I really did think too much about this Thing when I read "Social Bookmarking." Wow- where has this feature been my whole life? I am constantly switching computers, whether it be my Dell at home, my personal Mac laptop, my school computers, or even my parents computer. What a fantastic feature that will forever change my "bookmarking."
Sine we started our LTP Web 2.0 project, the bookmark bar at the top of my Mac computers has become quite full. Now that really won't be as necessary. I can now just access my del.icio.us accont, and have every site I need for the LTP project, plus it won't matter what computer I am using.
I am also thinking how useful this will be when I am in attendance at various conferences. I will have access to all my needed sites, regardless of whose computer I am using. Plus, I can add any new sites that I am introduced to.
My husband was very intrigued by this "Thing." He teaches 8th. grade Social Studies, and he, too has many sites that he frequents. Recently, his personal laptop "bit the dust," and to say he was a little freaked out is an understatement. Social bookmarking will definitely make a difference when we have to commit to a new computer.
Last, I can't wait to create my bookmarks for my research units. I especially like the idea of us creating a unique TAG so we can all gain insight into effective bookmarks for our research units.
To me, this "Thing" supports that notion of: Why reinvent the wheel?
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Thing #12
The long awaited, quite controversial, Thing #12 is upon me. I will be the first to admit that I was very anti-MySpace before this project. Any time there is a news story or radio broadcast covering MySpace, I am tuned in to hear what they have to say or prove about the dangers of social networking.
The first problem is that I had no experience with MySpace, so when I hear the negative stories, I am not "really" aware of what they are talking about. Shame on me for prejudging and basing my views on someone else's thoughts, and not doing some investigating on my own.
The second problem is that I can now see that all of the negative stories I have tuned in for were the results of lack of supervision or knowledge. Many of these issues were because parents, no diferent than me, had no knowledge of social networking, were not monitoring what their children were doing online, or their children were too young to be on a scoial networking site.
Well, I now have been bitten by the social networking bug. I have created a MySpace account, joined The Texas School Librarians group, the Mesquite Librarians & Friends, and even Facebook. Sure, proabably a little overboard, but I wanted to see what they all had to offer before I judged them, yet again.
I will admit that I have truly enjoyed the MySpace page that I created. After only two days, I was in contact with my college roommate from West Texas, found several college friends, numerous friends from high school, Mesquite teachers and librarians, and yes, even a few students and weirdos. The great thing about it is all I have to do is block that person or set my security up higher. Nothing obscene has come my way. If I do not know who you are, you are not allowed on my page.
Now don't get me wrong, this is no place for my 9 year old right now. However, she sat right beside me as I set things up, chatted with friends, and even blocked a person. We had continual conversations about the good and bad aspects of MySpace. At only 9, she already has a lot of knowledge about social networks, and what is good and bad about them.
As Library Media Specialists, we owe it to our clients to know as much as we can about social networks. They are here to stay. Ignoring them will only cause more harm. I would much rather have the knowledge, and be able to guide my students, rather than bashing something I know they are involved in.
My students are too young to have a MySpace account, but guess what, nearly a dozen found me over the holiday break. I am sure many of them are not being monitored. At least now much better equipped to guide them, and in a sense, keep up with what they have going on in their social network.
As far as usefulness in the library setting, I really do not have answer. I guess classes could have pages where they posted information about current events in their classrooms, a science-based page, or even a community page where parents can be involved. The security woud have to be the strongest, and we would have to learn a lot more about the necessary security. I am looking forward to researching this some more.
Basically, I walk away from this Thing much more informed for my students. I feel more equipped to answer questions about social networking, and will seek out more knowledge, and weigh it out for myself. I am also in contact with many lost friends, and maybe I might just seem a little more "real" to my students.
The first problem is that I had no experience with MySpace, so when I hear the negative stories, I am not "really" aware of what they are talking about. Shame on me for prejudging and basing my views on someone else's thoughts, and not doing some investigating on my own.
The second problem is that I can now see that all of the negative stories I have tuned in for were the results of lack of supervision or knowledge. Many of these issues were because parents, no diferent than me, had no knowledge of social networking, were not monitoring what their children were doing online, or their children were too young to be on a scoial networking site.
Well, I now have been bitten by the social networking bug. I have created a MySpace account, joined The Texas School Librarians group, the Mesquite Librarians & Friends, and even Facebook. Sure, proabably a little overboard, but I wanted to see what they all had to offer before I judged them, yet again.
I will admit that I have truly enjoyed the MySpace page that I created. After only two days, I was in contact with my college roommate from West Texas, found several college friends, numerous friends from high school, Mesquite teachers and librarians, and yes, even a few students and weirdos. The great thing about it is all I have to do is block that person or set my security up higher. Nothing obscene has come my way. If I do not know who you are, you are not allowed on my page.
