summerdaze

11 Tools-Thing 11

2011-07-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well...I'm DONE! Reflections: I have learned in order to help our teachers. I don't teach as I am a library assistant, but I can now assist in a more qualified manner when the teachers have questions. I have also learned what the students know or what they will be learning and can probably assist them better, also.

I enjoyed these sessions mainly because I could gather with other RCE employees and learn and discuss together. Very informative!

11 Tools-Thing 10

2011-07-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

As with being a good citizen in general, the students need to be good students on the internet! They need to understand how to be polite, how to be safe and how to "speak" clearly. We must teach them copyright information and how to communicate with people kindly (being polite); we must teach them how to search the web safely, first by giving them sites to visit that we know are safe (as elementary students) and then help them differentiate good from bad as they progress into high grade levels (safety); and lastly, we need to teach them to be literate online. They need to learn how to search correctly...what words to use to get to what they really want to see, etc. (literacy--speak clearly).

I enjoyed coolcatteacher's blog. I'm not the one doing the teaching, but her blog offers great insights. I would start at the beginning..."this is a football" (Vince Lombardi). "This is the internet...this is google...this is an email." Just as we use the ABCs and 123s as building blocks, we too must set up building blocks for the web.

Karen shares digital citizenship with the parents, but basically we go over all of the above. We want the students to have freedom with responsibility. We want the parents to understand that and give them the tools to help them teach their kiddos responsibility, too.

11 Tools-Thing 9

2011-07-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

I hate to always start my blog with..."I'm in the library not in a classroom." That's my reality though. I can speak and direct comments to the library so some of what is being asked of me does not relate and, although interesting, will not be used in my area of the school.

What we do have in the library though, are the iPads, iTouches and Dell minis. I have developed the check out system for these electronic tools. Karen Harrell loads all of the apps, the teachers know what's loaded and they come in with their classes and assign them things to do on these devices. The nice thing is that the students can move at their own pace.

In the classrooms, we gave each teacher a Rockstar so that they can use their iTouches as reading centers, math centers, etc. The students can plug in their headsets to the Rockstar and listen to books, etc. Then they can do assignments, have discussions and interact in a center format.

11 Tools-Thing 8

2011-07-07T09:18:00.001-07:00

Being in the library I have been able to use all of these tools. Of course, I've had iTunes forever, own an iPad, MacBook Pro, iPod, iPhone, a Dell desktop system, etc., etc. Therefore, there wasn't much more to learn. At RCE we have been using the District devices for over a year, so our students are pretty well versed in how they work. Our students use the iTouches for reading books, doing math games and searching the web. Our iMacs have been used for making iMovies, garage band, and all other things that a computer can do. The Dell minis have been fabulous as a whole class can come into the library and work on a project at each student's pace. We even have a Wii that the kids use before school during "Open Library" time. It's not used as a learning tool right now, but it has helped the students "bond" and enjoy the library in a non-book environment.

Our librarian has one MacBook that we call "the mothership" that all of our iTunes and programs are stored on. In the classroom, the teacher needs to have a centralized account that he/she can manage and then download to all other devices. Of course, as we've learned in 11Tools, the teacher's blog can support some downloads, too, so that students can access things at home without have an iTouch, iPad, etc.

I can see the teachers in the lower grades using the iTouches with a rockstar in their reading centers. Or using them in the the math centers with math games, etc., etc. Luckily, we do these things in the library and any teacher can come in and learn how to do this in a very short period of time!

11 Tools-Thing 7

2011-07-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...I continue to struggle with some of these "Things" in how I can implement, etc., etc. I think on this one, though, as the Library Assistant, I can see myself NOT implementing but helping the teachers set up WebCams, getting them into Skype, setting up the library for them, so as to assist the RCE teaching staff implement their collaborative projects.

For example, Stacye Foster wants to use Skype with the "Bird Unit" in 2nd grade. I can be of help to her if she'd like to set up in the library. We can use the webcam on the computer and then hook up to our ActivBoard in the library so that the Skype can be viewed by multiple classes. Or, if it's just her class, the class can view on the ActivBoard while the people Skyping are the only ones being projected.

11 Tools-Thing 6

2011-07-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

I set up a new Twitter account...RCE Library Assistant. I think that I can use this to have all of my volunteers follow what's new in the library...new books, art projects, seminars, book fair, etc. They could also Tweet to let me know if they are able to volunteer.

