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!

Thing 9 - Google Blog Search

I guess that I should get over my Google fasination - but this is the search tool that I like best. It follows the form that Google searching has - so it would be familiar to students. I like that it has a time element showing - this gives the searcher some idea how current the item is. Also, it makes it easy to connect to your RSS reader.

I just think that there is something to be said for familiarity especially when you are dealing with little kiddos. They need that support - so for me, I think I would use the Google blog search. Now, another thought occurs. I think this opens another kettle of worms to deal with as far as the kiddos are concerned.

It is already difficult for them to understand that everything that they read is not necessarily gospel truth - blogs are going to often be oppinions. Now, for dealing with fact and opinion that is great - but when searching for FACTS, we really do need to be careful.

I sometimes think we need to create a cheatsheet checklist for the kids of what they can "trust" for factual info and what not. The list is getting extremely long - so I guess that begs the question that is behind all of this - we are moving from just learning how to "find" info into a time where we need to really begin to teach students, at a very young age, to evaluate what they find. That can be a very difficult concept for adults much less young pumpkins.

Thing # 9- Blog searching

I really liked Topix. It was fairly easy to search by topic which is the main way that I would use it for students in the library. Another that was equally easy and gave lots of choices was the Blogline's search tool. I was not so impressed with the Syndic8.c0m. It seemed to limit your choices and did not have as large of a return for the searched items. I also did not like the layout of this one. However, for news, it would be a good choice.

Technorati was fairly easy and gave a good return. But, I think I still like Blogline's the best of all.

I am still not sure how much I would use this in school at this point. Of course, the fact that I work in an elementary school has alot of bearing on that. With older students I can see a real use for this. However, elementary school has a problem that often web pieces are at to high of a reading level for this to be extremely helpful. What I would like to find is a blog search that will find blogs by elementary students for elementary students. So, that will take some searching.

Thing 8 - RSS

I think that I could come to love RSS. Currently there are still a limited amount of sites with the RSS feed link but I believe there will be more and more. This is another of those awesome timesaving devices.

I can se an immediate application to the morning news. If they had their own RSS site they could have it pull in the weather, person of the day, special quote, fun fact, and other bits of info to help round out the morning news. This would allow students to go to one place to get all of that info.

I can see librarians using it in several ways. One of course is the news. That is a given. But, we have the olympics coming this summer. What about a rss that was just about olympic news. I could make one for teachers in summer school who are using Olympics as a theme. How helpful it would be to have all that info coming to one spot.

I can see doing a search for other subjects and doing the same.

I suspect that as we begin to use it we will find more and more applications.