Look out library, thanks to the work I’ve been involved with in realigning instructional guides for The Collaborative for Educational Services and the Department of Youth Services…I’ve got a new reading list.  Some of these titles will be re-visits and other are pages I want to start turning. In no particular order, here’s my new reading list…

Classic Literature

• Shakespeare

• Raisin in the Sun

Literary Nonfiction

• Night

• Richard Wright’s Black Boy- pick a chapter

• Coming of Age in Mississippi-

• When I was Puerto Rican

Global Literature

• Chronicle of a Death Foretold

• Things fall apart

• Chinese Cinderella

• Master Harold and the Boys-Athol Fugard

• The Namesake

Informational Text

• Stiff & Guip by Mary Roach

• Nickel & Dimed- Barbara Ehrenreich

• Into the wild

• Into thin air

• Perfect storm

• Fast food nation

• Salt by Mark Kurlansky

• Guns, Germs and Steel- Jared Diamond

• The Botany of Desire- Michael Pollan

• Outliners and Blink – Malcom Gladwell

• The Jim Crow

Contemporary Literature

• Their eyes were watching God

• The curious incident of a dog in night time

• Me talk pretty one day

• The absolutely true diary of a part time indian

• The lone ranger and tonto fistfight in heaven

• How the Garcia girls lost their accent

• Pygmalion

• Richard Blanco- One Today Inaugural Poem

• Leslie Newman October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard

I’ve been on Google+ for about a year now and recently at PodCamp Western Mass #5 I attended a couple of Google+ sessions which renewed my interest in this social media.

Google+ helps you in many ways:

• It’s part of the Google Suite of productivity products that can work together to help you keep your digital life organized and in the long run more productive.
• Google ‘notices’ when you are using Google+ and will assist with Google rankings
• Google can get into the private areas of FaceBook
• Google+ allows for deeper conversations, more thought.  Think Science, artists, creatives, and thought leaders…don’t you want to be a part of that crowd?

One big take away, from PodCamp Western Mass #5 is that Google+ is = to ‘What do you think?’

Since last fall I have been organizing a TiE2013 Technology in Education Conference with The Collaborative for Educational Services. Last week the conference was held at Holyoke Community College and by all qualitative evaluations it was a roaring success.  The conference was attended by 250 educators and administrators, 10 vendors and 2 keynote speakers. Our quantitative evaluations go out this week….another item on the extensive To-Do list, along with the formal De-Briefing Meeting.

Take a moment to watch this amazing teacher, man, human being.

• What if quizzes measured kid’s ability to question, not answer?

• What if a math class’s textbook was replaced with open-ended, thought-provoking opportunities to question the world around us?

• What if -within a teaching day- teachers were able to strike a balance between art and science; considering the art as the relationship the teacher built with the kids, and the science as the assessment that generated real evidence of student growth?

• What if teachers tracked narratives of a student’s progress? And used a handy management tool to capture anecdotal notes and evidence of student growth?

• What if teachers were able to identify and analyze students’ strengths and skill gaps; continuously?  And were able to turn classroom data into plans of action?

• What if teachers taught their students how to do this type of thinking, so the student could be self-directed?

“We live in a world where information is growing exponentially. Let’s use tinkering and initiative to foster more creativity.”

These cookies kind of represent our traditions.  I hope you and yours have a fabulous, safe holiday season filled with love, cheer and warm, happy feelings.

Oru Kayak is dedicated to sharing the wonder and discovery of the great outdoors— even for city dwellers. They believe spending time outdoors makes people healthier, happier, and more productive, and I think you should have a peek at what came up with.  Maybe even donate to their KickStarter project?

Enter FaceTime and how Xernay and I have been communicating lately.  From California, to Honolulu, to Narita and now Beijing and I have to say [despite the time differences] it works pretty good.

Logistically, where ever Xernay can get Wifi, we have been able to get a FaceTime connection. Strangely, when she calls up, it notes that it is coming via her gmail account.  Yet, she’s still having difficulties accessing her gmail email account.  One word: firewalls.  We are working on this too.

The first case that caught my eye was the Pocquettes iPad Case.  I love the aqua color and the additional zipped-front-pouch that will come in handy to toss my iPhone and small wallet.  Perfect for when I’m just dashing to the coffee shop and keeps everything in place, when I toss this into my larger bag.  I’m loving this case.

Then, the cherry-red Ambi Folio Letter iPad Case came into sight and I fell in love again.  This case not only holds my iPad, I can add a notepad, biz cards and even find room to tuck in a couple of loose papers. This full-grain leather case zips shut to protect everything.  I just can’t decide between the red or black…two of my favorite colors.

And while I contemplated, I clicked upon the CEO Hybrid iPad Holder.  This case would be wonderful not only on the road but when I’m propped up in bed, on the sofa or at work.  I can even leave it in the case to use the camera, because there is a camera cut-out in the back.  The adjust-ability of this iPad case really attracts me.

Oh decisions decisions.  Each of these iPad cases has it’s own advantages.  Maybe I just need to flip a coin and choose? Or perhaps hint around as gift ideas.  Anyone of these iPad Cases would be lovely to have.