Adventures in Learning

Playing with iMovie

2010-01-18T17:59:00.002-06:00

This weekend I took some footage of the SU women's basketball team with a flip camera. I then created this little iMovie. It is a rough first attempt that I poked my way through and seemed to get lucky. The next one will be easier!

practicing with imovie and garageband

2009-08-11T15:15:00.003-05:00

This is a practice. I am trying to figure out how to send a movie-like email to teachers or others that don't have an apple.

Screen Cast with video Intro

2009-08-03T10:44:00.006-05:00

I have been playing with my new MacBook Pro learning all the Mac-way to do things. I made a cool introduction on iMovie to the screencast below, but I can't put the two together! :( I have an appointment tomorrow, but maybe someone out there knows how to do this?!

New Computer!

2009-07-29T09:40:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I purchased a new toy. I am the proud and slightly off balanced owner of a Mac Power Book 15". It seems really big and spacious b/c my personal pc was smaller. So far I am in love with the backlit keyboard which makes typing while watching TV at night much easier! But besides my iPhone, my last product purchased from apple was an Apple IIc which is the computer I completed my MA on way back in 1985, ah the days. The screen was black and I think the font was green, but that sounds wrong maybe the font was white. Anyway so far I am in love... I just need to figure out how it works! Back the tutorials :)

Thing 11.5 of 11.5!

2009-07-22T13:05:00.002-05:00

Yeah!

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

My favorite was learning more about screencasts. I had seen them many times, but I didn't realize how easy they were to create. I will use this again and I have already taught a teacher/friend how to create screencasts.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

Every day that I have worked in SBISD has been an asset in my lifelong learning goals. That probably sounds cheesy, but it is true. I feel so lucky that I landed a job in a district that has such visionary leadership and is so helpful in their library program. I know people who finished library school around the same time as me (little over a year ago) and they have jobs in other districts and they don't feel half the support, encouragement and exposure to innovative teaching ideas that I have had this last year. 11.5 Things complimented all the previous learning I have had.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

One big surprise were the amount of iTouch/iPhone apps for young children. I had thought that people weren't really directing technology towards that section of the market b/c of their limited buying power - except for educational industries. I totally forgot about parents who want to occupy the attention of their PK - 1st grade children! There are a lot of apps out there that actually help with emergent literacy and even some picture books that read the book aloud to the young child. Who knew?!

Another surprise I had was how few people I know who even knew what Second Life was. I am 48 and know that I am never going to be a digital native. I usually just assume that everyone else knows more about computers than I do or at the very least I ALWAYS approach it as a learning experience. I found out that none of my neices or nephews knew anything about SL or... they wanted to keep their knowledge a secret!

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

I wish some other work days were spread through the summer. It was probably just my schedule, but I was busy every day that there were group work sessions where people could just show up and work at the Media center. However, anytime I emailed someone with a question, I got an answer so it wasn't bad. I never felt all along on "the beach." I could use more help with SL and will probably try to seek out help with that because I would like to learn more about it.

Thing 11 of 11.5

2009-07-22T12:47:00.002-05:00

I liked the part of the Cool CatTeacher's blog where he focuses on the fact that digital citizenship isn't a one time lesson but should be taught by every teacher. I think that having a digital citizenship lesson would be a good beginning of the year activity that every teacher does during that first two week get to know you period. Lots of things are reviewed and/or taught during this period and teachers can gauge the level of knowledge of these thing through the initial lesson and expand on it if needed.

Since I work with elementary students, the areas that I would focus on during a digital citizenship are as follows:

1. Safety and Cyberbullying - don't share personal information & cyber manners
2. Don't believe everything you read on the Internet - ways to determine if the site is valid
3. Copyright rules - users can't copy everything out there, sometimes it is stealing

Thing 10 of 11.5 Things

2009-07-22T10:10:00.002-05:00

After a couple of hours of real work and many hours of reading and worrying, I have created my avatar, gone to Information Island, ran into a couple of walls, landed in the water, sat on many different things that I didn't mean to sit on I must take a break and enter the real world. Second Life is confusing. I picked an avatar that has this see-through top and big breasts. I tried to alter it and at least my breasts aren't so out there in an embarrassing type of way. I went to the Library on Information Island looking for a place to go or information to get and wished my avatar, Lee2024 Foxdale, had her iphone with her. Everything was different like I was going cross culture. I wanted to go to some interesting location or see some interesting event, but that will need to wait. I think there could be a lot of interesting applications for teachers to use with students if the teacher was really good at it. If the teacher wasn't it would just be a time waster.

