Conference Wrap Up!

Here’s the Media Center Messenger article I promised to post. It’s also on the SCASL Blogs! page.

Power Up @ your library!

Conference Wrap Up!

Valerie Byrd Fort, SCASL President Elect

valeriebyrdfort@gmail.com

 

More than 800 South Carolina school librarians, technology specialists, teachers, and administrators came to Columbia in March for the 33^rd Annual SCASL Conference, Power Up @ your library! To everyone who facilitated, presented, hosted a tour, worked at the Information Booth, took tickets, picked up (or dropped off) a special guest, set up technology, or modeled in our fashion show, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Conference can not happen without the help of SCASL members.

Each year, our conference provides our members a chance to get together and network with peers, as well as learn new ways of doing and thinking. This year was no different – hopefully, you left conference feeling “powered up” for the rest of the school year. Have you checked out that blog you noted or tried to podcast yet? Be sure that before the end of the school year, you try at least one thing you learned at conference. That’s the point! I have already seen my Twitter (www.twitter.com) network expand by at least 12 South Carolina connections – all new because of conference!

I know you are bursting with ideas after listening to presenters like Joyce Valenza, Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson. I know you are rejuvenated after hearing authors like Alan Katz, Eloise Greenfield, Will Hobbs, and Jaime Adoff. I know you are motivated to do more after going to sessions by your colleges. My hope is that you were able to take something away from each and every session you went to. Let us know what you have tried by posting to SCASL Blogs!

We tried some new things this year: online evaluation and volunteer forms, podcasts of book award book talks, a conference wiki (look for directions on how to participate in this issue of Media Center Messenger), and tours on Wednesdays. All of these were ideas and suggestions gathered from reading evaluation forms from past conferences. After reading this year’s evaluation forms, I know that there were many powerful concurrent sessions, even though I did not get to attend any of them. I also know that you loved the authors we had this year and that you want more and more technology sessions – the more “hands on,” the better. The Conference Steering Committee looks at each and every evaluation and thinks about them when planning future conferences. Thank you for your suggestions!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the school year…start thinking about how you can participate in next year’s conference! We’ll see you in Greenville, March 11-13, 2009.

Whew

Finished one of the big tasks having to do with planning a conference-the Call to Conference for the 2008 SCASL Annual Conference is complete and posted! It will be mailed out to every member of SCASL as well as a few VIPs this week. Check it out: Call to Conference.

Valerie

I’ve spent my summer…

Planning the 2008 SCASL Annual Conference!

The SCASL 2008 Annual Conference, March 12-14, 2008 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center-Power Up @ your library. There will be a new hotel and a parking garage, so there will be no reason for you not to attend…(and, why not present while you are there? Applications for concurrent sessions and for our Exploritorium can be found at the SCASL website).

Who will be at conference? 

*Wonderful, innovative Library Media Specialists for you to learn from

*Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson

*Eloise Greenfield (Poet and author of many books including Honey, I Love and Other Poems.)

*Jaime Adoff (Author of South Carolina Young Adult Book Award nominee, Names Will Never Hurt Me) 

*Alan Katz (Author of Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs) 

And even more guests to be announced soon!

Valerie
 
Technorati Tags: SCASL, SCASL08, SCASL2008

I’m planning a conference!

That’s right…the 2008 SCASL Annual Conference is ALL MINE. Along with, of course, the members of my Steering Committee as well as the members of SCASL. So, not ALL MINE, but a TEAM EFFORT. I’m really very excited about the challenge. From the conferences I’ve been involved with so far, it seems to be a lot like planning a wedding and I did that, so I hope I can do this too! I’m excited about it and plans are already underway…feel like making a presentation? Consider submitting an application to present a concurrent session or an Exploratorium session at the 2008 SCASL Annual Conference! Applications are available here and will be available on the SCASL website. Application deadline is August 17, 2007.

This year’s theme is Power Up @ your library. We’ll be at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center again (this time with a parking garage and a new hotel!). Mark your calendars for March 12-14, 2008.

I look forward to hearing from many of you!

VBF

Application for Concurrent Session

Application for Exploratorium

Technorati Tags: SCASL, SCASL08, SCASL2008

SCASL Conference-Day 3

Last day of conference.

Mary and I gave our presentation about Blogging and Podcasting (handouts here!)

Went to Sharon Draper’s session which was followed by Jacqueline Woodson’s session. WOW, they were both really great.

From there I went to the Author’s Lunch. Very nice way to end up SCASL Conference 2007.

My favorite part of conference and the part where I wish I had a picture to post??? Re-meeting my high school english teacher, Bob Raven. Bob Raven was THE teacher who made me a reader. Yes, I went to the public library almost weekly as a kid, but in middle school and high school, the reading I was doing was because I HAD to and not because I WANTED to. Bob Raven made me a reader and made me love words. He is now in library school and will be the media specialist at Sumter High School starting in August. He was at conference and that was the first time I had seen him since high school! It’s funny how life works, no?

Have a restful weekend!

