Thing #12 (Creating Community Through Commenting)

Part 1- These are two comments from blogs that resonated with me:

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog

You show the blog author that "you hear them"

Sometimes authors (like me) feel like they are only posting to themselves. You can actually influence those you admire with a meaningful comment, blog writers change their opinions all of the time. You can also reinforce opinions you agree with when you have real world examples.

From 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog

Ask Questions – Including specific questions in posts definitely helps get higher numbers of comments. I find that when I include questions in my headings that it is a particularly effective way of getting a response from readers as you set a question in their mind from the first moments of your post.

I agree that bloggers sometimes feel that they are on an island all by themselves, and comments to their postings can let them know that they are writing for a real-world audience--and that someone values their opinion (or disagrees with it).

Questions automatically spur action from readers, and bloggers would benefit from including them in their postings. (Gotta remember this for myself.)

Part 2- I commented on 5 blogs from Library2Play.
Part 3- I found 2 blogs of personal interest. One belongs to a friend who is blogging about his weight loss journey. My attention to this blog was drawn by our friendship (and his insistence that I follow his success). The other blog I found deals with cheap world travel-- which is a HUGE draw for me. I can't wait for some free time to explore some of the places I read about.

http://transformations-mcushing.blogspot.com/ - my friend's blog about his weight loss

http://travel.booklocker.com/ - Cheap Travel Blog

Thing #11 (Shelfari)

I used Shelfari instead of Library Thing. This website is very easy to use. I like that it suggests tags to add for the books on my shelf and allows me to include the date of completion for each book. I am definitely recommend this site to my students, so that they can start their own accounts.

I explored the tab labeled "Members Like You" and read suggested books by people who share my interests.

Thing #10 (Image Generators)

I used the comic strip generator to identify a Greek god to demonstrate how this image generator can be used to provide succinct information about a character. Students or teachers can use this application with little difficulty.




I searched Big Huge Labs and found the Badge Maker application. I used this to create badges for book club student roles.

Thing #9 (blogs and newsfeeds)

Which Search tool was the easiest for you?
Topix.net was the easiest because I could do key word searches by title, subject, zip code, or topic. It's user-friendly.

Which was more confusing?
Syndic8.com because its layout is not visually appealing and way toooooooo busy.

What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
I previously subscribed to several feeds and blogs. This time, however, I added some new ones I learned about in my classes. I also found a couple that will come in handy now that the district is cutting funds for technology.

For example,

http://www.adlit.org/?theme=rss

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/feeds/posts/default

http://readergirlz.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

http://feeds.feedburner.com/yalsa_blog

Thing #8 (rss feeds and readers)

RSS feeds and readers are both very user-friendly.
RSS feeds allow you to subscribe to blogs or podcasts quickly and easily, and readers are a good way to organize the blogs or podcasts to which you already subscribe.

I currently subscribe to several blogs related to my library science classes. I am sure that I will also be accessing these blogs once I become a librarian. The only non-education specific blogs to which I subscribe are those related to news or those to which I feel obligated to view (as they belong to friends).

Libraries/teachers/administrators can use readers or take advantage of this new technology to promote books or authors, school events, or host a place where students can organize their own blogs.

Thing #7 (Cool Google Tools)

I explored a lot of apps available through Google...GoogleEarth, Google Scholar, Google Docs, and apps under "the even more stuff" tab... alerts, dictionary, transliteration, etc...

I figure that one application I could use as a school librarian is Google calendar. I could create a calendar for the library schedule and events, so that teachers or any other interested party could access it from anywhere.

http://docs.google.com/
http://www.google.com/alerts/
http://scholar.google.com/
http://www.google.com/transliterate/
http://www.google.com/calendar/render/

Thing #6 (Mashups)

I created a Wordle for words identified with Havighurst's Adolescent Developmental Tasks.
It was a great way to review important terms and have fun at the same time.

I would promote the use of this program with all teachers. Students can create Wordles for books they've read instead of writing summary after summary. Additionally, content area teachers can introduce important unit vocabulary, tap into students' schema, and review concepts through Wordles.