I have heard of the delicious website but have not explored it before tonight. I can see where this site wold be very useful in not just a social aspect but even more so in an educational setting. I set up some bookmarks from websites that I have used in the library. This would be a good tool to have for bookmarking sites for library lessons and being able to share them with other librarians. http://www.delicious.com/karengilmore81
I can also see how delicious would be a great tool for the 4th grade teachers at my school. The newest 6-week timeframe begins Monday; this 6-week frame also happens to be the time that our 4th grade students will bein with their IB exhibition preparations. The students will search for information related to the topic of youth around the world need food, shelter, education, clothing, etc. Our 4th grade teachers will gain valuable resources and some time management by utilizing this site (or one like it) for research. IB exhibitions are brand-new for our school, and I know that we will all benefit from helping each other.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thing 12
The articles about blogging were enlightening. I'm not proficient with blogging at all, but I do find it interesting. From the article How to comment like a king (or queen), one thing that caught my eye was the fact that this blogger takes the time to read the blogs of the people that comment on his blog. I'm not sure why, but that sort of surprised me. It makes perfect sense; we do something similar when we post comments to discussion questions for our classes to see if anyone has added more. In some cases it may take up the better part of the day to check and recheck blog postings!
In the article 10 techniques to get more comments on your blog (of which I noticed that he had 724 comments - not bad), he stated that in order to attract comments you should keep posts open-ended and not sound like an expert on everything, but allow others to feel that they can contribute to your posts by adding to them. I can see where this would take some practice, to try to find that fine line between being too broad with your comments and sounding like a know-it-all who doesn't need any more information on the subject. I also realized that I have a title -- I'm one of the 90% lurkers out there (people who read blogs but don't leave comments)!
This past summer I had quite a bit of time on my hands, and I used part of that time exploring on the Internet. I found a few blogs that I really enjoyed reading and keeping up with. Both of these were found accidentally while I was trying to get new recipe ideas to try. Apparently they are both popular in the blogging world too.
Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com/ , is about a young married woman who really enjoys her food! She writes a daily post of what she's had for breakfast, lunch, (often) snack, and dinner, and includes recipes to go along with most of the postings. I made several of her recipes, including Italian Wedding Soup that was way better than the recipe I already had. This summer she posted about a visit she had to Iowa's popular ice cream factory - she was one of 6 Iowas-based bloggers who were invited. She also once posted about a box of free samples of a snack bar she likes. She has gotten someone's attention!
The other, The Pioneer Woman, http://thepioneerwoman.com/ , is the writings of a married mother of four who lives on a cattle ranch. She must also be a wonderful cook, as she has a cookbook out and was on a Food Network cooking segment with one of their stars. She often gives away free cookware; in fact, the last one attracted over 37,000 people.
In the article 10 techniques to get more comments on your blog (of which I noticed that he had 724 comments - not bad), he stated that in order to attract comments you should keep posts open-ended and not sound like an expert on everything, but allow others to feel that they can contribute to your posts by adding to them. I can see where this would take some practice, to try to find that fine line between being too broad with your comments and sounding like a know-it-all who doesn't need any more information on the subject. I also realized that I have a title -- I'm one of the 90% lurkers out there (people who read blogs but don't leave comments)!
This past summer I had quite a bit of time on my hands, and I used part of that time exploring on the Internet. I found a few blogs that I really enjoyed reading and keeping up with. Both of these were found accidentally while I was trying to get new recipe ideas to try. Apparently they are both popular in the blogging world too.
Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com/ , is about a young married woman who really enjoys her food! She writes a daily post of what she's had for breakfast, lunch, (often) snack, and dinner, and includes recipes to go along with most of the postings. I made several of her recipes, including Italian Wedding Soup that was way better than the recipe I already had. This summer she posted about a visit she had to Iowa's popular ice cream factory - she was one of 6 Iowas-based bloggers who were invited. She also once posted about a box of free samples of a snack bar she likes. She has gotten someone's attention!
The other, The Pioneer Woman, http://thepioneerwoman.com/ , is the writings of a married mother of four who lives on a cattle ranch. She must also be a wonderful cook, as she has a cookbook out and was on a Food Network cooking segment with one of their stars. She often gives away free cookware; in fact, the last one attracted over 37,000 people.
Thing 11
I spent some time exploring LibraryThing, in which users are able to create their own book list of favorite titles. Charlotte's Web will always be the first book I list as a favorite - I won't even allow another book to take the place of that all-time-favorite of mine. However, there are quite a bit of books that come in second place, in my opinion. Most of those are picture books: Tuesday, If I Built a Car, The Polar Express, and The Giving Tree, just to name a few.
Another book that is one of my newest favorites is Bob and Otto. When I put my book list together on LibraryThing, there were 10,738 others who had also included Charlotte's Web on their list, 2055 for The Little Engine That Could, and 14,769 for Little Women. But when I added Bob and Otto, there were only 52 others that had included it. This is such a wonderful story that was on the Texas 2x2 list a year or two ago. It's too bad that more people are not familiar with it.