I think that now that I have the basics I could use a tutor or a group session to help me on the next step of Second Life (I took a balloon tour of the island, but the first time the ballon took off I wasn't in it :). I will have to play more with this. I have a call out on my FB status that I need help. We will see if any of my friends play in SL.

Thing 9 of 11.5 Things

2009-07-20T12:54:00.003-05:00

I think it would very important for students to use Slideshare. The bonus of it being an online app instead of a desktop program can help them keep a portfilio of their work as they grow up. It can also aid in the sharing of information as well as working on things outside of the classroom. With the ability to email the presentation, students who don't live near each other can still be assigned a group project either emailing the project back and forth or creating an account to use for that particular assignment.

authorSTREAM seems great. I am a bit confused and need to reread some things but it seemed like the authorSTREAM was more advanced than Slideshare, but I think I remember seeing someone upload their presentation to Slideshare so perhaps the two are separate. I will need to learn more...(always!)

As far as 280slides.com - who needs PPT anymore?

Thing 8 of 11.5 Things

2009-07-19T10:21:00.003-05:00

Wow! This was really fun. I explored a few people's blogs to see which screencast program they used and read the few blogs and settled on two: Freecast and then Screencast-O-Matic. I created a short screencast to use with teachers who frequently ask me "Do we have _____ in the library?" I guess that they are use to librarians knowing all that is in the collection, but being new (and I don't like to clog my brain with that information since I can access it easily enough)I don't know. Anyway, here is my screencast for the teachers. It was great fun to make and super easy. I think kids could do all types of these to show other kids how to do things. I can't wait until I can have a few work some different screencasts like the steps to taking an AR test.

Thing 7 of 11.5 things

2009-07-17T13:45:00.002-05:00

Wow, talk about a time sucker! These video collection sites got me really off track. I watched an old Battlestar Gallatica on hulu, looked at a number of things on the national geographic site and was determined to find something that I could use next year.

I found two interesting things on the National Archives site within the Eyewitness Ehibits. The first was about Laura Ingalls Wilder which would be good to use with the 4th and 5th graders next year. The second was a short video from Apollo 8 where the astronauts are showing the moon. This would be great to use to introduce the second graders to the moon and space and show them where that section is in the library. We are lucky to have a fairly large section on space, planets, moon and the sun in both English and Spanish so many students could enjoy the books. I couldn't figure out how to embed that clip, but the URL is as follows: www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/ One must enter the site then click on the Contents tab and then it is located on the bottom right hand side. I really wish there was a direct link or a way to embed the video somewhere.

The second video I found that I want to use is really an idea that I think I will need to do myself because after looking at about 10 different videos none of them really showed what I wanted them to show. After many years of having the library at CBE arranged in a leveled variety many adults and all the students have practically stopped using the online card catalog. They have relied on the asking the librarian. Being new to this library, I used the catalog, but then the hunt began because things weren't shelved in the typical library fashion. So I want to do some type of instructional video for teachers and students to show them how to use the online catalog. However, the video that I embedded is an example of something like I want to do content wise. I don't like the camera angle or the keyword search he uses as an example. I wish I could have found one I liked and use that because I just hate reinventing the wheel. I love to give credit to those wonderfully talented people who do things and learn from them!

Links for Apps Mentioned in Thing 6 of 11.5

2009-07-16T13:24:00.004-05:00

Upon a challenge by VWB in a comment for me to encourage others to provide links to the different apps they found, I had to brush up on my skills in order to provide links for the apps I mentioned. They are listed below to the best of my ability! :)

Here is a link for the free Shape Builders app that I mentioned in Thing 6's post.

