Journey through the Library

Chapter 11: Generating and Testing Hypotheses

2010-07-19T12:18:00.002-05:00

Two points caught my attention in this chapter; first “Technology can play a vital role in generating and testing hypotheses because new developments in probeware and interactive applets allow students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data.” (203). Many teachers myself included struggle with the time involved in using technology, do you teach the content or teach how to use the program? Many times the learning takes a backseat to learning how to use Word, Power Point etc especially when asking elementary students to create final projects. Therefore, it is of great interest to me that students can collect data, easily input data and see the results almost immediately via a few tools and a spreadsheet and not necessarily turn it into a final project. I read with interest the examples given in this chapter, but probably would encourage use in the classroom instead of the library. It does call for collaboration between the teacher and the librarian to incorporate these types of activities into various subject matters and thus the information is beneficial to me.

The second point I found in this chapter was the teacher using the “Help” button. In the first reading of this chapter my first thought included the teacher shying away from creating spreadsheets because they did not feel comfortable or felt that it was above their ability level. We must always remember that “help” is just a click away. We also have other options such as using our instructional technology department, or even “Ask Al”. With the availability of experts around us one only hopes that more and more technology can be incorporated into lessons, whether in the form of spreadsheets, web resources, or data collection tools.

Chapter 10: Homework and Practice

2010-07-19T11:48:00.002-05:00

Are we close to a time where we require all students to have internet access in order to complete homework? As we all know there are ample web resources to learn and practice skills. I spent a little bit of time at IKnowthat.com and used some of their demo games. I am sure kids would love to have homework practice that included games, I’m just not sure how practical it is. For many it comes down to financing, not everyone is able to buy the hardware let alone the continued cost of internet access, and then the possibility of having to subscribe to a service such as I Know That. I realize this is an ongoing struggle that many policy makers don’t seem to fully understand, but it is a huge issue for many of our families. The argument tends to always come back to the library (both public and school) that states families can have access via the library; good idea as soon as you solve transportation costs, personnel issues, and maintaining and having enough equipment. Second is an ongoing argument about using computers as a high dollar worksheet, yes drill and kill is more enjoyable on the computer the first few times, but the excitement soon wears off. I am intrigued with utilizing technology to provide homework and practice, I just see that many other issues need addressed first or the gap between the haves and the have nots will grow even wider.

Chapter 9: Identifying Similarities and Differences

2010-07-19T11:18:00.002-05:00

This chapter reminded me of things that I used to incorporate into all my lessons when teaching students identified as gifted and talented; and often thought ALL students deserved this same type of thinking activities. I can see many uses of word processing to classify and group books much as the examples in the book. One of the Velasco teachers often created simple power point classification activities by having the icons on the side of the page and students would simply drag the icons under the correct headings. She would do these types of activities with Pre-K and with 3rd graders. I also like the idea of teaching students about analogies. After students have some understanding of analogies then they could practice analogies with book characters such as; Grinch is to Seuss as ___________ is to Peggy Parish. (Amelia Bedelia). Another example might be; mean is to Grinch as _________ is to Sam I Am. (happy, funny etc.) This is not only an interesting way to work on vocabulary development but also characteristics. I cannot see how this would be difficult, it could easily be used as a warm-up, review or closure to a book study.

It would be nice if students had access to Kidspiration or Inspiration, but not necessary. As I stated in the previous paragraph classification can be done with Power Point by allowing students to drag different clip art under appropriate headings. It is easy to create Venn Diagrams with Word or Power Point. The benefit of having Kidspiration and Inspiration is having readymade icons and graphic organizers.

Chapter 8: Reinforcing Effort

2010-07-08T15:57:00.001-05:00

Thomas Edison said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” However, just placing inspirational posters around the classroom evidently will not ensure that students will apply the messages. According to this chapter, it is important to both teach the students the importance of effort and have them track how their effort relates to their learning.

I liked the ideas of collecting student input on their effort and comparing their effort to the outcome but I am not sure that I will implement this in the library. Tools such as Survey Monkey and using a word processing program to create a rubric are a good idea that I can see at the end or during a long-term project.

I am trying to brainstorm possibilities for the library with this and can see something informal with students attempting to read chapter books for the first time, perhaps having the students keep track of how much time they are willing to read daily in order to finish a book. Maybe having students summarize each chapter before moving on to the next chapter so they can link what happens from chapter to chapter. This activity is easily done with paper and pencil, or with a word processing package. Comparisons with reading time and the summaries could be compared to AR scores.

