Thing #23: My Thoughts about Library2Play

23 Things to learn while playing @ your Library has been an awesome experience this summer. Who would of thought that the world wide web could be discovered by simply follow the yellow brick road to see the magical wizard with all the knowledge. However the yellow brick road for me was following the steps provided for the variety of activities in the Library2Play online training. Each and everything that I researched and discovered in the different things brought me closer to reaching the wizard in the Emerald City and avoiding the wicked witch.
Along the way I was able to make new acquaintance's and provide feedback for their journey. And at the end of the yellow brick road I discovered that there is no magical wizard at the Emerald City and that there is no wicked witch to prevent new adventures on the Internet.
Just like Dorthy, my ruby slippers clicked together with the knowledge of what I have learned on my life long learning journey will take me back to my classroom with the skills needed to enlighten and amaze and encourage my students to be lifelong learners. So as the new musical Wicked demonstrates there is always another perspective to the story that may be untold. In conclusion, Thank you for this awesome opportunity to expand my horizon's and gain the courage to start my new Ning: Family Consumer Sciences Web 2.0 and Beyond in Texas. Join me on this new adventure!!!!


Here is a podcast from YouTube: The Untold Story of The Witches of Oz.

(I hope that you enjoy this as much as my daughter and I did when we saw the musical production here in Houston Fall of 2007).

Thing #22: Nings.....Taking the Plunge!

In researching Nings and the opportunities that they offer educators and students I realized what a wonderful way for us to establish a social network that is for a specific subject. I joined Classroom 2.0 and Ning in Education for contact with other professionals that are currently using Web 2.0 in their classrooms.


Next....I toke the plunge and created a new Ning titled Family Consumer Science Web 2.0 and Beyond in Texas. My hopes for this Ning is to connect with other educators and gather resources that can be used in the many different courses that each of us teach in FCS. I have entered by first blog entry on this site and requested that fellow members let me know what they would like to see in this Ning.

View my page on Family Consumer Science Web 2.0 and Beyond in Texas

Thank you for introducing me to this new opportunity! This is a new adventure for me......I will have to let everyone know how it works out!

Thing #21: Podcast......and more.

This exercise was so much fun that I have spent the past six hours searching Flickr Creative Commons for photo's for my Photo Story. The inspiration for this podcast is the first project that I have my design students create. They are given set criteria to find photo's in magazines that represent items that inspire them and tell me a little bit about themselves. In the past I show them a poster that I created and explain what each picture represents and how it relates to me. How fun would it be for them to be able to create a Photo Story from the Internet that would introduce their creative talents to the class.

I hope that you enjoy the Photo Story, let me know what you think! (Help Please.......When I view this on my blog it does not play........can anyone help me fix my mistake.......uploaded from my computer........Thanks!)



Once my photo story was complete I signed up for an account with Switchpod and uploaded my Photo Story as a podcast. My podcast is: What Inspires You? which includes photo's, text, transitions and music. Please note that when you click on the above link it ask you where to save the file. It placed the video feed in my bookmarks in the top tool bar. I was able to play it from that location. If anyone can explain why the system does this I would appreciate your feedback!

PS - Not ready for video camera and microphone - will work on this with my Ready Set Teach students this fall.

Thing #20: YouTube, TeacherTube, Zamzar

A Moment of Truth........Lost in Cyberspace.......



The video that you have just observed from YouTube is how I felt starting this exercise. However after much review about Html codes I was able to figure out how to embed the video for your enjoyment. My past experience with YouTube has been with my own children, they select funny videos to share with me, I had not thought about how I could use this technology in the classroom. I was not aware of TeacherTube which I know will be handy in the classroom. Below is a video that I found that will help my perspective student teachers understand learning styles.



I also worked a little on Zamzar, I have not mastered this site but will keep trying. I would recommend that everyone takes a look at Bloom's Digital Taxonomy on Blinkx. The video is an updated version of Bloom's Taxonomy for the Digital Classroom. I also visited Andrew Churches wiki space and found that he has posted PFD Files for rubric's that we can use to teach our students about Web2.0.

NEW at Teachers Tube!

• Private classroom environment - Other blogging sites make anything you post available for the world to see... With ClassPress, no one outside your class can view or participate without your permission!
  
• Personalized blogs - Add pictures, videos, polls, and more to your blog!
  
