Thing 7-Google

I am fairly familiar with Google, but they are always coming up with new things. I currently use Picasa and share web albums with family and friends. This is a web album I created to show some fellow students in a library science class the town I live in, to see the commentary about each picture click on the sillouette with the conversation bubble in the lower left corner:

I love Google earth, I have used the calendar, use Blogger; I have not utilized Google docs. I saw a very cool demonstration at a recent workshop using Google docs as a collaborative tool; which totally saves time with the fellow collaborators being able to access the shared document for editting purposes. Google is one of the websites that it is well-worth one's time to check in on now and then just to see what is new. It is full of time-saving tools for organizing one's life and publishing media.

Thing 6-Mashups and Third Party Sites

Mashups and Third Party Sites, Thing 6 is a bit overwhelming; ONLY because I want to try them all!!! I can use any of these apps to make a personal blog more appealing and any of my presentations whether to teachers or students more interesting; but I see the real potential in introducing them to students to utilize in class projects. Any of these apps would get students very engaged in their own learning, postcards, trading cards, mappr, to name a few; all present students a fun venue to showcase the knowledge that they have acquired in their research. No more days of regurgitating facts; let them create!

I played with the Motivator in BigHugeLabs:


I played with Jigsaw-puzzle maker, the Captioner and I made the Trading Card:



*For what it's worth, the photos are my own.

Thing 5-Photos Hatch in Flickr

Flickr is a very cool site. The fact that so many people are willing to share their photos with others is phenomenal! I knew of the site and know friends that are members. I have seen some projects that some of my fellow librarians have created utilizing photos from the Creative Commons collection such as digital book trailers.

As the saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words"; this venue allows one the opportunity to enhance any digital project without having to travel around the globe in order to take the photo personally. The opportunity for collaboration with digital media has endless possibilities. So many times, reading the words fails to convey the meaning that a picture can do very succinctly!

I taught Pre-K for 15 years before becoming a librarian. I chose this photo because it reminds me to look at the world with a child's curiosity and playfulness!!
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons by Margarita Diaz Sanchez

OCD is kicking in

I want my blog title in a different position. If anyone can figure out the html please comment!!!

Thing 4-Registering My Blog

Sent my email today to register my blog with the Library2Play Kickball captains. I had emailed Barry earlier that I would be out-of-town June 6-16. My email will sit in the inbox until the game begins. I will become an active participant when I get back from vacation. I look forward to interacting with the other players. I learn more from this type of professional development because I not only learn by doing but I also get a lot of new ideas from interacting with my peers. Let the game begin!

Thing 3-A New Blog is Hatched!

I have to admit, I have blogged before and already have an account with Google Blogger. I do not have a professional blog but I really like this medium for journal writing and would like to promote it in the district. I can type faster than I can write and I like the ease of editing that the computer allows. I took way too much time trying to decide on a clever title and editing the photo in my header. I thought that I might try to decipher the Html of the template but it really does "look rather Greek to me"; as Scarlet O'Hara would say "Tomorrow is another day!" But for now, I want to get this blog at least started because I will be out-of-town until the 16th of June.

I have also created an avatar and use it for my Facebook page; however I changed her clothes and background for this blog. I think that avatars are a fun way to express oneself!

Thing 2-The Lifelong Learner Hatches

I guess I "hatched" quite awhile back, however I have not and do not always nurture the habit of lifelong learning. After viewing the 7 1/2 Habits; the one that I consider the most difficult for me is "to begin with the end in mind". I can set goals for myself but I have difficulty developing and executing a plan to achieve the goals. I struggle with organization and therefore seem to waste quite a bit of time. I allow distractions to get in the way of completing the task at hand. The easiest habit for me is "to accept responsibility for my own learning." If I want to learn something new I seek out the opportunity rather than waiting for it to come to me. I developed this habit recently while I was in graduate school completing my Masters in Library Science. It seems that the more I learn the less I really know. The quest is never-ending; hmmm sounds like lifelong learning to me!