Delicious Workshop

Okay, after hearing about tagging and social bookmarking, I believe I want to present at least one workshop on this tool for Techno Tuesday. How many times have you heard the phrase "teachers are the best thieves"? I'm constantly asking to borrow my colleagues' lesson plans, worksheets, activities, and supplementary materials. I think the best way to learn to be a great teacher is to network with those who are already master teachers. How wonderful would it be if we were all members of a site like Delicious so that we could all share our resources. The web is so expansive and can be so overwhelming at times. It takes hours of researching sometimes just to find sites that are useful in your classroom. However, with this site, the majority of the work is done for you. I think this will be a hit with the teachers at my school.

With regard to the planning on my action learning project: I'm currently searching for an electronic survey to send out to my colleagues to find out what their needs are. Next week, I'll hopefully have the questions written and be getting some responses.

Mashups and Action Learning Project Tools

I recently read the chapter in the book on mash ups. I wasn't familiar with this term until reading this chapter. I wasn't even aware that I was using these tools. I use amazon.com often. I also took time to explore the Delicious Library website to see what it had to offer. It allows the users to catalog their CDs, books, etc. This type of service would be useful for knowing exactly what you have in case your collection were damaged or stolen. You would have a complete listing at your fingertips to submit to the insurance company for replacement. Although that does seem like drastic measures. Who really has the time to create an online catalog of their personal belongings? I'm still not really clear on how this could be used in a library. I would like some more hands-on experience with sites like these. I feel like I need to see a few more examples of how mash ups are used before I can really understand their value. I did like the feature on Delicious Library that allows you to see how much your materials are worth. It also allows you to sell them on the site. I'm anxious to see what else is out there. I suppose mash ups are just starting to gain popularity because according to the discussion boards, many people had never heard of them.

Also, I did start filling out my Action Learning Project Planning tool worksheet today. I like the way these sheets help you think through the process. It allows me to break my project into steps so that it doesn't seem so overwhelming. I do need to get started as soon as possible. I still do not know what software I want to present to the faculty. So far, the sessions that Mrs. Jones present only last approximately 20 minutes each. She is presenting tomorrow on Destiny Quest (how to use the new library online catalog). However, I will not be able to attend because the 6th grade is going on a field trip to the Renaissance Festival. I'm planning on going to next Tuesday's lesson so that I can see how she presents this material to the teachers. I will hopefully gain some understanding of what I will need to research and how I should present.

Technology Tuesday is in the Works!

I recently met with the Media Advisory Committee again (last week) and Mrs. Jones told me that I was welcome to present a workshop on any topic I was interested in. The only problem is that I'll need to research and learn all about the technology first. There isn't really any software program that I'm completely comfortable with (and I'm certainly not ready to share it with my colleagues yet). For tomorrow's technology Tuesday, she is going to talk about the use of a device / program called Weatherbug. This device is used to predict weather and storm patterns. It gauges the temperature, barometric pressure, etc. I believe it also collects the data it sends to some local weather broadcasting stations. It's a pretty neat device. I would love to sit in on this workshop, but I have class this Tuesday. I'm so amazed that Mrs. Jones knows all about all the technology in the school. I can't wait to get to that point myself. I've always been interested in technology and I would love to gain the knowledge necessary to troubleshoot problems and educate patrons about the hardware and software that we have available to us.

My next project is completing the forms that we are supposed to have completed by next class. I need to get the timeline completed and lay out some deadlines for myself, because right now it seems like a pretty overwhelming project (especially when I have seemingly 4 or 5 other projects due before the end of the semester).

I'll let you know how it goes. I'll keep you posted on what workshop(s) I decide to present for the faculty. I also still need to get the Principal's approval to do that, but I don't foresee that being a problem. Wish me luck!