Why We Can't Stop Playing Angry Birds

Why We Can't Stop Playing Angry Birds, Wall St Jrnlhttp://on.wsj.com/f8CBNt

Angry Birds has consumed my life once before. It has not consumed my life ever since I lost all my completions when I had to reformat my iPad. However, Trucks and Skulls which plays exactly like Angry Birds has taken over my life.

What game has consumed you?

Book Review: The Song of Whales by Uri Orlev

Title: The Song of Whales
Author: Uri Orlev
Pages: 108
Cybil Book #25

Website

Synopsis from the website

This unique story deals with the special relationship between grandfather and grandson. Michael is a rather solitary only child who loves spending time with his grandfather. Grandfather`s house is very special: it contains all sorts of works of art and antiques. In the basement there is a wide variety of tools because Grandfather is good with his hands. When Grandfather becomes frail, he sells his house and moves in with his son`s family. Through the eyes of the boy, we find out about all the unpleasant undercurrents regarding money and inheritance, not to mention details about Grandfather`s housekeeper who, it is rumored, was once his lover.

The bond between Michael and his grandfather veers to the mystical when the elderly man starts taking his grandson along with him at night in his dreams. The two fly off together, sharing strange, wonderful and sometimes frightening experiences. In one dream, two grandfathers appear and Michael does not know who to turn to. Later, Grandfather explains that one is his good side and the other his bad side. Michael is clearly shaken by this dream. When Grandfather dies, he leaves Michael a mystical legacy which will bind the two forever. 

My Thoughts 

I read this book to get back in the groove of reading. I took off a break and unplugged from all aspects of my regular life over this Thanksgiving break and stayed away from the Internet, computer, reading young adult books, etc. and just spent all my time with my family when not coaching basketball. It was a delight. Sunday I needed to get back into my rhythm and therefore picked up this book as it was small and for some reason intrigued me.

I liked this story. I felt as I read that I should be paying attention for a deep message and constantly found myself "reading between the lines" to find that A-HA! moment. There were a few times that I had a moment that caused me to stop and reflect. I am choosing not to share those moments as I feel they are personal and would only make sense to me and things in my life. 

Would this book have appeal to a younger audience? That is hard to say. I think that there are some who could really relate to Michael and understanding what it is like to be different from everyone else your age. I think that others would read this book and miss out on what the essence of the story really is(this may be different to each reader). I found a connection and in many ways I felt the same emotions reading this as I did reading one of my favorite books Tuesdays with Morrie, but just not as deeply.

This was a perfect read to get me back in my groove. One that gave me pause and verified the importance of taking time like I did this break to just be with my family.

Guest Post: Graham Parke, author of the award winning comedy/suspense novel "No Hope for Gomez!"

“It's the age-old tale:      Boy meets girl.      Boy stalks girl.      Girl already has a stalker.      Boy becomes her stalker-stalker.”

It's hard to believe, but it's been a year since I handed in the final proofs. To celebrate this, and the fact that Gomez just became a finalist in 2010's Best Book Awards, I decided to throw Gomez a birthday party (or a BirdDay party, as we say in the Netherlands). As I’ve had a debilitating fear of throwing parties and no-one showing up since early childhood, I’d be more than delighted if you could come! (Read more about the book here. )

Of course, with every cool international party comes a gift bag. Here's just some of the stuff attendants will get:

• 'Unspent time' exclusive short story collection
• No Hope for Gomez: The Lost Chapters
• Making of Gomez: behind the scenes eBook
• Signed, hi-res poster + bookplate

(These are all exclusive items and will not be available again.)

Additionally, several lucky attendants will win a Kindle or an iPod!

You can bring as many friends as you like, just don't bring your crazy uncle who drinks too much and then tries to get me to go to the attic with him to see something wonderful. I've fallen for that before and I don't mind telling you, I came away very disappointed!



Here's how you become a Party Go-er:
- Simply purchase your copy of No Hope from Amazon on Thursday December 2nd and forward your receipt to nohopeforgomez@gmail.com

(Of course, multiple purchases count as multiple raffle entries so get a few extra as Christmas gifts to kill several birds with one stone :)

An additional Kindle and iPod will be raffled among those Party Go-ers who bring the most friends to the party:
- Send your list of invited friends to the same email address so we can match them up with their receipts. You both get an additional entry.

Mystery Prize for Party Go-ers who are Bloggers or Twits:
- If you also Twitter, Blog, or Facebook about this party, your enter the Mystery Prize raffle. Use buttons on this page or the link: www.grahamparke.blogspot.com

Click the friendly buttons to tweet/track this event:





(ps: keep your amazon shipping confirmation to claim your prizes)

Elementary Students going Global

My two ELP classes are going global. This is so exciting for my students and myself as we embark on learning to interact and discuss with a culture outside of our own. My 4th grade group will be collaborating with a group of students from Correggio, Italy. My 5th grade group will be collaborating with a group from Hungary. We have established our classroom online where we will track and record our learning and communications with students from around the world. Here is the link to our wiki. Please check it out and provide us some feedback. What should we add? Who should we contact? We have many things in line to be added, but the framework has been established. We hope to have some video sessions of our classroom soon as well as a few sideshows highlighting where we live. This is a work in progress and are excited to see where it takes us.

Coffee For The Brain Book Tournament - Bracket is now published

The book bracket has been created. You can view the bracket here.

I have assigned teams to each book pairing as well.

There will be a meeting in December when the books arrive.

Once books arrive, I will host a meeting with all the judges one night where we will

• go through the entire bracket
• discuss future judging rounds
• discuss how books will be given away
• answer any further questions

The book order goes out tomorrow. I am excited to get started. A lot of work to get organized, but if everyone does their part with the reading, then this will be one smooth tournament. 

Coaching Basketball: First Game of the Season

Another year of basketball is underway. Once again, I am helping my father in law coach his varsity boys basketball team. Coaching is in my blood and I eat up every minute working with the players and coaches. Being 50 minutes away from my father in law I am not able to attend every practice so I show up when I can and try to make every game. This provides me an opportunity to be part of a varsity program, but not taking me away from my family everyday of the week. It is a good balance as much as I would want to be fully engaged in coaching. It won't be long until my 8th grade boys basketball season gets started in another month where I have a chance to be head coach and try out some things.

Anyways, last night we had our first game of the season. The team we coach is one where we really need each player to step and play as there are no superstars or overly athletic kids. We run the triangle offense, but only in the second year of this system with a program that was in very rough shape prior to my father in law taking over. Last night, we ran the triangle the best we have ever ran the offense. I could go into all the details about the game(we lost in overtime 74-77), but the purpose of this post is to raise some questions about philosophy of basketball and/or sports in general.

