Recently I was speaking with a colleague at Arizona State University who was eager to buy her first Kindle. I asked why she’d not considered an iTouch. She just shrugged, and I shared some researched I’d done last summer. Simply put you could buy a Kindle and read books, and that’s cool, but if you [...]

Posted in books, gadgets, reviews, student2.0, teacher2.0, technology, web2.0

I’ve been teaching Into the Wild, the journey of Christopher McCandless, since early in 2005 so when Changing Hands Bookstore announced that they were bringing Jon Krakauer to town I was stoked. Into the Wild seems to touch more of my students than any other required novel. Last month Krakauer released his next nonfiction novel- [...]

Posted in AP Lang, books, presentations

(c)2009 Devon Christoper Adams
Tonight I was subbing at MCC for a colleague and conveniently immediately beforehand, Chris Crutcher, author of several young adult novels, was speaking here in the library to kick off banned book week.
He opened with a story about two penguins attempting to nurture a rock that was egg sized. The [...]

Posted in books, literature, presentations

Common Craft Twitter Video. Watch this for a great Twitter overview.
Hi, My name is Devon and I have a problem… No seriously though, I’ve been on Twitter for almost two years now, and yes, when I explain it to others, they look at me like I need a padded room and some Cialis. In [...]

Posted in books, comic, culture, gadgets, reviews, technology

Last year my friend Kerri Mathew contacted me regarding finding a way to hook up a science fiction writer, PJ Haarsma, with students eager to read his book, play his online game, and connect in new ways with young adult sci-fi. Having just come off a year project with Kerri working with wikis and fanfiction, [...]

Posted in books, literature, online, presentations, publications, technology

In Novemember at NCTE I headed into a session where PJ Haarsma, the author of The Softwire series, was presenting on Science Fiction and Gaming in the High School Classroom. I was hoping to have PJ sign his up and coming book The Softwire: Wormhole Pirates on Orbis 3. When I walked in, Jim Blasingame, [...]

Posted in NCTE, books, presentations, publications, technology, travel, video

Talking to a student tonight brought up the “You teach English, what should I read next?” conversation. And I hate it, not because I don’t have 32 books on my “Mustreadrightnow” bookshelf but because I will fail you. Rarely do I suggest something that they fall for. So today I will share a few things. [...]

Posted in books

Grammar Girl is Mignon Fogarty who has taken her award winning podcast and created a book! Her no nonsense look at grammar is refreshing (although I still believe we should all own a copy of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, which I thought was about how to wear cardigan’s when my grandfather bought me [...]

Posted in books, grammar, writing

After school today we had a meeting about summer reading. In our district, we cannot really call it “Summer Reading” so we make it due 2-3 weeks into the school year. This really isn’t feasible anymore given all of the higher ed institutions who require summer reading for incoming freshman. Ladies & Gentlemen, get with [...]

Posted in AP Lang, American Studies, Summer Reading, books, literature, wiki

Today the students had to write an AP Prompt, and Mrs Crabtree said that her only real requirement was that it was argumentative. Some of the students are weaker when it comes to choosing a side of a written argument and sticking to it, so I agreed. I found a nice one by Postman where [...]

Posted in books, essays, grading, literature, writing