Aberdeen Library

Math Munchies

2011-03-28T21:35:00.000-04:00

One thumb up for math and another one up for munchies.

WordQ

2011-03-22T12:32:00.002-04:00

WordQ is a new piece of word prediction software that will be available on all school computers in September 2011. It's a big improvement on current word prediction software like co-writer. One big difference is that it doesn't rely on initial letters. For example, if I was trying to spell "Career" and I started with "Kar..." then the program could successfully predict career by looking at the word in context. Watch the video below for details, or take a look at the website here Word Q.

If you'd like to take a look at the program yourself, you're welcome to install it on your home computer. The install disc just arrived and can be signed out from the software section of the professional resource collection.

Things to blog about

2011-02-24T09:42:00.000-05:00

I have no time to write, but I have lots to write about. Before I forget what I don't have time to write about, here it is in a short, quick list:

OLA Superconference
Reading For the Love of It
Canadian Children's book news meeting at Tinlids
Upcoming conference in York District with an opportunity to speak about the human library project
Upcoming April spec ed PD day where I'll be presenting with A bunch of library folks
Writing an article for the OSLA magazine
Upcoming OLA Human library committee meeting in March

Superconference and Reading for the Love of it

2011-02-14T20:07:00.004-05:00

This is a lame trailer of a post, but hey, I'm reading children's books like a man possessed right now. I've got no time for the full download.

Anyhow, I have a boatload full of things to say about my trips to OLA Superconference, and Reading for the Love of it.

As soon as I get these picture books finished I'll get back to blogging. For now, here is a picture of me presenting at OLA that I lifted from Chris Passmore's TVDSB Superconference Wiki. Go here for more pictures and to share/read about the conference.

Snow Day = Reading Day

2011-02-02T12:54:00.000-05:00

Today is a snow day, so I'm taking the bonus time to read my through the pile of Canadian children's books I'm reviewing for the upcoming issues of Best Books for Canadian Children and Teens. It's published annually by the Canadian Children's Book News.

The reading and reviewing process provides the enjoyable opportunity of critiquing every book in about three sentences tops. I've always enjoyed the challenge of constrained writing.

How about this one?

"A delightful bit of irreverent Canadiana with an important message of get to it ness for both children and adults."

Human Library Project @ Emily Carr

2011-01-31T10:04:00.005-05:00

2011-01-24T12:29:00.002-05:00

Success

2011-01-21T12:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's Human Library event at Emily Carr was a giant success. Stories were shared and ideas were altered. Thank you to all the participants for making it happen. Further thoughts and reflections will be coming soon, along with a video clip about the event. For now, here are a few images from the event.

Nametags waiting for pick up. The Human Books had barcodes and coresponding entires in the library catalogue. They were checked in and out by the readers.

Aniska Ali from youthline.ca sits with students, and Learning Technologies Coordinator Ryan Ewaskiw

Chantel Doxtator from the N'amerind Friendship Centre chats with grade 8 students.

Our Human Library Project Event is Tomorrow!

2011-01-19T12:16:00.001-05:00

It's almost here friends. Here are some details.

The Human Library Project is about creating opportunities for dialogue between groups of people who may not normally encounter each other in daily life. It provides a structured setting for conversation with the goal of breaking down stereotypes and prejudice. For this event, grade eight students will have the opportunity to meet with six individuals who have interesting and thought provoking stories, and who may have personal experiences with prejudice.

In each of the sessions, groups of four grade eight students will have an opportunity to meet with four of our human books. These conversations will begin with the grade eight students checking out the human book at the circulation desk. Each human book will have a name tag with a barcode, and each book has a complete entry in the TVDSB electronic catalogue. See http://tinyurl.com/49mfk6k for the catalogue entries.

Following an introduction and sign out, there will be 15 minutes allotted for conversation. These conversations may begin with the grade eight students posing questions they have prepared in advance, and then move on to wherever the participants lead them.

Knowledge Ontario

2011-01-14T09:23:00.001-05:00

January is Shark Month

2011-01-06T10:30:00.001-05:00

Here's what's going down in the library this January and February.

