Reflections

Reflection #19 - Module 9 - The three topics covered in Module 9, Reading 2.0, Widgets and the integration of social networking into library automation systems are all topics that not only have a direct impact on our users, but also on our roles as a Library Media Specialist. How students and faculty members use our facility is going through an obvious shift from traditional print materials to digitally based materials. Our libraries should be a place that allows students to use and further develop the skills they use and develop via use of technology outside of school. This could be by integrating various social networking features such as tagging, comments or rating systems, available through such OPAC's as Follett's Destiny system. It could also be using various widgets to help make students, and our, lives easier by providing these easy to use and functional tools in an appropriate location within our library webpage. Or, it could be by helping students, or setting up a way of having students help each other, gain enduring understandings from the various forms of text that are available to them via not only the school library webpage but also from the Internet. I think that the solution to implementing these three topics in any school library depends on the population that you are serving, but, I do believe that all of them must be in a 21st Century library. We are moving towards an educational landscape where collaboration is part of everything that we do with students and colleagues. These three topics are three important measures of how well our school library accomplishing this goal. The digital infrastructure of the school library has to helpful and promote collaboration to help us help students reach the four goals of the Standards: Inquire, think critically and gain knowledge; Draw conclusions, make good decisions, apply knowledge and create knowledge; Share this knowledge ethically as a member of our society and finally, pursue personal growth. If we can help students reach these goals via developing deep reading skills, the use of various widgets and by utilizing the skills learned and developed from social networking sites, it will help them in their futures, which in turn will help us all.

Reflection #18 - Three Challenges of Web 2.0 - From Educational Leadership, March 2009. - This article, written by Douglas Reeves, really spoke to me personally as it touched on the two issues which I have spoken to many educators at great length with. Unfortunately, there are far too many educators and administrators that have the mind set that technology on its own is the answer to "reforming education". I agree that technology has and will continue to reshape and modify American education, I also know that without competent and passionate teachers, the technology is worthless. Every piece of technology is a tool that we as educators can possibly use to engage, motivate and help students create enduring understandings. That doesn't mean that //every// new gadget, device, widget or innovation is a cure-all for teachers. The problem of face-to-face interaction via technology, while still somewhat of a problem, is starting to be resolved. Skype and similar tools have made it easier for students and educators to be able to connect to others in a more meaningful way while still in a virtual environment. The other issue that I have discussed in depth with many educators is what the author titled "Filters vs. Fountains". The Internet is a wonderful resource to help students find information on a variety of topics. The vast majority of these students prefer to use Google, Bing or another search engine. This maybe a tactic or a way of researching that eventually evolves into something more in depth, but, this is the reality that educators are faced with today. I feel that as educators, it is our responsibility to help students use these tools more efficiently and also give students additional options to help them find the information they can use to help them complete their work. As for copying and pasting, there are a variety of tools that have been developed in the past year or year and a half that scan student work for plagerism such as turnitin.com that districts if they already do not use, should invest in using, especially at the middle and high school levels. The most important part of this article is the end paragraph where the author makes the point of focusing on the human connection between teacher and student. I experienced this for the first time during my secondary student teaching placement where a young lady came to show me her completed project and thanked me for the help I gave her. When this happened six more times over the course of the day, I figured out something. No matter the amount of digital tools and various resources to complete this particular project, no one tool can replace the personal attention of a caring, attentive teacher.

