Thing 9-Collaboration Tools

It was probably a good thing that the Declaration wasn't edited by quite so many of us-but it was silly fun.
Last spring, I was unsuccessfully introduced to Google docs. I didn't find the document that was shared with me for editing. Then the fellow staff member moved out of the district and I forgot about it. The document was there to my surprise. Now I think I've got it.
I did download a random word document of my own and sent it to my sister and husband to see if they could access it and edit. It worked with my husband's email account, but my sister was not able to access it. The link that showed up in her email took her to the Google docs, but she wasn't able to access the document in my account.
Zoho is still a mystery. I guess I'd have to say that it wasn't user friendly for this user.

Thing 8

First, I was impressed with the Web 2.0 Tools in Your Classroom by Mark Woolley. A nice overview.
I also enjoyed Slideshare. I found a few presentations that I think would be helpful to staff members in their present curriculum. I'm looking forward to sharing this site with them.
While eFolio and Lazybase are interesting, I start to feel that I could have bits of myself splattered all over the web. I am wondering how many of these sites I want to be registered for and how do you keep track of logins.
Picture Trail was quite fun. It seems user friendly, especially when it came to posting it to the blog. If we had more access to digital cameras at school, I'm sure students would enjoy presenting projects in this mode.

Thing 7--3&4 and things in general

I feel like the kindergarten kid the first time he/she looks around a whole library of books and is overwhelmed by how to make that first choice. Each of these things could occupy a lot of time if you fully explore them.
The possibilities of text messaging explored in the video seems "out there" for the school setting. That is especially true since we discourage the use of cell phones/text messaging in schools due to the distinct possibility that you can text all the answers someone needs in a testing situation. It is an interesting concept.
I have not taken part in a live web cast because it seems awkward to do so during the school day. I realize that if I make it a priority, I can possibly arrange for someone to cover for me...
I have viewed the archived web casts on Reading Rockets and have found them to be very informative. I also watched the Minetex Webinar on the ELM overview and am thinking it would be a great tool for an afterschool staff development activity called "Technology Tidbits".
OPAL also looks interesting and I noticed that more of those opportunities are in the evening--I plan to come back to this one.
Finally, I have found myself going back to the RSS account -- This is the problem with 23 things. You never quite finish with the previous things and as we keep adding, I'm afraid I could spend my whole day with the computer. Somehow, once again, balance is the tricky part of technology.

Thing 7-2

Now I read the LJ article. IM does sound like a great tool, but it seems to apply more to the Public Libraries than to the school setting since we don't have staffing after hours.

Thing 7 -- email/IM

Email is finally a tool that I'm quite comfortable using. I have had the need for using the folders, attachments, groups, etc. We use it in our district a lot and it certainly speeds up the process of communicating with staff quickly without running down the hall or up 3 flights of stairs. How did we live without it.
IM is something I've known about. I've watched people use it, but have never had a particular interest. Strangely, we have a nephew who uses this as his only connection to the world, so we set up an account in Windows Live Messenger just a couple weeks ago. This morning I decided to try it out and had a 'conversation' with my brother-in-law. I was amazed to look at the clock & find out I'd been online for almost an hour. I'm not sure this would be a time effective way to help our patrons, but I can see how it could work and it doesn't seem to be difficult.
I'm guessing that I'll probably add some more to our group and play with this some more. As I become better at using it, I may think of more ways it could work in the library/media setting.

Thing Six

These images were not too difficult to put together.
Students could create trading cards to demonstrate what they have learned about a specific animal, country , etc. or they could use it to promote their favorite book.
I enjoyed seeing what some others have done with the generators on their blogs. I miss the classroom setting where I could find out how they did these things. Discovering these things on my own by trial & error (mostly error) is a bit frustrating for me.

Thing 5

Ok, so "I'm not smarter than a 5th grader". I've spent way too much time on Flickr and have not experienced too much success. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be using this any time soon. I thought I had at least figured out the Spell with Flickr, but uploading it to the blog didn't work for me. I'm probably missing something simple, but I am moving on to 6.

Thing 4 B--Love to Read Month

IMGP0713,
originally uploaded by marie.rauenhorst.

In addition to "Things", I've been sponsoring activities each week for I -Love-To-Read Month. One of the things we're trying is "Reading Bingo". The students were given a Bingo card with author's names on the squares. When they have read a book by an author, they can mark the square. The students have been pretty enthusiastic about the activity. The small hearts on the display indicate students who have a BINGO.

Thing four?

La Paz, Bolivia by NYGUS I am finding this thing a challenge.. There are some very interesting images on Flickr for sure. I selected this one because my husband is headed there tomorrow, but getting the image in the post, adding tags, etc.????? I may try the "B" option to see if I have much more luck. If I spend as much time on other things, I won't finish thing 23.

Thing Three: RSS

Once again, I'm in new territory. The information we were linked to was helpful. The Common Craft video was entertaining.
I didn't have much trouble getting into Google Reader or adding some of the blogs from "23...", but adding the link to the Reading Rocket site was a bit confusing. It looked as though I had it, but I didn't. It is there now, but I'm not sure why.
Should we have this directly linked to our blog? I'm not sure I've completed the task.
I can see that RSS would be helpful in everyday work--especially if you are trying to augment a particular part of your curriculum and had the correct terms entered. As with most reference tools, it will be more useful after I've practiced using it.
I have also found that the school system blocks access to most blogs, etc.

Thing Two: What & Why

I visited the blogs and articles we were sent to. The Stephen Abram video did not play very well for me, but I think I heard the message.
As people in the media profession, we need to know about these technology tools and as we learn about them, we will hopefully use them to better serve our patrons. This is why I'm participating in "23 Things on a Stick". At this time, I have to admit that I don't enjoy this method of communicating. I am at the point of trying to update my webpage for the school website and find that time consuming and challenging. I hope that as I force myself to spend more time at this, I will learn it better, be more comfortable with it and finally enjoy it as some of you obviously do.

Thing One: Making it to the starting line...

Here we are with "Thing 1". I'm posting my first blog and have a lot to learn about the process, but it is exciting to have a new technology experience.
I have enjoyed reading the blogs others have posted, especially those posted by people I have met at MEMO or through work.
Although the examples that were given in the tutorials for using blogs in library/media promotions were intriguing, I think I will need practice before I'm comfortable with the format.