Thing # 14

Technorati is overwhelming. I had never thought about how much editing goes on by commercial websites or even news websites. I like the idea that everybody now has an opportunity to express themselves without filters. That video made me think. I did the keyword search for School Library Learning 2.0 and got 665 results. I looked at the tags and blog directory and results of each are different. My favorite was the directory. I did some searches of my subjects and there were many blogs. I think if I were to find favorites or opinions close to my own, tagging would be useful. The main drawback is that there is so much to read and so little time.

Thing # 13

This one is really fun. I have tagged some websites that I use for my classes. This way I won't have to go and look for them. I'm sure I'll use this for all three of my subjects. This is a great way to keep up with information without having to rely on memory for where it came from. I can't wait to add more stuff!

Thing # 12

This activity was hard for me. I read a number of blogs but had little to comment on most of them. I finally found five of the summer players to comment on. I was able to leave comments on a food network blog and a movie trailer blog. My biggest difficulty was that some of the blogs I wanted to comment on wanted me to register and I am not going to do that. I don't want any more junk e-mail. On to the nest thing.

Thing # 11

Librarything is amazing. I spent some time looking at the tabs and familiarizing myself with what this has to offer. I am thrilled to be able to see what others thought of books I would like to read. I'm in a book club so I immediately added the books for this year to my list. Later I can go back and see how many others have read it and their opinions. I might enjoy the books more if I have insights from others. It looks as thought the books my book club selected are widely read. I've just finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns". I'm going to read some of the comments on it and see if I can get some discussion questions for our meeting Monday by doing that.

Thing # 10

I have spent two days (translate that to about three hours) on this one. I looked at all of the suggested sites and some that came up when I googled image generators. I liked sparesomechange.com. I managed to make and copy one into my pictures folder and somehow got it onto my blog from there. These are fun and I think could be used to make Power Point slide shows more entertaining. I need more practice. I would also like to know how to move pictures around on the blog. My image generator picture is all the way at the bottom of the page!

Thing # 9

I am really impressed with Google Reader. I spent some time looking at my account and was amazed at what is there. After I read through thing 9 I visited the suggested sites. The School Library Blogs page was not available so it automatically is the least helpful. I liked Bloglines. The drop down menu was easy to use. I tried a couple of topics and got several hits for each.
Edublog was confusing. It appears to be a list of awards. I don't know how I would use that.
Topix and Technorati were more like newspaper pages and were comfortable and easy to use. The easiest way to get newsfeeds is to look for the orange icon.

Thing # 8

Google Reader is so big and there are so many options to explore, plus shortcuts. Yikes. I am not sure what I did but did create some folders and tried to subscribe to blogs. I do like the idea of streamlining information that I look for regularly. I subscribed to a couple of sites that could help me with new and innovative recipes for my Nutrition and Food Science class. I like to offer the classes opportunities to try new foods or presentations that they haven't tried. RSS could be used by libraries as repositories for information on almost any subject and tailored to the age groups served by the library whether it is a school or public library.

Thing # 7

The Google tools are amazing. It took a while to read through all the tools. I can see where most would be useful. In my particular case the calendar and the notebook were the most appealing.
There are three of us in our area and our needs can overlap. The calendar would supply a way to schedule using the kitchen and the computer lab. When we have labs, it means the teacher using the kitchen as a classroom has to move. It can get confusing. The calendar would allow the three of us to schedule and share the information. The same would be true of the computers. More than once I have planned a lesson around the computer lab only to find that another department member is already half way through an assignment using the computers.
The notebook looks like a great place to store more information on subject areas. I could have a section for each subject. It would be much easier than trying to print copies and keeping up with the copies.
The advanced search option could more clearly refine a search and cut down on the number of pages that will show. I liked that one too.

Thing 6

I've spent some time looking at the applications on thing six. Again, I was lucky enough to get some exposure to some of these at the class I took last week. I actually attempted to make a trading card. I really liked this particular application because it is quick and easy to use. We have 10 computers in our department so I could use this at the beginning of the year. I'd like to have students in each class make a card of themselves and display them as a way to get acquainted with each other. It could be done within the context of the subject the student is taking. It might be really useful for the ninth graders. They are less willing to share verbally when they are new to the school and are in class with so many new faces. I'm always amazed at how original and how fast they are. This could be fun!

Thing 5

Flickr was a bit of a review for me. I took a class that included Flickr last week. The site is so vast that I need to refine my searches so I get more exact pictures and I don't have to look at quite so many.

Thing # 3

The avatar nearly finished me off. I didn't have any trouble creating it but moving it was really hard for me. I still don't know how or if I did it right. I think it is easier for me to learn by demonstrations than by trial and error. I guess I'll move on the the next thing. Surely it won't be as confusing!

Thing #2

Life long learning is a concept that is unavoidable. Everyone learns throughout life whether it is intentional or not. I think true life long learners are the ones that eagerly seek new experiences and knowledge. As a teacher it is impossible not to be a learner. Material gets stale and students get restless. In my subject area I have so many opportunities to grow and improve. I am lucky to teach three subjects. That is the beauty of electives. This summerI am going to two culinary conferences and will have the opportunities to learn from the chefs at Art Institute here and Cordon Bleu in Austin. It is so exciting to see and practice new techniques and to taste the end products. It is also a little like Halloween since we are required to dress as chefs.... pants, jackets and hats. My new adventures with food start next week. I can't wait.

June 6

I can't believe that I am doing this. I am not particularly good with technology and I am trying to learn new skills over the summer. I went to a class a couple of days ago and saw some really amazing things I can learn for free! There are some applications I can use in my classes, especially at the beginning of the year. I hope i can catch on.

I went to the Pompeii exhibit at the museum today. It was incredible. It makes me wonder if in a thousand years someone will dig out an old computer and be as amazed by it as I was by the artifacts and frescos from so long ago.