Bookworm Gardener

Thing 11.5 Reflections

2009-11-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

I made it! This was quite a journey. Although I didn't have time to do it this past summer as planned, it worked out ok to do it during the year. But I will be glad to get some time of my own on the weekends here before the holidays. One advantage is I feel that I have retained more doing it now, rather than if I had done it at the beginning of last summer.

1.Favorite Discoveries:
I am always looking for more image generators and quick, easy,fun things to show kids and teachers. I loved wordle and bookr, and have used them with several grades related to curriculum they were studying. I also loved Voki, playing with the iTouch, and exploring SchoolTube.

2.Affected lifelong learning:
You know the saying--"The more you learn-- the more you realize how much you still need to learn"-- or something like that. That is how I feel with technology. Every time I feel like I really get something down-- it changes or something better comes along to learn. Such is life in the 21st century library. I definitely want to explore more with slideshare,and I will be able to use screencast when I need that type of tool--I didn't own camtasia or snagit and had wanted to learn this one. And of course, this is all a great prerequisite to our new Mac equipment and training I will be attending in Dec.
3.Take-aways or unexpected outcomes/ surprises:
I was surprised at the amount of discussion and effectiveness of lessons I presented at my school on digital citizenship and online safety. I was so surprised how easy it was to install and use skype right away. I was definitely surprised at myself for my interest in second life-- I have never been a person to get into walking around and communicating with people in virtual worlds. I have to say that once I learned a few basics and got some cool clothes, I was enjoying it.

4. Improve program?
The 11.5 things did seem more manageable that taking on 23 things in a chunck. They still took many more hours than the credit given, but some of that was my extended "playing" on my own . The directions and links still are so very helpful and easy to follow! And I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it did seem that the pacing from longer to shorter things was good-- not a lot of longer complicated ones in a row-- so we didn't get bogged down or frustrated. Thanks for leading me through this step by step! Please continue to leave all of the 23 and 11.5 things on the web page so we can refer back to them as we use them and review them.

Thing #11 Digital Citizenship

2009-11-28T12:39:00.000-08:00

Since our new state requirement, TEKS, and I-Safe materials have come this fall, I feel like I had a heads up on Digital Citizenship. I have already taught a 2 part lesson with all of Kg - 5th using the flipcharts and Brain Pop videos. I used the picture book "Arthur's Computer Disaster for KG and 1st for one of the lessons to start a discussion on when, where, and how computers should be used at home and school. I still have one more 3rd followup lesson to do with 4th and 5th dealing more with online safety using the activeoard flips. After teaching these lessons to elementary students, I was surprised at the amount of discussion and valuable information that was included that our students really did need. I feel this series was not only beneficial to them, but helped me to know their internet use and needs better.
I liked the visual of Digital Citizenship from the suggested readings that had a block with "Stutdents" in the middle, and blocks of Literacy, Safety, Ettiquette, and Learning Strategies surrounding. That seems to include it all-- using the internet appropriately, safely, and effectively.
I also liked the lesson idea from David Warlick where he takes students to Google and through the whole process of search, looking through the search results, demonstrating all of the things to consider and the decision-making process to cull out what is valuable, and then model verifying authority.

Thing # 10 Virtual Worlds

2009-11-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

I checked out a few of the suggested virtual worlds for younger kids for entertainment, and they looked fun-- letting kids make stationery and play games. My son has been playing games for years using virtual worlds, and sometimes even being able to create his own maps and add to the world he originally purchased-- therefore adding a whole new dimension and expansion to the original. I think that is the attraction for older kids and even adults-- a chance to create and make an ever-changing and evolving game or place. I have played quite a bit this past week with Second Life--and have met the most polite and helpful "people". I have finally gotten out of my "newbie" clothes and have a full wardrobe of jeans, shirts, and hair. Just what you need to pack for travel--what's best is the price-- FREE. I got them on Black Bear Island, visited Statue of Liberty, the African plains, and Iste Island where I met up with Mary--where she gave me a bunch of landmarks to try for elementary kids. There is supposed to be one for younger kids that is like a nursery tale or fairy tale place that I need to get. I tried to teleport to Mount Rushmore but it was not working-- maybe it was closed for the holidays! I can see how this may be used for younger students with a teacher to lead them through it as part of a lesson to discover and explore. I expect that virtual worlds will continue to expand not just for entertainment, but also for informative and commercial applications that can be tapped into for educational purposes and classroom use-- like virtual field trips, trainings, and tours. I still need a lot more exploration with Second Life before I will be able to navigate easily.

Ranitas / Frogs in the forest

2009-11-22T13:02:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Ranitas / Frogs in the forest

View more documents from Manuel Velasco.

Thing # 9 Slideshare

2009-11-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

My 3 favorites of this type of tool was Slideshare, authorSTREAM and 280 slides --these sites are really chocked full of presentations teachers could use with students, students could access on their own for information, or places to store and publish their powerpoints.

