YouTube Unblocked (somewhat)

Teachers -

Have you ever found an amazing video resource you wanted to use in your class but couldn't because it was only on YouTube and was blocked by the LAUSD filter?  Well, I learned from Mr. Sanchez today (who learned it from Mr. Ifergan) that you can now access YouTube (and many other media resource sites) from school for 15 minutes at a time.  You will be prompted to start an Authorized Override Session by entering your LAUSD Single Sign On password, obviously so ITD can have a record of what videos you watched.  But hey, if you're using it for appropriate instruction in the classroom, this should be no problem.  It also works for other sites they classify as Streaming Media or  Media Sharing.  It seems like a step in the right direction to me.  If you try it, let us know.

New Free Resources

Welcome to the first day of the new school year.

1.  Poetry 180 is a wonderful resource that I found out about last week. The Library of Congress delivers “A Poem a Day for American High Schools”.  Sign up at http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180   Everybody can click “Subscribe” and “Poetry 180”.

2. Karen Magee was looking for a social networking site that would be safe and secure to use with her classes.  She found Edmodo (http://www.edmodo.com/), and says it really looks good.  Try it out.

3.  And, if you use RSS, consider subscribing to this blog (DMHS Library Update) for the latest on what's happening around the library and the school.  If you don't know how, here's the Common Craft video introduction to RSS. http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

Enjoy!

And don't forget to post a comment.

Welcome!

Welcome students, teachers, parents,

administrators, staff, and Internet friends!

2010-2011 promises to be an exciting year at DMHS with so much to explore and so much happening, and of course the Library is no exception.  As a library we always promote books and reading, and I'll be featuring some initiatives on that front shortly.  For today, here are some powerful Internet and video resources I'd like to share with you:

1.  As an International Baccalaureate Candidate School, how can we create a successful IB community?  An innovative possibility is the development of Knowledge Building Centers for each classroom.  Here's my initial draft.  (The template is a public domain gift from Dr. David Loertscher). Using this template, the classroom teacher, his or her students, and the TL can collaborate on building knowledge about any topic they are working on, in their classroom, or from home or school.  Note the link in the middle of the page, to share comments, questions, and tips about the assignment.  I also have Dr. Loertscher's three books that provide background on how to implement Knowledge Building Centers.

2.  Students are swimming in technology, but we don't yet have an organized way to guide them into these Internet-age Web 2.0 skills.  Here's a wonderful, robust student tutorial from the California School Library Association that we could use . 

3. But, realistically now, how many of us have been able to keep up with the emerging technology ourselves?  Here's the CSLA self-paced tutorial for educators.  It is a great schoolwide professional development opportunity.  One of the many things I learned from it is how to build what is being called a Professional Learning Network. I stay informed about professional topics in education and technology using RSS subscriptions (Google Reader), online bookmarking (Delicious), and social networking (Twitter)   Feels like a real "21st Century" way to learn and grow.

4.  Another rich resource is the set of Research Skills DVDs for high school students I just received.   You can see the product description of the six topics taught at http://tinyurl.com/2et64vw .

I look forward to exploring and implementing these resources (and many more to come) with you this year.  My watchwords for the new year:  enthusiasm, focus, and dedication.