My Summer Reading List

I’ve been telling everyone that my plan for summer is ironically to not have any plans at all. Really, that statement is just a cover up. I do have a few plans, but none that merit announcing to friends or colleagues.

What is great about being a teacher in the summertime is having the ability to read whatever strikes you as interesting. I have two books on my summer reading list, and I’m hoping I can get through both of them before Labor Day.

The two books that I currently have on loan from the public library are:

1. Teacher Man by Frank McCourt

2. The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

I’ll have full book reports up on my blog in September.

A plea from the trenches

When I read professional blogs like, David Warlick, Wes Freyer, & David Jakes I find myself trying to think and write like they do. They’ve inspired me to start my own blog, subscribe to more scholarly publications, and strive to teach 21st century information literacy skills to students. They are all in positions of leadership and their influence comes from keynote addresses, roundtable discussions, and the written word aimed directly at the bureaucracy.

I’d like to think that I’m a little bit different.

One of the ways my message strikes a different pitch from the finely informed gentlemen listed above is my capacity to work directly with students on a daily basis. What I teach, and the learning experiences that I craft, directly impact the way in which students interact with information.

When I start in on creating a blog post, I often get caught up trying to outblog myself. I ponder ideas that are far beyond me, and way beyond my intellectual capabilites. I’d like to see more blogs that discuss what’s going in classrooms. I want to hear more about the lessons that were victories, and especially more about the one’s that were defeats.

I’d love to see a different type of blogging. A type of blogging that is aimed towards teachers and instructional specialists that roll up their sleeves and work in the trenches.

That’s right all you teachers and librarians, I’m calling you out! I want to see you start blogging! Let’s create a community of informed professionals. Let’s get on the ball!

Image borrowed with permission from nico’s Flickr Photostream.

Fin

Take a deep breath in. Good. Now, let that deep breath out slowly. The school year is over. 185 instructional days have finally come to a conclusion for the 2005/2006 school year. This morning, I find myself experiencing a wide range of emotions: exhausted, pleased, encouraged, and a bit anxious for what 06/07 will bring.

Having my last few conversations with colleagues from work on Friday helped to provide closure, and I was able to find solace listening to the ‘war stories’ from their first year’s of teaching. Every story seemed to include some form of panic, some form of tears, some victories, and lots of defeats.

I walked away learning that throughout much of your first year teaching, you are in survival mode, and that’s to be expected. The victories will peril in the face of so many defeats. Your strength, your determination, and your immunity will all be tested, and at times they will appear absent. At times, you’ll swear your teaching preparation program didn’t prepare you. At times, you’ll just plain swear.

I’m Justin Ashworth. I am a library media specialist and I just survived my first year of teaching.

 

Social Networking

Brian Kenney has an excellent editorial in this month’s issue of School Library Journal regarding DOPA and the real issues surrounding social networking sites and online learning communities. If you’re unfamiliar with the debate that’s going on, I suggest that you read his blurb.

I made a point of blogging about it because it seems to be popping up everywhere, in one form or another. Warlick and other scholars have weighed in on it in a few of their recent blog entries, and even my school district has dedicated a page in the monthly newsletter to warn parents of the dangers of being a member of a social networking community, particularly MySpace. And, isn’t it odd that the district’s information officer is more qualified to report and discuss the topic rather than the 6 information professionals (Read: School Librarians) hired by the district? Therein lays the issue.

We’re getting very close to having legislators write library curriculum. We are being told that no learning could ever possibly come from MySpace, the same way that we were told that nothing good was to come from AIM and ICQ. Schools have already blocked out these sites, eliminating the possibility for librarians and other school professionals to discuss the benefits and risks of being members of online communities.

 

Personally, I’m not worried about MySpace. It’s a fad. But rest assured another web-based hot spot will be next. By opening a dialogue about the issues with students, possibly as early as 5^th grade, we can help create awareness and arm students with 21^st century information literacy skills that will translate into a myriad of Internet circumstances, not just one website in the year 2006. If we fail to teach these skills to students, who will?

I’ve been researching ways to get more involved in the debate. Mobilize.org is a great place to get started.

 

Photo borrowed from CraigClements Flickr Photostream.

The loss of unitedstreaming

This past Friday (6/02/06) my inbox was busy as usual. I was receiving the normal office communiqué and a normal day’s worth of spam, when I came across the following message:

Dear Friends -

Over the past 24 hours, we have received numerous inquiries about New York Public Television's decision to terminate their long-term agreement with Discovery Education and what it means to your ability to continue to subscribe to unitedstreaming after June 30, 2006. In response, I've attached to this email a flyer that outlines subscription options that are available to you for the period beginning July 1.

Whoa! It looks as if United Streaming is moving towards becoming even more of a pay service. Sound the alarm!! This is a huge blow to school libraries and here’s why:

 

1. Going in reverse- Back in the 90’s and early 00’s, the school librarian was responsible for familiarizing themselves with state and local curriculum and selecting the appropriate media that best fit into units of instruction. When it came to purchasing VHS’ and DVD’s, it forced the librarian into having a ‘just in case’ collection, thus, creating a stockpile of tapes and discs with the hope that it was used more than once a year. The type of audio/visual materials a librarian could obtain was limited to what was in their collection and in their local Union Catalog, provided it wasn’t checked out. The advent of unitedstreaming and digital on demand video services allowed for the classroom teacher to select the materials that best matched up with their curriculum, allowing the school to share a collection of videos that were ‘just in time.’ If we lose unitedstreaming’s services we’ll likely be moving backwards towards the model of the early 90’s.
2. Media Budget- Every school library in NYS receives funding from their district and the state to purchase supplies and materials. School Libraries fight hard for the money that they receive, which most of the time is peanuts. Now the librarian will once again have to fit the most essential elements of the curriculum back into their shoestring budget. Talk about spreading it thin. BTW, have you seen the cost of performance rights for “educational” videos lately? With that price, I'd be able to afford around 10 videos with my '06-'07 A/V budget.
3. Tech Savvy Teachers- I touched on this a bit in #1 but I saw a difference in the attitudes of teachers and their willingness to adopt new technologies when they started showing digital on-demand videos on their LCD projectors. If teachers have the ability to easily show a video using a computer and a projector, all of a sudden modeling Internet searching, or creating and using a class blog isn’t such a big leap. Now, I’m not saying that the cancellation of Unitedstreaming will be the death of tech-savvy teachers, but the transition towards digital on-demand video usually was the segue for a teacher to become familiar with other forms of digital media.

I’ve just started to think about the impact this going to have on school libraries and the ripple effect it is going to cause. I hope its possible, that through negotiations, this service can be brought back for little or no cost. In my short time as a school librarian, I was starting to see all sorts of positive benefits from digital on-demand video services.

 

Maybe this blog entry will get New York Public Television and Discovery Education to kiss and make-up.

 

Image borrowed with permission from Zimpenfish's flickr photostream.