Thing # 23

What a ride! I kinda liked it!!!
I learned A LOT!!! I had fallen behind in technology and this was a good way to catch up and figure out which " things" I wanted to explore some more. I want to incorporate more technology into my lessons and this was just wanted I needed. There are several other teachers and regular people who could use this and I told them about it.
I most enjoyed the blogging experience and I want to keep blogging. Also, I am going to join the Texas Librarians ning! I thought I would even do a class wiki next year. So, lots of ideas going through my head about to incorporate this into my personal and professional life.



Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com

Thing # 22

Well, way cool !! is my reaction to nings. This is definelty one of my favorites that I have done on 23 Things. I really enjoyed reading the Harry Potter discusion on Teacher Librarian Ning. I thought thiss would be terrific for those of us just starting out. I saw that they had a discusasion specifically for New/Young TLs and one for middle school, which I think is my prime interest. Also enjoyed reading one YA Lit. If you notice on my book list, it is almost all YA lit.
Since we will be the only librarian on campus , it is important to feel connected to others in the same position.

Thing # 21 again

Ok, well I wasn't at all succesful. I tried to install audacity and it just kept saying that it was downloading, but it took sooo very long and with no end. Then, I went to photostory. I promise I followed the instructions, I went to all programs and that was as far as I got. It said from there to go to photoshop, but it was never an option . So, after trying again several times( an hour) I accept defeat. I even tried to sneak it in through picasa, but I never got the video or the slide show to work. So , that's how that cookie crumbled...

 

 

thing# 21

 

Thing # 20

Thing # 20

I have previously talked about my frustration with copying and pasting. So, yet again, I find myself in the same spot. I'm trying to embed a teacher tube video. I have copied the address and yet it won't paste...urrrgh.

Thing # 19

I am foiled again! The firewall stopped me! However, I was able to read the blubs telling about them. I was interested in Twtitter.com, Donors Choose ( I have always wondered how my money was being spent by charities!)and well, LOTS of others. Definitely going to explore that some more!!

Thing # 18

I tried to compare,but I was scared to download the openoffice onto a computer at school. Am I allowed to do that? I don't think I can do that on a school computer. I don't have a computer at home. Sometimes I use a freind's computer but her husband is a real bear about downloading stuff, he's always worried about getting a virus.
I looked at googledocs. I'll have to tell my mom about it. Well, I hate to say it, but, really my needs are fairly simple.I can't think of when I would need a speadsheet and some of the other things offered. I know when and pretty much how to use it, I just don't really need one.

thing # 17

I enjoyed palying in the sandbox. I liked reading other people's comments. People are just so creative when it comes to different ways to use wikis in the classromm. I still really love the idea my first group came up with, using wikis as a way for students to post their answers and insights into novels the class is reading. I could expand that and let them review books that they are reading indepently. That way, I'm not the only source of good books. Yeah, I like that idea too! Whenthey are looking for a new independent reading book, they could go to the class wiki and read what others have to say and pick their next book. Cool!!

Thing # 16

I liked exploring this . I was excited to see must have graphic novels on the teacher librarian wlki. I have intoduced my classes to graphic novels this year. It has been a rousing success. I was glad to see that the lists were seperated by primary and secondary . I also had quite a bit of fun on booklovers wiki. There was a review I read for a book I think I'll actually check out this summer. The title caught my attention. It is The Dewey Decimal System of Love. It is about a librarian falling in love. It got 3 stars, but also said that while it was a good read, it would be better to check it out of the library rather than buying it. It was good, but, not that good. I appreciate advice like that .
I think wikis will be helpful to me as a librarian because there is so much information out there. I tend to use websites, but I am changing that. I can't think of how wikis wouldn't be useful. I love that it is real people with the ability to be interactive!

Thing # 15

Nothing ever stays the same. As a famous German philosopher said" We are always in the process of becoming". How true. Libraries are in the process of becoming . ..becoming not just a place of books and quiet but a place of active learning from a vareity of sources. Technology is certainly a mode of seeking information. As a librarian, it imperative that we keep up with all the ways(or many) to access that information. As Dr. Bishop has said, it isn't enough to love books, we must love information and understand how to get to it ourselves so we can show others.

Thing # 14

Well, I don't read that many blogs. But,I am intrigued by the idea of being able to quickly search using a key word. That could be really useful. As I said, I don't generally read blogs, perhaps I should open my vistas a bit more. I'll work on purposely cruising blogs using technorati( key words) when I do web searches .
I was thinking I could turn the students lose with this,but, I think not. I would still need to preview what I was offering them and this would be too open for my kids. This is definetly for me and not the students.

Thing # 13

At first I found the idea of tagging confusing . I'm starting to understand it better. I keep thinking I don't need to tag, organize websites and blogs and such. But, I can see where it would actually be a good idea. I could actually mark some fav sites , info on antique textiles,historical reacting,librarian sites, book review sites. Yeah, it could be a good thing. ok, say it with me... "I'll do this when I have more time"!

Thing # 12

Ummm...didn't like it. I thought it was confusing to navigate. I understand the concept behind it,but I don't wade through vast amounts of irrelevent material.I thought I might make a list of helpful librarian sites(like sunlink) but,it was too difficult and confusing. Frankly, I gave up.

Thing # 11

Oh my heck!!! I just looked at my blog and my book liost is gone!! I tell you I am cursed when it comes to cutting and pasting, exporting, etc!!!

thing # 11

Ok, creating the book list was easy. I don't know what it is about cutting and pasting. Technically, really not that hard. Except if your are me. Creating the avatar was easy and fun, getting onto my blog was a trial. Same with exporting my list. I had to ask someone and even then we had to do it three times before it 'took'.

