551.72 Snowflakes: Generate you Own Pile

Those of you who live with snow day in and day out for several months a year...forgive me. One more fun activity generated by the excitement of our recent snowfall.

Make-a-snowflake image generator. Use virtual scissors to cut out your own creation from a piece of virtual paper...and no mess to clean up! Possibly the cleverest part of the whole activity is watching the computer take the "paper" and magically fold it for perfect snowflake cutting! ( Hey, simple pleasures...what can I say!)

You save them or upload to the gallery...which contains thousands and thousands of entries. That is my one contribution at the top of the post. And below is an Animoto slideshow where I pulled samples from the gallery for your viewing pleasure.

551.57 Snow: A Surprise Visitor

The weatherman kept saying it might happen...and it did! Snow fell within the city limits of Houston today...the first time in over 4 years!


It was a major news event all day...and caused all kinds of excitement...it actually feels like Christmas around here! (as opposed to the feeling one gets in December when you are STILL swatting mosquitoes.)

It was a good feeling...my old dog Mr. C was actually frisky after walking today...another new neighbor and I met each other for the first time and actually stood out on the sidewalk and let the flakes accumulate on our jackets as we exchanged our first neighborly tidbits...it brought out the bloggers around here and here as well!

But the WEIRDEST part of it all (and the main reason I ended up posting) is I hit (literally) on this YouTube video THIS EVENING by accident...it was fate! Enjoy!

Pretty cool, isn't it?...and I'm somebody who just doesn't "get" spreadsheets at all...I admittedly have "spreadsheet" envy on something like this!

P.S. I hope this bit of winter weather wonderland doesn't create a mess in the morning for all the drivers!

[Video from the Google Collaborative Spreadsheet Art collection on YouTube converted by Zamzar so it will be visible in district]

006.6 Dumpr: TOO Much Fun!

I have records open on my desktop that I SHOULD be cataloging, but I am taking a few minutes of virtual hookey time to show you Dumpr. Maybe it is not new to you and maybe you are not hooked on image generators as I am, but this one is pretty cool, ridiculously simple, very fast...and mostly FREE...the best kind!

I pulled up an old picture of a friend...those of you who have been in some of our department's staff development will recognize him! Look at all the things I can do to him.

Some of the things on the site do cost $$, but are marked pro so it is easy to tell. They can be saved, printed, uploaded to Flickr, or embedded almost anywhere in the 2.0 world you can think of!

Ok, ok, ok...I gotta get back to my cataloging. Go have fun!

P.S. The squishy one is really fun...you do the squishing. You HAVE to do that one at least!

953.63 Qatar or Bust: Community Effort

Since the inception of our Library2Play 23 Things professional development almost a year ago, there have been many players who have embraced the 2.0 world and given their students new keys to learning.

One such player is Estie Cuellar, a CATE teacher in our district in Houston, TX. From her culminating comments about the 23 Things adventures:
"I have become proactive in seeking out and learning new technologies that will help me grow as a teacher professional and affect positively the lives of my students."

She has done this thru many things:
"Kids today are in sync with technology...it's practically in their DNA. They are proficient multi-taskers. They cannot be reached in a one-dimensional classroom. I understand this.... The vast majority of my lessons are interactive. I play music in my classroom everyday. I make sure that my students conduct Internet research and complete online activities. This year, I will incorporate blogging to replace notebook journals as the students' reflection piece after completing lessons."

She also created a TeacherTube video about her teaching:



Estie has a group of students who have been particpating in the Flat Classroom Project this Fall. In this adventure the students have been working with students around the world on various topics. It is now time for these students to come together with their global peers. The meeting is to be held in Qatar in January.

These nine students need YOUR help. It is going to cost $20,000 for the students and their teacher to make the trip. These students can not do it alone. The Spring Branch Foundation has set up an account for donations towards this life-changing trip for these students.

If you would like to see more that Estie has done, please go to her wiki and blog.

Here is the Qatar Conference blog she and the students have created to talk about the summit and their plans...and needs! The students rap:

[converted from a YouTube video to a wmv file by ZamZar]

On the blog page is a form for contributing to their trip. You can contribute by check made out to the Spring Branch ISD Foundation or use a credit card as well. I chose to write a check.

