Romeo and Juliet

Romeo & Juliet: A Research Pathfinder   Pathfinders help students find selected resources in a variety of media on specific research topics. They are a great research starting point.   This is not a comprehensive list of all of the information available in the library. Use the pathfinder to find more books, articles, websites and other resources on your topic.   * Don’t forget to check your local public library for additional materials!          PRINT RESOURCES:   You can find books and other library materials by opening the Library Catalog in your Internet Explorer favorites. Search for theme, a specific title, etc. using keyword, title, or author.   Check the reserve shelf to browse books set aside for this project. You can look at reserved books in the library, just like reference books, but you can’t check them out.   Don’t forget to look in the reference section and the nonfiction in the 800s!   RESEARCH DATABASES:   Databases can be accessed from school or from home using the Library Home Page and the appropriate passwords. Passwords are available in the library and are posted on the research bulletin board.   Do an Easy Search for the topic, the person’s name, or broader topics such as Shakespeare in Keyword. Use an Advanced Search to pair a narrow topic with a broad topic, like "Romeo and Juliet" AND Shakespeare.   Literature Resource Center or Opposing Viewpoints from Gale will be most helpful. This is a trial. No password is required.   EBSCO – Literary Reference Center will also be helpful. User ID:portsmouth     Password: patriots   WorldBook Advanced – Contains full text (eBook) of Shakespeare’s play. Login ID: rilink     Password: stars   WEBSITES:   It is important to evaluate the websites you find on your own or through a search engine. The recommended sites below should offer a great start to your research! The information found here is reliable and valid.   Click on any of these sites, or search them all at once using this search engine: Select...Shakespeare ResourcesSearch The Web Criticism: Collections of Articles Offers interesting criticisms of Shakespeare's plays, a collection of journals and articles. Journals include the Renaissance Forum, English Literary History and more. Articles are from current and past dates including dates prior to 1935. http://ise.uvic.ca/Annex/links/Shakespeare_Sites/Criticism.html   Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Shakespeare Terrific images and easy navigation, many articles and special features explore the life of Shakespeare, the theater in which he produced his plays, and, of course, the plays themselves. http://search.eb.com/shakespeare/index2.html   Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet is a complete annotated guide to the scholarly Shakespeare resources available on the Internet: a Shakespeare timeline, links to his works, life and times, theater, criticism, renaissance, sources educational best sites and other sites. http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/   Shakespeare Online Over 100 of Shakespeare’s sonnets and longer poems; explanations, synopses, and analysis of his major plays; several essays on Shakespeare’s plays, poems, and theatre. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/   Shakespeare Resource Center Provides bibliographical information, an overview of his works, links to online editions of his works with commentary, and summaries of his entire collection that are useful to struggling readers. You can also read Shakespeare’s will and about the ongoing debate over authorship. Check out information about the Globe Theatre and Elizabethan times.  http://www.bardweb.net/   Shakespeare, William Five plays (Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, and Richard III) and five sonnets by William Shakespeare are annotated. Each of the entries for these works includes a summary and commentary http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/People?action=view&id=2084   William Shakespeare Dr. Andreas Tuber, associate professor of philosophy at Brandeis University, maintains the course notes and background materials for his course "Coming into One's Own" online. These resources include an ample entry on English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare. The material features an ample biographical and critical essay followed by commentary on each of Shakespeare's works http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/shakespearebio.html

Week 9: Thing 23!

Week 9 or Week 15 or however long it has taken me to complete these 23 things...I definitely took more time on certain things than I thought I would. I also found that I was easily sidetracked and delved much more deeply into some things than was necessary. I only say this because I became overwhelmed by the options.

The creative commons license is genious. Sadly, so much of what our teachers and students want to use is not licensed under creative commons...rather, it has a straight-up all rights reserved copyright. I have definite concerns about fair use, copyright, plagiarism and cheating in using using some of these technologies...but I also believe that Web 2.0 applications are worth these risks and provide many teachable opportunities as long as we stay on top of them!

Here are some final thoughts using the prompts from CSLA:

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? I loved playing with Shelfari (for my RI Teen Book Award reading), LibraryThing (for my children's book collection), and finally getting my NetVibes page together. Zoho also has unlimited potential...
   
2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? This program has piqued my interest in many new web applications; but more importantly, because I have been able to play with them, I am comfortable enough to choose a few to focus on in my library for next year.
   
3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I was surprised at how easy it was to create my own search engine with Rollyo and how timely that week's "thing" was...it coincided perfectly with a literary analysis that all juniors were doing. And I've been able to add a Shakespeare criticism search as well. It's such an issue when students search "Fate in Romeo and Juliet" and the first page of results in Google are all from paper mills.
   
