Wow..there were days, I never thought I would get here! I am so glad I took this online course but to really learn everything I needed much more time and a few more directions. I never did figure out the Rollyo thing but maybe later. I understand the concept of it and how to use it. I just could not get the link to connect.
What were some of my favorite discoveries or exercises? I really liked creating the blog and seeing how easy it was. I loved all the online image generators...the trouble I am going to get into! I liked all the Award winning 2.0 websites...so much to look at!
How has this affected your lifelong learning goals? Learning technology has always been part of my goals. With the explosion of the internet and all the ways to communicate, the importance of keeping up with technology has to keep moving to the top of the list. We all need to keep our minds open and keep on learning and experiencing new ideas and technology.
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes that surprised you? I was very surprised about how easy most of these things were. It took some playing around and clicking on buttons to sometimes find the right way, but it happened. I was a little surprised about how much I did not know. There is just SO MUCH out there to discover!
What could we do differently to improve this online course? To be able to fully read all the articles and delve into each link, there needed to be more time. Either this course needs to be divided into parts or the time needed to be extended. Not sure how that could be done because summer is the perfect time to take a class like this and pace yourself. Also, I would have loved to have had a one time meeting sometime in the summer to discuss some of the sites we discovered, problems we were having, or just the play!
If we offered another discovery program in the future, would you take it? YES! I may have complained about the time involved but this was a very good and informative course. I could take the same one again and learn tons of other new things!
How will you use what you have learned? I have lots of ideas and am very excited about the new school year. I would like to create a blog for Bluebonnet books. Maybe kids would like to post reviews for others to read. I have already got my head full of where the future of libraries are headed. I am on the right path for some things, but have had to really think about others such as realizing that I can borrow that book rather than order it, especially if it a rare subject.
Thanks so much Nancy! Your expertise and sharing with us is so appreciated!
I'M DONE!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thing #22 Creative Commons
I really like the video "A Fair(y) Use Tale". This was a fun way to get everyone's attention by using these Disney clips and explaining the copyright laws. I liked the dramatic way they discussed that fair use is a lifetime plus 70 years. The gasping of the characters was cute and funny but it did help make the point. I wonder if my teachers' would actually pay attention to this copyright video for the mere 9 minutes it takes to view it?!
We teach so much about copyright (even though no one really listens), but we don't ever emphasize about how to share what we have made and let others use it. The Creative Commons site is an important one to share because our work is just as important as anyone else's. Our ideas count too!
I did notice early on that while our 23 things was taken from Mesquite and Spring ISDs, ours would not have been exactly alike. For example, our course was changed to allow us to look at our librarian site "Librarian's Rock Wiki" in Thing #17. Also at the beginning of our instructions, it was noted that these directions were for Rockwall ISD librarians and how credit would be given and the time frame.
I will definitely share this with my teachers and students. Again, if they had the idea to create something, and want to share it, they should protect themselves with a Creative Commons license.
We teach so much about copyright (even though no one really listens), but we don't ever emphasize about how to share what we have made and let others use it. The Creative Commons site is an important one to share because our work is just as important as anyone else's. Our ideas count too!
I did notice early on that while our 23 things was taken from Mesquite and Spring ISDs, ours would not have been exactly alike. For example, our course was changed to allow us to look at our librarian site "Librarian's Rock Wiki" in Thing #17. Also at the beginning of our instructions, it was noted that these directions were for Rockwall ISD librarians and how credit would be given and the time frame.
I will definitely share this with my teachers and students. Again, if they had the idea to create something, and want to share it, they should protect themselves with a Creative Commons license.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thing #22 Nings
So I guess Nings are a combination of wikis, blogs and everything. I liked the ones I looked at. I joined the Texas school librarians Ning. I was a little disappointed in the discussions as they were not very up to date. The last one posted was March 30 and before that November 1, 2008. The blog posts were updated though so that was good. I thought this might be a good place to ask for author visits and get some responses here in Texas.
I put all of these on my google-reader so that I can keep up with them.
I found a calendar that I might want to try for my library schedule. It is through PB works. Has anyone used this? I would be happy for my teachers to sign up this way. What would those teachers do though that like to slip in and sign up 5 minutes before they walk in when you have all your work spread out because you thought you had some time to get some work done? Huh! I think I will give it a try!
I also wonder about using Ning for my Read it Forward program I am going to start. I could have the links to the 39 clues books online, a blog with students responses, a survey for students to complete....
I better get busy!
I put all of these on my google-reader so that I can keep up with them.
I found a calendar that I might want to try for my library schedule. It is through PB works. Has anyone used this? I would be happy for my teachers to sign up this way. What would those teachers do though that like to slip in and sign up 5 minutes before they walk in when you have all your work spread out because you thought you had some time to get some work done? Huh! I think I will give it a try!
