Finally - I blog again!!!

I have been a terrible blogger! I just heard that one more person I know is 23 things on a sticking - so I thought - wow - I should get back to my blog. So.....here I am. The reading club is going great - check out our site: Page Masters Reading Club . I will try to be better about getting here on a regular basis.

Summer is streaking by!

I love Librarything.com - just a quick plug there -
I have spent a bit of time cataloging my books on thier site and have joined a couple groups. I am 24 books into my 50 book challenge. I have just finished reading Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series; and have also spent a lot of time with Nora Roberts and her trilogies this summer. School is approaching quickly and with it much less time to read for my personal pleasure, but will still be reading. I am looking for great read-a-louds for seventh and eighth graders. Any ideas, please let me know.

Summer has arrived - along with it - - Time!

Greetings! It has been a long time since I blogged - things were hectic for a bit there.
Confirmation, birthdays, Graduation, end of school......I am sure everyone has a list that is similar.

I am proud to say that my daughter has graduated and been accepted into her program of choice at college!
I have had a successful start to the summer reading program at the school where I work so I am feeling positive about that too. I am excited to find an old friend who is new to 23 Things - I hope she has as much fun with it as I did.

Hey there - just checking in and asking a couple questions.

I hope all you other 23 Thingers are enjoying the almost spring - let's all hope that we are done with the snow!

I remember seeing that 23 Things was worth 12 contact hours (CEUs) and I was wondering who I contacted to get the certificate for that? Anyone out there have the answer? Please let me know.

I find that as the end of the school year draws near I have less and less time - I am sure I'm the only one! Ha! Ha!

I am looking for ideas for ways to encourage readers in middle school and above. Let me know if you have any ideas - tried and true or otherwise. Thanks in advance.
(Here is an idea I wanted to share (again) with you all): Timberwolves Read-to-Achieve program -- check it out for next year - it was amazing!

I miss the pressure of the 23 Things deadline - I always found time to get on and blog when I had a schedule of "Things" to do - I guess I will have to try harder to make blogging higher on my priority list.

Spotlight on Books ~ 20th. Anniversary Seminar

Greetings all! I am pleased to report that I was successful in arriving in Grand Rapids in time to attend the Spotlight on Books seminar! I was able to meet many wonderful people who also braved the blizzard. Meeting D.J. MacHale was the driving factor (that and my 4-wheel-drive Jeep) in my desire to go to the conference, but I was equally impressed by all the presenting authors/illustrators.

The speakers were all great - so much talent and insight!!!

Jim Trelease came out of retirement to speak two separate times - "WOW!" he is truly inspiring, I can't wait to try out some of his ideas.

Mary Casanova was there - I didn't know she has an entire mystery series - I had to get them all! She too was both interesting and inspiring.

Debra Frasier told us about illustrating her books and about the summer reading theme that is based on her birthday cake book. She shared with us the process you go through to write and illustrate a story and how valuable your editor is. She says anyone can write - you just have to start.

D.J. MacHale, the author of the Pendragon books, made it too. I was excited to meet him and tell him how much my reading club students and I love his stories. What was extra cool - was that I was asked to do the introduction for him at the seminar! I was honored. I was the only person there that had read everything he has written, so they asked me to tell the group about his books and introduce him. It was great!!!

I also was fortunate to sit with the author of the Marion books, Brook Berg, during the dinners. That was awesome too -

It's a super snowy Thursday night and I'm stranded!

Greetings 23 thingers! I am on my way to the Spotlight on Books conference in Grand Rapids, MN -- but the weather is awful - freezing rain!!! I am excited to get there tomorrow though - weather permitting. I have high hopes of meeting D.J. MacHale and having him sign my books and the books for my reading club kids. Being stranded gives me the opportunity to blog when I have been struggling to find the time to do so.

Thing 23: Final Thoughts.

Okay ~ this is Thing 23: I am sad to even begin the last thing because, although I know it's not over, it will be different from now on. After I finish this thing I am on my own. No one giving me ideas on what to check out - well, not in a list like this has been. I have to be a self motivator - with the help of the groups I have become a part of - which will make all the difference to me.

