Thing #23

Wow! I have finally finished. The 23 Things kept me on my toes all summer.


My favorite exercises were probably Photostory and the mashup, Bookr--although I really liked LibraryThing and YouTube too. The Photostory was really easy to use, giving step by step instructions. I thought I had done something wrong at first but then realized that my blog wasn't letting me view in Preview mode. I had uploaded it correctly the first time but didn't realize it until several hours of work trying to view it. Even with this trouble I love the things one can create with this program--reading a book aloud for our PreKers, making a show of them acting out a story. The possibilities are endless. I found some time lapse videos on YouTube and I think some of those will be great in class too.

In regards to lifelong learning goals, I realize that they are constantly changing. I am in charge of my own learning and the 23 Things helped me with that this summer. Every day that I worked on it was a new experience. It gave me a chance to experience things that I had never heard of before or was only vaguely aware of. And I was enjoying it, often asking my much more computer savy children if they had ever heard of this or that!!

The unexpected outcome was that the Thing that I thought would be the hardest for me--commenting--was not so hard after all-- plus I looked forward to getting on my blog to see if anyone had left comments for me. It really is about building a community.

I think the format of this program is just fine. I knew if I had a problem with something that I could ask Vaughn for help or even another blogger. And I learned all this from the comfort of my home and at my own pace, keeping in mind my deadline!

The 23 things was much more time consuming than I thought it would be. I'm sure that in part was due to my computer illiteracy. I had time to do it this year, but would need to make sure that I would have the time before I made a committment to another Things.

To sum it up in one word or maybe two--Library2Play is Fun! And Habit forming. I plan to keep in touch with all the new technologies that I have learned. They will be helpful not only in school, but also in my personal life.

Thing #22

I went to Educator's Ning and Ning for Teachers and explored the sites. I was impressed with how teachers were sharing their lesson plans and also talking with each other about solutions to problems in the classroom as well as successes. I think this could be a great tool for educators. I did, however, click on one site that had lesson plans geared to Kindergarten students and it was a series of worksheets, which we do not use with our students in Spring Branch.

Thing #21

I just returned from Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. It was my first visit to the area and you better believe that I took lots of pics! Photostory was very easy to use. It leads you through the process step by step! I decided to make a story with all the wildflower pictures that I took. My photos don't do the beautiful scenery justice, but I hope you enjoy!

Actually, I thought it was easy until I tried to play it back after I uploaded it. I worked on it for several hours, but no luck. I've even tried to save it in different sizes but continue to get an error message. I will keep working on it but have emailed someone who I hope can help.

Finally, success! It looks better if you view like this instead of full page. With all the trouble I was having, I finally saved it with a smaller resolution.

Thing #20

I found this video of the life cycle of a butterfly and loved it. In PreK, our students study insects and even have Painted Lady caterpillars in the classroom. We release them when they have turned into butterflies. I think this video or any others like it would be great to use in the classroom.

I"m also going to show you another fun one--of my dog singing. My son posted it several years ago and it is still there!!

Thing #19

I went to the Web 2.0 Award sites and investigated several winners. I'm going to share one of the sites that I liked--recipes!

I'm Cooked

Another one I checked out was Urban Spoon, which gives map locations and reviews of restaurants in your area. My search popped up in Houston.

I also checked out Craigslist. I had no idea that it also posted jobs.

So many sites!! I really like the way that the Awards page is set up. It was very easy to use.

Thing #18

I went to Google Docs first and played with some of the templates. I thought the scrapbook ones were cute and easy to use. They already had the background--you just add your pics. It also has anything that you could want in a spreadsheet, word processor, etc. I tried to download Open Office next and it was taking so long that I was worried if I had enough space on my hard drive so I cancelled it. I did take a look at the introduction and it looked like it would work as well as Microsoft Office. My family is currently trying to decide on whether to purchase MS Office for a new laptop that we just purchased and I want my husband to take a look at both of these programs instead. He does most of the spreadsheets in the family!! One thing I'm not sure about. If I create a document in Google docs, can I access it from any computer? Anyone know?

