"Using technology in the classroom is a mindset, not a skill-set."
Kim Cofino is my new favorite blogger. This 21st Century Literacy Teacher writes prolifically, proficiently and enthusiastically. What makes me so excited about her is that she describes everything she is doing with students and teachers in such understandable detail, it's impossible not to want to jump in and try everything she's doing at her school.

My own blogging efforts are at the other end of the comparative spectrum currently. I have spent so much time at work over the last couple of weeks installing testing software, running updates and performing maintenance tasks on the school computers and most of my non work time on projects around my house that I have been able to form complete thoughts about where to start or with direction to pursue when the teachers and students come back from their break this week. All I have are snippets of ideas picked up here and there and dropped into Evernote and they're just too jumbled up to sort at the moment.

It has been cathartic getting my personal stuff done; all the recipe clippings, articles and papers in little piles have been duly filed or tossed. The spring cleaning is pretty much complete, so as soon as the snow melts I'll be able to dig into the garden without guilt. But the mundane tasks at work have been mind numbing. I could easily conclude that a chimp could do it, but since I won't give out the administrative passwords to anyone, even chimps, I guess I am consigned to do it myself until they hire someone else in the tech department. Huh!

There has been a bright spot on the technology discovery scene. I am still considering what a classroom application might be, but for fun, blip.fm has been a treat. Ever listening to the radio, watching TV or reading an article and come across a song or artist you'd like to hear again or know more about? This site is a social music site. No music is downloaded to you computer, instead the site plays the songs you select from their servers. The social part of it is that you can access other members' play lists and it's like twitter. When you "blip" a song the word goes out to others and you and they can listen and/or add it to play lists. This is really crude explanation, best to go there and explore.