Thing #23

• Favorite discoveries or concepts - Looking back over my blogs there are many new concepts/favorites like Delicious, my new Google home page, Google Advanced Search, RSS feeds, tags,  the idea of the future of libraries and where we are going, activities for my kids like Sign Generator or wordle, Google Reader and many more......

• How has program assisted or affected lifelong learning goals - In the beginning I said I did not have problems making goals; however, problems often prevented me from accomplishing them. When I made a goal to view the problems as challenges, the end seemed easier to accomplish.   (Vaughn's encouragement helped too!)

•  Take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes - The biggest surprise for me was how much I enjoyed it. I started with the attitude that I might not be able to do it. My own sense of wonder about what is out there and how I can tap into it even with baby steps is a huge step for me.

•  Improvements to the format or content - This program, in a sense, is geared to librarians first. I do not know if this is good or bad or might be changed.  I have no real complaints.

• Future participation - I would absolutely participate if I had the time. I liked doing it at home with the ability to take as long as I needed on each "thing".

• One word or one sentence - Excitement - it reinforces the idea that learning is fun!

Thing #22"

It was interesting to read about Nings as a resource for teachers. I can see that restrictions about age requirements would prevent students from using Nings to respond with their thoughts so why not Wikis or blogs? SBISD seems to have many things in place for learning communities. Nings would be a good spot to go for educators input /views but with the various sources you have given us with this program, this does not look like my first choice.

Thing #21

I have used both Photo Story and i Movie in my classroom. After TAKS, I have found both to be great ways for kids to have fun and to research something that interests them. They handed in their Works Cited rather than putting it as their last slide which I see is the better alternative.

This is The ABC's of Broadway that 2 of my students did.  Enjoy! 

Thing #20

I'm assuming I have done this correctly as the rap is playing when I preview. I have used YouTube before but just saved to bookmarks and did not add to website so this will be great. My kids loved this video.




I'm sticking with the rap theme and assuming kids still need to learn about how the library is organized. I think middle schoolers would enjoy this.

I found more good choices on You Tube than Teacher Tube---- I hope that is not a problem. Even Common Craft has one I've used before on the Electoral College.
It would be great if more of these videos were shared between teachers and librarians.

Thing #19

Web 2.0 is fun and definitely worth a longer look. Obviously there are so many places to go on the Web, it is fun to search the sites that have won awards in various categories. After searching a few, I wasn't sure what warranted the award; but I did find some that I really liked and bookmarked on Delicious, my other new favorite spot.

Urbanspoon is a site that I can go to when my husband says, "Where would you like to go to dinner tonight?"  It is filled with ways to search restaurants, even by neighborhood, which I liked.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/c/8/Houston-restaurants.html

I can see librarians and schools using this to narrow searches.

Thing #18

Somehow at the beginning of this course I added Google Docs and have made myself a new home page and loved the applications. However, I was still using Outlook on my home computer as my default and it was annoying. This exercise where we were asked to delve into the tools allowed me to finally get gmail as my default. Love it. I have to say I am very slow at all this but it is slowly making more sense and I do love my Google Docs. At one point it asked me if I wanted to have these links on other computers I logged into and I said yes. Is that possilbe? One of my worries is-----I am doing this course on my home computer and how difficult will it be for me to get some of these new cool things on my school computer??????

#17 Rollyo

 I've included my link to my new Rollyo account. Students will have easy access to sites that are student and teacher friendly. I like the link which I can put on my website and the students will have some good sources that I have found credible.


http://www.rollyo.com/search.html?q=mrs.+T.+History&sid=633439

Thing #16

Wikis will be a great way for teachers to share their student's work and it will be helpful to students when they are doing group projects. One of the problems with the whole group project idea is that it is difficult to get together and share research and exchange ideas. This will allow more freedom to work from home. I do love Common Craft. They do a great job of simplifying the information. Like blogging, teachers will need to make sure the students understand the parameters for their Wiki contribution. The Sandbox portion was good just to show how easy it is.

Thing #15

What is the future of libraries and the future of the web in 10 years? When I think of how much the library at our school has changed I'm amazed. i Pods, wii's, Mac books, kids sitting around listening to their music, making music on Garage Band, and some still reading books. The furniture is different with almost the old soda fountain decor. But the biggest change is-----there are more kids in the library and that's because they have fun in there.

These readings were fun because it made me think of where we are going even if I have no idea. I'm one of the "older" teachers at my school and I didn't grow up with computers so I have had to adapt to new teaching styles. Let me say it has not been easy and I still kick and scream sometimes; but I have confidence in my students and they carry me with them.

Probably just when the district installs the last Active Board, we'll be off and running in a new direction. Maybe not me but some of you will.  That certainly doesn't mean we shouldn't have installed the Active Boards but things are changing so rapidly that I see the next big step is all the students will have a lap top and be more responsible for their own learning with teacher guidance. The Active Board is still a teacher directed way to teach and after reading these articles it looks like we will be learning in communities. 

Our librarian has done a fantastic job of keeping us in the mix. She provides us with materials and outreach, but also she listens to the students and bases services on their needs. She has a great web site so kids do not have to go the the "library" to get help, they can get on their computer in the classroom or at home and find what they need.

What will libraries look like in 10 years, I don't know? Hopefully, something like this.

