20-program.htmlAlice2008-07-21T15:49:33Z2008-07-21T15:49:33ZCheck out All Together Now: Learning 2.0, led by Michael Stephens and sponsored by SLJ. It’s an opportunity to work with SLs all over the world, as we — jointly — explore 12 “Read/Write” web tools and figure out how to use them with(in) our library communities.
I’m signing up: I may be retired, but I’m never too old to learn…and play with some new toys!

]]>If a picture is worth more than 1000 wordshttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/if-a-picture-is-worth-more-than-1000-words.htmlAlice2007-01-08T14:46:54Z2007-01-08T14:46:54ZA Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

Wow: 110 different ways to graphically demonstrate information and concepts!
Although the examples given in the table are all business-based, it should be easy to adapt these into possibilities for revising many of those standard (and boring) “write a report on” assignments.

found via Lifehack.org

]]>Thank you Robin Sloan!http://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/thank-you-robin-sloan.htmlAlice2006-05-08T13:31:43Z2006-05-08T13:31:43ZSloan, the co-creator of EPIC, a must-see for all informed citizenry, appreciates libraries (and librarians):

“One of the really magical things about libraries, after all, is that they are all about service. They don’t want anything from you; they don’t want to sell you anything. Today, that is almost a radical proposition. Like serious journalism, librarianship is worth preserving and extending in the era of Google’s cold genius; in both cases there is something valuable at the core. “

tags:
]]>Let's Work Togetherhttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/lets-work-together.htmlAlice2006-04-12T16:54:18Z2006-04-12T16:54:18ZA sad reality is that — too often — classroom teachers just don’t know how to effectively utilize the skills of a school librarian.  Here’s the text of a flyer I gave out to teachers every year:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mission of our School Library program is to:

  • develop information-literate students
  • create lifelong learners
  • help teachers teach

I CAN HELP YOU BY:

  • working with you to develop authentic research activities for your classes.
  • coordinating information and research skills strategies with classroom curriculum.
  • recommending additional resources to extend your classroom materials.
  • presenting booktalks about new/relevant books for your classes.
  • preparing Project Pathfinders to guide your students to the best resources for your assignments.
  • brainstorming project ideas, lesson strategies, and topics with you.
  • providing guidance relating to the ethical use of information.
  • notifying the public library of any class assignments.

 YOU CAN HELP ME BY:

  • notifying me as soon as possible of any planned resource-based class projects or assignments.
  • meeting with me to develop/plan effective resource-based activities.
  • reserving class time in the library as far in advance as possible, and notifying me as soon as possible of any schedule changes.
  • understanding both the extent and limitations of the School Library’s resources and schedule.
  • remaining with your students and supervising their behavior while they are in the library.
  • sending no more than two students at a time to the library on a pass, unless prior arrangements have been made.

and the tag line on every notice I sent out:

Let’s work together
to help our students
become successful lifelong learners!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having these guidelines clearly defined made connections/cooperation/collaboration by teacher and librarian so much easier for everyone concerned!
 

]]>Medium AND Messagehttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/medium-and-message.htmlAlice2006-03-14T02:08:43Z2006-03-14T02:08:43ZFor my upcoming presentations and hands-on workshops on “how to use Bloglines to look brilliant to your faculty” I’ve put together a set of instructions… using the create a blog capabilities of Bloglines itself.

These are only introductory instructions; I cover more details and advanced strategies during the actual workshops.
The demo blog is at http://www.bloglines.com/blog/Aliceinfoshow2rss

Comments and suggestions gratefully accepted here, since the Bloglines blog doesn’t have any comments capability.

I’m still gathering examples of school library bloggers. Check out an extended list on the TeacherLibrarianWiki that Joyce Valenza has created for us to use as a collaborative courtyard.

tags: RSS, web 2.0, school library, teacher-librarian, CIL2006, ISE2006

]]>Bloglines vortex: 'blortex'?http://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/bloglines-vortex-blortex.htmlAlice2006-03-07T00:42:57Z2006-03-07T00:42:57Z conference on Mar 24 on
Really Savvy reSourcery, aka How Bloglines Make Me Look Brilliant To My Faculty, I’ve been scanning the blogosphere for examples of school and/or library-related blogs to include in my presentation blogroll.

Since my personal Bloglines subscription already has over 150 feeds, I’m struggling to stay afloat in a swirl of information flotsam and jetsam.

