Sliding into Home--Thing 23!

Whew! I made it to Thing 23...just at the deadline, as usual. :) I really enjoyed most of the exercises that we completed during this journey, but I guess my favorite would have to be the mashups. I've seen lots of other people use these in presentations, etc., but I hadn't had any experience creating them. A close second would definitely be creating the podcast. I definitely want to work on completing more of these to post on my library wiki.

One of my lifelong learning goals is to stay current with technology so the 23 Things was a perfect fit for me. I completed my master's degree through UNT's online program and I found that I really enjoyed the experience because it allowed me to work on my schedule at my convenience. I honestly don't know why anyone would want to sit in a traditional classroom when the option to learn online is available! I'm excited to know that I now have a more complete understanding of the applications that we explored this summer. I would definitely be interested in participating in another experience of this type! Please spread the word if you should decide to do a 23 Things, part II.

I think the thing that surprised me most was how motivated I was by receiving comments from others on my blog...I really appreciated the feedback from my classmates. Prior to this experience I just didn't get the whole blog phenomena. Now I understand!

One idea that I had for improving the program would be to offer one or two optional chats during the course of the experience so that participants could be given the opportunity to ask questions of the captains and get an immediate response. That was very helpful to me during several of my classes at UNT.

In one sentence:
The 23 Things experience gave me the opportunity to deepen my understanding of web 2.0 applications and explore possible uses for these tools to enhance student learning in the library.

Thing 22--Ning-a-ling-a-ling

I had heard the term Ning, but couldn't have explained exactly what a Ning was to anyone else until I read the information in Thing 22! I had visited the Texas Librarians Ning about a year or so ago when I read about it on the TLC listerv. Now that I know the purpose of a Ning and have taken the time to really 'tour' the site, I can see that Nings can be very useful! What a great place to ask questions, share photos & videos, discuss issues, etc. with other people who have similar interests or situations. I think that Nings would be especially useful for people who are segregated from other professionals in the same position, i.e. librarians in small districts or districts where there is no central library department to organize and unify the group. Even in other situations, I can see a Ning being used to facilitate discussions on pertinent topics and share resources that are not media center specific. The only problem I see is that there comes a point where you must select which outlet is the preferred one for you. If you (by you I mean me!) try to participate in too many forums, you (again, me!) end up with so much more than you are able to keep up with. For my situation, I will probably stick mostly to the preferred means of communication (Outlook) that my district has chosen, but only because I am fortunate enough to work in a large, urban district with a central library department that is run efficiently and effectively by our director and his staff. If I was more 'on my own' in a smaller district, I would definitely look to a Ning for help. However, I will definitely check in on the Texas Librarians' Ning from time to time when I need help or just to touch base with other members of my profession.

Thing 21--Podcasting, Vidcasting, and Me!

I attended a session on podcasting at our spring tech coordinator's conference presented by our keynote speaker, Miguel Guhlin of San Antonio ISD. Since then I've planned to do a podcast of one of this year's Bluebonnet books, but haven't found (made!) the time. So, once again, the 23 Things is providing the motivation for me to do something that I've wanted to do! Yeah! I hope that I can create podcasts for all 20 books on this year's list, but that might be a slightly lofty goal...maybe a better goal would be to do five books this year. I have used Photostory a few times since learning about it last summer at a workshop and I love it! It gives such a professional look to a presentation and is SO user friendly. I also like the fact that you can make it as simple or complex as you choose: there are many 'bells and whistles' that you can add to your story to make it even more attractive, or you can just stick with pictures and music. Either way it still comes out great! I have the absolute minimal amount of experience with Audacity, but I would love to be able to spend some more time with it. It has lots of capabilites for audio editing that aren't available in PhotoStory so I hope to get more familiar with it. Maybe I should make that another of my goals for this year! Here is my vidcast of a booktalk for 'Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom' by Tim Tingle. This is a fantastic story, and I predict, this year's winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award!

