But then I went to Costa Rica with six 8th grade students and, on the way out the door, I stuffed it in my backpack to carry on the plane. On the way home, I opened it up. Five plane hours later, I was hooked.

I get home. My friend Kate is also into the series and says I should read the sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire.

I ask if she has it and she says, “Yes, but it’s on my Kindle.”

“Aw,” I say.

Kate says, “But you can borrow it if you’d like.”

I pause for half a second, realizing what this means. I get to test an eReader without pouring money into something of which I’ve been skeptical for a long time. I was the first person to argue that you can’t cuddle up on the couch with an computer-like device to read for hours on end.

I am hear to tell you that you most definitely can.

After spending some time with the Kindle, I realized that I would soon have to give it up and…big, huge surprise…I didn’t want to! It is incredibly convenient to carry around, stuff in my purse, and open and close like a print book. Most importantly, the screen is easy on the eyes. eInk is not like reading a computer screen; it’s like reading…dare I say…paper.

So I hopped on the trusty Internet, Googled my way around reviews, and realized that the B&N nook was the reader for me. It has a little touch screen at the bottom and I can easily borrow library books – two handy features the Kindle lacks.

As I’ve been sharing the news of my latest acquisition with friends I’ve been wondering how an eReader would work in a school library. The fact that you can change font type and size would be a great tool for some of our struggling readers. It’s also possible to download audiobooks onto eReaders to allow students to listen and read on the same device. Many of our students would love that feature.

But there are some burning questions: Would students enjoy reading on it as much as I do? I’ve done some cursory searching of children’s and teen eBooks and am wondering, how many popular titles do you think are readily available? How would the purchasing and lending process work? The thought of lending out $260 machines to students is a bit daunting.

Well, in a few hours I’ll be off to the gym to read, you guessed it, The Girl Who Played with Fire on my nook. When working out on the treadmill, it beats a book or a magazine by far. Lovin’ it.

The little white box on the top shelf is the MacMini. So much in such a little box!

Admittedly, this post has little to do with being a school librarian, per se. However, I like to think my adventure in kicking my RCN DVR/cable box to the curb displays the fact that I truly am a librarian to the core – researching, testing, and triumphing! You can let me know what you think when you read about my newest Mac-powered (of course) concoction.

I’ll start with a brief history. There came a point, gradual but undeniable, when I realized that paying almost $100 a month for cable and a DVR box was a complete waste of good money. It probably came when I ended up watching one-too-many of my DVR recorded shows on Hulu in another room in my house. Why, I thought, am I paying to record TV when I watch it on the Internet for free so often?

Then came the next question: How do I brake up with cable and still 1) get network TV reception and 2) record Oprah? True story! I love The Oprah Show. I can’t help myself so I might as well just admit it in public. It’s the only show not available for free on the Internet (not a big surprise) so I needed to know: How?!

I surfed the Internet for days, weeks, months looking for a box that would record TV, stream Netflix, Amazon, Hulu (and whatever will be the newest media medium of the future), and play DVDs. It didn’t exist. TiVo? Nope. Sony’s Blue-Ray players with WiFi? Close, but nope, again.

And then I realized that I am a fool! I, a self-professed believer, follower, and all-around Mac-obsessed user, was sitting on the most wonderful product available for my needs! The MacMini!

So, to create my Home Entertainment Center, I needed a few gadgets:

1) An antenna. Radio Shack sold me a digital antenna for $35, but I’ve heard that any old antenna will do.

2) EyeTV Hybrid. If you want to record what comes in on the antenna, purchase a teeny tiny USB drive-sized EyeTV. You can only record one channel at a time, but for my needs, it fits the bill. It’s $130 on Amazon.com. It comes with a guide through TV Guide so you can pre-set recordings. EyeTV comes with a remote that I’ve found useless since I control the whole thing with a mouse and keyboard (see #4), but it’s a handy idea.

