bookmark4life

Amazon to Ebay...Surf'in the summer waves!

2009-06-15T12:06:00.005-05:00

This summer I decided it was time to clean up our computer room. Since I have gone back to grad school it has become the collection point for all my things from school and work. The books were starting to pile up and it was time to get organized. I started to drive to the college book store to return books and then I had an idea. What about selling them online? I had purchased all of my books online, mostly from Amazon due to their free shipping and fast response. I have sold items on Ebay and found it easy to use Amazon to sell my books. I not only have sold most of them, but now find myself listing and selling books for friends. So far I have sold about 10 books this summer. I have managed to make at least half of what I paid for them, so that is much better than what the bookstore used to give me in college!

When I haven't been selling online this summer, well of course I have been shopping. Ebay is a great place to find graduation gifts. I wanted college fleece throws for former students going out of state to school. I found them and had them shipped and in my hands within a week. I even found a cool laser monogrammed wood pen and business card holder and pen for a male graduate. So when it gets too hot to get out in Texas turn on your computer and go shopping!

Facebook...watch out Grandpa wants to be your friend!

2009-06-14T22:27:00.005-05:00

Facebook...it all started out so simple. A friend had an account and suggested I try it, it's "really fun". Since I was taking web2.0 I opened an account and tried it out. I started out with a few friends and checked it every now and then. After moving five hours away, I have reconnected online with former colleagues, college friends, friends from grade school and even friends living abroad. I now have more friends online than probably in the nearby cities where I live. I must admit to find myself logging in more often and spending way too much time looking at folks photos and posts. I have managed to avoid the games, but some of the polls and quizzes reel me in. Facebook is a way for forty somethings to stay connected with old friends and family. Now not only do I find my former students, colleagues and friends their parents are joining in the fun! One of the fastest growing segments has become people in their 50's and older. So watch out next time you log on... you never know who might be requesting to be your friend!

Skype Me!

2009-06-14T22:12:00.003-05:00

I am sure you have heard the word but perhaps you have not yet experienced the wonder of Skyping! I too had heard about this free internet calling system but hadn't used it. You download the program for free and with your computer you can talk to people around the world for free. I had found along lost friend from high school on facebook and she now lives in Guatemala. She was anxious to talk and see each other and urged me to try Skype. I downloaded it in less than 15 minutes and watched the short tutorial. Then later that evening we talked on Skype! Wow how amazing was it to see Ana in her living room in Guatemala in realtime and talk to her. I look forward to more Skyping in the future and trying a conference call via Skype. If you try Skype there are a few things to watch for your settings on your webcam must be clicked on, the blue button on the right of the screen and your speakers on your computer must be turned up. Other than that it is really easy and fun!

MapMash... A cool tool!

2008-10-25T09:01:00.003-05:00

Wow a cool new web 2.0 tool I found is http://mapmash.googlepages.com/. It has several features but my all time new favorite mapmash uses the best of citysearch restaurants paired with google maps. It shows you the locations of the best restaurants in your city! Cool! There are also mapmashes showing predictions for electoral votes, best places to shop, transit maps, news maps and so much more. This is a really cool site to waste time on or use to narrow your search for a new restaurant!

Ike Humor...Because if you can't laugh Ike wins!

2008-10-01T21:43:00.001-05:00

Top Ike Related T-shirt Slogans

Ike Rocked My World
Ike 1 Houston 0
How big was your storm surge?
Got IKE?
Just Rebuild It
Ike.... Is that all you got?
No Likey Ikey
I've Been Iked
I survived Ike and all I have left is this T-shirt
I didn't vote for Ike

Top 10 Good Results of Ike
1. Low electric bill (no electricity still)
2. Low water bill
3. Low grocery bill
4. Low gas bill (don't want to use b/c of shortages)
5. Got to know neighbors and see them at our worst
6. No papers to grade ( no school for 6 days so far)
7. Not having to get up early
8. Getting time to spend with family
9. Got to visit niece and nephew in San Antonio and eat lunch at their schools
10. Got to spend time with loved ones and hubby (no power at his work all week, so off)

Top Baby Names for those Ike Babies... What else could folks do this week...
Ike (okay its an easy one)
Stormy
Gale
Wendy

Hubby and I wrote these. After 5 nights with my parents the house was getting really small!!!! We needed air, space, a change of scenery and channels without 24/7 IKE coverage. Our house was without electricity for 12 days. Lots of downed pine trees/power lines... Fortunately just roof damage and loss of all fridge stuff, we have great friends and family to keep us and put up with our crazy emotions. Uncertaintly is hard... Hubby has not worked all week either due to no power at his job. We both needed to get away... see traffic lights that work, no lines for gas, watch IKE free TV, relax... Pray for those that are so much worse off and lost everything. My friend's 80 yr old grandparents lost everything and will have to start over. We were very blessed it is just a minor inconvenience for us. Focusing on these humorous things helped us to laugh a bit and start to relax. Hope you find humor in them too.

