Thing 23: Congratulations

Yay for being done with this!!!!  It actually wasn't that hard and I did learn a lot of new things.

My favorite thing that I found wasn't anything new, but a reminder of how much great stuff there is on YouTube.  I think doing this has shown me that there are so many things out there that I still don't know about and that I need to be paying attention to new trends in technology.  I was surprised that there were some things that I saw that I immediately knew I would never use.  Some things seemed unnecessary or difficult for elementary students or just a reboot of something better.  My suggestion for the future is to constantly be checking links to make sure that there aren't any dead or outdated links in the wiki.  I probably would not participate in a future class because I am READY TO BE DONE WITH SCHOOL!!!  My one word for this is:  EXPLORE

Thing 22: Your Turn

I have used Edmodo in the past and find it very simple to set up and use.  The students like it because it resembles Facebook and I like it because I can easily monitor what is going on.

I have set up groups for my classes and can add assignments, quizzes, etc. to each group account.  Edmodo also allows you to schedule posts so that you can do several assignments at once and have it post when needed.

Here is a tutorial video in case you don't know about it:

Thing 21: Online Image Generators

I love ImageChef.  It was very easy to use and had lots of different options.  What I really love are memes!!!!  I have seen teachers use these to introduce class rules and I am definitely going to look into this for the upcoming school year.

Here are some I made today:

This is my current first world problem :)

I also made one in Comic Strip Generator, but did not find it as easy to use:

Thing 20: Recess

I chose to look up more videos on YouTube and TeacherTube.  I think that videos are such an easy way to introduce or reinforce something.  The good thing is that 99% of the time, someone else has already made the exact video you are looking for!

This is a video about elementary library routines:

This is a video about how an elementary school uses their iPads for research:

Thing 19: Mashups

I couldn't have guessed what a mashup was before reading this assignment.  It is not anything that I have ever seen or heard about in the past.

I looked at the librarian trading cards and I guess I don't understand the purpose?  Is it just to make one?  I have done trading cards with students in the past.  We have created them for book characters using ReadWriteThink.org because it is very simple for students of all ages to use.

I did like the tool that allowed you to link photos with maps.  I know that Google Earth allows that
and it makes it very easy for me to show my students a map of Washington, D.C. and then immediately show them user photos from the area we are looking at.

I think that Flickr is good for a library as far as research because of the Creative Commons section of photos.  This would make it easy in incorporate images into projects and not have to worry about copyright issues.

Thing 18: Shelfari and Goodreads

I have been using Goodreads for a little over a year.  I learned about it from fellow classmates during a college class.  It is very easy to use and update with books you want to read, are reading, and have finished reading.

I am not as dedicated to updating the books I have read.  I more often use it to find new books from recommendations from friends or by looking at various lists.

I do not allow my account to post on Facebook, but I will see updates from friends and get new ideas from books that way also.


My Goodreads

Thing 17: Ning

I had no idea Ning even existed until today.  I think for people that really understand setting up websites and such that it is a great thing.  Me?  Not so much.  I did like the Teacher Librarian Ning and spent some time looking through it.  I personally think there are too many social networking sites out there.  Most bloggers also have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts that I follow and I can't think of any more information they could possibly get to me.