Now I truly understand the 6th grader who — in the midst of a oceanography research project — discovered the word vortex: noun. A whirling current, usually spiraling in toward a center and tending to drag things with it.
“That’s what this feels like!” he exclaimed. “I’m caught in an information vortex with all these things to take notes from. Quick, Mrs. Y — grab me and pull me out to safety.”

tags:
]]>FLIP it!http://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/flip-it.htmlAlice2005-11-30T14:15:04Z2005-11-30T14:15:04ZUse the link in the Navigation Bar (to the right) to access some of my FLIP it!™ materials.

Included so far are:

  • Overview and Graphic Organizer
  • Background/Explanation of how FLIP it!™ works
  • Information Skills Categories
  • Information Literacy Standards Matrix
  • Research Activity Guides
  • Research Reflection form
  • Additional Applications of the FLIP it!™ mnemonic

If there’s enough interest, I will consider setting up a discussion forum for FLIP it!™ users.

Any questions ? 

 


]]>AASL2005 conference bloghttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/2005/10/6/aasl2005-conference-blog.htmlAlice2005-10-07T00:54:23Z2005-10-07T00:54:23ZGee, said me, last spring:
wouldn’t it be neat if there were an AASL blog to report on events at the AASL conference in October, so that all the school librarians who can’t get to the conference in person could find out what was happening there?  LITA and PLA have blogs that post reports from conferences and events, couldn’t we school librarians do that too??  
So I sent in a proposal for a blog to the AASL powers-that-be.  Nothing happened.   After much dithering, I got word that it was a possibility… but there were still hoops to be jumped through at the AASL/ALA offices…

And then it was September, less than a month before the conference, and still, and yet, and we’ll have to see if, and firewalls, and need permissions, and uh oh…
until Damon Abilock of Noodletools.com generously offered server space and (even more important) actual tech support for a semi-official AASL conference blog!!

Check it out:  http://www.noodletools.com/aasl   for up-close-and-personal reports FROM the AASL conference in Pittsburgh.  And my heartfelt gratitude to the volunteers who bravely offered to help get this new publishing venture off the ground! 

 

]]>Vicarious Conference-goinghttp://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/2005/6/24/vicarious-conference-going.htmlAlice2005-06-24T20:08:37Z2005-06-24T20:08:37ZThanks to the generosity of fellow bloggers, I can now glean information from various professional conferences without being physically ‘there’ at them!
I started following the PLA blog last January, and now also use RSS feeds for the SLA blog, the LITA blog, and even the unofficial wiki for this year’s ALA conference.
I may not always fully understand what they’re talking about, but it’s still a worthwhile learning experience!

I’m looking forward to learning about/from the NECC and NEA conferences this way, too.

If you’re willing/interested in helping me blog from the AASL conference in October, please let me know! I haven’t settled on a format (and host/server) yet, so any advice will be gratefully accepted. I really think this kind of reportage could be useful as another form of professional development for all school librarians!

Any/all suggestions and willing participants welcome!
Learning is always more fun when you’re doing it with friends.

]]>H.R. 2295 / aka "Parental Empowerment Act of 2005"http://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/2005/6/4/hr-2295-aka-parental-empowerment-act-of-2005.htmlAlice2005-06-04T14:13:11Z2005-06-04T14:13:11ZI’ve been following the news about this misbegotten federal bill proposall that would prohibit states from receiving “any funds under any [Education Department] program or activity” unless it establishes a “parent review and empowerment council” at each local education agency. H.R. 2295 requires parent councils to meet at least every six months to “provide significant input … regarding the purchase or acquisition of any library or classroom-based reference, instructional, or other print material for use in any elementary school,” except textbooks. The councils would be comprised of 5–15 members, most of whom would be parents of students enrolled in that district’s school system.”

Christopher Harris, on his Infomancy blog  remind us that

“This bill presumes that the “highly qualified” teachers and librarians mandated under NCLB are, in fact, incompetent. It assumes, as with filtering software discussed before, that students are incapable of making decisions on their own. This creates an environment where information is driven underground. Information literacy cannot be learned in a controlled environment. Students learn to evaluate the crush of information sources they will face in the world only by encountering examples of good and bad.”

Thanks to Steven Cohen’s Library Stuff for the pointer to Harris’s excellent blog !

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