Thursday, August 21, 2008
Table 3 - August 20 - Photostory
I worked on a Photostory, but cannot post it because it has family photos and they do not want their photographs to be posted on a blog. I did a Photostory for the 23 things class earlier in the summer. I learned to add a PowerPoint slide with words today. When it was talked about last week, I didn't understand why we had to create a PP slide. Today, when I wanted to add a Title Page slide, I finally understood how it was done. I tried to add narration, but I could not get that to work. I did add and create music. I pieced music together to make the Story longer than 1 1/2 minutes, but I could not get that to work. I would like to learn that skill.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Table 4 - Video August 20
We worked as a group on this one and did not have much success. We could not download any videos to MovieMaker. We imported music, and made the title and credits, but we were not able to put it all together.
Table 2 - Audio Manipulation
I was able to turn on the laptop microphone and record and control the sound. Then I recorded on Audacity and downloaded "Fenster's Eplanation" music file. I tried to upload it to Sandbox Wiki, but after 15 minutes, it would not upload. Therefore, I was unable to link that to this blog.
August 20 Table 1 Post
I saved a photo on Discovery Education and Flickr Creative Commons, edited the size in PP and IrfanView, made a Trading Card out of it, added words to PP and am now posting to my blog.
The first time I tried to upload it, I got a message that there was an error in the photo upload. I will try it again.
The first time I tried to upload it, I got a message that there was an error in the photo upload. I will try it again.
It worked this time!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thing #23 Summary
I did it! Overall, this was an enjoyable experience, but I am just as overjoyed that I am finished. I set a goal to finish before the end of June, so that I would have a break in July to do all of the other things I want to do this summer, and I did it.
My favorite discoveries were Flickr, all of the Big Huge Lab projects, and Library Thing. These will enable me to introduce many new, yet reasonable and fun, projects to the students and teachers at my school.
The most unexpected outcome for me was that I was able to do it in my time frame (although I worked many hours a day). I was very nervous at the beginning of this program because there were so many things listed that I had never heard of, much less knew anything about. I was afraid that I might not be able to complete it, so imagine how proud I am at this moment!
My suggestion to improve the program is to break it into a shorter "discovery" program. I think 15 things would be a good start and might alleviate the frustration that I read about in some of the blogs. It might also give everyone a chance to explore more of the things that they are planning to use and come up with more ideas of how to put them into place. I enjoyed the first half more than the 2nd half and found it more beneficial for school use.
I also found that in some of the "things" there were steps left out. I wrote about this in some of my blog entries. I don't know if this was on purpose, so that we would figure it out on our own, or if it is a little glitch in the system. I noticed that a few people had trouble uploading Photostory into Thing 21. I found the directions when I went to Help on Blogger and typed in "how to put a video in a blog". In our directions, it said that it could be uploaded, but didn't say how and I noticed that the other people that are already finished with this program were not able to upload their Photostory into their blog.
I would participate in another program, but I would prefer that it be a little less intense. There were many hours (60+) put into this 18 hour staff development. I do like the option of doing the work on our own time, but I am used to taking online courses. I feel so much more knowledgeable and excited about some of the new things that I learned. Thanks for all of your hard work creating the program.
My favorite discoveries were Flickr, all of the Big Huge Lab projects, and Library Thing. These will enable me to introduce many new, yet reasonable and fun, projects to the students and teachers at my school.
The most unexpected outcome for me was that I was able to do it in my time frame (although I worked many hours a day). I was very nervous at the beginning of this program because there were so many things listed that I had never heard of, much less knew anything about. I was afraid that I might not be able to complete it, so imagine how proud I am at this moment!
My suggestion to improve the program is to break it into a shorter "discovery" program. I think 15 things would be a good start and might alleviate the frustration that I read about in some of the blogs. It might also give everyone a chance to explore more of the things that they are planning to use and come up with more ideas of how to put them into place. I enjoyed the first half more than the 2nd half and found it more beneficial for school use.
I also found that in some of the "things" there were steps left out. I wrote about this in some of my blog entries. I don't know if this was on purpose, so that we would figure it out on our own, or if it is a little glitch in the system. I noticed that a few people had trouble uploading Photostory into Thing 21. I found the directions when I went to Help on Blogger and typed in "how to put a video in a blog". In our directions, it said that it could be uploaded, but didn't say how and I noticed that the other people that are already finished with this program were not able to upload their Photostory into their blog.
I would participate in another program, but I would prefer that it be a little less intense. There were many hours (60+) put into this 18 hour staff development. I do like the option of doing the work on our own time, but I am used to taking online courses. I feel so much more knowledgeable and excited about some of the new things that I learned. Thanks for all of your hard work creating the program.
Thing #22 Nings
I enjoyed reading the information about Nings. I feel like I am learning a new language. I went to the Teacher Librarian Ning and clicked on Elementary School Librarians. There was a discussion on Flexible Scheduling in libraries, and since this is something that we are struggling with, I enjoyed reading those questions and comments. Many seem to be trying to do what we are doing--a mixture of fixed and flexible. Our teachers really fight the flexible scheduling and we have not had a lot of success with it.
There were a few librarians that gave some helpful hints about how it was working for them, but they also had an assistant and a computer teacher to collaborate and teach along with them, and they had the support of the administration. As a matter of fact, I was surprised at the number of librarians that still had aides and assistants. I wasn't surprised at the comments that many people think that if the librarian isn't directly teaching a class at the moment, that she/he must not be doing anything else. I guess it is like most jobs, you really have no idea how many things are involved until you actually start the work.
This Ning is probably a good way to share ideas and comments. I enjoy doing that in person more than on a social network or a blog. That is why I am not ready to join these "social networks" for the time being. I see the benefit to sharing the knowledge and ideas over the computer, but I also see it as much more isolating and very time consuming to read all of this on a computer instead of having a conversation or a meeting of librarians.
There were a few librarians that gave some helpful hints about how it was working for them, but they also had an assistant and a computer teacher to collaborate and teach along with them, and they had the support of the administration. As a matter of fact, I was surprised at the number of librarians that still had aides and assistants. I wasn't surprised at the comments that many people think that if the librarian isn't directly teaching a class at the moment, that she/he must not be doing anything else. I guess it is like most jobs, you really have no idea how many things are involved until you actually start the work.