Now don't get me wrong, this is no place for my 9 year old right now. However, she sat right beside me as I set things up, chatted with friends, and even blocked a person. We had continual conversations about the good and bad aspects of MySpace. At only 9, she already has a lot of knowledge about social networks, and what is good and bad about them.
As Library Media Specialists, we owe it to our clients to know as much as we can about social networks. They are here to stay. Ignoring them will only cause more harm. I would much rather have the knowledge, and be able to guide my students, rather than bashing something I know they are involved in.
My students are too young to have a MySpace account, but guess what, nearly a dozen found me over the holiday break. I am sure many of them are not being monitored. At least now much better equipped to guide them, and in a sense, keep up with what they have going on in their social network.
As far as usefulness in the library setting, I really do not have answer. I guess classes could have pages where they posted information about current events in their classrooms, a science-based page, or even a community page where parents can be involved. The security woud have to be the strongest, and we would have to learn a lot more about the necessary security. I am looking forward to researching this some more.
Basically, I walk away from this Thing much more informed for my students. I feel more equipped to answer questions about social networking, and will seek out more knowledge, and weigh it out for myself. I am also in contact with many lost friends, and maybe I might just seem a little more "real" to my students.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Thing #11
By far, this was the easiest Thing to this point. Basically, you only need a username and a password, and you are ready to look for books. Being librarians, we consume books at such a rate that it is hard to keep track of everything we have read. I think Library Thing is the perfect way to keep up with what you have read, especially if you are checking the books out, this way you don't forget.
Thing #9
When I was working on Thing 8, I had a million questions. I should have known that Thing 9 would help me refine the work I was doing on 8. I have been playing around with the RSS feed finders for a month or so now. I am feeling a little more comfortable looking for blogs that would be of a benefit to read regularly, but I am still a little overwhelmed with the amount of time I am still spending looking for them.
Feedster was still not working the last time I checked. Google Blog Search was one of the easiest to use. Everything Google makes searching easier. I also had some success with School Library Blogs at Suprglu. I did not like Topix or Technorati. But i plan on revisiting and spendng more time on Thing 8 & 9. They were more news driven and a little overwhelming at first glance. I also want to read everyone's submission for these two Things to see what they are finding and having success with.S
My favorite, so far, has been Edublog. I like the fact that it selects "the best of the best" in various categories each year. I feel like I waste less time here. Just about everything I selected was worth spending time reading. My only concern is that I was reading on Cathy Nelson's TechoTuesday that she may have to move her blog because of limited space on Edublog. I will keep reading to see how that plays out.
As far as unusual, I really enjoyed the blog "Accents" by Deep Thinking on School Library Blogs at Suprglu. As much as I love being a librarian, reading to students, all that we do: I am lousy at voices and accents. I "stunk" in all my language classes in middle school and high school, and I am even worse at voices for characters. Honestly, I just don't think my brain is wired for it, kind of like direction. In the meantime, I will continue to read stories to my students. But sadly, the only variation will be in how loud I read it!
Feedster was still not working the last time I checked. Google Blog Search was one of the easiest to use. Everything Google makes searching easier. I also had some success with School Library Blogs at Suprglu. I did not like Topix or Technorati. But i plan on revisiting and spendng more time on Thing 8 & 9. They were more news driven and a little overwhelming at first glance. I also want to read everyone's submission for these two Things to see what they are finding and having success with.S
My favorite, so far, has been Edublog. I like the fact that it selects "the best of the best" in various categories each year. I feel like I waste less time here. Just about everything I selected was worth spending time reading. My only concern is that I was reading on Cathy Nelson's TechoTuesday that she may have to move her blog because of limited space on Edublog. I will keep reading to see how that plays out.
As far as unusual, I really enjoyed the blog "Accents" by Deep Thinking on School Library Blogs at Suprglu. As much as I love being a librarian, reading to students, all that we do: I am lousy at voices and accents. I "stunk" in all my language classes in middle school and high school, and I am even worse at voices for characters. Honestly, I just don't think my brain is wired for it, kind of like direction. In the meantime, I will continue to read stories to my students. But sadly, the only variation will be in how loud I read it!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Thing #8
Okay, I think this has been my most challenging Thing thus far. Not so much because of the set-up, which I chose Google Reader, just because Google has been so easy for everything else, or looking for RSS feeds that I m interested in. It is the actual reading of those that I chose that I am a little overwhelmed with. I was super "gung-ho" before the holidays when I started working on this "Thing." Boom- the holidays hit and I did not visit my account for 2 1/2 weeks. Of course it is full, which freaked me out a little bit. I am slowly working through them, and realizing that I need to reevaluate the feeds that I selected.
