Connecticut Association of School Librarians

May 2009 Blog Posts (11)

May/June 2009 Knowledge Quest, a MUST READ

I just received my copy today. What a great edition!!! AASL president Ann Martin's final column is inspiring. She uses Tim O'Brien's book The Things They Carried to guide her remarks about AASL's goals and objectives, and it makes you think about your own. There is a wealth of information about the national AASL conference in Charlotte NC November 5 - 8. When you read about what will be offered, you will definitely want to go to Charlotte… Continue

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 29, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Reading Aloud

Joyce Valenza brought my attention to a great New York Times article on reading aloud. It reminds us that "one of the most basic tests of comprehension is to ask someone to read aloud from a book. It reveals far more than whether the reader understands the words. It reveals how far into the words — and the pattern of the words — the reader really sees." When I taught 7th grade English, I frequently read aloud. Years later… Continue

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 19, 2009 at 11:03am — No Comments

Here are some other online networking sites you might want to subscribe to through ISTE. ISTE Community Ning Special Interest Group Media Specialist (SIGMS) is for all who are interested in school l…

Here are some other online networking sites you might want to subscribe to through ISTE.

ISTE Community Ning

Special Interest Group Media Specialist (SIGMS) is for all who are interested in school library media centers.

http://www.iste-community.org/group/sigms

Here are some of the discussion topics on the wiki:

Collaboration, what does it look like?

What is the difference between a librarian and a Media… Continue

Added by Chris Barlow on May 18, 2009 at 8:39pm — 1 Comment

Cyber Summit on 21st Century Skills

I thought this would be of interest to all. It was forwarded to me (thanks to Bill Derry).

This is a free online conference on 21st Century Skills that looks like it has a lot of potential for actually creating an environment that develops 21st century skills.

It is in conjunction with the conference June 11-12 in Washington, D.C., (although the registration deadline is May 20 and the cost is $350).…

Continue

Added by Chris Barlow on May 18, 2009 at 8:19pm — No Comments

WolframAlpha Launched

A new search engine has launched, WolframAlpha. "You enter your question or calculation, and Wolfram|Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and growing collection of data to compute the answer." It will useful in Science and Mathematics. "Wolfram|Alpha's long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm;… Continue

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 16, 2009 at 3:37pm — No Comments

Google Search Options

I love following Joyce Valenza's blog! Yesterday she posted the blog on Google's search options which she loves. It is sooo cool. You just have to take a look.

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 14, 2009 at 2:16pm — No Comments

Annual Conference

On May 6th, CASL and CECA discussed the joint annual conference scheduled on October 26, 2009. The theme of the conference is "Teaching and Technology for the 21st Century" with keynote speaker Jamie McKenzie. Other featured presenters are Kathy Schrock, Carol LaRow and Tom Daccord. Conference information… Continue

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 13, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Story Tools

I follow Joyce Valenza on Twitter. One of her tweets suggested checking out Voicethread. I did and discovered a wiki set up by Alan Levine that suggested 50 tools you could use to create stories. Some I recognized from the CASL pre-conference last year with Kathy Schrock, and some were new. Tikatok would be something that I would use with kids to create their own story books. There are also slide show,… Continue

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 13, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Searching the New Invisible Web

Joyce Valenza's SLJ blog on this topic gives great information on searching for wikis and blogs that are increasingly becoming a serious part of the web.

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 4, 2009 at 5:37pm — No Comments

Web 2.0 in schools

CoSN has just done a study on the use of Web 2.0 in schools. The slide presentation gives a good overview, and the full report is also available. The report talks about the "the beliefs, perspectives, and practices of educational administrators which help or hinder effective use of Web 2.0 in K-12 education."

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 4, 2009 at 5:23pm — No Comments

Tech Changes That Impact Us

If you haven't read this blog on A Tech Presidency, at 100 Days shared by Will Richardson, you should. It signals a "sea change" for technology in our country which will impact us all. Joyce Valenza's April 30th blog on SLJ was another wake-up call.

Added by Irene Kwidzinski on May 1, 2009 at 11:30am — No Comments