Oprah's New Booklist for Kids!

2008-08-18T00:48:00.005-05:00

Oprah has just added to her site a new annotated booklist for kids. It is divided by age into five sections and even provides tips to help parents read with their children.

Also here is Oprah's speech to Stanford's graduates June 14, 2008. She reminded the students that there will be failures along life's journey and the importance of learning from our mistakes. She stressed the importance of our failures in shaping us as humans. She encouraged the students to use their gifts to make the world a better place and to enjoy the great things that are sure to come along life's journey.

I have enjoyed watching her show this summer, now it is back to taping it and watching it on the weekends. Perhaps someday when I retire I can actually attend a taping. She is an amazing woman who has impacted the life of so many through her voice. She has brought so many important issues to the forefront and now with her booklist for kids she will help to encourage parents to read with their child. Reading is so crucial to a child's success in school and in life!

Twenty Years!

2008-08-18T00:28:00.003-05:00

Twenty years ago I graduated from A & M and started teaching. Where has time gone? Now some of those students are starting their own teaching careers. The best advice I have gleaned through the years is...Don't try to do everything at once, add one thing at a time. Don't stay at the school past 5 you will just waste time and end up very tired. Take care of yourself, if you aren't feeling well you won't do your students any good. Laugh!!! Smile!!!Enjoy each day! Keep all your sweet notes from parents and students they will help to lift your spirits on the bad days. Because they will come as they do with any job. And never ever wear a smock dress! :)

Tomorrow I start my twentieth year and I still love teaching. Seeing the smile on a child's face when they finally understand multiplication or another concept is super. But seeing my students return to share their triumphs in their life is the absolute best. I am so proud of them! Each is special and unique and a part of me. We have laughed and learned together and had a lot of fun! Have a great school year!

Text Messaging is it harming our students writing?

2008-07-19T18:58:00.001-05:00

A recent article in the Baltimore Sun begs the question is texting harming our student's ability to write? Many English teachers can relate to grading papers with LOL, BFF, OMG, L8R and other abbreviations included throughout the papers. I cringed a few years ago while grading my sixth graders bookreports that were laden with mistakes. However, then I had a thought... What if we are on the edge of a new language emerging. Soon these abbreviations will creep into the dictionary and into our everyday language. They are already appearing in commercial advertisements (ADS). Perhaps one day they will become everyday language and acceptable in writing. Just a thought! Once I am sure it was terribly improper to say Ad instead of advertisement but or TV instead of television. Just as the thee and thou's have gone by the wayside perhaps someday so will our expanded form of writing as texting and email become more commonplace. Just a thought...

Ten things I learned this summer taking INST 6031!

2008-07-13T16:10:00.005-05:00

1. Online classes are demanding, especially tech ones in a five week session
2. Read the text, flag and highlight it before you take the online timed test! Answer questions you know first skip others and then return to them. Get an answer on everyone and then recheck those still uncertain about.
3. Be organized and you can achieve anything. This class had 17 assignments, 12 tests, 3 major projects in five weeks. Sounded impossible but I took it one step at a time and made it!
4. Take breaks to keep your sanity!
5. Don't sweat a point here and there if you still end up with a good grade.
6. Nothing worth learning is easy.
7. There is always something new to learn technology wise even in programs you already think you know. Thought I knew word, powerpoint, excel and access pretty well. Learned so many things this summer.
8. Some things that sound the hardest like making cam studio videos, converting text files to pdf and zipping files are actually easy.
9. You can do anything for five weeks... I lived under extreme stress with the demands of this class but persevered and made an A!!!!
10. Nothing is sweeter than finishing something difficult and succeeding!

Bluebonnets in July?

2008-07-11T07:17:00.004-05:00

Wow, today I realized July is almost half over and soon I will be flipping the calendar to August. When I flip that calendar suddenly everything goes into high gear getting prepared for a new school year. I decided to look at the TXLA website today and print out the Bluebonnet list for 08-09 before I head to the bookstore. I was pleased to find a great list of read alouds and even reader's theaters for several of the books. Thought I would share here. If you teach the lower grades or middleschool those lists can be found there as well as resources to teach.

Happy Fourth of July!

2008-07-03T09:46:00.006-05:00

America Supports You Go to the site and send a letter to the troops protecting our freedom!

Cool Nova Site to watch fireworks.... How well do you know your fireworks? If you are going to be using fireworks remember safety first!

Another Blog... What can I say???