• No advertisements - Free blogging sites have ads that slow down and distract from your blog... ClassPress has no advertisements!
  
• Unlimited student accounts - Let all of your students from all of your classes have a blog! No e-mail address is required for students.

Thing #19: Web 2.0 Awards

Exploration of Web 2.0 List of Favorites:
***** Foods: Imcooked & iFoods, offers video's that can be used to demonstrate cooking & recipes that students could prepare in Personal Family Development, Food & Nutrition.

***** Revolution Health = current medical information for Health Sciences, Child Development & Parenting Classes.

***** PBwiki & Wetpaint = opportunities to create websites for the classroom. Recommend you take a look Jeff Utecht wiki's for ideas on how & why teachers should use wiki's in their classrooms. Jeff serves as the ambassador to Wetpaint, here is the link:
http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Wetpaint+Education+Ambassador. Also, I found the ANATOWIKI which is packed with information that can be used in our Health Science Medical Training programs.


***** Mango Languages = My opportunity to learn Spanish at home on my own schedule. Not a lot of $$$$$ and you get to select what to learn. (Please note that the district offers great classes on teaching Spanish to it's employee's, however with my family's needs and changing schedules I miss to many classes to benefit from the training.)

***** Kayak = Lots of travel options. Last summer I used this website to locate travel arrangements for my family to Europe (London, Paris, Frankfurt and Southern Ireland).

***** Craigslist, a new way to search for services in your area.

In addition to finding new 2.0 sites I learned how to link my blog to the sites, don't you think that it is about time, it only toke exploring 19 things to get to this point, maybe we need more basics included in the beginning or our adventure!

Thing #18: Productivity Tools - Web Acessed

My first experience with a computer was a MAC 512 which I added a drafting program named "Dreams" in order to draw for clients. I loved my MAC and the programs that my husband and I added for business and personal use. Then we moved onto a E Machine with Windows based programs which offered very similar pull down menus as the MAC, however with subtle differences. My next experience on computers was working with ordering programs and drafting programs in the home improvement industry which lacked the features and programing was always 3-4 years behind industry. Then came teaching and access to Microsoft Office.................

As you can see from my experience it is important for us as teachers to embrace the changing technology and opportunities on the Web as our world evolves. I feel that our students should be aware of all of the different types of technology that are available to them whether it be a program that that is purchased or free.

In reviewing the options for free online productivity tools I chose to investigate Google Doc's because it did not require me to download a program to my laptop. In looking at the features, I found that it is similar to the products that I have used with Microsoft Office.......some limitations to font, saving, templates, etc.........however nothing that would prevent me from using the program. The biggest benefit that I saw with using Google Doc's was the availability to work with others on creating a project or event or whatever. Yes, this is similar to Wiki's however I believe that it goes beyond.......I watched a video on YouTube - Google Docs: Sharing Household Expenses where 3 people manage their expenses on line with the features offered in a spreadsheet. I believe that this feature would be of great use to our students because it would allow them to each work on a project in different places or jointly. No more excuses as to why they could not access the information when one is absent and project deadlines would not need to change.....etc.....

Thing #17: Rollyo (Bruce's Rollyo Video)

Bruce's 23 Things Project: Rollyo Video

This video is wonderful for visual learners like myself. It truly explains how we as teachers can use technology in our classroom with our students and direct them to valuable resources! Thanks Bruce!

After watching Bruce's video I went into Rollyo and created my first searchroll for SWHS Interior Design with tag of Licensing. This search roll takes my design students to the professional websites that give complete details on "How & What you have to do to become a Licensed Interior Designer." Thank you.......Thank You......Thank you! This is going to save my students and me a lot of time in researching information on the web!

(Note: Firefox has been installed, however still unsure as to what it does, still exploring it features........Thanks!

Thing #16: Wikis

The Scene: Picard and Riker are discussing the possibility of sending a Starfleet officer on temporary assignment on a Klingon vessel] Commander William T. Riker: I wouldn't mind the assignment, sir. Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Any particular reason? Commander William T. Riker: Because nobody's ever done it before.

