Thing 18: YouTube

My brother just shared this video in his Google Reader - do I get extra points for using two things in one?



I haven't really gotten into YouTube before, other than the random funny email that gets shared around the district. It has seemed like another giant pile of information to wade through. My daughter is again dismayed that she has another 325+ days before she can create an account. She has some older friends who have videos posted and she loves it.



Now this gets my creativity flowing! It would be fun to create a video for my library orientation, or the various how-to's (setting up technology) or other promo pieces for the media center or the grade levels.

Thing 15: Libraries and Games

As I wait for Puzzle Pirates to download, I wonder if students are able (and if they already have)downloaded this on school computers? I found students playing Moon Base last week for Friday Fun - what (I could see) they were doing was pretty innocuous, but it definitely had potential for misuse...or at least global chat. (Yikes!) That, and they had to click on a pop-up saying they were older than 13 - I don't think so.

But I digress... Puzzle Pirates took several minutes to download. My poor laptop already needs brain surgery, and then I keep loading things like this on it! Poor baby! I always like creating my own characters online - a techy version of paper dolls and coloring pages. I like that the avatar can walk easily on it's own, versus Second Life where you need to learn to walk and fly. This is a pretty straightforward game. I liked the Bilging game, but could see my students quickly becoming bored with it. It was fun to begin exploring the island. I did see that this game was for 13+.

I would like to offer this sort of gaming experience in my media center, but with all the students being under 13 - it is really difficult. I am also struggling with this at home with my DD who just turned 12. She is truly mature enough and savvy enough to navigate the gaming world and the YouTube and the Facebook world...I know not all are...but the world is becoming more technology oriented. How long do we keep holding students back in the name of protecting them? I don't mind so much at work as the "in loco parentis" - but what about when I am just the loco parent?

Thing 14: Library Thing

I might be a closet cataloger...just don't ask me for all the details. I just like the sorting and arranging piece!

I started a Library Thing a while back - I think Brook Berg started this for me with a MEMOlist post. I am mostly discovering through these 23 Things, that the "social" aspect of reading others comments is not something I'm real hip on, as an ongoing thing. When I need a book recommendation or book talk info/ideas, then I like to read some comments. But I don't really care what others think about most books in my "collection."




It is interesting to consider using a tool like this to house a small library's catalog. That has me thinking more widely for the potential uses here. I wonder how it might work as a catalog of the book talks I have given during the year.

Thing 16: RPC & Assignment Calculator

These are excellent resources for upper secondary and higher-ed students. I am the free-flowing, artsy (aka last minute/procrastinating) type, so it feels very structured and deadline-y to me. I don't like it on a visceral level, but I often seek after it to help me see just how far behind I'm falling. I would love to be the type that can do just a few minutes (hours) each day, rather than a full on push at the end. But alas... (note the date and time on these final blog entries compared to the deadline for FABULOUS PRIZES). (There is a great Calvin and Hobbes cartoon that I had years ago about only working to a deadline - anyone have a copy??)

I would like to start introducing these tools to my 6th graders, maybe even 5th graders. I would like the teachers to begin backing off on how much they personally harp on students to meet deadlines, and refer them to the computerized outline in their packets (where did that folder go?). It would be a good external timeline that students could refer to, and perhaps access from home.

Again, I like the idea...maybe I should start even younger...maybe that would have saved me... (look - a butterfly!)

Thing 17: ELM

#1 - I set up a search alert with no problem. After reading so many comments throughout these 23 Things about schools blocking so many of these sites/activities, I am so thankful for the policies in the Osseo District (279) that are so minimal in the area of blocking!! I accessed ELM though the district's virtual media center and there was no "proxy" getting in the way. My PLC is working with reading strategies, so that was my search in Academic Search Premier. I added it to my Google Reader. (the great and powerful Google!)



#2 & #3 - I am not yet sure why I would want to have my own web page - especially one that seems static (needs to be downloaded and is only available from wherever I saved it), like the one I created in Academic Search Premier through the Page Composer. Perhaps this makes all the links live and available no matter where I am. But I think other tools like Google Reader and the Google "office" tools are more what I would move toward first. I'm open to suggestions, though.



#4 - When I tried to access NetLibrary through my district webpage, I could get to a log in screen, but was unsure how to log in. When I went in through the Hennepin County Library page, which I use regularly, I was immediately logged in, barcode validated, ready to search. As the LMS, it might be good for me to know how to access this stuff! (As a new LMS, I haven't yet been taught all this, or asked all the right questions yet!)

OK, so at first I was skeptical, cuz I just wasn't figuring it out! But now that I found a source on reading and made a note and saw how easy it was to access when I went back to it, I'm warming up to the idea. A teacher could save various content for younger students or older students could use this to organize their notes and sources for a paper. I will try using this for my PLC and for topics teachers ask for help on.

Thing 21: Other social networks

I like Ning - it is like Facebook for grown ups who want a little more than a twittered comment on the current happenings in your friends lives. It does require more input from the user, but that is also the beauty - you can set it up any way you like. I am starting to like the running list of updates as well - at first that seemed so random and it bugged me.

It seems like Ning would be a good collaboration tool. I see that someone has suggested using it as an online bookclub site. I am curious how this would work with (pre)teens. What are the security features offered by the site? My principal is pretty leary of the whole online world with our elementary students (I would like to use it with students 3rd grade and up - and perhaps even 2nd grade - it might inspire them to work on their keyboard skills to have a "real" project going.)

Thing13: Productivity Tools

I already have an iGoogle home page...that now has six tabs of stuf I mostly ignore. I did help my daughter set up a home page that she just loves. All her quirky interests on one page - horoscope, virtual aquarium, penguins that follow your mouse, idiot test, daily Disney character of the day, question to ponder....real productive right? I do have a "Library Stuff" tab, and it does have several blogs, but I now tend to scan those via my Google Reader. I added a moon phase gadget to help me prepare for those full moon days at school. I also added the Hennepin County Library catalog search which is a wonderful feature. That would be a great gadget for all libraries to create and make available (also in mobile phone format).

I tried adding the countdown feature, but it was not accepted. I have used TimeandDate.com in the past to countdown the insanity of taking two graduate classes on top of student teaching. It was kind of amazing to watch the days tick on by. I did add a countdown widget to my iGoogle page until the last day of school on June 6th. With all the current stress of budget cuts ($16 million worth), 54 days seems too long.

Remember the Milk was the most interesting list tool for me. I like the look and how it can easily be accessed on iGoogle or your mobile phone.