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.

I’ve been tagged to paricipate in a meme by Cathy Nelson that asks me to look back at my old posts and pick out a rant, resource, reflection, and revelation that were my personal favorites.  The meme was originated by Joyce Valenza and is open to anyone who cares to participate, even if you haven’t been tagged.

Rant: Continuing Education (7-20-2008)

In my seven years in education, it still amazes me that teachers/media specialists who say they want students to be lifelong learners don’t keep up with their own education, especially in the area of technology, unless forced to do so because they need recertification or directed by the principal.  I don’t have anything more to add to what I wrote, other than to say it is still a disappointment to me more educators don’t take advantage of FREE professional development.

Resource: My Favorite Podcasts (4-30-2008)

The original purpose of this blog was (and is) to share resources – hence the Odds & Ends posts!  My Favorite Podcasts wasn’t so much to share resources for education, but to give my readers an insight into my own weird world of things I find interesting.  I still subscribe to all but WebbAlert (which is no longer being produced.)  I’d add:  Pop!Tech (similar to TEDtalks) and NewSpring Church’s video podcast, both available through iTunes.

Image: Podcast Bear by blogefl

Reflections: What! Teens Actually Reading (11-16-2008)

I’m still thrilled with this activity.  I hope Mr. English Teacher, as well as some/all of the other English teachers, will let me visit their classrooms with this activity in the upcoming year.  Oh, as an update, while I did have a drastic increase in late fees due to allowing students to check out more than two books at a time, I still had books on the shelves and happily my circulation statistics went way up!  WhooHoo!  Books in students hands with most of them being read!

Revelations: You’ve Got to Have Faith (5-3-2008)

The revelation for me in this post was that I need to always give students my support and faith.  I still remember my frustration with them that year (and years past) but realized as long as you give them a chance, they will not let you down.  Even at our most exasperated moments with this group, instead of saying lets call it off, we gave them the reins.  I truly missed those kids last year – all but one graduated that May.

Now, here is where I’m supposed to tag others and if you’ve been following me you know that’s not my style.  I love being tagged, but don’t feel comfortable tagging others.  SOOOO, if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged!

Meme rules:

1. Scan your posts for your own personal favorites.
2. Choose one post in any/each of the four categories:

• Rants
• Resources
• Reflections
• Revelations

I leave it to you folks to define these terms, but my instinct is that we could treat these loosely. You are welcome to suggest new categories if these don’t fit.

3. In a blog post, list those posts and very briefly describe

• why it was important,
• why it had lasting value or impact,
• how you would update it for today.

4. Select five (or so) other bloggers to tap with this meme.

5. Tag all of your post with #postsofthepast

Care to join me in this meme?

I spent Wednesday & Thursday this week attending the Upstate Technology Conference in Greenville, SC and had a fabulous time!

Wednesday:

Connecting With Tech Savvy Students – Bill Sheskey and Chrissy Robinson

• Oconee County Instructional Technology Integration – Specifically, click on the Teacher Resource page for links to resource that they have tested and are safe for educational use.

• xtranormal.com – type a script and make video snippets to grab students interest.

• PowerPoint with two videos side by side on the same slide – one is a recorded interview (could use the Flip cameras) and the other is PhotoStory  with just visual of what the interviewee is describing (for example, she was talking about a flood and he found photos from the event, put into PhotoStory to run as she’s talking about it)  Great example of low tech “split screen” video!  as well as examples of primary sources – the actual interview & the photos of the historical event.

• 24/7/7 – 24 hours, 7 days a week, on all 7 continents! Our students need to be able to compete globally.  You can also add 365 as everything is available online every day of the year.

• How Google hired workers based on a billboard w/ a math problem that led to a web address, with another problem, that led to another address, and so on until it led to a contact page from Google saying we want to hire you!

• News magazines have an archive of their covers online, why not use them in your research or teaching to emphasis a point/topic you are sharing?

Keynote: Chris Craft!

• AWESOME!  Chris is a dynamic speaker.  I hope you take a moment to go to his blog and watch his keynote.  Just a couple of ideas I wrote down (didn’t write more as I was too caught up in his presentation!):

• Snazzy Videos – short videos he shows at the top of the class. Something the students look forward to watching…(interest motivates learning?? I think that was what he said!)  You can probably catch some at his SpanTube website (Spanish YouTube!)  His class website – www.class326.com and uses Gcast.