This Ning is probably a good way to share ideas and comments. I enjoy doing that in person more than on a social network or a blog. That is why I am not ready to join these "social networks" for the time being. I see the benefit to sharing the knowledge and ideas over the computer, but I also see it as much more isolating and very time consuming to read all of this on a computer instead of having a conversation or a meeting of librarians.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thing # 21 Podcasts, Photostory
I have wanted to learn to do Photostory for quite a while. I still need to practice with it, but it was fun and fairly simple. The hard part of this assignment for me was all of the downloading, upgrading, uploading, etc. and hoping that it was all going to work in the end. My poor computer is starting to struggle. Enjoy the brief tour of Paris!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thing #20 YouTube, TeacherTube
This video is from YouTube (searched under libraries) and I picked it because Julie Andrews was reading to students and I thought it would be a way to expose them to an author visit and reading. However, as the video played, it turned into her talk at ALA and would be more interesting for librarians.
On TeacherTube, I searched for Texas Symbols, Battle of Alamo, and Women in Texas History and got 0 results. I decided to search through the ones that were already created on their list and settled on Cloud Rap. This video reviews three types of clouds and repeats a rap verse in between each explanation. The video includes student artwork of clouds and photographs of clouds. This would be something that could be played in a classroom as a follow-up to lessons on clouds. It very briefly mentioned the water cycle. Since I am not a fan of rap music, I got a little tired of the song about 1/2 way through. I am guessing it would hold the student's attention more than mine. One of the comments at the bottom of the video is that it would be helpful to have the words to go along with the song/video. I can see where that would be helpful.
On TeacherTube, I searched for Texas Symbols, Battle of Alamo, and Women in Texas History and got 0 results. I decided to search through the ones that were already created on their list and settled on Cloud Rap. This video reviews three types of clouds and repeats a rap verse in between each explanation. The video includes student artwork of clouds and photographs of clouds. This would be something that could be played in a classroom as a follow-up to lessons on clouds. It very briefly mentioned the water cycle. Since I am not a fan of rap music, I got a little tired of the song about 1/2 way through. I am guessing it would hold the student's attention more than mine. One of the comments at the bottom of the video is that it would be helpful to have the words to go along with the song/video. I can see where that would be helpful.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Thing # 19 Web 2.0 Awards
This is an incredible list to visit. It is quite overwhelming, but is easy to navigate and it is nice to be able to pick favorite categories and explore. One of the things that I loved was recognizing many of the name of the sites. I learned about them in this class!
Of course, the first place I went to was Books. I briefly checked Lulu and realized that it was for someone that is wanting to publish their own book. Since that isn't me, I checked out Biblio and found out it was a great way to search for rare books. I also liked that Library Thing won honorable mention, because I liked that site. I decided to change courses and had a hard time deciding in which direction to go, but finally decided on Travel.
The travel sites were incredible. I went back and forth between liking the 2nd place winner, Kayak, more than the 1st place winner, Farecast. They were both great and I really am not sure how they decided which one was best. They both search many sites at the same time--Kayak says it does 140 at once. They came up with so many choices of flights that it was almost overwhelming. You could set up ranges of times to depart and return, they would spell out every step of the trip, you could designate the amount of stops (or non-stop), etc. I know that other sites have these features, but you usually have to search one particular site at a time. These searched all of the sites and all of the airlines at the same time. The possibilities were endless. They even had a flight from Baton Rouge to Houston that took over 13 hours (not a good thing). I had to check the details on that one, and of course, it had an overnight layover in Dallas. This awards list will definitely go on the bookmarks list for further exploration in other categories--especially for other family members that are interested in genealogy, health, music, and maps.
The uses for lessons would also be endless--research, compare/contrast, deciding on the criteria for 1st, 2nd, etc. - what made one better than the other, math lessons comparing prices, times, mapping, cooking and measuring, and the list goes on and on.
Of course, the first place I went to was Books. I briefly checked Lulu and realized that it was for someone that is wanting to publish their own book. Since that isn't me, I checked out Biblio and found out it was a great way to search for rare books. I also liked that Library Thing won honorable mention, because I liked that site. I decided to change courses and had a hard time deciding in which direction to go, but finally decided on Travel.
The travel sites were incredible. I went back and forth between liking the 2nd place winner, Kayak, more than the 1st place winner, Farecast. They were both great and I really am not sure how they decided which one was best. They both search many sites at the same time--Kayak says it does 140 at once. They came up with so many choices of flights that it was almost overwhelming. You could set up ranges of times to depart and return, they would spell out every step of the trip, you could designate the amount of stops (or non-stop), etc. I know that other sites have these features, but you usually have to search one particular site at a time. These searched all of the sites and all of the airlines at the same time. The possibilities were endless. They even had a flight from Baton Rouge to Houston that took over 13 hours (not a good thing). I had to check the details on that one, and of course, it had an overnight layover in Dallas. This awards list will definitely go on the bookmarks list for further exploration in other categories--especially for other family members that are interested in genealogy, health, music, and maps.
The uses for lessons would also be endless--research, compare/contrast, deciding on the criteria for 1st, 2nd, etc. - what made one better than the other, math lessons comparing prices, times, mapping, cooking and measuring, and the list goes on and on.
Thing #18 Online Productivity Tools
Google Docs seemed very straightforward. I love the video explanations with the LeFever guy. He makes everything very easy to understand, and he seems to have fun pushing and pulling papers onto his whiteboard--very simple production.
His example of sharing articles/documents for a newsletter through Google Docs makes perfect sense. All of the e-mailing back and forth makes it hard to keep track of the latest changes. We just have to get used to the idea of attaching e-mail to the document instead of our usual attaching a document to e-mail and then circulating it to many different people.
I uploaded one of my images from comicstripgenerator, but it would not let me make any changes. I couldn't change the text in the boxes, etc. It uploaded very quickly and I was looking forward to changing it in some way. It appears that this online tool is more for word documents, PP, or spreadsheets. I think it is a good idea for sharing and collaborating.
