Week 8 -- Thing 14: Tagging and Del.icio.us

I created a del.icio.us account about a year ago, and it's been great. This has a lot of potential for classroom use:

1) Group projects where different students are finding resources for one main topic.
2) Research: see what others have tagged as relevant and worthwhile -- great for students and teachers when looking for resources.
3) And this is my most recent favorite idea: In the notes section when posting to del.icio.us, I have my students write why a particular resource is okay to use. This gets to their critical thinking skills. Sure, many students can submit a bibliography with reliable resources, but I wonder how many of those were found by chance vs. critical thinking -- and I say this because when I question students about why they chose a certain website, the response I usually get is, "It looks good, and it has all the information I need." No mention is made about who the author or organization is that created the site.

Oh, and here's my del.icio.us: http://delicious.com/SueMon

Week 7 -- Thing 13: Library Thing

This is a great resource! I love the idea of teachers and students sharing their own libraries and reviews of books they've read. I just started my own catalog, and here's the link:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/suemon

Week 7 -- Thing 12: Image Generator

Okay, this was fun! I decided to try a classic look. I do like my coffee (and chocolate!), and I love to cook, but this really isn't really what I look like in my kitchen! ;-)



I made this avatar at Meez: http://www.meez.com/

Week 5: Thing 11 -- Social Networks

This is waaaay cool! I have one friend so far (thanks Cheryl!) and have sent several other "friend requests." This just in....I have a second friend!!

I joined a few groups, added an application (Scramble), and played a game on that application. I'm currently trying to find a good Scrabble game -- any suggestions?

Week 5: Thing 10 -- Explore Social Networks

This is the thing I've been waiting for!!! Of course, I work in a middle school and have college-aged daughters, so MySpace and Facebook are not foreign to me. But have I taken the time to create my own profile, NO!!! So this is my week to shine!

How do I think libraries could use social networks? I think if a library had a Facebook page, they could be part of a friend network with other libraries -- sharing program ideas, favorite/popular titles, and publicizing events. My students and teachers could check out some of the upcoming events in my library and maybe check out other libraries and let me know what they think would work in ours? Not totally sure about this...but then again, I learn so much from my students all the time. I have a feeling that if I create a Facebook, my kiddos will help me figure out lots of cool new things to do with it.

Week 4: Thing 9 -- RSS

I already subscribed to a number of feeds, so I was pretty well set. Although I did add Internet Public Library Blogs to my del.icio.us.

Week 4: Thing 8 -- RSS

I already had an RSS aggregator set up with Bloglines. I actually have a harder time with RSS than email notifications -- I guess I need something that jumps out at me instead of relying on my (feeble) memory to check it.

I have a google account, so I thought I'd try Google Reader. The exciting thing I learned with this lesson was how to export my feeds from Bloglines and import them into Google Reader!!!

I think I like Google Reader better because 1) it's just more visually appealing to me, and 2) I can set up iGoogle to include my reader, my email, the local weather, and other gadgets I want.