The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

Now that your finals are finished and you have some time off, read a book for fun!

Check this one out; it's brand new.

Summary:

"Cassie Sullivan, the survivor of an alien invasion, must rescue her young brother from the enemy with help from a boy who may be one of them"--

17 and Gone by Nova Ren Suma

Just came in-hot off the presses!





17 & gone
Nova Ren Suma.

Seventeen-year-old Lauren has visions of girls her own age who are gone without a trace, but while she tries to understand why they are speaking to her and whether she is next, Lauren has a brush with death and a shocking truth emerges, changing everything.

Learn About the Global Impact of Your Purchases

Indian Hill High School and St. Ursula academy are bringing nationally renowned speaker, Kelsey Timmerman, Where Am I Wearing? and Where Am I Eating?  to Cincinnati to share his stories and motivate students to think about the impact of how and what they purchase-from clothing to food.

Timmerman will be speaking and signing books on November 20th 6:30-8:00 pm at the Indian Hill  High School Auditorium.

New iPad App-Educreations International Whiteboard

Turn your IPad into a recordable whiteboard-create video tutorials.

Book Art Contest!

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling

We now have J.K. Rowlings' new book!  There is life after Harry Potter.

From the Publisher: A big novel about a small town...

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty faade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?

A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.

Free Books in the Learning Commons

We're updating our collection.  Walk into Learning Commons and walk out with books!

Fan Girl by Rainbow Rowell

Just in- Interesting author name isn't it?

From the Publisher: In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life--and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? Open her heart to someone? Or will she just go on living inside somebody else's fiction?

Power Charging Station in the Learning Commons!

We have a charging station for your laptops!  It can charge up to 10 devices at once.  We bought power cords for the most popular computers e.g. Mac Air, Acer Aspire, Toshiba Satellite, Dell Inspiron...

If you don't have your power cord with you, and your battery is low, come to the Learning Commons to recharge.

The Best Times to Create Perfect Posts

Really interesting infographic that shows the best and worst times to create posts in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

Zoom in to view

Old School vs New School-Typewriters in the Learning Commons!

Thought it would be fun for students to experience creating on a typewriter, there's something about the feel and smell of these "dinosaurs".  We're setting out a couple typewriters in the Learning Commons for students to use.

Stop down and see what I brought in today:  a 100 year old Monarch and a 70 year old Royal. I’m putting together a writers’ corner where students can type their thoughts, stream of consciousness, or ideas  for “a great American novel”. 

Check out this 1960's video of Jerry Lewis performing the "typewriter song".

Enjoy!

The Power of Concentration and Patience

How patient are we really?  In this hyper, Twitter and Instagram mode, we really don't slow down and and deeply focus.

Watch this video to see an amazing woman balancing feathers and branches. 


The Incredible Power Of Concentration - Miyoko Shida

What Happens Online in 60 Seconds?

Here's a cool infographic for you all:

Knowthenet presents Manners Matter the online Netiquette Do's and Don'ts infographic.

New Fun App:

Create interactive images!
  
Make your images come alive with music, video, text, and more!  

Thing Link

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvie

I just started this, and it's already a page turner-a murder mystery!

From the Publisher: A 2012 Michael L. Printz HonorBook 

Charlie Bucktin, a bookish thirteen year old, is startled one summer night by an urgent knock on his bedroom window. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in their small mining town, and he has come to ask for Charlie's help. Terribly afraid but desperate to impress, Charlie follows him into the night. Jasper takes him to his secret glade, where Charlie witnesses Jasper's horrible discovery. With his secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion. He locks horns with his tempestuous mother, falls nervously in love, and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend. In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.

Great Apps for Learning the Periodic Table

If you’re looking for a quick reference tool for a science classroom, here are two options for the periodic table. NOVA from PBS has an interactive app that includes video clips and an option to build each element. Oresome Elements has a game where players match the symbol to the element. Both apps are free so you don’t have to pick just one!

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

Almost finished with this fun spy caper.  It's a fun summer read.Fourteen-year-old Janie Scott, newly arrived in London from Los Angeles in 1952, becomes friends with a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows, and is drawn into a dangerous adventure with Benjamin when his father is kidnapped and Russian spies try to steal his book of secrets. 

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

I'm currently reading this novel and am thoroughly enjoying it-and I'm not even a baseball fan! 

Henry Skirmshander, the star of a small college team found on the shore of Lake Michigan, is overcome with self-doubt, which threatens his future; meanwhile, four others--including Henry's best friend and teammate, who realizes he has sacrificed his own dreams for his friend's, Henry's gay roommate, college president Guert Affenlight, and Guert's daughter--also find themselves forced to confront their own secrets.