• My view of technology is different than it was before I started 23 Things. Now I have a much more broad view of what is out there and what I can do with it. I feel more confident about my ability to not only work with the programs we have covered, but with programs that I maybe have never seen before and also with students who have grown up with these programs and are making a point to learn all they can about technology.
• One of my favorites is the Library Thing. This was not new to me, but I have found many more uses for it and have two lifetime accounts now. I also enjoyed the flickr thing. The spell, image chef, and big huge labs. The uses for these programs in the library and with my reading club are endless. I am glad to have learned about them.
• Reading the comments and the newsletters was helpful. I checked other blogs and commented on a few, but my most constant contact during 23 Things was with my co-worker who was also working through 23 Things. It was a blast to chat about how different things were working for us and have someone to listen when I was struggling with a thing. I talked about 23 Things with everyone too - at home, at work, out with friends; so many people ask me if I have finished yet - I can't wait to tell them yes! Talking to people about 23 things actually led me to meeting a few others who were also working with the program.
• Take-aways that surprised me: I have been surprised each time I have worked on a thing at the various uses them. I have taken something away from each and every thing that was part of the program - even if what I took away was that I was pleased to have learned about it, but will not choose to use it very much.
• Improve on the program: I don't know what could be done to make it better. There were a few small things - like the link in thing 21 that didn't work - but with each thing that was a bit of a struggle there was someone commenting to help everyone else out. It all worked smoothly. I say - great program. Perhaps you could offer one for teachers.
• I am hoping that another program like 23 Things on a Stick will be offered in the near future. I would definately participate. I have talked to so many people and I am sure that quite a few of them would join as well.
• My learning experience in one word or sentence: 23Things on a Stick has been an eye-opening, positive experience for me.

Thing 22: What did I learn today?

I always say, "Every mistake makes you smarter" but I like "What did I learn today" too.

I have learned so much working on 23 Things on a Stick. I haven't been successful right away with some of it, but have learned something each day I worked on it, and I am pleased to say that I have been successful in the end of each thing. I definately have my favorites, as well as those that I don't think I like as well.

Time: now there is a concept! I think that it takes more time than I expected to work on each thing, but now that I am familiar with each thing and have chosen my favorites it will be something that I can devote 15-30 minutes each day to and be happy. Of course, there will be days when I spend hours playing around with some of the new technologies I have found out about through 23 Things. (Good to know that it will be considered improving my skills at that point!).

You can do it: This has been great! I was so in the dark with technology and I didn't even know it! Now I can go out knowing that even if I haven't tried it before - I will be successful in the end, I will just work through it. I also have a support system now in the people I have met through the 23 Things program.

The Tools are Fun: Yeah! The tools are fun. This program - even when it was challenging - have been a lot of fun to work through. I love the picture programs and the spell programs and the like. I have thought of so many uses for them, both at school and at home.

Keeping Informed: This part of the program is huge! I have three teenagers of my own and work in a school that is grades 6-12. I need to make sure that I don't fall behind technologically speaking - thank goodness I found 23 things and dragged myself into the techno world these kids thrive in. Now I can have conversations with students (and my kids) about technology that they use regularly and I don't sound like I'm out of it.

Support: I have already mentioned that I am thrilled that I have the support system that I have built with 23 things. I plan to maintain my blog and this support group.

Thing 22:

1. Resolution to maintain my blog.

I am excited to have my blog - I can't wait to work on it. I am hoping to be able to be on-line 15-30 minutes each day, but I know that there will be days where I am unable to get to my blog. With that in my, my resolution is to maintain my blog as much as possible; one entry per week at a minimum. I am hoping to get some of the students to start blogging with me about the reading club at our school. We will see where it all goes...

2. Ask yourself everyday, "What did I learn today?"

This is a great idea! I just heard a quote today about how as long as you are learning you are young and that you only get old when you stop learning - that isn't exact - but you get the idea - it was from Henry Ford, I heard it from my friend Kathy. I am hoping that I can incorporate this idea into my daily blogs (I am still hoping to be able to blog daily).

**I added a number of the web sites and blog spots from the list to my blog spot along with a few author sites that I enjoy. I didn't add them to my RSS aggregator, but I plan to check them when I check the author blogs so I didn't want to add yet more feeds to my aggregator.

