Minor Musings

Books, Reading, Etc. "Why Does S Look Like F?" (how to read old-fashioned books - we might need this for handwriting, esp, cursive, soon!) I played with this some, and now I'm wondering how to create a Best Books of the Summer app for school. School Life A great idea for publicizing your NF collection:…

What are you doing with your summer?

I've already posted my early-summer PD schedule and a few "if only..." options.  Then I read this on Twitter: Carrie Kausch on Twitter: "I attended disappointing PD at an #alaac15 precon, disappointing PD yesterday. Maybe I need to quit trying PD for a while." via kwout and Wendy posted about her Walden experience. Both put…

What’s missing in this job description?

NAIS has a very little-used elist for librarians (I guess we prefer AISL's list, or local lists, or something run by ALA?).  Last week they asked for librarian's help creating the perfect Director of Libraries job description, I'm guessing to go along with their Guidelines of Professional Practice for librarians. Leaving aside the problematic use…

Not leaning: standing tall

When I interviewed at Porter's I was asked if I'd read That Book, the one where we were told to "lean in to [discomfort, opportunity, the struggle, whatever]" and I responded that I'd read excerpts, but not the whole thing.  My overall sense was one of dismay, that a book like that was so popular…

Help Yourself – personalized learning at #alaac15

(another program that will be posted online - check here) Many schools and libraries are starting to embrace personalized learning, blended learning, the flipped classroom or whatever new buzzword appears.  At the Online School for Girls, they're talking about "competency-based instruction" that puts learners at the center, meeting their needs and goals (in other words,…

Big Data and danah boyd at #alaac15

danah boyd's research and work has been fascinating to follow - this was less "It's Complicated" and more "it's problematic" (if you're an ALA member, the presentation will probably be posted here). This marks a shift from watching how teens use social media towards the idea of big data (and metadata) as a whole; essentially,…

Book-based thoughts about #alaac15

I have so much more to write about, but just don't have time right now to digest and properly reflect on the sessions.  So instead, here's the "easy" post, all about the books! ARCs to savor - look for these books soon! (ok, I haven't read more than one or two... yet...): Slade House by…