Thing #19

I looked at Zango briefly because games sounded fun. I looked at screen savers and the variety of games. I will look more into it in the future. It looks like a good site that will take my mind off of stressful situations.

I looked at Last for quite a long time. I thought it was great to have the opportunity to listen to music, categorize it, and see videos for free. I created my library which took a long time. This will be great for the classroom. I absolutely love music and promote the love of it in the classroom. My students know when they are to work independently--usually the music is running which is usually without words or with words that are inspirational. It is great that I will have a large variety of songs to choose from! I am behind the times with this--no IPod :).

Thing #17

For Rollyo I downloaded Firefox. I was hesitant, but I had noticed in blogs that many use Firefox. I found that it was pretty neat. My stomach dropped when I noticed that my del.icio.us and tag icon was not on it. I had spent hours on tagging my favorite sites on del.cio.us. I had also deleted them from my favorites! I figured out how to reconfigure the icons, thank goodness. I found it interesting that I had a few more sights tagged. Does anyone know why? They were good educational sights.
I looked at other Rollyos to try to understand them. It was harder than normal, because I could not watch a video. I understand and created one for healthy and easy foods (to cook). I understand that you can search sites in your named categories or the web in general.
In the classroom I could use this for specific research sites that would be good for children. I could also give children choices during center time during language arts or math. They could choose to search the sites I had in a specific category.

Thing #16

I love the idea of a Wiki. Love it! I just set one up on PBWiki for my husband and me, although he doesn't know what one is...yet. I made a few pages--front, honey to do list, and on a topic of discussion. I also linked some sights, including the Google calendar I created in an earlier Thing.

Instead of posting on the sandbox about Library 2.0, I accidentally posted to the home portion of the site. I will cut and paste my curriculum idea in the sandbox when I am finished with this blog.

For the last job I had, I could have definitely used the Wiki--just to set up a meeting. Trying to coordinate a meeting sometimes with 6 people would be confusing! Many emails would be sent like...I can't meet at 2:oo but I can at 2:15. I can't meet on Monday but I can on Tuesday. I can meet on Monday.... Ughhh!

In the classroom I like the idea of having students post information on group projects. They can even attach websites that others can use for research. To my knowledge you can also see when others' post so you know that all are participating. I saw in some of my reading that classroom literacy circles (book clubs) can use Wiki. Groups can work together to communicate about literature.

I could have my own Wiki for the classroom. To my knowledge I could allow editing on some pages and not on others. I could see placing a schedule, websites for parents, websites for children, talking on topics.... It seems it is like having your own website but it can be interactive. I am going to continue with this. The free Wiki does seem limited, though.

P.S. I just called my husband and he said he got the email about joining the Wiki. He did. I told him I was excited. He laughed and said, "Oh boy! I always wanted a Wiki! What is it?" :)

Thing #15

I am really starting to understand library 2.0. After listening to the student video, reading articles and a library blog, I really see the need of library 2.0. Teachers and librarians need to keep up with the times for the sake of the children we help. I have known a librarian who has recently become one. Much of her schooling revolved around technology, and I can now see why. A blog that I read from a librarian was excellent. It seemed that it could be/used for those in her library. She places links in her blog for people to open and descibes the benefits of the sites in order to gain specific type of information. It would be neat to have something like this in a classroom/library. Others could socially comment on the blog to help others.

Thing #14

I watched the information and read about Technorati. It seems to be a good resource for those who love to blog. The site is organized pretty well. It took me awhile to figure out how to search by tags. When I searched "school learning library 2.0" in the three different areas, they all showed something different. Under the area of "blog," they showed others' blogs. In "tags," the search was narrowed. When I searched it in general, it showed a lot of different items that may have had only one of the words in it. When I looked at some of the most popular blogs, I wasn't too surprised. People like technology and gadgets. Most people that know how to blog enjoy technology. Also children like to update their technology.
I feel that tags are important. They help to narrow down your search and to be specific. This saves time.

Thing #13

I had a good time looking for sights to support math and reading in the classroom. I played quite a few games and chose some sites. I like del.icio.us because you use tags for each saved site and you can use it on any computer. It is much better that posting the spots under favorites. There is some organization! This is one Thing that I will use in the future!

Thing #12

Two important ideas that I read about blogging were:
1. Write a meaningful comment. A brief one or two words in response to another blogger does not increase conversation or connect to that other person. It is important to use specific details that support your opinion--whether you agree or disagree.
2. Write open-ended comments to spark conversation. If you are looking for others' insight, open-ended comments are good. If you comment on all that needs to be said, others won't have anything to state. In addition, if you ask others' opinions, you welcome their comments.

The comments about being a 'good' blogger are basic knowledge for 'good' conversations. So far I have not seen any inappropriate comments on the web or in Library2Play, which is great--no DC.

I reponded to others' blogs in learn2play. I also responded to Morvis13'sWisdom. This blog is written by a mother who has a son with Aspergers. This topic has always interested me because of the students I have seen and the mixed thoughts on the cause of autism. Lastly I responded to Nuts on Needlepoint. I have begun my first project and this blog has much information, including free projects. Overall, it always take hours to look at blogs--one to repond to.

Thing #11

This librarything is interesting. I posted a few books and looked at the different ways of displaying the information. This could be used in the classroom for my personal library. Students could look up a book and write and/or read a few comments. I could only figure out how to make one comment.
I looked at the groups and conversations. This seems to be the venue to have a book club discuss a book. I will need to play around with it more. I couldn't figure it out. I played around quite a bit but didn't get very far.

Thing #10

The star was from comic strip generator. If I had a blog with my class, I could place this on the blog to highlight a student.

This ID (with their individual pictures) could be given to the students to let them know what job they will have for the year in the classroom. My students learn interviewing skills, complete an application and interview for their job. I feel that they would like an ID.

Below are other images that I had done. I also sent sweet messages to others with the Image Chef :). I saw that magazine covers could be created. This would be good to use for biography reports. Students could also create them about themselves.