This is a tough time of year to be asking for funds...especially this year in our community. Many folks are recovering from IKE in our area and are facing the national financial crisis in many ways. Plus the holidays are fast approaching and we all have obligations in that area as well. But please, if you can, help these kids. They deserve to go as much as any other member of the project.

Please consider leaving off that extra fancy coffee or two...take peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a couple of times for lunch rather than doing take out. Reach down in the sofa cushions or shake some coins outta that change jar on your dresser. Please.

Bloggers are known for creating community. Please widen the circle a little today and include Estie and her students. Please put a little money where your keyboard is. 'Tis the season!

398.2 It's Santa Time!

Happy Christmas to all!

The Animoto guys have added some fun Christmas music and made it possible for you to send your creations as holiday greetings directly to family and friends. Check out the fun!

P.S. The photos in this one all came from Microsoft clipart.

973.932 The Next Step in History

A recent event caused the need for a new Dewey Classification number - 973.932.

It is a fine tuning of a much broader view found in 973.93 and will go into effect soon.

Can you determine how these numbers are related?
973.931
973.929
973.928
973.927

Care to make a guess in a comment? Bonus points for the exact date!

Our catalog won't help too much because of our "rule" for the benefit of our patrons, but our friends at Houston Public Library (any public library actually) can provide sources for your research!

If you want to take the easy way out and peek, you can go here for the answer to the first part. The other pieces should then fall into place just like a nice stack of dominoes

Who said cataloging can't be fun?!

371.33 Blog Anniversary: Two Years and Counting...

This blog is two years old this holiday weekend. I am fast running out of time to meet the anny deadline, but I am getting it started and will write on it a bit all day as I shoe-horn it in between life in general and the list I set for myself over this long weekend!

I am proud that it exists and that it is two years and counting. In the past I was not comfortable with my writing and very little exits, but this does...mostly because I could write down thoughts to be "used" by others. In my mind that makes it possible to accomplish because it is (hopefully) for the benefit of others.

There is very little original thought here. I simply report what I find or that others share with me (and thousands of others.) One of the BEST things about the online world...the possibility of sharing!

This second year has been a busy one. My team and I came across the 23 Things phenomena that has been making the rounds so we created our own version and have conducted it twice...so far! The first go-round of Library2Play included about half of our campus librarians, a few district teachers, an administrator, and a few brave souls from around the state who heard about it thru the Internet grapevine. THEN we repeated it in the summer...where we were joined by 300 district librarians, teachers, and several administrators along with educators from a wider state circle and 3 other states! What a terrific experience these encounters were and continue to be...several participants have kept their blogs active and share their online adventures with all of us.

I got to attend NECC this year, basically because it was right down I-10 in San Antonio and I went to the EduBloggers' thing the Saturday before the official conference began. I got to be in the same room with SO many of the bloggers who I have admired from afar...it was a BLAST!! It was THE highpoint of this two-year experience. And the rest of the conference was an adventure itself!

And yes, I do consider myself a part (a tiny part, but a part nevertheless) of the revolution in learning!

And of course, there was that little event in December which gave me an opportunity to visit a bit in Second Life...all of it... from the "surprise" beginning to the virtual world visit was so surreal.

I have gotten to meet so many wonderful people thru the blog...first establishing a relationship online and then thru events like TLA Conference, NECC and staff development trainings, I have had opportunities for face-to-face encounters. Several have become long-distance friends now. The blog will also be the vehicle to keep up with one special friend who been transplanted east...WAY east. I will get to see her sing and dance and watch her grow! O, yeah and keep up with her mom, too! :-)

Animoto remains my favorite tool...not necessarily the most effective or efficient tool in my toolbox, but it is so fun...and gets better and better! I couldn't live without my Reader, my various wikis that I have created to park various bits of info and Google Docs. Most of it all relates back to my blogging experiences in some form or fashion.

