Of Books and Boys and Other Stuff » links to look at

Between the Vegan Chocolate and the Persistence Quotations

W.H. Beck — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:04:54 +0000

I’m starting a new book this week. It’s my fourth novel, so you’d think I’d have some things figured out. But no. I’m finding myself kind of overwhelmed and not really sure where to start. How do you do this again?

So when I was looking for book trailers to post to my library blog, I had to laugh at this one, for THE QUIET BOOK by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Renata Liwska. I’m stuck somewhere between the vegan chocolate and the persistence quotations.

Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese!

W.H. Beck — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:05:21 +0000

When we were in China, we were often asked what dish our part of the country known for. This was a stumper. Um, venison? Lutefisk? Then we realized it wasn’t so much a dish as a food group we should be sharing. And we started talking about cheese. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it sooner–”cheesehead” is not just a stereotype here in Wisconsin. Cheese and milk and cows are literally everywhere here. And they’re a lot easier to explain than lutefisk.

So, it only stands to reason that when the Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries was looking for a way to promote the variety and wealth of resources, services, programs, and activities that libraries offer, they came up with Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese! Day. And guess what? It’s today. Click over to their page, or flick through the Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese! Flickr account to see all the great things Wisconsin libraries are up to.

What’s Your Secret Site?

W.H. Beck — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:50 +0000

Husband and I were talking about this with friends this weekend. Do you have a a place online that you frequent regularly–but that would surprise everyone to know about? (And no, I’m not talking about THOSE kind of websites. I’m a children’s librarian, for heaven’s sake! Please don’t spoil my innocence.)

My website confession was this one: the Wisconsin Almanac. I don’t farm, hunt, fish, or even take care of my yard very well. But every week, I find myself checking in to see how Wisconsin crops are doing (look!: manure hauling was slowed by wet weather last week, but apples and potatoes are in fine shape), what I should be doing to my lawn and garden (fertilizing and planting bulbs), and how the seasons are changing around me (salmon are slowing down, but spiders are active and “ballooning”–remember that scene from Charlotte’s Web?). I don’t do anything with this information each week (as, sadly, my lawn can attest), but I love perusing it and knowing the bigger picture of the world outside my window. And I keep coming back to it every week.

So…what’s your secret site?

Create Your Own Comics…in the Library

W.H. Beck — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:00:37 +0000

Last week when I wrote about The Dunderheads, I forgot to link to some of the other online reviews. One of my favorites is by 100 Scope Notes. Yes, he created a “Toon Review”!

Once I got past my jealousy of not thinking of doing “Toon Reviews” first , I had to check out the site 100 Scope Notes used to create his comics: Bitstrips, http://www.bitstrips.com. It was so very much fun that now I’m thinking of how I can use them in the library with students. Yes, we will probably do our own “Toon Reviews” because I love that idea. But with library orientations looming in front of me, I’ve been thinking about having the older students take a library rule or procedure and create a comic for it. Then we’ll share them with the younger students.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this: a conversation I had yesterday with Colonel Mustard.

Stand By Me

W.H. Beck — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:05:03 +0000

You would think that after 14 years of working in schools I would know that I’m not actually going to get anything done in the library on my teacher work days.

Yes, it’s Labor Day, and I’m heading into work to finish up a few things for my classes tomorrow.

Anyway, one of my favorite things of the first week of school last week was this video, shown in our all-district meeting. It’s from Playing for Change–a documentary where they got street musicians from all over the world to collaborate on the same songs.

Enjoy.

Warbling About Wordle

W.H. Beck — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:48:37 +0000

So, in trying to get back to my regularly scheduled blog posts (nothing like traveling across the world to throw you for a loop)…I’m still interested in trying out some of the websites that AASL deemed “the Best,”and seeing how I can put them to use in my writing and librarianing lives. My next up is Wordle.

Disclaimer:if you’ve perused any of the links on my site at all, you’ll know I already was familiar with Wordle. In fact, I have a Wordle to the right here –>. So, it’s not new to me. But be kind, I’m still waking up in the middle of the night with jet lag and reacquainting myself with American food and my running shoes.

Wordle (http//www.wordle.net) is a nifty (and somewhat addictive) site that allows you to plunk in a chunk of text, then it analyses it and pulls out the most frequently used words. Then it arranges it all pretty with color, funky fonts, and different directions of text–a word cloud. See, here’s my post on China, all Wordlized. (And it makes me think I should go back and edit–how did I use the word “baby” so frequently in that post???)

You can also plug in a blog or web address (as long as it has an RSS feed) and it’ll analyze the whole thing.

If you are a control freak, you can set your fonts and color and text directions. You can even limit how many words you want your Wordle to zoom in on or if you want it to take out the most common (the the’s, a’s, etc.). Or you can just keep hitting randomize until you see a Wordle you like. Which, personally, I think is the most interesting.

