6 pages done?!

Wow, I've got WAY too much to do! I can't believe how quickly the end of the semester is coming. I've got a little paniced about my website last night. I went to YA class last night and was talking with my friends from my web design class. They BOTH had 6 pages done on their final website! 6 PAGES COMPLETELY DONE?! At that point I think I had one done, and one I needed to "tweek." So I flipped out and spent a good deal of time last night and this afternoon working on building my website. I'm happy to report I now have two pages compeletly done but I have 13 pages in total. The rest are in different stages of development. Some just have the outline from my sitemap while others are just missing pictures. I'm pretty happy with what I've got and it went pretty quickly. If only we didn't have all the "busy" work between now and the due date I could relax a little about that class. But the weekly chats are always over something we were to try out on our site and all that BS. I'm gonna leave that alone for a bit, and start to work on my research paper for YA now.


I've got a good lead on some more sources so I'm gonna try to get all my sources copied and/or printed by the end of this week. That way all I've got to do is read the books and put it all together...I need to start Son of a Witch this weekend and What the Dickens has just been sitting around for a week now. I also have to read Tyrell and post my reflection by Tuesday. But right now I want to focus on my research paper, typical. I also started listening to the audio book of New Moon this week for class. You can't expect me to stop in the middle just because I've got other stuff I should be reading! If I get to go home next weekend maybe I'll listen to it in the car if the CD player is working.

It's the first week of November?!

How time flies when you don't have enough of it! I can't believe October is gone. I will be in Orlando before I know it, 36 days in fact. My birthday has never seemed to get here this fast before! It's a beautiful Thursday afternoon and I have been very productive today so I thought I'd better catch up on blogging!


The Hunger Games...what a night! My team did NOT win, sadly we died. I was co-chaperone with another girl who worked at the library and we were in charge of the "yellow" team. Our girls were from Cedar Falls High school and were very excited to be in the games. It was a long night...boys, sugar, competition, and video games rarely make for a good combination. It was a neat experience to spend the night at the Rod Library though. I hope they do it again next year!

I am headed home this weekend so I have started on my homework early for a change! I have my web design post already done and I am going to be working on my YA at work tonight. I'm still working on getting What the Dickens read! I just haven't had enough time to give it my full attention lately. I will also blame Emy for giving me the new Dan Brown book to distract me from what I SHOULD be reading! I am even going to get the girls at home to help me try out some "non-book" materials for YA! I have a couple board games and movies I'd like to take a look at.

I've already got all the laundry done, and if that isn't a miracle I don't know what is! It's such a beautiful day I've even got my shades open while I've been cleaning my room. I wish I could have a day like this every week! I've gotten everything done today I wanted and I've enjoyed doing it...crazy.

October 17th

Well, today was the Dreamweaver workshop! Everyone in both sections of Web Design came to campus to get a start on the Dreamweaver project. Also on the agenda was Fireworks, Advanced IowaPages, and going over our Sitemaps. It was nice to see some of the people from my summer classes. I was unable to stay for the entire class because I had to work at the library. It being Homecoming weekend I was not able to find someone to cover my shift. If I had found someone to cover the shift I would not have been at class though, I'd be at my cousin's wedding! Sigh, apperently I will have NO life and miss EVERYTHING until I'm done with grad school. The morning went quickly and work has been fine.

Tonight Megan and Chris are in Clinton because Chris has his ten year high school reunion. I think I'm gonna finish Friday Night Lights and and watch movies tonight. Not too exciting, but it seems that Sherry is working today as well might not be around to hang out either. So far I have NOT been impressed with Friday Night Lights. The subject matter is not my favorite and the way it's written is getting on my nerves. This is the second non-fiction novel we have had to read for class. I LOATHED the first and I haven't enjoyed the second. I know I can enjoy non-fiction writing, but I'm not sure my prof will believe me!

