Battle of the Books and Next Year Presentations

I ceded defeat today before it even started (second week in May) and pulled out. Is that terrible of me? I just knew we hadn't been able to practice yet. At all. And ... even though they do read they don't always read books on a "list" so finding a team intact in one class? Nope. How can I help them to know that it's not I don't believe in them ... it's just EGADS that gets competitive. I still remember the year one kid tried so hard and read all of them but his teammates did not and it was not pretty. I have questions as to whether or not it's worth the effort to remember all those little nitpicky details anyway.

I'm more of a grand overall idea sort of person. Read Shakespeare's Secret and research Shakespeare and write insults. Read My Side of the Mountain and play an online survival game. Read The White Mountains and make a video using a battery powered massager as a tripod (seriously ... they look like tripods!). These are past projects. That I can remember after a brain numbing day watching a student take a test. Anyway. Which one is better for the kiddos?

                                          photo credit: Lori Greig via photo pin cc

Thinking about possible TCEA presentations for next year. Don't really want to present (it's SCARY!) but if that's what it takes to get permission to go? I'm there. Possible things I might submit ...

1) Redo the photo editing one. Need to update my blog page cause RIP Picnik. I don't miss you as much as I thought I would!
2) QR Codes in the library. And I don't just mean linking to book trailers. Information scavenger hunts, vocab practice, and whatever else we can think of. Hopefully will get some co-presenters.
3) Tech integrated projects with K-2. They are NOT my forte, I'm here to tell you right now. Maybe have a teacher interested in doing that one with me. Maybe. But that's one reason why it might be a good idea. Cause knowing I have to present in February will make me DO it more August through January and not wimp out and fall back on the same old, same old.
4) E-readers with the elementary set. The E-reader bookclub went down in flames this year cause we  didn't get the Nooks "approved" by the powers that be and in our hands until February. By the time kids had finished their books it was spring break. Then bookfair. Then the teachers pulled our time cause they needed to do review work for ... THE TESTS. But I still think that could work and be cool by starting earlier in the year. And I figured out a few logistics (stolen from other blogs and then tweaked to fit our needs) that might be helpful to share?
5) Bookclubs and tech integrated projects. Been doing them for a while (not this year but this year is not going down as my favorite and THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR!) so might have something useful there?
6) Revamping the Connecting with Authors Online that I did with SimpleK12 (and have never updated the page on my blog ... still weird about finding an almost exact copy of it in my Google Reader but the blogger had already taken it down by then). Blogs, Twitter, FB, Skype.
7) Be a Leader by Following ... cool blogs and people to follow on Twitter and Pinterest. I went to a TCEA presentation that was basically like that and was like "Hey! I already know about that one." And "Hey! I already know about that one, too." Which is not to make me sound all "Hey, look at me!" cause not many of those people follow me BACK. But the info and ideas others share? Makes me look good on my campus and could do the same for others.

Which reminds me. Thank you for stopping by. If you blog you KNOW what those comments and page hits mean. Someone likes me! ☺