Video/TeacherTube/MovieMaker

A catchy video from TeacherTube for 2nd graders when studying the water cycle. Had no trouble putting this in my blog. Cannot figure out how to import it into MovieMaker. If and when I do, I will post a comment. I did figure out how to import pictures into MovieMaker, but still need lots of playtime to manipulate the pictures. Playtime is at a premium this time of the school year. Sure would like to continue our Table Play during our fall and winter district librarians' meetings!

PhotoStory

My PGP students have loved using PhotoStory for their research products. It lends itself to a great deal of creativity and fun! All are having trouble uploading today. Still waiting on mine.

Hooray! It finally loaded!! I discovered that I was trying to upload the PhotoStory wp3 file instead of the wmv file. I'm guessing that most of us were making that mistake when all had so much trouble.

Audio Manipulation

Once I got the headset working, I had fun creating audio files. Decided to save a short rendition of "The Washington Waddle" that I used to sing to my kids at bath time. It's a fun song that makes me laugh and relieves STRESS...
Major frustration when using the 2.0 Sandbox Wiki...my whole table tried uploading their audio files with NO LUCK. I will try uploading this tonight. I refuse to give up! I want to be successful with this! I want to feel like I can help my teachers by really knowing what I am talking about.
Okay, it's loaded on the Sandbox Wiki. Have no idea how to link it to this blog. Vaughn? Liz?

Image Manipulation

Had never used images in Discovery Education. Great resource. Loved using Flicker Creative Commons. Found pictures of my favorite bird...the hummer. Glad to find out how to add text and manipulate the hummer images in PPT. Made this motivational poster. Went over the time allotted, so my stress level is rising..

Thing #23 Old Dinosaur with lots of New Tricks!

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Successfully creating my blog. I had tried once before very unsuccessfully. I like this description of a blog:

“A site one establishes for the purpose of putting one’s thoughts online for the edification or amusement of visitors, who may leave pieces of their own minds before departing.”

Discovering what others had found and were experiencing along the way by reading their blog entries, and then leaving a little piece of my own mind...

Playing with the online image generators

Discovering educational videos on YouTube

Using Flickr to share photos with friends and family

The entertaining and succinct Common Craft guys

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
While in graduate school (online), I had a mainline to the latest and greatest through my coursework. Participating in 23 Things was like being back in school with the bonus of no grades! I’m a hands-on learner, so 23 Things was the perfect learning tool. What's next, Kickball Captains?

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was amazed at the depth and breath of this online adventure.

Actually understanding and using the 2.0 web tools my children use and talk about and understanding and using 2.0 web tools my children have not heard of!

Learning more about my SBISD colleagues. It’s amazing what you can discover about a person from reading their blog.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Possibly offer smaller parts of the whole at a time by dividing the 23 Things into thirds and offering 6 hour credit segments.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Absolutely!

How would you describe your learning experience?
Hands-on learning of relevant and, best of all, applicable best practices and cutting edge technology for use with students and the faculty in my library.

Next to Last Thing #22 Nings

I love the concept of Nings, especially Shonda Brisco’s Texas School Librarians and Joyce Valenza’s TeacherLibrarianNing. It’s like having the best of LM_NET all in one location without the overload of irrelevant emails often found in the listserv messages. These Nings are the perfect venue for sharing best/interesting practices by having the opportunity to easily introduce and discuss topics of interest with librarians around the country. In addition to the main page, I noticed that there are different break out groups that the user can join, so that the discussion is more relevant to his/her particular interests within school librarianship. The video section would be a great place to share student or teacher or librarian generated videos. Both Nings are a nice extension to the terrific network of SBISD librarians we are so fortunate to have in our district. As an example of one of our own, check out this fabulous Ning!

Thing #21 Podcasts and Audio Books

My students have used Photo Story for creating final products after researching a topic, and they love it! Headsets with microphones are a must. They let students record without worrying about extraneous noise, and it helps keep the noise down when they add music and listen to their show. I normally make a PPT. of the new Bluebonnet books each year to introduce the books to my students, but I decided to try out Photo Story for this project instead. At first it was way too long. I went back and recorded less and spoke faster. The jury is still out on whether it is still too long!