Thing #10: Image Generators

First, let us celebrate...
My first double-digit Thing! WOO HOO!

I had to explore it in several sittings because this Thing overstimulated me like an espresso nightcap! So many options as far as what TYPE of image generator and then even more options within each one. Whew! I turned my son into Indiana Jones and created a National Geographic magazine cover with owls using the comic strip generator tool, and I put this mosaic together at Big Huge Labs simply by using Flickr tags.

Oh! And I created an irreverent little cartoon with Abe Lincoln asking for the location of the nearest Starbucks (comic strip generator). I won't share it, though. :-) I did notice that with the comic strip tool, many of the options weren't "kid-friendly."

These image generators are a great way for students to express themselves creatively on a variety of topics. It also requires them to sort/categorize, etc.

Thing #9: Useful Library-Related Blogs and News Feeds

Hahaha! You can tell I hadn't looked at Thing 9 when I posted about Thing 8, but what a great lead-in!

Well! I certainly found some "odd" blogs out there as I tried out the different blog and feed "finders." It makes the post at Cool Cat Teacher about choosing your circle of wise ones highly pertinent. Be sure to know what it is you're lookikng for in a blog, too!

I found bloglines and google blogs to be the most useful for me, perhaps because they both shot me directly to an uncluttered search page, whereas Topix and Technorati's home pages were filled with busy text and images. I felt as though I had to wade through all of that to find what I needed/wanted: the search function. It was a bit intimidating. Also, I think I have a form of ADD or something similiar (plain ole lack of focus, hmmm?)because if I end up at a page that showcases blogs or news sites, I'll get super side-tracked and forget what I was there for in the first place. I'm a marketer's dream. Hehe...

I also discovered that bloglines and google seemed better for finding blogs while Topix (I think...I'm a bit addlepated at this point) was better for finding individual blog entries that are relevant to your search.

I couldn't help but search for feeds related to my personal interests as well as my professonial ones, so I checked out some crochet blogs and even discovered The Crochet Dude! I don't mean to be sexist at all, but it IS unusual to find a man so dedicated to crochet and crafts that he'd have a blog.

I also searched my own name at these sites, and eek! Amazing what they brought up in the search results. I created several blogs as part of grad school classes, and posts from each of them, as well as this one, popped up. As you can tell from this blog, I'm not shy about putting my real name out there, especially since all my blogs have been a part of my professional realm, but bloggers who're more secretive, beware!

Thing #8: RSS Feeds and Readers

I've had a Google Reader account for a while now. I admit, it's nice to have all my "stuff" I want to keep up with in one place. However, sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I log in and there are 50+ new things. I feel obligated to read each and every one of them, yet I know I probably won't have the time to do it. If I could only bring myself to hit the "mark as read" button every once in a while, but...if it's there in front of me, I feel I have to read it. I could spend hours just reading blogs and news feeds. I know that some of you feel that Reader helps you LIMIT what you end up reading, but for me, it seems the opposite.

Personally, I can use it to keep up with crochet sites, history sites, my friends' blogs, and what's up-and-coming with all my favorite authors. Professionally, it helps me stay current in my field. I can see my students using it, too. Imagine they are studying a particular topic or skill for a long-term project. They could each find sites pertinent to their topic and create Google reader folders for it...keep track of what's new over time. I'd like to teach my students to use it for their own personal interests, too.

I have a question: Is there a blog directory out there? If I'm interested in American Civil War re-enacting, for instance...is there a place I can go and see all the blogs out there that pertain to that interest? It would be nice if there were, but if not, could a library set up readers for the areas that interest their patrons?

Thing #7: Cool Google Tools

Cool Google Tools....have any of you tried SAYING that out loud? If you're successful, try saying it three times in a row without ending up with your tongue in a knot. Now on to the serious stuff:

Wow! Who knew there was more to "googling" than just simple searching? I have to admit that this is something I played around with the last time I tried 23 Things, but I only got as far as Google Documents and Google Calendar. I could spend another week checking out all the other great things Google has to offer.

First, in terms of the "simple" search, are all the little shortcuts and tricks. For example, type "define: beauty" to get a list of definitions for the word beauty from different websites. Searching has become so complicated, I think all students should have a class in just SEARCHING. It's the basis of about everything we do on the Internet, and yet so few REALLY know how to do it. Not many even understand how search terms work.

Google Documents: What's great about Google Documents is that your work is web-based so it can be accessed from anywhere. Recently, my fifth grade son was working on a big project at school that involved a text document. He needed to work on it at home, but barring my buying him his own flash drive (which I'm sure he'd promptly lose), he had no way to get his file from school to his home computer. The school district (not SBISD) wouldn't let him use his yahoo email to email the file to himself. If only his work had been done in Google Docs....(I suggested to the teacher that he could copy and paste his work into Google Docs, but she told me in no uncertain terms that she knew nothing of it and that was the end of the matter. I ended up buying him a flashdrive, but what about those who can't afford to go out and buy things like that spur of the moment?)

And don't forget Google Earth. It's another way for students to gain map skills, but more interesting. It's more concrete, and can really show them the relationship between continents, countries, states, cities, neighborhoods, streets, and so on. Our SIS has even used it to illustrate writing concepts, such as narrowing a topic or even the idea of details and exploding the moment.

And that's just a few things Google has to offer!

Back on the Playground

I ended up taking a time-out last time because I was so bogged down with other committments...such as work, family, and 6 semester hours of grad school. But I'm back and ready to play!

Here's a summary of what I did the last time I played:

Thing 5: Flickr

Flickr is a photo-sharing site where people can upload, store, and share (if they want) their digital photos. I got a little peeved that I couldn't transfer MY personal photos from another photo-sharing site, but the personal uses are not really important here. The important thing is that Flickr gives people a library of photos to choose from for various purposes and projects. I'm still a little confused about what I can use and what I can't, though, despite the explanations in Flickr Creative Commons. I created a Memorial Day Tribute Animoto using Flickr photos, but I'm hesitant to post it anywhere for fear I've misunderstood the copyright rules on the photos.

Thing 6: Mashups, etc.

Mashups take two applications and "mash" them together to create a new application. For example, combine Flickr with Googe Maps and get an application that track photos by where they were taken.

Now on to Thing Seven.