Thing #23 - I see the Light

That's the light at the end of the 23 Things tunnel (which was pitch black a few times) as well as the light shining on all things Library 2.0.

OK, my favorites...Google Reader came in handy, especially for keeping up with the other players. It is also overwhelming as some of the professional blog keepers are certainly have much to say and say it often.
Lifelong Learning...I'm glad to know a little more about a few things. This program absolutely made it easier for me to tackle the first layer of Libray 2.0.
Take-aways/unexpected outcomes...Google alerts has let me keep up with my brother a bit. He's in the music biz so whenever he puts a new song on his MySpace page or another person writes about him, I get an alert! That's been fun. I'm in the middle of doing trading cards with the 2nd graders with the dreaded bird research and we're starting with 3rd grade states. I didn't realize how l o n g it would take 2nd graders to type in 3 facts that they already had written on their research sheets. Won't do it again. It was nice to realize that I already had a little experience with some of the tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts)
Improve this program...Well, it really was TOO much. There were way more than 23 things. Thing #7 had 8 things all by itself! SO, pare it down a bit. Maybe split it up so someone can be successful even if they can only get through half of the program. If you have smaller bites, someone could then move through the different levels?
Another one?????? I'm not sure if I would sign up to fully participate but I would certainly look at what was there that I needed/wanted to learn. Let me get over this one first.
One word or one sentence... Self-paced introduction to a variety of web 2.0 tools that can be used in our schools for, by, and with our students. How's that?
Thank you to our kickball captains. I know that setting this up wasn't easy and keeping up with all the players had to be more than time consuming. Once again, I've been pushed to go places I didn't think I could go. And I survived. Now let me go see if my daughter did.

Thing #22 - Ning

OK, I wasn't really getting it. I mean I sort of understand but, being over 40, and not a joiner, I don't get it. Maybe if you worked somewhere rural and didn't have a built in network the way we do, I could see joining the teacher or librarian nings as a place to start. So, since I wasn't convinced yet, I searched ning for the popular ones and found SXSW 08 which is an Austin music conference/party that my brother has dropped in on a few times. OK, I get that this could be useful to him on the East Coast before he hits town. Maybe if TLA had a ning, those who couldn't attend could pick up some conference remotely...but there are other ways to do that. So I kept searching. Lots of Moms groups, schools groups, tv fan groups, yadda yadda yadda. Nothing in my life that I searched for had a ning. Somehow, that didn't upset me. I did see that it could (and does) serve as a closed network for student groups, school faculty, far flung friends and relatives. I'll have to think about whether this is the best place to start for a few of my teachers who are ready to have their own space but aren't sure how.

Thing #20 - You tube, we tube...

These are two videos I saw at TCEA that struck a chord, for different reasons of course.



I'm trying the Zamzar thing but, while they keep saying they'll send me an email in 24 hours, I've yet to receieve one. I searched Blinkx but came up emptyhanded in my specific search but I want to remember it exists. I've seen some interesting curriculum videos on Teacher Tube though they are usually geared a little higher than elementary. There was a cute claymation that had the 3 pigs and Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White's dwarves in each other stories. I do wonder what kind of schools have the time to do these projects. Seems that all we have time to do is test, retest and test again. I use the streaming video in the library but I do suffer from flashback to junior high when they turned off the lights and put you in front of a movie. I hope I do a better job of relating it for the kids and doing something with it after we've viewed it. There is still that question in the back of my mind that I'm bringing kids to the library and putting them in front of TV? Now if we could make the video... (that's going to take another 23 things!)

I know that my teachers have appreciated the science clips I been able to share and work together with kidspiration or other activities to help reinforce the science instruction in the classroom. It's been great using digital stories in various forms with first grade's Around the World unit, for changing up holiday presentations such as Valentines Day or President's Day, and of course, just for fun!

Thing #19 - Web 2.0 Award Winners

Now I expected this would be fun as well as time consuming! I looked at One Sentence which challenges you to tell a story in one sentence. This could be used for story starters, writing prompts, leads, etc. EXCEPT we need a kid friendly version :) An enterprising teacher could cull through and find some to use.

Just for fun - Guess which keyword search yielded these pictures.

Then I spent a lot of time looking at useless things. Or maybe they just weren't good for elementary education, or maybe I'd already seen stuff that was similar, or maybe I'd just seen too much. I'm with Froggy and I'm going to go play with image generators.

I am awed by the creativity (and time) that many people apparently have.

Thing #18 - Open Office, Google Docs

Obviously, the main thing about Microsoft Office is that we're already comfortable with it. But I switched from Mac in the late 90's I guess I could switch again. As Grendel experienced, it did take a LONG time to download so I don't think it was a computer issue.

OK, the writer (word processor) functioned much like Microsoft but I loved that inserting a picture did not bring up the drawing canvas which I hate! It was much more flexible. I found the presentation module, Impress, a little less intuitive and I wasn't impressed. Granted, I have access to Powerpoint. If I didn't, maybe I would be raving about Impress. Since I don't love Excel to begin with, I wasn't expecting much from calc. It seemed to work the same in as far as I use it. I don't calculate or run formulas so someone else will have to test that.

