Learning Contracts, thing 2

Seems to me I said, at the end of the last session, that I had searched high and low and couldn’t find that learning contract anywhere. That it would surface when we had company next Christmas and I had to clean up my office which doubles as a guest room.

Roger’s sister came to visit last week, and guess what surfaced?

Only thing - it was almost empty. I think I’ll try filling it in a bit more, now that I have some idea of what the possibilities are. And to be a real cheat, I even know a few of the things I want to know better. Well, those are all technicalities.

If nothing else, I would like my postings to be time stamped accurately. That drove me nuts. Gonna figure that out.

I realize, as I poke around my blog, that I didn’t know about tags and categories at the beginning last time.
No more uncategorized posts for me. And no more things as categories. Wait better check out the instructions again. Ah yes, titling each post, not tagging or categorizing. OK

This little experience reminds me of the way I read. The first time I read a book, if it really interests me, I just gobble the book down, whole, knowing I’ll be back later for the details. So, I read my favorite books again and again, getting more each time.

Last of 23 Things

I’m taking forever to finish this thing, partly because I’ve enjoyed it so much. And to be honest, I bet I’ll keep up this blog, although not so faithfully, once the course is over. Maybe it will become my sheep blog, and I’ll attach it to my web page. (Which doesn’t have its own address yet, because Marlboro College is still hosting it. Gotta get going before Jen starts a new course on Dreamweaver.)

I’ve looked everywhere for the learning contract that I filled out. Do you suppose that I wrote on a hard copy and it’s somewhere on my desk? I’ll probably find it next December when I have to clean this room so my brother can stay. So, I don’t exactly remember what I said when I began. On the other hand, I’m always looking to try something new. And I get very intense about that something new. I really enjoyed trying so many new and different things, and finding that I want to keep many of them up. And, I’m NOT giving up on MySpace yet.
It’s just like me to make myself a to do list. I hope I have the time and energy to keep looking back. I know I have the inclination.

I’ve never really taken a course on-line before, so I don’t know what other ways there are to do it differently in format or concept. What I did like was going at my own pace, with still setting my goal of finishing before summer reading got too intense.

If you offer another discovery course like this in the future, I’ll be there.

This has been a great experience.

Thing 23, At Last

This has been a long and exciting road, but it’s very nice to be reaching the end. One of the ideas that has been intriguing me, is that new things keep getting thrown at me, and I don’t really have time to absorb them, before it’s time for the next thing. So, I shall use this Thing for absorption.

It may take a while.

I have not spent an equal amount of effort of each thing, because, obviously, some things I have not been very interested in. That’s one thing I really like about adult education. You can choose what it is you want to learn, based on where you are in your life.

One realization I’ve had for the last few weeks, is that I will have to review my whole blog, because I left little notes to myself about what I wanted to pursue further. What I do pursue will be what I have really learned. I hope I have learned a lot, because I certainly have been introduced to a lot.

So, standing out in my memory about the parts I liked best-adding a blog to a website. I started a bookblog for the library, and also did a blog for the Farmers’ Market about what was happening. This was an unexpected plus. (Had to go update that one.) I think it would be fun to have a blog of what’s happening after school on Thursdays. Of course, right now, we get there and they head for Magic School Bus games. Give them time.

Another, outstanding because I use it all the time, is del.icio.us. I’ve bookmarked some websites that I use at home, and want to find at the library. I love being able to easily find them, no matter where I am. Of course, my complaint about this is the same as for speed dial. My brain needs the exercise of remembering phone numbers and website addresses.

I hated my MySpace experience. It feels like meat on display, and I am the meat. On the other hand, the concept is great. There should just be a section for people who are not looking for mating. The ads are what makes it so objectionable. So maybe, in total, the experience is bad. But I do know what it is.

Just went down to check up on the little ones. 10 is still not nursing, according to everything I can see. Gave him a little bit of milk from Mama. Everyone else seems fine. We had an Open Barn today at 3:30. Nathan and Jessica came to visit and then Tenzin and his mom. Tenny brought his unfinished apple from lunch, and offered it to many, but soon discovered that Josephine would eat right out of his hand. So he brought her fistfuls of green grass. She loved it, and stopped stamping at him.

