CPD23: Thing 20

Library Roots:  I had always liked to read and write stories and figured I would become a teacher, not knowing what else to do with these two preferences.  It wasn't until I reached high school where we actually had a library and a librarian that I realized this could be an actual profession.  Although I had been frequenting our public library for years, for some reason I didn't make the connection there.  And that was most likely due to the welcoming nature of the high school librarian who had an easy way of relating to teens.  Eventually, I did work at our local public library too, but decided I preferred to work with kids.  Again, I have no idea why I never figured out that kids went to the public library as well.  Which is kind of funny since I am now a Children's Librarian at a public library.

Library Routes:  Still focused, I enrolled in graduate school while financing myself through teaching.  Over the years I have worked in both Department of Defense elementary school and high school libraries and even taught some college-level library and writing courses.  I beleive I have the best of both worlds now: working with both children and parents in the public library system.

While many folks on the wiki seem to have discovered librarianship quite by accident, for me it had always been a plan.  What has come about by happenstance are the variety of jobs I have held in this profession.  I have worked in Germany, Kwajalein, Marshall Islands and in the US with kids, college students and parents in school, college and public libraries.  Where else could you get that variety?

My advice I guess would be to stay focused on your ultimate goal but to remain open to where that goal might take you.

laura clark

CPD23: Thing 18, Round 2



With the help of our library computer wizard, we discovered we were not as incompetent as we originally thought.  Above is my map of how to get to our library, complete with tour guide voice over.

I shared this with a librarian who works in our county system and she was thrilled to learn that there is free software out there that does such a good job as she was considering purchasing a package.

CPD23: THING 17 Prezi

I wonder what Dr. Seuss would have done with Thing 17? It took an unexpectedly long time for this particular Thing to come on the scene and it did not disappoint in level of difficulty. In fact, my partner Patty and I switched our Tech Thursdays to Tech Tuesdays to take advantage of our computer lab's late afternoon troubleshooting forum. But like Sally and her brother, we plunged in, experimented, and netted our prey.

Having never ever designed a power point presentation, I could not have proceeded in solo formation. Running with the idea thet a picture is worth a thousand words, we decided to showcase our weekly Parent/Child Workshops since we always find ourselves describling this multifaceted program to prospective parents.

For our inital venture, we did not to convert our images to pdf since they seemed to work fine as long as we stuck with smaller profiles. While it was fun to see what the more experienced prezi makers had come up with, we went with the "keep it simple, stupid" motto. While not polished, we were satisfied with this first attempt:

Parent Child Workshop on Prezi

Following up with random incidents of synchronicity:

The head of our Youth Services section was excited to see what we had done and is considering using Prezi for one of her presentations.

Our public computer lab teacher is giving us a handout she had one of her volunteers compile about navigating Prezi.

So we hope to upgrade for a slideshare worthy production or perhaps tackle something new altogether.

CPD23: THING 18

I am so glad THING 17 has chosen not to appear on the screen as yet! THING 18 took sufficient toll on our energy reserves. While this THING loomed rather threateningly, once my Tech Thursday buddy, Pat, and I got down to business, it proved to be more fun than bluster.

For our screencast, we chose the free screencast-o-matic software, ignored the truly incomprehensible video that comes with the software and stuck with Book Gryphon's advice. We had the brilliant thought that we would attempt something that might actually be of some use to our library, so we developed a map tracing possible driving routes.

I slugged it out for the Northerners and Pat chose the Southern route. After some handgrabber routing practice, we donned our headsets and confidently took the controls. What we got was a nice demonstration of the route minus the sound. Which was probably a good thing. We also learned how actors feel when they giggle their way through a series of hilarious but ultimately, from a production standpoint at least, unsuccessful outtakes. A good time was had by all.

Next week we will make an appointment with our computer lab person to figure out why the sound portion eluded us.

As far as Podcasts, I skimmed some of the instructional notes and decided that would be an entirely different THING for me to attempt after these THINGS are completed. One step at a time!
laura

CPD23: THING 19

1,2,3...14,15,16,19 What is wrong with this sequence? While I consider myself severly math challenged, even I notice the discrepancy. But since Iam already behind in lessons, I thought I would pick and choose, especially since Thing 17 hasn't even introduced itself yet. Truthfully, my learning buddy Patty and I have a good idea for our screen capture but are waitng to discover a block of time we can work together.

So...here goes. I am grateful to this catcup summary for putting the past lessons in a meaningful order. Like most of us, I imagine, I have been checking off assignments with no clue that they meshed together like chapters in a book: social media, personal organization methods, professional development, production skills. A true Lightbulb moment!

I imagine the most useful Thing so far is my new-found ability to blog. After this class is over, I hope to set up an entirely new blog with some of my book reviews and other writings.

I was excited to discover Google Doc, hoping that just maybe my husband and I could stay better attuned to each other's schedules, but he decided he would rather live spontaneously. We did both join LinkedIn, however, and hopefully will share some business acquaintances.

One aspect I have enjoyed is the ability to explore others' blogs. This adds a depth and a practical aspect to the experience. And I am excited to experiment with Thing 17 and the"picture is worth a thousand words" concept.

But by far the most useful Thing isn't really a Thing at all, but more abstract. Especially for someone born into the era of rotary phones and manual typewriters. It is the assurance that comes from at least being able to recognize some of the terms other bandy about so casually and confidence to give it a go.