With more thought, I am sure there are other ways we can encourage effort through the library, but instead of formal ways via technology I will probably stick to discussions of effort and motivating posters.

Chapter 7: Cooperative Learning

2010-07-08T11:34:00.001-05:00

This was a good chapter to review the importance and descriptors of cooperative learning. As many things in education, cooperative learning was a very popular practice, but no longer the focus of teacher training programs so a quick review is essential. The same holds true for WebQuests, once popular, but the time to implement and the work to create them have probably lessened their uses in recent times. I have very positive experiences with WebQuests and see them as a way for students to work cooperatively and for the librarian and teacher to work collaboratively. Because of the time involved in creating WebQuests, I appreciate the links to current WebQuests and have utilized the ones from San Diego State University. One goal I always have is to collaborate with teachers to provide learning opportunities for students. This year I am offering set lessons for teachers to select from and schedule with me; I will add WebQuests to the list of possible activities.

My personal favorite web tool that I utilize often is Delicious!!!!! I know personally how it works for me, but I have a problem seeing how to utilize Delicious with elementary students. In the past librarians have created Path Finders which contained links to various sites. These are topic related and restrict students to approved sites for research. I would hope that with some work Delicious might work in the same way. I will need to give this more thought before I begin to share my Delicious Account with students.

Chapter 6: Summarizing and Note Taking

2010-07-08T10:32:00.001-05:00

I agree that this is a skill necessary for all students, but one I rarely see in an elementary school. A typical note taking session might include a four square with pictures with a few words after reading or viewing a video. The addition of technology may or may not expedite the process. I can see the addition of a computer motivating students, but using word processing for some is tedious. I believe I would begin with using Power Point over a word processing program so students could easily utilize pictures instead of words. I did like the inverted T because it includes graphic representation and words and encourages a limited amount of words. Once again, I see the fun behind Inspiration and Kidspiration, but neither fits my needs because I get too involved in selecting the icons for each item and lose the ultimate direction of the lesson. I can see students using this program if you allow some playtime before asking them to use it as a tool.

I like the idea of using Wikis for cooperative work. In my situation, I believe that this might need to happen at school and not required from home. I realize one value of Wikis is the ability for students to collaborate remotely with each other, but many of our students do not have internet access so the remote might be discussion between students in a variety of classes, or discussion between students in different schools. I would like to see a Wiki in a book club situation in which kids could read a chapter and summarize what they read then others could add information or read others summaries to help with their comprehension. Allowing student access could be used as a recommendation for others who might want to read the book. This is an idea I have toyed with for a year now, it seems that we just don’t have time to incorporate these things into a school day, especially when time is limited when seeing students. Once again it goes back to collaborating with the teachers who also need to recognize the value of note taking and summarizing via technology.

Chapter 5: Nonlinguistic Representation

2010-06-27T22:49:00.001-05:00

Learning Styles immediately popped into my mind at the beginning of this chapter; by the end though I realized that these techniques and activities are beneficial to all students not just the visual learners. I like the idea that showing a movie or video is a good practice, but that having students create their own videos moves it into a higher level. Today’s programs, whether Photo Story 3 or Movie Maker makes this an easy and viable activity for students. In addition, adding an animation component adds motivation and excitement for students. Many years ago I had some students make an animated video. The procedure of cutting and placing each small piece, videoing it and then moving it slightly and videoing it again was tedious! The project gave life to a plant growing from seed and the students did a great job, but I can see how using today’s technology will make such a tedious job easier and more efficient.

I believe every classroom should be equipped with the microscopes and digital probes listed in this chapter. Many of the document cameras have microscope attachments that become beneficial in science classes and the document cameras have uses in all subject areas. As stated in this chapter, the naked eye and standard thermometers were “high-tech” at one time. I realize that many of us learned this way, but just as no one really expects to use a chalkboard anymore, we need to update our classroom technology beyond white boards. I do realize the major drawback to keeping updated equipment is cost but if we are preparing students for a technology driven future, we must find a way to update ALL classrooms.

2010-06-24T13:37:00.002-05:00

Here is the picture of George Washington's teeth that I found on Creative Commons. Common stories say that his teeth were made of wood, well he actually had several pair of teeth most commonly made of hippo tusk.