I will admit this is the first time I have kept up to date with The Top Shelf (which always makes me smile because I think of Chili's Margaritas). Now that I have subscribed, I noticed an article there covering the Independent Investigation Model created by two GT teachers for research. With my New Jersey Writing re-certification approaching sooner than I would like to face, I am continually looking for up-to-date information on my topic. We are required to present some research that is published in the same year as we re-certify. This is always a challenge for all of us. I can see how RSS feeds will help me in my future re-certifications to find that new information leading to the big day.
What I would like to accomplish now is read up on everyone's RSS blog. I would like to see what everyone else has subscribed to, and to see what ideas they have as far as school benefits. I know this will be great for me because it will save me time looking for information I need. I just need to spend the time to select feeds that I TRULY want to keep up with.
I was "adventurous" and added a blogroll to my blog page. It referred to it as a "widget" which I hope to learn more about, too.I added my "Self-Help" blogroll to my blog page. With the new year brings in new diets!!!!!
I will admit this is the first time I have kept up to date with The Top Shelf (which always makes me smile because I think of Chili's Margaritas). Now that I have subscribed, I noticed an article there covering the Independent Investigation Model created by two GT teachers for research. With my New Jersey Writing re-certification approaching sooner than I would like to face, I am continually looking for up-to-date information on my topic. We are required to present some research that is published in the same year as we re-certify. This is always a challenge for all of us. I can see how RSS feeds will help me in my future re-certifications to find that new information leading to the big day.
What I would like to accomplish now is read up on everyone's RSS blog. I would like to see what everyone else has subscribed to, and to see what ideas they have as far as school benefits. I know this will be great for me because it will save me time looking for information I need. I just need to spend the time to select feeds that I TRULY want to keep up with.
I was "adventurous" and added a blogroll to my blog page. It referred to it as a "widget" which I hope to learn more about, too.I added my "Self-Help" blogroll to my blog page. With the new year brings in new diets!!!!!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Thing #7
I was never aware that Google had so much to offer. I have always listened to the secondary teachers complain about having limited access or having to override to utilize Google, but I thought "What is the big deal?" Well, after playing extensively with iGoogle, I now know what the big deal is.
Being in charge of the morning announcements, like most of us are, I always feel rushed to help my announcers find all the information they needed, especially the top box office movies. After looking at all the options on iGoogle, my announcers helped decide what we needed to have access to, and set our page up.
We are utilizing: weather, sports, box office movies, quotes of the day, in the news, Did You Know, and they also chose a few things, just for fun, that we don't use for announcements.
Being in charge of the morning announcements, like most of us are, I always feel rushed to help my announcers find all the information they needed, especially the top box office movies. After looking at all the options on iGoogle, my announcers helped decide what we needed to have access to, and set our page up.
We are utilizing: weather, sports, box office movies, quotes of the day, in the news, Did You Know, and they also chose a few things, just for fun, that we don't use for announcements.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Thing #6
Just when I think I have found my favorite "Thing," I move on to the next assignment, and I have even more fun with it. For this "thing," I created a trading card for Madison's basset hound, Quencey, used Spell with Flickr for my VW bug, created a softball collage with Mosaic Maker, and a few other things.
I had the perfect opportunity to think about school uses when Dennis complained about not having time or a "worthy" enough reason to take his 8th. grade social studies classes to the computer lab. I fired up Flickr Toys and my blog, and showed him some of the features that he could teach his students, along with the computer tech. I thought he could use the trading cards for his explorer unit, and then he thought of using the trading cards for the key players in his Constitutional Convention lesson.
They also have access to the mobile laptops, so I reminded him that he didn't have to "take" them to the lab, he could bring the lab to his class.
I am afraid that "the test" has had a negative impact on our students getting the opportunities to experiment with all the new technologies. I hope this project will help me gain insight and provide my teachers with new technologies that will give them "worthy" reasons to make it down to the computer lab.
I had the perfect opportunity to think about school uses when Dennis complained about not having time or a "worthy" enough reason to take his 8th. grade social studies classes to the computer lab. I fired up Flickr Toys and my blog, and showed him some of the features that he could teach his students, along with the computer tech. I thought he could use the trading cards for his explorer unit, and then he thought of using the trading cards for the key players in his Constitutional Convention lesson.
They also have access to the mobile laptops, so I reminded him that he didn't have to "take" them to the lab, he could bring the lab to his class.
I am afraid that "the test" has had a negative impact on our students getting the opportunities to experiment with all the new technologies. I hope this project will help me gain insight and provide my teachers with new technologies that will give them "worthy" reasons to make it down to the computer lab.
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