HABS 23 THINGS

Thing 26- Join the Ning

2009-03-14T21:21:00.002-05:00

I joined the Ning during round 1. I didn't really understand what I was doing at the time. This time I joined the School Library Media Specialist group and commented on a discussion about the Delicious social bookmarking tool. It could be a useful tool for discussing school libraries.

Thing 25 - Bloggers' Toolkit

2009-02-26T17:58:00.002-06:00

I spent a couple of hours going through the sites. I put a clock and a "recent comments" widget on my 23 thing site and an optical illusion quiz on my school blog. I also checked out some of the photo editing and free photo sites. I liked Pixenate for photo editing. It sounded too complicated to add it to my blog.

Thing 24 - Refresh Blog

2009-02-22T19:13:00.002-06:00

I added a blog for the Mountain Lake High School Library where students could comment on books and suggest titles they would like added to the collection. I put a link to the blog on our school Web site, but there hasn't been much blogging going on! I persuaded one student to blog about what she was reading and I asked the English teacher if she would have her students write book reviews.

I rarely read or comment on other people's blogs. I just don't have time.

I refreshed my blog and my memory about how to make changes to it. It was easier this time around!

Thing 23 - Final Thoughts

2008-04-15T20:41:00.002-05:00

I feel as though I've traveled to another country and I'm just beginning to learn the language and customs. It has been an exciting and very worthwhile experience. I know I've changed my perspective on the 2.0 world. I understand it more and want to be part of it...at home and at work.

I loved making the blog, Second Life, Facebook, all the photo editing sites, del.icio.us, learning more about RSS feeds and iGoogle.

I didn't know any of the other 23 Things participants. I wish I could have completed this with someone so we could have talked about the things in person. Just today a teacher at school said, "I'm into Facebook now." I said, "Really!!! Me, too! Do you want to be my friend?" I also became friends with an previous exchange student in Australia with whom I had lost contact.

This was an intense, exciting, and valuable experience. It was better than most college classes I've taken.

Thanks to everyone who put it together for the 2.0 illiterate!

Thing 22- What Did I Learn?

2008-04-15T20:27:00.003-05:00

This was one of my favorite projects of all time! I am pumped and hope to spread this excitement to my colleagues and students. I have learned so many new things. Now my job is to organize all the information, sites, usernames, and passwords and make sense out of them. I plan to start a library blog in the High School.

Thing 21 - Social Networking Sites

2008-04-14T21:11:00.006-05:00

I joined Ning and left a comment on one of the discussions. My blog is proudly wearing the Ning badge!

I tried out my new Flip Video and posted a short video on the "23 Things on a Stick" Ning.

Thing 20 - Facebook and MySpace

2008-04-13T21:34:00.003-05:00

I joined Facebook and found three people in my address book who were also on Facebook. I sent emails to them asking them to be my friend. We'll see if they respond. I joined two groups - "23 Things on a Stick" and "Library 2.0 Interest Group."

I looked at the two library links on MySpace. Very impressive.

I'm glad I took this step and joined Facebook. I've been thinking about doing it and have had reservations. I feel like I'm starting to be part of the 2.0 world!

Thing 19 - Podcasts

2008-04-12T21:42:00.004-05:00

I found a Mac feed called "Apple Sauce for the Soul." I also added a feed to my iGoogle start page called "Mac Tips Daily." I liked Podcast.com, Podcast.net, and Educational Podcast Directory for searching for educational and technology podcasts.

I would like to try having students advertise books by putting their podcasts on our web site or my "future" library blog.

Thing 18 - YouTube

2008-04-10T21:02:00.005-05:00

I just bought a Flip Video, so I search for video about it in YouTube.

Thing 17 - ELM Productivity Tools

2008-04-10T20:25:00.003-05:00

I love the ELM databases, however, they are not used as much as I would like them to be. I tell the teachers about them and demonstrate them during inservice days. I introduce them to students in 3rd grade on up. However, everyone prefers doing a Google search. In order for them to be used by students, teachers will have to require a source from a database and remind students about them.

Sometimes they are not as effective as a Google search. Recently, there were searches by different classes for Native American tribes, specific deserts, and specific animal specimens. The databases didn't come up with helpful information.

