Week 16--Wrap-up Webinar

I was not able to participate in either of the live webinars, so I had to login to the archived version. It was nice how the presenters went through each week's lesson and highlighted different projects that various participants had created. It was also nice so hear that others had similar questions or problems to those I encountered along the way.

The experience was wonderful overall. I enjoyed learning about the various tools that are available for free and experimenting with each one. My favorite tool is Facebook. I had already started using it before the class started. It is really neat to be able to stay connected with friends and family online.

My favorite new tool is Jing. Now that I've figured out how to use it and how to get the microphone to work, I can see a lot of places where I could use this tool, especially in a library setting. I also enjoyed the creative aspects of blogging. My blog started out pretty plain, but as the class progressed I was able to add more and more to my blog--everything from widgets to pictures to videos. It's been great!

I want to say thank you to all the wonderful people who created lessons and helped us out along the way.

Week 12--Screen Casting--Jing

Well, I loved and hated this one. Downloading Jing was easy, but learning how to use it was more difficult. I had to figure out how to get the exact section of the screen I wanted and how to get my microphone to work. Once I got those things figured out, I was able to get the assignment done fairly quickly.

I chose to explain how to do searches on the Destiny Online Catalog, which is the program we have on our computers at school. I used the public library's website for my example because the school's catalog is not available to the public--it's only available on the network at school.

All in all, the experience was a good one.

http://www.screencast.com/users/ruthmusic/folders/Jing/media/c4e69d61-91a2-4ce5-82c6-037d82db2f8d

Week 15--Wikis

I had done a little bit with wikis for a college class, but there's still a lot for me to learn. For this lesson, I created an account on Wikipedia--and promptly forgot my password. And, of course, I hadn't included an email account so I couldn't retrieve it or set a new one. So I had to create a new account.

On Wikipedia I edited the page about the Marais des Cygnes River. I added a link to the La Cygne, KS website that has pictures of the Flood of 2007. I thought this was appropriate since the page talks about Floods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marais_des_Cygnes_River#Floods

Then I went to the 23 Things Kansas wiki and added my page there. In spite of the specific instruction to SAVE your page, I managed to exit out without saving it the first time, so had to redo it also. That's what I get for waiting until the last minute and trying to hurry.

http://23thingskansas.wetpaint.com/page/Ruth+Reynolds

Week 14--Library Thing--Shelfari

When I created my blog, I was looking for ways to make it look neat. I took a look at some of the blogs created by other students in the class. If I saw something I liked, I added it to my blog. One of the features I really liked with the bookshelf on Shelfari. I didn't realize at the time that this would be related to a future assignment for 23 Things Kansas.

I signed up for Shelfari and added my bookshelf to my blog. Since then, I have gone in and edited it to add more books and to rate the books. I haven't done a lot with the other features, but I really like the fact that if you click on the cover of one of the books on the shelf it takes you to a site where there are reviews of the books.

Week 13--Slide Sharing--Animoto

In the past, I have created several slide shows on PowerPoint and recently experimented with Windows Movie Maker. But I had never tried any of the web-based slide sharing software.

I chose to use Animoto. Setting up an account in Animoto was simple. The first thing I did was import some photos that I had uploaded to Facebook. This feature was nice because I did not have to take time to upload anything from my computer and the process was fairly quick. Since I was using the free version of Animoto and you are limited to videos that are 30 seconds, I had to narrow down the number of pictures I was using--I just used the delete feature.

Next, I added music. Animoto has a selection of song clips that you can choose from. Finally, I added a title slide and a credits slide, clicked finish, and waited for my video to be processed.

Then, I wanted to add my slide show to my blog. I finally figured out how to do this, and there is a link to the video below.

I found that the free version of Animoto is very limited as to what you can do with it. If I were to create slide shows in the future, I would probably opt to continue using PowerPoint or Movie Maker as I have access to the full features of both and would not have to pay a subscription fee.

Wildflowers

Week 10--Video on the Web--YouTube

It was easy to sign up for an account on YouTube. Since I already had a login on Google, I could just use it. The user name was a little harder. The one I usually use was already taken by someone else, so I had to come up with a different one. I finally settled on ruthmusic81.

