Week 9 Thing 23

What worked:
The class was valuable. There was merit in using parts of the book along with all the online exploration.

I appreciated the opportunity to complete this outside the school year even though that posed its own motivational problems:) I found myself really exploring more (losing hours of my life) because I didn't have my normal schedule dictating my time constraints as much. Thank goodness the weather has been less than ideal in the Anchorage area, this helped me set aside more time for these tasks.

I wish I kept track of how many hours I spent on the class because I know it was well above the average 2 credit class. If everyone had done this you would be able to share that information with future students and they could better gauge their time for class completion.

You might consider setting aside a spot for questions. Not that you needed anything else to monitor.


What didn't work: My motivation struggled at times - see what you can do about that will you? Also, if you could have provided a dog walker for me during the class that would have been helpful as my pooch was less then thrilled with my hours at the keyboard.

I had to build the habit of always opening another window so I could get back to the Raven site or to my blog. It would have been terrific if everything opened in a new window off of the Raven site. Not the end of the world.

While it was easy to comment on others blogs, I felt the requirement of 5 posts to the curriculum wiki was a bit contrived. I didn't have 5 ideas worthy of posting that hadn't already been posted by others by the time I got to that assignment. At that point it is just fulfilling a requirement. I would probably alter that in some way.

Thanks so much to Katie and Ann for making this opportunity available to all of us! We very much appreciate this time to explore!
Leslie

Chapter 4 Reflections

This was a fun chapter to read! What brave teachers! What great ideas! I appreciate having this chapter to just have a spring board to work from. I am aware that some of these ideas will be considered dated by the time I read them. We're talking a lifetime of "commitment" issues that keep me from doing exactly what one of the interviewees suggested. On Pg. 82 Cheryl Oakes states:"As any teacher of technology has experienced, as soon as you learn a new tool and feel comfortable enough to begin teaching it in your classroom, that technology is old and you are moving on!! Well, be brave and take a risk, our new digital learners have different strategies, different needs and totally different outcomes that WORK!" We're talking a whole lot of mind shifting going on!!

This is the chapter where I get excited about the prospects. I am inspired by people's willingness to try something that might fail. With the limited amount of hours in a teaching day, it is difficult to justify spending precious moments on something that might flop. I stop dwelling on the obstacles/challenges.

At our elementary last year we had a difficult stretch with students bullying and denigrating others on my space pages. I'm curious about a digital story telling project or set of ads that could be created to explain the ramifications of such actions.

I certainly thought I had reached my "searching" max but I'm excited to look at a few projects noted in this chapter. The Soc. Stud. section has several like http://greece.teachingmatters.org/
This site is an absolute hoot! I have already sent the link off to my fourth grade teachers! I will be dying to know if they would like to explore this together. There are several interesting topics at www.teachingmatters.org. The writing project sounds fascinating.

I thought the Math Blog described on pg. 92-93 sounded quite productive. The pressure to perform at the board is removed and the thinking is actually reflective because the problem can be addressed over the course of an entire week. The teacher is able to see the progression of thinking over the course of the week. Students are forced to communicate their thinking clearly. Great idea.

Chapter 9 Reflections

On Pg. 179 the authors refer to an ad from Apple years ago that predicted a "knowledge navigator" to help steer users to the right information, guide their activities based on strengths and help them navigate their day. They also state that we are much closer to that reality these days. It is a confidence builder to tailor learning using someones known strengths and interests but we run into potential abuses. What ever happened to "know thyself"? Why is pondering, self reflection and trial and error suddenly so inconvenient? Goodness knows many of the situations I encounter in life are not tailored to my strengths, I must continue to expose myself to other approaches in order not to be completely helpless. How long will it take to arrive at the point where people cannot make a move without the system guiding them in their learning or daily activities? How long did it take for many to not develop the skill of making change once cash registers completed this task for them? This is a use it or lose it prospect - just think of all the phone numbers you yourself no longer "know" because you have programmed them in to speed dial. Our brains are powerful but if we are trained to take the path of least resistance that will be all we are capable of when faced with something outside our "strengths". How will the power to deduct and problem solve evolve?