One of the things I talked to about with the players after the game was the whole notion of believing in oneself. Last night when our post player fouled out(who had a great game), you could just feel the shoulders and heads drop and all belief in our team collapse. Why is that? This team just put up 70 points in four quarters and now they stop believing. This program has not scored 70 points in years!!! I talked with the players about how they need to be the team that changes the outlook of basketball in their community. When they step on the floor they need to be so sure and positive of themselves that they are going to play well. I don't understand how you can step onto the court and be unsure of yourself? We discussed how as coaches we can work on the technical/fundamental/skill development of things that did not go well, but believing in yourself can only come from you. I am trying to think of ways to help them work on believing in themselves, each other, and the program. This is a challenge to help guide them down the path of positive thinking.

Another thing that I really believes corresponds with their belief in themselves is the fact that we gave up 20+ offensive rebounds where I bet they scored on at least 15 of those. Yes, we can talk about defense help, position, and blocking out. However, I think it goes deeper than that. If these boys believed that they were not going to lose, don't you think these things would have happened? If they believed they were better than the other team, then I firmly believe that we would not have to go back to practice and hammer out rebounding drills because they would have been crashing the boards and keeping the other team from scoring put backs all night long. The tenacity and aggressiveness would have taken care of this stat that killed us. We take away 5 offense rebounds and we win this game hands down. Am I wrong in my line of thinking?

Lastly, we are trying out the Danny Mills Value Point System this year. This is a wonderful tool to use. As a coach I drove home thinking about each player and when I compared my thoughts to the VPS I was not as accurate as I thought. The emotions of the game had an impact on my reflection of the playing status of some players. Our post finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 steals, but he was not the leading VPS player of the game. Why?  Well, he also had 6 turnovers and fouled out. Our point guard beat him out by .1 on the VPS. He scored less(23 points), only had 4 rebounds, but he only committed two turnovers and delivered four assists. This tool is so important to this program because we have so many players that don't understand how important every decision on the court really is. They don't see the big picture. All they see are points and rebounds and neglect all the other aspects of the game.

We have much to work on this season, but in the end my goal is to develop these players and this program to begin to believe in themselves. Not sure how I am going to do this yet, but that is the goal that I have set for myself as a part time coach.

Triathlon Training - It is what it is people

I knocked out another 1000 yard swim this morning. I feel like I am improving my swim technique, but I also realize that my swim technique is still terrible. I am able to swim 100 yards without stopping which is a huge improvement to my 25 yard swim, stop, pant, breath hard, repeat. I think having the stress fracture has left me with only swimming as my option and maybe a good thing. I still need to track someone down to help me work on my swim technique. Technique is everything when it comes to swimming.

I have pushed a little bit harder in the weight room. Really working to improve overall strength with upper body. Really trying to emphasize my shoulders, back, chest, and arms. Working on overall strength so when I can get back to full training I will be at my peak strength wise.

Other than that, I have fell apart on my eating and diet. This is largely due to my motivation. Without a race in sight, my self control has fallen apart. I know what needs to be done, but am not too concerned. I have put some of my weight back on, but I know that as soon as I turn the switch, I will be able to get back to where I belong and maybe even a little less. It is time for me to start reading Racing Weight, but just have not had time to really focus on the contents with the Cybils and basketball going on. I have been cramming in middle grade science fiction and basketball information like no other. The winter break will be a great time to dive into this book. Plus, I really want to read what Jeff Paul is taking away from this book on his blog, but I refuse to read his posts on this book until I start to read.

I reflect on my current status and a few things go through my mind. One is that I am frustrated by my lack of self control in the eating department and losing my physical fitness level. However, I also know that after being in the game of racing and running for the first time I had a great season and understand that the body needs some downtime. I wish I knew what caused the stress fracture, but am not sure. Maybe my shoes as they had over 400 miles, but my training volume had decreased so not sure if that is the reason. Is it my weight? Maybe I should slim down a little bit more as my body is taking in a lot of force on the joints.

I am at a piece of mind right now where despite not being happy with my fitness and stress fracture, I am happy knowing that when ready I can turn the notch and get ready.

It is time to think about what goals I want to pursue. Here is my current thoughts on goals
1. A sprint triathlon
2. 2 half marathons
3. 1 full marathon
4. Bix 7
5. Urbanathlon

Now it comes down to registering and creating a calendar and plan. Much to prep and plan for and plenty of time to get ready. Now if only this stress fracture would go away.

Some websites worth checking out

1. http://www.productsofslavery.org/ - This website really opened up my eyes and made me stop and realize that I need to update my understanding of things going on around the world. To see not only child labor exist still in this day and age, but to actually know what products they are making and where in the world makes it more real. This website made me stop and actually do a little reflecting and reading about this topic.

2. http://longgame.org/2010/11/the-changing-maps-of-a-pale-blue-dot/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheLongGame+%28The+Long+Game%29

This is a website that I almost closed out without reading. I am glad I did as it puts into perspective how much power and the shifts of our world history has changed over time. Even more important is the whole notion that things going on right now may not be that important when you stop to imagine our place in the universe.

3. http://www.endlessmural.com/ - A very cool concept. Simply create your own artwork and then submit to the mural. Your mural is then connected with all the other murals created from around the world.

Book Review: Elliot and the Goblin War by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Title: Elliot and the Goblin War
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Pages: 181
Cybil Book #24
Ages 9-12


Author Website

From the book


WARNING! As of today, there are only 7 CHILDREN who have ever read this book and lived to tell about it. 95 CHILDREN successfully read the first chapter, but upon beginning chapter 2, they started BLABBERING in some language known only as "flibberish." 38 CHILDREN made it halfway through this wretched book before they began SUCKING THEIR THUMBS THROUGH THEIR NOSES.

If you're VERY BRAVE, perhaps you are willing to TAKE YOUR CHANCES. Be sure that you have told your family who gets your favorite toys if you DO NOT SURVIVE this book. Read it now, IF YOU DARE. But don't say you haven't been warned, for this is the story that unfolds the MYSTERIES OF THE UNDERWORLD.

Read the first chapter

My Thoughts

I breezed through this novel. A good goblin story. One that provides some good humor and enough action to hold the interest of ages 9-12. The illustrations are fantastic and this book provided just the right mix of many facets to keep me reading. There were times when the writing/narrator would stop and talk directly to the reader which some people find annoying. I think it was used properly for this story to help keep the story moving and adding some funny moments.

Elliot makes a great hero. He is just a typical boy who happens to find himself involved in a world of goblins and Brownies(nice creatures). There are several other creatures like the hag who are just so ugly you have to laugh when she talks about how beautiful she is.

I think this could be a series that many students get involved with. I know the sequel is coming in May. I wish this author much success as I think she has the skill to write a good story. I will be interested in seeing what else she comes up with next.

If you like a light hearted monster story with a bit of action and humor, then this book is right up your alley. At 180 pages it is just the right length to hold your interest and give enough detail to suck you in to the underworld.

