I took the summer off from blogging and then school got started. No time to blog for the first 2 weeks of the annual craziness. I am beginning to get into a pattern again. But I have to say – I really resent letting those lazy days of summer go…. Actually – there really were no lazy days except when we went to the Adirondacks to camp. We HAVE to go there to maintain our sanity. We’ve been doing a lot of work on the house and that really sucked up our “lazy” time at home.

Anyway….What made me really know that summer is over? Well – I printed out this article:

Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us [Library Journal]

As always I am quite intigued by Library 2.0 concepts and how we can use them to make our students’ library experiences better. As I read, my brain is making a list of ways that I can use social bookmarking. For one thing – it would be a terrific addition to our upcoming 10th grade research project on Globalization. My list has 4 or 5 uses on it and I am only half way through page 1 of the article. And then it hits me. There is no way I can do anything on the list. Why? Not enough time? Prefer my static web page? Think my students won’t be interested? Nooooo….

The #%^$ content filter raises it’s ugly head. It’s a case of “we just can’t get there from here” – at least not at school. Here we are again. A wonderfully adaptable (and free!) tool shot down by our overzealous need to protect our children and our networks.

I DO understand our need to protect. Really I do. I’ve seen the Dateline episodes too (And aren’t they just a voyeur’s dream?)

Could there be an answer to my dilemma? Blogging used to be impossible in school – but eventually the filters recognized that there are some student-friendly blog providers (edublogs, classroom blogmeister etc.).

Are there any social bookmarking sites designed specifically for students? I hope to find out about some. PLEASE SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW. Thanks!!