Back to School

Hello Students!

For those of you returning to McReynolds this year, you will see lots of changes so prepare yourselves now! Teachers are here at the school preparing our classrooms. If you want to volunteer your time to help out sometime this week, send me an email to polkroberts.ela6@gmail.com or leave a comment.

Thing #23: My Thoughts of Twenty-Three Things

And it's a wrap... 23 Things has been an overall enjoyment.

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

My favorite exercise was the online image generators. The posssibilities are endless.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

It has broaded my perception of how intergreal technology is to the 21st century classroom.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I was surprised that I was familiar with many of the online explorations.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

Please, PLEASE, PLEASE have the links open the website in a new window. It was very frustrating to have to constantly renavigate to the Library2Play website.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?

Yes, I would love to participate. It was very beneficial to work through the explorations independently.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?

Twenty-Three Things is a tremendous technology treasure hunt!

Thing #22: Nings

Discovery: Go to either one of the Nings above or find one that intrests you and look at the different features and options then write a blog post about what you think a Ning would be good for and how you might use it.


The Houston Association of School Librarians is a ning network that I am already familiar with. This is an online network that connects librarians and future librarians.

A Ning would be a great online tool for my library. I tried using Shelfari to create a sense of an online book-community but depending on the complexity of creating a Ning, this could be an alternative. I could use this site to publicize and organize library programming. There are pages for members to join, to post events, share photos and videos, and a discussion forum. This is different that a blog because members are more interactive in creating the digital community.

Thing #21: Podcasts and videocasts

I love using teacher-created and student-created podcasts and vidcasts for educational purposes. This makes reporting more fun and interesting (as opposed to just writing something on paper). Podcasts and vidcasts will engage our 21 Century Learners.

Thing #20: Explore YouTube And TeacherTube

Write a post for Thing #20 about your video finds and the value of having access to so many video resources. Embed at least one of the videos you selected into your post.

The YouTube video is about how technology can help motivate students to learn. The TeacherTube video is about teacher-librarian collaboration. Having so many videos at my fingertips is a valueable resource. Of course, the issues rise when certain sites are blocked in certain districts. I learned that I can Zamzar, but I haven't explored it yet.

Thing #19: Web 2.0 Awards List

Write a blog post for Thing #19 about your findings. Consider these questions when organizing your thoughts. What is special about the tool? What are its useful parts, especially with regards to Libraries and school? How might you use this tool in your own setting?

The online tool I explored was ZoHo for organization. Wow! This tool is overwhelming and has a ton to offer the users. I was just in awe...where should I start? I first wanted to try out Backpack but all their packages had fees attached. ZoHo is free for personal (noncomercial) use. As a Librarian, I would use this tool to help me with my collaboration efforts with other teachers. Just take a look at what it offers: