Book, Cook & Hook Nomad

Great book for those hard to please boys

2012-01-08T12:38:00.000-08:00

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Awesome, fun read! Give to those high schoolers who don't like to read and I guarantee they will like this. Should appeal to both guys and girls. The pace is high octane fast! Essentially, Perry Stormaire is a senior, with a lawyer father who runs his life (read: Tiger Dad) and he is trying to get into Columbia. The family has invited a foreign exchange student into their house for the year and instead of a gorgeous co-ed, they get Gobi. Plain, banal, and needing much help, Gobi, whom good guy Perry looks out for at school.

But when his parents pressure him into taking Gobi to the prom as his date, the train comes off the track and that's when it all starts to go completely nuts! So if you have teens who like action, assassins, mysteries, underdog heroes, a touch of romance, and some very close calls with death, the police and general mayhem, give them this book.

I can't tell you any more than to say that it kept me at the edge of my seat, so much that I finished reading it in two nights. The characters are great. The writing is funny, touching and really draws you into the moment. Two of my favorite lines from the book are: "I couldn't remember the theme of the prom but it seemed to be something along the lines of Social Darwinism Under the Stars. Lights and shimmering tinsel had transformed the gymnasium into a pulsating soup of glandular hostility." I mean reallY! How can you not love it?

I will say that having read some of the complaints about this book, you need to think of this book as a fantasy book, not a reality book. It's like a die-hard movie. Clearly, you will have to suspend belief. But if you can do that, it will be a fun ride.

A nice touch was having each chapter open with a college application question which the chapter then proceeded to answer in a roundabout way, which all plays into the climatic ending.

A must read for this year!

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Vampyres of Hollywood

2011-12-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

Vampyres of Hollywood by Adrienne Barbeau
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I stand by my earlier statement in a review of a vampire book where the author had changed the vampire rules so that they could walk in the sun: YOU RUIN VAMPIRES AND YOU RUIN THE TENSION. There is something deliciously dark (no pun, or maybe, yes, pun intended) about having to live in the night. Darn it! They are creatures of the night! When you change it, you ruin it. I'm sorry, that's just the way I feel. Moving on....

So, the rest of this story features a madcap murder mystery that barely holds together. It is told in alternating chapters by the police detective and the Chatelaine of Hollywood (head vampire and scream queen actress) as they both try to figure out who is killing actors, agents, directors. There is some language and mentions of bondage and S&M clubs and the sheer brutality and gore of the murder scenes pop this up to 11th grade at least if not a faculty read.

I think the authors traded in a fast moving plot for character development. I never felt an emotional connection to any of the main characters and therefore didn't care if they lived or died, making it hard to get through the end of the book. I did finish it, but at the end instead of being breathless at the huge fight, I was ho hum.

And the huge fight at the end? Doesn't make any sense. It's not even worth writing a spoiler to try and figure it out.

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Collection Development: A Few Thoughts

2011-12-21T07:27:00.000-08:00

This year we have a new headmaster. While, this is nothing new to us in terms of what we do, we have found some small changes in policy are necessary.

Fortunately, what that means is that we are getting more departments involved in the selection of materials. Of course, one of those hot button areas is the health and sex education sections of the collection. One thing I would advise that school librarians do is to periodically look over your section, take the whole section down and then ask the relevant teachers to come over (for coffee and donuts, wine and cheese, whatever works for your school) and have a short meeting and go over the books that you currently have and have some print outs of books that you may want to order.

By opening the dialog and asking for help on a proactive basis and by having the materials right in front of them, you can ask if the materials meet the curriculum and the needs of the students. Since that section can be a hot button issue, you can also begin to create some allies and a conversation about what it is that they need and how you can help them with resources.

Furthermore, with this particular subject matter, I would advise that you treat material on it as you would graphic novels. My policy with graphic novels is to never put one on the shelf until I have looked or read every page, because graphic novels can look innocuous and yet be very adult and you don't want to label them for middle school, when they are for high school only. I don't trust reviews on graphic novels.

Death Comes to Pemberly

2011-12-21T07:06:00.001-08:00

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's tough to take on one of the most beloved books of all time. Well, at least if you love Pride and Prejudice, you REALLY love it. So, anyone messing with it had better get it right.

I've tried to read several books that were "sequels" to P&P mostly because I miss those characters so much that I want someone to get it right. PD James does and she doesn't. She does what she does best, which is write a mystery. She tries really hard to stay true to the characters and to move us down the road to finding out what has happened and what is going to happen in their lives and for that I think she deserves some credit because she did do it in a pretty entertaining way. I was intrigued enough to read the whole book and I am one of those people who will drop a book after the first 50 pages.

I think she also had a vision in mind for Lydia and Wickham (Did he do it? Will he be convicted?) and for that I love her. You can tell that for all these years the way Austen left Lydia and Wickham in Elizabeth and Darcy's world as their family connection has bothered her and James needed to write out her own version of how to correct it for the Darcy's. You have to love her for going to this trouble.

However, what is missing from the book is characterization. We get a lot of plot and little of the entrancing interactions between characters that was so entertaining in P&P. And that is where my chief disappointment lies. She tried so hard and obviously had a clear vision of where she wanted to go. She was thorough in her use of language of the time (although not as gifted as Austen, but who could be), but she lacked the interplay, dialog, scenes and outright fighting and comedy that marked P&P as such a classic.

In the end, it is worth reading to see her unique vision, but it is not a true sequel. I am still waiting for that to be written.

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2011-11-15T06:49:00.001-08:00

Vesper by Jeff Sampson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Emily Webb is a geek. Well, that's how it starts out. Hmmm. Actually, it starts with her half in and out of a window all dressed up and uncharacteristically tarted up for a night on the town that her usual 16-year-old self would be mortified she was considering having.

What is going on with Emily Webb? In fact, what is going on in her town? Emily Cooke is murdered, and a chain of events is kicked off that has the reader racing through pages trying to figure out what is happening before something either kills Emily Webb from the outside or from inside her own body (what are these strange changes that come over her? Are they getting worse?).

And what about the chapters that are interspersed in between her story where it appears Emily Webb has been captured and is being held prisoner? What is going on? What are those noises? I think something wicked is coming down the road. Something delightfully wicked. Something for which I need to turn the page and read on.

Please, let there be more in this series! I just can't stand the wait.

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2011-11-08T12:17:00.001-08:00

The Glass Demon by Helen Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finished her first book, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, in a day. I could not put it down. It was smart, funny and uber-frightening. This one ratchets the fright down and isn't funny at all, but is a speeding train of mystery and teen angst and murder!

Lin Fox is yanked off to Germany right when she should be in her last year of high school in England. Her older sister is in the middle of a crisis, her mother and their younger brother Ru are something of an odd pair of ducks. It is the father, a medieval scholar trying to get his professorship, who is the one who puts his family in danger with his obsessive need to find the Allerheiligen stained glass. Glass so storied that many believe it to be cursed if not lost or destroyed hundreds of years earlier.

Faced with mounting bodies, all surrounded by pieces of glass, Lin and her new found (boy)friend Michel try to put it all together before something horrible happens closer to home. Will she be able to find the Allerheiligen stained glass? Will she find love? Will she find the demon?

Read on!

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2011-10-30T19:11:00.001-07:00

Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself by Rachel Lloyd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was a little nervous about adding this book to the collection as it is a book about the sex trafficking trade. However, it was a starred review and recommended for teens. So, when it arrived, I put it on my list of books to read.

I was pleasantly surprised. It was fabulous. Ms. Lloyd is to be commended, not only for writing a wonderful book on a topic that many Americans don't think about (the American sex slave, child prostitute), but for opening up her own life for as a lens to use for looking at the trade.

While there is harsh language and sometimes there are some situations that are described that are distasteful(abuse, etc.), she is able to convey all of it without resorting to graphic descriptions of the sex act itself. So, while it is definitely a grade 9 and above purchase, it should be a purchase for any high school library that has a group of students who are into social activism, who are inspired by women who make something of their lives or who are involved in Model United Nations and might be working on committees with topics dealing with sex trafficking issues.

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The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education

2011-07-25T03:33:00.000-07:00

In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice; in every ban,
The mind forg'd manacles I hear

William Blake, London (and the Introduction to Fair Use Reclaimed)

In about three weeks, I will be giving a presentation to the faculty about fair use and copyright. It will be based on the book Reclaiming Fair Use: How to Put Balance Back in Copyright by Patricia Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi.

It includes The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education.

I think the Code of Best Practices is one of the most important documents for educators and school librarians to come out in a very long time. It takes copyright from a place of fear and puts it back to a reasonable, fair use. And through the Code, it gives us a foundation to practice fair use, which is from which we get our our rights as educators and librarians. Legal scholar Kenneth Crews has an journal article ("The Law of Fair Use and the Illusion of Fair-Use Guidelines," The Ohio State Law Journal 62 (2001): 602–700) that is referenced in both the book and the Code and Mr. Crews is interviewed in the video below that is very interesting reading on the classroom guidelines many of may have been following for years. We can now throw those out and use the Code.

The Center for Media Studies uses blip.tv for their downloadable videos, which is not very user friendly. I've reformatted it to youtube for those of you who need that format (say for a blog or prezi). The video is great.

I'm creating a prezi for this presentation to my faculty and I will post it when it is complete.

The Code is brief. I recommend you read it. Trying to give a synopsis, I think, would only confuse a concise and to the point document.

2011-07-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yep. This one is a super winner. As far as post-apocalyptic fantasy stories go, this one is ready made for for 8th grade and up. Perhaps, 7th if they have strong stomachs as it is rather violent.

The Hunger Games. Every district gives two tributes, children between the ages of 12-18 a boy and a girl who must compete to the death until there is only one winner. Katniss is from District 12, the poorest district, the coal mining district and she is also a girl used to living on the edge of hunger, used to hunting in secret, and she possess an edge that might help her. But is it enough? She volunteers to go in place of her 12 year old sister Prim, which puts her with Peeta, a boy with whom she has some history. But does Peeta hold true feelings for her or is it all for show? For the television cameras?

This book blends our love of reality TV shows with fantasy books and gives it a romantic twist. It is a great page turner and don't forget your tissues!

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2011-06-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book quite a lot. Ultimately, I think that Marion was a stunted character and severely flawed. He is never able to overcome the desire and attachment to his first love and develop a successful relationship. In that he is like his father.

It would have been nice to have seen that the nurture part of the nature v. nurture argument have played more of a part in this story as their mother and father had such a great love story and displayed such a strong marriage. Even the parental bonds were wonderful.

I liked everything about this book, the history, the characters, the plot, the setting. It all seemed to work. I just found some fault with Marion and his development.

On the whole, I highly recommend this as a great fiction read,not quite historical fiction, but general fiction.

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In the Country of the Young by Lisa Carey

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

OK. This review is one big spoiler. So stop reading if you want to read this book.

It is billed as a ghost story. Hmmm. I guess. It does have a ghost in it. Technically. But she turns into a real little girl. Then she starts to grow quickly into an adult. All within a year. All of this takes place on the island in the cabin of an artist/recluse who hasn't had a successful relationship in his entire life and is in fact pining for his dead twin sister to return to him.

He thought perhaps the ghost was her.

Talk about inappropriate. Well, that is just the beginning, for this book is just awash in the inappropriate boners that the artist has for his sister, his mother, this young (10 years old to start!) girl. Honestly, it is rather disgusting.

I was intrigued at how the author was able to write it in such a lovely matter that you never actually said the words, pedophile, but it was there, in the back of your mind. Hovering. Ready to leap out. The writing is really beautiful and is the only thing that kept me going. However, I found the subject matter distasteful and the main character a hot mess.

I finished the book and it did come with the requesite bedding of the ghost for her to "experience" the fullness of life. Ultimately you are to believe that this causes the artist to change and make a real relationship with one of his one night stands, but it is so un believable. He is to damaged.

I say avoid this book and avoid leaving your door open with a candle lit on all hallow's eve. You just never know.

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Librarian infographic

2011-05-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well, they did get my glasses right. ;-)

++ Click to Enlarge Image ++

Source: Master Degree Guide

Cynthia's Project Continued

2011-04-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

New Project

2011-04-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Out of the 200 sacred heart schools I am the only one who is doing this. Need 100% commitment. starts in Sept. with a workshop in citation. The need 6 sources. We subscribe to Questia. We did history first. All the students choose their own topics. Choose a topic that you will learn something new. I told them that their lead teachers may run out of ideas so come to the librarian for more ideas.

I always emphasize that I am here for help. They are supposed to connect their topic within a discipline. History: sacred sounds. You have to have 100% commitment and support of the administration. It is an extra job for the teachers and librarians.

It is a requirement. It is a 1/2 day workshop. It has been going for 12 years. I'm the resource advisor now. I emphasize the use of primary sources. I wanted them to learn the difference between primary and secondary. It is due in April and they invite their parents to the presentation.

The sacred heart schools act as a consortium and share resources. They all have one IP range. They are buying less nonfiction and more fiction. Questia is serving most of their needs. Her kids like the print better.

Darwin Project

2011-04-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

What would Darwin think of genetic engineering..... was one of the questions. Very interesting.

Sacred Heart Presentation continued

2011-04-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Cynthia is going to talk about the high school program:

Every year each teacher selects a goal. This year I selected building community. We invited four finalists, a priest from the vatican, a professor, science author, and Nobel Prize winner.

The Darwin Project. WAtched a movie about the project where the four speakers above were brought together and the kids discussed Darwin's theory of evolution.

They had the panel appear before the students and discuss the ideas. The students where then allowed to ask the panel questions. This was then continued in the classrooms with lessons in science, art, theology, etc.

friday live blogging: sacred heart school presentation

2011-04-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

200 plus sacred heart school around the world. They are connected with each other and they do exchanges. There is a lot of networking and they are still in a familiar environment.

recently, they set up a global dance project. EAch school did this. There is a website where you can see each school's video. We used the same music, slow build up and then a back and forth of everyone dancing.

Cute video, with all the different schools and kids dancing. Builds a sense of community.

fourth session paperless: brian Thomas

2011-04-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

collaboration with teachers for paperless research assignments: wow that's a boring title. (his title, not mine! 8-)

http://tinyurl.com/TLCpaperless

Schools with strong libraries and strong collaboration between fac and librarians had better student achievement. colorado ststudy what is it about collaboration that makes it a positive?