Now Google docs seems to have an interesting twist. I guess wikis would achieve the same thing but I'm going to pass it on to my father who does newsletters for various groups and does end up waiting for the work of others.

Thing #17 - Sandbox

Ok, I added an entry to the sandbox. Is that really all there is to this Thing? I didn't spend my usual three hours so I'm thinking I missed something....

Thing #16 - Wiki

I was once asked to teach others about wikis. I try not to let people down but I didn't know what a wiki was. As mentioned before, I love the Common Craft Show but I noticed that their wonderful explanation wasn't created until May 2007. I was struggling to understand it earlier that year. The light finally dawned between a TLA PreConference given by Michelle Boule and Gary Wan and another TLA session by Michael Stephens and Jenny Levine in April 2007.


So I have played with wikis. I find the hardest part is getting others to play with you. This summer I began 2. Just today I got my most techy teacher to come (finally) and be shown how to add to one of them. She has participated in that she sends me stuff to add to it but now she has the power. (She's had the power all along but now may know how to use it).


I liked the idea of the Summer Reading Club wiki. It would be fun to have librarians and teachers participate in this so we can all catch the good books! I'll have to go back and investigate the must have graphic novels from the teacher-librarian wiki but I didn't like that every "post" was a new page. At TCEA, there was a presentation on Google Maps where they used a wiki for their 3 classes so that there was enough info to use even if a student missed a day(just go to the other class' page) AND the wiki provided a web location for the pictures that were saved to it which is necessary in order to use them in Google maps.

Enjoyed the Hong Kong school (Library Zone) that had podcasts and movies to go with their wiki work! I noticed many used wikispaces but I have found wetpaint to be fairly user friendly. I created a table and was able to paste it in but it is limiting. It's still easier than DotNetNuke which the district wants us to work with.

So, my goal is now to get others to wiki with me!

Thing #15 - Perspective

Reading these thoughts on Library 2.0 first made me wonder if I needed to find a new career. If all the information is at the users fingertips and all barriers removed, yada yada yada - why do we need libraries or librarians. As I read further, I caught a few thoughts that made me feel a little better.

Dr. Wendy Schultz made the point that we are/will be needed because we know/understand the relationships between documents. So, if we (I) can see the relationships between the info, the web 2.0 (or 3.0 or 4.0!) and the users, maybe I won't have to switch careers. She also said that libraries have to offer a compelling experience, others referred to the library as a conversation and Michael Stephens challenges us to meet the user's needs in a new or improved way. I guess you have to find whatever it is that makes people go to Starbucks rather than use the coffee maker in their kitchens. Not sure I have the answer there but I do think it will be easier as an elementary school librarian to bring something extra to the experience. Perhaps I'm naive.

Thing #13 - del.icio.us

First, I just have to say that I LOVE The Common Craft Show! It is my favorite thing and it doesn't even have a number!

Now, this one was tough for me. All of the bookmarks worth tagging in del.icio.us are bookmarked on my school computer, not at home. So...dilemma...do this at school...export the bookmarks and take them home...find sites and create a new list to play with this tool so I can move to the next thing...I won't divulge my methods but I have a small collection now.

I definitely had a hard time NOT typing a comma between tags.

If our favorite puppet afficianado had used del.icio.us way back when she started keeping bookmarks she could have saved us all a lot of time and effort. Alas, we're on our own.

I think I will use it to finally take care of the links from my old library page. I may even dump the wiki where we've been putting our links since I can't get the teachers to add to it. No need for a wiki if I'm the only one adding to it. Hmm, have to think about that. No pages, just tags. Hmm.

Thing #10 - Image Generators

I couldn't open the comic strip generator but a google search found this Photo Cube that is interesting. I plugged in the 2nd grade heroes. And below I made myself a reminder using Image Chef. I could see you could spend a lot of time PLAYing!
Myspace Photo Cube

Thing #11 - Library Thing

Hey! Something that actually worked for me! I could sit and add my books all day but my 'to do' list is too long. I don't know if I will actually use this but I did like tagging my books with prediction, problem solving, etc. If every teacher/librarian did this with their picture books then instead of our marc subject headings you could search for inference, for example. There is a list for inference but imagine what it could be....

Yes, I know I skipped #10. You can catch it later...

Thing #9

I'm feeling the limitation of online professional development. I want to TALK TO SOMEONE. I want someone to EXPLAIN things to me when I DON'T GET IT. I didn't get the shared thing. I tried but I'm not much of a sharer so the computer must sense that. I tried to share a video, it told me how to share the video from the Common Craft Show but it didn't work the way they told me to do it. Then, I couldn't get the blogger page elements to share it the way I thought I could do it. So once again, I have to come in through the backdoor or down the chimney or something. I think I am destined to be a dabbler, no proficiency. I think I am ok with that.

