Thing #23 - Summary

I did this with Carol Lee and had fun getting to know her and working with her. I think that really helped. I had already done some if it on my own previously and spent time just nosing around trying things - like animoto which did not appear in this version for some reason. There were several things that I tried out that I will use again and again.
1) Favorite discoveries - the comics and the trading cards.
2) a life long learn is a life long learn, they will find stuff to learn and I have been going to TCEA and getting alot of this already.
3) I had already done quite a few of these things previously - I liked the Live Map thing I found today, trading cards, and a few others.
4) suggested improvements - I would like this to be a bit more open ended. A list of fun things to explore and try with the links and such - this spring and summer were NOT good times for me to do this what with buying, renovating, moving, unpacking, sorting house and writing curriculum - just over stressed me. But working with Carol kept me at it to finish.
5) Yes, if I could do it on my own time frame.
6) BORED with the same o' same o' in class? Take this and spice up your teaching.
7) DONE

Thing #22 - Ning

I can see how this would be helpful. You could use this to keep in touch with a group of friends that are spread far and wide. But, for educational purposes. I think this would be a great way for a teacher who is working with several groups of kids on a project to bring them all together in one place. It would also be a nice way for the elementary science teachers in the district to all be able to talk to each other, ask questions about the curriculum, etc. I think this will be more useful for older students - jr. high or sr. high rather than at an elementary level.

This has been a fun excursion.

Thing #21 - Podcasting (Photo Story)

I started by doing a podcast (Photo Story) with my GT group which we used on the morning news about safety. I have now done about 5 different Photo Stories and one of my teachers had each student in her room do one. They wrote a story, found pictures to illustrate their story and then read their story over the illustrations. They were so proud of themselves. Here is the one on safety done my by GT kids. Sorry about all the monkeys that invade about mid way through this.

Thing #20 - You Tube, Teacher Tube and Google Videos

I really like You Tube and Teacher Tube. You may be surprised why. You Tube has some wonderful travel videos that are great for letting kids see differentl places around the world. If we are truly trying to help them understand others culturally we must give the the chance to see and interact with that culture. Some of these are great ways to introduce student as young as first of Kinder to people and places in South America, Africa, Australia, Asia, etc. They are so curious at that age.

I also recently did a lesson on weather - there was an awesome 5:00 video about hail. So many of our kids have not ever seen hail and to be able to pull that and show that to them is great.

Teacher Tube also has some awesome videos as well as Google video.

I am not going to post a link but I am going to try to post a video clip.

www.google.com/s2/sharing/stuff?user=102092949433832299197

I found this one through google. This would be great to share with students. I can do this with You tube vids at home and then save them and show them at school.
This is a great resouce. I was also able to make a copy of the video as well.

One of the things that is important to remember - you may want to make a copy of the video and embed your copy because lots of people are not careful with their language when they are video tapping. We found several great vids on hail but could use NONE of them because of the foul language.

Thing 19 - Web Award List

There were several things on the list that I found incredible. One of the ones that caught my attentiona and that I played with was Yahoo! Pipes. This is really a type of smash up. I loved the example that smashed the news of the day with a map. I thought this would be a great feature to add to the morning news. Not only would the kids be show a snippet of the new but they would be learning a bit of geography at the same time and in a fun, practical way.

I, of course, had to look at the items in the Books category. I was already familiar with Lulu as I have ordered books from there before. I think this is a wonderful site for self publishing items for say a class or even for the library. If you have authors week - take some of the best stories, add illustrations and make a new book for the library from your very own students. It could be bound just like a "real" book. I also liked Biblio as I found several old out of print books that I had been looking for and could not find on Amazon. But World Cat takes the cake for librarians. It offers cataloguing from over 10,000 libraries - that should really help us out.

I also looked at the maps section as that could be helpful in teaching Geography. Google Maps I already knew. But Live maps was awesome. I loved the picture collections of different places. I need to just spend some time - playing. Of course I already love Google Earth but Live maps might be just as great if not better - and that would really be something wonderful. The piece of Live Maps that I think will be so fun is the 3D item. I am downloading it and can't wait to get in and play.

This is one site that I am just going to have to take some time and puruse. Let my little fingers walk slowly through to find out what is possible.

Okay, the first thing I want you to see is the Capitol of Texas.

Okay, now you go to the corner of the Capital and turn to the SW and there is the Govenor's Mansion.

But, the one that I like best is you can "walk" up to the Caprock Escarpment and "see" it and the plateau above.

Nothing could get better than that.