His example of sharing articles/documents for a newsletter through Google Docs makes perfect sense. All of the e-mailing back and forth makes it hard to keep track of the latest changes. We just have to get used to the idea of attaching e-mail to the document instead of our usual attaching a document to e-mail and then circulating it to many different people.
I uploaded one of my images from comicstripgenerator, but it would not let me make any changes. I couldn't change the text in the boxes, etc. It uploaded very quickly and I was looking forward to changing it in some way. It appears that this online tool is more for word documents, PP, or spreadsheets. I think it is a good idea for sharing and collaborating.
Thing #17 Rollyo
I can see a benefit to Rollyo if you are the type of person that has a great deal of bookmarks (like the person in the "excellent buzz" section that had over 2000 to manage!). I try to keep mine to a minimum of ones that are important to me, and if I have several on the same subject, I put them in a folder. One of my favorites was very helpful last summer when I was traveling, European Hotels
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Thing #16 Wikis
I enjoyed learning more about Wikis. I have been very curious about them, knew a little bit about Wikipedia, but really didn't understand how it all worked together. I guess the true test will be if I can actually start one on my own - perhaps a idea for staff development.
I went to the sandbox and wrote my entry. I changed the color and the text, but forgot to put a link in the message. Anyway, adding information was very easy.
I would like to use a wiki as a collaboration tool between the teachers at my school and me. It would be a great way for us to have "conversations" about what we want to do in the library. I know my staff, and I will have to convince them that this isn't just "one more thing added to their plate," but that it is a way to make collaboration and arranging meetings easier for everyone.
I can also see trying to set one up for better communication with the students. When they are in the library, they all want to talk to me at the same time, and they all have great information to share. This may be a way for me to be able to hear what all of them have to say - especially when they are wanting to discuss books!
I can see the pros and cons about using Wikipedia for research. I am always reminded of the episode of the Colbert Report when he went to Wikipedia and edited information to make a certain animal no longer on the endangered list. He just made things up and added it to the elephant webpage. If some child was using Wikipedia for research, they wouldn't have their facts written correctly in their report (until someone caught it and corrected the information). It's a great way to introduce using reliable resources for research.
I went to the sandbox and wrote my entry. I changed the color and the text, but forgot to put a link in the message. Anyway, adding information was very easy.
I would like to use a wiki as a collaboration tool between the teachers at my school and me. It would be a great way for us to have "conversations" about what we want to do in the library. I know my staff, and I will have to convince them that this isn't just "one more thing added to their plate," but that it is a way to make collaboration and arranging meetings easier for everyone.
I can also see trying to set one up for better communication with the students. When they are in the library, they all want to talk to me at the same time, and they all have great information to share. This may be a way for me to be able to hear what all of them have to say - especially when they are wanting to discuss books!
I can see the pros and cons about using Wikipedia for research. I am always reminded of the episode of the Colbert Report when he went to Wikipedia and edited information to make a certain animal no longer on the endangered list. He just made things up and added it to the elephant webpage. If some child was using Wikipedia for research, they wouldn't have their facts written correctly in their report (until someone caught it and corrected the information). It's a great way to introduce using reliable resources for research.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Thing # 15 Web 2.0, Library 2.0
I understand and respect the need for Library 2.0. All of us certainly have to keep up with the latest and greatest, and there will always be a need for that. This course is doing an excellent job of helping us become aware of the many changes in technology and how it affects our lives now and in the future. It seems the current favorite saying these days is that children, that are in school now, will be working at jobs that don't even exist at the present time. I don't think that is anything new. Jobs that we are working in now didn't exist 20 years ago either. Ask your grandmother, or even your mother, about all of the changes that have occurred in the last 10 or 20 years. That is the way of the world.
I think keeping up with Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 are preparing all of us for the changes that will be occurring and are occurring at the moment. However, I don't think that this means that we need to get rid of everything from the past as if it served no purpose. Sometimes it seems to be a little of "throwing the baby out with the bath water." Many of the ideas in these perspectives are valid, and I think most of them pertain to public libraries and possibly middle school/high school libraries.
Certainly students younger than this should be exposed to many of the new services and technology that a library can offer. But, I don't think that we will ever drop the need for cultivating a society that needs to learn how to read and to comprehend what they are reading--to be excited about all of the things they can learn. As I drove around this week, on the many detours in the Memorial area, I drove by at least 5 Spring Branch schools. Everyone of them had slogans on their marquees reminding students to read, read, read during the summer, because they know that this is still the best way for our culture to stay ahead of the education game. These were not just elementary schools either. I agree that we need to be aware and educated about all things Web related, but let's not forget that there are many other areas of education that should not be ignored.
I think keeping up with Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 are preparing all of us for the changes that will be occurring and are occurring at the moment. However, I don't think that this means that we need to get rid of everything from the past as if it served no purpose. Sometimes it seems to be a little of "throwing the baby out with the bath water." Many of the ideas in these perspectives are valid, and I think most of them pertain to public libraries and possibly middle school/high school libraries.
Certainly students younger than this should be exposed to many of the new services and technology that a library can offer. But, I don't think that we will ever drop the need for cultivating a society that needs to learn how to read and to comprehend what they are reading--to be excited about all of the things they can learn. As I drove around this week, on the many detours in the Memorial area, I drove by at least 5 Spring Branch schools. Everyone of them had slogans on their marquees reminding students to read, read, read during the summer, because they know that this is still the best way for our culture to stay ahead of the education game. These were not just elementary schools either. I agree that we need to be aware and educated about all things Web related, but let's not forget that there are many other areas of education that should not be ignored.
Thing #14 Technorati and How Tags Work
I have to admit that I found Technorati a bit confusing and their pages somewhat cluttered. When things are too busy and not organized in an easy-to-read fashion, I find myself moving on to something else that is more user friendly.
I did enjoy the video, and I thought it was interesting to meet the people behind Technorati and hear from them why they are doing what they are doing. They seemed genuinely interested in what they are trying to accomplish, and they also seemed interested in continuing to make it user friendly for the "regular" person. I liked their statement about not just letting CNN and the Evening News Programs, etc. determine what they think is good news, but letting regular people decide what they want to talk about and know more about---and then giving them a way to have some type of conversation about it.
