Thing # 23 Summary of my Thoughts on 23 Things Program

I just consulted my calendar, and this was 23 things in 24 days to meet deadline. It looks like I have made it in 22 days, but I must admit to feeling the need for some R & R that does NOT involve technology of any type. I would be perfectly happy to let all my batteries die, the sun shine, the waves splash in, gulls squawk overhead, and have time to finish reading my book! I'm tuckered out. I have felt like a treadmilling hamster throughout this exercise. I really should go back and improve some of the postings that I now know what they need to be better or more complete, but I'll need quite a bit of chocolate to get the energy. For now, here are my answers to the questions:
1. My favorite discoveries or exercises were Flickr, del.icio.us, all the google goodies, Library Thing, TeacherTube, and wikis. That's too long a list. Best one: TeacherTube.
2. Looking back at my postings for # 2 Lifelong Learning: Hard (Technology) and Easy (Play) I would have to say that this program has reversed the order of the two of them. By that I mean to say that frequently playing was hard work, and thankfully, technology has become easier! Goal achieved.
3. Unexpected outcomes: I have become dependent on both my google homepage with the gadgets and RSS feeders, and my del.icio.us account. I don't think my computer would feel right without them anymore. Every day I use them both more in new ways. Hooked!
4. What could be done differently for program improvements? Perhaps some guidance is needed for those using their home computers for their hardware safety at certain junctures. I think that it would help if at the beginning of each thing an approximate amount of time needed should be included, similar to the way a recipe includes preparation and cooking time. That way you can know if it is reasonable to start a particular exercise, and you can know if your efforts have gone on beyond normal and it's time to seek outside help rather than just beating your head against the wall. The time element is the trickiest thing of all to manage with this learning experience. Obviously, you would only be able to put parameters on the learning phase and the action phase. People know their own speed of composing and publishing.
5. I would gladly accept another opportunity to participate in this program again when there wasn't a ticking 24 day time bomb counting down over my head. I could cement my learning, maybe help others, explore where I didn't have time to go before, etc. There is a chance my district may do something like this, and I have already voiced my encouragement to our director.
6. You CAN teach an old dog 23 new tricks!
Agrab.

Thing # 22 Nings

If I had time, I could quickly become addicted to Nings. I registered for both the Teacher Librarian and Texas School Librarian Ning. I joined 3 groups in the first Ning and was ready to join groups in the Texas Ning when I discovered they only had 3 groups and none of them pertained to me. They also didn't look very recently active. No matter, I felt bold. I decided to start a group because clearly they need a group for elementary librarians. The group starter menu insisted I upload an image. I thought that was odd since the 3 existing groups all had the same generic graphic, but I tried to put my little sticky note picture into the system. Sadly, I broke the Ning. I received an error message, and then the web page expired. I went back in. No group. I left a comment for the Ning creator explaining that I was the new member creating the havoc. Perhaps I will limit myself to the Teacher Librarain Ning after all... They really have great discussion and resources at both locations. Again I saw Doug Valentine, AKA Dr. Loopy, and his videos that I mentioned from TeacherTube. He's got a Dr. Seuss show on the Texas Ning that I can't wait to share with fourth grade writers and with everyone around Read Across America time. He cracks me up. I can see how Nings can be the teacher equivalent of My Space or Facebook. Agrab.

Thing # 21 Podcasts

This thing wins the award for being the most time consuming. There were numerous steps along the way where I stumbled and tripped. When the Photostory and Switchpod registration were finally complete I called my husband to see the masterpiece that had kept me preoccupied for the entire day. He politely told me it was nice, but I could tell he didn't "get" it. I'll admit the concept is esoteric, and it might take more than one viewing, but I think librarians will snap to it faster. Nevertheless, Steven Spielberg has nothing to worry about, I have NOT found a new calling. Please let me know if the elementary librarians are able to decipher this little show "One Fish". I really didn't want to put words on every photo, but if no one can figure it out, then I may need to go back to editing... Agrab.

Thing # 20 YouTube, TeacherTube, & Zamzar

I enjoy humor, and found plenty of it, even when I searched "librarian collaboration" in TeacherTube. Dr. Loopy is too much fun! But when I found this sly song on YouTube I thought it might be just the thing for a monthly librarian meeting. Or maybe towards the end of the holiday party after some adult beverages...
It is PG-13, so listen without little ones nearby. Agrab.