RE: Pg. 181 " The hope is that professional development will fill that gap for current teachers and that new teachers will enter the profession armed with the technology skills they'll need to help students learn in new ways. WHAT???? I've asked brand new teachers at my school the last two years what kind of educational technology training they are receiving in their programs. They furrow their brow and tell me nothing like that was part of their training. Teacher preparation courses are not on board yet, except for a few, and professional development is STILL the stop gap in the vast majority of situations. Certainly, professional development recently has been focused on assimilating ESL students and meeting NCLB requirements. Technology integration, while still around, has not had the limelight. I see much of those tech departments faced with Bandwith, security and repair issues. Also, I see many teachers throw their hands up because it is another area where there is inconsistent resources in schools and they feel the district should be supporting them in delivery. They want updated hardware and professional development that trains in integration. They are not willing to take another thing on that requires their personal time. What I see occurring is the individual who invites technology in to their personal life in pervasive ways is the one who decides to branch out on occasion and integrate it in to classroom work.

I still recall attending library school 8 years ago and visiting a "Gates School". They told us then 35% of all school tech budgets needed to be spent on prof. development/training. I'm not sure I've seen that occurring.

It often seems that the recent governmental focus on NCLB issues is in direct conflict with what many believe to be imperative technology skill development through integration. It was difficult to jump through more than one hoop at a time and so many have not. Many districts were being faced with programmed curriculum guides and found it overwhelming to try and adopt those AND attempt technology integration. Of course at the district level there were only funds for one or the other and at the classroom level, teachers were choosing to deal with the curriculum area that they were being judge upon and which newspapers were publishing results.

Chapter 7 Reflections

This post will have a negative tone but I have hope behind the scenes. Most of us in the education field work to give opportunities to our students and communities in order for them to reach their potential and enjoy the learning process. We want the best for them. It has always stunned me that there are people working toward exactly the opposite goal I am. We may think we are being as proactive as possible in setting policies, activating filters but there are others who are already ahead of us by two steps. Our number one focus is educating students. That is no longer just the 3 R's but also includes social and emotional well being, computer skills and internet safety, citizenship, and on and on. The list is endless. The number one focus for some is creating empowering and collaborating features on the internet for people to demonstrate their learning. The number one focus for others is how to victimize and many others as possible while their distracted. The concerns are just enormous.

I was reminded to find out which teachers actually go over the Acceptable Use Policy and what it means. Generally, students and parents sign it at registration, it is put in a file and then we never see it again. I certainly havn't looked at it myself in years. I have no idea whether or not some of the web publishing issues have been addressed in an updated version or not. I especially liked the following excerpt from Pg. 145 that should be considered for inclusion in any updated AUP:
Briefly but clearly identify those activities that will not be allowed. These might include conducting business, advertising commercial products or services, defaming the character of others, and jeopardizing in any way the safety of students.

Flickr: I'm assuming ASD blocks Flickr. If they don't I'm pretty surprised. I wasn't looking for inappropriate content but it certainly found me. I would not encourage elementary teachers to give students access if it is not blocked but I would encourage them to download photos themselves for classroom projects.

The authors themselves acknowledge how challenging understanding Copyright can be. I have learned during the last 7 years of trying to educate young internet users that there is a long way to go in the education process but it is critical that the campaign be waged in the public along with the schools. Elementary students are just following examples set at home. The students I work with don't want to participate in illegal activity, they are genuinely shocked to learn what they and their family does is illegal. They are alarmed and don't know if their parents are violating copyright knowingly or not. It is my obligation to continue to try to clarify what is legal and ethical for my students but it would be nice if there were simultaneous campaigns with the public.

Week 9 Thing 22

I wasn't familiar with Libravox or World EBook. I is going to take a great deal of trial and error to find something useful for an elementary school. I DID find audio versions of Aesop's Fables I could get for our Houghton Mifflin Reading program. We have a reasonable collection of Aesop's Fables in print, a couple of video versions but it might be fun to have some listening centers added for some classrooms using the offerings on Libravox.

Week 9 Thing 21

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BookVoyages

I don't know if I'm growing search weary or what but I did not enjoy searching through the podcast directories. The only pod casts I've ever listened to were ones that I knew I wanted, I wasn't searching to see IF I'd be interested in something. It is difficult to determine what some of these pod casts involve and I think I would be challenged to "find" something on a topic when I was actually in need. I did add one called Book Voyager to my Blog lines acct. It is a podcast completed by a librarian, her staff and students regarding children's literature.

We would have a great deal of education on how to use pod casts at my school.

