Thing #11 LibraryThing: What's Not to Like?

". . . especially for a grown-up little girl who used to play library all the time! How cool is it to catalog all your books on a website (no, not by Dewey -- or at least I didn't get that far into it! All mine would've fallen into fiction anyway!) and find out how many others had also cataloged the same book (not so many for The Christmas Pearl, maybe because it was a recent release). Also you can read what the reviewers have written about the books, which is valuable for purchasing books in the library. I think this would be very cool for students to partake of, particularly older students who wanted to see what others were reading. Also readers can make their own reviews, which would be great for students.

#12 Social Butterfly: To Be or Not to Be?

For a few years now I've watched over their shoulders while my girls have carried on with their friends through MySpace and Facebook. They convinced me it was for their generation only. They were the only hip ones who could carry on through the medium of cyberspace. Well, watch out, girls! I'm right on your heels! After all, what better way to carry on a conversation with multiple people at one time than to post a bulletin on MySpace? With MySpace, a person can message people instantly, design a page that reflects their personality, post music (either original or popular music), show multiple friends in order of their importance in your life, and even post silly quizzes.

However, notice that I did not choose MySpace as my link! Are you kidding? Please -- this Digital Immigrant considers Facebook a much user friendlier option! I like the abundance of white space, therefore allowing me to feel comfortable looking at the screen. There are still plenty of options with Facebook, like privately messaging a friend or writing a bulletin to be broadcast (via RSS feed). If I were going to use something in a school setting, I would definitely go with Ning, which allows for a more closely controlled network shaped around a commonality.

#10 Sign Generators: Cool + Pretty = Nice!

This was fun. I was most successful with the first generator that I chose to use, ImageChef. I liked it best because it offered a lot of images, but not too many (too many options for this woman equals stimulation overload!) It was extremely user friendly (a plus if you're working with elementary kids). It was so easy to choose images, type in your message, upload to blog, and wa-la (btw, that's the Teresa's Americanized spelling of the word) it was on your blog! Quick, easy, painless. No pulling out hair or anything! And that's the only way that teachers/librarians who are on the squeamish side of technology will branch out into new ground is if it will work every time, guaranteed. The seven hours, and much less in reality (after transitional times), that we spend in school is packed full of academic expectations from every aspect, and we're all feeling the crunch. Teachers especially feel pressed for time these days. I think I would show ImageChef as a generator that students could use on their blogs before I would show others, to built confidence. However, with fourth graders who are working so hard on perfecting their writing skills, I think the cartoon generators are great to work towards. Sadly, I had no success in loading my Jack Bauer cartoon onto my blog, on my Mac, but had I been on my PC, I think it would've been easy sailing (a right click save issue).

Always more to get

'Tis the Holiday Season