Thing #1 for Things 11 More Things

I love the simplicity and direct visuals the students offer. I also love the irony of this student in using technology to show cut paper visuals. I think there may be a hidden more subtle message to all of that our archaic methods of teaching can easily and most simply be used with technology. As a new librarian learning this world of web 2.0 as a teaching venue, I am getting that message loud and clear. I am becoming more and more brave to step out of my comfort zone and connect where kids really are, the web. What a grand adventure!

Thing #23

This has been a great experience this summer. Since I am a new librarian, there are so many frightening aspects of the job I worry about. However, going through this program has given me courage to explore and utilize web 2.0 tools this next year. Below are the answers to the questions we are expected to answer in finishing the program. Thank you!

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? Some of my favorite were the igoogle and flickr. I really enjoyed the amazing resources these sites offered. Library Thing was also one of my faves. Having connections with other readers and their shelves is a great experience for any reader, especially librarians.
   
2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? I am always seeking to grow on this journey as an educator. Finding tools to connect professionally is such an important step in my career. I feel with these tools I can connect regionally with others in my field as well as internally, which widens my global community of knowledge.
   
3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I was surprised at how many of these seemingly obscure (at least to me) tools were so user friendly. An example is the embedding of videos in a blog or a wiki. I didn't realize how simple it was . Just finding the steps and utilizing the knowledge was such an eye opener for me. I used it with my book club and many were very impressed. I thought, how easy was that. Anyone could do it. It just takes a little time and attention to learn it.
   
4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I don't know of any improvements. Anytime I had a problem, I had an immediate response from the Ozs' that were administering the program. I liked the blog format. I wonder if having a wiki also might offer a discussion format where many comments are made and shown.
   
5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Most definitely. In fact, I am signing up for 11 More Things tomorrow.
   
6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities? 23 Things, an extraordinary program, has opened the door to my chosen professional community for me.
   
7. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?

Thing #22

I like the idea of having the professional connects the Ning offers. I also like the way it networks with comments with other groups. I joined a couple of the ones you listed. I read some of the new librarians post and advice others had offered for them. I found a comment that said to always pay attention to the warm body in front of you. If someone asks if you are busy, always say not too busy for you! She advised to put email and phone on hold when it came to the needs of teachers. I heard this same advice from a friend librarian. She said to always remember to put the customer first, regardless. So I will be looking at NIng a little more. I did notice some of the posts were a little old on the Texas librarian's site. This is a worthy venue for networking with others in my chosen field of librarianship.

Thing #21

I love Photostory! I used it last year, when I taught 5th. It was the first time I had used this technology in my classroom. The kids loved it. They could easily navigate the program. It was a great venue for them to express their thoughts about subjects and allow them to use some higher level thinking skills with analyzing whatever subject or book we were covering. I will definitely use this to create some book trailers. That is, if I can fix my audio problem with my laptop. I tried to create a photostory about a Bluebonnet book, so that I could post a new podcast. However, my internal microphone would not work. When I ran the test it made this high pitched screeching noise. I was very frustrated. But like I told my students last year, never ever give up on technology. You may get mad and want to throw the computer our the window...but it is our future... and therefore, well worth our patience. I will call the geek squad tomorrow to iron out the kinks on the audio. But in order to go on with Things, I will post a photostory my student, Nia, made last year for 39 Clues.

Thing #20

Blinkx for searching for videos. Visuals are so important to the lesson. You can say so much more with pictures or visuals.

Thing #19

I have spent the last few hours looking at the web awards. There are a lot of treasures I wasn't expecting. Then there were several useful tools for some, but I could not find a reason for using it.

http://www.onesentence.org/This tool allows you to be precise with writing and yet use brevity to express a succinct thought, or using one sentence to tell the story. This would be great site to share with teachers to experiment with themselves before using the strategy in their own writing workshop. I also would like to practice my writing skills.
http://www.dabbledb.com/ This tool allows you to create reports and many other online databases straight from the website. I could set up my budget and its accounting on this accessible database.
http://wufoo.com/This website helps you create contact forms, online surveys, and invitations so you can collect the data, registrations and online payments you need without writing a single line of code. I could use this for events in the library, surveys for teachers and students, and special forms I want to send out. The forms look very professional.

There were several other award winners I enjoyed navigating and using from the list.

Thing #18

As far as google.docs, I have used it in the past. I wanted to secure a lot of my school documents I had made last year. I was in the habit of just emailing myself at school whatever document I wanted to use. Anytime I wanted to use it, I had to search my email. I decided to upload my documents to google and have them stored safely 2 yers ago. I now have a safe secure place that is not subject to any damage or loss from my home. The only downside I have found from it is the inability the platform has for supporting my presentations from ppt. It does not accept them. I looked at open source and it seems to be a worthy online processing tool. I can remember through the years of students not being able to do their typing at home because they did not have Microsoft Word. Personally, I prefer Microsoft Word, because there are so many more useful tools to their package, such as font, templates, and many others. The presentation tool lacked backgrounds that I am very used to using. But I can see it as a backup if I am without Word.