Linkedln & Plaxo

These two websites are very similar in terms of their capabilities. I agree with "Champions Are Won in January" that Linkedln seemed to have more of an professional feel to it while Plaxo seemed far more informal. I think that my concern is with putting so much of my personal information out there I feel a little vulnerable. I realize that may be a naive or paranoid but it just the sense I feel. If I could get past that feeling, I could see Linkedlnin could be extremely beneficial in terms of networking, especially for coaches who are looking to relocate.

The Library Thing

I found this site extremely interesting with endless possibilities. The most appealing feature was the "recommendations" segment. I am a huge fan of reading books about leadership. Since the concept of leadership can be applied to almost any scenario, it was exciting to find books that I may not otherwise be aware of.

As an educator, I liked to possibility of have online conversations about books that could extend off of our campus. Our students could have a running conversation about the books they are reading and gain a whole different perspective.

Finally, the review system was intriguing because books that I thought were great received moderate ratings compared to other books on the list. It was also nice to see other books that could be added to our curriculum.

Image Generators

The Image Generators were amazing!!! It gave me so many ideas for my Leadership class. We are going to make Teacher Appreciation pictures for our staff each month. We all are going to design identification badges so that the students can be out of class and be identified as leadership student. On a personal note, the picture that I included is a picture of the 2009-2010 Lady Raiders. This week we became the most successful girls basketball program in the school's history. It looks like we are going to the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. It has been an amazing season.

Technorati

I did not find this site that helpful besides the fact that I was able to distinguish information in terms of blogs and post. However, I did like the number of blogs I was able to find through the search engine.

YouTube In My Classroom

I think YouTube is a tremendous tool for educators. Unfortunately, our school blocks YouTube thank goodness I have the override. I have used it to show inspirational vides to my AVID and leadership class. We are in the process of advertising our school events on YouTube to generate interest in our programs. The only downfall to Youtube is what I am experiencing tonight. The inability to get the video to play at times.

Del.icio.us

I found this site very helpful. The best thing was the search engine. It seemed like everytime I started to type in a topic another related topic would come up and distract my attention. It seems that with some search engines you must be very specific with the topic or subject. I found sites that dealt with sports pyschology, coaching basketball, and kinesiology.

By far the most appealing thing about the site was the ability to bookmark in one location. I have two different classrooms at school plus my office computer. I cannot tell you how much time this site will save me.

YouTube Video

Actually this is just an audio recording a Bo Schembechler speech. I recently played this for my team when a few players forgot what they were playing for. I have also played this for my leadership students. This speech applies to any organization.

Podcast

Unfortunately, I was not able to get any of the podcast to play, but there were several that peaked my interest. On podcast.com, I found several that ESPNU conducts interviews with division I coaches on a regular basis. I even was able to locate a few vodcast that covered various basketball topics. The most intriguing podcast were the ones conducted by Coacgodwin. They focused on topics such as mental preparation before a game, being a great 6th man, and how to earn a division I scholarship. Hopefully, I can figure out the problem and check out some of these features in the very near future.