Skype is a great tool, too! I have an account already at home that I use to talk/see my sister in California. For what I do in the library, I'm not sure how I would use it (since I'm the assistant) BUT I do know that we have used Skype to talk/see students who have moved to Alaska and to talk to authors. It may help us through this financial crisis by allowing us to do author visits via Skype for a lesser amount of money. No airfare, hotel, food, etc. Could really cut the costs.

11 Tools-Thing 5

2011-06-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

I made a wordle using authors names and other "Children's Book" things. You can view my Wordle by clicking on the previous link. Below is my little Storybird book that I created. It was lots of fun and I can see teachers using this with students to help them learn about creating books, etc. This is a GREAT way to "publish" online!

You and Me by jsteane on Storybird

11 Tools-Thing 4

2011-06-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Google docs is a wonderful tool and does allow for quick conversations back and forth, editing, etc. Of course, not having used it on a regular basis, I do get a bit confused. I think that IF we as a district all start using Google apps and we HAVE to use it, it will become second nature.

The other problem is that if the parents aren't on google account then the same collaboration cannot work. In my job, I work with parents almost more than staff...setting up volunteers for library and computer labs, planning book fairs, etc. So, again, within district, this is a great tool, not sure about outsiders though. I will encourage my volunteers to open a google account so that perhaps we can collaborate better in the fall and throughout the school year.

11 Tools-Thing 3

2011-06-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

I just grabbed a video about the Nook since I work in the library. But I know there are videos about books, book reviews, audio books, etc. I would think that for the library it would be great to pull videos about the newest books, or the Texas Bluebonnet books, and put them on the school website for students and parents to use. This may help them choose appropriate books for grade level.

You may click on this link to see the movie about the Nook at Barnes and Noble.

I haven't learned too much more about copyright than I already knew...having done all of the 23 Things, 11.5 Things and now, 11 Tools.

11Tools-Thing 2

2011-06-07T09:06:00.001-07:00

Okay...lots of reading and searching and following and commenting! Whew! Nothing really stood out to me on the How to Comment section...except that it reminds me of things I learned in kindergarten...be kind, be brief, think before you speak/write, etc.

I have been "involved" in social media for a while on Facebook. So, I don't mind sharing my thoughts publicly. I have found on Facebook, that some people do NOT think before they post and, in some instances, have lost jobs and friends over their posts. Gee whiz, just think of the horrible tweets that happened over the last few days with one of our US House members. One can get in BIG trouble if you don't think first!! Also, I think brevity is very important. Even reading some of the blogs today, when they get too long and "heavy" in content, I tend to drift off. Get your point out there, say it succinctly and be done!

Since I am not in a classroom but in the library, I have found a fun library/technology blog that will be useful this year. It is http://blog.schoollibrarymedia.com. I shall frequent it often.

11Tools-Thing 1

2011-06-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Love making the VOKI. Was it hard to do? No. The challenge came in posting it to my blog and adding it as a gadget. I was glad to have help as there was no instruction as to how to accomplish this task. I probably would have tried saving it into email and then adding it from there, but was shown a much easier...less step process of copying and pasting.

I am a little concerned that I may get lost in all of this without better directions, but I will prevail!! :-)

11.5-Thing 4

2009-08-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot this one!!! Yikes!! I uploaded (to my blog and to YouTube) a picture from a surgery taking place in Guatemala with Faith in Practice. My husband took the short video while in the surgery room...he went as the Chaplain.

The advantage of uploading other teacher's videos from YouTube or TeacherTube is that after finding what you want, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. If there's something out there that you can use without having to produce it yourself, wonderful!! Plus, sometimes, having a different person "teach" helps the students understand concepts better. Basically, this could help reinforce the concept being taught.

The advantage of uploading student work...not sure. Other than, it would be cool to share what our kids are doing so that it might inspire other students and teachers in their learning/teaching. Say, uploading a student's PhotoStory could be encouraging to a teacher to teach PhotoStory and it could be encouraging to the students to see what other students are doing.

