Hi to all!
My name is Molly McKinney and I live in Castro Valley, CA, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay area. I am in my 6th semester of the MLIS program. I have focused a lot on emerging technologies; before library school I was a technical writer here in the Bay Area. Outside of school I manage and teach in an art and music program at the elementary school, and volunteer in the middle school library. I love hiking, camping, traveling, computer games, cooking and reading, reading, reading.
I was inspired to take this class after hearing Aaron Schmidt as a guest lecturer in the Hyperlinked Library seminar (and I think I see a familiar name or two from that class in our class list, as well as some people I know from other classes). I look forward to getting to know the rest of you and working with you this semester.
California cat roughing it because it is 50F outside.
Mollificence 
January 30th, 2015 at 2:11 am
Hi Molly,
I find it amusing that for each of the three years I’ve been at SLIS/iSchool, I’ve had you in one of my classes every spring semester. 😀
I hadn’t realized that you also taught art and music. You are person of many talents!
Looking forward to exploring the UX world with you and everyone else.
January 30th, 2015 at 6:11 pm
I fell into the art and music thing because there was no one else to do it. I didn’t know that much about art before but I do now! (I did know a fair amount about music–enough for elementary school anyway). 🙂 It really is rewarding, since the kids really love it, and it makes my heart happy how some of them light up when they get to do art. When we’re studying an artist who was successful in his/her life I always talk up the aspects of those career paths that really made it work (Matisse designed theater sets, Dufy designed fabrics for clothing manufacturers), and help them see how visual talents translate into actual careers they could think about having. (No web designers in our curriculum, sadly! Maybe I should think about working a graphic novelist in though, hmmm….)
Anyway, good to see you in class again, Sarah! 🙂
January 30th, 2015 at 11:14 pm
“No one else to do it” — how often that occurs, eh? It’s great that you integrate the history of the artists’ livelihoods while also showing and doing art and music with the kids. It adds a helpful dimension — maybe not now or tomorrow (apologies to Bogart), but I think potentially inspiring and hopeful in the future.
February 8th, 2015 at 9:44 pm
School gets so focused on just two paths: reading and math. It’s taught to death, and tested to death. If you’re a kinesthetic or visual learner it’s hard. I think it is so important for the kids to see that there are many paths to success, so that they know maybe there are ones for them, too. I’ve taught some kids who struggle mightily with the more “academic” subjects and have amazing talents with art. And the “less academic” kids can suddenly be much more interested in math when it is about the actual proportions of the human face, or the time signature of music. Or who want to read when they can read about Frida Kahlo. As you say, maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow! But in may make a difference for them, someday. 🙂
February 2nd, 2015 at 10:11 pm
Nice to meet you, Molly!
February 8th, 2015 at 9:38 pm
Thanks! Looking forward to the class!