Thing 18 - You Tube

What fun to search for some inspirational video. I wanted to find a short video about reading. This was the best one I could find with only spending about 10 minutes looking. But also how easy to share this on my blog.

I have found many useful videos on You Tube. It has been interesting that our schools district used to block You Tube and now does not. I am glad that teachers are able to find good video clips to share with their students.

I will see if I get inspired to post my own. I would like to try, even if it is very short. I do enjoy learning how many of these technological "things" work.

Reading Inspires Children Video

Thing 17 - ELM Resources

I have been stuck on this one for a couple of weeks and also haven't had time to get back to it.

I use the ELM resources with my students when I can. However to try and do the activities as outlined in this "thing", it proved difficult.

Our school IP address set up must stop some of the options that others see. I could not do the RSS feeds for example.

But the ELM resources themselves are great. I think we are lucky that the legislature pays for us to have these resources. Subscriptions costing what they do, this is a huge money saver for all districts and libraries.

I like to have resources that are current and the students can find articles that are recent. Plus the number of resources is way more than I ever could have here in my media center.

Thing 16 - Student Web 2.0

I had seen the Research Project Calculator before. It's use has been promoted through MEMO. It is user friendly and great for middle and high school students. I could even see it being used with upper elementary students. I think all students need to start early in planning their time for projects. It is so easy to procrastinate and if this tool is used it helps the student to stay on track. The support materials were very helpful. Having all the pdf files available right there makes it easy for anyone to understand the steps. It seemed a simple plan to follow.

The U of M Assignment Calculator was also very good. The support materials were extensive and sent the student to other colleges and university such as Princeton and Purdue for help with their writing. What a great collaborative system.

I thought they both did the same sort of things, it was just more of a level of difficulty. As an elementary teacher, it would be harder for me to use this with students.

But on a personal level, I might try it for a professional project or just to keep myself organized. The only trouble is that it does relate mostly to research projects so it might not work to help me to get my grocery list done. :)

Thing 15 - Online Games

I guess I will never be a great pirate. I liked the game side of Puzzle Pirates. I did OK on the games that I tried. But I never got past the learning stage. I can't see myself devoting as much time as you need to to become a good pirate. Then I ended up on an island where I could buy things, but I had no money. I certainly don't want to start paying for the things you need to in order to participate fully. But I can certainly see how people can get hooked on these virtual sites. I thought it was very well done and fun. I also thought it was a little creepy when I would have others on the ship and I really did not know who they were. I was told a number of times to "get off this ship you land lubber!"

I have watched a friend do the Second Life expereince. Again, I don't think I want to devote that much time to a virtual world. But it is amazing to me that all of this is out there for us to use. Cyber space is way cool!!

Thing 14 - LibraryThing

Everywhere you go you can make tags. Here is another place that you can catalog everything with tags. We should all be very organized after this whole 23 Things experience.

I can see using the LibraryThing to create book lists for teachers, to remember some great read alouds or to list books to be used with a particular unit of study.

It is so simple to add a book to your list. I still need to see how to name these lists for easier use. I am sure it is there. I just need to investigate.

I like the name LibraryThing, because... well, it is just that. A Library thang!!

Thing 13 - Online Productivity Tools

When I first started this thing, I did not think I would find much for me here. I looked at a few things, like Backpack and Remember the Milk. I do not think I would ever use these. They are a great way to get organized, but I don't want to be tied to my computer to always be organized. I also prefer the actual paper sticky notes instead of computer ones. Just a tactile thing I believe.

But then I started looking at PageFlakes and iGoogle. PageFlakes was cool. Liked it a bit but thought that I would not need to use it. 

I have now been using iGoogle for the last 45 minutes and forced myself to get off and write this post. iGoogle is addictive. There are so many things to add to your own page. I like the tabs at the top that I can customize for myself. Anything that I want to use to get myself organized and to keep up with the world are there. It is way cool. 

Is there nothing that Google can't do for you??

Now, have I found things to use with my students? Not really, but I sure did have fun for myself.  

I did look at Backpack. That is a different tool that iGoogle. I could see using that if you needed to keep up with lots of projects and communicate with others on a project. Again for my use in my school library, I don't see a use yet. 

The one thing that I like about all these 23 Things, is that I can remember these and hopefully find a good use for some of them. I am still amazed as to what is out there for us all to use that I had not idea about. This just shows how much the Internet has changed and Web 2.0 is a whole new world.