Facebook Groups-Thing 9

I've already joined several groups over the past year. Some are specific to people I know, like the YC Homecoming 2009 group. Some are generic, like the I saw Twilight at Midnight group or the Diehard Judith McNaught fan group.

I have been surprised by people who have contacted me over the past year, but only a couple of times. One was someone who was older than me at the small college I went to. I really don't think we knew each other at all, but I eventually added him as a friend. My kids tell me that some people collect "friends" like notches on a belt. Whatever! What is really fun is connecting with other people's networks. You may find several people you have wanted to reconnect with simply by finding one. Yep, I'm addicted!

Facebook-Thing 8

I admit it. I'm a Facebook junkie! I set up my profile a little over a year ago and have almost 200 friends in my network now. I've reconnected with old high school friends, church youth group friends, college friends, former students, coworkers, you name it! I've organized them into groups. Very librarian of me, I'm sure! There is a lot of talk in the school arena about 'befriending" students and parents. I have ignored a few requests, but overall I've friended them. Why? Well, I feel like my life is relatively transparent. My first friends were those from church. I don't do things that I would be ashamed for others to see, so I'm not afraid of students seeing me in a compromising picture. To me, Facebook is all about the small town experience. It used to be that everyone knew your business if you lived in a small town. Maybe that keeps you from doing something you might regret later, or something that might get back to your parents. Facebook brings that same level of transparency or perhaps paranoia to our modern lives. I do feel like Facebook is a safer environment than My Space. I have my settings set so that only my friends can see my info and pictures. I really don't want the entire world knowing everything about me. This has also been a good way for me to keep up with my kids and their friends. Although, everynow and then I see something I wish I hadn't!

RSS Feeds-Thing 7

Can I just say that I LOVE those CommonCraft videos? I've used them before to make sense of some of the web 2.0 tools that I just didn't understand. I added one feed to my reader, but I'm concerned that I'm going to get information overload! I used to subscribe to LM_Net, but there was just toooooo much to keep up with. Will RSS Feeds turn into the same thing?

Thing 6

I like the way Google Reader mimics other products with its format. It seems easy to follow and use. I subscribed to another blogger participating in NT 23 and it was fun to see how far we both are at this point. I've just added the internet to my phone and I can see how using a reader like this will be a much easier way to navigate all the content I regularly access.

Comments on Things 4 and 5

Wow!! This stuff is so cool! I've seen a lot of these mashup tools on Facebook, and actually didn't realize what they were. I think kids are going to love these tools, but I'm worried. What about those kids who will take pics of other kids and then bully them through these sorts of tools. You can certainly use them for good, but there are always those looking for a good laugh at others' expense. I wonder if anyone has had any experience with that side of these tools?

Thing 5

Bella's Thoughts with Captioner

Spell with Flickr

Flickr

I've uploaded some of the first photos from my elementary when we opened the library. It was quite a task to be a first-time librarian and open a brand-new school, but with a lot of parent help, we did it! Our first book fair was a rousing success and we even had a visit from Clifford, the big red dog! Here's my photostream:http://www.flickr.com/photos/34427838@N03/

I've used Picasa for pics for the past year and I have to say that I prefer it! It has been a great way to share pics with the principal to get approval before they get sent to the yearbook chairperson. It has also helped me keep all the pics from the school organized and in one place. Once you download it to your computer then every time you upload pics from the camera it asks you where you'd like to put them and makes it so simple. In addition, you can do basic photo editing.

Library 2.0

After writing several papers and exploring the world of Web 2.0 and its library counterpart, Library 2.0, I am convinced that we are in the midst of a paradigm shift. We grew up in a world where information was solid and steady. Today's students see information as malleable and shifting. They see how they can control it and shape it. Is this a good thing? I don't know. I think part of it goes hand in hand with the cultural phenomenon that is also occuring that loosely defines "truth". Here I go getting philosophical!

I believe that we need to incorporate web 2.0 materials into the school library. I am so frustrated with middle school and high school teachers that assign poster assignments and A to Z books that must be created using paper and mixed media. I want to say, "Wake up!" You have students who have so many technological skills. Let them show you what they can do and maybe you will learn something as well.

How does this impact us in the elementary library? We have to initiate the change with our teachers and students. Show them what they can do! Find a willing cohort and dazzle the other teachers in that grade level with what our students are capable of. We are kidding ourselves if we think we have to understand it all to let the kids do it. They can figure it out ten times faster than we can. We just have to let go of our micromanagement and let them!

I introduced Animoto to my 4th grade book club this spring and they took off with it. Some of my non-readers who had joined for who knows what reason were blowing everyone else away with their presentations. My goal for this year is to press on, even when teachers tell me they don't have time to learn new things!