Foiled again! This is terrible for me-I always appeared so smart because I knew of such great and useful educational web sites which I kept in my secret special folder, within a folder, on my computer, just in case someone decided to try to unlock my secret. I never could work my bookmark folder anyway because it was too long. I shall give social book marking a try.
Oh my gosh! I love it. I input a book I recently read "The Hunger Games" and found a really cool game on Scholastic's web site. Man, this could turn out to be another one of those evil internet tricks to keep me from working.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thing 12: Creating Community through Commenting
Point # 1:
"You become part of the life of the blogger you are reading." (from coolcatteacher)
Wow, I never thought about that, but it is true. What we say, can in turn, shape the direction of the current blog conversation. This in turn can lead to a new and more in depth topic. Cool.
I got myself into a time snafu just reading CoolCatTeacher's blog. I would link to other bloggers that she referred to in her blog, and before I knew it-WHAM! the summer reading camp group had arrived and the student teachers were needing me to lend them my expertise.:0 ha ha!
I also found an incredibly motivating Youtube video on Mr. P's blog called the The Power of One. It has so much potential for writing prompts and conversations that engage students in critical thinking. I plan to utilize it.
Second point: Don't be afraid to comment. Now I know coolcatteacher was referring to me. I love to lurk in the shadows and stay concealed. It is my objective in life to go unnoticed just like Nobody Owens in The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.
Choose at least five different Library2Play blogs and make at least one comment to each. I found some very interesting blogs that I commented right away. Library Larks and Mr. D's Flying Circus. What a cool name, it makes me think of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I learned that you could approve someone's comments before they are posted. stretchylibrarian was another I chose for the name because I have a reference book with the same name. Nice work! Next, I explored schoollibrarythings and found a charming sunflower video.On TechbrarianTalk's blog, I commented on my satisfaction with wikispaces wikis.
Find two blogs about a subject of personal interest: I like many, but I posted my first comment on Tarie's blog Into the Wardrobe.
She had posted a review of Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. It's a pretty violent book-really great for a psychology class. As for myself, I prefer The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It has a similar theme. Tarie's blog is very interesting consisting of author interviews, and reviews of childrens and YA literature. I had previously communicated through email with her to compare notes. I think I did a pretty good job commenting. I even asked open ended questions-thanks coolcatteacher for the commenting advice.
Another useful blog I stumbled across and proceeded to email the blog author was Naomi Bates at YA books and more
I was researching book trailers and found many great tips and tricks on her blog. Now, I will just start leaving comments as I know emails can really drag a blog author down time wise if they have to answer people. Naomi was very kind to respond to my emails.
Whew! this was a Looooonnnnnnnggggggg assignment. I am halfway through and have caught up to a lot of people who started before me.
"You become part of the life of the blogger you are reading." (from coolcatteacher)
Wow, I never thought about that, but it is true. What we say, can in turn, shape the direction of the current blog conversation. This in turn can lead to a new and more in depth topic. Cool.
I got myself into a time snafu just reading CoolCatTeacher's blog. I would link to other bloggers that she referred to in her blog, and before I knew it-WHAM! the summer reading camp group had arrived and the student teachers were needing me to lend them my expertise.:0 ha ha!
I also found an incredibly motivating Youtube video on Mr. P's blog called the The Power of One. It has so much potential for writing prompts and conversations that engage students in critical thinking. I plan to utilize it.
Second point: Don't be afraid to comment. Now I know coolcatteacher was referring to me. I love to lurk in the shadows and stay concealed. It is my objective in life to go unnoticed just like Nobody Owens in The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Choose at least five different Library2Play blogs and make at least one comment to each. I found some very interesting blogs that I commented right away. Library Larks and Mr. D's Flying Circus. What a cool name, it makes me think of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I learned that you could approve someone's comments before they are posted. stretchylibrarian was another I chose for the name because I have a reference book with the same name. Nice work! Next, I explored schoollibrarythings and found a charming sunflower video.On TechbrarianTalk's blog, I commented on my satisfaction with wikispaces wikis.
Find two blogs about a subject of personal interest: I like many, but I posted my first comment on Tarie's blog Into the Wardrobe.
She had posted a review of Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. It's a pretty violent book-really great for a psychology class. As for myself, I prefer The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It has a similar theme. Tarie's blog is very interesting consisting of author interviews, and reviews of childrens and YA literature. I had previously communicated through email with her to compare notes. I think I did a pretty good job commenting. I even asked open ended questions-thanks coolcatteacher for the commenting advice. Another useful blog I stumbled across and proceeded to email the blog author was Naomi Bates at YA books and more
I was researching book trailers and found many great tips and tricks on her blog. Now, I will just start leaving comments as I know emails can really drag a blog author down time wise if they have to answer people. Naomi was very kind to respond to my emails.