Thing # 10

Here's what I discovered about image generators. They are a lot of fun! I had some problems understanding how to get some of them to work. I had problems with comic strip generator and custom sign generator in that some of th things I tried were blocked by the fire wall or just plain didn't look good ( tried one with writing in flowers) or I couldn't ge the animation to work. I had the most luck with this site: www.imagechef.com/ic/product.jsp
I added the Alicia Keys widget not quite understanding that it was more of an add .
This would be great to add to powerpoint presenatations either in the classroom or as a librarian presenting at faculty meetings, doing a collaborative lesson, or a library lesson.
I'm not too keen on the size but I am unsure how to change without losing it.

Thing # 10

Thing # 9

I found all of the methods for finding feeds to be pretty easy. I also thought the search tools were
fun , an again, easy. I was glad to have something easy. Oh, I don't know,maybe I'm just getting worked up. The firewall from the RSS in plain English video really threw me for a loop.
I had no idea you could search or blogs. I feel like the main character, Charlie, in Gary Paulsen's novel, Soldier's Heart. Charlie is asimple country biy who enlisted in the army to fight in the Civil War. He gets on a train for the first time and is amazed to feel the plush red velvet seat covers and additonal " luxeries". He says something about he had no idea such things even , could even, exist. I am in a technological wonderland I never even dreamed could or would exist.

Thing #8 Cont'd

Ok, rereading my previous post, I realize I was whining...as Dr. Phil has so eloquently said 'Would you like some cheese with that whine?" I do love a good pun!

I am feeling overwhelmed with technology. I can't imagine people have time to monitor blogs and actually have favorite bolgs and such.
I thought RSS was neat. I was so excited I told my 8th grade LA friends about it. They do a big holocaust unot around this time of year. But, it would be so cool to collect new information year round so the students could see the ramifications of the holocaust are still being felt around the world.
As a future librarian I thought it would be use ful to pass on to teachers and to let students know about it for either school research or personel interest research. I think a librarian could spin ot to help students realize that the world is connected by technology.

Thing # 8

Stupid firewall.......No computer at home. have go to parents' house. their dog hates my dog, gotta leave my little Simon at home all alone...again....... stupid firewall...

Thing #7B

O.k. I looked at other sb blogs. Some had links to their google goodies and others did not. WOulda been nice ,but....I was going to ask our campus tech person and librarian, as they are so handy with answers. However, our campus is deep into the new laptop rollout and they are ( and everyone else) is very busy saving important stuff and moving things to the san server. Ummm, a lesson in technology anyway!!

Thing # 7 Part 1

Ok, I made a google home page. But, I have no idea how to save it much less add a hot button on my blog. Also, I already have piccsa on another computrt. Still, no idea how to incorporate it into my blog. Will ask around...

Thing # 6

I had a good time playing with flickr and mash-ups. My favorite was playing with the color spectrum. I was mesmerized with the subtle changes in shades .
I'm not sure how I would use this in alibrary program other than to point it out to teachers and students who were creating power points. I'll have to think about this some more. Oh, oh...wait! I just had an idea!! I could use the trading cards to introduce or highlight new books or authors. I could so a stand alone or collabortive lesson on genre!!

Thing #5

I was already familar with similar type sites, photo bucket and snapfish. So, this was not as " alien" as ,oh, say,avatars. I did not know about tagging. That is a great idea.

Thing #4

Well, that was quite an experience! I did finally accomplish this. I still want to whine a bit about that avatar. I went to a friend's house and still took a long time. A long time!! The problem was that she did it a completely different way that didn't work. Eventually, she put the avatar on flickr and exported it that way.
Also, when I registered , I was going to quickly and forgot to do something very minor. So, I had to slow down and do it over. Note To Self- slow down, there is no prize for doing it quickly, just do it well! ( how many times have I said that to my students...)

Avatar cont'd

Well, here I am ...an hour and half later and still no luck!

Thing #3 ...exporting an avatar

Much with the frustration in trying to export my avatar. I tried to print a copy of the directions and the printer would not print the section that I needed. At first, I printed this page only,but, it only printed to the blogger page. When I changed it to print all pages, it still only printed that one section.
So, then I just hand wrote the directions. Everything was fine until I tried to export the avatar. I'm not understanding how to paste the HMTL code. I'm sure it is ridiculously easy. However ....aarrgh!

Thing #5 -Flickr

While I was reaing about this , I was thinking that m family doesn't really " do" photos so this wasn't all that pertinent to me. However, upon further reflection one reason we aren't into the photo thing is due to all the steps, making copies, mailing them to everyone, etc. This could simplify things considerably!
I have family members all over the country and often I haven't seen some of them for years. I have no idea what they look like now, what their children look like. Umm.. applications for classroom and libraries are astounding! This could be brilliant!!!
I talked to my students a little bit about blogs. So far, I have yet to find one who knows what it is. They knew all about my space & facebook. They spoke about email and how many of their brothers and sisters read the other sibling's email without permission. Kinda funny.

2/7/08

Well, I'll swaney... lookie there... that new -fangled technology really does work!! I'm a little behind , but, I'm catching up!
As some of you know, I took in a year old rottweiler several weeks ago. He was quite the handfull. My nights were comprised of distracting him from literally ripping to shreds everything I own . Anyway, he has now moved onto his new forever home ( huge sigh of relief) and my time is once again my own.
I would like to thank some of my classmates and friends who were patient and helpful with info. ....more to follow soon...

2/7/08

Ok. Not real sure this is going to work. Testing..testing..tes...