Thing 3: RSS feeds, Home Page, Readers

I signed up for Google Reader then went crazy adding Feeds. I really like the idea the Denver Public Library uses for RSS for Book Reviews. I subscribed to Diigo---CoolToolsforSchools, Diigo In Education, Adventures of Library Girl, Edutopia, OLAS jobs, Reading Rockets, Free Technology for Teachers, and my local newspaper. I probably will not be able to keep up with reading all of the information I get from all of them, but I know how to unsubscribe now. I plan on using the RSS feeds personally and professionally, and even set up two folders for my feeds to be organized into. I came across Adventures of Library Girl through the link for the Salem Press Blog Awards. I plan on looking through her presentations at some point. Free Technology for Teachers may give me some new ideas to share with the teachers at my school. I like that Googlereader is accessed right from my Google home page where I get my email and docs. I also like that it has a button for "new items" to grab my attention. I also like that there is a link to recommended items related to the feeds I already have. I plan to use the Rss feeds to stay abreast of new technology, updates on the Common Core State standards, and book reviews. I am going to look into using a RSS feed in my library to link to book reviews the students write. I logged into Gale and EBSCO, but did not see the RSS button to add those databases to my feeds. I even searched a topic thinking I needed to be in an actual article to share it, but the RSS symbol is not one of the "share" options.

Thing 2: Online Communities and PLN's

I have read through the course information and some of the links including Classroom 2.0 and MightyBell, and joined the SLS School Tools FB Group. I find it interesting that schools are using Teacher/Librarian Facebook accounts to communicate with students. Our school District has opted to use Edmodo, which is like Facebook for schools. Until now, I really did not care to have any part of Twitter.I have joined other Social networking groups such as Pininterest, LinkedIn and Facebook, but the only one I keep current with is FB. I looked through 35 ways to build my personal learning network, and I did join Classroom 2.0 after reading the BYOT discussion thread. Our school is running a Pilot BYOD program after the first of the year, so I am always interested to see how other schools are doing this. I also joined MightyBell because I am hoping to start a library book club next year. Even after reading "For Newbies: Just Heart the #" I still feel Twitter is not for me. I choose to not have a data plan for my cell phone, and I sit at a computer for way more that I want to at work,so I am happy to not be on it in my free time. I do understand the benefits of staying connected with others who share the same interests, but I still feel I can meet these needs in other ways. I am going to watch the #TLchat and if I feel the need to post a comment, I will join Twitter. I would like to participate in the #TLchat live chat on tweetchat.com on the second Monday of each month, so I may have to join anyway.