"But Library 4.0 will add a new mode, knowledge spa:  meditation, relaxation, immersion in a luxury of ideas and thought. In companies, this may take the form of retreat space for thought leaders, considered an investment in innovation; in public libraries, the luxurious details will require private partners as sponsors providing the sensory treats. Library 4.0 revives the old image of a country house library, and renovates it: from a retreat, a sanctuary, a pampered experience with information—subtle thoughts, fine words, exquisite brandy, smooth coffee, aromatic cigar, smell of leather, rustle of pages—to the dream economy’s library, the LIBRARY: a WiFREE space, a retreat from technohustle, with comfortable chairs, quiet, good light, coffee and single malt. You know, the library. 

I'll meet you there! "
 
http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/6.htm

Thing #14

The video on Technorati was great! It pulled the pieces together and made tags and blog networks make a little more sense. A few of their links were under construction including their favorites and widgets. I can see that this technology is moving so fast that even the innovators can't keep up with it. I know these sites need ads to keep them going but I found the ads interfered with the page.

The whole idea of tags made a little more sense although in searching things for my history curriculum I was not successful. I can see how politicians, sports figures, BP executives, etc. must keep up on the bloggers and this would be a great site to do it.  Right now I'm not sure how much I will use it but it is interesting to see what is out there.

Thing #13

This was a tough one. The delicious site was down last night and I could not get signed in----of course, I thought it was my problem, but I think it was the site. This morning, using my Yahoo account  I was able to sign in. I can see that having my bookmarks available online will make it easier when I find things at home or want to share sites. This would be a great help to researchers or college students working on collaborative projects. I do now have an icon on my desktop and will be transferring my bookmarks to this new system. It seems like putting this information on my website for my students would be easier than having them find the links on delicious, but maybe I am missing something.

Thing #12

Blogging is  new for me. I've heard about it for years and read some blogs; but I never got past reading -  to the commenting phase which sounds pretty normal after reading the articles. The two pieces of information that were most helpful to me were:

• If I want to be a blogger I need to respond to other people's blogs and sometimes people's comments on my blog---- which lets them know I've heard them.

• There are rules of engagement just like all of life. I can see if we expect the kids to blog that we will need to be specific about our expectations and respond to their comments.  

One of the things I often dislike about blogger's comments is their negative bias, but that is what I dislike about so many talk shows on TV/radio. I want to use this avenue to allow both the negative and the positive and emphasize both.

As for commenting, I have commented on my friends 23 Things blog, my daughter and her roommate's blog, (which she said I inspired when I sent her the link to mine), and Rick Casey's article in today's Houston Chronicle about the inaccuracies of the TAKS scores. They were all pretty fun and I was able to confirm that they reached the intended receivers so I'm off in the blogging world----at least for now!

Thing #11

This was one of my least favorite sites. I am a reader and belong to a book club at my school that I thoroughly enjoy but I do not like to keep up with book clubs online. I was part of Goodreads and I found it tedious. There were too many messages sent about what others were reading and I was just not interested in reading the posts. I enjoy talking to others about books. I can see how this might be more helpful for LA teachers. I did look at the history groups but again nothing particularly made me want to know more about this site.

Thing #10

I thought this might be an interesting way to correlate current events from the summer and our study this year. According to a New York Post article on July 2, 2010, 26% of Americans did not know who we fought in the American Revolution. I'm wondering what kind of discussion this might generate.This image came from Sign Generator.

Thing #9

When I was looking at all the leads on Thing 8, I found more than enough to keep me busy for months. The site I liked the most and added to my Google Reader was Technorati on Thing 9.  I was denied access on two of the sites, including Blogline's Search tool. Edu blog was hard to navigate and I didn't find Circle of the Wise leads as important as the idea of adding authors/historians to your page if you are drawn to their work.

Thing #8

RSS feeds are incredible. Any time saving devise to get to the sites we often use is very helpful. I enjoyed looking at the various feeds that were available and choosing some websites that I often use. I enjoy NPR and just yesterday wanted to send a link to my daughter about To Kill a Mockingbird. Now I can just go to my  Google Reader account and easily pull it up. I'm wondering if we can get the students to make Google Reader accounts and easily access the sources that we approve. Our librarian will probably have a quick answer.

Thing #7

The tools I chose to investigate and play with were Google Home and the Advanced Search option. I now have a new home page that makes navigating my own personal information quicker. I think I will enjoy that and I can see the students enjoying creating their own personal page. The Advanced Search gave me some great sources for pictures to add to Active Board presentations.

Thing #6

I enjoyed looking at the many different applications for connecting information with pictures and maps. I have used the Big Huge Labs website and had my kids make magazine covers. What I liked most about it was the fact that they could do research, pull a picture, and determine the tag lines that would get the main message out. In most classes 2 kids shared 1 computer and they were able to make and print their cover in 2 days. It's great to find some activities that can be accomplished in a few days and yet the finished project looks very professional. Each pair'scover was on a different topic related to integration in the 1950's and 60's so the kids learned from the other student's cover as well.

Thing #5

Thomas Jefferson is one of my heroes and since he is creating so much controversy in the new adopted standards for the Social Studies curriculum, I thought he would be a great historical figure to put on my blog.
What do you think? Should his ideas regarding freedom of religion be emphasized?

Thing #4

Vaughn saved me today. With her help my blog is registered and I am ready to go. She has assured me that the first 2 steps are a challenge, but I've met the challenge and I'm on my way. Life is good!

Thing #3

Ouch! That was painful, but now I see why my goal must be to "view problems as challenges." I do believe my avatar is on my blog but now how to move it. I can see this will be a challenge but I do see how important it is to persevere.

Thing #2

Having a goal in mind is easy for me but when obstacles occur I am easily frustrated and then lose confidence that the goal is attainable. So now I have a new goal----not just to finish the 23 things but also to view the problems that arise as challenges.