I also wonder about using Ning for my Read it Forward program I am going to start. I could have the links to the 39 clues books online, a blog with students responses, a survey for students to complete....
I better get busy!
Thing #21 Podcast
I found a cute podcast subscription called "Authors in your pocket". However, it is not very updated. The most recent podcast is 2/10/2008. I went ahead and took it and added it to my Google Reader and will monitor it to see if I get updates. I can always delete it. One I listened to was by author Jill Connor Browne who writes the Sweet Potato Queen's series. These books are hilarious and since I can relate, I got a big kick out of them!
I do think there are lots of easy ways for kiddos to use podcasts and I will try them this year at school. I agree with Jo about using them for Bluebonnet reviews. But I think it will be an excellent way for kids to submit a podcast instead of a book report. Of course we need to come up with a criteria so they aren't talking forever! ha! I also think this would be kinda cool to use these with my Read it Forward program that I am going to be starting with the 39 clues books.
I have lots of ideas!
I do think there are lots of easy ways for kiddos to use podcasts and I will try them this year at school. I agree with Jo about using them for Bluebonnet reviews. But I think it will be an excellent way for kids to submit a podcast instead of a book report. Of course we need to come up with a criteria so they aren't talking forever! ha! I also think this would be kinda cool to use these with my Read it Forward program that I am going to be starting with the 39 clues books.
I have lots of ideas!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thing #20 Youtube/TeacherTube
Okay...what the heck...I read the directions on how to embed a video, but NO WHERE did it say to click on Edit Html first. Therefore nothing kept coming up. So I finally went to help on the blog and one little line says to click Edit Html before you paste the video in. Wow!
I also found out that you can't put two videos in one posting. If someone knows how to do that let me know. It came up with an error message when I tried it.
I am very familiar with YouTube and TeacherTube but didn't know how to take the video and post it on the blog (obviously)!
I like having the access to so many different resources! Video is so rich! Kids seem to get more from these vs. just plain audio or paper. However, sometimes we have too many resources available and our choices are too many. It can take up more time than just giving one or two choice.
I would use the above video for my little kindergarteners. Perhaps they would like to make their own video and post them on youtube and share with their friends. They can start young!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thing #19 LibraryThing/Shelfari
I looked at LibraryThing for awhile. I am still not really sure of its purpose. I guess if you want to see what books I have read, or there are suggestions for more books like what I have added with reviews by other readers. I think I will try to use this in the future when picking out books for personal use. Now I go to Target and look at books. They usually have a very up-to-date selection without it being overwhelming (like Barnes and Noble). I read about the books, the jackets and sometimes a short piece inside. Then I write them down and go check them out at the library. I don't usually buy very many books for personal reading. I don't find that I read them again, so why spend the money.
I set up an account for LibraryThing http://www.librarything.com/home/cejones if you would like to look at it.
I put in 5 books. The first one is called Isle of Palms. 242 members had added this book and their were 8 reviews posted. The second book is The Lost Recipe for Happiness, and it had only 85 members adding it with 4 reviews. My third book was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. 41, 357 members have added this book with 409 reviews.
It was asked about discussions about our books. I looked through the home page but did not see anything about the books I added or discussions on them.
I like the recent recommendations that were listed, some were automatic from the software and some were through member recommendations.
I posted Shelfari on my blog because it was so easy to use. I could not get a LibraryThing search box added to my blog. Instructions have to be very clear to me with steps for each thing. I did try, but again to no avail.
Again, I am not sure how much I would use this in my work as a librarian. I think I would on occasion, but I am pretty sure that I will use it more for personal use.
I set up an account for LibraryThing http://www.librarything.com/home/cejones if you would like to look at it.
I put in 5 books. The first one is called Isle of Palms. 242 members had added this book and their were 8 reviews posted. The second book is The Lost Recipe for Happiness, and it had only 85 members adding it with 4 reviews. My third book was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. 41, 357 members have added this book with 409 reviews.
It was asked about discussions about our books. I looked through the home page but did not see anything about the books I added or discussions on them.
I like the recent recommendations that were listed, some were automatic from the software and some were through member recommendations.
I posted Shelfari on my blog because it was so easy to use. I could not get a LibraryThing search box added to my blog. Instructions have to be very clear to me with steps for each thing. I did try, but again to no avail.
Again, I am not sure how much I would use this in my work as a librarian. I think I would on occasion, but I am pretty sure that I will use it more for personal use.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thing #18 Zoho Writer
I found Zoho Writer pretty easy to use. While it didn't have a lot of specific directions, I was able to click around and find the things I wanted to do. As you can see I posted a recipe...this has got to be yummy...it has Butterfingers in it!