Patricia Montiels model is more doable and simple. It's measurable.

model a

coordination

Model b:

cocooperation

model c: integrated instruction

model d; integrated curriculum

Obstacles: Biggest: time.

Cloud computing is good for collaboration. when time is a consideration, you do need to look for asynchronous solutions.

favorite tool is google docs and google apps

24/7 libraries continued

2011-04-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

stealth marketing

dogs

let us be your info retrievers

course catalog: researchnotetaking, etc, Yudu....

They use moodle as well.

We use camtasia to record content. cost $92 dollars. for video.

Academic integrity tutorial. combines steps to avoid it. Has video, collaborated with teachers. They feel involved in the process. I think we will go and break out cheating from plagiarism.

teacher features::

24/7 library continued

2011-04-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

All of our stuff is public.

There is a gale mobile app. Accessmylibrary: only have to authenticate once! if they go to new york once, then they can get into all of NYPL for ever!

We have seen an increase in authentic assignments. Students are in a mock senate trial.

The school has their own live stream channel. livestream.com they have their own youtube.com channel. it helps with storage space issue.

We recorded our parent meetings and put them up for them to see if they couldn't come.

Media 21: stem science technology math and engineering. We are also getting rid of print textbooks. we are looking at teachers creating their own curriculum.

Stem curriculum comes alive: above project was taking the construction project and making it a stem project.

Bringing faculty onboard. twitter as a personal learning network.

professional development: 23 things

She would do 10 things now. Do it differently if she did it now. She got 77 people to sign up. Her incentive was that they could wear jeans every Friday.

You dream it...

we will build it for you.

we will help you use it.

we will learn something new together

this is our job.

third session: 24/7 library

2011-04-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

by susan geiger and and anne arria

1:1 laptop school
blended it and library staff
fully networked

managed not locked down network.

philosphy: yes kids are distracted, but they will learn how to handle it.

We were able to reinvent our roles as librarians. Our mission is the same.

transliteracy: is the ability to read write and interact across a ranage of platforms tools and media from signing, orality through ....definitation from wikipedia.

The use flat screen ads: book covers,

Their students are auditory learners.

They use QR Codes: quick response codes. each one has a you go to the link, it creates the QR code and you can create the parcode for the smart phones to use! google QR generator. Free apps for smart phones. QR reader for app for your smart phone! Don't link to a film. Test it on your mobile.

great way to collaborate with English teachers.

We have a facebook. We try to post regularly.

We do wikis. We consider ourselves to the be technology leaders. WE do it for them if they don't know how.

Rachel continued

2011-04-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

"it must be so hard for teens to focus all day if it is hard for me to do this for 2 minutes"

For instance, I teach freshman, freshman seminar. I do a lot of things that aren't a part of being a librarian. 14 year old boys, teaching them meditation, we are int he drama room, and I hear something. Someone had thrown a ball at another student during meditation, but I had to be in the meditation moment and they were waiting for me to be mad. I just rang the bell. I was modeling the behavior. The more that you sit and do that, particularly as a mom, the more you can be open and be there. I also realize how many mean things you say to yourself. I'mnice to myself now.

We want them to be self reliant and empathetic, etc. How do we get there when they feel tottered when they don't have technology? Mindfulness and meditation helps with that. Some have become full on buddhists. Some just know about this tool and they will always have it and can use it in times of need.

The last thing I'll say is that this conference called Wisdom 2.0, google, facebook, etc. were there. These were not my people. They also had the big names in meditation there. They were talking about how tech companies are teaching their employees meditation. But while there is a commercial component to why they are doing it, it is a good thing for everyone to know.

www.mindfullibrarian.com

after meditation

2011-04-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

sit up straight, close eyes and find your breath

she rang the bell thre times. focus on the sounds and if you have any thoughts, bring them back to nothing.

we sat for 2.5 minutes.

Bell at the end.

Nice.

second presentation

2011-04-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

rachel shaw the bay school the mind unplugged

kids think of technology differently.

We don't teach them how to pay attention, we just tell them to pay attention.

Mediation is a path to pay attention. In brain research Monks have an area of the brain that is used more because of their meditation practice than other people. So at the bay school we meditate.

The bay school started 7 years ago. He had a vision of a secular high school that took religion seriously. We have a buddhist priest as our chaplain. We have meditation every morning. It is within our curriculum. We aren't a magical high school, but it is something inherent in the school culture. it's like prayer. For us it is mindfulness. Many teachers start their classes with meditation.

We will now try meditiation.

Abilock continued

2011-04-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

A good rule of thumb might be to mind the gap between when it happened and when it was first reported.

rule of thumb: look for doctoring.

do an evaluation of journal article in science.

evaluate wikipedians: use their tools. who the contributors are and use the wiki dashboard. And use wiki trust.

Different kinds of contirbutors. sometimes it steers coverage.

take a look at grady harp in amazon. see how ha reviewed so many books!!

Twitter decides reputation by voting.

our job is to show them where to put their effort.

read the checklist manifesto! great book.

push back on brand loloyalty teach corroboration with factoids.

design assignments that have kids becoming civic contributors to wikipedia.
go to noodle tools. click on 21st literatices and click on who knows what

www.noodle tools.com/debbie/literacies/information/6assess/digital_authority.pdf

Debbie Abilock's Presentation

2011-04-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Member of BAAISL for many years and is wonderful! Has her finger on the pulse of independent schools.

Who Knows What... A school-wide lens on Evaluation

This will be online and I will give you the link at the end.

WE have a problem. Everything is misc. China completely censors every word that comes out of a news anchors mouth.

When we use the fake examples, it's a gotcha. It doesn't translate into real learning. Or we give them huge checklists with lots of acronyms.

new research on kids:
skeptics
intuitives
sociables

these are debbies words.

credibility switches based on point of view.

credibility also changes with expectations

credibility changes with sosource

credibility changes with your need

kids understand flexible criteria but they search by popularity when they use google

It is also important that librarians teach their parents!

Underpinnings of her program

2011-04-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

Manta: educate and encourage and empower girls. We do use it like a mission statement although it isn't one for us. We are using it for a framework for teaching notetaking

Another underpinning is the AASL 21st century learning standards.

Used the terminology to send out to parents in the monthly newsletter!

Pat Basset wrote a letter in Independent Schools and we used it to create some Paradigm Shifts:

move from teaching to learning....
20th cent finite and knowable
21st exexpandable so 21st cent homework....skills skills skills....useless to us!!!

The system that works for us is that the girls is at the center, ....too fast....

working on a child center scheme to plan curriculum.

Programming in Your Library (Delmar Burke Library)

2011-04-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

Moving into this new library, we deciding to use this library as an art gallery. We display art by female students. We have four computers dedicated to our online access catalog. 24 laptops in a laptop cart and seating for 72 and can accommodate 140. Students visit for researcerh. K-8 grades. 40,000 items in the collection.

Head of school: Library is the center of our campus. It is the heart of our school. It is the hub of what goes on. What is the future of libraries and information. We are at the cusp of a change. We need to honor reading and the love of reading. I'm a fan of the library. we make a big push for supporting the library. We provide food for thought among teachers, parents, students. Welcome! We are thrilled you are here. Librarains susan faust and Helen wily we are so proud of them and the job they do.

Susan faust's presentation:

the library is a learning center. we work closely with teachers. it is in our institutional DNA. Art science, classrooms, library, technology. Our program has proceeding on two tracks: literature and art. literature appreciation. We guide them to more adventuresome reading and more thoughtful reading. We ask them to read in more categories. we ask them to respond to their reading in different ways. Ask them to have a literary frame of mind. another way we foster this is through author visits. The visit is tied to something going on in the classroom. another major part of the theme for this year has been the idea of play. In many ways we have played that out this year in activities this month. We did one school one poem. Played hide and seek in the library. the other piece we pursue is information literacy. We do this K-8. Information needs, note taking etc.

We also want to deal with social responsibility. We created a human timeline of wilma rudolph's life as an example. Right now we have 4th framers trying to nominate someone to the hall of fame. The girls are putting their reports on the iPad. their reports are iBooks.

thur. live blogging attempt 2 Katherine del mar burke school

2011-04-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

Introduction of Joyce, the Delmar Burke Librarian. She is also President of BAAISL. The local network of schools (over 100), Joyce has been responsible for many workshops, etc. she has been pres. for two years. She wanted to do something special for this conference.

Joyce: About 3 years ago, Tevis and Debra came to a BAAISL and said we have an opportunity and we should bring AISL to the Bay Area. I couldn't be more happy to see you all here. Stand up Tevis and Debra. They have been wonderful. I want to say, we want to have you have a little flaver of san francisoo. We are going to have a raffle of five California raffle of baskets with wine, books, etc. and we will pull it at end of the conference.

Susan is going to talk about programming in the library. and then a talk from Debbie Abilock.

Common Sense Media

2011-04-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

!5% of the educators are librarians who are using their materials. They do have info on research and info lit and copyright.

www.commonsense.org
www.commonsense.org/educator

Common Sense Media closing statement

2011-04-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

goal to empower young people to be safe respectful and responsible.
comprehensive: safety/security: digital citizenship; research, and info lilit collaboration: harvard graduate school of ed
target: k-12 sstudents alignment NETS, AASL, ELA, ...

kids said to be successful: don't be cheesy!

Framework: yourself, friends and family, community. Most stop at protecting yourself. Key is to get out to the outer ring and do all three rings.

AISL 2011 Live Blogging Experiment first session

2011-04-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

We are at Branson School in San Francsisco listening to a gal speak about Common sense Media and digital literacies. They take a comprehensive approach to media education. They do a l ot of reviews and then share them. Librairans have disagreed with them, but they do have a group that agree with the review component that they have on their site.

They also deal with sexting, cyberbullying, media images, etc. Schools are looking to them for help. They are also looking at advocacy and privacy issues. They want digital literacy and citizenship is on the radar for legislatures.

How many of you are doing work on digital citizenship? What is Digital citizenship?

Respect of online behavior. Treat them the same as your would treat them face to face.

By virtual of being born in this world you are all dwellers in the digital world. A DC in csm is someone who can make safe ethical and ....choices (spoke to fast) There is a balance. We try to help stuuents harness the full potential of technology. This is an in a more informal context.

From an informal context, we are talking about gaming, downloading, researching, socializing, creating, texting.

I'll talk first about the Net Effect. It's about whow the media landscape has shifted. The baseline is that there is an enormous scale about how kids are approaching tech. FAcebook: 600 million members. equals what country the #3 country in the world. Far bigger than the USA. Our students are engaging in this world. They don't know who they are communicating with.

They have no concept of the scale of the audience of what they are doing online. Because the audience is invisible. There is a disconnect between audience and person posting. if you are putting someithing out there you lose control of it. Cyberbullying is part of that loss of control. Things are replicable. Relationships are changing. Things are searchable. They need to know that things can be found and that they can be persistent once posted. College counselors can search for things you posted in high school.

Not only is it searchable, it may have been archived, cached, downloaded, etc. You may have taken it down, but others may have it. The digital footprints may be positive or negative. We need to be helping them leave positive footprints.

YOu are helping them create and be creators.

You want them to be able to show a digital profile that presents a portfolio that is positive.

we need to teach them about using them responsibly. It's about building a leadership team and identifying goals. This is really for a whole school. You want to include faculty, parents, and students. Add the guidance counselor. Who is responsible for this? Determine who this is. Meet regularly. This can't be done in one meeting. Define your Digital Citizen. create your mission statement and identify your goals. then develop polcies and procedures. consider comlince issues. May not apply to indepenet school as much. make sure the policy is comprehensive. make sure it is differentiated by grade. who has responsibilities for what areas. refine your acceptable use policies. make sure it is understandable!!! AUPs are usually written in GREEK.

Educate across the entire community. FAculty, parents and students.

Take an empowering approach.

They have resources at their website. Parent media education program. They have surveys. www.commonsense.org

Joyce Valenza's Libguides

2011-04-06T10:35:00.001-07:00

[Note: You can Poster Yourself at the ALA Website (something I discovered by looking at Joyce's Libguides). ] I have to admit that there are some people in the world who make me tired and a little depressed. Joyce Valenza is the main one.

She is pretty amazing, just scroll down her library's website and you can see all of her awards. Her website is chock full of interesting things, and it seems like every new Web 2.0 tool that comes along is just another old notch on her gun belt.

How does she do it? I don't think she sleeps. At all! Ever.

It's the only explanation. Of course, she could have a towering intellect and an amazingly organized mind. I did hear her speak at an Association of Indepedent School Librarians conference several years ago, and she is pretty brainy and organized as well as super nice. It was overwhelming, the sheer number of things she does and knows about. Dutifully, we all took copious notes. Then as we all were leaving her very energetic and amazing talk (it truly was spectacular, don't get me wrong! Funny, insightful and informative.), it hit us. We aren't Joyce Valenza. It's as if we all became a pack of Eeyores. Our heads dropped, our voices became whispers and our pace slowed to a crawl. One of looked at the others and said in a moan, "We can't do a quarter of what she does!" The rest of us just patted her on the back and moved along in silence.

So I was actually feeling a little good about myself when I started playing around with Libguides. Springfield didn't have any libguides. She hadn't found that playground. But it was only a matter of time. She's like Mad Eye Moody. She sees everything! You can't keep any neat technological advance from her.

This morning, one of our IT coordinators stopped in to tell me all about Joyce Valenza's AMAZING LIBGUIDES on WEB 2.0 TOOLS.

Thanks. I think I will kill myself now. But I went and I looked at them, because she is the guru of all things and I do respect her. I, even in my most small and humble way, try to replicate a teen-nitzy portion of the things she does.

Imagine my surprize when I saw two other names on the libguide! Two other people created the libguide! Two other people! Not Joyce!

You know what this means? It means that she might sleep after all!

It means that there might be hope for all of us!

2011-03-28T06:45:00.001-07:00

I Am J by Cris Beam

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book I have read Other than Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil that had a transgender character. J is the main character and is a transmale, although physically female. I found this book to be compelling and real. The struggle that J goes through, but his internal conflict, the familial conflict and the problems that arise with J's relationships with peers are told in such an unflinching and forthright manner that they seem honest, real and natural. I did not get that air or fakeness or preachiness not one might from a novel that is ostenstibly telling us about what it is like to be a transgendered teen.

