Thing #4 Video Hosting

This time the Library 2 Play has been a lot of review for me...the video hosting is one of them. I actually learned how to do this by a student...we had made animotos at school and one of my students uploaded his animoto to YouTube....he proudly brought me the link to school and then showed me how he created the animoto and uploaded it. I thought it was great that he had done it all on his own!...and then taught me!
Then my church had a video contest....the way the videos were "graded" was to post them to YouTube...I worked with a group of 7th grade girls to take video, edit and then post...again...they taught me much more than I taught them...we used a flip video cam to take the video, edited it with movie maker and then posted...unfortunately...we DID NOT win the competition! But it was fun learning....
I think this will be a great way for students to share...and learn about copyright....one of the big discussions I had with the girls was the music to use behind the video....they just wanted to put music from a CD....we ended up creating a piece on audacity and then putting that music behind the video....
I have gotten LOST and HOOKED in watching videos....my daughter is always sending me a link...I can see that this is definitely a way for students to learn and share their work. I think this makes learning so much more fun and engaging!

Thing # 3 Like Skype

I experimented with skype...most excited to see it on the list...I had planned to check it out anyway...my daughter will be moving away soon and this is how we may keep up...depending on how far away she end up. My "outlaws" used this while their son was in Iraq...worked like a charm. I'm now set and ready to use it...I think I will try to hook up with some other schools...how much fun would it be for students to talk to each other during the day....could be a real expansion of learning...especially if across the country....it's time to locate my "teacher friends" around the world.
Loved reading all of the tips....I know this will save me in the learning curve...it was worth reading!

Thing #2 Image Generators 2

I've spent the last few nights just playing with these items....I am most familiar with wordle and animoto...use these almost weekly with my students. I could see pairing wordsift with wordle...similar, yet very different. If students were working in pairs, one did a wordle and one did the word sift, it would be interesting to see where the two would end up. I did like that photos popped up as well on word sift...helps with visualization. I had fun playing with gloster...I think it will definitely be a new choice that I offer to students. I played with bookr, however after seeing what is available on a mac...I may be more inclined to use the software on the mac. It may be down to what is available. Made my voki....I want to play with ways to use a voki...I think it may be very motivating for students....we'll just have to see how to play with it...It may be an interesting way to get students to visit a website or wiki everyday/everyweek if the voki changed with a new question...just thinking. I added a voki to my blog...

11.5 Thing #1 Inspiration and Registration

I've decided to keep the same blog, much easier to remember and I don't have to think of another name....my students did such a good job the first time around. I'm in on PDLC...so I'm ready to go.

I watched the video...I feel like a librarian would be the perfect person to be the teacher for that student. I feel like I already help students in creating the learning environment...just need to be a little more proactive on the organization and sharing...as I learn more 2.0 tools I think that will happen. Right now we're using web pages, but as students and teachers become more comfortable with wikis and social networking...this will change and we'll update things daily, hourly and possibly even sooner.

Wiki's

I have spent the last few days exploring the various common wiki's. I've come to the conclusion that each one has it's place. Before you decide on the one to use...know what you want to do....do you mainly want writing, photos, or just collaborate with others. ...how do you want to organize and how flexible are your users....right now I'm using several different wiki's for different things....organization is important for school, downloading photos for family and ease of use for users for my church group. I'm glad there are different wiki's out there to look at....and I'm glad they are similar enough for me to go back and forth between.
Take a look at some of my wikis at http://www.tallowoodacteens.wetpaint.com, http://pgpsbisd.pbwiki.com , http://rummelcreek.wikispaces.com and http://www.covenantcares.wetpaint.com. Lots of choices.....

TLA

It's been a while since I have written - too much going on....too much learning. I attended the TLA conference in Houston and now need to try a lot of new things. Michael Stephens is now someone I am reading a following on his blogs.
The hard part now is trying to keep up with daily life in the library - packing up for a renovation project and keeping up with new stuff so that I am prepared for the next school year. It seems like I am always on a big learning curve....

Just testing

Just trying to see if I can do what I learned

Create interactive meetings at Poll Everywhere

Here's a response

Build television sms voting polls at Poll Everywhere

Here's a gcast pod cast