After exploring the Math Drills Lite program I mentioned, I was unable to find a link on the web for the Lite version that the iTouch/iPhone will let you download. The exact title is Instant Interactive Math Drills Lite version 1.3.

The ever so fun iWriteWords would be great for kindergarten students.

Lastly, I mentioned the US Presidents app for those students who LOVE to learn about past leaders.

Thing 6 of 11.5 Things: iTouch Apps

2009-07-15T15:51:00.004-05:00

I have had an iphone since December and I have to say it has changed my life. I never thought I would be one of "those people" glued to their phone, but I am. I always have a book to read, internet connection, my calendar, a weather report (complete with radar), music to listen to, a camera, a few games to play, a way to keep track of the Cubs and Astros, and many more things some with educational purposes and some just for entertainment.

I am looking forward to getting the iTouches in the library and have already been thinking about the possiblity of using them with multiple users. Most of the things that I read talk about users as being older, but when exploring the apps, I spent a bit of time looking for apps to use with younger students since I am in an elementary school. All these apps were free. A couple of really good apps I found were "Shape Builder Lite" and "i write words." The first one is puzzle pieces that the user slides into place. It makes a satisfying click when it has reached the correct place and then when the puzzle is finished it has a little saying such as "D says d like dog" and then one hears a dog bark. Fun and educational! The kindergarteners will love it! The second one has the user trace over a letter and actually has the user follow the correct form for writing the letters. Each screen has them spell a work such as sheep then when it is finished a picture pops up and the letters fall down and the user must tilt the screen so the letters fall into a trash can type thing (good small motor practice). For older students I found Math Drill Lite and Presidents. Math Drill is just what it says while still remaining fun. There is a reteaching option that can be turned off which is called "pit stop" and has race car sounds. The Presidents app would make any of those children who can't get enough of the presidents happier than pigs in ... well you know. There is even a quiz mode and flash cards. This would be good to use to support those worksheets that some teachers do. Speaking of support... I was recently on vacation with a avid crossword puzzler. She is now 81 and her memory isn't what it use to be. She found it great fun to give me some strange scrap of a clue from one of her puzzles and have me use google to find the answer. At first I thought she might think it was cheating, but she just thought of it as another way to learn! Which got me thinking... great use in the library! After a couple of tries of this I got so good at my reading I never had to go to the actual sites I could almost always get the answer from the small google bit.

I found some other good free apps that if I would have had internet access I could have downloaded them because they were over 10MG which could easily be done at school. One of the apps had to do with birds which would be great for that 2nd grade project.

Locating good apps takes time! That is why I am hoping that at one of our early meetings we can make a list with names and short descriptions about good apps to download.

11.5 Things/ Thing 5

2009-07-01T14:44:00.002-05:00

Microblogging is a quick way to stay connected. I am still a bit unsure as to how it would be best used by teachers with students but I can think of a couple of ways and I have seen a number of facebook profile projects that teachers have done with students on famous people.

Personally, I was terribly reluctant to have a facebook page (kinda like when the cell phone man said to me about 5 years ago "lady, you can keep that analog phone, but in about a month none of your calls will go through" see at that time I had just figured out how to use all the bells and whistles on that phone and I didn't want to progress. Now, I talk to strangers if I see they have an app on their iphone that I don't recognize and I think I might want it!) Anyway, back to facebook... when my 85 year old aunt (my only full-blooded living relative that is older than me!)got a facebook account I figured I had to also. It has been great fun keeping up with nieces and nephews, not to mention my aunt and other friends! It is quick way of staying connected with people that are important to you. I am still learning about the different levels and how to "unfriend" some that I have decided are just a bit to racy for this school librarian, but overall it has been great. The "group" function at the bottom is new to me. I didn't know that SLJ had a facebook page that will be an area that I will enjoy exploring more about.

I have had hardly any experience with twitter except to know what it is and a few features. I have been trying to convince a friend who is a college coach to get a twitter account because she is always complaining that her players don't answer phone messages or emails. I am still trying to convince her that she needs to consider her audience and change the way she sends her message, if she wants her message heard.