Human Library

It's really happening! Although it's happening at Emily Carr, not here. Because the event is a pilot of sorts, we're keeping it low key, but I have some amazing people coming to volunteer as Human books. This project has amazing potential. It it works, we plan to make it happen at Aberdeen, perhaps in collaboration with some of our other family of school colleagues.

OLA Super Conference

I just booked my train for the big show on February 4th. Super Conference is the biggest Library conference in Canada and always inspires. I'll be presenting as part of the OLA human library committee, and hopefully sharing some of the things I learned with our own HL project. As always, I'll post up a full super conference report here upon my return.

New Book Displays

One of my goals for this year is to keep the book displays a little more dynamic this year. Look for new books on display throughout the library, and a special Winter themed display of picture books and non-fiction.

Silver Birch

Seeking 5-10 strong readers for exciting extracurricular reading opportunity. Inquire within. Enquire within? I can never remember the difference.

Puppets

I admire librarians that can read a story to a group of primary kids with a puppet, so, I just bought some puppets. Most impressive of the lot is the 90cm great white shark. Such life like teeth.

I'm getting there, but puppets make me feel a bit crazy, in an "I'm talking to my own hand and it's answering" kind of way. Lately the Shark has just been defaulting to chomping wildly, attacking the other puppets, and growling. I've only been called out on it by one little Discovery channel watching 8 year old who informed me that "Sharks don't make sounds Mr. Marshall, and they don't eat raccoons."

Chomp Chomp Roar!

London Public Library Class Visits

2011-01-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

In my mailbox today there was a letter from Karen Sealy-Johnson, a Librarian at the Crouch branch of the London Public Library. She has invited our classes to come and visit the library, and has also offered to visit the school. Included was a poster outlining all the different school age programs offered, which you can view here.

In addition to the usual library orientation and research based programs, the library is also offering curriculum based programs for Grades 1 (Community Helpers), Grade 3 (Pioneers), and Grade 4 (Medieval Times).

If anyone is interested in booking a trip or inviting someone from Crouch to visit your class let me know and I'll help organize permission forms, times, etc.

NFB Christmas Films

2010-12-13T11:57:00.000-05:00

I was just reading some information about OSAPAC licenced web services and found out that the National Film Board of Canada streams over 1500 full length films on it's website. Plus, all of them are licensed for performance in schools, libraries and classrooms. You'll find films there that connect to all curriculum areas, but in the short term, check out this short playlist of 6 NFB Christmas films.

Snow Day

2010-12-06T08:19:00.000-05:00

Time to get your skis on boys and girls. It's a SNOW DAY!

New Character Education Resources

2010-12-03T13:13:00.001-05:00

Meetings!

2010-11-29T14:56:00.001-05:00

Our library hosted the monthly family of schools LST meeting this morning. Lots of comments about how great the library looks and what a nice room it is. I have to agree, it is one of the nicest spaces in the valley.

Exciting library news for this week includes PD on Wednesday morning around the collection of picture books to support character education that each school is receiving. Details to follow.

Have I got a book for you.

2010-11-26T18:19:00.000-05:00

It was a busy week in LSTland which makes for a slow week in libraryland. However, I did find time to read Melanie Watt's new book "Have I got a book for you" to some enthusiastic grade ones. They laughed maniacally and uncontrollably, maybe at Melanie's great book and my campy salesman Al voice, or maybe because they are just maniacal and uncontrollable.

Human Library Project

2010-11-23T10:47:00.000-05:00

Last week I took the train to OLA world headquarters for a meeting of the Human Library Committe meeting. Our group is attempting to create a toolkit for Ontario libraries that would simplify the process of running a Human Library Event. I'm representing the school library perspective along with a secondary colleague from York Region. Look for a possible TVDSB event in January.

Book Buying

2010-11-17T22:27:00.003-05:00

I just got a sneak peek at the annual TVDSB book sale and it's set to be as awesome as ever. All the big vendors are in town just for us, and all there books are neatly spread.

I had the pleasure of purchasing for our school, and for all the little Ottervillians at Otterville PS. My former Principal from DDPS has now switched from Elgin to Oxford and is getting a boys reading club going. I'm sure they'll be pretty excited with the selections I made.