Figuring out what to take a video of was a little difficult. Since I work in a school library and can't just shoot a video of my students and post it, I had to come up with something unrelated to school or libraries. My nephew was kind enough to let me videotape him playing his drums. Actually uploading the video to YouTube was easy. It just took several minutes to upload due to the slow speed of our internet service.

I did not attempt to edit anything on the video and it was already in a format that was YouTube friendly, so I didn't have to worry about that. I used my Sony Cyber-Shot DSC F828 to shoot the video. Although I've had the camera for several years, this was the first time I used the video feature.

I've uploaded a copy of the video below or you can view it on YouTube at the following address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ6KWDi8N8s

Week 9--Instant Messaging--AIM, Facebook Chat

Since I have used Instant Messaging many times in the past, this lesson was an easy one for me. I started out using AOL Instant Message. We use this program in our school district as a way of sharing info between staff members. Until recently, we didn't have phones in the classrooms, so this was a good way to stay in touch with other teachers or the office, especially in the event of a discipline problem. Also, our schools were on separate phone companies and a call was long distance, so AIM was a good way to send communication between buildings and not run up the phone bill.

While I was working on my master's, I used Yahoo Messenger a lot. All of the courses were online and for one particular class I had to work with a partner who lived in Topeka. Phone calls were too expensive and emails too slow, so we used the messenger program for the majority of our communication. It worked great. Even if I wasn't online, if she sent a message, it would pop up the next time I got online.

More recently, I have used the chat feature on Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family. I chatted with a fellow 23 Things Kansas student to finalize our plans for the Cloud Computing lesson. My sister also set up an account for me on MSN Messenger, but I very seldom use it.

I also signed in on the IRC channel for 23thingsks. At first I couldn't type anything, but eventually the box appeared and I was able to talk briefly to Sharon. Not sure what the problem was.

Week 8--Cloud Computing--Google Docs

I'd never really done anything like this until I started working on this assignment. For the assignment, I chose to use Google Docs. I contacted Jean, a fellow student I had connected with on Facebook, and we decided to collaborate on a project. She suggested that we start an ongoing list of great read-alouds for children. I started the document and invited her to add to it. Then I asked my sister to add to it also. We now have 4 librarians who have added their favorites to it.

One thing I learned is that the person you share a document with must also have an account with Google Docs and you must send the invitation to the email they used to set up their account. I know, it should have been obvious.....

I can see that this tool could be useful, especially if you are working on professional development projects. It's always good to get input from others on projects and this is a good way to do so. It would also be a good tool to use to allow someone to proofread or edit documents for you.

Week 7--Microblogging--Twitter

After Kevin Honeycutt did an in-service in our district last year, I opened an account on Plurk. For a while, I followed it every day, but once the new wore off, I quit checking it. I have a hard time sharing with people I have never met. I tried to find people with common interests (music, library) but even that didn't help. And, I wasn't really into all the Karma stuff on there either.

So, when I got this assignment, I decided to give Twitter a try. The only people I have added are ones who were listed in the examples. I don't really know anyone who has a Twitter account, so I don't know who to search for and don't have a lot of excess time to play around with it.

The only people I am following on Twitter are ones who are connected with the 23 Things Kansas class. Some of the ones I am following who are also following me are: hbraum, beccamunson, and dianajw. I'm also following 23thingsks on Twitter.

So far, I'm just using Twitter because it's part of this class. I will have to play around with it a little more before I decided whether or not I can really use it or not. I know a lot of people use Plurk or Twitter as their PLN. That's one possibility. I can see it being used as a means for people to share ideas or ask others for input on a subject.

Week 6--Tagging and Social Bookmarking--Delicious

I was familiar with Delicious because one of my instructors at PSU had required us to use it in her classes. But I had never set up an account of my own--we always used an account the teacher set up because she wanted everyone in the class to have access to the same account so we could all see what the other students bookmarked and the comments they made.