11.5 Things/ Thing 4

2009-07-01T14:09:00.003-05:00

I think there are some great advantages to having teaching/learning videos available online. I am a perfect example. When I don't know how to do something (technical or otherwise), I have often turned to YouTube or TeacherTube. Students could also take advantage of learning in this manner. If they have internet at home, homework might be a bit more fun if it wasn't talked about in school but the teacher directed his/her students to a video to watch that either gave the assignment or watching the little video taught them the lesson for the day. I have seen some pretty elaborate teachertube videos by different science teachers that would be great to use in the classroom. I also think if students uploaded their own videos they would take some extra pride in their work since it was really published. Teachers could even require other students to view a number of classmates and evaluate each other's work - so long to using up 2 class period to do oral book reports like I use to do once a year with my middle school students!

I uploaded a animoto of a recent trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame to my account on TeacherTube (not very educational, but fun!). I got a popup message that said they would view it and post it in 24 hours. If they okay it, I will post the link.

Thing 3

2009-07-01T13:02:00.003-05:00

Just a brief forward: I am sitting in a beautiful public library, Gail Borden Public Library, in Elgin, IL and the temperature outside is about 65. This has been a nice break from the TX heat!

Skype and other tools such as seem to have some value in the library and the classroom much like our other tools we have been looking at. I thought the skype manual that the Learning Librarian developed would be a very valuable asset to reference. I had also thought about the scheduling being an issue as she mentioned. It is wonderful to be able to access people and events all over the world in streaming video (or even audio - being an auditory learner, the video part of it doesn't wow me), but actually talking "face to face" with that person can have a different impact since the students would be guiding the questioning/conversation. So, I think the live interaction would be the goal to shoot for and then scheduling could be the most difficult part.

Of the items we have looked at so far this isn't the one I want to run out and learn more about although I have a nephew going overseas for a bit and I might tell him about the phone app for this so he could text/phone for cheaper.

Thing 2 of 11.5

2009-06-21T11:21:00.003-05:00

With 4 things on Thing 2 I am beginning to wonder how many things are really in 11.5 Things....

Wordle was lots of fun. Right off the bat I thought that when I was an 8th grade remedial reading teacher this would have been a great way to teach stated main idea. I think it would be a great way to use to access prior knowledge and look at key words in a passage to make sure further comprehension was developed. Students in 4th grade might have fun making Wordles out of some of their TAKS writing prep they do. It would be easy to see if they are over using a word in their writing. I made one from the pledge since the kindergarten start learning that and I see the kinders in the library from the beginning. Nothing like starting a little word recognition right off the bat!

Voicethread was very cool. It took me a minute to understand that some of the shared voicethreads had more than one slide. I happened upon a 10 year old's trip to Washington DC. Wow, he learned a lot on his trip! I think it would be awesome to use with students especially if they are studying other parts of the US or world. The element of others commenting on an idea. I was also hooked into viewing one slide where an educator had a picture of a man sitting in the park with a laptop and simply asked "Is this the classroom of the future?" There were at least 20 comments from other educators all around the globe and every imaginable answer. Very interesting.

After Voicethread, I found Bookr to be a bit boring. It would be a great alternative to ppt for some students. Sometimes in flickr it is hard to find the picture one wants so it would be nice if a user could upload their own photos. It might be a simple alternative to the ppts that the 2nd grade do on birds every year.

I have used animotos and voki this year at school and think they are both great. I love the idea of using a voki for an email. Maybe then teachers would "read" their email. I will need to try that this year.

Thing 1 of 11.5 Things

2009-06-17T11:26:00.003-05:00

The video is great in the way it simply explains a very complex thing which is learning that students will be doing in the 21st century. I thought it was very important how at the beginning the video it addressed that the student would first build a basis of knowledge and learn how to evaluate websites. Then proceed on to building a network of his/her learning. I loved the term Learning Architect for the teacher at the end and I certainly think a librarian could be many of the roles listed as the teacher at the end. We certainly can be the Network Sherpas (I like that term, too!).

Photo Story

2008-08-20T10:58:00.003-05:00

I had a learning experience with V! Remember there are two ways save!!