I like the idea of being able to share this with others, but not sure how much they can change or so forth. I was not able to make a comment with a little bubble on the recipe like I wanted. I did use a cute little smiley face at the end of the recipe though! It was easy to switch back and forth between the Welcome page with directions on it and the recipe. I liked that because I had to keep going back to read how to do stuff.
It is nice to know that if you mess up your document, you can revert back to the original. I thought it was pretty cool to that you could work on up to 25 documents while being offline. Then when you go back online, it automatically syncs your work. So for instances if you were on a plane doing some work, you would be offline. Then the next time you go online, it syncs that work on those documents. Pretty cool!
I did have trouble tagging my folders and moving them into categories. I have the welcome document under the food tag instead of the recipe.
Some of the info gets pretty deep, talking about ODT and RTF documents.
I will play with this more and see how efficient it works for me.
I like the idea of being able to share this with others, but not sure how much they can change or so forth. I was not able to make a comment with a little bubble on the recipe like I wanted. I did use a cute little smiley face at the end of the recipe though! It was easy to switch back and forth between the Welcome page with directions on it and the recipe. I liked that because I had to keep going back to read how to do stuff.
It is nice to know that if you mess up your document, you can revert back to the original. I thought it was pretty cool to that you could work on up to 25 documents while being offline. Then when you go back online, it automatically syncs your work. So for instances if you were on a plane doing some work, you would be offline. Then the next time you go online, it syncs that work on those documents. Pretty cool!
I did have trouble tagging my folders and moving them into categories. I have the welcome document under the food tag instead of the recipe.
Some of the info gets pretty deep, talking about ODT and RTF documents.
I will play with this more and see how efficient it works for me.
Recipe
Here is a recipe I thought I would share! It is definitely not for diabetics...sorry Lori!
Butterfinger Cake
1 (18.25 oz) pkg. milk chocolate cake mix
2 (2.1 oz) Butterfinger candy bars, chopped and divided
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12.25 oz) jar caramel ice cream topping
1 (8 oz) carton Cool Whip
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 x 9 in. baking pan and flour. Prepare cake mix following package directions. Add 1 chopped Butterfinger to batter. Let cake cool 5 minutes. Poke holes in cake. Pour condensed milk over cake. Poor caramel topping over cake. Sprinkle remaining Butterfinger over cake. Cover and chill. Berfore serving, spread Cool Whip over cake. Garnish with chopped Butterfinger.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Thing #16 Wikis
I was sorta familiar with Wikis. We had one a Springer this year. At first it was fun to read and start a new thread but quickly it was forgotten and only when we were told to read it for information, did I actually read it.
I am not really sure I fully understand all the differences in blogs and wikis. I guess on blogs, others can only make comments right? Wikis can be more interactive. Like if you were teaching a class and you wanted your students to submit their work on the wiki...is that correct? Also, I am not sure if I understand about having someone else edit your page...why would you have that? I would appreciate some comments on this please.
I like the Texas Library Wiki alot and plan to go back and use it. I liked the 30 best Wiki sites, again will use it.
When I looked at the three different Wiki sites to set your own up, I thought the first one PBWiki was a little boring looking. When I looked at Wikispaces, I realized that it cost to have a wiki. So I chose Wetpaint. I did make a very brief wiki and here it is http://springerlibrary.wetpaint.com . Okay, now here is the problem...it has a big ad on it. I do not want ads on my wiki page, and especially one that advertises alcohol! When I went to remove ads, it was an upgrade and it cost money to upgrade. So I have not added anything on the wiki yet. I am going to do some more searching for free wikis or find a way to take the ads off of my wiki free of charge.
The wiki we used at my school had good ideas behind it. Mike (my principal) wanted to use it instead of having weekly faculty meetings. So many things can be taken care of this way. I think lots of message could have been submitted on this wiki but again you have to make sure everyone is viewing it on a regular basis.
I would like to use a wiki for my Read it forward program that I am starting at Springer. I think having a survey on their for kids to remark about the book, a link to the book website would be good, and of course a Bluebonnet book club list and link. So, I have some ideas about what I want to do with it, but need to gets those ads off first.
Another question...can you link your wiki and your blog? Would you really want to have both?
I am not really sure I fully understand all the differences in blogs and wikis. I guess on blogs, others can only make comments right? Wikis can be more interactive. Like if you were teaching a class and you wanted your students to submit their work on the wiki...is that correct? Also, I am not sure if I understand about having someone else edit your page...why would you have that? I would appreciate some comments on this please.