Thing 20 or YouTube, TeacherTube, We all Tube Together!

When I searched using the term 'library' I found this cute Sesame Street skit with Cookie Monster, who happens to be my favorite SS character. I plan to use it to kick off my kindergarten classes this year!

No Cookies in the Library




I also saw this video on The Faculty Room Blog, which I subscribed to on my Google Reader, and since it is so apropos to our course, I'm adding it here.

Learning to Change--Changing to Learn



Life Cycles is a major topic in science for kindergarten as well as 2nd grade so I searched for videos on that subject. I found this video about the life cycle of a butterfly, which would be a great introduction for kindergartners.

Life Cycle of a Butterfly



I'm very glad to find out about Zamzar because YouTube is blocked in my district so it will be nice to have a way around that barrier. Our district subscribes to United Streaming so we do have access to many great educational videos through that resource. It is great to have access to so many videos online (and brief ones, at that!) because you can often show the students something that will get the point across much quicker than many words might do. Hmmmm....makes me think that I probably shouldn't spend any $$$ on new DVDs to add to the video collection!

Thing 19--Backpack

In looking through the web 2.0 awards, I came across an organizational site known as Backpack. While it is a 'paid' site, it offers some really neat, user-friendly tools for a small group Intranet site. It includes a shared calendar, easy-to-make pages, to-do lists, a newsroom for group communication, reminders, a journal, and many other useful features. The pricing is fairly reasonable--$99/month for up to 40 users, $49/month for up to 15 users, $24/month for up to 6 users--but with so many other tools available that can accomlish the same tasks, I doubt many school districts would choose to spend their limited budgets on a subscription. We did have an Intranet when I first started working in FWISD and it was a great way to keep our library department connected. We have since transitioned to using Outlook and while it is not as user friendly as our previous application (and nowhere near as sexy as Backpack!) it does get the job done. I could see Backpack being very useful in a situation where there was a small group working together remotely. It is a very nice, well-planned site that offers an easy-to-create and use Intranet for small groups. I would much prefer to use a site like this, with its colorful, clean layout, but alas, unlimited budgets are still a far-off dream, at least in my district!

Thing 18

I started to download Open Office, but when the progress box showed that the download was going to take over an hour and I was down to only 11 minutes of battery left, I abandoned that idea. That's one major disadvantage...although I noticed that one could request a cd for installation. I'm making an assumption here, but I'm going to guess that although the product is free, that part of the 'price' would include more requests for donations to support the work. I don't have a problem with paying for a product that I'm going to use...I'd rather just pay the $$$ than be repeatedly hit up for donations for something that is advertised as free. I experimented with Google Docs and I can see lots of potential for its use in my situation. It would be great to share items that have been created by other librarians in my district so that we are not each individually reinventing the wheel each time we need a spreadsheet, parent letter, schedule, etc. There has been some discussion, as well, about using Google Docs to rewrite our policy and procedure manual. I think that would be a great way to work on such a monumental task...many hands make the work light, wisdom of the masses and all that. I doubt that I'll be uploading everything from my files, but it's nice to know that I can do that as needed in order to share with colleagues, etc. I noticed on the items that I did upload that there doesn't seem to be the capability to include clip art and/or pictures, so there would need to be some additional tweaking done after the collaborative work was complete. All in all, I have to say that this is another great tool that I look forward to using and sharing with my colleagues when school resumes next month!

Thing 17--Rollyo Rocks!

I wasn't sure at first how I might be able to use Rollyo, but after giving it some thought I remembered that I'm always searching for coloring/activity sheets on various sites to supplement my storytimes and RIF distributions. Rollyo is a fantastic tool for searching multiple sites! Now instead of visiting 10 or 15 different places to find what I need, I can just search once. I can't wait to share this tool with the teachers on my campus. There are several who do try to have their students complete 'research projects', but I continue to battle the 'just Google it' mentality. I won't get all the way up on my soapbox, but suffice it to say that most elementary school students are not able to search effectively using Google! Rollyo will really help in that respect. I am very excited about sharing this new (to me) resource with my faculty in a few weeks!

