Success in WordPress

Okay, with extensive help from Dr. Yang, and a crash course in Unix codes, I was finally able to create a WordPress page. And, after having to request permission changes twice, I can now finally upload backgrounds and media. So, here is my WordPress site: www.valdosta.edu/~sebenefield/wordpress. Worship it in all its glory. :-)

WordPress Blogging

It's official. I am doomed in this course. I have had nothing but problems with WordPress and all of the required steps to even begin the blog. I intended to get this assignment over the weekend. I only got the blog actually created last night, with extensive help from Dr. Yang. Today, I've not been able to upload any files or install a theme yet. I am thinking the simplest software and technology possible is what I will be using in the future, when possible. Anything complicated is apparently out of the realm of possibility.

The Techno Gods Must Hate Me

I am having serious issues with technology today. I had to call the Help Desk to get my AD username and password. Then I had to call back because the password I had been given didn't work. It took about ten minutes to have everything, including Blazeview completely reset. Finally, I was able to login to AD, download WordPress, and attempt to get FTP going. Only to find out that the password for AD doesn't work for my FTP. I called Help Desk again, and I was told that there was nothing they could do except place a work order. So, hopefully this will be taken care of at some point... Sigh. I am thinking that there is a conspiracy against me in participating in this class.

Moving On to Assignment Two

I'm getting a bit of a late start on the second assignment for MLIS 7505. This week was the last week of school for my students, so I had to make exams and study guides, grade tests, and attend graduation last night. My first group of 8th graders, many of whom I also taught in 9th grade, graduated last night. It was a little bittersweet. They were a really great group of kids. I was so exhausted from all the goings on this week that I stayed in bed for nearly 11 hours! Still feel like I could take a nap this afternoon. Perhaps after I get a good portion of assignment two finished. The good news is, after Tuesday, I'm free to do nothing expect work on grad school. Summer is always a relief, even though classes are condensed. It is much easier having all day to work on readings and assignments than trying to squeeze time in before and after work. Now, I'll be able to goof off some and still have time to get work done. Yay for summer reading time!

Luminotes Wiki

I decided I wanted to choose a wiki for the library of the school where I work. My school is a 6-12 combination with about 1000 students. I knew I wanted to keep the wiki as simple as possible for all users, and I wanted support for myself in the installation and use. I decided I absolutely wanted WYSISYG, since most students and teachers are not familiar with HTML code. I also wanted to find an inexpensive wiki, since the library budget is nonexistent.

I used WikiMatrix's WikiWizard to narrow down the different wikis specific to my needs. I looked through the results, and I finally decided on Luminotes. It is aimed at educators and students, it's free, and it has all of the features I wanted and more. It even offers an RSS feed, so teachers could monitor progress. I do wish it had email notification, but the RSS feed should be sufficient.

Wiki Wonderful

I have never before considered how useful a wiki would be to a school system. Like many school systems, ours discourages students from taking work back and forth between home and school using jump drives (viruses, malware, spyware, oh my!). Unfortunately, it never fails that a student is out the day before a paper is due, or just isn't quite finished on that assignment. With a wiki (and education on how to use it), the students would be able to transfer easily with no risk of contamination. Also, teachers would not have to worry about kids printing out, unless they specifically wanted them to, and could use such services as TurnItIn quite easily. I haven't chosen a favorite yet, but I will update when I do. Wikis, the jump drive of the future? Perhaps.

RSS Feeds and their uses

I think I am beginning to understand the value and use of RSS feeds. I've subscribed to VSU's MLIS RSS feed, and I am now aware of job postings and other news that I never would have known about before. It's overwhelming to look through an entire site sometimes just to find the new information. RSS feeds are a great way to keep up with updates and pertinent new information. I love when I learn new things I'll actually use!

RSS feed

I think I have created RSS feeds as I was supposed to. http://feeds.feedburner.com/SarahsTechnologicalJourney is one feed.
http://sarahstechnologicaljourney.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default is the other.

I have no idea if I'm doing all of this correctly! But I will continue to view it as I update my blog and hope that the two are in sync. Fortunately, there are people much smarter than me creating these technologies, so perhaps it will work despite my efforts.

For now, I hope it will work, and I am learning.

Introduction to me and my blog

My name is Sarah Benefield. My purpose in creating this blog is to fulfill an assignment for MLIS 7505 (Applied Technology for Library Practice), one of the courses I am taking to complete my Master's in Library Science. I've never created a blog before, so I feel a bit odd about this. I haven't even kept a diary since middle school. This blog is supposed to document my experiences within this technology course. I am already overwhelmed. Blogging I can handle. We are also supposed to create an RSS feed and subscribe to an RSS feed. I don't even yet know what an RSS feed is. We are also supposed to describe what we would look for in a wiki for our library, fictitious or real. But, I know all of this will be useful for running a library one day, so here goes nothing!

To provide a little background about myself, I grew up in a little bitty town in southwestern Georgia. I currently live one town over, in a slightly less little bitty town which is about 35 minutes from Dothan, Alabama, and about 30 minutes from the Florida line. I can make it to Tallahassee in about an hour and a half (unless my husband is driving -- then it might be just over an hour).
I graduated from Thomas University (Thomasville) in 2005 with my B.S. in Secondary English Education. I have been teaching since 2005, and I have taught literature and composition in grades 9, 10, and 11, as well as English Language Arts in grade 8. I currently teach both 8th and 9th grades, since my school is a 6-12 combination.
I am married (8 years this June!), and have two furry children. We have a Great Dane named Isis, who is really like a child in so many ways. She'll be 10 months old this weekend. She's already 30 inches tall and weighs about 100 lbs. She even has acne, so she's more like a teenager. :-) We also have a kitten, a rescue that we found in the middle of the road one night. She's a special little kitty, and she has her issues, but she's a sweetie.
I have always had a love of books. I can't ever remember a time in my life when I didn't know how to read. My mom loves telling me (and anyone who will listen) about how my kindergarten classroom ran out of books for me and had to go to the first grade teacher to get more. I chose English as my focus for teaching, and I think I will enjoy the library so much more. Surrounded by books, all day long -- I can't imagine a better job!

I am going to spend this weekend reading about RSS feeds and wikis, so I'll have more experiences to report over the weekend. Experience 1 - Blogging isn't so bad. I can't imagine why anyone would want to read about my life, but since that isn't really my concern in this case, I'll live with being boring. Maybe this will be cathartic. And maybe now my husband won't have to be the only sounding board for my class issues. I know he'll be relieved. :-)