Thing #23 Summarize Your Thoughts about This Program

23 Things has been informative, educational, and fun. When I was first setting up my blog I was so nervous that I would not be able to complete all the activities but as I have worked through each thing, I am amazed at how user friendly technology has become. It also has made me think about what a huge responsibilities educators have now. Not only do we have to teach students required subject skills but we must also teach them how to access information is so many different ways online if we are going to prepare them to be competitive adults in the world workplace. 23 Things is a great program for doing just that.

My favorite exercise was Photo Story. I loved creating with my pictures and adding narration and music was so simple. Switchpod was a bit frustrating but I was proud of myself after I got through it. Discovering Wufoo from the 2.0 Awards list was fun. It made me think about all the forms I have created over the past 17 years and Wufoo is a dream come true.


I think this program has really made me realize that I can be successful with technology. I now feel much more confident about answering teachers questions about technology problems they are having. It has made me much more receptive to completing online classes and workshops.

The thing that surprised me most about the program was how user-friendly most of the projects were. When I think back to even five years ago and trying to create powerpoint presentations and the difficulty getting links to videos or music, it is comical.

I feel that the format of the program is great. I would like to see the site remain active even after the completion of the program as I would like to be able to go back to some of the activities and look at them again. Kind of like keeping a textbook on a shelf to go back and refer to.

I would love to participate in other discovery programs. As I was telling my principal today, the price of gas is so high now that educators are really burdened by all the costs associated with attending workshops. Online programs are so adaptable to our busy lifestyles. My favorite time to work on this program was around 7:00 in the morning while someone else may have free time at midnight.

I would describe my learning experience as TRANSFORMING.

This has been a very worthwhile way to spend an hour or so a day this summer. I am better prepared for my job because of 23Things.

Thing #22: Nings

Several good points were made in the 7 things you should know about Nings. A Ning would be a great way to get students involved in assignments and projects with other students at any time 24/7. It allows instructors to be involved with their students in an environment which is relative and comfortable to a vast majority of our students (think MySpace or Facebook).



I looked at both Texas Librarian Ning and Texas School Librarian Ning. While the first was interesting I was drawn to Texas School Librarian because I am one. I was hooked after viewing one of the vidcasts created by a librarian celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday. It was so entertaining and the Ning allowed members to comment about the vidcast and the author to reply easily. As I read through comments from various individuals I did get a sense of community involvement. The Gadget add-ons looked interesting but you had to be a member to get into them.

TSL Ning could be used in many ways. As I mentioned above-vidcasts. It also allows for ideas to be shared among a large group of my peers. It is a fun and interesting way to learn about other librarians and how they get their students excited about reading and into the library. It also allows for discussion on employment, certification, etc.

As a librarian who has been involved with colleagues in developing our district library manual, this would be a great way to discuss manual ideas with peers around the state and to utilize that info into our manual.

Thing #21: Podcasts and Audio Books

I loved Photo Story. It was so easy to use and I had a blast. This tool is wonderful for creating enticing learning videos for students of all ages. I liked the idea that a visual tool could be created with nothing more than your own photos. Not everyone has a video recorder or iPod so this tool is a great way to allow students to express themselves creatively in a cost effective manner. Good classroom tool. I worried about not having a microphone but it turned out okay anyway.

I struggled with Swithpod. For me it was not user-friendly and it took me several tries to link to this post.

I choose to create a photo story from a group of pictures of the Art Car Parade. It could be incorporated into lesson plans dealing with transportation and used to give students ideas for creating their own vehicle-on paper or otherwise-as a fun closing activity for the unit.

Thing #20: YouTube, TeacherTube and Zamzar

As a librarian I know that having access to a multitude of educational videos is important. Easy access plus the ability to search for videos from any computer is another time saving gem. What I like about YouTube and TeacherTube is that they allow access to very creative, short videos that explain a concept/objective in a way that interests students and makes learning fun. I have spent alot of my library budget stocking the library with educational videos that run 30 minutes or longer and that contain material other than the objective the teacher really needed it for. As I searched YouTube I found the following video that would be great for me to use at the beginning of the year to peak the interest of my youngest readers as they learn how to use the library.

