I've been wanting to get on LibraryThing for a while now, so I'm glad for the external motivator to do so. I think this would be such a great tool for a school librarian to put on a library website, blog, or wiki. I know I've found myself perusing others' LibraryThings, thinking I wanted to read the books they have there, so I imagine it would produce the same result in students. I wonder if there's a way to add this widget to the online school catalog?
Now I want to go back in and add a lot more books, because I'm also excited to see who else reads what I like to read?
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
School library photo
As with any keyword search, when I looked for a photo related to school libraries I found a lot that had to do with schools, or with libraries... this photo really struck me because of what the person who posted it put in the caption. He quoted from an account of Muhammed, who was told to learn to "Read, in the name of the God who created. Created man, out of a mere clot of congealed blood. Read and your Lord is Most Honorable. Who taught man to write with the pen. Taught man that which he knew not. "
Then the other part of the quote that struck me was this: "At a time when even (Christian) kings could not read or write, a Moorish king had a private library of six hundred thousand books. At a time when ninety-nine percent of the Christian people were wholly illiterate, the Moorish city of Cordova had eight hundred public schools, and there was not a village within the limits of the empire where the blessings of education could not be enjoyed by the children of the most indigent peasant, ...and it was difficult to encounter even a Moorish peasant who could not read and write."
Very cool! And the photo's nice, too...
Here's the URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/swamibu/2868288357/
Then the other part of the quote that struck me was this: "At a time when even (Christian) kings could not read or write, a Moorish king had a private library of six hundred thousand books. At a time when ninety-nine percent of the Christian people were wholly illiterate, the Moorish city of Cordova had eight hundred public schools, and there was not a village within the limits of the empire where the blessings of education could not be enjoyed by the children of the most indigent peasant, ...and it was difficult to encounter even a Moorish peasant who could not read and write."
Very cool! And the photo's nice, too...
Here's the URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/swamibu/2868288357/
Wiki
If you had told me a month ago that I would have a wiki today, I would have been skeptical. Now I'm so excited and proud that I've done this totally simple thing! Not that my wiki is anything to write home about, I suppose, but it's mine, and it's real. And, it really was easy, but I had built it up in my mind into a really big deal. I think we do that a lot with the unfamiliar. Probably that's part of being a lifelong learner: the willingness to face the unfamiliar and not allow that fear of the unknown to intimidate us into just staying with the status quo.
My dream is to use my wiki as a space for my students to discuss books. I think that may conflict with what Anne has in mind for my wiki...but we'll see! I can always create another one, BECAUSE IT'S EASY! Sorry for the excess enthusiasm.
So, one more scary step down, and hopefully each one will be as possible as this one was. Here's my URL:
http://sinclairclassroomwiki.pbworks.com/FrontPage
My dream is to use my wiki as a space for my students to discuss books. I think that may conflict with what Anne has in mind for my wiki...but we'll see! I can always create another one, BECAUSE IT'S EASY! Sorry for the excess enthusiasm.
So, one more scary step down, and hopefully each one will be as possible as this one was. Here's my URL:
http://sinclairclassroomwiki.pbworks.com/FrontPage
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Eeyore in the Flesh!
I kept telling myself that I'm 43 and it was just an actor in a suit, but I wanted to tell him what a fan I am and show him my Eeyore watch.
Flickr and an Update on Lifelong Learning
Thanks to Debra, I have figured out how to put photos from Flickr on this blog. The little tab on Flickr is so teeny! Anyway, I've posted some photos that are meaningful for me.
Here's an update on my Lifelong Learner post. At the time, I think I was feeling pretty darn smug. Now, with the semester in full swing, I'm not feeling so smug. The reason why I was smug is, I think, that I'm particularly good at habit 1: Begin with the End in Mind. In the beginning, I feel that everything is possible. However, habit 3: View Problems as Challenges, can be hard for me. Eventually I step up and face the problems, but I tend to become discouraged and overwhelmed when I find myself unable to do something. Also, using technology to my advantage is a tricky one because technology is limitless. Do I use technology to my advantage? Absolutely. Do I use ALL AVAILABLE technology? No, and hence some of my frustration with some of these Learning 2.0 assignments. I am the sort of person who tends to be pretty content with the status quo. Anyway, out of pain comes growth.
Here's an update on my Lifelong Learner post. At the time, I think I was feeling pretty darn smug. Now, with the semester in full swing, I'm not feeling so smug. The reason why I was smug is, I think, that I'm particularly good at habit 1: Begin with the End in Mind. In the beginning, I feel that everything is possible. However, habit 3: View Problems as Challenges, can be hard for me. Eventually I step up and face the problems, but I tend to become discouraged and overwhelmed when I find myself unable to do something. Also, using technology to my advantage is a tricky one because technology is limitless. Do I use technology to my advantage? Absolutely. Do I use ALL AVAILABLE technology? No, and hence some of my frustration with some of these Learning 2.0 assignments. I am the sort of person who tends to be pretty content with the status quo. Anyway, out of pain comes growth.
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