Here are a few of my favorite feeds:
Found (and it's stuff like this that makes me love Found)
YALSA's podcasts
Google Entertainment News
BBC has a helpful 'how-to' and 'what it is' here.
And if you're into free music: iTunes offers free songs each week. Videos, too.
I've been using the iGoogle page with Google reader. Good stuff.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Thing #7 Cool Google Tools
The most frustrating thing for me about Google is not anything to do with Google itself, but the fact that I love so many aspects of what Google offers (I use so many of these tools already) and I can't use them from 5 a.m. to about 5 p.m. most days. Our district has restricted almost every aspect of the best Google tools since they require you to be logged into your Google account to use them. From alerts (sent to your email) to the notebook (linked to your account) to the calendar (which would be great if I could use the widget that integrates Outlook's calendar with any other iCalendar--like Google's calendar).
Oh, and a thing that's coming up soon is also blocked: StumbleUpon. I wonder what the benefit is for students when the restrictions are so strict. I'll add some sharing of my Google like my Picassa Web Album in Thing 7, Part II which will be coming to a blog near you soon.
For now, feel free to read this article reaffirming the need for school librarians.
Oh, and a thing that's coming up soon is also blocked: StumbleUpon. I wonder what the benefit is for students when the restrictions are so strict. I'll add some sharing of my Google like my Picassa Web Album in Thing 7, Part II which will be coming to a blog near you soon.
For now, feel free to read this article reaffirming the need for school librarians.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Thing #6 Part II
I forgot that I'd meant to put the image of the faux-tivational poster on my blog, so here it is:
Monday, January 21, 2008
Thing #6 Mashups and 3rd Party Sites
CampusExplorer is an example of a mashup I can see being very useful for my kids. Search for your future alma mater by location, degree type or area of study. They include a Google Map with your search results.
Of course, I had to make some things using the fd flickrtoys. There's a picture I took a few weeks ago while we were at the park of a very small snake in the process of attempting to eat a much larger (but still pretty small in the grand scheme of things) tree frog. The snake's ambition, while slightly nauseating for a semi-vegetarian, was admirable. So I had to make one of those motivational posters out of the picture. I also created a librarian trading card and put it on flickr. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm much more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, hence the avoidance of my real image in any of these fun little tools and apps.
I wanted to Simpsonize myself for the card, but no matter what image I tried, I couldn't get the website to accept a picture and allow me to Simpsonize it. The South Park tool was much easier, though the bobblehead nature of South Park characters means that it looks nothing like me (as if a Simpson's version of me would be spot on :) ).
All in all, I've been enjoying going deeper into the tools I've been using already and learning about some new ones that I hadn't explored quite yet.
And finally, here's the South Park avatar that I used for the librarian trading card:
Of course, I had to make some things using the fd flickrtoys. There's a picture I took a few weeks ago while we were at the park of a very small snake in the process of attempting to eat a much larger (but still pretty small in the grand scheme of things) tree frog. The snake's ambition, while slightly nauseating for a semi-vegetarian, was admirable. So I had to make one of those motivational posters out of the picture. I also created a librarian trading card and put it on flickr. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm much more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, hence the avoidance of my real image in any of these fun little tools and apps.
I wanted to Simpsonize myself for the card, but no matter what image I tried, I couldn't get the website to accept a picture and allow me to Simpsonize it. The South Park tool was much easier, though the bobblehead nature of South Park characters means that it looks nothing like me (as if a Simpson's version of me would be spot on :) ).
All in all, I've been enjoying going deeper into the tools I've been using already and learning about some new ones that I hadn't explored quite yet.
And finally, here's the South Park avatar that I used for the librarian trading card:
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Thing #5 Explore flickr
In the realm of 'funny how things always end up connecting back,' here is the first time I remember anything about the LibrarianInBlack:
And as I was perusing some of the pictures in the Libraries and Librarians group on flickr, I ran across some of her photos.
No matter how often it happens, it's always so fun to discover those random connections in life.
My explorations on flickr lead me to the BigHugeLabs site, where I pulled together a set of old photos for this:
p.s. Here is where you can find me on flickr.
Get your library into Facebook!
And as I was perusing some of the pictures in the Libraries and Librarians group on flickr, I ran across some of her photos.
No matter how often it happens, it's always so fun to discover those random connections in life.
My explorations on flickr lead me to the BigHugeLabs site, where I pulled together a set of old photos for this:
p.s. Here is where you can find me on flickr.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thing #4 Register your blog
As a matter of housekeeping, I'm all registered to play.
