Thing 11

I really liked LibraryThing. I have used a similar site on Living Social that allows you to post a tab for books to your Facebook Profile. Many of the features are similar but scope is much more limited on the Living Social site. I signed up for a ton of groups - probably more than I can keep up with. I signed up for a couple on children's literature, a couple for librarians and one for historical fiction. I also signed up to be an early reviewer and review advance copies of books. There were no books currently available to sign up to review, but I will keep checking back.

I can see using this tool in the library to remind me of books to recommend to students and teachers. The tag feature will be especially helpful for those who need a book about...

Thing 10

These tools were so much fun to use and have so manny applications. Wordle was great for allowing students to create concept maps or to use at the beginning or end of an instructional presentation. I discussed the trading card maker in an earlier post. It has many applications for student research and making educational games. I loved ImageChef - that is what I used to make the BeachRead sign. I think it could be used to make "riddles" or to catch student attention. There are also several cute, animated options. To me the best thing about these tools is that you can quickly create clever, attractive images that will appeal to today's patrons.

Thing 9

I liked Google Reader. It was intuitive to use. The folders were especially helpful. I found a tutorial that I really that explained it a little further. I subscribed to several library related blogs but I think that I need to limit the ones I follow. I become very overwhelmed during the school year and think that choosing a few that consistently match my needs and interests would be better than to subscribe to multiple feeds and not have time to look through them.

Thing 8

I think that Google Reader is a great tool for staying current. It makes getting the latest information so much easier. I especially like being able to sort them in folders. I think I will use this feature next year to improve my time management as I try to stay up to date with my professional reading.

Thing 7

I have been using iGoogle for some time but plan to use more of the features now. I am especially interested in Google Reader as a way to keep up with new information in one place.

Google Earth is a fantastic application that I love to use with my students in many different ways. Sometimes I use it to introduce a place that we are reading about before reading a book. I also like to let the kids use it to explore when they are doing research. They love being able to zoom in and see pictures of the actual places and seeing where they are in relation to those places.

Thing 6

I created this trading card on the trading card site. This would be a great project for my students! We often make trading cards as a product for Big 6 projects but we have done it using Publisher. This application would be quicker for the kids and allow them to spend more time focusing on the research and text instead of learning Publisher. I am not sure if this would work at school because of the filters on campus, but it is a great application. I also liked several other applications that allowed you to make collages and mosaics. I can see how these images would make presentations more engaging. I am anxious to try linking to these sites at school to see if students will be able to use them in the library setting.

Thing 5

Northern Mockingbird-eggs by West Coast Birding from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonebirding/1315465840/sizes/m/

Mockingbird on Swing by aphid dew from http://www.flickr.com/photos/8503013@N04/3516775588/sizes/m/

I loved Flickr! I have posted two of several of the pictures that I found to use in a lesson on symbols of Texas. I wanted my students to be able to do more than recite the state bird, flower, etc. I was able to get really interesting pictures of the state symbols to help students understand a little more about why these animals/plants/dishes represent Texas. I would like to use these symbols to create a mosaic in a later exercise.

Thing 3

I started "playing" tonight when I made my Avatar. I went to Yahoo to make mine and I was happy to see that ALA actually has their own avatar READ tee-shirt! I can see why the kids have so much fun with Second Life! It can be addictive to look through everything. I was a little concerned about picking up viruses on my computer from some of the free avatar sites and that was why I decided to stick with Yahoo. Does anybody know if viruses are an issue on these sites? If they are, is there anything I can do to keep my computer safe?

Thing 2

I am really excited yet a little overwhelmed about starting on a quest to be Web 2.o savvy. It is something I have wanted to do since reading an article about 23 Things in a journal last year. After going through the 7 1/2 Habits PPT on the Library2Play site, I believe that my greatest strengths are Habit 1 - Begin with the End in Mind and Habit 2 - Accept Responsibility for Your Own Learning. Through professional reading, conversations, and conferences, I have recognized that I am not as familiar as I would like to be with current technology. My goal is to be familiar with most of the Web 2.0 technologies and fluent in at least a few of them. Begining with that end in mind, I have begun to look for opportunities to reach my goal. This project seems like the perfect way for me to take responsibility for my own learning. My biggest challenge of the 7 1/2 Habits is Habit 3 - Viewing Problems as Challenges. This is especially true with technology snafus. It is easy to become frustrated and overwhelmed when things don't work right with technology and go back to doing things the way that are safe and familiar. Staying with what you know does not promote growth and what you are familiar with eventually becomes stale. Learning new things keeps us vibrant and new technologies keep our lessons fresh and engaging to our learners. I love the idea of Play as a part of the 7 1/2 Habits and I think that thinking of the 23 tasks as "play" makes them seem more doable and takes the pressure off to do them perfectly. Seeing those challenges as opportunities is easier to do when you are "playing" while you learn. I am looking forward to "playing" all summer!