For my little Aberdeeners I picked up stack of new graphic novels, some amazing picture books, and a good collection of easy reading late primary early junior fiction. Thanks as always to Maria of TInlids for the selection help.

Best of luck to all the TL's heading to the sale tomorrow.

The boxes that started the Blog Again

2010-11-16T17:44:00.003-05:00

So I've had a little blogging hiatus, but what's five months between friends?

Let's get right to it. Here are the boxes that restarted the blog.

They appeared on my doorstep on Tuesday.

Maria sent them, after I agreed to serve on the Best Books for Kids & Teens 2011 Committee. I was honoured to be asked, because Maria has great taste in books.

They contain 68 picture books and 12 graphic novels, and I'll be reading all of them. Perhaps I'll discuss a few here.

Their appearance rekindled my teacher-librarian-ness, which was withering slightly in the shadow of my more dominant LST-ness. They helped me remember that I'm one third teacher librarian, and part of my teacher-librarian-ness is keeping this blog going. 300 or so posts in and I've discovered the blog is essentially an accountability tool. Whether anyone reads it or not is irrelevant, it keeps me accountable to the library and the library program. Blogging = Librarianing.

In other news, this is book shopping week. I'll be making a big purchase for the Aberdeen library, and also doing some shopping for another school library due to a temporarily unavailable TL there. I'm excited to spend money.

In other other news, I'm cooking up an exciting project with my friend and colleague Terrence Kernaghan at Emily Carr. Exploring prejudice, igniting conversation, human books...stay tuned. This might just be awesome.

Let's leave it there for now. I don't want to go and overextend myself on my first day back at it.

Quote of the Day

2010-06-22T11:40:00.001-04:00

"Mr. Marshall, I wish this library was more like a forest with books in it. It should have more trees, and also some toy snakes, and also some lizards...and a bear over in the corner."

Hooray for All Day Every Day!

2010-06-15T15:22:00.003-04:00

Aberdeen was picked as one of six TVDSB schools for full day learning, starting September 2011. What a victory for our community.

Full story here

Zoinks

2010-06-07T14:17:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day

Lucas: "Who wrote that stuff on the wall Mr. Marshall?"

Mr. Marshall: "I don't know Lucas. It's a mystery."

Long pause

Lucas: "I wish Scooby Doo was real so he could help us solve this mystery."

Mr. Marshall: "Me too Lucas. Me too."

Latest Edition of "Elevation" Podcast

2010-05-27T10:20:00.002-04:00

The latest episode of the TVDSB Podcast was just released.

You can listen by clicking here.

I'm interviewed in it while at the TVDSB Tech conference last April.

Breakfast of Champions

2010-05-19T13:41:00.003-04:00

Principal of Aberdeen Public School in London, Paul Cook, won the Champion of Mental Health Award from St. Joseph’s Health Care and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

The award recognizes people in the community who provide excellence in mental health care.
Cook was nominated by the family of one of his students for being an exemplary leader in developing programming and supports for students with mental health issues across the Thames Valley District School Board.

Greg Marshall, a teacher at Aberdeen P.S. accepted the award on Cook’s behalf at the Breakfast of Champions at the London Convention Centre.

From http://www.tvdsb.ca/spotlight.cfm?sp=146

Spencer and the Goose

2010-05-17T14:10:00.002-04:00

My favourite story from the past couple of weeks here at Aberdeen is the story of Spencer and the Goose. Perhaps you heard about it on A Channel News. Our library makes a good backdrop for the telling of this awesome story. If you missed the original broadcast, follow the links below.

Part One - Spencer and the Goose

Part Two - Spencer's Reward

Wireless is Coming

2010-05-04T11:47:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I arrived in our library and found someone from ITS staring at the ceiling. He was scouting out a location for a new wireless router. Aberdeen, and all other TVDSB elementary schools, are getting wireless access. Specifically, we're getting access for ALL wi-fi enabled devices. This means access for your personal laptop, your iTouch or iPad, your cell phone, or anything else with a web browser. The system will work a bit like it might in a Starbucks or an airport. When you open your web browser you'll be prompted to enter your active directory login and password. This gives access to all staff and students in the whole building while ensuring that the public can't just park outside the building and get free access. Aberdeen should be wired and ready by September.

Book Fair is Here!

