I just completed my second iMovie.  I think I mentioned my first iMovie in a previous post but didn’t go into much detail.  There’s a reason for that.  I wasn’t particularly happy with the results of that first attempt.  It was an overambitious venture with a tight deadline.  I wasn’t familiar enough with the editing features in iMovie (even though it’s quite user-friendly) and the movie ended up being longer than I would’ve liked.  Having said that, it was very well received and I got lots of compliments on it.  Isn’t this stuff great?  Looks fantastic even when you know it’s not.

I feel much better about my second iMovie.  It’s a very fast-paced summary of our Tech Camp experience this summer.  I was able to find answers to the many questions that arose during my first iMovie experience and this iMovie creation went much smoother.  Once I finished and pronounced that this imovie was good… …enough, I still noticed a couple of small things I’d change if I had the energy and inclination to dive back into it.  I don’t have either… but I’ll make note of these improvements and will incorporate them next time.

I think the lesson here is that even if you encounter problems when you try new applications, keep working and asking questions.  You keep learning and it gets easier and more rewarding.

One of the topics we covered at Tech Camp this summer was wikis.  We watched a great little video called “Wikis in Plain English” on the commoncraft website and I was sold.  Where could I sign up?  That was easy enough at pbwiki.  I signed up to create a free wiki and got started.  It’s like creating a document (or series of documents) on the web with multiple authors and access for whoever needs to read it.  It’s perfect for people (like me) who love to collaborate but REALLY HATE meetings and like to let people be creative in their own timeframe and place, when it’s convenient and comfortable for them.

I’ve started a wiki for the faculty at my school to develop resources for our school-wide themes.  As a faculty, we have chosen a character-based theme as well as another relevant theme to incorporate into our classroom instruction and decor each six weeks period.  I have done some preliminary research and provided a list of resources for each of the twelve themes we selected.  The great thing about the wiki, though, is that it will evolve throughout the year as our teachers find other resources or tweak ones already listed.  Instead of printing a stagnant document that our teachers may or may not be able to locate when and if they think of it throughout the year, our wiki will be as available as their access to the internet.

My first attempt at a wiki is pretty basic …simple, easy to access, and yet surprisingly gratifying…like peanut butter.  Try pbwiki.  You’ll like it, too.

I just finished the third book in the wildly popular Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.  I have to admit that I put off reading the first book in the series, Twilight, because I’d been told it was a romance about vampires.  ugh.  Sorry to all the vampire fans out there, but I’ve never really felt too drawn to vampires.  I should’ve known better, being a Harry Potter fan.  I should’ve known that vampires, like wizards, can be quite “human”.  Lesson:  Don’t judge a book by it’s too brief description.  I loved these books!  (The second book was my favorite!)

Twilight New Moon Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

This series is about a teenage girl, Bella Swan, and her relationship with a teenage vampire, Edward Cullen.  The romance between these two is incredibly heated without going too far (read: appropriate for middle school) even as the twists of the plot keep you guessing if they’ll survive, together or apart.  There are other compelling characters as well… Edward’s family of assorted vampires and Bella’s loyal (to a fault) friend, Jacob.  As you might imagine with a story involving vampires, there is plenty of suspense.  Violence is kept to a minimum, however.  Warning:  These books are difficult to put down.  Other responsibilities may suffer.

NOTE:  Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon mother of three who is too “chicken” to watch horror movies.  The fourth (and final, I think) book in the series, Breaking Dawn, comes out on Aug. 2nd.

My daughter just came home from a sleepover and asked if we’d looked at www.befunky.com at Tech Camp.  Since we didn’t, she was excited to be able to show me something new.  It’s a cool little FREE way to cartoonize (is that a word?) a photo.  As you can see by the lovely photo of my family on the right, you can add accessories and frames to your newly created cartoon.  You can also add text.  In addition to just being fun to play with, I’m sure all those creative minds out there will put it to good use for educational purposes.  You don’t have to register to create a cartoon from a photo.  I’m not sure, though, if you can access this site through the MCS firewall.  I haven’t tried that yet.  Hopefully, it won’t be a problem.