VBF

SCASL Conference-Day 2

Thursday was a busy day. I got to the convention center at 6:45 (you see, I was determined to get a parking space in that convention center lot every day of conference. I figured the only way to do that was get there crazy early. It worked!). I helped Kitt and Ida for a bit and then went to the Supervisor’s Roundtable session with Martha Alewine. We were given updates on SLIS internships, SCASA Roundtable, and DISCUS. Afterwards, I headed to a session about promoting the SC Picture Book Awards with classroom teachers. GREAT session from Terri Puryear and one of her 1st grade teachers. She buys two copies of the SCPBA books and has one set in the library and the other in a rotating basket for each grade level. I think I’ll try that next year. After that, it was time for the first general session with Alan November speaking. He is such an energetic speaker and really gave some interesting ways to use media that our students are using ANYWAY. For example, with Wikipedia, he said that we shouldn’t get all freaked out when we see them using it (I totally do), but instead use it with them in a GOOD way. He gave the example of a group of students who went to a historical home every year and they discovered that there wasn’t an entry for it in Wikipedia. They created their OWN entry for it. How cool! He also touched on MySpace and how we could use it for good, but didn’t go too far into that…I have a MySpace page and ALA has a MySpace page…maybe SCASL should have a MySpace page???

Jim Trelease was up next for the second general session. I heard him speak about a year ago at an ELA Best Practice seminar, so most of his talk was information I had heard then. Still, it was great and is a very inspirational speaker, I think. After he spoke, SCASL held its General Business Meeting where I was voted in as President Elect. Thank you, SCASL! I get scared every now and then thinking about next year’s conference (which is in MY hands), however I will be getting loads of help and support and I really shouldn’t worry at all. You don’t worry either!

After that, I rushed off to Dr. Naidoo’s session. It was nice meeting the new SLIS professor and I got lots of great handouts to share with my spanish and ESOL teacher. I even met some LMS who know my wonderful spanish teacher!

Dr. Naidoo’s session officially ended my day. I went to the SLIS Alumni Tea and then to dinner with some of my fellow D5 Library Media Specialists. A wonderful day all in all.

Made me think…

Mary and I did our presentation today at SCASL about Blogging and Podcasting. We had a HUGE crowd! Thank you to everyone who came at 8am to hear us speak.

 One question really has me thinking. Someone asked about the copyright issues of posting choral concerts and such. We do have a public performance license and I do know that our chrous teacher uses music that is for school performances, but I don’t know what all that includes. Just live audience at the actual performance? We do record it and she shows it to the classes…is that okay? I have heard of schools who make DVDs or CDs of their concerts for parents…is that okay? Great question and I am going to look into it.

 I will be posting our handout soon. Mary will as well.

Great conference!

Looking forward to next year,

VBF

Why Blog? Why Podcast? Why not?!

THIS IS AN UPDATED POST (AS OF MARCH 10, 2007).

ORGINALLY, I WROTE THIS AFTER MARY AND I PRESENTED AT EDTECH OCTOBER 2006

Mary and I presented at SCASL using this PowerPoint presentation. The handout was the slides of the presentation.  

From the Podcast wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast:
“Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio or video programs, over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The term, coined in 2004, is a blend of the terms “iPod“, a popular portable audio device, and ‘broadcasting.’”

To me, a podcast and a blog are very similar…in fact, a podcast NEEDS a blog to be able to work. Both forms of media allow students to share thoughts, ideas, and projects. The difference is in a blog, they are writing about their work and in a podcast, they are talking about it and perhaps performing.

In the Spring of 2006, DFES started a podcast called, Bookin’ It! We are still in the beginning stages of our podcast. I hope to begin including more student work on the podcast like Radio WillowWeb and Room 208. We plan to include student observations as they work in the Science Lab and student’s performing reader’s theater (creating “Radio Theater!”).

How can you create your own podcast?
It is very easy if you are a Mac user with GarageBand. Here are links that will help you:
Apple’s GarageBand support page

“How to” from About.com

*After Edtech, I became Mac-crazy (I think it was seeing David Warlick with his Mac). I bought a Mac. I tried to use the Mac. I almost threw the Mac out the window. My husband now has a new Mac and I have a new PC. Thank you, Bill Gates! Moral of the story? I don’t know if podcasting is much easier with a Mac…*

If you are a PC user, it is not quite as easy, but still easy enough! Here’s how I do it FOR FREE:

Set up a Blog just for your podcast. I use WordPress, but you can use whatever you would like.

Set up a Feedburner account using your podcast blog address.

Setting up the Blog and the Feedburner account is something you will do one time.

Record various audio into your computer. I use a cheap computer microphone and a digital voice recorder (depends on if I am in the library or not). Sound files need to be .wav or. mp3 files to edit or upload, so sometimes I convert them with Switch. Your files need to be .wav OR MP3 to edit using Audacity.

Then, I import and edit my .wav or MP3 files and create my show using Audacity.

When my show is complete, I export it as a MP3 file from Audacity to my desktop. 

Then, I upload the show using my FTP client. I have a webpage, you might not. If you do not have a place to upload your file to, try an “all in one” podcast site like podOmatic.

I create a link to the show and post it to my Bookin’ It! blog.

The feed is automatically updated as soon as I post my blog thanks to my Feedburner account. The feed is what you can subscribe to to listen to the podcast.

To recap:

1. Set up a blog for your podcast (do this one time!)

2. Set up a feed in Feedburner using your podcast blog address (do this one time!)

3. Record some stuff

4. Edit that stuff using Audacity (if needed…not always needed!)

5. Export that stuff to your desktop as a MP3 file

6. Upload that stuff to your server or via an ”all in one” podcast site

7. Update your iPod or MP3 player and start listening to your podcast! 

Do you have a favorite podcast that you listen to?
Do you have another way you create and upload your podcast?
Do you have ideas on ways students and teachers can use podcasting in the classroom?
Please share!