My first atttempts! I'd like to create a series of "signs" for the Library that are fun, attention-grabbing and, hopefully, effective. I made these through Comic Strip Generator and then uploaded them to Flickr for sharing and printing.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Online Image Generators
My first atttempts! I'd like to create a series of "signs" for the Library that are fun, attention-grabbing and, hopefully, effective. I made these through Comic Strip Generator and then uploaded them to Flickr for sharing and printing.
Rollyo
I spent a little time exploring Rollyo and can't say I was impressed. I have not felt the need to pare down the search engines I use. I could see some potential in the classroom: a teacher could set up specifics sites to search in a particular subject, for example. As for the Library, I want to broaden my search capabilities, not narrow them down to particular areas.
I went to the CSLA site to see how others liked this tool and found similar results. The best part of that was reading the blogs of others who are in the process of doing this course! ('Misery loves company'?)
I went to the CSLA site to see how others liked this tool and found similar results. The best part of that was reading the blogs of others who are in the process of doing this course! ('Misery loves company'?)
More Document Sharing
I have just finished putting my busy family's schedules onto Google Calendar. I have created a separate calendar for everyone's schedule, so that they are all color-coded. Am thinking seriously about trying this at school - (1) in order to keep a "Master Calendar" and (2) so that I can direct colleagues there when trying to schedule Library visit times. I may also just begin putting the schedule directly on the school's Library Calendar, since they are beefing up on-line security somewhat. Regardless, having all events posted on Google Calendar will help me to at least keep track of my family.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Online Productivity Tools
I played with Zoho Writer and GoogleDocs a little bit this week - I tried to publish a table on dancing librarian to accompany the "Parallels" blog. Here is what I found: GoogleDocs were easier, more intuitive to use; but it was far easier to publish to my blog through Zoho. It seemed I had more to learn about the Zoho editor, whereas GoogleDocs felt closer to the Microsoft tools I currently use. Both would require more learning time on my part; I am more inclined to go to GoogleDocs just because of name familiarity.
However, when a teacher told me how she had just finished creating a massive spreadsheet encompassing all the vocabulary which needed to be taught through the year and I told her that GoogleDocs would allow her to upload it to the Web so that she could view it easily at school, she said she relied on her flash drive for that. Don't know how she would feel about having this info exposed to share with others.
However, when a teacher told me how she had just finished creating a massive spreadsheet encompassing all the vocabulary which needed to be taught through the year and I told her that GoogleDocs would allow her to upload it to the Web so that she could view it easily at school, she said she relied on her flash drive for that. Don't know how she would feel about having this info exposed to share with others.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Quiet Zone
Now I'm playing - sort of. I am wanting to remake my "Remember to Use Quiet Voices" signs. This is not exactly what I want, but if I keep playing with it....
Library-Related Blogs
An hour or so of clicking last night took me far and wide - and back home, again.
While I had already taken a look at the TeacherLibrarian Ning, through the chance comment I received and talked about here, I had not tried out any blog-search services as suggested in the course outline.
I did as suggested - went to "Bloglines" and typed in "school library," without the quotes, and was disappointed with the results, to an extent. Most of the references were about school, perhaps about libraries, but little of it looked interesting. However, on the sidebar I noticed the "School Library Journal." I had viewed articles from there before, but had no idea of the resources, nor the broad gamut of subjects it carried. I subscribed to feeds for three - "Education News," "Information Literacy," and "Library Tools and Trends."
So I then tried "school library," with quotes and found two things worth pursuing: Doug Johnson's "Getting the Most from Your School Library Media Program," written for Principal in January 2005; and "21 Century Learning @ Your Library," written by a member of the Colorado Association of School Librarians, Nancy White.
The first blog/article led me look at how principals might evaluate their school library program - which is very helpful input as I make my plans for next year: the second led me to some very interesting sites, some of which I have put into del.icio.us; some at Google Reader. This also meant learning how to organized my Reader categories, because it is getting too full to browse easily!
