Monday, April 23, 2012
Summing it all up...Learning 2.0
Lifelong Learning I liked the ideas I could understand in the presentation and they mirror what I have learned about reading and language acquisition in my master's program so I think that it is important to try new things and be learning in different ways. I think it is good for students to see adults as lifelong learners also. I am excited to try new things.
Blogging I have changed my mind about some blogging. I got my undergrad degree in journalism and love to read well-written work. A lot of blogs are not well-written and there is a lot of blather out there. I was anti-blog but found that there are great blogs by some well-known and lesser-known writers. So like everything, I guess it boils down to finding what you like and I found several blogs I am following loosely now.
Photos and images This is my strong point. I have published photos in several national magazines and I love photography. I have used a lot of photo-editing software and used sites like PhotoBucket for years and years. I like some more than others but love the cool effects and things you can do. I am getting better at using brushes and though I am just a dabbling amateur, it is interesting and there are lots of videos online to help improve photography skills.
Wikis I was enthusiastic about the Wiki but it won't work for me. So I am trying to regroup and create a Google Docs account that will hold all of my important documents. The wiki is a good idea if others are willing to contribute but my school decided it was too much work. So I am moving my concept of what I wanted. After playing with Google Docs, I wish I had worked with that and had that option instead.
Skype It was interesting. I would use it more if I had friends in foreign countries or out of the area. I may get a camera so we can Skype in an author visit. I am really liking writers@random and Scholastic for their short author videocasts.
Play! Again I like images and my bookshelf so this was fun. Kind of interesting.
Social Bookmarking I am not a book marker. So far, I am also not a social book marker but I will have to play with it more over the summer as I have time. I want to integrate some of my lessons with online tools and sites so it may be a cool thing with the mobile lab.
RSS, Newsreaders Not as into newsreaders because I don't have tons of time. I guess I am a go when the "spirit" moves me to read and research. I am kind of old school and love the newspaper...I love the smell of ink and worked at a newspaper for years.
Twitter Ah, Twitter. Ah, tweets. It makes me feel like a twit actually. I am not sure I like the shorthand and hash tags associated with it. It almost seems unreadable. I got on a few famous people's twitter feeds. Duane "the Rock" Johnson is as boring as anyone else though he is in better shape. He is cute. That is all I know.
Spring Break I loved spring break.
Online Video Watched these a ton before the assignment. I like book trailers. I like youtube videos that are instructional, about teaching and books and done by authors and how-to videos, especially book repairs. Who knew I would be a book repair junkie? And I have to listen to a little SheDaisy while I cruise youtube.
Podcasting Still on the fence about podcasting. My main experience was a little boring though it had such promise (personal journal podcasting). I have listened to some NPR podcasts and KSL does one with Doug Wright since to try again. I am unmoved by the appeal of podcasts. It may be my job. After meeting the needs of 250-350 students in a day and hearing their stories, book reviews and ideas, I like a wee bit of silence. I was raised on a ranch in a remote area so a podcast of quiet and a cricket may be what I need.
Tag Clouds WORDLE Wow. This was the most frustrating of the learning 2.0 assignments and it leads me to something. I couldn't find very well written help instructions on several sites (Skype, Wordle and Podcasting) I had to go to youtube or google and find instructions and those sites need a bit of help writing clear, concise instructions. If these services want digital immigrants to catch onto their techy sites, products or ideas they should make it clear and easy, not frustrating. I didn't like Wordle after I had to wrestle it to the ground and go to another computer.
Google Docs I like Google Docs. I think that it will be a doable change for the documents and collaboration that I am trying to organize for my school. I think it will be tough to move around from school to school as I get working but I will get going with my ideas and add a few new things each year.
ONE LAST THING I love funbrain, Poptropica and several of the other sites listed here. I am heavily into using the free sites think that there is value in students exploring the web on safe sites as well. I will continue to work on sites like webgarden for web questing and others. I know that teacher/librarians are fabulous to share ideas and resources to help each other and that is a great thing.
Other things to try I have tried many and will work on them all over the summer as time permits. It will be my first break in 18 months that I am not attending two schools and I will have some time to lesson plan. I liked the challenge and learned some new things. There are other sites and skills I want to work on gaining like QR codes.
I think it will also help to have an open mind and conceive ideas as libraries evolve.
Google Docs and a survey...
My school just switched to Google Docs so here is a program I can use. I am also moving some of my email accounts. I have five with college, work, college, personal and family and that is too much information to sanely manage. So I am excited about the uses for Google Docs and liked the tutorials though they were a little basic.
I created this survey and hope it works:
If not, I shall eat my hat since I have tried sending it about 4 times and had little luck. My Google Doc wouldn't attach to the canvas account but it may be some type of issue since it is a work account. There is no access to my work but I think that as I continue to learn Google Docs, it will be easier. I like the calendar feature. I can see it for lesson planning.
Thanks for your patience ladies...survey information to come.
Michele
WORDLE
Wordle....
I am not sure how I feel about Wordle. It was okay once I got it working but it took 3 days, 4 people and three computers before we could get everything configured and done. The process was so frustrating, that it isn't something that I would revisit a lot. I have read and reread the help section and done the problem solving ideas. I enjoy graphics and have done a lot in several other programs that seemed more user friendly.
Again our resident Techspurt, Jen VanHaaften, said she sends it to her nieces and nephews for birthdays. They can print it out and mount it. My first few attempts were in odd fonts and hardly readable. Then it took names and put the first name no where near the last name even though I gave them different lines.
As signs go, it is a new and different approach. I kind of like the final version. Wordle...
I am not sure how I feel about Wordle. It was okay once I got it working but it took 3 days, 4 people and three computers before we could get everything configured and done. The process was so frustrating, that it isn't something that I would revisit a lot. I have read and reread the help section and done the problem solving ideas. I enjoy graphics and have done a lot in several other programs that seemed more user friendly.
Again our resident Techspurt, Jen VanHaaften, said she sends it to her nieces and nephews for birthdays. They can print it out and mount it. My first few attempts were in odd fonts and hardly readable. Then it took names and put the first name no where near the last name even though I gave them different lines.
As signs go, it is a new and different approach. I kind of like the final version. Wordle...
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Podcasts...
So I found one that was interesting. It is called an Old Fashioned Girl by Cara at anoldfashionedgirlcara@gmail.com. She talks about being a girl/woman and what makes it interesting to her. I am not sure I would have listened but the title is one of Louisa May Alcott’s books and I liked that book when I was younger.