This week I plan to start work on my author study research paper. I'm trying to start reading the first book for that, but I HAVE to read The Hunger Games first. The Rod Library Hunger Games are next weekend so I'm on a time limit here! So far I'm really enjoying the book. It's hard to put down and I'm not getting as much sleep this week as I'd like because of that!

Home!

I'm so excited for a whole weekend at home! I'm still deciding if I want to leave straight from work Friday night at 5pm or if I want to get up on Saturday and go. It depends on if I can get Chris to help me with some Web Design homework tonight I think. :-D

I finished Impossible, an excellent read! I'm still no further in Glass Castle... I've started The Book Thief, which is sad in its own way but still manages to be ten times the book Glass Castle is! I may have a little bias since I'm not a fan of biographies in the first place.

I finished my Iowapages website; on to Dreamweaver...it's never ending. The book talk went well in YA. I think everyone was impressed with the coffin I brought as a prop. I'm almost done with the group project that is due at the end of the month so I'm feeling a little less stress this week. It's all an illusion anyway, I ALWAYS have something I could be doing. I'm still just really happy to be heading home for a weekend. The work, school, work, work, school routine was getting a little old!

sinking fast!

Yeah, so I've got soooo much to do in October, who knew?! I've got my first test in Adv. Child. Lit. which shouldn't be hard but is stressfull. I've just finished my Iowapages website, which wasn't really that hard but took longer than I wanted to get comfortable. I've got a group project that isn't due until the end of the month but my partner wants it done ASAP. Which is cutting into my prep time for my YA Booktalk next week. I aslo have to start on my research paper for YA which isn't due until December, but I have to read five books! Not to mention the five+ books I still have to read for that class. And with all that I have to find the time to work two jobs...YUCK.

Okay, better...

I'm STILL reading the Glass Castle. I've decided I hate it and it is a form of torture to make me read it, but...it's for class. F*@k!!!! I've moved on to start Impossible because it's gonna be enjoyable and I need to read something! I'm also working on writing some of my reviews for my 9 novels. I've finished four books and haven't really started any of the reviews. Well, now I have one and a half done which means only two and a half left to go (until I finish another book). The never ending cycle continues!

I have been very productive today! My water aerobics class was canceled due to lightening so I was up early and have been working all morning. I finished Iowapages and worked on the reviews. I also found all the pictures I'll need for my Mexican American Learning Center. Tomorrow I am going to work on my annotated bib for that project and finish my slides. I'll figure out what I'm gonna say sometime next week after I get through some of this other stuff!

The Glass Castle

Okay, I finished The Graveyard Book no problem. I'm not sure I liked the ending, but it was a good book. Then it was on to The Glass Castle...
I didn't think it would take to long, it's NOT a long book. But it is SO difficult to read. After a while you just can't take any more horror stories of how these kids had to live! It's just one thing after another and I can't take it. I KNOW I don't want to finish it, but I think I have to. I mean I need to right a response to it...sigh. What makes this all worse is that I don't normally go in for memoirs anyway so this being the most depressing and sickening book I've read so far doesn't help anything! Here's hoping I can get it done this week, write my reflection and never have to pick it up again!

Book reviews...

Well, I'm out of HTML Hell and THANK GOD for that. The worst part is typing everything in and then having to add all the codes. It takes forever, and for all the work you put into it, it look like crap when you're done! Well for all who would like to see my Westford Wildcats just click here!

This week I have started work on a group project that will be due at the end of October. My partner is all about getting it done early. Which is wonderful because we will also be partners on our final project that is due the week before I leave for Disney. We are palnning to have that done well before December! I WON the group project partner lottery! ;-) We each have two "aspects" of Mexican American Culture that we are going to work on seperatly and then we'll put it all together about a week before it's due. I'm looking at famous Mexican Americans and Mexican American History. Surprisingly I'm finding it difficult to find three examples of Mexican American History. Partly because I'm not sure what the prof. is looking for. Is Mexican history included in Mexican American History??? I have to find children's books to go with each event I pick. I'm a little worried but I have a list of questions for the prof. ready to go!

