Whitney Hammond's Blog for LBS 850

This class flew by. I learned a lot both in this class and in my new job. It's been almost three years since I graduated college and I finally feel like I know who I am and what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel secure in my job at SJP and I absolutely love it. This is the first job that I absolutely and completely love. It just fits and I am so happy. I think one of the most important things that I learned from this class was assistive technologies. It can be easy to forget about the types of technologies that will help students who may have learning disabilities or special needs. However, as librarians we cannot forget about these technologies and these students. Like my boss always said, our main job is to serve our patrons and our patrons are our students. I feel like I have a better understanding of adaptive and assistive technologies and how I can implement them into my own lessons.  I also enjoyed learning about new web tools and technologies. It is easy for us to...

Updated Technology Tips  It feels like I just came up with this list of technology tips yesterday. Sometimes I can't believe how time flies. Anyway, I really wouldn't change that much to my list, but I do think there are a few more tips that could be added and maybe could replace a few of the existing tips.   1) Learn more about adaptive and assistive technology. You may have students in your class who have special needs and they require different kids of technology to help them in their learning. Learn who is in charge of assistive technology in your school, it might be the librarian!  Why?  I would add this tip in because I didn't mention adaptive and assistive technology in my original list. You need to learn about tools that will help all of your students. 2) I mentioned how teachers should be more involved in social media but they should also look into gaming as well. There are fun games that students play at home and then there are educat...

When I started working at my first school library in 2018, I had never heard of Follett. I knew a little about library catalogs because of volunteering at my public library and using the catalog to reserve books. So when I started working in Ipswich, Follett was a like a whole new world. I really liked working with it because it was so simple compared to the the catalog I had worked with at my public library. Once my boss trusted me, she gave me administrator access to the catalog and I was able to add books, delete books, edit books, etc. and it felt great! I was able to teach myself how to use the system because it is a simple system to learn, for the most part. However, the more I used the program, the more weaknesses I found. Don't get me wrong, I still choose Follett as my top OPAC but there is no perfect OPAC. I talked with my boss about her thoughts on Follett as well. Here are a list of strengths and weaknesses that we came up with.  Strengths Organization  ...

 It was definitely a struggle getting through Catalog It! but it was important for me to read. There was so much information in this one book about how to catalog and its importance in a school library.    I really appreciated Chapter 8 in the text about the future of cataloging. Last week I discussed in my blog about how I was interested in learning more about MARC records and then this chapter opened by saying that MARC records must die! YIKES! There eventually has to be a new computer framework for us to learn and implement in our school library catalogs. I hope the next system is a little easier to understand. The text mentioned that a system called BIBFRAME might be this new system to replace MARC. It seems like this system could work but the author does voice concerns about how much the system encompasses. It seems like it's more geared towards bigger libraries such public and university libraries. School libraries seem to be forgotten in the development of these ...

I have had some experience with cataloging in both public and school libraries. I first was introduced to cataloging when I did an internship at my public library when I was in high school. I was taught how to catalog new books and materials by entering information into the computer. I would then have to cover the books and add the call numbers and barcodes to the book. I also remember having to write certain information inside the book such as the call number, where the book was purchased, and the price. I liked this part of the internship a lot because I liked looking at the new books and inputing their information into the system. I was happy to do it again when I started working in a school library. One of the things that I was interested in learning more about were MARC records. I first was introduced to these in the last school I worked but at my boss didn't really explain them to me. MARC stands for MAchine Readable Cataloging and to be honest reading chapter three left me...

I enjoyed creating this professional development presentation this week. I had to create my first professional development presentation last semester for a different class and I definitely struggled with it. I knew it was just an assignment and that I wouldn't have to present it, but I constantly worried about how I could keep the presentation engaging for my intended audience. I ended up getting a good grade, but I wasn't entirely happy with it. This week, however, I really put a lot of time and effort in this presentation. When I was stumped about who I should make the presentation for and what it should focus on, I talked with my boss. She gave me the idea of creating a presentation for the parents of incoming freshmen who might be unaware of all the tools and resources that the library has to offer. I thought it was a great idea because our libguide and tools could definitely seem overwhelming at first for students. I think it's also important for parents to know ab...

I had some fun looking at these apps and tools again this week. I like revisiting them because I'm never going to forget about them! I thought about my top 5 tools and they are listed below! 5) Screencast-o-matic: I think this is a great tool for school librarians to use. I think I have mentioned this before in the boards but at my old school my boss made a lot of screencasts to help teachers and students who weren't as comfortable coming into the library as others. The videos were great because they explained the different parts of the library, how to search the library catalog, and how to navigate around the library lib guide. I definitely want to make screencasts in the future. 4) BubblUs: I love creating mind maps. I usually stick to creating these on paper in very messy handwriting but this site helps make the maps a lot neater. I also think it would benefit students to create mind maps in school. I remember making them in elementary school, but I continued to make t...

This week has a been a little stressful! It seems as though cold and flu season officially has begun because I have been out of commission for a few days! But I am back to almost normal! Anyway, I did a little exploration of the assistive and adaptive technologies and tools available at the current school I work at. My boss pointed me in the direction of the Center for Learning and Academic Success and I am glad I got to learn more about this program and the efforts of these teachers to help students who may need more assistance when it comes to learning and understanding the material they are presented in class. I also took a look at some articles this week including "Assistive Technology: 10 Things to Know," which was very interesting and informative. I think steps two and three are important to note. We should be aware of the different technologies and tools that are available to use that are assistive and adaptive for students. A lot of these tools are also free, which ...