Chapter 4: Cues, Questions, and Advanced Organizers

2010-06-24T13:24:00.002-05:00

Love the ideas in this chapter that help students link current knowledge with new knowledge and in the process deepen what they will learn. We each have access to Word, Excel, Publisher, and Power Point for students so how easy is it to have the students create their own organizers. Not only do these organizers begin a study, but also serve as a guide through the unit. As a librarian, I especially like the idea of research prior to a field trip and then brochures to help guide the students and I hope to implement this idea. I know we often use technology to develop assessments or practice for a unit of study, but not as often prior to the unit. I have recently participated in the in-service provided by BISD Technology Department; Tech Café and was able to see how these simple activities could be used as described in this chapter in addition to using them as teacher created activities. KWL charts are important, but with these ideas, we can mix things up a bit!

What a wealth of multimedia presentations are available to aide us in whatever we are teaching. I remember my first introduction to Creative Commons when I discovered a picture of George Washington’s false teeth. I knew if I had such a reaction then students might also have an emotional reaction and would at least remember the book George Washington’s Teeth and have an interest in checking it out to read it independently. I began the lesson by showing the picture and asking the students what they thought it was, and then we discussed the common idea that George Washington had wooden teeth. The next time I do this same lesson, I will use the picture of the teeth as a graphic organizer and then utilize a video about Washington from Discovery Ed (United Streaming) as a narrative organizer before sharing the book.

Chapter 3: Providing Recognition

2010-06-24T11:39:00.001-05:00

Using technology to recognize students seems to be a no brainer. Utilizing programs that enables a teacher to create certificates involves little time and some creativity; those challenged in the creativity department can use ready-made programs found on the web or purchased programs. Print Shop has been around for many years, teachers have been creating and giving stickers, and providing recognition long before computers became the norm. Time saving is a definite plus to using technology. A second benefit to using technology stated on page 60, “With technology, teachers can easily make exemplary work available for the appreciation of peers, parents, and professionals across the world.” The availability of technology then moves a common practice into new realm.

I noticed in several examples that technology began the process, but in the end, there was still the human aspect. For example, a teacher might collect information using the clickers, but follows up with giving students “bonus points coupons.” Even designing a recognition program where teachers spread good news via the internet or e-mail programs still depends on a people connection where Mom, Dad, Grandma or Grandpa verbally recognize the positive behavior. Technology alone seems to expedite the process, but human interaction is still necessary.

Chapter 2: Providing Feedback

2010-06-14T20:12:00.001-05:00

One of my goals for this coming school year is to encourage teachers to use the e clicker student response systems. I had to chuckle when reading the teacher resources and your comment of them being “underutilized” and that you can find “one in a closet somewhere, dust it off and put it to use.” That is exactly where I found them complete with dust and extra pieces. At the end of the school year, I collected all that I could find and had discussions with teachers on whether they are being used and why. Most common comments were that no one really knows how to begin with the clickers. When the clickers were first purchased teachers were trained, but those teachers are now gone and no one has taken the time to learn the system. I also heard that the program is not user friendly so they did not begin to learn anything about them. I have only attended some beginning online tutorials so I do not profess to know everything but I have used them enough in the library to realize that this technology truly excites students and allows all to participate in class. Having them readily available to check out from the library gets them out of those closets and hopefully into the hands of teachers willing to use them. Teachers should see the benefit of “immediate and specific” feedback but also see the benefits of the time saving aspects of linking to GradeSpeed and printing off study guides etc.

The Web has a wealth of resources if one has the time to locate and weed through the tremendous wealth and poverty of material found on the web. Brain Pop was advertised strongly at the past Texas Library Association Conference and even though it is a subscription service, I will utilize their offer of a free trial to see if it would be of value to Velasco students. One of the positive aspects of Brain Pop includes purchasing Brain Pop Jr to meet the needs of elementary student and the availability of a Spanish version for our ESL students. Since we are talking about how to use technology in order to provide formative and summative assessments we should look to some of the programs already in use at Velasco that provides this information. Accelerated Reader, Study Island, Fast Math, iStation, and others do give students and teachers immediate feedback. In all these programs students receive immediate feedback. Even though the feedback is there for the elementary student, we must not forget to have a personal touch. Classes that see the most impact from these programs have teachers who check the progress, discuss the results, and let students know that they are not the only one looking at the results. Many of these programs provide a way to share the results with the parents that adds another layer of importance to the students. I know we are all strapped for time but what I see is the difficulty to fully utilize all aspects of programs and little time to learn how much more we can get out of some of these wonderful programs. Perhaps it is time to learn about what we have before we purchase additional programs.