Thing 16

Wikis...I had a small amount of experience with wikis prior to participating in the 23 things this summer. After attending a training session where I was introduced to pbwiki last summer, I created the AMES Library Lines wiki. My idea was to get students involved in recommending books to others, gathering comments on the current Bluebonnet nominees, seeking suggestions on books to be purchased and making everyone aware of upcoming events. I was really proud of my work and introduced the pages to each of my fifth grade classes at the beginning of the school year, but as you can see, there was no participation. I probably should have put more effort into getting the kids started with it, provided more opportunity for them to participate while in the library, and generally just pushed it a little more than I did. I think I would like to update my Bluebonnet page for this year and introduce more classes to the site. I would really like to get some students involved in creating content with me, but I'm just not sure what the best way to go about it is. FYI...I work in a Title I school with approximately 600 students from PK through 5th grade. We have computers in classrooms, six student stations in the library, but no lab. The majority of our students do not have regular access to a computer outside of school. Any ideas????

Thing 15

I found Dr. Wendy Schultz's comments on Library 2.0 to be very enlightening. The fact that she projected beyond the 2.0 revolution to consider what will follow was extremely insightful. I think that history has shown that her observations are valid...there is a cyclical aspect to our existence. What comes around goes around, as is commonly said. While libraries are currently evolving to best utilize the various new technologies in order to provide additional services to users, there is still a great demand (and will continue to be!) for libraries to remain a place where people can relax, enjoy a good book in a quiet environment, and participate in programs geared to their interests, whether it be a children's storytime or a quilting group. No doubt there will continue to be change and new opportunities for service, but I think Dr. Schultz very aptly points out that these new paradigms will not replace the former versions, but simply absorb them. My view of web 2.0 in the library...an evolution of services, an embracing of new technologies, an opportunity for greater user participation in the creation, sharing, and use of information, while still maintaining what has always been attractive and appreciated about the library...the people, the books, the calming environment, the connection with others who share your interests...and it's all FREE to anyone who enters!

Thing 14

Okay, I understand Technorati a little better after this exercise. I'm still not completely comfortable with it, but I do feel like I could use it effectively at this point. I thought it was interesting that out of the top 5 blogs listed by fans vs authority, there were three that appeared on both lists. I didn't expect to see such a high correlation between the two. I was also surprised to find that many of the top 15 searches related to topics unfamiliar to me. I noticed that when I clicked on the tag, 'phil bradley' I got hits for every blog that included each term separately, rather than the complete item. That should be corrected, I think. All in all, I think Technorati is a tool that I would like to introduce to my campus in hopes that it might encourage some of our teachers to get involved in the blogosphere. Personally, I may use it to find other blogs that pertain to my interest to replace some of the ones that I currently have on my Google Reader that may not be as useful as I first thought. Regarding tagging...I love the way that these little guys work! It's so great to be able to sort and find items according to the keywords that make sense to me. Of course, it becomes a little like assigning subject headings when it comes to finding information based on the tags of others. What made sense to them may not make sense to me and vice versa. I like the 'recommended tags' feature found on many of the sites we've explored, as that provides some order to the organization. I guess it's the librarian in me, but I feel like there should be some semblance of authority for all of these keywords, although I appreciate the freedom to use whichever tags I choose.

Thing 13

I had heard about Del.icio.us, but didn't know all the ins and outs of its use. Now I can appreciate its popularity! I've often found sites that I want to use again, but can't locate the bookmark when I need it, or I've forgotten to bookmark the site, etc. Del.icio.us solves these problems! I can see lots of potential for the use of Del.icio.us on my campus. People are always asking me where I have found the materials that I use during storytimes, lessons, or RIF distributions. Being able to share all of these sites online so that anyone on campus can access my bookmarks from any computer is an amazing and powerful way to collaborate. Even better, if the librarians in my district registered and set up Del.icio.us accounts, it would provide quick access for all of us to the collected wisdom of the group regarding useful sites. I will definitely work on getting my bookmarks imported and organized on Del.icio.us. M-M-M-M-M good!