I cannot imagine the heartache. There is one particular scene that take place midway through the book when J is having what he thinks is a heart to heart with his father. They are both talking about college and dreams and being what you want to be, then he father destroys it all inadvertantly by saying "You'll always be my baby girl." He has no idea how hurtful these words are. Each family member is in their own cocoon afraid to share anything. J is afraid to make a connection with anyone. It is no way to live.

It really makes one think about how difficult LGBT teens have it in school and how they need books for role models and they need librarians to have those books available for them. They need adults to read those books and at least get a small feeling for the confusion and pain they are going through.

Those kids are so brave just to go to school everyday. I can't imagine it. I just can't bear it if they didn't also have adults around to be safe havens for them to go to for help.

Read the book.

View all my reviews

2011-03-10T09:08:00.001-08:00

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, I had high hopes for this one. It was touted as the next Harry Potter for adults, sort of an urban fantasy for intelligent women. Hmm. I should have know that it was too good to be true. There is no action. Very little romance and the mystery is buried so deep you almost don't even care.

Frankly, when the author of a vampire novel makes her vampires able to walk in the sun, YOU HAVE SCREWED UP THE BOOK. So you better have some amazing romance or something else to make up for the fact that there is now NO DANGER to the vampires. OK? NO DANGER.

Honestly. I was so bored I finally just stopped reading. The vampire wouldn't even make out with the main character, Dr. Diana Bishop. Something about you humans being so eager to get on with things. You should take your time. Blah blah blah.

You are boring me!!!!

Nope. I'm bored.

I stopped reading.

View all my reviews

2011-03-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Interesting. I really liked it and it was a quick read. I think it has some fascinating points on how to be an exceptional new leader and how companies can move past their paradigms that aren't working. I doubt this is going to work however because the corporate man is never going to believe that the little guy is going to be responsible enough to work without supervision or wants anything but money.

now i'm depressed.

View all my reviews

Another Site to Add to List for Students to Research

2011-03-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

I came across an interesting site the other day while grading the Honors Chemistry annotated works cited projects. It was for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights or CCHR. Since the student was doing their project on sleeping pills and this site has a particular view of psychiatry and the use of prescription drugs. Here is what the citation and annotation said:

"Lane, Christopher, Ph.D. "Pharmaceutical Scandal in Britain Sheds Disturbing New
Light on Benzodiazepines." Mental Health Blog . Citizens Commission on
Human Rights International , 12 Nov. 2010. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
I did not find this website through one of the databases provided in the LibGuides. However, this source is credible because it is an organization with a .org website.

My head ALMOST exploded. How many times had I said that a .org meant nothing? About 1000 times. So I went to the site and sure enough there seemed to be a particular bias against prescription drugs. The paper calls for objective scientific facts, not persuasive argumentation. They are supposed to use library resources and since they are an honors class, I had also granted them the ability to use www.scirus.com the science search engine with the admonition that they still needed to use their head when selecting sites.

So, I did what I always do. First, a link check. Go to google, put in link:www.cchr.org and see who is recommending the Commission as a credible source. Then I do a www.betterwhois.com search to see who owns the site and see if they have a PO Box or a street address. Then I look them up on wikipedia.

Interesting. What do you think? I think I will add them to my list of example sites.

Teddy Bear Hat: A Real Bear to Make

2011-02-21T05:53:00.001-08:00

You wouldn't think that the hat above would be that hard to make, but it was. I actually made the hat three times before I made it correctly. I made it once without first doing the so-called magic loop. I didn't think I needed to do that. Big mistake. I just crocheted five SC and SL them together. Then, because it said you don't connect them ("Do not join rounds"), in my head I was thinking, Oh, turn! But it didn't say turn. So I ended up with a hat that had a huge gap in it. Stupid me.

I realized that it was a spiral. It would have been super helpful if the instructions had SAID, this hat is done in a spiral, rather than, Do not join the rounds. That really threw me off. As I mentioned in the beginning, there is a thing called a magic ring or adjustable ring, but I was too stubborn, so I tried it twice without and got this wavy crappy frisbee like thing. Man does my stubbornness suck!

Finally, I took the frisbee thing in to work to show Christina who has made oodles of these hats and said, what am I doing wrong. And she said, "Did you do the magic ring?"

"Uh. I don't know how to do the magic ring."

"Just go to Youtube. I learn everything from youtube!"

So here is how you do the magic ring. It's how I was able to do the hat AND the ears. If I didn't know the magic ring, I would have three small frisbee things and one unhappy Canadian friend with a baby with a cold head. Thank God for youtube. And this lady at crochet-mania.blogspot.com for making a tutorial. I'm not going to give you the pattern because it's written really poorly and I don't think I will use it again. But if you really want it, it's on ravelry. Search Osito Baby Hat, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Google Books and Making Good Choices

2011-02-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

Recently we had an AP US History paper assigned and I had one of the AP students select the following book as one of his sources from google books:

Here is a book one of our AP US students picked for his paper. The book is Phoenix Rising by Donald G. Lett. Now, the reason he picked this book is because it is about he Cuban missile crisis.
The reason I started to have a bad feeling about the book? One, when the student admitted in his works cited that he couldn't find much on the author, but the book still seemed credible (my emphasis added). So I looked it up. It was self published, which made warning bells go off.

Next, I invite you to look at the author's letter after the table of contents called The Pre-Liminaries. It is clear from this letter that the author has a particular bias and point of view, one that I am quite sure sailed right on past my AP student.

After you have looked at the letter, you need to go to the back of the book and check out the author's research, and I do use that term loosely. The author cites Wikipedia and Thinkquest (which is a site built by student entries, not unlike wikipedia) as authorities. To be sure, there are some credible sites in the research, but it is chock full of incredible sites, so much so that it makes it an excellent example of why EVERYTHING needs to be inspected and scrutinized, EVEN BOOKS.

The only additional information on the author I could find was at Amazon. It was rather disturbing.

This paper requires that they have monographs and the annotations need to have the author's credentials listed. So the kids are used to checking for author information and adding it to their annotations. What was interesting, upon asking the student why he chose this book over another, was that he only criteria was that it dealt with his topic and when he did a control-f search on his topic, lots of hits came up.

Good news is I have a great example for the kids to use next year for why they will be verifying books from google!

Berry Baby Hat

2011-02-05T20:57:00.000-08:00

I've finished one of my hats. It's the Berry Baby Hat from Kim Werker's Crocheted Gifts.

It's going to be a christening gift for Lydia.

I think it turned out pretty cute. The leaves are a bit smaller than I thought they would be, but all in all, very smart looking and they crocheted up very quickly.

Now, I just hope it fits! Next up, a bear hat. 8-)

2010-12-07T07:22:00.001-08:00

Burton and Swinburne in the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Off the tracks amazing book! It starts with a roar and just doesn't stop. It takes real life historical figures during the Victorian period and then has disaster strike (the assisination of Queen Victoria by a crazy man). Meanwhile, a mythical creature is attacking young women and Sir Richard Burton is trying to track him down AND solve the puzzle of the werewolves! OH MY! It gets better and better the more you read. I can't wait for the further adventures.

View all my reviews

Letter from a Student

2010-11-30T05:21:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I received this letter on facebook from one of my former students. It was a complete surprise and made my whole year. When you read it, you'll understand why.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hi Ms. Mclean!

I know that I haven't spoken to you in forever, but I think that I owe you (and B.) some thanks. Even though, as a student, I didn't enjoy going to B., it was mainly because of the small student body and what I felt was an inability to branch out, try different things, or grow as a person. I always really appreciated the efforts of my teachers. I will always remember being able to join the "adults" for the teacher book club discussion on The Lovely Bones (have you seen the movie? What did you think?)

Also, learning how to research effectively was one aspect of B. that students in other schools apparently don't get. I go to the University of Central Florida and I'm a senior. As an English major, I see all types of levels of knowledge of the students around me. Some still don't know correct English grammar (periods, capitalization at the beginning of sentences, quotation marks). Some students are very well-learned.

While most students here quail at the thought of having to do work, for example, a research paper, I actually enjoy it. I still prefer books over anything over the Internet, but I have been able to use specifically the Google tools I remember you teaching us (site:edu and site:org and such) to help me. I also used my NoodleBib account up until this month, when my association with B. was too long gone for NoodleBib to let me in anymore.

A few years ago, I actually won the Information Fluency Award at UCF for the undergraduate level from the library. I won the award for persuasive speech that I had written regarding the possibility of the Loch Ness monster being alive. I used simple techniques to research my information, but, according to the UCF library, they were ingenious techniques (I learned them all at B.).

So thank you! =]

-S. L. c/o 2007 .

New Library Video!

2010-11-17T08:28:00.001-08:00

My two very talented student library proctors and their friend who is a very talented film editor have banded together to create the first of our library videos for the year. It has a WWII theme and is about combating book censorship and saving books and reading. Loosely.... It rocks. 8-)

Babies, Babies, and More Babies!

2010-11-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Many, many faculty at school are pregnant. Or their kids are! Or friends are. It's in the water. So, I have been making lots of baby related crocheted items. My favorite item to make is the baby hat. Below is Matt, who had twins. I made a boy monkey hat and a girl monkey hat for Alessandra and Anthony.
Below is a hat and bootie set I have made for Jennifer, who is one of the dog trainers at SEGD. She doesn't want to know what the sex is of her baby, so I had to go with a nature theme. Hence the leaves on the hat.

Jan's daughter is having a little boy. Jan runs all the systems behind the scenes in the library. Her nursery theme is Nature. So I did leaves and trees.

Hat 1 with some leaves. I tried a four leaf clover, but it didn't work out. This set of leaves was much easier to do.

Hat 2 I was particularly proud of. I thought the tree came out rather well. It is actually a patter for a fern, but put on the baby hat, I caled it a tree. 8-)

Hat 3 Just a nice hat with gender nuetral colors.

Zoe, an English teacher at school, is due in January. So I got to put my feminine side to work and use up some of my pink yarn.

Notice the pink booties. They seem big don't they? I think they are for gigantor baby. I'm just not a good bootie crocheter. I wasn't sure they would actually fit a human baby, so I made another pair. They look more normal. I need a good bootie pattern. If anyone has one, please share!

Here's a close up of the multi colored pink hat with three solid pink flowers.

Here is a photo of the solid pink hat with some solid white flowers. So, that's everyone that is pregnant for now. My work for the pregnant is now done!

Harry Potter Film Festival

2010-11-05T02:36:00.001-07:00

Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley is pictured above taking it easy at the Harry Potter Film Festival held last Friday in the Jean Ann Cone Library at my school. It went from 4 pm until 10 pm and we were able to watch HP 4, play some trivia, have a spell casting session, get sorted into our houses, and have a costume contest before ending with HP 6. We also had plenty of food! HRH had no problem with the costumes as you can see. Her main problem was not eating the food on the floor!

Awesome Anthem to Librarians by an Author

2010-11-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

Author Cammie McGovern, (author of Neighborhood Watch) wrote an amazing article talking about her love for librarians. It actually made me teary! Read it.

New Headmaster

2010-09-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

We're in the middle of a search for a new headmaster. We will be having the final candidates coming through here in the next couple of weeks and it will all be very interesting to see who we finally end up with.

I am scheduled, along with all the other department chairs, to meet with the candidate for an hour. That means I might be able to get in two questions. So, we are having a team meeting to decide what the two questions should be.

If you got a new headmaster, what would your two questions be for him/her regarding the library? What would you ask that would give a feel for where they stand on electronic v. print materials (The Cushing Question) or does that matter to you? Should they be a reader? Should they be a technologist?

We have a headmaster who is a voracious reader of mysteries. He is also a strong library supporter. We've had quite a good run under his sponsorship because he believes in the mission of the library and that we are a part of the educational mission of the school and not just a warehouse for books that volunteers can run. His retirement is going to leave us feeling very sad.

So, if you have conducted a search in the past and found a question to be particular useful, please share it.

Banned Books Week: Banned Author Buttons

2010-09-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday we will be having a contest where students will need to identify the banned book author from a series of original drawings created by our student library proctor Yunhan Xu. She's an amazing artist as you can tell by her portrait of Harper Lee above. I'll be adding a drawing a day and seeing if you can identify who it is. I won't identify the one below until tomorrow. We'll be handing out a prize on Friday. There are ten authors to identify. We've also created buttons of them at Cafe Press.

Who is this?

Banned Books Week Is Starting!

2010-09-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

What do you all have planned for Banned Books Week? We have quite a few things planned, which I will detail in the next few posts. First, is our very short video to kick it all off tomorrow at convocation.

The Happiest Book Club in the World

2010-09-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

I have tried student book clubs in the past, but since it has been initiated by me the success of them has been lukewarm. Usually the members halfheartedly read the books, just to please me. Mostly they liked that we had a nice room where we could all get together and chat and have nice treats. Which, after a while, was fine. But, I did yearn for a real book club.

So when I got an honest to goodness request to have on FROM A STUDENT you can imagine my elation. I tried to play it cool. Then I found The Jane Austen Fight Club video on youtube (you can watch it below. It rocks!). I showed it to the book club presidents (two of the most positive and cheerful girls in the entire universe.

They loved it. I suggested that we could show this video when they presented book club to the upper division students at convo and then our first book would be Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. So, now we have a Jane Austen (mashup) book club and will be reading Bridget Jones Diary, Clueless, Emma, PPZ, etc. I'm very stoked about it.

Plus, Paige and Hilleary are amazing book club presidents. At our first meeting, we made bookmarks.

Here's one of the bookmarks we made. They brought all the supplies, stickers, crayons, everything.

Everyone got a happy pencil with a cute eraser topper! 8-)

Here are the presidents setting up the table. They are so cute!

Here's the chest of jewels and prizes to be handed out to anyone who makes a great discussion point. At the end of the year the person who has contributed the most will win a gift certificate to one of the bookstores.

Here's how the table looked with some of the stuff laid out on it. They really are dynamos.

