Thing # 21 yet again

I have typed in the http link that I thought I pulled up from my switchpod, but for some reason it will not post on my blog. I have called a friend to get extra help on doing this project and it is still not working. My frustration level is high and time is running out and I am at a loss of what to do! Anyone with ideas, please help.

Thing # 21 again!!!

Thing # 21 cont.

I found this music in the sample section on my computer, since I have not downloaded any music to my computer. This is my second attempt...my fingers and paws are crossed!

'Thing # 21"

Yikes! I do not own or have access to a digital camera or video type equipment. Everything in this "Thing" was read word for word, but frustration is what I am currently feeling because I can not figure out what I need to do and where to send items to follow a pathway back to completing and writing a successful blog posting. I want to graduate from this course with the full 18 hours.

Thing # 23

Question #1 - *7 1/2 Habits, *Yahoo Avatar, *Receiving my invitation to come play on the playground, *exploring flickr, *image generator, *libraries of the future, *organizing my personal and educational books (200 for free)

Question #2 - *set a learning contract with myself & overcome numerous obstacles, *boosted my confidence in taking an online course

Question #3 - Yes, that I control the computer...not vice versa (you would understand this statement if you knew me well)

Question #4 - *have a "help line" the old fashion voice to voice way...there were times I wondered if anyone other than myself was out there...I noticed this comment expressed when reading other blogs of those I did not know - sometimes questions were asked and no answers came, *list some prerequisites needed or materials needed before getting into a "Thing" and/or reading something was needed ie - for Thing #21,
*offer portable printers to those who make it to the playground - there is so much to read and it is difficult to start to work on a "Thing" and needed to go back to "reread" how to do something while experimenting or writing on a blog.

Question #5 - Yes, but I am not sure I could mentor anyone if that was an option - except for some of my favorite items.

Question #6 - "You can teach an old dog new tricks."

Question #7 - I hope others continue to read their blogs - for I have taken the time to read and respond to players that I do not know...rather than lurking

Thank you to each of you who put in the long hours to create this experience...for I know the long hours I put into the work...this could be compared to a graduate course.

Thing # 22

Nings...upon browsing the link, "Ning for Teachers" I had a familiar feeling. I saw teacher discussions for same grade levels, book sales, new teacher discussions, etc... this reminded me of a large teacher's lounge. As with any area for teachers to convene the location as well as the conversations are only as good and meaningful as the individuals who speak or in this case post or join one of these social networks. If professionalism continues then a ning could play a valuable part in the future world of education.

Thing # 20

Looking around YouTube seemed pretty simple for this Tigger. Could it be that maybe I am remembering a few items along the way during the "Library2play - 23 Things"? I ventured onto YouTube...selected video...selected Odyssey of the Mind. I watched several clips but found this one the most appealing (and I thought students and/or a potential coach would enjoy) because of the laser light show including the image of a book and the message "Think Out of the Box" was included.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv-IhvF8Z4I

Now TeacherTube was a different story

Thing # 19

The Web 2.0 Awards posted on May 9, 2008, were easy to read. The two I explored were Fun Stuff, honorable mention--One Sentence Stories and Organization, First Place--Backpack.

What makes Web 2.0 Awards List special is the wide variety of categories and their rankings 1st - Honorable Mention. This type of layout gives the reader opportunities to explore websites they might not have discovered yet. For teachers of the gifted, this page may be beneficial for new research areas.

Thing # 18

Wahoo! Finally, completing this portion was soooo much easier than my experience with Thing # 17. I opted to download and explore OpenOffice.org which was most interesting. I thought that the first pages before one downloads were clean and crisp looking with the blue and white (perhaps I misinterpreted this for smooth and easy). OK...this Tigger was ready to bounce eagerly into new territory by downloading. The message flashed on the screen indicated that it would take 19 minutes and some odd seconds to download. After waiting the full time another screen popped up with the message that this site could not be verified and sites not verified could contain a virus...did I still want to run it. I hit the "no" button and immediately went to Google Docs. It was like coming home!

