Thought for the Week

"Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours. No one needs a smile so much as the one who has no more to give." Unknown

What Goes On In a School Media Center

This is a vidcast of pinpointing the happenings in an elementary school media center. Some people might think that it is all about books. I guess you could say that books are the foundation; however, in the 21st century media center, it is much more!

News from Flickr

If you have been involved in NEFLINS 23 Things, you might be interested in this. When I was in Denver, CO in January for ALA, I visited the Red Rocks in Morrison, CO. I took several photos of the excursion. I received a message from a company last week that does Guides for Denver asking to include one of my photos that I had posted on Flickr. Here is the picture for you to view. You never know what might happen when you are learning about Web 2.0 tools!

Friendly Reminder

Tax Day is Tomorrow, April 15, 2009! Don't forget!!

Thought for the Week

This quote is taken from the 2009 book Peaks and Valleys by Spencer Johnson, M.D. If you recognize the name, but can't make the connection, he is the author of Who Moved My Cheese?

"To Stay on a Peak Longer: Appreciate and Manage Your Good Times--Be humble and grateful. Do more of what got you there. Keep making things better. Do more for others. Save resources for your upcoming Valleys."

This is a MUST READ!

Podcasting Projects On the Horizon

Just wanted to entice any reader with this upcoming forecast. I will be collaborating with a teacher at my school on a hero project. Students will be revealing their heroes through video podcasts. Stay tuned. Check back often for updates!

Thing 23: The Survey

I just completed the survey. What a wonderful experience a course is studying Web 2.0 tools. If you are just reading this blog and you have not worked with Web 2.0 tools, you are doing a disservice to yourself. The tools are awesome and are a "must" for the 21st century!!

Thought for the Week

"Watch your attitude. It's the first thing people notice about you." H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Thing 22: Staying Current

As I reflect back on the beginning of 23 Things I remember being ready because I was inspired by Helene Blowers. When 23 Things began, I had already started a blog and enrolled in FaceBook. That's as far as I had gone. Then NEFLINS 23 Things began and I got behind and didn't know if I could keep up. Amazingly we were given a catch-up week, and I got caught up. From that point I made up my mind to stay up-to-date with the assignments. I guess you could say that I trained myself and now it comes naturally. I find myself going to my blog hoping for a comment. I was happy when Brad Ward left a comment. Sadly, that was the only comment I got. Then I was happy to find 2 followers. Presto, the followers were gone when I deleted my blog when trying to combine all my accounts. Because of that tragedy, Google wouldn't let me reuse my original blog name, Keeping Up With the Times; thus, a new name--Keeping Up With the Times Again. What a journey? Yes! But have I learned anything? Double Yes!!

I have included my blog url in my email signature in hopes of inviting viewers. I have earned one follower from my faculty. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, that follower has been a great encouragement to me. Hoping others at my school might notice our upcoming plans using Web 2.0 tools, I anticipate hooking others into Web 2.0 collaboration.

I know I will stay current. I have several things in place to keep me investigating new things. I have even added many new applications to my iphone. I have made many connections between my iphone, FaceBook account, and blog. And I have added Blah, Blah, Blah to my Google homepage. Having my Google Account link on my Google Homepage (that is now my startup page), I keep track of everything multi times a day. You have heard this quote, I am sure, " work smarter, not harder". I know I will stay current. I love it!

Thanks, NEFLIN, for giving us this opportunity. It has been GREAT!

Food for Thought!

As a blogger you never know who might read your blog. I felt like my efforts had been validated when one of the teachers at my school started following my blog. Thanks for the encouragement, Lara! Enjoy Paris!!

Thing 21: Student 2.0 Tools

WOW! This is the greatest thing yet when it comes to application to the school community. The tool being described in this thing is the Research Project Calculator. Click on this link to get a quick definition. This is a computer based planner providing day by day guidance to complete any kind of assignment. When you log on to this link , any student/teacher can enter details of an assignment and have the guide emailed to them. The awesome part is that you can choose step by step for student and teacher. There is a link that also provides a grading rubric for the research process. If you go to another link, you can find the standards aligned with Minnesota State School System. It lets me align it with our own research project, FINDS, in the State of Florida.

The other site that is very valuable is the Teacher Guide to Research Project Calculator because it provides many downloadable tools. These tools can be used in connection with the tools provided to Florida educators in the FINDS model.
By using FINDS and RPC, research planning can be fine tuned and a systematic outline can guide the student to meet the standard.

Thought for the Week

"To really know what success means, earn it. Don't rely on some elevator to take you there. The easiest lessons to remember are the ones you learn the hard way. The higher the floor you want to reach, the more important it is to take the stairs." Douglas Pagels

Thing 20: Books 2.0

FIRST, LET ME SAY...I WANT A KINDLE 2! Yes, I looked up the price...it is about $360.00 Not bad, I've wanted things that have cost a lot more!!!

Books on Your Phone--I love Twitterlit and http://www.kidderlit.com/, too!

Readers' Advisory--I like What Should I Read Next?

Online Book Communities--I really like the Book Glutton and the Unbound Reader--the video is what enticed me!

Book Group Resources--I love the concept of help in creating a book club with Booksprouts. I am also very drawn to Wired for Books because of the MP3 download availability.

Audio Books--Librivox is similar to Wired for Books

Book Reviews--The One Minute Critic is a great idea for lesson plans that are effective, but not time consuming. I will also go into greater detail with FaceBook in the list of book related apps. FaceBook is a wonder among wonders!

Book Swamp--something to keep in mind in this age of budget cuts!!

Children's Books--I will definitely keep this on a handy list. I think I might even post these sites on my website as suggestions for parents looking for books over the summer: Lookybook, Just One More Book, Sillybooks, and International Children's Digital Library.