For anyone interested, I also noticed that LibraryThing is looking for a new employee. Some of the requirements they are looking for in a new employee, which is based in Portland, ME by the way: someone who is passionate about books, social media-savvy, and no cheese allergies!
Another book that is one of my newest favorites is Bob and Otto. When I put my book list together on LibraryThing, there were 10,738 others who had also included Charlotte's Web on their list, 2055 for The Little Engine That Could, and 14,769 for Little Women. But when I added Bob and Otto, there were only 52 others that had included it. This is such a wonderful story that was on the Texas 2x2 list a year or two ago. It's too bad that more people are not familiar with it.
For anyone interested, I also noticed that LibraryThing is looking for a new employee. Some of the requirements they are looking for in a new employee, which is based in Portland, ME by the way: someone who is passionate about books, social media-savvy, and no cheese allergies!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Thing 10
Today's assignment was to have fun with online image generators. I did just that - had some fun! A couple of these were familiar to me, but most were fun to play with. Here are examples of what I did:
Comic Strip Generator
http://www.txt2pic.com/comic-strip/
From Spiffy Text, through the Custom Sign generator. Blake's homecoming date (Delaney) won Friday night. I had nothing to do with any of it, but I sure felt proud as if I had!
http://www.spiffytext.com/
Word Mosiac, through Image Chef:
http://www.imagechef.com/
Wordle: http://www.wordle.net/
I have used Wordle before. This site is a lot of fun, but there are some things you should know about it: The more times you type a word, the larger it will appear. Also, you~must~use~this~symbol between words in phrases, otherwise the words will be split up in the image. I haven't figured out how to save any images yet. I made saved screen shots for this assignment, and even those I'm having trouble copying and pasting into this blog without putting a whole Word document in here. Make sure you print any randomized mix you like; once you hit the Randomize button you won't be able to get that image back.
I used Wordle in the library last year. I had the students write down the title of a favorite book and at least 3 characters in the story on paper. I may have had them list the setting and genre too. They then typed the title 5 times and the rest of the list one time each and put it into a Wordle. They were able to randomize their work and print one screen they liked. I have since learned that it is much easier to type everything into a Word document and copy and paste it into Wordle, especially for 4th graders who don't realize they've misspelled a word (and because most of them still type using the hunt-and-peck method - it takes them SO LONG to finish typing!). I've also thought of using Wordle by typing a certain genre mulitple times, and then listing some books in our library that match that genre. I would print this into half-poster size to put around the library. The trouble, though, is time: rotation doesn't leave much of that.
Comic Strip Generator
http://www.txt2pic.com/comic-strip/
From Spiffy Text, through the Custom Sign generator. Blake's homecoming date (Delaney) won Friday night. I had nothing to do with any of it, but I sure felt proud as if I had!
http://www.spiffytext.com/
Word Mosiac, through Image Chef:
http://www.imagechef.com/
Wordle: http://www.wordle.net/
I have used Wordle before. This site is a lot of fun, but there are some things you should know about it: The more times you type a word, the larger it will appear. Also, you~must~use~this~symbol between words in phrases, otherwise the words will be split up in the image. I haven't figured out how to save any images yet. I made saved screen shots for this assignment, and even those I'm having trouble copying and pasting into this blog without putting a whole Word document in here. Make sure you print any randomized mix you like; once you hit the Randomize button you won't be able to get that image back.
I used Wordle in the library last year. I had the students write down the title of a favorite book and at least 3 characters in the story on paper. I may have had them list the setting and genre too. They then typed the title 5 times and the rest of the list one time each and put it into a Wordle. They were able to randomize their work and print one screen they liked. I have since learned that it is much easier to type everything into a Word document and copy and paste it into Wordle, especially for 4th graders who don't realize they've misspelled a word (and because most of them still type using the hunt-and-peck method - it takes them SO LONG to finish typing!). I've also thought of using Wordle by typing a certain genre mulitple times, and then listing some books in our library that match that genre. I would print this into half-poster size to put around the library. The trouble, though, is time: rotation doesn't leave much of that.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thing 9
Tonight I did a little exploring of blogs and library-related feeds. It's so easy to get lost in the never-ending places the click of a mouse can take you, so I tried really hard to stay concentrated on the reason I logged on to the computer. For the most part I did ok, but I did stray some when I got to the Edublog Awards site.
The site itself at first seemed impressive, as it talks about the year's best blogs in several categories. But when I looked into some of the categories, I ran into several that were either dated 2009 or 2008. It may be that the "best" blogs aren't awarded until the end of the year, but that doesn't explain the 2008 list. I ended up reading a series of posts from a former teacher; this is where I strayed.
I found the Google Blog Search easy to use (I found out that Barbara Billingsley died today). Just like Google itself, there are countless blogs to search through. The links to Blogline and School Library Blogs were not working. I thought the overall look of Syndic8.com was too overwhelming - I did very little wandering, for lack of a better word, on this site. When I opened Technorati, the first thing I saw was titled 5 Tips to Creating Travel Porn. I decided to not attempt to find out if this was a play on words or not. One thing I found interesting when I looked at Topix.net is that according to their survey, Perry is about 5 percentage points ahead of White, based on submissions from Brazoria County voters. I'm never asked about my choice candidate from survey record-keepers; I'm a little curious about who they target.
