CEdo 530 - Blog Entry 5

I really enjoyed looking at everyone's Prezi's this week.  I think the main thing I took away from it are a few different ways to compose a Prezi in style.  This is good for me, as I intent to teach using this tool at some point in the school year.  My own experience with Prezi has been just this Photo project.

Speaking of the photo project, I'm not going to lie.  I thought to myself, "man, it's going to be an absolute chore to remember to take a picture once a day."  In the beginning, I found myself taking random pictures of anything just to get them in.  But as time went on, and our discussions of what makes a better picture, I found myself instead taking risks and thinking about what picture I would take.  How I would take it.  And I started playing around with style, lighting, concepts, all of these things that could be considered art.  In the end, we all had a collection of pictures that told their own kind of story.

CEdo 530 - Blog Entry 4

This week's class showed me Prezi, which looks like it has a ton of potential.

But honestly, I'd be a liar if that's what I'm thinking about.  An hour and a half ago, I got the word that my Grandfather passed away.  It is preoccupying my thoughts, and I'm having a hard time pushing that aside to talk about class.  So I'm going to talk about my Grandpa.

His name was Gus.  He was a tough old bird.  When he immigrated to the States in the 50's, he set about his life caring about 4 things; his family, his community, burning peat moss, and drinking Jameson (and usually in that order).  I would remember as a kid, my parents would drive us to Chicago for family functions, usually Christmas.  We would all be sitting in his house, but unless he was working the ham, he was nowhere to be found.  I once asked where he was, and I was directed to the basement.  So I thought I'd go visit Grandpa down there, and as soon as I hit the staircase, I was hit by a smell I could only describe as wet skunk.  I would reach the bottom and see my Grandpa, along with many of my uncles, sitting around a table nursing shots of whiskey.  And burning on the stove next to him would be a chunk of peat, shipped to him from Ireland.  I always hated that smell, but when I traveled to Ireland last year, I ended up coming to like (no, LOVE) the smell of burning peat.  I look forward to honoring my Grandpa by getting some peat myself and stinking up my house, and likely the neighbors as well.  I'm not looking forward to the likely many shots of Jameson that I will have to drink at the wake that I am sure will be sometime early next week, though.  I hate the stuff, and I hope no one will be offended if I nurse mine.

This is one of many stories I have of my Grandpa Gus.

That felt good.

CEdu 530 - Blog Entry 3

 So far, if I had to take away only one thing from the class so far, is that presentations (good ones, that is) require a vested amount of sincere emotional attachment to the subject matter of that presentation.  Be it a story or a power point, the presenter's emotion needs to be at the forefront.  I don't recall anyone telling me about how amazing a lecture was given by a dispassionate person.  Of course, I'm overly simplifying a course of many things into one little bit.  But for me, that's what is, well, sticky.

CEdu 530 - Blog Entry 2

I think one of the most interesting things I took away from the class session was the video from Sir Ken Robinson. His speech is, well, amazingly profound and absolutely true.  The fields of adult life, such as business, politics, academia, and so on, seem to value correctness and serious application of right-brained intelligence.  And our schools are teaching students out of anything else.  All of us are involved in education and see this daily.  And Sir Ken is right, we do need to change that.  And as Library Media Specialists who have the unique opportunity to play a part in every student's life, I think we can help in our own ways to culture and grow creativity rather than quash it.  I told the story of Jillian the dancer to a friend, and he thought it just as profound.  And I think that one anecdote is the key to Sir Ken's suggestions.

That and, "Frank sent this."

As far as what I would use digital storytelling in my job, I would create lessons and projects involving the kids telling their own stories.  Think about it.  Every day all of you must have at least one student tell you a story about what happened yesterday, or of something they are excited about.  Allowing a creative outlet for students to share stories of themselves, which frankly everyone loves, is a positive thing, and in some ways is an extension of what Sir Ken is saying.

CEdu 530 - Blog Entry 1

Our first class was pretty exciting for me.  I've never taken an online course before, so I'm glad it was gentle.  I consider myself a fairly technology minded person, so the concepts and functions came pretty easy for me.  For that I am grateful.

I also find it (perhaps ironic isn't the appropriate word, but...) coincidentally interesting that we are taking a class in Digital Storytelling that, among other things, shows us how to present better multimedia presentations with a better multimedia presentation.

The assignment to take a picture every day is harder to accomplish than I thought.  I constantly have to remind myself to take pictures...and then upload them!  In what has become a go-go-go life for myself, it's hard to take that time to do the little things like that.  And I enjoy taking photographs, too.

What I think I'm looking forward to most is to apply digital storytelling to what I already do with storytelling.  I have told and continue to tell stories to students in the way that some teachers give students treats or gold stars.  And these stories are anecdotes from my life that are both amusing and lesson-imparting.  Having worked with school-aged children for 10+ years and having an interesting childhood provides tons of true material that, with a bit of embellishment and the dramatic telling of it, entertains kids ad finatum.  I can't wait to try and turn one of my stories into a digital one.  Maybe I'll tell the "Carrot" story, or the "Michael Jackson Bullying" story.  The possibilities are endless!

CEdu 571 - 3/23/11

1. (Louis Question) – How has our class and this week’s activities effected you in your professional life?  Discuss two things that you have learned about this week.

Much like last week's focus on how cool PLN's are, I basically walked away from tonight's class with a ton of new lesson plans.  I will be almost certainly be using these in some form.

I learned that a) there are a number of great lesson ideas to help both teach library lessons, but library reference as well.  And b) (sappy as it may be, yet 100% true) I learned how much I'm going to miss working with Chris.  She's an excellent teacher, and I look forward to learning even more as time goes on.  I can tell you this, I'm definitely a better LMS for what Chris has taught.

CEdu 571 - 3/16/11

1.  Describe 2 highlights that caught your attention during the Online Database presentations.

Tumblebooks.  I think this was nothing short of amazing.  It appears to combine the appeal of graphic novelization with the fun of the internet.  The activities and texts are really good, and seems to be a great reading and library lesson aid.  I checked, and I have Tumblebooks!  I am excited!

Powerspeak Languages.  Holy cow was this cool!  As far as an immersion language tool, I think this is nothing short of amazing.  For an IB school like mine that is focusing on Spanish, this would have been a great tool.  Unfortunately, this site is geared more towards older students/adult learners.  So I think my direct use at school will be limited.  That being said, hawt damn!

2. (Louis Question) – How has our class and this week’s activities effected you in your professional life?  Discuss two things that you have learned about this week.

The class has exposed me to some databases that I might not have explored on my own.  My two highlights are the sites I'm going to be working with in the most immediate fashion.

I learned about a) a ton of databases that I can use.  And b) I was able to see a PLN in action.  Granted, we've been a class working on these things as we've moved along.  But it was cool to see hand-picked databases by my peers for group review.  It reinforced the importance of the PLN.