Talking in the Library

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Videos have been an accepted form of instructional media in schools since the 40s. (See more Coronet Instructional Videos ) The big change today is video on demand: the ability to view video whenever you want. When I walk around the library and glance at students’ laptops, about 50% of them are viewing some kind of video, whether it’s instructional or for entertainment. Here are some tips to help you upgrade your video learning skills: Use a program like YTD Video Downloader  to download YouTube videos and save them to your computer, cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive), or thumb drive. You never know when YouTube videos will disappear. I can upload them to MediaCast for you, too, if you think other people will find them helpful. Bookmark my Diigo video feed and browse for high quality, free sources of videos and tools. Experiment with recently developed programs that enable you to edit YouTube video online. Check out Mozilla Popcorn Maker  and view  tutorials .

" George Saunders and Mark Twain ." Austin Kleon. CC by NC-ND-2.0 If you were to ask me who is my favorite author, I might answer George Saunders (depending on what day it is). He has written mostly short stories and a couple of novels that are funny, thought provoking and usually set in a near distant future or alternate universe. His protagonists are hapless, well meaning strivers doing their best in insanely difficult situations. When I read him I wonder how he manages to create satire that is biting yet radiates love and good will. His masterful piece, The Semplica Girls , was published in his collection of short stories, The 10th of September , and also in the New Yorker . I had to read it a few times to "get it" (basically, what are the SGs?), and it hasn't left my mind since. I've been putting together a list of online reading sources for 9th graders, and came across an interview with George Saunders where he talked about writing the story a