Week 5, Thing #10

One of the things I do for my staff (and my principal) is have coffee brewed and ready to enjoy...Peet's is our preference. Collaboration often happens with a cup of coffee!



I created this with Image Chef.

Another tool I used for this task was the CD Cover that is one of fd's flickr toys. As I mentioned in my profile, I have been digitizing my old vinyl records, converting them to cd's and creating lots of cool covers for them. Too many to show here, but lots of fun! I can see our students creating great covers for their presentations saved on cd's or dvd's.

Week 5, Thing #10 (cont)

I couldn't resist adding an image that reflects the name sake of this blog. We library people strive to make things better! Click on the comic to see a larger version.

Week 4, Thing #9

Well, there are soooo many blogs that I found interesting, especially this week with ALA in Washington D.C. Thank goodness for RSS--it really does save time. Now, I know you are looking at my blogroll and thinking I am a bit crazy for monitoring so many. BUT...it actually only takes me less than 10 minutes to peruse the new entries thanks to my reader.

One of the most important blogs for me right now is the AASL blog. I found this one by using Google blog search. I tried a couple of the other search tools, but found them to be cluttered, and not very responsive. I won't give up though.

I am thankful I am doing this during the summer. Reading a blog involves a lot of serendipity....and for me, each blog holds a new discovery, no matter which direction I go!

Postage Stamps Arrived

My postage stamps arrived, and they are awesome!! I am going to definitely do more...they will make great personalized gifts.

I am in the process of exporting my Google Reader subscriptions to Bloglines, so I can publish a blog roll. My trusty Mac is giving me fits tonight, so I will continue this post tomorrow.

Week 4, Thing #8

This was an interesting task for me. I have known about RSS for about a year, and have never really had the time to master it. The video on BlipTV was most informative (Thanks to the CSLA 2.0 for providing that link.) I saved it to show to my staff in the fall when I introduce RSS to them.

I chose Google Reader, because I already have a Google account and it was one less login and password to remember! That was very easy to do. Initially I was worried that I wouldn't know where to find things to add to my reader. Wow, was I wrong! I added a few of the suggested sites (gotta have that Unshelved cartoon fix!) Then I visited my bookmarks, and added Joyce Valenza's page....which led me to the news at School Library Journal.....31 subscriptions later I decided it was time to "manage" my feeds!

I know this will be a great tool for me to stay up-to-date with new additions to sites that I love, but in the past didn't visit often enough due to time constraints. In addition, one of the sites I subscribed to was TeacherTube. As new videos come up, it will be a simple matter for me to forward them to the appropriate departments.

As far as sharing is concerned, I haven't found a place to share my blogroll on Google Reader yet, so I will have to find another place to do that....perhaps on my own blog!

Week 3, Thing #7

OK...I have died and gone to heaven. I found Zazzle which partners with Flickr and I am making my own postage stamps. This actually looks like a great site for designing custom items from posters to t-shirts and beyond. I am considering designing a postage stamp with an appropriate supportive graphic about libraries that I can use when I send my monthly newsletters to our school board members. I still haven't found how to mashup my pictures, though.

I know I have only touched the surface here, but I really think that learning about Web 2.0 technologies is really important. I suspect most of the teachers at my school, as well as many of the parents are not really aware of all that is out there. The more we learn, the better we can connect with our students who are so adept at this already. I know this is going to get more difficult, but right now it is so much fun!!

Week 3, Thing #6 (cont.)

Another fun 3rd party application....the slide show. I can think of some great uses. What a terrific intro to a reading list to have book covers be part of a slide show....kids creating slides that depict characters, scenes and events in a story.....and then writing about them...and on and on!

P.S.....If the cube spins too fast, just put your mouse over it and you can control it!

Check out my girl!

Week 3, Thing #6 : Third Party Sites

poster2265173
Originally uploaded by kangalmt2

I am having a great time with the flickr toys! I decided to start with a movie poster, starring my very own dog! She and I do agility for fun, although it is too hot now, so we are taking the summer off.

Creating this poster and uploading it to flickr was simple. I was given a choice of uploading to flickr right from the movie poster site, but this time I chose to upload it to my computer first. They sure make it easy!  I still want to investigate more to find out about the other sites and mashups.

Week 3, Thing #5 :Border Collie on an Iceberg

Border Collie on an Iceberg
Originally uploaded by murky

I love border collies. I found this photo on flickr, originally posted by "murky" on July 31, 2006. I think it is a beautifully composed photograph, and really shows of the focus that border collie's are known for.

Stay tuned for more great shots of this amazing breed of dogs (including some of my own)!

I had a pretty easy time navigating around flickr. Now if only I can keep all these miscellaneous little accounts straight!

Week 2, Thing #4

I registered my blog today. While I wait for confirmation, I am enjoying visiting other CSLA 2.0 blogs--what a creative group!

Week 2, Thing #3

Wow! Creating an avatar was fun! Following the directions for exporting was easy (thank you!). I do have a couple of questions about the settings in blogger. First, what is advisable for the purpose of this tutorial for "Who can comment"? And, what exactly is a backlink?

Week 1, Thing #2

After going through the online presentation of the 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners I found that many of the habits are very easy for me. I suspect that is the same for most of us in the library world!

The most difficult habit for me to practice is the first one..."Begin with the end in mind." I love learning, but I am often a serendipitous learner (the internet is my playground!). I don't think about setting goals. However, for this summer, my goal will be to become knowledgeable enough about the tools we are going to learn to be able to teach my school staff in the fall.

Week 1, Thing #1

I read about School Library Learning 2.0 in the early spring, and had to force myself to wait until summer vacation to actually begin. Now I have the time to really explore and begin to use the technologies that we will learn about. I am excited about the online tutorial format, and I am hoping that it will be something I can involve the staff at my school in next fall!