I was interested in the personal journal podcasts. That seems like an interesting genre and fictional journals are so hot now. Not so much with this one which was disappointing. Cara talked about what she did for Easter and that she made a ham. I can do those things. It isn’t wildly interesting to me. She also does another podcast called Stars Hollow with her husband, which is about the Gilmore Girls. I don’t find that interesting.
Most of her first entry was about liking coffee, not tea. She likes Belgian Truffle coffee. She wanted to wear her new shoes and now that she has moved from California to Wisconsin, she is contemplating wearing wedge shoes. She is going to wear them because they are “bejeweled with brocade” and she bought them “online”.
Next time I will go for a Ted Talk if I ever podcast again. If any of you would like the priviledge…http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/an-old-fashioned-girl/id149202010. Not my cup of tea or coffee, but I don’t drink those. Not my cup of Stephen’s Raspberry Cocoa either. But I applaud her courage in trying to share ideas even if I wasn't her target audience with content.
I love to repair books...everyone has a fettish
I am sure that everyone has something. Emalda Marcos had shoes. For a librarian you would think it would be books. For me it is book repairs. In my free time, which I haven't had for a while, I love to reclaim old books. I have altered them, read them and often repair them too.
Here is a favorite repair link.
Twitter...
Sarah Milstein's article on Twitter for Libraries (and Librarians) at states "For example, a library could share all kinds of news that patrons want. Short messages can tell people about events such as readings, lectures, and book sales; newly available resources; or changes in the building hours. One message a day or one a week could share a tip on finding or accessing information online or in the building. Twitter posts can link to interesting news stories about literacy or about libraries. When appropriate, the posts can link to a library’s own website and blog for more in-depth information."
With all that in mind... I am not a Twitter girl. I joined Twitter a couple of years ago and couldn’t really find a use for it. As a children’s librarian, it may be something I would work toward in the future.
I really liked Jen’s library tweets so it may be something that I use if I moved to a school with older students.
The tweets that I read directed me back to websites for the actual articles so it is just a type of advertising shorthand to me. I don’t have any friends, family or kids that tweet…so I will let that one just ruminate.
Tyler Whitesides is coming to my school tomorrow so for his visit I send out a parent email, added the notice to the parent newsletter and created a slideshow with pages from his book and info about him that ran in the affected classrooms on their SmartBoards and on the bigscreen by the school office.
I can see a lot of use for social media, especially for library content and advertising. Twitter just isn’t my personal choice.
News reader...whose blog am I reading?
So I wrote this post and it didn't publish. So I am rewriting. I don't follow tons of bloggers or library blogs. One I do like is Shannon Johns. She is a local librarian at Centennial Jr. High in Kaysville.
She found that Hunger Games was more popular than this year's Newbery winner. She ran a fun March Madness style game letting students read and vote to find the Newbery. I love Newbery's and often like the honors as well as the winner. Last year's winner is amazing. Moon Over Manifest is a fabulous book. It has deep, well-conceived characters and a really interesting plot.
You can find Shannon's website at this address:
I also love the Dewey blog at: It sounds so nerdy to love Dewey but sometimes I don't understand why they classify as they do and so I have a lot to learn and this is interesting to me.
I also like The idea of open source libraries is intriguing to me. I also like her take on technologies.
I bookmarked a bunch of blogs that were interesting including:
Shannon Hale
Heather Brewer
and my favorite writer's blog...Laurie Halse Anderson
Lot's of good stuff to read as I get time...
More on Blog Following and News Feeds
Blogs I am following:
I found a fun blog by a librarian who really loves to try techy stuff online and one I met in real life. I am interested in Open Source and the idea behind it since I read an article about a district in Iowa that is not using textbooks anymore. Teachers from the district took the common core, downloaded their best lesson plans, links, information and ideas and created their own textbooks and it is trending slowly across education.
In the past textbooks have been expensive, sometimes biased and often off-target meeting the needs of students. Much of their information was affected by the opinions and ideas of the publishers and with few publishers and not much to choose from, it became a problem. Also larger states and districts had a lot of pull in what was in the books.
Open source teaching is an idea whose time has come. Teachers and librarians can pull from current, relevant resources and ideas and help students make connections to their real lives. I also like
My other site is Shannon Johns school website for her library. She did a sweet 16 reading contest in March that shadowed March Madness to have students read the books the Newbery committee would have been considering. She also followed the similar contest online where writers read the books and chose their favorites to move ahead for the final four and winner. Their school found what I have found with my older students, that Hunger Games is still king and the newbery winner will take a while to click. I have loved past winners and honor books--Moon Over Manifest is an amazing period book with really good writing and very well-developed characters.
So next we explore Newsreader…
It seemed like a simple process and helpful. I don't follow many websites because I don't have the time to read it all. This seemed like a great way to pair it down and follow at my convenience. However, I went to site after site and couldn't find the icon at the bottom. I couldn't find it on the ALA site, or AASL hotlinks, I couldn't find it on the Newbery Award site with committee information.
I did find it at ksl.com and was excited to see that they would let me follow by type of news. I opted in for national and local news but not sports, since I don't need that feed. And that seemed really interesting.
I did find a link to join the AASL wiki at:
I also think that I would spend time at this website and found that some of the newsreader links were bookmarks or attached to my yahoo account. Someday, I hope that instead of having to login to tons of sites, you would have a master site you could login to everything and personalize it to meet your needs.
As I played, I joined Google+ but don't spend much time watching entertainment. I opted in for National News and Politics, since it is an election year.
All of that information is with my email account on Google however. I am interested to explore more as I have time over the summer.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
More learning...more ideas Diigo, Technorati and more...
So I explored Diigo which did have some interesting tools like highlighting and post-its. I am already synced with FireFox so I won't use it to duplicate the bookmarks I have listed. I have tons of bookmarks.
Diigo has interesting uses and I explored the education area and found ideas on reading and writing and read an article "What parents should know about 21st Century learning" which had good ideas. They talked a lot about using Skype in the classroom. It also had a short article on using World of Warcraft in the classroom. I wouldn't consider that but it is an idea and could be good for engaging boys in an assignment. Most of the parents posts were interesting but several were in Spanish. I could read those too, though one made no sense and looked like code-- OLE!
Technorati was also interesting. I am not sure what constitutes a lot but there were hundreds of blogs about every subject and popular subjects like autos had thousands of blogs. The smallest numbers of blogs were for sports with tennis and hockey having fewest blogs, tennis had 882. That seems like a lot of info about tennis to me however.
Information Tech had 35901 entries for blogs with them divided. I think it is amazing that there are nearly 13,000 about gadgets alone.