Chapter 1: Setting Objectives

2010-06-14T16:41:00.000-05:00

Chapter 1 deals with ways to use technology to set objectives and inform students what those objectives are. The first is utilizing a word processing program to create KWHL charts. I know of few teachers that do not use the computer to create these types of charts but generally, they then either run copies or use one with the overhead or document camera. The next step that I had not thought of and listed in the book are having students fill out these on the computer. This allows for better communication to parents and students and engages students in helping to create their own learning objectives. These sound like easy ideas to implement but do take some extra thought on the part of the teacher. First, where are these going to be stored when students have completed these charts but still need access? If saved to a desktop, will students have access to the same computer each time? In my library, I have 6 student computers, most classrooms 2 and access to laptop carts on a sporadic basis. Second teachers must decide how to manage the students when they are actually filling the forms out. Classrooms with limited computers have limited access. One other concern is a time management for students who have limited capacity for typing. Elementary students are just beginning the process of learning where the keys are located and are at times painfully slow in putting thoughts on paper. Each of these barriers can be solved but must be thought through before asking elementary students to use technology to fill out this common form.

The chapter also discussed the use of Blogs in the setting of goals and objectives. I spent some time on the 3rd grade class blog because I can generally find examples of middle and high school blogs, but rarely elementary school blogs. This example showed the myriad of useful things to use the blog for, but I felt it was difficult to navigate. This weekend I was discussing blog ideas with a friend (a school administrator from another district). Her students participate in a reading blog. The design created by her librarian and set up to encourage summer reading began a few weeks before school ended. Students were to post thoughts about books read, the administrator was to comment on their posts. This sounds like a simple concept and she said that it quickly became popular with students. The problem for the administrator was finding time to respond to the students so much so that they would meet her in the hall and ask why she had not been on the blog that day. For her the timing at the end of the school year was a huge barrier. I did tell her that I was stealing the idea and was going to try a book discussion during the next school year.

In the past I have used programs such as Kidspiration and generally like these types of programs. I have discussed the limitations of using technology earlier, but Kidspiration has another item for teachers to consider before assigning to students. I do feel teachers must take into account learning styles before using with entire classes. Students who are linear thinkers become frustrated easily with Kidspiration. These are tools to use, but may not be a correct fit for each student.

This chapter offered suggestions to tweak common activities utilizing simple to use programs that will encourage students technology use. Although I listed some barriers, I don't feel any will prevent me from trying these ideas but will use with some thought.

21st Century Learner

2010-06-09T17:47:00.002-05:00

"What Kind of Education Do You Want Me to Have" is an interesting beginning for this discussion because we can't identify what types of jobs and careers will be available in our children's future. We can rest assured though that students need to adapt to a changing society. The verbs used in this video; think, create, analyze, consume, evaluate, apply, are not new and in many ways I feel we did a better job of this previous to the era of accountability and testing. Is it any wonder the number of students that dropout of school when we cannot seem to make learning and education relevant for them? I do find it interesting the number of teachers who feel it is not necessary to learn new technologies or to attempt to adapt to how students learn best. If adults are willing to stay stagnant then what types of examples are we setting for our learners?

I don't feel students are asking too much when they say "engage me" and they understand that technology is a tool that will help to engage them while we sit and create excuses. The introduction to Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works states that "technology can transform teaching and learning" what more can we want?

Thing #23--I'm finished!

2009-07-31T09:41:00.003-05:00

When beginning this journey I was not 100% sure what Web 2.0 was and was pleasantly surprised that I used many of the items without knowing how advanced I was. My new favorites though are the mashups and teacher tubes. I now know that I can do and find many things whether for fun or for professional use!

This summer I have had the opportunity to interview for a couple of administrative positions; technology was always a question in these interviews. I could proudly share my new knowledge...but I am realizing that perhaps the best avenue for sharing my knowledge was not in an administrative position, but using my library position to teach students! I am excited about infusing some of these ideas in school with students, teachers, and administrators!

I have long been a fan of on-line learning and feel this was set up beautifully for me to do on my own time and schedule. It seemed somewhat overwhelming at first and then I realized the pattern to each Thing and I created a method to move between Library2Play and my blog. I would definitely do another on-line program via this venue or another. Actually I was planning on sharing this with our educational technology department so they could perhaps adapt this program to one for our district.

TRY IT YOU"LL LIKE IT!

