A little bit of everything . . .

Friday afternoon, I left school early to head to Searcy to a workshop to hear Patrick Carman, an author of young adult fiction, speak about ways to engage children in writing. I now understand how he is such a popular author of children's literature. He is a vivacious speaker and a child at heart. He had fabulous stories to tell and had us roaring with laughter.

He has managed to integrate technology with books as a hook to pull in reluctant readers. In his series, The Skeleton Creek, you read a chapter and then get a password to watch a short video clip on the internet. The videos are a little bit scary so I don't read them to my students unless it is the end of the school year and I have a full understanding of what they watch at home and if they will be scared. Most teachers read the books aloud (they're not very scary) to the students and then let the ones leave the room who think they will be scared. Some teachers give the students the passwords and let them watch the short videos at home if their parents allow it. 

His latest series comes with an ap so you can download the ap and read the book, watch short video clips, and play games based on the movie. I think the reader is an actual player in the game. Pretty cool for middle school and high school students. I'm going to try one to see how it works.

I wonder when writer's of adult fiction will take hold of this idea. Perhaps they already have and I just haven't heard about it. 

On the home front, I returned home late yesterday evening and spent the evening watching TV and working on a little school stuff.

Today, Larry and I went to Fort Smith. Mainly to get a pillow wedge for me to sleep on to see how it helps my acid reflux. I got an inexpensive and if it works well, I may buy one that forms to your body. They are supposed to be more comfortable.

A beautiful day here with temps in the upper 60's. I decided that when I got home from Fort Smith I would sit outside in the sun and read, but by then the sun went under the clouds and it was cooling off so I read in the house instead.

Now to go put the outside border on Becca's birthday quilt and get it sandwiched.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.