So my first step was to set up my own account in Delicious. This proved to be very easy since I already had an account with Yahoo. After watching all the videos in the lesson, I added a few bookmarks to my account--common sites a librarian would be interested in: the ALA website, the AASL website, and the KASL website. Later I added a bookmark for THE Journal, a technology journal I subscribe to.

Next, I created a tag bundle labeled "Library Organizations". In this folder, I included all the sites with the tags AASL, ALA, and KASL.

I was trying to think of ways in which I could use Delicious in my libraries. A couple ideas I came up with were: 1)it would be a good place to bookmark the various websites I use about authors and illustrators, and 2)I could use it to bookmark the websites I have found that have information about the various immigrant groups who came to Kansas. If my students had access to my account and the Internet, this would be an easy way for them to find these sites without having to type in cumbersome web addresses.

I Know--I'm Behind!

I'm enjoying learning about all these Web 2.0 tools, but it takes a little time to digest it all. Between juggling library projects in 3 schools and finding time for family and church activities, sometimes this class takes a back seat. I do the lessons and sign up for the different programs and then have to find time to blog about it! I'm full of excuses tonight!

My 4th graders have just about completed their projects/presentations about Immigrants in Kansas. Last Thursday, the students at Parker gave some wonderful presentations and shared a feast of ethnic foods to illustrate how various immigrant groups have impacted our culture here in Kansas. We had a wonderful time sampling new and sometimes unusual foods. Each group also shared about music, clothing, holidays/celebrations, etc. their immigrant groups were known for.

Week 5--RSS Feeds--Google Reader

I decided to go with Google Reader because I already had other accounts with Google. Setting up the account was easy. I decided to try some of their recommended bundles first, so I looked for ones that had something to do with the library and education. I also checked ones about cooking and religious sites. Then I had to figure out how to delete subscriptions so I wouldn't get so many I couldn't keep up with them.

Next, I decided to try to subscribe to something either through the RSS Feeds link on a website or by copying and pasting the address into Google Reader. I subscribed to the updates from http://www.bridgehunter.com/ and a favorite Christian site in this manner. On a separate account, I get updates from my fellow classmates' blogs. Didn't intend to have 2 accounts, but I forgot which email address I'd used and ended up with 2 accounts.

Another reason I chose Google Reader is because it does not deliver anything to my email address. Everything is sent to the reader, so I don't have to worry about having an overflowing mailbox.

Week 4--Photo Sharing--Flickr

Class area.
Originally uploaded by ruthmusic

Thanks to reading a fellow classmate's blog, I figured out how to post this on my blog. This has been an interesting experience.

In the past, I have uploaded several pictures to Shutterfly because I use this company to print several of my photography projects. But I had never used Flickr before, except to look at other people's photos.

For this project, I took pictures of the La Cygne Elementary Library. I hope you enjoy your photo tour.

Week 3--Online Meetings

For this week's lesson, I chose to listen to an archived webinar on the SirsiDynix Institute website. Since I am interested in copright issues, both as a teacher/library media specialist and as a musician/writer/photographer, I selected a webinar titled The 21st Century Classroom: Copyright and Electronic Content by Dru Zuretti. I have included the link to this webinar here if anyone else is interested. http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=99

I found this webinar very informative with valuable information that every teacher or librarian should have. Two aspects that were very helpful were the printable slides that go along with the webinar and the question/answer session at the end of the presentation. This particular webinar dealt with materials which are available on the Web--what can be copyrighted? The rule of thumb is that the creator of a work owns the rights to anything that is original, creative, and fixed. One thing Ms. Zuretti stressed is that "everything on the Web in not public domain; everything is protected." Ms. Zuretti also talked about the TEACH Act and how it affects accredited, non-profit educational institutes.

Webinars are an excellent opportunity for people to gain information without having to travel or, in some cases, spend a lot of money. In today's economy, these are positive aspects of this new technology. I can see webinars being used in the future as a means of professional development for school staff.

Another Monday

I finished grading the 5th graders' explorer projects. They did a really good job on their posters and presentations, but struggled with the bibliography. Maybe easybib.com will help with that problem.