Thing #22 Nings

2009-07-31T09:26:00.002-05:00

After previewing all the suggested Nings I decided joining a Ning would depend on my needs at the time. Ning in Education and Teacher Blog Community would be more beneficial if I was in the classroom. I will keep them in mind to suggest to teachers looking for a network. When trying to keep up with technology I may want to join The Future of Education. For my needs at this time I chose to join Teacher Library because I could find issues on everything that I am dealing with. I was already a member of Texas School Librarians, but I had not posted anything since joining in 2007 when Shonda first began the Ning.

Communication and networking ideas seem to be the goals of Nings, but none are useful if one does not check back in from time to time to see what is available.

Thing #21 PodCasts and Videocasts

2009-07-28T21:24:00.001-05:00

Check back in with me later. I will be posting a Photo Story as soon as I come up with a good idea!

Thing #20 You Tube and Teacher Tube

2009-07-28T20:21:00.002-05:00

Students can create story boards and practice their fluency with their favorite books. This video based on the book The Mixed-up Chameleon by Eric Carle was created by second graders.

Reading Video Deep in the Heart of Texas

2009-07-28T20:01:00.002-05:00

This video has a great song about all the things you can read about. It was created for the summer reading program, but the song is so catchy I think I will use it for a warmup!

Thing #19 Web 2.0 Awards List

2009-07-28T08:09:00.003-05:00

The task was to have fun so I did. I started with Twitter because everyone seems to be all a twitter about Twitter. I am in the camp of I just don't get it. I don't want to know about every little thing someone is doing...and what I do want to find out I generally get from my friends on Facebook. I read somewhere that Twitter was "out" and something else replaced it! I am not sure what that was but in my opinion it is for the better. If this is a communication tool, I would prefer that teachers communicate with me via e-mail or wikis.

As you can see I also played with widgets, and posted a calendar here. This widget can help with organization, as items can be posted to it. For the most part widgets were just a fun diversion as was the hairsite I played with for a while.

Lulu and Biblio were 2 sites about books that were more useful than the hairstyling site. Lulu is a site available for individuals to become published authors. There is a cost involved, but they also sell the published books. They have an offer for teachers and librarians called "Aspiring Authors". This offer is for students in Grades K-8. Teachers register their classes and students who submit their writing gets the first copy free.

Biblio is another book site designed to locate and purchase books. Personally I am going to encourage my college age son to use the textbook finder.

Thing #18 Online Productivity Tools

2009-07-27T21:12:00.002-05:00

I checked out Google Docs because I know of several people who regularly use this tool...I am biased toward Microsoft Office because I feel comfortable using these tools. I noticed Google Docs was similar to Word, the thing I missed most was instant spell check. I have been told that people who use Docs often type in Word and then paste into Docs. It was fairly easy to do a spell check at the end of typing; I would just need to remember to use that feature. I liked the collabortive aspect of Docs, sharing was easy with the email option, making comments was just a click away. I wonder though if all these tools overlap, since you can get the same type of features in a Wiki.
If time allows I may explore Google Docs some more, but until then my needs are met with Microsoft Office package.

Thing #17 Rollyo

2009-07-27T17:12:00.002-05:00

After a few trial and errors, I finally watched the video to clearly understand the use of Rollyo. I patterned my rollyo after one of their suggested reference Rollyo and created Ref Search Simon. You can search it from my sidebar, just look under my wordle tags from Delicious and you will see a search box. Put your search term in the box and from the drop down menu select Ref Search Simon. I searched George Washington and found some tidbits and trivia about Washington. He raised marijuana which was a common crop in the 1700's for hemp and to stablize the soil...it was many years later that it became an illegal crop. George Washington was also succint in his second inaugral address only using 135 words.

Rollyo seems to be a very useful tool for limiting searches to useful and trusted sites.

Thing #16 Wikis

2009-07-27T16:12:00.002-05:00

Here is the link to my wiki that I have been playing with this summer http://resourcesandmore.wikispaces.com/. My original intent was to post information about resources available in the library and ask for collaboration from those using the resources. I envision others posting ideas on how they used the resource; thus it becomes an interactive resource for teachers. I have since added a page for students to reflect and summarize books that they read. One idea I had was to post info about a book and then allow students to comment about my comments.

Thing #15 Library 2.0 and the Future of Libraries

2009-07-27T09:39:00.002-05:00

Mmmmm...so much to think about when planning for the future but often we must look to the past to help us figure out where we are going. As someone who has been around to see trends come and go I think we are handling some of the change as always. A few brave souls are leading the charge to bring these news trends into education, but as always we hang on to trends of the past. As one trend ends in general we let go of what doesn't really work and keep the beneficial aspects and all blend together.

