Thing #23

Thank you for allowing our district to participate in the outstanding in-service!

My favorite discovery has been creating this blog. I have read a several posts, but did not realize the scope of information that blogs can cover. I also discovered a sense of community within my blog list-I wouldn't have guessed that in a million years. I intend to continue this blog and am considering a blog to keep in touch with family and friends.

My husband and I are nearing the end of a 2 year journey to adopt our 2 and 3 year old boys. I am very proud of this accomplishment, but this in-service has helped me see that it is time to jump back on the technology that I had loosened my grip on. This process has pulled me back and reignited my passion for technology. I needed to be reminded that we "the teachers" cannot stop learning if we are to prepare our students for their future.

I am most surprised at how excited I am to utilize some of the web 2.0 tools that I have learned about. I can't wait to set up a wiki for the bluebonnet books and book selections club or continue this blog to help communicate with parents and students.

I can’t even begin to thank you for the unimaginable time and effort that must have gone into creating this in-service. I don’t have any suggestions for improvement and would be honored to participate in another next summer after I have had time implement some of the "Things" I have learned.

I feel like I have bought a new car and can't wait to take my friends for a ride!

Thing #21

I was dreading this "Thing", but it was MUCH easier than I imagined!!

Thing #22

I have known that I have not kept up with the changes in technology since my name was changed to Mommy, but I had no idea Nings existed outside Facebook and My Space!

I visited the Teacher Librarian Ning and was intrigued by a reply written by Debbie Abilock. She explained the research processes of problem solving, information inquiry and guided inquiry and I could tell by her thorough explanation of them that she was knowledgeable and experienced in this field. The research process is an area that I would like to gain more knowledge in as a librarian teacher, so I "researched" Debbie Ablicock. She is the founder of Noodle Tools!!!

Noodle Tools are recommended for 5th grade and up. As a librarian teacher in a PPCD-4th grade school Noodel Tools is not a resource that I would utilize, but the site does have a section of Teacher Resources that includes a PowerPoint for teaching Online Reading Startegies that I think is fabulous. As excited as I was to discover this PowerPoint I fell head over-heels for the "Think Aloud". With technology so embedded in our day to day lives and our future I think these resources invaluable.

Without visiting TeacherLibrarianNing I would not have discovered this exciting new find, so I can see visiting and becoming a participant.

Thing #20

This Teacher Tube video demonstrates the importance of a "Library 2.0" and the need for us to utilize the tools we have learned in "The Game" if we are to prepare our students for the future.



Although this You Tube video is lengthy I thought it was full of wonderful ideas for implementing 2.0 tools.

Thing #19

I have an igoogle page that I set up early in "The Game" and I use the gadgets for Google Reader and ToDo often. The only draw back is that I used a different e-mail addresses for igoogle and blog spot (igoogle being a yahoo e-mail), so at times when I am logged into both applications I will find myself logged out when I go to use it. It gets very frustrating.

I have been wanting to try My Yahoo! for a while, so when I saw it on the Web 2.0 Awards list I seized the opportunity. igoogle has so many gadgets and themes to choose from, so I am disappointed by the limited choices for My Yahoo! I'm going to try both applications or a day or two before I make my final choice. I'll let you know!

Thing #18

I worked with Google Docs early in "The Game" and liked its capabilities. Sharing documents and still maintaining some control over the authorship is appealing to me.

Open Office took a quite a while to download, but once it was done it was very easy to use. The format is very similar to Microsoft's products, so the idea that you can have these "Office" type products free would be the benefit. When I have a little more time, I want to do a little research on the Open Office developers.

Thing #17

What a great idea! Not only will the use of Rollyo help with the time constraints of traditional library class time when trying to research, but it also provides an opportunity to teach students to evaluate websites in smaller portions. I have a website on my computer at school that I want to add to the Rollyo Butterflies search I would like to use with my second graders.

Thing #16

I have always thought of a wiki in the realm of Wikipedia as an unatuthoritative source. I can now see them as organizational and collaborative tools. I would like to try using a wiki with my book club for student to post questions for the face to face meeting. I think it would also be a great way to collaborate with students in another class who are researching the same topic. This THING opened my eyes to wikis in a way I had not thought about before.

Thing #15

Library 2.0 is here.

I believe the doors to each our libraries have the red ribbons draped across them and by participating in this fabulous in-service we are sharpening the scissors for the ribbon cutting ceremony. When the doors open this fall there will be changes. The changes may be small at first, but we can't possibly walk away from what we've learned and pretend it doesn't exist. We may choose to continue our blog, use mashups, incorporate wikis and share bookmarks with Del.icio.us. If we chose to utilize these tools and/or the many others available we are teaching and preparing our students for their future.

If there is one thing that I have learned through all of these THINGS it is that the 2.0 environments are ever changing, but there is always someone there to help you find your way.

Thing #14

The title of the post should be The Power of Technorati

In using a keyword search for “School Library Learning 2.0” the results were as follows:
Blog Posts: 816 results
Tags: 4 results
Blog Directory: 1105 results

Since I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Blogosphere and the whole process and pieces of blogging, it took me a while to narrow the searches. I felt overwhelmed at first, but watching the Technorati Video Goodness was like finally reading the directions for the bicycle you put together Christmas Eve and the handlebars don’t move. Tags are such a fantastically simple way to to help tame and organize.