2008-07-01T18:26:00.003-05:00

My class this summer also requires a blog designed to help teachers improve instruction through the use of technology. Since I have been very interested in the brain research coming out I also incorporated that into my blog Powered Brain! Hope you enjoy checking it out!

John Dewey...

2008-06-24T08:44:00.004-05:00

“The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think- rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.”
-John Dewey

I have been working on projects for my INST 6031 this summer... no time to blog. I will share a quote from John Dewey the subject of our first major project. Dewey had wonderful and revolutionary ideas about education that continue to shape our world today.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-14T02:21:00.004-05:00

Happy 49th Anniversary!

2008-06-10T14:37:00.006-05:00

June 6th was my parents 49th wedding anniversary! I know 49 years is amazing in this day and age but even more amazing is that my parents married at 17 and 19! So they have virtually been married their entire lifetime as adults. They have weathered the storms of life. Ten years ago I gave them a party for their 40th wedding anniversary at the time my mom was recovering from a stoke and we really weren't sure if she would ever be herself again. Amazingly she has made a fantastic recovery and my dad has survived a pacemaker and stents. We never know whether we have been married 13 years or 49 what is ahead. Like a rollercoaster marriage has its ups and downs, hills and valleys. However, you always have someone to share in the joys, lift you up in the trials, hold you during the tragedies, and pray with you. Marriage is an amazing relationship of trust, endurance, patience and understanding. I am fortunate to have had an excellent example in my parents of what marriage is all about. So here's to you Mom and Dad! Happy 49th!

It's Your Brain! Owner's Manual

2008-06-10T10:06:00.004-05:00

I ran across this interesting book today while reading blogs. The brain research has always facinated me and is important to not only my personal life but my life as a teacher. Today I found several interesting segments on YouTube from the Brain Rules! Dr. Medina finds a humorous way to help us all remember important facets of improving our brain power!

When planning powerpoints! Remember this...

When planning to teach afternoon classes or attend them remember the power of a 26 minute nap increases your productivity by over 30 percent! Yes, this is justification for my nap each day this summer!

The McGurk Effect explains why it is important to consider all facets of how our brain works when planning to present lessons or information to others!

Dr. Medina's full Google presentation

I hope you find this as interesting as I did and now I can't wait to read the book!
Finally what the brain research means to the average classroom teacher.

Summer is here!

2008-05-30T06:23:00.004-05:00

At last the final bell has rung and summer has officially arrived!

God Bless America this Memorial Day!

2008-05-26T13:31:00.004-05:00

This memorial day my cousin sent me a wonderful performance of the "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" by US Army Band and Chorus as they welcomed Pope Benedict XVI at the White House Rose Garden ceremony on 15 April. One of the fathers recorded it, added some graphic enhancements to the recording, and posted it on the web. Let it remind us all of the freedoms we enjoy each day and the sacrifices paid for them. God Bless America the land of the free and the home of the brave men and women who keep it that way!

Wedding Weekend in Crawford

2008-05-10T11:33:00.006-05:00

The little town of Crawford, Texas this weekend will host a very special wedding. Jenna Bush will marry at the family ranch. What I love most is that a family who could have held the wedding anywhere- chose to marry at home in Texas. What a wonderful lesson to many brides out there. Family and friends are what makes your wedding special not the amount you spend or how far your travel. Yes, I am sure they will have some wonderful flowers, food etc. But the most important part is that for years to come they will have the memory of a very special weekend spent with loved ones at the ranch! The rehearsal dinner was held in Salado according to one article which is another equally special small town in Texas. I am so happy for Jenna and her family that they are able to have a special weekend to celebrate privately. Her wedding is exactly what a wedding should be a special time for friends and family to wish the couple well as they start a new chapter in their life. Best Wishes Jenna & Henry for a long and happy marriage!

Orange Show 08 is coming this weekend!

2008-05-08T15:11:00.009-05:00

The Orange Show is coming this weekend to Allen Parkway. If you have never been and love cars and art it is the place to be this Saturday. It features Art Cars and is a treat for art lovers of all ages. My favorites last year were the Lego car and the Van Gogh of course! But there are so many more that are equally creative. You can check out my photostream of last year's Parade.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bookmark4life/sets/72157604955157817/
Here is an article from the Chronicle about one of this year's unique creations!

Interesting Online Conference Web 2.0

2008-05-08T13:46:00.004-05:00

Today while surfing I found a very interesting conference coming up this fall on using the new web2.0 technologies in the classroom. The K12 Online Conference but most interesting is a contest it has for educators to submit their best ideas for using web2.0 in the classroom. Applications are due by June 23rd. The conference is in October and is free and everything is available online. Also, you can see last year's conference materials online. They have a wikispace and ning they are using too. So it is a great site to explore the possiblities of web 2.0 in the classroom.

