Method 12
Exercise:
Evaluated program. Thought it was great and helpful. I would like to see more trainings like this offered in the future.
What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I had heard of most of these items before, but had little or no experience with most of them. I enjoyed the opportunity to actually use them. The fact that my progress had to be posted to a blog made me familiar enough with this process that I have complete confidence that I can teach my teachers how to do this.
Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I did not realize the extent and variety of podcasts available and I was surprised that so many are available at no cost.
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? This admits to a shortcoming on my part, but I am somewhat undisciplined when it comes to deadlines. I would like to have seen some due dates built in like having to complete the first 3 steps in 3 weeks or something of that nature.
And last but not least…
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate? I would definitely sign up for another program like this. It gave me direction in learning new things. Although I didn't have to, it was nice to know that I had an expert that I could contact if I got stuck on something
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Method 11
The first place I stopped was NPR. Of course, I found something interesting and downloaded it. I had to download Apple Itunes to play it. Since it was a radio program, there was no video, but I liked it and have saved it and bookmarked the page so that I can go back and subscribe.
I was surprised at how extensive the offerings are on the BBC site.
I found a few things at CNN that I would like to view. The one that I tried to download took much longer than the one from NPR, possibly because it also contains video.
I haven't tried it yet, but I am almost certain that the district will block podcasting.
Of the selection of library podcasts that I looked at, the two kinds that seem most useful to me, or rather, the two that I would be most likely to use, are the interviews with authors and the book talks. We are located in a rather remote area of Texas, and arranging author visits is expensive. I would like to encourage our students to develop book talks which could be accessed through our library page.
On Storynory, I found and listened to the Raven: http://storynory.com/2009/10/06/the-raven/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Storynory+(Storynory). Several teachers request this each October. How exciting to be able to give them a podcast of it. I will need to look for other readings that can complement the ELA curriculum.
I went to podcast alley and was surprised to find over 4000 selections under comedy. http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_genres.php?pod_genre_id=6 It took me a minute or so to figure out how to play them because when you click the title, it gives you a choice of "subscribe," "vote," and "details."
You have to select details to get to the area to play the podcasts. I selected a couple, and these are not for children. They do have a kids and family section. I was surprised to see that roughly 1/3 of the items listed under religion and spirituality had witches or pagan in the title.
A search for "author" resulted in 200 hits. This is something that I will explore further to look for podcasts by or about some of our popular young adult authors. I think that this will be the first project with podcasting that I would like to work on for my library. I will need to search to see if someone has already compiled such a list.
A second project that I would like to work on is a collection of book talks. I will need to try this out at work to ensure that students will be able to access and play them.
The first place I stopped was NPR. Of course, I found something interesting and downloaded it. I had to download Apple Itunes to play it. Since it was a radio program, there was no video, but I liked it and have saved it and bookmarked the page so that I can go back and subscribe.
I was surprised at how extensive the offerings are on the BBC site.
I found a few things at CNN that I would like to view. The one that I tried to download took much longer than the one from NPR, possibly because it also contains video.
I haven't tried it yet, but I am almost certain that the district will block podcasting.
Of the selection of library podcasts that I looked at, the two kinds that seem most useful to me, or rather, the two that I would be most likely to use, are the interviews with authors and the book talks. We are located in a rather remote area of Texas, and arranging author visits is expensive. I would like to encourage our students to develop book talks which could be accessed through our library page.
On Storynory, I found and listened to the Raven: http://storynory.com/2009/10/06/the-raven/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Storynory+(Storynory). Several teachers request this each October. How exciting to be able to give them a podcast of it. I will need to look for other readings that can complement the ELA curriculum.
I went to podcast alley and was surprised to find over 4000 selections under comedy. http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_genres.php?pod_genre_id=6 It took me a minute or so to figure out how to play them because when you click the title, it gives you a choice of "subscribe," "vote," and "details."
You have to select details to get to the area to play the podcasts. I selected a couple, and these are not for children. They do have a kids and family section. I was surprised to see that roughly 1/3 of the items listed under religion and spirituality had witches or pagan in the title.
A search for "author" resulted in 200 hits. This is something that I will explore further to look for podcasts by or about some of our popular young adult authors. I think that this will be the first project with podcasting that I would like to work on for my library. I will need to search to see if someone has already compiled such a list.
A second project that I would like to work on is a collection of book talks. I will need to try this out at work to ensure that students will be able to access and play them.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Method 10
Method 10
This took much longer than an hour. I kept wandering off and reading different topics of interest, and having to pull myself back on track. I added some of these with information on teens, teen readers, programming for teens, etc. to my bookmarks so that I can do some further reading.
I created a login and a comment under favorite music, favorite movies and finally, favorite blog.
I thought that these were interesting. I have created pages and sent to teachers for them to use when doing research with their students. Last week, one of the 6th grade teachers gave me the topics that his students would be doing research on. I created a Word document with the three databases that I felt would be most useful, log in information, and links to articles on the topics that his students were researching. This would be ideal to set up as a wiki. He and the other 6th grade teachers could add articles that they felt were relevant, other websites, etc. Then it could be updated easily by any of them at any time. Next year, any one of us could edit and update the links.
Also, the ELA teachers in my district are teaching a different novel each six weeks. We could set up wikis for each of these novels and add links to related materials. If I run across something, I could go to the appropriate wiki and add in a link. I wouldn't have to worry about emailing it to them to see if it is something that they could use. The next time they viewed the page, the links would be there and they could see who added them.
This took much longer than an hour. I kept wandering off and reading different topics of interest, and having to pull myself back on track. I added some of these with information on teens, teen readers, programming for teens, etc. to my bookmarks so that I can do some further reading.
