Academic Kids Encyclopedia or another Wikipedia?!

http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Main_Page


I was trying to slide this in on my Pathfinder assignment as a reference website. What do you guys think? I thought it would be really helpful next year too though.....especially if you can convenience your kids to use it instead of Wikipedia.

Beating the Filter

Does anyone know of an easy site like this one that I can use to create blogs that will not get blocked by a school filter? I know that it depends on the filter, but I am just not having any luck at all. :(

Fine Mom......I'll be your friend on Facebook.

So I did it. I "friended" my mom on Facebook. I do not have anything that I am trying to hide, but I had just always associated the social networking site with my friends. I like to see what other people are up too, and post the occassional picture or status update.

It all started with a few requests from co-workers. No way! Way too close for me. I like to keep my life at work extremely professional. Weird, I know. I got really close to one of the other teachers at work, so I accepted her request. Huge mistake! She was friends with our prinicpal! WHAT?! And now I am getting the students' requests.....well actually since most of my students are not yet 13 or whatever, I get the requests from their parents with a note saying that it is actually from them. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

So anyway.....I figured if I was going to be friends with my old students, then I would have to be friends with my mom (who is also friends with my Great Aunt Martha). Sigh.

Shipping

I feel like I learn something new, something I should have already known every time I order a book. I love learning something new, but I hate feeling like I did not do my kids justice by finding the best deal or just being had. I have used several vendors and I just thought I would share a few things that I have found out about the two of them.

1. Mackin: Other than my sales lady always "stepping out to enjoy the sunshine" and stuff like that I really like this company (which I do not mind, but when she says that May 25 and I am stuck in school and need an invoice ASAP, I get a little testy). They process everything for FREE and shipping is FREE. Two things that can really save money and get your library more books! (www.mackin.com)

2. National Geographic School Publishing: I love their materials. I put a HUGE order in for our high school. They were super nice. However, they charge 12% for shipping. WHAT?! I realize that we are shipping books here, but are they getting the insurance on the package or something. I am not sure exactly what the rates are for larger boxes of books, but the post office offers media mail now. I can ship one book across the country for less than $2.00. (or maybe $3.00). Needless to say, we canceled the order. (http://www.ngsp.com/)

I ended up having to completely redo my entire blog. Ugh!

NOT SMART!

I thought I would try to do some really fancy editing on my new blog. I watched a video about how to download a customized template. It was so easy! I was really excited about my new look. HOWEVER, the new blog template was in Spanish. I could not figure out how to navigate through it. I have spent the last hour trying to edit my blog so everything is in English again. :( Boo!

10 Best Digital Resources for 2009

I looked at all of these websites, and just thought that they would be great links to include on your library's homepage.



http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6660872.html



I was so sad to find that Animoto was blocked by our district's firewall.