Summer Reading

2008-04-26T07:50:00.007-05:00

Okay I know it is only April but I am starting to look ahead to summer and reading for pleasure! I found Nielsen has lists of the top books selling for adults fiction, non-fiction and on tape! Just another source to get ideas for books to read for pleasure! Of course Amazonalso has lists of bestsellers. They also have blogs about books in many catagories one of my favorites is award winners.

What's for lunch?

2008-04-21T17:41:00.004-05:00

I came across an interesting article recently that talked about Japanese parents going to great lengths to get their children to eat healthy lunches. They were creating box lunches that had sushi, tofu and other items made to look like Japanese comic characters and scenes. The parents were even competitive about who could make the most appealing lunch for their child and it has become a status symbol of sorts. Imagine if American parents became this consumed with the welfare of their child's lunch! Instead often I have children that bring candy and snack food items to eat as a meal. It is a sad state of nutrition when one considers chips and a soda a lunch. I have had some children bring peanut butter crackers and juice as a lunch. How many adults would eat that? Better nutrition has a direct link to the ability to focus and do well academically.

Great Movie to Watch

2008-04-06T00:04:00.006-05:00

After several weeks of travel and being extremely busy tonight was spent relaxing and watching a great movie. One of the best ones I have watched in a long time. Ben Affleck's directoral debut in Gone Baby Gone.

Ben did a great job casting Dorchester, Boston's local talent in supporting roles. The flavor and character of the neighborhood shine through in this compelling tale. It leaves the viewer on the edge of their seat and grappling with one of the biggest questions in life. Would you really have the courage to do the right thing? Good vs Evil and Right and Wrong are turned on their heads as this story unravels. One must take a closer look at the layers of these characters to see the true heart of the matter. A must see!

Pulse Blogfest 2008 Interview YA Authors!

2008-04-04T18:55:00.004-05:00

Pulse Blogfest 2008 with young adult authors has some great interviews with authors like Avi, Judy Blume, Margaret Haddix, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and so many more! These are three of my favorite authors! I loved Judy Blume as a young girl. Margaret Haddix is one of my favorite's for her series Among the Hidden about shadow children. I enjoyed checking out the interviews and think it would be a great resource for middle school teachers/librarians & their students.

25 Social Networking Tools for Librarians

2008-04-04T18:37:00.002-05:00

I found a great article today on 25 great networking sites for Librarians! Several of them we have already explored in the 23 things activities. But some are new and will be fun to look at in the future! There are also several other great articles on this site about how to avoid online procrastination. Of course none of us have that problem I am sure... :) And 25 facebook applications for online education.

Muxtape & Mixwit Things to Listen to!

2008-03-31T20:58:00.004-05:00

Wow two new cool things! Mixwit and Muxtape. They are sites to create your own mix tapes and share them online. There is even a cool library muxtape by Jesamyn West ! I enjoyed it because I could listen to all the silly songs about librarians. Check it out and start making your own mixes to share! It is neat to because you do not have to download the songs to listen to them.

How well is your vision?

2008-03-31T20:38:00.005-05:00

How many passes can you count by the team in white? Watch the clip and see. Surpisingly it is not the passes which will amaze you! This clip will make you think. What else do we miss when we look to hard for only one thing.

Controversy and Lone Star Books

2008-03-30T20:54:00.005-05:00

Recently in a circle of teachers we were discussing the Lone Star Award nominees. Some had heard concerns over several of the selections being of a mature nature. It got me to thinking of one of my favorite books as a teen which at the time was considered very controversial. Are you there God it's me Margaret? by Judy Blume was a book my cousin and I bought and read in one day. We both loved it and have never forgotten the book.

Teens today deal with more mature issues than many of us even want to recognize so it is only natural that the books they are reading also are of a more mature nature. In an ideal world our teens would not have to think about these mature issues but of course no one lives in an ideal world these days! Literature helps us to open our minds and think about issues, it can be healing and helpful. Yes, it might not be the right book for all teens but for many it may be the perfect book that helps them through a difficult period in their life.

Thing #23

2008-03-26T20:06:00.003-05:00

Wow! Is it really Thing #23! This list seemed so unsurmountable back at the beginning but now I have learned so many things and realize I have only just started down the 2.0 pathway! Many more exciting adventures lie ahead. This summer when I have more time I hope to continue and explore some of the 43 things on the other lists out there...I also want to go back to the web2.0 awards and visit some of the other sites on that list.

My favorite "things" were learning about nings, podcasts, RSS feeds and wikis. I think those will be extremely useful to me as I start my library. Blogging has been fun too. It has helped me make some new friends in the library world. It is also fun to share our learning experiences with others exploring 2.0 and read each others feedback. Sometimes it is a cheer, a suggestion, an opinion or an idea!