Question to Ponder

With Thanksgiving right around the corner and only three days in school this week I have to ask the obvious, but oh so important question.

What are you thankful for?

For me I am thankful for those small moments in life when you can just forget everything and be yourself. These pics above showcase the little moments I tend to have all the time when with my kids. What will I do when they no longer find these times amusing?

Coffee For The Brain Book Tournament - Bracket is being created

For those who are anxiously awaiting the delivery of the tournament bracket I want to let you know that it is process as we speak. I am currently dividing up books and the teams. I just need to wait for all teams to submit their forms that I sent out via email or will provide paper copies in school. This form has them indicate which books they have already read so we don't duplicate.

The official book list will be posted later this week. Things are getting very interesting and we have such an array of novels nominated.

Book Review: Bellyache by Crystal Marcos

Title: Bellyache: A Delicious Tale
Author: Crystal Marcos
Page #: 145
Cybil Book #: 23

Author Website: A very tasty site!!!




From the website:
A lip-smacking, mouthwatering, absolutely delectable debut, BELLYACHE: A Delicious Tale by Crystal Marcos is a literary feast for ages seven and up. In the vein of Roald Dahl’s best-loved adventures, Marcos offers a mystical, character driven escapade that intertwines strands of reality with a larger-than-life fantasy world. When Peter Fischer sets out to help his grandfather at Papa’s Sweet Shop, he will quickly learn that sneaking sweets and covering up his sugar-dusted tracks will have major consequences. As Peter is transported to a mysteriously delicious, faraway land, a curious people known as the Candonites, some of whom have no time for a non-Candonite, will teach Peter a lesson on what it means to be different and what it means to forgive.

My Thoughts

Two fun reads right in a row. I had a couple fantastic reads from my Cybil list and now I have just encountered two really fun and enjoyable reads with Astrosaurs and this novel. I am not sure what age group this is geared for, but I would place it at 8-10.

As I read this book in the beginning I was not quite sure this was going to be my cup of tea. It was just too easy going with hanging out with Papa in a candy shop. However, once we move to the Candonite world I fell in love with the creativity and imagination of this author. Candy like people who eat vegetables as dessert. Very clever indeed and what was even more cleverer(is that even a word?) was the whole point of the this world(which you will have to read to find out).

I just thought the story was fun. The one thing that will appeal to some kids is the fact that there is nothing sinister or evil. That could be a drawback to others as there was not a real major conflict in the novel. Depending on your flavor of books this could be a perfect story or one that just needs a little more. I had a great time reading and as I have stated several times already in my previous reviews I am glad the Cybils have nominated me a judge because I am reading good books that I would never have contemplated ever reading.

Now that this is all typed up I am off to the store to go find some candy that I have not thought about in quite some time that I am craving after reading this book.

Book Review: Astrosaurs: Twist of Time by Steve Cole

Book Title: Astrosaurs: Twist of Time
Author: Steve Cole
Page #: 125
Cybil Book # 22
Ages: 7-9
Author Website: Check it out

From the website:

When the Astrosaurs are attacked by some baby carnivores, they're in for a shock. The babies lead them to a pool full of the legendary Elixir of youth which has the power to turn back time. The grown-up carnivores intend to use it on the Astrosaurs, and on dinos across the plant-eater population. Once all the herbivores are babies, they'll be easy to overthrow.

Can Teggs and his crew stop them before it's too late?

My Thoughts

Being that I don't really read books for this lower level of students, I was not familiar with this author or this series. I learned that this is the 17th book in the series. This is not a series that you have to read all the prior books in order for it to make sense. Essentially, four dinosaurs who go on a series of adventures find themselves in a situation(s) that they must use a variety of tactics to save the day.

This was a really fun read. Dinosaurs with battle armor that have canons attached to their tails! How cool is that? An egg shaped spacecraft that flies at super fast speeds. Chasing down meat eaters who have even crazier weapons and tactics.

I really liked the images on each page to help tell the story. There was just action sequence after action sequence that I think would really grab the readers interest. My son who is only five and cannot read noticed the cover and the pictures on the pages and wanted to know what was happening. The interest was already generating with a new generation of readers.

The plot was simple and not hard to follow which is what a book should be for this level of a reader. I just had a great time reading the book. I was hesitant to even read the book as this is not the type of book that I like. I am glad I was not disappointed and cannot wait until my son is old enough to read books like these.

Maybe when things slow down I will read more about space traveling, bomb shooting dinosaurs for a good laid back read.

Coffee For The Brain Book Tournament - Last Day to Sign Up

This is it. Tomorrow is too late. The last day is today. Sign up to be a judge. Nominate books.

Tomorrow I begin the sorting and the organizing. Don't hesitate. Get involved.

More details coming next week!

Book Review: The Limit by Kristen Landon

Title: The Limit
Author: Kristen Landon
Page #'s: 291
Cybil Book # 21

Author Website

Book Description from author website
With this first sentence, readers are immediately thrust into a fast-paced thriller that doesn’t let up for a moment. In a world not too far removed from our own, kids are being taken away to special workhouses if their families exceed the debt limit imposed by the government. Thirteen-year-old Matt briefly wonders if he might be next, but quickly dismisses the thought. After all, his parents are financially responsible, unlike the parents of those other kids. As long as his parents remain within their limit, the government will be satisfied and leave them alone. But all it takes is one fatal visit to the store to push Matt’s family over their limit–and to change his reality forever.


My Thoughts

BOOM! Two great reads in a row. I loved this book. I don't know if it is one that everyone will enjoy or if it will even make it past the Cybil Shortlist, but I really, really, enjoyed this novel. It was funny because I was going back and looking through my three notepads of notes where I write down book titles to read and other misc. info and I had this book title written down like three times. It was a sign.

The whole setting was right up my alley. This whole future age concept of taking kids for collateral for spending too much money. Things being a little too good to be true. Computer geeks like me. Technology, action, suspense, and just a great twist with an ending that I liked.

This book reminded me of Trackers by Patrick Carman and a little bit of Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Not sure why, but the idea is something that I could see actually happening in some weird way. The main character was a good one where he continued to test the waters and the limit to find out what was going on. I want to tell in detail what I really liked, but am afraid it would give too much away. So, if you like anything that I have mentioned above or any of the two books that I have compared it to, then you will love this book.  This one is going on my Cybil Shortlist where I hope it holds up.

Triathlon Training - Setback #1

I will be honest. I did not post week 2 last week because I forgot and I will have that posted along with the training for this week. To be even more honest I have lost a lot of motivation for getting into shape. I am in good shape right now and actually weighed in at my lowest weight since I started training for running back in May. However, putting all the loss of motivation and a not so good workout week this week(I overslept this morning and did not train) I have something that is really not needed.