I am not sure that I did my searches correctly because I came up with information that wasn't always relevant to the terms. I got 1,562 Blog Posts when I used the search terms, and I found that the articles were using any combination of those 4 words somewhere in their posting. Some were relevant and some didn't appear to have much to do with the subject---too much information to plow through. When I searched the Blog Directory, there was a much lower number - 16 - but many of them had 0 fans, so I assume that means that no one is reading them. I tried the search a second time and got an error message.
I found it was interesting that they had the Top 100 blogs and that the most popular in the world, as determined by Technorati, had 3,717 fans. That is a lot of people reading that blog. The top videos would change each time I checked them, so they seem to keep their information very current.
I'm not sure this will help me very much at the present time, because I felt overwhelmed by the information and search features. Perhaps with a little more experience I would appreciate it more. I don't see many applications for elementary school lessons. Maybe I am missing the big picture and will find more benefit to it later. I think tagging in general is a good idea and a step in the right direction as far as organizing information. I think that the amount of information is growing at such a fast pace that it is difficult to keep track of what is actually relevant and worthwhile.
I did enjoy the video, and I thought it was interesting to meet the people behind Technorati and hear from them why they are doing what they are doing. They seemed genuinely interested in what they are trying to accomplish, and they also seemed interested in continuing to make it user friendly for the "regular" person. I liked their statement about not just letting CNN and the Evening News Programs, etc. determine what they think is good news, but letting regular people decide what they want to talk about and know more about---and then giving them a way to have some type of conversation about it.
I am not sure that I did my searches correctly because I came up with information that wasn't always relevant to the terms. I got 1,562 Blog Posts when I used the search terms, and I found that the articles were using any combination of those 4 words somewhere in their posting. Some were relevant and some didn't appear to have much to do with the subject---too much information to plow through. When I searched the Blog Directory, there was a much lower number - 16 - but many of them had 0 fans, so I assume that means that no one is reading them. I tried the search a second time and got an error message.
I found it was interesting that they had the Top 100 blogs and that the most popular in the world, as determined by Technorati, had 3,717 fans. That is a lot of people reading that blog. The top videos would change each time I checked them, so they seem to keep their information very current.
I'm not sure this will help me very much at the present time, because I felt overwhelmed by the information and search features. Perhaps with a little more experience I would appreciate it more. I don't see many applications for elementary school lessons. Maybe I am missing the big picture and will find more benefit to it later. I think tagging in general is a good idea and a step in the right direction as far as organizing information. I think that the amount of information is growing at such a fast pace that it is difficult to keep track of what is actually relevant and worthwhile.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Thing #13 Tagging and Discover Del.icio.us
I have to admit that I have been very curious about Del.icio.us, mainly because of the name. I know a little about tagging and have been tagging most of my posts/exercises for this class, so that I could experiment with them a little.
The Del.icio.us tutorial was informative, but it also includes so much information, that I think this is something that would take a while to really grasp and use to its full potential. I'm not sure how it would relate to lessons in an elementary school. It seems much too complicated, although maybe with more understanding I will see it as an organization tool. Her comment about there being 27 million blogs and this doubling every 5 months made me wonder if these people have a life. I totally understand getting things organized, but it also seems like it can get out of control. There are just so many hours in a day. It seems a little time and labor intensive.
My basic understanding of tagging and these various social bookmarking sites is that is allows you to share your "favorites" with everyone instead of just having them on your favorites list on your computer. I like the Furl explanation of "an online file cabinet of your favorite web pages." I think that simplifies things so that most people can understand the concept.
I also like the Ma.gnolia explanation and easy to read pages, and will continue to explore why they think their service works better. Is Del.icio.us better or was it just the first to think of the idea?
As far as using a rating system on all of these services to rate 1-5, OK-better, I think I would streamline it to only save the best of the best in the first place. The idea is to make life easier with technology, not more time consuming and complicated.
The Del.icio.us tutorial was informative, but it also includes so much information, that I think this is something that would take a while to really grasp and use to its full potential. I'm not sure how it would relate to lessons in an elementary school. It seems much too complicated, although maybe with more understanding I will see it as an organization tool. Her comment about there being 27 million blogs and this doubling every 5 months made me wonder if these people have a life. I totally understand getting things organized, but it also seems like it can get out of control. There are just so many hours in a day. It seems a little time and labor intensive.
My basic understanding of tagging and these various social bookmarking sites is that is allows you to share your "favorites" with everyone instead of just having them on your favorites list on your computer. I like the Furl explanation of "an online file cabinet of your favorite web pages." I think that simplifies things so that most people can understand the concept.
I also like the Ma.gnolia explanation and easy to read pages, and will continue to explore why they think their service works better. Is Del.icio.us better or was it just the first to think of the idea?
As far as using a rating system on all of these services to rate 1-5, OK-better, I think I would streamline it to only save the best of the best in the first place. The idea is to make life easier with technology, not more time consuming and complicated.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Thing #12 Creating Community Through Commenting
The two points that I thought were most important were to write a meaningful comment and don't be afraid to comment. As a new blogger, I find that I am more interested in reading various blogs and their comments than I am in actually commenting on them. This is partly due to the fact that I do agree that comments need to be meaningful, and I guess I am not at the point where I think my comments will be meaningful to others that have so much more experience than I do. This feeds into the second point about being afraid to comment. I'm not afraid in the sense that it will harm me, just in the sense that I need to feel a little more comfortable with all of this before I really have something to contribute.
The 5 blogs that I picked to comment on in Learn2Play were people that I don't know. I deliberately did that to push myself to the next level. I wonder if I will hear from them? I have to admit that I picked the blogs based on the names---they sounded like we might have something in common.
The 2 blogs that I picked to respond to that were not on Learn2Play were blogs that I added from the Google Alerts that I have been receiving on knitting. I was so surprised to find out there is so much information on this subject. One of the bloggers was writing about knitting scarves and helmet liners for our soldiers, and the other one was willing to share a pattern for the baby hats that I have been talking about. I think these ideas are very worthwhile and I am very interested in them. Hopefully I will have time to pursue them in the future.
The 5 blogs that I picked to comment on in Learn2Play were people that I don't know. I deliberately did that to push myself to the next level. I wonder if I will hear from them? I have to admit that I picked the blogs based on the names---they sounded like we might have something in common.