Thing #11.5

2009-08-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

1. I think my favorite exercise was looking for and playing with all of the applications available on iTouch. I saw a bunch that would be great for personal use...especially the learning Spanish ones. I'll be working on that during the school year (okay...not while at work, but in the evenings)!
2. How has this affected my lifelong learning goals??? WELL...just like last year...there is soooo much more out there that I don't know about. These exercises have opened my mind to what is available. I do so appreciate that someone else has done the "searching" for me, though. I feel at a loss to even know what to look for when I'm in search mode!
3. Not sure that there was anything "unexpected" but the one outcome that I really enjoy is that I now know a bit more than my kids do...at least for the moment!! :-)
4. Unfortunately I'm in an odd job place--I'm not a teacher but an assistant in the library and labs. So, much of this has asked for feedback as a teacher..lesson plans, etc. So I struggled in some ways, trying to answer as best I could. I know that Karen will implement many of these new things in the library/labs, so I am quite sure that I'll be using what I learned throughout this year.

11.5-Thing 11

2009-07-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

Every year at RCE we talk the students through "digital citizenship." Each class comes through the library for a refresher course on how to use the library and each class comes through for the refresher course on how to use the internet. Our librarian teaches them (and reminds them throughout the school term) how to safely search the web. We don't like the younger students using google so we have put on our school webpage various sites that the students can search for information while working on projects. We have sites for math, science, social studies, reading, etc. Last year the 5th grade classes were allowed to "google." Interestingly, most of them quickly realized that a lot of stuff out there is not accurate and most of the science/social studies websites that they found were way over their heads.

We basically try to teach the students that just as good citizenship on a personal level is necessary, we need to have good etiquette and citizenship when on the internet. We teach this day in and day out!

11.5-Thing 10

2009-07-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

Virtual Worlds is interesting...I don't have time to live in my real world much less have a life in a virtual one. Actually, on Facebook I am in the virtual world of FarmTown. I have my own little grape field that I keep plowing, planting, harvesting and tending. I also visit my neighbors and we chat and tend each others farms. I like this little world!!

I did make an avatar in Secondlife and my name is Tooty Bravitz. I searched around a few different places, but am sooooo new at it I'm not really sure what to do. I think the whole SecondLife university stuff sounds pretty great. I will continue to explore those places as it looks like there are some "virtual" classes (although i think they're real, too) that look interesting. Is this a real or virtual higher education?--I just don't know! Too much blending of virtual and real...a bit weird! Not really sure how we could use this in an elementary school setting, but I know my own kids (16 and 20) live in virtual worlds on XBox and PlayStation!

I really like my virtual life in FarmTown the best!! :-)

11.5-Thing 9

2009-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Slidesharing...well...we do a lot of power points at RCE. I think part of the fun of power point is the creating: selecting pictures, texts, graphics, etc. Sure, I can see that once the PP is made it could be put on Slideshare even if only for the extra security of "just in case my computer crashes I can still get to my PP." Also, if there are multiple students making the power point, they could get on Slideshare and edit, add things, etc. AuthorStream looked like it allowed you more options with audio and video, but for elementary age, Slideshare would be fine.

If the fun of PP is the creating, I think that Slideshare also allows for a bit amount of "lifting" ideas (or whole power points) and not allowing creative juices to run wild! :-) All in all, not sure that this application is necessary.

11.5-Thing 8

2009-07-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

I would like to make a screencast not necessarily for the students, but for the library volunteers. We do have a student based "library board" so it could work for them too. I am not able to do this at home as I need to be able to get onto JWalk...but...my idea is to make a screencast with the instructions on how to check in and out books. Or, basically, how to navigate JWalk. This would be beneficial especially if I am out and Karen is teaching and the volunteers get stuck!! Or, it could just be a basic teaching tool. Show it on the screen, then do it in person and then they'd be off and running!! I will post this screencast the first week back to school...hopefully I'll be able to accomplish it! :-) Sometimes I'm not too good at getting the right "end result."

11.5-Thing 7

2009-07-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

I did learn a lot about Copyright, etc. Was surprised that there are not time allotments for copyright...just the "enough to get your point across." That leaves a lot of room for discussion, but also allows a bit of freedom in ones final rendering of a product.

The last two years at RCE we have had an astronaut come speak to our 5th graders. I could see using clips from Hulu (Returning to the Moon, To the Sea of Trnaquility or Exploring Mars) and from National Archive Videos (The Eagle has Landed and Within this Decade) to put together a presentation to use before he comes to the school. The video presentation could give some background information on space travel, the lunar landing, the international space station, etc....just to kind of set the stage. It seems to me over the last two times he's spoken, it's a little "above" the students' learning level. Perhaps a video intro would help the kids make more sense of what is being presented.