Reflection #17 - The Importance of Deep Reading - I tend to agree with the authors of the article that it is harder for students to read something deeply in a digital format. I feel that this is due to a variety of reasons. First, students are naturally curious and when they are reading text online, if they are curious about finding out additional information about whatever the topic or issue is, they can just open another browser tab or log-on to a database and immediately find information on it. Secondly, when students read text in the digital format, the temptation to visit other sites that may interest them more than what they are reading, such as games, social networking, etc., is there. I know that districts have firewalls and filtering services, but, word spreads quickly between students on ways to get around these services and once one student figures out how to get through, the rest usually follow. However, I also feel that today's generation of students has a great ability to learn how to read deeply via digital formats because they are growing up with this technology and format. I feel that the key is to be able to have students be able to treat reading text digitally the same way as if they were reading something in print form, which may sound silly, but, I feel will be easier for today's students to do than it will be for adults to do. For example, this could be accomplished by having readings for a high school social studies class be exclusively online via NoddleTools, with specific prompts or questions to help students review what they have read, thus scaffolding learning, but doing so in a digital manner, giving students experience in deep reading as well as critical thinking. A similar model could be used to read a class novel in an English class, of course, digital copies would have to be purchased or borrowed to accomplish this. I feel that this issue is something that will evolve over time and that students may end up being able to teach us more on how to read critically in a digital format that we may be able to teach them.

Reflection #16 - Module Eight - Making the library media center accessible to all the members of the school community has to be a priority for all media centers. The various software, sites and other tools that were mentioned in the four articles are all items that can help special needs students. I, probably like many young non-special needs teachers, are not very knowledgeable about various tools that are available to help these special needs students. The first article which mentioned the 20 different technological tools to help special needs students was extremely informative and helpful. The other three articles, while somewhat more theoretical, were also helpful in giving many ideas in how to handle many different situations. Out of all of the many tools that were offered in the various articles, the five that I feel are the most helpful are the Kurzweil 3000, ZoomText, Activation switches, Reading Pen II and the SMARTboard. The Kurzweil 3000 is a fantastic tool that allows students with various learning disabilities, ADD or ADHD to be able to focus on the task at hand by using various learning strategies. This will help a wide variety of special needs students at any library facility and including this versatile tool will only increase confidence in students and their achievement in school. ZoomText is a fantastic tool that magnifies text for visually impaired students. With so much student-used content on the computer or other digital devices, and with the strain that a computer screen puts on a normal set of eyes, having a visually impaired student stain or struggle even more is inexcusable. Having this technology available in the library as well as throughout all computers in the district, will allow visually impaired students to be able to participate and contribute with their peers and will open a new world of possibilities for their learning. Activation switches are great for students with limited motor functions in their hands or arms. Having these large buttons or devices in place of the standard mouse or keyboard allow these students to use the same technology their peers use and just as effectively. Without having this option available to these students, someone else has to help them and they may feel different or exclude them from activities. As educators, this is the last thing that we want to do, so these activation switches are really a necessity for these students to use. The Reading Pen II is a fantastic tool for auditory learners to help them analyze and synthesize text. Being able to provide this tool to students having difficulty reading, will allow them to not only develop their literacy skills, but, also allow them to expand their vocabulary which will help them with their reading and writing skills in the future. Finally, I feel that SMARTboard technology gives special-needs students a tool and an outlet to express themselves creatively. Being able to control the computer through the SMARTboard, allows a student who may have trouble using a mouse and keyboard utilize the computer in a slightly different manner. Likewise, the same student would be able to use the interactive touch screen in the same way another student would use a mouse and keyboard to operate the computer. These five tools and the others mentioned in the articles are all wonderful ways to help special needs students in our libraries.

Reflection #15 - Module Seven - Module Seven was a great way to refresh my knowledge and familiarity with Inspiration and Kidspiration as well as NoodleTools. I can totally understand why some districts are getting away from paying for Kidspiration and Inspiration. Bubbl.us is a great brainstorming tool that is free and does similar things as the Inspiration tools. The presentation tools are similar to PowerPoint and since all schools have the Microsoft Office suite why not use this instead. Also Google Docs' presentation program, Presentations, is another free resource students would be able to use to complete a similar task. NoodleTools is a fantastic resource that incorporates so many great tools that students feel comfortable using. The way the bibliography tools is set up in a fantastic way which prompts students throughout to remember to capitalize words and remind them the style they are using to cite their resources. It's very effective and useful. The YouTube video was very interesting and while not as much as an eye opener to me, would probably be an eye-opener to individuals not as in touch with how important and prevalent technology is in our students' lives. I especially appreciated how much of a focus mobile technology is in students lives. The increase in the availability and cost-effectiveness of these devices mean that more and more of our students are users of them and also opens up the opportunity for them to potentially do something unsafe or leave themselves vulnerable to online predators. The Internet is constantly changing and keeping safe online is something that we need to keep current and aware of.

