Thing #23 Yahooooooo!

Yippee! This is it. Thing 23! Shazam!
Here's what I think:
1. My favorite thing has to be this blog. What a great way to keep track of what has been accomplished and it's fun, too. I have also enjoyed reading other people's blogs. I enjoyed the library thing, too!
2. As far as life long learning goals, I would say this program has given me so much confidence with my computer skills. Am I a computer expert? Not at all, but I am much further down the computer road than I was when I started. Would I take another computer class like this? You bet. I really don't like the group computer class mentality. I am ALWAYS one of the people on step 1 in the class when everyone else is on step 13. I liked doing this at on my own time at my own speed. Plus, my eyes start to glaze over the minute someone mentions VPN's and USB ports.
3. Surprises? Take aways? I am overwhelmed with all the fancy stuff I can do! Me? With a blog? Me have a blog with an embedded video from YouTube? I didn't know what a podcast was last week and now I can whip you up one. (I might need 3 days and my husband might divorce me, but I can podcast, baby!)
4. One suggestion for improvement would be to include other examples of websites, blogs, etc., that have a broader interest to all educators. We all love our librarians, and I know this course was intended for them, but a little variety in the examples woul be nice. The only other thing that could have made this better would have been some complimentary snacks and drinks like we have at workshops at the ad. bldg. Maybe you guys could have a surprise snack squad that travels around and passes out snacks when you see us working online. Come on...that would be fun!!!
5. Yes, indeed I would do this type of course again. (especially if you take me up on the surprise snack squad!)
6. Library 2Play is a refreshing and easy way to learn alot of impressive tools you can use in real life on your computer!
So...this is it! I hope to keep on bloggin' from time to time..and MAYBE I can get the elementary counselor posse to jump on this blogging bandwagon. I have enjoyed almost every minute on the playground.
What fun! I am available for consultations on podcasts, but only if you really have no idea what you are doing. I would add my blog URL to my e-mail signature line if you offer another course on how to do it!!! (can someone walk me through it??)

Thing #22

I am having technical difficulties with Thing 21 so please stand by...my microphone doesn't work. (Jimbo found out it was broken and is trying to fix it. Not a good thing!)
So on to the Ning Thing! Another great idea. I looked at the library ning and the teacher ning...is there a counselor ning? I saw a ning for ESL teachers, another one for adminstrators, and yet another for special education teachers. You know what? I am perfectly fine without a counselor ning. Really. I did find some interesting stuff on teacherlingo, the teacher ning. One thing I have learned in all these "things" is that if you keep clicking, you will finally find something that interests you. I found a blog or two dealing with autism, which could be very beneficial to parents and teachers. I also found it interesting to read teacher blogs from all over the great U.S. of A and see that we are all dealing with similar issues. (isn't that what a ning is all about?)
Now, let me get back to that broken microphone....

Thing #21

Whoa, Nelly! This is a VERY advanced "thing"! It took me 3 days and the entire Birdsong clan working together to make this podcast dream come true. My oldest son would not participate in the podcast. He was on his last good nerve about 3 hours ago when I finally figured out the Audacity thing. The Birdsong crew was also very supportive with the microphone crisis. 1st we had a microphone that would not work, then we found a new one, then I put it down somewhere and couldn't find it for 2 days. Where was it? In the laptop suitcase!
The beauty of this whole "thing" is that I did it, even if the whole family had to help. Could I make another podcast? You know, I think I could. I think I've taken Audacity to places it's never been before and maybe we both learned something. I also know that both Louis and Thomas Birdsong now know how to make a podcast too, so we all learned something.
I am pretty proud of myself that I got this "thing" done. Find a comfortable chair to listen to....
My podcast

Thing #20

Yahoo! I am on "Thing #20" and I know what I am doing! Pinch me so I know I am not dreaming! TeacherTube is a great teaching tool. I found several videos I really liked and will check back on this site frequently to see what's new. Instead of searching for library or librarians on YouTube I decided to see what kinds of treasures I would find if I typed in "counselor". Holy Toledo! Let me just say there are LOTS of people out there who aren't very happy with their school counselors and are delighted to make a video about it with many complaints. I am 100% sure none of the complaints are about SBISD counselors. Every one of us is 100%NORMAL.
Now for the piece de resisitance. I am going to embed my FAVORITE video I found on TeacherTube. It's magnificent....I am going to figure out a way to put this video in a guidance lesson next year and I am going to sing along with ol' Billy Joel.