Thing 20 is an exceptional piece that I will use in many ways for a long time!!

Thing 19: Other Social Networks

I created an account with Linked In. This site is more professionally oriented. You can find my page at
www.linkedin.com/in/patdedicos
You register in the area of your expertise. You find out about books being read, trainings being held, jobs being offered, etc. I can see that this would be extremely useful during these economic down-times, especially if you might be looking for employment. You can also make connections with other people in your field of expertise. Honestly, I don't think I will use this site much, but it is very interesting.

At Ning you can create your own social network. Here is what I found out on FaceBook
"We have decided to create a group in Ning (http://askalibrarian.ning.com/) for participating librarians to talk about the issues of the day, and meet each other. " That's a great example of how you could narrow your network.

I joined the Teacher Librarian Ning, edited my profile, and made a blog entry. I really like the arrangement of this site, and I know I will use it often!

This is a very good thing!!

Thing 18: Facebook and MySpace

I joined Facebook immediately after the NEFLIN Annual Meeting where Helene Blowers inspired me to work on Web 2.0 tools. Helene Blowers is a dynamic speaker! There was a connection between emails I have been receiving from LM_Net List Serve and Thing 18. Many people argue whether you should use Facebook and MySpace with students. Since I am an elementary school media specialist, I don't feel like Facebook and MySpace is cutting edge to keep up with the students. I would rather send my information through my webpage. I can see that these two tools would be more embedded in the secondary students' lives. I consider myself a conservative, but many might say I lean toward being a liberal; regardless, I don't think I would use Facebook and MySpace for my students. Please note, I change my mind on a whim. So, we'll see how it really turns out.

I joined three groups on Facebook: ALA Members, Library 2.0 Interest Group and Librarians and Facebook. I searched for school media specialist groups, but found nothing I would be interested in. I try to refrain from spending too much time on this site. I do enjoy seeing messages, causes, and chatter, but I must stay focused.

I created a MySpace account. Why, I know not. Every time there is a statement like "if you are feeling ambitious..." I think I am supposed to do it! I really doubt I will use it, but if I walk the walk of my blog name "keeping up with the times", I must talk the talk! I did enter my high school and college, so we will see if I find some long-lost friends!

I definitely can see how these tools will be used more and more each day by all kinds of people...until something newer comes along!

Thing 17: Podcasting

I am currently in the process of completing 3 podcasting courses. I have completed the beginning course. I have two weeks left in the intermediate course. The final course will begin in three weeks. I have learned quite a lot. I did install audacity on my computer; however, I find it much easier to do with my MAC. I have completed a series of podcasts for Black History Month 2009. You can view those at my school website http://web.me.com/patdedicos I host all my files for my school website through a MAC account.

I have also done a series of 8 nonfiction read alongs that are hosted at Internet Archive. Membership is free at http://www.archive.org; so if you need a place to store your podcasts, you can register for an account. You are able to use keywords at this site. The keywords have allowed me to connect all 8 nonfiction read alongs. You can listen to one of my podcast read alongs at http://tlaemedia.blogspot.com

Thought for the Week

"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." Thomas A. Edison

Thought for the Week

Always Do Your Best...taken from the Four Agreements by Don Miquel Ruiz
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret.

Thing 16: You Tube

I found a very useful YouTube video to use on my school website. If you go to http://web.me.com/patdedicos you can see for yourself the video "Information Literacy 4. Libraries and Library Web Sites" on my Subscription Databases page. I thought this video might help parents better understand how to use the databases. Then the parents could encourage our students to use the wonderful resources we provide for them.

We also have a Word of the Week Contest each week at our school. The words are chosen from our Books of the Month. Every student has the opportunity to enter the contest. The students simply stop by the media center, use the word of the week in a sentence and put the entry in the basket. This short video explains the WOW contest.

Take a Look at Our Media Center

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Thing 15: Rollyo

Select...TLAE Media CenterSearch The Web

You could spend hours searching the Rollyo site. I really like the way it makes connections. I only chose a few places to search; however, once the search has started, you find endless results. This tool might be beneficial to some elementary students, but I think I would probably use it more for faculty, staff and community members. Applications for upper grades and public libraries would be extensive.

Thing 14: Online Productivity Tools

After I finished "cleaning up" my Google accounts, making non-reversible decisions, and pressing every key on my keyboard, I now rule a dynasty! What, you may ask, does that mean? Let me clarify myself!! I had to create a new account. With that task behind me, I had to recreate, as well as rename, my two blogs. Do not dismay, my battles ended there. Now my dynasty is my igoogle account page. igoogle homepage with a calendar, documents, images, gmail, weather, clocks, youtube, et. al. is my chief of staff. All is well with Web 2.0. An added surprise is when I invited a teacher at my school to share calendars and documents, and she accepted my invitation. It's hard to tell how powerful I might become.

I am also mailing ta da lists to myself and friends. If you would like to view the very short list, go to http://patbook.tadalist.com

The challenge is before me. I am going to try to get igoogle implemented fully at my school, one small step at a time. Sharing calendars would be a welcome source for planning meetings and events. If you haven't explored all the details of igoogle, you should!

TLAE Books of the Month [Thing 13]

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

New Titles in Our Media Center [Thing 13]

Thought for the Week

"If you don't learn from your mistakes, there's no sense making them." Anonymous

What A Mess

I was trying to combine all my Google Accounts, and I deleted everything.  So I have added one word to my blog title.  My original blog was "Keeping Up With the Times".  Now, because of my lack of skills, my blog name is "Keeping Up With the Times Again".  Please make a note of my new blog address--http://kuwtta.blogspot.com.  I have completed 13 Things for the Web 2.0 class I am taking called NEFLINS 23 Things.  I know I will not pull another stunt like this one.  Experience is the best teacher!