Monday, June 16, 2008

Thing #23 Corner Spot

Yippee I made it! I can't wait to get back to school to try my new tools. The students will be able to beef up their presentations and reports utilizing the free tools. My favorite discoveries were flickr, online generators, and the Google tools. By taking this course, I have learned so many new ways to incorporate new technology tools in my lessons. On a scale of 1- 10 and 1 being the highest, this ranks number 1 as being one of the best Staff Developments ever. Working at your own pace, having fun learning new things, and getting credit too, oh I don't think it can get better than this!!
Make your own free clipart like this @ www.TXT2PIC.com with free web based tools (hundreds of image generators that run through a web broswer, no software to buy or install).
Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com

Thing # 22 Corner Spot

Ning is a great tool for interacting with other colleagues. A lot of ideas and collaboration from other educators can be very helpful. In the Teacher Library Ning, it was very interesting to be in a group that shared information about their library schedules at the elementary level. Many schools were very creative in how they handled planning times for teachers. I also enjoyed viewing some of the videos in the collection. Students would get a kick out viewing Mouse Space-My Librareo Entry Video from the video collection. By using Teacher Library Ning, I could get ideas from other educators,trade tips and brainstorm some lesson ideas. I was able to find several lesson plans for Science for primary grades using the Ning for Teachers site. Great to know that ideas and sharing is just a click a way.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Thing # 21 Corner Spot

This was so much fun! The kids will have a blast using Photostory for Book Reviews and other class projects. I explored photostory and selected pictures from Flickr and Google Images to insert into my story. Creating my story and inserting pictures was great. The problem came when I tried to post it on my blog. All of my hard work and this is what I have to show for it-
Sorry, there was an error uploading your video. Please contact support and include the following information:
Blog Id:9147578083961762702
Video Id:c2d43eb3d80bf6da
Close

Thing # 20 Corner Spot

Thing #20 is a fantastic tool for both students and staff. I enjoyed searching in the Teacher Tube and I was able to search in Libraries and I found a cool funny video of Libraries in 2010. I am now set for Constitution Day in September after searching for videos. I have tried and tried to paste the code from the video site, but the Edit Html tab will not open up for me to paste the code. I am giving up and going to watch some more videos, but here is one of the videos that I viewed for Constitution Day.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Thing #19 Corner Spot

There were so many sites to choose from that I went into brain overload. I searched from making a berry cobbler to playing arcade games. The thought that I could publish a book and create traffic to help sell the book using the Lulu site was exciting. My husband is going to thank the team for setting up this staff development. I was able to obtain 93 new recipes for cooking chicken from the Recipe Key site. Stay away from the Zango site. It will get you into big trouble-searching all those arcade games, oh my. Oh yeah, The SpanishPod looked pretty cool as well. Did not sign up for the free trial, would be my luck I would forget to cancel the subscription after seven days. I think that Web. 2.0 Awards would be great for teachers. It is all located on one page for easy access.It was amazing to see how there are so many sites that could help you formulate reports and or presentations. I also saw a teaching job opening in Japan which included medical, room and board, with free Japanese lessons to boot. Now don't get antsy, I just stated that I saw the job opening in Craig's List and not that I applied for the job ( :
I couldn't leave you guys. How could I use this tool in my own setting? Is this a trick question?
I could use this site to research information.

Thing # 18 Corner Spot

I explored the Google Docs site and enjoyed using the free website. You can add tables and images just like in Microsoft word. Google Docs also accepts most formats in uploading files. In many cases, you do not have to have internet connections to view or edit your documents. I did not see any disadvantages with Google Docs, but with Open Office.org, one drawback would be that if a person uses a dial up modem, it would take 8 hrs. and 16 minutes for the program to download%^&*()_+(*&.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Thing #17 Corner Spot

Rollyo was a cool site and very user friendly. I typed in Houston, Texas / local news and was very surprised to see the networks that popped up for local information. I also found plenty of library lessons.