Then again, sometimes the databases have the just the information students need....about weather events, history, etc.

Thing 16 - Student 2.0 Tools

2008-04-10T20:07:00.003-05:00

I've shown the Research Project Calculator to the teachers, however, none of them have used it with a class. Next year I am going to include it in my 7th Grade information skills curriculum and demonstrate it to the teachers during opening workshop.

Thing 15- Online Games

2008-04-09T21:47:00.002-05:00

I joined Second World. I feel really stupid now. I managed to chat with another newbie and went into Info Island. I walked around and tried to sit down in the chairs, but I couldn't. I tried some of the gestures. I was all alone on Info Island. I didn't meet anyone there.

I can understand why these games are addicting.

Thing 14- LibraryThing

2008-04-09T20:11:00.003-05:00

I love LibraryThing! I started my own library of books I am reading or have read. This will be a great way to keep track of the books we are reading in our Public Library book discussion group. We can also find recommended titles for our book club from the MLA group.

I'll going to make tags for "adult" and "children" so I can easily look up the books I've read in each category. So, when a student asks me for a recommended book that I've read, I can easily look at my list.

Thing 13 - Online Productivity Tools

2008-04-08T08:24:00.012-05:00

I found a countdown widget for the last senior day for our school website, however, it doesn't work on my blog or on our website.

I use our school's website for my start page, so I wasn't too interested in designing a new one. The PDF Converter and Zamzar will be wonderful tools for our school. The MACs convert documents to PDF files instantly, however, we have had trouble converting to PDFs with the PCs. Now it should be no problem. The kids panic when they come to school with files that can't be opened in Word or AppleWorks. Now we have a tool that will convert them and open them!

Since I don't sit by a computer much of my day, the online calendar is not handy for me. It takes too much time to enter things in either the calendar or To Do Lists. Maybe I'll change my mind in the future.

Thing 12 - Social Media Sites

2008-04-05T21:30:00.002-05:00

I joined Mixx and shared an article about censoring "abortion" searches. I got caught up in reading some of the popular articles and looking at popular images (especially the celebrity baby pictures). I think this would be a fun way to read news since it would be geared to my interests. I don't think it will replace the newspaper, but could certainly add to it. It is a matter of finding the time to spend in front of the computer. Priorities!

Thing 11 - Tagging and Del.icio.us

2008-04-01T20:42:00.002-05:00

I labeled all my posts which will be helpful when I go back to see what I have learned (or missed) in my journey through 23 things.

I think del.icio.us will solve the problem of not being able to access the bookmarks that are stored on my home computer at school. It will also solve the problem of having bookmarks under Safari and also under Firefox.

I plan to look at Pagekeeper designed for teachers when I have time.

Thing 10 - Wikis

2008-03-31T15:53:00.003-05:00

Our technology coordinator is in love with wikis, but so far he hasn't succeeded in getting the staff to use them. He has one for Linux users and one for technology problems/solutions in our school. Our Technology Task Force used a wiki to edit our school's technology plan. We each had a part of the plan to write and edit.

I browsed through many of the wikis and made an entry on the 23 Things wiki. I found a wiki that listed school library blogs that I will use to get ideas for my new blog.

Thing 9 - Online Collaboration Tools

2008-03-31T14:53:00.005-05:00

I already have an account with Google Docs, however, the site is blocked at school, so I couldn't use it as I originally intended. I did publish a document called, "Web Sites for Media Literacy,"

I signed up for an account with Zoho Writer. I'll see if it will work at school. I am actually using Zoho Writer to write this blog posting. I will send it to my blog as soon as I am done with it. I think Zoho has more editing tools than Google docs. Maybe they are just easier to see.

Both of these tools would work well for group projects at school. I could see the English teachers use it to edit student documents. It would save a lot of paper!

I accidentally made this whole post into a link and now I can't seem to undo it.

Thing 8 - Share Your Creations

2008-03-26T20:32:00.003-05:00

I used "Thumbstacks" to make a slideshow. It didn't work in Safari, but when I switched to Firefox it worked. The toolbar didn't have all the tools I needed. I had to "control click" or "right click" to add text boxes, pics, etc. I put the link on my blog. The other slide show sites seemed a little more polished even though I didn't really use them.

