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.