I have a good old stress fracture in my left foot. I get to wear this super cool and styling boot for the next two weeks. I am still able to swim and bike, but no running, lifting that requires the use of legs and the wearing of this boot for all walking.

Looking at it in terms of my training this is a perfect time for an injury if I were to have one. One, my triathlon is at least 5-6 months away and not in the near future. Some may say that I am training way too early, but I have so much skill and technique work on the biking and swim portion that I need all the time I can handle. Two, with the loss of my motivation I think forcing myself to not being able to train the way I like will get me back at and eager to train again. Third, running has been my strong spot so far and this injury will help to propel me forward to get back in running shape.

Lastly, I hate injuries. This really makes me quite angry. Time for some reading. I have been meaning to read in detail the book Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald. I know Jeff Paul who has helped me greatly has started to blog about his reading from this book. I plan on doing the same thing. I actually had planned on this during my half marathon training a few months back, but the Cybil judging has set that back. When I should be training and can't I will be reading and posting what I am learning. I have not looked at Jeff's blog to see what he has posted, but once I do I will go and compare notes to see what we are taking away as he is a pro triathlete and I need to continue to learn from him as well. I will also be reading from a few other triathlon books that I have purchased. When one cannot train the body, then one must train the mind.

Boy, I love this boot on my foot! NOT!

Edublog Awards Nominations Are Now Open

http://edublogawards.com/

Check out the link and nominate for your favorite education blogs. The categories this year are

Best individual blog
Best individual tweeter
Best group blog
Best new blog
Best class blog
Best student blog
Best resource sharing blog
Most influential blog post
Most influential tweet / series of tweets / tweet based discussion
Best teacher blog
Best librarian / library blog
Best school administrator blog
Best educational tech support blog
Best elearning / corporate education blog
Best educational use of audio
Best educational use of video / visual
Best educational wiki
Best educational podcast
Best educational webinar series
Best educational use of a social network
Best educational use of a virtual world
Best use of a PLN
Lifetime achievement

Go ahead and nominate. I am going through my list of blogs I follow to nominate my favorite ones. Yes, I know I cannot nominate myself. I would never do such a thing!

UStream Testing 1.2.3...

Trying to figure out how to work this UStream to help us record and broadcast our classroom as we learn some Italian. This is not a very good video, but it is designed for me to make sure I have everything ready to go for tomorrow.


Check it out here

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10900779

Here is the link for the broadcast of the classroom.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/elp-italy-lesson---4th-grade-elp

Last, here is the Coffeechug and the Little Lattes wiki link. This is very rough right now. I have only put about 20 minutes of time into it, but will give you an idea of what I am thinking. Very open to ideas and suggestions.

http://coffeechug.wikispaces.com/

Book Review: The Lost Children by Carolyn Cohagan

Title: The Lost Children

Author: Carolyn Cohagan

Cybil Book #20
Pages: 313

Author Website: Go Here
Book Website: Go Here

For a synopsis go here

Or watch this video before reading my review



My Thoughts:

I loved this book. Finally, a book from the Cybil list that really grabbed me. I loved this story. It held my interest throughout and I just had to know how things were going to pan out for Josephine. There were some great action scenes, fantastic monster/creatures, some creepy passages, and just an all around great read that I think any middle grade student would enjoy.

The Brothers were the coolest. Big old creatures that eat kids despite not having a mouth. How do they consume kids? Read the book. This book pulls from many other stories and I love how some ideas reminded me of Alice in Wonderland(falling into a time warp) were not so redundant that I did not care. I really felt like she took the basics of some classic stories and weaved in many new ideas that created this world I really did not want to leave. I had such a visual in my mind of the land of Gulm. I liked the supporting characters of the other children, Ned, Morgan, and the rest of the cast(let us not forget the evil Master). The ending threw me for a loop that I had to reread certain parts to make sure I grasped what was happening. I did not see the ending coming at all and it took me quite by surprise.

READ THIS BOOK! It is going on my Cybil working shortlist. I hope others like this book as well. I also hope that this is a start to a long run of great books from Simon and Schuster and the author. I was given this book as a wonderful early Christmas present of 13 hardcover brand new books from the publishing company to review for the Cybils and this was the first from that pile.

Carolyn Cohagan has done a great job with her first novel. A good old fun read for all ages.

Please discuss this with me before I lose my mind

As I have been doing a lot of reading for the Cybils(well, I am way behind the rest of my judging panel, but I feel like I am reading whenever I can) I cannot help but think of the following question as I try to evaluate the book:

How much does "interest to target audience" count when we are contemplating books?

In the end, I mean do we really care who really reads the books as long as they are being read? I read the books and can't help but think of the book only in my terms instead of whether or not an 8-12 year old age child would like the book. Really, if a book is well written it does not matter if you are 8, 37, or 86 because a good story is a good story. Am I right? Leave your thoughts.

Nerd Factory - Season 2 - Episode 14

Much to comment and vote on in this episode
1. Book Tournament Judge
2. Book Tournament Book Nominations
3. Coffee For The Brain T-Shirt Voting
4. PE Music iPod music selection playlist
5. Mint Coffee

Here is the latest list of books nominated. We need more suggestions. Don't be afraid to nominate a new book that maybe you have not read. For example, if you like Compound by S.A. Bodeen you may want to nominate the latest release from this author. We need some more books from 2010. We are in a position where we could use a few more books to round out the selection process and more judges to make everything work. Nominate books now! Sign up to be a judge also!!!!

1. Compound by S.A. Bodeen
2. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
3. Gym Candy by Carl Deuker
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
5. Fallen by Lauren Kate
6. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
7. How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor
8. Pendragon and the Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale
9. Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
10. Sliding Into Home by Kendra Wilkinson
11. Black and White by Paul Volponi
12. Crackback by John Coy
13. Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings
14. Side Effects by Amy Goldman Koss
15. Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
16. Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
17. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
18. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
19. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
20. Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
21. Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman
22. Petey by Ben Mikalson
23. Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
24. Rules by Cynthia Lord
25. Iqbal by Drancesco D'Adamo
26. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
27. Dead and Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
28. Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby
29. Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer
30. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Christ Crutcher
31. A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
32. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
33. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
34. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
35. Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
36. Eon by Allison Goodman
37. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
38. Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes
39. Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen
40. Night by Elie Wiesel
41. Maze Runner by James Dashner
42. Report Card by Andrew Clements
43. Escape from Memory by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I also need more judges. Parents get involved. Students get involved. Staff get involved. We need more. If you are a fellow blogger and want to participate please drop me a line. I am in need of a few more quality judges. I have a total of 48 judges at this point in time.

Don't forget to watch the latest movie trailer for the book tournament that I made over the weekend. It is such high quality(sarcasm if you missed it). Enjoy

Book Review: 43 Old Cemetery Road Book 2: Over My Dead Body

Book: 43 Old Cemetery Road Book 2: Over My Dead Body
Author and Illustrator: Kate adnM. Sarah Klise
Cybil Book #19
Pages: 116

Author Website a beautfil and lovely website. I really enjoyed checking everything out.



