YA Book Challenge

OK. I'm going to double dip. I just discovered the Young Adult Book Challenge. You have to read 12 YA books in a year. I can definitely do 12 and I'm going to count them in my 100 Book Challenge. This is a good way to encourage me to read teen lit. I really enjoy YA books, but I always have several adult novels I'm dying to read, so the YA books get pushed to the bottom. I look forward to mixing in some fun teen reads! I'll definitely be reading Chris Crutcher books, since he's our visiting author this year. I'll list the titles on this post.

Young Adult Book Challenge:

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
3. Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
4. Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

5. Flight by Sherman Alexie

100 Book Challenge

My friend Jenners told me about the 100 Book Challenge over at J. Kaye's Book Blog. I read about a book a week, so 100 books in a year sounds like a good challenge. Plus you can count children's books and I will be an elementary librarian in August, so I'm sure I can easily clear 100 books. Right now I'm a high school librarian, so I can't plow through 20 books in a week!

I will list the books I read here in this post. I read 4 and a half books on vacation, but 3 of them were before January 1st. Bummer! Oh, well. What can you do? Keep reading, that's what!

100 Book Challenge for 2009:

1. Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman
2. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
3. You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers
4. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
5. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
6. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
7. Shredderman 1: Secret Identiy by Wnedelin van Draanen (children's novel)
8. The Story of Thomas Alva Edison by Margaret Davidson (children's biography)
9. Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price
10. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
11. The Gathering by Anne Enright
12. In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar
13. Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet
14. Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
15. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
16. The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

17. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

18. Flight by Sherman Alexie

19. Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
20. Sea Glass by Anita Shreve
21. Good Faith by Jane Smiley
22. Do NOT Open This Book by Joy Cowley (picture book)
23. Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey (picture book)
24. The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood (picture book)
25. Piggies by Audrey and Don Wood (picture book)
26. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
27. I Took My Frog To The Library by Eric Kimmel (picture book)
28. My Little Car by Gary Soto (picture book)
29. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
30. Goldilocks retold by Janet Hillman (picture book)
31. Goldie and the Bears by Diane Stanley (picture book)
32. Mud Walk by Joy Cowley (picture book)
33. Duck's Key: Where Can it Be? by Jez Alborough (picture book)
34. Varjak Paw by SF Said (children's novel)
35. Moonbear's Pet by Frank Asch (picture book)
36. Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin (picture book)
37. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
38. The Riders by Tim Winton
39. Magyk by Angie Sage (children's novel)
40. Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin (picture book)
41. Growing Frogs by Vivian French (picture book)
42. Stick by Steve Breen (picture book)
43. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamilio (children's novel)
44. Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
45. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
46. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
47. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
48. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
49. Jack Adrift by Jack Gantos (children's novel)
50. Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathman (picture book)
51. No More Cookies! by Paeony Lewis (picture book)
52. More Spaghetti, I Say! by Rita Gelman (picture book)
53. Mount Count by Ellen Stohl Walsh (picture book)
54. Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman (picture book)
55. The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Denys Cazet (picture book)
56. Froggy's Halloween by Jonathan London (picture book)
57. Mouse's First Halloween by Lauren Thompson (picture book)
58. Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes (picture book)
59. Canoe Days by Gary Paulsen (picture book)
60. Where the Big Fish Are by Jonathan London (picture book)
61. Froggy Plays Soccer by Jonathan London (picture book)
62. Baby Radar by Naomi Nye (picture book)
63. The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkin by Barbara Kerley (picture book)
64. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (picture book)
65. Nine Ducks Nine by Sarah Hayes (picture book)
66. Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh (picture book)
67. Anno's Counting Book by Anno (picture book)
68. A Small, Tall Tale From the Far, Far North by Peter Sis (picture book)
69. Pumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo (picture book)
70. It's Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall (picture book)
71. Bumpy Little Pumpkin by Margery Cuyler (picture book)
72. The Water Hole by Graeme Base (picture book)
73. The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky (picture book)
74. As the Crow Flies: A First Book of Maps by Gail Harman (picture book)
75. White Water by Jonathan London (picture book)
76. Ruth Law Thrills a Nation by Don Brown (picture book)
77. One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root (picture book)
78. Duckie's Ducklings by Frances Barry (picture book)
79. Cha-Cha Chimps by Julia Durango (picture book)
80. Round Trip by Anna Jonas (picture book)
81. What the Sun Saw/What the Moon Saw by Nancy Tafuri (picture book)
82. My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki
83. No Talking by Andrew Clements (children's novel)
84. Midnight on the Farm by Stephen Eaton Hume (picture book)
85. Ten Little Sleepyheads by Elizabeth Provost (picture book)
86. Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen (children's novel)
87. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (children's novel)
88. Alistair and the Alien Invasion by Marilyn Sadler (picture book)
89. Lullabyhullaballo by Mick Inkpen (picture book)
90. How Do Dinosaurs Eat? by Jane Yolen (picture book)
91. Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton (picture book)
92. Sleep Tight, Little Bear by Martin Waddell (picture book)
93. Good Night, Baby Bear by Frank Asch (picture book)
94. A Dozen Dizzy Dinosaurs by Calvin Irons (picture book)
95. The Piggy in the Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz (picture book)
96. Drumheller Dinosaur Dance by Robert Heidbreder (picture book)
97. 100 Days of School by Trudy Harris (picture book)
98. The Tale of Pale Male: a True Story by Jeanette Winter (picture book)
99. Caillou Learns to Skate by Marion Johnson (picture book)
100. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell woo-hoo! My 100th book of 2009!!! November 30th.
101. The Children Who Smelled a Rat by Allan Ahlberg (children's novel)
102. The Boy Who Saved Cleveland by Andrew Clements (children's novel)
103. Oh! by Kevin Henkes (picture book)
104. In the Snow by Sharon Phillips Denslow (picture book)
105. Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London (picture book)
106. Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic (picture book)
107. The Stinky Cheese Many and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka (picture book)
108. Robert's Snowflakes by Grace Lin (picture book)
109. Geraldine's Big Snow by Holly Keller (picture book)
110. Froggy's Best Christmas by Jonathan London (picture book)
111. When Cows Come Home for Christmas by Dori Chaconas (picture book)
112. The Snow Child by Harriet Ziefert (picture book)
113. Little Children by Tom Perrota
114. The Twelve Days of Christmas Dogs by Carolyn Conahan (picture book)
115. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

Library Thing with Grade 7

If you've read any of my blog, you probably know that I'm crazy about Library Thing. Yesterday I finally had a chance to show it to some classes. I taught 2 sections of 7th grade Humanities classes how to create their library and put Library Thing widgets on their blogs. 

The beauty of Library Thing is that it's sooooo easy. To register, you just create a username and password. You don't have to give an e-mail address or any other information. It's super simple. I showed the kids my library and the Library Thing widget on this blog. They quickly joined Library Thing and added books to their library. 

My favorite part of the whole process was listening to the kids talk about reading. One boy yelled out that Tunnels by Roderick Gordon is the best book ever written! Everyone was remembering books they've read and giving impromptu reviews. It was fun to witness an enthusiastic discussion about reading that just happened on its own. If we had tried to orchestrate this type of conversation it probably would have been stilted and lackluster. Somehow the sight of the book covers spurred on a natural discussion about literature.

Next the kids browsed the different styles of widgets and added one to their blog. They looked really good! Lastly, we created a Group so they could see what the others in their class were reading. The classes can have online discussions about reading and literature. 

The Humanities teacher and I really enjoyed the experience. It seemed like the kids did, too. It was a simple way of combining literature and technology and to promote and celebrate reading.

Is Technology Rewiring my Brain?