Whew! this was a Looooonnnnnnnggggggg assignment. I am halfway through and have caught up to a lot of people who started before me.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thing 11: Library Thing
I am registered with Library Thing and I did add my five books, but I already have a virtual Shelfari bookshelf on my blog, school website, and wiki page. I visited some new discussion groups, but kept coming back to children's and YA lit groups which are my favorites. When I have more time, I will look for a library idea exchange group. Check out my book shelf...I still need to add MORE books to keep up with my voracious reading habits. I read a Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee everyday during my lunch breaks.
Thing 10: Online Image Generators
Well, this was like recess-what fun! These sites could get me in a LOT of touble
and I would probably never get any work done.
Image Chef was definitely my favorite. I can hardly wait to show our teachers the Word Mosaic. Kids will absolutely love it. Practice spelling words or create a poem-make it fun!
Trading Card Maker is another program that I see being very useful and fun for the library to introduce authors, illustrators, or new book titles. I am so excited to use this one. I will, of course, take a bit more time on the ones I use for the kids. ooooh! Bookmarks!
and I would probably never get any work done.
Image Chef was definitely my favorite. I can hardly wait to show our teachers the Word Mosaic. Kids will absolutely love it. Practice spelling words or create a poem-make it fun!
Trading Card Maker is another program that I see being very useful and fun for the library to introduce authors, illustrators, or new book titles. I am so excited to use this one. I will, of course, take a bit more time on the ones I use for the kids. ooooh! Bookmarks!
Thing 9: Useful Library-Related blogs and News Feeds
Which Search tool was the easiest for you?
Rather than rely heavily on Search tools, I preferred to see what others were reading. CoolCatTeacher had many useful links to other quality blogs. The Edublog Awards seemed like a no brainer for finding educational relevant blogs-this was very easy.
Which was more confusing?
Syndic8 was not appealing and appeared confusing, so I did not want to waste time maneuvering through it.
What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
The oddest one I came across was a "recommended" blog: bookslut. I am still mystified why people would recommend this as a good blog. It was whiny and inappropriate, but maybe I am just a square. The nicest thing I can say is "the name of the blog says it all."
Rather than rely heavily on Search tools, I preferred to see what others were reading. CoolCatTeacher had many useful links to other quality blogs. The Edublog Awards seemed like a no brainer for finding educational relevant blogs-this was very easy.
Which was more confusing?
Syndic8 was not appealing and appeared confusing, so I did not want to waste time maneuvering through it.
What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
The oddest one I came across was a "recommended" blog: bookslut. I am still mystified why people would recommend this as a good blog. It was whiny and inappropriate, but maybe I am just a square. The nicest thing I can say is "the name of the blog says it all."
Thing 8: RSS Feeds and Readers
- What do you like about RSS and readers?
- How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
- How can libraries/teachers/administrators use readers or take advantage of this new technology?
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thing 7 Cool Google Tools
I wish I had thought of Google, but I am glad someone did. I have always been a fan of Google images-so helpful for librarians. I clicked on igoogle and my dentist appointment reminder popped up. I rearranged my page and added "literary quotes of the day,"a little turtle that moves around, and added some items to get to work on with a "to do" list.
I am already using Google docs with my school district but after exploring a little more, I found a program that lets me create a multiple choice questions. I have been wanting to find this type of programs. SO cool! I added "make a quiz" to my "to do" list.
I rented a moon jump/slide this past weekend and the owner told me he uses Google docs for his business.
OK, I am going to try to embed a multiple choice question that I created.
I am already using Google docs with my school district but after exploring a little more, I found a program that lets me create a multiple choice questions. I have been wanting to find this type of programs. SO cool! I added "make a quiz" to my "to do" list.
I rented a moon jump/slide this past weekend and the owner told me he uses Google docs for his business.
OK, I am going to try to embed a multiple choice question that I created.
Thing 6-Discovery Exercise
Trading cards- I created one for "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman. I use "advertising" all the time in my library to entice kids to check out books. I will pass out "Graveyard Book" trading cards after the kids view my book trailer for Graveyard book. This will be also be a fun way to introduce kids to authors and illustrators.
Thing 5 Explore Flickr continued
Here is a children's library posted on Flickr by annethelibrarian. Thanks Anne. It does not look like my library, so I will have to add a photo of mine to Flickr soon. I appreciate having this resource to use knowing that I have permission to display unique, as well as, typical images to my lessons.
Thing 2 again-7 1/2 habits
My first post referred to Thing 1 and Thing 2, but, I tend to "hide" the message within a message, so it appeared that I had not created a post about Thing 2. I would be a super great secret message encoder because of my ability to camouflage messages. Here it is again with the superfluous verbiage edited out.
