Thing 23: Congratulations!

22 Things down, one to go!  

Now that I have (almost!) completed my 23 Things journey, I have some questions I need to answer.   

1. What were you favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?  

I really, really enjoyed working with Shelfari.  I think that this is a great way to make book recommendations and, for librarians, to share lists of books with teachers. I also liked the online image generators because I feel that I can use them to make my websites and social media pages more attractive to young children and teenage students.  

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?  

Until recently, I have been pretty resilient to learning about new technology. I kind of like being a hermit!  However, I now understand the new librarian has to not only be up-to-date on new technology, but must also be able to present it to teachers and staff.  Despite myself, I have really enjoyed learning about the different facets of technology that I will use as a librarian. One of my new lifelong learning goals is to not only be a librarian that is current on technology, but one that introduces the newest technology.  

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? 

Actually, I was very surprised how much I enjoyed it. Again, I am not one who is very interested in technology.  However, I felt that most of the things on the "23 Things" list were relevant to my career and I was very interested in learning how I could use them as a librarian.  

4. If we offered this program like this is in the future, would you choose to participate?  

I would, because, like I said before, I want to be someone who introduces technology.  I don't want to just be up-to-date on the newest technology in education, I want to be able to share it with teachers. Isn't that our job as librarians? I would like to see the 23 Things to include some things like LinkedIn, Blackboard, and remind101.  

5. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things Learning Activities?  

Enlightening!  

Thing 22: Your Turn!

Ok, fellow teachers and librarians, get ready for your students to love you!  I am going to introduce you to remind101.  This is an app with which teachers can text students in a safe way.  The way it works is, teachers sign up for remind101 and create a class.

Ok, so now you have set up a class. You can either download the remind101 app to your smartphone or send the messages from your computer. The remind101 app is free.  If you don't have a smartphone,  you can send the messages from your computer.


Now that you have set up a class, students will need to sign up to receive the messages. First, remind101 will generate a number for students to text to and will give you a message to include in the body of the text.  So, my Student Library Advisory Committee will text @mrsricem to 870-776-8329.

Students will then receive a reply message that looks like this:

They will then text their full name, which will add them to my list.  They will then receive a message  that looks like this:

Then, students will get a text message anytime I send them one. Now, I can send them messages from either from the app on my phone or from the computer. If teachers do not have a smartphone, they can send messages from their computers. It will still send from the computer.  

Parents can also sign up to receive these messages. In fact, elementary school teachers will probably want to use this with parents rather than students since most young children will not have phones with which to receive texts. As a Spanish teacher, I would send out a reminder text the day before a quiz, a test, an assignment was due.Sometimes I would just send out an encouraging message, such as "You guys did an awesome job today!" I had many students tell me that they wished all teachers would use this because they loved getting the reminders. I also had a higher success rate on quizzes and tests when I would send students these text reminders. The fact is, most students use their phones or tablets more today than they do their computers.

 It is important to remember that students will not get text messages from your phone number. Students cannot reply to the messages so they will not have your phone number.  Moreover, teachers cannot select individual students from the list to send text messages to.  Teachers can either send them to the group or to no one.

Thing 21: Online Image Generators

Today, I tried out some online image generators. I want to ask my teacher, "What are you doing to me?"  I could have played with this all day.  Out of all the online image generators, I like Image Chef  the best.  It was easy to use and there were many different tools that I was able to use.  Image Chef gives the option of using a sketch pad, creating a timeline cover for Facebook, a poetry blender, a word mosaic or a poetry blender.  

Image Chef could be a great tool for teachers because, let's face it, students respond to visuals.  The more aesthetically pleasing the visual, the better they will respond.  Teachers can use this site to create images to use on their teacher websites or in presentations in order to engage students.  

This could be used as a cover photo on the Facebook page for an elementary library. 

Children and teenagers respond to visuals more than text.  Librarians could post this to Facebook or Twitter and students would be more likely to remember this piece of news.  

Thing 20: Recess

During this "recess,"  I decided to explore Shelfari a little further. Shelfari allows users to make a "Best of.." list, so I made a "Best of YA list."We are starting a Silent Sustained Reading program this year at Dickinson High School and I am hoping to share these recommendations with teachers. I am also including my reasoning behind adding each book.  So far, I have added these books to the list....