• Info Tech (23674)
• Gadgets (12889)
Read more: http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/#ixzz1rC5lXBqe
I looked up scrapbooking and found 1779 blogs. Most are for companies and businesses which makes it feel a little more like advertising. I don't mind that personally if they are up front about it and not trying to sneak it in like they are just newsy about such topics.
What categories are lacking? I am not sure. Since blogs are started by businesses and individuals who just want to share about an interest, it seems like those things would rule how much a topic is written about and how many blogs it attracts. I tried out the blog posts search tool as well and only got 3 items so the tool really narrows down the subject. I am sure all 1779 blogs talk about scrapbooking but may not use that term (it comes up as a spelling typo when you type it). So if you were looking for something very specific, it could really save you time. It may also miss information since it is just looking for a specific term and if you speak in general, not specific terms, it could be overlooked.
Christopher Harris in School Library Journal May 2006 stated, "Redefining the school library is not a response to some inherent failure on the part of the institution. It’s an opportunity for library professionals to engage in some exciting activities that will enable our institutions to remain effective in the midst of fast-moving technological change. It was school libraries, in fact, that led the way in the first wave that brought computers and then the Internet into our classrooms. This is about adapting, once again, to a new, perhaps even more compelling digital revolution, in which powerful new ideas are enhancing the way in which we function in an electronic information environment."
I am breaking it down one step at a time. The article talks about using a variety of ideas and technologies in the classroom. One that it mentions is using a blog or wiki with the class. My experience in INST 6030 has been that it is a good outlet and tool for writing. I took a class that was considered digital hybrid. It was half in-class and half online and I like it the best personally. We had a discussion board that was much more interactive than the blogs seem to be. You can discuss with everyone in one place at one time instead of having the discipline to skip all around looking for the blogs. It also encourages discussion. Attending the class half of the time keeps the deadlines clipping along and I have liked those classes very much. One of my professors who taught the hybrid class started every session with a synthesis of comments that had been on the discussion. It was a great way to really digest the information.
It also discussed the fixed vs. flexible schedule in the library. I agree to a point. Mrs. Jones may be in the library with second graders but unless they are doing self-checkout, the librarian is still needed. That is a lot of small people with tons of reference questions and they are still best served by the librarian.
I like the idea of Skyping with an author. I would need a bigger space to do and a camera. I think it would be great for writing centers to have an author presentation and have used recorded ones from writers@random and scholatic's websites.
The idea of moving the library is also interesting and works well. I go into classrooms with the portable computer lab to teach use of public pioneer, research tools including the Big 6 with topic research and when we go web questing. Being portable, adaptable and relevant help us as librarians to meet the needs of our students. I think that as we move forward, more technology will be integrated into learning and we will need to adapt. My concerns prompted by working with students and feedback from the librarian at Centennial Jr. High in Kaysville are two-fold. First we need to teach students to focus and use online time wisely. All year, their school has had problems with students hacking through the firewall to play games instead of study. Secondly, we need to teach students how to work effectively and know how to find accurate, reliable information. There are so many sites and they need to know how to negotiate information that is growing exponentially and it is a huge task to navigate it intelligently.
I liked the article by the way and you can find it on the School Library Journal website.
Diigo has interesting uses and I explored the education area and found ideas on reading and writing and read an article "What parents should know about 21st Century learning" which had good ideas. They talked a lot about using Skype in the classroom. It also had a short article on using World of Warcraft in the classroom. I wouldn't consider that but it is an idea and could be good for engaging boys in an assignment. Most of the parents posts were interesting but several were in Spanish. I could read those too, though one made no sense and looked like code-- OLE!
Technorati was also interesting. I am not sure what constitutes a lot but there were hundreds of blogs about every subject and popular subjects like autos had thousands of blogs. The smallest numbers of blogs were for sports with tennis and hockey having fewest blogs, tennis had 882. That seems like a lot of info about tennis to me however.
Information Tech had 35901 entries for blogs with them divided. I think it is amazing that there are nearly 13,000 about gadgets alone.
• Info Tech (23674)
• Gadgets (12889)
Read more: http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/#ixzz1rC5lXBqe
I looked up scrapbooking and found 1779 blogs. Most are for companies and businesses which makes it feel a little more like advertising. I don't mind that personally if they are up front about it and not trying to sneak it in like they are just newsy about such topics.
What categories are lacking? I am not sure. Since blogs are started by businesses and individuals who just want to share about an interest, it seems like those things would rule how much a topic is written about and how many blogs it attracts. I tried out the blog posts search tool as well and only got 3 items so the tool really narrows down the subject. I am sure all 1779 blogs talk about scrapbooking but may not use that term (it comes up as a spelling typo when you type it). So if you were looking for something very specific, it could really save you time. It may also miss information since it is just looking for a specific term and if you speak in general, not specific terms, it could be overlooked.
Christopher Harris in School Library Journal May 2006 stated, "Redefining the school library is not a response to some inherent failure on the part of the institution. It’s an opportunity for library professionals to engage in some exciting activities that will enable our institutions to remain effective in the midst of fast-moving technological change. It was school libraries, in fact, that led the way in the first wave that brought computers and then the Internet into our classrooms. This is about adapting, once again, to a new, perhaps even more compelling digital revolution, in which powerful new ideas are enhancing the way in which we function in an electronic information environment."
I am breaking it down one step at a time. The article talks about using a variety of ideas and technologies in the classroom. One that it mentions is using a blog or wiki with the class. My experience in INST 6030 has been that it is a good outlet and tool for writing. I took a class that was considered digital hybrid. It was half in-class and half online and I like it the best personally. We had a discussion board that was much more interactive than the blogs seem to be. You can discuss with everyone in one place at one time instead of having the discipline to skip all around looking for the blogs. It also encourages discussion. Attending the class half of the time keeps the deadlines clipping along and I have liked those classes very much. One of my professors who taught the hybrid class started every session with a synthesis of comments that had been on the discussion. It was a great way to really digest the information.
It also discussed the fixed vs. flexible schedule in the library. I agree to a point. Mrs. Jones may be in the library with second graders but unless they are doing self-checkout, the librarian is still needed. That is a lot of small people with tons of reference questions and they are still best served by the librarian.
I like the idea of Skyping with an author. I would need a bigger space to do and a camera. I think it would be great for writing centers to have an author presentation and have used recorded ones from writers@random and scholatic's websites.
