Spanish CDs

"Learning Spanish is easy with Pimsleur! Each lesson is designed to teach you by using your natural listening skills. Pimsleur Spanish language courses combine scientific research with instruction from native speakers, in a unique audio format that makes it convenient to learn wherever you are."
More Info: www.pimsleur.info/PimsleurGuidebook.htm

When I purchased the Pimsleur Spanish Language CDs, I envisioned small groups of teachers forming their own study groups. Thought it might be easier than the other methods that have been tried. We are busy ppl, hard to get together all the time. Thought we might be greeting each other in Spanish in the halls before long. It hasn't happened yet...but it could. :)

They are available for checkout in the LMC. Hasta que le vea.


PS: We also have several music CDs such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Disco and Pop.

Die Cut Machine

The LMC inherited an Ellison Die Cut machine from the Science Dept awhile back. When they received it, there were no dies with it. So, we had it awhile before I decided to purchase a set of the alphabet. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it; it's a heavy machine and we really didn't have counter space for it.

I recently had a conversation with it's new owner:

Felita,
How is that die cut working out? I imagine your "Ready, Set, Teach" students decorating bulletin boards all over the district. Kind of fun to think of it that way.
I'm about to send out some emails talking about the resources available to teachers and I just wanted to check with you about the machine. Would it be okay with you if I tell them that it's available and they'll need to get with you at your convenience if they want to make alphabet letters for their bulletin boards?
Thanks, Cheryl
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Send them my way. Just mention they need their own construction paper and their clean-up skills when through with their work.
My kids are loving it.
Thank you, Felita
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:)

"Online Resources"

(Update 2010-2011 - Unfortunately, the "start" feature went away with Novell.)

I sent out a survey a couple of years ago and asked teachers what they would change about the LMC if they could. One of the comments was "more computers." I wish! I'm with you 100% on that one. Seems like we could always use more computers. Some of you know how hard it can be to schedule in the LMC at certain times. However, we try to get in as many classes as we can.

One other suggestion was to make it easier to get to our databases. To not have to go through the homepage, to the high school, to the library, to the database password page. Well, your wish has been granted!! Yay! If you or your students left click the "start" button here at school, you'll see a new place to go in the menu: "Online Resources." Let's say you select "CQ Researcher." Once you click on that, a small box appears in the upper left-hand corner with the username and password. It's really cool. We can thank district library and our technology ppl for that wonderful feature.

Now, about those computers. :P

Final Thoughts on Web 2.0 Discovery Tour

I would almost say I'm sad to be through with this assignment, it's been fun. However, with technology, it's a "never-ending" story. Always something new. In fact, it's really way too easy to get behind if you take a "nap."

On each and every "new" thing I tried: first, frustration - how do I do this? Then,(eventually) satisfaction - this is soooo cool! I enjoyed all of them. Rollyo is probably my least favorite. But, if they get it fixed, it will be useful.

Camaraderie: It's been fun to work with other professionals. Checking out your blogs to see what you're doing. Getting ideas and great information from you guys. That's my delightful "take-away."

I had a student try to access my blog the other day. A little disappointed to discover that it was blocked to them. I do see a great potential in using this with the students. When I had my own website with myschoolonline, there were many little extra "fun" things you could do to entice the students. In order to look professional, we can't do that on our school websites. I understand, however, "Hairy" is fun.
As to "life long learning" - learning keeps you young. That's what I think, and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.
And, finally, would I sign up for a another discovery program like this in the future? Where do I enroll?
:)
Thank you, Kiera. (She who made us do this...lolol)

NetLibrary and Audio books

Yes, it's me. I'm the one who has caused such a mess with NetLibrary...lolol.
Not only that, I set it in motion about ten years ago. If you've seen the 44 titles I picked, you've noticed that they are old. (See, I told you I had a preference for Dummies and Idiot's Guides.) ;)

I'm seeing success with the new ebooks from Region XI. I've had several students open up an ebook for information in the computer lab. Pretty exciting.

I checked out the audio downloads. Put one on the computer. Like everyone else, I see a great potential for this format. Yes, I will still get a "real" book for my reading pleasure, but there are many people who tell me they enjoy listening to an audio book as they travel or commute. With our MP3 players, it will be so easy to enjoy a book anywhere. I've also had people tell me that an audio book is not really "reading." That,"students need to actually read." I agree with that, too. But, stories come in so many formats. Cave drawings, ghost stories around the campfire, printed novels, movies and now, audio books. To me, it's like a diet, you should vary your diet for good health. Variety - spice of life - just my take.

Podcasts

Cody Blair, The Study Prof, has a series called "Wired Study Tips" on ITunes. He's an interesting speaker and makes his podcasts fun. I've always wanted to introduce the students to this instructor from Texas A & M:

http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Feed/tamu-public.1449877907.01449877921

I just recently completed the podcasting inservice and see great potential in podcasts for library instruction: library tours, how to use resources, booktalks, student interviews about books, etc.

YouTube

I'm familiar with YouTube. It's an amazing concept. You can find just about anything. I was searching for booktrailers not too long ago and ran across several. What a great way to entice your students to read. With the Flip, students can also make their own booktrailers; I'd love to see some of ours work on this kind of project. Would be so cool.