Thing 11: LibraryThing

I’m so happy to learn about LibraryThing. I’ve started putting the books that I’ve read recently on my list. Several of the groups looked interesting. I especially like the recommendations/reviews part of the site. I know that we’ll be checking there when we are trying to decide on a title to choose at our book club meetings.

Thing 10: Online Image Generators

I loved Thing 10! It was fun to poke around and play. There is so much to discover. Wordle (http://www.wordle.net/) kept me busy for a long time. I just kept thinking of different things to try. I will make a wordle with a book during storytime and put it on the SmartBoard. I will definitely use Badge Maker (http://bighugelabs.com/deck.php) this year. I think that the library volunteers would feel very welcomed if they have their own badges to wear when they come to help. The second grade teachers will enjoy using Map Maker (http://bighugelabs.com/map.php) when they study the Civil War, Westward Expansion, or Immigration. Teachers could use the Captioner (http://bighugelabs.com/captioner.php) and Comic Strip Generator (http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/) in countless ways. I’ll go back to Thing 10 throughout the year next year!

Thing 9: Blogs and News Feeds

The search tools were all fun to explore. Edublog was the easiest for me to use. I added a couple of feeds from the nominees/awards lists to my reader. I also found a great teacher’s blog that doesn’t have a feed but is very inspiring! Topix was more confusing for me to figure out and maneuver through. There’s so much there. I know that I’ll be spending much more time searching through these tools.

Thing 8: RSS Feeds

Before I began Thing 8, I had never heard of RSS or readers. I love this tool, and I’ll be spreading the word about it to my friends at school. There are a few blogs that I really like to follow, and I used to go to each one on a regular basis to see if they had updated. I think that Google Reader will save me hours. I found a few new blogs to add to my reader including A Library By Any Other Name. Readers offers teachers, librarians, and anyone involved in education so many opportunities to learn and to stay connected to others who are learning. I’ll be watching my reading list for ideas to try in the library, new books and ways to use them, and ways to connect technology with the library and the classroom.

Thing 7: Google Tools

I now have an iGoogle page. I'm still playing with the gadgets and moving them on and off my page trying to decide which ones to keep. I added a link to my blog and a feed to a blog that I follow. I have the Dallas News, gmail, YouTube, and a daily joke. I shared a virtual pet gadget with my daughter who has always had a monkey on her Christmas wish list. I haven't used Google advanced search before now, but it sure makes finding specific information on the web much easier. I set up Google alerts for children's books and school libraries. I'll be excited to read what comes from those. There is so much more to Google than I ever imagined!

Thing 6: Mashups and Third Party Sites

There are so many things to explore...the hours slip by! It was fun to play with Mosaic Maker. I’m going to try to use that for a birthday card this week. Trading Card Maker has so many possibilities for our early elementary library. I made one featuring my cat, Moo, who would have loved to spend his days on some reader's lap in the library. I think that I’ll use that tool this summer to make cards with student photos and their recommendations from their summer reading. I’ll display the Trading Cards with the books. The kids will love it!

Thing 5: Explore Flickr

Flickr kept me busy for hours. I was introduced to this site last year, but have never really explored it until now. I was amazed at all of the photos available. There are pictures to go with almost every unit studied on our Pre-K through 2nd Grade campus. I chose to include the picture of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in my blog because it looks just like a photograph that I took there a couple of years ago. I'll be visiting Flickr a lot!

Thing 4: Register

Done! I'm registered and ready to begin this adventure.

Thing 3: Set Up Blog

I have been wanting to create a blog for a long time. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to exploring the Blogger site and trying out some different layouts. I had fun working on the avatar. She looks a little bit like me...on a good day.

Thing 2: Lifelong Learners

I enjoyed reading about the 7 1/2 habits. I know that they are all important habits to develop. The easiest one for me is probably accepting responsibility for my own learning. I do enjoy learning new things and finding ways to stretch myself. I am energized by reading, trying new skills, and comparing thoughts with colleagues. For me, the most difficult of the habits is number 7 1/2…PLAY. I often have a long list of things that I should do that I put ahead of things that I’d like to do