The idea of moving the library is also interesting and works well. I go into classrooms with the portable computer lab to teach use of public pioneer, research tools including the Big 6 with topic research and when we go web questing. Being portable, adaptable and relevant help us as librarians to meet the needs of our students. I think that as we move forward, more technology will be integrated into learning and we will need to adapt. My concerns prompted by working with students and feedback from the librarian at Centennial Jr. High in Kaysville are two-fold. First we need to teach students to focus and use online time wisely. All year, their school has had problems with students hacking through the firewall to play games instead of study. Secondly, we need to teach students how to work effectively and know how to find accurate, reliable information. There are so many sites and they need to know how to negotiate information that is growing exponentially and it is a huge task to navigate it intelligently.
I liked the article by the way and you can find it on the School Library Journal website.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Digging Deeper with Targeted Search Engines
There have been a lot of opinions and ideas on the subject of organic food and it’s safety versus cost and increased nutrition. So far, I was surprised that there was so much to be said on the subject and that it seemed quite polarizing. I also found that parties in support seemed to have some motives behind it. They sold organics as either farmers or organic markets.
The most moderate view was hospital research. I don’t think that they served organics. I did try to find that connection but came up empty. They supported locally grown food and fresh, healthful whole food versus processed.
I think that nutrition is important so I went back to find more information on FSTA (Food Science and Technology Abstracts). It was the database that talked more about nutrition so I headed there initially. I used the topics organic foods and health benefits and cost effectiveness and came up with two articles but neither was relevant. They discussed clean drinking water and grape oil extract’s use in the diet. Since they weren’t on target I dropped the cost effectiveness and tried again but got 224 results and most were not in the United States so I added that to the search and came up with 12, which seemed right on target. But again, it didn’t directly address my needs. Two of the articles focused on elderly adults not getting enough vitamin B which affects cognition and inner-city poor not having access to high quality foods (organic and whole). Both of those concerns are valid but take me down other paths.
I found several articles that seemed pertinent and was interested in the depth and variety of angles they covered. This is a topic that has a lot of research about food value and nutrition. The first article was very interesting to me. I love chocolate. It talked about the burgeoning organic market and how dark chocolate was being touted for it’s antioxidant benefits. Organic confections don’t see themselves as a copycat market but a legitimate market for a discerning public who want to consume chocolate covered coffee beans, health bars and flavored granolas. The organic confection industry sees itself offering quality and health not found in everyday candy. Their items are often lower in fat and have items that are healthful and high quality.
Here’s the information for that article:
Authors: Vreeland, C.
Title: The Organic Confectionery Market
Date of Publication: 2004
Journal: Candy Industry; Vol. 169 (12), 2004, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46.
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&vid=6&hid=17
This next article investigated the way that consumers buy organics versus the information over bio-engineered foods or foods with hormones. The article discussed food safety. It also probed whether growth in the organic food industry was fueled by reports about engineered food being unsafe and whether it really was unsafe. And it hinted at organic food growth slowing if consumers felt that non-organic food was also safe long-term.
To read more click the link below:
Authors: Rimal, A. ; Moon, W. ; Balasubramanian, S. K.
Title: Perceived risks of agro-biotechnology and organic food purchases in the United States.
Date of Publication: 2007
Contact Information: Dep. of Agriculture-Agribusiness, Missouri State Univ., Springfield, MI, USA
Journal: Journal of Food Distribution Research; Vol. 37 (2), 2007, 70–79.
Link: there was not a complete article but article notes with more complete article review.
http://xz6kg9rb2j.search.serialssolutions.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/?v=1.0&dbcodes=cok9vz-&s=PN&c=JOFDR&L=XZ6KG9RB2J
And another relevant discussion included a comparison of organic foods and genetically modified foods. With all the discussion over additives like pink slime and other additives, it isn’t surprising that after polling students from two Midwestern cities, they found that students felt organics were safer. This isn’t the exact topic I had searched for however. I wanted to know if locally grown, non-modified foods were equally nutritious. But I think some of the desire for organics is being fueled by the genetic modification controversy. I think organics may be safer long-term as well but there is information to the contrary as well.
Titles: Perceptions of genetically modified and organic foods and processes.
Authors: Anderson, J. C. ; Wachenheim, C. J. ; Lesch, W. C.
Contact Information: Minnesota Crop Improvement Ass., 1900 Hendon Ave., St. Paul MN 55108, USA
Journal: AgBioForum; Vol. 9 (3), 2006, 180–194.
Date of Publication: 2006
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=17&sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ffh&AN=2007-05-Ag1365
The last article from this search was called Dairy Tales and addressed a variety of new products in yogurts that regulate digestion, improve health and have probiotics. Milk is one of the modified foods that people have concern about. I grew up on a dairy and we never used any shots or feed that had growth hormone or antibiotics. It makes me sad. I do buy my milk from a local dairy that doesn’t use hormones or additives.
Title: Dairy tales.
Authors: Roberts, W. A., Jr.
Journal: Prepared Foods; Vol. 176 (3), 2007, 43–44, 46, 49–50.
Date of Publication: 2007
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&vid=9&hid=17
The more I learn, the more I am convinced that I am on the right track and I feel that local foods and organics are fairly safe. I think that as a consumer I will be aware and it is sad every year when people buy food that makes them sick. I am also glad I was raised on a farm. I know my childhood food supply was wholesome and safe. Part of what I face now is avoiding processed foods and incorporating more healthful foods at my home when I am at night class and not there to feed everyone.
The search for the healthiest foods continues. I know that making informed choices is important and challenging with so many differing points of view but I feel more confident each time I search that I am learning what I need to know to find the answers. And the research is tasty…
The most moderate view was hospital research. I don’t think that they served organics. I did try to find that connection but came up empty. They supported locally grown food and fresh, healthful whole food versus processed.
I think that nutrition is important so I went back to find more information on FSTA (Food Science and Technology Abstracts). It was the database that talked more about nutrition so I headed there initially. I used the topics organic foods and health benefits and cost effectiveness and came up with two articles but neither was relevant. They discussed clean drinking water and grape oil extract’s use in the diet. Since they weren’t on target I dropped the cost effectiveness and tried again but got 224 results and most were not in the United States so I added that to the search and came up with 12, which seemed right on target. But again, it didn’t directly address my needs. Two of the articles focused on elderly adults not getting enough vitamin B which affects cognition and inner-city poor not having access to high quality foods (organic and whole). Both of those concerns are valid but take me down other paths.