1. The Harry Potter series

2. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series

3.The Hunger Games trilogy

4. Before I Fall

5.  An Abundance of Katherines

6. The Fault in Our Stars

7. Looking for Alaska

8. Dreamland

9. The Chronicles of Narnia 

10. Holes 

11. Nineteen Minutes

12. Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

13. The Heroes of Olympus series

14. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

15. Between Shades of Gray

16. A Wrinkle in Time 

17. Just Listen

There are many more I am going to add but, in the meantime, everyone should give these a read!  You can see my list here.  

Thing 16: Video sharing

Using YouTube, I found several videos about librarians and libraries. I liked this one called  "Librarians in Fashion" a lot.  I thought it may be used as an icebreaker or introduction at a professional development for librarians.  While it's funny, it's also trued. The face of the stereotypical librarian is changing to reflect our culture and we don't all wear glasses, pencil skirts, and cardigans every day.  (Although I do like pencil skirts and cardigans).

Thing 19: Mashups

Mash-ups aren't just educational tools, they're fun! Today I explored Flickr's tool Bookr.  I must say That I spent quite a bit of time playing with Bookr instead of blogging about it .With Bookr, users can select photos from Flickr and create a book based on a certain theme. For example, history teachers could look up photos on Flickr's Creative Commons on "space exploration" and create a book of NASA's photos.  They could then show the book to students as they lecture over the history of space exploration in the United States. Or, let's say science instructors are teaching a lesson over different types of snakes.  The teachers could use Bookr to create a collection of photos of snakes. This would engage the students and they would likely pay closer attention to the lesson. Out of all Flickr's different options for creating mash-ups, I liked Bookr the best.  

Also, FD Toy has a Trading Card maker, which is kind of like creating an online business card. Those who create business cards with this program can share them on Flickr, thus giving their business information to other professionals in this field.  

This is the trading card I created!

Thing 18: Shelfari

Shelfari is Amazon's way for us reading geeks to build shelves we've read, we want to read or that we're reading. Shelfari also allows users to like their accounts to Twitter and Facebook, which then makes their shelves and reviews more visible to friends.  Shelfari and Goodreads are the ultimate book recommendation tools.  Librarians and teachers could introduce these to students in order to have students recommend books that they have read to each other.  Middle grade and high school students will like using these book recommendation tools because they can easily comment on each others' reviews and they will be able to get reviews from their peers.

I have been using Goodreads for a while now, but I built a Shelfari shelf tonight.  On it, I included the book I am currently reading and the next five books I plan to read.  I was happy to be introduced to Shelfari because I use Amazon to quite a bit to purchase books. Since Shelfari is linked to Amazon, it will help me decide on which books to purchase.  :)

This is my shelf!  

Thing 17: Ning

Ning is kind of like a Facebook page, but you are able to include a lot more information on a Ning page. I visited the Teacher Librarian Ning, which I thought I could really use as a new librarian. My goal, as a new librarian, is primarily to be a teacher librarian and the purpose of this Ning is to share tools for librarians who teach.I requested membership to this particular Ning so that I can participate in their "virtual cafes" or discussion boards in order to learn from more experienced librarians. As a member, I can also share presentations I have made, articles that I find, or I can start my own discussion group. With this Ning I can also "friend" other librarians in my area and ask them questions about events that have been successful, where they spend the majority of their budget, recommendations for books and other information relevant for my school and community. While I would prefer to use Facebook to create a page for my library, I would like to be a member of this Ning so that I can share and receive information from other teacher librarians. If anyone else is interested in being a member of this Ning, visit this site.

Thing 15: Pod Casts and Vidcasts

Last summer, I was part of a workshop in which the creators of the KUHF radio program "Engines of Our Ingenuity" collaborated with the University of Houston Hispanic Studies Department to create lesson plans for high school Spanish teachers. The goal of the workshop was the create a variety of lesson plans to accompany several "Engines of our Ingenuity" episodes that had been translated to Spanish.  This is the Microsoft Photostory slide show I made to accompany that episode:






I think that teachers could use Microsoft Photostory to have students create book trailers!

Thing 14: More Online Applications and Tools

Today I created a Prezi for a presentation I will make in a few days.  Prez is a basically a modern twist on Powerpoint.  Also, not only are Prezis more attractive than Powerpoint, but they are stored online.  This saves you from a nervous breakdown if your computer crashes and you forgot to save your Powerpoint presentations.

Thing 13: Online Tools and Applications

I have actually been using Google docs for quite some time. I started using this program when I started writing to share the chapters of my book with my first beta reader and editor.  By doing so, she was able to access the chapters that I had written and was also able to edit them.  I could then go in and read her edits and make changes.