Wikis are like wondering into unknown space for me, I had never heard the term or realized what a Wiki was unto I completed this exercise. Of course, I had used Wikis out in Cyberspace with out knowing what they were. Even though I spent over 20 years working in corporate America, the companies that I worked for did not give their employee complete access to the Internet as it evolved. Sad..........a Wiki would have been a great way for me to work with the contractor, supplier, client on their projects. The only tool of technology used to communicate was the phone and meetings in person, they did not even give us the opportunity to use email......felt the employee would waste their time exploring the web instead of working......however what they did not realize was that they were wasting valuable time and productivity.....equaling $$$$$$$.

After seeing and experiencing how easy it was to post a comment to the SBISD Wiki in the sandbox, I am going to challenge both myself and my students by creating Wikis for all of us to work with this year as Commander Riker did on the space ship Enterprises (See quote above).

Thing #15: Future of Libraries.....Dinosaurs to Spaceships!

Libraries... are a product of the past developed my loyal and dedicated Scribes.

... of the present and the future ... technology expanding our horizons!

However we need to remember who we are building future libraries for and need to have the experience of learning to

"Love to Read".

Then we must ask the question "How can we continue to evolve as are clients learn and develop at light speed!

(Images represent thoughts of the past and what our future will bring for next generations..........Quote from my favorite Star Trek Caption Jean-Luc Picard: Engage..........(to our next temporary place in time).

Thing #14: Techorati = Tags..............

My day started @ 5 am, wake the hubby, make coffee, send hubby off to work @ 5:30 am, start research on Thing 14 @ 5:3o with coffee in hand, send daughter out the door @ 7:15 am, continue to research thing 14 and look up at the clock in the dining room and it is 9 am. Wow time really does fly when you are learning new and interesting websites. I have spent this morning exploring Technorati and the different ways which I can use this site. It is going to take me a while to figure out the best tags to use in my searches for the correct information. I was able to claim my blog on the Technorati website and with several different tries I finally was able to add a widget to my side bar. In my search on Technorati, I discovered that I had the availability to search more than blogs. I love the folder approach where they separate out posts, blogs, photos and videos. With a click of your mouse you can see the variety of different items that relate to your search. Check out my sidebar for a couple of sites that I have tagged.

Thing #13: Discovering del.icio.us & social bookmarking!

I never learned how to bookmark a site or a resource on my computer. I have always used the favorite's folder to create files for each of the subjects that I teach and saved to the files. This is a time consuming process and creates large files that are not easy to sort through.

I have noticed tags on websites during my searches but never really realized how useful they could be in making my research more efficient and productive. I also was not aware that there were social bookmarking websites where you could create a network with other professionals and see what resources they found valuable.

Thank you for introducing social bookmarking to your Library2.0 Lessons. This is going to be a resource with great value to my planning. I found that it was very easy to add the bookmark and tag to my toolbar. However you do need to close your browser and reopen to see it. I have booked marked an article on bedrooms which I can present to my students when they get ready to create a bedroom design. Check out my new link and see the modern bedrooms!

Thing #12: Creating Community through Commenting

We all live in towns or cities that are divided into subdivision or neighborhoods. These are the communities which we choose to interact with others. It had not dawned on me that there would be a community of blogger's that would be interested in building communities online with total strangers. However are we really total strangers when we consider the common interest that could bring us together to learn? No, we are teachers or individuals that are in search of knowledge that can be shared with others. In order to grow we must seek, question, evaluate and come to new conclusions and by having the opportunity to comment to each other on our blogs we can continue to grow our knowledge, our interest's in a healthy manner.



In return we need to keep in mind that there are guidelines which we should follow to ensure that we are commenting and building these communities in a positive way. I had not realized the importance of commenting on a blog or responding to a comment received until I read the links for Blue Shunk about "some comments about commenting" and "are you contributing to the general discussion?". I also liked the graphic that was posted on Drape's Takes for his EduBlogger Etiquette Series concerning the voice of your readers.

Having learned this information I have gone back to the comments that I received from my readers and thanked them for commenting and I have now in the process of leaving comments as I read others blogs. I will update this entry prior to the end of our training with the interesting blog notes that I read and write to.

Update: Posting Comments (07/16/08)
Please visit our fellow blogger's in Library2Play, they have some very interesting perspectives on our activities: La Bibiotecaria Loca (Thing 12), Fooling w/Words (Thing 15), BelieveinBooks's WeBlog (Thing15) and Dragonread (Thing 15). Thanks for your thoughts and playing this summer on your computers with the rest of us at Library2Plays!

