Blogs

Digital_Nation:

     Well this is my first blog and I am sure everyone feels a little awkward starting one of these things.  I am working on my certification for Lib_SCI and am currently doing my internship with NEISD.  I really like everything about a library so far. You get to interact with the kids and parents in a positive way. In addition you get to handle a wide range of activities.   I also love the fact that I work with and around books all the time.  I have always loved the smell of books and still do.  

     Personal I am not a terribly exciting individual.  I love to do all kinds of crafts. Although i am not good at any of them I like to do everything from quilting to painting.  I have the average American family which excites me to no end.  I really like having a quite boring life because it makes me happy do ordinary things.  I have a daughter and twin boys who keep me very busy.  In addition to my husband who I think is the best person I have ever met. I also happen to believe that he is the best teacher in the world as well. ( But I think I might be a little biased)   We just bought our first home and as odd as it sounds I love cleaning it.  I always hated cleaning up until we got our home, but I think it is different when you own it. 

      One of the weird things about blogs is that they make you feel like people are listening to you and the world centers around you.  I find this terribly odd, mostly because I grew up in a world where you did not put any information out into the world except your professional persona.  I know it is typical for people to spill their innermost thoughts into a blog like this but I find it disquieting.  I like the idea that my personal world is private, and the world is passing me by.  This is part of the reason that if you look for me on the internet you won't have a lot of luck.  One of my areas of study during my undergraduate was communication and one major lesson that I have taken to heart is that knowledge is power.  This is part of the reason that it makes me squeamish to post at all.  But you have read enough of my paranoid gibberish - so feel free to move on to more interesting things besides me! :)

Coffee At Midnight

The California School Library Association (CSLA) has announced the launch of the 2011 California Campaign for Strong School Libraries, a public awareness campaign to increase understanding about the importance of strong school libraries for our children. The campaign is being chaired by Connie Williams, a CSLA Past President.

Through a variety of projects and programs, the Campaign for Strong School libraries is targeting areas throughout California to raise awareness about the importance of strong school libraries for our children.  Some of these projects include:

Expanding the CSLA 2.0 tutorials to include: 

• Summer 2.0 fun for teens @ their library [public library summer programs]
• Digital citizenship tutorial – targeted to teacher librarians and other educators so that they are comfortable teaching about and working with Internet Safety, cyber citizenship and information ethics applications
• Administrators 2.0 tutorials in process to provide tech learning for those decision makers in schools and school districts

Campaign LIBRARY STORE:

Book and library-themed gifts for yourself and your library-loving friends! Includes the incredible artwork of children’s book illustrators who have given us art to advocate for strong libraries. Watch for and widely share the announcement about the Campaign LIBRARY STORE.

Bus Ads in targeted areas in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Help us spread the word about strong school libraries!

If you live in California, you can:

• Join the public awareness campaign today by contributing your tax-deductable donation to support new ‘action advocacy’ projects as developed by CSLA members to promote library service, instruction and legislative action.  
• Invite your district and regional library organizations to make a donation to buy regional bus banners and ads.  
• Donate your time as well so that we can build a coalition of library supporters who will work together to ensure that our students have access to the strong school libraries they need to become lifelong learners.

To join or learn more about the campaign, please visit: http://librarycampaign.csla.net/.

Even if you aren't in California,  I wanted to share this with all of you outside California for several reasons:

• We would love any all of you to support our campaign, and/or
• You can use our ideas in your own state, and/or
• You can visit our Campaign LIBRARY STORE and get great stuff for your library, you, and your stakeholders

Here are more information links:

http://www.csla.net/pdf/CSLACCfSSLAnnouncement.pdf

http://www.csla.net/pdf/CSLAIllustratorsGaloreLibraryStore.pdf

Check out this search engine that presents a video with sound for the topic you type in:   www.qwiki.com

For making great videos also check out xtranormal.com - more info.
 and to check the one I made on internet research at: www.readingsanantonio.blogspot.com

Hi Everyone!

   I know most of you from class know me already.  But here goes another introduction. I will revamp it.  I am Ruth Castillo- Rangel.  I just go the new last name :) over the holidays.  I have been working as a librarian at La Encantada Elementary.  It has been enjoyable but I have had some challenging learning experiences!  I am so appreciative of the opportunity I have to be apart of this cohort.  I have learned so much!  It has really helped me in my job this year. I hope that I will be able to keep my job next year.

