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