Socialnomics, this seems appropriate:

For best viewing, click on "YouTube."

One of my favorite videos

Sometimes working in education feels like this.

Also, I have a personal attachment to this video having worked for EDS for a time.

Fun with photo mashup

Oh, the perks of having a child in college!

 I am an official card-carrying college mom.

I absolutely love the photo mashup tools at Big Huge Labs. This is simply fun, fun, fun. Yet I can see several uses for it in education. I created a "You Need to Read" movie poster and hung it in my library. A history teacher could have students create ID cards for famous historical figures. I could make passes for students to be admitted to the library cafe. Clever signage for the library is also a possibility. The downside:  This is addictive.

PGI 2009

One of the highlights of the year for me and my family is attending the Pyrotechnics Guild International convention. The 2009 convention in Mason City, IA, was one of my favorites. The weather was great. The shows were spectacular. And our accommodations were awesome. We stayed in nearby Clear Lake in a condo right on the lake. My son, Culver, and I also visited a couple of local attractions including the public library in Spencer, IA, home to Dewey Readmore Books, made famous in the book, Dewey the Small-town Library Cat Who Touched the World. Clear Lake is home to the Surf Ballroom, site of the final concert by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper. After that final concert, their plane went down in the nearby Iowa countryside. We visited the Surf Ballroom which still has a stage, dance floor, and booths in addition to a museum. Site seeing and relaxing by day, fireworks by night. What could be better. Below is a slide show of photos from our trip.