SMART Recertification

SMART Training Re-certification Video
Joy Sietsema - Forest Lake Elementary
jsietsema@forestlake.k12.mn.us
408 4th Street SW
Forest Lake, MN 55025

Thing 23

Wow - I did it! I was one of those who almost missed the registration deadline, but I'm so thankful I got in! Completing the 23 Things has required a lot of my time, but it was worth it. The lessons were explained so well, and directions were easy to follow. Thanks to all who were involved in creating these learning tasks! I'm hoping you will keep the directions online so we can refer back to them when we need to!

One of my favorites things was del.icio.us. I've known these sites were out there, but never took the time to find and use them. It's always so frustrating to go between my computer at home and at work and not have the same bookmarks - but that is no longer the case.

I also enjoyed all the tools for pictures and graphics. Now I need to get going on a new web page for school and incorporate all this "cool" stuff!

Hopefully I will continue to update my blog, check my googlereader, etc. I know it will take time to all sink in, but with persistence I will succeed!

Thanks again - this was a wonderful learning experience!

Thing 22 - Keeping Up

Keeping up - that's going to be the hardest part! There is always so much more to learn, and it's changing constantly. I'm going to do my best to keep adding to all the things I've started, and try to find more ways they can be used in an elementary media center. I think I need to set a specific day and time to intentionally check my sites, otherwise it will never get done. I don't want to lose what I've learned! Not all of the 23 things pertain to what I do, but I'm still glad I learned about them so I have at least an idea of what other people are talking about! I also want to take time to see how I can use all of this to explore some of my hobbies, not just my work.

Thing 21 - Social Networks

Once again, I am amazed at what is available to all of us! (I'm also finding that I am using some of the "Things" - I added some of these sites to my del.icio.us account!) I joined the 23 Things Ning and added the badge to my blog. I also visited a couple other sites. What's on My Bookshelf looks like an awesome site! What a great way to find others who want to trade books. I also went to the TeacherLibrarianNing. I was so excited to see a spot specifically for elementary media specialists! I'll have to keep an eye on that one.

I don't know that I'll ever start my own social network - but who knows? I've learned so much through these past few weeks that anything's possible!

Thing 20 - Facebook

I got my Facebook page created, but can tell I'm in the wrong generation for finding friends - nobody from my high school class, and only 4 others from my college class. Oy! I joined two groups - Librarians 2.0, and Librarians and Facebook. There were a couple others who wrote on those walls from 23 Things on a Stick, also. I was able to import my picture, but couldn't find a way to do it directly from Flickr. I need to do some more exploring to see if we can post some of those other fun applications that we learned about earlier!

It will be interesting to see ways libraries are actually using Facebook. I can see it for communication when you join a group, but is it being used in other ways? So much to explore!

Thing 19 - Podcasts

This was fun! I've heard about podcasts for so long, but have never taken the time to check them out. There is so much out there! I did a search (at podcast.com) for some podcasts of booktalks or author interviews, and found a great website at http://www.justonemorebook.com/index.php?s=jack+prelutsky

This particular link will take you to an interview with Jack Prelutsky, and talks of some of his books. I think students would love to be able to "tune in" to a podcast to hear about some books, rather than just reading the summary, or always listening to what I have to say. I'll have to look into it more, but if I could find a bunch that are already done, we could easily set up some links for students to go to. Making my own is also a possibility, but of course that requires the element of more time . . .

Thing 18 - YouTube part 2

I can see why people can spend so much time browsing through YouTube! There is so much there! I looked at some videos from some elementary libraries, and also looked at some handbell videos (part of my life outside of school). It would easy to get totally lost in time, and not get anything accomplished while going through this site. I was also amazed at how easy it was to post a video on my blog! Everything that I thought would take so much work is actually just a couple of clicks. I'm so thankful there are people out there who know how to make Web 2.0 easier for the rest of us!

I chose this Arthur video because it is something I could actually use in my teaching. My only question - what about copyrights? Would it be legal to show this to some of my classes without purchasing something? I realize a lot of the videos would be free, but since this has copyrighted characters, I have to wonder. Anybody have an answer?