Nancy Pearl - Reader Advisory

Just wanted to comment ~ I went to "Reader's Advisory with Nancy Pearl!" at SELCO in Rochester, MN on Monday, March 31, 2008. It was a great session! I learned a lot, validated much of what I have been trying to do in the lines of suggesting books to middle and high schoolers, and got to meet Nancy Pearl too! The reason I felt I had to comment here in my blog about this experience is because I met some 23 Thingers there! I was thrilled! Mrs. G - thanks for the comment about my Jeff Smith video, I was so pleased that someone else had watched it. Thanks to the folks there at SELCO for getting this going too. I am enjoying learning about all the opportunities that this project has presented.

Thing 21: 23 Things on a Stick Ning Badge

Thing 21: Beyond MySpace: other social networks

Thing 21:
I joined Gather and Web Junction just to check them out - but I don't know how much time I will be able to devote to them.
1. (Read articles) ~ Thanks Nan for the proper link to the first article!
2. (Join Ning group and do at least 2 items on list) ~ I have finally been successful!!! It took me the last 25 minutes to get my ning badge onto my blogspot, as you can see in the post right above this one - I have finally gotten it in there! Wow!
I have gotten all signed up for the 23 Things on a Stick Ning. I uploaded my photo and as I said I have gotten the badge onto my blog, my two items on the list. I feel that my day is now complete!
3. (find another social network of interest) ~ I looked at many of the choices and have decided that 43 Things is too many and I already make too many lists for this to be a site for me. I did like GoodReads, but I have already commited to Library Thing and simply can't do both. I also checked out the Whats on my bookshelf, but decided that the founder looks younger than my son and seriously - I don't have any desire to trade my books. Shelfari seems the most interesting to me - I love the want spot, I haven't found that at Library Thing yet (I am not saying it's not there, just that I haven't found it). I talked to a woman on Monday who uses Shelfari and loves it, but like I said - I already have Library Thing.

I found it! I have joined the YA Lit in School Libraries Ning too!

Text Break!

Just a quick text break - don't want anyone thinking that my blog is too boring! Oh - and I love image chef! I also wanted to add my thought that social networking - MySpace, FaceBook, and such - although not always used positively - are a great way to connect with today's teens.

Thing 20!!! Social Networking

A. Well - I never thought that I would be a member of facebook, but now I am. I joined and invited four people to be my friends, but have not heard back yet - we will see. I didn't put a lot of information in my profile because I work at a high school and so many of the students there are also members of facebook. I don't feel like sharing too much info with too many people and I really don't know how all this friends of friends business works just yet.

I joined FreeRice as my group. Then I started a group for 23 Things on a Stick because I couldn't find one for us. I hope that others find it when they get to thing 20 or that people who have finished see it when they check their facebook accounts. Presently, I am the only member of the group and I had no picture to add. I was thinking that I would add the logo from the postcard, but wasn't sure if I had permission to do so and didn't want to check the "I'm allowed..." box when I uploaded if I wasn't allowed.

I have been chatting with my co-worker, who is also doing 23 things - but has finished, and we were thinking about setting up a facebook for the Media Center where we work, but it is currently not allowed at our school. The posting and such would have to be done by us at our homes - but I am wondering if the students would find it appealing. Any comments from the rest of you 23 Thingers?

B. MySpace: Okay, I have signed up for a MySpace too. I decided I would sign up for both and then I could compare them to see which I liked better. So far, I find that MySpace bogs where FaceBook did not. I have sent two requests for people to let me be their friends and I signed up for the Library Lovers group. I didn't find a 23 Things group on MySpace either, but I didn't make one. I am attempting to check out the public library spaces, but am running into a lot of unexpected hang time with the internet - perhaps it is my computer and the fact that I have 5 windows open. We will see how it all plays. I have found a lot of library related groups, but searching for library or libraries brings up so many groups, but I haven't found an actual public library myspace yet. I have signed up for many groups now and so I will go from the link on the 23 Things page instead of searching. I do see a dramatic lag/bog/hang time on MySpace that I didn't experience with FaceBook.

I am excited about the things I am seeing when checking out the library spaces! Wow! So teen oriented! I need to spend some time figuring out how to get that kind of thing set up or how to get my current Reading Club webpage looking that exciting!