Quick Review from Kirkus found on the author site

“The laughter continues in this second installment of the Klises' series about a ghost and her friends. As in the first book, Dying to Meet You (2009), the entire story is told through letters, newspaper articles and the like and is adorned with M. Sarah Klise's amusing line drawings. Dramatic tension builds when elderly writer I.B. Grumply and his charge, the abandoned boy Seymour, are carted off to an insane asylum and an orphanage, respectively. Ghost-in-Residence Olive breaks them out and does her best to see that all villains get what they deserve. A dreaded government agent tries not only to break up the happy partnership but to outlaw Halloween. Worse, he turns the town against the trio, endangering their livelihood—publishing a serialized illustrated mystery. Much of the town of Ghastly, Ill., gets involved in the excitement, with characters sporting names appropriate to their callings, such as the locksmith, Ike N. Openitt. Even the addresses on the letters add to the comedy of this light, diverting romp.” (Ages 8 to 12)
                                                —KIRKUS

My Thoughts 
I like this book a whole bunch. Sounds corny, but I do. The approach was refreshing and just a fun, enjoyable read. The book format is unique as you follow the storyline through a series of letters between the old ghost lady, the author, and Seymour, they boy. The visuals and graphics really enhances the storyline as well. I found myself just looking and having fun reading. This did not feel like work. I have the first book as well from the library and I plan on reading this one as well even though it is not a Cybils. The character names, addresses, and other little details were a pleasure as well as many of them were play on words as suggested above in the review. Perfect for any age level and one that I think I need to help promote in my school. I left reading the final pages with a smile on my face which is always a sign of a good old fashion story. Like so many that I read for the Cybils, this is another book that I never would have read if not for this tournament. Thank you Cybils for including me. 

Good Free Kindle Book

I recieved this book as a gift from a student several years ago and now it is free on Kindle. Snag while you can as it has some good stuff crammed inside.

Go ahead and click here

Book Review: SUDDENLY SUPERNATURAL #4: Crossing Over

Book Title: SUDDENLY SUPERNATURAL #4: Crossing Over
Author: Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Pages: 252
Cybil Book # 18
Ages: 8 and up
Author Website: Click Here


Quick little synopsis from the author website

The 4th installment in the hugely popular Suddenly Supernatural series. Medium-in-training Kat Roberts finally seems comfortable healing the living dead. But when her free-spirited mother volunteers to chaperon her 8th grade trip to Old Montreal, ghosts start popping up everywhere, and Kat’s problems become dead serious.

The Story: Kat Roberts and her best friend, cello prodigy Jac, are excited to be visiting Old Montreal on a school trip, but when both of their mothers come along as chaperones, things get complicated. To make matters worse, Kat is suffering in silence with a big crush on one of her classmates. Everytime he’s around, another ghost seems to come out of the woodwork! Are the spirits of Old Montreal going to ruin Kat’s life?

The inspiration: I chaperoned my daughter’s 7th grade French class trip to Old Montreal, and did my best not to embarrass her. I was captivated by all the places we visited, and found many a spot where I suspected we might have a little ghostly company. Only my daughter knows which parts of the book really happened – and she’s not telling!

My Thoughts

To be honest, this is not my type of book. I don't really dig books about girls and crushes and seeing ghosts that are really none too scary. However, I am reading as a Cybils judge and my own personal flavor for books don't really count in this. I have not read the first three books in this series and probably never will, but don't let that cause your judgement of reading this book to change.

As a teacher and someone who sees students in this age group on a daily basis, I could really see the female population of middle school loving this book and series. The whole concept of feeling like you are different(in this case seeing dead people) is something every student deals with. Add to that the mix of parents, falling in love or having a crush, dealing with someone you don't get along with, and having a best friend, this book pretty much captures every 5 minutes of every adolescent person.

Kat sees her first major crush in a whole new way and is trying to find the courage to talk with him and get to know him. We have all been there. Dealing with a best friend that knows just what to say and do to help you. We have been there(I hope). Having a best friend feel neglected after spending too much time or energy on the boy/girl of your dreams(at this moment). We have been there. Learning to deal with a parent during all of these situations. We have been there. Which is why this a perfect book for middle grade girls. Nothing to drastic to have anything to be cautious about, but just enough to hold their interest. Another good book that I would never have read had it not been for the Cybils. Nothing I would read again or any other books, but definitely one that I would recommend to any girl in my building.

Book Review: The Boneshaker by Kate Milford

Book: The Boneshaker
Author: Kate Milford

Cybil Book #17
Pages: 372
Grades: 5- 8
Author website: http://clockworkfoundry.com/ (it is quite good and fascinating to read)

1. Start here for a great link to the description of the book
2. For a great book description go to the following page on her siteMy Thoughts


Well, well, well. What do I think? I loved the cover. I had this book come in from the library and I had to renew it as I did not get to in time, but before it was due back for the second time I sat down and read this book. I opened the book without reading the inside passage or knowing anything about it. I had no idea what I was in for. I loved the historical context and the atmosphere of this book. I really had a great feel for the world of this novel. I think only Dark Life has had a better setting and description of the world so far in all the Cybil books I have read. I really like Natalie. She was so simple without too much added package, but yet such a deep character in terms of what she was capable of.
 
The whole conflict of good vs. bad with the concept of the Devil and other pivotal characters really grabbed my interest. I felt that the story was a little slow moving in the beginning and I had a hard time keeping all the characters straight. With that being said, I really did like the storyline. There was not a ton of action for there were no major battles or fighting scenes, but in terms of storyline I loved the feel to it. The machines, the bikes, the old medicine show concept really drew me in. I think this book is one that many middle grade students would really like. It is different and can really suck you in. My favorite part of the whole book was pages 245-250. For some reason I had this Matrix(the movie) moment where I felt like Neo should have been present to discuss the philosophical questions and answers being discussed on these pages.
 
Overall, one of the better Cybil books that I have read. Not one that I would typically read, but sure am glad I did. This is one that I was not blown away with once I finished, but it is one that I keep thinking about the more I distance myself. I find myself reflecting on key passages and also in some of my decisions. That makes this book a great read when you find it trailing after you a day or two later.

Book Review: Dragon Cowboy by Michael Dahl **UPDATE**

Book:  Dragon Cowboy
Author: Michhael Dahl
Pages: 40
Cybil Book #16

Dragon Cowboy' Description from this site
An Age of Dragons is about to begin. The powerful creatures will return to rule the world once more, but this time will be different. This time they will have allies. Around the world, some young humans are making a strange discovery. They are learning that they were born with dragon blood - blood that gives them amazing powers.

