Mediacentered

The centerpiece of the virtual conference experience for the 2009 National Council of Teachers of English Annual Conference is the ning http://ncte2008.ning.com/ with 3558 members today. This is free and open to members and non-members alike. It even collects your twitter address in the setup; although, it doesn’t seem that the 140 character updates in the ning are feeding into twitter – what if it did and added hash tags?

Twitter users have been sorting out what the “official” hash tag will be and it looks like most will go with #ncte2009. #ncte09 or #ncte will be used too. NCTE used Twitter to promote the National Day of Writing with http://twitter.com/dayonwriting and garnered over 800 followers but only followed 1 thus missing out on the two flow of communication.

The NCTE Publications twitter is http://twitter.com/NCTE_Pubs.

Expanded online version of the conference program preview.

Searchable program http://www1.ncte.org/proposals/annual101/scheduler/default.aspx?return=true
It appears I will be able to catch glimpses of things from NCTE2009.  The ning will be especially dynamic if session presenters and attendees post videos, slides, podcasts, and blog. A few presenters have posted resources.

The Learning Lab will host a session on the redesign project for ReadWriteThink.org.  I asked for screenshots to be posted and received a speedy and positive reply.

Now I need to figure out how to contribute to the conference and not just receive the feed.

Our upcoming Parents’ Academy will be a Crash Course in Social Networking.  Parents please take a few moments to post comments with your questions, concerns, and experiences around social networking tools. Be sure to Bring Your Own Laptop, this will be an  interactive evening of learning.

(image from Facebookforparents.org)

Tuesday, November 10th, 7p.m. -
7:00-8:00pm – Crash Course in Social Networking

Facebook, Twitter, and texting are some of the most popular modes of social networking today. This crash course will give parents an overview of how these networks operate, usage among youth, and practical advice for parents.

(Recommended for parents 5-8)

Presenters: Mr. Cox and Mrs. Savage

Bring Your Own Laptop session.

Another parent view of Facebook and 5 simple steps to begin your exploration.

Motherlode: Adventures in Parenting blog on the New York Times

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/facebook-for-parents/

The five steps outlined in the above post come from a class entitled Facebookforparents.

Facebook Information and Help Section

http://www.facebook.com/help.php

Please post your questions before the session.

We are working on our annual Parents’ Academy program schedule.  This is an ongoing effort to provide timely and useful information on a variety of topics of interest to our parents. What would you add to the list?

Tuesday, November 10th, 7p.m. -
7:00-8:00pm – Crash Course in Social Networking

Facebook, Twitter, and texting are some of the most popular modes of social networking today. This crash course will give parents an overview of how these networks operate, usage among youth, and practical advice for parents.

(Recommended for parents 5-8)

Presenters: Mr. Cox and Mrs. Savage

Bring Your Own Laptop session.

Tuesday, December 8th, 7p.m. -Poe Center Drug Awareness Demonstration

(Recommended for parents ???)
Presented by Poe Center Staff

Tuesday, January 12th, 7p.m. –

Virtual Worlds and the Elementary Age

7:00-8:00p.m. – Virtual Worlds and the Elementary Age
Club Penguin, Webkinz, and Neopets are a few of the many virtual worlds designed for and used by elementary kids. This session will provide an brief overview of these worlds, elementary age usage, and the future of these worlds.  Plenty of Q & A as we go along.
(Recommended for parents K-5)
Presenter: Mr. Cox

Tuesday, February 9th, 7p.m. - Bullying

presentation arranged by Savage?????

Tuesday, March 9th, 7p.m. - Learning Teams and St. Timothy’s School

7:00-8:00p.m. – Learning Teams
The faculty of St. Timothy’s School are using Learning Teams to ensure the best learning experiences for our students. Come learn about these collaborative teams and what we have accomplished this year.
(Recommended for all parents)
Presenters: Mr. Cox, Mr. Bailey, and several learning team representatives

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010, 7p.m. -
Move Over Dick and Jane: Reconsidering Books for Beginning Readers

What constitutes a book for beginning readers? Do they come in one format or many?  The Geisel Award books are bold departures from many of the leveled series.  Many of these books signal a new era of innovating writing and book design for beginning readers.  Prepare to change your perceptions of what makes a great book for early readers. Learn how to match these innovative books to the developmental needs of early readers.
(Recommended for Parents K-2)
Presenter: Mr. Cox & Mrs. Bardeen
Program note: This presentation will be based on a program to be delivered at the American Library Association Conference in Washington D.C. summer of 2010.

Tuesday, May 11th, 7p.m. – ERB Tests

Everything parents need to know to interupt results of the ERB tests.
(Recommended for parents ???)
Presenter: Mr. Bailey and Mrs. Savage

Twitter Logo

Do you twitter? Are you a tweet? As the  2009 American Association of School Librarians National Conference approaches it is a perfect time to open a new twitter account or dust off the one you’ve been meaning to use.  This year’s AASL conference will have a robust virtual presence including updates from Twitter.

What is Twitter?  It is a social media tool fostering interaction among people. Some have called it micro-blogging and it does function like a blog.  Tweets are brief (140 characters max) posts. The power of Twitter, in a professional sense, comes through the connections and conversations with people.  I’ve used Twitter to find people who are working on similar questions and problems at the same moment in time.   Professional Learning Networks at their best!  Find out more…take the challenge.

The Twitter (two part) Challenge

Part 1

1.) Go to http://search.twitter.com/
2.) Search for the hash tag #aasl2009. Twitter posts can be labeled using hash tags.  These tags function like an  index for twitter posts.  People twittering about the AASL National Conference will use the hash tag above.  You can search twitter without hash tags too.  Searching for topics will often produce useful results.
3.) Locate a recent tweet from me, erniec, highlighting a specific book title of interest to school librarians.  If you want a chance to win this book proceed to Part 2. 

Part 2

Part 2 requires the use of a Twitter Account.  Go to http://twitter.com/ and set up an account (don’t worry it’s easy). Login into your twitter account.

1.) Visit me at http://twitter.com/erniec
2.) Begin following me using the Follow option at the top of the screen.
3.) I will post a Twitter update today about this challenge.  Reply (this option is represented by an arrow on the bottom right of each post) and include the title of the book.

First three correct replies will win a copy of the book (I reserve the right to disqualify individuals who are Twitter Pros…this challenge is for the reluctant Twitter users out there). I’ll send winners a Direct Message in Twitter to determine mailing addresses.

Even if you don’t win the book you have discovered how to search Twitter and how to connect with colleagues and friends. This challenge used the Twitter website.  There are other options:

Twirl is a desktop client http://www.twhirl.org/

Tweetdeck is a browser styled interface http://tweetdeck.com/beta/

image from Annville Free Public Library

I have a confession.  There are languishing blogs in my past.  But a new school year brings renewed energy and enthusiasm so I’m revitalizing my efforts with Mediacentered.

A little bit about me and what I want to accomplish.

Making my work as a school librarian more transparent and open to discussion is something I’m looking forward to. Several teaching colleagues in my school have become interested in the educational applications of blogging.  Perhaps this will provide some inspiration and examples for them too.

Interested in finding out more about blogging and education?  Visit the Edublogs page “Ten way to use your edublog to teach” for ideas.  Do you have additional advance for those new to the blogosphere?  Please share.