Reflection #14 - Assignment 5 - Assignment 5 was a lot of fun to complete and I was looking forward to doing it. I think that it is crucial to be open with students about why you decided to be a teacher and show your love for the profession. The real challenge in this assignment was keeping the video between 2-3 minutes. While it certainly was a challenge, I do believe that it was worth it as middle and high school students would want to sit through a video longer than that. I was really pleased on how well my Droid's camcorder function performed. It's amazing how rapidly mobile phones have evolved into mini computers. This project also served as another reminder that I need to get some sort of an Apple computer as I completed this project using Windows Movie Maker, which, while incredibly simple to use, does not offer many options to customize the video and thus limited what I could do. However, while there were a limited number of options available given by Windows Movie Maker, the ability to publish the video to Facebook or YouTube, which is how I embedded the video into my Weebly site, was helpful. I'm glad that I chose this option and completed this video as I hadn't every made one before. It was a great learning experience and once I get that Mac, I'll be a video making machine.

Reflection #13 - Module Six - The AASL Standards and Standards in Action both reflect how modern instruction should be. The benchmarks for each stand of the 4 skills start at Grade 2 with students learning to follow a specific way to complete a task until eventually by Grade 12 they can do it by themselves with little to no teacher interaction. By the time students graduate high school, they should be a group of independent learners, which, when placed in a collaborative situation, use their individual strengths to help their group reach a common goal. I also feel that the Standards in Action is a "forward-looking" document as it places much emphasis on the importance of students not just knowing, but mastering various technology skills, something that will grow in importance as time moves forward. Of course what this requires from all teachers, not just librarians, is to become technologically competent ourselves and for school districts to allocate the appropriate amount of resources to make sure that students are using current technology These two problems are the biggest hurdles that I believe educators face when integrating new technology into the classroom setting and in letting us achieve the goals set out by the Standards in Action. Many teachers told me that they would love to know how to use various technology tools with their classes, but, had no way to get started. I feel that if we as librarians position ourselves to not only suggest the use of these programs, but, also be the people to teach our colleagues how to use them, the students will be the ultimate benefactors. I also feel that many administrators fail to understand how important keeping the technology students use current. I'm not talking about replacing computers every year, but, when computers are over 5 years old, as they were in one district I observed at, I think it may be time to update. When students complain constantly about how much slower and older school computers are, they must be updated. By following and using these standards, we as school librarians can help to change minds, outlooks and philosophies on technology in school communities.

- Chapter 6 in Berger's text, Media Sharing, tackles a part of the Internet that is probably only second to Social Networking in importance to our students. Online videos, from whichever website they are from, are extremely popular with students, online audio capturing sites, such as VoiceThread and of course online image image sites like Flickr or Photobucket are extremely popular with students and pique interest and creativity. I don't feel that podcasts have the same allure to students and while I have read about many teachers using them with students, I don't feel that students are really too interested in them. Integrating these tools into various instructional situations allows for teachers to not only teach content in a new way, but allows students to use tools that they may already be familiar with to show their understanding of materials.

- Chapter 7 in Berger's text, Social Networking, focuses on the impact that social networking has on inquiry learning. While I don't think that Facebook or Twitter should or could be used in a school situation because of privacy and security issues, I do believe that Ning presents the next best thing. While Ning looks like a regular website, it is realy a Facebook-like page designed in a different way. I also think that it may be a little less confusing for teachers to learn and operate and probably most importantly, keep secure. It also allows students to embed photos, video and music, comment, "tweet" and blog in a safer environment than Facebook and Twitter can provide. Utilizing social networking within instruction also allows for you to integrate Internet safety information and techniques to teach students. Social networking isn't going away, so, integrating it into instruction makes sense not only to students but for students as they can utilize skills they use in their everyday lives to complete assignments.

