Reflection

My favorite 23 thing has been Facebook. The reason is that I am connecting with my former students at the Masonic Home and some of the teachers. Some of these students I have known since they were in Kindergarten. I am so proud of how they have turned out. Most of these students lived at the home because their parents could not provide for them. It is heartwarming to find out that they have overcome many obstacles.

My least favorite was the Instant Messaging because I do it at work but don't care about it at home. I do more at home than being on the computer, I love to read and garden.

I plan to use Library Thing in my library. I found another school that has students recommend books in the library and put them on Library Thing. This library has a link on their webpage for students to see Library Thing and what is being recommended. I will also use Google Docs in the library. I have an IGoogle account and create custom searches for teachers.

I also want to show teachers the Big Huge Labs website and Image Generators. I had not attempted these and do believe these sites will connect students with technology in lessons. This is another favorite of mine. Of course, best of all I can set up a blog and plan to have one in my 23 things.

Developing Your Own 23 Things

I have already begun developing a 23 Things for our district librarians. I am hoping I have permission to use this 23 Things as my guideline. Doing this has provided me with a plethora of knowledge in Web 2.0 technology. As a school librarian, one does not get with the outer world as much. We are usually in our own bubble. I love technology and want to get this out to others in our district.

I believe keeping up with technology will attact teachers to bring their classes to the library. We can aide both students and teachers with the new techology. I am certified in technology applications and find that students know they can come to me with help for various assignments. Librarians need to know technology in order to provide more connection with students. Technology changes quickly and I plan to keep up. Besides students think you are cool when you know this stuff.

Podcasts

I have listened to podcasts when I was taking classes through Region 11. I really do not like just listening on the computer and ipods were not invented then. I listened to some book talks on podcasts but I just don't like that there are no pictures, I prefer the book trailers. The students at my school are more visual with the video world and would prefer a video than a booktalk on a podcast.

We have used podcasts with classes when they presented a radio show. I know how to use Audacity and have used it for a radio show with music in the background. We used Audacity with our book trailers so students could remove the voice from the music or cut the music down to 30 seconds.

I really think our students would use the Voicethread. I am going to try it out with books next year. There is voice, text and visual. A variety of media will work with them. As I listened to the variety of podcasts available many were low in tone and I could not understand, but most were very good.

High school students at my school might enjoy making podcasts for classes but would not listen in the library unless it is an assignment. Podcasts would be useful for teachers to record lectures. Students who were absent could then listen to the lecture. As a librarian, it is important for me to know this technology to help the teachers and students. My goal this year is technology in the library.

YouTube

You Tube is blocked in our school district, it is understandable because of content on it. However, I do believe it can be used educationally. Students can create book trailers and post to YouTube or teachers can browse through the trailers for authors who talk about their books. As I librarian, I would aid teachers in locating these. One can use http://convert.playtube.com to convert YouTube videos to be show on windows media at school.

I browsed through Renaissance Music, clothing, etc. on YouTube and found a variety of videos teachers may want to use when studying the Renaissance. Even better, let students have a project to create videos for the classroom assignment. As a school librarian, I work with teachers to provide create outlets for the students and this is an alternative. Many other subjects are on YouTube, such as the President of the United States speeches.

Of course, as fun, my grandson and I attended the Jonas Brothers concert in Dallas so we can relive it watching some of the YouTube videos.

Google Docs

I have been using Google Docs for one year. We have used it in the district when librarians were needing to know who had books, for a teacher. We could share a document and show how many we each had. I use it with my library assistant to share documents. I created a series book list and add to it frequently. My aide can check it out if she is helping a student who is looking for certain series we have and the order the series come out. Ex: Harry Potter series

I have shared Twilight questions, inventory, Graphic Novels and various booklist with my aide. She also adds to what I have. We love using Google Docs!

Wiki Page

Here is the link to my wiki page: http://dfw23things.wetpaint.com/page/Kathy+N

I found it easy to add except that when I wanted to add pages to my own, I had to make sure they were not named like others on the wiki.

The librarians use a Wiki in my district. We put together a newsletter for the district and have helpful information on it. We use the pbwiki.

LibWorm

I looked up my school on the website but it only came up with Grand Prairie Public Library, an ad for a librarian. The one thing I noticed on LibWorm's feed is that many are older and the link may have been broken. I was interested in a newsfeed about a girl who paid a fine for $620.00; however, the link was broken, then I looked and the story came out in 2007. One really needs to watch the dates of the feeds.

I really enjoyed reading an article on bing.com and have added the feed to my Google Reader. I also have added a feed to my Google home page on search watch blog. I found an article on bing.com and tried out the selection engine. I do like that this site is about libraries and believe it will guide me to some interesting information. This is a favorite.