This is not a real blog; it is an assignment for edu655.

Think Again About Summer Fun

Infinite Thinking:  The Infinite Summer

Now we all know that Summer is finite, but we can dream, right?  We talk about Summer Learning Loss for our students, but how about the learning loss for teachers?  Ramsey Musallam and Chris Fitzgerald Walsh cover a number of options from Conferences to Web-based learning in a fun little film:

• ISTE Conference
• Google Workshop for Educators
• edcamp
• CUE Rockstar
• Common Sense Media for Educators
• Twitter
• #PBLChat
• #edchat
• Learnist
• PBLu from the Buck Institute for Education
• P2PU
• edmodo
• eduTecher
• edSurge
• TED Talks
• Nancy Duarte's TED Talk
• TED Ed
• Edutopia
• you pd
• Teaching Channel

And for those of us who still prefer to learn from books, even in a world where Blogs are called “Old-School”:

• Creating Innovators by Tony Wagner
• Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin
• Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal
• Hip Hop Genius by Sam Seidel
• Start with Why by Simon Sinek
• Drive by Daniel Pink
• The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch
• Out of Our Minds by Sir Ken Robinson
• Democracy and Education by John Dewey

So give it a look, there’s something here for everyone.  To grow, to do the best for our school communities,  we need to keep learning and learning and learning – so that even when summer ends, the good of it goes on TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

Real Tips for Real Writers Really Writing Better: These Work!

The tips offered here are good advice for any of us who want to improve our writing.  My top five:

1.       To write better, write more.

2.       READ!

3.       Ask others to read your work.

4.       Find inspiration anywhere it offers itself.

5.       Get to it!

Though written with a sarcastic tone, the pointers here are real and usable, for students and teachers alike.

A Brief History of National Support for Libraries in the United States

If you think Libraries are a thing of the past, or if your school has lost library support – maybe you have a governing board, or a district that argues that the internet has replaced all need for brick and mortar book repositories, take a look at this great paper which will be presented to the World Library and Information Congress coming up in Helsinki, Finland next month.  It chronicles government support for libraries of every kind imaginable.  In addition to giving you good background in understanding the changing needs in information access, it helps you see what has been valued in the past and why.  While technology makes it possible to link and access people and knowledge beyond our wildest past-century imaginings, the proliferation of information requires more learning and discretion – ultimately, more help from humans, not less!

Fun Facts:

·         The Library Movement from World War II laid the foundation for Information Services in place today

·         Lifelong Learning is the primary goal of Libraries across the U.S.

·         Whatever you think of George W., Laura Bush used her influence to make libraries a place where free thought and inquiry still reign

References: Musallam, Ramsey and Walsh, Chris Fitzgerald (2006). Infinite Summer. Retrieved 22 July 2012 from http://www.infinitethinking.org/itm-206.html

Nissan, Collin (2012). The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Retrieved 22 July 2012 from http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-ultimate-guide-to-writing-better-than-you-normally-do

Farrell, Michelle (2012). A Brief History of National Support for Libraries in the United States. Retrieved 22 July 2012 from  http://conference.ifla.org/sites/default/files/files/papers/wlic2012/140-farrell-en.

http://conference.ifla.org/