Thing 12

I loved Thing 12! I was glad to get the opportunity (i.e., being required to do something that I felt I didn't have time to do) to read some of the other participants' blogs and see that many of us are experiencing the same things. I think the two most important points about comments are: 1) comments encourage the author and let him/her know that he/she is being heard (it's somewhat depressing to see '0 comments' day after day) and 2) make your comment meaningful (I abhor those 'blanket praise' type of statements like 'Good point.' or 'I totally agree.' because they are SO meaningless.). I chose to make my extra-curricular comments on two of the blogs that I added to my Google Reader: Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk blog and the Rocks in My Dryer blog. Both of these writers inject a sense of humor into their posts that resonates with me as an educator and a mother of two preschoolers. I enjoy reading about about the situations that other educators and mothers encounter, especially when the writing is as well done as these two blogs are written.

Thing 11

Library Thing was definitely interesting. I don't know how useful it will be, but I really like the idea of connecting people through their choice of reading material. However, I have to say that I still prefer actually going to the bookstore...wandering around my favorite sections....reading the covers or first chapters...and just soaking up the atmosphere created by surrounding yourself with thousands of actual books! Yes, I search for titles online. Yes, I use online services to create my lists for purchase orders at school. Yes, I've even read some portions of books online at Amazon. But when I have time (and it doesn't happen too often), I would still rather browse through the bookstore than visit any website to select my reading material. It is great, though, to have a chance to talk to others about the books that you've read, are currently reading, or want to read. I probably won't be a frequent visitor, but I'll definitely visit again. I think it would be a great way to find out more about books that are controversial before purchasing them for my library, as well as learning about new books, author appearances, and authors in my favorite genres with whom I might not be familiar.

Thing 10

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender


I created the image above using the Poetry Blender feature on Image Chef. I also created the magazine cover below on the Big Huge Labs site. I can see how you could spend LOTS of time on these sites! Out of all the sites that were linked from the blog, I found that Big Huge Labs was the easiest for me to use. Some of the other sites were not as user-friendly. It took me numerous tries, for instance, to get the image from ImageChef to post here. I followed the directions for copying and pasting the html code numerous times, but I never could get it to work. I'm sure that there is something that I missed, but I don't know what it is. I finally just used the direct post option instead.




I probably won't have the need to use these sites often either professionally or personally, but it's great to know that these tools are available when I do need them. I would probably use them most when I needed to add something unique to a presentation or for humorous library signage. I don't know that I would use any of them with students, but I'm open to ideas! I'm sure the students would be highly motivated to create their own images, though, and I would love to try something like having them create their own magazine cover in honor of a famous person.




A site that I've been introduced to recently is Glogster, which allows the user to create posters combining images, video, and music. I am working on a Glog for my school library home page, which I hope to have completed by the beginning of school. Be kind...it's a work in progress!

Thing 9

I've spent several days looking at some of the blog search tools and although I found the Google search to be the easiest to use, I prefer finding blogs through the recommendations of others. Not necessarily word-of-mouth, but more a word-of-blog-ticker method. Almost every library-related blog that I visited had Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk blog in their list, so I subscribed to it as well. I think that it says something (hopefully something good!) when a blog has as large an audience as Doug Johnson's does. I did find an amusing blog about mothering preschoolers using Technorati, but I found that tool somewhat difficult to navigate....it was not clearly evident to me how to go about getting to the actual blog so that I could subscribe. I thought it was interesting that on Suprglu the vast majority of the posts came from Doug Johnson's blog. Maybe I just caught it at an unusual time. The most entertaining feed that I found was one called 'Love the Liberry' that recounts some of the amusing interactions that occur between public librarians and their patrons. Maybe I should start something like that for school librarians....