I'm also still plucking away at the books. I didn't get The Watson's Go to Burmingham read this weekend, but I did finish Graceling and Athletic Shorts. This week I hope to actually read The Watson's Go to Burmingham as well as The Graveyard Book and The Glass Castle. My biggest problem is writing reviews. For YA I have to read 9 novels, of my choosing. Not a bad assignment at all and I've already got 3 read. However I also have to write a review for each novel I read as well as the ones we all read and talk about in class. So I've got the ones for class done because they are due the day before we discuss the book. This week I get to write a review of Twilight! I have not even started the reviews for my 9 novels, of which I have 3 finished! Sigh, I'm just not good at it, and they have to be like 400-500 words. AAAHHHH...I'm a short and to the point kind of girl. I'm not really good at the "deep thoughts." :-D Anyways, life's busy here! I hope everyone is having a good week.

HTML Hell

After a lot of hard work I finally finished my first web page. It looks like shit, but it's done. There are no bells and whistles, otherwise known as buttons and fun text. It's just got the bare essentials. And boy do I hate the server that UNI uses. Here's the link to my site:
www.uni.edu/perngirl/index.html

It took me all day to figure out how to get the pictures to a decent size and to make sense of the instructions for linking my two pages together. It's crazy that I was able to make a link to the ALA website easier than I was able to link my pages together! That damn "readable" text had a couple of pages of confusing, and useless diagrams to show me that had very little to do with what I was trying to accomplish. Sigh...I guess that's just how it goes. Big THANKS to Chris for answering all my questions, walking me through the "easy" stuff, and not getting too annoyed! I don't know that I could get through this class without constant reassurance and help! Now, it's back to the reading list for YA and Advanced Children's Lit. :-D That's much more to my liking. This weekend I hope to finish Sports Shorts, Graceling, and The Watsons Go to Birmingham.

Fall Semester Classes

So I've now been to all my classes for the semester. I only have one class that meets on campus. My ICN class meets at Cedar Falls High School, because the prof is one of the librarians there. I'm taking three classes: Library Resources for Young Adults (YA), Web Design, and Advanced Children's Lit.

Advanced Children's Lit...

I've got Prof. Cai, so far so good. We have hit the ground running. He has a couple of major assignments for the whole class and the first one is already starting. It's a group project and we randomly already have partners. My partner seems to be very focused and just wants to make sure it gets DONE. I'm hoping for the best. The text book is kind of dry, but we have to find three quotes from the first and second chapters to respond to for Thursday's class, today. I still need to start it. I'm planning on heading to campus early to work on it at the library or in the SEC. I just don't seem to stay focused when I'm at the house.

YA...


So, I knew I was gonna love this class. I enjoy reading YA novels so I'm set. Yes, it's a lot of reading, and responding to that reading but I love it. I'm just not that good at responses. I'm hoping to get better at that during this class. There are three people at the Cedar Falls ICN loaction which is nice. It feels more like a real class that way. I'm hoping to work ahead with the reading so that when I have the projects done I'll be okay timewise. I just wish we had a Borders book store here...sigh.

Web Design...

This may be the most difficult class. It's another WebCT class, not my favorite. I haven't started the reading yet, but I guess it's not your normal dry text book. I'm actually looking forward to reading it so that the first assignment will make more sense! I'm gonna need to keep up with this class pretty well. I can't afford to lose too many points on the projects or little things because I'm not gonna be able to make it to the ONE on campus meeting. I'm just NOT going to miss my cousin's wedding so that I don't get docked a couple of lousy points. I don't want to drop the course because I want to know about web design and I'm not sure I'll be around the next time this class is offered, so I'm stuck.



The best part about my classes this Fall is the timing. Because two of my three classes are "distance learning" classes my finals are not during finals week. SOOOO, I'll only have one thing left to do when I get back from Disney! Everything else will be done the week before I leave. So, I'm feeling pretty good about that. At this point I'm not even sure what that last final will be. It's a little early to be worrying about that for most professors. It may be that our "final" in that class may just be our last test. Cross your fingers! All in all the semester looks to be busy, but fun.