• He records his announcements, instructions, reminders, etc. and plays them as soon as the bell rings to begin class.  This way he doesn’t have to repeat them over and over each class, and so he doesn’t forget to mention something to one class!  Also, a routine that the kids stop what they are doing to listen to the announcements and get right into the groove of class.  The announcements are followed by a riddle (could be any type of interesting bell work question/problem).  While they are listening to the announcement, he’s taking attendance and then begins class answering the riddle and straight on into the days lesson.  Smooth transitioning and no down time or lost time at the beginning of class!

• I also liked his sharing the quote from one of his friends that Twitter = Virtual Teachers Lounge.  That is how I view it – as a way to learn and share from educators & librarians who just don’t happen to work in my building!

What Can The Web Do For You? – Susan Isball

This session was geared more toward elementary teachers, so while the resource she shared were great, they just weren’t as useful for me.  You can follow the link to see her presentation and resources.  There was also a gentleman sitting next to me (sorry, I’m embarrassed I can’t remember your name) who is an assistant principal at a high school.  He came in and was doodling and by the time we left had the most spectacular “picture book” quality drawing I’ve ever seen.  He is such an artist.  He said doodling helps him think – and don’t get me wrong, he had a page and a half of notes from the session, too!  I wish I’d snapped a photo of it…he should be illustrating children’s books!

Shhh!  Don’t Tell We’re Using a Social Network – Avis Canty

The social network she uses with her classes is Ning.  Being a member of several Nings, I was already familiar with her topic.  I was more interested in how she organized getting her Ning up and running (research on social networks, administration support, parental permission, ning access, etc.) to pick her brain for my own blog proposal.  I will definately be contacting her in the next few days!

Socializing Time!

Of course, if I’m being entirely honest, the real reason I attend conferences is the socializing!  I had lunch with Fran Bullington and a couple of ladies from her district.  I also attended a Tweet-Up at Wild Wings in downtown Greenville after the last conference session for the day, followed by dinner out at with Cathy Nelson, Fran, and Kim Isiminger (Kim held the librarian position at Wagener-Salley HS before me!)  There was a huge group at Wild Wings – at least 20 – and just like MaryAnn said in her blog that the Twee-up was like a human twitter feed.  With conversations going all over the place and way across tables and everyone jumping in here and there!  Oh, shout out to Mary Mason who let me crash on her hotel room’s fold out couch for the night!  Photo credit: Wild Wings07 from loonyhiker – I don’t think Pat will mind I used her photo!  That’s me in the safari print shirt.

Thursday

Using & Integrating Moodle – Ryan Rucker

An nice overview of Moodle and what it can offer for your class.  Since we already use Moodle, the benefit of attending this session was I now have a contact person to help me troubleshoot my Moodle questions/mistakes!  I’ve already warned him he’s probably going to get tired of my emails!   For teachers whose district doesn’t already support Moodle, you can go to NineHub and they will host your Moodle course.  However, it does have ads and you are limited in the features available with free Moodle hosting.

I Heard It, I Saw It … Now What? – Debra Belue

One highlights from this session include recording students & teachers booktalking, sharing their own stories, and research projects and recording them for play on their MP3 players (the library has sets of them) which students can check out.  They have a recess book walking club – each student has an MP3 player and they walk and listen to booktalks the teachers, students, or downloads from StreamlineSC.  She has parents give permission for student to be able to check out MP3s as well as to join the club as they are giving up recess. High schools could do for study halls.

Place Based Stories – Michael Edwards

Very interesting.  Documenting local history for future generations – a Memory Project that students can produce to preserve stories before they die out.  Great thing, he’s at Pelion HS which is just up the road from me!  Two ways: Google Earth and iPod Museum Tours.  Geotag and upload photos, documents, audio and video to Google Earth and take virtual tours of your area.  They use different place markers to delineate eras or types of events.  For the iPod Museum tours, everything is on your iPod (text, audio, video) all hyperlinked and organized.  You drive to the location (or walk depending upon the area) and listen, watch, read about the location.  This allows you to physically experience the place.  Here are his resources.

Abort, Retry, or Fail: Management Skills for Today – Jude Hunt

Engaging speaker – very nicely done.  There were a couple of things that stood out:

• Defusing phrases: I Understand; Probably So; Nevertheless; and I’m Sorry.  All used as a complete sentence w/ nothing after them.  They acknowledge the student and his/her “feelings” without agreeing or disagreeing.  Used appropriately they can stop disruptions before they escalate.

