Thing #19

I liked the awards list. There are so mny possiblilties out there for things to look at. I liked the fact that someone had taked time to look at these sites and now instead of millions of sites to look at there are 4 recommended. I found it a lot less intimidating than doing a search for something and getting hundreds of possibilities back. There were some sites listed there that I had thought about looking at before and since they were there I did finally get the chance to go explore.

Like Craig's List. I got the chance to go in a look around. I thought that was a great resource. Recently I was trying to get an ipod for my mom on ebay. I didn't even think about going to Craig's list. It might have saved me hours of waiting on auctions. The thing that is scary about CL is getting the items from the sellers. That part makes me cringe a little.

I also looked at the site Spanishpod. Looks very cool. They offer 217 FREE lessons and a few thousand conversations. I know quite a bit of Spanish, but I would be intrigued to see if the classes were worth it. The first site they listed for education was a bunch of document templates. Could be useful but not what I was looking for.

I looked at the book sites also. I guess I was stuck in the world of Amazon and B&N, not thinking there might be more sites to buy from. Lulu also had a publishing section. Hmmm.

Thing #18

I looked at Google Docs. I think that it could be useful for kids trying to do a project away from school where they don't have access to the server. They could have a shared password with their group so that they could all work on the documents. This could also be a way for class members to get a form for an assignment. If the teacher had the form on a common class google docs, they could access it from home. I think most computers these days have some kind of document program, but if a student was working at the library or at home they could have access to their work where ever they had the oppotunity to work.

Thing #17

I was pretty confused by this one. I like the idea of having all the websites organized so that my class can get to them easily, but I think I would easily create a web page and connect it to our school home page and accomplish the same thing. Not sure how useful this could be. I was also unsure of how to link it to the blog. I will take another look.

Thing #16 WIKI

Last year our illustrious librarian tried to start one of these at our school. I loved the idea but was frustrated when I tried to contribute because I had NO idea how to manipulate the thing. Now I can go back to the site she created and contribute! He He! Who knew it was so easy! I think that this could be great! Some people have said that WIKIs are blocked. Assuming that they were allowed, you could have students grouped by interest across a grade level and complete projects together by WIKI. Sharing the information they find and generating a network through technology! WOW what fun! You could even work with students from other schools. Maybe the spiral and PGP programs should look into it!

Thing #15

I think Library 2.0 is just putting a name to what all librarians are striving for. Every librarian wants their library to be user friendly. Every librarian wants their library to serve the needs of the eever changing user. Sounds to me like this just gathers these thoughts and ambitions and puts them into words so that they library users know what has been happening all along. Love the ideas!

Thing #14

I realize I am doing several things at a time, but having a 20 mo. old. You take the time when you can get it. He has started this "cute" screaming thing when he sees me on the computer. So...thus the completion of several sessions at a time when he sleeps! OK...now the task at hand. I perused technorati. I am very interested in what people have to say. It is almost addictive. I found a cool blog telling me about little ones a Disneyland then to preemies with the precious lesson. I can see where you could spend your whole day reading and commenting on blogs. But in reality...we just don't have that kind of time. I like the tagging idea. Then I could tag the amazing story I was reading about the micro-preemie and keep up with her progress. I could also add our story and find more miracles there. I think there would be a lot of benefit in tagging blogs to find peoples thoughts about topics of interest. It could save you a lot of heart and head ache by giving you a real persons perspective of an event rather than the text book definition of things that is libel to scare the stuffing out of you!

Thing #13 delicious

Well, quite interesting. I think that this tool could be useful for anyone who is doing research. It makes the search short and sweet. Especially when you use the popular tool. I think that anyone researching could use this. I like the shared reading list. This could be interesting for staff development. Maybe an interactive article study where learners with common interests share articles that they found on common topics?? Just a thought.

Thing #12 Commenting

I found the piece about commenting under an alias interesting. I took some time to think about that. I think that commenting under an alias makes me more honest about my responses. Some of the people I work with know who I am but not everyone. If you know me you could easily figure out my alias using my comments on my blogs and I think that makes it kinda fun. We have had some fun at my school trying to find each other by reading the blogs.

The other piece I found interesting was the blog on commenting. I totally agree with everything she wrote. Dont' comment just for commenting sake. Make sure your comments are meaningful. I felt bad sometimes reading someone's blog then not leaving a comment, but now I can do so without feeling guilty.

I searched google blogger. I found one article about 18 month olds at Disneyland, which I read and enjoyed because we are going to DL with my two year old next month. I tried to comment there but they used a different system so I would have had to sign up there to comment. Didn't sign up for something else. After that I searched for micro preemies, since I had one of my own, I thought I would be able to add some meaningful comments there. I found an amazing story and commented there. This one was interesting because the comment was held to be approved by the blogger. Very appropriate since the blog is about the miracle that is now their life.