First Day at the Library

So I had my first day of training at Rod Library today. A couple of us are starting a little early since we are alreay on campus. They use an automation system that I have never seen before, but really, you seen one you seen em all. It was a lot to take in, but we've got another day tomorrow. Sunday is the offical start for everyone and we'll get our schedules then. I'm getting excited to be in a library again, even one as BIG as Rod.

Classes start Monday and I'm getting excited about that. I can't wait to start the web design class, but I'm a little worried too. I'm just nervous about what kind of projects and assignments we'll get. I'm super excited about YA, other wise known as Library Resources for Young Adults. I've got the reading/shopping list. :-D My other class this semester is Advanced Children's Lit. I'm gonna be doing a lot of reading this semester. Well, that and projects related to reading. Tomorrow before training I'm heading to University Book and Supply to get my text books, luckily I don't have that many. Most of my shopping list will be "trade" books.

Green Day

I just got back from a Green Day concert and can't sleep yet! I really think that Green Day should support librarians and librarians should support Green Day! It seems like it could be a good fit...I know, it's 2am and I'm not sure I'm thinking clearly. BUT, you know how it goes! When I was listening to some of the lyrics it kind of struck me that they reminded me of some ideals we have as school librarians...can't for the life of me remember WHICH lyrics, or what songs...again it IS 2am! Anyway, just my random little thought process! Maybe I'll remember and add more later...or maybe I'll just forget it and leave my lovely 2am rambling as is.

It was an excellent concert for anyone who wants to know. This was the first time I've ever heard "Time of Your Life" done with an accustic guitar live, it was amazing. They changed things up from the last tour, but kept the crowd favorites. "King for a Day/Shout" is always great. They didn't play "Knowlege," instead they had a different person come up and sing each verse of "Longview." Wow, people don't know how to use mics! They did play one song from the Kerplunk album, but I can't think of the title. When I get home I'll go through the CD until I figure it out. Someday I'd really like to be there when they sing "Christy Road" live.

Queen Song

"I'm going slightly mad
I'm going slightly mad
It finally happened - happened
It finally happened - ooh oh
It finally happened - I'm slightly mad
Oh dear!"

Final Thoughts for Class

So this is my last post for class. I think I have decided to keep my blog going. I may change the name and focus, but this seems like a great way to keep everyone informed without having to send mass emails! (The pics are just for fun, doesn't this look like a "I'm ready to be done" photo?!)

It's kind of sad to see the end of summer school, but at the same time it's stressful enough that it NEEDS to end. No matter how much I've tried to work ahead I always seem to have a pile of things to get done at the last minute. The 10 articles we had to look at for class was something that did that. I had two done almost right away, and I never got back to it. I had the articles I wanted to write about, but I never got around to typing up my responses! Sometimes I think I do this to myself on purpose...you can ask Emy. I'm always stressing/freaking out about something.

As I look over my blog posts I know it's not exactly what was requested. I tried to write one "straight" thought each week to fulfill the expectations. My problem is...this is a blog! Writing a little bit at a time about what I'm thinking at the time seemed the most natural way to do this. It felt forced and boring the other way. I know, it's for class, I needed to "just do it." But I think the idea behind the assignment is to get a real experience of keeping a blog. And for me this is how I would blog. I looked at this in terms of library use. If my library is going to have a blog, I'm going to be writing it. I would be posting examples of what the students are creating, upcoming events in the school or library, and other simple posting subjects. I might take the time to reflect about different aspects of the job while I was at it, but that would not be the focus of my school library blog.

So this is what you get. Me...unorganized, scatter-brained, sometimes discouraged and sometimes excitable me. I loved the content we looked at in this class! I'm excited that I've found new sites and new skills for FINDING what's new. Because what Kelly said in class today is true, things will change. Some of the things we looked at this summer will not be around for long. New sites and tools will pop up in their places. So I'm glad I've got some ideas about where to look for new technology in the future.