Week 9 Thing 20

I chose the above clip because I couldn't spend my whole life searching through Teacher Tube!! I don't even want to admit how many clips I watched today and not all of them were educationally rewarding. I got lost for entirely too long clicking around in those librarian clips, hoping to find the holy grail of funny things. What a time suck! While the above clip would be too much in an elementary, what a great intro to a High School or College contemporary U.S. History course. I was a little surprised that I couldn't find credit given to the music anywhere on the video.

I have shown Teacher Tube to several colleagues but I don't think I would mind offering to search for a particular resource for them. They email me about gathering print resources, websites and videos - why not film clips too? I think Teacher Tube can fall by the wayside this fall though as ASD brings United Streaming Online. I just love this resource. Teacher's don't have to sort through what may be inaccurate student created videos on United Streaming.

I'm not wild about searching for things on Teacher Tube but it certainly was easy to slip this clip in to my blog.

Week 8 Thing 19

I researched both alerts and have taken directly from the website:

Run a search on EBSCOhost and view your search results.

Click the Search History/Alerts link, and then click the Save Searches/Alerts link. The Save Search Alert Screen appears. If you have not already signed in your personal account, you will be prompted to do so.

On the Save Search Alert Screen

Enter a Name and Description for the Alert.

To run the Alert against a different database, select the Databases from the drop-down list. (Hold down the control key and left-click your mouse to select multiple databases.)

Search strategy – The search terms are displayed. (not editable)

In the Save Search As area of the screen:

To save the search as an Alert that can be automatically run, click the Alert radio button. The Save Search Alert Screen appears.

To select how often the search will be run, from the Frequency drop-down list, select one:

Once a day (the default)
Once a week
Bi-weekly
Once a month
To limit which articles are searched, from the Articles published within the last drop-down list, select one:

One month
Two months
Six months
One year
No limit (the default)
In the Run Alert for field, select one:
One month
Two months
Six months
One year (the default)
In the Alert Options area of the screen:

Select the Alert results format: Brief, Detailed, or Bibliographic Manager.

To limit EBSCOhost access to only the articles in alert (rather than the entire site), mark the checkbox to the left of this field.

In the E-mail Options area of the screen:

Indicate how you would like to be notified. Select one:
E-mail all alerts and notices (the default)
E-mail only creation notice
No e-mail (RSS only) - if you select this option, the remaining E-mail Properties will be hidden (because they are not necessary for RSS).
Enter your E-mail Address. If you are entering multiple e-mail addresses, place a semicolon between each e-mail address.


Hide addresses from recipients - if you select this option, the e-mail addresses you enter will be placed into the BCC (Blind Copy) field of the e-mail, rather than the “To” field.


In the Subject field, enter a brief explanation that will appear in the subject line of the Alert e-mail.


Title - you can optionally enter a title for the e-mail. The default value for the Title field is: EBSCOhost Alert Notification.


E-mail [From] address - Defaults to: EPAlerts@EPNET.COM. You can enter a different "From" e-mail address if desired.


Select the E-mail format to use: Plain Text or HTML.


To have your search string included with your results, mark the Include query string in results checkbox. To include the alert frequency, mark the frequency checkbox.


When you have finished making changes, click the Save button.

I searched for School Library Journal as that is something I use and it is a held title from 1975 to the present.

When completing searches about porcupines in elementary, middle and high school sections there are several differences. Of course the elementary is the most heavily graphic and colorful with larger fonts. Visually, there does not appear to be differences in the middle school and high school versions but search results are indeed greater with the high school version. I presume reading levels are not limited with the high school version but could be defined/limited in both middle and high school if so desired.

I used the same search on the pamphlet,images, and video assignment. I looked up Type 2 Diabetes under each of them and found something under each. It was neat to think about being able to email these professionally done and informational videos, etc. to those who may need them. My mom does not use computers but there were certainly several flyers of interest that I could print out and mail to her.

Because our teachers are in the computer lab with their class and I'm not, it pays for me to show these resources to the teachers frequently. I am given time at each staff meeting to share information with staff. It can be done during this time or 30 minute training sessions tailored to the intermediate teachers may work best. If this is the avenue taken, I need to make it worth their while - treats and information! It is easiest and most appropriate to lead classes through these searches when they actually have a pending project and a need. It takes time but tutorials can be worked through if you interrupt to show actual searching after a specific tutorial.
The video of upcoming changes would have been interesting had I been able to get audio. I reset everything but could not hear a thing.