I found several articles that seemed pertinent and was interested in the depth and variety of angles they covered. This is a topic that has a lot of research about food value and nutrition. The first article was very interesting to me. I love chocolate. It talked about the burgeoning organic market and how dark chocolate was being touted for it’s antioxidant benefits. Organic confections don’t see themselves as a copycat market but a legitimate market for a discerning public who want to consume chocolate covered coffee beans, health bars and flavored granolas. The organic confection industry sees itself offering quality and health not found in everyday candy. Their items are often lower in fat and have items that are healthful and high quality.
Here’s the information for that article:
Authors: Vreeland, C.
Title: The Organic Confectionery Market
Date of Publication: 2004
Journal: Candy Industry; Vol. 169 (12), 2004, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46.
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&vid=6&hid=17
This next article investigated the way that consumers buy organics versus the information over bio-engineered foods or foods with hormones. The article discussed food safety. It also probed whether growth in the organic food industry was fueled by reports about engineered food being unsafe and whether it really was unsafe. And it hinted at organic food growth slowing if consumers felt that non-organic food was also safe long-term.
To read more click the link below:
Authors: Rimal, A. ; Moon, W. ; Balasubramanian, S. K.
Title: Perceived risks of agro-biotechnology and organic food purchases in the United States.
Date of Publication: 2007
Contact Information: Dep. of Agriculture-Agribusiness, Missouri State Univ., Springfield, MI, USA
Journal: Journal of Food Distribution Research; Vol. 37 (2), 2007, 70–79.
Link: there was not a complete article but article notes with more complete article review.
http://xz6kg9rb2j.search.serialssolutions.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/?v=1.0&dbcodes=cok9vz-&s=PN&c=JOFDR&L=XZ6KG9RB2J
And another relevant discussion included a comparison of organic foods and genetically modified foods. With all the discussion over additives like pink slime and other additives, it isn’t surprising that after polling students from two Midwestern cities, they found that students felt organics were safer. This isn’t the exact topic I had searched for however. I wanted to know if locally grown, non-modified foods were equally nutritious. But I think some of the desire for organics is being fueled by the genetic modification controversy. I think organics may be safer long-term as well but there is information to the contrary as well.
Titles: Perceptions of genetically modified and organic foods and processes.
Authors: Anderson, J. C. ; Wachenheim, C. J. ; Lesch, W. C.
Contact Information: Minnesota Crop Improvement Ass., 1900 Hendon Ave., St. Paul MN 55108, USA
Journal: AgBioForum; Vol. 9 (3), 2006, 180–194.
Date of Publication: 2006
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=17&sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ffh&AN=2007-05-Ag1365
The last article from this search was called Dairy Tales and addressed a variety of new products in yogurts that regulate digestion, improve health and have probiotics. Milk is one of the modified foods that people have concern about. I grew up on a dairy and we never used any shots or feed that had growth hormone or antibiotics. It makes me sad. I do buy my milk from a local dairy that doesn’t use hormones or additives.
Title: Dairy tales.
Authors: Roberts, W. A., Jr.
Journal: Prepared Foods; Vol. 176 (3), 2007, 43–44, 46, 49–50.
Date of Publication: 2007
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&vid=9&hid=17
The more I learn, the more I am convinced that I am on the right track and I feel that local foods and organics are fairly safe. I think that as a consumer I will be aware and it is sad every year when people buy food that makes them sick. I am also glad I was raised on a farm. I know my childhood food supply was wholesome and safe. Part of what I face now is avoiding processed foods and incorporating more healthful foods at my home when I am at night class and not there to feed everyone.
The search for the healthiest foods continues. I know that making informed choices is important and challenging with so many differing points of view but I feel more confident each time I search that I am learning what I need to know to find the answers. And the research is tasty…
Working Knowledge
There is a cell phone case where someone posted on Youtube showing 4 cell phones on a table facing the center and they put popcorn in the middle. The popcorn pops from the radiation supposedly and the researcher finds out more and more about it. Does the radiation have effects? Is there credible research?
She goes on to find that there are controversial views about whether there are effects and how they effect.
She wondered about who had done research and how effective it was.
So I am off to deepen my ideas about organics. Most of the questions here have been covered. I think that anything on the net will have pro and con information and much about organics is opinion. I found information that the Mayo clinic had which actually had tested for nutrient density versus conventionally grown and they found that it was a tie basically.
I found opinions from all sorts of sources from the Mayo clinic to Organic Facts, which is cool and I found them to be unbiased which is impressive since they are pro-organics. I loved the comment from Organic Facts that the benefits of organics are "more perceived than actual" which is why there has been 30% growth in the past few years.
The cell phone researcher went to several different sources to research. She read a lot of information from sources she felt were viable and then made her own decision. I think that it is similar to what I found. She could have chosen to limit use until she found more information and felt it was conclusively safe.
My scenario was similar. I found conflicting information but the more credible information to me was the Mayo Clinic that organics are good but so are conventional. I think they are both more effective if you make good choices and eat five a day. Here are some additional links:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2011756,00.html
There are specific things growers do to have foods certified organic:
http://www.ehow.com/list_6305856_health-benefits-organic-foods.html
Dr. Oz and Time magazine point out that foods are much safer now than they ever were and fewer people get sick from eating them than ever before. He also points out that tips like buying in season, peeling fruits to get rid of pesticides and buying food that is as natural as possible are helpful and make the conventional and local food on par with organics. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2011756_2011732,00.html
Many of the pro-organic sites were trying to make money and seemed to have motivations beyond health so I credited them with less pure motives. I do see benefits to farms where food is grown inexpensively by composting and limiting impact on the planet. However, conventionally food is cheaper pound for pound. So if consumers can influence growers to minimize impact and sell locally, everyone wins.
I was surprised that this same argument is being waged in Britain and other places as well and a large independent study done there shows that there are no unique benefits, indeed none at all. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8174482.stm
There will always be more to learn about health and nutrition but on this subject I feel confident that local, conventional or organic, food is food and healthier if it is in its basic forms. I feel like I understand the information and it took several hours to sift through. In an aside, I used Metacrawler to do some of the searching and came up with very similar results to Google. When I had searched other topics the results were different. My original hypothesis was that I would find organics much healthier and I would spend more on produce. Now I am fairly certain that I will continue to buy on the cheap and incorporate fruits and veggies into more of my meals. It wasn’t hard for me to decide but there is a lot of information so I will continue to be curious and learn more as I go along.
She goes on to find that there are controversial views about whether there are effects and how they effect.
She wondered about who had done research and how effective it was.
So I am off to deepen my ideas about organics. Most of the questions here have been covered. I think that anything on the net will have pro and con information and much about organics is opinion. I found information that the Mayo clinic had which actually had tested for nutrient density versus conventionally grown and they found that it was a tie basically.