Disadvantages: unknown providers, time consuming to download, possible virus, have to register
Advantages: Google Docs was similar to Microsoft, easy to do document, easy to save document, no download time

Thing # 17

Well, I have opened and account with Rollyo with the username being Tigger on Mars and created a link to the Texas Association of Gifted and Talented, but I am not sure how someone can get from my blog to the URL for the TAGT website. In other words, I am frustrated and this may have been over my head.

The video created by Bruce had good information and I started taking notes in the beginning...but I think the previous videos in other things by Common Craft have been more to my liking or at least easier for me to follow!

Thing # 16

My head is spinning with all the ideas in which one can use wikis. The exploration during this thing opened new ideas as well as numerous teachable moments for this Tigger. I enjoyed reading the BookLoversWiki from the Princeton Library as well as the piece from Norwich University, "Wikis:A Beginner's Look (Harnessing the Collective Intelligence).

I have found that using two computers during this process was beneficial to me...one for printing and reading some of the links and the second taking notes and entering blog posting ideas. Guess it is time to bounce back into cyberspace and gain more knowledge.

Thing # 15

The video, "A Vision of Students Today", is a must see for all educators...maybe several times. I found this video thought provoking about what education will look like in five, ten, or fifteen years from now.

There seemed to be a lot of reading in this item...since I made the decision to read all the five perspectives. The three that I enjoyed the most were "Away from the icebergs", "To more powerful ways to cooperate", and "To a temporary place in time...". During my reading of Chip Nilges, "To more powerful ways to cooperate" the thought crossed my mind that at one time libraries had to take into consideration location, location, location and now it is data, data, data. This is possibly true for all educators.

Thing # 14

There are so many things to learn in Web 2.0...first following directions. :-) I entered School Library Learning 2.0 into the search box and yes, blogs and posts were found. It seems the post had fans with little to no "authorities" whereas, blogs appeared to have authority listings. The number for blog posts and tags were somewhat different when I added the apostrophes around the search words. One blog that I read from someone in Florida (I think) who was participating in Library2play mentioned WebTools4U2Use. This link sounded interesting and perhaps another place to visit...at a later time.

Perhaps the following words from http://booksaretreasures.blogspot.com/2008/07/thing-14-technorati.html states what many librarians may think, "Tagging is actually another one of those librarian functions that now everyone is doing. We didn't call it tagging - we called it cataloguing. So, now it is just a tad bit easier and with out all the rules that we had to learn to catalogue - but then with tagging - the cataloguing is only as good as the tags that people use."

Thing # 13

Tagging offers a "sweet" way to organize and keep up with all the goodies collected from the Web. Thanks to the individual who wisely collect the video clips from the Common Craft guys. The message along with the visuals are EXCELLENT according to this Tigger. I was unable to open the Del.icio.us podcast tutorial. The Furl and Ma.gnolia bookmarking sites were nice and helpful...this Tigger liked the ease of del.icio.us site better.

Thing # 12

The Discovery Activities...really kept me bouncing all over the place. The first three blogs were interesting and seemed to express some plain and simple common sense ideas. I had to chuckle while reading Cool Cat's blog because during my years in education I have found that MANY educator's are afraid of sharing their special secrets and/or tricks-of-their-trade. The reading ease of Brown Thoughts (The Ten Commandments of Blog Commenting) and ProBlogger (Ten Techniques)were inviting and straight to the point, which was a welcomed relief with all the reading required during Library2play.

The blogs that I selected to post were chosen because of their blog name in our playground. At this time, I do not feel ready to leave the comfort of our playground ...I guess I am still a "Lurker" as some stated earlier. I think the time will come (after this class) when I will go out into the big world and have some chats with other bloggers. I feel like I have sprung into a new world with Web.2...and certainly have a concern since I have already heard that Web.3 is up and ready.