The 2 blogs that I picked to respond to that were not on Learn2Play were blogs that I added from the Google Alerts that I have been receiving on knitting. I was so surprised to find out there is so much information on this subject. One of the bloggers was writing about knitting scarves and helmet liners for our soldiers, and the other one was willing to share a pattern for the baby hats that I have been talking about. I think these ideas are very worthwhile and I am very interested in them. Hopefully I will have time to pursue them in the future.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thing #11 Library Thing
I love Library Thing. It is very easy to get carried away adding books to the list. Most of the books on my list are in my stack of books to read over the summer break. I am in the middle of an adult book now, as I take a break from the Bluebonnet books. I was determined to read at least one book geared towards adults this summer.
Adding books was easy. I loved seeing the covers pop up, and I want to go back in and set it up to display the covers instead of just a list. I would love to think that I could put all of the books I have in my house on this list and keep some type of inventory of them, but I don't know when I would find the time. I look forward to reading reviews about books that I have not read yet or am thinking about reading.
I checked out several groups. There are so many, that once again, I had to stop. I particularly liked the Historical Fiction and Non-Fiction groups. It is interesting to check out their most commonly shared books list and that gives me many new ideas. I also like the 50 book challenge and would love to have the time to read 50 book in a row of my choice. I did spend one wonderful summer in New Mexico where I got a chance to read 35 books. I felt like I was in heaven - reading and enjoying the mountain air.
The Gilmores was a group that had only two members and was created only 2 days ago, so I am guessing that those are two people that are fans of The Gilmore Girls and are trying to start a group. I had read the books on their commonly shared list, so perhaps this is a group I would have something in common with. There were no topics posted yet.
I also saw a Knitters Inc. group and it had 664 members. I will keep my eye on this one. The Children's Literature group is certainly one that would be a good one, but as I said, there were so many groups that sounded interesting or relevant, that it is very easy to get overwhelmed. Overall, I really like Library Thing.
Adding books was easy. I loved seeing the covers pop up, and I want to go back in and set it up to display the covers instead of just a list. I would love to think that I could put all of the books I have in my house on this list and keep some type of inventory of them, but I don't know when I would find the time. I look forward to reading reviews about books that I have not read yet or am thinking about reading.
I checked out several groups. There are so many, that once again, I had to stop. I particularly liked the Historical Fiction and Non-Fiction groups. It is interesting to check out their most commonly shared books list and that gives me many new ideas. I also like the 50 book challenge and would love to have the time to read 50 book in a row of my choice. I did spend one wonderful summer in New Mexico where I got a chance to read 35 books. I felt like I was in heaven - reading and enjoying the mountain air.
The Gilmores was a group that had only two members and was created only 2 days ago, so I am guessing that those are two people that are fans of The Gilmore Girls and are trying to start a group. I had read the books on their commonly shared list, so perhaps this is a group I would have something in common with. There were no topics posted yet.
I also saw a Knitters Inc. group and it had 664 members. I will keep my eye on this one. The Children's Literature group is certainly one that would be a good one, but as I said, there were so many groups that sounded interesting or relevant, that it is very easy to get overwhelmed. Overall, I really like Library Thing.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
comments on Thing #10
Well, I wouldn't give up until I got it published correctly, and I have no clue why it would do so now and wouldn't earlier in the day. Anyway, I am glad it published all together. This was one of my favorite "Things" that we have done so far, so I was very disappointed over the state of events. Oh well, all's well that ends well--or so they say.
I thought about going back and deleting my other posts about Thing #10 because they showed my frustration, but that is the way it really happened, so that is the way I am leaving it.
I thought about going back and deleting my other posts about Thing #10 because they showed my frustration, but that is the way it really happened, so that is the way I am leaving it.
Thing #10 Online Image Generator
I loved the Comic Strip Generator. This is another one of those sites that you could play around with all day, and it would take all day to get through their various selections. Many are not appropriate for elementary age children, so if it was going to be an assignment, such as quoting a famous person, or making some type of statement, there would have to be some type of limitations on the comic strips they could use. I can see our Art teacher using some of these, as there were many art reproductions. Great site and lot of fun.
Again, here I am with the Texas State Symbols. I loved Image Chef and will continue to explore it. I thought the license plate image would be a good image to put on the first slide, page of project, etc. to introduce it.
I tried the Flower Text in Image Chef and loved it--wish you could see my creation. It said to right click to save to desktop and them upload, but the right-click menu didn't give those options. It also said you could click and drag to desktop, but that didn't work either. You might want to try it--it is a beautiful image. I tried many times and came back to it later, but couldn't get it to work.
I also love everything I have tried on Big Huge Labs. This is a card that I created on Trading Card Maker as an example for the 2nd graders I was working with. They are always fascinated with my pets and love finding out that their teachers actually have a life, family, friends, house, etc.
They researched a topic they were interested in and created cards of their own.
They researched a topic they were interested in and created cards of their own.
Thing #10 - what's going on?
Ok, now I need someone to tell me why the images would post separately and the message would post separately, but I couldn't get them to post together. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.
Thing # 10
I am posting this without my images (that I spent all morning creating) because I kept getting html error messages when I tried to publish the post. I am in the process of trying to figure out what is going on (or have called help to help me figure out what is going on). I was so disappointed that it refused to publish it because I had three different images in my message - one comic strip, one license plate from Image Chef, and a trading card.
When I saved it and previewed it, it looked great, but when I went to publish it I got a red message bar across the top saying that the html code could not be published. I was so upset. I had worked on this for hours and it looked so good! Anyway, my comments on the project are below and I will publish the rest as soon as I can figure out what to do. I was afraid to click the box to ignore the message in case it totally erased everything that I did. How disappointing. Any suggestions?
I loved the Comic Strip Generator. This is another one of those sites that you could play around with all day, and it would take all day to get through their various selections. Many are not appropriate for elementary age children, so if it was going to be an assignment, such as quoting a famous person, or making some type of statement, there would have to be some type of limitations on the comic strips they could use. I can see our Art teacher using some of these, as there were many art reproductions. Great site and lot of fun.
