Week 6, Thing #13

Yeah! Something I think I will use effectively. Social bookmarking is a handy tool for everyone. At my school level it is a great way for students and staff to have access to bookmarks wherever they are and whenever they need them. So often teachers go from classroom to lab and have to recreate their favorites for students to use. Del.icio.us is the answer to that problem.

Personally, I have already been using it. I use several different computers (at my desk, in the lab, my laptop, my home PC and one at family's business) and have often searched for something I have bookmarked only to realize it wasn't saved on the particular computer I was on at the time. This feature has already saved me time.

Setting up an account was fairly simple and after rereading the directions (novel concept!) I found the icon on my tool bar and all was good.

I enjoyed peeking into other people's bookmarks and found some interesting and useful sites. Thanks for sharing this great time saver.

Week 5, Thing 12

The custom search is an excellent tool for elementary school. Our district restricts students from free range surfing the Internet while at school. Students are supposed to only use sites that have been preselected by their teacher. Our teachers have all created Teacher Web web sites and all have an ED1Stop account where they can create custom listings for students. We also subscribe to Grolier Online for students to use in school and at home. Although Rollyo seems to meet the needs, I think that the choices we have already put in place are good for us. In fact, when creating my search roll for this assignment I just cut and pasted the links I already had on my library website. Here is the link to my Rollyo search for Animals: http://www.rollyo.com/search.html?q=zoo&sid=292698 .
Moving along to week 6...

Week 5, Thing 11

I guess you just can't love everything about this course. This exercise was that for me. I looked at every one of the sites and really wasn't enchanted with any of them. The one I chose to follow up on for this exercise was http://www.43things.com/tag/family. On this site people list the things they want to accomplish. I started my list.

I also joined a Library 2.0 group on Ning. I didn't see anyone else who appeared to be an elementary library worker there.

One thing that I am a little wary about is giving too much personal information out, including my email address. Both of these experiences required listing my email address. I felt like I needed to create a new email address just for these "accounts" so I signed up for an additional Yahoo email.

It was nice to have the "play" activity prior to this one. I'm looking forward to moving on to something else.

Week 5, #10 Image Generators

Well, how fun was that? I'm afraid I'm a little tardy with this blog because I was having too much fun with the image generators to take the time to write. I tried all different kinds. I emailed them to my friends. I wowed my children. I even skipped lunch to play around with them. At the foot of my blog you can find my license plate. Both the lunch bag and license plate were created at http://www.imagechef.com/ . I also had lots of fun with the visual poems feature. This could be used successfully in the classroom, giving students a creative way to display their writing. I spent a lot of time going down the list at http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/ . This would be a fantastic resource for teachers but there are some links that are adult so I wouldn't send students there. Instead, I would select a specific generator for students. I must admit to sending out several emails using http://www.kakomessenger.com/ . You'll love Humphrey and Gina.
Thanks for the "recess".

Week 4, Thing 8 & 9

I was oblivious to RSS before this lesson. I wonder why? I am an avid online reader of news sources and I never noticed that little logo in the corner. After this lesson I went back to the newspaper sites I use and, sure enough, there was the RSS logo.

I created my reader in Bloglines. The feature that appealed to me the most was being able to set up playlists that were customized. I'm still sloshing my way through using it, but I can see the wisdom of having all of my news sources in one handy location. As far as using it in an elementary school setting, I could see the value of setting up specific playlists that tied into a certain unit of study. But, like most of the internet, there would need to be definite adult supervision.

I did a little sleuthing using the various tools and found that the Google Blog search and Feedster were my favorites. I think one would have to limit their search time because you can certainly get carried away with the many avenues the searches open. I have already added several sites to my Blogline and will probably need to do more.

Week 3, Thing 6 & 7

Well, I had lots of fun with this one! I did my trading card, a magazine poster and several Warholized creations. I also used one of the features on this photo of my little boy.

I love these tools and could see them used in our lab with students. Several different grade levels do a biography unit during the year and the trading cards would be great for that. I think, in the library, I will try to do something with the motivational posters.

I can certainly see these tools becoming a bit addicting.

I do have a concern with Flickr in the elementary school setting. I came across several images that would not be appropriate for students. We do not let students use any image sites (i.e. Google Images) because we have had some near catastrophes in the past. At the elementary school level we will most likely limit it to staff only. However, it is a great resource for photos to enhance lessons and teacher produced PowerPoint's.