Audio

2008-08-20T10:50:00.003-05:00

Wow! I learned that if you have trouble loading an audacity then save it add an image and make a photo story.

Life is in the details

2008-08-19T20:49:00.003-05:00

My new elementary school was given a face lift this summer. New paint, carpet and tile (in most places) will greet students when they arrive next week. However people are missing little things that are important to them and a large pile of unclaimed items resides on top of a shelf in the library. We all spend time looking for a remote or a missing cable and things that are really important tend to show up by the end of the day.

I have been wondering what details will the students notice when they arrive.

After two intense days unpacking the library with faculty in the building, I must admit that a couple of teachers probably walked away unimpressed by the "new librarian." Oh well, the learning curve I am in is pretty steep with regards to where their remotes might be hiding, but I have a couple of things up my sleeve I know they will be impressed with and if not... I make a great brownie!

Thing 23

2008-08-17T08:27:00.001-05:00

I have finished 23 Things, but by no means am I finished with learning.

My favorite discoveries in this journey were Google Reader, Google Docs, Photo Story and creating my blog. It is hard to narrow down because I feel that I discovered a lot of things I will use such as delicious – I have used that everyday since I learned about it. One of the best things for me was to exercise my mind and continue on my learning journey. Since I am a digital immigrant, I must keep learning.

This program was a great assistant to my lifelong learning goals and just reinforces my desire to learn more about technology that can assist me in my daily life.

There were tons of take-a-ways in this program, actually too many to list. I can’t say that there were any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised me because my expectations with any thing related to the SBISD library program are quite high and were only reinforced by this program.

Improvements in the program could only come in marketing ways to convince other teachers/librarians to take the program. The program took me more than the 18 professional development awarded. I am probably about average – not as fast as some learning technology and not as slow as others. So maybe convince the powers at be that this program will help teachers do the job they need to do and one way to get the teachers to buy in would be to award a few more hours – say 24.

If you offered another discovery program like this I would definitely take it.

Since I have begun to use daily the “things” I learned in 23 Things I would describe it as life altering. (which is way more than I can say about 90% of the inservices I have taken since I became a teacher). Thanks for the opportunity!

Thing Ning (#22)

2008-08-17T08:05:00.002-05:00

Sorry about the title, I just couldn't resist. I think nings are things of the future. List serves would be the things of the past. I have learned a lot from list serves, but I hate how they clog up my email. This is similar information in a different format that is at another location. I like this better because it feels more like a help that a responsibility to clean out my email. Now that I am thinking about it the list serve does have a way to opt out of the email and I should have done that!

Anyway, I joined 2 communities of learners this morning so I am bound to learn something new today!

Thing 21

2008-08-16T14:31:00.002-05:00

This is a powerful tool! It was fun to create this and once the images are collected it really didn’t take too long. I desperately need a new microphone! Even though I went through the syncing process, I couldn’t get the voice loud enough. Also, as far as citing places where I got the pictures… I should have created one ppt slide with all the details and saved it as a jpg and showed it at the end. Oh, well I will add it on another day!

Still working on Thing 20

2008-08-16T07:07:00.003-05:00

This is a 4 minute video that a teacher made to begin his unit on the solar system. I thought it was creative because he gives instructions to his 5th grade students for working. He obviously embedded this video within a unit that the kids were working through mostly independently. Very creative! He must be a 23 Things graduate!

I didn't know about Blinx which I found most helpful. The two previous posts were examples of requested videos that I couldn't find or it was taking too long to find them because I didn't even realize there were resources that searched through all the videos out there. This is a "aahh" moment because I should really know by now (I am on thing 20, geez) that there are search engines for EVERYTHING. With the two jumproping videos I tried to embed them but wasn't successful... I am sure I am just doing something wrong, but the teachertube embedding was very easy. Just like teachers to make things easy for people!

Take two, still practicing...

2008-08-16T06:02:00.002-05:00

Blinkx Video: Floyd Mayweather Jump Rope routine

Posted using ShareThis

LISTEN TO THIS BEFORE USING WITH STUDENTS! GREAT BEAT, BUT YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE THE LYRICS!