I found some really great presentations on countries, nature, and current issues like glaciers and global warming on slideshare-- some beautiful photography with great quality. I also liked the feature that gave you other presentations related to the one you searched.

VWB-- in slideshare, I found a great one called Ranitas/Frogs of the Forest. Check out the previous post above.

I liked the features that Joyce Valenza pointed out about authorSTREAM-- all audio uploads in 1 file, full screen with good quality, and PPTs being able to be converted from PPTs to video files for easy sharing on iPods, YouTube, etc.

I'm glad I found LibrarianInBlack.net. I will have to checkout more topics there. I really thought the 280 slides looked very useful for our students who have internet at home--but outdated versions of PPT or no PPT at all. This will be a great help for those students to be able to create and work on projects and presentations at home, school, or the public library-- no matter what desktop applications they have that might limit them at home. And I think it is always a thrill for them to actually publish their work or share it easily-- and see the creative and professional aspects of other presentations online, also.

Thing # 8 Screencast

2009-11-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

This took a lot of time to play with and load tools. I finally got Jing to work and played around with the SnagIt tools. I think this will be a great tool to use when I have time to play with all of the features and get down the process. It reminds me of the activeboard-- seems a lot at first, but once you have used it a while, it seems so natural and faster to navigate. I am going to have the kids on my afterschool AR group use this to make a tutorial for other students in how to locate, log on, and take a test. This would also be a good one to use for students needing help in learning how to log onto the district server...lots of uses besides professional development for teachers. I have seen lots of powerpoints and tutorials that other people have made using this, and it looks so professional and clear for the user. This is one tool I wanted to learn about, and glad there are different free ones now to choose from. I will work on getting the sound to work with it next.

Thing # 7 Videos

2009-11-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed reading the interesting discussion and comments posed by Robert in response to the video on fair use.
I had heard of Hulu-- but never really watched anything from it-- so this was a great discovery for me personally (since I found free episodes of my favorite TV show along with interesting interviews) but also good stuff for school use.

I found this cool video segment from National Geographic that would be a great followup extention on a class study of earth forces and tornadoes. "Tornado in a Can"-- only 3 minutes long-- shows how science is reproducing tornadoes so they can build things that will withstand one. Just the type of thing that may encourage students to see how science investigation and research is applied to improve real life situations.

On PBS I found Nova and nature programs on all topics-- I found one I think I actually watched on TV and one that would be of great help on a research projects-- the one on the komodo dragon. Every year I have some boys wanting to learn everything there is about these unusual creatures-- some for a project, and some just because... I could not get this PBS one to embed so here is the link.
http://video.pbs.org/video/1300615533/
I also liked that books and weblinks are also given with these videos for further reading or info.

Thing # 6 iTouch Apps

2009-11-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

I know this is going to be one of the most popular tools coming to our library-- our students will surely want more! Put them in an egg chair with an itouch, and we may never get them out-- they will not even know all of the learning that hits them. My husband has had an iphone for about a year-- so we have both enjoyed some cool apps for personal use. I borrow his quit a bit-- so I have just about decided that I need one of my own when my next birthday comes around. We have used some free apps and some we paid a nominal fee--I was so surprised how cheap (99 cents) most of them are. I found some free apps for Elementary to form group games or independent browsing or research:
Science (NASA,Stars in the Night sky,Hubble Images)
Math (drill,calculator,coin toss,calendar,numberline,flash cards,dice)
Social Studies (google earth,Birthday in History, Presidents,US Atlas,USA Factbook,Maps of the World, State Capitals, Constitution,)
Language arts and Reading (Bookshelf, Talking Phrasebook, Thesaurus,Pocket Phonics lite,Fairy Tales audio,Spell it Rite,Gutenberg)

Something for everyone-- individual research, brain games, drill (but not kill), Sudoku... I hope all of the librarians will have time to get together to explore more apps and share ideas for using them with classes and independent free times.

These are great to use for class curriculaum support, but I am also going to explore a lot of these with a new afterschool group that I will start in January. These will also be great to use with PGP groups and as a motivation for AR reading.