Lisa then came with her kids, Jenna taking pictures, and her whole extended family. While they were admiring, she milked Josie, got the lamb 10 to nurse a little bit, and wrapped up his legs so maybe he can walk straight.

Meanwhile Jessica and Nathan went out and got the triplets to play with them. They were carrying, petting, oogling and kissing those lambs. I would hear these weird sounds of lambs, and it was Nathan and Jess, mooing at the lambs. They’d come. What a pleasure. I LOVE having a barnyard filled with lambs and children.

No photos. Make a mental picture.

Google Docs

Only created one google.doc. Our trustees need to review the bylaws for our next meeting, and last night I said I’d send the latest revision out. I was wondering if this would be a good use of google.doc, so I did it that way.

First Thing. (pardon me, maman) When I went to upload, Google told me that it couldn’t tell what kind of document I was sending. I’ve become very accustomed to Mac naming, but someone warned me that I’d need to use the suffix for advanced procedures. This is the FIRST time I’ve run into that.

Second Thing. I was wondering if public documents, or even limited audience documents are moderated.
By that, I mean, do I get to look at them before they are changed?  Once I put that thing (pardon me again) up there, I wondered if I’d be able to FIND all the changes people are making? This is truly a great experiment.

Third Thing. I’m going to try to figure out 30 Boxes. I’ve been doing the yearly calendar for the board very untechnologically. Let’s see if I can adapt this. (I wasn’t able to do it with iCal.)

Fourth Thing. Can slideshare be the way I can share pictures of events without making them public?

I’ve got a lot more to explore here.

I’m going to have to keep referring to my blog to find out what I plan to do. I have so many plans, so little time. Getting some knowledge, though.

I’m trying to rush through, because lambs are due to start coming on Sunday, so I might be away for a while - again.

I was just looking at the categories. Learning, playing. That’s what I used to say to parents - playing is learning - learning is playing.

Library 2.0

both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming

The “just in case” collection

if our services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed—not our patrons.

build connections online where their users live.

knowledge spa

As I read through various descriptions of Library 2.0, I copied a few of the remarks that caught my attention, and that I need to keep in mind. The “just in case collection” is something I’m always struggling with as I think about weeding, especially the ‘classics’. I don’t think I weeded Little Women (even thought it hadn’t been read in about 10 years), but last week when Wynona asked for it, it was nowhere to be found. We got it from ILL, and maybe that has to be what happens in many cases. We’ll buy a new copy if she tells some of her friends to read it.

I love the concept of a library as a “knowledge spa”, and I think that’s what we try to do- well maybe not the single malt.

And I’m certainly trying to build connections online where our users are by taking this course.

Take It Back

I woke up in the middle of the night, thinking that I hadn’t given Technorati a fair chance. Instead, said I, what would I want to read blogs about? Well, given my current state of mind, lambing.

So, I searched for lambing, and came across a site called Daily Dose of Cute - they look just like HazelLambs. But the best thing, for my anxiety right now, was this video of Lambing a Ewe at Furlands. If you’re of the squeamish type, don’t look. I’ve only had to do this a few times in 13 years, reading my book the whole time, but it worked. Mostly, our lambs just pop out. But, I always have to anticipate. And learn a little bit more from watching how others do it.

Now, let’s see if any of this works. And if it does, I will be more respectful of Technorati. Because sometimes, reading blogs has real value.

Do I Have It?

photo mosaic of our puppet show

Guess not. Try again.

mosaic

The thing that’s most interesting about this exercise in futility is that I’ve learned to first look at the address to find out where I am. The address that they give me to link my mosaic does not look like any other address I’ve ever seen. It starts 1. <a href

Have a thought: mosaic

Well, that was interesting. It gave me the first photo in the set, and then I could view the whole set, separately or as a slide show. Well, that mosaic isn’t all that great, anyway. I think I’ll try something else on this thing. Whatever thing it is. Oh my, I think I’m stuck on thing 12.

