Thing # 18

I looked at the tutorial for OpenOffice, but I didn’t want to download another thing to my computer.

I liked Google Docs better. There are not as many options for fonts and font sizes. This would be wonderful for students – they don’t have as many options to play with when they are supposed to be typing. I also liked the idea of having access to the documents from anywhere without having to keep up with a jump drive.

Thing # 17

http://rollyo.com/editroll.html?sid=431038

I hope I got this right. This is a link to the search roll I did for butterflies. This is a great tool to keep kids off the unrelated pages of Google while doing research.

Thing # 16

I have used a wiki before so this wasn’t entirely new to me, but setting up my own will be a different story. Besides using wikis for educational purposes, I thought that it would be a great way to organize class parties and field trips. Parents could get on and sign up for what they will send and who will attend. It would also be great for our PTA to set up one to help organize the carnival we do every year. They could also set up one for the popcorn sales.

Thing # 15

Libraries should have always been 2.0, but whether or not they have been is probably as varied as the librarians themselves. I feel that the library I work in is pretty close. At our school, we have taken suggestions from students about books to buy. The teachers and staff are welcome to give suggestions about what they need to implement their lessons. If the teachers will let her know what they are studying, our librarian will find ways to reinforce their lessons. She is always looking for ways to implement technology in a meaningful way. So, yeah, I feel like we are 2.0.

I really liked what Michael Stephens said about Technolust. He cautioned against having technology just because it is cool or because of the status of having it. He feels that the technology should “…meet the needs of the user in a new or improved way.”

Richard Anderson’s article concerned me at first. I had to take another look at it to make sure I read it right. At first it seemed that he was saying that there was no longer a need for a library collection or a need to teach research skills. On my second reading, I came to the conclusion that he meant that the reference collection may no longer be needed. I can see that. The web has so much more, and the information is updated more regularly than the library collection. I also decided that he didn’t say not to teach research skills, just that it does not need to be as focused as in the past. I’m still not sure about this. There is so much out there that students need to be taught how to filter through all of it to find what they really need. Of course, he is a college librarian. By then they don’t need that kind of instruction like elementary school children do.

Thing # 14

There was a big difference in the number of hits I got between a regular word search and the more specific blog and tag searches. Good thing to know when you are looking for something specific and don’t have hours to sort through everything.

I look at the popular blogs and searches and tags. Nothing jumped out at me, but I don’t have the time right now to fully explore it.

Tags are great to help find what you are looking for fairly quick. They will be a great help when I am looking for sites to help plan my instruction.

I am a little confused at the moment. Is Technorati about the same thing as del.icio.us?

On a side note: I used a mosaic maker for a project I had to do in my college class last week. I wouldn’t have known about this cool tool if I hadn’t been a player here. Thanks.

Thing # 13

I can see myself using del.icio.us to find lots of resources to support the curriculum.
I did some exploring and added a few sites to my list and I added a few of my browser favorites to my list. I know I’ll be adding lots more once I graduate and start teaching. It’s really easy to do with the buttons right there on the toolbar.

Thing # 12

Two things that I think are important about commenting on blogs are to leave a meaningful response and to be courteous.

I have visited several blogs while playing this summer, but I don’t usually leave a comment because I haven’t felt like I had anything meaningful to contribute. According to the articles I read, it is OK to just leave a “Nicely done” comment as long as you really mean it. I’ll try to be more responsive from now on.

I did run into a few blogs that I really wanted to leave a rather sarcastic response to, but that gets into the being courteous part of it. You have to word your comments very carefully so that they express your difference of opinion without making the blogger think you are telling them that they are an idiot for what they believe. It is especially important to choose your words carefully since your tone of voice and facial expression cannot be heard or seen. What you may mean to be a joke may be taken seriously on the other end. Thank goodness for emoticons.

I’ll have to get back with the blogs that I post on. The last time I tried doing a search on Google for blogs to look at I didn’t have much luck.

Thing #11

I cataloged 5 of my books. I would like to go back and do more when I have some time. I looked at some of the groups. There was one that I would like to join at some point, but I don’t feel like I have the time to be an effective member right now. I added the blog to my RSS reader.

Professionally it will be a great resource to find books for my classroom as well as books to support the curriculum. Personally, it will help me to keep track of what I have read and what I want to read. I was tempted to sign up for some of the early review books, but again, I don’t have the time to devote to such an undertaking right now.

I read a few of the other blogs about LibraryThing to see what others thought about using it for. I saw a suggestion about students using it to share what they are reading. It would be a great idea to start a group for your class, or for students in the whole school, to write reviews on what they have read. In the library we are constantly being asked to recommend books for our students. This would be a good place for them to go see what others their own age recommend.

Thing # 10

I found this little guy in Kid-Friendly Image Generators.

Classroom: These are great tools to give the kids an option for graphics besides Kid Pix or just copying a picture off the internet. They have to use more creativity to come up with a caption to put on the signs. The problem I see is that there is so much that they will take forever picking what they want.

Library: Use them to make signs for new books, or popular series, or labeling shelves.

I went to a few image generators on Google search. I didn't like them as well as the ones that are listed in Library2Play.

Thing # 9

I explored all of the search tools except Syndic8. I didn’t find any of them more helpful or more confusing than the others. I found one more blog to add to my list. I guess this is an evolving thing that will grow with time and expertise and life situations.

Thing # 8: RSS Feeds and Readers

RSS Feeds and Readers are lifesavers for those who keep up with lots of different sites and blogs. I had some trouble when I tried to find blogs outside of the ones suggested, so I just stayed with ones listed on Library2Play. I didn’t have trouble finding blogs to subscribe to, I had trouble finding a blog that I wanted to subscribe to. I will have to play around with the search for blogs more, maybe it will get better.

What do I like about it? It’s a great way to keep up with all the blogs and news stories you look at all the time. It will save lots of time going to just one place instead of having to open and close several websites.

How might I use it? School: I could get my students set up with blogs and have them do their journals on their blogs instead of in notebooks. Then I would subscribe to all of their blogs. That would save me time in flipping through journals to find the latest entry and I could access it anywhere without having to lug all those notebooks around.
Personal: About the same thing, except that I would add blogs from friends.

How can libraries use them? Set up a school library blog for students to comment on books they have read. Librarians could use them to keep up with the latest news in the library world.