TRW was three weeks ago and we had a very exciting program developed for our students.  Instead of the science fiction/fantasy theme “Read Beyond Reality @ Your Library” we had students competing in events based on Reality TV shows.

Monday was “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” using an iPhone app I purchased for our program.  Unfortunately, I had an emergency that took me away from the library prior to the program, but my mentor teacher, Mrs. M., and Amy, my library intern, took over.  We used a document camera and LCD projector to project the iPhone app on a screen.  There were two teams of students who took turns choosing and answering questions.   The team that answered the most questions by the end of lunch won goodie bags.

Tuesday was the “Amazing Race” where students competed in a race consisting of four party type games.  The team that completed all four segments first, won the goodie bags.  The challenge was they had to finish one round before they could move onto the next event.  They all got stuck at building a two tier house of cards!  Again, real life interfered with our program in that I forgot I had a class schedule for 5th period.  Our school runs on a 7 period a day schedule with two lunches and an overlapping 5th period class – lunch 1 goes to lunch and then 5th and lunch 2 goes to 5th then lunch – there is a 20 minute time where both 5ths are in session.  So, Mrs. M to the rescue again!  We moved the event into the Family & Consumer Science classroom.

Wednesday was “Survivor” and students had to complete a “Survivor Challenge” involving a puzzle and clue – they had to put the puzzle together to get to the clue, then solve the riddle.  The riddle/clue required the students to use our card catalog to find a specific book on the shelves.  The first team to bring me the trophy cutout from inside the book won the challenge.  I have to give special kudos to Amy, my intern for coming up with such clever clues – each team had a different clue/book so they couldn’t cheat off each other!  First lunch went very well and they solved the clue quickly – however, yes, there was a glitch.  The book was a career book and just that morning the Freshman Academy teachers took all of the books out of the career section and back to the academy wing for a collaborative unit!  Yikes, would this week ever run smoothly?!  Then during second lunch, apparently I didn’t explain the challenge clearly.  After they solved the puzzle, they all thought that was it, I had to re-state the second part of the challenge, solve the clue! Another problem came in that all teams first part of the clue was the same: “The centre of info will help you in your search for victory” – which directed students to use the card catalog “InfoCentre Search.”  However, the second part was different for each team.  A couple of the teams didn’t realize this and were trying to solve another teams clue!

Thursday was “Wagener-Salley Idol” karaoke contest.  This is an activity we’ve done before for TRW.  The teens really seem to like this one, so it’s kinda become a tradition I can’t leave out.

We didn’t have school on Friday.   Overall, I would have to say the week was a roaring success.  Each day we had more students sign up at the last minute to participate.   I think it wasn’t all the due to the programs, but to the goodie bags!  Each bag had a mix of candy, chips, school supplies, and a small token (stress ball, party toy, etc.)  I’ve even had students (the winners of course!) ask when we’re going to have another event like this one.   Again, I have to give a special thanks to Amy for coming up with most of the ideas for the events – I can only take credit for wanting to base the event around the Reality TV theme and the karaoke contest.

As you know from my previous post, I have an iPhone that I’m having a blast playing with.  I thought I’d share some of the apps I’ve been exploring.

Keeping Up:

Here is the first “page” of apps on my iPhone.  Most come standard: messages, contacts, notes (great for my to do and grocery lists), camera, calendar (keeps me organized by combining my iCal, Google, and Moodle calendars), photos, settings, voice memo, clock (customizable alarms ensures I don’t forget to set up the laptops three times a week for pullout class!), and calculator.

Ones I added:

Just Light (free) – as the name implies, a blank white screen used as a flash light – you never know when you’ll have a power outage and need a light.  And I have used it a time or two already.

Twitterific - Free Twitter app that I downloaded as soon as I got the iPhone. and for a free app it is pretty good.  Liked the dark screen with light text vs white screen with black text – less harsh on my eyes.

Tweetie2 – the Twitter app that I use now.  Cost $2.99 but was worth the price.  Just wish I could customize the screen & text colors.  Has more bells and whistles, but for the light Twitter user, Twitterific works just fine and is free.

Reader – Free Google Reader – mobile app takes a bit of getting used to, but love being able to quickly clean out the reader when I’m on the go.

Evernote (free) and Delicious Bookmarks (free) are new and I haven’t had a chance to explore them just yet.

Games:

FlowerzLite – free match game – just for time wasting!

reMovem – also just a free time waster game I like.