So, looked through all the other possibilities- I need to know them, but do I have to do them? Yes, of course! The only other interesting thing was the avatar. But, I’ll tell you what. What an interesting way to spend your time. Thinking about your possibilities. I was about to say what a dumb way to spend your time. But possibilities. Is that all that’s left to people? I’ve been reading the news too much.

I can see having fun with that with kids. That’s the time to dream about your future. But, I must say, with all my back problems (gone we hope), I saw myself as a skier. How else do you get there?

Now, I wish to object. There was no ballet dancer as a possibility. And I must admit, I’m as gray as I am blonde. Honesty finished, can I move on to the next thing?

I can’t believe it’s snowing. And, even more, I can’t believe I’m complaining about it. I love it when it snows - but this year the snow is so high that the sheep just walk over the fence. So, we blocked off half the barnyard because the guys are so pushy at meal time that they are getting fat. Gotta separate them from the girls. This third try might be successful.

I ought to be keeping a separate sheep blog, but too many sites, too many passwords. Too many compartments. I’m a whole me.

Starting on Thing 12

Poking around the possibilities, I came across a place that makes your photos into a collage, among other things. So I’m preparing photos. Meanwhile, I’ve sent out an invitation to the trustees to look at my MySpace page. One trustee sent back a message -” I don’t want to go there.”

Well, I don’t blame her. I’ve looked at some other stuff on there and I wonder…Do I want to go there? But, it’s what you want to make of it. I want to make a useful tool, and I want to communicate with patrons and parents. So, I’ll keep looking for the best way to do that.

And, I’ll find a place that Judith wants to go.

This has become a journal- that’s why I’m so obsessed with  it.

Tripping Around MySpace

I’m trying to change my profile, especially, the picture. But still no luck. I was able to add comments to the picture of little paper sheep the first grade had made for me. That seemed SO important?????

So, I found the group and joined, and found Vermont Librarian. I didn’t look for more friends, but maybe I should have entered some of the names of 23 participants.

As I was exploring other groups I realized that this might be a good place to have more info about our book group and the current book they’re reading. So I sent an email to Laura (Laura is the volunteer who organizes our book groups), suggesting that she look at some of these for ideas. Sent her links to a few pages, although I don’t know if she’ll be able to open them. I could set something up for her, and then she could write about the book and invite people to comment. That might be fun for her.

I realize that I don’t have the public-private thing straight. But maybe those photos I posted aren’t too public. So maybe what I do now is send the address to others. I might try that. So, now I have to poke around to figure out how to add friends. It’s a good thing I have to sit still. Yesterday when I went to feed the sheep, it was raining and I got stuck - really stuck - in about 4 inches of mud. Twisted my ankle, so I decided to feed them inside. Mac rammed me, the creep, so I’m sitting on the couch resting my ankle, and nursing my black and blue hip. No permanent damage, but I’m changing things so he’s not in with the girls until…………when I’m finished being mad at him.

Got the picture changed. Of course, now the link at the top doesn’t link to the right place anymore. Let’s see if I can fix that. Poked, but no luck yet making friends. I feel very lonely. I’ve tried…Ah, found it. Sounds like I have to invite people to join and then they’ll see the photos. Let’s try it.

And I did change my profile. All except for my birthday. Can’t lie, I just don’t want it to show. But, I guess that’s asking too much.

WOW

At this point, I don’t quite remember what thing 11 is, but I have my eye on MY prize. I’m going to get a little slide show up there. And it’s working, slowly but surely.

Of course, it’s not exactly what I had in mind. It looks very public to me, and yet I had in mind to restrict it to friends. (But the pictures are so small and of such poor resolution that I hope I won’t get in too much trouble. Although, this is a class, and I should hold myself to the highest standards.)

Also, it’s very incomplete. I hope I can edit it, as I realize what I’ve left out. (Wait, Cathi, you don’t need all 295 pictures in there.) So, I next have to prepare photos for the web. That will take a while. Nothing is quite as easy as it seems.

But, mostly, I feel like I’ve come out of my stuckness.

Does this means I have to start on AVATARS now? Is 12 coming soon? Now what?

No matter what the date stamp says, it’s March 5, Wednesday, about 11:30 and I’m going to sleep now.