Media I’m Guzzling This Week
This is my first week of summer. My students have been off since Memorial Day, but during June I’ve been taking a 4-credit graduate class, finishingp teaching a 6-week online tech class, and teaching a face-to-face training in New Mexico. My desk is a mess, the body’s worn out, and it’s way too hot in my condo, but I’m happy! Between sleeping, working out, catching up with friends, and trying to get things organized (you know what I’m talking about — the list of things we teachers put off all semester or all year) I am determined to study and plan as much as I can to prepare for my new job teaching reading and writing at Jenkins Middle School. I’m also reading as much Young Adult fiction as I can so that I’ll be able to recommend great books to my 8th Graders. If you have a favorite list of books for this age group, please put it in a comment. Thanks!
Audiobooks:
Non-Fiction “Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time” by Brian Tracy
Fiction “Maximum Ride, The Angel Experiment” (Book 1 in a series) by James Patterson and Virgin River (Book 1 in a series) by Robyn Carr
Dead-Tree Books:
Non-Fiction Make The Match; The Right Book for the Right Reader at the Right Time, Grades 4-12 by Teri Lesesne, What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher, and The Writing Workshop; Working Through The Hard Parts (And They’re All Hard Parts) by Katie Wood Ray
YA Fiction The Trouble With Lemons by Daniel Haynes
Adult Fiction The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (Book 1) by Alexander McCall Smith (P.S. This book set has been made into a series by HBO)
Blogs and Podcasts:
I’m catching everything I can coming out of ISTE 2010 in Denver, the biggest edtech conference in the world which happens this week! Although I can’t go in person, there are hundreds of ways to watch, learn and participate from afar.
I’m also in the process of thinning out my blogroll, which is almost exclusively tech- and edtech-oriented, because my role at school has changed. I’m still very interested in edtech and always will be, but I must make some room for some great bloggers who talk about teaching reading and writing. Here are some blogs and podcasts I’ll stick with no matter what I teach:
GeekBrief TV, which has just morphed into GeekBeat TV, with Cali Lewis
Loaded, with Natali Del Conte at CNET
Tekzilla with Veronica Belmont at Revision 3
TWIT (This Week In Tech)
Buzz Out Loud with Molly Wood at CNET
Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day