Thank goodness for Thing #14 to show how varied the results can be and allowed me to walk my students' shoes.

Thing #13

If I had a penny for every time I could have used this website I would have had enough money to pay for my delicious morning latte! While sipping my latte I can envision using Delicious to share websites with teachers, district librarians and parents. I can also see students using Delicious while researching. They could have easy access to their online sources as well as eliminating the need for the "mad dash" to the "their" computer.

The Delicious Bonus is the tag! Tags are a fantastically simple way of organizing and manging bookmarks. I have bookmarked so many sites over the years and become overwhelmed and disappointed in loosing my wonderful finds on the growing list.

This is definitely another tool for my toolbox.

Thing #12

I appreciate the need for response and feedback in face to face conversation if it is to continue and after reading these articles I realize that blogging is very similar. Blogs are conversations and discussions on topics, events and ideas and need comments to progress. I feel self conscious making comments (the unfamiliarity-that's a real flash back in time) and am glad to know about the different personality types in "Blog-land". The harshness of the Darth Vaders out there would have frightend me away, but now I am prepared (somewhat) and will make an effort to provide meaningful comments.

Thing #11

I will definitely use LibraryThing website for my library!
I can see using this to find a new book or series for the student who has just finished a series that they are "in love" with and needs a common theme to keep reading. -I have difficulty with this task and am very excited about having this tool at my fingertips.

Love the TAGS Wordles!

Thing #10

I created a Wordle for my favorite summer place...the beach.

WORDLE



I had fun creating it, but I'm now so sad having come to the realization that summer is almost over.

I think it would be fun to assign a Dewey section to a group and have them create a Wordle using the subjects that were found in section.

I tried Kid-Friendly Image Generators, but couldn't get the text to center.

Sign Builder and Warning Label Generator was fun, too.

Thing #9

Wow!! Where does it end? Oh, that's right it doesn't...and that's the point. Narrowing the endless amount of "useful blogs" out there would be impossible without sites like Technorati, Bloglines, Google Blog Search...

Google Blog Search worked best for me. I typed in Library Skills and wham found Tommie's Blog http://tommiekellyblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/library-skills-power-points.html. This blog has links to Library Skills Power Points, lesson ideas, technology applications... I also found several You Tube videos with library skills Power Point formats that I liked.

Technorati and Bloglines took more sophisticated searches before I received similar results.

With my tendency to wander these tools helped narrow my field trips. :)

Thing #8

I'm enjoying the RSS feeds and the Google Reader gadget for igoogle. I have a tendency to wander, I know this surprises those of your that know me, but the RSS feeds at least have me on a shorter leash!

However, I just caught myself on Big6 and realized I had been wandering there for 2 hours . Ugh...

It may be to my demise, but I have just added the RSS feed for Big6 to my list which includes: Librarian Philosopher, our local newspaper, Mother Reader, Jen Robinson's Book Page and Booklights.

I have to admit that just finding time to get on the computer is a challenge these days (2 and 3 year old boys) but the opportunity to use 10 minutes here and there to keep up through RSS feeds is wonderful! I am hopeful that the same will be true with my administrators and teachers when I share this tool with them.

Thing #7

I used google docs to send Lenise and Michelle a copy of the 23Things contract we wrote up and signed when we first started, but the bulk of my time was spent on igoogle. I had a hard time stopping! There were way so many gadgets to choose from and to be honest I enjoyed perusing them. I finally settled with ToDo, weather, MyRecipes, Dictionary.com, Best Selling Children’s Books, Houston Chronicle, Baby Center Development and e-mail. I have set it for my home page and the ToDo gadget has already saved me.

Thing #7

I played with igoogle and had a hard time stopping! There were way too many gadgets for me to choose from. I settle with my list, weather, reciepes I also used google docs to send Lenise and Michelle a copy of the 23Things contract we wrote up and signed when we first started.

Thing #6

I played with several of the toys on http://www.bighugelab.com/ and had fun! I made a mosaic of my boys using Mosaic Maker, a "Reading" poster using Motivator, and piddled with Jigsaw. I can see using one or all of these tools in a culminating activity when teaching the Dewey categories. A Flickr account could be setup for school use and then (to help with search time) I could select several photos representing each category and a few non-examples. Placing students in small groups, they would select the photos that best represent their assigned Dewey category and create a project using one of the above tools. Once projects are created, groups explain how the photos they chose fit in their Dewey category and then display the projects in the library or even throughout the school-great advertisement.

Thing #5

When I first looked at Flickr I couldn't get past the family and event type photos. However, once I delved a little deeper I found an interesting poster for using Web 2.0 while teaching about cells. Creating cell models isn't probably anything I will tackle in the library, unless I need to clone myself or an aide, but it gives a small snapshot of possibilities for using such tools in our environment.

Thing #3

Setting up my blog was quite painless, but the process was more involved than I had imagined. However, posting the avatar wasn't quite as easy. I must admit choosing my identity was fun, but trying to get the avatar posted was frustrating. After a friend made a phone call she found it needed to be posted as a picture and that did the trick. Working with a group of friends on this helped me overcome my "avatar challenge", so I could start working with my Bloomin' Books.

Friends are the best flowers in a garden

Thing #2

The habit that I find most challenging in 7 1/2 habits is the same that I find most enjoyable...view problems as challenges. Initially, I am frustrated when I'm confronted with a challenge, but I enjoy working through the process of overcoming the challenge.