My principal tends to have a focus each year, ie. positive school climate, positive school discipline,etc. If I complete a search with a valuable article and she comments, I can personally show her how to set up her own search alerts. In the past I have targeted staff members who are working on graduate courses and have appreciated being shown this feature. They feel like they have someone out there doing the searching for them.

Week 8 Thing 19

I think I've mentioned before, this is not something I will use on a personal level. I put my required books in but later I will remove the account in some fashion. It was interesting to see how many members owned some of the titles I inserted. One of my favorite books of all time (The Mists of Avalon) had the most entries - 5816. Conversely, I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles had been entered by zero members. A bit of a surprise. I suppose there is some guilt involved with the idea that I would access this site for "like" books but I am not interested in joining the community and building the catalog and its reference tags. Some guilt, just not enough for me to overcome.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jewelspeony

Week 8 Thing 18

I did check out Zoho Writer, created something and then "shared" it with my teen. Yet again, I find myself viewing these applications through her eyes or at least my view of her experiences while trying to meet requirements of classes. Students are often given group projects to be completed outside of class. My daughter is forever running in to difficulties with formatting issues with classmates computers and email issues as they try to email documents back and forth. One makes changes, another makes changes and then they all try to edit the "master" copy down. Sometime she takes documents from her mac at home on her jump drive to school only to encounter formatting issues when they use the DELL lab that day. Web based document services gets people away from some of these difficulties. If one is to be working on the text and one is to be locating the images, they can do that and lay it in to the document as it is located.

I am curious as to whether ASD's filter would let zoho through? Anyone know?

The tool bars are acheiveable to anyone who has used word processing programs. In fact, most of the icons look exactly the same. I am willing to leave a "library" of documents online but would also back up to my computer when document is finalized.

I can't help but think with the ubiquitous nature of Google that one might be better served with using Google Docs. Much of the planet is already familiar with google, many have a g mail acct. With the resources behind google, I can't help think that it will become a well supported and easy to use feature very quickly. I know, I just helped Google continue on their path to world domination.
PS - I love free stuff!!

Overall an easy way to coauthor something with someone without a lot of the difficulties.

Week 7 Thing 17

I like how the curriculum Wiki is organized. The categories are helpful.

I noted in Thing 16 how I would use a wiki and like someone else noted in the curriculum wiki, I too have referred to Faith's East High wiki for organizational ideas.
I enjoy having access to peoples ideas- what they take away from the same exercises I did can be SO different. Sometimes all I need is to read through some of their ideas and then I have a spring board to what will actually fit my staff and students.
Many thanks to Deborah M. for all the links to the white board resources!

Someone had the idea of using a voice thread intro on their library wiki. I wonder if that would work going through ASD filters, etc.? Even a voice thread demo of using Webcat (opac)on the wiki might be helpful to families.

Week 7 Thing 16

As with many things on the net, my frustrations with wiki's come when they are not updated or removed when they become dated. I don't think it's necessary for the Princeton public library to leave their books reviews from a summer book group from more than a year ago. If the reviews are good, couldn't they add them to a different page about reviews and eliminate the old summer book club link? As I searched through several of these wiki's, it becomes necessary to sift through the items are still valid and those that are not (net searching tip sheets from 2005 or before). I don't feel it necessary to leave an active archive on the net for the world to see, but then again, I don't like to journal my life and activities to be unearthed after I'm gone either. I also understand that the types that are creating the info on the net probably have a difficult time tracking the volumes out there.

On the positive side, I believe it is the easiest jump for some of us to provide access to resources to our institutions. I took two different web page design classes and never did feel ready or capable of managing it on an on going basis. My encounter with HTML made my jaw drop and I had flashbacks to my confused state during library cataloging class. I had one introduction to wiki creation and management a year ago and sighed with relief because I knew this was doable for me with my limited skill set and allowed me to meet a professional obligation for dissemination of information and resources.

Because I don't normally jump from wiki to wiki evaluating them but use one at time when needed, I didn't realize how truly bland they are to look at when used in succession. Like most, I guess I have become accustomed to the colorful, graphic rich web sites that are out there that I complain about because you have to sort through all those fabulous features to get to the content desired. Geez, I'm never happy!

For my application in an elementary library, a closed classroom project wiki makes a great deal of sense. It is an authentic beginning step for youthful users where ethics and protocols can be shared while content is being delivered and standards demonstrated. Also, link pathways for particular class projects is a suitable use. I think it is a reasonable place for students to post their ideas for Battle of the Books questions.