3) The wonderful MacMini sells at the Apple Store for $599. Get it new. It’s worth the extra bucks you’ll spend to know you’re starting with a clean and up-to-date computer. For what it’s worth, teachers get $50 off the MacMini. Put that association card to work!

4) Keyboard and mouse. I purchased these at the Apple Store, too. The mouse is wireless and made by Kensington. It was about $40 – cheaper than Bluetooth because you have to plug a little nano receiver into the back of the MacMini for it to (instantly, I might add) recognize the mouse. There are five (5) USB ports on the machine so using one for the mouse is not a problem.

All things Apple amaze me. The wireless keyboard they sell now is tiny and going for $69. I turned it on and the MacMini recognized it immediately without me having to do a single thing. I keep it in its original box on my coffee table and it never gets in the way. It actually acts as one of the several books on the table – just part of the stack. If you don’t care how little the keyboard is, you can get the mouse/keyboard package for less at BestBuy or another electronics store.

5) Cables. A) DVI converter to display the computer screen on your TV. B) Audio cable to run sound to the TV. I’ve been told that you can run these feeds together with a fancy HDMI cable, but I already had the equipment to do it the old fashioned way, and it works great.

That’s it! The whole shebang cost me about $850. In eight and a half months, I will be living in the land of truly free TV.

A couple of things to note:

1) TV Viewing/Reception. I have a 42 inch LCD TV and the computer screen seems to want to be a little smaller than that. I’ve tried to fiddle with Display Profiles in System Preferences. But truthfully, it doesn’t bother me enough to work too hard to fix it. Also, if you like perfect reception, you will find that the feed can be a little jerky. The picture is pretty darn crystal clear, but it seems to be a little sluggish at times. Adjusting the antenna seems to always help this little problem. The audio always works great, though.

2) Sports Fans Beware! You will only be able to watch games that are broadcast on network TV. And don’t think you can be a sneaky MLB.com subscriber. Red Sox games are blacked out for people living in the Boston area. For opening day last night, I streamed WEEI on iTunes Radio and displayed the computer graphic GameDay from the Sox’s Website. This works okay for me, but might not for those who want to see Youkilis hit the Jordan’s sign for real.

3) Bonus! I now realize how much REALLY BAD TV I watched before. My new purchases have freed me from wasting as much time, for which I am eternally grateful. I love Anthony Bourdain, but I’ll find ways to see clips of his show on TV. It’s just not worth the big bucks.

So, there is my entertainment transformation in a nut shell. Breaking up with cable TV was the hardest part. I had to physically take my cable box to RCN within 48 hours of canceling (I’m not sure what they would have done if I hadn’t) and I had to bargain with them mighty hard to lower my Internet speed to cut costs even lower. I was overpaying that, too. Who knew I could stream programs on two computers (yes, I have a MacBook, too) at once at only 1 mbps?

Well, I do now. And feel like I’ve conquered something huge for knowing so.

Let me know if you’ve ventured yourself in this direction or if you’ve ever thought about it. I feel like a modern-day Nancy Drew/Indiana Jones. It’s an adventure but so worth the ingenuity and hard work. I’d like to hear your stories, too.

P. S. The Apple Store continues to bring my dream shopping experience to life. It’s the most efficient and pleasant way to shop on the planet. I realize I’m biased, but it’s also a totally true statement.

For those who like simpler step-by-step video production, Photo Story3 is an excellent choice. Photo Story 3 does have some limitations: it is only available for Windows XP and Vista, the stories created with the program can only be played back with Windows Media Player on PCs running Windows and not on Macs, and it only supports the used of still images, not full-motion video clips. (Thank you to the University of Houston for pointing out these limitations.)

But for the price (Free!), you can’t beat Photo Story’s easy-of-use.

I would like to thank (I think her name is) Millie from Furman University for creating a most wonderful tutorial, complete with image resources! We will be using the images and step-by-step directions on this Website during the workshop: Digital Storytelling: Photostory 3 Tutorial
http://millie.furman.edu/mll/tutorials/photostory3/index.htm

Check out some other links below that offer more instruction and a ton of ideas. Enjoy!

