Thing #23

What an incredible thing for teachers and librarians both! I think all educators should take this because I never knew there were so many possibilities. I really don't have time to go out and search for these different things, so being a part of this was informative and interactive!

I really enjoyed Big Huge Labs. There are so many different things that the students are able to do that would engage the students' learning! The map maker and trading card would both be fun tools for kids to use. Other tools that I found to be beneficial in the classroom and in my personal life that I didn't know about were the google calendar and the Picasa web albums.

This program has opened my mind to so many new and interesting things. Being able to look at the other postings and comments enables me to learn so much more and think outside the box. It also gives me the confidence tow work with the programs. I'm now more willing to go and look for new creative tools online to use with my students. With kids, you always have to be new and inventive.

I figured I would be surprised in many ways, and I was! I learned a lot about the internet and software that is available. I know understand how someone can be on the internet for so many hours because there were many of the activities that I went through and spent a lot of time looking at what all it had to offer. In doing so, it created many new ideas for things I could try in one way or another with students.

After using this program, I liked how I became motivated to learn more. I would try another program similar because of how easy it was to follow the directions. Everything went step by step. It flowed very smoothly as well. I normally do not like online trainings, but this was a fantastic way to learn about web 2.0 tools.

Intriguing-I want to find out more!

Thing #22

As I was looking at the different Nings, I noticed that this would be a great way for students to connect with each other while at home. There could be a grade level ning for students to share with other students in the district as well as across districts so they can write about what they are learning. Instead of having one pin-pal to write letters to, have a bunch that you can share information with about what learning is taking place. It could also be a way for them to learn something about others. If there was a ning set up for librarians across district, it would encourage ideas to passed from one librarian to another. It would be a simple way for new librarians to get information from experienced librarians, just as it is helpful to have a mentor when becoming a new teacher. Collaborating is always better! When I looked at the Ning for Teachers I found there were various lessons that could be searched. I'm always looking for better ways to teach my kids with a hands-on experience. This would be a great way to look instead of searching through thousands of results that pop up when you type what you are looking for into a search engine.

Thing #21

Ok, I tried on 3 different computers to install photostory. I have a Mac as my personal computer, so I tried on my husband's computer and my school computer. Photostory is only available to PC users. I kept trying and it told me that the network was unavailable. I'm so upset because I have heard excellent things about photostory. I have used Garage Band and iMovie on the Mac. I had my students write stories, then I recorded them telling their story as a podcast. The kids loved it! Photostory would be great to share photos at the end of the year as a class yearbook. It would be a great way to show the memories of the year with the kids.

Thing #20

I have personally used United Streaming in my classroom to enhance students' learning, but you have to subscribe to Discovery Education. I think that there are some topics that the books can't teach as well as watching it as a video. Using Teacher Tube and You Tube is beneficial because it is free to the public, but that means that the teacher has to make sure the videos are age and content appropriate. Teacher Tube enables the teacher to create a video and upload it to the site, which in turn allows the children to share with the family what they are learning. You Tube and Teacher Tube both require the teacher to do lots of searching to make sure it is exactly what they want since anyone is uploading videos. United Streaming is sorted out by content and then by grade level.

In this Earth Day video, second graders go through the a, b, c's and give environmental tips. The work is all done by the students, and you get to hear them talking. What a great way to discuss Earth Day!

Thing #19

When I looked at the Web 2.0 Awards, I found many different tools that would be useful in the library. I looked through PBwiki and found that it said there was a way to have "unlimited premium wikis for your school." I thought that when building a wiki this would be beneficial. The librarian can share with the teachers how to use a wiki for each class. The basic wiki for the classroom is free! They also list ideas on how to use the wiki in your classroom. The librarian can set up a wiki for the school instead of sending out a newsletter on paper. She can keep the school updated on information by using the wiki. The whole school will be able to see comments and responses about certain topics. It is a great way to get the staff updated and collaborate.

Another tool I found fun to play around with was the widgets. It took me a while to figure out how to insert the one I wanted into my blog, but I finally figured it out! I spent a lot of time just looking through all the different widgets available. If a teacher has a blog, then students can personalize it by picking different widgets as a class.

Thing #18

I researched Open Office. The advantages of using Open Office are that it is free to all users. I work in a Title I school, so this type of program would be beneficial. Also, since it is an open source software, anyone can go in and edit the program. This allows for many different ideas. On the other hand there is a higher potential for a virus to be spread. Also, if there is ever a problem with Microsoft Office, there is always someone to give me technological support. In Open Office there can be a lack of support if there are problems. I have a Mac computer, and Open Office is for PC's only.

Thing #17

Rollyo seems to be wonderful for upper grades. I wish I had more experience in this earlier in the year. I had my students do a small research project over the planets and this would have been a very resourceful way for my students to participate in research. I like how you can search others who have already created a list of sites for different topics. This way I'm allowing my students to be more independent, but still knowing what they are looking at on the internet.

Thing #16

Wikis were simple for me. I used a wiki in my graduate class to help collaborate ideas about certain topics that were discussed in class. The students could have a book wiki to discuss books and compare ideas. Everyday I have a read-aloud time for my students to sit back, relax, and listen to a book. On the wiki, the students could discuss different things that were taking place in the book or even make predictions for what is to come in the book. They could also share books they are reading independently. This would be a little better than the LibraryThing because they could share if they liked the book, not just that they read it. They could then make recommendations on whether or not to read the book. This would make an easy book review site for the class.

