Hunger Games

Let the countdown to The Hunger Games movie begin

A new beginning

It has been a long time since I have posted on my blog. I need to take my web 2.0 class all over. This time, I will concentrate on useful (to me) apps. I want to learn to create QR codes, so I can add them to all the new library books I purchase. I'm hoping to get kids excited about them. Right now, they just ask me what the symbol is.
I have been concentrating on my displays in the library for the past couple of years, so now it is time to ramp it up. Wish I had time to add all my books from Shelfari to Jacketflap so both would be updated. Hm, maybe...
I use so many different ereaders, sometimes I forget what book is where. NetGalley can go to Bluefire or Kindle. Simon and Schuster goes to Adobe Digital Editions. Guess they could go to Bluefire if I knew how to crete them in PDF. Oh well, sometimes I read on the computer, sometimes on the iPad, sometimes on the Kindle and sometimes on my iPhone.

ALA Volunteers are AWESOME!!

ALA came to one of our district's middle schools today to help weed. This library had not been weeded in over 25 years. These 6 dynamic people arrived ready to work and attacked the shelves. It was incredible to watch these professionals at work. They came from all different parts of the U.S. to help us. We weeded over 10,000 books in 6 hours. A couple finished their section early, cleaned the shelves and staged some books on the shelves. This will lessen the "blow"the principal will feel when he sees all the books being deleted. Administrators never seem to understand the weed concept. This principal will walk into a beautiful library on Monday morning. How can we ever thank these volunteers? When they left, we thanked them over and over. They waved and said they were more than happy to do it.They even claimed to have enjoyed it. I am still in in awe of these wonderful people in our profession.
Tomorrow, off to ALA. I hope I run in to my new "friends".

Wavemypic.com

This is supposed to be an animated wavy picture. I used www.wavemypic.com
No registration required. It was fun, but the animation doesn't transfer to this blog. Hmm.

Merry Christmas

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

Feeder and alerts

Today, I have set up a new bloglines and google reader. I also set up Google alerts. I am waiting to see the results. School Library Learning Web 2.0 is my main reason for doing this.

School Library Learning 2.0 is launched!

School Library Learning 2.0 runs from December 1, 2007 - April 1, 2008. This is a repeat of School Library Learning 2.0 that was offered over the 2007 summer.
Join your colleagues to learn more about YouTube, podcasts, image generators, wikis, mashups and other web 2.0 tools. Now is your chance to learn, at your leisure -- in the comfort of your own home, all about these exciting new tools. This on-line tutorial will take you step by step through the use of many of the tools listed above. There are already many ideas posted on California 2.0 Curriculum Connections wiki on how to develop library lessons and useful classroom collaborations. Join in this discussion and add to it, the many ideas you'll be getting as you work through the 23 Things of this tutorial.
With over 60 CSLA "Summer 2.0 Fun" graduates, you have lots of learning partners to call on and many of these grads will be your cheering partners. CSLA's Ed Tech Committee gives this special feature a new name: "Peer Cheers."School Library Learning 2.0 is a free, fun, and fabulous way to learn together and strengthen our collective educational technology savvy. There is a Continuing Education option.

CSLA School Library Learning 2.0 Begins.........

There is excitement in the air. The winter session of CSLA's School Library Learning 2.0 begins today. This is important to me. The program has been a lifesaver for me. Learning all these new tools has been wonderful. I can't wait to learn more. There are so many wonderful web2 tools to discover. In the 23 things we studied, we came out with at least 60 more tools to use. I applaud this organization for being a leader and innovator of school library learning.
Web2 tools are so important to open the web to everyone. The internet opened new worlds for us, but Web2 has innovated the world. We can only imagine what is next. Things like livescribe coming out in 2008, and secondlife are tools we will all be using. Chris Duke aka Topher Zwiers, is an expert on secondlife in education. His dedication to lifelong learning is incredible.
Very interesting to see what is happening in the world of technology. I want to be a part of it.
For me, the sessions CSLA offers are perfect.

Maximum Ride Series

This past week, I have been reading the books by James Patterson, The Maximum Ride series. No wonder the kids are so excited about them. The books keep the reader engaged. The characters are just as real as my neighbors next door. Now, just like the kids, I hope he continues to write for young adults.