Again, here I am with the Texas State Symbols. I loved Image Chef and will continue to explore it. I thought the license plate image would be a good image to put on the first slide, page of project, etc. to introduce it.
I tried the Flower Text in Image Chef and loved it--wish you could see my creation. It said to right click to save to desktop and them upload, but the right-click menu didn't give those options. It also said you could click and drag to desktop, but that didn't work either. You might want to try it--it is a beautiful image. I tried many times and came back to it later, but couldn't get it to work.
I also love everything I have tried on Big Huge Labs. This is a card that I created on Trading Card Maker as an example for the 2nd graders I was working with. They are always fascinated with my pets and love finding out that their teachers actually have a life, family, friends, house, etc.
They researched a topic they were interested in and created cards of their own.
When I saved it and previewed it, it looked great, but when I went to publish it I got a red message bar across the top saying that the html code could not be published. I was so upset. I had worked on this for hours and it looked so good! Anyway, my comments on the project are below and I will publish the rest as soon as I can figure out what to do. I was afraid to click the box to ignore the message in case it totally erased everything that I did. How disappointing. Any suggestions?
I loved the Comic Strip Generator. This is another one of those sites that you could play around with all day, and it would take all day to get through their various selections. Many are not appropriate for elementary age children, so if it was going to be an assignment, such as quoting a famous person, or making some type of statement, there would have to be some type of limitations on the comic strips they could use. I can see our Art teacher using some of these, as there were many art reproductions. Great site and lot of fun.
Again, here I am with the Texas State Symbols. I loved Image Chef and will continue to explore it. I thought the license plate image would be a good image to put on the first slide, page of project, etc. to introduce it.
I tried the Flower Text in Image Chef and loved it--wish you could see my creation. It said to right click to save to desktop and them upload, but the right-click menu didn't give those options. It also said you could click and drag to desktop, but that didn't work either. You might want to try it--it is a beautiful image. I tried many times and came back to it later, but couldn't get it to work.
I also love everything I have tried on Big Huge Labs. This is a card that I created on Trading Card Maker as an example for the 2nd graders I was working with. They are always fascinated with my pets and love finding out that their teachers actually have a life, family, friends, house, etc.
They researched a topic they were interested in and created cards of their own.
Thing #9 Useful Library-Related Blogs
I feel like I got most of my library information in Thing #8 (except for some of these blog searches). My list of blogs in Google Reader are almost all library related ones that I researched and thought would be most beneficial for me, and the ones that I would have time to read.
The easiest method for finding feeds for me has been to read some of the library blogs that I like and respect, look at their blogroll, and try some of them out. As usual, there are too many to add to the list, so I am trying to "create a circle of the wise" like Cool Cat Teacher recommends. It's fun to read many of the blogs, but then I find hours have gone by and I am not getting anything else done in my "regular" life.
The easiest to use for me was Topix. It was organized in an easy-to-read format for me---somewhat like the CNN page that I have set up as my homepage. The topic headings were clear and articles were included under the main topic headings.
The one that I thought I would find the most information on was encountering problems today - School Library Blogs on Suprglu, so I could not get onto it. Another one encountering problems was Syndic8. I tried several times, but continued to get that message. I will try School Library Blogs at another time.
Ones that I found confusing were Blogline's Search Tool and Technorati. There were a lot of ads and I didn't find that the layout was as organized as some of the others. The pages were a little busy for me and didn't hold my interest.
I had already added more blogs to my reader this morning, so I didn't add any more during this assignment. I want to be able to read what I have. I think the main "other tool' that I have found is just to be aware of the symbols on the sites that I already visit. I can now add them to my Google Reader, and in the past I wasn't aware of that. I find myself looking around more on each page that I visit.
The easiest method for finding feeds for me has been to read some of the library blogs that I like and respect, look at their blogroll, and try some of them out. As usual, there are too many to add to the list, so I am trying to "create a circle of the wise" like Cool Cat Teacher recommends. It's fun to read many of the blogs, but then I find hours have gone by and I am not getting anything else done in my "regular" life.
The easiest to use for me was Topix. It was organized in an easy-to-read format for me---somewhat like the CNN page that I have set up as my homepage. The topic headings were clear and articles were included under the main topic headings.
The one that I thought I would find the most information on was encountering problems today - School Library Blogs on Suprglu, so I could not get onto it. Another one encountering problems was Syndic8. I tried several times, but continued to get that message. I will try School Library Blogs at another time.
Ones that I found confusing were Blogline's Search Tool and Technorati. There were a lot of ads and I didn't find that the layout was as organized as some of the others. The pages were a little busy for me and didn't hold my interest.
I had already added more blogs to my reader this morning, so I didn't add any more during this assignment. I want to be able to read what I have. I think the main "other tool' that I have found is just to be aware of the symbols on the sites that I already visit. I can now add them to my Google Reader, and in the past I wasn't aware of that. I find myself looking around more on each page that I visit.
Google Alert
I got my first Google Alert! I didn't hear anything for a couple of days, and I thought I might have stumped them with the subject of knitting, but there they were this morning.
This Saturday, June 14 is World Wide Knit in Public Day. I didn't know that this existed, and I also didn't know that some people had trouble knitting in public.
Another exciting thing is that there is an article about a third grade class that is knitting projects for cancer patients. This wasn't the class in Houston that I wanted more information about that was knitting baby caps, but it is the same idea. They also gave an address to contact them, so I will send something to them today.
There is a Knitting Cafe that provides equipment and classes for beginners. How cool. I wish it was in Houston. There is also a musical group named Knitting Factory. Who knew?
There was an article about how knitting is undergoing a renaissance and details about another knitting circle that is sending hats, scarves and sweaters to familes in need. Maybe I can get some ideas or find my baby cap pattern from this group.
And---there were 3 more blogs that I can add to my Google Reader. Most of the ones I found the other day were on hold, but these 3 are going strong and they were beginners like me. Just what I needed--more to read. Anyway, I am excited about it. Every article had something that I was interested in and didn't know about.
So, if any of you are knitters, go out and knit something in public on Saturday.
This Saturday, June 14 is World Wide Knit in Public Day. I didn't know that this existed, and I also didn't know that some people had trouble knitting in public.
