What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Avatars and LibraryThing
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It made me comfortable exploring in some areas that I would have not otherwise explored: delicious, technorati, for example.
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I still find it difficult to "join" all the blogs, feeds, etc. I'm not sure if this is an age thing (over 50) or a time thing or just a personal preference.
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Maybe more concrete examples of the benefits of social networking. A testimonial of how it fits into a busy teaching librarian's schedule.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
Yes, I appreciated the time and craft that was put into the exercises. I hope you will leave the site up. I've directed others to it already! Our department is using it for all of the librarians.
How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities?
Your thoughtfully crafted lessons made me comfortable with walking through scarey and sometimes frightening new vocabulary and technologies.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thing 22 Week 9 EBooks
I knew about the Gutenburg Project to digitize free books, but I was unfamiliar with the British Library site or the other site. Thank you.
One of our district's Enduring Understanding is "Books exist in many forms." We seek to show students (and adults) that a book is not always a physical entity that you hold in your hand.
Audio books support the learning process in many ways, including one of our school employees whose daughter suffered a brain injury from a car accident last year. The audio books help keep her brain stimulated.
There are also many "free" audio books downloadable from our public library. One of the complaints that the public librarians have is the amount of memory that the audio books take up on the computers once downloaded. This could be a way for school librarians to enchance the program for classroom and special education teachers, especially if they do not have many audio books in their own collections.
One of our district's Enduring Understanding is "Books exist in many forms." We seek to show students (and adults) that a book is not always a physical entity that you hold in your hand.
Audio books support the learning process in many ways, including one of our school employees whose daughter suffered a brain injury from a car accident last year. The audio books help keep her brain stimulated.
There are also many "free" audio books downloadable from our public library. One of the complaints that the public librarians have is the amount of memory that the audio books take up on the computers once downloaded. This could be a way for school librarians to enchance the program for classroom and special education teachers, especially if they do not have many audio books in their own collections.
Thing 21 Week 9 Podcasts
The links to the Yahoo Directory and Podcast.net did not work.
I found a great Children's Book Talk podcast on Podcast Alley directory. I think the most helpful of the directories listed was the Education Podcast Network. Because the podcasts were broken down into Subject specific areas, it was easier to find things that would be helpful to me -- like the information skills podcasts.
Overall, I believe that iTunes has the greatest selection of Podcasts. We have uploaded our student's podcasts there and the students get a buzz out of having their work published in such an open forum. It makes for great PR also when parents and members of the community can look up student's work. There is some very high caliber educational podcasts on grammar and mathematical concepts in the iTunes library as well as excellent NPR shows.
I found a great Children's Book Talk podcast on Podcast Alley directory. I think the most helpful of the directories listed was the Education Podcast Network. Because the podcasts were broken down into Subject specific areas, it was easier to find things that would be helpful to me -- like the information skills podcasts.
Overall, I believe that iTunes has the greatest selection of Podcasts. We have uploaded our student's podcasts there and the students get a buzz out of having their work published in such an open forum. It makes for great PR also when parents and members of the community can look up student's work. There is some very high caliber educational podcasts on grammar and mathematical concepts in the iTunes library as well as excellent NPR shows.
Week 9 thing 20 - YouTube
Ok, I chose Harry Potter Puppets to embed simply because my daughter and her friends get so much pleasure out of watching it over and over again! It just goes to show that you don't need special props or talent to really take the internet by storm.
On a more educational level, I have used YouTube videos effectively in teaching for English Language Learners. Last year when I had to introduce a lesson on the Mayan and Aztec calendar to an advanced Spanish class, I had fun with and end-of-the world video where the Mayan calendar predicted the world would come to an end in 2014 and used that as the focus of our research - were they correct?
I have yet to create and post a video to YouTube. Our school currently blocks YouTube and only allows TeacherTube, so we have to be creative about what we select to show students.
On a more educational level, I have used YouTube videos effectively in teaching for English Language Learners. Last year when I had to introduce a lesson on the Mayan and Aztec calendar to an advanced Spanish class, I had fun with and end-of-the world video where the Mayan calendar predicted the world would come to an end in 2014 and used that as the focus of our research - were they correct?
I have yet to create and post a video to YouTube. Our school currently blocks YouTube and only allows TeacherTube, so we have to be creative about what we select to show students.
Thing 19 Week 8 Library Thing
This might be my favorite of the 23 things yet! Parents have been asking me for "lists." What a great way to create customized lists of different kinds. The PTO recently asked me for holiday lists for various grades. Not only can I recommend books, but they are directly linked to Amazon where they can get the reviews of the books plus see how other book lovers ranked them!
I love the widgets and looking at the comments of others. Some of the other "things" did not resonate with me but the LibraryThing is a winner for sure!
Right now, I just added books that I have used recently in class. I will be modifying this list shortly.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kofplibrarian
I love the widgets and looking at the comments of others. Some of the other "things" did not resonate with me but the LibraryThing is a winner for sure!
Right now, I just added books that I have used recently in class. I will be modifying this list shortly.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/kofplibrarian
Thing 18 Week 8 Zoho Writer
Thing 18 Week 8 Zoho Writer
As part of our district technology goals this year, we are supposed to be using GoogleDocs. We will be using GoogleDocs this year to create a Procedures Manual for our Department. I have used it as part of a team before, but never set up a collaborative group. Last year during our Classrooms for the Future training one of our team set up a GoogleDoc and then we all took notes. It was very handy because different people caught things that others missed. It was a great reference tool after the trainer left. I have also used GoogleDocs with collaborating with a classroom teacher across
I had not used Zoho writer before. I am working collaboratively with another new librarian in our district. I created a Zoho document and shared a lesson with her.
As part of our district technology goals this year, we are supposed to be using GoogleDocs. We will be using GoogleDocs this year to create a Procedures Manual for our Department. I have used it as part of a team before, but never set up a collaborative group. Last year during our Classrooms for the Future training one of our team set up a GoogleDoc and then we all took notes. It was very handy because different people caught things that others missed. It was a great reference tool after the trainer left. I have also used GoogleDocs with collaborating with a classroom teacher across
I had not used Zoho writer before. I am working collaboratively with another new librarian in our district. I created a Zoho document and shared a lesson with her.
Thing 17 Week 7 SandBox Wiki
Thing 17 Week 7 SandBox Wiki
My school is very sensitive about using actual photographs of children with their work. I want to have the children create an Avatar to post with their work on-line. Creating an avatar to represent a character in the book suddenly makes a book report come to life! Or having a representation of yourself to attach to poetry or other responses to literature, including VoiceThreads solves a problem for me when it comes to posting online. (This ideas was posted as item 19 on the CA wiki under avatars.) I will bookmark (Delicious) this page of other good ideas for future curriculum development!
My school is very sensitive about using actual photographs of children with their work. I want to have the children create an Avatar to post with their work on-line. Creating an avatar to represent a character in the book suddenly makes a book report come to life! Or having a representation of yourself to attach to poetry or other responses to literature, including VoiceThreads solves a problem for me when it comes to posting online. (This ideas was posted as item 19 on the CA wiki under avatars.) I will bookmark (Delicious) this page of other good ideas for future curriculum development!
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