Thing #17

I've been working on Rollyo for a couple of days and even though I created a few search rolls, I just couldn't figure out how to get them to my site. I have been searching sites for an upcoming vacation to Yellowstone so I Rollyo'd them! Hopefully, what I have tried now will work. I absolutely can see how this could be useful in upper level grades--making sure that the students go to appropriate sites. I can even see how this will work in PreK-- to give your co-workers sites that you have found to be helpful with curriculum.

http://rollyo.com/mills5hou/yellowstone_vacation/

Thing #16

I went to the Spring Branch sandbox and posted about my experience with the 23 Things. It was nice to see all the comments on one page. I never knew what a wiki was. I had visited Wikipedia but didn't realize that you could edit the page. This is a great tool and one that I could have used before when planning an event where everyone is bringing something. I'm glad I know about it now! I can certainly see how it could be useful in school.

Thing #15

As I watched the video, I was struck with how much our high schools and universities are changing. Students do not want to take classes that they feel are not useful to them. They are looking for relevancy and how they can use what they learn in their daily lives. Textbooks that will never be opened and instructors lecturing at the front of the class will become a thing of the past. How learners access information is changing and Library 2.0 will adapt to that change. As Rick Anderson said in his article, "Away from the "icebergs," it no longer makes sense to build a collection of material that anticipates every user's need and expect people to come to the library when they need information. They already have access to everything. Therefore, Library 2.0 will need to bring services to their patrons--integrating services into their users' lives.
"In the article, "Into a new world of librarianship," Michael Stephens made a good point when he said that Librarian 2.0 should help users become their own programming directors for all the content available to them. They should also control techno lust and not just purchase new technology for the sake of having it--but instead ask the question how does it meet users' needs in a new or improved way.

Thing #14

I was somewhat familiar with Technorati since I had visited during another lesson and had used it for one of my RSS feeds. I searched the Blog posts, tags, and directory for School Learning Library 2.0 and found nothing! The popular section was under construction, as well as the Widget section. I guess they are overhauling their page. In regards to tags--The tags for Delicious are created by you to help you organize and on Technorati, they are there to help you search! I did several searches using their tags. One was "lost"and it came up with a bunch! I was interested if anyone was blogging about the series finale of the TV show Lost, but I got a lot more, including the lost soccer game! I need to learn to define my search.

One thing I'm confused about is how to claim your blog. I went to the area that shows you how, but it doesn't tell you what it means and I don't want to do it without understanding what it is.

Technorati can certainly benefit educators as a search tool and also to keep abreast of current issues that have people talking.

Thing #13

I went to Del.icio.us and opened an account. I searched for some sites on PreK education and came up with a good one that had Literacy & Science activities. I applied tags and saved them to my account. I also found one on Jackson Hole & saved it. I will be checking this one out to get info for an upcoming vacation!! I can see where this will be helpful if you visit lots of sites and also in an upper grade classroom as a search tool. I still haven't figured out how to share it with others.

Thing #12

As soon as I read this assignment I knew it would be difficult for me. I guess you could consider me a lurker. Since starting the 23 Things, I have read many blogs , but not commented on any. The things that I got out of all the sites were-- Sharing is a good thing, but think before you respond. Try to make meaningful comments and be kind--not a Darth Commenter. The 5 Library2Play blogs that I left a comment on were:

Flower Power
Sunshine
Melanies's Things
Linda's Summer Blog
Ladybug

Mostly I commented on how their blogs looked or asked questions about a specific item they had placed in their blog.

The public blogs were another thing: I left a comment on HoustonGardenGirl and it informed that my comment could not be posted until it had been cleared. I then went to a blog about a Yellowstone vacation (thinking about visiting later this summer) and it seemed very personal--I felt like I would be intruding if I left a comment. I am going to the next Thing and I will come back to this one again when I have better luck with the public blogs.