Another exciting thing is that there is an article about a third grade class that is knitting projects for cancer patients. This wasn't the class in Houston that I wanted more information about that was knitting baby caps, but it is the same idea. They also gave an address to contact them, so I will send something to them today.
There is a Knitting Cafe that provides equipment and classes for beginners. How cool. I wish it was in Houston. There is also a musical group named Knitting Factory. Who knew?
There was an article about how knitting is undergoing a renaissance and details about another knitting circle that is sending hats, scarves and sweaters to familes in need. Maybe I can get some ideas or find my baby cap pattern from this group.
And---there were 3 more blogs that I can add to my Google Reader. Most of the ones I found the other day were on hold, but these 3 are going strong and they were beginners like me. Just what I needed--more to read. Anyway, I am excited about it. Every article had something that I was interested in and didn't know about.
So, if any of you are knitters, go out and knit something in public on Saturday.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Thing #8 RSS Feeds
I set up Google Reader and it looks very interesting. I subscribed to a variety of library blogs and one knitting blog. I found that some of the blogs that I wanted to subscribe to were closed or the person was no longer posting. A few I investigated seemed to be mindless dribble about their everyday life, minute by minute, and I couldn't see any advantage to subscribing to them.
The blogs that I subscribed to are: A Library By Any Other Name; Chair, Fireplace, and Tea Cozy; Librarian Philosopher; Chicken Spaghetti; and Yarn Harlot. I read the latest postings in all of them and found interesting and useful information that I can use as a librarian and as a hobby-type knitter.
I may add a few more to the list if I think I can keep up with them. I tried to add the Kathy Schrock blog because I know that she contributes many great lessons, but errors kept popping up. I will try to add it later.
I am new to RSS feeds and will continue to evaluate how much I like them, but I can see how they will increase my knowledge, and that is always a good thing. It does seem like a good way to organize the blogs I want to read--like one-stop shopping. There are wonderful ideas about books and how to use them. There are book reviews and opinions. There are ideas and library related information. There are shared frustrations. That all sounds good to me.
The blogs that I subscribed to are: A Library By Any Other Name; Chair, Fireplace, and Tea Cozy; Librarian Philosopher; Chicken Spaghetti; and Yarn Harlot. I read the latest postings in all of them and found interesting and useful information that I can use as a librarian and as a hobby-type knitter.
I may add a few more to the list if I think I can keep up with them. I tried to add the Kathy Schrock blog because I know that she contributes many great lessons, but errors kept popping up. I will try to add it later.
I am new to RSS feeds and will continue to evaluate how much I like them, but I can see how they will increase my knowledge, and that is always a good thing. It does seem like a good way to organize the blogs I want to read--like one-stop shopping. There are wonderful ideas about books and how to use them. There are book reviews and opinions. There are ideas and library related information. There are shared frustrations. That all sounds good to me.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Thing #7 Cool Google Tools
I have always loved the word google--very clever. It just sounds like fun and it is. Mention trying to find out something about almost anything and most people will ask you if you have "googled" it.
I enjoyed all of the Google tools on Thing #7. I registered for Google Alerts about knitting. It will be interesting to see if I get any information. I taught myself how to knit last year, and I am really enjoying it. A teacher and I have talked about starting a knitting group at school and making baby caps. There was an article in the paper about a year ago featuring a third grade classroom in a Houston school that was making baby caps for newborn babies. We thought it sounded interesting, and searched for a pattern, but didn't find one. I have to admit that we both got very busy and dropped the ball on the project. Maybe this alert will direct me to the pattern. Also, some of my library volunteer moms wanted to start a knitting club this summer so we could stay in touch with each other. We have our first meeting next week.
I think the Google Advanced Search was one of the most helpful sites as far as lesson planning. I stayed with the Texas State Symbols theme and searched for PowerPoint presentations (thanks for the hint). The teachers at my school love PowerPoint presentations and there were two good ones when I did a Google Advanced Search. The one from Pasadena ISD even included the cowboy hat as a state symbol, and it was very well done. I am hoping to gently "push" some of our teachers into other types of projects this year. There should be plenty of things to show them after this course.
I loved Google Earth, and I probably did what most people do--I googled my home address. It took me straight to my house, and it was fun to see everything in the neighborhood. I liked the fact that you could tag landmarks, and I could see this tool being used in many Social Studies lessons. I loved that it showed you the exact latitude and longitude of a location. For some reason, that was always one of my favorite things to teach.
I enjoyed all of the Google tools on Thing #7. I registered for Google Alerts about knitting. It will be interesting to see if I get any information. I taught myself how to knit last year, and I am really enjoying it. A teacher and I have talked about starting a knitting group at school and making baby caps. There was an article in the paper about a year ago featuring a third grade classroom in a Houston school that was making baby caps for newborn babies. We thought it sounded interesting, and searched for a pattern, but didn't find one. I have to admit that we both got very busy and dropped the ball on the project. Maybe this alert will direct me to the pattern. Also, some of my library volunteer moms wanted to start a knitting club this summer so we could stay in touch with each other. We have our first meeting next week.
I think the Google Advanced Search was one of the most helpful sites as far as lesson planning. I stayed with the Texas State Symbols theme and searched for PowerPoint presentations (thanks for the hint). The teachers at my school love PowerPoint presentations and there were two good ones when I did a Google Advanced Search. The one from Pasadena ISD even included the cowboy hat as a state symbol, and it was very well done. I am hoping to gently "push" some of our teachers into other types of projects this year. There should be plenty of things to show them after this course.
I loved Google Earth, and I probably did what most people do--I googled my home address. It took me straight to my house, and it was fun to see everything in the neighborhood. I liked the fact that you could tag landmarks, and I could see this tool being used in many Social Studies lessons. I loved that it showed you the exact latitude and longitude of a location. For some reason, that was always one of my favorite things to teach.