Thing #19

I am on a winning streak with the last 2 "things". On thing 19, I see some stuff I know. I saw my old pal, http://www.librarything.com/ What is special about the Web 2.0 awards page is that there are so many useful websites all on one page. What I could see as being useful in the school setting would be the books, news and blogs, maps, collaborative writing, and word processing. As for me, I am still searching for how to use all these resources in the counseling world. Now, I am sure I could use some of the information found in the education group. I am not sure how reliable the question and advice section would be. I checked in to some of the websites in the "q and a" group and there was such a variety! http://answers.yahoo.com/ had some great insight regarding how to get over fear of thunderstorms, but I am not sure where the advice came from. Some of the other websites in the "q and a" category were about solving computer problems...now, that might come in handy for "not so computer savvy" me!

Thing #18

Eureka! I am a happy library playround camper again. While the rollyo "thing' sent me straight to a bottle of aspirin, I completely understand this "thing" and will use it. I watched the You Tube video (I do like those videos!) and have signed up for the Google docs. I can think of two ways I will use the google docs this year. Another staff member and I coordinate all the volunteers on our campus. We are forever updating volunteer data on several excel spreadsheets via many e-mails with lots of enclosures. I will share the google doc information with her and our volunteer job will become much easier. Another way I will use the information learned in this "thing" will be similar to the example used in the You Tube video. We have a school newspaper. Our school secretary is responsible for reminding everyone to turn in their articles and the articles also have to be translated. If I can get everyone on the Google Docs train, our newspaper jobs will also become a breeze. We can take care of lots of jobs at the same time without 33 e-mails back and forth.
I am officially letting go off my rollyo frustrations. I have found my computer nirvana for today in Google docs.

Thing #17

Rollyo. Another snappy idea. All the places on the web you go to all the time, now centrally located in one special place, on your own search engine. I appreciate the idea, I really do...but here is the problem. How many passwords, usernames and other things can one person remember? How many websites can we belong to? I think this is a super idea for someone who searches lots of search engines all day long. Me? If I need info from webmd.org, I just type it in and go there. It takes me less than 5 seconds to type the website address in and I don't have to remember a username or password. I do see how rollyo may be benenficial to some people (and maybe one day that someone might be me) but for now rollyo just doesn't do it for me.

Remember that cute commercial a few years ago that showed this very tired guy on a computer and the computer says. "You have reached the end of the internet. Please go back." Today, I feel like I'm there.

I did create my own search engine at Rollyo and I promise I will use it at least 10 times next year. judybsongssearch

Thing #16

Hurray for wiki's! What a great idea. You don't know how many times "us counselor people" will have questions about different things. Take for example, the dreaded gifted and talented screening. Some sweet person will have a question about something and will send out an e-mail to all the counselors. Within a few minutes, several counselors will have responded with their interpretation of the correct answer. Now, if we could figure out some way to "wiki" the answer, we would have a variety of answers in the same place all on one document. (and there is where I am confused....how do you get a wiki started in the first place? I get the "save" and "edit" business. I don't get how you get the original "wiki" started. I must have missed that somewhere!)
Again, today, I had problems watching the video. The video kept stopping and starting all over from the beginning..frustrating.
I did like Thing 16. I am a big wikipedia fan. My boys use wikipedia all the time. I am so "computer with it" I can hardly stand it. I have come a LONG way from Thing #1!!!!
Let me find some blogs to comment on!

Thing #15

I LOVED the video in this "thing". So true, so real, so with it! As the parent of a 16 year old I am amazed by the amount of time and the expertise he has on the computer. This year, the 16 year old did the dreaded sophmore research project. He spent countless hours writing information on index cards. I said, "I remember doing the same thing when I was in high school." He said, "That just goes to show we should have stopped using index cards a LONG time ago!" I guess he was saying that the old fashioned way of doing things just doesn't make sense. Here he was all over the computer with countless ways to find research on his topic, stopping to write down information on an index card. He said, "Why am I having to write this fact down when I have it at my fingertips with the click of this mouse?"
I read a few articles about "Library 2.0" I see that the future of our libraries is all about keeping current with up-to-the-minute changes in computer technology. I also think there has to be a balance between new and old. In one of the articles "Away from Icebergs", the writer suggests one day soon libraries might not need books because they will be available on the web. While I know that won't happen any time soon, I just can't think about it. One of the things I love about libraries is the "community of books". I love checking out a well-loved and well-used book that has been enjoyed by so many others. Libraries have always been about community building. I know that will always continue no matter how computer savvy we become.