Reflection #12 - Assignment #4 - I'm going to start by saying that this assignment was probably the hardest assignment that I have ever completed while I have been completing the coursework to get my MLS. There are a couple of reasons for this. The topic of Internet Safety is so large that I spent a lot of time trying to narrow down that I wanted students to be to know and remember after completing the assignment. I also spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to differentiate each aspect of the assignment to try to reach different types of learners. Writing up the unit was also a bit of a challenge for me because I tend to write a lot and I was very conscious of tying to not write more than I had to because I didn't want to either confuse or bore the reader with too much information. Using Google Docs helped tremendously in being able to get feedback and modify what I had written. Without it, I don't know if my UbD or my Wiki would have been as good. Actually developing the final product, a wiki, was fun and took the least amount of time out of the entire process. I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment and pride when I finished this assignment. Again, on paper, I have had more difficult or demanding assignments, but, for some reason, this one was the hardest for me and sometimes those are the ones that you are the most proud of.

Reflection #11 - Module #5 - I really had a lot of fun with Module Five. I believe that social bookmarking is something that will continue to become more popular with the students we will be working with. It has become a kind of natural way of finding, organizing and processing information from various resources for these students and for many of them is a fun activity instead of something that is work. While Delicious has had the market share of this type of online resource for the past few years, I agree with Linda's statement she made on class last Tuesday that Diigo will eventually become the most popular tool to use to do social bookmarking on the Internet. I also believe that sites such as the ones that Ning helps develop templates for will grow in popularity as websites try to incorporate all of the tools that people become accustomed to having available to them at one place. Speaking of everything being available at one place, Google's applications are slowly but surely gaining in popularity and are extremely useful for a multitude of reasons. I feel that the programs that they offer that are similar to the Microsoft Office programs, such as Google Docs, are not only easier to use than the current Microsoft Office software, but, because of the ability to share and edit the Google Docs, makes it more useful to use in a collaborative situation.

- Berger's text has served as a very good supplemental piece to this course so far. I feel that while the content that we are learning about, exploring and working with in this course requires a hand-on approach, the readings allow for a way to either add information that we wouldn't think of when we are exploring these sites, programs and concepts. I also like the many examples that are provided throughout each chapter on ways that have been used to teach these skills to students. For example, I would have never thought that there was an online tool to help teach students how to write a thesis statement, but, from Chapter 4, I now know of the Ozline Thesis Builder and Outliner where students can use an online graphic organizer to not only show the process the student has taken to write the thesis statement the main and supporting ideas of the thesis statement. I also liked the section on Skype in Chapter 5 of the textbook. I feel that Skype has great potential as a learning tool in the future of education. The ability to communicate with other schools in your district, county, state and all around the country opens up a world of learning possibilities for classroom students. I look forward to reading the rest of this text and adding to the multitude of tools that I have already discovered from this course as well as from this useful textbook.

Reflection #10 - Assignment 3 Part B:

-I decided to create a Prezi for Assignment 3 mostly because I had never used the tool before and I know how incredibly popular it is with my school librarians. I felt that I could be the most creative with this tool and thought I could do the best job with the assignment utilizing this tool. To complete the assignment I had to try to put myself in the shoes of a students, who I would try to advocate for utilizing this Prezi. Using imaginary quotes and imaginary students, I thought of some things that students might say the enjoyed about the library since I took it over in September. Once I had those set, I decided to look for pictures on the Creative Commons portion of Flickr. I found a great user, Enokson, whose pictures were fantastic and perfect to use to complete this assignment and simulate a documentation of student involvement in the library and with me. I decided to go with the theme of "Who Care About the School Library?" because I wanted to encompass the feeling of many adolescent teenagers about pretty much everything that goes on in school which is: who cares? I figured by designed the Prezi in a style that would be endearing to them: the neon colors are really popular with middle and high school aged kids, that this would work. While the main audience of this Prezi is students, I purposely made the wording and messages throughout the Prezi generic so that it would not seem that I was singling out students for not caring about the library, but so that it would also be appealing to parents that may happen to find it on the school website.

