Friday, September 25, 2015

Blogs and Blog Readers

Blogs, I love reading them, but find it difficult to update them myself.  I started off reading blogs that my friends created and then tried it myself.  When Facebook wasn't so popular, I even had a blog for our kindergarten team so that parents could see what was going on at school and be informed.  

To be honest, I did not know what a blog reader was before this week!  Hopefully I am not the only one that was in the dark.  Now that I have explored several, I am very excited to start using them!

I had a difficult time choosing between Bloglovin' and Feedly.  I ultimately chose Bloglovin because I liked the simplicity.  When making decisions, I always try to choose things that are extremely user-friendly.  My take is, if I can't figure it out pretty quickly, then how will my students or parents be able to.  Another reason I chose this reader is that you are able to click on a post and it will open a new tab with the entire blog.  This is huge for me, as I found many blogs have tabs with other helpful information, such as library centers, authors, etc.  Bloglovin' is appealing to the eyes and not overwhelming.  The format is easy to use and follow.  It does remind me of Facebook, but without all the adds on the sidebars.  In the settings, you can choose how often, if any, you want to receive email notification of updated blogs.  This has been a great new tool to use!

I chose these blogs to follow for different reasons:

1.  The Children's Book Review

This blog is fantastic for book reviews and so much more!  The reviews are broken down by extensive categories and age groups.  Individual book reviews include author, illustrator, age range, number of pages, publisher, ISBN, What to expect, a summary, and even links to purchase on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Not only can you find reviews, but also Award Winners, Best Seller Lists and my favorite, Author Interviews.  How cool is it to hear from an author?!  This website is an ALSC Great Web Sites for Kids.  I chose to follow this blog because I love reading book reviews before I purchase books!

2.  Library Displays

This blog is managed by a librarian in New Zealand.  It is composed of library display ideas, specifically ones that promote uncirculated books.  The displays are easy to and cost effective to create on a budget.  One aspect that I liked is that other librarians may submit their displays to be featured on the blog.  A good tool for sharing and collaborating, even world-wide.  Professional reading material and useful websites are also included to help readers with their displays.  One of the posts featured edible-icing books to use as cake/cupcake toppers.  I thought that was a creative idea and want to try that out.  I chose this blog so that hopefully one day when I am a librarian I can create some interactive displays that are engaging for all patrons.

3.  Mighty Little Librarian

The Mighty Little Librarian is a Middle School librarian from Louisiana.  She updates her blog at least once a month with what is happening in her library.  From her post, you can tell that she loves her job and her students.  The blog is well organized and categorized to make it user friendly.  Some of the categories include:  library lessons, decorations and displays, library procedures, my ramblings, technology, and many more.  The posts are easy to read and relate to, which is always a positive!  I enjoyed the post about how she taught (or let the 8th graders teach) library procedures to the 6th and 7th graders.  What a fabulous idea!  I chose this blog because she seems to be a down to earth person, who also does crafting to make her library intriguing for middle school kids.

4.  Katy Elementary Library

I chose to follow this blog because of the school's location.  I live near this city and want to be able to see what others in the community are doing in their library.  This blog has some valuable links for suggested reading lists, ebooks, apps and author visits.  This is something that I admire about some libraries.  They try their best to get authors to come visit and that brings reading alive to students.  My current elementary doesn't have any author visits and that is something I miss.   A nice feature that the blog offers is a comment section, which of course has posted rules and stipulations to  follow.  The librarian does seem to post a few times a month with what is happening and new in the library.  One post I liked was that the students voted for best picture book and chapter book for the year.  What a great way to get the kids involved!

5.  Karin's Book Nook

Dr. Karin Perry is an assistant professor of Library Science at SHSU.  She loves children's and young adult books.  This is a great blog with book summaries, her personal reflections, and a star rating.  She keeps lists of what she has read, wants to read and is currently reading.  Great idea for people who love to read.  The list is further broken down into categories, such as bullies, humor, graphic novels and so much more.  She has been keeping her list of books she's read since 2008.  This blog inspires me to read more.  I only wish I could have a few more hours a day!  This is a wonderful blog to follow if you are looking for reviews and suggestions for new books.  Almost a one-stop shop!  I chose to follow and highlight this blog because I have been in a few  of Dr. Perry's classes and truly respect her and the passion she has for books and the profession.

I cannot wait to read about some of the other blogs that my colleagues may have chosen to highlight. There are so many wonderful blogs that it is impossible to find and read them all.

Another tool I learned about this week is Tumblr.  It seems to be the hippest way to get quick feeds and follow some trendy people.  Check out my Tumblr that I started a few days ago.  More to come...