    I am a mother of a handsome son and a step mom to three great kids!  We are planning to add more to the bunch very soon.  I have two wiener dogs and a schnauzer. The house is usually chaotic with lots of love and laughter. I wouldn't have it any other way! 

I'm very happy to be a part of this class and a part of this amazing program here at Sam Houston for Library Science.  My appreciation for library professionals grows as each day passes.  There is so much more to being a librarian than just shelving and processing books.  I'm really lucky to be a part of such a great program to become a librarian myself.  I'm looking forward to graduation and, hopefully soon, to becoming a librarian myself.

So, now that I've shared some thoughts on the program, I'll tell you a bit about myself.

Studies:

I hold a B.A. degree from the University of Notre Dame that I achieved back in 2006.   I was a double major in English and Philosophy.  I was fortunate to become part of the Laura Bush IMLS Grant at Sam Houston State beginning with my first semester classes last spring.  I'm really looking forward to finishing up this summer.

Family:

I have one brother, my mom, and dad as my immediate family.  I guess I'm one of the very few that hasn't started a family of my own just yet.  I look forward to that chapter in my life happening sometime in the future, but I'm happy where I'm at right now as well.  I'm very fortunate to have the great family that I have and the great network of aunts, uncles, cousins, and, grandfather that I have.  I enjoy my time with them very much.

Interests:

I have a wide range of interests outside of my academic pursuits.  I like to play Texas Hold'em and I definitely consider myself a Texas Hold'em enthusiast.  I also enjoy sports in general, both playing and watching, a great deal.  Both college and professional football, baseball, and basketball are definitely fun to watch and keep up with.  I catch myself on ESPN.com pretty regularly.  I also enjoy reading, rock music, good movies, and spending time with my close friends and family.  Whenever I'm not working on homework, I'll probably be with them having an awesome time.

Travels:

My one regret is that I haven't travelled more during my 27 years on this earth.  I have been able to visit a couple of places in the U.S. like New York City, Ft. Myers Beach (Florida), Notre Dame (Indiana), various places in Texas, and, of course, Washington D.C. this past summer.  I would like to travel the country more in the future and, hopefully, take a few trips to various places around the world.  I would love to visit Europe.  That is definitely something I want to do in the near future.

Pets:

I have three dogs.  They're family dogs though, so they're living with my mother at her house.  One of them is a chiuaua named Rocky.  Another is a terrier mix named Teddy.  The third is a German Shepard (white)/Dalmation mix named Sandy.  Rocky is has been a part of our family the longest.  He will be 15 years old this coming March.  It's amazing to think how long he's been a part of my life.  Sandy was a close rescue.  My previous dog, Babes, gave birth to one last litter and Sandy was the survivor of that two puppy litter.  The other puppy, unfortunately, didn't make it.  My brother and I took very special care of her so that she would survive.  Luckily for us, she did.  I don't know if I could find a more good natured dog out there.  As for Teddy, he was a rescue in the truest sense of the word.  He was a puppy wandering the streets when my mom and brother found him, took him home, and nursed him back to health while I was away at college.

So, there you have it.  I've given you a few things about me.  It's kind of funny to see this and realize how much information I've put down for my pets section.  I love dogs and animals in general.  I hope this helps anyone reading this in getting to know me better.  Like I said, I'm looking forward to a great Spring and to the next several months as we finish up our program.  Good luck to all of you!

I decided to post a couple of previously submitted work samples to give you an idea of what the final project should look like. I showed these in the Corpus class, but in San Antonio I had problems getting them to load. So here are two. The first is a prezi, and I will just give you the URL:

http://prezi.com/ucej-whladp-/cyberbullying/

This student ALSO had an interactive ppt that was a quiz over the material.

Here is one using Glogster:

http://shellb.edu.glogster.com/copyright-basics/

I was pleased to see this student use a new tool...I would really like more development in a glogster from any student in either IMLS class.

I just realize I am not sure how to attach a ppt here. I may go back over to the 591.01 site to share a ppt or two. For all of you, though, there are a couple of Web 2.0 tools used above for the project that might spur your thinking.