Thing # 16 Corner Spot

Wikis is a great way to collaborate. Editing in the sandbox was painless. I was able to add to the post and view other colleague experiences as well. This would be great to use in a team meeting, class project or better yet- faculty meeting by Wiki. I can just visualize it now, teachers please sign in sometime today. Agenda will be posted and please post comments, concerns or changes. Roll will be checked by your postings. Just think, rather than sitting in a room with other tired colleagues looking at the clock and it's 4:30,wondering what the traffic is like ,please speed this up, giving your buddy the eye if they say one more word, you could be relaxing in a recliner posting your reply or opinion from home or Starbucks!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Thing # 15 Corner Spot

Library 2.0 defines a way in which patrons can access information. In viewing the video, " A Vision of Students Today", students would rather download a book or search on the internet, than read a printed copy. It reminds me that I need to get some weeding done. Michael Stephens made a good point when he stated that in the new world of librarianship, libraries should breakdown barriers and allow a user access to wherever they are. Just think, who would have thought I would have been taking staff development online from the convenience of my own home and having fun to boot. If I run into a problem, I could contact a librarian for help from home. This is what I call user access at its best! Rick Anderson stated in the article, "Away from the Iceberg", that it may no longer make sense to "collect" in the traditional sense. The students and staff will expect to access resources in digital format. Even though our library circulation is still up,I can see that libraries as we knew in times past as books, card catalog, and filmstrips are being revolutionized into online catalogs, wikis, ebooks, youtube, and more!

Thing #14 Corner Spot

Technorati was a user friendly and it had a lot of content. I found there were various results to searching a particular topic. When I searched School Library Learning 2.0 in the blog post, I came up with 3,254 results, in the blog directory- 14 results, and in the tags-31 hits. One blogger in particular caught my interest, the blogger stated that the wiki that was to be used to support the class assignment was not useable on the school network. Somehow, this seemed quite familiar. Now I don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I could see that using this tool could be useful for getting ideas, but I at the same time quite time consuming. Once you go into the site, you might forget that there is work that still needs to be done away from cyberspace.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Thing # 13 Corner Spot

At first I was overwhelmed about the process of tagging. After unblocking one of the tutorials, I was able to see a visual. Using the del.icio.us, was interesting. I was able to find some beautiful Library Lessons that were tagged. A person that has plenty of time to utilize this tool would find this a great source. For myself, I would rather just click my source in Favorites and call it a day.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Thing #12 Corner Spot

I discovered just as students need praise, feedback, and attention, adults relish this as well. Up to this point, I was one of the 90% of lurkers who read a blog and left no comments. This was my comfort zone. Now after reading the 10 Commandments of Blogging, we should share our comments. Think I should be able to handle this! My real name or picture is not going to be compromised. No stalkers to worry about. Hey, but what happens if all these comments come my way? According to the writers, I am to interact with the recipient. Hmm, interacting, not sure about this. Guess I have been isolated in my cubicle space to long and finding it hard to interact with others. Okay, I'm off to offer some praise and feedback!

Thing #11 Corner Spot

Signing up for the Library Thing account was very simple. I wish all Sign In's could be this simple. I had buffering issues with the podcast and the tour was simple and to the point. If I had known I would be cataloging books during the summer, I would have brought some home. Hmmm, Well, I'm so glad I can think of 5 titles. Could one possibly be Cattlemen. After searching the database for Three Little Pigs, I got so many titles other than the Three Little Pigs and I didn't get any hits for Purpose Driven. I then selected Amazon rather than Library Congress and was able to find my titles. I was quite impressed with the reviews and was almost tempted to sign up for the Early Reviewers Program to receive free pre-publication books in exchange for reviews, but I remembered that I still had other review books to finish up. So many books and so little time. Overall, I felt this site would be good for getting reviews. I noticed that the group that had the most members was the Librarians who Library Things. Within this group, I found a group that was just starting their Library Program. One student was taking her courses online and was very nervous. All were excited about their courses and entering the field of Library Science.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Thing #10 Corner Spot

http://www.comicstripgenerator.com -Great site for fun!