I did use Google docs as a teacher, though not as a part of what I was teaching.  I was the Pasadena Memorial Student Council sponsor and, in order to keep up with the students' points, I created a spreadsheet that I uploaded to Google docs. Then, I shared the document with students via their email addresses. They could then access the Google docs and upload the activity that the completed and the point value.  Organization sponsors could use this online tool for a similar reason.  Teachers could also use this to share make-up work with students who have been absent.  For example, if Bobby, Timmy, Zacariah, and Esther were absent, the teacher could upload the notes that they missed to Google docs.  After uploading the document, the teacher would click on "share" and then input the students' email addresses. The students will then be able to access the notes.  

As a librarian, I can use Google docs to share handouts with teachers, or share a budge on a spreadsheet with my principal, or send presentations I've made to the staff.  

Thing 12: Microblogging

I have a love/hate relationship with Twitter.  On the one hand, it can be extremely useful.  Twitter users can communicate information in a concise manner and in a way that can reach out to thousands other users. I essentially use Twitter to publicize the novel I wrote; I share reviews, news about the book, and answer questions that readers may have.  I like Twitter because for this reason; it is the easiest way for me to disseminate news about my book to a large number of readers.  Librarians could use Twitter in the same way; they could tweet news about new book arrivals, events a the libraries, or they can share news and articles.

However,  Twitter can be overwhelming. There are inordinate number of "tweeps" (Twitter peeps) and it is, at times, hard to find users that you are interested in following.  Also, professional educators must be careful when using this type of microblogging because posting anything that can be construed as unprofessional, unethical or lewd can result in disciplinary action from the school district or even loss of employment.  

Follow me for book new!  @Rmills514

Thing 11: Play in the Sandbox

Still trying to figure this one out....

Thing 10: School Wikis

I have to come to really like school Wikis.  Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when one hears the word "wiki" is the dreaded Wikipedia.  As educators, we tend to steer clear of Wikipedia because the information is a little less than reliable.

However, wikipedia is not the only wiki out there. Recently, I read a Game of Thrones wiki to review the first four books in the A Song of Ice and Fire wiki before I started the fifth.  This is a pretty cool wiki because fans have added summaries of the books, histories of the different houses, information on the culture of the different people groups in the books and so much more. Within this wiki, they have also created a forum on which they can discuss different topics covering the series. This is a perfect example of how a wiki can be used; contributors can share information relevant to their audience and learn through discussion.

I have enjoyed using the wiki for the LLLS 6336 class that I am taking this summer because I feel that it has enhanced my learning experience. My classmates and I are able to discuss topics pertinent to media and technology on the discussion boards, we can add our presentations to the site so that others can use them, and our professor has posted our syllabus and course calendar on the wiki.

While I do not think anything can replace the classroom experience, I think that having a class wiki can certainly enhance the students' learning. I looked at a few school wikis and particularly liked one called "The Nesting Place," which was a wiki for a high school science class. On this wiki, the teacher had posted notes, websites, and other information the students needed for the science class. I also liked the Westwood Schools Wiki because students uploaded links to online portfolios they had created. Not only that, but included awards and news about the class.  

Wikis can also be used by teachers to post different ideas for lesson plans and to perhaps to discuss what works and what doesn't.

Overall, the creation of a wiki for either a class or a school can add to the students learning and engage them in the learning process.

Thing 9: Useful library blogs

 

Now that I have conducted a search using many different sites to search for blogs, I have found some useful library blogs that I really like. In my search, I found that Google blog search and Technocrati were the most useful.     

I found these sites using Google blog search:  

The Unquiet Librarian-This one has a lot of useful information on using technology in the library and professional development.   

Teen Librarian Toolbox-This blog is useful for middle school and high school librarians because it has information on teen issues and reviews of young adult books.   

Free Library Blog: The Free Library Blog posts information on topics that are interesting and useful to librarians.  The variety of topics range from Charles Dickens to Social Media.   

I found these sites using Technocrati: 

Hiring Librarians:   The purpose of Hiring Librarians is to be a liaison between those looking for librarians and those looking to be librarians.  

The Travelin' Librarian:  The Travelin' Librarian is another blog with great information about how to sue technology to support curriculum.  The blogger also includes news from the librarian's world.  

The Bilingual Librarian:  This blog has a lot of great information for those librarians working in schools with a large number of bilingual students.   

