Just saw the new baby giraffe at Riverbanks Zoo on the news – TOO CUTE!  Hard to believe that at 10 days old he is nearly as tall as I am!  Next to cats (of all types), the giraffe is my favorite animal.  They are so weird looking, but cute and fascinating.

I love the fact that Riverbanks allows you to feed the giraffes – which lets you get up close with them.  When we took the biology classes there last year, the giraffes were the crowd favorites.

If you haven’t visited Riverbank’s website, I encourage you to do so.  They have a live webcam – today they are featuring the Koalas.  The last time I watched, they featured the penguins.  I wonder if they’ll feature the giraffes soon now that baby Lewis has arrived?!

On year ago today the first blog article, Up and Running!, was posted here at Tech Tips & Timely Tidbits.  Since then there have been 86 posts with 115 comments – an average of seven posts a month.  Not too shabby, especially since I tend to forget and/or am at a loss of what to write about.

Reflecting back upon the posts from this past year, I would like to think that I achieved my initial goal – to share news and tips in technology and education.  I would like to think those of you who are reading the blog have found the links and news I’ve shared to be useful.

The most commented upon posts were: Up and Running! – with 13 comments;  Banned Book Week & My Favorite Podcasts – both with 7 comments; and “Books w/Bite” TRW 2008 – with 6 comments.  Of course, a few of those comments were my responses, but still, I appreciate the folks who let me know they were reading my words.  I hope more folks will drop a line just to let me know you’re out there!

Thanks for tagging along for the last year, and I hope you stick around for the next ones!

Heather

FlickrCC: “birthday – 1934” by Foxtongue

CNN.com: Falling asleep in class? Blame biology – study shows that starting school later would decrease the number of students sleeping in class – because they would be getting the needed 8-10 hours of sleep a night.  Hmmm, somehow, I don’t think pushing back the start of the school day would make that much of a difference, but I’m all for it – since I’m soooo not a morning person!

OnGuardOnline.gov – “… a multimedia campaign to help consumers be on guard against Internet fraud, secure their computers, and protect their personal information. …  Includes: tips, articles, games and videos in both English and Spanish. … Contains modules about … spyware, social networking, wireless access, laptop security, Internet auctions, and file-sharing…”  Created in partnership with the Federal trade Commission and other federal agencies.

BubbleComment – record a video comment on a website.  Would be a great way to direct students who were absent are homebound to areas or information on the site that you covered in class.

My friend, Fran Bullington shares “The Wally Principal” over at her Informania blog.  I’ve shared it with a few of my teachers, but think it is too good a point not to share with the rest of you!!  I agree we do our students a disservice by judging them solely by their ability to memorize facts.

My Brochure Maker – quick and simple way to create a basic brochure or flyer brought to you by DoodleLabs.  Could be a great way for your students who don’t have MS Publisher (or MS Word) at home to still create a brochure for your lovely projects!  Granted, you have limited choices and you cannot move the objects around, but sometimes, simple is better!

Suburban Journals: County library labels teen books with sexual content – Okay, this last item I debated on if I should post or not.  So I’ll just put it up and leave you with the comment, “WHAT!!!!” — Well, guess keeping my opinion to myself isn’t likely.  Hey, it’s my blog! — So if you get enough pressure from your patrons, does that mean you’re going to start labeling all of your books for each and every item they don’t like?  Too religious, too violent, crude language, promotes homosexuality, …  IMHO this is just another example of censorship – and isn’t that what libraries are AGAINST? Or am I off track here?

PatriotLedger.com: “Need help with class? YouTube video await” – YouTube video tutorials, specifically in math via Khan Academy.  Each video is about 10 minutes long and covers one specific topic.  Students can watch the video over and over until they grasp the concept.

Lifehacker: “WhichBook Will Help Fill Your Reading Lists” – With WhichBook, use slide rule to select characteristics you enjoy in your books, such as happy/sad or funny/serious.  Also mentioned in the article are What Should I Read Next and BookLamp which also help you find other reading selections.

LitWeb: The Norton Introduction to Literature Website – I was looking for the text for a short story and found this site.  It has stories, poetry, and some drama/plays, as well as quizzes and flashcards for literary terms.

Elona Hartjes – Teachers At Risk: Improve a child’s reading skills by having him read to a dog – Honest! – explains the Paws to Read program of having kids read to a non-judgmental audience – a dog!

Coraline: Explore a Hand-Made World - very engaging website to correspond with the movie release.  Be sure to check out the The Other Mother’s Workshop: Button Your Eyes page (sorry, I wont share my results – way too scary!)  Can’t wait to see the movie!  In case you didn’t know, Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book received this years Newbery Medal Award.  You can watch/listen to Mr. Gaiman read The Graveyard Book via videos recorded on his video tour.