Thing # 5--Microblogging

2009-11-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

Wow-- for 3 things ( Facebook, Twitter, and Back Channeling) that are so very simple and easy to signup for and use, there is a lot of reading and information about them. My husband (the geek) already had a facebook account for himself, but I was starting to feel the need to have one soon anyway. Mainly to keep up with family and friends. Almost everyone in my extended family had an account, so now I am officially on Facebook too. (Still need to get a good picture, though) Of course, I spent the usual next two hours locating old friends from high school and college, and family members out of state. Now that I am "in"-- I can see how it would really be an asset to have a class facebook account or twitter account for discussing topics, reviewing assignments, clarifying and answering questions-- especially being able to post pictures (appropriate of course). What is so nice about facebook is that you can limit who uses it and views it, so I think that would really work well for any group or class that needed to stay private or contained. They are both so much quicker to use, up to the minute real time, and seem much less cumbersome than communicating on a blog--if that is what you need.
Twitter and back channeling on the other hand lend themselves to just the opposite-- getting input and ideas first from within the group, and then growing to others outside. I really enjoyed the articles and discussions about using Twitter in colllege--and the legality of tweeting information.(I think that is how the rules say to state it-- don't want to sound like the newbie that I am!) Since my son will be going off soon, I had a particular interest in how colleges and professors were embracing some of these tools. I did have 2 interesting things happen when I signed up for Twitter. I saw all of the suggested 20 people to start following, and then too quickly went to the bottom to click the button-- not realizing that all of the boxes for these people were automatically "checked" and I was their follower-- like it or not. But the help button actually helped me to know what to do.
UNFORTUNATELY--you have to go into each profile and unselect them-- that took a while, but I decided it was worth it because I instantly had gotten at least 30 tweets from someone watching a sports game-- play... by... play....
FORTUNATELY--One of those checked was an astronaut for Atlantis, and he is doing a series of tweets for NASA about the next mission to the space station coming up Nov. 16th, and it had a nice You Tube video of "This Week at NASA". Something I can use. So I kept him on my list to follow-- getting rid of Kirstie Alley who was on her way out the door to go TP houses-- no joke!
I wish I would have had back channeling in some of my high school classes-- if you can believe it, I was fairly shy, and usually had good ideas to add to discussions, or had a question to ask, but really didn't want to speak up much-- also great for small or really large groups. I also like the idea of being able to back channel with a speaker or teacher so that they can use the questions or comments to guide the teaching or a discussion live or look at it to see what to focus on the next day...

Thing #4 You Tube, Teacher Tube, School Tube

2009-10-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

I have previously searched, viewed, and enjoyed videos from Teacher and You Tube for professional and personal reasons, but had never uploaded a video. So here is one of a group my husband plays with. (He is the 4th one in the first row)

I really had not taken a good look at School Tube until now. I thought I would take a quick look to see an overview... wrong!... 2 hours later...I stopped because I had to go somewhere. There was so much I wanted to look at. I found several videos I could use at school right now with classes-- a program by a wildlife group with real birds of prey, a time lapse video of a monarch caterpillar pupating before your eyes, a great video to show my music teacher of kids doing a drum circle, and a cool project a student made on the 10 most dangerous animals-- a real boy pleaser! I also found this funny one posted below as I explored School Tube-- and I only made it through about 6 pages worth! I also loved a video in the technology section where a teacher taped himself leading kids through the processes of doing a lesson on computer-- he was absent and had a sub, but was still able to have his class go on with the instruction he would have normally done on that day! There was also a comment by another teacher that she was so happy to have School Tube because she was told there was not enough room on her district servers to store her student's work. I found this one in the technology section--need a giggle? Check it out!

Thing # 3 Like Skype

2009-10-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

I first participated on Skype several weeks ago when my husband called me in to talk to a friend over his computer. He has since had 8 other friends and family members find him and ask to be on his contacts. It's a great thing for families and friends to be able to see and communicate free over the miles, and I just found out that is what my son has been using to talk to his friends while studying or playing computer games. He has been using something like skype for years--since he and his friends (I think in 2nd grade then) figured out how to hook up free on their own. Mostly for entertainment, but it has come in handy when a group of his friends studied together-- dividing up the review guides and teaching each other without having to be all together at someone's house at 11:00 at night. (Nice for parents who would have to go pick them up, too!)If I only had a nickel for every $30.00 headset he has gone through in the last 10 years or so.

I enjoyed Anne Mirtschin's advice, along with the blog of 50 ways to use skype in the classroom. I looked into WiZiQ because I saw free virtual classroom, but it turned out to be a free demo. That looked really cool. Using skype, I feel it would be most useful to elementary school for virtual field trips, experts and speakers for career days, author / illustrator talks, talking to classrooms in other locations and cultures, travels, and tutoring sessions.

If teachers would permit a camera in their classroom, it would be so great for students to be able to "tune in" to their classes when they are absent. My son missed 3 days of school out sick last week, and it would have been so good for him just to have listened and watched what went on-- so he would not have so much work to makeup and missed so much instruction. Maybe in the future...

Thing # 2 Image Generators

2009-10-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

Wordle is so fun, quick, and easy-- I can see so many applications for even the youngest students. Create them as a class, group, or individually to describe attributes of a character, biographical person, place, concept, animal, or just about any topic of study. Details from a story could put into a wordle, showing the emphasis by size of the most important to the smallest details. I am going to use it to make some gifts for volunteers-- using words that descbribe them. As a team building activity, students could do an "about me" wordle at the beginning of school and print it out on a paper or label as an activity to get to know other students.
Wordle and Wordshift would be fun to do with the same words, and compare how they are the same and different--someone suggested pairing students to do this.

Bookr is the easiest for teachers and kids that I have ever seen --and has so many applications for even the little kids. I wish they did have more picture choices or let us upload our own photos. But that may be part of what makes it so easy to use. The class can make a book on the activeboard together-- introducing or reviewing a unit of study. Or individuals or groups can make books for any unit of study or interest. I will definitely use this one a lot to allow students to quickly record their research and knowledge. Students will have fun and learn from reading the books from each other. I will post the insect book I will make with 1st graders next week. I can't wait to try this one with kids.

