For my Digital Participation Project, I explored both Pinterest and Goodreads. I am obsessed with Pinterest in every way, and I had been exposed to Goodreads before, so I decided these were the best avenues for me to put time into. I enjoyed both, but definitely preferred one to the other.
Goodreads has proven to be something I really enjoy using. I love being able to keep track of the books I have read, ones that are my favorite, and ones that I want to read. I also love that I can "like" favorite quotes on Goodreads as well. I also love that Goodreads recommends books for its users through user ratings. I would love to eventually make a "bookshelf" on Goodreads for books that I think would be great for my students to use for pleasure reading books. I am still working on figuring out the details of Goodreads, like the recommendations. I haven't read a lot of them, and I'm not sure if I'll ever write one, but I do plan to explore the feature more. I could also see myself getting my students to use Goodreads to track their reading progress. It would give them a place to mark what they like and don't like and explore different genres. I really think Goodreads is an incredible resource, and I plan to continue to use it for as long as possible! Here is the link to my profile:
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4629107-madison
I also utilized Pinterest for my DPP. I do love Pinterest for things like DIY projects and ideas, but I wasn't really sold on the idea of using it for teaching ideas until pretty late into my project. I felt like I really had to search and look for pins that applied to what I was looking for. I eventually found some Pinterest pages made by Scholastic and Random House Publishing. These were really helpful. I didn't pin a lot from them, but I did read them and look at a lot of the pins on the boards. Below is a link to my Pinterest board:
http://pinterest.com/madisonbunch/a-good-book-is-your-best-friend/
I fell in love with this book as soon as I read the first chapter. I mean seriously, how can you not love Melody instantly? She is adorable, loving, kind, intelligent. And gosh, I feel sorry for her! But not in a way like when people say, "Oh bless her heart," but more like because I know she has SO much to offer and contribute to the world, but is restricted by a stupid disease. I think middle school students will also fall in love with the story and its characters. I also think that the author addresses issues that are common in schools and that are not always comfortable. These issues, like bullying and special needs students, absolutely need to be addressed. I think it also helps when these kinds of issues are not pushed onto kids through lecturing, but through the medium of a novel or something similar. I also love that Melody is extremely intelligent despite her physical disability. Most kids do not realize that one is not dependent upon the other in certain cases. How often do we just assume that someone who may have physical disabilities is not as smart as one who does not? This story is a great example of a counterexample. I have the same opinion of this book in a lot of ways as I did about Wonder. It would not hurt for every middle school student to read it. I really think it could revolutionize the way students treat each other. I would definitely recommend Out of my Mind to individual students as well as possibly use it for a whole class.
For my Digital Participation Project, I explored both Pinterest and Goodreads. I am obsessed with Pinterest in every way, and I had been exposed to Goodreads before, so I decided these were the best avenues for me to put time into. I enjoyed both, but definitely preferred one to the other. 