Chapter 1 Reflections

Chapter 1 references The Tipping Point by Gladwell and the notion that epidemics serve as a metaphor for change and behaviors can spread like viruses and that the tipping point is “the moment within an epidemic when everything can change”. The question is posed as to how much new technology and methods are enough for the tipping point to be reached in schools.

The initial internet/computer movement seemed to be an extension of the war between the have’s and the have not’s. Everything was application based and that required development, testing and in the end money for those who could afford the application. This was also a reason education could never keep up with technology. Our funding did not allow for the latest updates and applications and heaven knows, nothing ever happens rapidly in education anyway. Technology is just not static enough for education.

It seems to me that the tipping point will be present when the Web and its egalitarian 2.0 notions are brought to everyone through free web access and greater band with within communities. I was caught off guard when I read that two years ago the U.S. only had 44% broadband access. When our capitalistic culture looks beyond short term profits (I have nothing against competition in the market place) and understands the future of our culture in the global marketplace is at stake perhaps the change can occur. If the power of 2.0 and its potential is to be met, along with the potential of our students, we must insure access to the technology first. Only with ubiquitous access can the scales tip to real integration to the learning process.

Week 6 Thing 15

It is a bit difficult to separate out my feelings as a library professional from those of my citizen self. When Rick Anderson lobs the "look skeptically at the very idea of a library “collection” grenade, my citizen self feels the shrapnel impact. As a professional, I recognize the need to bob and weave to keep up and anticipate the needs of citizens.

While I believe in the mantra "Make and effort, not an excuse" I feel there are some challenges to "keeping up". I do take responsibility for my learning, hence my enrollment in this class, but we are faced with some logistical issues handled differently in the private sector. In tech heavy industries money, personnel and staff development are dedicated to keeping people in the loop because their success and or failure may depend on it. Public institutions like libraries do not have those luxuries. The job as it currently exists must be delivered AND consideration must be given to where services might be going and the ground work is laid for this simultaneously.

As Anderson states "No profession can survive if it throws its core principles and values overboard in response to every shift in the zeitgeist." Let's face it those "shifts" he's referring to are more frequent than the mood of a female 16 year old! I have difficult striking a balance between unresponsiveness and band wagon jumping. My "committment issues" come shining through when it comes to dedicated limited budget and labor dollars to projects and developments without having a firm confidence that will effect library users or efficiency.

Week 6 Thing 14

As I searched around on Technorati we should all be grateful I do not have a seizure disorder. If I were actually interested in reading others blogs, the pulsing ads would have kept me from my desires and sent me in to a full blown seizure. Even if I would utilize blogs in my life ( I won't), this particular site would have to tone things down before I would add it to my del.icio.us list. I actually had to squint my eyes while I looked around on a couple of pages because of the constant barrage of ads.

I did complete the search and what came up between the directory and blog posts did come out different. I received more results on the blog posts but I only glanced at a couple before determining I had no interest.

The fact that Technorati exists is a testament to the self aggrandizing culture we are living with. There are far too many people on the planet that feel every thought and emotion is worthy of foisting on to the rest of the planet and worse yet, that we should be looking for it, reading it and responding because what they have to say is so profound. As I reviewed the information on the "Tour" page these thoughts were only confirmed by comments such as "We're here to help make sense of all the interesting stuff we do in real-time. " AND "We've personalized the homepage so you can get a look at all the stuff you care about on one page." See my comments below about what they think is important about entertainment.


Unfortunately, I clicked on the entertainment tab and then movies where I was faced with the following: Lindsay Lohans Breasts Are Looking Damn Juicy.
Sorry but this was on their front page of entertainment/movies. They can't come up with commentary with more value regarding the entertainment industry and upcoming film releases than some guys crude drool over how Lohan's breasts look in a tank top? I'm not sifting through this crap. Don't get me wrong, I am aware of the value of Internet resources for education. It is just that the task is so enormous and evolving on how to get people to be discerning about what they use. Take one look at the undesirable effects TV has had on our culture. Imagine what effect the trash on the net will be able to achieve in a generation or two.

Tagging Advantages: My tags make sense for me on my del.icio.us acct. It keeps me organized in regard to projects in my school. I MAY find other sites using a tag search on del.icio.us. that could assist me in my work.
Tagging Disadvantages: There are far too many variations on what the tag really means. No universal guidelines or requirements.