Glogster was fun to play with-- it took a little time to learn all of the possibilities-- but I think students would navigate it faster than I originally did. I loved the fact that you could add text and pictures like a regular poster, but really make it more fun and interactive by adding animated objects and even vidoes or sound. Here is just a little example of some of my play in designing a base for a report on MLK-- one that kids have traditionally done in regular poster fashion at my school. I am definitely going to push this one for intermediate students-- especially those who have already experienced trading cards and magazine covers-- this will be a step up that can include more creativity and information-- and fun. It's a good way to include those students who enjoy computer and those who enjoy the art and design type of project-- this has it all. http://sbelibrary.edu.glogster.com/MLK/

I have done quite a few animotos in the past, but hadn't explored much with the new and improved features using video and adding exteded text. So I revisited it to play a bit. I have also checked into getting the subscription for educators so we can make longer free videos. This will be really fun and easy for students to use when we get our new flip cameras. (I had trouble getting their "embed in blog" button to work, so I just used the email feature-- I will explore that further later)

http://animoto.com/play/PKgMxiElgvk4HrytD1BVwg?

Get a Voki now!

Thing #1 Connectivism

2009-10-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

I can see this really happening in some classes in education in the upper levels for high school and college, and in the future trickling down to more appropriate applications at the earlier grades-- certainly in GT or AP classes. Kids are already connecting with each other through online games, social networking, etc. This just takes it to the educational level by pulling in online resources as we have in the past, but connecting it with other students and experts without having to be face to face. To me, this includes the best of both worlds in research-- connecting students interactively with content and real people for support and information. I love the idea of students being able to tap into lectures by experts, authors, and other college professors...

Librarians have been pulling from different materials and resources for years-- this is just a little shift in the types of resources and the way they are accessed. Reminds me of a 21st century version of cooperative learning or independent study. I think librarians would be able to make this shift easier than the departmentalized teacher that has been teaching the same content or subject each year-- especially those who have relied heavily on textbooks. But parts of this way of learning could certainly start to be incorporated into teaching and learning now.

I like the idea of some days with a teacher for access instruction , modeling, guidance, etc., (because these skills will have to be taught and nurtured at various levels-- especially at schools where students do not often have access at home to updated computers with fast internet and have limited computer, reading, and life experiences outside of school.

I also like the flexibility of having other days for self motivated and capable students to not have class, but have group and individual work time using tools that does not have to include a face to face. This seems like a real time saver to me, that I think would foster independence and self-motivation in students. I think, though, there should also be the opportunity for any students to meet every day with the teacher or librarian if needed for extra support or guidance.
The possiblilities for this type of class or study really is limitless and everchanging.

Table 5-- Animoto

2008-08-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

http://animoto.com/play/yUoWnG1Qm2gjpiLmwR2lrQ

I have never done an animoto-- so I thought I would use some of the garden critter photos I've taken to make a short one. It was fairly easy and I loved the music choices. I didn't bother to download my photos into the recommended resizer this time, but I will do that on a longer one to help reduce the upload time. My son complained that it really slowed down our network and his gaming on another computer! But after uploaded, it came back to me completed in about 20 minutes! I had trouble getting it to post directly to my blog from the animoto site for posting-- so here is the link.

I am going to get a school subscription for this, because I think I will be making a bunch of these this year for lesson starters, attention getters, and presentation of student/ library activities. Fun for me and the students.

Table 4-- Movie Maker

2008-08-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

I took a bunch of my garden photos and put them together to make a little movie. The music wasn't long enough, so I had to repeat it several times. Next time, I will do the pictures and then find the music to fit the length better. This was easy and fun, but I think photostory is easier and more straight forward for younger students to use.

Table 3--Photostory

2008-08-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

It was easy to make this one since I have done quite a few photostories in the past 2 years as a librarian, and with students. It is a quick and easy tool to use. I had a terrible time getting this to load on my blog at the inservice, and finally had to give up. I went home and went through the creation process again--saved the whole thing again, making sure to save it as a .wmv file, and it worked on the 2nd try.

Table 2--Audio Manipulation

2008-08-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

This was interesting because I had only used audacity to record a voice like a book review. It was fun to add music from Incompetech, and fairly easy to edit it once I played around a bit. I tried, but the voice and music mp3 file would not upload to the wiki. I will investigate more with iTunes in the future when I have more time to explore.

Table 1--Image manipulation

2008-08-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

The most useful thing I learned from this exercise was how to cite, add words to pictures using powerpoint, and then how to lock the two together. This will be useful in many applications using pictures.