Thing 19: Podcasts

Podcasting: yet another technology tool that before 23 Things I had not experienced. I am really not as technologically challenged as I appear from these blogs - I just have never spent so much time learning about the internet before.
I like the podcasting idea. I honestly don't have the kind of time I would like to have to listen to all of the podcasts that I have found that sound interesting. So many of them are lengthy and I can't devote the 50+ minutes of my day to listening to the whole thing.
I do believe that I will be able to listen to parts of the podcasts that I have added to my blogspot.

I added KatieCasts, Booklust by Nancy Pearl, and Nancy Pearl Book Reviews, and Book Voyages to my del.icio.us and to my bloglines. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to listen to Nancy Pearl because I on Monday I am attending a seminar where she is the keynote speaker.

I did set up an account on gcast so I could make my own podcasts, but as yet have not actually made one. I would like to try it, I just don't know that I have anything too profound to share today.

Just a quick comment!

I just wanted to take a minute to comment so that anyone who looks at my blog doesn't wonder if I have given up on the 23 Things. NO! Last week was hectic at work and home both - couldn't seem to find that elusive 15 minutes to work on anything extra. Since Thursday I have been on what serves as our Spring Break and have not worked at my computer so much, Easter with my family in Wisconsin and such. Took a little bit of time and entered some of my books into Library Thing - but not too many. I found a site called Moviecollectorplus.com - similar to Library Thing, but for movies. In case anybody is a movie collector as well - (I haven't really checked oit out yet, but thought I'd throw it out there). I plan to hit the last of the Things hard this week - hoping to be able to be adding my final thoughts by the weekend!

Thing 18: You Tube - Jeff Smtih - Bone

I checked out YouTube and was terrified by what kind of videos came up when I clicked the Education button on the left side of the screen. So I searched fiction authors instead of dealing with what kind of education the site was talking about. I found a lot of google author talk videos, but they were lengthy. I was scrolling through the different authors when I came across a few shorter videos about the Bone series of graphic novels and the author Jeff Smith. I was thrilled to have a chance to learn something about the author. The boys in the media center are blazing through the Bone series by Jeff Smith. I can hardly keep them on the shelf. I, however, am new to graphic novels. Last summer I ran the summer reading program with a theme base; one of the themes was graphic novels. I had to read at least one book from each theme so I chose to read the first Bone - Out from Boneville. I enjoyed it so much I am now preordering each new book in the series and my son and I have long discussions about who will get to read the new arrival first. They are offered from Scholastic, but you can find them in book stores too, they run on the high end for paperbacks, but are well worth it. I believe that I could use YouTube to add these kinds of interviews and such to the webpage and the students would love it.

Need a text break here!!!

Just wanted to play with Big Huge Labs again - I hadn't tried the poster feature yet - and I thought after so many posts without something to look at now would be a great time to insert a page break.

23 Things on a Stick

My favorite thing about 23 Things on a Stick ---learning about new tools that are out there available for use by both students and adults - regardless of how useful they will be to me in my current position. I love the fact that each time I work on my 23 Things on a Stick I learned something new.

Thing 17: ELM Productivity Tools

1. Gale/Cengage Learning: I set up my search alert to search for articles about how to get and or keep boys about age 11 reading. I am hoping to find some mind blowing idea that will change the course of history, but I will be thrilled if I can get a few ideas that I can try out.
2. EBSCO: I like the choices on EBSCO. I enjoy having the ability to look at back issues. I added quite a few journal alerts from here, I also added a couple articles to my folder. I don't understand what I am to do with the web page that I have set up - but the background is cool. Who gets to see it besides me? I saved it to my desktop and I believe I will use the link to check on articles when I get alerted. Comparing the two (Gale/Cengage and EBSCO) I like EBSCO better.
3. Proquest: I tried to set up the webpage the way the directions said, but it didn't take me anywhere and it didn't offer a save spot. I did email it to both myself and to a friend. I found a couple articles that look like they might have good info too.
4. NetLibrary: I had never used NetLibrary before today. I signed up for an account and checked out the site. I think this tool will be very useful to students and teachers.

Thing 16: Student 2.0 Tools

Encouraging students to use the research project & assignment calculators should be a breeze. They are fantastic tools. If only we were all that well planned! I think that the tools speak for themselves in that it is obvious right away that they will make the student's life easier. The step by step guide in the assignment calculator with resources within each step is amazing. I love the research process glossary in the research project calculator. If given the exposure to these tools, I believe that many students would make an easy transition over to using these two programs (along with others) on a regular basis.

