Silent Reading 2.0

When I first read this post on Mark Ahlness' blog it struck me as an odd idea... silent reading 2.0.

Mark came up with an idea to revamp silent reading in his secondary classroom. He used his SSR time to get his kids reading BLOGS instead of books! Blogs written by kids... for kids! This was not a time for students to be "creating" or commenting on blogs, rather a time purely for reading them.

When I actually think about it, it's easy to see how my own personal reading habits have changed over the past months. I still consult "books" to get ideas for my teaching and units etc, but when was the last time I actually read a physical book?!! I believe I now read more than ever, but it's a different kind of reading, a kind that is constantly up to date and written by ordinary people.

This quote from Mark's blog also struck me... could this be the future for our kids?

"By the time they grow up, I bet their reading preferences will be worlds away from where they and I are now. My hunch is it will not be cuddling up with a chapter book."

Perhaps before then we'll need more computers in our classrooms!
Do you think we'll ever find cuddling up to our computer in bed to read as comforting as cuddling up to a good book?

Comment away!!!

Thank you so much to those of you who have started making comments on my blog!

For a while now I have seen that you have been reading and no one has been brave enough to start leaving comments.

It's great to have that interactive part of the blog going through commenting, I really appreciate your ideas and responses to my postings and I enjoy meeting people with similar interests.... so don't be shy!

Kind regards, Rachel :)

Is your mac hot??

Does your mac (specifically macbook) get really hot with use??

Mine certainly does... actually to the point of lightly burning my skin if I am using it on my lap wearing shorts etc.

Recently I downloaded smc Fan Control. It is a tiny but great free programme that lets you increase the minimum fan speed to make your mac book run cooler. It works like a charm and within minutes the mac is running cooler and no longer is a danger to me.

Recently I have also added this application to my start up list so that it automatically loads when I start my computer. I am finding that setting the fan control to "higher RPM" is proving beneficial too.

Smc Fan Control now just runs seamlessly in the background and displays a reading of the temp and rpm that the fans are running at.

Sorry macbook... you're not so hot anymore :)

Off to ischool!

Well I certainly am getting my fair share of ICT PD this year!

It seems I have just got back from Learning@School and the Nelson TUANZ Conference only to be out again (for 2days) at ischool in Nelson (not that I am complaining!).

I have been really looking forwards to these two days at ischool as they are specifically Apple based and I can get to work really using my apple to its full potential.

I have chosen a one day course on Kidpix in the Classroom and one on creating digital movies and portfolios. Jane from Nelson Central is going to the podcasting one tomorrow which I normally would have gone to except I already have done a 1 and a half hour workshop with Kirsten Beggs when I was at Learning @School.

Anyway, REALLY excited about ischool tomorrow and Wednesday... I have always wanted to go to one of these courses, but haven't been lucky enough to be allowed to go until now!

I am looking forwards to taking all my ideas back into the classroom and planning lots of interesting and rich things for my students to do. Nicky, my 3rd year teacher trainee finishes her teaching this Friday and then we have only one week left of school until the holidays. At least I will have a bit of time to hatch my plan...