When looking through the portfolios on eFolio Minnesota I found a neat widget to use on my web site so students can either chat with me or leave me a message. It is called MeebOme! (http://www.meebome.com/?w)

I could get lost in these sites. It is so much fun to learn all these new things. It is a bit overwhelming.

Thing 7 - Web 2.0 Communication Tools

2008-03-25T20:42:00.003-05:00

E-Mail: I use email to communicate with teachers about Web pages that support the curriculum. Teachers have really caught on to email. Students get overdue notices by email and many times send a return email asking me to renew their items. I wish I could send group emails to all high school students informing them about new materials, events, etc, but our technology person doesn't allow it because he is afraid that high school students will use it to send inappropriate messages.

Text Messaging: I don't use it. It takes too long to type messages. I don't know any of the student's cell phone numbers. I can see sending messages or notices by SMS, but we would have to have student phone numbers on file. I would be willing to receive text messages from students, but I would have to furnish the phone and minutes and would have to keep the phone close by and check it often.

IM: I've used the chat feature in Skype. In school, the students could use iChat to send messages to me if I was online.

Webinars: I have participated in two MINITEX webinars. They are okay, but do not replace being in the same room with an instructor and doing hands-on activities. I hadn't heard of OPAL before. I tried to watch some of the archived videos with my Mac, but they didn't work. I'll try them at school with a Windows operating system.

Thing 6 - Online Image Generator

2008-03-24T20:37:00.003-05:00

Iguana Trading Card
Originally uploaded by Hab's Pics

Thing 5 - More Fun With Flickr

2008-03-24T19:58:00.003-05:00

I had so much fun playing with these tools that I lost track of time! It would be fun to use Splashr to create a slide show of book covers to put on the school library Web site. The Spell with Flickr mashup will be useful for Web page headings. All of these tools would be fun to use with an after-school technology or photography class.

Thing 4 - Flickr

2008-03-23T21:53:00.004-05:00

I had fun spending a couple of hours with Flickr. I set up an account, uploaded pictures, tagged them with "23 things...", and put some on my blog. I might set up a Flickr account for the elementary library and post pictures of displays. I already use an online photo service called Kodak Gallery (formerly Ofoto). I will probably keep using it for my personal photos since I have many years of photos on it already. I could see using Flickr for any pictures that would be valuable to share with the public.

Thing 3 - RSS Feeds

2008-03-22T21:43:00.006-05:00

I've had a little experience with RSS feeds and have taught the concept to the 7th grade students, however, I have not become a habitual user of them. I probably have over 200 news feeds that I haven't read since I've added them to my bookmark bar. The Apple widget site has a feed that I do use frequently to keep up with the new widgets.

I didn't know about the Google reader page. So I've added my niece's blogs to that page and plan to add more soon.

Thing 2 - Library 2.0

2008-03-22T20:49:00.002-05:00

The library world has entered a new age. The high school LMC has changed dramatically since I started working as a school librarian. The students use Google to do all their research. I try to steer them to the ELM databases and online encyclopedias, but I'm afraid Wikipedia and other web sites are more appealing and easier to access. Heaven forbid if I mention using a book! So...the non-fiction book end of the LMC could be amputated. What will replace it? That's where Library 2.0 enters the picture.

Our libraries have to change along with our users. I can imagine a blog where kids can discuss what they are reading and suggest titles to their peers. We could host an online book discussion group among neighboring schools. I think librarians are needed more now than ever, but I realize we have to change with the times. Information literacy skills are crucial and librarians are the ones equipped to teach them to the staff and students. Schools are replacing their librarians with support staff at an alarming rate. We have to prove our value. That's why I'm trying to learn new skills by joining 23 Things on a Stick.

Thing 1 - Setting up a Blog

2008-03-22T20:39:00.001-05:00

I've finally finished Thing 1! After three weeks of sickness (the crud) and one week of vacationing in Cancun...I'm ready to take the plunge. On to Thing 2!!!

First Comment

2008-02-15T13:43:00.003-06:00

I'm taking the challenge! This is my first blog.