Thing # 23 Summary

2008-08-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

Even though I got off to a slow start, I was determined to finish by August 1st, so I have a whole week to lay around and eat bon bons before returning to a new school year. What was I thinking??? I still have a bunch of review books to read this summer. OK... so I will multi-task -- read while lying around eating bon bons.
This was much more of a time consuming journey than I had planned, but it was fruitful and necessary-- and mostly fun. This is probably one lifelong learning project that I would have put off this summer if it had not been required. I was surprised how much was packed into each Thing. Some of them had quite a few parts to look at and act upon.
My favorites and those I feel will be most useful and used by me were:
image generators, Rollyo, wikis, Delicious, Flicker toys and mashups, Shelfari, Photostory, TeacherTube and U Tube, google docs, making my avatar, and blogging in general. There was so much! Having us blog about each thing, inserting pictures and products each time, really has taken all of the fear out of blogging, and has made it really fast to do. I will definitely transform this blog into a library blog next year.
Thanks to the kickball catains--Please leave the Library2play site up all year so we can refer back to it while we start to apply all of these things in real life.
If more Things are offered later, I think it would be nice to introduce maybe 10 things at a time per semester or summer. It was quite a daunting task at the beginning and there would be no way I could have done it during the school years. I can't imagine trying to do all of the original "43 Things" in a row. I would participate in a shorter online version to explore more of Web 2.0 or similar technology applications for the library.

My quote:

Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com

Thing # 22 Nings

2008-08-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

I looked at the two Teacher Librarian Nings and saw a few people I knew! I liked the fact that you could "watch and read" those without having to register. I'm not sure I want to join a group, but I enjoyed reading some of the discussions, questions/answers for library situations, and reading about librarians and where they are. I loved the group that encourages librarians to post their blogs there-- that seems like a good way to find some great librarian blogs. I can now see exactly why it is called "social networking"-- it can be very social and a great way to network with others in your field or interest. I looked up a few groups on gardening, and found that most of them don't have more than 1 or 2 people-- some only the person that set it up. A & M had only 19 people, and their info said that Nings were not used much yet. But searching Texas brought up 66 screens of Nings-- many of them high school alumni groups. Quite a few were still in the process of being set up. I wonder how much time they will have to develop before some other form of social networking comes along to take their place.

Thing #21 Podcasts and Photostory

2008-08-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

Wow-- finally one of the things that I am actually familiar with, and have used quite a bit. I made this photostory to document a volunteer project at our school last August. (We now have headphones, so the sound is better on more recent projects) This one used digital pictures I took, but I have done them with primary GT students and 1st grade classes for a product at the end of a research project or social studies unit. To introduce the students and teachers to photostory--it worked well to do as a class project with the students selecting pictures together using the activeboard, and then going back to research or gather information about their particular pictures. Then they returned to me in the library to use the headphones to record their part individually and choose the music to finish it off. The curricular posibilities are endless with respect to using photostory, and it is so easy for even younger students to use.

Having students or staff record book reviews or booktalks is a great way to use audacity for podcasting--and it is really easy. One thing I plan to do is to use audacity to record some picture books for teachers to use in a listening center. We have multiple copies of some wonderful picture books that have no sound recordings to go with them. So I think this will be a fun way to use those materials we already have in a different way. I think I will ask different staff members and older students around the school to record them just for variety and fun for the students to hear.

Thing # 20 Videos

2008-07-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

Searching through these streaming vidoes from You Tube can be a lot of fun and take a lot of time. I did a search for libraries in You tube, and it ran the gambit of fun summer reading programs, author visits, serious presentations and philosophies related to libraries-- some very amateur and some professionally created-- many enjoyable and interesting. I enjoyed some of the videos that gave a tour of a particular library-- this may be something I would like to create in the future. I especially enjoyed this renovation preview at the Library of Congress, which makes me want to take another trip to Washington, DC to see this amazing building.

I found this short and easy tutorial on student bookmaking. As the video states, these books can be adapted to use for creative writing, or student publishing of any content area or research. It could also be a student made journal. Quick, easy, and cheap. Check it out!

What a wealth of talent, information, and creativity is found in these videos sources!

Thing # 19 2.0 Awards List

2008-07-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

I found a great little tool that won 1st place under organization in the web 20 awards! It's called backback, and it is exactly what I need since I am a monster paper list maker and love to browse office supply stores for items and gadgets that help me stay organized. I am great about making the paper lists, adding things, and then getting that gratification by marking off tasks completed. The problem is that I want all items on the same list, it gets really lengthy and messy, and I invariably end up with a list, and then a bunch of sticky notes stuck to it or the library circulation desk. That drives me crazy and I start all over re-writing the list.
This great little tool has everything I need in one free place. You just click a tab to create "to do lists", add notes of any kind, and then check off items when done. You can make dividers and add tags to help keep items seperate. You can upload files, and it has a picture gallery so you can insert pictures or maps -- then click to see them full size. I think this is just the inspiration to energize me to get things going for all of the tasks I have to do to get the library ready for the new year.
I will also use the shared group calendar. Other features include adding, viewing, and editing shared pages, reminders sent by email of meetings, etc., a message board and centralized group communications, and more.
Try it out and see what you think.
http://backpackit.com/tour

Thing #18 Open Source

2008-07-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

I started downloading Open Office and it took a really long time. So I have "shelved it" to look at more thoroughly later when I have more time. I looked through Google docs, and of course , free is a big advantage. I liked the fact that you can save to the desktop, edit anywhere, pick who you want to have access, share changes and work in real time, and store it online. It looks like they have recently added more features and I liked the templates-- so I'm sure it will just grow more and more in time. I especially liked the school calendar feature-- I can see using that in the library all through the year. It may not have all of the bells, whistles , and options of an application you would pay a lot of money for, but for many who just need the basic collaborative aspect or templates --I think having access to Google docs will be of real use to them.