A strong habit I possess is that I am a life long learner and I happily accept responsibility for my own learning. I can't wait to learn new things every day!
My weakest habit (of the 71/2 habits) is "view problems as challenges". I like to whine a little when faced with a problem, but at the same time I find myself invigorated by the problem that needs to be solved if it interests me.
A strong habit I possess is that I am a life long learner and I happily accept responsibility for my own learning. I can't wait to learn new things every day!
My weakest habit (of the 71/2 habits) is "view problems as challenges". I like to whine a little when faced with a problem, but at the same time I find myself invigorated by the problem that needs to be solved if it interests me.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thing 5 Flicker
Creative Commons is an extremely useful site. I registered for an account and even went through a tutorial process. I will keep this in mind when showing teachers how to search for images that are permissible to use without violating copyrights.
Thing 3 Blog blog blog
Here is my blog
it is sad, but true
just how much time
it takes to do.
Thing 3 is complete. The avatar is not so great, but I probably did not do it correctly. It is a temporary avatar and I plan to rid of it soon. I added my Shefari bookshelf also, but it seems to be missing many titles. I like Shelfari, although it seems to have a lot of technological snags which prevents editing at times.
A busy librarian has so much to do in a day and when I sit down to create a new post BOOM! I go into a time warp full speed ahead. In addition to this blog, I have a school web site, a Shelfari, a few educational wikis, and I am creating book trailers to introduce students to new titles we will be receiving very soon.
My schedule is screaming at me now. Must sign off.
it is sad, but true
just how much time
it takes to do.
Thing 3 is complete. The avatar is not so great, but I probably did not do it correctly. It is a temporary avatar and I plan to rid of it soon. I added my Shefari bookshelf also, but it seems to be missing many titles. I like Shelfari, although it seems to have a lot of technological snags which prevents editing at times.
A busy librarian has so much to do in a day and when I sit down to create a new post BOOM! I go into a time warp full speed ahead. In addition to this blog, I have a school web site, a Shelfari, a few educational wikis, and I am creating book trailers to introduce students to new titles we will be receiving very soon.
My schedule is screaming at me now. Must sign off.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Life in the Future
Living life in the future is better than I ever expected! The Jetsons really had it right! A machine for our every need. As a kid having to endure long car trips, I had always wished for a hamburger machine that with the push of a button would produce a hot, delicious hamburger. Boy, that would have made having to play the "don't cross this line" game with my sisters more bearable.
Technology and the ease of internet use have added so much to the field of education. My lessons have more punch as I am able to integrate sound, images, and live action to support the lessons.
Lately, I have created some book trailers as teasers to introduce students to new titles. Introducing students to authors and illustrators via their websites or sites such as Scholastic that also provide games, trivia, and trailers make a teacher/librarian's job much easier and fun!
Life in the future is great!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Book Trailers for Bluebonnets
Today I am creating a book trailer to introduce my students to the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Nominees. When searching for book jacket images I came across a Blog devoted to the Bluebonnet awards. I hope we can compare notes. This is our first year for Bluebonnet voting. I hope our kids will be as excited about it as I am. If I finish the trailer soon, I will post it to my Book Egg Blog.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Playing in the library
Thing 1 and Thing 2 (how very Suessical!) are almost finished. Avatar problem. No need to shed tears over a cracked egg-just move on.
I am a life long learner and I happily accept responsibility for my own learning. I can't wait to learn new things every day!
Today, I expanded my knowledge base on computer security. I attended a "how to create a spam rule" session after my name was harvested from the Internet and was used to send naughty spam to all the users at my university. I was comforted by the fact that it happens to other users frequently, particularly if your name is readily available on the net. Wow-I am glad I implement my own security measures after hearing so many tales of woe from neglectful computer users.
My weakest habit (of the 71/2 habits) is "view problems as challenges". I like to whine a little when faced with a problem, but at the same time I find myself invigorated by the problem that needs to be solved if it interests me.
I am a life long learner and I happily accept responsibility for my own learning. I can't wait to learn new things every day!
Today, I expanded my knowledge base on computer security. I attended a "how to create a spam rule" session after my name was harvested from the Internet and was used to send naughty spam to all the users at my university. I was comforted by the fact that it happens to other users frequently, particularly if your name is readily available on the net. Wow-I am glad I implement my own security measures after hearing so many tales of woe from neglectful computer users.
My weakest habit (of the 71/2 habits) is "view problems as challenges". I like to whine a little when faced with a problem, but at the same time I find myself invigorated by the problem that needs to be solved if it interests me.
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