Thing #14

As usual I am a little overwhelmed. I guess I understand the point of Technorati is organzing blogs, tags, etc.,. I looked up "School Library Learning 2.O" at the various places and found the same thing, so I guess I am looking it up correctly. I also spent some time "exploring popular blogs, searches, and tags"and I did not find one surprising thing. I think I am on overload, there is just so much information everywhere..it is mind boggling! What have I learned? I know that tagging is a quick way to organize and update information. I also think I am one of those people who are just not in to knowing everything there is to know about computers. If I need to know something and it will help me with my job I am all about it. I have learned quite a bit "on the playground" and hope that at some point I will be able to say, "let me go to Technorati and get the answer!" I will let you know when that happens.
I am still on cloud 9 because I figured out how to use Filemaker Pro this year for the gifted and talented screening. Technorati...here I come!
One last thing, I was not able to view the video....I got a screen that said "access denied!" Did that happen to anyone else?

Thing #13

del.icio.us is addictive. I was planning to get Thing 13 done fast. I started looking at different tags on del.icio.us and Magnolia and next thing I knew 2 hours had gone by. I like del.icio.us better than Magnolia and Furl. Not sure why I do, but something about Magnolia seems very social rather than professional and Furl just sounds too much like hurl.
Now here is another ding-dong question from me. Does the word del.icio.us mean something? I hate in when the "in" computer crowd throws terms around that mean something and I don't know it (like VPN, for example) So does delicious mean something? WHAT IS IT?
While I'm venting...here's another thing on my mind. I am a little concerned that all this technology is addictive and can take over your whole day. I was out of town this weekend and missed the whole sad story on Tim Russert. So, I decided to look up some info using this delicious business. Like I said, 2 hours and one box of tissues later and where did the time go?
I can see how some of our less than dedicated teachers will discover all these wonderful tools available to them and they will spend more time on the computer than ever.
I can see how using this type of tagging or bookmarking can be useful for me. I can also see that once you get going with this you can see what other people have tagged to get even more info.
The possibilities are endless.
And I do know it is all about using your time wisely. You have to manage your own computer time.
Now on to Thing #14!

Thing #12

Great articles on the etiquette of commenting on blogs. Everything I read made such good sense. Two things that caught my attention and were mentioned in several of the articles were: it's just not nice to write mean comments and make sure your comments are specific.
You know what? I think my 2nd favorite thing in this whole "Playground' journey has been commenting on other SBISD people's blogs. I loved it. I have looked at a few blogs along the way but was hesitant to make comments. This "thing" was helpful in giving me the push I needed to "blog comment." I also think that once you have made your 1st official blog comment it becomes much easier.
I also posted comments on 2 blog sites outside of the SBISD playground. Both of these blog sites I found from the "Cool Cat". What drew me to these blogs was the titles of the blogs. And yes, in case you are wondering, I did check in on the teacher who is trying to decide about a crown for her broken tooth. I promise to keep you posted.

Thing #11

Hallelujah! Hurray! I love http://librarything.com! I love it! I especially loved that I figured the whole thing out all by myself! Hurray! I signed up, logged in, and added lots of books to my profile. I am a member of the Book Club Chicks (or Babes, depending on what kind of mood we are in) and have been wanting to keep a list of all the books we have read over the years.
Wa-la! I've started keeping track of our books.
I was so excited about how simple this Thing was I forgot to check out some of the groups.
I will do that later.
I am crossing my fingers there will be more Things like this to come.
How will I use this at Sherwood? Well, I will add all the educational books I read (like the one I am reading now, Conscious Discipline) in my Library Thing list.
After my hours of working on that stinkin' cartoon, I feel so much better!
Adios!

