01.05.11

Webpage features:
-Jenny's - I really loved the library thing where the books were displayed out and switched out every 15 seconds or so.  I thought that was a great feature to have and would keep students interested and on the site longer to see what was up next.
-Dan - Shelfari - I liked that it allows you to see book reviews and it's another great way to view books and get more of a visual on what you want to read.
-Kari - I like that the district takes part in classroom connections where all the resources link back to one place.  I think that's a great way for families and students to be assured to get all the information necessary to succeed.
-Brian - Atomic Learning - It seems like a "new' way to view things on the internet.  It seems like it would engage students interest and make them want to learn more.
-Megan - Ideas Project.  This seems like such a great way to get students to open up their minds and be creative.
-Alyca - I really liked the Wix website that was used.  It seemed like it had a lot of layouts and graphics to display.  This would be a great site to have students use for web projects.

My three year plan is done as of now.  The most difficult part in the whole plan was just not being in the library and becomiong familiar with the library and the resources that are offered.  I had a great librarian to work with so I think the plan will be alright.  I feel though that if I had been able to have access to all of her accounts and an endless amount of time where I could work with her and "shadow' her and just have access to the library whenever I wanted it would have turned out much better.  Either way by completing the project I have a much greater understanding of the amount of time 'weeding" takes and what to look for and the amount of time it really takes to find new, quality books and other resources to add to a library.

I think the age of your library is a great way to evaluate your collection.  Materials need to be recent and make students want to read the books that are in the library.  I also think that looking at check out history is another great way to evaluate your collection.  If students aren't checking out a book there must be a reason.  I've seen a couple of reports of collection mapping for the school that I'm working with.  I've seen a titlewave report and a bound to stay bound report.  It was interesting to compare the two reports and to see which company suggested certain books and what resources weren't recommended.  I think it's important to do collection mapping and I will plan to do it when I'm in my own library.

The most critical learning network that I have developed throughout this class is the librarian at the school I am working with.  I really don't think I would have been able to do much for this class without her.  She has been such a supportive role throughout these past few weeks and is always offering guidance and support.  Everyone in the class has also been a great learning network for me.  I enjoy sitting back and listening to everyones comments and struggles and hope that some day I'll be able to have my own struggles to share when I finally find my own library.

(Louis Questions:)
This week's class, and the class in general has made me feel more comfortable stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things that will benefit me.  Talking about how library media specialists need to show they are important to the school and fight for their job is exactly what I am feeling with my current job at the time.  Over the past few weeks I have been making it known that I'm an asset to the company and letting people know all the great things that I do.  I definately think the class has helped open my eyes to this.  This week I have learned that there is always room for improvement.  I thought my website was pretty decent, but after looking at everyone else's I wanted to add so much more and knew that if mine was a real website I would never be done.  I also learned that it's great to collaborate with others and to bounce ideas off one another because that is when great ideas come about.