Wikipedia indicated that "the collective community of all blogs is known as the blogsphere". In addition, it continued with "a collection of local blogs is sometimes referred to as a bloghood". It is difficult to wrap this tigger's mind around the thought of our "playground" as a bloghood!

Thing # 11

Well, this tigger just got excited about organizing all her books found in numerous shelves, boxes, as well as stacks in both her humble abode and work place. One possible use I believe this will solve is to whom I loan my books. I added my first seven titles in just a quick little bounce. Thank you coaches for placing this "Thing" on the list of 23!

Thing # 10

Hot Dog!!! Bouncing through the Discovery Resources was as comfortable as being in the Hundred Acre Woods with Christopher Robin. This Tigger had FUN, FUN, FUN! Playing and creating is right up my pathway. These tools and little diddies would definitely be used in some of my future presentation...to add some interest and get a point across in a humorous way. Thankx!

Well, hope you enjoy the comic picture...I guess you could call it a self portrait.

Thing # 9

Well the spring is not feeling as sprung out as Thing #8. I enjoyed the Blogline Search tool. In fact, I made the comment that I wished I had started with Blogline first...before Google Reader. I thoroughly enjoyed the Cool Cat Teacher blog. As I continued bouncing along I discovered Teaching Tips.com and enjoyed the first article, "50 Must - Read Up and Coming Blogs by Teachers"...written by Christina Laun. On Bloglines I did a search for quotes and to my surprise up popped 3,160 posts...many were about quotes/rates for a products. I had a quick lesson on being very clear on knowing what you want and saying what you mean. Upon typing in "famous quotes...only 194 posts came up. :-) I discovered TIME.com Quote of the Day. with a postings from yesterday.

Edublogs' award winners was interesting. The Top Cat Teacher blog was one of the nominees for the award. I enjoyed exploring del.icio.us..but did not sign up...as of yet. I did not like springing onto the Syndic8.com...it was a bit more confusing and more than I was ready to bite off at this time.

Searching Spring Branch ISD was not what I expected...first to see a Board Member's blog, but the most amazing thing was down five or six links that was posted by iphone Blue-Parrot-bluetooth-headset information superblog. There was information about SBISD going LAN wireless. What a small world in which we live!

Thing # 8

WaaHoo! After reading other player's posts about RSS I was looking forward to bouncing through Thing # 8 and learn about Really Simple Syndication. The video was just plain easy to understand...even for this Tigger. Then it came time to create my free account on Google Reader...seemed easy enough. Adding at least 5 blog sites...well, I think I did that correctly. My selections for sites were as follows: FUN-Quotes of the Day NEWS-BBC News/Newfront, chron.com Chronicle, click2Houston.com, Google News PSYCHOLOGY-"Cognitive Daily". I did not feel successful in locating Google Blog Search...guess I need some coaching ...along with making reader list public. I did selected to share some quotes that I enjoyed from my new found quote site and I went to the shared page to see what I had created and feelings galore ran through this Tigger's fur. I was most uncomfortable seeing my full name plastered at the top of the page stating that these were quotes I wanted to share with everybody...not just my playground buddies. Knowing that my thoughts were being carved into "cyber-foreverness" did not sit well with this Tigger. I know that the feelings of sharing my inner thoughts and personal feelings to all will be a personal struggle to work through...along with having my name out there also! TTFN

Thing # 7

Google, Google, Google...what fun tools (or should I say toys) that are offered. The calendar offers tremendous possibilities between myself, friends, former co-workers, and most importantly my mom to schedule time together and post other events.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I collect quotes. Going through the research area I located, one book, "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations" as well as Einstein's Quotes, with one of my favorite of Einstein: "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton).

While bouncing through the areas offered by Google, I made the decision the I liked Flickr better than Picasso. I am springing onto "Thing #8". TTFN!