Thing # 17 Rollyo

2008-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

http://rollyo.com/dstutsman/sbe_library/
http://www.rollyo.com/editroll.html

Talk about customized one stop shopping! I had the basic idea of rollyo by reading about it, but the video was invaluable in really understanding it, and so clear about setting it up quickly and easily. I wanted to make a rollyo that would be useful to students (and me) for research. I can post the link on my library web page for even easier access and one stop shopping. I saw that someone else had rolled all of the biography sites on the Library Resource Page into one rollyo, and I thought that was a terrific idea. That saves so much time and confusion especially for younger students going back and forth. So I did a springboard off of that great idea, and rolled all of the Texas sites off of the Library Resource page into one rollyo tagged Texas. I then did the expolore option to see what others had added to their search rolls. I saw many of the same ones we had, and a few more good websites that I will add later when I have more time to actually go in and look through them for content.

Thing # 16 Wikis

2008-07-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

I had set up a practice wiki in the past at a workshop, and found it easy to do. I plan to revisit it and revive it, or just make a new one. I think I will start out using wikis with the staff at school first, to help me see problems, troubleshoot, and get used to using it easily again. I can see applications for combining grade level calendars, dates to reserve the library, planning units, sharing information and editing documents, and teacher/librarian collaboration without the usual million emails back and forth--skipping all of the problematic miscommunications and omisions that usually occur.
Student uses I can see are of course book reviews, class notes collaboration, gathering information for research in groups--really anything where multiple people need to "work together" efficiently and online. My son and his friends could have used a wiki when studying together and completing study guides this past year.
I especially enjoyed the wiki listing the different student blogs--I think I was a Library Lounge Lizard myself when I was in school. I also revisited the SBISD technology troubleshooting wiki since I am sure I will need to refer to it for help rather soon. On to # 17!

Thing # 15 Libraries of the Future

2008-07-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

I (and I'm sure many other librarians) have always believed and spent countless hours and effort to make my library welcoming, collaborative, and user friendly. But it has not always worked as well as I would hope for me. Schedules, life,technology-- and just little old me to staff and support all teacher and student users-- have not always made it possible to complete my "best laid plans" for meeting the on demand needs or training of each patron. I am encouraged when I see that so many of the web 2.0 tools do include attributes of simplicity, rich interactivity, user participation, and self service. As Rick Anderson points out, "services need to be easy to access without training" and we need to "eliminate barriers for research"-- so that our patrons are actually spending more time in reading and learning-- rather than getting bogged down in the teaching of research skills or how to use particular technology applications. I also agree with his statement that we need to integrate our library services into "daily patterns of work, study, and play.
I loved the comparison that Michael Stephens made when he stated that we need to make "libraries a social and emotionally engaging center for learning and experience" and equates the librarian as the "strategy guide" for helping users find information, gather knowledge, and create content. I really like that term--"create content". As Stephens stated, I also believe that the "future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume, and create content". Whether it is a first grader learning to read, a college student, or a member of the community. More than anything else I have seen on the web, I think that the simplicity, interactive quality, and user-friendly quality of many of the web 2.0 tools will make that easier than ever before. I related to the Vision of Student video since I often try to pack 26 hours of activity into a 24 hour day-- I think Librarians may have invented the term "multi-tasking" since we have been doing it for years!

Thing # 14 Technorati

2008-07-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

Technorati is a neat tool to use to help make some more specific searches of blogs, videos, etc. I looked up a topic of interest to me-- butterfly gardening. Just searching blogs including these words resulted in 1, 745 entries-- way too many for me to sort through even for pleasure reading. When I did an advanced search with exact keywords, it gave 66 possibilities with 4 videos, and with tags, it gave 36 blogs with the same 4 videos--much more managable! The "most popular" section is really not my thing, but I know other people that really get into checking places like this daily. I was a bit distracted by moving adds on some of the locations in Technorati, but I guess that is inevitable at times. When I looked at a School Library 2.0 search, I found lots of entries for the new "All Together Now --Web 2.0" the 23 things that was launched by School Library Journal recently. Seems like we are all on the same page trying to stay up to speed with all of the possibilities of Web 2.0.