That is Joe Uveges on guitar singing at the When Freedom Calls concert November 2, 2007 in Colorado Springs.

Thing # 19 Web 2.0 Awards List

I found a few things I had not seen before that could be useful at my school. We just became a bilingual campus last year and I liked the SpanishPod offers of free lessons. There are many people who would like to know more of the language, and this seemed appealingly simple.
Minti also looked like it could be appreciated by the folks that visit our Parent Center every week. They could get started with it at school, and then continue with the benefits at home.
The award winner that really launched my imagination was Lulu, where you can self publish. They have applications geared towards fundraisers and I thought our PTO or my (eventual) Friends of the Library could create a calendar of photographs with students involved in learning activities. Of course, the more students in the photos, the more calendars will sell, and who will pass up that opportunity to buy for themselves, and all the relatives? You can make the calendars be Jan-Dec or school year if you prefer, so there are lots of ways to work it, plus you can actually print it with all the school events on the dates! Lulu calculates cost, so you can add a mark up to make $$$, but you don't have to worry about inventory because they print based on the orders. Maybe it's all too good to be true, but it was the award winner, so it must have been successful for a lot of other people, right? Agrab.

Thing # 18 Google Docs

I've been working with Google Docs for several days now and I definitely think it is a FANTASTIC tool. Except for when it is sticky and uncooperative and I want to go back to the simple ways of PowerPoint. The concept of being able to collaborate on a project with partners that are not actually meeting at the same place, but can all be looking at the work together is wonderful. There are many creative templates to choose from; actually more variety than is readily available from MicroSoft. Naturally, like anything, the more we practice with it, the better we understand how it works and how to navigate and accomplish our desires. We are putting it through a good test by using several different computers to enter our project elements. I won't be able to give a final report until after the performance under pressure for the audience on the last night of our class. Test runs have been successful so far... I spoke with our Tech Specialist yesterday and learned Google Docs is currently blocked in our district. They are also pushing us to use more technology with the students, so hmmm...it's a puzzle! Agrab.

# 17 Rollyo

Rollyo was olly-okay for me. I didn't think the explanation on Thing # 17 or even their own Rollyo site provided adequate illumination. Bruce from Spring Branch's video was what finally got me to understand the point at all. Rollyo seems nearly identical to TrackStar, or making your own WebQuest. The bottom line with these tools is they take a ton of time. It is always better to try to find someone else's creation than to reinvent the wheel. Even finding an existing product will need refining for your needs to make it appropriate for your students. I wanted to find something about oceans in case we study about Galveston, and bumped into Leo DeCaprio's environmental stuff. That was interesting. But I was also turned off by some of the completely off-color results that turned up among my keyword ocean results. I carefully backed away from some of the searchrolls and hoped that my computer would not be victimized by some of the noted tags that had NOTHING to do with oceans. That made me realize that if no tags were showing the whole search might be a trap to avoid. This tool seems a little too public for my taste. TrackStar tracks and WebQuests have been created by other educators, not just the random public. If you want to go to the trouble of creating your own from scratch it doesn't matter which format you use; you will still be spending a long time previewing the content and making sure everything is current and working properly for this school year. Agrab.

Thing # 16 Wikis

Wikis are quickies and fun. The SBISD sandbox was certainly effortless. I have these ideas planned for the upcoming school year to introduce wikis in my elementary school: 1) a book club wiki for my fourth graders who meet after school once a month, 2) a book wish list for everyone who would like to make a selection suggestion to the librarian, and 3) a classroom daily learning log. Here's what I have in mind: I'll start with my 50 book club members. This way they can log in and comment when they finish a chapter at home and so forth. It will give us a lot more discussion than we get now because we only meet to distribute the book and then a month later to discuss, eat, have activities, etc. Some kids come to the meetings just for the fun, food, and etc. without having finished their books. Maybe this will help that aspect also. The wish list could start to open wikis up to the brave in my school at any level. The classroom learning log I think would work like this: 20 kids, 6 subjects a day (reading, language arts, math, science, social studies, and either art, music, PE, or health.tech) and 3 classroom computers. The teacher sets up a rotation so that every kid gets to wiki every day about what they learned in one of those subjects. The challenge is that only one student can be composing at a time. I'll bet they'll want to come into the room early, during lunch and recess, after school from home, etc. My school has a focus this year on writing, and in May learning journals with different colored pages for subjects were proposed. I think wikis just might motivate the students to write more than those paper/pencil journals with the pretty color papers. I suppose we'll start the year the tree-killing way, but I hope to TRANSITION a few teachers as we journey through the year. Agrab.