My favorite generator was the comic strip generator. It was loads of fun and this could be a great way to begin journal writings with students. There were a lot of trial and errors as I tried generators. Getting my Caution Sign to download was challenging from the sign generator. I can see many teachers using Image Chef for student projects and Open House Night. Since I was on all roll, I also keyed in image generator in Google and discovered some other generators-http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/textpix2/ and http://wigflip.com/easystreet/

Friday, June 6, 2008

Thing #9 Corner Spot

If a person wanted to be in blog heaven, this #9 activity is the place to be. There are more feeds and blogs that I can't keep up. It is mind boggling. School Library Blogs on Suprglu was not displaying, Topix.net was a little overwhelming for me, but Google Blog Search received my award for at ease blogging. I enjoyed reading Mike Falick's blog as well. Syndic8.com got the boot from me. Blogs, blogs, blogs oh my.

Thing #8 Corner Spot

I found the RSS to be very resourceful. This a fine tool to use to gain information from other colleagues. I was able to gather many views on library schedules and classroom management. Being able to get feedback from such a wide range of viewers was great! This is a fine tool for educators to keep in touch with one another on various topics and have an ability to share ideas. The management style of RSS makes it easy to read.

Thing # 7 Corner Spot

You can call me chicken and I promise not to be offended. After logging into the Google Calendar, it was so much fun putting in future events such as Treasure a Good Book Kick Off September 22, Book Exhibit-Sept 16, 17, 18., but the thought of it going public stopped me in my tracks. Go Figure. Glad I'm not blogger shy. Did not enjoy having to sign in for each Google adventure. If you are searching for a PowerPoint in the Advanced search, have plenty of patience. When I am ready to make a grand statement, I now know that the whole world will be able to see my candidate statement using the Google Document. I can just save the citizens some money by just campaigning from Google Document. Can you tell I am having too much fun! Did not set up the alert, didn't want to be overwhelmed with extra info.

Thing # 6 Corner Spot

FD Toys was a paradise. I could see teachers using the Map Maker as an ice breaker from summer vacation. The class could map the location of places visited during the summer break and have a great Social Studies lesson. I had fun mapping out the states that I visited over the years. With these gas prices, I might just take an imaginary trip to other countries using Big Huge Labs Map Maker. Trading Cards was o.k. Perhaps you could put math facts for struggling students with their favorite sport figure etc. The Puzzle Maker was great. I was able to download my summer picture and create a puzzle. I can see it now, my face splattered in 200 pieces. The students would have a blast putting me back together again. Perhaps this could be a great introduction to a Nursery Rhyme-Humpty Dumpty. Pocket Album would be great for elementary graduates, downloading pictures of friends. Publishing Calendars and Magazine Covers was priceless. Every subject could be utilized with these programs.

Thing #5 Corner Spot


As I search the common group of pictures from Flickr, I discovered that there are so many images for a search that one could get lost. This picture puts me back at ease. Quite a few steps in getting images and couple of more to get them to your project.

Thing # 4 Corner Spot

Just think with all this fun of setting up accounts, I almsot forgot to register my blog for Thing#4.

Thing # 3 Corner Spot

Thing #3 was a lot fun. I enjoyed setting up my blog and creating an open view to the public for comment and speak my view. Oh.......free speech at work! The Avator took me back to my childhood of paperdolls. Oh My, am I telling my age?

Thing # 2 Corner Spot

Thing #2 was a challenge. Setting goals and following thru with them can be a challenge at times. There are many ways to learn and we should all thrive to be life long learners. Setting goals is one way to accomplish tasks and organize our concepts.

Thing #1 Corner Spot

I am excited about this journey of learning activies to incorporate in the classroom setting. Thing#1 of 23 THINGS has introduced me to arena of new ideas and vision.

Corner Spot

Summer has begun and it is now time to catch up on some good reading. The Cattleman by Margaret Way seems to be catching my eye or perhaps Become a Better You by Joel Osteen. Hey, wait a minute! I think I hear technology calling. Well guess what I will be doing for the next nine weeks....... Stay Tuned In.