Take one, practicing

2008-08-16T05:55:00.003-05:00

Blinkx Video: Jumping Rope w/Kim Strother Pt.2

Posted using ShareThis

Thing 19

2008-08-15T20:31:00.002-05:00

I looked at a variety of sites and happily noticed that a number of the ones I really like are award winners. I roamed around G.ho.st which is a desktop operating system that is online offering the user 5MB of space for free and more space for a monthly charge. I could see high school students or teachers who are given a limited amount of network space using this site to “hold” some of their items that are larger.

I also looked at one of the education sites (.Docstoc). This site had some useful parts for adults looking to learn about different things like embedding a video (kids might need this, too!) or writing a will. I thought it would be more teacher-like documents, but it wasn’t or I didn’t look far enough into it. I did find a nice ppt about the story arch of a hero that any high school English class could use so I guess there were parts that a teacher could use.

Now I shall play and create a new avatar!

Tomorrow more "things."

Thing 18

2008-08-15T18:53:00.001-05:00

I love Google Docs for myself and I see a lot of advantages for teams of teachers who routinely work together. I love the fact that I can work on my home computer on a document, go to school or any other place and be able to access that document. It is like a flash drive I don’t have to keep up with. At my old school we were always tweaking things and then sometimes we would forget who stored it where. It would have been nice if we would have known about this and been able to share some documents with others so during a discussion one team member could be making the changes and then the document could be “shared” with others.

I could see students using it when working on a group project when they aren’t really able to work at the same place or perhaps editing each other’s work. Come to think of it, this would have greatly helped me during my online library course’s group projects because partners were always emailing each other back and forth the paper. That way it would be there to work on and the other person could work on it also.

I think if a lot of people were working on their section of the same document each individual would need to be careful to not change another person’s part. For instance if orders for a lunch take out were being developed on a spread sheet and I was mad at JoeSmo because he never returns the COWs to the pasture then I might change his lunch order to a spinach wrap because I know that he really likes roast beef sandwiches. Not that I would do that, but anyone who reads this needs to make sure the COWs are returned to the pasture in a timely fashion!

Thing 17

2008-08-15T18:39:00.002-05:00

Bruce’s video was great. A lot of buffering going on because it took ffoorreevveerr to watch it, but it was worth the wait.

I created a small collection of links to author’s websites that wrote books that were included on this year’s Bluebonnet list. I think this could actually be something to use in a writing activity (perhaps writing the author of a student’s favorite book on the list). I like the idea of having an easy access with a list, but I don’t like all the extra stuff like other sites and advertisements on the right. I would like it if it was simply educational instead of servicing both the general public and educators. Like a teacher tube only a rollyteacher.

http://rollyo.com/search.html?q=bluebonnet+authors&sid=448700

Thing 16

2008-08-15T16:03:00.002-05:00

Now that I have had a couple of days off and am looking ahead towards the weekend, I am ready to tackle some more "things"!

Aww, wikis.
I am still debating about how I would/could use a wiki in an elementary library…. I can see the comments about book that they might recommend or comments about bluebonnet books – kind of like a mini review. Lists of websites students found helpful for different reoccurring projects might be another useful addition. I am also wondering about the time devoted to checking student’s posts so I would have to think of requirements for ways I could track the posts.

Thing Whatever

2008-08-12T19:10:00.003-05:00

Today at "new" teacher inservice I hit information overload. Luckily it was about 2 hours after everyone else in the room so I was keeping cool and trying to be a calming influence in the storm. It reminded me what it is like for kids when they have had enough. So, tonight there will be no "thing" work/play. I am going to putz around my house and watch the olympics. Tomorrow the "things!"

Thing 15

2008-08-08T07:29:00.000-05:00

The teachertube video “A Vision of Students Today” is a perfect illustration why school libraries need to embrace Library 2.0. Constant change as a developmental cycle has become reality because today’s students have undergone a radical change much like learners probably underwent in the mid 1800s after the invention of the blackboard! If this digital tourist is going to be able to interact, educate and inspire the digital natives in my building (students and younger teachers), I need to know the language and be able to communicate. It means that school libraries need to provide users with information in mediums that the users desire at times of need – not just when the library is open.