Thing #11 LibraryThing

I thought this was pretty cool. I decided while trying to enter book titles that I read A LOT of kiddie lit. Hmm. Most of the other books I read when I have time are Grisham. By the time I have time to read one, he has a new one out! Anyway, I need to broaden my horizons a bit and this site may help me from wasting my time with a lemon! It was fun. I kinda felt like I was on my Netflix rating movies...very similiar.

Thing #10

LOVED playing with the comic generator. What a great way to start a lesson! Wouldn't it grab their attention if you started the discussion with their favorite character making some comment or asking a question about what they were learning! Very cool! My six year old just found Charlie Brown. I forgot how funny they were. One thing though... some of the funniest parts were acceptable humor at the time and now are a bit inappropriate to the general public! I think it's great! I'll just have some explaining to do when he cracks a one liner from one of these movies! I used the poster maker on the poster I posted earlier about dolphin watching. LOVE that too! I also looked at the logo generators and sign makers. Not as user friendly, they were fairly easy to enter info into, but hard to center the text. The logos were cool to make but then cost $ to download.

Thing #9

I think that google was the easiest, only because it's connected to everything else I have used successfully. I think the hardest thing to do was come up with a topic that was narrow enough to get blogs that were useful. I tried some authors names and got a lot of comments on their books. I find that I am very picky when it comes to a "circle of trust" (Meet the Parents) so I imagine making this circle will be a challenge for me as well. I will have to search and read a lot to find things that are consistant and useful. I like the idea of going to my favorite sites and looking for the icon. Trouble is...I have two kiddos so by the time I finally find something interesting...someone needs something or is screaming. Therefore, my favorites are full of things to go back and revisit during naptime :-)

Thing #8 RSS

I like having access to articles ready to read without the advertisements. I think that this could be beneficial to the class if the news sites were chosen carefully. I looking at some of the bundles that i put on my list and a bunch of girls in bikinis showed up in the articles. I think it would be great for libraries. It's crazy how much google has to offer! No wonder google is a verb!

Thing #7 Google Stuff

I explored the Picasa page. Not sure about making pictures public, so I chose carefully. Here is the album I came up with to show some of our trip to Hawaii. http://picasaweb.google.com/kkdoan96

Next I did an advanced we search for Texas History. I found http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/alamo/index.shtml
which not only had a slide show but also a lesson plan for a fourth, seventh and eighth grade lesson! Cool!

It was easy to use both of these! Like a said before, we are hoping to get some digital cameras with a small grant. We can use the picasa website to share our photo journals with parents. I think they would LOVE to have that form of communication and involvement. We would of course use the site in that case as a invitation only. The advanced search would make lessons very easy! It also might make classroom presentations quite different!

Thing #6 Mashups

I enjoyed playing with the mashups. I will teach 4th grade and I think the color picker could make for some interesting discussion. We are hoping to get some digital cameras with a grant and I could see how the kids could have some fun making posters and trading cards with these! I plan to make a trading card when I can locate a pic of myself that I am happy with. The poster i made comes from our recent trip to Oahu.

Thing #5 Flickr

I enjoyed looking at the pictures. The licencing was a little tricky to read and understand, and I hope I gave credit correctly! This is a beautiful picture if the Bonfire Memorial. I am going to be a fourth grade teacher in the up coming year so I searched for Texas pictures. My Aggie blood wouldn't let me pass this one up! This picture was taken by StuSeeger and you can find it and more by going to http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuseeger/328605688/

Explanation of the Blog Title

Ok...I feel I have to explain the title of my blog. My husban worked for Enron and DRAGGED me to see that movie. The only cool thing about it was going to the old movie theater to see it. You know one of those theaters that shows the documentaries no one else will show. Anyway, it is meant to be VERY sarcastic. Thus the name What??

Thing #4 Register the Blog

This small task proved to be difficult for me. Thus the What??? I have to take a second shot at it and read carefully to make sure I had completed all the steps needed to register. Makes me think about all the times I fussed at my class this year for not following directions. Hmmm! Should take a little of my own advise.

Thing #3

Creating the avatar was fun! I had a good time going through all of the choices. My husband I am sure would want to change some of the choices I made, but he has a WII and thinks he is the master at creating MII. I chose the beach attire because I would love to be back in Hawaii sipping a cold drink on the beach with the breeze blowing and the sound of the waves. Creating a blog is very easy! Surprising! Hmmm. Now I have to think of things to write that people want to read! The pressure of being interesting! Pretty cool!

Thing #2a Easiest thing about the 7 1/2 Habits

For me the easiest thing is to begin with the end in mind. If I am starting something new I always think, what is the benefit or what can I learn from this. Having an end in mind helps focus and make things more important. It also creates a sense of ergency. I want to see results.

Thing #2b Hardest thing about 7 1/2 habits

They are all pretty easy for teachers, but I guess to pick one I have the most trouble with planning my own learning. I generally get caught up in what I have to do and not so much in what my passions are. I am the mom of two young children, so learning is definately a daily occurance. They teach me things about life and myself daily.