My Thoughts

I received two books in the mail today. I love getting mail. So excited for mail, especially when there are books involved. The one package was slim and when I opened it I really thought it might be a joke. This book is very short with only a few sentences per page and several pages are just a picture.

What I cannot figure out is why this book was in my category to judge. How is this book geared for middle grade? This is a book that I would read to my 5 year old son at night. It literally took me five minutes to read.

I cannot really gauge the quality of the book because it is not even close in comparison to the other novels. I don't know how I can compare 20+ sentences in a five minute read to a book of 200-400 pages. I am not saying this book is bad because that would not be fair. What I am saying is that this book does not belong in a category for middle grade readers. Maybe I am missing something here and I don't mean any of this in a bad way, but I still feel like someone is playing a joke on me by having me read this.

P.S. I just wrote more words in this review than are in this book.

UPDATE
I wanted to be sure that everyone who originally read this review has a chance to see the update. After discovering a litte bit more about this book, I wanted to clarify and expand on my thoughts. One of the great panelists of the Cybils that I am working with provided me with the following information about the book:

The Dragonblood series is designed as a Hi-Lo series for kids who read below grade level.



Reading Level: 1-3


Interest Level: 3-8

http://www.capstonepub.com/product/9781434221117


Now that I am aware of the intended audience, I want to strikeout the comments of this book being a joke. I still want to say that this was not intended to be a mean comment. I would like to add that for the targeted reading level this is a great read. The visuals really suck the reader in and the vocabulary words are highlighted and stand out from the rest to help with descriptive writing. Please take note of the update and I am glad that I found out more(thanks Sheila) because for the goal of the book it does a great job.

Questions to Ponder: Question from Borders on Facebook

If you could be a character in any book or movie, which would you choose and why?

What would be the title of your autobiography?

 

Favorite Web Tools, Links, and Resources for the week

Here is my weekly list. What are your favorite discoveries of the week?

http://www.zeodia.com/ 
http://tedxredmond.com/live/
 
http://www.appmakr.com/ 
 
Reusable Prezis
 
http://storycorps.org/animation

The 49 Best Apps for All Phones

Best Resources for providing feedback to students 

Cool Lego Stop Animation 

20 sites for teachers 

Lego Creationary

Book Tournament Update

I have decided to share with all of you a few things about the Coffee For The Brain Book Tournament. As you may or may not know I changed the rules of the book nominations. With so many books being nominated that were not published in the last year I decided to open up all books with the idea that they will not be allowed to enter the tournament next year.

Here is the current list of books nominated. Don't see a great book nominated yet? Go ahead and nominate. We need more books! Hopefully, you will nominate new books. Find your favorite author, find out if they have published any new books and nominate away!! The newer the books the greater the chance nobody has read it and allows me to buy so many great things! These are in no particular order and are not guaranteed to make the actual tournament. This is just the current pool.

1. Compound by S.A. Bodeen
2. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
3. Gym Candy by Carl Deuker
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
5. Fallen by Lauren Kate
6. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
7. How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor
8. Pendragon and the Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale
9. Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
10. Sliding Into Home by Kendra Wilkinson
11. Black and White by Paul Volponi
12. Crackback by John Coy
13. Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings
14. Side Effects by Amy Goldman Koss
15. Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
16. Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
17. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
18. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
19. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
20. Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
21. Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman
22. Petey by Ben Mikalson
23. Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
24. Rules by Cynthia Lord
25. Iqbal by Drancesco D'Adamo
26. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
27. Dead and Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I also need more judges. Parents get involved. Students get involved. Staff get involved. We need more. If you are a fellow blogger and want to participate please drop me a line. I am in need of a few more quality judges. I have a total of 33 judges at this point in time.

Don't forget to watch the latest movie trailer for the book tournament that I made over the weekend. It is such high quality(sarcasm if you missed it). Enjoy

The Cybils are bringing me X-Mas almost every single day

I cannot tell you how excited I get when I get home and see a few packages waiting for me to rip open and find out what is inside. The Cybils have been a great experience and continue to remind how lucky I am to be part of this. Today, I had another great little treat on my doorstep and felt the need to share.

I have a massive pile of books to read and could not be happier. Well, back to the page turning. Still looking for that one WOW book. Follow along as I post all my Cybil book reviews here on the blog. You can check the tab up top where I link them all on one page.

Book Review: Celia's Robot by Margaret Chang

Book: Celia's Robot

Author: Margaret Chang
Cybil Book #15
211 pages



From Booklist



For her birthday, fifth-grader Celia Chow receives an unusual present: a prototype worker robot, a fantastical invention designed by her dad and able to do nearly everything—including keeping Celia focused, whether she is practicing the violin, doing homework, or cleaning her room. Though Robot is somewhat bossy, with her parents often away working, Celia increasingly appreciates its companionship. Because her father worries about competitors trying to steal it, Robot is supposed to be a secret, though Celia is allowed to bring it to school, where, after helping rescue a cat, Robot’s photo appears in the newspaper. Soon after, Robot goes missing, and aided by her sometimes contentious classmate Tim, Celia sets off on a suspenseful, somewhat dangerous quest to find it. Celia is an appealing protagonist whose first-person narrative reflects her Chinese American background and sympathetically conveys the impact of her parents’ too-frequent absences. Overall, an entertaining and thoughtful read. Grades 4-6. --Shelle Rosenfeld


This was another book that I think my 6th grade students would like. This book is just a good old feel good story. Celia has a father who has constructed the ultimate helpful robot. Celia has a hard time getting out bed, cleaning her room, doing her homework, etc. She is the typical adolescent. Her father builds her a computer that only responds to her. She can teach it tricks like picking up her room, French braiding her hair, and several other helpful tricks. At first, she has a hard time with the robot because it refuses to let her do anything but what is expected. She must come home and do her homework, clean the dishes, set out her clothes before bed. However, the routine the robot expects her to follow helps her stay organized and Celia realizes that doing these things makes life easier. That is the one part of the book that drove me crazy. She did not really fight the system. She was just fine with changing and it was never a problem. What adolescent does not fight cleaning their room or their closet?

All stories must have a conflict. The conflict here is that the father wants nobody to find out about the robot he created. There are people who want to copy this robot and make mad cash. Needless to say that the robot is discovered and several events pursue from this point.

For students that want a good light hearted read this is your book. Nothing to bad happens, nothing violent, nothing too mean, just enough to create a nice storyline about growing up, getting noticed, and finding out who your friends are. I did feel like it took too long to get any real conflict going. I loved the idea and would love to have a robot like this for my house. It was just a little to “happy” for me. I needed something a little more severe to happen. However, not everyone thinks like me and this book could be perfect for them. Check it out!

Coffee For The Brain Book Tournament - You Are NEEDED

We have two weeks left until the time closes to sign up to be a book judge and nominate books. This is open to students, parents, and teachers of Bettendorf Middle School. There are many slots open that need to be filled. Spread the word, sign up, and get your friends involved.