Favorite Book:

It's coming together

So I think I've figured out the basic layout for my portfolio. I'll probably change the colors a million times, but for now it's set. I've got buttons that work, now all I need is something to read/look at on the "pages." ;-)

I'm not sure if I'm going to do my "Teacher" section or my "Instructional Patner" section. The only reason for this is because I'm not sure which section better fits one of my exhibits. I really want to use this one lesson plan because it will work well in the electronic format. I might actually have some websites to link to. But it was a collaborative effort with a classroom teacher. Oh the choices!

I'll work on getting the reflection written and the exhibits chosen and located. Hopefully all I'll have to do on Thursday is put it all together since I don't have PowerPoint on my home computer. Well, there is a desktop that has it, but it's an ancient version and not worth my time. I really like that we are starting the Portfolio in this class. Now, when it's time to actually finish it I'll have half as much to do and think about. All the "hard work" will be done. I'll just have to fill in the blanks.

Must sleep...need to sleep...

Why did I agree to try Second Life? I may never get a full nights rest again! I'm not "doing" anything and I still can't help but stay "on." If I start to drag behind in my work we'll know why!

Destiny

Oh my GOD! I am in love! First order of business when I get my own library is to start work on getting Destiny if we don't already have it! It was great to have a demo from the experts. It almost seems too perfect. There must be something it doesn't do, but I'm in love! The only thing is, in bigger districts where there are so many schools using the system it could get difficult. Although it may open up a bunch of jobs for "catalogers." ;-) I love it, most of the schools I have worked in have such old systems. It seems like this would be the perfect system to get those systems to up grade with.

I keep thinking about where I want to end up and what I might find there. Ideally I would like to work overseas in a Department of Defense school, DODs, where Destiny might make a huge differnce. In some ways it doesn't seem like it would work. The schools overseas don't have districts the same way schools here do, but there are divisions. I only did my student teaching with DODs so I'm not sure how it is broken up. I know the automation system they had was far from perfect. Where I was there were two computers but they did not work in real time. If you checked out a book on one it didn't "show up" on the other until it was "rebooted." Which was maddening! I was in a school with 1000 students and we used both computers all day. Upgrading to a system that works in "real time" would be amazing. You could do so much with that, and maybe they have upgraded already and gone with something different, but man I LOVED this system. Having the catalog online for students and even parents to use at home would be outstanding. However if I can't get a job with DoDs I'd still like to work abroad in one of the many "American" or English speaking private schools. I have no idea what companies they may use for automation. It would be interesting to find out what systems they typically use. I'll have to talk with some friends I know.

Portfolio Thoughts

So I'm kind of excited about working on my portfolio. I think the PowerPoint format will work best for me. Since I'm taking the Intro class at the same time I'll be working on my "paper" portfolio at the same time I'm working on this one! That could be nice, but I'm not sure that anything I put in the PowerPoint will make it to my finished product. I think I'll start a file on my desktop for consideration. Anything I come across that looks like it might work I'll dump in there. That way when it comes time to start the whole thing, I'll have a lot to choose from. I'm wondering what the odds are that I'll keep up with this???

Movie Maker is done!

So I finished my movie. I shot five different video clips and I ended up only using one. Of course it's always better to have too much video rather than not enough. I just didn't like how the clips were fitting together so I used the still shots instead. It was easier to narrate those as well.

Can I say that I HATE narration. Mostly because microphones seem to hate me. I used the same kind of microphone for this project as I did for the PowerPoint, but this time the microphone wouldn't work. So I had to speak into the mic on the top of my laptop screen. The quality of the audio was HORRIBLE! I turned the audio up as much as it would go and it still wasn't loud enough to have music playing in the background. So, I had to just use music when the narration ended. The music is still louder than the audio so it is kind of abrupt when it starts. I don't know, I feel like I did the best I could.