What child could resist Cookie Monster?

Thing #19: Web 2.0 Awards List

I looked over the list and choose to take a look at .Docstoc. It looks to be a very useful site for locating documents on just about any educational subject you could want. I searched for documents on graphic novels and found several good ones in a PowerPoint format. The information was easily organized and I could incorporate the info quickly into my own PowerPoint presentation for the beginning of the school year. I am having a problem with getting my teaching staff to embrace the use of graphic novels in the classroom so I am trying to gather as much professional information as possible to present at the beginning of the year.

Next I went to Wufoo. It was such a cute name I had to take a look. I really liked this one. It basically allows you to create and manage all kinds of forms with a number of cool templates for creating registration forms, comment forms, contact forms, wedding invitations, etc. These forms can then be sent to your inbox or added to your web page or blog. The CSS themes allow you to add a variety of colors in your wallpaper, logo, instructions, etc. It also lets you analysis data from form information and generate a colorful chart illustrating the results. I could see this being used for gathering staff thoughts on a particular topic. For instance, the principal could quickly generate a form asking staff to recommend times for staff meetings. After all forms have been received, the data could be analysed quickly and the results presented in a professional manner at a staff meeting. In the library I could use this tool in the spring as our third and fourth grade students vote for their favorite Bluebonnet book. The students would love seeing the results graphed in a colorful pie chart on a bulletin board with pictures of the winning book.

Thing #18: Online Productivity Tools

I looked briefly at OpenOffice but it seemed confusing. I already have a Google account so I naturally was drawn to it as I love iGoogle and felt the Goggle Doc would be easy to maneuver through and I was not disappointed. I love the entire concept. I really feel that emails are going to become obsolete with all of these great online productivity tools.

One huge advantage of Google Doc over a Microsoft document is the ability to share with others who can edit and revise the document so easily. That document is then immediately available to all others who have been chosen to share the document. Any computer gives you access to your document(s). I know I am constantly losing my memory stick so this would certainly solve that problem. I also love the idea of being able to publish documents as web pages or blog postings. The most important factor is that this tool saves time! Teachers have so few spare moments that anything that saves them time is going to be embraced. The simplicity of learning how to use Goggle Doc is also a huge advantage. I tried to think of a disadvantage but could not come up with one unless it was that anyone editing/revising your document would have to register with Google. I guess some people would not want to do that, but that is the only disadvantage I could think of.

Thing #17: Rollyo

After reading through all the info I have registered on Rollyo. I started out simply by adding a searchroll for recipes, books/authors, and political news but am unable to get the Rollyo searchroll button to appear in my browser. I have tried dragging it, copying it, etc. and no luck. I will continue to work on it.

Searchrolls will be awesome (once I really get the hand of them). One of my concerns in some of these activities was how to know if the sites I am going to are trustworthy. I was also concerned that if I am to help my staff/students use these tools, how can I make sure that I am leading them to sites that are appropriate. Searchrolls are a good way to access sites that I trust or that my fellow teachers trust. I am always getting emails from fellow teachers about sites they have found that are wonderful for lesson plans. How awesome to have these sites on a Searchroll for everyone. Speed of information is the key for teachers and Searchrolls are one more tool in getting great resources in educators hands quickly.

Later in the day.....I am back to Rollyo. Was able to get the Bookmarklet into my Bookmarks bar by putting the address in the URL window and then hitting shift/ctrl and dragging it to bookmark bar. Established a BusyCooks-Recipe searchroll, but somehow lost my searchroll for graphic novels for kids. This has been one of the coolest looking "things" but the most frustrating for me. I have decided I am a very visual person. It would be great to see a video on this activity. Am going searching for one now.