Thing 8: RSS Feeds

After learning about RSS Feeds and exploring several blogs, I think I am finally getting the hang of building an RSS feed. When trying to find RSS feeds, I searched Google, Technocrati, syndic8, Topix and a few other sites for blogs that I thought would interest or benefit me. Out of all of the search tools I used, I liked Technocrati the best.  I felt that I found the most credible, informative blogs using this site. Also, as someone who is a professional educator, I liked Edublog because it takes some of the hassle out of searching for education blogs. I thought using a search engine like Google was the most troublesome because the search results are not specific.  For example, when I searched for Education blogs, it ave me numerous articles about the top ten education blogs. Then, I want to read each of those articles and I don't know which one will truly give a list of best education blogs.

After subscribing to some of the RSS feeds, I found that some of the news feeds are not very useful to me.  While I am concerned about current events in our world, I felt like NPR's RSS feed bombarded my reader with all sorts of news at all hours of the day.  In this case, I thought that I would rather listen to their on-air programs. For this reason, I probably will not be using RSS feeds for news. 

On the other hand, I do like the RSS feeds to keep up with blogs that I follow. In MyYahoo (which is the reader that I am using) I am now getting updates on the new posts by book bloggers that I like to read. 

While I am using RSS feeds and MyYahoo reader for my own personal interests, I think teachers could use RSS feeds to follow education blogs to keep up with the newest technology or to follow blogs specific to their subject to help with lesson plans and other curriculum ideas. 

Thing 7: Blog searching

Today, I explored Technocrati.  Now, I must admit that I really like reading blogs. I feel that I can get an insider's opinion on current events and topics that I am interested in.  So, I really liked Technocrati because it helped me to discover some blogs that I think I will start reading.

First, I searched recent blog posts for "young adult fiction," a topic that interests me because I read and write young adult fiction. The top three posts returned to me were "Amazon Fan Fiction Division Inks Deal with Valiant Comics,"  "Neil Gaiman Quotes on Writing," and "John Irving Wins at Lambda Literary Awards." While these articles are interesting, it wasn't quite what I was looking.  I really want to find blogs about young adult fiction.  Next, I looked through the popular tags from the last month.  I did not find anything on "young adult," "fiction," or even "books." Finally, I looked through the blog directory.  It gave me a variety of topics from which to choose, and I selected the subcategory "Books"  underneath "Entertainment." The search returned a list of blogs about books for me to explore.  I found three that I really like,  The Broke and the Bookish, Book Riot, and  The Book Smugglers. . So, in searching for blogs, I found that using the blog directory worked best, versus using a tag or post search.  

However, I do believe that there are advantages and disadvantages to using tags. I found more relevant articles over education when searching with tags than I did looking for posts and through the directory. When I was looking through posts over education, I was returned with a number of results that did not really cover education in schools.  For example, the number one blog for education was one covering the rights of Muslim women. While this was an interesting blog, it was not what I was wanting to find. Also, looking through the number of blogs covering education was quite overwhelming. Using the "education" tags gave me more articles specific to primary, secondary and post-secondary education.  For example, I found this article called "Excellent Apps and Techy Tools to Aid Exams and Revisions."  I thought it was pretty relevant to our class. :)   While the sheer number of tags can be overwhelming, they can also present you with articles more specific to your interest. 

Thing 6: Tagging

I had never head of the tagging website Del.icio.us until today.  The purpose of this site is to save links to sites where you have found relevant or helpful information and to store it in one place.  You can also create a network and allow those users in your network to see those website you have tagged. It is kind of like bookmarking, but with sharing.  I do not personally find this site very useful.  My brain finds ins overwhelming and panics and all the different tags on the side.  But, I do see how this Del.iciou.us can be useful to teachers.  For example, the other Spanish teachers in my department and I really liked this website by Mendy Colbert.  It has a lot of great lesson ideas for Spanish 1 and Spanish II.  However, we always forgot the URL for the website.  If I were to add this to my Del.icio.us site, add the tags, "Spanish 1," "Spanish II," and "lesson plans,"  I could easily return to it later.  I could then create  a network and add my Spanish teaching friends.  They would be able to click on my tags and return to the website.  I do think that Del.iciou.us is useful as tool to save links to which you want to return and I think that teachers would be able to use it in group planning and perhaps even curriculum writing.

Thing 5: Social Media

Social media is the thing.  THE. THING.

