Thing 15-PhotoStory

I have a fun Photo Story called Flashy Turkeys but I can't upload it. Hmmm... I had to wait to try it today since Blogger is blocked at my school and I don't have Windows at home. I hope to figure it out very soon..... I am here but it will still not work... so sad....

Thing 23-I finished!

1.            What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I enjoyed learning about RSS feeds and also learning about Twitter.  I also enjoyed using online icons.

2.            How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

The most important thing is that I learned so much and I know that there is so much more to learn.  I need to keep all this information organized so that it does not become overwhelming.  I think a Livebinder will help a lot.  I feel better prepared for a future librarian job.

3.            Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Well, I was surprised when some links no longer existed.  I am reminded that technology is always being updated and changed and that I must be constantly vigilant for new ideas and methods and not become dependent on specific technologies.

4.            What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

I think that a couple of the “things” were redundant especially in regard to RSS Feeds.  Maybe new “things” could take their place?  Also, it might be better to allow multiple sites for a concept.  For example, instead of just Flickr, why not offer Shutterfly or Snapfish or Instagram?

5.            If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?

Yes I would since technology is constantly changing.  I cannot and will not rest on my current knowledge.  That would be completely against my personal philosophy of “lifelong curiosity and learning”.

6.            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?

The one word I would choose is Informative!

Thing 22-It's My Turn...

I have two things to share that I think should be on the 23 Things.  First is Pinterest.  This pinboard site allows you to collect images of favorite things and pin them to theme boards of your creation.  There are still people who have never used Pinterest and would really get into "collecting" ideas and pictures of hobbies, recipes, beauty, baby care and much much more.  However, as a teacher, I have found it very useful over the past couple of years in collecting ideas for the classroom both in lessons and book ideas and display ideas.  Furthermore, you can invite people to pin to your board(s) so that you are working together to share ideas on any given concept.  This is so useful for team planning and brainstorming.

Another useful concept is using curation sites.  I prefer Scoop It.  I began using it last year when I was looking for articles on Library Design.  It was so great to have this resource.  Articles were presented that fit my request and then I could save it to my Library Design topic page.  It is so easy and my desired articles are always at my fingertips.

Thing 21-Online Image Generators

For this first one, I visited ImageChef.com  I really enjoyed browsing all the options.I can see using these for my class website to announce special events.  The same can be said for when I become a librarian.   

For the trading card below, I visited BigHugeLabs.com and chose the trading card option. I can see using this for students to get to know each other at the beginning of the year.  Also, later you can have students make them for famous people they are studying.  These can be made larger so that you can display them more prominently.   

I

Thing 20-Recess

There are so many things that I have learned and will definitely spend more time with such as Twitter and RSS feeds.  However, I wanted to find even more interesting and useful things so I explored the electronic resources in the Livebinder created by Melissa Rippy.

 I found Watchknow.org that gives access to many, many educational videos. I will have to check this out at school since YouTube and SchoolTube is currently blocked at my school.  Maybe this will be a good substitute for now and a good addition when we do get YouTube access.

I enjoyed visiting Photopeach.org.  This is a site which helps you create fun slideshows.  What makes it special is that you can add quizzes to it to make the slideshow more interactive.  I really like that!

I really liked biblionasium.com.  I am so excited to work with this more fully.  I plan to share with my colleagues who may or may not already know about this site.  It is basically "Goodreads" for kids.  There are a lot of safety controls there and parents can get involved as well.  It has won many awards and is praised by "gurus" we know such as Shannon Miller.

I also enjoyed visiting Popplet.com  It is like a scrapbooking site but you can also add mind mapping graphics.  I can see students using this to present on a specific topic for practically any content area.

I have been playing around with Voki.com.  This site allows you to create your own avatar.  I see this using this on my class website to announce an upcoming event or to celebrate milestones.

Thing 19-Mashups

Here is a widget of my Photo Mosaic called Green Is Happy.