I learned that Prezi has a steeper learning curve than many of the other Web 2.0 tools that are available for students to use today. It also takes a little bit of time to get used to the overall feel of the program and getting familiar with the pinwheel like device in the upper left hand corner of the screen that controls everything. However, once that is learned, I think that it works effectively and quite well. Prezi's are more engaging and more fun to look at and design than PowerPoints, however they do take longer to create than PowerPoint presentations and take a little bit more detail than PowerPoint presentations do. I think that next time I might plan a little bit more before beginning to complete a Prezi. I think that if you have more planned out as far as what you want to say and how you want to say it, completing the Prezi would take less time. I am happy with how my Prezi came out and I feel that I am now very comfortable using this important Web 2.0 tool.

Reflection #9 - Module 4 - From all of the articles and websites that were included in module four, I really understood how crucial a tool digital storytelling can be in giving students a creative way to develop literacy skills as well as show their understandings of various material. Out of all of the tools that were included I liked StoryBird, Kerpoof and Dipity the most. I feel that StoryBird is a fantastic way to get elementary aged and even middle school students to utilize various skills to create fantastic looking story books. Kerpoof looks fantastic and with the proper planning and execution would allow teachers to create incredibly engaging lessons which students will pay attention to and remember for a long time after sitting through it. Dipity looks like a fantastic tool to utilize with middle and high school students to organize and categorize information in a the time line format, but, utilizing an online tool that connects to today's students. Of course, these tools will continue to evolve and new tools will be developed that may make these incredibly impressive tools obsolete, but, for the time being in a climate where anything that is free is extremely valuable and useful, these storytelling tools are essential learning tools that help students of all ages express themselves and their understandings in unique and creative ways.

Reflection #8 - Module 4 Synthesis Task:

- Class: Grade 8 Social Studies - Unit: World War II - Project: The class will be divided into four groups. Each group will be in charge of telling the role of a specific country in the war. The countries will be the United States, Germany, Japan and Russia. Students will utilize various resources including primary documents to describe their assigned country's role in the war by creating a digital time line utilizing Dipity. This will allow students to show an understanding of the events that occurred during World War II via a new media tool. - Tools: Students will utilize Dipity to create a digital timeline which they will share via a SMARTboard.

Reflection #7 - Assigment 2 Part B

- Part B:

Looking through the many different websites that were on Joyce Valenza's wiki opened my eyes to the wide variety of visions that school librarians across the country have for their programs. Since I made a school library website for a middle school, I focused on the exemplary middle school websites. Out of all of the different library websites, my two favorite sites were the Van Meter School Library Website and the Chambersburg Area Middle School East Library. I thought that these two library websites were uniquely designed and functional for students, teachers and parents.

The Van Meter School Library Website didn't look like any other school websites I had seen before. I liked the side menu and the wealth of information that each section had. I thought that promoting the library via Facebook and Twitter were fantastic and I believe that more school libraries have to do this. I believe that I connected with this website because I think that it has all of the components that a school library must have on its' website today to be considered useful. It is also designed in a way that students will use because it doesn't look old or outdated. It has a very modern look and middle school students will utilize a library's site more if it is "cool" looking. I feel that this website gives everything that they need from the school library when they can't physically be at the school library. I believe that it portrays a library program that focuses a lot of energy in getting students to be technology literate, information literate and develop a love a reading while creating an environment that makes the library the heart of learning, creating and doing in the school.

