Online Book Communities

For this I was unsure how to use SKITCH to draw, type, or point out things on my screenshots. Therefore, I have included screenshots of parts of my book shelves on the following book community websites: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, Booklist, and Biblionasium.

First, I enjoyed exploring and using Goodreads to create a book shelf. This website was basic and easy to use. The book title, short 1 to 3 sentence summary, book information (ISBN, number of pages, where to purchase, and more), other book titles related to subject/awards/author, and reviews. The home page of this website is kind of plain (maybe a little boring), but my books area made up for the background and site colors by including book cover, title, author, and more. The only disadvantage that I found with this site was that it needed to be made more children friendly so that it could be used in school classrooms or libraries to help students keep a log of what they have already read, are reading, or would like to read in the future.

Second, I explored and used the website LibraryThing. An advantage was that the site offered five different book shelf format styles. One disadvantage of this site is that the book cover shows during the search, but not when placed into the book shelf area. However, the book cover reappears when the user clicks on the your books area. When entering multiple book titles in a row this could become confusing to young or new users. Another disadvantage, for users who are required to have a certain number of books on their book shelf, is that the user must enter books and count or click on their book shelf area regularly to get the total number of books they have already entered.

Last, I explored and used Shelfari. I thought negatively of this site from the start due to being required to use amazon.com login. I don't mind creating login accounts for useful websites, but I don't have an amazon.com login so I have to use and edit my husband's amazon account to be able to use this site. Another disadvantage is that the site requests that the user input several pieces of information about the book that that they have selected to shelf. Like the other sites I have explored, this site asks if you have read the book yet. However, the user is also asked the date completed, personal book review, share on Facebook or Twitter, and add character description (or other information about the book). Shelfari has the following information areas available for each of the books: 1. simple synopsis 2. character synopsis 3. setting/location 4. first sentence 5. table of contents 6. glossary 7. series and lists 8. author and contributors 9. first edition 10. awards 11. classification 12. notes to parents. However, many of the books don't have this information completed. One of the advantages is that when the user checks I plan to read, reading now, or I've read Shelfari creates a basic reading timeline. Another advantage of Shelfari is that the user can create a reading goal for the year, "Your goal is to read ____ books in 2015."

Booklists was basic and contained a plain white background. This has been the trend with all of the online book communities that I have explored and used. Personally I would like to see more color on these sites while making them easier to use and include all necessary book information. On Booklists, I was unable to find the book Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell. I believe that an online book community should be up-to-date and contain a majority of the books available to general public. Like LibraryThing and Shelfari, I will most likely not be using Booklists again. However, the next online book community (Biblionasium) that I explored and used was wonderful.

After exploring Biblionasium I began to prepare using it in my classroom with my second graders. As a teacher, I believe that Biblionasium is the best of the online book communities that I explored in the past few days. This site is easy to use and children friendly. The site provides an area to create groups of readers/students which includes the child's reading level. A teacher can assign reading challenges, set up reading lists, and print the recorded reading progress. Students are able to log on at home to record any book titles read outside of school. Parents are also able to log on to check their child's reading records. This particular online book community still had the white background, but there was a touch more color added. One disadvantage is that the user is unable to find, read, and record a book on just one site. I think that Biblionasium would be one more step above the other online book communities if there was an area where the user could purchase and read the online copy of a book. However, this site is colorful, user friendly (even for children), and contains several wonderful book titles that can be placed on the user's shelf.

Elementary School Libraries on Facebook

I find the use of technology, such as Facebook, to be a necessity in today's society. Therefore, when I looked at different elementary school libraries on Facebook, I saw more advantages than disadvantages.

The first school library that I looked at on Facebook was Roosevelt-Wilson Elementary School Library. The last post entry was on August 26th. I am unsure to why the page is not up-to-date because I found many useful post entries and over 400 people follow this page. On Roosevelt-Wilson Elementary School Library Facebook page I discovered posts related to school and library events (such as...PTO events, Open House, report card dates, library grants won, book pumpkin contest, book character sidewalk parade, and the school's library poet tree), article links, and inspiring images. The advantage of this site was that teachers, parents, students, and the community members have access to the school and library events. However, the disadvantages of this particular Facebook page were that many people didn't comment on the post entries and the page was not up-to-date.