Misty Carter's Tumblr


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Thursday, September 17, 2015

Tech trends and library services in the digital age Infographic

 Zickuhr, K. (2013, May 9). Tech trends and library services in the digital age. Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/05/10/tech-trends-and-library-services-in-the-digital-age/ 

Although the data may be a few years old, it shows the growing trend in technology and library services.  The data from this research was funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Telephone surveys, in English and Spanish, by American over 16 years of age were used for the research.  Some of the findings were expected and some were a little shocking.

In 1995, only 14% of adults used the Internet.  That seems quite high to me because I think back to my first memories of the Internet and I had just learned about it in 1998.  That percentage grew significantly to 82% in 2012, which is shockingly low to me.  

Only 53% of Americans used a public library in the past year (2013).  As a learner, teacher, and citizen, the percentage is low.  That makes me wonder how public libraries can get more exposure to entice more Americans to use their services.  Out of those 53%, only 73% borrowed books, and 50% got help from a librarian.  From my own experience, the public librarians are not the friendliest and most approachable people, so I do understand that number being low.  

Free access to computers and the Internet was very important to 77% of Americans.  I work in a low socioeconomic neighborhood and know that the public library is the only place for some of my students to go to access these services;  therefore, yes, it is very important to them.  Close behind, at 73%, was using research resources such as free databases.  

Quiet study spaces for adults and children were also very important according to 76% of Americans.  I can agree with that being correct data at a public library.  However, an elementary school library should reflect much different data as we are evolving into maker spaces and not quiet spaces.

The last few slides focus on Libraries' evolving roles.  Some of the roles included providing access to information and guidance to use and verify the information.  

Check out my info graphic highlighting some of the data that I thought was interesting and how we have evolved from the floppy disk age to the flash drive, digital age.  I chose to use piktochart.com to create my info graphic.  This webesite was the most user friendly and very visually appealing.  It was super easy to create the info graphic, even when changing icons, fonts, etc.  The choices for icons were very abundant and made it difficult to chose.  Overall, it was very easy to navigate to create a visual to share.


36 presentation pages  (36/150)

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Saturday, September 5, 2015

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

Let me start by stating that I did not have a Twitter account before this semester.  Funny thing is, both of my classes required it!  Two for one deal, I guess!  I never understood what it was all about.  Now I will be able to explore it and see what all the hype and hashtags really are!

These are a few of the BIGGEST NAMES in Educational Technology Today:

Kathy Schrock @kathyschrock

I chose to highlight this Tweet because to me it says that THE Kathy Schrock is a normal, everyday person and not just a big name guru.  I have had the pleasure of reading some of her blogs and websites in the past and she is AMAZING!  Maybe so amazing that she is intimidating?!  Her Tweets include both educational technology and personal funnies.  Apparently she also loves coffee and Starbucks.  I love that people can relate to her on an everyday level through Twitter!


Linda Braun @lbraun2000

Linda Braun sticks to educational business on her Twitter page.  She Tweets multiple times a day, giving information from scholarships and daily deals to articles about how to create foolproof websites.   She is a big fan of STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), re-Tweeting or tagging them in her on Tweets.  She tends to use alot of text terms, which I will have to bring myself up2date on!


Tony Vincent @tonyvincent

Tony Vincent Twitter page is FULL of great information daily!  He lets you know what apps are great to use and when they are available for FREE download.  My favorite thing about his page are his Tip Tuesdays.  Every Tuesday he offers some type of technology tip ranging, from how to make your cursor larger to use different key strokes on your computer.  I also had a connection with him, as he did Tweet that he had twins, and from the picture, they seem to be boy/girl twins, just like mine!



Buffy Hamilton @buffyjhamilton

Wow, this Twitter page caught me by surprise.  I am sure Buffy Hamilton is an excellent teacher and librarian, but quite frankly, I don't want to follow her on Twitter.  Most of her Tweets are personal and negative.  It sounds as though she has had a rough summer and her father is very sick, which I pray things turn around for both of them.  She Tweets multiple times a day, and some of them are relevant to education.  I found this one particularly funny, as a mother of a little girl who is scared to get lice!



The Daring Librarian @GwynethJones

A light-hearted, up beat Tweeter, The Daring Librarian is a Pinterest lover.  She provides many Pinterest links that she has created for libraries and classrooms.  They include the latest technology and how to use it.   I definitely plan to follow some of her boards.  I thought this Q-Tip was funny!



 Jim Lerman @jimlerman

This is a good page to follow for technology tips and free tech for teachers.  He Tweets a lot of interesting articles about updates and how to engage learners.  I thought this article was interesting because when I was teaching kindergarten a many years ago (when Iphones came out), one of my 5 year olds had one.  The interesting thing is:  that student qualified for free school lunch, yet had an Iphone.  I couldn't even afford and Iphone that year.


Twitter is an interesting tool to use and it is fascinating to see how people are using it, in a positive or negative way.  I will follow, however, I will continue to be a silent stalker, much like I am on Facebook.  I read what others have to say, but rarely post myself.
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