Week 6 #13

Obviously I jumped the gun when I discussed del.icio.us several entries back during Thing #11 and award winning sites. I admitted I just got things organized and tagged by dealing with my "favorites" on a couple of computers. What I have gone back and done is spent additional time searching the "popular" and "recent" categories and exploring what others have tagged or noted as worthwhile. It is certainly an idea but the individuals tag makes all the difference. Also, I tried the term "school library" with the parentheses to see if the search engine would stop using single word tags. It did not. So I got educational results and I got library results but I did not get school library results necessarily. Please guide me in the search process if you have insights.
There is no doubt that del.icio.us can help me speed things up in the library. When a teacher pops in and tells me that they are getting ready to start their "decades" project I am ready. When the class arrives, I simply open my del.icio.us acct. go to the tag "decades" and I can demo any sites that I have. I immediately know if the sites are still active and appropriate. I can quickly drop those in to a doc. that can be printed and sent home to parents. I used to maintain documents for these projects and I had to check sites before I handed it out for the current year. Also, I had to review my favorites for any additional sites I may have added during the year that did not get pasted on to the document. Yes, I know they can be added to an online resource page too but somehow people want that paper in their hand.


When I look at sites like Library Thing my status as a librarian imposter is cemented further. While it was fun to explore and enter in some of my own titles, I failed to grasp the concept for a while. Finally I realized this was something akin to my spousal unit asking me to "organize" his DVD collection. UHHH... I organize things and facilitate use of those things for a living. I'm content to live with chaos. Do I really care that he owns the movie "Hell Boy" and needs to find it quickly or would like to watch something else like it? You guess. The books in my life are in stacks. When I get to that stack, I read the books. If I need to find a particular book, we hope for the best and that the dog has not knocked that particular stack into another stack that might confuse my memory. I lend books, I trade books in, I leave books behind on trips, my daughter flagrantly steals my books, there is no blooming way my "catalog" would be correct. I am far better off just plugging in a recently enjoyed title and looking for similar tags in case my stacks have gotten low and it is time to replenish with new stacks. And another thing! What I read is like my SSN, I don't just share that information with anybody. My account would have had to be labeled private anyway. Have you caught on yet that I am a neurotic conspiracy theorist?

Week 3 # 12 Voice Thread

Well Voice Thread has certainly changed since the first time I was introduced. They seem to have added a few features and when I browsed through the multitudes of pages, it was interesting to see how people had utilized the tool. Our school is set to receive a number of new computers this August and I think the microphones on these machines would be sufficient for classroom purposes.

Week 5 Thing #11

Pardon me all while I boast, brag and bask in my current feelings of superiority. 8,000 years ago in some other class I set up a del.icio.us account and added a couple of favorites to it. I never kept up with it and did not refer to it. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I stumbled from computer to computer wondering where I completed what task and that went for book marks/favorites as well. I'll have you all know my del.icio.us account is now up to date and I have taken book marks from home and book marks from my work computer, tagged them all beautifully and am all ready to roll!! There really is a time and place when we're ready to adopt new habits and skills - it may be sad, but I'm finally ready to incorporate del.icio.us knowing it is time and it will help me function better. To go one step further I taught my 16 year old about it and how it could be useful to her between home and school. Did I receive the usual growl/"whatever" that is the norm? I think not. I did receive a bit of an arched brow and a "hmmmm", yes, I can see how that could help me keep track of all the sites I use for different projects. This my friends is the equivalent of locating pot of gold the the average parent of a 16 year old. Excuse me all while I savor this moment, there just aren't that many.

I already belong to a couple of Ning's and I'm NOT joining anymore!

So sorry but the travel I.Q. game was all too stressful for me. Watching that little bar travel across the page just made me anxious. Why yes, I can find Boston, New York and Stockholm but do I really need to be chastised when I am an unspeakable number of kilometers from the correct site of Hamburg, Germany? Again, my 16 year old loved it. She has a much better handle on geography (thank you teachers) than I.

Week 5 , Thing #10

Holy smokes, I really really struggled with getting this item created and loaded. I originally tried to use a photo of my own dog and add a comic bubble. The site (www.comicstripgenerator.com ) didn't seem to be able to connect up. It kept reading "page could not be found" when I hit the browse button. I'm going to try later in case their system was over loaded or something.

The other one I created and sent to some folks because we will be meeting some of my husbands colleagues in Hawaii in 77 days. Before adding it to this blog I sent it to them via email. I made this at www.imagechef.com

I never did get www.fototrix.com to work for me but they seemed to have a lot of options available to manipulate.