Thing #21

2008-03-25T22:44:00.013-05:00

Making a pod cast was quite an adventure! I used Photostory3 to create my podcast. It is available free to download to your computer! Uploading my photos was very easy. Choosing music was fun and they had quite a variety you could create to go with your story. I also decided to add words to my slides. I decided to use photos of Christmas ornaments I had taken to show my class. I want to come back and experiment some more with pod casts when time permits this summer. I know they could be very helpful and exciting to use to present information to my students in the library. I also think it would be fun to have the student make their own pod casts in Science class. The title of the podcast is fine when shown in full view but did not fit on one line in the window here so I would be sure to make it a smaller font or two lines in the future. However, I don't have time to edit and redownload at this point. Like I said this is a first attempt, hopefully this summer I can work the kinks out a bit more.

Library sued over Internet Access in Florida

2008-03-22T17:31:00.003-05:00

Today I saw this article on the ticker at the bottom of my page and had to read it. We don't often think of libraries being sued. Libraries have to have policies about internet access. But do time limits impact a person's freedom of speech? I think 2 1/2 hours per day is more than user friendly and does not impact her freedom of speech. The question is how many computers are accessable to their patrons and are they adequate for the number of people in their community that use the public library. But it definitely is an article that makes you think about policies and how they will affect your users.

Taking the MAT

2008-03-22T17:25:00.003-05:00

Today was a first I took an online test for grad school admission. The MAT is a test of analogies spanning the entire base of knowledge from history, the arts, math, science, and so much more. Each question took your brain in a myraid of directions. However, I managed to finish, look over my answers a bit and finally got my score. I am slightly above average. Yea! I wonder if the SAT had been this way if many of us would have done better. Being able to see one question at a time, skip and return to them was nice. It was much easier and less stressful than I had imagined and I would much prefer this method to the old pencil/paper version. It is quick, easy to focus on one question at a time and best of all no waiting to know how you did.

I did it! I changed my template...

2008-03-22T17:09:00.001-05:00

Well after looking at a lot of other blogs I must admit mine was TOO COLORFUL! I am the child that used every color of crayon the first day of school. I love color and sometimes over do it a bit. I have changed my template and only a few of the original colors so I will see how I like this.

Adding Music to your Blog!

2008-03-21T18:43:00.004-05:00

Today I ran across a blog that had music! Cool idea! So I decided to add a playlist to mine. Will add more music when I get time! If you want to add your own the site is called playlist.com.

I also found out while editing the html for a new color on my player after changing my template that you can edit the color words and make a purple, pink, yellow, green or blue player and even have different color buttons than your player. By simply changing the four color words. Fun with html! Yes, I could have gone back to playlist and reloaded the html but this was easier actually and faster.

Libraries creating space for teens!

2008-03-21T14:17:00.005-05:00

When my husband and I married years ago we chose to live in Arlington, Texas. We chose Arlington because of the wonderful public services the community offered. It has a great selection of public parks, public libraries and excellent public schools. The other night I noticed where the library there is doing some new and innovative things for teens! They have entered the world of blogging. Arlington Public Library has created a blog for teens advertising the new books in the library!They also have a new section of the library just for teens to create content. Check it out. And finally the gallery of projects created in the Studio at Arlington Public Library.

Getting teens into the public library is a challenge these days but the library in Arlington is seeking them out where they play online. It will be interesting to see how the gallery and underground area progresses over time. It is a great start in the right direction!

Content Things...

2008-03-21T11:04:00.002-05:00

I found this site today on the web for adding more content to your blog or website. The free dictionary site allows you to add a word of the day, this day in history, spelling bee game and other content to your site. I added several in the yellow bar on my site. The spelling bee is fun and I enjoyed practicing my spelling skills!

Thing #19

2008-03-21T10:17:00.002-05:00

Thing 19! Wow what a cool idea to put together a page of all the web2.0 winners. I first checked out the short list! I found several sites we had visted on the 23 Things project, as well as many new ones to explore. In my library I would definitely use this site to find new 2.0 tools to use to help my teachers and students search more effectively, organize bookmarks, tag sites, use online productivity tools and be more productive online.

Some of my favorites were Lulu where you can self publish your own book. I am sure this is something I will use in the future. I would love to write a book for my family for Christmas of Family Recipes. I could also use it with my students at school for a special project. I also found a neat site called Farecast to find the best fares for travel on the net, that will come in handy for summer break. I liked the Peer Trainer site, which is an online site to log your workouts, eating and progress toward fitness goals. You have an online support group to help you achieve your goals. 43 Things is an online goal setting site where others cheer you on toward your goals. What I learned most exploring this site is there is a site out there for everybody and many of these sites can save you a great amount of time! The categories for the awards were as diverse as the internet ranging from business applications, social networking to entertainment. This was fun to explore and I bookmarked it so I can checkout the other winners when I have more time!

