Week 5 Thing#11

Spent time exploring the items on the award list. Tried not to look at things that looked interesting but were in the list of things we were exploring later (LibraryThing). Looked at Craigs List that has little to do with school but Iwanted to explore. I'd read about it in Shoe Addict Anonymous and other places. It was interesting but didn't find anything I could use.

I joined the PSLA ning. It would be great to have a lot of people join and really start using it. Of course it all takes time ....

There are so many things coming about on the web I wonder how people have time to find and use them all. This is why Ilike courses like this that force me to explore.

Week 5 Thing#10

My name in Chinese.

The image generators were fun to play with.

This site would be fun to incorporate with classes studying Chinese New Year or China. Students would see and learn to say their name in Chinese.

I had to Warholize a picture. It is of my library bookshelves. Art classes could use this as they study Andy Warhol and his art (Kind of obvious).

The image generators were addictive. I just wanted to play with them all. I think if I had a project or topic in mind it would be easier to come up with a use. Playing, I did just that, I played and thought "this is fun" but beyond the obvious uses it was just fun. Now I am going to have to stretch my brain and visit this site again when I am looking for something specific.

Week 4: Thing # 8 and 9

Spent lots of time exploring the blogs and have a nice list that I am enjoying reading. There is so much to learn - I find myself following links to all of the amazing things going on and coming up with lots of ideas. I also have some from my favorite magazines that I have added for pure pleasure - they make me smile and think about things other than professional learning.

Technorati was the easiest for me to use - I was able to use it the most effectively. I settled on the google reader and it is working. I also have added some of the blogs to the reader on my home computer homepage which is nice - I don't have to log into anything else and I can check my favorite blogs.

The nice thing about the reader is you can scan and pick and choose what to read to maximize the use of your time.

Thing # 7 : Technology

Ways to incorporate technology into my library seems to be on my mind a lot lately. It seems that each time I introduce the smallest little technology thing my students go nuts and are suddenly engaged and excited about coming to the library. A new favorite of my students is PhotoStory. Several classes just finished some research and we put the results into Photostory (you 'drop' in a picture and audio can be recorded to match along with music, it is quick and easy to use and the results are fun). In their 'free time' they are recording the audio portion and I have lines of students waiting to record. It makes them feel like stars. Their faces are pricelss when I play the final project for them. They are so excited that they forget that they are working with a partner they don't necessarily like and did research.

I am starting to have the students create book reviews in the same way. They are actually excited to share and talk about books because technology is involved.

Technology is not the be all, end all. But it increasingly provides a way to spark excitement and interest that leads to students being excited about learning and for that I am grateful.

Thing #6 : Flickr toys

Flickr toys are so much fun!!! Made trading cards and a movie poster and my teenager was impressed. The best part was it was easy (ok, impressing the teenager was good too).

Now I need to figure out a way to use it in the curriculum. The trading card is easy, I already have the kids make trading cards so maybe we'll try them this way next time. These are tools that students will be excited to use.

Thing #5 Flickr

Spent some time on Flikr. Some of the images are stunning and some well..... Searching was an interesting experience, did not always get pictures of what I was expecting. Photos had multiple tags and some of them made me really stop and think.

Posted this photo of my library, Waiting to Read. Am a little frustrated and confused because although I posted and tagged it, it is not showing up when I search.

Tagging could be a good way to teach keyword searching to students ...... have them take photos and 'tag' them and then have others choose keywords and try to find them.

Thing #3: Blog and Avitar

I am still amazed I have a blog set up!! It is one of those things I talked about and never did. It was so easy!! Of course now the problem is going to be finding thoughtful things to say.

As I was setting it up I was thinking of all the ways it could be used. Discussions about Books, Professional Development discussions about the book study books we are reading, etc. The possibilities are exciting and endless.

Setting up the avitar was cool. My teenage daughters want one too. The sweater is very similar to one I wore this week - same pattern just different colors.