2010-05-03T20:15:00.001-04:00

Win a Tetherball!

2010-04-30T09:47:00.002-04:00

My Silver Birch reading rock stars have a limo to pay for so it's hard core fundraising time. First money raiser:

The first ever "WIN YOUR OWN TETHERBALL" Contest. That's right everyone. $2.00 buys you a ticket to win your very own brand new "Game Tuff" tethball with string, clip, and your own name written on it in Sharpie by Mr. Marshall. Nothing says fun like tetherball. With your own tetherball you will rule the school yard and be the hit of parties and other school age appropriate social functions.

The contest runs next week, from Monday to Friday. See Mr. Marshall for tickets any time.

Free Comic Book Day

2010-04-28T14:34:00.007-04:00

Hey readers! You should all know that this Saturday, May 1st is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! FCBD is an international celebration of comics and a great chance to get your hands on some awesome free reading material. The closest participating store to Aberdeen is B.A. Comics, just East of us on Hamilton Road. Drop by this Saturday to pick up your free comic and check out the other great books that B.A. has to offer.

Other London Retailers include L.A. Mood on Richmond, Comic Book Collector, Heroes, and Worlds Away, all on Dundas.

For other participating stores, check here.

First Nations Books

2010-04-27T08:24:00.004-04:00

I came in early today to pull some books for a new display featuring First Nations stories. I tried to keep it as local as possible, with a focus on Oneida and Ojibway stories. That said, you'll still find some Native stories from across the country. I've also included a few non fiction books.

Kids into Action CD

2010-04-21T18:17:00.002-04:00

I was tidying up the professional resource section today and found a brand new CD I thought was worth sharing. It would be really useful for those odd situations where you have to teach gym in an unusual space. Actually, it would also be a great tool for daily QDPA or just regular gym class. The program instructs and then leads students through either a 13 or 18 minute circuit workout focusing on strength, balancing and coordination. There are instructions for seven different stations, and three different circuits. Activities just require simple materials like a ball, beanbags, hula hoops, and scarves. Find Kids Into Action - The Circuit in the PRO section on the physical education shelf.

DIgital Books

2010-04-20T13:28:00.001-04:00

Pile of New Resources

2010-04-19T08:36:00.009-04:00

I've had a big pile of new books and professional resources on my desk for almost a month now. I've had the best intentions of reviewing them for you, but I'm just not finding the time. To get them out of my life and into yours I've put them on the big table in the library for people to take a look at until Friday, then they'll be shelved. Here is a quick run down of what you'll find:

Ghosthunters Series: Cornelia Funke

German author Cornelia Funke wrote the very popular Inkworld trilogy. Inkheart was turned into a movie in 2008. Ghosthunters is her series for the late primary or early junior reader. The series is funny, engaging, and very accessible. Kid friendly bonus - flip book corners like Captain Underpants.

Biomes/Earth Science Series: Various Authors

Attention grade four teacher. This series of books about different biomes would be perfect for teaching the grade four habitat unit in science. Lots of pictures, easy text level, all the right non fiction text features.

Think Literacy 2004: Ministry of Education

I know these have been around for a while, but now I have them catalogued and easily accessible. Basically, they are 7/8 documents that discuss integration of reading, writing and communicating into all the subject areas. They include some ready to go lessons and lots of black line masters.

School Atlas of Canada: Scholastic

Every library needs at least one up to date Atlas. Now we have one. It will live in the reference section.

And a few more titles for the professional resource section.

Physical Education Safety Guidelines 2008: TVDSB

Me Read? And How?: Ministry of Education

Supporting English Language Learners: Ministry of Education.

Books For Breakfast

2010-04-16T19:05:00.006-04:00

Books for breakfast is one of our biggest victories this year. Every month I pull out my favorite books and we invite parents and students to come in and read together. To entice the crowds we provide snacks, prizes, and delicious flavored coffee. Mrs. Gallacher deserves a big round of applause for the work she puts into this program. Thanks also to all the staff that attend and help out.

Mrs. Waters takes charge of reading while Ross takes care of breakfast.

Two little Aberdeeners claiming the coveted carpet spot with their books and breakfast.

More books, more breakfast.