I used to be able to watch a movie without falling asleep. Not anymore! Just sitting and watching a movie or TV zonks me out within 15 minutes. In fact, I'm blogging right now while watching Eagle Eye. I decided to watch it in the afternoon to hopefully make it through the movie. I thought I could do it. I wasn't tired when the movie started, but about 10 minutes in, I started nodding off. Brenna knows the solution - give me a laptop so I'm doing something interactive. It works every time. Right now I'm surfing the net, chatting with my sister in California on Facebook and writing this post while watching the end of the movie. Mission accomplished!

So why is this happening? I have a difficult time focusing on one task. I'd much rather multitask. It kind of bothers me that I need more stimulus in order to focus. It doesn't make sense, but it's my reality. I don't remember being like this when I was younger, but maybe I was. My husband is less of a techie and he prefers to focus on one thing at a time. He has a difficult time reading with the TV on or any other distractions. Is there a relationship between 

being a techie and having to multitask?

I've read a little about digital natives and how kids' brains are different now because of technology. I'm 42. Has technology rewired my brain? Is this a good thing? Today I was talking to Amanda DeCardy and she has the same experience. She needs more stimulus to focus on one thing, otherwise her brain wanders. I feel your pain, sister! However, we can both read and get totally absorbed. Why? We think it's because when you read, you get immersed in the characters, you are taken to another location and you're also creating a movie of the book in your mind. Reading is more interactive for us. 

Recently I've wanted to do a little experiment. I'd like to test how much I grasp in a meeting where I can't multitask. No doodling or messing around on a laptop. Then test how much I grasp when I can multitask. I feel like I remember more when I have more going on, but how do I know what I'm missing?!? 

Does anyone else have similar experiences? A couple years ago I jokingly started calling it Adult Onset ADHD, but maybe it's more that. Maybe technology is changing how I process. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe it's neither. Maybe it just is what it is.

Mother/Daughter Views on Blogging

I just helped Brenna put links to Youtube videos on her blog. (Please visit her blog and leave a comment! You'll totally make her day!) She wrote a brief post about animal abuse as part of her "free choice" homework assignment. So instead of her teacher being her only audience, she sent it out to the world. An authentic, motivating experience for her. What a big difference from when I was in 5th grade! I would have turned in a couple of paragraphs to my teacher who would have given it back to me with the usual grammar and spelling corrections. Authentic? No. Motivating? The "free choice" aspect would have been a little motivating, but definitely not exciting.

I asked Brenna what she liked about blogging:

Brenna: "I'm always excited when I get comments from people I don't know, people around the world. And also, when I go to someone else's blog, someone out of the school, then they comment back and that's cool. I like blogs because they're like your own website and when I get comments that means people are coming to my blog and reading it. You don't know the audience, but their comments are usually positive. It's cool seeing other blogs and what they write about. Usually when you go to someone's blog you get to know their personality. You can also get your ideas down and people can come to your blog and tell you they like your ideas and then help you."

And people from around the world ARE coming to Brenna's blog! I'm not sure why strangers are interested in what my 10 year has to say, but they are! She's had visitors from China, the US, Canada, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. Authentic? You bet! Motivating? Absolutely!

Although I've been a techie for a long time, I didn't embrace blogging at first. Jeff Utecht, now a tech integrationist at International School of Bangkok, introduced blogs to our school 3 years ago. Kids wrote about trivial things, like playing four square at recess. I didn't see the value. Yes, they were writing to the world, but no one was commenting and do you really have to tell the world when you win at foursquare? 

Now, 3 years later, teachers have discovered how to use blogs as an effective educational tool. Both of my kids have blogs that are used in almost all their classes. They even have posts written in Chinese! The only thing I can read of Brenna's Chinese post are the words Bobby and Benny. I have no clue what Bobby and Benny did, but 20% of the world's population can read her post!

Blogging has changed my children's education for the better. It's exciting to think what's next! I predict it's going to be social networks. Google Docs (social desktop publishing) is already happening and I think teachers will soon grasp the concept of using nings. I'm definitely not a technology visionary, but I'm going to watch those in the forefront to see how they use the latest technologies, especially nings. I need to remember how blogs evolved to be a very effective educational tool in a relatively short time. 