Thing # 15 Web 2.0, Library 2.0, & the Future of Libraries

Wikipedia was most helpful for me because I needed the background knowledge of these terms we've been slinging around. I'm never comfortable saying things my son might ask me about and I don't know what I'm talking about. So that's a relief that I can at least give a brief explanation now without just having a blank look of panic take over while I stumble and make up some lingo mumbo jumbo. I do want to wave the yellow flag of caution as we all charge into the world of library change. Last week I listened to Dr. Michael Chirichello speak in my district about increasing leadership capacity and highly effective teams. The most salient point I took away was to never again use the evil word change. When we tell people we want/need them to embrace educational change to improve test scores or every other wonderful desired result, we DON'T VALUE WHAT THEY ARE DOING NOW. Before we go changing libraries and librarians as we know them, we must admit that the old and current style had/has value, or there would have been no attraction for all of us presently involved. Dr. Chirichello recommends the better way to approach change is to say: "We are going to make some TRANSITIONS, and I'm going to hold your hand as we make this journey together." This way no one feels threatened and devalued, and everyone can begin to appreciate the JOURNEY. The library 2.0 world is definitely a transitional journey for librarians, teachers, and administrators. We've got to take the trip for the students and their futures, because we have to prepare them for a world that does not even exist right now. They need the skills to know how to react to the transitions they will have to deal with... Agrab.

Thing # 12 Commenting Redux

I'm old school. (I'm old in general!) So I was actually holding my newspaper this morning and reading some other selected people's blog comments from my corner of the great state when I became inspired to add my opinions to the outside world. I realized the outside world was really my hometown and this was definitely an arena my opinion counted as much as these other opinions. So I have now gone and let them know how I feel about a local store that might close in our area mall and what should be the replacement store (local trend is we want a Fry's Electronics....could be dangerous with my new affinity for technology!) AND the big discussion about local teacher salaries and stipends and how they compare in the district I live in and work in. I ended with humor in one post, and a question in the other, so maybe I'll get some response, and MAYBE (this would elate me no end) I'll be one of the selections in next week's newspaper for the local neighborhood section. Oh lord, my ego is getting out of control. It's like I'm on blog drugs. I even thought of commenting in the sports section about Ron Artest becoming a Houston Rocket. I have opinions about that too. YIKES! I'm afraid to sit too close to the court...good thing I'm a teacher who can't afford a good ticket so he can't hit me! Oh wait, I'm not on that site at the moment... Agrab.

Thing # 14 Technorati & How Tags Work

I must have been more successful back in thing # 9 than I realized, because when I clicked into Technorati today the blog I tried to sign up for RSS feed last week was waiting for me. Technorati is only blogs, while the RSS could be blogs or news. Maybe I'm starting to connect the dots. I still expected Technorati to come to me like RSS does, but maybe that's not right. I did the different versions of the searches, and got the fewest results from the tags only. I liked looking at the Top 100 lists in the 2 versions, popular and authority. The world's most popular blog? Wow. I'm so unpopular, but I claimed my blog anyway. I saw no need for another widget in my life though. I must learn to ping! Agrab.

Thing # 13 Tagging & Discover Del.icio.us

This is brilliant. I have needed this forever! Haven't we all? Now if I could just go back to all the computers of my past and round up all my lost and forgotten "favorites" or invent a widget to jog my memory of those old gems then life would be yummy. I attended an in-service this week and the instructor gave us guest access to his portaportal account, which is similar to del.icio.us. I will soon be surfing through all of his picks and adding more goodies to my shopping cart. I am looking forward to seeing how the sharing portion of this will work once I get back to campus. I intend to start this with the other content specialists and then get the entire staff in on the sweetness. I think an optional after school session offering called "The most del.icio.us in-service you'll ever attend" ought to get their attention! It was fun to see my personal tag cloud. I was also interested to see the numbers of other people that had chosen the same sites I selected. I expected to see higher numbers on some. In a city of 2 million people the Houston Chronicle had less than 1000 people listed. The Chronicle needs to do a story about del.icio.us!

Thing # 12 Creating Community Through Commenting

I never expected this one to be frustrating, but I am perplexed. I received the message that I should not stick with my natural inclination of lurking. I should clearly explain my situation from the "newbie" point of view, and this would be helpful to all. I'm not sure I'm convinced, but I really have no choice. I felt so guilty that I had not responded to the first people that were kind enough to read and comment to some of my posts with a thank you of some variety that I immediately tried to figure out how to correct the error of my earlier ways. Here's what I did: I went back to the first comment I received (a compliment on my avatar! who'da thunk? and kind words of encouragement as I began this process--- it was a fantastic first comment and I was shocked by the whole experience) So I thought if I clicked on their comment to me I could comment to them, but it turns out that I'm not thanking them, I'm just writing to MYSELF! I tried clicking on the profile, but it doesn't seem to connect me to them. For them to get my thank you, they have to come view their comment to me again? That can't be right. And why do I have to sign in with a user name and password just to leave a comment? It's annoying, since it's all in Blogger. I have now also left comments for 5 others from the uhcl group of players. But if anyone can tell me how to solve my quandary I would be delighted! (Asking for help was another way to get comments!)
Agrab.

# 11 LibraryThing

I thought this was exciting. I think I would like to introduce all the members of my teacher book club to this. I think it would help us when we are stuck for ideas for what to read next. I was startled at all the different groups. I would love to get in on the group that gets the early looks at books. I would like to be in a splinter group that previews children's picture books. I especially liked the local events section that showed the libraries and bookstores within a chosen mile radius. My titles are mixed between picture books, fiction, and one short text book.
Agrab.

# 10 Online Image Generator

This was certainly fun, and a welcome break from the last two assignments. I was thinking of getting books back to the library as you can see from my creations to the right on the sticky note and the Berlin Wall graffiti. They were both fairly fast (yippee!) and I didn't allow myself to experiment with EVERYthing this time. So many uses and toys to play with! I think teachers would love to see these things and having an optional professional development session after school for one hour to introduce them to these tools and give them time to play would unleash a myriad of creative uses. By working with a group together in the computer lab excitement would be contagious too. Even those that didn't attend would soon hear about it... Here are the two toy/tools I used: http://postit.note.txt2pic.com/ and http://www.signgenerator.org/graffiti/ I am mystified that the second one will copy & paste but refuse to hot link. GRRR!
Agrab.

Thing # 9 Useful Library-Related Blogs & News Feeds

Bloglines and Google Blog were the easiest and fastest, but the reality is that nothing was quick because I am too curious for my own good. I realize the point of all these tools is to speed up the process of getting information, but the set up certainly is slow as I methodically go down every street to see every scenic view. I also liked Topix.net quite a bit. I thought I would like Technorati more than I did. I found a blog I enjoyed called "HeyJude" from the Edublogs award winners and I thought I could only subscribe to it through Technorati membership, but I'm not yet convinced I was successful. Time will tell... and I feel like time and deadlines are not working with the same type of hourglasses. One is filled with water and the other is filled with mud!
Agrab.

Thing # 8 RSS Feeds & Readers

I think I'm going to like reading my selections once I get into the habit. While I'm getting started there was a lot of backlog to sift through, so it wasn't fast yet. I actually missed seeing the formats I had become accustomed to before using RSS because I liked the colorful displays, layouts, and other links. I liked that google helpfully suggested a couple more RSS feeds for me to add to my list. One idea I didn't accept, but two I was eager to go for. I can see the value of keeping current and saving time at school and home this way, and helping teachers with info they need. I can help others set this up too, because it's not hard to do. I definitely think all the content specialists can learn to do this and begin monitoring their favorite sites and then report on their areas of expertise on a very timely basis to the whole staff. I could show the AP how to do this also, and she would love to get news about educational data.
Agrab.