I saw a number of great teacher resource ideas that would work in the media center. I believe that a writing/research spot can be made - just a corner of a desk - hanging folders or standing folders, each with different resource tools in them. The students can come up and get what tools they need without feeling like they have to ask for help and are still close enough to ask if they want to. I liked: the student research planning guide, what is research handout, improve your google search tip sheet, 10 questions for evaluating websites, taking notes ideas, and so on.

I think that the students will be more willing to use the tools on their own if they know that they are available and you are not judging you.

Thing 15: On-Line Games and Libraries

I deal with students playing on-line games in the Media Center everyday. Games, along with all other non-school related media, are not allowed in our school. I did go to Puzzle Pirates and do two missions; I bilged and I learned swordfighting. I did interact a little bit with a couple other people on my ship, but I didn't have too much to say. I don't think my computer is fast enough for the game I was playing because it had a tendency to hang. I love puzzles so I was excited to try Puzzle Pirates, but I found the move choices limited in this program. I do play other puzzle games on-line. One of my favorites beign Text Twist on MSN games. There are a lot of game sites out there, but most of the students seem to be into role-playing games. One I see the most is Runscape - which you can play free or become a paid member of.

Thing 14: Library Thing

This is one of my favorite things so far. I am really enjoying the Library Thing. I spent a number of hours today adding books to each of my catalogs on Library Thing. I enjoy seeing which books other members have in common and can't wait to get my cuecat so I can finish entering the rest of my books. I have done most of the books in my room, my son's Jeff Smith and Brian Jacques, and plan to move on to my daughter's bookshelf and the as yet unfinished library here at home. (I am waiting for the cuecat before I do all those though). Linking them to the blog didn't work the way I thought it would, but it did work - so you can look at both my DragonLibrary8 and Page Masters catalogs from the links. I have entered 178 from home and right around 200 at school. I think it will be fun to see what everyone else is reading - scary to see how many books I have that I have not even thought about starting yet. - - so many books, so little time...

Thing 14: Library Thing

My home library catalog at Library Thing - DragonLibrary8

Thing 14: Library Thing Catalog Link

Library Thing - Page Masters Catalog

Google Docs Idea

I was just talking about google docs with a teacher here at school and he had a great idea for using it without group work. He was saying that he could have students writing papers and collaborating with him, that way when they were finished with the rough draft he could add comments. I think that would work well. The students could write their paper, he can edit that part, they can then go back to make revisions, turn it back in, and so on...

Thing 14: Library Thing

I Love Library Thing! I have signed up for two accounts! One that I already blogged about, for my own home library, and one for the reading club at school. The one for school is called Page Masters. It will be used for the books that are given to the students as reading rewards. My hope is that the students will go on Library Thing, look at the list, think about which books they would like to win, and comment about additional titles they would like to see on the list. I am thrilled to have found this tool.

Thing 9

I finally got it!!! Thank you Kathy for working with me on googledocs! I think googledocs are an amazing tool. I was having trouble with this thing and chatted with my friend Kathy, who is also doing 23 things on a stick, and now I think it is great! We worked on a document - even editing at the same time - it shows you everything. It shows who edited, when they edited, and what they did when they edited. I feel this will be a very useful tool for teachers giving students group projects to work on. I don't see too many uses in the media center - although I think the students might like a running reading recommendation list. I will try to get one set up and blog again if the students like it.

Thing 14: Library Thing

I have been waiting to get to Thing 14! I can't wait to get started with Library Thing - I have heard so much about it! I have signed up as a lifetime member and ordered my cuecat scanner - I was planning to borrow my friend Kathy's cat scanner, but decided that we would both need them for the summer and 6 hours is too far to drive just for a scanner. Alas - I will have to work on thing 14 tomorrow. It has gotten far too late already. I am still wondering about those 15 minutes I heard about at the beginning of 23 Things on a Stick. I am having a lot of fun though - and learning so much (mostly things I didn't know anything about too!).

Just a quickie sharing moment!