Web 2.0 is another trend but one that brings with it new challenges that make it difficult to incorporate into the educational world. First, technology has a financial cost that historically we can not keep up with. I have found I am just beginning to buy "new technology" when it is actually outdated and other things are available. Second, students have surpassed many of the adults in the school and thus have different expectations. Third, we can not avoid the fact that children have different needs at different levels and economic situations in families determine what we can expect them to use for homework and presentations.

That said, the video was a powerful tool identifying the needs of today's students. Few teachers do not recognize that the students are different, they are just lagging in how to meet the needs of today's students. I personally feel that we are ethically required to make sure that our students who may not have technology access at home can keep up with those who do have complete access. So what does this mean for libraries? How about the level of the library; is the elementary library going to look different. As an elementary librarian, one role is to provide books to help develop readers. Do we replace all these with e-books? I have taken the role of technology leader by trying to blend the need to teach a skill with hands on material and teaching children how to use technology to access that material.

One article discussed the 3 icebergs, 2 spoke to me. First, "just in case" colllection development. We have long discussed the need for a reference section in an elementary library. I think a more appropriate use of funds is the purchase of databases, and a better allocation of our time is in teaching children how to access these databases and how to evaluate less trusted sources. The third talking point is the "come to us model". This is such a perspective, elementary kids don't have choice; they are definitely a "captive audience." Our perspective is that everyone uses and loves the library, and we are surprised to hear that many students make it through high school and college without ever using the library. If this is really the case we need to quit asking those that regularly use the library what they need and begin asking those who don't use the library how we can better change to meet the needs of everyone.

Courses like this helps keep this a hot topic...we become aware is the first step, and once that awareness sets in then we can add to what we do daily to help incorporate new technology into our programs.

Thing #14 Technorati and Tags

2009-07-20T16:46:00.002-05:00

In my past posting I quoted that tags are "creative organization"; well it is a creative outlet that I seem to lack in. I understand the use and purpose of tags, but I still have a difficult time locating what I need via tags. This is something I feel will improve with use and practice especially now that I am aware of several programs and actively use Delicious that use tags to locate and group information.

Technorati provides a service to those who wish to follow blogs. The service helps in locating blogs and grouping blogs into favorites and topics. I am not sure how interested I am in following blogs either professionally or personally. I do appreciate those who publish book reviews or book trailers on their blogs, but I can find those pieces of information elsewhere. I do follow 2 librarian listservs and find information on blogs in that arena that fills my need to read blogs. At this point blogs are in my peripheral vision of professional need...that may change as I grow more comfortable using tools such as Technorati.

Thing #12 Tagging and Discover Delicious

2009-07-19T15:17:00.002-05:00

I first discovered Delicious at this past TLA (Library in Black presentation) and it quickly became my lifesaver. I had 2 libraries and of course all bookmarks were posted at the other library or at home. Delicious quickly created a spot where I could access my common sites from anywhere. If that was the extent of my use I could be happy, but as this Thing has taught me Delicious has a much broader appeal than just my personal use. The video divided Delicious into 2 parts how to DO delicious and how to USE Delicious. I have always found Delicious easy to DO, plugging in and bookmarking sites but didn't realize how easy it was to use and share with others.

The 3 hints given in the video were to check out popular tags to see what others have bookmarked, this makes the site invaluable to locating new sites. Sharing tags with others was a second hint. The one that I felt had application to research and sharing with colleagues was using "Unique Tags". By sharing this unique tags with others, they can share their sites via the tag. Teachers, librarians and students can create an assignment in which they must post via Delicious and under a certain tag. Research can then be generated from the material bookmarked to those tags.

Tags or as they called "Creative organization" is an important aspect to this site and I must say I have not used them properly. I have locked myself in to the idea of keywords that I learned about in library classes and how they need to be proper and limiting. I need to remember that the tags are for me to remember how to locate my increasing lists of sites and so far it is manageable but without the use of tags I can see how I could begin to lose what I have in the myriad of things I am bookmarking. I have been through this scenario earlier with my favorites and had to discover a folder and filing system to manage them...now I must learn tagging to help organize my sites.

Thing #12 Creating Community Through Commenting

2009-07-19T14:06:00.002-05:00

One aspect of reading blogs that I have found irritating are comments that just say "good job" or "nice". If I post a comment (and yes I want it to be easy, no signing in etc) I hope that whatever I say adds to the conversation in a positive way. I hate to say it but comments that lead nowhere takes up time to go through before getting to the meat of the conversation and my time for blogging is limited.