The second page that I explored was created by the Lumberton Primary School Library. This Facebook page had the library's hours, address, email address of librarian, and website link posted to the left of the screen. The Lumberton Primary School Library Facebook page has been used regularly and is up-to-date for the 228 people who follow it. One of the advantages I noticed was that website recommendations were posted. While one disadvantage was that the post entries related to the school book fair were excessive. The book fair was mentioned in several post entries and in a variety of ways (from pictures of the teachers' wish lists to links and videos). The librarian even posted a copy of the book fair volunteer chart. I did like how the book fair was promoted, but thought it could have been done with several less post entries.

Like Lumberton Primary School Library, Moore Elementary School Library put their address, phone number, and web link to library catalog on the left side of the Facebook page. I really liked how the posts varied from school related to library related. The most recent post entry (posted yesterday) was about how the students at Moore Elementary were featured in the Cy-Fair magazine for collecting art supplies for pediatric cancer patients. Other post entries included: book fair reminders and pictures, librarians' notes, and fun library circulation facts. The disadvantage of this particular Facebook page was that not many of the post entries had comments from other users.

Becker Elementary Library Facebook page has 124 people following and 35 people that posted they have been to this particular library. The hours of operation are posted to the top left side of this Facebook page for the patrons to easily view. This page contained post entries related to the following: book fair, volunteering, donated items, school/library events, articles, and author/illustrator visit. However, this page also didn't have many comments to the post entries.

I feel that when I become a librarian I will use technology to connect with the teachers, parents, students, and community members. If Facebook is still popular, I will create a page for the school library in which I am the librarian. On the Facebook page or other type of technology communication, I will include the library's hours of operation, address, phone number, librarian's email, and link to library catalog system. I will include post entries on a variety of school, library, and community events. To inform the staff, parents, and community about the page, I will send home flyers or email or call.

Online Comic Strips - ToonDoo, Pixton, and MakeBeliefsComix

After exploring three different online comic makers - ToonDoo, Pixton, and MakeBeliefsComix - I answered the following question: Were the comics easy to create? Where the comics easy to save? Did you have enough variety to make and interesting comic? Would students be able to use it?

ToonDoo: ToonDoo contained a variety of different options to create, such as; ToonDoo Maker (comic strip maker), Book Marker (ToonBook creator), TraitR (character maker), ImagineR (upload), and DoodleR (add drawing touches). I had to complete a simple three step process to get to where I created my comic about nouns (1. One home page, click on ToonDoo Maker - 2. Select your layout size and direction - 3. Begin creating comic). It took me a little while to locate the area where I could click to save the comic that I created. However, once I figured out the location of save, I was able to quickly save the comic. This online comic marker provided a large variety of characters, backgrounds, and more. I was unable to use any characters besides the bears, but it was easy to add and move the characters as needed. I also had difficulty getting the backgrounds to function correctly, but somehow my comic still ended up with a background in the first panel even though I didn't add a background. I believe that with some further exploration of this online comic maker, I would be able to better navigate through the tools provided for creating an online comic. I know that I would not be able to have my current second graders use this, but students in higher grades and teachers of many grades would be able to use it. http://www.toondoo.com/View.toon?param=9419534

Pixton: Pixton is the online comic maker that I liked the best because it provided the user with colorful character and backgrounds, multiple font types, easy access to unfinished comic, and is easy to use. The comic was easy to create and I feel that students in second grade and up would be able to easily use this online comic maker to create their own comic(s). Though it was easy to use, the comic link would not link correctly when placed in this blog (and this may be an error on the blog). https://www.pixton.com/ca/comic/2bjimwu6 (sorry, but I am unable to get the link for this comic to embed in this blog post)

MakeBeliefsComix: This online comic marker was extremely easy to use, but I was unable to figure out how to save my completed comic. The options that I was able to find included: printing or emailing the comic. Therefore, I have placed a screen shot of my completed comic below. This online comic maker contained several different little window areas that contained a variety of options such as, cast of characters, words/objects/background, background colors, 8 talk balloons and 8 thought balloons, panel prompts, and panel format choices. However, the user doesn't have the choice of the number of panels that will be included in their comic. All users will use a comic template with three panels.

I could incorporate comics into my teaching by using them as a short lesson introduction, to check story comprehension, introduce or review vocabulary or concept previously taught, and more.