Week 4 #9

Clearly the only way for me to add RSS feeds is not to actively search but to just add to my list as I come across useful things in my daily activities. Searching for things only leads me to things I didn't know existed and didn't NEED to know existed. I ended up traveling all over the place pointlessly. I added feeds for NPR news, some library stuff, some comics, etc.



As Oprah would say, this I know for sure: I don't want to RSS blogs (except maybe Valenza or Lesesne, maybe) , I'll RSS news, articles, podcasts, etc. I don't want to get a bunch of blogs to read through and then feel compelled to read the comments as well. It isn't even that I don't have time, I just don't want to give the time to people's thoughts unless I know them already. There can't possibly be enough value added to justify the time I'd spend scrolling through all those blogs. Don't worry, I really DO know exactly how crabby I'm coming across. I can live with it - it's the endless string of blogs I CAN'T live with.

Searching through Technorati drove me nuts, ads everythwhere and too many clicks to get anywhere.
I was more inclined to be interested in Topix. There still seemed to be a great deal to sort through though and strangely, one of the stories I clicked on to read more about could not be found and the site suggested it might be because it was more than 30 days old. It was on the front page of the Top Stories tab. Could have been a fluke I suppose. Still a large number of ads to look beyond. I could tell it would take me a bit of time to learn how to navigate that site and automatically filter out all the side stuff.

I went to bed, slept fine, woke up and blogs STILL bug the hoo ha out of me. I'm guessing this feeling is here to stay. In this case it should come as no surprise that Blogs Pulse - Conversation Tracker not only fails to interest me but also fails to enter my realm of comprehension. Can someone please share with me why I might care to follow a dialogue of opinions in this fashion?

Week 3 #7 Anything Tech

Recent thoughts have ventured to the overwhelming task of information management or archiving. I stink at it!
I have recently asked myself - "What computer was I on when I did that?" Then I have to search around until specific item is located. I have two desk tops at work, one at home and a lap top. I never remember where I did what and sometimes folders with a specific name on one means something different on another. Undertaking a major organization overhaul seems a little daunting. Goodness knows I've endured my share of loss - file loss, that is. It took a few times more than most but at least I learned to back up. My age shows through here but I'm still somewhat insecure without that banker box of files to reassure me of my productivity and place in the world.

I take comparatively few digital photos compared to most I know and I still have trouble organizing them well - folders, names, dates... I admit, my old shoe box method with the prints wasn't always the best either but sorting through those somehow seemed easier than sorting through jpg files for the one I'm looking for. I'm not satisfied with just computer back ups of precious photos so then I need to label, organize and store CD's in a logical manner. That "logical" manner currently consists of a stack sitting on the back of my desk. I'm curious to hear what methods others use to manage and organize digital memories.

Week 3 Thing 6 (maybe?)Mash ups,etc.

Can someone, anyone, tell me what I'm supposed to do with Montagr?? I played with it, clicked on different colors, etc. but I don't get what to "DO" with it!!

The flickr magazine cover maker those absolutely cracked me up!! The trading card thing would be a hit as well. I created an entirely inappropriate magazine cover of my friend last summer standing outside a pay only lavatory in Venice, Italy and called it "Happy Euro Traveler's Monthly" - and no, I'm not posting it because she'd be furious! Each fall as a classroom teacher I spent a great deal of time on team building activities and I continue to watch my colleagues do the same. There were a variety of activities, but one inevitably involved an interview and publishing activity amongst classmates. Wouldn't it be fun to complete the interview process and the end product be a magazine or trading card that someone created about you? How would it differ than one you created of yourself? Teacher's are always taking photos at the beginning of the year anyway. What a fun display for the halls.

Magazine covers would have been a fabulous campaign poster for my daughter who ran for a student government office.

Last year I spent time creating READ posters for our entire staff - everyone enjoyed them a great deal. The magazine covers could be a new twist that reveals even more about the staff member and in a fun way. The halls would have an interesting look. Can you tell I love the magazine covers and trading cards? There are a couple of personal family photos I can't wait to get my hands on!

It seems the trading cards could be turned in to study aides if students were able to use pics found on the net. EX. Each group could be assigned a continent, they must download a map and then concentrate critical study information in to the card. Groups exchange or create a card for each of the other groups so everyone has a complete set. Just a knowledge level review tool.