Education NOW!

This video was created as an introduction for a presentation at PETE&C. The session was designed to show teachers how to connect their classrooms to the world of information. Visit http://theconnectedclassroom.wikispaces.com/ to participate in the conversation or add your ideas.RESOURCE LINKS MY BLOG: http://khokanson.blogspot.com/ TEACHER RESOURCES:http://theconnectedclassroom.wikispaces.com/http://eclassresources.wikispaces.com/"This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/Please feel free to use and share this message.

October in the Library

October is such a busy month. Students love to read the scary books. Finally, the library is decorated and the computer screens invite all things goulish.

Del.icio.us

I am adding a cloud of my del.icio.us tags. I am just beginning to get my favorite sites organized.
I can't wait to dump all my folders. I can never seem to put my hands on exactly what I need. Del.icio.us is incredible. I always wonder what planet the creators of these tools come from. Wherever they come from, I am thankful they are sharing their world with us!

Addie Will Know

This is a great song " Addie Will Know " by the band SNMNMNM. You can see it on their wiki.
You can even take a shot at their contest to appear in a video.

State Superintendent Makes Back to School Video

Pretty cool, he looks like a good sport.He does cheat at tetherball. He must be afraid of losing to a girl!

Music and Video Tutorial

I am going to try a music and video tutorial on web2.1. I didn't commit to doing it yet, just testing it. I'm not sure if it is something I want to spend a lot of time on.

Tech Dept Comes Through for Us

I am happy to report our district technology department has listened to my pleas about unblocking del.icio.us. I am ecstatic. I am tagging my websites for teachers. Yesterday, I was able to have a teacher use delicious to get my saved sites for Study Skills. He will also be able to peruse other delicious sites. The Study Skills class is a new elective at our school and new to the teacher. It is tough to be assigned a new course just a few days before classes start. I was thrilled that he asked me to collaborate with him. I am really looking forward to it. My schedule is packed, but I am looking forward to the challenge. I will meet with the class at least once a week. I have posters up around school to advertise a new club. Instead of a book club where we read and discuss books, I am trying a club where we will challenge each other to get one more reader to read a favorite book. I have 3 students that are writing the syllabus for it. It sounds like so much fun. This challenge will start with 4 of us. Hopefully, by the end of the first month of school, we will have 50. Three more teachers are on board to begin October first, when we will break off into smaller groups. I sure it works as well as these kids have planned. They are very excited about it.

Reply from Tech Director

Amazing.
I e-mailed the director of technology yesterday(Friday)at 5:30 p.m. stating my frustration about the filter blocking del.icio.us as well as our blogs for CSLA's 23 things. This is Saturday night at 10:15, and I have a reply. It seems the County of Orange has added a new filter, at least they are testing one. I'm told there are many problems, and to be patient. He told me when it is done, he will do whatever he can to unblock the sites we will need.
He is quite impressed that 4 or 5 of use are taking these Web2 tutorials. I do believe that he will at least meet with me and most probably come through on my request at least for delicious. Now, we just need to keep bugging them to allow the rest of the tools in our schools.
I just stumbledupon --
Absolutely amazing technology. It was presented at the TED conference and is just being developed. Here is a video of the TED conference. ENJOY!!
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/129

Disappointment

I was so disappointed when I returned to school and discovered del.icio.us is filtered. These blogs are also blocked. I immediately e-mailed our tech department and asked them to unblock them. It is so discouraging to see the filters tightening. I am of the belief that our students need to be taught responsible use of the internet. I hate to see the use of technology squashed. Our kids can't have ipods at school either. I have stated my case over and over, but it seems to be an administration fear of backlash from parents. I know all it takes is one, but the majority suffer for it.
I was really hoping to have my del.icio.us account available. I know there are tons of bookmarking sites, and I am thinking about it but fear they will soon block those also.
So sad.
Stumbleupon is not blocked, go figure!!!

Wiki vs. Ning

I have created both a wiki and a ning to test which is better for a book review for students. I have asked friends to start posting and commenting so I can see what works best . I wish we could all use one blog and every person post so you would see everything on one page. I am sure there is something, I just have to figure it all out.