Phew...Thing #23-Summarize your thoughts

What a weight off my shoulders!! I was almost tempted to quit. It was difficult after 7 month old twins, cooking, cleaning, washing, and feeding. Then getting up every three hours to feed at night?! I've been run on four hours of sleep. I need a vacation from my summer vacation. As you can tell I did not quit. The more I kept moving from one thing to another, the more interested I got. EVERYONE NEEDS A PAT ON THE BACK...so pat pat pat.


What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? My favorite discoveries are Things:5-Flickr, 8-RSS Feeds, 10-Online image generator, 13-tagging and Del.icio.us. I'm a kid at heart and enjoy playing around with things.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This has totally changed the way I thought online training was supposed to be. I figured it was all sit and watch a video. But, believe it or not this was definitely hands-on.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? When I first heard about 23 things, I figured it would take me about a week to go through it all. Unfortunately, I did not have the time and it took me the whole summer. It was worth it though, because I am more technologically empowered now. I am able to go show off knowledge to my non-blogging friends. How cool!

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? The only improvement that I would suggest would be to have the links work through SBISD's firewall. Oh, and for future reference, I think that the required hours were good for the summer. However, this many hours during the school year would be too hectic.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? I would definitely be interested in another discovery program. This was a one of a kind experience for me.

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? Technicredible!!

THA THA THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
BLOG YOU LATER!

Thing #21-Podcasts and audio books

I worked so hard on importing pictures and creating a Photostory. It was very enjoyable. Unfortunately, I lost it somewhere on the computer. Let me explain how it happened (perhaps someone could help me find it). It all started when I saved my photoshop in my documents (I also saved it on my videos just in case). I returned an hour later to organize and narrate my story. Well, I could not locate my story from the Photostory program. For some reason my 'My documents' folder was empty. So them I minimized Photostory and went to the desktop to open up 'my documents'. Well lo and behold, there was my story. I went back to the program (photostory) and tried editing my story be reopening 'my documents'. It opens, but it opens empty. Hmmm...What could I have possibly done? I think students would love to narrate stories. Perhaps, this is the way to get students interested in reading...hmmm...

Thing #22-Ning

I'm finding that there are a lot of sites similar to each other, for instance Ning and Facebook. Ning would be great to create a gathering with teachers to share ideas on lessons. I'm always open to innovative teaching.

Thing #20-Youtube and Teachertube

This was totally my very first time to embed a video. NOT too bad...it was rather quick. I've learned something new tonight.




Teachertube took me the longest. I couldn't find a video. I finally found one...Here's a fraction to decimals song. (It took me a while to figure out how to embed it.)

Thing #19-Web 2.0 Awards List

I love the organization! This is definitely so del.icio.us. LOL!
I would love to allow students to explore with the sites on Web 2.0. This should definitely be on the SBISD library resource page.

Thing #18-Online Productivity Tools

I explored with Open Office and Google docs and was impressed with both--mainly Google docs. I'm a little apprehensive about downloading open office to my own laptop. I tried it on the SBISD laptop and it wouldn't let me. Oh well. Indeed Open office is great resource for someone who does not have access to office applications of some sort.

Thing #17-Rollyo

The first time I tried searching for something it was blocked. Later on throughout the day I was successful. I like the RollBar Bookmarklet. I don't have to open up another page to use another link. This would also help keep students within certain search sites.

Thing #16-Wikis

Teachers will benefit from wiki. It could be used to present lessons or to present to parents during open house or Curriculum Night. Teachers or Librarians can make it easier on research by posting the research links on wiki.

Thing #15-Perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0

Library 2.0 is a beneficial collection of resources that will help both students and teachers locate information. When a class uses the library for research there's usually limited help b/c of the librarian-patron ratio. Sure the librarian is helpful but it is difficult to help 20 eager students. Library 2.0 will allow for unlimited research.

Thing #14-Technorati and how tags work

Just got through reading Thing 14. As I was working on Activity 1 I could not find the searches. This was not as interesting to me, or perhaps it just was not my day. I have a preference for flickr, and de.licio.us. I think these two are more helpful in searching for educational information.

Thing #13 del.icio.us

WOW!! I organized my favorites. I like this and I intend to use this from now on. OMG-all this information can truly benefit teachers. Social bookmarking will decrease the time spent searching for good sites. In addition, it will provide a vast amount of information that could be used to cater to the lesson and the needs of each student. This is one of the yummiest things!

Thing #12-Creating Community Through Commenting

I enjoyed reading the ten commnandments for blogging. I think this should have been thing #5. I will also use these 'ten' to help when my students are revising each others writing papers. :)

Thing #11- LibraryThing

I've been out of town so I'm just getting back online...
I like the LibraryThing. I'm just not an avid reader like before. Now I have 7mo old twins that keep me pretty busy. They keep me so busy that half the time I have 'momnesia'. The task for today involved adding a least five titles...WELL, I couldn't even remember the books I had read. Anyway, back to the purpose for typing this blog: Librarything is very helpful to teachers. It would provide a guide insight to the books that could be read during the lesson. It would also allow for teachers to expand on their professional reading.

no comic

Ok..so my comic didn't show up. I attempted.

Thing #10-Online image generator

I spent four hours playing around with the online image generators (went to bed at 1am). I admit it was fun but I didn't realize I had been playing around for quite a while.


Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com

YIPPEE!!!-I'm moving along...

I'm on thing #10!!! Thirteen more things to read and explore!!

Thing #9- Useful library-related blogs and/or news feeds.

I explored with Google Blog Search and Topix.net and found that they are very efficient. I spent about 5hrs reading other peoples blogs. BOY, where does time?! I'm listing the questions so I can make sure I address them all.
Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? Topix.net is efficient. I can read about the local news instantly.
Which Search tool was the easiest for you? Bloglines search tool was the easiest. It makes it easy to locate the topics your are searching for. This is easy for students to use.
Which was more confusing? I didn't like Syndic8. You might think this is weird but, it wasn't pleasing to the eyes. It just didn't grab my attention like the other search tools.
What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds? I like to read a variety of blogs. One of the ones I came upon was on preemies. From here there were so many links to other bloggers and to the latest preemie news.

Thing #7-Google tools

(I just noticedthat I didn't blog about thing #7.) Google has many useful tools. Even though I haven't used the Google calendar, I've used the Yahoo calendar. I kept a journal of my babies' milestones. I read my excerpts often. One of my ah-ha moments was the G-notebook. This is a very neat tool for anyone working on a degree. I've had a google account for quite a while but I seldom use it. I use Yahoo OFTEN.

Thing #8-RSS feeds

Yeah...I'm slowly trudging along all of this reading. Well, I didn't set up my reader with Google. I've had my reader set up with Yahoo for quite a while so I kept it there. Oh I almost forgot, I totally enjoy the commoncraft show. They are simple, quick, and to the point. I will have to explore the commoncraft videos thoroughly. I'm sure I could find educational videos. hmmm...
Here are my answers to the discovery activity:
What do you like about RSS and newsreaders? RSS helps keep my news organzied while staying on top of current events.
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life? I currently use this technology professionally and personally. I keep family and friends updated with current news. As I enter my classroom each morning, I go directly to my reader. I update myself on the current news and then share it and discuss it with my students.
How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology? Libraries can help students save time on researching. This organization might help students organize their ideas.