I found opinions from all sorts of sources from the Mayo clinic to Organic Facts, which is cool and I found them to be unbiased which is impressive since they are pro-organics. I loved the comment from Organic Facts that the benefits of organics are "more perceived than actual" which is why there has been 30% growth in the past few years.
The cell phone researcher went to several different sources to research. She read a lot of information from sources she felt were viable and then made her own decision. I think that it is similar to what I found. She could have chosen to limit use until she found more information and felt it was conclusively safe.
My scenario was similar. I found conflicting information but the more credible information to me was the Mayo Clinic that organics are good but so are conventional. I think they are both more effective if you make good choices and eat five a day. Here are some additional links:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2011756,00.html
There are specific things growers do to have foods certified organic:
http://www.ehow.com/list_6305856_health-benefits-organic-foods.html
Dr. Oz and Time magazine point out that foods are much safer now than they ever were and fewer people get sick from eating them than ever before. He also points out that tips like buying in season, peeling fruits to get rid of pesticides and buying food that is as natural as possible are helpful and make the conventional and local food on par with organics. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2011756_2011732,00.html
Many of the pro-organic sites were trying to make money and seemed to have motivations beyond health so I credited them with less pure motives. I do see benefits to farms where food is grown inexpensively by composting and limiting impact on the planet. However, conventionally food is cheaper pound for pound. So if consumers can influence growers to minimize impact and sell locally, everyone wins.
I was surprised that this same argument is being waged in Britain and other places as well and a large independent study done there shows that there are no unique benefits, indeed none at all. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8174482.stm
There will always be more to learn about health and nutrition but on this subject I feel confident that local, conventional or organic, food is food and healthier if it is in its basic forms. I feel like I understand the information and it took several hours to sift through. In an aside, I used Metacrawler to do some of the searching and came up with very similar results to Google. When I had searched other topics the results were different. My original hypothesis was that I would find organics much healthier and I would spend more on produce. Now I am fairly certain that I will continue to buy on the cheap and incorporate fruits and veggies into more of my meals. It wasn’t hard for me to decide but there is a lot of information so I will continue to be curious and learn more as I go along.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Organic food
Hi,
The latest assignment was interesting. I chose organic food but have to admit that I have grown almost all the organic food I have eaten over the years. I grew up on a farm with a grandmother that was a foodie back in the day. She had an herb garden sprinkled with flowers. Did you know Marigolds keep ants and bugs away?
So it was interesting to learn a bit more about the subject. I am not sure it changed my mind but I am more in the know about organics.
If you like fruits and veggies on the cheap, I suggest you join Bountiful Baskets. It is great and cheap and it makes me cook outside my comfort zone and I have tried a lot of new foods.
Yum...
The latest assignment was interesting. I chose organic food but have to admit that I have grown almost all the organic food I have eaten over the years. I grew up on a farm with a grandmother that was a foodie back in the day. She had an herb garden sprinkled with flowers. Did you know Marigolds keep ants and bugs away?
So it was interesting to learn a bit more about the subject. I am not sure it changed my mind but I am more in the know about organics.
If you like fruits and veggies on the cheap, I suggest you join Bountiful Baskets. It is great and cheap and it makes me cook outside my comfort zone and I have tried a lot of new foods.
Yum...
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Localvore and Proud of It...
So this is a writing exercise to see what I could find out about eating organics versus eating conventiona foods and I found out I am not really an either. I am a localvore, which means I try to buy local when I can and grow the food I can to meet my family's needs.
Who knew?
When there isn't local to be had I buy conventional.
Will I switch to organic, not after what I have read.
My mom is a master canner and I love to make jams, pickle red beets and we even make our own stews. I love to support local growers, since my dad was one until his health deteriorated and my family still are farmers.
1. What do I know about the scenario of organic food vs. conventionally grown food? Not a single thing. I was raised exclusively on organics on a large farm (we grew our own and the fertilizer was free from the chickens and sheep…) I have noticed a difference in taste because vine or field-ripened foods are ripe when you eat them so they have more flavor. I might even think that letting them ripen would give more food value, but I think the produce would be close to the same. I have no proof about the improved food value theory. John Cloud wrote and article in Time Magazine Health quoting, In her 2001 memoir, This Organic Life, Columbia University nutritionist Joan Dye Gussow writes that her commitment to eating locally "is probably driven by three things. The first is the taste of live food; the second is my relation to frugality; the third is my deep concern about the state of the planet
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595245,00.html#ixzz1lSWnSoHI
2. I don’t know if the food value is the same or if you are just paying more for something someone stamped premium. So is it worth extra cost? I don’t know. Is it worth being choosey? Personally I purchase from Bountiful Baskets on the cheap in real life… It is a food co-op and there is no mark up on the food. So I really am about cost. Plus I have 4 kids. Their food is local when it is in season and people like me who grow their own and eat local are called “localvores” which is a dumb name in my opinion. People raised on the farm have always grown what they could to supplement their food choices and to be cost efficient. Like Gussow, I like the taste of live food and am concerned locally about my growers, since I am the daughter of one.
U.C. Davis food chemist Alyson Mitchell, states about the nutrition value of organics, "We understand, and have understood for a long time, that there is some relation between soil health and plant quality, but we still don't have a solid scientific database to link this to nutrition." So no one has proved they are healthier and taste is in the mouth of the beholder.Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595245,00.html#ixzz1lSXroyXh
3. Specific question on the issue are: Are organics healthier? No, it seems from the UC Davis study they are not. Does it justify the cost? In that case, no. Does buying local create jobs or support my community? Our local grocer keeps $.45 of every dollar in Kaysville. If I shop at WalMart or a national chain, only $.10 of every dollar stays local according to the Associated Foods ads on the radio. So I think it does impact my community positively financially. The more growers and farms we keep in business, the more people working.
Can I get by with lower cost alternatives? I can. I do. Bountiful Baskets gives me three recyclable grocery bags worth of produce for $15 per week. Are organics practices better for the world? Actually the Cloud article said no. Many organic farms ship nationwide and use as much oil to ship and methods that conventional farms do. Local is the only one that has lower impact, sustainable growth? There was a caution that organics can have more bacteria since they are fertilized with dung…
4. What do I need to know to understand the issues better? I like food. I read labels, get 5 a day regularly and can always eat a little better. After reading a lot of articles, I feel fairly confident that organics are here to stay but not a choice I make. I am a bit concerned about pesticides, but they are in more than my food. I felt many articles were quite biased. I was surprised that there has been a drop in shopping at Whole Foods since even WalMart offers organics. I am pleased that in the past decade, according to Cloud, farmer’s markets have doubled over the last decade. I will be out in my garden come April, waiting for my peaches and raspberries, red beets and potatoes to come on.
