Welcome to my blog which has been redesigned to become my vision of the future. It still serves as a platform to document my own learning journey but has been modified into a resource to support others in their learning journey as well. I wanted to reinvent mediamonroe.blogspot.com to address some major challenges I have been faced with as a teacher librarian, learning how to work with other 21st century learners. Some of these challenges include creating, storing, organizing and sharing digital content effectively; learning how to use and implement effective web tools that not only support teacher and student needs but also generate optimism and excitement towards educational technology; and finally, to become part of a larger network of tl colleagues that communicate and support each other.
I have made some simple changes to the layout of my blog to make it more visually appealing and navigable as well as some larger structural changes to accommodate different types of information serving more people. I modified my labels section and thinned out the long list of websites I previously held on my blog, for lack of a better understanding of how and where to store them. I added some useful links that will be made visible at times in the year when this information is pertinent such as clubs and seasonal programs. I changed my archive settings to take up less space and I limited the number of posts that are visible on the home page. I have added multiple pages which may be of interest and I welcome suggestions or alternative ideas that could replace or add to what I am currently using.
A forms section will be a place to store and share some of the documents that I have created or built upon over the years, that help me to scaffold information literacy skills with my students and collaborate with my colleagues. There is a resources section where I have shared some of the digital web mixes that I have created to use and share with others. Students will have a place to check out upcoming events or opportunities within our school such as the Reading Link Challenge, coding club or to look at class projects that we have created. There is a section for my very valuable monitors to highlight their contribution to the life of the LLC and I plan to host learning lunches for them to improve all our skills and address any ideas they want to share. A favourites section will showcase anything that I am excited about. At the moment it includes some information about a web tool I find very useful, but it could contain book recommendations or examples of projects we have been working on that I want to share with my school community and beyond.
All of the pieces of this blog are intended to be updated and changed depending on the time of year or the learning that takes place. Now that it's bones are built, I will be able to manipulate its content to suit an ever changing number of needs. It's my action for "doing better". I love Maya Angelou's famous quote. Although a simple sentiment, it really encapsulates my entire vision of the future...
Moving forward, I would like to include a link for a student friendly blogging platform where my reading club members can have a space to chat about their books. I have not yet found a resource I would like to use to promote D.E.A.R in my school and so it has been left blank for now. I am having some formatting issues when adding my Symballoo web mixes to my resources page. I had some troubles with the sizing of them and decided not to add any more until I could solve this problem. I was unsuccessful in learning how to make images clickable and will work on learning those kinds of skills in order to make my blog more interactive for 21st century readers. As Richardson stated, the things our kids need to be able to do include everything that I have been learning and practicing here in this assignment: develop tech tools, build relationships, solve problems, design and share information, manage, analyze and synthesize simultaneous streams of information, create and critique multimedia texts in ethical ways.
I plan to use my blog as a resource at staff meetings to showcase projects or collaboration ideas and to encourage colleagues to take from it what they need. I would use it as a visual aid to showcase previous projects in order to help generate excitement for student clubs. My blog will be used as a tool that has been designed by me to streamline how I convey messages to others having many resources made available to me in one place.
By beginning this project, this course has pushed me to do what I have wanted to do for a long time. I now see the relevance in creating something that can follow me rather than the space I am working in. In the past that has been a deterrent against wanting to put a resource like this together if I am not to benefit from its use in later years. I will continue to modify and shape this resource in useful ways as well as continue to explore the positivity educational technology can create for todays learners.
Please explore my blog and feel free to make suggestions.
Thank you ~ Carly
Sources Cited
“Maya Angelou Quote | Motivational Quote | Do the Best You Can | until You Know Better | Do Better | Black and White Print | Inspirational.” Etsy, www.etsy.com/ca/listing/544753654/maya-angelou-quote-motivational-quote-do?gpla=1.
Richardson, Will. “Why School? TED Ebook Author Rethinks Education When Information Is Everywhere.” TED Blog, 18 Feb. 2013, blog.ted.com/why-school-ted-ebook-author-rethinks-education-when-information-is-everywhere/.
A forms section will be a place to store and share some of the documents that I have created or built upon over the years, that help me to scaffold information literacy skills with my students and collaborate with my colleagues. There is a resources section where I have shared some of the digital web mixes that I have created to use and share with others. Students will have a place to check out upcoming events or opportunities within our school such as the Reading Link Challenge, coding club or to look at class projects that we have created. There is a section for my very valuable monitors to highlight their contribution to the life of the LLC and I plan to host learning lunches for them to improve all our skills and address any ideas they want to share. A favourites section will showcase anything that I am excited about. At the moment it includes some information about a web tool I find very useful, but it could contain book recommendations or examples of projects we have been working on that I want to share with my school community and beyond.
All of the pieces of this blog are intended to be updated and changed depending on the time of year or the learning that takes place. Now that it's bones are built, I will be able to manipulate its content to suit an ever changing number of needs. It's my action for "doing better". I love Maya Angelou's famous quote. Although a simple sentiment, it really encapsulates my entire vision of the future...
Moving forward, I would like to include a link for a student friendly blogging platform where my reading club members can have a space to chat about their books. I have not yet found a resource I would like to use to promote D.E.A.R in my school and so it has been left blank for now. I am having some formatting issues when adding my Symballoo web mixes to my resources page. I had some troubles with the sizing of them and decided not to add any more until I could solve this problem. I was unsuccessful in learning how to make images clickable and will work on learning those kinds of skills in order to make my blog more interactive for 21st century readers. As Richardson stated, the things our kids need to be able to do include everything that I have been learning and practicing here in this assignment: develop tech tools, build relationships, solve problems, design and share information, manage, analyze and synthesize simultaneous streams of information, create and critique multimedia texts in ethical ways.
I plan to use my blog as a resource at staff meetings to showcase projects or collaboration ideas and to encourage colleagues to take from it what they need. I would use it as a visual aid to showcase previous projects in order to help generate excitement for student clubs. My blog will be used as a tool that has been designed by me to streamline how I convey messages to others having many resources made available to me in one place.
By beginning this project, this course has pushed me to do what I have wanted to do for a long time. I now see the relevance in creating something that can follow me rather than the space I am working in. In the past that has been a deterrent against wanting to put a resource like this together if I am not to benefit from its use in later years. I will continue to modify and shape this resource in useful ways as well as continue to explore the positivity educational technology can create for todays learners.
Please explore my blog and feel free to make suggestions.
Thank you ~ Carly
Sources Cited
“Maya Angelou Quote | Motivational Quote | Do the Best You Can | until You Know Better | Do Better | Black and White Print | Inspirational.” Etsy, www.etsy.com/ca/listing/544753654/maya-angelou-quote-motivational-quote-do?gpla=1.
Richardson, Will. “Why School? TED Ebook Author Rethinks Education When Information Is Everywhere.” TED Blog, 18 Feb. 2013, blog.ted.com/why-school-ted-ebook-author-rethinks-education-when-information-is-everywhere/.
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