There’s more to www.befunky.com than what I’ve done here.  Go check it out!  Have fun and be funky!

After much deliberation, I decided this past week to purchase the new iPhone 3G.  

Not being blessed with patience, I also decided that I HAD to get one on the first day they were offered (today) as early as I could (8am).           I overslept….

Okay, go ahead and chuckle.  I’ve progressed through the first few stages of grief and am past anger now but have settled into depression.  I know I should be an adult about this – I can get one in a week or two, right?  Nope, I’m still depressed.

I DO have a good excuse for oversleeping, though.  The last three nights, I’ve gotten very little sleep.  I only slept three hours Wednesday night (had to take my daughter to IHOP at 2am Thursday morning to kick off a church youth trip) and was up for over 20 hours straight on Thursday.  I spent probably over 30 hours this week creating an iMovie (my first) for my husband’s work group.  It was a great learning experience but I’m alittle bitter right now…   …bitter and tired and iPhone-less.  Yep, still depressed…  

I’ll post about the whole iMovie experience next time.  …when I’m less bitter.

I just finished another book last night (technically about 12:30 this morning).  Many of the books I read are chosen because someone I know has read and recommends them, so I’d like to share alittle bit about books I’ve really liked.  Maybe something will pique your interest…

NOTE:  I need to point out that, although I am a middle school librarian, I do not limit my reading to middle school or even young adult material.  For this reason, I will try to remember to note the appropriate interest level for each book.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

I have had this book on my “Want to Read” list for awhile but finally read it recently because it was on my daughter’s 10th grade summer reading list.  (I like to read all the books my kids have to read before they read them so I can repeatedly annoy them with “So where are you in the book now?” and “Have you gotten to the part about …. yet?”.)  Bottom line:  I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read it.  The story is told by an autistic teenage boy who is uniquely lovable and exasperating.  It is funny (I laughed out loud on many occasions, embarrassing myself and my daughter in public places) and it kept me wanting to read more (which is NOT always the case).  Interest level:  Adult, but okay for high school students as well.

The Shack by William P. Young

I chose this book from the New York Times Bestseller Paperback Fiction list primarily because I wanted a new paperback to take on vacation.  (Hardcovers are not appropriate for beach reading in my opinion.)  I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get through the story because it involves the abduction/murder of a young girl.  I’d gotten the impression, however, that the kidnapping was just an initial part of the story and thought I could skim through it if it got too intense.  It didn’t.  I cared about the main character, Mack Philips, almost immediately.  Early in the book, he is invited back to the old shack where he lost his young daughter, supposedly invited by God…. …or is it a prank …or worse, the killer?   I read the last two-thirds of the book in one sitting.  I laughed, I cried, I couldn’t put it down.  I fell in love with God all over again.  Interest level:  Adult, probably not appropriate for students due to the religious overtones.

If you decide to read or have read these books, I’d love to hear what you think of them. …even if you don’t like them as much as I do!

Keep reading and keep learning!

You may wonder why I’ve written (twice) that I would write about the books I read on vacation but here it is, more than a week later, and I haven’t gotten to it yet.  I have to admit a weakness.  I have been getting online, daily, with every intention of writing a post… …but then I start reading other blogs and they lead to other blogs and when I finally surface for air, it’s three, four hours later and I’m exhausted.  (Unless, of course, one of the family has ripped the laptop cord from the wall and dragged me out of the house gently reminded me of a previous engagement or urgent errand.)  I’m having a great time and learning aLOT but evidently need to manage my time better.  Do I need to set a kitchen timer and allot myself a set amount of time to “browse” or will the allure of all this amusing internet chatter fade with time?  I mentioned (in my “About Mrs. Dowty” section of this blog) that I subscribed awhile back to a number of blogs using Bloglines to keep myself from wandering aimlessly through the internet like a stray, but I still get sidetracked.

I would appreciate any insights!