Thing # 7 Google Tools

Choose two. I think I got carried away in my exploration. Even simple things like Advanced Search I had used before and had honed with keywords, limiting dates, and/or, etc., but the simple idea of only looking for PowerPoint presentations was a new angle. I found some great shows that can help with another project. Similarly, by finally signing up for a gmail account, I got into Google Docs and I see how that can be THE way to work on projects with colleagues who are not nearby. I signed up for one daily alert for starters, I'm not really sure if I will like that or just feel like it is clutter. I added a google homepage to my my laptop, and now I can still toggle back to Yahoo. I would like to gadget it up with quotes and photos of the day, maybe the countdown, but I feel the countdown is ticking to 23...
Agrab.

Thing # 6 Mashups

I sure did see a lot of other librarian trading cards on Flickr when I was browsing! Do librarians actually exchange these instead of business cards when they attend conventions? That would be hilarious! It would be nice if we could make author trading cards. Perhaps when there are author visits to the school a small collection could be started. There were other toys that looked like fun I might like to go back and try if time permits. The variety is astounding. And I am always impressed with the creative names that technology people create for things. We couldn't call this one "combinations" so people that are uninformed might be able to guess what we are talking about. We have to call it "mashups" so they have absolutely no idea what is going on and feel totally illiterate about how to be cool. Sometimes it seems cruel.
Agrab.

Thing # 5: Flickr

Flickr is fun to browse. I'm awed by the quantity and quality of the photos. I chose the polar bear paws because they looked so playful and cool swimming about with a double-pawed wave. It wasn't hard to get the photo into the blog, but getting the citation into place is more challenging, I hope that turns out right. (I don't know where it went?) I also included a link for my fun discovery of a Flickr related website that is an unusual way to browse their pictures. I haven't figured out how to use Taggalaxy yet for anything other than entertainment and serious lost time, but I imagine there must be a way to pull the photos from this site and then apply them elsewhere. If you click on the word Flickr at the top Taggalaxy will open...Enjoy!
Agrab.

Thing # 4

This activity was nice and quick, but I wasn't sure if I was going to receive a confirmation e-mail message, or if I was supposed to write a post. I discovered one answer when I saw "Alice in Bloggerland" on the list, and I never did get an e-mail in return. I think that could have been explained. Onward!
Thanks to prawnpie via Flickr 5/21/06 for BayToBreakers002
Agrab.

Thing # 3

Whew! That felt like a hard day's work! So many details and little things to sign up for along the way and decisions that slowed me down. By the time I got to the fun part of choosing an outfit and background for my avatar I almost wanted to pick the first one on the menu just to move along in the process. Of course, I couldn't quite do that. The variety was entertaining to peruse. I'm hoping all the projects will not take me as long as this one did today...
Agrab.

Thing # 2 Easy!

The playful last habit is the easiest one for me! Sometimes I am guilty of too much play! When the tutorial included reading and playing games (I do a crossword every day) I knew I could check that one off no problem! I would definitely rather do those kinds of fun things than clean my house... Sometimes I do need to make sure I don't spend too much time reading though! It's easy to get carried away and lose track of time...
Agrab.

Thing # 2 Hard!

Was there any doubt? Definitely the most challenging lifelong learning habit for me is the sixth, calling for using technology to my advantage. Technology should make life easier if it wasn't so intimidatingly used by early adopters who gleefully show off in front of this old dog. I think there are many people who delight in making me feel clueless and blonde. It's certainly not a condition about which I care to open up my mouth and clarify my shortcomings. Typically I do very nicely as a technology avoider, or late adopter. I really need a comfort zone to allow myself the right teacher and learning environment to stick my neck out and find out what I need to know. I have high hopes that these 23 things will be empowering!
Agrab.

Thing # 1

When I read the first easy step I posted a comment at the bottom of the list, but since this blog wasn't ready yet, I was just another anonymous person. That is why my original blog posting here had the title it did; I tried to rewrite what I had originally said. Now I am getting closer to being on schedule with the program...
Agrab.

No Longer Anonymous!

Thing 1?
Thing 2?
I'm waiting for the Cat in the Hat to rescue me from from these 23 things! Let the techno fun begin!
Agrab.
Thanks to cindy47452 via Flickr 3/22/08 Run Faster, Little Thing