11.5-Thing 6

2009-07-28T11:07:00.001-07:00

Okay...went to the Apple store and played with equipment. Basically learned that the easiest way to find any application is to go to Appshopper.com and then be VERY specific in what I'm looking for. Many classroom uses: Whiteboard is an interactive using multiple itouches with a "common" board...more than one student can work on the board at once. Most of what I found could be used with one or two people, not more: flashcards, iwritewordslite (connect 4, Tic-Tac-Toe, Dots...), numberline, name that state, kids combos, etc. I could see the students teaming up and quizzing each other using some of these aps. or individually using the itouch and quietly quizzing themselves. Also found an ap. for our Apple kids: iconverse-assistedcom (for help with autistic kids) and an ap. for music: stickboy piano! They all looked GREAT!

11.5-Thing 5

2009-07-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

Have been on fb for a while. Love keeping up with old and new friends. Even keeping up with colleagues over the summer months has been fun. I don't post something every day as lots of people do, but I love reading other peoples posts and seeing their pictures/videos, etc. Just signed up for Twitter. I found only one other friend on the system, so will have to go "invite" others to join. I really don't know that any of my friends care about what I'm doing, i.e. at Starbucks, cleaning toilets, etc. So I'm not sure how much tweeting I'll do. I can see that our school libraries could tweet messages daily about happenings, etc. One of the links suggested that "Libraries on Twitter should encourage followers to interact with the library—ask questions, share links, re-Tweet interesting posts from others, and reply when people message you." Tweeting that the book fair is going well, or a few new books have arrived, or "just read a great novel," etc. could be fun and useful. Not sure that the same isn't accomplished as easily as email, but tweeting is faster.

11.5-Thing 3

2009-07-09T13:27:00.001-07:00

Skype could be a great tool if I want to pay for it! I see that it will probably be the wave of the future just as facebook has caught on for even the over-the-hill gang!! When more of my friends and family Skype, I’ll probably get into it…right now I’m okay with Ma Bell and Facebook!

11.5-Thing 2

2009-07-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

Thing 2: Wordle is a great tool! I can see students using this in various ways: a description of themselves (list all the words that describe you…ones that are most descriptive type a couple of times so they stand out); a description of another person, place or thing; a way to list synonyms and antonyms; etc. Voicethread is really cool. I can see how a teacher could work a math problem or diagram a sentence and use it as a tutoring tool for students. I can also see how student’s work could be posted and then other students or staff could evaluate the work. I loved the beginning part of “What is a Voicethread” where the narrator took us through old family photos and the photographees narrated what they thought was going on at the time. Priceless!! Voki was fun! I think using this as an alternate to email is GREAT! Sometimes emails are misread as rude or noncaring, etc. when it’s just hard to type “feeling” into words. With Voki one could send a voicemail instead…and if you want it to be anonymous you can use one of the really weird voices! Bookr is WOW!!! Students could use this to write their own books!! They could use it instead of Photostory, especially if time is limited for recording, etc.

11.5-Thing 1

2009-07-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

For the average elementary student, this level of web searching, coordinating, etc., is a bit above his/her level of learning. I can definitely see the searching, posting, skyping, etc. happening in the high school and college level. All that said, I do see a more simplified use by elementary age students with the librarian or classroom teacher being the “concierge.” I can see the teacher/librarian in a lab situation (using one topic) guiding the students through basic searches. Then letting the students have a go on their own. Coming back together in a day or two, going through how to post on blogs, etc., etc. Once the process is taught, I do believe students will “run with it.” We saw that at RCE with Photo Story and Trading Cards. Mrs. Harrell met with the students in groups and “guided” them through the process. Then the students took off with it and made their own Photo Stories and Trading Cards just for the fun of it!

