Ronan 10

My son Ronan turned 10 on June 2nd! One decade behind him and a whole lot more ahead! Ronan is a very humorous and funny guy. He makes me laugh, and I really like that about Ronan. He cares about other people and how they feel. He is sensitive to other’s needs, and can be very compassionate when he knows it is needed. He had a wonderful fourth grade year with an awesome teacher that made a huge difference in his life!  Thanks Ms. Brinkmeyer!!!!  Ronan is another of my great teachers, and I look forward to continue learning from him for many years to come.

Charlie turns 12!!!

My oldest son Charlie turns twelve today. He is finishing his 6th grade year in school and is excited about the opportunity to do sports next school year. Charlie is a very intelligent, funny, amazing, polite, and wonderful young man. I know he gets frustrated at times when he sees injustice in life, but I know that he works to see that what he can control is fair and honest. I admire that trait in Charlie. Charlie has reached an important age in our family’s beliefs and will receive a great honor this coming Sunday. Charlie is a great servant of his maker and will bless many people throughout his lifetime. Thanks for being such a wonderful soul Charlie. You are a great example to me. Peace!

Happy Birthday Hannah: Sweet 16

Sixteen years ago I became a dad for the first time. I was scared to my wits about the whole thing and I suppose I still am! Hannah helped me learn to be a dad. She taught me how to play Barbies, have fun with water, to “do it again daddy,” to worry more than I ever have, to be prouder than I ever have, and to have a broken heart more than I ever could have known.

My joy is great because of Hannah, and I can’t believe how fast 16 years can go by. This little baby that arrived near high noon on April 30, 1992 stared into my eyes and won my heart forever. I can still see her and that moment in my mind as if it were yesterday. It was a great day, and life has improved each day. If I had to list one of my greatest teachers it would be Hannah. Because of what she didn’t or doesn’t know, I learn. That is so cool! I love you Hannah!!!

Digital Storytelling at My House…

My son Charlie created a claymation video yesterday. You can visit his blog to leave a comment about his project. I think it’s pretty good for a first time go at claymation; so, let him know what you think.

Charlie’s Blog: http://chokanson.wordpress.com

Who I Am Makes A Difference

A good friend and colleague, Larry LaShell, shared the following video with me today:

Web Link

I needed this today. Thanks Larry, you made a difference by passing this on!

Heather’s Birthday

Tomorrow my Heather turns 5!!!

My youngest of our 5, our little Heather, has a birthday tomorrow. That was a fast 5 years, but I can remember the morning she arrived like it was yesterday. In celebration of Heather’s courageous attitude I present the following short film: Daredevil Heather!!! Enjoy!

Heather’s Podcast Page (Sadly, Heather fell asleep this evening and we were unable to make her last podcast while she was still four!) 

NPHS Musical “South Pacific”

North Platte High School students’ hard work and practice is paying off as they perform their musical “South Pacific.” The amazing cast has been working since December to share a wonderful performance of the Rogers and Hammerstein classic. One of the great cast members is my own Hannah Hokanson!!!

The musical is directed by Leah Purdy and performances are March 7th and 8th at 7:30 p.m. and March 9th at 2:00 p.m. in the North Platte High School Performing Arts Center. Read the following newspaper article for more information: “High School prepares South Pacific“

Tales

I’m off to Kansas City for an Infinite Campus “meeting” (I have to travel on Super Bowl Sunday & will miss it!!!) and am placing a couple of podcasts here for my Heather to listen to while I am away! Heather’s brother Nicholas and I began a tradition a few years ago of making up and telling dragon tales for our bedtime stories. In recent years Heather has added pony tales to the mix. We have begun to record our tales as they need to be saved for posterity and for the listening enjoyment of others! We are simply using a Video iPod and a Griffin iTalk to record our tales. I load the .wav files into iTunes and convert them to mp3; so, nothing fancy here as of yet. Enjoy!

Heather’s Tale

Daddio’s Tale

Hulu

I finally got my Hulu private beta invitation today. Like Joost, Hulu offers “television” programming, but the offerings are different and I had a better experience with Hulu. I must say that I am totally impressed. I just finished the first episode of WKRP in Cincinnati and was pleased with the loading and presentation of the media. There are quick ads during the program, and they were short and to the point. When the ads come on you cannot gain access to the controls (I was just curious how that would work), but I had no problem with the brief ads. The picture quality is great, and I am hooked here at the beginning. What the future holds for this business remains to be seen. Will they charge for the content, subscription model, can ads keep it going? These are questions that come to mind, but I know that more and more my family gets their entertainment media from online sources. Could this be the end of the satellite dish? Will the computer soon be hooked up to the LCD TV? It may not be too much longer before it happens with offerings like Hulu.

“Web Playgrounds of the Very Young” NY Times

I read this article last week and I see this world with my own young ones. An interesting read: “Web Playgrounds of the Very Young.”  NeoPets is the site of choice right now at our home.

