Random Stuff: Reading, Ranting, & Raving (and a Question)

READING
Here ARE (later edit cause it bugged me when I saw "Here's some" in the FB preview :/) some of the first books that I will be reading this summer (have to work ... Monday, for sure, but perhaps that's it ... the last couple days of my contract are a bit more "negotiable" cause of all the PD I did last summer and will be doing this summer. Sometimes we can swap).


This is just the first batch (hooray for #bookaday!). Kid non-fic. Some grown-up stuff for me in terms of getting ready for the new house. Some PD books that I need to start and finish. Or finish. (OH! Forgot Guided Inquiry on there. And I have to read that cause I'm going to an "Institute" in July.) And some YA. And some Kid Lit. I just finished the new Dan Brown book. It was sort of meh if you follow me on Goodreads. Anyway. Stay tuned for highlights of my favorites.

RANTING
The HUGE group Pinterest boards. I don't get the appeal. They totally take over your Pinterest feed and then you don't really see gems in all the madness. I guess the idea is to get pins you contribute noticed (ie blog exposure)? Is it? Cause don't other people feel the same way? The couple of times I've followed a big board I've quickly unfollowed it. Even when I liked some of the content. Cause that was ALL the content I was seeing and that didn't sit well. Am I wrong?

I need to go back and look.
Dear Bloglovin' (where I moved many of my teaching blog feeds), The nightly email annoys me. If I'm busy it freaks me out at what I haven't read. It requires much more scrolling and effort to "mark something as read."
Dear Google Reader, I'm STILL MAD AT YOU.
Dear Feedly, I still don't like you as much as Google Reader but you're getting warmer.
Dear Flipboard, You're the prettiest and I love that I can see things I'm following by feeds and by Twitter AND by FB all in one place. But I mess with passwords so often (lock myself out, actually) that it's hard to keep you updated. Note to self: DON'T LOCK YOURSELF OUT OF SO MANY ACCOUNTS BY FORGETTING THE PASSWORDS. (Readers, do you think I'm silly now?)

RAVING
It IS a pain but I jumped through the hoops and now have the full on Easy Chart HD. I tell you now to make myself accountable ... I will have one of these by the end of June. Gotta do it myself before I can expect the kids to, right? I just loved this post and want to try it. (Where did I get the $ to get an iTunes card? Terracycle. Gathering trash from school and upcycling it. Only I was thinking of not doing it next year because it's so messy. Only I will have MORE iPads next year (6! To make 8! Well ... 3 of them might be gone a lot so consistently 5, often 8.) so I might be wanting more apps. And then what was only $.99 today then becomes $7.92.
But I loved the idea behind this post and want to feel comfortable with it before the fall.






I FORGOT A RAVE for today. Search your own pins! Genius.

Shot in the dark ... anyone want to do a guest post this summer about ... their favorite memory of the school library? Or a book they're reading this summer (or read to/with kids or other staff last year)? Or a favorite Tech Tool, teaching or otherwise? Or "Tips to Help Ms. O Organize Her Life"? ;) (I'm only slightly kidding there.)  For now I'll say they don't even have to be new posts. Can be a cross post (ie copied and pasted here with a link to your original post IF you have a blog ... if you don't we will just link to any contact info you'd like to share) of something you've already written. Or a new post with appropriate linkage. Or me to guest post on their blogs? Email me!