5. Useful keywords:
organic + scam
benefits of organic foods
utah organic foods + community impact
organic vs. conventionally grown produce
organic food benefits
locally sustainable foods + utah organic food vs. locally grown
Who knew?
When there isn't local to be had I buy conventional.
Will I switch to organic, not after what I have read.
My mom is a master canner and I love to make jams, pickle red beets and we even make our own stews. I love to support local growers, since my dad was one until his health deteriorated and my family still are farmers.
1. What do I know about the scenario of organic food vs. conventionally grown food? Not a single thing. I was raised exclusively on organics on a large farm (we grew our own and the fertilizer was free from the chickens and sheep…) I have noticed a difference in taste because vine or field-ripened foods are ripe when you eat them so they have more flavor. I might even think that letting them ripen would give more food value, but I think the produce would be close to the same. I have no proof about the improved food value theory. John Cloud wrote and article in Time Magazine Health quoting, In her 2001 memoir, This Organic Life, Columbia University nutritionist Joan Dye Gussow writes that her commitment to eating locally "is probably driven by three things. The first is the taste of live food; the second is my relation to frugality; the third is my deep concern about the state of the planet
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595245,00.html#ixzz1lSWnSoHI
2. I don’t know if the food value is the same or if you are just paying more for something someone stamped premium. So is it worth extra cost? I don’t know. Is it worth being choosey? Personally I purchase from Bountiful Baskets on the cheap in real life… It is a food co-op and there is no mark up on the food. So I really am about cost. Plus I have 4 kids. Their food is local when it is in season and people like me who grow their own and eat local are called “localvores” which is a dumb name in my opinion. People raised on the farm have always grown what they could to supplement their food choices and to be cost efficient. Like Gussow, I like the taste of live food and am concerned locally about my growers, since I am the daughter of one.
U.C. Davis food chemist Alyson Mitchell, states about the nutrition value of organics, "We understand, and have understood for a long time, that there is some relation between soil health and plant quality, but we still don't have a solid scientific database to link this to nutrition." So no one has proved they are healthier and taste is in the mouth of the beholder.Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595245,00.html#ixzz1lSXroyXh
3. Specific question on the issue are: Are organics healthier? No, it seems from the UC Davis study they are not. Does it justify the cost? In that case, no. Does buying local create jobs or support my community? Our local grocer keeps $.45 of every dollar in Kaysville. If I shop at WalMart or a national chain, only $.10 of every dollar stays local according to the Associated Foods ads on the radio. So I think it does impact my community positively financially. The more growers and farms we keep in business, the more people working.
Can I get by with lower cost alternatives? I can. I do. Bountiful Baskets gives me three recyclable grocery bags worth of produce for $15 per week. Are organics practices better for the world? Actually the Cloud article said no. Many organic farms ship nationwide and use as much oil to ship and methods that conventional farms do. Local is the only one that has lower impact, sustainable growth? There was a caution that organics can have more bacteria since they are fertilized with dung…
4. What do I need to know to understand the issues better? I like food. I read labels, get 5 a day regularly and can always eat a little better. After reading a lot of articles, I feel fairly confident that organics are here to stay but not a choice I make. I am a bit concerned about pesticides, but they are in more than my food. I felt many articles were quite biased. I was surprised that there has been a drop in shopping at Whole Foods since even WalMart offers organics. I am pleased that in the past decade, according to Cloud, farmer’s markets have doubled over the last decade. I will be out in my garden come April, waiting for my peaches and raspberries, red beets and potatoes to come on.
5. Useful keywords:
organic + scam
benefits of organic foods
utah organic foods + community impact
organic vs. conventionally grown produce
organic food benefits
locally sustainable foods + utah organic food vs. locally grown
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Wikis
Okay, I have been on Wikipedia but hadn't spent much time until I had the assignment. I also liked the Kearns High Library Wiki. It had information the students would want for research and information. It was easy to use, organized and a cool looking, sparse site. There were search engines and I liked Creative Commons for pictures as well.
For some reason the Amelia Evans wiki for me came up as a list. The best practices wouldn't come up at all, so I changed browsers and still no luck. I am interested to learn more but not sure how I will incorporate wikis in my library. I have no time for necessary jobs like overdue slips and book repairs so whatever I do will have to be streamlined and really useful.
I also created my own wiki but can't get the instructional videos to come up. They do and I click the arrow then they go dark for hours and never load. My dh upgraded to the highest speed internet this weekend so I could get them to run and it still won't work so I will have to attack it later.
For some reason the Amelia Evans wiki for me came up as a list. The best practices wouldn't come up at all, so I changed browsers and still no luck. I am interested to learn more but not sure how I will incorporate wikis in my library. I have no time for necessary jobs like overdue slips and book repairs so whatever I do will have to be streamlined and really useful.
I also created my own wiki but can't get the instructional videos to come up. They do and I click the arrow then they go dark for hours and never load. My dh upgraded to the highest speed internet this weekend so I could get them to run and it still won't work so I will have to attack it later.
This is the Bellingham Public Library in Washington and I love the limited color, the organization and the amount of books. There is also a lot of seating and that is very cool at a library. I like the wide aisles too.
Children should be able to navigate the library in my world so the easier and more interesting it is to them the better in my estimation.
I used to use Flickr and Photobucket a lot. I wrote articles and have had a few photos and some of my artwork published locally and nationally so it was fun to play, resize and modify my work. I am a time waster when it comes to technology. For a while I scrapbooked digitally and that is fun. I spent longer than when I did it by hand though changing backgrounds and once uploaded so many free fonts that I overloaded my hard drive. I now have a backup hard drive. With the demands of work and school I have set a bunch of that aside while I finish my master's degree and actually may take next year off. I am really exhausted and cranky. Jen and I were laughing about the exhaustion thing at class for a moment.
Demi Moore looks tired to me and I don't think her situation is funny. She is exhausted however and has a personal assistant, cook, gardener, maid and many others I am sure. Jen and I have work, school, four kids each and I can't get enough sleep to feel refreshed so I guess I need to work harder at it. (Resting, that is...)
Edublog awards, angry librarian and more
The edublog awards are interesting. I went through the different winners blogs and laughed at the cool ideas they came up with. My personal winner is:
http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/ Her blog is more resources for a librarian. I liked the daring librarian blog too for her teen-focused ideas. The best part though on mediaspecialistguide's site was the video at the bottom about shelving...
