Thing 23-ALL DONE!

Go back to your thoughts/ideas about Library 2.0. Has anything changed as a result of this experience?
My goal when I signed up for this class was to get more familiar with the web and its many treasures. I really feel like that goal was accomplished tenfold. I feel like I know a ton more "things" that are out there and I am comfortable enough to use them this year in my classroom.
What were your favorite Things and discoveries?

I loved all the things to do with pictures on the different things that we did throughout this journey--avatars, flickr, mosaics, cards, etc...it will be a great tool to incorporated classroom pictures onto our classroom web page and for the kids to use on different projects throughout the year. I had so many different discoveries throughout all the things, some frustrating to get through and some worthwhile to figure out--

How did you connect with others doing the 23 Things On a Stick?

It was fun to interact with others comments throughout the blog journey. It made it more interesting to read how others were doing and what their thoughts were as they were accomplishing the different "things."

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

There were many things that I will incorporate into my curriculum--I will enjoy using the different tools to use with sharing pictures, creating avatars, pod casts now seem less daunting, I will love the access to the Delicious site to keep track of all my favorite sites, these are just a few of the things that stick out the most.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or content?

I thing the format was a great one--I liked being able to work on different things at my own pace yet be able to connect with others to get a feel to what they were experiencing.
If we offered a 23 More Things On a Stick program like this in the future would you participate?

Time will tell if I will indulge in another 23 Things--lets see how well I incorporate all the information that I have gained this year into my classroom!!
How would you describe your learning experience in one word or in one sentence, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things On a Stick learning activities to others?

I wold recommend doing this just to get yourself exposed to all the possibilities out in the web!!

Thing 22-What DId I Learn?

Blog about how you plan to keep up with the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools.

This is the $10 million dollar question whenever I learn something new! What I find most beneficial for me to do is to find a way to incorporate it into my daily routine--I liked what Tracie had mentioned about making it a part of her morning routine--but I know myself well enough to know that won't happen! So I will need to find a niche of time during each week--like Sue had said about Fridays after school---I will keep my blog going and try to add thoughts and discoveries throughout the school year.

Recommend a way to keep up that you have found useful.

I plan on keeping up what I have found by talking with my teaching (Sue!)partner and finding ways to incorporate the avatars, mosaics, podcast, research tools, etc...right into our curriculum. Talking with others (Gerri, Deb, Wally, Lisa at Highlands to start) about how they are incorporating different tools into their curriculum---a great follow up to this class would be a sharing class of ideas sometime after school has started of how everyone is actually using some of these tools in their classroom and share those ideas!

Thing 21--Beyond MySpace...

Wow! There are a lot of options out there to connect with people about--I don't see myself keeping up on these other posts with any regularity--I just don't have the time in my day for this. I will be happy to keep up with facebook that I just signed up with today!! Once I get that down maybe then I will be able to branch out to other more specific social networkings!

Thing 21-Social Networking

Oh my! I have finally made a facebook page!! It wasn't so bad, now the true test will be if I can keep up with it--it was kind of freaky that it showed people right away that I know that could be signed up to be my "friends"--that was amazing. It could be a fun tool---it is just finding the time to keep up with it--maybe it will be easier than emailing--time will tell. I need to work on getting something on someone's wall--that will come tomorrow--only so much new technology at one time!!:)

Thing 19-Podcasts

I think podcasts will be a very fun thing to use with my students--it is something that Gerri Schinckle has used already and has inspired me to try doing it this year. I think it would be great to have the kiddos start with making podcasts making book recommendations then move into something more elaborate. I was interested to see that podcasts also had visuals--at least that is what I thought I was watching!! I am looking foward to doing this thing with my students.

http://podcast.com/show/67709/Ask-MomRN-Show-Tamara-Walker%2C-R.N.-%7C-Blog-Talk-Radio-Feed/

Thing 18--YouTube etc...

I think YouTube is a fun tool---one can totally loose track of time watching one video which then leads to more videos--some worthwhile and some not so much! I found a great on to help give kids some perspective on the size of the solar system--it is so hard to comprehend the unreal size of our solar system without having the ability to have some hands-on activities---so this was a cool video that gave some perspective. I couldn't get this link to go "live" but if you copy and paste it you will get to the YouTube site with this video. I need to use YouTube more often as a teaching source for short segments of information.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS88G5WBcfQ

Thing 17-ELM Tools

This is a wonderful resource for information research. We are already set up with some of these sites--tip of the hat to Lisa Dooley! The one thing to be careful with when working with elementary kiddos is to limit the resources so this initial site could be overwhelming--so some guiding would be necessary.

Thing 16-Student Tools

This was a great site that could really be useful. I thought the teacher tools had great resources to use to start the kids thinking about research. I wish there was a primary version to use with 3rd and 4th graders. I could possibly use the ideas but revise them for using with primary age kiddos. I like the sequencing they used. I will have my older daughter use this site out when she has a project this school year to help her keep on track.

Thing 15-Online Games...

If you tried Puzzle Pirates, write a blog post about how the interaction was with other sailors.