As an aside, today marks my first day in the library. I couldn't be more excited. I've been waiting for this day for as long as I can remember. I got my MLIS years ago, but as things go, life happened and I got caught up in corporate America for many, many years.
For the last year and a half, I've been teaching reading to students who are 2 or more grade levels behind. In most cases, the students are averaging 5 grade levels below their actual grade (this is high school, by the way). It's very rewarding to see progress in these kids, but I only have a chance to impact about 35 kids a year. I hope by moving into the library, I'm able to make a more broad-reaching impact at my school.
If you are reading this and have any advice for me as I start down this path, please feel free to comment. I know that there are others like me out there who may benefit from the sage advice of the more seasoned librarians out and about in the world.
As an aside, today marks my first day in the library. I couldn't be more excited. I've been waiting for this day for as long as I can remember. I got my MLIS years ago, but as things go, life happened and I got caught up in corporate America for many, many years.
For the last year and a half, I've been teaching reading to students who are 2 or more grade levels behind. In most cases, the students are averaging 5 grade levels below their actual grade (this is high school, by the way). It's very rewarding to see progress in these kids, but I only have a chance to impact about 35 kids a year. I hope by moving into the library, I'm able to make a more broad-reaching impact at my school.
If you are reading this and have any advice for me as I start down this path, please feel free to comment. I know that there are others like me out there who may benefit from the sage advice of the more seasoned librarians out and about in the world.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Thing #3 Flickr Blog oranges
As I was looking ahead to the flickr Thing, I decided to revisit my flickr account. And as I was wandering around on flickr, I noticed the "blog this" link and had to test it out.
The picture you see is from our trip to the family farm at Christmas. We have a thing each year--my husband and I take pictures during the family visits to the farm, then we put together a calendar of some pictures for Eric's grandparents as a gift. In the last couple of years, we've branched out from just pictures of the family to documenting farm life (though, to be honest, it's a ranch--cattle). I have great admiration for the life they lead out in the country. I can't see myself that far away from what I would consider to be 'the thick of things.'
I was reading Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian while we were at the farm. I love when an author uses humor to deal with really tough subjects.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Thing #2 My reactions to advice from life-long learners
I'm going to begin with a recap of the habits and my thoughts as I was going through the presentation:
Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind
Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning (an investment in your future)+
Habit 3: View problems as challenges (choose your attitude)
Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner (what you say about yourself becomes true)
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox (books, tech, mentors, friends, web pages)
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage (to make your life easier--audiobooks)
Habit 7: Teach and mentor others (best way to learn is to teach)
Habit 7 1/2: Play--most important.*
+easiest
*hardest
I think that the hardest thing for me will be the play habit. I have been in the mode so long of work, work and more work that I feel like it's going to be hard for me to break out of that mold. At some point, whether it was during grad school or the years of the daily grind in "Corporate America," I lost that instinct we all used to have to turn anything into fun.
I was hard-pressed to come up with the easiest. Other than 'play,' the other habits are already in my toolbox, for the most part. If I get off track, it usually only takes a meeting with peers who are also enthusiastic to get me back on track.
Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind
Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning (an investment in your future)+
Habit 3: View problems as challenges (choose your attitude)
Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner (what you say about yourself becomes true)
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox (books, tech, mentors, friends, web pages)
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage (to make your life easier--audiobooks)
Habit 7: Teach and mentor others (best way to learn is to teach)
Habit 7 1/2: Play--most important.*
+easiest
*hardest
I think that the hardest thing for me will be the play habit. I have been in the mode so long of work, work and more work that I feel like it's going to be hard for me to break out of that mold. At some point, whether it was during grad school or the years of the daily grind in "Corporate America," I lost that instinct we all used to have to turn anything into fun.
I was hard-pressed to come up with the easiest. Other than 'play,' the other habits are already in my toolbox, for the most part. If I get off track, it usually only takes a meeting with peers who are also enthusiastic to get me back on track.
Thing #1 The Beginning
I've got to say 'Thanks!' to Spring Branch ISD for making this adventure/tour/professional development available, even to those of us in Alief. I'm looking forward to many of the things coming up. I've seen/used/spent way too much time with several of them already.
As I was looking up info on one of the upcoming events in our district, I ran across the Flickr site for the character in a book. Now that's interesting.
As I was looking up info on one of the upcoming events in our district, I ran across the Flickr site for the character in a book. Now that's interesting.
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