Where Does Dewey Fit In?

One of the ongoing jobs of a public or school librarian is that of cataloging. Where there are print materials meant for circulation, there is a stack of books and periodicals each waiting to be christened with a call number and take its place on the appropriate library shelf. In years past, when Dewey was king of library cataloging, there was little if any discussion or much thought going into the process of cataloging each book. It was a simple if not tedious process of assigning a predetermined call number according to Dewey's system to each resource. Like everything else in our world today, cataloging has become a little more complicated.
Some school librarians are questioning whether or not it would better serve the students to catalog books, not according to Dewey as was done in the past, but more in the fashion of book stores where materials are clustered together with similar topics for easier access. So one shelf would house "Mysteries" while another "Historical Fictions" and so on. While it may be true that this system would likely help students in the short term to locate the materials that they want or need, I don't feel we should totally discount educating students on Dewey's catagories. When these students move on to middle school, high school, college, and beyond, they will have to locate resources that no doubt have been cataloged and shelved according to the Dewey system. Without the proper early introduction to Dewey and practice locating materials in this way, these same students will be lost when later attempting to find books. Wouldn't it better serve our students if we took the time to teach them about Dewey and his ten catagories? Library lessons can be planned that are fun and helpful in its teaching. For instance, classes could participate in a Dewey Scavenger Hunt where each member of a team picks a card with a call number on it and has to locate the book that corresponds to it. First team to collect all the correct books is the winner. With lessons such as this, it won't be long before the students are skipping the catalog step and heading right for the shelves to choose their books to take out. With a little practice, Dewey isn't that hard to figure out.
No one knows what the future holds for libraries. But for now, I think we should hold onto a system that's been around for a while. It's not time to do away with Dewey.

Cyberbullying Education for the Very Young

So as educators we are becoming convinced that it is our responsibiity to make the students aware of the causes and the hurtful effects of cyberbullying. Such education should begin at the beginning of the school year and continue throughout the year. The presentation would be far more effective if constructed and presented by the older students, in my case grade five. But the question arises as to what grades will make up the audience. I look at children working or playing in their kindergarten classes, and I find it hard to believe that such innocence could produce hateful bullying or cyberbullying against other children. Yet these children are being exposed to more media, positive and negative than ever before and at an earlier age. With this exposure comes the potential for harmful learned behavior that could lead to bullying and cyberbullying. Parents want their children to compete with children around the world and be prepared to "keep up" in the 21st Century. This pressure to compete causes parents to start their children early whether it be sports, music, or academics. So it also goes for technology. If the door is open to all that today's internet has to offer, the good, the bad, and the ugly, isn't it possible that they are given the opportunity to be bullied or even to cyberbully someone else? With this in mind, why not follow along this pattern of early education and instill in them the message that cyberbullying is never something that they want to be involved in, offer them ways to prevent it, and if it happens to them, teach them ways that they can help themselves.If we capture this audience at a young age and continue to educate them with a continuing cyberbullying awareness program throughout their elementary school career, we may be able to stop or at least greatly decrease the magnitude of cyberbullying in their lifetime. Something needs to be done and there's no time like the present.

Keeping Safe While Traveling in Cyberspace

How many people, regardless of age, do you know who do not spend at least some of their time online? In fact, we are becoming a society of internet dependent people. The first PCs became available to consumers in the early 1970s and I’m sure not many could have imagined the impact that they would have on our lifestyle. Today consumers rely on their computers for so many daily tasks that they could not imagine their lives without their computer. People shop, do their banking, pay their bills, search for any kind of information, book travel arrangements, find their ancestry, amuse their children while they tend to other chores, do their bookkeeping and scheduling, and communicate with each other, all from the privacy of their home or workplace.

But along with these life changing technological timesavers, come new dangers for consumers of all ages. The cases of identity theft are on the rise, as is the number of children predators and subsequently children victims. No one at any age is safe from cyber crimes. Our addiction to computer use has given rise to a vulnerability that we as a society, as parents, and as educators must address. Our global society has told us that we need to expose children today at an early age to the benefits and positive successes that technology brings. It is our responsibility to our children and their achievement and productivity to make sure that they have access to all that computer use can offer them to help them compete in a 21st Century global community. But we will be failing them if we don’t at the same time alert them to the dangers of functioning in cyberspace and continually educate them in practices of safe internet use and etiquette.