I created a login and a comment under favorite music, favorite movies and finally, favorite blog.
I thought that these were interesting. I have created pages and sent to teachers for them to use when doing research with their students. Last week, one of the 6th grade teachers gave me the topics that his students would be doing research on. I created a Word document with the three databases that I felt would be most useful, log in information, and links to articles on the topics that his students were researching. This would be ideal to set up as a wiki. He and the other 6th grade teachers could add articles that they felt were relevant, other websites, etc. Then it could be updated easily by any of them at any time. Next year, any one of us could edit and update the links.
Also, the ELA teachers in my district are teaching a different novel each six weeks. We could set up wikis for each of these novels and add links to related materials. If I run across something, I could go to the appropriate wiki and add in a link. I wouldn't have to worry about emailing it to them to see if it is something that they could use. The next time they viewed the page, the links would be there and they could see who added them.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Method 9
Method 9
I had never heard of Meebo before. I was so impressed with the description that I decided to download and use it. I had a couple of friends contact me about signing up for instant messaging with different groups. It was just too many usernames & passwords to remember and too many things running on my old, slow computer. I signed up for MSN messenger, and anyone who wanted to chat with me had to use that. Then, a couple of months ago, I discovered that I could chat with friends through Facebook.
The Renaissance Learning website has something like this. My campus recently switched to A.R. Enterprise. We did not receive the usual User's Manual binder that we get when we get new software. Their user manual is online. Earlier this year, I was trying to find the online help file when I noticed a live chat box. I don't know when it showed up. I had never noticed it before. I clicked on it, provided my account number, and a description of what I was trying to do, and whoever was on the other end had provided me the answer in a fraction of the time that it would have taken me to find it in the documentation.
I got the Meebo widget code and tried to place it on the library homepage that came with our library software. It did not work. I had to send it to myself since the district has blocked Meebo. That may or may not be the reason it doesn't work. I think that it is a great idea. I would like to see it set up. It would be really handy to converse with teachers also. I wouldn't have to email and wait for a reply to ask for students, check to see if they are finished with an item someone else needs, let them check on the status of repairs, request items, etc. Unfortunately, the district blocks all chat. Maybe if enough librarians request it, they might allow it.
Option 1: I chat with various friends and relatives on Facebook. I find it neat that you can open several chat boxes at a time and carry on several conversations almost simultaneously. The only problem I ran into here is when chatting with my friend, Carla, and my sister, Carla, at the same time. We all play FarmVille and have discovered how to send a link to prizes via chat before posting so that anyone can get it, or notify each other that we are about to post so that they can it first.
Option2: I had intended to finish up this program over Christmas vacation. I did chat with someone at tslacdl who was on the phone when I first came on. I had intended to post that same day, but misplaced my password information. I don't recall exactly when this was, but thinking back on it, reminded me of a nifty feature that Renaissance Place has with their chat. After the user finishes asking their questions and getting instructions, the helper can send you an email with the script from the chat. That way you can refer back to it, if you don't remember exactly what they said to do.
Over Christmas vacation, my husband set up Skype on our home computer. He is working in another city and this allows us to keep in touch. I prefer the video/audio to chatting when holding longer conversations with friends & family. Chat is fine for gaming, frivolous conversations, quick reference questions and strangers.
I had never heard of Meebo before. I was so impressed with the description that I decided to download and use it. I had a couple of friends contact me about signing up for instant messaging with different groups. It was just too many usernames & passwords to remember and too many things running on my old, slow computer. I signed up for MSN messenger, and anyone who wanted to chat with me had to use that. Then, a couple of months ago, I discovered that I could chat with friends through Facebook.
The Renaissance Learning website has something like this. My campus recently switched to A.R. Enterprise. We did not receive the usual User's Manual binder that we get when we get new software. Their user manual is online. Earlier this year, I was trying to find the online help file when I noticed a live chat box. I don't know when it showed up. I had never noticed it before. I clicked on it, provided my account number, and a description of what I was trying to do, and whoever was on the other end had provided me the answer in a fraction of the time that it would have taken me to find it in the documentation.
I got the Meebo widget code and tried to place it on the library homepage that came with our library software. It did not work. I had to send it to myself since the district has blocked Meebo. That may or may not be the reason it doesn't work. I think that it is a great idea. I would like to see it set up. It would be really handy to converse with teachers also. I wouldn't have to email and wait for a reply to ask for students, check to see if they are finished with an item someone else needs, let them check on the status of repairs, request items, etc. Unfortunately, the district blocks all chat. Maybe if enough librarians request it, they might allow it.
Option 1: I chat with various friends and relatives on Facebook. I find it neat that you can open several chat boxes at a time and carry on several conversations almost simultaneously. The only problem I ran into here is when chatting with my friend, Carla, and my sister, Carla, at the same time. We all play FarmVille and have discovered how to send a link to prizes via chat before posting so that anyone can get it, or notify each other that we are about to post so that they can it first.
Option2: I had intended to finish up this program over Christmas vacation. I did chat with someone at tslacdl who was on the phone when I first came on. I had intended to post that same day, but misplaced my password information. I don't recall exactly when this was, but thinking back on it, reminded me of a nifty feature that Renaissance Place has with their chat. After the user finishes asking their questions and getting instructions, the helper can send you an email with the script from the chat. That way you can refer back to it, if you don't remember exactly what they said to do.
Over Christmas vacation, my husband set up Skype on our home computer. He is working in another city and this allows us to keep in touch. I prefer the video/audio to chatting when holding longer conversations with friends & family. Chat is fine for gaming, frivolous conversations, quick reference questions and strangers.
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