I chose to do Puzzle Pirates...I am not a big gamer so this was a stretch for my capibilities, so I called in my resident expert my 13 year old daughter to play!! She thought the bilging was entertaining but she thought the pirates were to personal for her comfort level, when they asked what her real name was and where she lived she told them that information was prohibited! So I think I have taught her internet safety well! I don't see myself using the internet games or encouraging my daughter to use them when they start asking for personal information!

Thing 14-LibraryThing

I think this is a great site--it is similar to shelfari, another book reccomendation site that is set up in a very similar way. I have set up my account in LibraryThing and put in 7 book that I have read. I really think that I will enjoy using this when I need a good reccomendation. I love reading books all summer long but then school starts and I get behind in my "fun" reading. This will be a nice place for me to go to get great reccomendations based on what I enjoy reading.


http://www.librarything.com/home/pattyfrier

Thing 13-Online Tools

I love the online calendar on Google--I chose to stay with google since that is what I will mainly be using with our classroom webpage--so it just is easier for me to stick with google! I will defintily use the calendar to help me stay organized once school starts again and my daughters' activities start up also--my husband and I can coordinate online instead of just relying on the calendar in the kitchen--that is not always viewed everyday! I spent quite a bit of time perusing the other gadgets. They could be very useful it I was tied to my computer more often--but once school starts I am not at my computer enough to utilize these gadgets more than a notepad and pencil provides--but very fun tools to have access to if I had a blackberry or iphone!

Thing 12-To Digg or Not to Digg

This was an okay tool to peruse and find a use for in my life. I can see this as a real time drainer for me--I get so caught up on nonimportant trivia news that I would totally loose track of time. So to be honest I don't really find myself using these sites much at all. I read a couple of stories on this site--I will committ these to memory but I don't see myself using them very much. I will add them to my delicious account so I remember them!!

Thing 11-Delicious

This is a fabulous tool! It will be so great to have one place for all my bookmarks that are in one central easily accessed place! Now I don't have to email sites to school or home depending upon where I am when I find a great site! What a great tool! I LOVE it! I could see using this for kids when we are doing research and have on central location for them to access sites that are good for research for a particular area of study--that will be interesting to play with this school year when we are researching for our state reports.
I can see Lisa our media specialist utililzing this to help the kids with researching projects. It will be a journey for all of us--but I can really see the potential for this tool!

Thing 10-Wikis

I have have mixed feelings using wikis--they are a great collaborative tool--we used on for parents to sign up for conferencing--it was a little tricky the first time parents signed up to give them access--but once they had access then it went pretty smoothly. It was not the easiest to figure out the formatting of the pages--I have added our link we used last year for conferences and pictures. We will be using google docs on our web page this year and I am hoping that will be an easier tool to navigate.


http://pattysuewiki.pbworks.com/

Thing 9-Collaboration Tools

I am in the learning process with Google docs and I am determined to master it!! This is what we are suing for our new web page to send out newsletters, conference sign-ups, etc...so I really want to get proficient at using this tool. I feel it will be easier to put up documents on the web using Google docs---I just have a high learning curve right now--by the time school starts (hopefully) I will be ready to rock and roll with it. I made our first newsletter for our web page so that was fun--I want to learn how to jazz it up more--that is my next goal--it is a little to plain jane for me right now!

Thing 8-Share Your Creations

Thing 7--Communication Tools

All of these communication tools are great as long as you don't let them rule your time--email is the best way to communicate quick things with parents and friends and family--but I still like to use the phone to talk about things that might be more sensitive in nature. I text with my daughter all the time--her preferred method of communication when she is out and about! I have done IM but it is not always convenient when the person you want isn't online at the same time.
I have been really working hard at organizing my emails and responding or deleting or filing them right away to keep my box cleaned up! It helps with the stress of getting too many emails every day!

Thing 6-Online Image Generators

These tools could be a lot ofun in my classroom--the trading cards could be used as literature projects for students to summerize their books and then share them--trading cards could also be used when they do Theme projects such as presidents--they could make trading cards for different presidents or national monuments. The license plates could be fun to use when we study the states and regions. Lots of fun uses for thes tools!

Thing 5-More Flickr

I thought this was a fun site--I had difficulty adding my picture onto my blog--a little frustrating--but I tried! I could see using this with my student to jazz up a project--do it with a reading response project or maybe something in Theme.

Thing 4-Flickr

How might you use Flickr in your library or media center?

• It could be great tool to share class photos with parents that are taken throughout the school year--my only worry is having the photos public--is that safe for my students?
  Do you use Flickr or another photo hosting service? Which one? How does it compare to Flickr? I have dabbled in other photo hosting services--this one was relatively easy to navigate through and get downloaded to my blog site.
  How do you feel about having your photos public (note that you can mark your Flickr photos private, too)--any concerns? I do have resevations about making the photos of students or my family for that matter public--I just don't know enough to know that the photos are safe from the "wrong" web browsers.

Sunset

Sunset
Originally uploaded by pfrier62

Here is my first flickr picture post! It wasn't too hard to accomplish!! Yeah!

Thing 3-RSS

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

• It seems like a handy tool to keep all your sites in one spot--
  How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
• I looked for some educational sites that I have used in the past but they were not a part of the GoogleReader so I couldn't add them to me GoogleReader site.
  Which tool for finding feeds was easiest to use?
• I used the GoogleReader and found that easy--It was very easy to loose track of time just perusing all the fun sites--