I like the Texas Library Wiki alot and plan to go back and use it. I liked the 30 best Wiki sites, again will use it.
When I looked at the three different Wiki sites to set your own up, I thought the first one PBWiki was a little boring looking. When I looked at Wikispaces, I realized that it cost to have a wiki. So I chose Wetpaint. I did make a very brief wiki and here it is http://springerlibrary.wetpaint.com . Okay, now here is the problem...it has a big ad on it. I do not want ads on my wiki page, and especially one that advertises alcohol! When I went to remove ads, it was an upgrade and it cost money to upgrade. So I have not added anything on the wiki yet. I am going to do some more searching for free wikis or find a way to take the ads off of my wiki free of charge.
The wiki we used at my school had good ideas behind it. Mike (my principal) wanted to use it instead of having weekly faculty meetings. So many things can be taken care of this way. I think lots of message could have been submitted on this wiki but again you have to make sure everyone is viewing it on a regular basis.
I would like to use a wiki for my Read it forward program that I am starting at Springer. I think having a survey on their for kids to remark about the book, a link to the book website would be good, and of course a Bluebonnet book club list and link. So, I have some ideas about what I want to do with it, but need to gets those ads off first.
Another question...can you link your wiki and your blog? Would you really want to have both?
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thing #15 Library 2.0
Library 2.0 is making our technology spaces and services that we offer more user friendly. We (students, teachers, everyone) are bombarded with technology, ways to communicate, and information. We must figure out a balance, or otherwise it is just noise! At any given time, I will have the tv on, the computer open in my lap, and talking on the phone. And I am old! You ought to see my daughter!
After reading these articles, it confirmed many things for me and opened my eyes to others. We need to start looking at how we spend money on our collections. Do we really need that book that nobody ever uses "just in case". Or can we go online and find out the information we need, or can we use ILL with one of our local schools for that book they have.
We need to make the computers easier to find information. It is very frustrating when you can't us the software or get it to work the way it needs to! Technology is a waste if you keep hitting a brick wall!
The ratio at my school is about 650 -700 (counting faculty) to 1. So I need to teach students and faculty how to find information, books, whatever they need for themselves because obviously I am not available to everyone. I spend lots of time at the beginning of the year going back over how to check in and check out by themselves. I spend lots of time showing them how to find books for themselves, either on the computer or simply where things are in the library. They are very happy when they can do for themselves!
We need to make the library much more appealing...because it can be the heartbeat of the school, where it all happens! I am excited about the new software we are getting for the library. It does look much more user friendly. For example with Alexandria you had to spell things correctly or it would not find them. I am so pleased that OPAL will offer suggestions of words, yea for the kids! I am also thrilled that they will be able to access my catalog in their classrooms and at their homes. This is huge!
I offer a flexible schedule in my library because as much as some of those teachers need structure and a fixed time every week, others need their kids to get in and do some research on something that just happened yesterday in the news or a topic that came up in their classroom! These schedules can change monthly, weekly, even daily with the needs of the patrons!
I truly agree that if you can satisfy the needs of your customers, they become the advocates of your library. Everyone should feel welcome at all times. We want to offer so much that they cannot live without us!
LOTS to think about!
After reading these articles, it confirmed many things for me and opened my eyes to others. We need to start looking at how we spend money on our collections. Do we really need that book that nobody ever uses "just in case". Or can we go online and find out the information we need, or can we use ILL with one of our local schools for that book they have.
We need to make the computers easier to find information. It is very frustrating when you can't us the software or get it to work the way it needs to! Technology is a waste if you keep hitting a brick wall!
The ratio at my school is about 650 -700 (counting faculty) to 1. So I need to teach students and faculty how to find information, books, whatever they need for themselves because obviously I am not available to everyone. I spend lots of time at the beginning of the year going back over how to check in and check out by themselves. I spend lots of time showing them how to find books for themselves, either on the computer or simply where things are in the library. They are very happy when they can do for themselves!
We need to make the library much more appealing...because it can be the heartbeat of the school, where it all happens! I am excited about the new software we are getting for the library. It does look much more user friendly. For example with Alexandria you had to spell things correctly or it would not find them. I am so pleased that OPAL will offer suggestions of words, yea for the kids! I am also thrilled that they will be able to access my catalog in their classrooms and at their homes. This is huge!
I offer a flexible schedule in my library because as much as some of those teachers need structure and a fixed time every week, others need their kids to get in and do some research on something that just happened yesterday in the news or a topic that came up in their classroom! These schedules can change monthly, weekly, even daily with the needs of the patrons!
I truly agree that if you can satisfy the needs of your customers, they become the advocates of your library. Everyone should feel welcome at all times. We want to offer so much that they cannot live without us!