Thing #15

Library 2.0 is a way to connect and inform! It is away to find information that is beneficial to meet the needs of students in the technological day. There are now so many useful tools to enhance learning. Using the web is now becoming crucial to many members of society. I know that I have taken professional development and graduate classes online in comparison to driving to a certain location. I find that it is not as engaging when participating in online classes. Using the online tools can allow teachers to get the most up to date information that is also researched based in teaching students. It gives students many opportunities to participate in new and exciting activities.

Things #14

Technorati is the first part that left me aggravated. When I searched for School Library Learning 2.0, I did not come up with any information. Then when I tried to find the widgets, it was temporarily unavailable. I can see how tagging information would be useful to group information. I also found that it could be a useful way for students to research information, but using Technorati would not be the tool of my choice.

Thing #13

I can see how Delicious can be beneficial for helping students find information that they are researching. One thing I looked up was animals. There were informative sites, but there were also sites that were not beneficial to researching. This is not the best tool for young children to do research because there is a lot of fluff sites. Teachers can take advantage because it gives students an opportunity to lower the number of results compared to search engines.

Thing #12

Two important things I learned from reading the different blogs were to interact with comments left and to hyperlink in your blog. 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on your Blog said that as a blogger you have to comment to get comments. After reading, I agree that as a blogger, you have to be open and comment to others to be able to receive more comments. If others see that you are responding, then what you are saying and what others say means something to you. Blogs, to me, are used for communicating ideas and cooperating with others. As a blogger, if all you are doing is writing, then you are not going to get as much out of it. You will get out of it, what you put in it.

How to Comment Like a King (or queen!) says that putting hyperlinks is important. We all look for a simple way to get information. People are going to be more willing to go to the blog and look at the information if it is just a click away versus having to go search and find what you were talking about. Then once they find the information that you referenced, then they can make comments to you.

One blog I found was from my Google Reader. It is the Librarian and Information Science News. One post that caught my attention was about how school districts are cutting librarians. I can't believe the percentage of school districts that have decided to cut the librarian (19%!). I couldn't believe it.

Librarian Philosopher made a post about the TLA conference. It drew my attention because the other students in the cohort had the opportunity to participate, but I had to make the choice not to go due to it being so close to the TAKS test. In her post about TLA, she put hyperlinks to information about the several sessions which was beneficial.

Thing #11

I think that LibraryThing would be fun to make with a Language Arts class. The students could see what books their peers are reading, which to could lead to them reading a different book. Each time a student checked out new books, the teacher could add it to the list of books that were read. At the end of the year, the students could see how many books as a class they read. This would push them to read book they may not have read or to find books they may not have known about.

Thing #10

I created a fake magazine cover for an author. I think that like the trading card for an author, this would be fun for the kids to create. They could make brief statements about their author. This is one way for the students to do research, then have to limit the information they found. They could put the most interesting information they found about their author. They could also create a cover at the beginning of the year as a get to know you assignment. The teacher could post them on the wall, so the students could get to know each other in the class with their picture as the cover of a magazine.

Thing #9

I found the Edublog Awards site the easiest for me. The site is set up by categories. For instance I could go to the "Best Library/Librarian" blogs, then click on the different blogs to read the information. It was easy because there were only a few in each category, so it wasn't overwhelming.

The Syndic8 was confusing to me. When I did a search, the information that came up was from early information (2000) to the latest (2010). If I wanted to find the most up to date information on the topic I had to scroll through many different pages.

As a teacher, I found Creating Lifelong Learners blog interesting and useful. I will be moving down to first grade next year, and I found he had done a post on Literature Circles. The author had also done some other posts that I found very helpful as a classroom teacher.

Thing #8

I signed into Google Reader and found that it had already given me suggestions for subscriptions other than what was suggested on the Library to Play site. I think the idea that the information comes to me instead of having to go to out and look for the new information. This seems to be quicker and simpler.

I will use this in my school by helping with professional development. By finding the most up to date information, I can inform my teachers and staff about the useful information that I have found. Others can use this to find different strategies that are useful in the classroom. When teaching, everyone needs to be thinking about what is best for the kids. It they find the most updated information, then the kids are going to be challenged and taught things in a way that may not have been presented to them before. Struggling learners will benefit from the newest strategies.

Thing #7

I researched the Picasa Web Albums. This would be great for teachers or librarians who take a lot of pictures of different activities in their class. They could share the pictures with the families at the school. This enables parents to see what is taking place in the classroom. It also allows students to share with their families what they are doing.

I also thought that the Google Calendar would be a tool for teachers to use to share the topics that the students are learning about in class. The teacher wouldn't be sharing the lesson plans, but the topics that are being covered on a weekly basis. I know that my parents love knowing what is taking place. Parents can then ask their child about the topics. They will also know when tests, checkpoints, or other important school events are by using the calendar.

Thing #6

I have never heard of mashups before. I found it interesting. I found myself spending a lot of time looking and trying different things. One thing I created was a jigsaw puzzle of a picture of my two dogs. I also played around with the trading card. This tool would be a fun project for the students to use in the library. There are so many different types of trading cards that could be made by the students. It would definitely be something different for them to create. I know our language arts teachers have done a character study. The students had the opportunity to dress up as their character. It would have been an asset to the project if they had trading cards to pass out to tell about themselves.