Thing #6 Mashups
I had heard about mashups, but I didn't realize that I had already used one. This past spring, my PGP class and I worked on Trading Card Maker. We all loved it. It was a great series of lessons that involved research (had to find information to put on the card), importing photos from the internet, saving the information in their files on our district server, and putting it all together at the end of the project. One warning-if you don't complete the entire card in one sitting (which is hard for little ones), it will not let you go back and edit after you have saved it. That started a new series of lessons for these 1st and 2nd graders--how to create, edit, copy, and paste from a Word document. This way they could type all of their information correctly before they pasted it into the bottom part of the trading card. It was a lot of fun and they learned many new research and technology skills.
There were several things I enjoyed today. I particularly liked Flickrvision, Flickr Color Picker, and many of the projects on Big Huge Labs. Flickrvision is a great way to see what is going on in the world at this very moment. It combines maps and photos and I felt like I was getting to peek into what was happening all over the world. Within one minute it took me sailing in Italy, to a train ride in Brazil, a view of downtown Houston, a boat ride on a river in Hong Kong, and to someone's desk in Indiana. It was amazing!
Flickr Color Picker surprised me because I didn't think it would be any big deal--photos that match colors--I didn't think I would be that interested. But, when I clicked on the Color Fields Experiment, I got lost in all of the photos and colors. They were incredible and this would be a great tool for an Art teacher or anyone doing lessons on colors or digital photography. I had to force myself to move on.
Big Huge Labs has been a favorite of mine since the Trading Card project, and I didn't realize how many more projects they added to their list. I loved the Jigsaw, Captioner, and Magazine Cover. I can see great lessons being planned around famous people or events and Magazine Cover.
There were several things I enjoyed today. I particularly liked Flickrvision, Flickr Color Picker, and many of the projects on Big Huge Labs. Flickrvision is a great way to see what is going on in the world at this very moment. It combines maps and photos and I felt like I was getting to peek into what was happening all over the world. Within one minute it took me sailing in Italy, to a train ride in Brazil, a view of downtown Houston, a boat ride on a river in Hong Kong, and to someone's desk in Indiana. It was amazing!
Flickr Color Picker surprised me because I didn't think it would be any big deal--photos that match colors--I didn't think I would be that interested. But, when I clicked on the Color Fields Experiment, I got lost in all of the photos and colors. They were incredible and this would be a great tool for an Art teacher or anyone doing lessons on colors or digital photography. I had to force myself to move on.
Big Huge Labs has been a favorite of mine since the Trading Card project, and I didn't realize how many more projects they added to their list. I loved the Jigsaw, Captioner, and Magazine Cover. I can see great lessons being planned around famous people or events and Magazine Cover.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Thing #5 Flickr
I feel like I am just scratching the surface with Flickr and look forward to "exploring" it in more depth. I took the tour, and it reminds me of Snapfish (which is the photo sharing program I attempt to use now). I loved the Maps page that explains how you can drag-and-drop your photos onto a map to show where you took them. What a great way to organize them and keep track of all of the places you have visited.
I also explored the Interesting Things feature and clicked on my birthday. I was able to see photographs that were taken on that day from all around the world. Truly amazing.
On Creative Commons, I searched Texas. It has been a fascinating subject to me from the first day I set foot on Texas soil (not a native). I thought many of the photographs could be used for a fourth grade project on Texas monuments or symbols, etc. It seems like they do some variation of that each year, and everyone is looking for a new way to approach the subject. I copied several beautiful photos of Texas into My Pictures. I didn't copy any of the courthouses, but I absolutely love to see all of those beautiful buildings across Texas.
I see this sign when I come back from visiting family in Louisiana. Couldn't resist it!Saturday, June 7, 2008
Thing #3 Setting Up Blog and Avatar
Oh my goodness, I think I created my avatar. I had a few problems figuring out that I had to sign up for Yahoo and all that was involved with that, but I did it and it was fun picking out all of the various outfits, hair, etc. I probably should have picked PJ's, but I didn't. I couldn't decide on a background, so I finally picked the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles because I had a chance to visit it last summer. It is a great reminder of a wonderful trip. Of course I had to include one of my pets, and since they are mutts, I had to pick the closest one I could find.
I found a step or two left out of the "export" steps, but I think I finally figured it out. I agree with the posting that said they would never have been able to do it without step-by-step instructions. Thanks for the help.
One of my original problems in Thing 2 was that it wouldn't work on Mozilla Firefox, but would work when I logged into Internet Explorer. Maybe I should have figured this out sooner, but I'm just glad I figured it out at all. As usual, completing any of these tasks correctly makes me feel like I have really accomplished something for the day. I think I will try some more Things.
I found a step or two left out of the "export" steps, but I think I finally figured it out. I agree with the posting that said they would never have been able to do it without step-by-step instructions. Thanks for the help.
One of my original problems in Thing 2 was that it wouldn't work on Mozilla Firefox, but would work when I logged into Internet Explorer. Maybe I should have figured this out sooner, but I'm just glad I figured it out at all. As usual, completing any of these tasks correctly makes me feel like I have really accomplished something for the day. I think I will try some more Things.
Thing #2 Lifelong Learners
Well, I think I have created my blog. I spent all day at the eye doctor's office yesterday and my eyes were dilated for so long that I couldn't read a computer screen until this morning. I was afraid that I would be very late in getting started, but I think I am in.
I watched the video this morning and I think the habit that I am strongest in is the first one - begin with an end in mind. I am very good at knowing where I have to be, and I am usually good at figuring out some way to get there. I will often change my route many times during the journey. The one I am probably the weakest in (and am excited about learning all about it here) is to use technology to my advantage - to make life easier. There are many ways that it does make my life easier, but there are also many ways that it frustrates me. I am looking forward to feeling more comfortable with all of it. I am also looking forward to learning from all of you.
I had to try several times to get this created (kept getting strange messages), so hopefully someone will let me know if I am doing the correct thing.
I watched the video this morning and I think the habit that I am strongest in is the first one - begin with an end in mind. I am very good at knowing where I have to be, and I am usually good at figuring out some way to get there. I will often change my route many times during the journey. The one I am probably the weakest in (and am excited about learning all about it here) is to use technology to my advantage - to make life easier. There are many ways that it does make my life easier, but there are also many ways that it frustrates me. I am looking forward to feeling more comfortable with all of it. I am also looking forward to learning from all of you.
I had to try several times to get this created (kept getting strange messages), so hopefully someone will let me know if I am doing the correct thing.
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