Thing #11: LibraryThing......easy search tool.

As a child and a teenager I read a lot of different books however my favorites included the Life Story of Helen Keller, Black Beauty, Charlotte's Web, Nancy Drew's Adventures and Rod Sterling's Science Fiction Stories. As an adult I read books that my kids are most interested in which include the Harry Potters Series (all seven), Angles and Demons, The Da Vinci Code.

However I spend more time reading the magazines that I have subscriptions to which include National Geographic, Smithsonian, Fine Homebuilding, Cuisine at home, etc. All of these subscriptions leads me down a path that interest me personal and professional.

The LibraryThing website is a great resource for those individuals that truly enjoy reading books and gives you the opportunity to discuss your thoughts and write reviews. I have never belonged to a book club and do not feel that I would use this resource as much as I will use Google Reader.

I do feel that this is a very worthwhile site for students to know about to build on their interest of reading.

Thing #10: Image Generators.......creative fun for all!

(Kid-Friendly Image Generator)

Image generators will allow you to be creative in your lesson plans and the projects that your students can create in your classrooms. So far this has been one of the most creative (except for our Avator) exercises we have completed.

Happy Faces - Logo (click on sidebar)

Big Huge Labs - Puzzle Option w/picture from Flicker.

Your options are endless, have fun, be creative, add these items to your blog, websites, school website, and lastly let your students experiment while they are learning.

Thing #9: RSS...useful news feeds

My mindset prior to starting Library2Play was that blogs were individuals that just wanted to share personal information about what ever. I have learned during my play time with Thing 8 and Thing 9 that there is a lot of wonderful news items that can be used in both my professional and personal life. I have also learned that the number of RSS feeds available are unlimited and can be very overwhelming if you do not have the right tools to organize the information that you are searching for.

I have spent the better part of two days exploring RSS Feeds and sources for sorting them out and the one that I found the easiest and more useful was Technorati. The two that I found confusing and difficult to use was Topix & Syndic8. The only resource that I was not able to play with was Atomic Learning because I do not have the password to access the site. However I have seen this site prior to this exercise, just never had the time to investigate. I will have make time when I return to work this fall to explore this resource.

In closing I would recommend that each person learns to organize their reading sources by using a reader source such as Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader/) and create a circle of wise resources that will give you the information that interest you and your students the most. If you would like more information about creating a circle of wise, simply click on this link: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-create-your-circle-of-wise-how.html

(Note: This was not my favorite site due to how it is arranged, however the information is very useful!)

Thing #8: RSS Feeds

Remembering the past, my father subscribed to the local newspaper which he read religiously everyday. He watched the news when he arrived home every night and with only one TV in the house that was painfully to his 4 daughters. The only magazine that we received was Newsweek which he tried to get us to read, boring....to a teenager. He would truly be amazed at the wealth of information that is now available on the Internet concerning everything from local to national to international happenings in our world today.



Prior to teaching I would search for recipes and articles that interested me only, however since I started teaching I have used the Internet a lot to research the subjects that I teach. The hardest part of this is trying to keep my lessons current and related to my students. RSS Feeds will allow me to receive updated information with out having to spend hours searching and looking for new ideas that I can incorporate in my classroom and also my personal life. I already received an email on the benefits of Vitamin D for the treatment of pain to share with my mom.



I have added a new section to my Blog: IZ-A-BEL'S Shared Items which will link you to a website that I have under my Google Reader's List. The site has lots of information to share on teaching tips that I feel will be useful in my classroom.

Thing 7: Google, more than a search engine.

Incredible.......
Since changing careers two years ago, I have used Google a lot to find Internet resources and images for my classes. I was not aware that Google offered such a variety of different tools that could make both my work life and personal life so much easier. Out of all of the tools that I explored my top four selections are: Google Calendar, IGoogle, Google Notebook and Google Scholar.

Let's start with Google Calendar. In the past two months my personal computer has crashed twice from a virus that loads as an update. My personal & family calendar was stored in my MSN Email account which was lost both times. I have gone into Google Calendar and created six calendars that can be updated and tied together for both work and home. My plans for this next school year include posting a calendar to my school web page for my students to reference and using the share option I plan to send updated calendars to my dept. supervisor.