Later in the day....Okay, this is it. Went to TeacherTube and searched Rollyo. Was able to watch a great video by Bruce Goodner on Rollyo and how it works. It was easy to understand and well worth the 11 minutes to watch. Hope it comes in handy for others.

Thing #16: Wikis

After this activity I feel that emails are outdated! Teachers on my campus work together on lesson planning and this is a wonderful way for them to connect in this process. As a librarian on a K-4th grade campus, there are many times that I need to coordinate an activity or event with others staff members and because of scheduling conflicts it becomes almost impossible to gather everyone together to coordinate responsibilities, materials, etc. A wiki would be so advantageous to all concerned.

Thing #15: Web 2.0, Library 2.0

As I read through the discussion of Library 1.0-4.0 my anxiety level rose as the descriptions of each level were presented, but by the end of 4.0 I was really excited. Through the use of technology we can continue to redefine what a library looks like while still keeping its basic roots intact. A "place" whether a real stucture or virtual exsistence, that offers patrons an abundance of knowledge, peace, enjoyment, encouragment, and support to find the information they need to meet their needs. I also found the idea of redefining my "just in case" collection. It is becoming more important to find a balance between my physical collection and my digital collection. I continue to readjust my budget to meet these needs.

Thing #14: Explore Technorati

I found that searching for "School Library Learning 2.0" was more efficient if I searched in blogs. Tags gave too many results. Doing a keyword search now seems so outdated to me. I must admit this whole experience is making me feel better about myself and technology.

Tagging information is a valuable tool for students/teachers/librarians. It allows for quick access to information which can then be shared. It amazes me at how fast tagging allows us access information of any kind. Tagging is a great learning tool for students to organize their thoughts and resources for classroom assignments.

I felt more at ease with searching popular blogs. I guess I subconsciously felt that if others are visiting these sites so much they must have good authority and the information is trustworthy. This is my biggest concern with blogging-What is trustworthy information? The video with the personnel from Technorati discussed how blogs are about the "human experience" and what the "regular guy" thinks, well how do I know if I can trust the thoughts of the regular guy?

After working through the activities for Thing #14,I must admit that Technorati confuses me. For me Del.icio.us was much more user friendly but I will continue to work through Technorati to better understand it.

Thing #13: Tagging and Discover Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is great. I loved it. The potential for researching is outstanding. It is a wonderful way for teachers to gather information (URLs) and then share that information with others by posting to a shared tag. The availability of searching by popular tag would also allow students/teachers to find sites that others have found useful as opposed to blindly pouring through sites to find relevant material on a particular subject. The ability to use several different tags for a site also expands a person's capability for finding information quickly.

Thing#12-Creating Community Through Commenting

Most important point came from coolcatteacher: Comment when you have something meaningful to say, not just to chatter. Problogger's guidelines to blogging were very helpful. I found number 6 in his 10 Ways To Increase Numbers On Your Blog to be important. He stated that by being humble in your postings, you attract more comments than coming across as a "know it all". This was significant to me as a new blogger. I am intimidated to give my heartfelt opinion to someone I do not know and I worry that posting a comment may result in a response that would make me feel stupid.

I also made 5 posts to the following Blogs: Wonder Weiss's Wisdom, A Teacher's Garden, Sixty & Still Special, Fun Sun Summer Learnin, and Crazy PreK Man. It was fun looking at these blogs. There is so much creativity involved in putting together blogs. I am learning so much from my peers.

My blogs of interest have been great sources of information. An upcoming trip to the Great Smoky Mountains resulted in my finding two great travel blogs with sight seeing ideas that I had not found in the tourist literature I have received in the mail. I explored The Freshwater's Global Explorer Travel Blog and Homespun Highlights. I placed questions in my comments to both so am eager to hear back from them.

Thing#11-LibraryThing

I am really enjoying this blog. It will be so useful as I am busy reading the 08-09 Bluebonnet Nominees in order to booktalk them with my students this fall. I am adding these books to my LibraryThing as I read them. It will be great to get feedback on the books from other bloggers and I am sure I will get ideas for using the books with students too. This is a great tool for me.

