Thursday, May 12, 2005

LSTA Laptop Grant Update

We have scheduled a time for all of the 6th grade students at Olive Elementary to come (each class individually) to the library for instruction on how to more effectively use the Internet for homework, class assignments and anything else they need (aside from online games)

I'll have each class here for about 90 minutes and we'll discuss elements of the Windows Operating System; such as where is the menu bar, vertical/horizontal scroll bars, cutting/pasting etc.

We will also do searches on Inspire.net, World Almanac and the library's online catalog.

Our kids are important to us and they need to know that the library staff will do everything in their power to give each of them an equal chance in the world.

Re-inventing Libraries

We had session 2 of Re-inventing Libraries yestarday in Kokomo. Most of the workshop was spend discussing systems (relating to business/administration) and how the system of the organization is not only different in each library, but also how it is interpreted by each of the library's staff members.

Later in the day we played a game entitled, "Technopoly." Based upon the board game Monopoly, each square dealt with a different situation. Each group had four members and each member played a different part (opposite of their current position at the library). After a roll of the die the players would move the marker to a square on the board and read the situation. Each member, as viewed from their part, were to describe how they would each handle the situation. SUPERB INDEED.

This has been a fascinating workshop. The presenters are Dan and Sharon Wiseman and Michael Stephens. Couldn't have a better group of people.

Steve and Ida from INCOLSA are to be commended too on provinding such a series of programs!

WELL DONE INDEED!

UPDATES, FINALLY

Has definitely been a hectic month here at NCPL, so my apologies for not keeping you up to date.

Here's a bit of what has been going on:

I did four Junior Achievement classes at Olive Elementary for all three 6th grades. We talked about global business and economies. We also learned about imports, exports and exchange rate for curriencies of various countries including our own. The final day we did a Trivial Pursuit type of game, but for the answers the students were required to use the World Almanacs that I brought from the library. DEFINITELY a learning experience. They had to find statistics about different countries, statistics from sporting events (the guys loved this one), historical dates and much more. I can't wait to do it again next year.

I also did three Junior Achievement for a single fourth grade class. We also discussed business, but on a more local scale.

For both of the above I discussed some topics that will, hopefully, pay dividents in years to come for the students. I stressed the necessity of planning and made them memorize the following: "Failing to plan is planning to fail."

AND

Decision Theory. If it is new to you, here it is:

1. Define the Problem.
2. Gather all relevant data.
3. Identify alternatives and options.
4. Identify advantages and dis-advantages of each alternative or solution to the problem/s.
5. Make the decision by using the solution with the most advantages and the least dis-advantages.

Companies spend thousands to learn decision theory so I took it upon myself to see that our kids are ahead of the game in this respect.

Can't wait to do it all again next year.