Thing 23

2008-08-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

Whew! I'm done (sort of...still need to get my photostory stuff on line)!
--My favorites were creating my own calendar, working on cataloging my home "library," and WordDocs online. These were personally most useful.
--As for lifelong learning...my goal was to have fun, even if I am an "old geezer" in my own kids' eyes! And, boy-howdy, was this fun--frustrating at times--but FUN!
--I guess the "unexpected" part was learning about the WordDocs stuff. What a great tool!! Already using it.
--I did feel that some of the things were repetitive (tags, bookmarklets, rollyo)...so, a couple of "things" could have been rolled into one. Also, I know this was to be an individual project, but I do think that some face-to-face time with other users should be encouraged. I was able to accomplish and understand more when I did a couple of face-to-face times with others from RCE.
--I would DEFINITELY participate again in another one of these programs.
--One word, one sentence--FANTASTIC learning opportunity for learners of all ages!

Thing 22

2008-08-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

Nings looks like a great tool. Kind of a "Facebook" for adults (although my husband has a Facebook account, much to my 20 year olds chagrin). Actually, that last comment is why I think Nings are great for "adults." My son has accepted my husband as a "friend" on his account, which opens it up to much scrutiny of his posts, friends, and their posts. My son isn't a bad kid, so it's not bad, BUT he feels as though his "friend" space is being invaded by a bunch of "old geezers!" Problems in paradise, I say!

I could see how any profession could create a "Ning" focused on its particular aspect of business...just as the librarian ones and teacher ones were done. Loved how the librarians could talk about how to make "library orientation" more exciting, what are some great summer "reads," etc. With staff togetherness time so limited, one could even create a Ning for a specific school as a "think tank" space...ideas, comments, quips could be shared and viewed as time permits. Although, if Facebook is any indicator, Nings could be come very addicting and, hence, work may grind to a halt! :-)

Thing 21

2008-08-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

We used Photostory a lot at RCE this past year. I was very involved in helping the students do their own photostories or "memoirs" as we called them. Unfortunately, I am having TONS of difficulty getting the photostory download to work at home. With this being the last day, and the schools being closed because of "Eduard," I will not be able to slip into work and deal with it from my school computer. I will continue to work throughout the day to get this up and running, but am afraid I'm at the end of my rope...I worked on it yesterday, too, with no avail.

Thing 20

2008-08-05T10:10:00.001-07:00

Finally figured out how to embed. Realized some of the videos I was trying to use were "non-embedable" (if there is such a word!!).

Thing 20

2008-08-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Have loved YouTube for a long time. I am having trouble embedding a video though. Will work on it tonight. I thought that with the Olympics starting on Friday, it would be fun to embed one of the "trailers." Went to Teacher Tube and enjoyed looking around that site. Searched on libraries and found a couple of videos that were cute (unfortunately the buffering was AWFUL!!!). I could see using available, appropriate videos as lead ins to various subjects. I'm sure that if the RCE library needs to do a presentation, there would be plenty of videos to use as examples or lead ins.

Thing 19

2008-08-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

What's nice about Web 2.0 awards is that it leads the user to "winning" sites. I found it interesting that I had heard of a lot of the 1st place sites, a couple of 2nd place sites and virtually NONE of the 3rd or honorable mention sites. I visited the food sites and bibliography sites. Okay...will probably NOT use the food site for anything at work, unless I'm looking for a good recipe for a staff "treat!" The bibliography site will be great to not only find a book, but for getting specific information on books. Like many of the other "Things" this site will be helpful for research for student projects and gathering general information.

Thing 18

2008-08-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

GoogleDocs wins in my opinion! I don't think I'll do anymore docs on my microsoft office suite! It never fails that a doc that I want to access is on my home computer and not on my work computer (or vice versa). How wonderful to now do my personal stuff on GoogleDocs and be able to access it from ANY computer! This is a fabulous tool.

Thing 17

2008-08-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

I cannot seem to link my Rollyo to this page. Not sure where I'm messing up. I found that this assignment was much like Tagging. I don't think I'll do both. Plus, my toolbar is filling up quickly with all this "fun" links that I've created. I did enjoy looking at other people's "favorites."

Thing 16

2008-08-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

Wikis...well...I'm not sure that I'll input much to a Wiki, but I certainly enjoy browsing them. It was fun reading other people's thoughts about 23 Things. As for Wikis themselves, I think that in the RCE library we can use Wikis with other librarians in the district for book reviews or library curriculum ideas. Personally, I wished that there had been an AP World History Wiki when my now 19 year old was in AP World History...maybe he would have been more successful!! :-)

Thing 15

2008-08-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

Since I work in a school library, I enjoyed ready these blogs. I liked the one "Away from the Icebergs." As much as I agree that we don't need collections "just in case", in an elementary school library we need real, live books for kids to learn to read and comprehend. Since they learn to love certain characters (Magic Treehouse, Arthur, etc) it's great to have "collections" that they can have hands on experience with.