The Author Chat group looks interesting. I like that there is a schedule/time for upcoming chats so I can put them on my calendar. I also enjoyed the group Librarians who LibraryThing. This blog allows me to click on a book and have instant access to thoughts/opinions from others about the title. This "thing" is a keeper!!

Thing#9-Useful Library Blogs

The Bloglines search options were easy to use and I liked the way results were arranged on the page. It just looked organized to me in a way that made sense. Technorati was confusing to me. As I read through posts and took notice of tags I began to develop a better system for searching. This may sound elementary to some who have had a lot of practice with blogging but it really is a different way of thinking about how a person finds information. Am attempting to use Topix.net to locate info on Alaska as my husband and I are planning a trip there. The site seems so busy but I am working through it. Found good info on Anchorage Bay.

Thing#10-Image generators

This fun activity lead me to a multitude of really cool sites. Loved the comicstrip generator which would allow students to create their own cartoons with speech balloons. This could be used with first graders to highlight a lesson on using speech balloons in reading. Having done this with students and having them draw the cartoon themselves, there was frustration with some children about their inability to draw the characters the way they wanted. This tool would allow the students to be creative and have their finished product turn out the way they envisioned them. Definitely a small group activity with the youngest students but could be collaborated with computer lab teacher.

Could play here all day.

Thing#8-RSS

RSS-Really Simple Syndication to some. Confusion to me. This was definitely a "thing" that required a lot of play time. I will be tweaking this aspect of my blog for some time. The video RSS in Plain English was a big help in understanding the concept. But as I went to a blog, such as Librarian Philosopher, etc. I kept getting confused. I am also trying to figure out how to use RSS for my students on my K-4th grade campus. RSS in my personal life is a great way to simplify surfing the web. As Cool Cat Teacher stated, it allows you access to alot of information during your few free moments of the day. I could see a high school librarian using RSS feeds on a library blog to gather all kinds of information for students/teachers as needed. It is simple to establish a feed, I just have to get better at searching for good reliable sources.

Thing#7-Cool Google Tools

What a wealth of great tools to be used. I have set up a Google Alert for news about graphic novels. As an elementary school librarian I am constantly working on ways to get my boys to read and graphic novels are really something they gravitate to. I have also set up a Google Calender. I have been using a planner for years so letting go of it may be hard to do.
Using a Google Calendar among grade level team members would be a great way to keep everyone up to date on what is happening in the grade level and on campus. If grade level team members are writing lesson plans for different subjects then using calendars that are accessible by everyone would allow teachers to keep up with requirements/due dates for team members, students, etc.

Thing#6-Mashup/3rd Party Sites

Trading cards was a lot of fun to work with. I think I am repeating the word "fun" more and more as I work through these 23 things. The use of trading cards in the classroom would work well for teachers creating games or incorporating this feature into lesson plans for students to create games. Social studies and geography would be two areas where students vacation pics could be utilized.

Thing#5 Flickr

This activity was alot of fun and I found this great photo after searching using children and readings. This picture reminds me of my daughter and what her room would look like after an afternoon spent "reading" with me when she was 4.

Thing#4-Registering

Well, I guess I am fully committed to this now. A little scary as I look at other blogs that seem so sophisticated compared to mine. I am sure my blog will improve as I work thru it.

Thing#3

So far this has been fun! I am always uncomfortable following tech directions but these have been well thought out. It was fun designing my Avatar and my daughter was impressed that I knew what an Avatar was.

Thing #2

Thing #2 The hardest habit for me is #3. I have a bad habit of viewing problems as a crisis that must be dealt with. Thinking of them as challenges makes me feel much better about this blogging business! The easiest habit for me is #2. I do accept responsibility for my own success in learning. What I make of myself in life is up to me.

Thing#1

Thing#1 Looks like this will be alot of fun.