LOTS to think about!
Thing #14 Technorati
So Technorati is a search engine specifically for searching blogs. It was made to help follow conversations and so you could see who was linking to you. I guess unless one comments, you don't know who your audience is and how to keep them coming back for more.
If you use tags, these are really for yourself. While reading multiple blogs, you are being bombarded with information, so tagging helps you organize. They need to make sense to you, so that you can remember what you read in those blogs. Also, if we are using similiar tags as others, we probably share other ideas in common.
When I went to Technorati and put in School Library Learning 2.0 I got 292 results. When I separated it out for blog posts, I got 250, for tags no results and again blog directory 292 results.
The most popular blog was Boing, Boing.
The most popular searches were taskbar, news
The most popular tags were top 100 A-Z such as apple, art, blogging, romance, video and web
An advertisement for Verizon popped up and there was no close button. It did not go off by itself and would not move! I had to go out of the site and back in to get it off...frustrating!
I looked at the gadgets but did not put one on my blog...remember my problems with Rollyo. I think some blogs can have too much on them. Hee hee, so I am going with that!
On blogs, I do like when pictures are aded and videos are posted. Boing Boing was a good one to keep your attention!
I know Technorati is supposed to be an easier way to find stuff, but I was very surprised that Education was not one of their main categories. I will have to continue to play with it and use it to see its effectiveness!
If you use tags, these are really for yourself. While reading multiple blogs, you are being bombarded with information, so tagging helps you organize. They need to make sense to you, so that you can remember what you read in those blogs. Also, if we are using similiar tags as others, we probably share other ideas in common.
When I went to Technorati and put in School Library Learning 2.0 I got 292 results. When I separated it out for blog posts, I got 250, for tags no results and again blog directory 292 results.
The most popular blog was Boing, Boing.
The most popular searches were taskbar, news
The most popular tags were top 100 A-Z such as apple, art, blogging, romance, video and web
An advertisement for Verizon popped up and there was no close button. It did not go off by itself and would not move! I had to go out of the site and back in to get it off...frustrating!
I looked at the gadgets but did not put one on my blog...remember my problems with Rollyo. I think some blogs can have too much on them. Hee hee, so I am going with that!
On blogs, I do like when pictures are aded and videos are posted. Boing Boing was a good one to keep your attention!
I know Technorati is supposed to be an easier way to find stuff, but I was very surprised that Education was not one of their main categories. I will have to continue to play with it and use it to see its effectiveness!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thing #13 Delicious
I have been using Delicious for a couple of years. This is a pretty cool bookmarking site. Our school did this together in the computer lab, so if you connect with your friends then you are doing this at the same time and able to look at their stuff immediately and bookmark it on your site and vice versa. Now, when I use this site it is already set up and easy to look at what others have and get good ideas.
Many of my bookmarks do not have tags on them, so that is something that I will definitely go back and do. I think the tagging part is important, not just to you but others that are looking at your bookmarks.
This is a useful service and I will continue using it.
I spent several hours looking at Digg, Diigo, Furl, Magnolia, and the top 20 list.
Digg I liked that you could submit top news stories and you can see how many "digs" each story has. Another password and username.
When I clicked on Furl, I got Diigo. WOW! This is a whole other social bookmarking site with a new setup but a way to share what you are looking at on the web. You can highlight or put a sticky note on an article you are reading. Whenever someone in your network looks at this, they will be able to see what you found interesting as if they had picked up a book you had been reading. This is way more in depth than facebook. Of course you are not just communicating and talking to people but it is more of a sharing what you are looking at on the web with articles and such. I can see this being very useful in a high school or college class where you may need to do some additional reading and make comments on it.
Furl is like a big filing cabinet. You can read others' articles if they have made their file public. It is also easy to save articles and email it to friends.
Magnolia "is currently being remade an invitation only bookmarking service".
When I looked at the top 20 bookmarking services #1 was Digg. Others on it were Reddit, Delicious, and Technorati. The only one I had heard of was Delicious.
Many of my bookmarks do not have tags on them, so that is something that I will definitely go back and do. I think the tagging part is important, not just to you but others that are looking at your bookmarks.
This is a useful service and I will continue using it.
I spent several hours looking at Digg, Diigo, Furl, Magnolia, and the top 20 list.
Digg I liked that you could submit top news stories and you can see how many "digs" each story has. Another password and username.