New Theme for Our New 2010-2011 School Year

2010-09-09T17:50:00.001-07:00

One of our student library proctors (SLPs) designed a t-shirt for our SLPs to wear this year to follow our theme of comic book heroes (to celebrate graphic novels). We wore them today to celebrate spirit day and to mark the release of our Library rules video! It rocked!

Crocheted Baby Items

2010-08-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

I am throwing a baby shower for a friend and am finishing up her baby gifts. I couldn't resist using Her Royal Highness Berkeley as a model and you can see what she thinks of the idea. I think she looks cute. I was thinking she looked more Snoop Berkeley, but a friend pointed out that Queen La Berkeley would be more appropriate. Either way, she's a cutie. I have finished up the blanket and only have the monkey faces to do now. Here's a peek at how it looks:

Both the afghan and the hat came from the Stitch and Bitch Guide to Crochet, which I highly recommend. Here's a look at the border, which I really like. The border came from Nicky Epstein's Crocheting on the Edge. I've made this afghan twice and made it with two of her borders. It's nice, because it makes each afghan a unique gift. One was a more boyish border and this border seemed more girly and flowery.

I also made another hat with pink yarn from the monkey pattern and some booties to match.

I had to use my other dog Willow as a model, just so she wouldn't feel left out. 8-)

Now, I have to start cooking food for the shower! It'll be a tea party for 17. Woot.

New Project: Tunisian Shawl

2010-07-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

I have started on a new crochet project from the Summer 2010 Interweave Crochet Magazine. It is their Tunisian Lace Shawl. For this you need a Tunisian crochet hook (crochet hook with a long curvy extension that ends with a button thingy...oh, just see the photo). I'm using the Denise Interchangeable Crochet Hooks from Stitch Diva that Mom and Dad got me for Christmas and they rock (the crochet hooks are pretty cool too, 8-).

You can see the end piece of the Tunisian crochet hook and see the button piece that prevents the stitches from falling off. The Tunisian stitch is really two stitches, one forward pass and one return pass. This next photo is a close up of the two strands of yarn in the lace pattern.

It has a right side and a wrong side. Here's a shot of the entire hook with the yarn I'm using.

I'm testing this pattern with yarn that I like. I started it with the yarn in the next photo. I will be using that yarn next when I make it for my friend Gisah.

I've developed a fondness for lace weight yarn and this shawl is perfect for it. The yarns I am using are a combo of a forest green and a variagated red to green lace weight yarn and pictured in the next photo.

Crocheted Wedding Dress

2010-06-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

My friend sent me a link to 100 Layer Cake where they describe the beautiful wedding dress that the bride crocheted for herself out of doilies! It is gorgeous. The photo below is from 100 Layer Cake as well and is a close up of dress.

Read their blog for more details! It was quite an achievement.

Prezi

2010-06-22T13:45:00.001-07:00

I heard about Prezi last year at the AISL conference but I had a problem importing figures and didn't get to use it. This year I was upgraded to Vista and either that fixed the problem or Prezi upgraded and fixed the issue because I am importing figures just fine now.

Prezi (http://www.prezi.com/) is a super cool way to present data, information, graphics, video, statistics, art, you name it and be able to zoom in and move around in a way that powerpoint can't. It make presentations exciting and interesting. Here is a Prezi presentation that Technology for Learners and Teachers put together about it.

Even more interestingly, I think, is the ability it has to make children engaged and the way it may foster collaboration between departments. Rob Newberry, a Canadian teacher working at the Ramrudee International School in Bangkok uses Prezi with his students. He recently presented his findings at TEDIndia. But what was fascinating was the presentations he had his 5th graders do in Prezi. If you click on the link, you will be able to see one on landslides. It is fascinating and it shows how research (the library!), science, and art can collaborate to create a great Prezi.

It is a great tool and it is a cool tool. One that the kids will love. That may make the selling of it to teachers easier. Especially if librarians become Prezi experts and help in the training of the class. If there is a way to get teachers to link research, their curriculum and collaborate with another department as well, why not go for it? At the very least, you will be the hero for introducing them to a tool that will jazz up their presentations.

Book Crossing!

2010-06-11T07:02:00.001-07:00

Well, I finally took the plunge. I've known about Book Crossing (http://www.bookcrossing.com/) for a while, and I sort of half-assed did it when I had a book that I was through with. But I finally signed up yesterday and made it official.

Here's the scoop. From their website, this is what they have to say on how they got the idea for their website: "We've always liked sites like Where's George? (which tracks U.S. currency by serial number) and PhotoTag.org (which releases disposable cameras then tracks their whereabouts and displays the pictures taken along the way) and GeoCaching.com (where you can stash and search for items with GPS technology), and so we thought to ourselves, "okay, what's something else that people would have fun releasing and then tracking?" And we thought of books, which made perfect sense, since everyone (well, almost everyone) loves books. Twenty-eight mostly sleepless nights later, on April 17, 2001, BookCrossing.com was launched."

Essentially, you register a book (which means you get a unique number for it). Then you log it into the bookcrossing database and tell where you have released it. Then you wait for someone to find it and go to www.bookcrossing.com and register that they have found it. Pretty cool!

My summer plan was to go through all my bookshelves and get rid of all the books I have read and no longer have room for. Those books that I can part with and those books that I feel would get picked up and read by someone else. I did it all in ONE AFTERNOON! Yea me! So I have plenty to start releasing into the wild.

Join me on this bookcrossing journey. If you do, please say that I referred you. My bookcrossing name is CDMCLEAN. I would like to follow you and see what you are releasing as well.

Happy summer!

iPad Makes Some Changes

2010-06-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

Our new reference librarian is also a rabid Mac devotee. She was recently watching the Jobs keynote address and noticed that he mentioned the iPad had added notetaking in its software upgrade. That is something we were waiting for in order to consider it as an ereader for textbooks. Essentially, Christina said:

Here is the link to the most recent keynote address from Apple: http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/1006ad9g4hjk/event/index.html

Here are some of the more interesting parts of the speech concerning the iPad:

2:15 – start of iPad presentation

6:30 – interesting little tidbit about magazines and an app called Elements ($13.99)

7:30 – iBooks (this is the most relevant part to Berkeley)

10:20 – end of iPad presentation

Highlights of the presentation:

- 5 of the biggest publishers of e-books report that 22% of their total e-book sales are occurring on the iPad.

- There is a new software update (free but won’t be available until later this month) that adds the ability to highlight, make notes, bookmark multiple pages, and view pdf files.

- Links to your highlighted portions and bookmarks are available on the book’s table of contents.

So there you have it. First, kindles in the high schools. Now with iPads adding annotations and notetaking are iPads far behind? They certainly are sexier and flashier and more user friendly. Apple does have a history of letting you share tunes (ten times),so perhaps you can share books as well? Too soon to tell, but my pen is itching to write that check.

Kindles in the High School

2010-06-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

My local public high school, Clearwater High, will be getting rid of all of their print textbooks and going to an ereader next year. They will be purchasing an ereader for all their faculty and students the St. Pete Times reported yesterday. It appeared that Kindle had the lead, but the story did mention that they had to go to bid and had not settled on a vendor yet.

The story only makes a vague reference to the independent school that got rid of the books in its library, saying only: "A Massachusetts boarding school recently made waves by completely digitizing its library."

I think that moving to etextbooks is where ereaders are appropriate technology. However, I'm not sure that we're at the point where we can completely support etextbooks on an ereader and I hope that the principal has researched whether Amazon has all the textbooks he uses available on the Kindle. There have been problems with highlighting and notetaking with the Kindles, so this will be an interesting experiment to follow. It is a bit worrisome that they are taking a one-size fits all approach to this problem though. [Additional info: The Tampa Tribune has a more informative article and explains that they are doing the texts in stages with Math and English first.]

As one commenter wrote: "Kindles, Nooks, and the like are great tools, but I am not sure they are 504 compliant which could be a problem for visually or hearing impaired students. One e-reader that is about to launch is a free software download called Blio ( http://www.blio.com ). It will work across platforms and on most devices; it is also 504 compliant. For the cost of a Kindle, a school could outfit each student with a netbook that has the Blio software on it (it is FREE). The netbooks would be much more useful for many other assignments as well. Why not try to get the most bang for your buck?????"

I'll be following this story closely.

2010-06-01T14:35:00.001-07:00

Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ah, now we are talking. A series that retains its spark and character development and has interesting things happen through all three books. While there were no heart breakingly poignant moments, like there were in the other two books, there were some great moments of political intrigue.

It's a solid entry into a great sci-fi thriller with some romance thrown in for good measure. The characters are all fully developed and continue to grow in every book.

I love this series and this writer!

View all my reviews >>

Tea Parties and the Library

2010-05-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

I have a tradition in the library. It started with selection of the head student library proctors. I love having tea parties and the library assistant and I jointly run the library proctor program. At the end of the year we take the heads out for lunch. We thought it would be nice to take the girls out for tea. So a tradition was started. We went to the Royal Tea Room and had a delightful time. So every year we went to the Royal Tea Room and barring only one year, it was a pretty good run.

This year, we had to pick another place as one of our girls was going to Italy and we had to go to tea this Memorial day weekend. The Royal was closed! Another tea room filled in nicely.

This year our heads have come up with the brilliant idea to have a student library proctor retreat and do our training at the retreat. We will be teaching them about the library, playing games, but also having them make video book reviews to post on Destiny, learning glogster to make posters for the monthly displays and they will be choosing their charity, which will determine who they raise money for during the year.

We've got a great group of kids and quite a lot of them. So I expect a lot of videos, reviews, promotions, etc. from this creative group. It should be a great year!

2010-05-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

My library assistant Jan surprised me today by creating a READ poster with Bingo as the subject. Bingo is the guide dog puppy we are raising for Southeastern Guidedogs for the Blind. Jan is pretty darn creative. Bingo's birthday is tomorrow!

Berkeley Prep Library in Tampa FL Is Looking for PT Librarian

2010-05-12T16:04:00.001-07:00

We are looking for a parttime librarian in the Cone Library at my school. It serves grades 6-12. Salary is negotiable. Contact me with resume or questions.

CD McLean

Jean Ann Cone Library

Berkeley Prep School

4811 Kelly Rd. Tampa, FL 33615

McLeacd@berkeleyprep.org

JOB DESCRIPTION

PARTTIME LIBRARIAN

The parttime librarian should have an MLS from an ALA-accredited school and the relevant computer skills to enable her/him to perform tasks related to the ordering, receipt, maintenance, inventory, production, circulation, and utilization of materials and equipment. Specific library duties include collection development, including acquisitions (purchasing of materials that fit in with the curricular or reading interests of the middle and upper division, weeding outdated, inaccurate or damaged materials and replacing them with more current, applicable materials) and providing ready reference for students after school until the library closes. In working directly with users, she/he should be able to respond directly to the users’ needs. She/he carries out all tasks under the direction of the library department chair and works as a member of the library team with the middle division librarian and library assistant.

Parttime Librarian:

Hours: 30 hours a week, 11 am to 5 pm on Monday through Thursday and 10 am to 4 pm on Friday. The day ends at 3:30 pm on holiday eves and during exams. The parttime librarian is responsible for the closing of the library and for maintaining a quiet study atmosphere of the library after school. The parttime librarian is considered faculty and follows the same holiday vacations as faculty. All library staff work one week prior to the return of new faculty and continue one week after faculty has departed.

Responsibilities

· Collection Development: Selection of new materials is shared equally between all three librarians, but this position is considered to be primarily responsible for understanding the holes and gaps in the collection and identifying them for purchasing materials to fill in. In charge of the weeding process, replacements and new book ordering. New book ordering includes processing all book orders including generating purchase orders as well as online ordering from online booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and maintain an on order file.

· Provide reference assistant to students, parents and faculty as needed. Knowledge of databases and MLA formatting is necessary. Assist patrons in locating and checking out needed material.

· Prepare labels for Birthday/Memorial books. Choose appropriate books for those awards.

· Prepare receipt notices for our files as well as for the Development Office of all book/magazine donations that are received by Cone Library.

· Works with library assistant I to maintain paper and toner supplies on hand for both copier and printers, keeping paper supplied in trays. Part of the closing duties are to make sure copiers and printers have an adequate supply of paper. Close library

· Assist library assistant I with laminating or covering all books needing such.

· Preparing of orders of library materials to vendors, and when they arrive.

· Assist library assistant I in maintaining and updating Patron and Vendor files.

· Collect mail in the afternoon from front office and mall mailboxes.

The Book Smugglers

2010-05-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

While ordering some books for the library, I ran across an interesting blog: The Book Smugglers. The review I read was for Bleeding Violet, which I thought rocked. So much so that I went out and bought the book for myself for consideration for the library, since we had missed it for inclusion in our collection.

I added the blog to my feed and the smugglers to my twitter followers, especially as they follow my two favorite genres: speculative fiction and romantic fiction. I try to read a couple of books a month, but these gals read four books a week! They are super readers. I'll be interested to see how the book matches up to her review because it is very nice to be able to find a good reviewing source that does a more in depth, thorough review than the paragraph we normally find in the usual Booklist, Hornbook, etc.

Philip K. Dick Award Winner Announced!

2010-05-05T04:49:00.000-07:00

My favorite award was announced in April: the Philip K. Dick award. Last year's winner was one of the best books I read for the whole year! They pick awesome books. I highly recommend you go out and get the winners. I'm on my way to pick up this year's winner:

The winner for this year is Bitter Angels by C. L. Anderson.

A description of the book from Amazon.com:

An Imploding Star System.
A Murdered Galactic Spy.
A Woman Seeking the Truth—and Finding the Unbelievable…

The Erasmus System is a sprawling realm of slavery, smugglers, spies—and constant, creeping decrepitude. Here everyone who is not part of the ruling Four Families is a slave of one kind or another. But the Guardians, a special-forces branch inside the United World Government for Earth, have deemed Erasmus a “hot spot.” Somehow, it is believed, this failing colony intends to launch a war upon the solar system.

Ex-Field Commander Terese Drajeske, now a mother of three, has been called back to active duty and sent to Erasmus, ostensibly to investigate the murder of her colleague—and friend—Bianca Fayette. At first blush, the death defies explanation: Bianca was immortal. But beneath that single murder lies a twisted foundation of deceptions. Suddenly Terese is plunged into a vortex of shattered lives, endemic deceit, and one dreadful secret. In this society without hope, someone has put into motion a plan that will cast humanity into chaos. And Terese, who has given up her family and her sanity to prevent war, may be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice….

