What Students Won't Tell You (But Every Librarian Knows)

Vampires are extinct, staked out.  Wizards and sorcerers gone in a blink of wispy smoke.

Whew!  Back to reality.

But...

According to popular reading lists and surveys by School Library Journal and other reviews sources,  Zombacolypse and distopian futures are the "new black."  Thankfully, brooding, moody, hulky vampires are "been-there, done-that."

I am an addict to new young adult literature.  Over the last decade or so, young adult authors have moved from the staple classic formula for YA Lit (i.e. Hatchet, Walter Dean Myers, etc...) to an edgier, realistic, gritty world that speaks volumes to the tween and teen psyche.  

YA literature, in particular, pushes the envelope of societal and educational norms.  Just as technology is changing the way we operate on fundamental levels, YA lit is changing the way we communicate and how we view our contemporary world.  It is ripping off the "rose-colored" innocence of authors like Paulsen, George, Peck and other Newbery-award winning authors and replacing them with what I can only call "ripping the bandaid-off" authors--tough, straightforward, and graphic.

Hot Topics:

Dystopian...a community or society that is undesirable, dyfunctional or frightening that often includes dehumanization, totalitarianism and an environmental disaster or cataclysm.  What's not to love.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Shipbreaker by Paolo Baciogalupi

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

Zombies...the new supernatural creature of choice

Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

Pride Prejudice and Zombies

Steampunk...retro-futuristic society that involve a combination of steam-powered technology, magic, and 19th Century social norms.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Have fun checking these out...I certainly am!

3rd Down Conversions

My colleagues at CESA 6, even the Boss, knows of my intense dislike for paper.  I don't like receiving paper anything and prefer digital copies of notes, handouts, presentations.  I find it much easier to add notes of my own, keep track of calendar items and work remotely.  Being a remote employee, I also don't like having to carry packets of materials everywhere I go.  My thought is that I need to carry suitcases on vacations, not when I go to work.


Simple solution:  Get documents in PDF format and convert them to Google Docs

• Worksheets
• Forms
• Manuals
• Books
• Handouts
• Agendas

Google Drive makes it easy and relatively reliable (keeps its formatting) to convert PDFs to Google Documents.

1. Upload a pdf to Google Drive
2. Click the check box next to the PDF once it is uploaded
3. Click on "More"
4. Click on "Export to Google Docs"
5. Once the file is converted, you will have the original PDF and a Google Doc (square blue icon with 3 white lines).  You can edit the Google Doc version.

Possibilities:

• Adapt company or colleague's worksheets or forms to your classroom needs
• Convert a book or manual and add your own comments or highlight important sections
• Add links to other online resources within the text to make a structured "webquest"
• Convert it to an editable online assignment to share with your students...SAVE PAPER!
• Use your converted document to take notes during meetings from ANY device
• Others...

The beauty of this trick is that once in Google Drive, you have access ANYWHERE you go.

Google Commercial of the Day:

Wisdom for the Ages

Unfortunately, it's not mine.

I thought I would share some "wisdom" I gathered yesterday from some of my favorite people...a 4Ker, a 5Ker and a first grader.

5K/First Grader 1, Dad 0

My first grader had a friend over yesterday after an all day basketball tournament (their brothers play on the same team) and both of the boys were lying on the living room with their Nintendo DS' lined up and touching like the Samsung phones that can share playlists and videos by touching them together.  [The commercial with two girls and a mom sharing videos with their dad is a CLASSIC, btw.]

I asked what game the boys were playing.

"Download" the 5K friend responded.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's the game where we can play together," responded my son.

I laughed.  For all the work I do to help teachers find innovative and meaningful ways to use technology in their classrooms, in literacy, in assessment, these two boys reinforced the need for urgency.  They don't need to learn how, when, or why to use technology.  It just IS.

5Ker 2, Dad 0

My son's friend also played the XBox with my third grader and was beating him at Madden 13.  The third grader was frustrated to say the least.  The 5Ker's response to an outburst:

"Maybe we should quit, you are having some real anger management issues."

Just classic.  An important lesson that communication is still important no matter how long I like to look at Pinterest, Facebook or this blog!  It also demonstrates that we can still communicate effectively no matter how "digital" we become.

4Ker 3, Dad & Mom 0

My wife, after the day in a gym listening to coaches shouting, parents cheering (and a couple yelling worse things), and basketballs bouncing was complaining of a headache and achy body.

"I hope it's just a headache and not the flu" I responded.  I am extremely supportive, you know.

"I hope it's not worse," my wife says. [As a note, this is our family way of saying we don't have time to be sick.]

"Like melingitis?" Should be meningitis, I realize after I say it.  My ears are still ringing from 8 hours of  gym time.

My 5 year old says, "I love melingitis."  With a pause, we both look at him incredulously.

"What?"

With an entirely straight face, he says "like watermelon."  Melon-gitis.

Apparently, my wife now has watermelongitis.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday, deer hunting and Black Friday season!

They still make that? (Google Tip)

Remember Tab soda?

Called "Tab" for people who want to keep "tabs" on their weight. 

I still consider it odd how the mind works because I hear "Tab" and automatically think of the soda, popular in the 60s and 70s.  Truthfully, however, I was working on one of my favorite features of Chrome.

Along with Chrome's speed and security, the ability to customize your browsing experience with Chrome is super easy.  If you are anything like me (please tell me I am not abnormal), you open your email, a search tool (Google, please!), and other favorites on a pretty regular basis.  My daily tabs include email and calendar, for instance.

Chrome makes it easy to open the browser and have all your favorite/daily sites open automatically as a new tab.

Quick guide:

• Go into Settings (three lines icon on the right) and click on settings.  

• Under the Settings page, go to On Startup and fill in the circle next to "Open a specific page or set of pages"

• Add as many pages/websites as you like.

 Just an easy way to have all your tools open separate Tabs when you start up. 

Wicked Website for Writers

A most excellent middle school ELA teacher and colleague (Thanks Stacie) showed me an awesome website for writers of all ages...Paper Rater.

Paper Rater will analyze your text, whether it's an essay, short story, narrative, letter or other, for grammar and spelling.  Just copy and paste the text into the appropriate box.

Paper Rater goes beyond normal grammar checkers (Word, Google...), however, and analysis your text by grade level looking for appropriate vocabulary, word (and verb) usage, sentence length and gives useful suggestions.

The real peach for Paper Rater is the Plagiarism Detection.  Paste works cited into the appropriate box and the website will analyze your text for inappropriate uses of other people's work.  For students, this is a real easy way to curb (and learn) how to use research appropriately.  For teacher, this is an easy way to check for plagiarism.


Quick tutorial:

Take Your Browser EVERYWHERE (Google Tip)

Google Chrome has quickly become the Internet browser of choice.

[I am biased and I am more than happy to admit that.]

There are multiple reasons for Chrome's rapid success...security, ease of use, speed, quick access to Google Docs and Mail, etc.  Nothing beats Chrome's universal ability to sync to any device and be entirely user-friendly on any device.

As an example, I can add bookmarks in my Chrome browser on my work computer...currently a Dell Laptop, soon to be a MacBook.  These bookmarks sync automatically to my Chromebook, Chrome app on my iPad, my son's laptop at home, my Android phone and my wife's iPhone, also running Chrome.

But why do I want to do that?

For me, as a mobile professional, I generally take different devices to different events.  For school...a laptop; for conferences...an iPad, maybe a Chromebook; at home...my home laptop or my iPad; at basketball tournaments...yes, even there...my Razr Maxx phone.

We are truly 24-7 professionals, having links and information readily available is important and timely.

An Excellent Step-by-Step Tutorial