Reflection Island

1. What were your favorite discoveries or excursions on this learning journey?
Skype Island was my favorite excursion. I have wanted to to try it out the possibilities of Skype in the library, and with my niece's transfer to Germany and this course coinciding with the announcement of her Skype account, I was given the opportunity to learn more about the tools so that our students can continue to meet and have discussions with authors and illustrators.


2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
With the ever changing technology and plethora of sources out there, you have provided us with a format that gets us out amongst the tools to test drive them and determine their usefulness, how they work and if it will work for our students and/or us.


3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I feel prepared to start the year with a realistic plan and goal of implementing the use of a blog to communicate with parents and students and utilizing Skype for author and illustrator visits.
4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I don't have any suggestions for changes. The course is very organized, user friendly and I much prefer this hands on format to classroom sessions. Thank you!

Excursion Island

I believe we are on the thresh hold of ebooks becoming mainstream in public education, which also tows behind it mobile devices. I feel the two commingle in the best use of both. The financial situation our education system finds itself in will cause a dilemma in providing these tools for all students. It will take civic minded companies to step up to the plate with continued and additional grants, especially  those that realize the lack of tech exposure for less fortunate student, may also cause them to lose their most productive future employee.


I found Cool Tools for Schools easy to navigate and the number of useful tools was phenomenal, but also liked Top 20 Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers with a multitude of slideshow presentations available to download or post on your website or blog.


12 Essential Techy Tools

Search Island

I lost myself on this island when perusing the Library and Information Technology Association's website. I like the ability to search for specific formats and was pleased to discover blinkx, I have difficulty finding relevant videos/clips in YouTube, so was glad to find another source.

I think it will be even more important this year to keep my blog, communication. I am such a visual person and rediscovering Technorati will be helpful when I need to see other blogs for ideas, examples and when looking for lesson resources.

I think tagging these resources and sharing them with our faculty will be useful and you never know when you might need to pull a rabbit out of your hat.

Skype Island

I set up a Skype account to visit with my niece who is moving to Germany, but i must admit that in the back of my mind I am a step closer to trying it as a tool in the library.  The one thing that spoke to me as I was reading the articles was the simplicity of the visits and the ability to provide a variety of authors, illustrators or other literary professionals. Due to a limited budget, even more so now, trying to find a one size fits all author doesn't have to be part of the equation any longer, visits can be tailored to fit the interests and needs of each group.

I may need to purchase a webcam, if the laptop webcam is not sufficient and check with the technology department as to when the best time of day to set sail. If I am fortunate enough to have a successful maiden voyage to Skype Island, I can truly see having a different Skype Visit for each grade level.

The less known authors offer free 20 minute Skype sessions and in searching the suggested lists I found a non-fiction author, Melissa Stewart, that I think would be a great for a maiden voyage. I believe that after our first Skype visit I hope that our teachers will see the opportunities that Skype can offer thier students.

Libro Island

I use several of these sites on a regular basis during the year while creating orders and reading lists, but in giving each site a closer look I realized I had developed tunnel vision. My usual visits are to the American Library Association and Association for Library Services to Children for the award lists (I had forgotten about recommendations for videos and recordings and made the new discovery of the children’s software lists), the Texas Library Association for the Texas Bluebonnet and Texas 2x2 program information, bibliographies and activities, School Library Journal Although I use SLJ regularly for book reviews, in my perusing I found the article “Web Design Matters: Ten essentials for any library site” and with the district moving to a hosted website with a new format this link caught my attention.  After reading the article and viewing some of the example websites, I hope that SchoolWorld has some form of analytics available for us to see which parts of our websites are being utilized and where users may be having difficulty and am looking forward to having the ability tweak the library web page myself.
However, my favorite new souvenir from Libro Island would have to be American Association of School Librarians' Best Websites for Teaching and Learning. My two finds include links to some 2.0 tools, but that they are not the direct focus, I will share them with my faculty as additional resources and an opportunity for to improve communication.

Blogger's Island

I do agree with the video. We have to connect and utilize the digital world in our teaching. Our job is to create life long learners and I believe students will use these skills in some form for the rest of their lives and if we want to “connect” with our students and parents we must “connect” with them where they are…in the digital world.

Participate and Advocate:
You have to find new ways to participate or you will find yourself just skating by, mediocrity. When we’re skaters we miss so many opportunities to connect and communicate. We must continue to find new ways to grab the attention of students and parents. So many more educators have heard of the 2.0 tools now and by us participating and advocating we are connecting with “our customers” and showing them “Hey, if I can do this, so can you.”

The video above is intended for educators of older students, but it makes the point that these students crave instruction that is familiar to them, they are "techies" and want instruction that includes technology. Students need to apply and utilize what they learn and in a way that is meaningful to them.

