How to Extend Your Desktop

Teachers- this will allow you to show a video clip on your SmartBoard while still allowing you to continue to work on your computer.

How to Extend Your Desktop Instructions


Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Break. I am going to be finishing up Son of Neptune and working on my crafts for the Christmas Shoppe!

Free Scrapbook Fonts

Below is a link to a website that offers free scrapbook fonts. They are available for you to download and install on your computer (mac or pc). They are super cute and new ones are published each month.



http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/

GaETC... and other "stuff"

Just got back from GaETC. This was my first year going and I loved it. So much great information and I got a ton of samples for the teachers!

I attended sessions on everything from BrainPOP to the LDS to Georgia PBS to online professional development. I think one of the main things that I am going to focus on will be making my RSS feed manageable. Mine is SO NOT!! I think by cutting it down to fewer feeds I will actually get more from them. I also want to make a personal goal to feature at least two resources to teachers each month.

On another note, I finished The Death Cure, the 3rd book in the Maze Runner series. It didn't really end the way I wanted it to, but I can't complain. At least it didn't leave me hanging! There have been a ton of kids who have gotten hooked on the series this year. I know they are super excited to get their hands on the last one. Also, 5th grade book club is going great. We have about 5 girls who show up early in the mornings to read. We have a great time eating breakfast and discussing our books!

Scholastic This is Teen

Scholastic is starting a new Facebook page just for teens!
On facebook.com/thisisteen, teens can interact with their friends, and with favorite authors like Libba Bray, Meg Cabot, Maggie Stiefvater, Markus Zusak, and Kevin Brooks. They can:

	Participate in weekly author Q&As
	Check out event listings
	Find book suggestions based on their interests
	Explore videos and events
	Check out the comprehensive author and book gallery,
	and book finder

September Recap!

Wow! I don't know where September went. I stunk it up at blogging last month. Let me update you on what's happening in the media center: We had our BMS Book Fair last week and sold almost $5,000. We get to keep 60% of that to buy books! I'll be ordering those soon. We also just got in a HUGE book order from Follett, so we have tons of new books. We ordered a lot in the 2.0-2.9 range, but we also got the newest books in several series for older readers.

As for what I've been reading- well, it's not a lot. I just finished Girl in the Arena (5.9/12.0) by Lise Haines. It was not my favorite. It is set in current day, but American culture is very different. Beginning with an underground movement in the 60's, Gladiator style fighting has grown in popularity and is now a televised event worldwide. Not all matches are a fight to the death, but many are. When Lyn's stepfather is killed in the arena and his opponent picks up her dowry bracelet, Glad rules require that she marry him or risk loosing her family's house. She decides to fight him instead. To me it was a little boring because her stepfather's fight was at the very beginning and her fight at the very end. Not much happened in the middle. This book is really a commentary on our society and how easily people are influenced but both news and social media.

I also read 13 Little Blue Envelopes (5.0/9.0) by Maureen Johnson and Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (4.5/4.0) by James Patterson. Both of these are on the new Nook set. I enjoyed them very much. They were cute, easy to read books. 13 Envelopes is definitely a girlie book while I think everyone would like Middle School.

Divergent by Veronica Roth (4.8/16.0)

Divergent is one of the books that I loaded on the new nooks. I think it is going to be the first book in a series, but it was a good stand alone book too. I really enjoyed reading it. It is set in a futuristic world were when children turn 16 they must decide which faction to join. There faction will determine their jobs, where they live, and how they live. Tris, the main character decides to leave her family and join the Dauntless faction. Right away she realizes something is not right. She stumbles across a plot between the Dauntless and Erudite factions to overthrow the government. She must stop them to save her family, who are government leaders.

New Nooks

Yeah! We just got in 6 more Nooks! Hopefully that will shorten the waiting time a little bit. The new Nooks are a little smaller and lighter than the older ones and the entire screen is touch sensitive. They will have different books than the older ones. I am loading several dystopian novels on them because that is all the rage. Look for titles like Hunger Games, Divergent, Ship Breaker, and Gone as well as some more light-hearted reads like Death by Bikini and Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life.

On another note, I finished Uncommon Crimials by Ally Carter and loved it! Currently reading Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Welcome Back!

Registration is tomorrow and the 1st day of school is just around the corner. I am so excited for another great year. This summer I spent my time reading the GA Book Award Nominees and enjoyed quite a few of them. I also made my way through the Uglies series (if you like Hunger Games, you should read them) and another great dystopian book called Ship Breaker. I am also very excited about the 3rd book in the Maze Runner series. I know many of you are waiting on it to come out.

I am currently reading Uncommon Criminals, the second book in the Heist Society series by Ally Carter. I have described it before as Oceans 11 for girls, but I think that might confuse some of the girls more! I'll let you know how it goes.

See some of you tomorrow and the rest of you Friday!

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (4.4/14)

I know that a bunch of the students have seen this movie, and I want to see it too,but I am trying to talk them into reading the book! This book was an interesting and easy read. It keep my attention with enough action but not too much of the far-fetched alien stuff. John is a 15 yr old alien from the planet Lorien. He and 8 other children escaped when another alien population invaded their planet. He and his guardian, Henri, must move around to keep John hidden from the aliens who are trying to track him. Obviously this will be a series, so there is no real ending in this book. I can't wait for the next one.

Dates, Mates, and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins (3.9/4.0)

I loved this book! It was hilarious. I enjoy British "chick-lit" anyway, but this is the first young adult version I have read. I laughed out loud several times. In doing a little research about this title, I learned that it is a series called "Dates, Mates, and ..." The series is just typical middle school girl drama. It's real life stuff though, not like the Clique series. For example, in this book, a new girl moves into the school and Lucy, the main character, feels like she is stealing her best friend away. There are a lot of laughs along the way, but eventually the girls work it out. A good, positive story.

Currently reading: Red Blazer Girls: The Vanishing Violin
I am having to take a break from all the serious books and read some funny/girlie books. This is the second book in the series and I an totally enjoying it. The things Sophie, the main character, says and thinks are cracking me up. This is another positive story where girls are smart and are concerned about more important things than clothes!