Nominate books. Nominate new books that you have heard might be good. I will be buying the books and giving them to you so nominate all the great new titles that have come out this year.

When you fill out the form to be judge(located at top of this blog) you will be asked if you would like to judge more than one time. That simply means after the first round of reading two books in two weeks I may put you down to read later in the tournament.

Here is the latest movie trailer for the tournament to promote this special opportunity.



In case you missed the first movie trailer here it is for your viewing pleasure.



Here is another video of me talking about the tournament.



All Book Tournament Information, dates, judging application form, and book nomination form are all located up top on this blog.

I look forward to making this special. I have some things planned along the way. You know how I love to keep everyone on their toes.

Sign up now to be part of the action.

Triathlon Training - Week 1 of Figuring Things Out

I was trying to come up with a clever little title for this particular phase of my training and goal setting. I have nothing so far on this early Sunday morning with no flash drive that contains everything for life. Yeah, I know that will say, "You should have backed it up!". I did, but my hard drive on my computer crashed so I lost the back up as well. I am praying to every god in every religion that it will show up, but things are not looking very good right now.

Anyways, here is a recap of my training for the week. This was the intended training plan.

Week 1 – Building a Base/Getting Used To Multi-Training

Monday

• Run 5 miles - Knocked this run out. Ran with Mr. Uhde and we ran 5.5 miles in 44 minutes for a 8:00/mile pace. Good start to the week. Nice to run with another person and get outside before all the cold weather hits.
• TRX Core or Burpee Pushups - I did not get this workout in. Plan to get this done in week 2.
  

 Tuesday

• Swim – 1000 yards (20 laps/ 40 lengths) - This was too lofty of a goal for me. I have never swam laps before in my life. All I have ever done was just casual swimming. I ended up only swimming 550 yards because I realized that I needed to go home, study up on some drills and techniques and not waste my time. I was working 5x harder than everyone else and going 3x as slow. Too much drag, breathing was a mess, splashing everywhere. Not good, but a good wake up call that I need to work on this aspect and there is plenty of time to do so.
• Lift – Circuit training – sets of 15 - we did this prior to swimming. Good little workout. Did not record weights. Will do so this week.
• 2 x 15
• Tri Extensions
• Tri Pushdowns
• Bi Curls
• Reverse Flies
• Lower Back Extensions
• 3 x 15
• Lat Pulldowns 
• Rows

 Wednesday

• Run – 30 minutes - Did not run for 30 minutes. I ran 1 mile and then stopped as I became light headed. I did not eat breakfast this morning and it caught up to me because I was no properly fueled. Legs were dead from the bike and disappointed I did not run longer. No need to push too hard this early into training.
  
• Bike – 30 minutes- Rode one of the stationary bikes at the YMCA. It killed my knees. I also realized that I need to work on this aspect as well. Legs were burning and I only went 8 miles in 29 minutes. Need to work on leg strength and endurance.
  

Thursday

• Swim – 1000 yards - I worked in some beginner swimming drills and tried to work on some technique that I read about and watched online. I swam the 100 yards in 30 minutes time total from when I entered until I got out. Not able to really swim more than a down and back without stopping yet, but I am still learning. I incorporated some drills where I just used my legs, swam using only one arm, etc. Seemed to help. I just need to learn to relax, breath, and find a rhythm. Swimming kicks my butt. I am dead the rest of the day.
  

 Friday

• Bike – 30 minutes or 10 miles
• Lift – Circuit Training – sets of 12 - Alright.  I need more work after struggling on pull up pyramid.
  We started with the following
• 20 Wide grip push up
• 20 regular
• 20 tri pushup
• 250 abs of choice
• 1-10 pull up pyramid. I was only able to go up to 6 and back down. I was dead and just not strong enough to make it up to 10. Will go for 7 this week.

 Saturday/Sunday

• Long Run – 10 miles - I tried a new course this Sunday. It contained so many hills it was ridiculous! I felt good running. Quite tired now and will have to readjust my workout schedule for the week because I am not sure about running 5 miles tomorrow. I ended up running 9 miles in 1:16 giving me a 8:32 mile pace. The hills on miles 5-9 really took a toll on my legs, but glad to see I can still manage to run this far.

Overall, I am happy with this first week of experimenting with multi-sports. I was not able to achieve everything on this workout plan for the first week. Am I upset? Not really because I had not idea how to gauge a good starting point. I have some tough challenges ahead of me, but I know that I can achieve them if I just keep staying positive, making goals, and putting together a plan down on paper. I hope you are achieving your goals. If not, what are you waiting for? Write down one goal and put together a plan. Now on to week 2. I plan on trying to do the same workout again but complete everything and continue to make some improvements.

Book Review: Raiders' Ransom by Emily Diamand

Title: Raiders' Ransom
Author: Emily Diamand
# of Pages: 334
Cybil Book #14

I finally finished this book. It took me almost a week to get through, but I have completed it. Do I recommend this book? Maybe. I think some students will really like this book. It was not my favorite, but I don't want that to be a determining factor in a decision to read this book. It did win The Times Children's Fiction Competition. However, I found some parts of this book frustrating. Let me provide a quick synopsis

Synopsis:



It's the 22nd century and, because of climate change, much of England is underwater. Poor Lilly is out fishing with her trusty sea-cat when greedy raiders pillage the town--and kidnap the prime minister's daughter. Her village blamed, Lilly decides to find the girl. Off she sails, in secret. And with a ransom: a mysterious talking jewel. "If I save his daughter," Lilly reasons, "the prime minister's sure to reward me." Little does Lilly know that it will take more than grit to outwit the tricky, treacherous piratical tribes!

My Thoughts:

I really believed this book had potential to be awesome. I really enjoyed some parts, but there was enough that bothered me to not give it glowing reviews. Here are a few things that really bothered me.

1. The first 50 pages. I don't know if it was due to the fact that I was super tired this week or felt sick with a head cold when I first picked this book up, but I was so confused in the beginning. It took me some time to realize that the chapters were switching back and forth. Later I finally figured out the pictures behind the chapter number represented either Lilly or Zeph. Duh! I know, but it was not clear for me early on and I lost focus and interest.

For some reason I continued on because I really wanted to like this book. Once I figured out the style, I became interested in the plot line. The whole Raiders vs. English and the future where things are not quite as advanced as we are now really grabbed me again. However......

2. The cat drove me insane. It is a seacat. I kept waiting for something spectacular to occur, but no. So much time was placed on this creature, but it never talked or did anything special(at least in my mind). I kept waiting for it to transform into a monster like a Pokemon or something. Very disappointed in the cat.

However, I did love the action and fighting scenes. I wish there was more early on to grab me earlier in the story. I really liked reading about some of the final scenes. Very cool.