I Got an Article Published in Knowledge Quest! Woot!

2010-04-30T08:05:00.001-07:00

Last year, we were given a task to do a one-unit challenge. Not content to just do the task, I had to make it harder and mention to Debbie Abelock at Knowledge Quest what I was doing and did she think that might fit into one of her issues at Knowledge Quest, a journal in which I have always wanted to be published. She said yes. Then it came close to the deadline. Hmmm. I was looking at what we were doing and thinking, "No way is this what she wants!" So I sent her a pathetic email saying, "I think I should back out because essentially, I have crap to give you." She said, "No. Let me see it." Then she started to work her editing magic on it.

If you want a copy, please let me know and I will send you the pdf. I own the copyright. What you will see is chiefly good writing because of Debbie.

Creating a Curriculum Unit on Evaluation of Media," by CD McLean. Knowledge Quest Jan/Feb 2010.

AISL 2010 Annual Conference Guest Post by Barbara Share

2010-04-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today we will have another view of the AISL conference from my friend and fellow librarian Barbara Shara (Ransome Everglades School, Miami, FL). She attended some different sessions and also may have a different perspective on some of the same sessions. Thanks Barbara!

AISL 2010 Conference in Nashville

The Association of Independent School Librarians, AISL, was formed in January, 1987 to address the particular issues and needs of librarians in independent schools. Our founders envisioned an apolitical and affordable association with no formal structure and no officers. Rather, it would provide a means of exchanging ideas and information and keeping in touch.

AISL is an informal organization and a complement to other library organizations. Many members also belong to the Independent School Section of the American Association of School Librarians. As Mark Hillsamer, one of our founding members states, "Creative program planning and exchange of information and ideas are endeavors of both organizations. Close associations will keep us all moving forward into the complex, demanding, and ever changing profession we all love, librarianship."

The quote above is from the AISL website and describes the organization. AISL has an active listserv and once a year a conference is held. The conferences are located in different cities each year and the host Librarians decide on the theme, program, workshop topics, etc. Although the subject changes each year, whatever is current in Library, technology, and teaching trends are just a few of the subjects that are offered.

AISL Nashville Music and So Much More was the place and theme for this year.

The conference opens with registration and the opportunity to meet, greet and network at the Hospitality Suite in the conference hotel. Whenever there is time to network, I ask Librarians about their Library; how many students, how many volumes, how many staff, do they have digital resources and how do the students use them; are there vendors they recommend; what courses do they teach, the physical dimensions of others Library, etc . I also give them my information and we learn from each other in a pleasant setting.

We visited the following schools over a 3 day period:

University School of Nashville, Montgomery Bell Academy, Father Ryan High School, Oak Hill School, Ensworth Red Gables Campus, Ensworth High School, and Harpeth Hall.

The next day started with a welcome breakfast and the Keynote Speaker. Pat Scales, SLJ (School Library Journal) columnist and School Library Advocate spoke about Censorship and Intellectual Freedom. Her speech related censorship to the society “at the moment” and discussed the Christian attitude as well as the volume of violent books that were noticed after Columbine. Ms. Scales also mentioned that the AR (Accelerated Reader ) program was a serious cause of censorship as the program just goes by the numbers (Lexile scores) and does not consider the content of the book and the age of the student reading (here at Ransom we do not have this program). Ms. Scales also mentioned that in some schools AR is used as a tool to decide what books to purchase. Ms. Scales spoke of the Librarian as a guide to students for their reading as well as types of ways to limit the books (removal from shelves, using a restricted shelf and having a parental consent form). The website commonsense.org was also mentioned for parents to use for helping chose books for their children. Ms. Scales urged us to know what the constitution rights are for our state as well as federal rights for Libraries. We were also urged to teach students not to laugh when taking the words of books out of context, and that students should be aware of their First Amendment Rights.

Workshop – Tips for Designing an Elementary or Middle School Web Site

I chose this workshop so that I could learn more about how to make our Library page better for the students and to see what new technology was available for web sites.

The presenters suggested that the website have information on Summer Reading lists, students book reviews, and follow up actives from author visits. These new technology terms were introduced:

GLOG – an educational blog

VOKI – a digital poster

There were examples of these as well as talking about Wiki, Twitter, and Podcasts.

We then broke into groups to look at specific web sites from schools and discussed the layouts, links, and all the other information that can make a web site easy to use or difficult to maneuver for students. The discussion was informative and seeing the website helped to understand the use of colors, links, pictures, different fonts, and all other features to make a web site stand out and be usable for students, faculty, and parents.

Workshop – Say GB to PP, Hello High Tech Alternatives

The purpose of this workshop was to give us ideas for presentations that were more interesting than Power Point. The instructors suggested the purchase of a web cam so that students could do book talks, make announcements and give general information. The downloads presented were:

Avatar – this has cartoon faces that when calibrated with the persons eyes and mouth, will have the face of the cartoon, but the voice of the student.

Toondoo – this has cartoon figures, backgrounds and uses balloons for conversations. You can create stories, etc. You cannot add music, you can add this to a power point and then add music.

Photostory 3 – this download allows you to add many special effects, voice, you can import songs, music (plays on Windows Media Player).

Glogster – this is an interactive poster or digital poster that you can imbed video (from you tube, wiki, etc.).

Cushing School - The next workshop was a discussion of the changes at Cushing School in Massachusetts. Liz Gray (Dana Hall) and Carolyn Hilles (The Wheeler School) made a presentation that discussed the changes at Cushing School and how it has affected the library community.

Workshop – Newbery & Caldecott the Inside Scoop – this workshop gave us information on the process of how books are reviewed for our trade magazines (Booklist, School Library Journal; Kirkus Review, etc). The presenters spoke about how to get on the committees to be reviewers, the time involved, how long one is on a committee, the responsibilities as to traveling and the excitement of voting on a winning book.

Workshop – Technology Integration – Helping Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom – this workshop focused on using different types of technology in the classroom with emphasis being on the teacher, IT person and Librarian all working together. One example given was that the students read a book (Cold Sassy Tree) and then the students created “dummy” Ning accounts and went on the Ning as a character from the novel. They had to stay in character as they communicated with everyone and use examples and scenarios from the book in their conversations. Another example was using Jerome Burg’s Google Lit Trips; from this you can add text, YouTube videos, etc. to create a map from a book (The Odyssey would be a good example for our students). Another example used was having the students became mushers on a virtual Iditarod trip and keeping a journal of their experiences. The students wrote in character as a musher. They also used Twitter (again, having “dummy” accounts) and JING, having the students write in character, not as themselves. With all these projects, the teacher, IT person and Librarian were involved in the planning, organization and day to day teaching of the project.

Report on the AISL Annual Conference 2010 in Nashville

2010-04-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

Schools Visited
• University School of Nashville
• Montgomery Bell Academy
• Father Ryan School
• Ensworth School (both campuses)
• Harpeth Hall

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Keynote speaker: Pat Scales (author, School Library Journal columnist and School Library Advocate)

Pat spoke about censorship and intellectual freedom and started with the Peter Zenger case. She said one tactic libraries have taken is to just move the problematic books to the adult section. “Massachusetts seems to have lots of censorship problems,” she said.

Censorship can be trendy and can follow fads. Her example included Columbine, where for a while all books that included school violence where suddenly under scrutiny and on the banned and challenged books lists when they had never been on them before. Another example she gave was of a picture book where all the people in town were animals. The police happened to be pigs. In the 60s, the police unions challenged the book as offensive. In the 80s, Christian groups objected to the animals who got turned into rocks as they felt it was an “out of body experience”.

Ms. Scales said children were getting books that were way too mature for them. Part of our job is to make sure that we steer them to material that is age appropriate. She gave us an example of a public school librarian in Apache Junction, AZ who was using Accelerated Reading (AR) as there collection development tool. AR looks at ONLY the reading level of a book, not the maturity level. So, she got a call from a media outlet wanting to know her stance on the issue of having a 4th grader reading Perks of Being a Wallflower which contains mature themes and is for grades 9 and above. She said reader guidance is of ultimate importance. It’s our job to know the book and to connect them to the right one.
She said the restricted shelves are not the answer. Recently, they took a case of parental permission to court and it was decided that requiring parental permission labeled her child as evil and they won. They result is open access. It is much better to not require a child to read a particular text or to have a substitute or to have the ability to opt out.

She highlighted Commonsensemedia.org which seeks to give guidance to parents and to rate books. She found that they spot check and don’t fully read. She was also concerned and mystified by how they assign educational value. There were several books on their list with clear educational value that they had as having none. Their reviewers list their only qualification as having children and being parents. Since they are seeking to guide parents, it is a troubling group.

Now, private schools are not protected by the 1st amendment the same way that public schools are.

She ended with a very moving quote from Steven Pico who was the high school student who fought the banning of his high school library’s books all the way to the Supreme Court, who said: “What I shall never forget is the silence of my teachers during the book banning. Only one of my teachers ever commented to me about the book banning. She was the English Department Chair, a good English teacher who had instructed me as a junior and in a “Great Books” course as a senior. One day after class she whispered to me, “Stever, you’re doing the right thing.” I will never be able to forget that she felt the need to whisper.” (“An Introduction to Censorship” by Steven Pico, School Library Media Quarterly, Winter 1990)

University School of Nashville

Founded in 1925, USN is a K-12 school.

Controversial Fiction
Speakers: Marty Vaughn (Girls Preparatory School), Katie Archambault (Girls Preparatory School), Robbie Quinn (Montgomery Bell Academy) and Sean Kinch (Montgomery Bell Academy).

Around 1942 with the release of 17th Summer YA fiction became problem solver fiction. Then came the Coming of Age novels like Catcher in the Rye and A Separate Peace. With the publication of Weetzie Bat the category of YA fiction grew to appeal to 12-34 year olds! Many of today’s popular authors are also trying their hand at YA fiction and in the time period from 1995-2004 there was an 84% spike in YA book sales.

There seems to be a split in YA literature. There is the dollar driven side that includes Gossip Girl that has no literary merit, lots of brand names, TV offshoots and commercialism. The other side is the literary merit side that includes books on any topic: drugs, vampires, suicide, etc.

YA authors show young adults the dark of the woods. Is our job to protect them or prepare them?

What is the best thing to do? Make sure you have an up to date collection development policy. Consider putting in the reason you purchased the book in your MARC record. Read the controversial books so you know what is going on in them.

CONTEMPORARY BRITISH NOVEL: See attached handouts. Mr. Kinch discussed his lesson that included pairing classic literature with controversial contemporary British literature.

GRAPHIC NOVELS: The medium itself is kind of shocking. The name is part of the problem. It suggests shocking content. Really, it is more like comic books. We use some graphic novels to transition some readers to novels. If he purchases graphic novels that are based on novels, he does so only when they have exact text/translations. He tries to buy complete sets of series.

Beyond Powerpoint
Speakers: Angela Klausner (Battle Ground Academy), Erin Barclay (Battle Ground Academy) and Susan Gaultney (Battley Ground Academy)

This session went over a couple of tools that might be used to do interesting things in the library.

1. Logitech webcams: Use them for booktalks. Perhaps Kelly Cucchi could be in charge of these? Things to be aware of: picks up background noise easily, you can use an avatar instead (shy kids like this, but the calibration time is lengthy).
2. Toondoo – free software: It does take a while to master, you could do a book review in this software. She used it as a middle division project in 5th Grade English and History and they used writing skills to execute the assessment. www.toondoo.com
3. Photostory: digital storytelling. Write out the script. Test the sound levels before recording the final version.
4. Glogster.com: allows you to have an interactive homepage on a wiki. You can put the widget on the wiki. Glogster is an interactive poster maker.

Lunch and Proquest presentation.

Evening Presentation by John Ingram, CEO of Ingram Library Services
At Montgomery Bell Academy
Mr. Ingram said content is what matters, not the device. An etextbook isn’t the device, it’s the content. His company put together VitalSource, which is a dental etextbook, which has revolutionized how the dental schools are using textbooks. It’s been a great success. They are beta testing the design in a high school with success as well and it has shown a 14% rise in biology scores and a 27% rise in algebra scores. (Note: An email query to Mr. Ingram about the etextbooks availability revealed that they were not able to go live or do further beta testing in the secondary school market at this time.) Students were able to share notes, highlight, annotate etc.

Thursday, April 15, 2010
Father Ryan School
Session on Cushing Academy
There was a big discussion on the current situation at Cushing Academy. It went over the history and what is currently going on there. It also included information on the Future of the Book Conference (http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/buniverse/videos/view/?id=434 ) at which the Headmaster of Cushing, James Tracy spoke. Christopher Ricks also spoke and had some great counter arguments. The link will take you to the actual conference.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Visited Ensworth Red Gables Campus
Tech Committee Meeting
We had a Tech Committee meeting at breakfast. Martha Reilly agreed to take over the website. Teresa Crafton, Barbara Share, and Diane Neary all agreed to be website testers. We mentioned the idea of wiki pages for things like policies, etc.

Flip and Kindle Presentation
Kindles:
Phoebe Warmack (Woodberry Forest School) gave a great presentation on how her boarding school for boys uses the Kindles. They got them in the summer of 2008 for three main reasons:
1. Motivators
2. Budgetary (books only $9.99)
3. Green (hardback bestseller can be purchased and then disposed of without recycling or taking up shelf space)
She was also attracted by the physical storage. They have seven devices. They like the portability, the e-ink, the kindles make the library look good and they create buzz. She started with four and now has 5 kindles and 2 DXs. Anyone can borrow them. When they are deciding whether something is a kindle purchase, they look at
High interest, low shelf life
1 person recommendation
Academic need
All summer reading titles

The library staff are the only ones who can purchase titles. They create MARC records for al the books and they have a prefix of KIN. They circulate for 1 week. They are also deregistered before they are checked out and they are not checked out with chargers.

She also recommended the site http://www.edukindle.com/

Flips:
Barry McAlister (Montgomery Bell Academy) presented on the Flip camera and had some very interesting new information. For example, I didn’t know that there is now another camera called the Insignia that is a Flip style camera with a flipout screen. Very cool.