• The other was a “refocus” space with a reflections form on why they were sent to “time out.”  This can be a place in your room or preferably a co-workers room – but never the hall or an office where students can just goof off or be seen as a get out class free card.  Gives the student time to chill out without further disrupting your teaching.  What I liked about this idea was the form asked the student what they did to get sent to time out (they have to reflect and understand what behavior sent them there) which then goes into their file as documentation – great for parent/teacher conference and if further discipline is required.  There is a lot more to this concept as well as in his presentation, but I’m trying to be brief here!

Lunch today was spent in the august company of Chris Craft, MaryAnn Sansonetti, and Fran Bullington.  We had an enjoyable hour catching up since our last get together at EdTech.  Today was jam packed with learning, laughter, and looking forward to next year with an opportunity to put some of these tools and ideas into place.  Once again I am amazed at a FREE conference being not only enjoyable, but extremely useful.  The notes I’ve shared here aren’t a tenth of the notes I took.

So a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who put together such a fabulous conference!  Let’s do it again next year!

Graduation/teachers’ last day was Friday and I have to say this was a pretty strange year end for me.  Usually, I’m sad to see the kids go and all keyed up, but instead I was very calm and other than worrying over technical issues, I was just happy to have the whole thing over with. I guess it was because only one of “my” students was graduating, whereas, in the past I’ve had a handful or more graduating.  I did, however, enjoy the get together with some of our faculty at Hartley’s Pond to celebrate the closing of another successful year.   BTW, the image I’ve inserted was the one I wanted to use on the senior tribute video, but while it fit my personality, I didn’t think it would please everyone in the audience – not as dignified as the event should be I guess.  Instead, I used a photo of baby shoes.

This year was a busy one: ERT, HSTW, Five Year Renewal Plan, new administration, new policies and procedures, new faculty members, freshman academy, etc.  I think this year was a successful one – as with past years, it had it’s ups and downs, but overall, I think there were more positives than negatives.  We’ve got a handful of teacher turnover: 2 retireing, 2 moving on, 1 left in 3rd quarter due to her husbands job transfer, shuffling of positions, new teachers coming in, … things should be just as exciting and hectic next year.

But, I still have two more workdays left for me this year – both will be spent in meetings: Aiken County Media Educators on Monday and a TAV (Technical Assistance Visit) Workshop on Wednesday.  Then the summer vacation officially begins.  Hopefully, it will be a good one – time for me to recharge and prepare for next year.  Here is a short list of my plans for the summer:

√ Graduation Video – I have to work on the graduation video this week.  My deadline is June 16th and I don’t want to put it off – I want it to be a great souvenir.  This is only the 2nd year we’ve been selling them since I came to Wagener.  I don’t want anyone to be disappointed with it.  Completed!

√ Upstate Technology Conference, Greenville, SC (June 23-25) – Very much enjoyed my time there last year and looking forward to learning even more this time around.  I’m also looking forward to seeing some old and new friends.  Completed! Notes to follow soon!

2 Read or Not 2 Read Blog (not up and running YET) – I created a blog for my teens and the students from Midland Valley to correspond over the books they are reading for our book club(s) next year.  Unfortunately, I have to submit a proposal to the powers that be for approval before I can open it up.  Wish me luck.

√ Process new books – Our school received a Palmetto Silver Award that came with a monetary award that my principal graciously allowed me part of in order to place my one and only book order for the year.  I received the books ON GRADUATION DAY! *sigh* but at least I’ll have new books for the kids in August. Completed!

Reading!!! - I have a LOT of books to read over the summer.  My goal is to read most, if not all, of the SC Young Adult Book Award Nominees for this year.  I also need to re-read My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult as I’m going to use it as one of our book club selections next year.  There are a bunch of new YA titles I want to get to as well – see my LibraryThing widget/catalog.  I’ll be updating it with the books we just received.  I have a huge backlog of book review magazines (Voya, School Library Journal, Library Media Connection, etc.) that I have to go through and update my “wish list” in case we actually have money next year.  Of course, there are some adult titles/authors I want to finally get to this summer as well.

“Scrapbooking” – I put that in quotation marks as I’m not actually going to do any scrapbooking, but its the only term that comes to mind.  I’ve got 4 years of drama club photos and memorabilia that I need to organize and put in some kind of display.  The photos I want to turn into picture books to keep in the library.  The memorabilia I’m going to try to put in some kind of memory/shadow boxes or something.  Just not sure what since it consists of t-shirts, photos, awards/metals, programs, etc.