And then, once I've vented publicly, it seems to work! Anyway, it seemed that some of us weren't feeling the Flickr thing as much as others and I thought this presented a new reason or two. I'll try to find something different ot share and see if I can keep it working. I may need a nap first.

Problem = Challenge

My last post ended in frustration (and a fair bit of blue language but my kid was in bed.) After taking time out to read through several 2play blogs, I returned to the scene of my frustration. I did manage to embed the slideshow as a page element but without the captions. Not what I wanted. I followed the directions for adding the link, didn't work (again). So, I eventually ignored the directions and took what looked like a perfectly good address even though it was for email and IM not for adding to your webpage. Ha, it worked. Definitely don't think it was worth the time invested. I'm going to bed.

Thing #7 (for real) - Google

I google therefore I am. I do believe that you could spend a week doing nothing but exploring Google and still not see it all. I have been to other trainings, conference sessions and looked at things that were not part of this exercise. I've been using the advanced search for a few years to pull up powerpoints on lessons that I'm working on to see what others have done or to get some background info. I'm pretty sure I learned that at the TCEA Conference which everyone should have a chance to go to someday. I set up some Google Alerts but I realize I have no life anymore because there wasn't anything I was interested in enough to really care about being alerted to it! However the emails have come in and I see what it is about. I showed my UT student husband the Google Scholar about 2 months too late but there's always this semester. I set up a public Picasa Album which I can't seem to embed even though I can read and follow directions just fine. After fighting with it for 40 minutes, I'm done. It's public, see if you can find it. It's called Evolution of a Reader.

Thing 7 -2 = 5

As I was exploring Picasa as part of Thing 7 I came across a photo of Flat Stanley in Vancouver. This made me wonder if I could search Flickr for the same. Did you know there are over 7,000 photos with Flat Stanley on Flickr? Now, if the kids can't send Flat Stanley around the world maybe they could map him using the Flickr photos (or Picasa). Ok, back to Google.

Thing #6 - MashUps and Trading Cards

It is interesting to see how much the 2.0 webbers seem to be willing to share. If you can think it (and write the program), apparently someone will let you do it. Hard to comprehend for those of us who are used to dealing with the copyright rules that limit everything. I wasn't quite as enamored of the trading cards as other players but I do see the student use and I may partake. I did create 2 which I have included here. Maybe it was a case of the hype coming first so there was no way to live up to it. Moving forward!

Thing #5

I'm not sure I understand all the rules of Flickr (or how to spell it). I get that you can upload your personal photos, and your family can see them without trying to send them through email. I read about Creative Commons and saw the different levels but still am not clear about being able to use the photos. (Maybe it just feels too much like stealing) I did enjoy looking up my hometown on the map and seeing photos taken there and I even put in an old camp name and saw a few faces from 15-20 years ago. Maybe part of my problem is that most of my photos these days are of people -my daughter, teachers and students. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with posting any of these on the web and some I don't have the right to post. Trying to look at it from an educational view - if students can take and use the photos for projects (weather, animals, etc) then there are plenty of possibilities. I think I have to look around it some more and perhaps at an earlier hour. I'm definitely a nine pm pumpkin turner these days. More to come I'm sure.

Thing #4

Ok, I've sent my email and I'm beginning to look at the other PLAY blogs. I have to admit, I like knowing who wrote them. It helps me hear their voice. I'm already jealous of those who found ways to already include a link. I must have a void in my sharing toolbox at the moment. Can't wait to PLAY with everyone. If I'm falling behind, i.e. it's Valentine's Day and this was my last post, send me an email or comment and kick me into gear (or offer to babysit!).

Thing #3

Great, now I have more logins and passwords! And they(web hosts, etc) keep thinking for me which, I must admit, makes it a little trickier to outthink them but I did manage it. Definitely viewed the registration problems I was having with yahoo for the avatar as a challenge ( I did not want to use my name) that I did overcome. The avatar thing, I must admit, escapes me as to WHY?? Ok, it's fun, but....maybe the light will dawn at a later Thing. I'm not completely new to blogging so I guess I don't have much to say there except that I do feel that I am rambling on this one! And there are no links or pictures to view. Maybe later. Guess I'll go read everyone's blogs now and see my deficiencies.

Thing #2

ME, bad habits? Nah. OK, I see a few habits that I slide on periodically but if I have to pick one that's the hardest, these days, it's play. I'm a mother of a toddler and work as a school librarian so everything is 5 minutes behind, day late, undone, unwashed, unread to, unrested. Am I seeing these problems as a challenge, NO, right now, they are problems. But, I guess I am fairly good at keeping the end in mind. I want the paycheck, my child is healthy, there are good days where things run smoothly if you ignore the rest, and tomorrow or next month will be different. The goal is to improve and not leave too much of a wake. My daughter will have to write a tell all book later to gauge the wake.