Mrs. Trotter dropped by to read. She is so engaging that children ignore cake when she is around.

Leanardo the Terrible Monster with his book. Leanardo is the green puppet, not the parent in the hat or the blond toddler.

Prizes for everyone!

TL PD at Wilfrid Jury

2010-04-15T14:33:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting in the library here at Wilfrid Jury. Big props to Mrs. Rose for what she's accomplished in this beautiful space. Although I've been here before It's never been during school hours. The library is the heart of the place and you can feel the energy of the whole building. It's high ceilings and carpeted floor seem to absorb the sounds of activity and bounce it back as productive white noise. It's excellent.

Today's visit was for an expertly organized PD session. Congratulations to Chris Passmore and Aime Donais for putting together a very useful session with lots of opportunity for discourse and exploration.

Here's what I'm taking away:

I should probably build an official website through the TVDSB site. I'll continue to use use blogger to continue this blog, but the official website would be a good place to gather useful links for students.

I need to read the newly released OSLA document about the Learning Commons. My initial assessment is that it's moving us in the right place, but it seems to be written a bit like a manifesto. Lots of "we need to" but not enough specifics. Generally speaking though, it seems like the right direction.

Databases available to TVDSB Students - I'll be trying to connect with our teachers and show them Culturegrams and Searchasaurus. The world and province kids editions are particularly good. I also need to check out the Knowledge Ontario website and click the "Tell us your story" link. The ministry of Education wants to here from people that are using the service, presumably to determine whether to keep paying for it.

Strategic Writing and Strategic Reading workshops offered through the employee portal. Anyone else heard of these?

Animoto.com "We make killer video from your images automatically." Looks like an excellent way to make things on a PC as easily as you can do them on a Mac. There I go, getting all Macvangelical.

What is the role of the TL in the TLCP process beyond just pulling resources? I'm still not sure, but I intend to find an answer and act on it.

Future blog post - "iPhone apps for literacy" - look into it

To start your own TVDSB web page use your AD username@TVNET.PRI and you AD password.

Chris Passmore has a TVDSB TL wiki at TLatTVDSB.Wikispaces.com. Go share an idea.

Family Literacy Night

2010-04-14T22:12:00.007-04:00

Some of our many prize winners

Excellent turn out. Way to go Aberdeen Community!

Read the toddler? I'm not totally sure what's happening here.

This is Lucas cutting out a monkey. Lucas calls me "Mr. Handsome."

Big Thanks to the hard working people at investing in Children

Cheyanna showing of some prizes with Ms. Welshman

Big Bear Hugs for Earth Day

2010-04-14T13:14:00.003-04:00

Earth day is coming up in early May and I've put together a display of books to celebrate the occasion. Included in the selection is Big Bear Hug, A brand new release from Kids Can Press. Author Illustrator Nicholas Oldland won my attention with hilarious pictures and a cute story about using peaceful methods to get what you want. Big Bear just loves hugging. Here he is hugging forest creatures big and small. I love the faces on the animals.

Bear goes about his days happily hugging, until one day "while the bear was trying to hug a beaver and a tree at the same time, he noticed a man with an axe walking into the forest."

I won't give it away, but rest assured the trees are saved, no one is eaten, and hugs are delivered.

TEDxOntarioEd

2010-04-12T11:53:00.004-04:00

Michelle owning the TEDx sign

You all know about TED right? Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world online, or in person in California for about $6000.00. TED is amazing.

TED has proven to be so popular that the organization is now licencing smaller more accessible TED talks all around the world. Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend TEDxOntarioEd at the LDCSB headquarters in London. The focus was on technology in the classroom and featured some big name players in the ed tech world, some live and some by video (through Adobe Connect) as we were frequently reminded. TVDSB's own Danika Barker spoke about how she's using Ning in her secondary English classes. The best piece I pulled out of her talk was something along the lines of "Students are anonymous enough in this setting to take risks, but not so anonymous they aren't accountable." Brilliant.