Now we are trying to experience FAceBook from an educator's point of view and how we can help students use it properly and safely. I'm a bit behind the circle with this particular social networking tool because it's just a tad too much for me...tends to be too "up close and personal," but I have put it on my list...and yes, that includes going thru the long list of friends-in-waiting!

And games... we are trying to show how games of all kinds belong in the library and the educational plans of our kids today. I love the Wii...bowling is my favorite right now, but gosh, every time I turn around TV shows us something new! I spent a fun afternoon recently watching kids fool around with Guitar Hero...how fun it was! Card games, board games, online games...they all belong. Watch...I'll be writing about some as time goes by.

Both personal and professional things took time away from my blogging fun. I hope to get things back on track and keep up a little better and a little more regularly. Looking forward to what awaits. Hope you will continue to check in and keep the conversation going.

Here's to Three!

005.2 Animoto: In a Word or Two, the Fun Continues

My favorite fun just gets better and better!

The folks at Animoto recently added the capability of adding text to your creations.
It does cost you a picture here and there if you are using the free 30-second version, but you can solve that by either paying the 30 bucks a year for longer ones or going after the educational "scholarship."

A few days before that, they added a preview feature so that you can look at the details of your pictures while in the design stage. A nice feature...especially if you are trying to decide which one or two has to go to make room for the text.

And now they are teasing that December 2nd holds another new feature...

Here is my not-so-great first attempt to use the text feature. The pictures are just pictures, but I will find another reason to use the catchy litte tune again!

759.4 Can You Picasso? ANOTHER Fun Generator

I just love the adventure of the Internet! Especially when one of the guides leads you to something as fun as creating your own Picasso-like drawing! Go have some fun with Mr. PicassoHead. You are viewing my results.

You can send your creations to others (or yourself.) You can post in the site's gallery. There are only 790,000+ images...created since 2003!

To capture it, you will have to use that magic "print screen" key and an old friend like a PPT screen. (at least that's how I manage it.)

'Tis the Season to be Thankful

I'm going to take a few minutes and write a very personal post. You won't learn anything new...except that I have many reasons to be thankful this holiday season.

I am healthy...crippled, yes, but basically healthy. Stairs are a nightmare, but mostly it's my own fault. Didn't do some things I probably should have and did some things I shouldn't have done at all...hauling huge loads of books AND TVs upstairs...by-my-self!!

I have a pretty new-to-me little treehouse that is all mine. I can paint it whatever color I want and put as many nail holes into it I want. If I could just find the last few cubby holes for a few more treasures, then it would be perfect. I really did get rid of lots of stuff...I really did, I promise. That is my goal for the break...the top of the dining room table will be clear and the door to the study will open all the way.

My family basically had two birthday seasons a year and the Thanksgiving turkey often shared the table with a birthday cake or terrible rendition of the birthday song. always added an interesting twist to the holiday. (In case you were wondering, the other season involved a bunny and lots of eggs.)

November has also become a season of remembering. My mom has been gone almost a year. It's hard to believe it's been a year and just how much I missed her. Crazy as it sounds, I think baseball season was actually the hardest time...and the series just came and went. It just wasn't the same...my mom loved baseball. My niece and nephew lost their mom a few years ago this month as well...they are great kids and my brother is a super parent, but I know this time in November holds many thoughts of the way things were for them all as well.

Today my baby brother would have been 53 under normal circumstances. But he left us when he was only 29. I miss him as much today as I did the first day that terrible day in July so long ago. His son missed a lot. He was one of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever know but I think I miss laughing at his stories the most. He could make me laugh SO hard it hurt.

I am thankful these people were in my life...for a little while or a lifetime.

I am lucky to have two great kids...they drive me crazy at all the appropriate times that kids do...even now that they are grown women, but I love them to pieces and to the very bottom of my heart.

My family, crazy as they are, are mine and I love them all...and all their craziness! I definitely belong to the right family!

I have a fun and interesting job that just brings all kinds of adventures to my little world. I have done lots of fun and interesting "stuff" (ok--yes, there have a been a few boring moments, but just a few.) I have learned a lot and found some new friends in new and different ways!

So my family, my friends, my work, my home...my peaceful life.
I THANK my lucky stars I'm me!