I was a little confused just at first when I clicked on Mosaic Maker and it took me to Big Huge Labs but then I remembered… Oh yeah, that is the point of mashups-taking features from one web application and blending it with another.  Duh!  !  It is fun to do and quite easy.  I used photos I found in the Commons on Flickr and saved them to my photo stream.  From there, I was directed to allow Big Huge Labs permission to use my photos and then I created the mosaic.  It is nice because you can make the mosaic as small or as large as you want based on number of columns and rows.  You can even choose from seven different layouts.  It can look more like a scrapbook page.

This could be really fun for Library Nights.  You can add the photos of the visitors and activities and post in on the school website.  You could also post author photos as your kids get to know them and watch the mosaic grow!  Another idea would be to include book cover photos based on color.  A rainbow of book covers!

Thing 18-Goodreads-Karyn's text in "comments"

I

Thing 17-Ning

I visited TeacherLibrarianNing and took a good look around.  I really liked the fact that this site had Twitter Feeds, blog posts, Scoop Its, feeds from journals, all in one place!  There were video links, and as well as Wiki links.  The one highlighted was Elementary Library Routines. This is all just on the main home page.  There are nine other tabs including one for previously posted videos (all 331 of them).  There is a tab called My Page if I were to join it.  I could customize to what I wanted. I can see all the members listed under the members tab; there are over 7,000.  I am not surprised since Joyce Valenza is the creator.  I also notice that there are other groups within this site that are even more specific.  I saw one for Information Fluency, and one to discuss Harry Potter as well as one for Inquiry Circles.  There are over 60 specific groups to join to tailor it to your interests or needs.

I also visited http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/12-best-ning-groups-for-teachers-to.html to learn about more Nings.  A few of these 12 were not "found" but most were.  Some of these were, Classroom 2.0, ISTE community, and Technology Integration in Education. 

I think that a Ning would be ideal when I become a librarian.  It would be great to have this social network for my school.  On it, could be the latest library news, book trailers, tweets, blog posts, and links to technology integration websites.  If all of these things are at a teacher's fingertips, they will be effortlessly exposed to much more information than if left to finding it on their own.  There could also be a chat tab for topics of interest or concern.  It seems very easy to set up and could be very user friendly.  

Thing 16-Video Sharing

I thought I'd begin with my embedded video of the most beautiful libraries in the U.S.  Enjoy!

Of course, most people have seen YouTube videos at some point.  Links are usually sent out because they are funny or simply amazing.  There is much to be entertained by on YouTube and that alone is wonderful.  However, there are so many other reasons to visit YouTube.  You can learn so much.  I learned how to stain concrete floors.  (I am thinking of doing this in one of my closets as a first try experiment.)  I even learned how to ride a horse from some middle school girls who posted this as a project.  You can also get recipes, design ideas and fashion tips there.   I have used it for recipes and it is fun to be able to watch and do and pause as needed.

On Teacher Tube, I found that you can be very specific in your video search.  Who knew that you could find videos not only on broad topics such as Living and Non-Living Things but also on specific animals like Mako Sharks or Chickens.  There are even experiment videos.  I have not used TeacherTube much except at home.  In my district, YouTube and Teacher Tube are blocked. Right now, we only have access to Discovery Learning (United Streaming), Pebble Go, and a couple of other sites for information.  All teachers will have to either complete all the NETS tasks or perform a series of tasks in order to receive permission to use YouTube.  This must be done by December 6 so next semester, I will have access!!

I am excited for this new avenue to open up at school.  It will not only be passive watching but interactive with experiments, discussions and response work.  Students will have the opportunity to learn from yet another resource and isn't this the point of information?

Thing 11-Playing In The Sandbox

"Playing In The Sandbox" is a fun term.  It lets you see how many ways you can interact on a Wiki.  I added my blog address to the favorite blogs page so that other students can see that I visited there.  I then created a new page on the Wiki.  On that page, I created a table that lists several categories of my favorite things such as foods, restaurants, activities, vacation spots and vacation spots I hope to visit.  I also embedded a You Tube video of exciting white water rafting in New Zealand.  Maybe I will get there one day!

This let me know that a Wiki can include just about anything you want including getting to know your students better as individuals.  It does not only have to be about the assignments!