The Chambersburg Area Middle School East Library is also an exemplary website. I love that so many different resources are right on the homepage of the website for students to use. I think that the pictures help students easily identify different resources which can cut down on confusion. The design of the website is fantastic and looks very professional. Like the Van Meter School Library website, the Chambersburg website has everything for a student to use so that when they cannot physically be at the library, they can still use everything that the library has to offer. The only thing that I don't like that is on the library website is the librarian's professional portfolio. I don't believe that the best place to put your resume or c.v. is on the school library website. Other than that, I believe that this site is incredibly functional, up-to-date and portrays a library program that promotes itself as giving students the opportunity to utilize a wide variety of tools to learn and create new understandings as well as a place where teachers from the school can communicate, collaborative and develop lessons that allow kids to do all of the things they need to so they can become upstanding 21st Century citizens.

Reflection #6 - Module 3

- I thought Module 3 was a lot of fun. The three Web 2.0 tools: Animoto, Glogster and Prezi are three tools we must know how to use when we enter the field as school librarians. Out of the three, I feel that Prezi probably has the highest learning curve and might have the worst directions or tutorial of the three. I think that High School students would probably have the easiest time with it but I also think that Middle School and 5th grade students could also use it. However, I also think that it is the coolest to use and once the navigation of the site and editing tools is learned, is the most fun to use as well. Glogster is a little bit easier to use and I believe that it would probably be the most effective with Middle School students and Elementary school students. The fact that students have such a wide range of creative ways to make their Glog is appealing to them and I think that this freedom gives them ownership in what they are doing, a key in any educational setting. Animoto is probably the easiest to learn out of the three tools, but, I am not crazy about the interface. I think that if it was a little bit closer to the iMovie interface, it would be even more user friendly to use and. I think that while it is probably the easiest to use, I think that students would like using it the least out of the three tools. I think that it is a little "boring" compared to Animoto and Glogster. That being said, I still think that Animoto is a wonderful educational tool. In closing, I believe that all three of these tools: Animoto, Glogster and Prezi are wonderful for collaborative assignments and allow students to not only utilize their creativity but critical thinking skills to develop enduring understandings.

Reflection #5 - Website Plans

- I am planning to create a Middle School website via Weebly. After looking through some of Joyce Valenza's suggestions for most effective school websites, I got a few ideas which I think that I may be able to incorporate into my website. There were quite a few school library websites that featured links to various online tools and resources right on the home page. I liked this because I felt that it eliminated students having to look on different pages for different resources, thus saving them time and effort. I also believe that a separate "About Us" page is something that I will include in the website. I think that this establishes an open communication between the school library and the school community. Establishing who you are and what your facility represents via your online presence is a necessity in today's society. The only way a parent, guardian or other community member may know what is going on in their child's school is via their child's school website. The blog component of the website is probably the most effective way of communicating with students online, if, it is updated and added to regularly. If it is not updated regularly and is neglected, it will not be used by students and a valuable communication stream that can be used to reach students will be rendered useless. Two other pages that I think I am going to include are a Calender and a Class Assignments page. The calender page will be used as an online representation of the library's usage schedule and will show when and whom is using the facility. I think this would be useful for teachers and would show proof of use of the facility to administrators and other school community members. The class assignments page would be used to post either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files of teacher assignments or projects that were using the library's resources to complete their work. This way if a student forgot directions to an assignment, they would be able to download it either in the library or at home if they have Internet Access, and it also gets rid of the "I lost it" excuse. These are just some of the ideas and I think that as I start to form the website, more will start to come.

