Thing 13 -- Lucky # -- Del icio us and social bookmarking

I watched the videos and perused the site. I can see the advantages of del.icio.us especially the ability to access your bookmarks on any computer. I've often wished I had access to a favorite site when I was using someone else's computer. I also marveled at some of the favorites: http://prezi.com/ seems really amazing. Of course, the best usage is educational -- for bookmarking your curricular needs. I had amazing amounts of bookmarks for Ancient Egypt (it's sixth grade curriculum -- the video said 5th??) and listed them all for my teachers. Now I find myself adding random bookmarks that need to be cataloged? Del.icio.us would be very useful. Tagging is something I'm not quite sure about yet. I keep thinking of subject headings. What would be most useful for others to find the bookmark? Most commonly used, or most academic, or most sexy...whoops, this is an educational tool. I think I meant attractive. I didn't set up an account. Still working on some of my other tools. This does take a lot of time!!! I uploaded an image of my avatar since I can't see it on my browser.

Thing 12 - Rollyo - more thoughts

I think I successfully added a "widget" or ?? to the bottom of my blog.

Now I can search my saved search rolls.

I have noticed that some of the links for School Library Learning 2.0 have already come and gone. I guess this is this nature of the web. One way you can tell if a site is worth saving -- it has been around for quite awhile and many people use it.

I'd like to link to Joyce Valenza's blog but I didn't quite know how to do this as a gadget??

Turtle Learning at work. Sometimes I can find another way to do something when I don't understand the first way I tried.

Thing 12 - Rollyo

Rollyo is interesting in terms of creating good sites for research. I created an account and chose several sites to search based on my own interests, as well as general research and news sites already on a rollyo search roll. So I thought I created a search roll too. I'm not certain that this is as useful as it should be because it seems to allow too much to be included -- not simple enough to navigate for users. I also tried to add it to my blog but I guess I didn't understand the directions. I think I need to call someone for help!!!! That's me, needing another cup of coffee.

Thing 11 - Web 2.0 Award-Winning Apps.

Happily I discovered that I have been using an award-winning site for at least a year -- Care 2 -- the #1 Philanthropy site. I receive daily updates through email and can easily support many causes and sign lots of petitions. I guess this makes me feel less guilty about not going out and supporting the issues that I think are important: global warming, endangered species, clean water for all, etc. etc. etc. The site is easy to use and includes interesting Health Tips that are usually not involved with traditional medicine -- natural remedies for the most part. By the way, it's at www.care2.com/ In the library setting, collaborating with a history/social science, Science, or English teacher to explore possible issues of importance that might encourage students to look beyond themselves. Several educators I have studied believe that an education that involves critical thinking and issues that affect students' lives is the most effective way to get them interested in becoming life long learners. Sorry -- that was an awkward sentence. The students could also explore Care2 to see if they agree, or if the information presented is accurate. Who is creating this information and why? I haven't joined a Ning yet, but I tried the Travel IQ game and didn't succeed beyond the second level. I have to admit I hate these games for myself, but think this might be fun for some students. I have visited and lived in many places on the globe, but I couldn't react fast enough on Travel IQ.

(The image you see here is similar to one I have in my living room -- these are papier mache life-size "enramadas" from Mexico by famous folk artists. Just to catch your eye!)

Thing 10 - Online Image Generators continued

The possibilities seem endless for use: create images with favorite quotations from the book you are reading; make posters with key words about a character in a book; using your photos or other photos, make a poster that encompasses facts you have learned about an animal, a country, a person. Students who don't feel they are creative can begin to be creative with these tools and feel successful. Personal uses are endless, such as this puzzle created with a photo of my granddaughter two years ago. Of course, I would have to buy it!

Thing 10 - Online Image Generators

Just a quick post because I like the image I generated. Will do more. This is really fun!

Hope this works!

Thing 9 - Explore Blogs/Feeds

In searching for useful bogs and feeds for libraries, I found that teacher-librarian blogs are the most useful. With Bloglines, I did encounter a blog for "Criticas" - the Scholastic journal on best Spanish books for children, a source I used at work, so I added it to my Google Reader page. Using the link to award winning edu blogs, I decided to look at the nominees for best library blog for two years. My favorites were Hey Jude -- http://heyjude.wordpress.com where she provided a link to a paper entitled "Future Learning in a Digital Age" by the MacArthur Foundation from http://www.futureof the book.org and A Library By Any Other Name from Texas. The latter is at http://alibraryisalibrary.blogspot.com/ She has great links to other library blogs including Joyce Valenza, Kathy Schrock's Kaffee Klatsch, Library Stuff, Tame the Web, Weblogg-ed, and more. My favorite quote from this blog is "Patience is one of the tools you have to have in the 2.0 world." Joyce Valenza is by far my favorite although I fear it will take me too long to be able to even understand all that she does. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334.html. Today she lists AASL's best websites for teaching and learning. Now how much more useful can you be! All of this takes time but I did think that looking for school library blogs is our best bet for resources.

Thing 8 - RSS Feeds

I used Google Reader to set up a news reader. I did it too fast. There were a gazillion items I'd like to read about on a regular basis but I wonder if I'll ever have time to read them. I did find an interesting website/pdf by Will Richardson: RSS: A Quick Start Guide for Educators. I gather he is the guru of this and many other educational issues. http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/RSSFAQ4.pdf This is the link. I shared some of my items on Turtle Learning at the right.

Things 6 and 7 Flickr

My last post should have been Thing 6 as I did explore Flickr sites and start a travel blog.

One problem is that my daughter got me started on Facebook which many people use as a blog. And Facebook is very easy to navigate, although I need to explore some of its options more thoroughly. Here is a photo of my granddaughter that I posted on Facebook page. The problem is that school districts block this site -- or Los Angeles does. I understand the reasons, but they also block academic book publishers' sites needlessly because they sell textbooks about human relationships. Students invariably find ways around these blockages anyway.

Thing 5 Flickr continued

The thing about Flickr is that it seems more difficult to use than just a blog would be.

I started a Yahoo! Trip for my trip to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica and wanted to add photos taken in December and January 2008-2009. But to do that I'd have to learn an entirely different operation that uploads the photos to Flickr in order to add it to Yahoo! Trip. I think there are easier ways to do these things since Flickr started. One colleague says she prefers Snapfish. I'll have to check that out as well.

Thing 5 Flickr

Thing 5 Flickr

Luckily I had a Flickr account created with Marie Slim's help to post photos of CSLA 2008.

So I looked for a beautiful library photo taken at one of my elementary schools in Southeast Los Angeles. The creative Library Aide, Cindy Gonzalez, draws freehand beautiful images for Dr. Seuss Day or whatever she is featuring. I wanted to share this lovely image on my blog. Hope I can figure out how.

RSS Feeds

I was reading one of my favorite people's blogs and he included a wonderful short video about RSS feeds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OklgLsSxGxU

Title: Video: RSS in Plain English. Really clear explanation. Now I need to set it up!

Avatar

I successfully followed the directions to post my avatar and it didn't work.

The image does not show. What a pity!

Thing #2 and #3 and #4

The first post should have been thing #2. I have completed the first four things. So far it has been fairly straightforward, except I didn't create an avatar. I think avatars are attractive and whimsical and perhaps wishful thinking. I could use all of that. I hope I don't confuse everything by using a different email for CSLA. I need to change my profile -- my old account was abruptly cut when I retired June 30th.

Thing #1

Thing #1 - Tips from lifelong learners is useful. I understand all of it except the confidence part. Decided one can gain confidence by just doing something, learning from failures. I am a turtle learner, slow, slow, slow.