Recommended sites: the discussion wiki at the International Society for Technology in Education, (following Su Eckhardt's lead at the CASL blog), the Librarian Philosopher blog (he has comforting advice to new librarians on June 28th); and Resources for School Librarians.
While I had already taken a look at the TeacherLibrarian Ning, through the chance comment I received and talked about here, I had not tried out any blog-search services as suggested in the course outline.
I did as suggested - went to "Bloglines" and typed in "school library," without the quotes, and was disappointed with the results, to an extent. Most of the references were about school, perhaps about libraries, but little of it looked interesting. However, on the sidebar I noticed the "School Library Journal." I had viewed articles from there before, but had no idea of the resources, nor the broad gamut of subjects it carried. I subscribed to feeds for three - "Education News," "Information Literacy," and "Library Tools and Trends."
So I then tried "school library," with quotes and found two things worth pursuing: Doug Johnson's "Getting the Most from Your School Library Media Program," written for Principal in January 2005; and "21 Century Learning @ Your Library," written by a member of the Colorado Association of School Librarians, Nancy White.
The first blog/article led me look at how principals might evaluate their school library program - which is very helpful input as I make my plans for next year: the second led me to some very interesting sites, some of which I have put into del.icio.us; some at Google Reader. This also meant learning how to organized my Reader categories, because it is getting too full to browse easily!
Recommended sites: the discussion wiki at the International Society for Technology in Education, (following Su Eckhardt's lead at the CASL blog), the Librarian Philosopher blog (he has comforting advice to new librarians on June 28th); and Resources for School Librarians.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Thoughts on Web2.0
"Blogging," "wikis," "podcasting," even YouTube was a thing of mystery to me a year ago. When I attended my first explanatory sessions, I thought, "what a great outreach tool!" And then I began reading the blogs of other educators, and think about their thoughts. This has provided not only a connection with others whose mindset is similar, but personal growth as well.
And here is the truly amazing thing to me - how we quickly we can connect with others, thanks to these new web tools. I finally worked up the courage to comment on the blog of one of my web heroes - Will Richardson. One of the other people to also comment there then put a comment on my personal blog. We are connected, it turns out, not just by maintaining similar ideas, but she is also a Librarian. And she knits (something in which I also have an interest). However, she lives in upstate NY!
This is not the first connection I've made - a few others have found my blog when I quoted them - Ben Wilkoff, for example. Again, I have really learned a great deal from reading his material - and put it to work, in creating all my school planning on wikis, and in preparing a section on "Internet Safety" in an upcoming staff development of which I am a presenter.
So the connections keep me interested in pursuing technology; and every library organization in the country seems to be "encouraging" additional knowledge in this area as well. Personally and professionally, I am being challenged to expand my technology skills and knowledge. That's a good thing, in my opinion, and it keeps me sympathetic to my students and other staff who are trying to learn this stuff, as well.
And here is the truly amazing thing to me - how we quickly we can connect with others, thanks to these new web tools. I finally worked up the courage to comment on the blog of one of my web heroes - Will Richardson. One of the other people to also comment there then put a comment on my personal blog. We are connected, it turns out, not just by maintaining similar ideas, but she is also a Librarian. And she knits (something in which I also have an interest). However, she lives in upstate NY!
This is not the first connection I've made - a few others have found my blog when I quoted them - Ben Wilkoff, for example. Again, I have really learned a great deal from reading his material - and put it to work, in creating all my school planning on wikis, and in preparing a section on "Internet Safety" in an upcoming staff development of which I am a presenter.
So the connections keep me interested in pursuing technology; and every library organization in the country seems to be "encouraging" additional knowledge in this area as well. Personally and professionally, I am being challenged to expand my technology skills and knowledge. That's a good thing, in my opinion, and it keeps me sympathetic to my students and other staff who are trying to learn this stuff, as well.
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