IGoogle was a fun site to set up. I have personalized several tabs for the things that interest me the most. Each tab has a different photo that relates to the subject of that tab. In setting up the Art Tab, I was given instant access to a slide show of London's Architecture which was on Flicker.

Google Notebook is going to be a great tool for both my students and myself. I have already started a research project on Furniture for a new PowerPoint. I will introduce this to my students and have them use it for a research project.

Google Scholar is so amazing. I love to present information to my students in power points and spend a fair amount of time creating informative presentations with interactive activities for them. I was surprised to find out that you could search the web for power points that other professionals created for their classes. I have found an activity that introduces the reason for taking interior design or housing as a quiz that relates to my students lives. This is going to be a great resource.

Thing #6: Mash-ups and 3rd Party Sites

I really enjoyed playing with mash-ups and other 3rd party sites. My son even played Tagman with me while I was researching the different options. Big Huge Labs has a wonderful program called the Palette Generator where you can select a picture and it will create a selection of color samples that could be used for any type of design. I than played with the different styles of mosaic's that you can create and how it will search Flicker for photo's using tags. Great way to create a quick intro for a lesson. Here is the trading card that I designed to show my design students as an example for a new research project on "Famous Designers". Special note: enter your text first and then upload your picture and your layout will be as selected. I tried selecting the photo first and then entering my text and the layout was not as desired. Always Preview or Edit your post.

Thing #5: Flicker

Flicker...
Tags, Groups, Libraries...
Endless Opportunities.
I never really thought about the copyright issue's with using images from Google until I read about the Creative Common Rules. My original visit to Flicker was browsing general files with pictures of Exotic Cats. There was a great picture of a white tiger underwater - very fierce looking. However I was not able to copy and share this with the group because it was copyright protected. I then typed in creative common rules and found a group that had over 23,000 pictures available. Continuing into this site I found a layout of a New York Loft which I can share with my students giving them a better example of a rendered floor plan.

Great resource to be-aware of for creating lessons for our students and for our students to create projects for their classes. I will not only share this with my students but will show my own family this valuable resource for projects that they are working on.

Thing #4: Registering your Blog

Registering my blog proved to be the most difficult item due to an error on my part. After I wrote about THING #2, I tried to adjust the time which was set on Pacific Time. In changing the time it delayed the blog from posting. I had to log in and tell it to post. Live and Learn from the experience, it proves what I tell my kids and students - I'm not perfect, I make mistakes too. Have a great day!

Thing #2: Pointers from Lifelong Learners

The 7 & 1/2 Habits of a lifelong learner includes "creating your own learning toolbox" - Habit 5. My past industry experience's have been creating toolboxes for different learning experiences from specifications of a product to an architect, designer or a client; to teaching sales associates & trainers 20/20 (CAD for cabinetry). This is the easiest habit for me when I plan a new lesson related to Family Consumer Sciences (FCS). I start with the end goal and then build the toolbox needed to reach the goal (TEKS).

The hardest habit for me is Habit 7-1/2 which is play. I am a workaholic! My days include working at school and at home. However last summer all of my hard work paid off at the end of my first year of teaching. I planned a 2-1/2 week vacation for my family which started in London, then on to Paris, next was Frankfurt and last was a week touring Southern Ireland. My family and I truly enjoyed our vacation and the learning experience that we had in traveling through parts of Europe.

Thing #3: Setting up your own Blog & Avater

• Setting up your own Blog was easy on Blogger. The tutorials in the Library2Play were extremely helpful. The most difficult task that I had was deciding what to call my blog and how to sign each entry. I wanted something that would encourage a new way of thinking towards technology and it's applications. I also wanted to keep my personal name more anonymous, so I researched ancient languages from my heritage that would still honor the name I was given by my parents.

• Yahoo Avators was super simple to create and export. The hardest part was I keep getting pop-up advertisements on the site and had to continuously go back to Avator Home. When it ask you to save, say yes and you can get back to it quickly if this happens to you.

• My avator reflects my industry background in Construction with a casual feeling for the outdoors, however somewhat stylish, with a love of pets, and the music to enjoy life.

Discovery of Unlimited-ism

Unlimited-ism,
...... New element of Life came from the realization that we live in a world that is extremely diverse and ever changing. The world of technology gives us the opportunity to explore and discover new ways to give our students lessons that will empower them to learn without limits or restrictions creating a new system of belief that they can be successful.