This has been a really great week because I've been able think more about my social media journey and to get to know more about my boyfriend's journey as well. Before we moved in together this past July, he warned me about his love for playing World of Warcraft . This is the only game he plays and he only has the time to play it on his days off and sometimes for a little bit when he gets home from work. This is his hobby. My hobby is reading and watching too much television. His hobby is World of Warcraft and I refuse to judge him for this. I mentioned in my paper that at one point he was addicted to the game and some may think this is a cause for concern. However, I am not concerned because the game does not consume his life like it  did when he was a teenager.  Jared has a  job that he loves, a better relationship with his parents, friends that he cherishes, and an overall better outlook at life. I don't mean to make it sound like a "happily ever after" situa...

Ahhh social media. This is something that has been apart of my life for about fourteen years. It all started with AIM instant messenger. Back then I was known as Dolly34501. I remember in fifth grade we'd pass notes in class that said to write down our screen names. Then I'd rush home, log on to my family's desktop computer and add the screen names of my classmates that I collected that day.  I would wait until I heard that little ping sound that meant someone signed on and start chatting. This was my first step into social media. The second step was when my sister, Emily, told me it was time for me to make a Facebook profile when I was thirteen. It was the summer before 8th grade and I was always curious about why my sisters were always on this site called Facebook. I had no idea what it was but since I am the youngest sister, I always wanted to do what my sisters were doing. So one day Emily asked me if I wanted to make a profile and of course I said heck yes! I was t...

What a week it has been! I explored some new tools, I took a stab at using Animoto , and oh I started my new job! It has been a super busy and super crazy week, but I think I am back on track. Or getting there at least! Anyway, I really enjoyed finding different videos and podcasts that fit into my topic. I especially liked listening to the podcasts because I rarely listen to podcasts as I mentioned in the discussion board this week. But it really wasn't that bad and I kind of want to start listening to a podcast series. I'll need to ask around for some recommendations! As for the multimedia I had to make for this week I decided to use Animoto! I have never used this tool before but after exploring it last week I decided I wanted to test it out. I thought I would really like it but it just wasn't for me. Basically, you have the ability to upload a picture, insert text, change the colors, add in music, and that's it. It doesn't allow you to move around your media...

This week was a lot of fun because I got to explore some new apps and programs that I have never heard of or tried before! I'm adding all of these sites to my bookmarks as we speak! For this post I think I'll go through each of the tools that I had to explore this week and share my thoughts about them. I have used Flickr before when I was in high school. I think I used it mostly in my art classes, specifically in Photo I. My teacher meant wanted us to practice critiquing photos and thinking about the choices the photographer made. I do like this site because there are so many photos to look through and it could be used well in certain classes. After I looked around this site I opened up BigHugeLabs and Glogster , which I also enjoyed. I really liked BigHugeLabs because it's free and it provides some great templates .I didn't like Glogster as much because of how difficult it was to use it without being a paying customer. I love the  idea of it and the templates they h...

Another week in the books! I've enjoyed exploring new apps and tools this week. I especially liked working with Padlet because I had tried using it in the past and my first attempt didn't go so well. However, this week I realized that this site is fairly easy to use and I really like the layout of it. The only downside of it is that you can only create three Padlets before you have to start paying for a membership, which is $8.25 a month. It's a new way to create a blog and I love it! I just wish it was free because I would definitely use it more! Some of the tools that I looked at were familiar to me, such as Tumblr . I blogged on Tumblr throughout my high school years, but I used it mostly to connect with other people that liked the same bands and music I did or the same books. I loved Tumblr but then with all good websites the ads invaded. I was seeing more ads then posts! I know it's hard for tools and apps to make money if they are free but the ads just always r...

Well it has been quite a week for me! In August I applied for a library assistant position at Saint John's Prep in Danvers, MA. This past Friday I had my second interview for the job and I got it! In the interview the principals wanted to learn more about what I could bring to the library and how I could incorporate what I am learning in my own classes into it. I talked a lot about the new educational technology that I have been learning about in this class and in past classes. The principals found this important because at this school they constantly looking for new ways to teach their students and to incorporate more technology into the library. Last year, their library had a total makeover with the addition of an iMac computer lab. The school is definitely moving towards using more technology and I can't wait to start this new journey at the Prep. It felt like Flipgrid was not my friend this week. I probably made about thirty different videos until I finally made one I was...

Here are my Top Ten Technology Tips for Teachers! Enjoy! 1) Get involved in social media. By now the majority of the world has some sort of social media whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Administrators and parents like to see what is going on in the classroom and having a page on at least one of these social media sites will allow them to have glimpse into your day with your students. 2) Learn about the technology you have access to within your school. Visit the librarian and the technology specialists to get an understanding of what you can use with your students in the classroom. 3) Keep up with new technology trends. I recently found this web resource  that lists new web tools and programs that could be helpful for educators. Unfortunately, this site will no longer be updated but there are so many web tools here that are described and discussed. I'm sure there are other sites out there that will continue to review new programs as well. 4) Try to underst...