Reflection #4 - Articles from Module 2

- After reading the articles for this module, I had a ton of realizations. The first is something I like to call the "show-me" realization. My dog Higgins is a Norwich terrier and is the most skeptical dog I have ever been around. Before he eats anything or goes anywhere, he has to be shown that he will be safe and that there won't be something there that might scare him. Now, thinking about students, especially older elementary students and middle and high school students, I feel that they are somewhat similar. They also have an attitude that you, the school librarian or collaborating team, have to show them that whatever task or assignment that they are doing is not only going to be fun, but, is going to be worth their time. Using technology just for the sake of it only gets you so far until students realize that there isn't really any substance to go along the sizzle, so to speak. Secondly, I feel that currently in New York, are trying to teach two different ways simultaneously and it confuses teachers, students and parents. During my student teaching experience, I worked with incredibly talented professionals who did lessons and projects that had students develop understandings and utilized various forms of digital tools that they now know they can use in a way to solve a problem, create something new or even display they know facts. However, I also know that there are plenty of teachers that teach directly to the test and restrict their students to just memorize facts to pass a Regents test so that administrators won't bother them for another year OR because they are afraid to use technology OR because they need someone to show them how to use said technology. Of course, a persuasive school librarian can change that type of teacher into someone who realizes that students remember more if they learn and create understanding doing something meaningful using various digital tools.

Thirdly, we are in a watershed period for education. There is so much that we can use to help students learn, grow, create, understand, synthesize and analyze that it is mind boggling. As school librarians we have to be at the fore-front of leading educators to evaluate what works and what does not. Some technology, as with educational protocols and theories are flashes in the pan, while others stay around for decades. How do we tell? It will take time and utilizing trusted colleagues in the field as well as trial and error. Mistakes will be made, but, how we recover from these mistakes will be more important to the success of our students and our reputation. Finally, without inquiry learning, I feel that there is no learning taking place. The higher level order skills that are practiced through inquiry learning lessons allow students to utilize knowledge they already have to connect it to something new that they can use now and in the future. Personally, I think that this type of instruction which increases student awareness and activity would lend itself well to remember vital information for a test instead of a lecture with worksheets. Creating this type of environment might be something that you have to start, or if you are lucky, you begin a career in a district that already has this culture in place, in either case, it is necessary and crucial for students to constantly experience this type of learning.

Reflection #3 - "New Literacies Instruction in Teacher Education" / Berger text vii-p.23

- The various tools and skills that are mentioned throughout "New Literacies.." have been implemented in the K-12 educational environment in many different ways. Blogs, Wikis, Asynchronous discussions, online chats and the "Internet Workshop" model, or WebQuests, are being used by teachers, but, the real question is whether or not they are using them to instill the 4 E's and the new literacies that our students must be proficient in. There are teachers who utilize Web 2.0 tools and other digital devices to either please various administration members, maintain status quo with other colleagues who are utilizing the same or similar tools to enhance their lesson, or, to dress up a poorly planned or envisioned lesson to make it seem as it is better than it really is. I feel that these teachers, many of whom are too proud to admit that they are intimidated by newer technology, must have a colleague in their building that they can come to so that they can learn and eventually master effective tools that can help their students grasp these new literacies. This colleague can, and I suggest, must be us; the school librarian. Who better to be the go-to person for Web 2.0 tools than the person who in most schools has the largest amount of computers in a single instructional space. We can tell a colleague who is questioning whether to use the newest Web 2.0 or 3.0 tool or gadget how to utilize in their classroom to meet the needs of their students and most importantly, explain why or why not a certain resource may not be the best item to use and suggest a different one to use. The new literacies that are taught and refined via these new tools are part of the foundation of the 21st Century education. As school librarians, we must position ourselves to be the "guru" of this area of instruction and be a competent resource our colleagues can depend upon to help them reach all students.