When I was teaching high school Spanish back in the day (two weeks ago), my students could not stay off Twitter.  Listen up, librarians! We can either fight this or use it to our advantage. As librarians, we can limit ourselves by saying we don't need to know anything about social media because we're too old for it, or we can use it to our advantage. As I begin my career as a librarian, I plan on using social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads to make the children come to the library!  (Sorry, I don't mean to sound harsh.  But, they will come!)  

First things first: social media can be a detriment if you are not careful.  I just revisited the privacy settings on my personal Facebook page and made sure that everything is set up to keep my personal life...personal.  Don't get me wrong, any good hacker worth his or her salt can find anything and everything that has been put on the internet.  However,  professional educators should set up their social media sites in a way that visitors (i.e. students) do not have access to their personal lives. I have mine set up so that you cannot search for me on Facebook unless you are a friend of a friend and, if you were to google me, my Facebook profile does not appear in the search results.  Again, there are ways of getting around this, so I recommend the following to teachers, librarians, and others in education

 1.) DO NOT add students as a friend on Facebook or any other similar social media site.  Wait until they are out of high school, or even a few years after.  

 2.) DO NOT put anything on a social media site you would be embarrassed for your grandmother or  your spiritual advisor to see. Also, do not write anything on Facebook that could come back and bite you the booty.  Think about it this way: if you saw the same sort of thing on your child's teacher's Facebook page, would you let your child remain in his/her class?  

           

 3.) If you are using the social media site for educational purposes, you may see some of what  your students post.  Keep in mind that, if you see something that could cause them harm, or others harm, or if they post something that shows they are engaging in illegal activity, you  need to report it.  

That being said, social media can be a wonderful tool.  I just "liked' the Brazoria County Library System's Facebook page. My family and I use their services quite a bit and I would like to be updated about their events and reading programs. When I went to their page I also saw that they posted an article titled "Expert discovers ancient Torah scroll in plain sight."  I read this because it highlighted the importance of cataloging. (You can read the article here. )  I also browsed the photos of the new library that opened in my hometown of Pearland.  

Much like the Brazoria County Library System Facebook page was able to share relevant information with me as one of their patrons, I will use social media to communicate with my students.  I plan on listing upcoming events, new books, reminders for teachers, and other relevant news on my library site. I also plan to use the social media reading site Goodreads to share books with students and teachers.   

Thing 4: RSS and Newsreaders

RSS

In the video titled RSS in Plain English, the narrator warns, "Be careful!  This is a addicting!"

Oh, how right you were, Mr. Narrator.

Today, I worked on setting up a newsreader by subscribing to new feeds via RSS.  The purpose of  RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is to provide readers with news that is relevant to them in one spot. It's pretty simple: visit a website or blog that you like, find the RSS symbol, and click on it.  Once you click on the RSS symbol, it will take you to a page saying "Subscribe using..." and then you have a choice of Google reader, MyYahoo reader and a few others.

Though I would have liked to use Google, the Google reader will no longer be available as of July 1st.  Since I have a Yahoo email account, I decided to use My Yahoo reader. I like the Yahoo reader because I can create a tab for each different type of newsfeed to which I am subscribing.  For example, I read a lot of book blogs.  I subscribed to a few different blogs that I like to read and now, whenever the bloggers make new posts, it will go to my feed. Of course, after I did this, I spent quite a bit of time catching up on posts.   This is what I meant by addicting.  

This is what my Book Blog Feed looks like.  If you look, you can see the top tab labeled "Book Blogs."  These are updates from two of the blogs I like.   

I do think that teachers and librarians can use RSS readers to support learning . If you look at the image above, I have a tab called "Science and Stuff."  I visited a few science blogs and subscribed to their biology, medical science, chemistry feeds. Science teachers could ask students to set up up their own readers and subscribe to a few of these science blogs. Then, they could ask students to read over a few science happenings, maybe once a week, and write a few short summaries over these.

I will admit, I did not understand the purpose of RSS feeds at first, but now I am glad that I do!

Thing 3: Yogile

Using the photo sharing site Yogile,  I created this slideshow of my family.

Yogile is a relatively easy website to use to create slideshows and to share photos.  It also allows others to add photos.  For example, if my family members would like to add more photos to this slideshow, the simply need to click on the album above.  This will redirect them to Yogile's websites, where they can upload more photos.  This is a great tool for teachers who want to add to slideshows that other teachers have created or for those who want to allow parents to add more pictures of their students.

