Online+Communication

== =Online Communication=
 * Awareness:** I was aware of such things as e-mails, of course. I have three e-mail accounts, one at school, one at OSU, and a personal one through Yahoo!. However, lately I don't get my Yahoo! account checked very often, so everyone I'm in contact with knows to use my school address. I didn't realize that I was on a listserv until I was doing this assignment. I regularly receive e-mails from the OK State Dept. of Ed.'s Soc. Studies Dept. with notifications of upcoming events or information that would be beneficial in the classroom. I had always considered it a mass mailing, but since it is defined by a certain group for a certain reason, I suppose that makes the difference. I had heard of blogs, but didn't really know what they were. We use IM in my school building to communicate amongst ourselves (there are only 7 teachers), such as if we're sending a student to another room, need to borrow something, etc.


 * Exploration and Filtration:** I searched for some blogs that I thought would be helpful to me. I found some with no trouble at all. I enjoyed reading them so much. I could have kept going for hours. One site seemed to lead me to another. I finally had to make myself stop and settle on my favorites. They all have something to do with literacy, either reading or libraries. They are http://literacyispriceless.wordpress.com/tag/first-grade --currently discussing literacy. Several bloggers posted URL's to websites that are literacy based. This is aimed at K-3 teachers. http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/blog/ Jen Robinson's Book Page "Addressing Children's Literacy Round-Up: Feb 9". Raising Reading--a review of articles on such topics as library vs media center, a service of 3 new donkey mobile libraries in some areas of Ethopia where 99% of the schools have no books. Also reviewed was an article discussing Pres. Obama's trip to a D.C. school for a read aloud, and his stimulus plan, saying it would not increase school funding. You can join the blog to critique books or read the reviews of others. You can also sign in to chat about books. Another interesting blog is http://www.blogged.com/blogs/chicken-spaghetti.html where they were discussing whether school libraries were becoming anti-reading centers. Some thought books were being replaced by computers and librarians were not teaching the library skills necessary for students to function in a library. I also just started a Facebook account. I can't let myself go there very often because I waste too much time.


 * Learning**: I fell like I learned some new things and was forced to try some things I would not have otherwise tried. The Facebook account was really out of my comfort zone, because everyone can see what I write. It's too impersonal. I enjoyed the blogs the most, which seems odd since I didn't even understand what they were. When I narrowed the blogging area down to my area of interest I found them very enjoyable.


 * Application:** I will continue my e-mails, IM, and my Facebook (just because it's set up and fun to read when I have time). Now that I am aware of blogs I think I will be checking in on them. I really found them interesting and easy to be a part of. They were my big find on this assignment.