Posts contained in the “Teaching Issues” category:

Xtranormal – another digital storytelling tool


Share this…             I found out about this one from Dr. Gwen Tarbox, who used it to make some videos for the ENGL 2000 course offered at Western Michigan University. Unfortunately, you can only use the most basic settings for free—the others cost what they call Xtranormal Points, but once you’ve purchased an asset you can use …read more…


Google Search Stories


Share this…             I just found out about another interesting digital story-telling tool: Google Search Stories. This tool allows you to make 30-second movies, like the one Google used during the 2010 Super Bowl. Now, you can’t do all the neat things that they did in the commercial, but you can still come up with some creative …read more…


PDL Book Sale – October 2, 2010


Share this…             It is absolutely amazing that I made it to two of these sales in a row. Again, I picked up a bag-load of books for $12.70. Here’s what I got: Short story collections and novels: Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore. Even if I had never heard of Lorrie Moore, the …read more…


Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen


Share this…             Worried about finding enough money to buy a new inner tube for his bike, a twelve-year-old boy gets an old riding mower from his grandmother for his birthday. Soon he is mowing his neighbors’ lawns, and making more money than he thought possible. When he meets Arnold, a stockbroker who teaches him about managing …read more…


PDL Book Sale – August 7, 2010


Share this…             The Portage District Library had a book sale yesterday. They have six of them a year, but for some strange reason, I seem able to only get to about half of them. It’s always a lot of fun, and you can pick up some great bargains. Most paperbacks are three for a dollar, hardcovers …read more…


Hank Zipzer Revisited: A Tale of Two Tails by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver


Share this…             A while back, I wrote a less than favorable review of Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver’s first book in the Hank Zipzer series, Niagara Falls, or Does It? I have since learned that they have recently published the seventeenth novel in the series, A Brand New Me! (a title which is as off-putting as …read more…


Encouraging Summer Reading


Share this…             Keeping kids reading during the summer is important. We want to encourage our kids to read and to enjoy it, but we need to strike a fine balance between making it optional and making it mandatory. The following tips come to us via ADDitude Magazine. While these tips are aimed at children with ADD/ADHD, …read more…


Even CNN Can’t Get it Right All the Time


Share this…             This is what happens when you don’t have Tivo. You see something interesting on the television, grab your camera and snap a pic of it. Then, because you get busy with other things, you find some odd image on your camera two months later, and wonder why you took this picture. Here’s what I …read more…


There’s (already) an app for that


In fact, when it comes to keeping track of the Greek and Roman gods, there’s already an app for that.

It’s called a book.


Best of 2009 Booklists


Share this…              Are you looking for the ultimate “Best of 2009″ booklists for children and young adults? Then visit Best Children’s Books of 2009: The Big List of Lists Susan Thomsen has put together a list of links for over 100 (when I stopped counting, at least) of “Best of…” lists from publishers, journalists, and …read more…