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.

Thing 12: Do you Digg?

I am feeling completely overwhelmed! All this news that I am "missing" out on...or not. I will confess that I have placed myself in a news-free bubble for the most part. There is just too much horrible stuff out there - and of course, that is all you hear about on the news. So with that perspective, maybe these sites could help me to hear about some wonderful news for a change. But my perusal tonight seemed to just offer up more of the same nauseating pile of excess and fear. And then to read everyones commentary...just more prattle.

OK, am I just in a bad mood tonight or what?

I don't see much use for these sites in my current role as elementary LMS, other than fodder for lunch room discussion or being seen as a cool teacher in the know. I can definitely see how it would be practical to scan them daily before your shift on the public library reference desk, just as the narrative for this thing suggested that librarians previously did with newspapers.

For me personally, these are productivity detractors. I could easily get lost in the latest Hollywood insanity or in my quest to find something redeeming that happened in the world today.

Thing 11: Tagging and Del.icio.us

I like the flexibility of tagging - how you can "file" the thing in several "folders." I am longing for more and more of this flexibility as I try to manage the flood of information that comes at me daily in my job. I think it works great on a personal level, but trying to search for information this way could be quite confusing and misleading (no hits or too many, not so specific ones). Funny, I don't often tag my blogs. It's usually too hard for me to think of all the options I could use.

I think I set up a del.icio.us account awhile back, but that, like RSS feeds, was something I just have no time to keep up with. I do like the idea of having my favorites available to me at all times. The social aspect of del.icio.us, with lots of people tagging is interesting.

PageKeeper looks super interesting! But I wonder if my teachers would actually use it. They might use it personally, to create links that they would use in the classroom, instead of having it on their IE favorites page.