When I clicked on Furl, I got Diigo. WOW! This is a whole other social bookmarking site with a new setup but a way to share what you are looking at on the web. You can highlight or put a sticky note on an article you are reading. Whenever someone in your network looks at this, they will be able to see what you found interesting as if they had picked up a book you had been reading. This is way more in depth than facebook. Of course you are not just communicating and talking to people but it is more of a sharing what you are looking at on the web with articles and such. I can see this being very useful in a high school or college class where you may need to do some additional reading and make comments on it.
Furl is like a big filing cabinet. You can read others' articles if they have made their file public. It is also easy to save articles and email it to friends.
Magnolia "is currently being remade an invitation only bookmarking service".
When I looked at the top 20 bookmarking services #1 was Digg. Others on it were Reddit, Delicious, and Technorati. The only one I had heard of was Delicious.
Thing #12 Rollyo
Well, I had a hard time with this one. I was able to take my set of websites and combine them in Rollyo so that when I looked something up, it would look on these websites all at once. I like this because it combined them to one step. I also liked that you could then continue with searching the web if you could not find your answer in your sites.
Things I didn't like were the fact that again you had to have a password and username . That would have been ok too if I had been able to get this Rollyo link on my blog. I could not and have tried on several occasions. If anyone has any hints how to do this, please pass it along.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Thing #11 Commenting
I never really thought about commenting until I read these blogs about them. I know that I like getting comments about what I have written, so why don't I comment on others?! Well, I will now because it makes you feel good to know someone is reading your stuff!
I do appreciate if you comment on my blog, but am still unsure about just letting you know that I appreciate it with a "thanks"! So, if you are reading my stuff...know that I thank you for doing it!
I have commented on Jo's, Linda's, Susan Wilder's, Rhonda's and Nicole's blogs. When searching, I found several blogs that I liked, these two I commented on...
Rebecca Reads http://reviews.rebeccareid.com
and
Two Kitties http://twokitties.typepad.com
The comments I made were just about learning to blog and came across their sites. I commented about how I liked that they shared what they were reading at the time and that interested me. I made these comments because they are true. I do like hearing what others are reading. I complimented them on how I liked the way one listed their readings as "Books on my nightstand" down the side of their blog.
In reading about commenting, I found that to get people to comment, you need to write with meaning, maybe ask a question or leave your comments open ended. I also found that if you are passionate about it, write it. If you not willing to defend yourself, you probably should not write it or you are asking for trouble!
Celia
I do appreciate if you comment on my blog, but am still unsure about just letting you know that I appreciate it with a "thanks"! So, if you are reading my stuff...know that I thank you for doing it!
I have commented on Jo's, Linda's, Susan Wilder's, Rhonda's and Nicole's blogs. When searching, I found several blogs that I liked, these two I commented on...
Rebecca Reads http://reviews.rebeccareid.com
and
Two Kitties http://twokitties.typepad.com
The comments I made were just about learning to blog and came across their sites. I commented about how I liked that they shared what they were reading at the time and that interested me. I made these comments because they are true. I do like hearing what others are reading. I complimented them on how I liked the way one listed their readings as "Books on my nightstand" down the side of their blog.
In reading about commenting, I found that to get people to comment, you need to write with meaning, maybe ask a question or leave your comments open ended. I also found that if you are passionate about it, write it. If you not willing to defend yourself, you probably should not write it or you are asking for trouble!
Celia
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Thing 10 Online Generators
Oh My Lord! I could so get in trouble using this! No really!
I love this and know that kids will love using this. You can be on these sites forever though.
I had a little trouble with adjusting the photo of my daughter to fit in some of these frames but found several to add.
I like Custom Sign Generator the best http://www.customsigngenerator.com/ . But I did look at all of them.
Here are some samples that I m
ade
I love this and know that kids will love using this. You can be on these sites forever though.
I had a little trouble with adjusting the photo of my daughter to fit in some of these frames but found several to add.
I like Custom Sign Generator the best http://www.customsigngenerator.com/ . But I did look at all of them.
Here are some samples that I m
ade
Thing #9
Likes
Edublog has links to click on but I would like more info to let me know what I was going to see on the blog.
Technorati was the easiest to use but really not very attractive. It did have lots of information though.
The Google blog I liked because of the short information items with a headline.
Topix was useful and different from the others because it offered hometown stuff.
Dislikes
I did not like Bloglines. It was too wide open. You had to be specific with your searches.
Several links I used on School Library Blog were outdated (2007).
Syndic8.com has too many links with not enough info about what you were about to click on.... It was very confusing.
I found several things I would use...Susan Grisbys Google Handout, 12 things about a blog, RSS and podcast. This was a shortened version of what we are doing on this 23 things. Thought we might could use this when we offer mini classes to our teachers.
I found a post that had 100 Children's books that belong in every library. By the way, "And Tango makes 3" was on this list!