- Berger's text is a fantastic introduction into what Web 2.0 is and how educators should use it to help their students gain necessary skills. Starting the book off by explaining what Web 2.0 is and how the Internet has evolved into a true social network of ideas and knowledge was key. I have to remind myself that not everyone is aware of how crucial the Internet is in the lives of our students. Instead of talking on the phone for a half hour, best friends now instant message on Facebook, Skype or text message back and forth. There are some teacher who may be unaware of this and including the various facts about collaboration, user participation and collective intelligence explains these points in an easy to understand manner. I thought that by focusing the chapter on how we as school librarians should be approaching the issues that come up when utilizing technology to complete a project: restrictions on access, which tools to pick and how to utilize Web 2.0 tools in various types of instructional situations to promote higher level thinking skills were the issues I thought were best covered in this section. I also like how Berger focused on Bloom's digital taxonomy and Stripling's Inquiry Model. I really believe that Stripling's Inquiry Model is a perfect model to utilize to complete a project utilizing Web 2.0 resources. It allows students not only to move throughout different steps in various orders, but, it also forces them to reflect, evaluate and think critically throughout the process. I think it was key that Berger also included the 21st Century Skills in this chapter. While I am familiar with these skills from other classes, other may not be and not including them would make the chapter incomplete. This was a great way to introduce a subject with many topics that many school librarians may feel uncomfortable with, in a manner that was easy to comprehend.

Reflection #2 - AASL's Standards for the 21st Century Learner

- School Librarians have tried many methods in an effort to reach all of the students that come through their doors. Some of these methods have been successful while others have not. However, the Standards for the 21st Century Learner offers School Librarians a path to effectively reach today's students. These standards give School Librarians a usable template to design, implement and model lessons and units. Since the standards are written to help today's student, school librarians can differentiate instruction so that all students can learn the information presented to them and turn them into enduring understandings. I believe that as School Librarians entering the field in 2011-2012, we are at an advantage since we beginning our careers utilizing these standards, along with NYS Standards, Common Core Standards starting in 2012 all in an effort to help meet the standards set in our individual district. We are learning a model of instruction that gives educators flexibility in that whichever standard you choose to model a lesson around it can teach skills, dispositions in action, responsibilities and self-assessment strategies which will help students develop skills they will need when they get out into the real world. I feel that the 21st Century Standards have given a new path for School Librarians to follow. This indispensable resource will be used in a variety of collaborative and non-collaborative teaching situations that will help our students create understandings that they will carry with them long after they leave our library.

Reflection #1 - You Tube Videos

- As a teacher librarian, I feel that my role is to inform and enlighten students, staff and administration about new tools and resources in digital and traditional formats that can help accomplish the goals set out via state and national organizations. My patrons will include students, faculty and administration. Students will be looking to utilize the various items that I have available in my facility to complete projects or to explore new interests. These students are inclined to use mobile devices; iPods, iPhones, iPads, Droids, BlackBerries, Netbooks and Tablets are tools that students use in their everyday lives. Students today DO NOT remember a world without the Internet. As 21st Century teachers, we have to remember this fact and understand that these students are eager to utilize digital tools to complete assignments and when we as educators do not give them the opportunity to do so, we are robbing them of the opportunity to create something that may help them in their future. Teachers will utilize my facility to collaborate on projects and assignments as well as to utilize my knowledge of new and emergent technologies to help students complete these projects and assignments and to teach my colleagues these skills to utilize them in their classroom. Preparing students for the challenges that will face them in the global workforce by collaborating with classroom teachers in creating meaningful lessons and units, will allow students to leave the library with skills that they will use in the future. I will also be willing and able to help my colleagues learn new technologies that may help them create experiences for their students that will stay with them long after they leave their classrooms. As the biggest instructional space in the building, administrators will want to know about the various activities going on in the library as well as how these activities are preparing students for the challenges that face them in the grades ahead of them and in the real world when they enter the world of higher education and the global workforce. Showing administrators how the library is challenging students by utilizing methods and resources that create an end product that not only displays that students understand what they have been working on, but, also gives them skills that they can carry with them after they have left your facility. As 21st Century educators, we are in uncharted waters. Most students are more technology proficient than their teachers and there is a perception by many that our schools are not preparing students for the realities that will face them in the real world. However, I feel that with the help of a school librarian who keeps current with emerging technologies, student interests and proven educational strategies and methods that work, we can help teachers who need to learn these skills and give students an educational experience that they feel they have a stake.