Thing #22

2008-03-19T12:15:00.009-05:00

Ningswere new to me. I first visited Texas School Librarians Ning and found a friend of mine already on the page. She is a librarian in FBISD. I also invited a teacher friend to join and explored some of the discussions and pages. I found a neat page of a Plano librarian who creates his own videos to use in the library. I also explored the Teacher Librarian Ning it has members from all over the world and has a wider view of the library world. I created a group here for all my fellow Librarians 2.0 in class to join and share as we start our careers as librarians! Nings are a great social networking tool for librarians and others to use.

I also added badges from both pages to my blog so others can check out the nings! I think Nings could be very useful to get input, ideas, comments, feedback etc. as we work as librarians. Often librarians feel isolated but with the internet, nings, wikis and other tools we are learning we will never be alone.

Thing # 18

2008-03-17T18:58:00.007-05:00

I enjoyed exploring the online productivity tools. I explored Google docs I created and saved a document that I will use from my school. I can see how when collaborating on projects these would be very useful. You can edit, create, access the documents from any computer. That would be a huge benefit during a collaborative project. However, most of the time I use the programs that I already have on my computer as I am more familiar with them and can quickly create my documents. But it is nice to know that this option exists especially as we all start our graduate program and will have many collaborative projects to create.

Thing #17

2008-03-17T17:31:00.005-05:00

Playing in the sandbox was fun. Reading all the things that others had contributed was inspiring to create my own wiki and learn to be more comfortable with this form of communication/collaboration. I hope to create a wiki to use with my students in the future. I am exploring topics and ideas right now and deciding what pages to include.

Below is my post to the sandbox...
Library 2.0 has been a dip in the deep end of the technology pool for many of us. It has stretched our minds and our technology skills to new frontiers. But once stretched it will be hard hopefully to return to the old ways of doing things. Hopefully our enthusiasm will spread throughout our campuses and grow a new urgency amongst our colleagues to swim in the deep end. To make their lessons more exciting, to try new and innovative ways to do things, to collaborate more and not only enhance the learning of their students but also their communities (teachers & parents). I think Wiki's are exciting from the standpoint they are the future a 24/7 collaborative tool to use both in and out of the classroom. For students, teachers, librarians, staff and parents to even collaborate and share knowledge. My goal now is to create a wiki and learn to feel more comfortable with this new method of collaborative learning.

Cruising New Sites Truemors/Linked In

2008-03-02T17:27:00.005-06:00

While browsing the web the other day and learning to use some sites I ran across Truemors. It takes rumors and tracks them until they become news and links them to the news articles on CNN etc. It is fun to read and I added a link below on a grazr. Today it published the names of JLo's new Twins! People also can comment on the news which is interesting.

Another new site I found was Linked In which is a bit like facebook but more for professionals. It allows you to link with people you know and then with everyone they know. Sort of a six degrees of separation. You can post your resume and other information online. You can look for jobs, get online recommendations to post to your page, etc.

Thing#16

2008-03-02T17:23:00.003-06:00

Wikis are a facinating new concept of collaboration online. I think they are being used in some interesting ways for both libraries and classrooms. It will be great to see how this evolves in the next couple of years as it is used more frequently.
NYPL just started blogging and I checked out their blog. I also read the wikis on the Library2Play site. I think though until you post and become involved in a Wiki it is a bit of a foreign concept. So I will look forward to learning more about them.

Thing #15

2008-02-20T20:20:00.009-06:00

Library 2.0 is a way of reinventing our ideas of how libraries provide services to their customers. Embracing change is necessary if libraries are to survive in this ever-changing digital age. There will always be a great need for information and knowledge; it is the way one finds it that is rapidly changing. I am really excited about the future of libraries. For one I always feel that people do not learn in silence. I like the 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 library visions because they enhance the experience of the library. They make it interactive, reactive and creative. They make it a place a buzz with the excitement of knowledge. “A happening place!” I loved the video of the Transformation Lab project I found on YouTube where they took out the bookshelves and old library furniture, they replaced it with interactive technology to show what a library might be like in a digital world. (See Thing#20 Below) This is an interesting clip of a children's library section recently posted as part of the Transformation Lab project. What child wouldn't want to interact with this library? I loved the Bib phones, Sliding Titles and Story Surfer. The Bib phones allowed children to embed into chips located on the books their thoughts after reading that selection. Then future readers could put the Bib phone to the book and hear reviews. Even adults would love to use this technology. The sliding titles allowed readers to see clips of books and preview without wandering the isles. The story surfer was perhaps the most exciting feature allowing a child to totally immerse themselves physically and mentally in the library experience. What child wouldn't want to visit this library?

