THING #23

Yeah for me!!! I am so happy. I am so thrilled that I completed this program, and I can honestly say this has been one of the most applicable in-services I have ever done.
(1) What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
On a purely personal level, I loved the librarything blog. I know I will use that repeatedly. I also really liked the image generators and the photostory, as I was able to create somethings that I know will be beneficial to my classroom goals.

(2)How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I think the most important thing was that I proved to myself I could do something which I had long felt might be difficult. Just creating a blog, downloading a video, etc. - all these were confidence boosters that I can keep going in my journey.

(3)Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I think what surprised me the most was how fun these ideas were, and I was also surprised by how possible it is to glean ideas from other teachers and professionals.

(4)What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I thought the format was good. Possibly you could offer other applications, so we could learn even more.

(5)If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
I certainly would.

(6) How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?
This is a fun, challenging way to improve your ability to effectively use internet resources which can be applied both professionally and personally.

(7)Now go and comment on some of the other Players' blogs.
I posted on Whirled Cultures and Linda's Summer Blog.

It was absolutely great! Thanks Spring Branch district for allowing me to play.

THING #22

I had been looking at the Nings earlier, and I can see a great deal of potential to limit your contacts to just information that applies to a specific area instead of the vast array you get through other social networking sites. Sometimes less is more. I looked at the Texas Librarian Ning, and it was so interesting to see a conversation about starting a school newspaper. Since my background is in journalism, that was especially interesting.

It seems to me that this would be a good way to create a classroom Ning, which could be used similarly to a blog.

THING #21

Ok, after a lot of fun and much effort, here it is -


This is a photostory about my trip to France in March. I can't wait to show my mom, as it was through her genrosity I got to go.

AND, what a thrill for me to learn how to do this. I can see so many applications to the classroom. I know my kids would enjoy this.

THING #20 (THE FOLLOW-UP)

I just wanted to take a moment to gloat. Hah!! I can't believe the video actually played. I have wondered how to do this for so long and felt that it would be too difficult for me to learn, so at this point I am feeling pretty sassy about it all. Why, oh, why do we make things so much harder than they have to be?

THING #20

OK, if this actually works it is a major accomplishment for me. I have been trying for several hours. I would copy the code on the video, but then when I would try to paste it in the video link under the HTML, nothing would be there to paste. I still don't know what I did wrong. Finally, I downloaded the video, then browsed on my computer to insert it. One thing I am learning is to keep trying different things if one thing doesn't work. The above video is from teacher tube, and it is a segment on kids acting out Beowulf with puppets. It is very cute, and I am sure the kids enjoyed it. I also looked on YouTube for different things regarding Othello, which I also teach to my seniors. I kept getting sidetracked by looking up things that are just fun to me personally - but maybe that isn't so bad after all! I think in the future I am going to require my students to have at least one video source for research papers.

THING #18

I had no idea these free programs even existed, so that was good to know. I looked briefly at Google, then downloaded OpenOffice. It was incredibly easy to use, I thought. I can see that would be a money saver, and according to the literature, it is easier to use than Microsoft Word. I think it would just take working with it over a period of time to see if that is actually true. Last year I bought a book about Office Word 2007, because I got so frustrated not being able to figure out how to do the things I wanted. I am getting better at that, and I think the more programs I am familiar with (such as OpenOffice or Google Docs) the more proficient overall I will be. Also, this is good information to give students who might need a free word processing prograqm.

THING #19

Great to see all those helpful tools! I looked at Lulu, which I thought was interesting. I can see how having the kids write books would be a great experience for them. Or, perhaps they could create a portfolio in book form. I mentioned earlier that I am thinking of having my students do a "My Town" project, and they could complete that, then have it bound. It truly would be a historical record of our town. Or,we could have them make historical records of latest trends, fashions, etc.

I also looked at Picassa, and that was good, because a friend of mine recently posted pictures on there of a trip a group from this area took at spring break to
France. I haven't looked at the pictures yet, and I know I will want to, so I downloaded the program.

I clicked on almost all the entries listed, so that was fun. As far as useful to libraries, I think almost any of the sources would be helpful in either researching or producing new material by the students.