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!