I wanted to share for a moment - I went to a BER seminar on 3/5/08 - the presenter was talking about buying software to make READ posters for libraries and classrooms and I was so excited to share what I have learned about BigHugeLabs and ImageChef. I also spent a few minutes after class to talk to the presenter about the 23 Things on a Stick program. She was very excited about what I was telling her. I also told her about a YouTube video that I had seen about the book Looking for Alaska, she had been talking about censorship and parent complaints in the library. You can check it out by clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHMPtYvZ8tM

Thing 13: On-Line Productivity Tools

I have changed my homepage (on my home computer) to igoogle - I am constantly finding things that I had no idea were out there - of course I wasn't looking. I had a great time customizing my igoogle with word of the day, joke of the day, news, weather, and the like. I even have it set up with a background that changes according to the time of day - now every time I get on my computer I get up to date information about things I am chosing to have displayed. I like it, I plan to keep it as my homepage.
I am sure that this would be a great tool for the library, but it would have to be done on each computer and that is a task that is truly daunting, not to mention that each computer would then be customized only for one person. I am enjoying the new homepage and the features that it allows me to take advantage of.
I went to google calendars...time sink! I think this will be a useful tool, now that I have it all set up - I even added my new rabbit's birthday! I will be able to view this calendar from any computer instead of always having to carry around my paper calendar - as long as I can remember to update the on-line one.
I checked out both the list sites - I have signed up for Remember the Milk. I LOVE to make lists - if the calendar was a time sink for me - list making will be off the charts - I will go back to Remember the Milk and work on lists after I have finished my 23 Things on a Stick.
I looked at Backpack and decided that I would look more closely at that tool when I had both a plan and a lot of time. It seems like it would be useful for students working on group projects. I will have to check it out more.
I have recently been introduced to CutePDF and it is a great tool. I put a lot of documents on the reading club website and CutePDF has become invaluable to me. It is viewable by everyone, the program is available at no cost, the download is not too time consuming, and it is easy to use. I highly recommend it.
I glanced at Zamzar - I was also just introduced to a program called media convert. I will have to see which one the students like better.

Thing 12: Do you Digg?

Digg: I looked at this site - it seems to have a lot of fun articles, a lot of videos and photos, but wouldn't be my first choice if I was looking for news.

Reddit: I looked here too, but didn't stay.

Newsvine & Mixx: I liked these sites - they seem to have news.

Zombies, Schmombies! Teen Girls Are Vamping It Up! The New York Observer

I signed up for Mixx and shared the article above. I am excited to learn about yet another source of information that I have not made available to myself, but am somewhat overwhelmed by the idea of soooooo many sources of information - who has this kind of time, so I guess I see them as a productivity detractor. You could spend hours just checking out the various news sites - learn lots about the news, but not get much done.

I think that this would be great as a tool for students looking for current events or news articles - as long as they can stay focused.

Thing 11:

This del.icio.us is great! I work from home and school and am constantly frustrated by trying to remember which computer has what information stored on it. With del.icio.us I can have the same information on both! Go to http://del.icio.us/ and check it out. I am sure this tool will be very helpful for students working together.

Thing 9: comment to Kathy M - Inside a Dog

My computer at home doesn't allow me to post comments or reply to posted comments - don't know why - I'll figure it out later (maybe). I have a hard time getting my posts on from here - I must have some java issue.
I tried to edit your google doc and was told I didn't have permission - I didn't see where to ask for it either - I think it's a great idea - I just don't know how to add.
Spell is one of my favorite things so far - yours too from the looks of it. I like how you add links and photos to so many of your posts -

Thing 10: Wiki's

Wiki's are cool. I watched the video - very fun! I went to all the library wikis and I added to the 23 Things on a Stick wiki - nothing fancy or profound - just that I was there. I think this is a fantastic tool. The uses for wikis at school is huge! I can see students and teachers using a wiki about books they are reading, books they have already read and having the opportunity to check out and comment on them. I know that we can use a wiki for the reading club. I am going to make one and put it on the web for the kids so they can talk to each other about the club and the books they are interested in. I also think the wiki is going to be a huge help for me personally! I am trying to plan a family renunion with my sisters, parents, and relies (all living in different states) - it is going to make everything so much easier.
I like that the wiki sites have some security measures - it keeps the comments valid and makes you feel better about the information that you are getting from them. I know that at our school some of the teachers like wikipedia and some do not - ALL the students seem to like it and use it regularly as a source - regardless of the teachers feelings. I know that I use it quite a bit when I am looking up books and authors for students in the media center. I think it's a great tool.