For the older grade levels I agree with the "one-button commands" to make research easier. We need to teach the students how to find information, but in the younger years it's best to have a few easy to find sites to go to. I think we do that well at RCE.

As a district, our Library Resources page fits right in with the "go to them" section of the article. We have lots of info./sites, et. al. for teachers, parents and students. We've made the web quite user friendly.

Thing 9

2008-07-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

I liked Google Blog Search...it was easy to navigate. The search tools were all easy to use. I liked Technorati, I could search topically. I didn't go very deep in this one so searching was not confusing at all. When I circle back around to using this more, I may find some difficulty...but who knows? My mother-in-law takes up a lot of my time right now--health stuff...so I used the searches for health related topics, mostly. Although I did do some news searches, too. Just basically typed in my usual news stuff that I use (some of it is now bookmarked or "tagged").

Thing #8 RSS

2008-07-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

I liked being able to search topically through lots of sights. I'm not sure it will help me in my job as I'm an assistant in the library, BUT, I think Karen and I can use this insight to create areas for students to go to for research...topically. And, since Karen has done this Library2Play thing also, we can figure it out together!! :-)

Thing 14

2008-07-23T10:05:00.001-07:00

Okay...I guess I'm gonna have to get into Blogging. Just not really there yet. Anyway, I did go onto Tehnorati and search all sorts of things. Interesting how I typed in "Bible" and it pulled up people's comment about the Bible, about why Mitt Romney didn't get any further because of the "Bible," the Bible is "racist" and racism in America....etc, etc. All very different than I expected!

Thing 13

2008-07-23T09:50:00.001-07:00

Tags are GREAT! I bookmark all the time, so now I've organized bookmarks into Tags, too! I'll probably never bookmark again. I've waded through some of the shared Tags and I'm sure that at some point that will become a point of help for research, etc. Right now, I'm just not into it! :-)

Thing 12

2008-07-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

Blogging isn't part of my everyday life. That said, I really liked the comments about READ before you blog. It's kind of like: listen before you speak!! Better to know what you're blogging about instead of looking like a fool! The other point I liked was the one about using smiley faces, etc. to "emote" what you're saying. Emails and blogs use no body language with which to interpret what is said. So, using a smiley face or frowning face, etc., helps the reader to interpret what is being said.

Thing 11

2008-07-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Loved Library Thing cataloging! It's soooo much easier than anything I've seen. My husband is a minister and he is always wanted to catalog his books separately from my books...I think we can now do this AND it won't take FOREVER!!

I also liked that other people's recommendations came up right away. Probably will try to read a couple of those recommendations before summer vacation is over!

Thing 10

2008-07-23T08:42:00.001-07:00

I enjoyed Image Chef and made a ribbon for our Fall 2008 Reading Club for RCE!

Thing 7 - google

2008-06-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Love google!! I set up the google alert and my husband and I are going to work on the calendar together. This way we can keep in touch with each other's calendars without having to call each other to make changes.

Thing 6 - Mashups

2008-06-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

Got a little frustrated with Mosaic, but love Trading Cards. We did these last year at RCE and everyone enjoyed them. I even had my 15 year old do one for his Biology class on infectious disease...it WAS pretty gross, but it got everyone's attention!

Thing 5 - Flickr

2008-06-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.photoready.co.uk/flora-fauna/images/apple-blossom-stamen-stigma.jpg

Tried to post my photo AGAIN and all I seem to be able to do is have the html show up...not the picture. I'm doing something wrong, but can't figure it out!

Thing 3 - avatar

2008-06-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Okay...this was fun, but I do see how totally computer NOT savvy I am!! AUGH!! The instructions are spot-on, but I guess I need a little more hand-holding than I thought.

Thing 3 - my blog

2008-06-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed listening to the 7-1/2 Habits...I guess the one that hit me (as I'm coming up on my 50th bday) is that it's never too soon or never too late to learn. And, of course, I loved the the 7-1/2th thing: PLAY!! And that's what I intend to do!