Moodle/PowerSchool – Our state is changing over its student records program/system.  I need to learn how to use it before the teachers get back.  I have to train them on how to use the PowerTeacher features (attendance, gradebook) and see what other perks it contains.  I was told it was “moodle-like” but from what I’ve “seen” I’m not so sure.  I have to figure it all out before our Moodle subscription runs out so decisions can be made.  I hope we keep Moodle, but if PowerSchool will do the same thing and is paid by the district, there is no point in paying extra for Moodle.  Anyone out there use PowerSchool who could answer some questions for me?

Ten Minute Tech – I want to offer short introductions to different technology at our faculty meetings next year.  I need to identify, learn to use (if I don’t already know!), and create handouts for the things I want to cover.  Basically, a mini 23 Things kind of overview where teachers can either explore the tools on their own or sign up with me for more indepth workshops.  There will be some software items in there, too, like: Windows Movie Maker, PhotoStory, Inspiration, Library Card Catalog, using/accessing the student drive, etc.

Okay, that’s a start on my “to do list” even though I have a LOT more to do over the summer.  I do plan to spend some time relaxing.  The pool is finally fixed and up and running – and as soon as it’s not green anymore I’ll be spending part of my days out there floating and reading.  Maybe I’ll actually get a tan this summer!

Each year in April, originally just out of curiosity, I run a report to determine which books are the most circulated.  I usually can guess, but sometimes there are surprises – this year, not so much.  The report also provides me with a great bulletin board and display option for the end of the year.  This year the top 10 titles are:

Number 10.  The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

“Bobby’s carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.” This is the third year the book has been on the list.

Number 9.  Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

“Having fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.” This is the first time Blood and Chocolate book has been on the list.  I attribute the revised interest in this older title to be due to the Twilight phenomenon.  The Silver Kiss by Klause is also on the top 25 list.

Number 8.  Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

“A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda’s freshman year in high school.” Speak has been on the list off and on over the last seven years.

Number 7.  Shattering Glass by Gail Giles

“Rob, the charismatic leader of the senior class, provokes unexpected violence when he turns the school nerd into Prince Charming.” I have to plead guilty to “pushing” this title every year.  It is one of the two that I can usually entice the fellas into reading.  Ms. Giles made it so easy for me by writing such a grabbing opening paragraph.  I simply have the unsuspecting male read it and they’re hooked.   In case you haven’t picked this one up, the opening lines are:

“Simon Glass was easy to hate.  I never knew exactly why, there was too much to pick from.  I guess, really, we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn’t realize it until the day we killed him.”

Number 6.  Payback by Paul Langan

“Originally published as The gun.  Bluford freshman Tyray Hobbs, the class bully and tormentor of Darrell Mercer, is determined to get revenge on Darrell, the only boy who ever stood up to Tyray.” The Bluford High series is a relatively new series for WS.  I was lucky enough to receive a small monetary donation from our local public library’s “Friends of the Library” association to purchase two sets of the series.  Townsend Press is a godsend by selling them for only $1 each.  All of the titles in the series are constantly checked out!

Number 5.  Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

“After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle’s dangerous work for Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6.” This is another title I “push” with my male/reluctant readers.  I tell them it’s like reading an action-adventure television show – constant action.  Usually, they’ll come back for the rest of the books in the Alex Rider series.  Very few have ever brought it back unread.

Number 4.  Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

“Bella must choose between her friendship with Jacob, a werewolf, and her relationship with Edward, a vampire, but when Seattle is ravaged by a mysterious string of killings, the three of them need to decide whether their personal lives are more important than the well-being of an entire city.”

Number 3.  New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

“When the Cullens, including her beloved Edward, leave Forks rather than risk revealing that they are vampires, it is almost too much for eighteen-year-old Bella to bear, but she finds solace in her friend Jacob until he is drawn into a “cult” and changes in terrible ways.”

Number 2.  Breaking Dawn Stephenie Meyer

“Continues the story of the human Bella and the vampire Edward whose love is threatened by their difference, a werewolf named Jacob, and other outside influences.”

— drum roll please —-

And the number one circulated book at Wagener-Salley is…..

…. as if you haven’t guessed ….

Number 1.  Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

“When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.”

No shock to me that the most circulated book would be Twilight.  I guess to be fair, I should have grouped all of the Twilight saga together in order to give at least 3 other books a chance to be in the top 10, but I wanted to be absolutely correct in the top 10 list.   We also have a copy of The Host by Meyer and it is in the top 25 list.

For the first time since I’ve been running the report, there isn’t a Sarah Dessen title on the top ten list.  Sara Dessen and Melody Carlson books are EXTREMELY popular with the girls; however, no single title from these authors made the top 25 this year.