Thing #12

I've spent some time investigating these tools, taking any of the "free tours" that were offered to see some of the different possibilities. I chose two to look at more closely: 30 Boxes and LibraryThing.

I could definitely incorporate 30 Boxes into my personal life. My paper calendar is a mess with appointments, meetings, birthdays, and everyday reminders. I've toyed with using a Word document or something of the like to regroup and get a better plan, but I like that I would be able to access this in places other than my home. Just maybe, the dozens of lists I jot down on scrap papers throughout the day (some to replace ones I can't find) could be transferred to this Web 2.0 tool to keep my life and my home more organized.

In a classroom, 30 Boxes would be helpful to display timelines for projects, papers, and homework due dates in addition to classroom and school events. Simple, but efficient.

I also spent some time with LibraryThing. I could spend HOURS with this tool, organizing my library, have-read list, wish-to-read list...it's really a reader's dream site. It was great that after entering a few reading selections, LibraryThing suggested other libraries I should check out, created by people with similar reading interests. Now my personal booklist that currently has over 100 titles could grow exponentially...I may never be heard from again if I could just catch up on all my reading desires!

This would be a nice tool as a language arts teacher. What a simple way for students to keep track of what they've read throughout their school career as opposed to year-by-year. I always encouraged students to recommend titles to each other, but unless a student took a second to write down the suggestion, it went one ear and out the other. I'm not sure how some parents would respond to this idea as access to LibraryThing allows access to a number of chats about books and book-related topics. Parents can be, understandably, worried about allowing their student to interact with strangers online. Of course this wouldn't be a requirement, but students would have access to that feature.