Librarians 2.0 must be flexible, embrace technology, crave change and hospitable. They must encourage their customers to interact and express their desires for what the library can do to serve them. For one, Librarians 2.0 must create a library that is not bound by walls or hours. They must have a digital presence as well as a physical presence. They must encourage their customers to not only consume knowledge but to create it! Librarians will not become obsolete, they will become of the greatest importance to helping customers navigate the ever changing information superhighway of the future.

Thing #14

2008-02-18T21:38:00.004-06:00

Exploring Technorati could easily turn into several hours of wandering on the web. I registered my blog and posted a widget of top 10 things searched for on technorati on my blog. It is amazing to me the numerous search tools available on the web and ways to find information. And to think most people only know 3 or 4 at the most. Knowing how to use tags, technorati, delicious and various other search methods will really enable a person to more efficiently use their time on the internet. That is after they finish exploring just for fun! You can even find on the main page, "What's percolating on blogs right now". Listing up the minute top topics in entertainment, politics and many other areas! I found technorati easy to navigate and use. It was easy to add a widget to my site too!

Thing #13

2008-02-18T21:23:00.005-06:00

Delicious! Thought this was just a word to describe a triple chocolate dessert. But using this tool on the internet is equally sweet! It lets you search items tagged by others, search others lists, create your own tags and create your own list of sites to save to read later. I did several searches for libraries, 2.0, and collaboration. I found several interesting pages to bookmark. I started using tags after seeing others use them on their blogs and realized that as your blog grows this is a way to find older posts that you want to reread quickly. It is also a way to search other's blogs for useful information.

Thing #12

2008-02-13T22:41:00.004-06:00

I tried the Rollyo search engine tool and found it really is a super time saver. I was able to import my recipe bookmarks from my computer and create one search engine. It will save me lots of time when I am searching for a recipe. Before I had about 20 sites bookmarked, now I just need Rollyo! Wow between this and the google reader tool I will save lots of time.

Thing 3 1/2 My wild self! Avatars for kids

2008-02-09T21:58:00.001-06:00

I went to the site Build your Wild Self at the New York Zoo & Aquarium website. It is a great site for kids to visit to explore and build their own wild self avatars. They can also learn about animals as they build their wild self. I chose the valentine themed shirt for next Thurs. is the big day. I chose to have a beautiful peacock tail, a hissing tongue as I have been sick all day, and octopus arms as I can always use more hands. I think my students would have a lot of fun at this site. It would be fun to have them design their wild self and then write stories about the adventures they might have as their wild self.

My Animoto!

2008-02-09T20:38:00.001-06:00

I created an animoto of Bluebonnet Nominees...

Wow Animoto is the coolest thing ever! You upload your photos and choose music or upload your own and it creates a video. You can even remix if you don't like the first one and it is FREE! It only took a few minutes to upload the photos saved to my computer and to make the video. It would be great to use to introduce lessons, family parties, birthdays, weddings, graduations, end of the year parties, to motivate and grab the attention of your audience!

Not a thing ... just interesting

2008-02-08T21:07:00.001-06:00

A friend sent me this email today about interesting truck designs in Europe! Seems they are doing some cool graphic paint jobs on the delivery trucks. This was of course my favorite!

Thing #20

2008-02-08T20:36:00.002-06:00

Libraries of the future look like exciting, evolving and rapidly changing structures. They will be constantly places of action as people come together to share information, discuss, research and create new things! I enjoyed searching Teacher Tube and You Tube. I have used them before and placed videos on my facebook and myspace pages. Hope you enjoy the video of the Transformation Lab! It is one exciting experiment. Wish we could take a field trip to a library like this! :)

This is a cool video I found on researchers attempting to make shape shifting robots. Very cool idea to share with your Science students.

The Future of Libraries

2008-02-08T19:58:00.002-06:00

Interesting video on YOUTUBE on the Future of Libraries in 2010!

Thing #11

2008-02-05T23:24:00.000-06:00

Exploring Library Thing was fun! I took the time to add a few of my favorite books to my blog. Since I have taught various grade levels I have favorites ranging from easy to read to teen fiction. I loved that you could check out reviews, browse collections, search, share tags etc. There are so many cool ways you could use this as a librarian. To help both teachers and students in their search for literature on various topics. I even found a link on the blog page where you could sign up to get free books to review. Maybe this summer when I have a bit more time!

Thing #10

2008-01-30T20:44:00.000-06:00

Online Image Generators were fun. I chose to do the Comic Strip Generator. I enjoyed using it and found it very easy to use. I also searched and found Peanuts one of my favorite comics. I liked the famous people you could make say things but of course we were warned to "be tasteful". So I opted not to use Paris Hilton or Al Gore! :) I also tried some of the generators for text and even one to create your own custom license plate signs on your webpage. I could see using some of these in the library to create interesting and eyecatching signs to relay information. They would also be cute to insert into newsletters for your faculty.