Thing # 6

This was another fun site to bounce around in and explore. One thing that amazed me while going through the pictures in Flickr(Thing 5)was the mosaic photos. During "Thing 6" I saw how the mosaic look was created with photos of one's choice. I can envision many uses for the mosaic pictures...such as having students create their own memory book of their school life throughout the year with photos.
Another great idea found by this tigger while reading about Mashups ...like duh, what student would not get enthusiastic about creating their own trading cards? Lastly, being one who collects quotes, I found the following quote while reading about"colr pickr" and I hope you enjoy it as well:

"To those that question the utility of this little
application, let me point out that it is a toy -- like all
the stuff on my website. Its purpose is simply to
provide wonder and delight. Nothing more, nothing
less. Isn't that enough? --jbum"

This site accomplished its purpose...I was filled with wonder and delight. TTFN

Thing # 5

Things around my home in the 100 Acre Woods are finally returning to "normal" so it is back to the playground to kick up my heels and play. Doing what Tigger does best, I bounced all over flickr enjoying myself to the tune of several hours exploring new uncharted territories. Waahoo! I was stunned to learn that a miniature version of the Statue of Liberty faces Puget Sound on Alki Beach in Seattle, Washington. This tidbit of knowledge was picked up on "Trinty's photostream". Under flickr...Explore Tags, I was impressed with the number of Daily and Weekly Tags named. I saw potential for students in one class communicating with students in another class in a different locale with flickr photos in real time using photophlow. As for me, posting a picture from my adventures in flickr-land...well, I found it difficult to select just one since there were so many that touched on my personal interests of full moons, sunrises, sunsets, waterfalls, artistic expression along with colors and of course being the Christmas elf that I am...the Ho Ho Ho season! I am certain this Tigger will return to flickr for my professional and personal use in the future.

Thing # 4

Wahoo...it's on the playground we go!!! A lesson learned...I discovered I had given an incorrect e-mail address while creating my blog. This action hindered me from making comments on other player's blogs, but it's all fixed now so I am ready to "spring" into action cause that's what Tigger does best!!!

"Thing # 2 of 23"

This is a new addition since I don't know what happened to my original posting of Thing # 2.

The 7 1/2 Habits was enjoyable reading and encouraging for Successful Lifelong Learners. Currently, I feel like I am taking a drink out of a fire hydrant with all the new technology knowledge "bouncing" my way. "My Learning Contract" has been helpful to set my goals in writing...now to find the time!!! I hope my blog with my first entry is out there in cyberspace for me to find!!!

Thing # 3

Well...this Tigger on mars has lost her stripes...and has had her hair turn gray during this process of "Thing # 2 & 3"!!!

1. To begin...Tigger sprung (slowly) into action and created this blog. The directions in creating a blog were somewhat simple to follow for one with very little brain...wait that is Pooh Bear not Tigger. Anyway, my blog followed Tigger and landed on mars...being somewhat lost in cyberspace.
2. Thanks to the "lost in cyberspace" chat Tigger found the way back to the blog and discovered that my "Thing # 2" is posted elsewhere playing hide and seek....which I will begin the search soon and hopefully cut and paste it into this blog.
3. Creating the Yahoo account was VERY nerve-racking...do to the personal questions that were needed in order to move on to avatar. I did not like giving out my personal information.
4. Avatar was a fun playground to bounce around in until after a few saves to my favorites I could no longer save items to my favorite...still curious as to why. Anyone have any advice? The fun was creating my looks, the look I would like to have...and of course the gray hair needed when finished...spent lots of time looking.
5. SUGGESTION/IDEA - it would be nice to have to know who to contact (via phone) when there are problems, concerns, or maybe even successes.

Finally...this blog is created!!!

Being the rule follower that I am...I have read EVERY link that I came across...and have finished "Thing #3"....(WAHOO) I hope! I am exhausted...this "new adventure" for life long learning can take the bounce out of anyone and has certainly "bounced" me out of my comfort zone!!! What is this thing I hear about creating a person on Avatar???