I really appreciated Rick Anderson’s phrase “just in case collection.” Yesterday, I was unpacking the backroom at the library and so many of the things are old and pass their usefulness (such as stamps of base ten blocks that are hard to see and can now be clearly pasted on a worksheet) and should have never been packed up and I found myself thinking… “well, I guess someone might use it this year” We (librarians and teachers) need to remember we are educating students to hold jobs that haven’t been developed yet. Let’s keep changing with the world and our students and providing them with the tools to learn, create and enjoy

Thing 14

2008-08-06T14:11:00.000-05:00

Technorati feels a little voyeuristic to me. I learned that BoingBoing is the most popular blog by fans and Arianna Huffington has the most authority. Having seen her on Bill Maher, I don’t know if I agree, but it was interesting poking around. I didn’t like how you could see other’s members who subscribed to that site. I understand that that helps with the social aspect and learning from others, for instance, if Doug Johnson subscribed to a particular site I might find it interesting and a learning experience, but sometimes people keep an eye on things for different reasons. For example, I have a very good friend who is a strong democrat and so is her husband, but he holds a membership in the Republican Party so he can get their mailings and other literature. I believe I will stick with del.icio.us. I love the organizational aspect of that! Below are the hits I got for the searches requested on thing 14. I bet they change daily!

1402 hits for School Library 2.0 blog posts
53 hits for School Library 2.0 in blog directory
38 hits for School Library 2.0 in tags

Thing 13

2008-08-05T14:08:00.001-05:00

This is way cool! Just this morning I thought “How am I going to get all my frequently used bookmarked sites from my personal laptop to my new SBISD laptop?” Talk about point of need! I love Del.icio.us! Now no matter where I am I can get my bookmarks and there are no more wondering what folder I put it in or what I was working on. I think it will be great when identifying sites for research especially since some sites are good in more than one area and the use of tags allow for this instead of putting things in a particular folder.

I am having a bit more of a problem thinking about or understanding how to take advantage of it as a social bookmarking site other than I can see what others’ have bookmarked with similar tags which could be potentially very helpful opening up a world of other sites to me.

Thing 12

2008-08-03T17:00:00.000-05:00

Building a community through blogging isn’t really something I have spent much time thinking about but now it seem perfectly obvious. I completed all the course work for my school library certificate online through UNT and never once did I feel like I was alone. A number of people have commented to me that they couldn’t learn without others around them, but that is exactly how I felt. Through the use of posts, emails, blogs, and “villages,” I never felt I was learning alone. Now I see that commenting on others’ blogs are an extension of that learning community. This is my new learning community now that I have finished the certification because I still need to learn a lot!

So… two things I found very essential when making comments were to make comments meaningful and that it was possible to write in a way which encouraged comments. These two things got me thinking about keeping some type of record of my first year as a librarian. I had been thinking about how I wanted to do this but now I am wondering what all of you wished you would have done your first year as a librarian. So, let me know – What do you wish you would have done your first year as a school librarian?

Back to the requirements… I commented on a number of blogs from Library2Play (which I have visited a number of different ones since I have begun 23 Things) and one of the other blogs outside the community is Book Addiction which happened to have a post about graphic novels for children – an area that needs to be expanded in the library where I will be working next school year – sweet!

Now, I have promised myself a few minutes with Breaking Dawn!

Thing 11

2008-08-03T10:50:00.000-05:00

LibraryThing is great and REALLY just as simple as they say it is! I added 4 books I have read at least in part in the last two months, 1 all time favorite and 1 I want to read in under a couple of minutes. In the past I kept up with a lot of the children's lit books I read by copying the cover and writing on the back and keep them in a binder. The binder is getting kind of big and it would be helpful to have cross references (tags!). I could really see using this when remembering books to recommend to kids (the answer to "What's a good book?") I looked through the groups but decided I am doing too many things right now to join a group or even watch one. Perhaps in a couple of months, ha! Great site!