#7 I am very fortunate to be working in a school district that considers technology a priority. My library has a web site, Smart Board, laptop, four student stations, two office computers, LCD projector, document camera, wireless access, and laser printer. Our lab also features a Smart Board, LCD, laser printers and 34 stations.We have been encouraged to take advantage of training that comes along and to share it with the site staffs. My site administrator is especially supportive.

The piece of technology I use the most in my life is email. It opens up the communication process for me and allows me to keep in touch and disperse information more productively. But my favorite technology remains the Internet. I AM a life long learner and I love to find new information (albeit sometimes trivial and useless).

By the way, I did post a comment on a blog. I know I enjoy the comments left on mine.

Week 3, Thing #5

This was something I was comfortable with. I use digital photography a lot and I already had a Flikr account after being introduced to it at the Chocolate Tech Affaire. I was also already using Picasa.
I love working with photographs and manipulating them with graphic tools. One of my favorite things to do is take a color photo and use a sepia or antiquing tool. That's what I did with the photo of my desk (which, by the way, is organized in it's own unique way) that I uploaded onto the blog. I used the blog tool to do this.
I also marked it as public and used the tag School Library learning 2.0 as instructed but when I do a search of that tag I am told that Flickr gives up and can't find anything. I can find the picture on my account and it shows the tag as schoollibrarylearning20. Several attempts to change it have proven fruitless so any assistance will be appreciated.
Also, I have a question. Is there a School Library learning 2.0 on Flikr that we should join?
I took a peek at the blogs of others and enjoyed every one's photos.

On a side note, this online learning opportunity was discussed yesterday at our district Library meeting. I tried to encourage the other library personnel in my district to join me on this journey. I am at one of only two year-round schools in our district. Everyone else is wrapping up their school year this month so I am hoping some, if not all of them will jump on board.

Week 2, Thing 3

This is a weird posting because to do the posts for Thing 1 and Thing 2 (very Seussical) I already had to establish this blog. It was a pretty easy process and I got it up and going very fast. The template process went very well and I was even able to add one of my favorite photos . . . a picture of my dad reading to my sister and I when we were children.
The next step was naming my blog. I wanted to keep a little privacy so I didn't want anything to personally revealing. Road Reader is a homage to my school library theme, Driven To Read. I have decorated my library with a car theme, complete with a road that runs all the way around the room on the walls. The road has whimsical cars created by my friend and our school artist in residence. My students love the real tires I have up on the book shelves as well.
I also chose it because as a child my family took a lot of road trips. I always had my nose stuck in a book . . . usually a Nancy Drew mystery . . . oblivious to the scenic wonders my parents tried to expose me to.
I register and was away from my blog for a while. I was pleasently surprised to find a comment from the program moderators waiting for my when I returned.
The final step was creating my graphic alter ego. This wasn't as easy a process. Too many choices and none seemed quite right. It was kind of like shopping at a store you don't like. When I finally resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't creating my identical twin it got easier. Putting her on my page was very easy using the directions provied in Thing 3.
So, I have completed the first two weeks and I have a real sense of accomplishment. I'm looking forward to Week 3.

Week 1, Thing 2

I watched the 7-1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners this evening. Halfway through I couldn't help stopping and checking out the website of The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. After a short tour around the site I was back on task.
As I listened I was already thinking of what my goal for doing this is. I think the goal I want to set is to become comfortable to the degree that I can teach using some of these tools to the teachers at my school site.
My biggest obstacle is definately going to be time.
One frustrating item is that I was not able to open the attachments that accompanied the presentation. I did email the creator of it to ask if there is another way to get them.

Week 1, Thing 1

I was excited to get started . . . so excited that I zipped through Thing 1 so quickly that I had to go back and read it all over again. I'm a working mom so I like the work at your own pace feel of this program. But I am committed to completing it by the September deadline.

Road Reader

May 11, 2007
I attended The Chocolate Tech Affaire Technology Workshop this week at the CCCOE and then received the email today about the School Library Learning 2.0 . So, I am ready to dig in and blog away.

The initial setting up of this blog was very easy. Now I just need to see if I can keep it up and if it is worth the time and effort. I love technology and I love sharing what I learn with other staff members, as well as learning from them.

I consider myself a "lifelong learner". I love learning and finding out new things. One of my favorite things is to hear about something and then seek out more information on that subject. For example, if I read or hear about a movie based on a real event, I immediately look up what the real story is. It's like a treasure hunt to me.

And so I am setting off on this CSLA School Library Learning 2.0 road and looking forward to what I'll find along the way.