Thing 7

GRRRR! I just typed a long post for this thing and then got an error when I tried to post. That's what I get for not saving! Anyway, on to more pleasant subjects....Google tools. I loved setting up my iGoogle page. My husband was amused by my excitement over this because it's been around for quite a while, but I guess I had my head in the sand. As the mother of two active preschoolers (is that redundant???) I don't tend to spend any free time that I have on news or newspapers so I love having a couple of news boxes on my iGoogle page to keep me up-to-date on major happenings. I also love seeing the pictures of Places to See Before You Die...hopefully, I'll get to see a couple of them one day. I didn't spend alot of time on it, but I also enjoyed learning about Google Scholar. I plan to share it with my faculty, some of whom can't seem to understand that elementary school students are not generally capable of coming to the library on their own to use Google in order to research topics for their classrooms. You'd think they'd get tired of hearing my lecture about how the school district spends HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on subscriptions to databases with reliable, current, unbiased information for them to use. LOL! I also took some time to introduce myself to Google docs, which I'd been hearing about, but hadn't actually tried. WOW! This could be a great tool for the library department, as well as our individual campus. We are always asked to work on the campus improvement plan...how much easier if it's posted in Google docs and everyone can view/edit from their own computer instead of providing paper copies to each team. Also, I thought it would be wonderful to have our contact information and / or emergency call list in Google docs, that way everyone can update their own information as needed. Isn't it amazing what we can do with a computer and an Internet connection these days?

Thing 6

WOW! Big Huge Labs is just that....so many interesting things that can be done with this site. I made a trading card of my almost-four year old to give out to her friends at her birthday party in a few weeks. I'm sure it will be a hit, at least with Nana and Grammy. :) I also made this jigsaw puzzle of an unhappy tourist on our trip to Alaska last summer. I could spend the rest of the summer playing on this site. I can imagine lots of uses for these applications, from mapping the location of famous landmarks in social studies to creating propaganda posters for language arts to making trading cards of famous people for Black History month, etc. What a great tool! I'm afraid that it will be blocked, though, like so many of the sites to which our district restricts access. I believe it was Alan November who said during his session at TLA this year something along the lines that we should also take away pencils and paper from the students because some of them might write inappropriate notes if we allow them to have those tools. Excellent point, in my opinion!

Thing 5

Spent quite a bit of time on Flickr...took the tour, checked out the different areas. It's truly amazing to have access to so many photos with just a few clicks of the mouse. What a fantastic tool for showing students geographical features or locations. Being a native Texan, I decided to search for Texas photos. There were so many interesting and/or beautiful shots that I had a hard time just picking one. I finally selected this photo of the 'Aggie' bluebonnet posted by sarowen because I loved the contrast between the brilliant blue and marooon. I don't guess the folks down at A&M will be putting any effort into a burnt orangebonnet any time soon, though!

Thing 3

Wow! Creating the avatar was much easier than I expected, but did take a bit of time because I had to look at every option. I wish I was actually as cute as my avatar! I loved playing with all the outfits and accessories...I got a little hung up on transferring it to my blog, but after a few minutes of frustration I finally figured it out. So far so good....

Thing 2

Lifelong learning....I guess my first thought on the subject would be, "What kind of life would one have without learning?" Learning to me is essential. I love to learn new things and I sincerely want to encourage this attitude in my students and my own two children. I guess the hardest thing for me is the goal-setting habit. I tend to fly by the seat of my pants more than I have a planned attack, which is probably why I don't always get the results that I envisioned. The easiest habit for me is using technology to my advantage. I can't imagine going back 10 or so years before we had the tools that are now available to us. I'm constantly amazed by what can be accomplished with the current technology and it boggles my mind to think about what my little girls will experience during their lifetimes!