The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
From the University of Houston
Wow! Available on this Website are a myriad of resources. Explore, learn, and use! There are examples of digital stories for every discipline including math, health, pop culture and music.

http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/index.html

Photobus – Digital Storytelling
by Daniel Meadows
Meadows creates some beautiful stories that you can watch right at the top of each tabbed page and has experience teaching digital storytelling to others. There are some nice tutorials here, too.

http://www.photobus.co.uk/index.php?id=2&movie=painted_skies.flv

Ideas for Photo Story3 Projects
This wiki is full of excellent ideas for incorporating Photo Story3 into the classroom and school.

http://21stcenturyteaching.pbworks.com/Ideas-for-Photostory-3-Projects

Create a Story from a Single Still Photo with Photo Story 3
From Microsoft, a step-by-step tutorial.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/tips/create.mspx

Video Storytelling Projects Made with PhotoStory
This page is a nice series of clear screen shots to take you through the Photo Story process.

http://drscavanaugh.org/digitalcamera/photostorytelling/storytelling_PhotoStory.htm

Talk About Books
Digital storytelling, book talk style.

http://blog.woodward.edu/widener/?p=683

Past and Present – Social Studies

http://blog.woodward.edu/widener/?p=693

Delicious Handout

When I returned to school after the conference, I was in the middle of trying to set up MassONE forums for two groups of students. I came back so excited about usingEdmodo.com instead and their teacher was willing to give it a try.

Sometimes when I start new technologies with teachers, especially when they’re new to me too, the start is a little rough and difficult to plow through. Working with Edmodo has been easy. Their blog and wiki have lots of info on them but I urge you to go set up your own account and get your students signed in, too. It’s so easy and intuitive. Trust me. And the kids will love it, too.

As a shout-out to a brilliant English teacher friend, here’s an annotated list of 7 to 10 of those items, in no particular order, mind you:

1. Pandora. There’s nothing better than coming to work, opening up my browser, going to Pandora.com, and typing in the name of the artist who made me happy on the ride to school. Today it was Taylor Swift. Pandora’s definition and interpretation of Taylor Swift has made me happy all day. Here’s to more!

2. My iPod touch. At home, my iPod touch serves as the remote control for my music which plays wirelessly through my MacBook (#3, see below). It also controls DVDs, Netflix (#6) streaming movies, and Hulu.com TV shows I play nice and big through my wonderful 42-inch LCD TV (#4). The iPod also allows me to carry photos of my family and friends and my music and podcasts and games and, well, with 75,000 possible apps, I could definitely go on.

P. S. Come June, my cell phone (NOT a favorite technology) and my iPod touch will become one. I visit the iPhone Website once a week. No joke.

3. My Aluminum MacBook. I’ve loved Mac computers since I was a little girl. I didn’t know PCs existed until they started popping up in my school life. Yes, Mac computers are pretty. But they’re also easy to use and intuitive. I couldn’t get dressed each morning without my weather dashboard widget. Perhaps it’s what I’m used to, but golly, I know I’m not the only one.

4. My 42-inch LCD TV. I’m not sure how to annotate this without stating the obvious. Perhaps this will work: I can see the puck. Never before have I been able to see the puck on TV.

5. Online Shopping.

There’s nothing like a Web-based cataloging system to make a librarian’s job so much easier. I still can’t believe how fast I can catalog a book and get labels printed. It’s like heaven. I am a catch-22: sometimes, I yearn for a world without technology but I cringe at the sight of card-catalog systems of yore. Oh, well.

In the same vein: Ingram’s iPage Online Ordering System. I adore selection lists. I adore having instant access to book reviews. I adore placing orders with a click of a button.

Who am I kidding? I adore all online shopping.

6. Netflix. Not only do their DVDs come and go from my house as I please, but if I’m in the mood to watch something else instantly, that’s okay, too. I’m sure that Netflix will be a relic sometime in the not-too-distant future, but for now, I think it’s such a wonderful comfort when you want a movie fix.