Wild Things – movie tie-in/ad for Where the Wild Things Are – totally cute.  You interact with Carol who throws things at the screen and when he gets angry he “smashes” your screen (both cause the iPhone to vibrate).  Scared the beegeebers out of me the first time my screen “cracked” and vibrated.  Again, a time waster, but cute and free.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader – $4.99 app that I purchased for our Teen Read Week program.  We used a document camera and the questions from the game for the competition.  The two teams took turns choosing a category and answering the question.  Right answers earned them a point.  Team with the most points at the end of the period won.

Action bowling isn’t really my game, but it was free.

PAC-MAN – much harder than I thought – moving the guy around the screen takes some skill!  Sol Free – gotta have a solitaire game on your phone.

Ocarina - $0.99 novelty app, but don’t know what to do with it.  It basically turns your iPhone into a flute.  Kinda cool, but another time waster.  You’re supposed to be able to upload your “masterpieces” online to share with others.  I got it just to play around with it.

This is only the first page and a half of my four pages of apps.  I wont bore anyone with the rest, but I’ll share a few at a time that I find useful as I get finished exploring them myself.

….my Macbook.   Ever since I got my iPhone a few weeks ago, I’ve been spending more of my time on it and less time using my Macbook.   Activities such as checking email, Twitter, and organizing my day are done using the iPhone instead of lugging out the laptop.  I’m still not proficient enough with the touch screen keyboard – a texter I’m not, so I’ve still got a learning curve.   However, the one feature I’m really having fun with is the built in camera.  I’ve been so long without a working camera that I’ve forgotten the joys of snapping photos.  My family and co-workers now know my fascination with clouds after being forced to look at the hundreds of photos I’ve already snapped on my drive home and from around the house.  The one in this post was taking on the front stoop – the original subject was the clouds in the background, but I got distracted by my mom’s rosebush.  My point, you’ll probably be seeing more of my amateur photography skills now, so I’ll apologize in advance.

I’m also loving the voice memo app which comes in handy when I’m in the car and need to make a note to remember something.  I don’t usually have pen and paper handy.  Which brings up the most wonderful feature(s) of the iPhone – The Apps Store!  I’ve been going wild surfing and downloading apps, but that’ll be another post.

I know it’s been a while and I’ve got a bunch of links clogging my bookmarks to share with you guys.  Here are some for today:

Scholastic.com: Top 20 Teacher Blogs - I subscribed to a couple of these already and will give the others a try.  I’m passing it along because on of my good friends is highlighted on the lists: #14 Best for Media Specialists – TechnoTuesday. Way to go Cathy!

Center for History and New Media – “Providing free access to primary sources, building high-quality online teaching modules, and offering instruction on critical thinking skills.”

PrimaryAccess – “PrimaryAccess is a suite of free online tools that allows students and teachers to use primary source documents to complete meaningful and compelling learning activities with digital movies, storyboards, rebus stories and other online tools.”

Smithsonian American Art Museum – Classroom Activities – “These American Art Museum online features contain interactive or media-rich assets that can easily be used by educators in the classroom. Students can learn by viewing media or taking part in various online activities.”

Lastly, here are a couple of online graphic organizers:

• Lovely Charts - online diagramming program to create flowcharts, site maps, organizational charts, etc.
• Bubbl.us – great for mindmapping/brainstorming

No, I haven’t dropped off the face of the Earth, I’ve just been EXTREMELY busy. Quick update:

My intern is a gem! She has gone all out to help our library celebrate Banned Book Week and plan our Teen Read Week activities.

The photo is the sign on a box of snack size popcorn she brought in for our faculty.  Each packet had a sticker with the phrase you see on the sign.  She put the box out in the faculty workroom and it was empty before LUNCH!

I’ll post our plans for TRW once I get the okay from my principal to the activities we’re wanting to provide – I’m excited, but at the same time exhausted just thinking about them!

I’m buried up to my neck in High Schools That Work/Technical Assistance Visit preparations.  I’m steadily working to pull together our notebook that we have to send off in three weeks.  It’s huge and I’m not finished adding all we’re required to provide.  Send good thoughts my way!

Lastly, if you’re one of my faculty, you know this already, but for the rest of you: APPLE OPENED A STORE IN AUGUSTA!  Yes, I was there for the grand opening and was one of the first 1000 – got the free shirt! (Yes, Cathyjo, you’ll get it eventually so stop pouting!)  Both my guidance counselor and assistant principal came up to tell me I was famous now.

FYI: I gave into temptation and purchased the iPhone!  I’m loving it, even if there is no service in Wagener!  *Sigh*  Come on AT&T, get on the ball and expand your coverage!