4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I think the format and concept of the program were great. Nine weeks seemed like more than enough time at first, but as I became engrossed in the discovery exercises, I found that the whole thing took more time than I intended. I also explored quite a bit and digested it for a week before posting...perhaps that was just procrastinating. I'm glad the time frame was extended and I obviously took all the time allotted to finish (less one day).
5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Absolutely.
6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities? Radical.
   

Week 9: Thing 22

I love audio books - especially on our 11 hour drive to the cottage in Canada. Or when I'm on the treadmill - I just can't exercise inside to mindless things like TV or music. And I also find audio books useful for dry nonfiction that I want to read but just can't bring myself to pick up on a regular basis. I often download them from the public library and I've been known to purchase them occasionally, too. I really want to purchase more of them (either through audible.com or maybe playaways) for school because we have so many books on tape that the teachers don't want to use...nobody has tape decks anymore. There seem to be more options for mp3s.

eBooks are a bit of a sticky wicket for me. We have a few reference books available through Gale Virtual Reference Library. The ability to search them like databases is definitely a bonus, but I think they are underutilized. I can see electronic textbooks and I love LibriVox for the classics, but I just don't see sitting down with a computer or a reader for long periods of time. I have concerns that our youth are going to be blind by the time they're 30 because of the amount of time they spend looking at and reading from tiny screens. Enough editorializing (although isn't that what blogging is all about?).

The audio and eBook resources listed on the SLL 2.0 site are fabulous and I added the one (Best Places to Get Free Books) that I didn't already know about to my del.icio.us page. I can't wait for the World eBook Fair this year for free access!

Week 9: Thing 21

As with all of these "things," I find that I spend the most time searching for something great. I get sidetracked and discover new things or get frustrated and just have to step away from the computer. I was all over these different podcast sites but I think I have to stick with my favorite - NPR. I love The Writer's Almanac and I could listen to Garrison Keillor's voice for hours...but alas, I am in school at 9am when it's on WGBH, so the podcast will keep me up to date. My only concern is that it will become yet another thing to do each day...Hopefully adding it to Bloglines will help me keep on top of it!

Week 9: Thing 20

The joys of YouTube! I've seen the video someone posted about Stacy Westfall freestyle horseback riding. It's inspirational, to say the least. There's also Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, which brought me to tears. Or, if you're looking for something just plain entertaining, how about The Evolution of Dance, featuring Judson Laipply. One of my former students performed this little ditty at a talent competition. I was suitably impressed. Anyway, these things generally make the rounds via email...but I'm more interested in TeacherTube for this class because YouTube is blocked at school (of course).

The thing about using technology to teach is that there is still a technology gap and technology still has many bugs and challenges that make teachers shy away from it. Do I whole-heartedly agree with everything in this video? No. But it does make me think about the options we have, how we can better utilize technology in our classrooms, and how we need to explore all of this to reach our students. Today's students, my own generation, my parents' generation...we are all different types of learners with different attention spans. It isn't just our teaching that needs to grow and evolve, but also our standards, our school environment, school hours, school year. Where do we start?

Week 8: Thing 19

Library Thing. The thing that I most looked forward to and also the most daunting of projects for me. I actually want to use it personally to catalog my children's book collection. I'm having a baby in a month and it would be clever if folks knew what books I already own so that I don't end up with 47 copies of Good Night Moon (though it is my favorite, I don't need 47 copies and neither does Baby H). I also want to get my family on board so that I know what books to buy my nephews and nieces. Alas, it has taken me this long to even start my own collection. I can't expect too much from other parents...

As for uses at school...I'm not sure. I need to explore Library Thing for Libraries a little more in depth.

Week 8: Thing 18

Zoho is pretty neat. I've played with it before...but not since all the new applications. I used it to create a pathfinder for a low level Freshman English class. Now I don't have to worry about remembering my flash drive! I think there are great opportunities here for students because of the ability to save as a word doc. They can easily export to Word on their network space or their own computers at home. It would eliminate so many problems!

If I had a dollar for every time a student "saved wrong," or didn't have the document on their flash drive, or had a broken floppy disk, or didn't attach the document correctly to their email...well, my library budget wouldn't be an issue, that's for sure!

Week 7: Thing 17

Given the option, I believe I'll skip Sandbox...I did explore the great ideas for using wikis and other 2.0 applications, but I don't feel like I have anything groundbreaking to contribute. As an aside, I did just get an email about NELINET's Technology Sandbox through LORI (Library of RI). I might begin exploring that as well. They are using it as a space to try out new technologies:
"This Sandbox enables librarians to keep abreast of trends, best practices, and emerging standards in the world of information content and technology. Current technologies available in the Sandbox include DSpace, Evergreen, MediaWiki, Moodle, WordPress and more. Some of these technologies are available as open source."