Thing 10 (part 2)

2008-08-03T10:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, day I just spent less than 15 minutes with Image Chef and created a cute image. I found this one to be the most user friendly or maybe I am just feeling more creative today. I think if I were to use this with students I would want them to have a set image or a few to pick from that they were going to use and give them a set amount of play time at the end of class to play with the shaved head or something else that is "cooler" or I can see no one finishing because it is so interesting seeing your words wiped out by a wave or written on someone's back!

Thing 10

2008-08-02T07:33:00.001-05:00

I played with a number of the different sites. One from the Comic Strip Generator was very cute, but the image couldn't be generated due to use. I bet if kids had spent as much time thinking about a clever saying, fixing the font just right, etc they would really be ticked! Luckily, I am an adult, can swear a bit, bookmark the site and go mow the lawn! We will see if it is generated later and I will post it.

It definately helps if you know what you want to say and have all your images gathered! Otherwise I found myself burning time. I will check back later!

Thing 9

2008-07-30T13:26:00.000-05:00

Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? If I knew it about what I wanted to find then Blogline or Google Blog was very easy to use. If I didn't REALLY know what I was looking for then it was a lot of hunting and checking.

Which Search tool was the easiest for you? I thought the easiest to use was Edublog because the topics were listed and the ones voted "best" had been identified.

Which was more confusing? Syndic8 was more confusing and since it was towards the end I spent the least amount of time on it.

What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?

Thing 8

2008-07-28T15:41:00.000-05:00

After setting up my Google Reader here are the answers to the 3 questions we were asked to ponder...

I like how the information in RSS and newsreaders come to the user instead of the user looking through different bookmarked or favorite sites to see what others are "up to."

The uses of this technology in school or personal life are endless, but will take a bit of adjusting of habits. I immediately went to adding subscriptions to people's blogs that I regularly check and a couple of websites I regularly check. I even went to a musician's site that I haven't seen in awhile but want to and added that site. Now I hope I use it regularly to keep up with everything.

Libraries can take advantage of this new technology by used it to keep current of the changes in the field of information science services, curriculum changes, educational law and in educating the library's users in how to have a newsreader help them in their daily life.

Thing 7

2008-07-27T11:57:00.000-05:00

Google is amazing in the way that it has linked and helped people around the world. I spent time with Google Doc creating a new business card for my new job. Google Docs could have saved me a great amount of headaches had I only known about it last year. I can imagine using that a lot in collaboration with other teachers and librarians. I created the beginnings of a calendar to integrate my personal life with my school life - I am already pretty good at keeping two calendars but sometimes it helps if I can see the big picture. Then I spent WAY too much time playing with iGoogle.

Thing 6

2008-07-26T13:07:00.000-05:00

It amazes me how smart and creative people can be. I like the idea of trading cards or personalized name tags. Very cute and creative. I selected one of the authors on the Bluebonnet list but after searching a good 30 minutes (I gave myself a time limit) I couldn't locate a picture of her. I used a book cover instead.

Thing 5

2008-07-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

Flickr is a wonderful way to waste time just browsing. I use it best when I have a goal in mind. I am still unsure how to give credit to the photographer. Do we post a website where we copied the picture? I selected an image of improperly shelved books.

Thing 4

2008-07-26T11:42:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the kickball captain for the email entering me into the 23 Things group. Thanks for the extra days. Let's see how long it takes me to finish!

Thing # 3

2008-07-25T11:12:00.000-05:00

Creating my avatar was a lot of fun! I didn't know whether to go with the real me... or... the fantasy me! Notice my new school's mascot? Go Bulldogs!

Thing # 2

2008-07-25T10:28:00.000-05:00

After viewing 7 1/2 Habits, I would have to say that habits 2 and 3 are the easiest for me. I have always enjoyed being responsible for my own learning. I have a natural tendency to NOT look before I leap so I have had to adopt the idea that problems are just another thing to overcome. The hardest habits for me would be habits 1/2 playing and 4 involving confidence. I tend to be pretty serious about most things although I have a well developed sense of humor, but I must remind myself to find the fun or play in life. The lack of confidence tends to make me work a little longer and harder than I usually need to, but throughout life that has served me well, so far!