Thing 18 - Open Source

Google Doc is a wonderful tool. I am using it with my Google web page that I am developing. It allows one to create a document in a familiar zone similar to Word Docs without all the tools and hoohaas. Then you can, with just a click, send it forth as a web page. It is even easier than Front Page - which I loved. Google Docs does not have as many different types of print to choose from, size of print, etc. However, most of the basics are available like headers and footers, colors, spell check, tables, etc. There is no mail merge, no label maker, no track changes, no variety of lines or lettering, no columns. But again, the basics are there. It is easy to use and recognize. In actuality - if I were teaching someone to use Word, I would start with Google Docs, let them get their feet dirty there and then move them up to Word. Google Docs is a great basic platform.

I looked at Open Office. It is very close to the same as Microsoft Word. It has all the basic features that Word or Power Point have with only some of them missing. However, if you have used the Microsoft program set, there will be things that you will miss - although the free aspect might make up for that. As these are programs that I use constantly - I would miss certain things but if you were just learning this would be a great tool to learn with. It has more bells and whistles than Google Docs but not quite as many as Microsoft Word.

Thing 17 - Rollyo

Oh boy, well I feel like my head is about to explode!!!! This is a cool way to make list of websites for kids to search. If a teacher has a subject that she wants the kids to look information up for - I could make a rollyo and give them the link. This way, I know that the sites are valid and have good information. And, on top of that, I would be able to make sure they are safe. I think that this would also be a neat way for teachers that are interested in staying up with the latest information in a certain area to have a quick review of some of the most relevant sites.

I also wanted to add - I think this would be great for students in high school as they were beginning to apply to colleges. They could put the college sites on a rollyo and then they could go in and do a search for something like - financial aid - info from all the sites would pop up. This would make getting the info much faster than going to each site and searching. Or if you were getting ready to buy a car and were doing the research first this would be a helpful thing to have. I do not see elementary students using this much - but by jr. high or high school I can see the students begin to make rollyos for themselves. In elementary it would be the teacher or librarian that is making the rollyo for the students to use.



We were asked to make a rollyo and then post the link here. However, because I did not publish mine - I could not really leave a link. However, I can give a picture.









So, like yeah, what did you think I would do it about - Pride and Prejudice fan fiction, OF COURSE. This is summer - time to relish my favorite things.

Okay, I am going to rest my brain for the rest of today.

Thing 16 - wikis

I really liked making a wiki. We had used them a bit before but I made a personal one to help me plan a trip with my friend. I can also see how they would be useful for a team of people working together to plan something as well.

I really see this as being a great addendum to collaboration with teachers and students (for student projects). I want to try this out in the fall and see where it leads. Also, I know one way that I will use it!!!!! I will make a chart with the schedule on it and I will put it up and let everyone use the wiki to make the schedule!!!!!!! Then I will not have to go and hunt everyone down. That will be so much easier than if I had to do that again. Also, when ever I am trying to make a schedule for teachers - I think that a wiki would be an AWESOME way to go about it.

I see lots of posibilities. I want to try some of them out and see how they develop.

Thing 15 - Library 2.0

Disruptive thinker, David Warlick, I think not. I really felt that he had some extremely good points, was well thought out, and easy to understand. I was particularly interested in the website he mentioned and will spend some time "playing" there a bit later this summer.

I also read the Wikipedia entry and although it gave some info - it was more of an overview of the discussion rather than anything pertinate.

Last, I happend upon Michael Stephens "Into the new world of librarianship". I liked his thinking but that is more on the overview of a library rather than in the world where I live with my kids. In someways, although my end user is my students, it is also really my teachers. I am here to help them get the info they need to get to the students. Then it is also my job to help the kids understand the info and how to get it again and again. I am so looking forward to this next year when I hope that I will be able to pull my kids in and do more and more projects with them that allows me to open new arenas of info and technology to them. I really believe that a librarian is becoming more and more a facilitator to and of information than almost anything else - but then - when dealing with "digital natives" that is also what one might hope that teachers are as well. I guess that in a real overall way - that is what I see my role as being - a conduit or facilitator. Getting the person to the info they need. If that means helping them find it or if that means helping them use it, what ever, that is what my job is.

Thing 14 - technorati

I frankly find it interesting that there is a company that is out there trying to keep up with all the blogging that is going on. But, I guess that I shouldn't be as this is just like the function of a librarian, getting info cataloged and into a shape that will allow others to find information quickly and easily. Tagging is actually another one of those librarian functions that now everyone is doing. We didn't call it tagging - we called it cataloguing. So, now it is just a tad bit easier and with out all the rules that we had to learn to catalogue - but then with tagging - the cataloguing is only as good as the tags that people use. As librarians, we all had a standardized procedure to help make it orgainzied. So, I wonder how long it will be until there becomes some sort of standardized tagging system. Naaaah I don't think that will probably ever happen. They will just expand the search to capture all the different possibilities.