Workshop – Technology Integration – Helping Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom (text by Barbara Share)
Speaker: Karen Douse (Harpeth Hall)
This workshop focused on using different types of technology in the classroom with emphasis being on the teacher, IT person and Librarian all working together. One example given was that the students read a book (Cold Sassy Tree) and then the students created “dummy” Ning accounts and went on the Ning as a character from the novel. They had to stay in character as they communicated with everyone and use examples and scenarios from the book in their conversations. Another example was using Jerome Burg’s Google Lit Trips; from this you can add text, YouTube videos, etc. to create a map from a book (The Odyssey would be a good example for our students). Another example used was having the students became mushers on a virtual Iditarod trip and keeping a journal of their experiences. The students wrote in character as a musher. They also used Twitter (again, having “dummy” accounts) and JING, having the students write in character, not as themselves. With all these projects, the teacher, IT person and Librarian were involved in the planning, organization and day to day teaching of the project.

2010-03-29T06:32:00.001-07:00

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jasper Fforde has done it again! He has created a totally new series that is startling in its strangeness and while it is lacking in the hilarity of his previous works, it is compelling and thoughtful.

Eddie Russett lives in a world far in the future where lives are defined by the color you see or don't see. There is a power struggle going on, a cruel struggle of those who see color against those who don't see any. It is a world of social order where rules are followed without being questioned and technology is abandoned by order of the government.

But Eddie is a questioner. And there the trouble begins.

This book is quite a departure for Fforde as it is much darker than his other works, but it is an excellent read.

View all my reviews >>

Driving Tips and Suggestions for Visiting Ireland

2010-03-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some tips and suggestions for having a pleasurable experience while driving in Ireland:

It takes two. One person to drive, one to navigate (unless you do the smart thing and get GPS). Why? See Item 2.

Signs. Ireland is a country of confusing signs, no signs, or signs with so much text that you think James Joyce wrote them. You can't drive and read the signs at the same time essentially. Learn to speed read. Plus the signs are both in Irish and in English. Signs might be on the left-hand side of the road or as in the case of the photo below, on the right-hand side. We were looking for the N20 and N21. That sign was on the opposite side of the street.

Green signs indicate motorways. These photos of signs show what you see approaching a roundabout. A huge sign with lots of city names in two languages and lots of arrows. You know you need to figure something out because there is a major roundabout coming up. So you start leaning forward and trying to pick out your town, your next highway number!

Here is a view of a sign with several city names close up.

Irish signs have lots of information. Learn how to speed read and look ahead.

Most often, what will happen is this: you will be driving and all of sudden you will approach a roundabout and you will have about 3 seconds to read the sign and decide which exit to take. You can always stay on the roundabout and go around again! Or, your navigator can keep their eyes peeled for signs which usually only appear AT THE ROUNDABOUT (which in my opinion is too late!) and must try to discern your next city from as far away as their syesight will allow.

3. Color of signs: Brown indicates an item of interest like a castle, abbey, etc. They will also have a little graphic to tell you what the item is (castle = castle, etc.). Advice: There is a sign that shows a crown with a bicycle. We never did figure that one out. Fred thought it meant "You're effed." I think it means bike trail to the castle. But, don't use the car to follow it!

Another piece of advice: Avoid all signs to visit famous wells. What is a well? It is a hole in the ground with water in it. A castle or an abbey is easy to find if you get lost. They stick up out of the ground and are easily sighted. A well. Nope. As Fred says, "You're effed." Trust us. We tried to find St. Brendan's Well and it did not end well, so to speak. Avoid all wells.

4. Driving the ring of Kerry: Do it in a counterclock wise direction. You will be following the motorcoaches, but trust me, you want to do that. It is much better to be behind a bus than in oncoming traffic forced to back up on a narrow lane with your lane being the on that is on the cliff side having to reverse to let the big ass bus by! See yesterday's post for a video on what to expect driving the ring of Kerry. Here's the video again of what to expect when you drive the ring of Kerry.

5. Be prepared for anything: Livestock on the road, children on the road, being behind a truck that is carrying a huge load of hay. Ireland is a big country, but it's highway system feels like country roads, small town.

Insert photo of hay truck

6. Back up: Be willing to back up. You are going to miss your turn, take the wrong exit, overshoot or mess it up. But you are in beautiful Ireland. Shrug it off. Find a turnaround and reverse it.

7. If you see a castle sign, follow it: You never know what you will find! More on castles in a later post!

Driving in Ireland

2010-03-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Driving in Ireland takes nerves of steel, which I don't have. Fortunately, my husband does. So, he drove all 750 miles from Dublin to Shannon, around the ring of Kerry and to the many small castles that we decided we needed to see.

Here is a short video of the very tight roads that he had to navigate on the ring of Kerry.

Another thing that you have to be prepared for in Ireland is that at any moment livestock might wander out on the road. So BE PREPARED!

All in all, we had a lovely time driving around. It was only stressful half the time: when we got to a roundabout and had to decide which way to turn! But, I'll tell you more about that in my post on Irish signage. The main thing to remember is it really does take two to drive in Ireland, although with GPS, this may be going away. The second thing to remember is if you make a wrong turn, you are on vacation, so don't worry, just turn around at the next corner and try again.

And finally, if you know you can't drive on the wrong side of the road and your spouse can, don't be a pill and give lots of annoying, aggravating "suggestions." I'm sure I broke that on occasion, but I tried really hard to not be a back seat driver. It's a really tough job and they don't need your help, unless of course they are on the wrong side of the road (which did happen once!) and in that case: Scream away!

Ireland: Two Days in Dublin

2010-03-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Christ Church Cathedral and Dublin Castle (Chester Beatty Library)

We started our day in Dublin by checking into our B&B The Azalea Lodge,which was wonderful. Right off Bernadette told us which bus to catch to get into Dublin and we were on our way for a bit of lunch (see previous post on Avoca). The Azalea Lodge is rated #1 on Trip Advisor for B&Bs for Dublin and I can see why: it was shiny clean, the bed was uber comfortable and Bernadette was super helpful in both recommendations for dining and how to get around. We arrived at 10 am and Bernadete was waiting for us, made us a pot of coffee, had scones for us and explained how to get around and where to eat. While the B&B is outside the city center, it is a short bus ride in. We missed the first breakfast as we overslept, but our second day we were able to partake and Bernadette puts out an amazing spread. The only odd thing is that there are no face cloths, but I am going to email Bernadette about that. We weren't there long enough for it to be a problem and I wasn't sure if it was an Irish thing or not so I wanted to wait until I went to other B&Bs to see. The Azalea Lodge is a true treasure, in my opinion.

We walked to Christ Church Cathedral first. It was very beautiful. We were particularly pleased to hear the organ being played while we were walking around!

I love this photo because of the soft lighting. There is a very small Spanish style house in our neighborhood that has a ceiling like this (on a much less grand scale!). I love it!

Our next stop was Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library, which was voted the best museum in Europe! My particular interest was in the illustrated manuscripts, but they also have illuminated copies of the Qur'an and Egyptian papyrus texts. Because you can't take photos inside, I just have a photo of the sign outside.

Day 2 Breakfast

We slept in and unfortunately missed Bernadette's lovely breakfast and so went to The Cheese Pantry.

I was particularly pleased with my coffee which you can see from the photo below is very strong and creamy. I think it was really a double espresso. The breakfast was just fine, but the coffee was the thing!

Overall, we were a bit disappointed in Irish salmon. The Scottish salmon is much better tasting.

The big day was here: my trip to see the Book of Kells! That was the purpose of the trip for me. Being a librarian, I have always wanted to see the Book of Kells, which is the most famous illustrated manuscript (to see some images of the pages click here).

It was an amazing library. Not only did it have an educational lead up that gave you an intricate knowledge of the book and illustrated manuscripts in general, but they had videos on how to make vellum, how to bind a book like the Book of Kells. They had a video of someone writing in that style of calligraphy with the sound up loud so that you could hear the scratching of the nib on the vellum. You had to step up to the room where the book was held. Sort of like entering a throne room. Fred said it was smaller than he expected. I just loved it. It was amazing. It wasn't as vibrant as I thought it would be, but it was exceedingly fabulous.

St. Patrick's Cathedral and Park was full of people on St. Patrick's day. It was a lovely day for the parade. The cathedral itself was lovely. I prefer Christ Church, smaller and more intimate.

Although, Jonathan Swift was the Dean of St. Pat's. That has to matter for something! Turns out he was quite a guy. He pointed out the hypocritical priests who were getting drunk and acting immorally and held them accountable. He really was a guy with a high moral standard who walked the walk.

Avoca Warning
Now, I do have to add a bit of a warning here about Avoca. It is a handweaver shop, but it seems to be quite a racket to me. When we stopped at the outlet place in Wicklow on Day three, we were quite disappointed to find just a tiny area of handweavings and most of the store taken over with bric a brac for the home. Mostly Crate and Barrel type of stuff. Frankly, I was hoping for some really lovely handwoven things. I did find a great throw and a cool book for a friend, but mainly it seemed a stop for tour buses as it was a big restaurant with a huge buffet. The main thing that irritated me was when Fred went to pay, the woman at the counter asked him if wanted the credit card charged in dollars or euros. I can't imagine what kind of surcharge Avoca is getting from all of those tourists who don't know better and say dollars! So be forewarned. If asked, say euro! Let the credit card automatically charge you the going rate of the day without a surcharge.

Plus, they didn't remove the ink tag from the throw, so I am doubly irritated with them!

Razor Clams and Ireland

2010-03-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today was day one in Ireland. We flew in from Tampa after a delay in Newark. We actually had quite a full day eating at Avoca, which has surprisingly handsome waiters (ours looked like a young David Bowie. He was so handsome I was initially struck mute. Not something that has often happened to me.). But Avoca, while having a good fish pie,

ultimately failed the restaurant test as their sticky toffee pudding had secret nuts in it. By that I mean that the cook had put pecans or walnuts in the dessert and had not bothered to tell anyone. I am allergic to them. It ruined the dessert for me.

But The Winding Stair was wonderful for dinner. We had an excellent 3-course dinner that included my first experience with razor clams. The dish came with organic leaves and a pansy and some brown toast (delightful). The clams were amazing.

I had the Jacob's Ladder short ribs (melt in your mouth). Fred had the skate, which I thought was a little oily, but he liked. For dessert, I had the bread pudding with whiskey sauce and Fred had a plum and apple crumble. Most excellent.

All in all, a fine culinary day. And we visited Christ Church Cathedral and made an attempt at St. Pat's cathedral, but they were closing in 15 minutes. We also got in to see the Chester Beatty Library, which has been voted as the best museum in Europe. It was a treasure trove of papyrus, illuminated manuscripts, Qur'ans and decorative arts.

Tomorrow, the book of Kells!

Twitter Relationships and Benefits

2010-02-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

Twitter is one of those Web 2.0 tools that some people either love or hate. It is after all microblogging (say it in 140 characters or less), which is a bit mindboggling in and of itself. But there are uses and benefits to Twitter.

I found that I didn't appreciate the value of Twitter when it was just me. It took my getting the google sidebar and a Twitter feed before I realized how much there was to learn from my Twitter peeps. If you follow interesting people who are doing fascinating things, posting information, links and photos, then you have a great Twitter feed. That is what makes Twitter a valuable resource: the people you follow.

Admittedly, there are silly people whom I follow like Justshitmydadsays: Justin is 29, living at home and tweets the crazy crap his 74 year old fother says. He's a Twitter sensation.

I also follow Postsecret, which is a very cool idea that has spawned several books. Essentially, people send in their secrets to him anonymously on postcards. He has started posting them on Twitter once a day.

I follow authors like Neil Gaiman and Laurie Halse Anderson and cool librarians who I think rock like Elizabeth. I follow comedians, Rainn Wilson, and the odd David Lynch (I don't know why I follow him, he is so very odd). And I follow people who read lots of books like Flashlight Worthy Books.

I also follow other teachers, technology gurus, dog trainers and social media types. And I follow my friends. And all of these people share a little bit of themselves with me throughout the day. Sometimes I see it, sometimes I don't. Depends on when I am looking at the Twitter feed.

So when I was giving a colleague a Twitter tutorial the other day and found a reply I had missed from one of my blog readers, I was really thrilled. It was about our adding captions to our photos in our blog about our guide dog puppy. Since she is blind, without the figure captions she has no idea what the photos are about. It made me really happy that I had added the captions, but it also made me happy that I now had this extended network where my blog readers could connect with me via Twitter and comment. It makes for a different relationship, but one that is valid nonetheless.

So, all of you Twitter detractors, find some quirky, informative people and follow them. If nothing else, you might just get a laugh every day.

Finally, A True Brasilian Restaurant!

2010-02-14T14:54:00.000-08:00

We found a gem today through our favorite iPhone app Urbanspoon. If you don't already have Urbanspoon on your iPhone, you need to download it RIGHT NOW. It's free. It is wonderful. We have found several kick ass restaurants that we would have never found otherwise, if not for Urbanspoon.

Terra Mar Brazilian Steakhouse is at 6715 49th St. N., Pinellas Park, FL 727.525.1100. They do take reservations, but it is a very casual place in a strip mall. They have about 15 tables, so if you have a big party, it would be good to call ahead as the the party of 8 did today at lunch.

On Sunday the all you can eat lunch buffet is $8.95 without the churrascaria, $14.95 with it. I recommend that you splurge and get the churrascaria. In fact, I recommend that you dress up and pretend that you are at Boizao because the food is amazing and tastes homemade! You aren't going to get pao de queijo at Boizao and you aren't going to get mousse de maracuja there either (OMG, I thought I had died and gone to heaven, it was that good!).

They have a salad bar section, a fresh made soup, two rices and black beans and two entrees on the buffet. Farofa can be had upon request. When we went for meats they had fresh made sausage, chicken, sishkabob, filet mignon, garlic steak, pork tenderloin, and then I had to stop the waiter from bringing us more meat so I don't what else he was cooking!

Seriously folks, this is real Brasilian cooking at great prices with amazing service. The restaurant may not be fancy, but it is wonderful. Do not miss it.

Uh, no, you didn't.