Thing #9

2008-01-28T19:56:00.000-06:00

Thing #9 I inadvertently already accomplished when I found my RSS feeds. I linked one to the bottom of my blog and limited it to Education and Libraries. I also made a page of interesting articles on my google reader that relate to LLLS topics. I found several interesting library blogs to subscribe to on my google reader page and will enjoy checking in on them from time to time.

Thing #5

2008-01-28T19:03:00.000-06:00

I enjoyed using Flickr. Flickr has a lot of neat options available for printing your photos. They have several partner applications that allow you to create notecards, books, T-shirts and other gift items from your photos. I would like to scan in family photos and make a book for my family for Christmas if I can find the time.

Thing #7

2008-01-28T18:58:00.000-06:00

While checking out the cool Google tools, I came across Google Notebook. It allows you to store clippings, text, images and links in a Google Notebook. The advantage is that you can create notebooks, organize your notes and even publish your notebook online for others to view. It is also accessable anywhere with your Google Accounts login. Therefore I would not have carry my notebook with me. You can get access from any computer, you can even get access from your phone. This is a tool that would enable me to grab precious minutes and put them to good use while waiting on appointments. I can definitely see me using this to organize my research during grad school.

Thing #8

2008-01-23T20:35:00.000-06:00

Wow, I love RSS! What a clever idea and it will save me a lot of time. I LOVE to read the news, I have at least 5 newspapers marked under my bookmarks on my computer. Now I can just enter them into my RSS reader service and VIOLA get the news I want all in one place. Now if only I had a laptop so I could read my morning paper on the couch! The link above is a shared reader page I created with several articles that I thought would be of interest to my LLLS friends.

Thing # 6

2008-01-22T22:35:00.000-06:00

This was fun, I spent a lot of time playing with FlickR and trying out various projects with the photos on the Big Photo Lab site. I have previously used several photo hosting sites such as Walgreen's, Walmart and Creative Memories. I have made calendars, decks of cards and other projects on the sites. I enjoyed making a magazine cover using the program on the BIG HUGE LABS site. I think this could be fun to use for some class projects such as book reports. It is very easy to use compared to ones I have used previously. The trading card was really a cute idea too. I think it would be great to reward students with at the end of the year or report card time.

Thing #1

2008-01-21T13:55:00.000-06:00

Well this class will be a rollercoaster ride for many of us! I for one have been out of school for 20 years and could tell upon registering for this class how time has changed school. Twenty years ago registering would have been done by walking my card around campus to the advisors office and I would have purchased books at the campus bookstore. Today registration was online, the bookstore even had an online link to find textbooks needed for your class. I found that I could order books online from Amazon and it was cheaper than the campus bookstore. Prior to enrolling in this class I felt relatively computer literate. However, as I read the blog about the 2.0 things we will explore I realized I have just dipped my toes in the technology waters. Hopefully I will be able to swim soon!

Thing #4

2008-01-21T13:53:00.000-06:00

I emailed my information to register my blog and realized that I had not added a title to my blog. So I edited my page a bit and even added a news bar at the bottom.

Thing #3

2008-01-21T13:47:00.000-06:00

Creating my own avatar was fun! Although the possibilities are endless and I could have wasted quite a bit of time at the site. It would be fun to dress your avatar for the seasons and holidays. I think this semester though I will be far too busy with school and my LLLS classes to change my avatar.

I have created a blog before but failed to post often and found it hard to think of creative posts at the end of the workday. This site is easy and actually is the one I used when I created my previous blog.

Thing #2

2008-01-21T11:11:00.000-06:00

Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People reminds me that it is crucial to put your needs first at many times . That is hard for most of us to do, we tend to focus on our needs last meanwhile draining ourselves meeting others expectations. However, when we put our needs first we find we are better prepared to help others.

Reading the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Effective Lifelong Learners was exciting. I think the last principle Play! really reinforced what I learned a couple of years ago when my school learned the concepts of FISH! Productivity increases in environments where people play. When people feel free to create, explore, experiment they are most productive and innovation occurs in these environments. Those who embrace play are more energetic and creative. I myself find this principle easy to embrace in my classroom. My greatest compliment came when a student said they loved to attend my class because they laughed in it everyday. The FISH philosophy states "What would you be willing to try if you knew you could not fail?", what a powerful question. Many times we allow the fear of failure to restrict us as learners.

The hardest concept for me would have to be begin with the end in mind. The part that is hardest for me to accept changing my goals when circumstances intervene. I have trouble saying no to others and am starting to realize that saying no to others often means saying YES to yourself! I must say YES more and allow myself to do the things that are important to me.