So fun, right? But what’s the point? Well, I’ve been mulling this over. In my writing, I’ve found it somewhat enlightening to plug in my synopsis of the novel I’m working on. You can see it here. It gives me a big picture look at what my book is really about.

At school, I can see even more uses. Someone on lm_net came up with some Wordles for the Dewey Decimal system. They are some nice displays of what kinds of books are in each hundred (and ones I totally plan to borrow and adapt). You could do this for any theme or display. Here’s a Wordle that I’m going to use as a poster at the entrance of my library.

To do these kind of Wordles, instead of pasting in text, you need to do some brainstorming and enter in the words into Wordle. Then you have to weigh the words, entering the more important ones more times. For example, I entered “books” more times than I did for “audiobooks”, so that “books” would show up bigger in the Wordle.

And that’s where I think the power of Wordle is. Student projects, where kids need to sum up something. It makes them put their ideas into words, but in a different way than the typical sentences. It’s a whole different kind synthesizing learning. A great back-to-school introduction to the computer lab might be to have students create Wordles on themselves. Or maybe, after my third graders finish their animal reports, we plug those papers into Wordle to see what they look like, just for fun. Or maybe students could create Wordles about a character in a book, or the main idea of a science or social studies lesson.

Here are some other examples of Wordle uses in the classroom/library.

What have you used Wordle for?

Animoto = Ani-mazing

W.H. Beck — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:47:14 +0000

First up from the AASL Top 25 Websites for Teaching and Learning (remember, I warned you about this?), Animoto.

Do you know Animoto? I confess: I did not. But it’s been a lot of fun to play around with. Basically, Animoto is a web-based tool that allows you to plunk in your photos, add some music (yours or theirs), and text to create mini “movie” slideshows. How’s it different from something you’d make in Powerpoint? Well, it’s just plain snazzier. Animoto times out your music for you and automatically adds transitions between pictures. The results is much more sophisticated (and quicker to do) than anything in Powerpoint. Here are those same photos from my ALA session, all Animoto’d up:

Wasn’t that a lot more fun? And honestly, it probably took me less time than uploading those photos to my blog post originally. Now, the downside is you lose a little creativity. I didn’t get to pick how those photos came in or what font I wanted. Also, the free videos are limited to 30 seconds–about 10-12 photos/slides. Want longer or better quality?–it’ll cost you. These sounds like drawbacks, and if you’re a video editor, they are, but if you’ve ever been in a room with indecisive, click-happy ten-year-olds, sometimes less choice is better. Instead, students have to focus on their message and their content.

Other Pros

The videos are housed on Animoto’s site. So, no grumping from your tech people about taking up too much space on the schools’ servers.

You can email or embed the videos as needed. Great for sharing with classmates, other teachers, and parents at home!

Some Negatives

I had to compress some of my pictures to get them to upload. So if you’re doing a project with a class, you’ll want to check that you’re taking/using pictures that’ll work ahead of time. Having to shrink your pictures would definitely suck up valuable class time.

And the biggest issue is: it’s cool, I’d use it, but can I get to it from school? Unfortunately, a LOT of the great Web 2.0 stuff is blocked with our Internet filters at school. Frustrating, but true. I’ll have to head into work in the next few days to see.

Animoto for Education

I’ve applied for an education account, which I’m crossing my fingers about. I ‘m hoping that it has an easy way for students to log on–without giving up too much personal information. And I suspect that the 30-second time limit isn’t in place, which makes Animoto a possibility for even more projects. Finally, I’m not sure, but with the paid account you can download the videos and burn them (not so with the free one)–maybe the education account will have this, too?

So What Would You Use It For?

You tell me! I’m itching to share with the teachers I know who do book reports–what a fun way to share a book! How about some public service announcements? Or using photos of students’ own artwork to tell a story?

As far as my own applications, I could see using it to make promo videos for our Open House or to launch our Battle of the Books and our Golden Archer student-choice book award programs.

I’d love to hear how you’d use Animoto. Comment and let me know!

AASL Best Websites for Teaching and Learning

W.H. Beck — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:26:57 +0000

I love lists. So last week when the American Association of School Librarians announced their 25 best sites for teaching and learning, I couldn’t wait to click over to it. And, while many of the sites are familiar, there were a couple I hadn’t used yet and a couple I hadn’t even heard of. For your browsing pleasure, here they are (organized by the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner):

Top 25 Web sites for Teaching and Learning

The “Top 25″ Web sites foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, Web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.

Organizing and Managing

Content Collaboration

Curriculum Sharing

Media Sharing

Virtual Environments

Social Networking and Communication

So, how many do you know from the list? How many have you used? With kids?

Coming soon: Me, trying out some of these and brainstorming about how my students can use them. Right here on this blog. (I know–the SUSPENSE. Don’t miss it! )