Weinberg,+Tamara

Purpose:
I created the blog "[|What's New @TMS LMC?]" to provide information to staff about ongoing events and promotions in the Library Media Center, as well as to share resources that our faculty can use to assist with lesson planning. Although I have a web page for the LMC with some library news and teacher resources, it is primarily geared towards students and contains a virtual library and numerous links to databases, subscription services, and various websites that students use for research projects. I wanted to have a separate vehicle to communicate with teachers so that they can look to one place for information about library events without having to search for emails from me or for relevant files on our server. I plan to gradually add more teacher resources in addition to library news so that teachers will check the blog more frequently for helpful information.

Objectives:
The blog will serve as a communication tool and a resource for teachers, but I also intend for it to be a way for teachers to become comfortable with using blogs. One of our building goals is to improve student writing, and many of our teachers have expressed an interest in using blogs. Although their blogs would be used for students to post written work, the LMC blog can be used as an example to show the mechanics of creating a blog and the ease of use. By becoming familiar with navigating the LMC blog, teachers will hopefully gain enough confidence to create their own blogs (with assistance) for classroom use.

Introducing the blog:
I decided to start slow by adding a link to the blog to the LMC webpage without a formal introduction to the staff. It is visible only to staff members. I mentioned it to a few teachers who are very interested in technology, by using it as an example of a blog or by pointing out specific information that I thought they would be interested in. As I added more news items, I would send out my usual email to staff and then mention the blog and include a direct link so that interested teachers could follow up. One problem with this gradual approach is that I had no way of knowing if anybody was viewing the blog. I eventually added a hit counter so that I could reassure myself that someone else was reading it.I was thrilled when a teacher mentioned that she noticed the link on the webpage and took a look because she was intrigued. I didn't want to advertise the blog too heavily and then have teachers be disappointed and never look at it again, so I am trying to gradually add features before I make a formal announcement to the entire staff. I also plan to solicit input from teachers about the types of information that would be most useful to them. I want to add more labels so that it will be easier to search to make it more user-friendly.When I feel that the blog contains sufficient resources, I might demonstrate it at a staff meeting so that teachers will be more aware of it as a resource.

Future goals:
I plan to include more teacher resources, including: I also intend to publish general information about library rules and the use of resources that tend to be forgotten as the year progresses. I am considering creating a blogroll so that teachers can easily access the thoughts of various forward-thinking educators, especially in the field of educational technology. Another possibility is to use the site for mini-surveys about potential improvements to the library media program and to solicit input for our technology committee. I hope to continue to develop the blog to serve as a a communication tool as well as a useful resource for teachers. Perhaps I can convince more teachers to sign on as "followers" so that they will be alerted to new postings.
 * Links to databases, especially those for which we currently have a trial subscription, with detailed explanations of the best uses for each database
 * Links to tutorials for software and hardware tools that would assist teachers with delivering curriculum
 * Links to websites with curriculum-specific resources that teachers can use for lesson planning
 * Articles and videos of interest to teachers.

Deliverable #3: A proposal to administrators to use blogging in our school
My colleague, Jane Wilson, and I created this proposal to introduce blogging into our school. We chose to produce a PowerPoint to demonstrate the essentials of blogging, along with its history, and specific examples of how it can be used in the classroom. This proposal can also be viewed by teachers who are interested in using blogging.

Based on our readings and experimentation with new technologies, we feel that many teachers in our school could benefit from using blogs. In order for you, our administrators, to feel comfortable with this new technology, we have prepared this presentation to explain what a blog is and how it can be used in education.       We perceive the major roadblocks to be resistance to using new technology and the need for professional development to use blogging. We believe that the most effective way to overcome them is to create a staff-to-staff blog. The proposed blog will be a communication tool for our Technology Committee, both to share information discussed at meetings and to solicit comments from our staff regarding technology needs in the school. Our intention is that the Technology Blog will serve two purposes: it will allow our staff to see a practical use of a blog, and it will create an opportunity for our staff to get hands-on practice with using a blog. Once they become comfortable with commenting on the Technology Blog, it will hopefully seem to be a less drastic step to create their own classroom blog.