2010-02-09T17:21:00.000-08:00

Strange, weird thing just happened. I got a friend request from someone who I didn't recognize either by name or photo. This is her message to me:

Hi, This is (blank) from (blank) high school. How are you?

No identifying information or any clues as to who she is or how I should know her. So I sent a message to two of my high school friends and asked them if they recognized her name or could find her in the yearbook (I have no idea where mine is).

She isn't in the yearbook. So what is the etiquette? Do you ignore the person? Or do you call their bluff? Why would someone who didn't go to high school with you claim to go to high school with you?

That's just too weird. Way too weird.

Reader’s Advisory

2010-02-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

I met with a former student the other day for dinner. She had great news: she was accepted into medical school. As we were catching up, she said that her mother had given her instructions that she was to get more book recommendations from me. Her mom was so pleased with my suggestions of The Thirteenth Tale and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie that she only wants to get book recommendations from me! That made me exceedingly happy, then it made me very nervous.

It’s hard to always get a book recommendation right all the time. It is nice when you are on a good recommendation streak, but I am a bit fearful now of screwing it up. I suggested Beat the Reaper and The Hunger Games and then said I would have to give it some more thought. I haven’t been reading much lately and I wanted to make sure my picks would be good ones. If anyone has any sure fire hits out there, let me know!

David Schickler - Great High School Author Visit

2010-02-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

Last week we had author David Schickler come and visit our school to talk about fiction writing. He spoke to our AP Lang, AP Lit, Sophomore English and Creative Writing classes and he was wonderful. He was wonderfully interactive with the students and gave them great tips on how to make the writing pop.

While he wouldn't be a good author for younger audiences as he material is definitely upper school material, he was wonderful with the high school students. The AP teachers really liked him, which was quite a coup!

If you haven't read Kissing in Manhattan, here's my review of it. I really enjoy it.

Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
At first, I was unsure whether I would like this book as I tend to enjoy novels more than short stories. But this book is a bit of odd duck. It is a collection of short stories, but they all intertwine; characters from one story show up in the next and they are tied together by the Preemption Apartment building where the main characters live.

You get a real Sex in the City feel for the first story, but there is a character mentioned, James Branch, who is dining alone and repeating the name of his entree outloud to himself. Something about that one small mention made James stand out for me and so when he popped up again in a charming magical realism story about a pair of opal earrings, I was hooked. James, for me, is the overriding reason to read the book. He is kind and compassionate, although at the end his compassion is a bit hard to comprehend. He is the one you root for, one of those very sweet men that you know if they will just come out of their shell a bit, and if some woman would just give them a moment of their time, magic would happen, love would happen.

Some of the stories stand on their own, and others definitely need to lean on their fellow chapters. Regardless, this is a lovely and well-written book that is a delight to read. And while the negative comments of some of my book club members were that the women are weak and the men are too demanding, I think James Branch silences those quibbles. James and the woman he ends up with (name not given so as not to spoil the book) redeem that dark quality in other stories and bring it all to a hopeful end.

View all my reviews >>

Don't Eat at Waltz Fish Shak!

2010-01-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

Just want to make sure that everyone knows our recent bad experience at Waltz Fish Shak at Johns Pass. Personally, I don't know why a restaurant would hassle people with a service dog, but these people did. Fred said that when we walked in the bartender gave him a nasty look as well. Whatever. Avoid the restaurant and tell your friends to avoid it. They obviously aren't friendly to the disabled or those who sympathize with them. Spread the word.

Don't Get Crafty Friends Gift Cards to Jo-Ann's!

2010-01-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I had asked for some items from Jo-Ann's craft store, so my brother and sister-in-law got me a gift card thinking that I could shop online or in the store. WRONG! Due to an incredibly stupid programming error on Jo-Ann's part, they have set up their website so that you have to enter an electronic card number and pin number and a plastic card number and pin number. ALL FOUR NUMBERS. If you only have a plastic gift card, you won't have the electronic numbers and if you have an electronic card, you won't have the plastic numbers. So you can't use the gift cards AT ALL online.

Of course, if you are a knitter or a crocheter, this is a big deal because Jo-Ann's carries very little stock of crochet and knitting paraphernalia. Ball winders: online purchase only. Stitch holders: online purchase only. You get the picture.

So when I called, two weeks ago and complained about this problem, I was told it would take 4 days to fix and I could go to store and use my card or wait 4 days and use it online. I waited 6 days. It still didn't work. It's been 2 weeks. It still doesn't work.

I guess I will go into a store and use the card or I won't be able to use my gift card at all. I hope this screw up is costing Jo-Ann's an enormous amount of money because they certainly aren't trying very hard to fix the problem and their customer service people are not very helpful.

Next year I will request stitchdiva gift cards instead. They have excellent customer service and actually understand the concept of gift cards.

Back to School and Looking Back at 2009

2010-01-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the start of school. With it I begin the Health research paper process that kicks off the research paper frenzy that is third marking period. It will be a rush to spring break. Madness, really. No time to breathe.

Good thing my article is finished. No more editing to do. It comes out at the end of January. I finished perusing a manuscript for a friend and commenting on it over break. So that is off my plate as well. I wish I had time to crochet, but ever since Bingo came into my life, crochet has disappeared. But I wouldn't wish Bingo away for the world. It has been quite an experience so far these 6 months with him.

It seemed like a lark, being able to take your dog everywhere. But in actuality, it is a lot of hard work. There are many frustrating times, some when I am frustrated with myself for my lack of patience with him, with him for not being super Bingo (which is really just a backhanded way of being frustrated with myself and being delusional about it 8-) and frustrated with people.

I remember clearly walking out of school with Bingo, my HUGE bag, my HUGE purse and another bag and trying to get to my car quickly. Bingo was out of coat. The mom and her young son ran up and said, "Oh, he's out of coat, so we can pet him, right?" and then proceeded to pet him without waiting for me to get him ready. Bingo jumped. I was really hard pressed to maintain my balance let alone respond. Then she says, "Well, he's gonna fail for sure," and walks off. Really. Like you just failed Manners 101? Sigh. I know he's not perfect, but please.

But that is really the only occurance that comes to mind that was unpleasant. Overall, I have met so many nice, friendly people. What's even better, is that when I am walking with Bingo, he elicites smiles. He makes people happy and that makes me happy.

So even though it is hard work and at end of the road there will be tears, the journey down the road is a happy one. There isn't much that can beat reaching down and petting your dog when you are having a tough day or getting a lick on the face.

Best Advice from a Magazine Article Ever

2010-01-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, I can't remember the magazine, Redbook or Ladies Home Journal I'm sure. It was one of the many that my mom subscribes to and to which during the holiday I turned to when the TV was turned to sports. As I flicked through the pages, I came upon some interesting website mentions (www.hautelook.com and www.gilt.com) for designer items at cut rate prices. Evidently when some of the jewelry stores go out of business and sell lots of merchandise, places like the aforementioned websites buy up the lots and then auction them off. They only cater to the high and snooty though. Hautelook does not require a waiting period, but Gilt does. Both require that you register.

Back to that famous advice. As I flicked through the articles (and wrote down those websites to try later!), I came upon an article on the worlds best organizers on their top tips for organizing. "Yeah, yeah." I thought. "Sure. Like every article I have every read on organizing goes in one eyeball and out the other." I read it and don't do one thing."

But I read on. And on. And on. And for the most part it was forgettable. But there were two pieces of advice that stood out as so valuable that I thought I should pass them on. I'm passing them on because with the first one I ACTUALLY DID IT WHEN I WENT HOME AND IT WORKS! And I think the second will work as well.

1. When you sit down to watch TV, grab a drawer, any drawer and bring a trash can over with you by the chair. As you watch TV, sort through the drawer and throw away the stuff you don't need, keep what you do, put in a bag to stuff to give away. OMG does this work! I've gone through FIVE drawers already!

2. Buy only white sheets and towels. Pretty simple, but seems very effective.

So my New Year's Resolution's are what you see above. I think I can do that and I'll be more organized too. I'll work on the more complicated stuff as the year goes on.

2009-12-25T08:02:00.001-08:00

How to Seduce a Ghost by Hope McIntyre

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a fairly intricate mystery, but there was one annoying thing that the author kept doing: telling me what just happened. One character would say something and then the author would explain EXACTLY what that just meant. There was the problem of infidility. The heroine has a long term boyfriend, but has a brief affair and instant attraction with what ends up being the husband of her client. Her guilt and remorse is something that she has to deal with, but she really doesn't feel all that guilty and her feelings for her boyfriend are not clear cut either making the affair a huge albatross around her neck. Giving a heroine whom the reader has not decided she likes yet such a fault is definitely risky. If you keep reading the plot eventually evens out and the mystery takes over and becomes more engrossing. However, Lee doesn't ever become someone who grows on you enough to make you buy into the series.

View all my reviews >>

2009-12-25T07:51:00.001-08:00

Beat the Reaper: A Novel by Josh Bazell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I bought this book on impulse at the buy one get one half off Border's table before we left on a flight. It said it was a mix of Tarantino and the Coen brothers, which intrigued me. The storyline has Dr. Peter Brown interning at Manhattan's worst hospital where he meets someone from his very bad past: his hit man past. Then the book takes a quirky turn.

Yep, this book is a mix of Tarantino and the Coen brothers. It was so awesome that I finished it in one day, read it nonstop on the plane. It is a page turner and so wild that it defies description.

So if you like Carl Hiaasen, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen brothers and you don't mind a little blood and gore, pick up this crazy, wonderful read.

View all my reviews >>

Basket of Chocolates and MUN

2009-12-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

This morning on my desk was a large basket of chocolates and the following Christmas card:

Mrs. McLean,

I'd like to wish you and your family a happy holiday season. If it wasn't for you, I would have been totally lost at MUN, and it probably wouldn't have been such a great experience! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

I'll leave the student anonymous, but she did make my entire day and start my week off with quite a bang. Who says kids don't love research? MUN kids really love country research. They are a wacky bunch, but I love them.

The Gift of the Season

2009-12-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

For the last 18 or so years, Fred and I have thrown a holiday party. When we lived in Arizona, it was a New Year's Eve party. Arizonans were not afraid to stay out on NYE and stayed out late. It was a great party in Arizona and since we had a small house, it was all tables and chairs. When we moved to Florida, we tried a NYE party, but almost everyone we invited said no. They stayed home on NYE. "Hmmm," we thought. "This is throwing a wrench into our holiday party plans."

So for the Florida people, we changed to a Christmas party, with a white elephant gift exchange. It started out fairly small: 10-12 people and has grown to its current size of 24. Fred and I have perfected a Mexican themed menu with one or two new recipes a year. We follow a pretty strict regimen or 30-45 minutes of appetizers, then a soup course, then sit down dinner, then more chatting and mingling then dessert or white elephant gift exchange or vice versa and coffee. It usually takes me about two weeks to prepare for the party as the house needs to be completely decked out in Christmas decorations. The tree needs to be up. The tables need to be set up (two tables of twelve: I head one, Fred heads the other, no couples sit together). I've been collecting Christmas china, flatware, and crystal for about 20 years. I have a complete set for 24. I am totally nuts. I acknowledge that. 8-)

Above is my table.
But what I have also acknowledged in this massive labor of love of cooking, decorating and hosting is that we invite the friends we love. We invite the friends we socialize with, with whom we want to spend time. We invite the people who are important in our lives and while they may not mix on any other occasion; once a year for the past 12 or so years they have gotten together at our house and they have become friends for our sakes.

This is Fred's table.

So I thank them all for their gift of friendship, for making it possible to have such a party. For if we didn't have such wonderful friends, it would be me and Fred and Bingo and Willow watching TV and wondering what happened.

So thank you all. And for those of you who came late to the party after the 24th seat was filled. I am working, working, working on Fred to get an addition built so I can invite you to the party too! Fred has a plan. See, Fred assures me he can do it! 8-)

The White Elephant Gift Exchange

Memory and Friendship

2009-12-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

Went to a Celebration of Life today. Rather, a funeral service without the body or ashes of a colleague and friend. She had passed away last Friday from leukemia and there never was any good moment to have a great big all out cry. Either we had guests or there was school. The timing just never seemed right.

So, I waited for today. My friend Eileen said that these Celebrations never really allow her to get her cry on and for that reason she dislikes them. She said it was a purely selfish reason. I was able to introduce myself and my husband to her son and daughter in law (although I had met them before in the hospital). As we were walking to the actual Celebration, I started talking with a former teacher who is a friend I haven't seen in quite a while. She held out her arm and said, "I wore our wristband." I nodded. And then I realized I hadn't a clue what she meant by that. So I asked, "What wristband?"

"Don't you remember? From Bok Tower? When we went with Mo on a road trip?"

And all of a sudden I felt so happy because here was a memory that I had completely forgotten. One great day when the three of us took a summer road trip and meant it to be just a morning lunch thing, but we didn't get home until after 5. Earlier in the week Fred had asked me what stories I had of Mo and I couldn't come up with a really good one. Now I had one whole day.

Of course there were many moments with her. Lots of memories. Lots of wonderful times and times when she was exasperated with kids during retreats or at graduation. And it will be very strange now to go to our graduation and not have her there to run it. To not have her there to sing the march for us to walk to our places. To not have her tell US to be quiet. 8-)

And when the pipe and drum corps played Amazing Grace I had my good cry, even though it was a Celebration of Life. So Eileen was wrong.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Tears

2009-11-29T17:16:00.000-08:00

I'm watching the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with my husband, which is interesting because he has completely different likes and dislikes in music than I do. But we do find some common ground.

It is kind of cute for him to say, "Oh man!" when Crosby, Stills and Nash start singing, meaning they sound so good they gave him a chill. 8-) But they didn't sing the song he wanted them to sing. Right now Bonnie Raitt is tearing it up. Makes me wonder why I haven't played her CDs in such a long time. We went to her concert and she was simply wonderful. That must have been ten years ago and she looks exactly the same, sounds exactly the same. For that matter, so do CSN, sound the same that is. They look quite a bit older.

Jackson Browne, with Crosby and Nash as backup singers. Oh, man! Indeed. This show rocks!
Fred says that Stephen Stills not having grey hair is suspicious. Would he dye his hair? Seriously, there's not one grey hair on the man. Just look at Crosby and Nash: ALL GREY. In fact they are shining beacons of grey hair. James Taylor has decided to just hide his head under a hat. Stupid. Show your head. We know you are old. The hat isn't fooling us.