Lurking and commenting anonymously were both discussed and I feel they are linked for those of us who are not quite sure how this information is spread and shared. In my district we are warned to be careful what is posted via social networking and therefore I tend to take a very conservative role when it comes to anything on the web.

Thing #11 Library Thing

2009-07-16T15:43:00.002-05:00

This was a nice new discovery for me. I thought I would suggest a small, old book called "Tisha" that I loved as a young person and low and behold it immediately popped up. The copyright was listed as 1984 and there were others who actually had it in their library and the reviews essentially stated my opinions on this book.

I am a book lover, but I am not a book collector...I much prefer to use a library so using Library Thing as a cataloging system is not the most pertinent aspect of this site. I was surprised by some of the sizes of people's personal collections; they definitely have more space than I do! I found the discussions and groups interesting to read and will check back in periodically to follow several of the threads.

As an elementary librarian I will also look to see reviews of possible purchases, and see if there are names of books that I am not aware of yet. As I get more time I may even look into the possiblity of reviewing books. One thing that I noticed in several of the discussions that the tone did not necessarily sound as if all respondents were librarians so I felt that opened ideas to what the "real world" is reading. Many of the mentioned books were older, books I loved and try to push, I will need to keep reading to see if newer titles are mentioned as well. My only problem with that is the idea that book lovers are responding, and I need to hear from nonreaders as well! I have found that many books that adults push really don't appeal to the nonreaders...perhaps I will start a discussion on just that topic!

Thing #10 Online Image Creator

2009-07-16T14:46:00.007-05:00

http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/ This link created the happy face. On this site you will find a happy face for everyone!

http://www.imagechef.com/

Image Chef was used to add my own words to this picture of the beach.

As you can see I had a lot of fun with this Thing; I could have played for hours. I experimented with putting frames on pictures, creating magazine covers, adding bodies etc. Everything was easy; the most frustrating part was my computer...I definitely need to upgrade so I can deal with the graphics easier and quicker.

My first thought was to create signs for the library to talk about book care but my second thought was for students to create comics talking about book care! They will have fun, the rules reinforced, and student created work can become an ongoing display via screen savers or wall posters.

I back to play with some of the other items! More later...

Thing #9 Useful Library Related Blogs

2009-07-14T22:38:00.002-05:00

I disliked this Thing immensely, I felt all the search items were too bulky and busy. When trying to locate blogs to read and keep up with I will probably use the advice given in the blog "How to create you circle of the wise" and use blogs recommended by current blogs that I read. I have also found several blogs through the various listservs that I belong too. Perhaps if I had better search terms I could feel more successful but I truly dislike trying to weed my way through the many blogs and sites that deal with the many topics I am not interested in.

I did create a feed to the local newspaper so I can keep up with news of the county I work in but in which I do not live in. I am following the blogs of the librarians from my district who are part of this summer's library2play so hopefully when we are done we can move to a format that allows us to communicate and coordinate activities with one another.

I did like the idea of podcasts and spent some time looking at iTunes to determine if there are any that I would like to spend time with. I am considering using a Learning Spanish podcast. This service is free, so it will only cost me some time. So my next lifetime learning may be a Spanish podcast.

Thing #8 RSS Feeds and Readers

2009-07-10T20:37:00.002-05:00

I like the simplicity of RSS especially with Google Reader. I was first introduced to RSS via EBSCO training. We set up an RSS feed for magazines; monthly I received notification that a magazine was available to read. The only problem I never had time to actually read the magazine. Using Google Reader I can scan quickly through the headlines of more than just magazines and decide if I need to read the article or not.

Google Reader puts all updates in one place which hopefully will save time thus helping me to keep up with professional reading. One of the links I added to Google Reader is a feed from the local newspaper so I can keep up with local issues dealing with the school system (professional) and also local news interests (personal).

It seems to me that this is a quick way for teachers and students to locate and share current events. Teachers/librarians could set up a Google Reader account and subscribe to newpapers, news sites etc. to receive a variety of links for class discussion or research.

There are many librarians with blogs that review books or technology. Having RSS feeds to these sites would be useful as a collection tool to read/hear about new must have items.

Thing #7 Google Tools

2009-07-10T10:04:00.004-05:00

Let me preface this by saying that I have never been a Google fan; I much prefer to search using Yahoo,but was glad to have some time to search through the many opportunities in Google. The 2 items that caught my attention were Google Scholar and Advanced Search. I liked these items because they helped narrow my searches to something more manageable. In advanced search you can narrow your search by file type so I searched for Power Points only. In my opinion this then becomes a useful tool since we do have Power Point as an option on all our computers.