Thing 2: Exploring Flickr

Previously, I believed Flickr to be just another photo sharing site, much like Shutterfly or Snapfish.  Now that I have explored the website a little more, I have discovered that I was mistaken in this belief.  Flickr  is not for photo sharing, but is more of an archive of photography.

While I was exploring Flickr, I really enjoyed browsing the photos that are part of The Commons project.  Flickr has developed what they call The Commons as a way to bring together all of the various photographs available in the public domain.  This is an easier way for users to find and utilize historic photographs.  OnThe Commons page, Flickr lists all of the participating institutions and users can browse all of the public photographs that particular institution has in its collection.   For example, NASA is one of the participating institutions and Flickr users can browse NASA's photo archives. One of my favorite pictures from this collection was this photo of Neil Armstrong,  Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins in a parade in New York following the Apollo 11 mission. I think history teachers could use this photo when teaching the history of space exploration.

I also really liked this photo of an old barbershop, in which three African American men sit.  I found this picture in the Mississippi Department of Archives and history.  With this photo, teachers could start a discussion about  race relations in the Deep South.  

I don't know that I can say that I really enjoyed this last photo in that it invoked a deep sense of sadness for those who experienced the Holocaust.  This photo, from the Center of Jew History in New York City, is of the Munich synagogue after it was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938.  This last picture could be used by history teachers to discuss the Holocaust and other aspects of fascism.  

Thing 1: Blogging!

My name is Faith Rice-Mills  and, though I have been teaching Spanish for the past six years, I will soon be starting a new job as a librarian at Dickinson High School in Dickinson, Texas. Though I will miss some parts about being a Spanish teacher, I am pretty excited about working with books all the time.

This is where I will be working!  

So, obviously, I'm blogging right now. Blogging, blogging, blogging.  Now, before you skeptics turn away and think, "Oh, not another one," let's stop and consider the various uses of blogs and how, in this new technology era, we need them. I will take a moment to insert a short disclaimer here: I am going to explain the uses of blogs in my personal and professional life.  However, I hope that you will be able to apply them.

I. Blogs in the library 

 As librarians, we are pretty much in charge of disseminating information to our schools and districts.  If this is the case, I believe that we should utilize free blogs in order to share information about our respective libraries resources, events that are going on in the library, and to communicate ideas with other librarians.  Two librarian's blogs that I really like are Buffy Hamilton's blog, The Unquiet Librarian and, for middle and high school librarians,  Teen Librarian's Toolbox.

Also, book bloggers have certainly found a place in the world in the last five or so years.  In order for librarians to stock their libraries with books that kids will actually read.  Of course, there are thousands of book bloggers, so it may take some time to find one with credibility.  I will start you our with suggestions of some that I like. Again, these are for young adult readers, but I will be happy to look into elementary school level bloggers if there are requests.

Willing to See Less
Xpresso Reads
Reading the Days Away 
Once Upon A Twilight
Steph's Book Corner 


II.  Blogs for business 

For those pursuing the American dream, and trying to turn their hobbies into a business, free blogs are a great way to advertise their business ventures.  I am going to use myself and my husband as an example in this case.  Though I will be working as a librarian next year,  I moonlight as a writer.  I self-published my first book,  Identified: The Maya Price Story, on December 3, 2012.   Being that I am a self-published writer, I need all the free advertising I can get.  For that reason, I use a Wordpress blog that functions as my website.  I use it to post news about my book, excerpts from my novels, short stories I've written as well as a place to include a myriad of other information.  If I've sparked your interest, you can visit my blog here.  My husband, on the other hand, is a teacher moonlighting as a fisherman.   He has recently started blogging about fishing, which has resulted in a little bit of business for him. Again, since this is a new venture for him, he needs to utilize a free blog.  He also uses a Wordpress blog and you can read all about his fishing activities here.

III.  Blogs for fun!  

Though we all have our nine to five jobs, many of us have a a variety of hobbies and interests.   For this reason, we will read blogs that motivate us to work out, organize our closets, or we will read them just because they make us laugh.  Here are a few that I like to read in order to feed my procrastination habits.  

For fashion advice: What I Wore
For giggles:  People I Want to Punch in the Throat 
For fitness (and for nerds):  Nerd Fitness

While neither writing nor reading blogposts is something that I do on a daily basis, I think knowing how to navigate and utilize blogger tools is almost essential in order to educate, promote products and share information.