The site itself at first seemed impressive, as it talks about the year's best blogs in several categories. But when I looked into some of the categories, I ran into several that were either dated 2009 or 2008. It may be that the "best" blogs aren't awarded until the end of the year, but that doesn't explain the 2008 list. I ended up reading a series of posts from a former teacher; this is where I strayed.
I found the Google Blog Search easy to use (I found out that Barbara Billingsley died today). Just like Google itself, there are countless blogs to search through. The links to Blogline and School Library Blogs were not working. I thought the overall look of Syndic8.com was too overwhelming - I did very little wandering, for lack of a better word, on this site. When I opened Technorati, the first thing I saw was titled 5 Tips to Creating Travel Porn. I decided to not attempt to find out if this was a play on words or not. One thing I found interesting when I looked at Topix.net is that according to their survey, Perry is about 5 percentage points ahead of White, based on submissions from Brazoria County voters. I'm never asked about my choice candidate from survey record-keepers; I'm a little curious about who they target.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thing 8
Today I had a chance to work with RSS feed. I've seen the symbol often, but was never curious enough to figure out what it was. However, I now feel slightly superior to my husband, because I don't think he knows what it is and I do! I do think that I will like the convenience of having the information coming to me rather than me taking the time to check for it.
This summer I found a couple of blogs accidentally when trying to find a certain recipe. These blogs are all about families and food, so I checked back rather frequently (especially when I realized that periodically the blog host would give away items, such as a Nikon camera or a KitchenAid mixer). I did post a comment once to put my name in the drawing, and saw that about 45,000 other people had too! It didn't take long to realize attempting to win anything would be futile, but I really like the frequent recipe idea updates. Cooking is a real hobby for me; this way I can save space and money by not having to buy a cookbook!
I also found several library blogs too. One is all about weeded books, with people posting examples of what they have found in their libraries, while another has updates about what is going on in an elementary school library. There was another one I connected to that has a great look about it, but it appears that the only post was the one she probably did when she set the blog up at an in-service day (I'm assuming). It seems to have great potential; I decided to add it hoping that the librarian will find the time to start it back up.
One way I see a usefulness to readers is in time management. I know that my day at school is busy enough as it is. Having updates waiting for me makes sense in managing that time.
This summer I found a couple of blogs accidentally when trying to find a certain recipe. These blogs are all about families and food, so I checked back rather frequently (especially when I realized that periodically the blog host would give away items, such as a Nikon camera or a KitchenAid mixer). I did post a comment once to put my name in the drawing, and saw that about 45,000 other people had too! It didn't take long to realize attempting to win anything would be futile, but I really like the frequent recipe idea updates. Cooking is a real hobby for me; this way I can save space and money by not having to buy a cookbook!
I also found several library blogs too. One is all about weeded books, with people posting examples of what they have found in their libraries, while another has updates about what is going on in an elementary school library. There was another one I connected to that has a great look about it, but it appears that the only post was the one she probably did when she set the blog up at an in-service day (I'm assuming). It seems to have great potential; I decided to add it hoping that the librarian will find the time to start it back up.
One way I see a usefulness to readers is in time management. I know that my day at school is busy enough as it is. Having updates waiting for me makes sense in managing that time.
Thing 7
Today I explored some of the Google extras: Google Earth, Google Docs, Google Calendar,... Even though I am familiar with several of the features Google offers beyond searches, I have to admit that I have not taken the time to play around with most of them. Today I did register with the Google calendar and posted the due dates of all of the assignments I have coming up for this semester. I'm hoping that I will be alerted a little in advance for the next assignment. However, since I have not used this feature before, I am not quite ready to completely rely on that - I do have everything written down on a freebie calendar I got from the UHCL bookstore.
I also looked into Google Earth. I tried to pull up Smoky Mountains. It came up as a search that it did not recognize and offered me the Appalachian Mountains instead. Rather than showing pictures of the pretty countryside that I had expected to see, I saw images of the destruction coal mining can bring. I clicked on a few other buttons and found a Google Earth lesson plan about animal habitats for 3rd grade. How timely! Our 3rd graders are starting a 6-week unit this week about that. The lesson plan is written for four, one-hour sessions. I can't cover that in the time our students come into the library, but I do plan to share it with the team leader as another resource for them.
I also looked into Google Earth. I tried to pull up Smoky Mountains. It came up as a search that it did not recognize and offered me the Appalachian Mountains instead. Rather than showing pictures of the pretty countryside that I had expected to see, I saw images of the destruction coal mining can bring. I clicked on a few other buttons and found a Google Earth lesson plan about animal habitats for 3rd grade. How timely! Our 3rd graders are starting a 6-week unit this week about that. The lesson plan is written for four, one-hour sessions. I can't cover that in the time our students come into the library, but I do plan to share it with the team leader as another resource for them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)