Thing 8 - Collaborating, connecting, sharing

So many wonderful tools to explore! For Thing 8, I looked at Skype in the Classroom and spent some time on the "Skype an Author" network. I've been wanting to connect with an author in preparation for a National Library Week Skype event, and this provided me the perfect venue! I went through much of the alphabetical author listings and made notes of authors I thought would be interesting to my students, along with the grade level they are appropriate for. I looked for authors who offer free "meet and greet" Skype sessions. I will definitely be using this site again!!

The second tool I explored for Thing 8 was Slideshare. I had heard about this at a conference, and welcomed this opportunity to further explore the tool. I will definitely be using this tool as well - I love the fact that users can upload existing Powerpoint and Keynote presentations into the site. I teach a Digital Literacy class which uses both platforms, and presentation day has always been difficult due to the different platforms. Slideshare will solve that problem! I'll just have all of the students convert their projects and use this site to display class work and projects. So easy!

Thing 7 - Podcasting & Screencasting

First I must say how valuable I have found this online course! The information has been SO useful! I've always wanted to figure out how to make online tutorials to post on my library webpage, and now I have the tools to do it. I found using the Screenr site SO easy, and was able to do a quick example of how to search my library catalog. Though only a minute and super simple, you can view it at http://screenr.com/qhL7 if you are interested.

I teach a 6th grade Digital Literacy course and require each student to complete research and develop some sort of media project to go along with their work as part of their final presentation. Some of the topics they choose might work well to use Screenr as part of their presentation. I have a student who spent hours editing a flip video segment she made of herself demonstrating how to design a personalized pair of Converse sneakers on the company website.  Had I known about Screenr before she did this part of her project, I could have saved her a TON of time!  So excited!

Thing 5: Digital Storytelling

I was familiar with PhotoStory and had used it personally to create a 50th anniversary project for my parents. After beginning a new 10-week class with 6th graders this year, I decided to try having them create photostories as a final media presentation to go with their research projects.  For the most part, it has been a great success. They are posted on my library website at http://galileo.dcboces.org/icampus/course/view.php?id=1475&edit=0&sesskey=Z1v8NuXwGH along with some Prezi presentations I had some students attempt. We ran into some problems imbedding student-created videos, but otherwise the project was a lot of fun!

“Thing 4 : Photo Sharing”

I love using Shutterfly for my online photo storage! Although I read this "thing" before the holidays, and did some further exploration, I am just finally getting around to blogging about it - hope it's not too late!  Since I was already familiar with Shutterfly, I decided to explore a new feature and created a collage iPhone cover for my niece as a Christmas gift.  First, I went through her Facebook photo albums to find pictures of each member of her immediately family (plus her two cats!). I copied them to my computer, uploaded them to Shutterfly, and created the phone case. It took a while and some experimenting to get the photos to all display correctly, but the end product was worth it, and she loved the gift!  I've also become better at using Shuttefly's editing features, particularly the red eye correction and crop tools.  Adding borders and captions has also proved to be an enjoyable aspect of using the site. If only I had more time to "play" on it!

Thing 3 - RSS

I've been aware of this technology tool for some time, but have remainded hesitant about using it because of my fear that I will be bombarded with too many feeds and articles, etc. I suppose if I am just very selective in what I choose to subscribe to, it should stay controlled... I just subscribed to the SLS Cool Tools feed, so maybe I'll see how much activity this one generates before adding more.  I DO like the idea I read about regarding libraries using RSS to notify teachers/patrons of new books that arrive on their desired topics. I think I might look into doing something like that with my MS and HS school libraries.

Actually - it's now an hour later and I have to admit that looking at the library nominations for the EduBlog best of awards was quite interesting and I ended up subscribing to more!

Thing 2: Online Communities & Personal Learning Networks

I've been having a great time exploring the tweets in the tlchat group! I particularly loved Kathy Kaldenberg's tweet giving the link to "Darien Library Does Gangnam Style" - my own children love this song and it's fun seeing it applied to a school library!  I also think I might use Sedley Abercrombie's idea for creating a holiday tree out of discarded books - adorable! I began following Kathy K since she seems to post a lot of fun tips for keeping the library "fresh", and am also following Donna Baumbach since she updates her list of recommended literacy & tech resources pretty often.

I had already set up a Twitter account while at a tech conference some time ago, but never really use it. This past year I also created a Twitter account for my MS library, but again - haven't used it. I think I may try to start taking advantage of some these great professional networking ideas!

Thing 1: Blogging

I am the Library Media Specialist for the Millbrook Central School District in NY, where I have taught since 2004.  Prior to that I worked as the head Children's Librarian for the Somers Public Library in Westchester, and as the K-6 Library Media Specialist in the Pine Plains Central School District. I'm participating in this program because I strive to stay up-to-date with current technology trends in order to better serve my colleagues and students. I am hoping the content I learn through this program will be easily applied to my day to day professional life.