Thing 9: On-line Collaboration Tools

I am going to come back to thing 9. I am unable to edit on either google docs or zoho and have signed up for both. I am sure that I am doing something wrong - but will figure it out later. I have been thinking about the uses for the on-line collaboration and it seems like it would be a great tool for schools. I can only imagine how convenient it will be for students working in groups and how nice it will be for teachers to have the ability to see each students individual contributions as well as the group whole. I know that a couple of the teachers here have been talking about trying google docs for an upcoming project. I can't wait to see it in action!

Thing 8: Picture Trail: cube

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Thing 8: Picture Trail: Flick

Thing 8: Communication

Picture Trail is a lot of fun. I can see this as a great tool for the reading club at our school. This would be great to use for upcoming books and author features as well. I used the flick for a few pictures just to try it out.
It was so easy! I went back and did another one - a cube.
For this one I used pictures from the Hubbs Children's Literature Conference in St. Paul. The conference is held each year at St. Thomas University and features different authors and speakers. It is a wonderful event. The fee is inexpensive, the lunch is good, the Red Balloon independent book seller is there, and the authors are amazing! This year Jane Yolen and Lisa Westberg Peters were featured. Jane brought her son, Adam Stemple, along and they were the first speakers. It was a great day and a super opportunity to add to my 23 Things on a Stick. I got to met the authors, buy some books, and have them autographed. You should check it out!
I am going to use this tool a lot! I can't wait to have the opportunity to try some of the challenges - but I want to get through all the 23 things first, then I will go back and try the challenges.
I could spend days on this thing - oh, that's right - I have. It's time to move on now to thing 9 - this one has been refreshing (after thing 7: which I can't really do much with in a public school setting - all great ideas and tools though).

Thing 7: Web 2.0 Communication Tools

I have been working my way through the numbered list for thing 7, taking notes so I could blog later - when my co-worker suggested that I blog as I go, save, and then post last. Seems so simple now that she said it out loud - - old habits die hard - I am trying to pull myself into the tech world. so, here we go:


1. email: I only check my email once a day at work - I actually have a note on my computer to remind myself to do it that once - I get so busy with students, staff, and books. I can't imagine worrying about how fast my new emails came in. I have however set up e-forms for the students in the reading club and those forms are emailed to me. I think it is an amazing tool. The students are able to access the forms from where ever they are and I get to read typed entries instead of hastily hand-written pages.

2. instant messaging: This is a tool that I don't feel would be of use in a high school media center setting. I am sure it would be helpful in an office setting, but here at school - not so much. I can see every computer in the lab from my desk and the students do not contact me outside of school hours. The other drawback is that IM is not allowed at our school.

2a. I watched the video, but wow....that is a language I do not understand. I don't spend enough time on my computer to have a conversation in IM. I also don't know anyone who has the time during the work day to IM me.

2b. The article brings up some good ideas, but in a school media center I don't feel that this is necessary or terribly useful.

2c. I am one of two people in my building working on 23 Things on a Stick and we sit next to each other - doesn't seem to make sense to IM (especially when I don't know the language - so I would have to ask her what words were) and it is not allowed at our school.

3. Text messaging: Cell phones are not allowed to be on during the school day here. I have used text messaging in the past and don't like it. I prefer to actually talk to a person when I am on the phone. I see a lot of younger people texting, but I don't find myself having the desire to follow suit. This is also a tool that, although great in certain settings, is not going to work here.

4a. Web conferencing: This looks like a great tool. I don't think that this will be something that we can use in our school, perhaps one of the classroom teachers. I can see how this could be very useful in a public library. The Webinar I watched was: "EBSCOhost Search and Journal Alerts"

Thing 6: Big Huge Labs Trading Card

I like the trading card idea - I would like it if you could also put information on the back of the card, like traditional trading cards. These would be great for individual classes - or for our reading club.

The posters, calendars, and magazine covers are super - planning to make them with student photos and post them up in the Media Center!

Thing 6

Just scratching the surface of the limitless possiblities with image chef - wow!!!

I can't wait to find uses for all these ideas.

Thing 5: One More Spell (because I think it's cool)

I just wanted to say one more time how much I like this feature! We have a reading club at school - called (obviously) Page Masters - and I am planning to use Spell for posters and newsletters for the club. -- I am now done with Thing 5 ---- on to Thing 6.