With this in mind, I have developed one of many possible student presentations with the purpose of alerting the student population of the dangers lurking on the internet. The presentations will only be effective if they are coupled with continual in class reinforcement of the important things to remember and internet use that will potentially expose them to some of the dangers but with teacher supervision to address any issues, concerns, or questions from the students. Another part of the plan is to have the older students research and organize their own presentation of caution and advice which they will present to the younger students of our school. We can never do too much to ensure the safety of our children in our technologically advanced global community.

Annotated Bibliography of Informative Websites



www.netsmartz.org/

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sponsors this interactive site dedicated to internet safety education for parents, teachers, and children. Its goal is to make children aware of the dangers they can encounter with internet use, to teach them to be cautious when dealing with strangers online, and to encourage them to report any uneasy situations to their parents or other adults. Kids are told to UYN ("Use Your NetSmartz") when it comes to dealing with situations on the internet. The site offers music, games, activities, and videos to help teach internet safety.


http://www.safekids.com/

Larry Magid, author of the 1994 brochure entitled “Child Safety on the Information Highway”, created this site dedicated to the education of children in internet safety and civility. The site is separated into sections for teens, kids, and parents. Menu bar takes viewers to more pages of safety tips which include cell phone as well as social web safety and blogs about Cyber Safety themes. Kids can take the online quiz to see how much they know about online safety Online Safety Quiz.


www.bullying.org

This site started by Bill Belsey is perhaps the most frequently visited site devoted to the prevention of cyberbullying through awareness and safety education. The site makes available resources and educational programs for educational institutions and other organizations and private families. Sections include facts and myths about bullying and places victims can turn to for help. There is also a Helpful Resource page where you can contribute resources such as multimedia presentations, books, or articles.


http://www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying

The National Crime Prevention Council sponsors this site supporting their campaign against cyberbullying. The site offers help to those who have been victims of cyberbullying and useful tips on how to prevent it from happening. There are links to other sites to inform kids of their rights and offering more awareness and prevention tips.


http://www.cyberbullying.us/

The Cyberbullying Research Center offers updated information on what is new at the research center including latest publication entries. There are also updated lists of Blogs on the subject of cyberbullying and headlines from around the world. The site has so much to read to help stay in tune with what is happening worldwide.

http://www.stopcyberbullying.org
Stopcyberbullying.org is another informational awareness website. It offers a flash presentation of a cyberbully typing out messages to his victim. The messages are chilling when you think that a child could be on the receiving end of them. It covers what cyberbullying is, how and why it works, steps to prevention and taking action, and laws against cyberbullying.

http://www.cyberbullying.org/

This site believes as others do that awareness of the problem and education as to what can be one to prevent it, are the keys to controlling cyberbullying. Flash messages of facts and encouragement appear as you enter the site. The menu bar offers links to facts, informational resources, and contact information.



http://www.commonsense.com/internet-safety-tips/tips-for-kids.php

This is a non profit Internet Survival Guide with a section directed towards kids and teens and one specifically for parents and teachers. Tips on internet safety at every age and every stage of development are included and also a downloadable guide for parents.

The LMS as a Leader in the School Community

The demands on the school Library Media Specialist are great. The LMS is a teacher, an organizer, an administrator of the library, and a leader in the school community.
The LMS is responsible for keeping up with the ever increasing array of Web 2.0 tools and how these tools can and should be implemented in the classroom to enrich the 21st Century learning environment. It is an easy job compared to the one of convincing that school community of teachers and other staff of the benefits of taking the time to learn the tools and in turn to teach their students the same.
So in planning a PD for these teachers with the purpose of training them to use these applications with their students, I feel it is important to assure these teachers that learning them will not be a waste of their time and show them examples of how student learning will benefit from their incorporation. A tough job? Yes. Impossible? No. The key is not to expect all teachers to be on the bandwagon from the start. Take it slowly. If you can convince even a few teachers to try a certain application and then be there to support the teacher as he/she becomes comfortable with its use, then it will only be a matter of time before more teachers want to follow and the number of successful users will increase.
So where do I begin? Which tool should be my initiation? I plan to begin with the wiki. Most of the teachers by now have heard the term wiki and though not too many in my school district have used one in the classroom, I feel that they will be more open to listen to my views and recommendations for its use if they've heard it mentioned.
I plan to announce my intentions with another application, a Voki. I think this will break the ice and make the teachers more curious about what they may be able to learn to create. The PD will be in the form of a PowerPoint which I find is still one of the best forms of presentation.
Whatever the outcome, it is my responsibility to offer training and support to classroom teachers, administrators, and students, a challenging role but one I feel I am willing and able to accept.