Thing # 13 Social Bookmarking

2008-07-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

This opens up a whole new area of efficiency and organization for me-- and a convenient time-saver. Bookmarks can really pile up on me and be a problem when different computers are used in the library. For those bookmarks I used with students, lessons, or units I usually added to my library web page so everyone could access them. I tried using "I Keep Bookmarks" previously to help with the bookmark storage problem, but didn't get it going well enough to suit my needs. This seems similar except it adds so many more invaluable features-- the tags to organize and search, being able to share with others, and being able to see what others are finding on the topics you need. The part I like best is the popular and suggested tags-- that helps me keep things a bit more uniform and saves a ton of time in thinking and typing. I already added the bookmarks that I had on my laptop at home, and will start on the others at school when we return -- it will feel just like cleaning out and organizing a messy closet-- and you know how librarians like everything organized and easy to find. I can't wait to clean up the clutter and see what others are finding for school use and home!

Thing # 12 Commenting

2008-07-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

I was glad to see some policies or guidelines set out that could be easily adapted to younger students-- and some suggestions for what to do when you have the DC try to disrupt your blog.
The most important points I think I will emphasize and model with my students will be:
1. Discuss and agree kindly
2. Ask questions and keep it open ended so everyone can participate equally
3.Set boundaries with policies and example of acceptable commenting
4.Reward comments through responses and features/highlights
5. Encourage positive participation for fun for all
As a relative newbie to blogs, I too have been reading more that commenting. But I have enjoyed the comments I have received and tried to answer all of those asking a question. Although I enjoy writing, reading, and commenting on blogs, I do have to admit, though, that this is taking much more time than I ever thought it would-- and I am so glad I chose to do it in the summer. I think the best thing that has come from it is the ideas and information gained from other teachers and librarians playing this summer. I am also going to look at the blogs of the graduates for more ideas. I was happy to fing 2 blogs of particular interest in gardening that I know I will read on a weekly basis for fun.

Thing #11 Library Thing

2008-07-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Library Thing is a great way to track your own books-- favorites or those reading currently. I also really enjoyed looking at the reviews and recommendations of others. I signed up to watch 2 groups-- picture books and mysteries-- one for school and one for personal interests. I added 5 of my favorite books, and was interested to see how some of my favorites were really popular, and a couple were added by less than 50 people. I had trouble getting the widget to work to add them to my blog. I will consult the kickball captains next time I see them to see how to add them. I am also interested in learning to use shelfari to add that cool graphic bookshelf of current favorites to my blog.
Random books from my library-- Favorites
Murder, She Wrote: A Little Yuletide Murder (Murder She Wrote) by Jessica Fletcher
Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas (Corrie Herring Hooks Series) by John Tveten
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Ruth Sanderson

Thing # 10 Image Generators

2008-07-15T15:18:00.001-07:00

Wow --are there a ton of image generators out there for free. Some are hidden in and around adds, and you have to sort through some that aren't free. But I loved the long list on the Custom Sign Generator website.
Comic Strip Generator was fun and easy to use. I made some extra ones to use on a bulletin board next year. I also made a few signs to use later with reading slogans. I discussed the Big Huge Lab on a previous post-- easy and fun with lots of possibilities for home and school. I loved the Image Chef. I can see many personal uses for all of these, and some for school. Students love graphic novels and comics. Teachers could pick some comic or sign templates to spice up or add humor to a lesson or presentation. These could also be used for students to come up with a saying to go with the template to add to research projects, creative writing, or something that applies to any unit or content studied. And then there are all of the generators that enhance digital images students could take themselves-- that really opens up the endless possibilities for creativity in learning and teacher use. I can add some of these features to jazz up my library website, too.

Thing # 9 Blogs & Feeds

2008-07-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

I used the keyword searches in both Google Blog Search and Blogline's-- they both were the easiest to use, but I found that Blogline's found more blogs that fit exactly what I was looking for a little quicker than Google. It may have just been the particular ones I was searching, but both were easy and had tons of results to sift through. The most confusing parts were not the search tools, but some of the blogs that were so techy that the content was greek to me at this point.
I found this to be true with most of the Edublogs-- except for the ones from SBISD folks. They were great, and I used many of them to springboard off to other blogs. I found Guusje's blog on suprglu.
The more I look at what other people are reading, the more possibilities I see-- and I know I have added more to my feeds and blog subscriptions than I can possibly read-- for school and for my gardening pleasure. I just stumbled into the blog of one of my favorite gardening writers-- I didn't think she had a blog and so it was a real find. And then there are always a few when you search that make you wonder, "How does this relate to what I am searching for?" Like the feed that came up under "children's books" that discussed current issues in the US Securities and Exchange Commision???

Thing #8-- RSS Feed

2008-07-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

The first and most obvious advantage to feeds is that it will save time and hopefully help sort through some of the vast amount of stuff out there to zero in on topics that are most important or needed in a timely manner. I subscribed to some feeds and blogs from SBISD people that looked interesting, and those they shared for professional development or ideas to try for the library. I am sure I will go through later to sort some out and add others. I then subscribed to about 6 for me personally-- gardening of course. As I was searching-- a feed came in about the fire at Cornelius Nursery-- one of my favorite places to plant shop:(
I like reading the feeds and blogs because they are short and sweet-- I don't have much time to sit at the computer each day-- so it is more like just picking up a quick magazine or newspaper article to browse. Now-- off to the gym!