If I see a Four Square Ning, I know we're on the right track!

Griffin Evolve Speakers are Revolutionary!

My iPod speakers rock! If you haven't seen the Griffin Evolve speakers, check them out. No, the cube speakers don't float in the air, like you see in the picture! You put your iPod in the dock and then you can pick up and move the speakers around the room - they're wireless! It says you can have them 150 feel away. The speakers have an internal battery that charge while they're on the base.

I put them to the ultimate test on Saturday night. My friend had a girls' night party which ended with crazy dancing. Her apartment isn't huge, but my 2 speakers rocked the house! I had them at about 3/4 volume, which was plenty loud and the quality of the sound was crisp.

I had one speaker on top of the cabinet directly above the dock, about 6 feet high. The other was on a low table that was maybe 2 feet high. I worried that the speaker on the low table would cut out because there were a lot of people between it and the base. When I placed the speaker it cut out a couple times for a second or two. During the dance bonanza I went over to the speaker to check on it and it was always playing. If it did cut out, I didn't know about it and I don't think anyone noticed. My theory is that if it does cut out, it only happens for a very brief time and then finds a signal. In any case, they worked great.

If you're in the market for iPod speakers, give the Griffin Evolve a listen. We got ours at Target in the US this summer. The sound, convenience and size make it a fantastic buy.

Flipping Over Flips!

Big news! Flip has now come out with the Flip MinoHD! Woo-hoo! It weighs 3.3 ounces and holds 60 minutes of HD video on the internal hard drive. The original Flip is about the size of a cell phone and this once is thinner and lighter. Nice!

If you work in a school that doesn't have any Flip video cameras, beg, borrow (but don't steal!) to get one. Creating videos used to require a higher level of hardware, software and tech skills. Sure you might be able to check out a video camera from the library, but does your computer have a firewire port? Do you know how to capture the video? Flip video cameras take the hassle out of all that, so you can focus on the real reason  you're using it in the first place - to use video as a learning tool.

 

I was talking with Brenna's 5th grade teacher, Scott Hossack. They were doing a reader's workshop and the class was divided into 3 groups. He worked with one group and the other groups used Flips to record their sessions. He is going to watch the tapes and can then meet with those groups and give feedback. What a great use of technology! He was able to focus on the group he was working with, knowing that he wasn't missing the other sessions.

Flips are so easy, it's crazy. I've shown even the most techphobic teachers how to use these babies and he intimidation factor is practically at zero. Power on - press record - zoom in or out - press record to stop. That's easy, but really getting the video onto the computer is generally where it all falls apart. That's where the Flip shines. A cool little USB plug flips out the side and you just plug it in your computer and drag the file to your computer. Done. 

How Do They Compare?

Quality

I recorded the 4th adn 5th grade production of Romeo & Juliet on a Flip and on a Sony Handycam (traditional miniDV digital video camera). I thought the quality of the Flip video would pale in comparison, but it was the same. I couldn't tell which video came f

rom which camera. 

Speed

I dumped the 40 minute production of R&J on my computer in about 3 minutes with the Flip camera. I dumped the 40 minute production of R&J on my computer in at least 40 minutes with the Sony Handycam. Yes, it captures at real time. Also, I accidentally forgot to uncheck a box and the video was broken into 3 minute segments. Not what I wanted.

Zoom

You do sacrifice on zoom, though. The Flip only goes 3x optical, where traditional cameras go higher. I'm not sure how much they'll be able to improve in that area because you need a large lens to have a better optical zoom.

Size

3.3 ounces? Size of a small cell phone? Hello! You could pop this in your pocket and take it with you everywhere. Also, I recommend spending another 22 bucks on a Gorillapod tripod. You can put it on a table top or bend it around a street sign or, apparently, a surf board!

I hope Santa puts one of these under the tree for my family this year!