I uploaded the video to the Ning. I think it's working and I won't have to bring a copy with me. I didn't have enough space left on my flash drive so I had to save it to the computer because I didn't have any CDs. I think I'll buy a new flash drive tomorrow and copy all my class materials onto it. That way everything is together. By the way I also don't like the way any of my credits turned out. They seemed easier to read when i was working in Movie Maker, but maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to it. Who knows, but I'm glad I'm done! Popcorn and treats tomorrow!

Movie Maker Project

So I'm in the middle of my Movie Maker Project this week. It should be done by Thursday, I'm just not gonna make it on Tuesday. After looking at what I have and what I want to say with my project I don't really think I'm gonna have much actual video. It's only gotta be a minute long and mine's not going to last much more than that. So far I've got about 30 seconds of video shot and I think I'll have 30 seconds more done tonight. Not a lot, but I'm going with a commerical so it's not going to be super long. I finally got my first video to play picture and sound, now I just hope I can get it all saved in the file on my "stick" so that it will play correctly in class. Cross you fingers!


This project has been a lot of fun. I think it's going better than PowerPoint, even though I've had some hiccups. I don't really have many people in this area that want to be in a video, but I'm making it work. I think I like the Movie Maker program but having worked with Final Cut Pro it's a little dissapointing. But I think it's better to get use to working with FREE programs now because when you have a program that comes with your computer for free why would a school spend money on buying a different one? I just wish the audio had two lines to make the narration and music easier. I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has put together. It should be a fun time in class on Tuesday for the first round of videos.



I am really enjoying the focus-on projects in class. I haven't seen a lot of this stuff and I'm learning a lot. I'm trying to go home and try out what I can. The Voki was awesome. I couldn't get the toondoo to work on my computer. I think it was too much for my internet connection at home. I'm gonna try it at school where I can get a better connection. Although by far the best thing I've seen is the "clickers!" I think that would be awesome in any school! I've never seen them, I'm not sure if they have anything like that in the Davenport District. You'd think that the AEA would have them. I really want to see them used with one class I worked with in particular, all day every day. The iPod Touch was nice, but I just can't afford something like that on my own. How is a school gonna buy those with a limited budget? I can't wait to see what everyone has for this week.


Get a Voki now!

"Focus-on" project LibraryThing.com

Well, I'm working on getting my Librarything account set up the way I want it. Emy is so excited. She's been on me to join this forever! She's updating her info at the same time she's trying to help me get more of my collection on there. Seeing as how nearly all of my books are in Blue Grass and I am in Waterloo she's been a very big help. I'm pretty good at remembering the recent books I've read and the series that I am currently in, but I've got picture storybooks that I haven't looked at since I was in college and it's hard to remember what books I read from the Trinity library and what books I bought while working at Trinity. I've got a lot of young adult and intermediate fiction. Mind, some of those books are from when I was an intermediate reader, for example "The Kid in the Red Jacket" by Barbra Park. That book is a side splitter for sure. I'll have to go through all my book boxes when I get home. I haven't even started in on my Babysitter's Club books yet, but I did donate some of those to Trinity so I can't remember if I still have the first 10 in order any more.

It's funny to see the different ways that Emy and I arrange our books. So far she's the only "friend" I have on the website. I joined the group Librarians on Librarything, and I'm thinking about joining another group. I'll probably make more "friends" once I get on the threads and start participating in discussions. I just wanted to set up my books the best I could before I got into all the extras. I've been looking at the discussions and other tabs today. I'm probably gonna be on this site all day!



I'm not sure how I would use this in a school library yet, but I'm sure by the end of the day I'll have a better idea. I've been trying to keep that thought in mind as I've poked around the site today. Some of the functions are really great, and others seem kind of useless. I'll get more into it during my presentation or in my reflection for class.



The first time Emy tried to get me to join this site was right after she took cataloging, years ago now. She loved it, but I didn't see what the big deal was. Sure you can have all your books cataloged online...then what? What are you going to do with that information now? But seeing some of the other features has really changed my perspective. There is a "local" tab that I'm in love with. I've favorited some books stores, even the second hand bookshop in downtown Davenport was there. If there were any local "to-do's" going on it would be listed there as well. I think the DPL, Davenport Public Library, should advertise some of their summer programs on Librarything. Maybe it would pull in some new people! I guess that's one way the school library could benefit from using Librarything. I could advertise book fairs and other events that were taking place at the library that may be open to "the public." So those are my thoughts so far, I'll try to be done for now and save the rest for my presentation and reflection!