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Week 9: Sail On

I wish I could have spent more time on this program, but I feel that with the schedule I have this year and the reminders and introductions to the 2.0 tools I will accomplish my goal to use this blog to share a more detailed picture of our library program with our parents and faculty.
I am most excited about what I learned in the Week 7 activities especially about Read – Write – Think - such truly useful tools and lessons.

I would describe this program as worth while, even for someone who didn't have as much time as they would have liked, I walked away with new ideas and was reinvigorated about the use of the 2.0 tools that I learned last year.

I am THANKFUL for this experience and look forward to putting my "found and new found" knowledge of these tools to work this year.

Thank you Michelle, I look forward to next years online technology program. Your willingness to help when I was "stuck" is appreciated.
Sail on...

Week 8: Bloomin' Atomic Learning

No, really it's me.  I logged out of Atomic Learning and then wasn't able to log back in for the pretest!! I sent for a request to reset my password and then I was sent a message that I would be contacted by customer service. I gave my school phone number on the online request, thinking it was for verification of my account, but then I realized it will be used for contact...Argh!!!
Once my login info is corrected, I will take the pretest and the necessary tutorials. At first I thought the program was a pain, but I have learned quite a bit from the lessons this evening (and morning). ;)

Week 7: Kid Pix Mate

Read – Write – Think - I hope I can remember to refer back to this site for lesson ideas.  There are SO many uses! I love teaching about the nonfiction section, especially biographies and found a couple of lessons/tools I want to use. Character Trading Cards and the Bio Cube can be used with the biography section.
Kid Pix Delux -I haven't thought of using Kid Pix in ages, but I would like to try several of the lesson ideas for poetry.
Wordle - as a I mentioned in my lst post Wordle makes great nonfiction posters. However, here is a Wordle to "The Shelf Stick Song"


We have used an aide in our computer lab for the past 5 years, but last year the personnel was relocated. However, Mrs. Thacker is utilizing stimulus funds for this position again this year. I am fortunate to have the mobile lab housed in the library and used them for several lessons. I do see that these sites could be used with mobile lab as well as our bank of computers in the library. Many of the lessons could be modified for our time frame. This lesson has lit my fire about school this year.. Thank you!

Week 6: Shiver Me TImbers More Tools

Google Lit Trips is such a great idea but the small number of books that they have at this point for the elementary level limits its use. I realize it's in its infancy and once more book guides are developed it will be an awesome tool to have available.

ScribleMaps will take the Flat Stanley studies to a whole new level as well as Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea and I can't help thinking that the

Word Sift reminds me of the next generation of Wordle. I don't know how much use I get from it in the library setting, but I think the classroom teachers would like it.

Wordle can be used by students while they learn the nonfiction section and the Dewey Decimal system. Teams are assigned a nonfiction section, they peruse find a book of interest, then they type the subject of the book at an assigned computer where a Wordle poster is created and displayed for the assigned section.

Week 5: The Island of Wiki Wiki Blog

Wikis and blogs both are formats that allow readers to respond to posts, but blogs do not allow the original content to be changed, but wikis allow multiple authors. I think they both have their uses. I can see wikis being used for collaborative writing or even peer editing. However, blogs are more one sided and would allow a teacher to share information with students and their families.
My goal this year is to use this blog to share a more detailed picture of our library program with our parents and faculty.

Week 4 Video Them Walking the Plank

Animoto was SO incredibly easy! I love, love, love it! I could see using this for so many intros to lessons, snip-its of info on my blog, website, etc...

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I was excited Discovery Streaming was included in this program, but will ahve to do my own tutorial later when I have the code. Seriously, thanks!!
I found a cute video on Teacher Tube for book care:


I found a video explaining realistic uses of 2.0 Tools (wikis and Skype) that would be a good to share with teachers or administrators who aren't sure what the tools are and/or thier uses in the classroom:

Week 3 iGoogle to the Seven Seas

I love iGoogle and had fun updating the account I sat up last summer, I had forgotten how many tools Google has available. Besides access to a plethora of pictures and videos I could see using Google Earth when studying biographies and posting the place of birth for each subject in the study as well as the location relevant to the persons importance.

Week 2: Argh Mate!

It's nice to have a traveling companion, especially one that will do and say what you tell it!  The Voki was fun, but previewing my new first mate was more difficult than I recalled.  After pasting the Voki's code in my blog the preview did not allow the voice to play. However, the captain (Michelle) showed me a different route to preview...View Blog. Guess what? It worked just fine!

Ship Ahoy!

The speed of my schooner(computer) on this journey is quite frustrating!!! Just closing an e-mail took forever! Finally...land ho! I am excited to be back on the island blogging and becoming familiar with other 2.0 tools, though I must admit it is a bit intimidating after having been away for so long.

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.