I have explored letting students shelve. I taught one this week and let her shelve. What a mess. It took so much time to clean up her mess. I am not a strict librarian. My time has been spent in elementary libraries so I get that little kids want to look and try to shelve. I may try to train another student later on but this was definitely a bust as far as letting her shelve.
We also tried letting students check out and that will also no longer happen. We only have one computer with our Alexandria system and one scanner so we can't really do the self-check in/out. It works at other schools however.
Selena's blog was interesting about wikis. Didn't know that the name came from Hawaii. All things in Kaysville flow back to the big island, except me and I volunteer to go. I would prepare on my Hawaii wiki and report on my journey on my blog...
Thanks to Selena who visited the Oquirrh Mountain Charter Library and helped process books. She is a superstar!!!
Loved everyone's blogs and Anne thanks for posting all the links for us!
http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/ Her blog is more resources for a librarian. I liked the daring librarian blog too for her teen-focused ideas. The best part though on mediaspecialistguide's site was the video at the bottom about shelving...
I have explored letting students shelve. I taught one this week and let her shelve. What a mess. It took so much time to clean up her mess. I am not a strict librarian. My time has been spent in elementary libraries so I get that little kids want to look and try to shelve. I may try to train another student later on but this was definitely a bust as far as letting her shelve.
We also tried letting students check out and that will also no longer happen. We only have one computer with our Alexandria system and one scanner so we can't really do the self-check in/out. It works at other schools however.
Selena's blog was interesting about wikis. Didn't know that the name came from Hawaii. All things in Kaysville flow back to the big island, except me and I volunteer to go. I would prepare on my Hawaii wiki and report on my journey on my blog...
Thanks to Selena who visited the Oquirrh Mountain Charter Library and helped process books. She is a superstar!!!
Loved everyone's blogs and Anne thanks for posting all the links for us!
Blogs...
I started early into the blog scene but was saddened when they turned out to be snipe spaces and peoples personal soap boxes so I don't spend tons of time with them now. I don't have time to spend because I am at school and I haven't found a lot that work for what I need.
After reading the teacher's experience with students I think that a blog could be interesting for students who are older and could write one. For myself and my students, I think it would be a great way to add to the information at my school and let teachers know about books and resources coming in.
I taught about public pioneer at the beginning of the year and suddenly teachers were asking for the login and they had no idea it was accessible for us and existed. So I will probably start a work blog and let it be one step toward collaboration.
I would also like to do book recommendations for parents and students.
After reading the teacher's experience with students I think that a blog could be interesting for students who are older and could write one. For myself and my students, I think it would be a great way to add to the information at my school and let teachers know about books and resources coming in.
I taught about public pioneer at the beginning of the year and suddenly teachers were asking for the login and they had no idea it was accessible for us and existed. So I will probably start a work blog and let it be one step toward collaboration.
I would also like to do book recommendations for parents and students.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
My 7 1/2 Habits
I like the 7 1/2 habits and have considered that they are things I want to work on as the class progresses. I would like to grow and improve as a teacher librarian.
Begin with the end in mind... I know that I use this in lesson planning. I also used it as I got on the path of getting a license and endorsement a year and a half ago. I am excited to complete the program and finish the practicums.
Accept Responsibility for your own learning... I think that I have done this since I started. I went into apply to get a license and a week later I was in school. It has been a real financial strain for us but I received 4 scholarships that have paid for the equivalent for my endorsement and I feel really blessed that I received them.
View problems as challenges... I don't usually adhere to this one. I usually view problems as overwhelming and challenging. I sometimes feel punished when I have challenges. I had a challenge as I started my licensure. I ended up taking an extra class that has really motivated my creativity and through that class, I received my scholarships. Sometimes detours are nice and I need to be more grateful and remember that.
Have Confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner ---this is another line related to problems as challenges. When I came back to school after a 15 year absence, I didn't have any confidence and the program honestly didn't instill any either. I had a great mentor that showed me that I can do it and a really supportive husband. I can do it. I am grateful for both of them.
Create a learning toolbox-- this is an interesting directive and for it I spent the weekend working on my two portfolios. One for the library and one for my teaching, though I see myself as a teacher in both.
Use Technology to your advantage--this is one I am learning and should improve over the course of this class. I took a similar class recently and learned to use whiteboards and go webquesting which I like very much.
Teach and mentor others-- well this one is my whole world. I am really grateful there is such great literature and I love working with children. I love the kids in my schools, the kids I am working with in my practicum and my own four, who are awesome. We have a bright future with such smart, motivated people.
Play-- I would rather play than anything else. I love to do so many things and the library is where I go to learn them, sharpen, improve and inquire about them. I recently learned to quilt. I love photography and am learning a little French and drawing.
Begin with the end in mind... I know that I use this in lesson planning. I also used it as I got on the path of getting a license and endorsement a year and a half ago. I am excited to complete the program and finish the practicums.
Accept Responsibility for your own learning... I think that I have done this since I started. I went into apply to get a license and a week later I was in school. It has been a real financial strain for us but I received 4 scholarships that have paid for the equivalent for my endorsement and I feel really blessed that I received them.
View problems as challenges... I don't usually adhere to this one. I usually view problems as overwhelming and challenging. I sometimes feel punished when I have challenges. I had a challenge as I started my licensure. I ended up taking an extra class that has really motivated my creativity and through that class, I received my scholarships. Sometimes detours are nice and I need to be more grateful and remember that.
Have Confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner ---this is another line related to problems as challenges. When I came back to school after a 15 year absence, I didn't have any confidence and the program honestly didn't instill any either. I had a great mentor that showed me that I can do it and a really supportive husband. I can do it. I am grateful for both of them.
Create a learning toolbox-- this is an interesting directive and for it I spent the weekend working on my two portfolios. One for the library and one for my teaching, though I see myself as a teacher in both.
Use Technology to your advantage--this is one I am learning and should improve over the course of this class. I took a similar class recently and learned to use whiteboards and go webquesting which I like very much.
Teach and mentor others-- well this one is my whole world. I am really grateful there is such great literature and I love working with children. I love the kids in my schools, the kids I am working with in my practicum and my own four, who are awesome. We have a bright future with such smart, motivated people.
Play-- I would rather play than anything else. I love to do so many things and the library is where I go to learn them, sharpen, improve and inquire about them. I recently learned to quilt. I love photography and am learning a little French and drawing.
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