Warm day baby steps

So what do you do when you live in Seattle and the temperature hits the mid/upper nineties? Not much. I know mid nineties may not sound like much to many across the US who have been withering away in the heat wave of the last few days, but when it happens out here, things just kind of stop. Sort of like when it snows. AC is not a common feature around here, especially in older homes, and many homes don't have a single screen. Our little home has neither. Bugs you say? What are those? So it's not all bad, but it is tough to be productive at anything physical. Thank goodness there is Internet stuff to work on :)

I've been developing a wiki for my school the past couple of weeks. I fully expect it (or something like it) to eventually replace the Arbor Heights Elementary School website, something I began twelve years ago. While I'm feeling my way around the wiki world, I am trying to involve a few parents in the initial building stage. If there's enough vested interest in the next month, with a core group watching and contributing to it, I will make it public at the opening of school in the fall. I hope to have staff, parents, and students all contributing to the wiki. We'll see...

Then for something totally different, I set up a podcast feed for the Jr. Seahawk Newsletter, the student newsletter I edit and produce with the kids from all the classes at school. We managed to crank out four podcasts at the end of year, so it's not much, but at least it's a start. I used the November Learning site I set up for reporters to comment on, set up a "category" for podcasts, and... tada!!... that category has an rss feed. Had no idea if this would work when starting out. Have tried the feed through Bloglines and Netvibes and the podcasts play just fine. Very cool. Two things I hope for in the fall:

1. that the site remains free
2. that my district does not block it
   

Then just to push in an area I know absolutely nothing about, I got the news reporter feed listed (pending approval) on iTunes. Yikes, I had to sign up, and all this business, just to have them list it. But now I can download all kinds of great music for my iPod. Right.

Now to find a shady spot with a bit of a breeze....