TECH TIP: Delete Old Emails
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Tuesday Tips, December 5, 20
Friday, December 1, 2023
Tuesday Tips November 28, 2023
TECH TIP: Photogrammar: Cool old photo collection
Tuesday Tips November 14, 2023
TECH TIP: Are you a tab-aholic?

Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Tuesday Tips, October 23, 2023
TECH TIP: Translating a PDF document
- Upload the file
- Select which language is the original then which language you want it translated into
- Hit Translate
In Speech Team by Tim Murphy, four middle aged friends, former high school speech team members, decide to go on a road trip and confront their former teacher for his transgressions against them in high school. It is a road trip book, it is a book about memories and the power of a teacher, in both good and bad ways. But it is mostly a book that reflects on what kind of adult you want to be, can you escape the teenager you once were?
Tuesday Tips, September 26, 2023
TECH TIP: Doing a Pen Stroke in Google Slides
Dragons and fantasy is not usually my genre, but this book is all over social media and has been on the best-seller lists for weeks, so I had to give it a try. Fourth Wing is the story of Violet as she tries to become part of the elite team of dragon riders of Navarre. Fourth Wing also has vibes of Harry Potter, so if you are missing that series, I'd give this one a go. Fast paced, unique and fun.
Tuesday Tip, September 13, 2023
TECH TIP: Google Doc translate
When people ask me what my favorite book is, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is ALWAYS on that list. It took a long time for him to come out with another book, but it finally came out this summer! The Covenant of Water is a big book, one you might want to save for a vacation read, but it was worth the wait. An epic story following generations of family, so beautiful!
Tuesday Tips, September 5, 2023
TECH TIP: Grading Categories Added into PowerTeacher
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano was one of my favorite books of the summer! It is centered around the question of can love make a broken person whole? The Padavanos are a happy bustling family of four sisters. The family takes in Julia's boyfriend, Walter, into their lives and he is overwhelmed to be a part of such a group. When his past threatens the family, will it break them apart for good? Beautifully written, I cried.
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Tuesday Tips, October 3, 2023
TECH TIP: Google Jamboard alternative: Figjam
This is an incredible true story of shipwreck, survival and human depravity. David Grann is also the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, another great work of non-fiction. In this book, The Wager is a British ship that sets off in 1740 as part of a secret mission during Great Britain's war with Spain. And once they set sail, if anything could go wrong, it does go wrong. Most notably, the crew is shipwrecked off the coast of Brazil and this sets off a time of mutiny, murder, and deception. While a work of historical non-fiction, this reads like a thriller at times. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction!
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Tuesday Tips: June 7, 2023
TECH TIP: HubSpot Email Signature
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Tuesday Tips, April 4, 2023
I like when I learn something new from a book. I Must Betray You by Rita Septys is set in Communist Romania in 1989 under the Ceausescu regime. The regime maintained its power by cultivating fear, paranoia and a citizen spy network. Neighbors watching neighbors, never knowing who to trust. Against this backdrop is a 17 young man yearning to be a writer and speak freely. A powerful, heart wrenching read that makes think how far would you go to protect your family?
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Tuesday Tips, March 21, 2023
TECH TIP: Free PDP Courses!
- An Introduction to Culturally Responsive Teaching
- Berkshire Ed Leader Series
- Introduction to the ISTE Student and Teacher Standards
I'm a huge fan of audiobooks and Jula Whelan is hands down my favorite narrator. She is also an author and Thanks for Listening is her latest novel, and t's a rom-com about an audiobook narrator (she claims it is not autobiographical, though). But to really appreciate this book, I recommend doing it as an audiobook with her as the narrator. I learned a lot about the audiobook industry as well.
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Tuesday Tips, March 7, 2023
Want to make your students go to the right website when you give them a QR Code? If you use QRCodeMonkey to make your QR codes, you can upload an image that will go in the middle of the QR Code. And if you take a screenshot of the website you are sending them to, you can upload that. It will show students what the site should look like. You can also customize the color. Here's what it would look like (this one goes to the MMRHS Library database page):
To create one, go to QRCodeMonkey, add in the link to the website, change the color scheme and then upload your screenshot.
The premise of this book sounds a bit silly, but this book was SO GOOD. At 70, after Tova's husband dies, she takes a job as the night cleaner at the aquarium where she befriends an octopus. It is a remarkable friendship, that might even lead to answers about what happened the night Tova's son drowned. An absolute delight.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Tuesday Tips: February 14, 2023
TECH TIP: Gmail Templates
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Tuesday Tips: January 10, 2023
TECH TIP: AP and SAT Test Prep
As part of the library's Databases, there is now Peterson's Test Prep for both the AP and SAT tests. This is a free, self-paced course to prepare for these tests. Both include practice tests.
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir won this year's National Book Award for Young Adult literature. It is an amazing book, epic in nature, but yet thoughtful and realistic in its portrayal of teens and immigrants. It follows two Pakistani families, through decades, as they seek the American dream. Sal and Noor are about to graduate from high school, but there are family demands on them. Demands that cause a crushing loss. Beautifully written. A great audiobook, too, with multi-voice narration.
Tuesday, January 3, 2023
Tuesday Tips: January 3, 2023
TECH TIP: Animate Audio from Adobe Express
I'm a HUGE FAN of Fredrik Backman and have loved all his books. The Winners is the final book in the Beartown trilogy. If you have not read them yet, go and get Beartown, which is book one. You will fall hopelessly in love with his characters and the town of Beartown. The Winners is a lot of book at 688 pages, but I devoured it over vacation and it left me full AND empty at the same time. It also left me in tears, but boy, did I enjoy it. Backman's writing is so poignant it left me re-reading passages just to admire them: "What is life, other than moments? What is laughter, other than a small victory over sorrow? A single moment, just one, when everything inside us isn't broken."