I have read others blogging about the power of Google.docx, and I see some interesting aspects to it such as creating your own pictures. The trouble that I have with docx is that I do not seem to be able to open these documents on any of my computers. Is this a user malfunction or is this an document problem?

Thing #6 Mashups and 3rd Party Sites take 2

2009-07-04T17:03:00.002-05:00

Since all this is for fun, I didn't want to miss creating a trading card. This is a personal picture that I turned into a trading card. This is truly fun, but if using with students be sure they have a plan for what they are going to say before creating the trading card. The story should come first!

Thing #6 Mashups and 3rd Party Sites

2009-07-03T16:01:00.002-05:00

Jim Bumgardner is the creator of a variety of the mashups, specifically the colr pickrs and Flickr Chia Pets. This quote from his website describes his philosophy of mashups "To those that question the utility of this little application let me point out that it is a toy...Its purpose is simply to provide wonder and delight. Nothing more, nothing less. Isn't that enough?" Based on this philosophy I played with several of the mashups and was awed of the skills Bumgardner and others have to take known technology and combine it to create something new. Have some fun and play with Flickr Chia Pet; according to the site you can upload your own pictures and grow your own green hair. I also liked the look of Clockr, created by Marie Klingemann. She created a digital clock based on the pictures from Flickr that has numbers in it.

I have seen Mosiac maker used in schools to manage the many pictures taken by teachers. This is part of a subscription service, but creates a nice look to display pictures of students and activities.

For this "Thing" I used Bubblr a mashup created by Daniel and Anna. In this appliction I located a picture of Dr. Seuss and placed a quote from him in a speech bubble. Although I used a single picture and one quote, but could have created a series of pictures with quotes. I could see students creating pictures of book characters and writing the dialog between characters.

Thing #5 Flickr

2009-06-30T16:26:00.003-05:00

How about this image....George Washington's teeth! I was frustrated with the amount of pictures to weed through to find what I was looking for. I originally wanted examples of library signage and found some great examples, but then would get stuck in that person's album. Each album had many other pictures other than what I was looking for. Very frustrating! I then decided to head to the creative commons and located some fantastic historical pictures. Children are fascinated with the story of George Washington's teeth and these will be a wonderful lead-in to the book George Washington's Teeth. I also liked the discussion that went with this photo. Many went with general or political comments but others gave a historical perspective that will be invaluable background information. I will keep Flickr in mind when introducing different concepts in the library. Many images can also be found via EBSCO and Encyclopedia Britannica our online Databases. EBSCO provides templates for analyzing photos.

Thing #3 Blogs and Avatars!

2009-06-29T10:55:00.000-05:00

Finally, I finished Thing #3. I have been putting off creating a blog; there are so many blogs available and I just didn't want another nondescript blog. I love to read others blogs, but it seems to me that enough is enough and I couldn't quite grasp how to make mine different, interesting and pertinent to others. The actual creation of the blog was easy, for the most part fear is the biggest drawback and I realized that I could click on any button and search without doing damage. I may have more difficulty when trying to personalize my blog and trying to interest others in being a part of my blogging experience.

The Avatar was also easy to create. It helps that I had played with Avatars and knew the basic layout and process. The difficulty I had was in exporting it to my blog. It was frustrating enough that I finally closed it all out and walked away for a few minutes. Luckily, I have enough background knowledge of exporting items that I went back tried a new direction and it worked. I do feel sorry for those that do not have some experience or are still in a mode of fear that something will break or explode by clicking on it.

Thing #2 LifeLong Learning

2009-06-29T09:11:00.000-05:00

Reflecting on 7.5 Habits of Lifelong Learners I am trying to apply habit number 4 "have confidence in yourself as a competent effective learner" in my latest endeavor...learning to play the guitar. The quote "words become your reality" hit home when I discovered myself telling people I am the worst guitar player ever. I am attempting to change my mindset by telling myself and others that I am the best beginning guitar player ever. I have created my own learning toolbox (#5) by choosing to take lessons, set aside times for practice, purchasing the proper equipment etc.

Habit 7.5 is my constant struggle...PLAY. How many times do I expect to be perfect and if not perfect then I don't want to continue. In my example of playing the guitar I am quickly learning that new skills that are not automatic require time, practice and patience and it is okay to have fun learning. Life does not hinge on how quickly I can become competent, but on how I enjoy the learning along the way.