Week 7: Thing 16

Wikis are a great collaborative tool. The Policy and Inventory Subcommittee of our Technology Committee is using one right now to meet virtually and update our web, laptop, and acceptable use policies, among other things.

I really enjoyed teacherlibrarian for the resource-sharing, but I found the AP World History wiki a great classroom application. It's something that students have to contribute to for a grade, but it will also serve as a collaborative study guide. This would have been great for someone like me who studies better alone, but could benefit from a multi-contributor study guide. I also think using a library wiki to create pathfinders or class projects (including webquests) would be a great application for my school.

Week 6: Thing 15

Perspectives on (School) Library 2.0: Of course I couldn't read just two or three articles. I had to read so many of them my head was spinning. The articles from the OCLC newsletter were great and started me thinking about realistic possibilities of 2.0 applications for my library. As I kept exploring, I came across the list of Wikipedia (*gasp!*) references. I really like Chris Harris, and I went through his blog entries from January '06. He has such excitement and vision. I think the thing to keep most in mind is that we may not be able to tackle it all at once, but it is most important to do the one or two things that you can handle and do them well. We have to focus on the library as a virtual destination, not just as a room that the teachers have to book time to use with their classes.

I am amazed that I am so rarely called upon to visit the computer labs in our school. I know the number of students doing "research" in class is pretty large and there are still teachers who tell students to "google indians and click on the first link" for example. I watch students in the library type in worldbook.com (regardless of my instructions) to get to the database instead of clicking on the link from the library page. And then they are frustrated because they can't find the place to log in. It's a long, slow climb for me, but I love the challenge and I am very interested in making the library site an interactive, one-stop resource for students, faculty and staff alike.

Week 6: Thing 14

After playing around on Technorati, I am rather frustrated with a couple of things. First of all, the ads are annoying. Secondly, I don't like searching the tags because there are too many variables. Tags are handy for keeping track of your own favorites (in del.icio.us) or photographs (in flickr) or posts (in blogs), but who's to say other people will use the same tags? Tags are basically like subject headings with no governing body (LC or SEARS). This is liberating but also can make things a bit confusing. I know I spent quite a bit of time thinking about how I might go back to my faves and try to find a random link. I also went back and added tags to this blog a couple posts ago so that if I ever wanted to see which Web 2.0 applications I used or which "Thing" was covered in a given post, I could easily find them.
Searching blog content seems to work okay, but the bigger question is why do we need to search blogs. I imagine the need arises professionally for us and our colleagues, but maybe not for our students in a research situation. We teach validity and authority and directing students to search blogs might be confusing. Not all bloggers are experts in their "field." However, the curriculum connection idea about finding election blogs might work in a bias, politics, sociology class.

Week 6: Thing 13

del.icio.us is a great tool for keeping track of favorites in one place. I actually started an account last year because our favorites were deleted from the network each night at my old school. As with all Web 2.0 applications, it took me ages to decide which site to use. I think I may still have a furl account out there and I really liked the look of Ma.gnolia as well (which got a 1st place award), but you couldn't see enough of the links on the page. In the end, I chose del.icio.us because many of my friends and colleagues were using it.

I spent some time adding more sites (past recommended websites from my old school's website), adding to my network and bundling my tags. I haven't used my account with students in the library, although I have considered creating another account for the library. I am still undecided. In the meantime, anyone can feel free to check out my faves. (It's mostly professional, just ignore the baby stuff!)

Week 5: Thing 12

Rollyo has great potential, if I can just get my students to try its search box instead of Google. I created search rolls for British and American literary criticism on the web. I'm going to try them out with some classes this week as they begin literary analysis papers.

Week 5: Thing 11

I have been interested in putting my children's book collection on Library Thing for some time. I'm so glad it's an award winner!

And so is NetVibes! I have a startpage on NetVibes, though I was thinking about switching to PageFlakes. I may just keep what I've got, since NetVibes got 1st place. We'll see.

In the meantime, I started playing with Shelfari, a social site sent to me by a fellow (non-librarian) book lover. I started a bookshelf of young adult titles with a few reviews because of the number of books I've been reading and trying to keep track of as a member of the RI Teen Book Award committee. I like it quite a bit. It has some potential...but as it isn't an award-winning site...

I definitely want to play more with NetVibes and Library Thing. In the meantime, check out my bookshelf on Shelfari.

Week 5: Thing 10

I created my Wicked Good Dog Read poster with Big Labs, so I thought I'd try something new... Image Chef (http://www.imagechef.com/)

We always begin fantasizing about our summer cottage in February. Only 6 months until we can get back there!!!

