Nicholas Carr wrote an article in the Atlantic Magazine during the summer of 2008 which made the rounds in educational circles as we started school that fall.  “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” was the fuel for many  interesting discussions and speculation. This article is an underlying premise for Carr’s book, The Shallows, published this summer. Have you noticed that you have trouble reading for a sustained period of time at a very deep level? Do your eyes interact with text differently than they used to? I can answer yes to both of those questions and The Shallows helped me understand the change.

Though I can’t begin to even scrape the surface of the topics covered in this book, Carr touches on the malleable nature of the human brain and its ability to literally rewire itself after a series of surprisingly few repeated experiences. This is of great importance to teachers of course, as the brains of the young people before us each day in class are not the same brains we were teaching even five years ago. How are we to alter instruction to best meet the real and physical needs of today’s students? Is it important to shut down technology for certain parts of the day to assure that students are able to think deeply and enable their brains to retain that capacity?

This book is an interesting read for everyone, but crucial a one for those who work in education.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid haunts me still, though I finished it over a week ago. It’s a short tale with a compelling and easy to read narrative. The protagonist, a Pakistani, shares his life story over the course of a meal lasting for several hours to an American stranger he meets in a cafe. The author does a superior job of maintaining an underlying tone of tension beneath all of the dialogue. Though perhaps not indicative of a universal experience, the story sheds light on the assimilation of a young man into a culture very foreign from his own.

The iPad has turned into my sole platform for reading. I haven’t held a book in my hands since last April. The only problem with this scenario, aside from the horror expressed by my physical book loving friends, is the beating my budget takes from having to buy all of my own books. Last spring I tried to download an eBook from a local library, but due to the lack of Flash on iPad, it was not possible. Assuming the change would happen sooner or later, I waited. This past weekend, sure enough, I was able to download an ePub book.

At this point in time, an App called Overdrive Media (currently only native for iPhone and iTouch, but compatible with iPad) allows for reading ePub text on the iPad. There is an update coming out soon which is supposed to allow for the reading ePDF books, as well. There are only a few drawbacks at this point. The libraries don’t have very many digital copies of each title to loan. Once a book is checked out, it’s out. Just like a physical book, you must put the title on hold and wait for it to return to the library. Availability will be better when the new App comes out and ePDFs can be checked out, as well. The other problem an upgrade will solve is the slightly pixelated look of the text that comes from using an iPhone App on iPad.

As one who take great joy in all things digital, this turn of events is exciting. Digital media will surely become easier to access as the demand for eBooks increase.

After finishing Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, I was longing for another character rich book to sweep me away. Laura Hillenbrand, author  Unbroken, is also the author of one of my all-time favorite books, Seabiscuit: An American Legend. She so gifted at her craft that finishing one of her books is always a sad day for me.

My book club (to whom I have been terribly unfaithful) decided long ago to read The Help for our next selection. Though I read this fabulous book last year, I decided to reread it for next week’s meeting. I find myself highlighting, smiling and pondering the text even more closely than the first time around. A great book speaks to us in different ways during different seasons of life, and I’m thankful to my book club friends for reminding me of that.

Happy New Year, and thank you for stopping by my little corner of the world. It is my hope that this site will provide a collection of  professional resources, an original thought or two, and a look into the exciting life of a modern-day Nana.