Thing #10

I made a cartoon using Custom Sign Generator. I enjoyed it for a minute. I found lots of funny cartoons. It was fun playing around with different cartoon characters. I got goofed up (again) when I thought I had saved the message and it disappeared. Somehow or other I found irfanview or should I say it found me??? I'm not sure what Irfanview is about..(and what's the deal with the red cat?) but my crazy hubby is impressed. How can I use this technology with my students next year? Again, another wonderful way to give students some time to calm down or reflect on an issue before we talk.
Here is my cartoon...and yes, a sweet student did call me Mrs. Birdsauce this year!

Thing #9

I am about blogged out. I did subscribe to a couple more blogs. The 2 feeds I found easiest to use were Google and believe it or not, I used the "how to find your circle of wise" to find a few interesting blogs. The easiest Search tool was Google. I did get confused alot. It doesn't seem that are many counseling blogs. Maybe I should start one? When I searched for counseling blogs, most of the time I found school district websites who were looking for counselors. I am now officially signed up for Mike Falick's blog, which I think might be useful. I also found some teacher's blog which was all about the teacher trying to decide if she should pay $500 to get a crown on her chipped tooth. I can't wait to see what happens at her appointment next Monday.
These blogs are addictive!!

Thing #8

RSS feeds...Oh me! Oh my! I now have a google reader account. I did sign up for 5 blog sites. I think 5 is too many. Between checking my home and school e-mail, figuring out how to use my new school lap top (we got our laptops in May!), and getting busy on my 23 things, I hardly have time to do the laundry! (Rats!)
I like the fact that you have up-to-the-minute information. Like I learned in the RSS tutorials, the beauty of the RSS feeds is that the information comes to you rather than you searching for the info. I am not sure how I can use this technology at work. I did not have much luck tracking down RSS feeds that have to do with counseling. I will keep looking. I will use the sports info on one of my feeds to talk sports with the Birdsong boys.
I could see how the RSS feeds would be helpful in libraries...another source of information for students and staff. Marvelous!
What will we learn on the playground next? I just can't wait. Really!

Thing #7

I am now all about Google-ing! My crazy husband, Jim, has been after me for months to use the Google calendar. I like the old fashioned way of writing things on the kitchen calendar. As of a few minutes ago, all the Birdsong activities for this week are on the Google calendar. I will say I am exhausted all ready just thinking of all the stuff on the calendar. I know there will be more activities added as the week goes on, but it would be nice (and make life easier) to be able to check the "home" calendar at school next year. The Google calendar will also make it easier to argue with my husband when he says "I didn't know you were going to Thomas' football practice and I was suppose to pick up Louis at Spring Forest!" I will be able to say "You should have checked the Google Calendar!" And again, I can see how the Google calendar will help me stay on top of my game when it's time to head back to work.
I will use the Google Scholar in working with students at school next year. I fooled around with it today and got some great information on childhood depression, test-taking anxiety, and childhood eating disorders. It's nice to have valuable information at your fingertips when you need it.

Thing #6

Mashups....I get it but I don't. I visited several mashup sites. I would have to say I liked the Mappr mashup site best. Here is what I don't get...I looked on the Mappr site and found a map of Alaska. I figured if I clicked on the pictures of the different photos I would get some info on what I was looking at.

Maybe I have come up with another idea for a double mashup!

I made a trading card. Now what do I do with it?

Thing #5 Remix

O.K. I goofed. Don't know how I did it, but my Flickr picture ended up in the wrong place.

Here is my Flickr relaxing picture and I am going to leave the same picture over there on the bottom left of my blog...

Now, just relax and enjoy.

Thing #5

So, now I know about Flickr. I like it! I can see how I could use it with students who come see me for counseling. I could use Flickr to help students show me how they are feeling or they could find a Flickr picture that might help them relax. The Flickr picture I chose is very relaxing. It might be helpful to look at this picture before next year's Benchmark and TAK's

Thing #3

I loved setting up my own blog. It was fun thinking up a blog name and getting the blog address. The avatar activity was OK. I am a kind of "no frills" computer person. I have never been a person that just plays around on the computer for fun. I have too much laundry to do!!!
Yes, the avatar is cute, but to be honest, I still can't figure out how to change the hair color.
On to the next thing!

Thing #2

Hmm...after seeing the 7 1/2 habits, I would have to say the hardest thing for me will be having confidence in myself nad know that I can do it. (especially anything to do with computers and technology!)
The easiest thing for me will be to "begin with the end in mind". I am hoping by learning 23 new computer skills I become a real computer chick and get my non-contract hours without leaving home!