Thing #7

2008-07-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Google tools have really come a long way since I used some of them last. Several tools looked useful to me as a professional-- the notebook to gather information and the docs pages to share with others. I would be cautious to do the alert because I am afraid I would get many more emails than I could handle reading right now.
I looked closer into the advanced searches to find powerpoints in curricular or literary areas. I was pleasantly surprised to find some useful ones for elementary levels! I set up an account in picasa to upload some family history photos that I had scanned previously. I have it set to only share with my family.
But Google Earth I think has so many possibilities for geography and science-- even math. I have used it a bit with the activboard and it lends itself nicely. I was able to zoom in so much on our school that I could see the butterfly outline of our garden in the school courtyard.

Thing #6

2008-07-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

I loved all of the additional tools in this thing. I can see quite a few of them that could be used to quickly spice up any research project or provide a visual that could go with a more indepth report-- or just give the quick facts if that is all that is needed. I loved the trading cards for research facts, or "about me" activities at the beginning of the year. The trading cards, mosaic, magazine covers, or cube could be used for really any topic. I wonder if there is a way to leave blank spots in the mosaic or cube to insert or write text/info. Mappr would be great for state or country reports with post card type info, or book covers inserted for stories from different countries. I also liked the movie poster idea for a book review/report or an extension for an original piece of student writing. I liked the calendar idea for me to use for library events and schedules, and the photo badge for "about me", student-made desk/cubby nametags, post with student work on bulletin board, etc. There is a lot to try out-- the possibilities are endless-- and the best part is they are so easy and quick to use with students--and FREE!
TRADING CARD: I just planted one of the pipe vine plants at my home this year. I discovered about 20 of these pipevine swallowtail caterpillars on it this week. I am eagerly awaiting some of these beautiful butterflies flying around in my garden. Butterflies have amazing instincts -- the black swallowtails found the 4 small parsley plants and the one pipevine plant in my back yard on which to lay their eggs!

Thing #5

2008-07-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Flicker is a wonderful additional resource for pictures! Although Flicker didn't have the large numbers of photos that you may find on Google, I was pleasantly surprised with the clarity and quality. I'm sure it will grow in time. I loved having a larger thumbnail format to preview. I did not see any inappropriate photos as I searched through some science and social studies topics, as well as some topics of interest to me personally. I found the keyword searches to be fairly accurate and specific considering all of the different sources adding photos. I can see many applications for even the younger students where these pictures will be easily used-- especially photo story. I am curious to see how some of these will work when projected in activboard flip charts for teaching purposes. Anyone tried that? And would you save it as a different size to get good clarity when it is projected?

This photo is the Blue Morpho Butterfly-- one of the largest and most popular butterflies we have at the butterfly center where I volunteer.

Thing #3

2008-06-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

Blogger really is easy to use and set up. I found one part that wasn't as clear to me as the rest. After I posted, I noticed a typo-- so I went in and in the process of editing it, I saved it as a draft. Then when it was finished, I had trouble finding the right place to get the draft then to be published. I could get the draft to appear, but couldn't find a publish button anywhere on that screen. So I just copied and pasted it like a new post and fixed it that way. I know there is an easier way. Got a suggestion?
In the process, I also learned how to do an edit the right way-- it took a little "playing around" to discover how that worked.
The avatar, on the other hand, was just way too much fun and I spent way more time than necessary on it. I saved some extra things in my favorites so it will be quick and easy later to change myself as the season and mood move me.
I haven't been commenting, but have read quite a few of the blogs of the other players, and that has been intersting. Wow-- you can really spend a lot of time just "playing around" with this, can't you? I can see how people can get really hooked on blogging.

Thing #2

2008-06-22T19:14:00.001-07:00

Well, I am finally up and going!
I got a late start because of some lifelong learning opportunities I have started for the summer. I am volunteering at the Cockrell Butterfly Center both in the rainforest with the butterflies and in the greenhouses with the host plants and butterfly rearing. It has been a great learning experience and lots of fun! Even though I have done quite a bit of butterfly gardening at home and at school, I am always wanting to learn more-- and this opportunity to work behind the scenes has really expanded my knowledge and interest.
So I guess my strength would have to be in the habit of taking responsibility for learning and creating my own learning toolbox by seeking out opportunities to learn through reading, workshops, classes, friends, and the web. I'm also pretty good about passing on the things I have learned to teachers, students, and friends who are interested.
I feel the hardest habit for me is taking the necessary time to "play" enough with the new technologies so that using it really is to my advantage and saves me time instead of taking more time. By nature, I just have never been a person who could sit at a desk or computer for long periods of time. But since I live with a techy husband and teenager, we have wireless at home and I can now sit out in my hammock in my garden and watch the birds , squirrels, and butterflies while I do my 23 things!