I used yahoo and just put in newsfeeds. Of course I got lots to choose from and I found one for the Presbyterian Day School. This is an all boys school Pre-K through 6. There were feeds from the Headmaster and then each grade, some for specific teachers. There were podcasts, calendars and pictures.
I did not add any RSS feeds to my Google Reader. I just really did not find anything that I thought was worth adding.
I still am not too crazy about using these feeds. It is an overwhelming task and have not found that I watch my Google Reader every day. hmmmm....
Edublog has links to click on but I would like more info to let me know what I was going to see on the blog.
Technorati was the easiest to use but really not very attractive. It did have lots of information though.
The Google blog I liked because of the short information items with a headline.
Topix was useful and different from the others because it offered hometown stuff.
Dislikes
I did not like Bloglines. It was too wide open. You had to be specific with your searches.
Several links I used on School Library Blog were outdated (2007).
Syndic8.com has too many links with not enough info about what you were about to click on.... It was very confusing.
I found several things I would use...Susan Grisbys Google Handout, 12 things about a blog, RSS and podcast. This was a shortened version of what we are doing on this 23 things. Thought we might could use this when we offer mini classes to our teachers.
I found a post that had 100 Children's books that belong in every library. By the way, "And Tango makes 3" was on this list!
I used yahoo and just put in newsfeeds. Of course I got lots to choose from and I found one for the Presbyterian Day School. This is an all boys school Pre-K through 6. There were feeds from the Headmaster and then each grade, some for specific teachers. There were podcasts, calendars and pictures.
I did not add any RSS feeds to my Google Reader. I just really did not find anything that I thought was worth adding.
I still am not too crazy about using these feeds. It is an overwhelming task and have not found that I watch my Google Reader every day. hmmmm....
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thing #8 RSS and Reader
Okay first of all, I do like RSS and Reader. I have a question though. How much time will it save you to instead put these in your favorites and go to these with just a click of a button. I am just not sure how much I will use this because it seems like a lot of maintenance.
I found the folders easy to organize and the expand and list easy to toggle between. If I found a site, I thought it was easy to subscribe. I also found it easy to delete if I got a bundle. I am not happy that I cannot get facebook to add. Not sure why but I bet someone will tell me...please!
In my library I think I could use this to access quickly when trying to find book reviews of information that I might have a question about. Same with my personal life. However as I said before, not sure how much time this will save me.
Teachers/administrators can do the same as I have. Maybe using this more will help me realize the positive in it.
When listening to the man from OPAL and having him tell us that a RSS feed can go on our home catalog page, I think that will be beneficial. Will it only be one or several and will you be able to categorize them in folders like on Google Reader?
I started this project 3 hours ago...not that difficult but lots to mull over and think about therefore taking up lots of time!
I found the folders easy to organize and the expand and list easy to toggle between. If I found a site, I thought it was easy to subscribe. I also found it easy to delete if I got a bundle. I am not happy that I cannot get facebook to add. Not sure why but I bet someone will tell me...please!
In my library I think I could use this to access quickly when trying to find book reviews of information that I might have a question about. Same with my personal life. However as I said before, not sure how much time this will save me.
Teachers/administrators can do the same as I have. Maybe using this more will help me realize the positive in it.
When listening to the man from OPAL and having him tell us that a RSS feed can go on our home catalog page, I think that will be beneficial. Will it only be one or several and will you be able to categorize them in folders like on Google Reader?
I started this project 3 hours ago...not that difficult but lots to mull over and think about therefore taking up lots of time!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thing 7 Web 2.0 Likes and Dislikes
First of all...I could have been working on this for lots more time than I did. I looked through this list for about 3 hours. It can be very addicting!
The first site I went to was Docstoc. I think I would use this site because it had lots of different kinds of letters on here, references, cover letters for resumes, thank you for interviewing me, along with many many others. They had templates for disputing credit card charges, a wedding planning tool with budget, an online calorie counter, a contract for a private sale, and wills and living trusts. Believe me this is just the tip of the iceberg! There were tons and tons and tons of documents to look at and get ideas from!
The second site I liked was called Urbanspoon. It is the most popular neighborhoods and types of food in the area you live. I am always looking for a new place to eat so this will be perfect. It is kind of like Guidelive but this seems to have more information such as more complete menus.
The third site is not really anything I would use in the library because it is cooking. But I loved it. It is called IM cooked. I liked this so much because it is little videos and I am such a visual learner! Each video is about 2 minutes long so easy to watch. Anyone can post their videos on here. This one guy "Cooking with Carlos" was making a drink and he said "put a chot of this" and a "chot of that" then you do the "shaker dance"! Hilarious! One guy does all the cloning of foods, for example the grilled KFC chicken. I will use this site for personal use...
