Tools tried...

Oops, haven’t blogged in a week.  Is there a rule about that?

Challenge 3 is to create.  Before I do, I’m going to share some of the things I created this year using Web 2.0 tools.  I know this is about trying NEW things but perhaps someone will get some ideas from these and being new to the district, I haven’t shared these with many of my co-workers.

Google Sites:  I created the new Holt Media website using Google Sites - https://sites.google.com/site/holtmediacenter/.  It was pretty easy to use.  This year I will promote the site more with teachers and students and continue to add resources.

Animoto:  I created an Animoto presentation to introduce last year’s NCCBA nominees to students - http://animoto.com/play/6zViy05O4nCYKYTzSGDR1A?utm_source=googleusercontent.com&utm_medium=player&utm_campaign=player.  This year I’ll try another presentation tool for practice.

Google Survey/Spreadsheet:  I created a reference skills questionnaire to assess our 3^rd – 5^th grade students.  This is really easy once you understand how the survey links to the spreadsheet.  https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFp2ZVg3V1dIQ2xHeEs1Q3hzQkVwNWc6MA

Wordles:  I used Wordles to brainstorm “heroes” with grades 2-5.  We read different books about African American heroes, then brainstormed descriptive words.  https://sites.google.com/site/holtmediacenter/student-work  We did this as a group because I didn’t have access to enough computers to have each student do their own.  Aargh.

Posting your blog to Facebook

Greetings from Asheville!  My only summer vacation is a short trip to the mountains to show my mother around.  We visited my son in Boone for his 19th birthday (sophomore at APP), and we're seeing the Biltmore House today.  Starting to love the NC mountains!  On to business -

A few days ago I figured out how to direct my blog posts to my Facebook page.  It wasn’t easy information to find so I thought I’d share.  Go to http://www.facebook.com/notes.php.  On the bottom of the left column, click on Edit Import Settings.  Enter the URL of the blog post that you want to feed to your Facebook page.  If you are using blogger, I believe you have to add the following to the end of your URL:  /feeds/posts/default.  So my URL was http://ajlesueur.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.  Save the settings.  Your blog posts should now start to appear on your Facebook page.  This just shows up as part of your news feed.  In terms of using this for educational purposes, if a school library had a Facebook page (like Durham County Library does) and you directed your blog feed to that page, I think the posts would automatically show up on the student’s news feed when they “like” your page.  I haven’t committed to having a Facebook page for my school library because I’m in an elementary school and I’m not sure we should be encouraging Facebook when you are supposed to be 13 to join.  Are there any middle or high school libraries in Durham with a Facebook page?  If so, would you try to direct your blog to that page?  On the other hand, would it just be easier to post directly to your Facebook page?

Almost too many web tools...

While in graduate school, I discovered this wiki (WebTools4U2Use) created for school library media specialists by  Dr. Donna Baumbach and  Dr. Judy Lee, at the University of Central Florida.  Not only is it an endless list of web 2.0 tools, but the site is super organized.  The best thing about this site is that each category contains of list of suggested uses for that tool in the library media center.  Some categories also include rubrics, online tutorials and samples.  If you don't have time to look at all of them, you can just try the "5 to Test Drive" (top tools in that category).  Be patient on the home page as it is designed with Glogster and slow to load.  Beyond that, it is an amazing "one stop shop" for tools!

Library Girl's Annual Report!!

The Adventures of Library Girl: It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's Our Annual Report!

As much as I wanted to write an "Annual Report" of Holt Media Center this year, it didn't happen.  But Librarian/Blogger Jennifer LaGarde wrote her first one this year and it's amazing!  Not only a great example of the use of online presentation tools but she uses all the right data to show how her media program drives student success.  Follow the link to her blog!

A Favorite Tech Tool

I thought the first thing I would do on this new blog was share one of my favorite tech tools.  I started using Netvibes last fall to organize my favorites and internet "discoveries".  I tried other bookmarking sites like Diigo and Delicious but really like the graphical nature of Netvibes.  I believe it was Kelly Brannock (NC School Library Media Consultant) that introduced me to the tool.  It is similar to IGoogle and other "personalized" web pages.  In fact, I use Netvibes to follow professional blogs and I created a tab so I can follow all the DPS Tech Challenge blogs on a single webpage.   Netvibes also allows you to make some of your tabs public.  Here's a link to my shared pages:  http://www.netvibes.com/alison_lesueur#Tools.  It's really easy to just add links to Netvibes.  It's a little harder to create graphics to represent your links because you have to go out and get the images you want to use.  So you will notice that some inconsistency in my pages.  If you also have some shared Netvibes pages, send me your links!

DPS Technology Challenge

Although I have posted on blogs before for college classes, this will be my first professional blog.  I'm at a loss for a fun name so until I have one, "Alison LeSueur" is it.

This blog was created to participate in the DPS Technology Challenge Summer 2011.  I'm participating because the writing is on the wall - librarianship is now about technology!  We must be leaders in 21st Century Learning within our schools or risk being made obsolete.  Besides, I love to play with Web 2.0 tools but have not yet successfully transferred their use to teaching and learning.  So the challenge for me will be to share the tools I've already tried, try some new ones and build the use of those tools into real lessons!