Is Smokey wearing colored contacts? No matter, he still sounds great. They've got a photo of young Smokey, no blue eyes. I think he was trying to match his outfit. Tracks of my tears was the song, so maybe he wanted to emphasize his eyes.

Stevie Wonder's tribute to Michael Jackson was poignant.

Monday is going to be a rough day at school. One of our beloved teachers has passed away from a long bout with cancer. Monday will be the first day back. The funeral will be sometime this week. I imagine that most of us will be trying to just get through the day, like Stevie Wonder was trying to get through Michael Jackson's song. He did it. I now we can too.

Just Do Your Job GOP

2009-11-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

Well, Sen. Whitehouse brought Harry Potter into the health care debate and as a librarian I just can't help but throw in my own two cents. Seriously, GOP, you're complaining about the length? Just do your job. Read the bill and object to the merits and facts of the bill. Objecting to the length is specious. No matter who we voted for, we voted for you to do your job and that job includes reading all the bills, no matter how long they are. So man up, GOP, and read it. And if any of you Democrats are thinking about whining about the length of a bill, shut it.

Perils of Team Teaching

2009-11-08T05:05:00.000-08:00

The Veteran's Documentary Class that I am team teaching has been a great learning experience for me. We are creating a curriculum that is cutting-edge, using web 2.0 tools and also giving our students some real world social connections with older generations that they may not otherwise experience. In that sense, I think we have been successful. The team teaching has been a bit of a mixed bag. Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching says "experienced teachers often recall team teaching experiences as their best and worst experiences in a classroom." I would have to agree.

Team teaching is a bit like choosing a roommate in college. Usually you chose a friend, which can be a good thing or bad thing. Sometimes, you pick a person because they have the expertise you need and find that they are wonderfully pleasant to work with and a mentor to boot. Sometimes things work out, you have chosen a friend and you remain friends, your friendship grows deeper and you have a wonderful year.

Whatever happens, before you go into a team teaching environment, I think it behooves you to take a look at the following Ten Commandments from two Stanford professors. The key to a successful team teaching endeavor is to have EVERY member on board as a fully participatory member. That means that Commandments 1-7 are followed without fail. You all have to function as a team. You all have to be on board and understand every lecture, every assignment. You support each other and are able to add your different opinion to the mix.

Team teaching is not two or three teachers teaching separate things in isolation, which is often what administration thinks. It's important to educate your administration that all members of your team are teaching all classes.

Another thing that I have found that is important is that the students come first. So, if you have a disagreement about something, you need to sublimate your ego and put the student's needs in front of your own. But remember, I'm a librarian and this is my first class. All you teachers know this already! 8-)

Team teaching: it's worth the effort!

Why won't you give me a biscuit?

2009-10-31T11:41:00.000-07:00

Are you wondering why Bingo has that quizzical look on his face? He's wondering why you haven't added to his biscuit meter. See, Southeastern Guide Dogs has one big fundraiser every year: their Feb. Walkathon, held this year on Feb. 27, 2010. Fred and I have pledged to raise $1500 for the walkathon and we are hoping that all of our blog readers, twitter friends, facebook friends, friend friends, coworkers and relatives will help us reach that goal.

We have a personalized biscuit meter that tracks our fundraising, which is kind of cool to watch fill up. If you want more info on the walkathon, you can click the link above. If you want to donate, you can click on our biscuit meter or this link: http://www.sitstaygive.org/fundraiser/2d27093e402ee3f9222b89b3ea343c1c.html. $1000 covers the medical care of a litter of puppies like Bingo. We figured medical care and a little for toys and leashes and harnesses.

Please help us reach our goal. We'll have the link on the right hand side of the blog. Your donations are tax deductible and ANY amount is a wonderful gift.

Bingo will thank you. Actually, he would just lick you and wag his tail vigorously, but that's quite something, don't you think?

2009-10-27T06:19:00.001-07:00

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A mix between graphic novel and short story collection, this odd little book is a real charmer. It is my new favorite book. It is so compelling both visually and textually. The stories are fascinating and the accompanying drawings are a hoot. Clearly Tan has an imaginative and twisted (in very delicious and wonderful Roald Dahl ways) mind and is a gifted artist.

I would recommend this book for middle and upper students and adults.

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2009-10-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

Skim by Mariko Tamaki

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazing graphic novel. Beautiful story about a high school girl named Kimerly Keiko (Skim) Cameron, a would be Wiccan goth and how she is trying to make it through the day, the month, the year. Her best friend is really not so good, she thinks she has found love, but it breaks her heart. There is a suicide at school, drama in the hallway, drama at home and through it all Skim is trying to figure out who she is. This story is beautifully drawn. I highly recommend it.

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2009-10-17T15:19:00.001-07:00

The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great urban fantasy book! Made me want to run out and find her other books and read them. She has a marvelous way of setting up characters, creating relationships, setting a plot into motion and telling a tale. If the details can get a bit murky, I can live with it. The exact nature of the Aunties and the relationship with the Gale men and wizards is left a bit vague and a bit distrubing, but nonetheless, this is a great read. It has liberal amounts of humor, great characters, awesome dialogue and action.

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A Kindle in Every Backpack?

2009-10-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I did some research for my headmaster on the feasability of using the Kindle instead of textbooks for our students. I came across a nice white paper that Thomas Freedman on the idea calling it A Kindle in Every Backpack. Freedman, a former Clinton policy wonk and a wonk for a short time in 2008 for Obama/Biden on technology issues, isn't particularly advocating the Kindle, but is saying the eTextbook idea is one that has merit.

Back when the Kindle first came out, I was very excited about it and bought one for my school library. Then I realized that I would be breaking all kinds of laws and contracts if I were to use it in a library setting as a library ebook delivery system. I wrote a column for YALS castigating Jeff Bezos for his shortsightedness in ignoring the school and library market.

Amazon seems to finally be making some strides in that direction with their new Kindle DX. This larger, more expensive version was created specifically for the eTextbook market. Amazon is working on a pilot program with the Kindle in conjunction with the following six colleges and universities: Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Princeton University, Reed College, University of Texas at Austin and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

I have several teachers who swear by the Kindle for all their reading. I do have to confess, that for traveling, it seem like a guilty pleasure, a toy a librarian should have on her Santa list. But, as for eTextbooks, I'm not sure the Kindle is the device.

From what I read, Stanza for Iphone is making great leaps, but it still is leaps and bounds behind the Kindle feature-wise. The major drawback seems to be that laptops are still the better delivery system for eTexbooks. However, for Freedman's argument, they don't make economic sense, therefore, something like a Kindle is more fitting in his economic model. Also, given the whispernet technology of the Kindle, the device doesn't depend on Internet access, which a laptop does. In a poor neighborhood, some parents couldn't afford to have Internet access, so what does it matter if you have a laptop? You won't get connected!

It's a puzzler. There does need to be something done. We can't continue to load down our 60 pound students with 70 pounds of books. We do need to consider the environmental impact.

And if you want to read a charming account of one man's descent into a reading hell (the Kindle) and how he came to understand its appeal, read Nicholoson Baker's Can the Kindle Really Improve on the Book?

Librarian Moment

2009-10-04T03:53:00.000-07:00

I had a warm the heart librarian moment on Friday. It was our school pep rally and the day was quite filled with activity. Among the many things I had to do was meet with a donor for lunch so she could meet Bingo. I also had a Model United Nations club meeting that I had to attend midway through lunch, which made lunch a little rushed and harried.

I was very excited about MUN because I was going to unveil my Libguides for MUN, which I had spent a couple of weeks over the summer putting together for the kids. Libguides was created by Springshare and is a web 2.0 way for librarians to help students organize their research online.

MUN can be very difficult and scary for the first-timer. There are all sorts of rules to follow, dress codes, procedures. It is also a ton of fun with a very low work threshold. If you can get kids interested, they can really do well and it isn't a burden on their academic course load.

When I presented the Libguide for MUN, one of the head delegates turned to me and said, "This is amazing! You've put together what I would have spent 10 hours trying to find." My other teacher sponsor was delighted with it as well. It warmed the cockles of my librarian heart.

Ah, libguides, you are wonderful.

2009-09-29T16:53:00.001-07:00

Daughter of the Flames by Zoë Marriott

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Very solid young adult read. Tells the story of Zira a scarred, young novice with a hidden past. It is also a charming romance, adventure story. Zira is a leader and she learns some hard lessons. She also is able to take control of her life and make wonderful things happen. I, personally, would have liked more detail and more in depth character development, but since this seems to be geared to a younger audience, say middle school to 9th grade, it will do just fine.

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Veteran's Documentary Film Class

2009-09-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

Last year I proposed a course to have students interview and film WWII veterans and then make documentaries from their interviews. The class was approved and I am teaching it now with the chair of the history department chair and an art teacher.

We have a class of 14 and we have 7 WWII vets who we have paired them up with. Last Friday we went out to their senior center to have lunch with them so the kids could meet them (they all had sent them introductory letters) and get to know them a bit better. Our kids are so impressive. They really are. They had no problem conversing with the vets and we had some very cool coincidental matchups that worked out so nicely. For instance, one student's grandfather was in the 106th battalion and his vet was in the 106th battalion. Another student's grandfather was a POW in Borneo and his vet served in an operation on Borneo.

This semester we are concentrating on getting the interviews and preparing them for inclusion in the Veteran's History Project for the Library of Congress. Next semester will be all about making the documentary and pulling together the seven stories into one cohesive theme. I'll post some photos from the luncheon next week.

2009-09-20T18:21:00.001-07:00

Second Skin by Caitlin Kittredge

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This third book really was a disappointment. Luna needs to do something. She needs to progress and actually move forward. She needs to figure out something about herself and then she needs to change her life. It's called character development. She keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. She keeps doing the same stupid things again and again and the same people tell her not to do it and she does it.

We get no details about anyone else. Most of the other people are mere window dressing. What is the big deal with her family? Why after three books do we still have no details? This mystery should not be coming out so slowly. We don't know enough about the characters to care to keep reading the series. We aren't invested. At least I am not.

I need more detail. I need real development and growth. There is a great world here. There is great potential and it isn't being realized. It's depressing.

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2009-09-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I thought this first book was pretty good. It had a nice set up. It was inventive and had a much different werewolf world than any I have read before. It is dark and a bit poverty stricken. But the character is a scrappy cop and has backbone. The love interest is not all warm and sexy, but is realistic and honest.

There were some flaws, but the magic and the story were quite compelling.

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#Twitterfail

2009-09-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last week we put into action what we had spent five months planning: a unit on Twitter, Iran, the media, media bias and the 24-hour news cycle. It was part of what our school called the one-unit challenge, a call for collaborative teaching that included revamping units and incorporating new technology into them. The AP Comparative Government teacher and I had been team teaching for a couple of years a unit on media bias. We realized that the AP Language teacher also had a curricular overlap that would work perfectly with what we had in mind.

When we first started putting the unit together, we had an idea of maybe using blogging, or a ning or something else. We hadn't settled on the new technology. But when the Iran election protest broke out and Twitter became a focal point for the protest, we knew we had our technology and we knew we had something that would really interest the kids. We could teach information literacy, history, argumentation and logic and use Iran, Twitter and the media as a focal point. We would have the kids sign up for Twitter accounts (with parental permission) and we would arrange a Twitter interview with a leading social media journalist so they could ask her questions on the Twitter environment and journalism today. (To see their interview search #bps on http://search.twitter.com).

So it was with great disappointment that during our Twitter interview, our students were logging on to their newly created Twitter accounts only to find out that their accounts had been suspended for suspicious activity. Seems that if you create many accounts from one domain name, that is considered spam and abusive AUTOMATICALLY and they suspend your account. I emailed them immediately, but received an automated reply telling me the problem was solved, I wasn't suspended and that I should check again. I told our kids to reply individually, which some they did and they were not reinstated. I increased my irritated emails to support and asked for a human to read them. Nothing.

So I started sending out tweets with the hashtag #twitterfail because they failed the classroom litmus test. If your classroom can't sign up, you can't use it. There has to be a way for educators to sign up their students for school use and that means mass sign-ups at one time, Twitter. Wake up and smell the accounts.

Oh, Twitter, BTW, we are presenting our unit at multiple conferences. Just an FYI. I would love to blog about how you solved the problem. If twitter fixes this mess so my kids can do their research project, then I will be their biggest fan. Right now they haven't and I am uber-irritated.

Thanks, Twitter.

Sick, but not the flu

2009-09-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

I started with a scratchy throat last Saturday, with what I thought was a little cold. But as the week progressed and my throat got progressively more sore and I got a bit more of a cough, by Friday I stayed home and called the Doc and got antibiotics.

I know that there is a huge panic out there with the swine flu and flu in general. I saw it in my library when one of the librarians came down with the regular flu. Another person at school immediately panicked and wanted to go to the doctor to get tamiflu, but I didn't see the urgency since no one had any symptoms of the flu. Now we have one confirmed case at our school and there are confirmed cases in all 50 states. So you can't really escape it.

My feeling is why take the drug if you don't have symptoms? Why take it if it might take it away from someone who might need it as there isn't a lot of the drug to go around? But perhaps I am unnaturally unconcerned and should be more upset, but I don't think so. Being upset isn't going to help. My cold turned into something that needed antibiotics. It wasn't flu related at all. I think a calm temperment is better for one's health than the other option. Statistics show that we are all probably going to get some form of the flu, especially those of us who work in a school, so a healthly dose of fatalism goes a long way as does excessive use of antibacterial wipes and gel, which we have lots of in the library.

I also had a moment last week when it all seemed too much, when it all seemed like I was working too hard and couldn't keep it going. But then the next day came and I realized I could keep it going and I was whining. Sure, that day was a 12-hour work day and I got home at 7:30 pm, but I got done what needed to be done.

Point being, some days we need to panic. Some days we need to whine. People need different things to get through the day or to get through a particular crisis. For me, the flu didn't seem like a crisis, but for that teacher it obviously struck them as a crisis. Let people have their crisis moments. We were both over ours the next day. 8-) If they last more than 24 hours, then you might have to do something.