Pumpkin Patch

This evening we ventured out into a local pumpkin patch to fetch some pumpkins for carving. The corn is tall and dry, the pumpkins orange, and the leaves are quickly changing in this part of the world. A cool breeze brings the chills of fall and winter is just a few weeks away. This is a wonderful time of year, and I look forward to the holiday season in our new home. We have met many new friends, and we have been welcomed with open arms in our new community. We hope we are making a difference for the good with those we mingle with each day, and we know we are better for coming here. It has not always been an easy transition, and our hearts are often tugged by those we left behind, but we are happy to be here. There are times in our lives, as Yogi Berra once stated, when you come to a fork in the road, take it! Taking the road less traveled is not the point as Frost would share. Sometimes you just choose a fork and take it, and a whole new world opens up that you never dreamed may have happened if we hadn’t taken the chance and been willing to grow. We took a fork, and what an adventure it has been. We look forward to many more wonderful days here on the prairie. Peace!

“Digital Kids”

 

Teachers and Parents read the following CNET articles:

Savvy teachers use the Net to engage students (Reuters Article)

The ABCs of learning online

Summer’s here, the Web surfing’s fine

When digital kids rule the classroom

Developing safe and smart Internet citizens

Digital Citizenship and Safety sites:

Be Web Aware

Media Awareness Network

Kids’ Rules for Online Safety

SafeKids.com

The Skinny on a Good Media Diet for Your Kids

WiredSafety

Sites for Kids:

ALA Great Web Sites for Kids

KidsClick

Yahoo Kids

Ask for Kids

North Platte High School Marching Band

We attended the first football game of the season this evening and the North Platte High School Bulldogs defeated Columbus!!! The marching band performed very well playing the national anthem and two songs during halftime. Our daughter Hannah played her trombone in excellent fashion along with her wonderful band mates. Mr. Bradley has done a great job in bringing this group together and forming a wonderful team of budding musicians.

It has been a full week in the district with all of the teachers back and ready for students to arrive this coming Monday.  I use the term “ready” loosely as we all know we are never ready, especially when it comes to the technology department.  Nevertheless, we will make the best of our situations and welcome those bright shining faces into the schools and classrooms in the coming days.  I sense and see great things happening here in our part of the world, and I hope to share our challenges and inevitable successes as the year progresses.   Test scores are up in the district, and the hard work of students, staff, and parents is paying off.  We must not rest on our laurels but must continue to be committed to continual improvement.  It is a pleasure to be here and to work with such a dedicated group of people that are working together to make this a special place to be and visit.

I also had the opportunity to meet two of my son’s teachers today, and I am thankful for their service and choice to be involved in the education of my children.  Teaching is a noble profession, and I admire those who have taken on its charge.  I am thankful each day to work with such wonderful people!

Please enjoy this short clip of our own North Platte High School Marching Band!!!

To my tech department, schools, & district…

I have been working with some wonderful people for the past few weeks at my new job as an educational technology specialist. They have welcomed me, the new guy, with open arms, and I appreciate their hospitality. I have many questions, and I know there is not always time to answer them but my new colleagues do it anyway. I am grateful.

Christian Long at think:lab put how I feel in such eloquent words I want to share them here (My colleagues can change the position of “English teacher and coach” in their minds and place me as an educational tech specialist into Christian’s train of thought). Christian, please let me know if I’m out of bounds sharing your sentiments.

Christian states and I feel the same,

“Note to self:

The school has seen something in you that they value. Likewise, you have seen something even more impressive in them that you value.

The school has invited you to become a part of their lives and families. Likewise, you have invited them to become part of your life and family.

The school has entrusted you with the academic and social well-being of their most precious resources: their kids. Likewise, you have agreed to take this responsibility on without fail, and without letting your own biases/ego get in the way.

The school — long before you were interviewed — had been successfully creating a culture of academic rigor, respect/empathy, and life-long relationships. Even if you never came around, they’d still be doing it tomorrow and many years into the future. They invited you to play a small role within their family. Likewise, you noted this about them each and every time you visited the campus. You have accepted a small role within their family, first and foremost. And you never plan on forgetting that with or with you, they’ll continue doing great things in the future.

The school knows you can bring additional ideas and resources to them over time; in fact, they hired you explicitly — even when they did not need to hire one more English teacher or coach — in part because of that very realization. What they need from you early on, however, is to listen to, learn about, respect, and celebrate the academic world that they have already built and committed to long before you came-a-knockin’. Likewise, you have signed up to teach classes they need and in ways they value, first and foremost. You have plenty of time to share new ideas, but listening, watching, and respecting is the first rule of business. Listening and watching is your best trait going forward in this first year.

The school expects you to do great things on their behalf. In the meantime, they will ask you to do the ’small’ things first. Likewise, you expect to do great things on their behalf. In the meantime, you will embrace the ’small’ things with dignity and enthusiasm.

The school has extraordinary people that are capable of amazing things and more mentors that you can shake a stick at going in. Likewise, you know this and want to empower their success (rather than to try to prove what you can do yourself). And you will find as many mentors as you can to learn from, without fail.

Now that we have that cleared up, it’s time to get-r-done!”

Thanks for sharing Christian, and best wishes now that you have returned to the classroom. I will be hoping for good things to happen to you and your students and will follow along each day. Once again thanks to my new colleagues, district, and community for allowing me into your day to day world.

Peace!

NH