The 3rd grade has been working on a project about the local community for several weeks. Today we used Movie Maker to begin our final presentations. The project is called the 8 Wonders of LaCygne--patterned after the 8 Wonders of Kansas. The students interviewed several people from the community in regard to the art, architecture, commerce, cuisine, customs, geography, history, and people of the area. If I can ever get all the bugs worked out of things, maybe they can get their presentations done! Anybody know anything about converting video from a Flipcam so it can be imported into Movie Maker?

At LaCygne, we are in the middle of our Book Fair. Lots of neat titles to choose from. I got copies of 3 books about the library. One is called Library Lion. I read it to the kindergarten class and had them predict what was going to happen. They really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it!

Week 2--Online Communities

I chose Facebook because I already had an account and I have enjoyed using it since last May. I also have an account on Plurk, but I don't use that one much anymore. I like to keep in touch with family & friends. I've reconnected with friends from church & friends from college that I haven't seen for years. And, I have to admit, that I do enjoy playing some of the games on Mindjolt also.

For this class, I have added a couple new friends and become a fan of the 23 Things Kansas page. It's been fun reading the posts other participants have made on this page.

I haven't really thought about how I will use FB in the future. Probably I will continue to use it much like I have so far. Unfortunately, this is one of the sites that is blocked for students on our school network, so I don't see much possibility of using it at school. We have a huge issue with bandwidth.

Learning New Things

I keep learning new things about this blog. I figured out how to add a Shelfari Bookshelf on my blog, so now I can showcase some of my favorite titles. I also discovered that I haven't explored all the features of Facebook. There are so many applications on there and I've used it mainly to keep in touch with family and friends. The possibilities are endless!

LaCygne Elementary is having a really neat activity on Friday to celebrate Kansas Day. Several people from the community are coming in to share with the students on various topics relating to Kansas history or Kansas products. We did this last year and the kids loved it!

It's Good to be Back!

I spent Sunday and Monday fighting the flu. All aches and fever, but luckily nothing worse. Missed the teacher in-service on Monday, too.

Today, most of my classes were learning about Kansas. I always read Climbing Kansas Mountains by George Shannon to my 1st graders. They think it's neat because the illustrations in the book show a small town similar to the ones they live in. And, of course, they have all seen grain elevators before! My 2nd graders watched a Sunflower Showcase video titled Symbols of Kansas. I read a book called Kansas to the kindergarteners and we looked at pictures of the various symbols of Kansas. My 5th graders have been working on writing puppet plays, but we took a break from that to review how to do a bibliography. I introduced them to www.easybib.com and they were excited about having an easier way of constructing a bibliography.

A Learning Experience

I figured out how to upload pictures to my blog. The more I experiment, the more I discover!

Finally wrapped up a project I started before Christmas. My 1st graders do a unit on Christmas in Mexico. We compare their celebration & traditions to those in the USA. Part of the Mexican celebration of Las Pasadas involves breaking pinatas. So to culminate the project, we have a pinata party. Planned to do it closer to Epiphany (Jan. 6) on the last day of Las Pasadas, but a snow day prevented that.

Library Lessons

This week we have been working on some interesting projects. The 2nd grader are working on a KWL project about Kansas. Kindergarten & 1st grade are learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. Immigrants in Kansas is the topic for the 4th grade students. The 5th graders are wrapping up their research project about explorers. And 3rd grade students are learning about technical text--what it is, how to write it, and how to follow it.

Week 1--Blogging--A Little About Me

I am the elementary school librarian for the Prairie View school district. I service 3 elementary schools--Fontana, Parker, and LaCygne--and conduct library skills classes with all students in grades K-5.

Some of my hobbies are music and photography. I enjoy singing, writing music, and playing piano. A friend has a recording studio and several years ago he helped me record some of the songs I have written. I enjoy taking pictures of God's creation, as well as the various historic landmarks in Kansas and Missouri. One of my favorite subjects to photograph is old iron bridges and covered bridges.

Although I do not have children of my own, I enjoy spending time with my nieces and nephews. My nephew, John, is my photography buddy. We love to travel and take pictures. We also like to cook. Our specialty is meatballs!

My First Post

Well, I made it this far. It's not so intimidating when it walks you through the process step-by-step.