7. DVR. I’m addicted to my DVR. If I ever have to make the choice between TV without DVR and no TV, I would select the latter. I can’t handle TV that I can’t pause and record. I watch a specific handful of shows and like to watch them at my leisure. TV without DVR would be tortuous.

8. Networking Applications and Programs: Twitter, FaceBook, Email, Blogs.

Among all of the junk that swims around the Internet, there are some wonderful connections to be made amongst colleagues from around the country and the world using ingenious applications. Twitter has allowed me to develop those connections.

FaceBook has brought me back in touch with friends I’ve lost touch with over the year; that’s a blessing.

Email allows me to communicate daily with friends and family without picking up the phone. I hate the phone.

Blogs allow me to write and to learn from other librarians and teachers about young adult literature, librarianship, teaching, learning, and being citizens of a world greater than ourselves.

9. There isn’t a nine. I guess I’m an “8 Favorite Technologies” kinda girl. And perhaps a few #s are cheating a bit since it’s questionable whether individual Websites can be individual technologies. But you get the jist. I admittedly like some technologies a great deal.

Could I live without them? Sure. But if I move to the cottage in the woods with my cart of books I would undoubtedly miss my iPod, my computer, and my gigantic TV. That’s a fact.

This week, I’m determined to make it happen. I am constructing, in a middle school library, a section for 8th grade readers only. The wise and capable 7th and even 6th grade student will be allowed to read from the section, but I want 8th grade students to know that there are books here that speak specifically to their needs and wants as very-soon-to-be young adults.

Happily, Nancy Werlin’s Impossible will be one of the brand-new books to grace the shelves of this new section. Her book, which takes place in a contemporary setting, is alive with a fairy tale spin that makes it an amazing adventure full of riddles and complete with an evil elf. But with a rape scene, a teen pregnancy, and a teen marriage, I think it’s best featured in a section set aside for readers who are ready to read some of the themes within its pages.

I picked up Impossible on a whim, thinking that I would only be buying one of Werlin’s other titles, Rules of Survival,which is on our 8th grade summer reading list. Here is where I praise and extend my utmost thanks to independent book stores and their knowledgeable booksellers:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

As I frantically ran through the aisles of BookEnds of Winchester, MA a few weeks ago, grabbing copies of Flanagan’s The Ranger’s Apprentice series, I asked the bookseller if she had Rules of Survival. She said: “I’m not positive, but I know I have her new book – Impossible.”

And off on another track was I.

She gave it an interesting and positive review and we discussed whether it would be a novel 8th grade students could read. She relayed the rape scene to me but said that it wasn’t graphic. She led me to believe that I should take a risk and see what I thought. Frankly, it just sounded like something that I would enjoy. Since I don’t care for fantasy much, I saw this as a sign that I should give it a try.

Happily, I did and spent last Saturday on the couch in a wonderful fantasy story I won’t easily forget.

Last week, every effort I made to sit and catalog books was thwarted by some outside force or another. This week, I’m making the impossible, possible. Come technology or high water.

I am a huge Google fan. I morphed from dabbling in Google Docs from time to time to having my Calendar, Several Docs, and Reader open on my desktop at work each morning before I even brave the sometimes insurmountable inbox that is my school email. I also used Google accounts last year with students so that they could collaborate on Docs together in the classroom. It was a dream way of communicating and organizing the dreaded group project!

There has been nothing to complain about Google’s offerings for a while now. That is, until I tried to set up student accounts this year. To my utmost surprise and horror, one now needs a mobile phone to verify each account through text messaging. I try to be a mover and a shaker when it comes to technology, but I don’t want to get involved with students receiving text messages because of what they need to do in class. It’s a leap with which I’m uncomfortable. But now I don’t know what to do!

So while I ponder what to do with my Google dilemma as my students embark on their first pair project, they are dutifully huddled around Word documents on one computer to bang out their scripts for their presentations. Perhaps someone can persuade me that using their cell phones is an okay things to do.

Or maybe Google will give me a break on this one.