While searching in different ways for "school library learning 2.0" I did notice that alot of the most popular blogs at the moment are gossip, politics, geeky stuff, and humor. I found that quite interesting. Also, I found that I did get different info sometimes but also there was some overlap.
I felt that there was a wealth of info on Technorati - but again, it would take alot of "playing" with it to get easy enough with it to make it comfortable. I tried to "claim my blog" by the site was not working properly. Oh, well, another time.

Thing 13 - social bookmarking

Okay, I was already familiar with del.icio.us. I had not really used the site alot but I had been in a class at TCEA about it so felt comfortable with all the ins and outs of it. I like the ability to share lots of bookmarks VERY easily. However, I also looked at Furl and Ma.gnolia and there are things that I like about them more. The thing the del.icio.us has is the wealth of bookmarks already avaliable and the easy of searching. Both Furl and Ma.gnolia allow for public or private bookmarks which I really liked. On top of that Ma.gnolia also allows you to create groups to send bookmarks that you create to - such as teachers or students that a librarian would send them bookmarks to a specific group. Additionally, Ma.gnolia has another feature that I really liked. It saves a copy of the site for you. Then you never loose the site even if it goes down. That is awesome. It allows you to "grade" a website using the stars method. This is also helpful especially if you are sending them to a group. Unfortunately Ma.gnolia looses the easy of creating the bookmark that both del.icio.us and Furl have. Both of these sites allow you to copy portions of the site and put it in the comments section.

Finally, I guess I would say that I like del.icio.us for the wealth of sites already bookmarked and avaliable to search, Furl for the privacy issue, and Ma.gnolia for privacy, saving the site, and the groups option.

Interestingly - some of these things are called social and they actually keep you from being face to face with people because you spend so much time behind your computer bookmarking, blogging, etc. I admit - it does let you connect with people far away that you might not have connected with otherwise.

Thing 12 part 2

I found two blogs about Pride and Prejudice that I commented on. Okay, what were you thinking I would look up blogs on - football???????

I will add one of my comments here and if I can back track to the other I will add it as well.
The first was at a site called In the Shadow of Mt. TBR
mminYour comment is awaiting moderation.
This happens to be one of my favorite books. I did my senior thesis on Jane Austen and her books. I think P&P stands far above the others with S&S and Emma close behind. I to enjoyed all the verbal by play and the glimpses under the “veneerd” of gentelism that flowed through the book. I think that one of the reasons I was so drawn to Lizzy is because she seemed so very real - even Jane is a touch perfect for me. Lizzy has foibles but also a great heart. That comes through like a shining light and I truly enjoyed that aspect of the book.
However, the thing that I find fascinating through out all of the books is the look into the parlours of that day. The mores of the society are clearly deliniated although some are being bent if not down right broken. It is like taking a step back in time - like visiting Williamsburg or Plymoth here in the States.
I do value the psychological bits of the stories - but the pictures that it draws of that descrete period of English history is a wonder to behold.

And my 2nd post was at musings on pride and prejudice

mmin // July 2, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I do agree with you to some degree. I think that he was bored - but I think that it really camafloged the man that was underneath. I think that he was a better man but was hiding because of all that he was enduring with the “matchmaking mammas” of the ton. What I believe is that he did not realize how much he was hiding who he really was and how jaded and cynical he had become. I think that Lizzy opened his eyes to that. I think that happens to all of us to some degree. We know what we think and feel inside but we are not always aware of what we are showing on the outside. Lizzy bumped his vener and made him stand outside of himself and look again. That was not a pretty sight. I also think that it was to some degree his reaction to her rejection that also surprised him. When he realized how negative that was - it made him take a closer look at himself and ask why. When he did that, he was able to open himself up again and let more of his true inner self come out to the surface.

I have already stated that I was aware of the fan fiction - but although I was aware of some of the blogging about P&P I had not read many of those sites. This was a chance to look at a few.

Thing 12

I think that I have a bit of a head start here as I have been reading and writing fan fiction for some time. Interestingly I really think that you could call fan fiction a type of blogging. The author is writing a story but that could be their blog post. They readers all comment. They ask questions, they discuss points in the story, they talk about things they like or dislike and why, they remark on historical issues (I am reading Pride and Prejudice fan fiction - so we do have historical issues), etc. I have read comments that were very encouraging and engaging and I have read comments that were down right hateful. I have see the outcome of both. I have also seen people encouraged with their writing to the point that they are now published writers.

One thing I also see is that as you read you (the writer) get better at your own craft of writing and expressing your thoughts. I am working on this with a friend and she continually remarks on how fast I write my posts. Part of that is because I have been posting for so long on fan fiction sites that I guess I have found my "voice". Ideas come to me as I read something. So I would also say, as you do it, you get better and better at it.