The next site I looked at would be really cute to use at school but it was not real friendly. It is called Comiqs. It is taking pictures, either yours or theirs and putting captions over them and making your own comic strips. I tried to do it but it would not let me register or upload my own pictures without registering. So, I will try it again but was disappointed that it kept coming up with an error message.
The last one I looked at was Kayak. This was for travel and I thought it helped save time because it allowed you to chose several sites at once to compare airline prices. For instance I chose travelocity, hotwire, and priceline without having to go to their individual sites for comparing prices. This would be good for kids to choose a place to go and make the best trip plans according to prices and stops etc...
For the most part I was very successful in my searching and most sites were user friendly. I will go back again for lots more fun!
The first site I went to was Docstoc. I think I would use this site because it had lots of different kinds of letters on here, references, cover letters for resumes, thank you for interviewing me, along with many many others. They had templates for disputing credit card charges, a wedding planning tool with budget, an online calorie counter, a contract for a private sale, and wills and living trusts. Believe me this is just the tip of the iceberg! There were tons and tons and tons of documents to look at and get ideas from!
The second site I liked was called Urbanspoon. It is the most popular neighborhoods and types of food in the area you live. I am always looking for a new place to eat so this will be perfect. It is kind of like Guidelive but this seems to have more information such as more complete menus.
The third site is not really anything I would use in the library because it is cooking. But I loved it. It is called IM cooked. I liked this so much because it is little videos and I am such a visual learner! Each video is about 2 minutes long so easy to watch. Anyone can post their videos on here. This one guy "Cooking with Carlos" was making a drink and he said "put a chot of this" and a "chot of that" then you do the "shaker dance"! Hilarious! One guy does all the cloning of foods, for example the grilled KFC chicken. I will use this site for personal use...
The next site I looked at would be really cute to use at school but it was not real friendly. It is called Comiqs. It is taking pictures, either yours or theirs and putting captions over them and making your own comic strips. I tried to do it but it would not let me register or upload my own pictures without registering. So, I will try it again but was disappointed that it kept coming up with an error message.
The last one I looked at was Kayak. This was for travel and I thought it helped save time because it allowed you to chose several sites at once to compare airline prices. For instance I chose travelocity, hotwire, and priceline without having to go to their individual sites for comparing prices. This would be good for kids to choose a place to go and make the best trip plans according to prices and stops etc...
For the most part I was very successful in my searching and most sites were user friendly. I will go back again for lots more fun!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thing 6 Flickr mashups
I loved the cards that the class made for national parks...took a picture of a national park and then put information about it on a trading card. I also like the app that on Big Huge Labs that took many pictures and made a collage' of them. Maybe students could each have a picture taken of them and combine the class in a collage'. Had lots and lots of fun with this. I will explore this more to see what all is available...could take awhile! Wasn't sure how to use this old woman's face without giving credit to the photographer...
Monday, June 15, 2009
Thing 5 Flickr
This picture of a Westie is by "Randy son of Robert". I chose it because of my sweet Westie, Zoe!
Wow, I did not know Flickr had pictures you could use. I like the tags that they had for you to choose from. You could spend lots and lots of time on this site!
I went to the Creative Commons site and liked how they separated the ways you could use pictures, however I still found it hard to understand.
I looked at how libraries are using Flickr and again was astounded by the amount of information on there. One particular example was that someone needed a picture demonstrating the "shhh" and another person put up many many pictures of people saying "shhh".
I was confused when looking at just pictures in general ....if I could use them. So, I figured I was safe in using the Creative Commons site and using the one that said I could use it if I gave the person credit. I know this legal business with copyright and so forth is very complex and hairy. Since I am in an elementary school, we emphasize to our students to always give credit to the person who the shot belongs so. Kids and teachers don't get it though. They think if it is on the internet that it is theirs for free. It is a difficult task.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Thing #2 Lifelong learner
In viewing this video, I agreed with the statement "View problems as challenges". That however does not make it easier to do. I have a hard time not looking at problems as obstacles. I need to remember to take the steps one at a time and work through them rather than feeling like I hit a wall! Definitely this is one of the habits that I must work on!
Thing #2 Lifelong learners
I believe that I will always be a lifelong learner. It is just a natural phase for me...maybe that is why I am a teacher. An easy thing for me to do in the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners is to use technology to your advantage. I am not afraid to learn new programs or software. I learned a long time ago that the likelihood of deleting everything at once is pretty small. That helps me have the confidence to keep trying.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thing #1 Creating a blog
Well, I have gotten this far and everything has worked out okay. I guess I will post this and see if it works!
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