Thing #11

Went to LibraryThing this morning to check it out. I have been telling myself for a couple of years that I wanted to read the Alex Cross books in the order that they were written. I have read several of this series--but often a reference is made to something in a previous book that I have not read. LibraryThing let me look at all his books and when they were copyrighted--which makes it easy to read in order. I checked out some of the groups, but when I searched for Alex Cross it came up with discussion groups on books about needlework or religion! I will try to add my reading list to my blog.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/mills5hou

Thing #10

I explored the image generators that were suggested and had fun playing with them. Dumpr kept freezing & telling me that I had an error on the page, but I was successful in Wordle, Comic Strip Generator and Happy Face. Hopefully I will be able to post some of my creations in my blog & link to one of the sites.

View my mickey mouse pluto disney comic (make your own HERE)!


OK, I can't seem to link or show you the Wordle that I made and it was really cute. I think I may have to get some help.




Finally figured it out!!

Thing #9

I explored some of the search tools that were recommended. I feel that Topix and Technorati are user friendly, but Syndicat8.com is confusing. I looked for the RSS symbol and added a couple of more sites to my Google Reader. The only thing I had trouble with was that I thought when I saw the RSS icon that I could just click on it and it would automatically come up in my Reader. Since I am using my home computer and it opens to a Yahoo home page instead of a Google one---could this be the problem or are you supposed to add your feeds through the Reader s add a subscription line? I'm still thinking about making my reading list public!!

Thing #8

I had never even heard of a RSS feed, so it was certainly news to me that I could use it to follow my favorite sites. I went through Google Reader and added 5 blog sites regarding my favorite sports team, world news, weather channel, nutrition, and home improvement. Personally, it will be a good tool & save time. I can see how beneficial it would also be for a school administrator to select several sites for his teachers to follow--maybe even adding a blog from the Texas Legislature to see if any actions might impact schools or funding and sites for curriculum and blogs from other teachers within a district. In fact, I like the Legislature blog, so I may just add it to my personal reader.

Thing #7

I played with the google tools and set up an alert about the company that my son works for. Any news about this company should now be sent to my email. I also downloaded Google Earth and explored this for a while. It was fun to see a close-up of my address, as well as many others. I then went to some vacation spots that I am interested in and viewed them from space!! I could spend all day doing this. My only concern is that all these sites (Flickr, Mosaic maker, Google toys) all need you to set up an account or download. I now have accounts with gmail, yahoo. blogspot, Flickr, and now Google Earth and Alert. Too many. Nothing that I created today has a link for you to view.

Thing # 6

I viewed some mashups & decided to play with them for a while. I really spent a lot of time looking through the different tools. I uploaded some vacation photos on Flickr and used the mashup Mosaic maker to create a mosaic. It was pretty cool. The only thing I haven't figured out is how to put the address in my blog so that others can view them. I also created a trading card using one of my photos and a book about insects. I will try to add it to my blog. I am still not comfortable with all the new things that have learned. Am still referring a lot to the Library2Play page. I am going to give it some more time.

Insects by Trish

Thing # 4

Just realized that I didn't post anything when I registered my blog--so I am now registered after a few glitches and on my way!

Thing #5

I have explored Flickr and selected this picture for my blog. It is a photo of Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. My family visited in 2000 and we loved it. It was wonderful to be in a place where you had to wear a sweater in July!! I am wading through the lessons, but having no experience with blogging or Flickr before, I am having to rely heavily on the instructions posted in Library2Play.

Thing # 3

As I was trying to set my blog up last night, I almost gave up. I felt overwhelmed at first but decided to tackle it again this morning when I wasn't so tired--I had jury duty yesterday. It was much easier this morning!!

Thing #2

As a lifelong learner, I feel that the hardest habit for me is to view problems as challenges (Habit #3). I can get overwhelmed when things arise that I am not expecting--but have learned through the years that I just need to tackle one problem at a time!!



The easiest habit for me is to accept responsibility for my own learning(Habit #2).