SoundGator

Find Free Sound Effects on SoundGator by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne) 

"The next time you need common sounds like doorbells ringing, dogs barking, or car horns honking to use in a multimedia project you could try to record those sounds yourself or you could turn to SoundGator to find free recordings that you can download. SoundGator offers free sound recording downloads. There are twenty-three recording categories that you can browse through to find the perfectSoundGator sound for your project."

App of the Week 5/16/13 SAS Data Notebook

App of the week: SAS Data Notebook

Read more by Meris Stansbury

Name: SAS Data Notebook

What is it? SAS® Data Notebook lets students take control of their learning and monitor their progress. Built-in templates for mission statements, goals, checklists, plus/deltas, spelling lists and histograms are included.

Best for: Older elementary to high school students

Price: FREE

Requirements: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later.

Rated: 4+

Features:

• Includes a scratch paper template where students can load pictures, create drawings, and more.
• A new text page enables students to take notes, keep a journal, or perform any other writing tasks organized in their notebook.
• Students can also add sections in order to set, monitor, and reflect on individual goals by subject.
• Notebooks can now be emailed to teachers, parents, or friends.

Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sas-data-notebook/id555351275?mt=8

iPad Flipboard

From Richard Byrne: Free Technology 4 Teachers

 Last month the popular iPad app Flipboard added a great feature that allows everyone to curate their own digital magazines. Today, Flipboard made that option available on Android as well in web browsers on your computer. Flipboard Editor allows you to create and curate digital magazines through your web browser. Those magazines can be shared or kept private. The magazines you create can be read on iPad, Android, or on your laptop.

Orleans by Sherry Smith

"Set in a futuristic, hostile Orleans landscape, Fen de la Guerre must deliver her tribe leader's baby over the Wall into the Outer States before her blood becomes tainted with Delta Fever"--Provided by publisher.

App of the Week 5-6-13

Simple Drawing Lessons on Your Android Device by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne) 

 "Here's a nice little app for the aspiring artist in your life. How to Draw Cartoons Animals is a free Android app that offers seventy simple step-by-step directions for drawing cartoon animals. Despite the name, the app also offers directions for drawing objects like cups and houses and directions for drawing people. To be clear, you don't draw the cartoons on the app. The app only provides the directions for you to follow while you draw on paper."

The Milk of Birds by Sylvia Whitman

When a nonprofit organization called Save the Girls pairs a fourteen-year-old Sudanese refugee with an American teenager from Richmond, Virginia, the pen pals teach each other compassion and share a bond that bridges two continents.

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

         This is a fun read-set in Botswana.  Precious sets herself up as her country's first female detective. 


                                                                               

App of the Week

From the same people that created My Brainshark comes SlideShark.SlideShark is a free app for converting and viewing PPT files on your iPad. SlideShark converts your PowerPoint files without losing any of your original formatting, transitions, or animations. To use SlideShark just upload your PPT files to your free SlideShark account, SlideShark converts the files for you, then you can access your converted files on your iPad at anytime using the free SlideShark app.

Pasted from <http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Ffreetech4teachers%2FcGEY> 

Hope was Here by Joan Bauer

This has been on my side table in a expanding stack of books to read, especially since it's a Newberry Honor book.

When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.

App of the Week 4-29-13-Free Rice

The popular online vocabulary game Free Rice is available for free in Google Play for use on your Android phone and or Android tablet. Free Rice for Android offers 19 subjects to choose from. Free Rice games are drilling activities that ask players to answer multiple choice questions. For each correct answer Free Rice donates ten grains of rice to the UN World Food Program.

App of the Week

Cool Reader is a free Android app that anyone can use to read a variety of ebook formats including ePub, .mobi, and html. Through the Cool Reader app you can browse for books in public collections like Project Gutenberg or import your own books. The Cool Reader app has some handy features including bookmarking pages, clipping text, searching for text, and skipping to chapters. Cool Reader is an open source project. The app has an average rating of 4.7 from more than 56,000 reviews.

Blink Once by Cylin Busby

Haven't read this yet, but it's on my long list of 

"to reads".

From the Publisher: West is a high school senior who has everything going for him until an accident leaves him paralyzed. Strapped down in his hospital bed, slipping in and out of consciousness, West is terrified and alone. Until he meets 

Celebrate National Poetry Month!

Check out this free Poetry App where you can discover the works of famous poets such as: Yeats, Byron, and Frost.

SAT Word a Day

                                                 

SAT Word a Dayis a free Android app that delivers a new SAT vocabulary word to your mobile device on daily basis. You can tap the audio button to hear the word pronounced. A definition and a sample context sentence accompanies each word.