"Clickers"

This "focus on" project will be the death of me! I'm gonna end up with mile long list of software and gadgets that I want for "my library!"
The "clickers" that were shown in class today were the best ever. The last class I long term subbed for would have really loved them. I'll have to start a file folder with my list of gadgets and software with all the info I'll need once I want to buy! Tee hee!

Reflection for Class

So we are starting the second week of class and I think this is a good time to work on a reflection. The PowerPoint Presentation went well. I really liked working on certain sections of the PP but the narration was rough. I think if I had taken more time to "play" with different features I would have figured out a better way to add the narration. I don't think that I could ever make something as smooth as the professionals, but I could probably have a lot of fun trying. I have always liked using PP, but it was difficult for me to do the narration in the slide show. I didn't want to write everything out and sound like I was reading so I just jotted down some notes and went from there. No two takes were the same.

It's already time to move on! Our next project is a MovieMaker production. It only has to be a minute long, which is great. BUT, I'm not in a library right now and I don't know what kind of library I'll end up in so I'm having a really hard time coming up with ideas for these projects! I think what I am going to do for this class is take everything as if I were still at Trinity. I know some of the things I had wanted to do and some of the projects that the grades used every year. I kind of want to make an introduction to the library for the school website in the hopes of making a page just for the library, but if I do that I'll need to work with Janet and I'm not sure there is enough time. I'm trying to think of a good Plan B in case we can't make it work. A one minute movie that needs to include titles and credits can't take too long to shoot, but I haven't talked to anyone yet. I'm a little worried about needing narration in this video again, but hopefully all will go well. I'm hoping to have a storyboard to bring to class tomorrow so that if by some miracle Jan wants to do this with me and has the time I'll be able to start shooting right away. Of course I also want to have Plan B storyboard ready to go as well. I just need to call Jan...

We've got a couple of PP presentations to watch tomorrow and then we are gonna try and talk about the article we read for the week. I hope we have some time in class to go over some more information about the MovieMaker project as well. Next week I have my "focus on" project to present as well. I don't think I was the first to sign up so I think those must be starting tomorrow as well. This class is moving at the speed of light!

Flip Camera

With my next project being in MovieMaker I am thinking about buying a flip camera. It's small and it doesn't hold more than 30 minutes of film, but when would I EVER need 30 minutes of film space?! I'm looking into it because I know this won't be the last project I have to do with a camcorder before I'm done with this. So maybe buying one now will save me some trouble and time. I'm still thinking about it, it's just an idea, but I think it's a good one.

Power Point #2

So it's now more than 12 hours later than my last post. I managed to finish the narration by noon, but then ran into trouble with the music...of course! I know what music I want to use, now I need to find a way to use it the way that I like. I'm not sure that will be possible and it is required that I use music. I'm gonna be so mad if I can't get it to work the way I want and STILL have to put it in the darn slide show. Cross your fingers, 'cause I'm headed back to work.

Power Point Presentation

Can I just say I hate recording my own voice! I've recorded and re-recorded this thing more times than I care to count. What is really getting me is the time. I can't talk for five minutes straight! The idea is to be around 2 minutes. I'll be happy if I can cut it down to three! My problem is I can't help but talk about my subject. I LOVE the books too much to just skim the surface! I guess I should be glad I finally found a computer that worked with the microphone. But I haven't even started looking for music to put in the background yet! Oh well, back to work.

School Library Media Studies

So, this is my first blog! This summer I am going back to school at UNI. I am going to get my MA in School Library Media Studies. This is homework for my Automation class this summer. I think I may just continue on after it's done, but only time will tell. Hopefully it will get easier to write!