Week 4: Things 8 & 9

Apparently, I'm a little behind. As I realized that I'm giving birth in less than 10 weeks and I have quite a bit to do and read and prepare, I let this Web 2.0 business slip to the back of the line. However, it's time to get back to work. I'm so glad it's February break and I've had time to play/catch up!

First of all, I explored Bloglines weeks ago, but I was interested in creating a start page through PageFlakes. It has its own reader, but I can also add a Google Reader or Bloglines link to my start page. I decided, after much deliberation, to just create the Bloglines account and figure out the PageFlakes reader later.

Finding blogs for the feed was fairly easy. I have quite a few in my del.icio.us account. Now I can have feeds delivered much more efficiently. I always meant to do this! I also used Edublogs to find a few. However, Bloglines froze on me several times as I tried to add feeds. I became increasingly frustrated and only have 5 out of ... I don't know ... a dozen choices. Now that I have the account, I will be able to add feeds directly as I find useful ones, instead of adding more cumbersome more bookmarks. This should be a huge timesaver...and I may actually read the posts more regularly.

Wicked Good Dog

bella_read
Originally uploaded by Sarkathun

First of all, she's not supposed to be on the furniture. Secondly, she can't resist curling up with a good book. Third, look at that face, would ya?

Now, picture this dog covered in low-tide muck barreling down the beach PAST you with her tongue hanging out the side of her huge grinning mouth not giving a moment's notice to the fact that the entire beach can hear you calling, nay, shrieking, her name...

Week 3: Things 5, 6 & 7

Flickr. Right on! My friends have all been at me to share photos, but I have been reluctant to get on board. I took this assignment as an opportunity to finally download the photos from our annual trip to the cottage in Canada...last August. I used to run out to develop photos as soon as the film was used up, but for some reason the digital photos stay on the camera for months and then the computer for months. We rarely print anything out to put in scrap books or albums. I also took a look at Picasa and SmugMug and I think I like the look and features of SmugMug best. I'm more interested in photo hosting sites and creating online albums with private access for families or friends or groups. This appears to be possible in Flickr, but there seems to be more flexibility for creating “scrapbooky” type albums in some of the other programs.

My interest in blogs and wikis and photo sharing has much to do with a brother, sister-in-law and nephew in Park City Utah and my own little one on the way. It is definitely easy to keep in touch these days with email and digital cameras, but often I receive HUGE files (you know the kind - all you can see is an eyeball and you have to scroll up, down, back and forth to see the photo so eventually you give up and just download the whole thing whether or not you originally intended to simply because you want to see it. But I digress...). I am the most tech savvy person in my immediate family, but I know everyone with internet access would go to a website daily to see the latest photos of the family. I need to make it as easy as possible for them to view our photos as well as add their own. The time is now. I will start with flickr and see where the road leads...

I did create a flickr account and upload a "motivational poster" created through bighugelabs (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/). These mash-up applications have great potential in the classroom as well as in our personal lives. I especially love the idea of trading cards and magazine covers. I'm thinking there must be some kind of connection to be made with the trading cards and book clubs or book reviews or something to that effect. Even trading card bookmarks with favorite faculty members a la the READ posters... My mind races with the possibilities.

Week 2: Thing 4

Oh the joy, the bliss! I have chosen my platform and registered my blog with Kathy/MSLA! Yeehaw!

Week 2: Thing 3

Okay, I could easily become obsessed with finding the perfect template or colors or shopping for my avatar. Yes, obsessed. And that's after coming up with a name for the blog...too many choices, too many decisions. Setting up the blog was easy enough and I'm hoping that I can get into the habit of blogging enough that I actually create a blog for my library. We'll see!

Week 1: Thing 2

What is easy and what is difficult? For starters, it's pretty easy for me to talk about the difficulties I face - both on the job and personally.

I'd say it is usually difficult for me to "Begin with the end in mind." I have boundless ideas but in the end I have trouble picking one of those ideas, stating a goal and focusing on that goal. My ideas often stay in the stratosphere and never come to fruition. That personal challenge to bring some of my ideas to life is what spurred me to sign up for this program. I am familiar with many of the technologies, but I haven't found the time, energy or focus to use them in my library.

The easiest habit for me is #4 - to have confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner. I pride myself on being a lifelong learner, in everything from looking for new information and welcoming life's many lessons every day. I know that I take what I learn professionally and put it into action most of the time. I also know that I sound pretty full of myself right now...

As an aside, I think Play (Habit 7 1/2) is both very challenging and quite easy at times. Making the time to play can be difficult, but then using the time to actually play is sometimes also difficult. It's important to remember to play and not to feel guilty about it!