3. Another sequel! Whatever happened to stand alone novels? I know it sells and makes more money. I know the sequel comes out in the UK March 1st. Will I read this sequel? Yes, I probably will because I am that type of person that must know what happens and I need closure.

There you have it. There are many reviews about this book. Some love this book and others don't. I am torn down the path of which side to go with. I flipped back and forth. I will leave it up to you decide about this book.

I went crazy in the iTunes App store last night

I keep telling myself to get back into doing ipad/ipod/itouch app reviews again and this weekend I am going back to making these video reviews. In the meantime I was looking for some new apps and found myself going a little crazy. Here is what I have downloaded and plan to check out this weekend. I have not used any of these yet so let me know if you have.

• Braingle
• Capcom Arcade
• Catapult Madness(actually I downloaded last week and this is my new addiction)
• Doodle Buddy
• Foursquare
• Gravbot
• iMut8r
• Mega Jump
• Monster Truck
• Motion Math
• Spider-Man
• Talking Roby the Robot
• Tap Tap Revenge 3
• Toy Story 3 Matching
• Animation Creation
• Moxier Collage
• Potty Panic
• Stick Wars
• Dropbox
• USA Triathlon

Any other suggestions that I should download while I am in this frenzy?

Goal Setting: Sometimes you just have to educate yourself

I am back to tackle the subject of goal setting. Why? Because I think it is so important and a topic that not everyone really understands on how to do create the proper goals. For example, I have spent a long part of my life creating goals - some good and some bad - to help me achieve and stay motivated. I am constantly learning how to find that right gauge of setting a goal that is realistic, but still a challenge.

For instance, I ate at Panera Bread the other night. I love this place. I could honestly eat there every day of my life and would choose over most fancy restaurants. Anyways, I was reading from the Eat This Not That website that the Panera Bread Large Frozen Mocha would require a 7.8 mile walk to burn off. 7.8 miles. Is that really worth it? Heck no, especially after I have began to realize how hard excercise is when it pertains to biking and swimming.

You become what you think about most of the time. This is a Fact. So, what do you think about? Are you someone who thinks all these ideas and have all these plans for the future, but never see them through to the end? Many of us are "starters", but rarely do we get the chance to call ourselves "finishers". As I set out this summer to get in shape I started small, did my research, and adapted along the way.

I started small by just trying to run 12-15 miles in one week however I could get it done. I struggled. My body hurt, my feet and knees were in constant pain. Could I have quit? Sure, I could have blamed the pain or simply said that was good enough for me. I pursued and persisted. Four months later I am ran a half marathon and Urbanathlon and felt the best I have ever felt. It was not overnight and not always easy.

Come up with a goal. Divide it into smaller sections. Do your research and learn about your goal. I read tons of books about training and running. Keep a dream book or something similar to write your goals down and how things are going. This blog acts as my dream book.

What is next on my plate? I took two weeks off after the Urbanathlon. This week I have begun to acquaint myself and prepare for a triathlon next spring and possibly a marathon for the summer. Not sure if I can train for both at the same time. I am still educating myself and putting together a plan. 

What is your plan? Write down your goal and then break it into smaller sections to pat yourself on the back as you progress.

I will share my goal sheet for the week with you this weekend and reflect on my large learning curve and how that helps me figure out what to do next.

Information Visualization: Powerpoint bad for brains - Menace of slideware

Information Visualization: Powerpoint bad for brains - Menace of slideware

Very interesting article with several resources to support idea. I find this intriguing as I am preparing a presentation for my school board and trying to go about it with very little use of words on the screen.

Another cool little nifty thing for all you Facebook users

I receive the "I Heart Daily" newsletter which I love reading when it pops up in my email. Today the newsletter contained a link and story write up about Social Printshop, which is an online service will turn all of your friends' profile photos into a 20 x 40 inch poster for $20.


You can customize the poster with some color changes and schemes. I went to the website and signed up for the newsletter because they are promoting expanding their idea to Twitter, Foursquare, Flickr, and a few others.

I had to share this as I just posted my favorite links of the week and apparantly posted too soon. I may not get a poster of my FB friends, but Twitter would be one that I would like to try.

Why can I not think of something clever like this?

Favorite web links and tools of the week

These are some links that I came across either via email, Twitter, or just web browsing. Feel free to check them out and if you have something worthwhile go ahead a leave it in the comments or TWEET me at @coffeechugbooks

Visual Thinking - I just read through some of this briefly, but this is one that I will be going back to and reading more in depth. This has some really great teaching ideas to be incorporate into my teaching practices.

http://googlizealesson.wikispaces.com/ - Some really great simple ideas to enhance your classroom. I already do some of these ideas, but there is always room for improvement. What do you use?

http://edu.symbaloo.com/ - I cannot wait to use this for my classroom. I want to see some examples already in use. If you have using this, could you share what you have created. This is my weekend project.!!! Too excited!

50 Fun iPhone & iPad Apps to Get Kids Reading and Learning http://ow.ly/343Tn

Here's a classroom project. Get your kids to prototype a mobile app. http://keynotopia.com/ no programming necessary. I am trying to find a way to incorporate this into my classroom. Back to the drawing board.

The Ultimate Dropbox Toolkit & Guide http://bit.ly/bdD2Zw - I downloaded the app and now time to explore. This site provides everything one needs to get started. This is also my weekend project.

Book Review: Brains For Lunch: A Zombie Haiku

Title:

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 96 pages
Cybils Book #13

I read this book because I needed some quick and easy with the chaos of my life right now. I chose this book because it looked to be a quick easy read and not very long. Upon completion of this book I had to stop and think about how hard it would be to write a book in completely haiku verses. That would be a challenge.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fun light easy read. The tongue in cheek jokes and phrases really made me laugh. For example, when one of the bullies "gives him the finger" it literally means that the bully detached his finger instead of what we would visualize as sticking up the middle finger. There are several of these types of clever lines crafted in this story.

This book is perfect for grades 5-8 due to the humor and the topic of Zombies. Zombies seem to be everywhere these days and have slowly taken over the vampire genre or is at least side by side in the media world.

The whole book centers around Loeb, who is a zombie that has the hots for the school librarian and is working on a human girlfriend. Among this little loved infested zombie he has to not eat their brains! If I was still teaching my sixth grade literature class I would be using this book during my poetry unit. The haikus in the book will definitely draw the interest of the many students who hate poetry.

All in all this book was good. Clever haiku writing, good pictures to move the story along, and it was short and sweet. Any longer of a book and I think this loses the value it has on the reader. Who in this day and age does not like a good old love story about zombies who crave the brains of humans?

Smells like Rockin Robin - Nirvana/Jackson 5 mashup

I love this mashup. How does two completely different styles of music sound so good together? A little something something to start off our ITBS testing with this morning. Enjoy!