I am very excited about this arena opening up. I think that it will impact students as they will become better readers and writers through this process. It is a way to interact - but the skills to get a work out and you do learn and get better through practice. I can imagine a teacher setting up a class blog and then she and the kids blogging about what they are studying in class. It would make an awesome way to review all that they are doing and get into the heads of the kids and find out their thinking as well. It seems to me that this is a tool that is only just beginning to be discussed in educational terms. As kids have more and more access to the computers - and there are more computers avaliable so that there is not so much wait time to get to a computer - I think that blogging will become a type of discussion that will occur in classes. I think we might find that some of our students that are a bit reticent might find an ability to "write" their thoughts down and share. Some kids need time to think before they speak. Blogging allows for that. I hope that we truly look for ways to utilize this more and more in the school arena. I know - some people we say - when do we have time. But, I think that a blog can be written at the end of the day as a wrap up and then the kids can post back on it. I can imagine a time when it is part of the homework assignment to post to your teachers blog. Then kids can say - I had a hard time with this lesson today - or I really am excited about learning more about xxxx. This will be an awesome home to school connection for parents as well. If the teacher blogs a quick summary the parents will know exactly what went on in school that day. It is also a way for a teacher to remind parents of information that is vital - picture day, field trip, etc.

Thing 11 - Library Thing

Okay, so I filllllllllled mine with all the Pride and Prejudice things that I have been messing about with and I know there are more that I will add but for right now it is just a start. I love P&P and the fan fiction that has grown up around it. I think that it has spawned a bunch of authors just out of enjoyment of writing and reading fan fiction.

Now, of course my mind begins to turn towards school and how to use this for school purposes. I would create a special account for school issues - and I think it would be neat if the teachers created an account for their classes. Then the kids could go in and post books they like, reviews, etc. Also, this would be a way for them to find out about other books that they might like. HOWEVER, if kids use this, it needs to be closely monitored because you do not know who they might be talking to. I think it is a way to find new books and things to read - but I have a real need to be aware of what they are doing on this site and not just let them go at it.

I think there are lots of uses for this information and it is a great "open" type of site - by that I mean that you can put it to use in many different ways. Just care needs to be taken.

Thing 10 extra

Hey a Bluebonnet book idea. Make trading cards for the bluebonnet books then make them into bookmarks to pass out to the 3 - 5th graders. This will help to create a buzz about the books. Be like McDonalds and have a "new" bookmark each week. The kids can collect them and decide the ones they want to read.

Thing 10

Hello today I start on thing 10. I made a happy b'day for a friend that is celebrating her b'day today. My sister really likes Peanuts so as her b'day is coming soon I sent that one out. Of course the longer this goofiness went on the more my mind started to go crazy. So I started thinking. That is when I got into trouble.

Here is the thing. Almost any librarian will tell you there are a few things that we hear so much that we almost want to scream. I started thinking about that and my funny bone clicked in. Well, you have to understand Peanuts to get the joke a bit but here is what I made. I hope that you all like it. I used the comic strip generator to make both of these. Now, I have all sorts of ideas that are educational - and I know someone is going to say - so show me. So I guess I will go back in and make another one that has educational value. Ha! Get ready. This is a two box strip for science.

And I am coming back in here to add something new. It is a bit of political fun as well as science.

Okay, the thing that I REALLY love here is the trading cards. Also, this is the place that I think has the most potential for educational use. Pick a subject. For me - I picked Texas Geography because I am working on lessons for this subject. So, then you think of about 9 - 15 things that you want the students to know that you can also have pictures for - such as science equipment or safety rules, planets, math facts, etc. So I chose landforms. Then make a set of cards, save them, and make a poster with a full set. Make copies of the cards, lots of copies - enough for everyone in the room to have one. Give out a mixture of cards to the students but no one gets a full set and they have lots of duplicates. The students go around and ask each other for cards that they do not have. The students then ask each other questions - you could put questions to ask on the back (this would be info you want the kids to know). If the student can answer the question the other student hands it over. They work with each other until everyone has a full set. They can keep them in their science, math, or social studies journal in a baggie. Here are two examples of the landform ones.

So I have had some fun. I expect that I will finish these and give them as a gift to my fourth grade teachers. If you are on a team each team member could make a set and then you would all be the better off. Just remember, you will need a poster in each classroom so the students know what they are looking for in terms of cards. What happens - you get the kids practicing amoung themselves. They will be talking about the subject on the playground and at lunch. Let them have a few minutes at the beginning of the day. They will be teaching themselves. Waahooo!