I was also engaged by the talk Lee LeFever gave about explanation. Lee and his wife are the duo behind Common Craft. Common Craft is in the business of explanation, and their series of web based videos make complex subjects like social bookmarking or the stock market easy to understand. Lee talked about the "curse of knowledge." Basically, the more you know about something the more difficult it is to explain it to someone else in plain knowledge. For example, I'm also an LST (Learning Support Teacher) and I might say something like this to a colleague: "I was right about the WJIII results suggesting a possible LD. Now that she has a diagnosis I'm going to start working on a SEA application, an IEP, and maybe even apply for an ISC placement."

Translation: "This student has a learning disability and now we are going to get her a special computer to help her learn to read, change what and how we teach her in class, and maybe try and get her into a special class for students with learning disabilities."

Surprisingly, sometimes your own knowledge can be a barrier to effective communication

Funny Farm

2010-04-07T20:15:00.003-04:00

6 Reasons why kids will love this brand new book in the Aberdeen Library:

Cows playing tetherball
Sheep brushing their teeth
Mice making cheese
Dogs milking cows
Robbins with umbrellas
Edward the city dog and his hilarious bumbling misadventures on the farm

Find it on the Mr.Marshall recommends shelf.

2.5 year old meets Ipad

2010-04-06T19:01:00.004-04:00

The magical and revolutionary Ipad released this week, and someone immediately took theirs home and gave it to their two and a half year old, who clearly has some mad Itouch skills already. Spend the five minutes to watch this video, and then consider this little one in ten years, as a grade six or seven student. What will they expect from school?

OLA Superconference Part 3 - Puppets and Props

2010-04-04T14:34:00.002-04:00

Upgrade your Storytime was the last session I attended at the conference. It was presented by Paul Axford from the Clarington Public Library. Mr. Axford uses magic, props, and puppets in what I imagine is about the best time you can have for free in Clarington. No disrespect to Clarington here, just accolades for a man who is an exceptionally gifted story teller and performer.

I've tried the puppet thing, and I always found it a bit awkward and uncomfortable. I can make the puppet come alive physically, but I struggle with the personality detachment required for giving puppets a voice. When questioned about how to overcome this and improve one's puppet skills, Paul gave an obvious but unexpected answer. Practice. Telling stories with props and puppets is an art, and artistic ability doesn't come automatically or instantly.

My other question, and one that received an equally obvious "Why didn't I think of that?" answer was, "How do you turn the pages of a book while wearing a puppet on one hand?"

Answer: Have a student do it.

Genius.

Another tip he offered was was buying good quality puppets. Paul's puppet purveyor of choice is Diablo Puppets in Montreal. He brought a few examples, and they are indeed fine puppets. Plus, they are amazingly affordable. The space monkey puppet pictured above is only $28.00 Canadian plus shipping and taxes.

Paul also talked about how he uses book props, mainly from here. The system is basically a big felt apron with sets of characters and other props you stick to it while reading or telling a story. Most align with popular kids books and stories. Unlike Diablo, book props products are pricey. If you're handy with the felt and shears though, it may be worth looking at for ideas.

New Layout and a Poll

2010-03-29T11:26:00.003-04:00

You'll notice a few changes to the layout today. While I liked the old one, I found that when I embedded some youtube videos they overran the centre column and looked weird. Voila. New layout, problem solved.

Also, I added a couple of gadgets to the side column. First up is a poll in the side column. Take a look over there. If you could kindly take the time to click a button, that would be appreciated. I know about how many readers I have, but I'd like to know who you are.

You'll also see a feature that allows you to search within my blog. Happy searching.

Finally, you'll note the return of the Blogger Navbar up top. I may get rid of it again, but for now, there it is. Keep in mind that clicking the random blog button takes you to a completely random blog that I have no control over. It could be a blog about growing turnips, or it could be a blog about people whose underwear is showing above their pants. I have no idea, but now you know.

Gotta Keep Reading

2010-03-28T17:02:00.004-04:00

Check out this awesome whole school performance promoting reading.

Here's the original Oprah/Black Eyed Peas version if you missed it.

A Grand Old Tree

2010-03-25T10:00:00.003-04:00

A Grand Old Tree was a favourite of mine when I taught in Dutton and I was happy to snag a copy for the Aberdeen Library. It's the perfect book for reading aloud during your unit on life cycles, plants, animals, or seasons. It's also a good one for Earth Day.

Find it on the Mr. Marshall reccomends shelf.

New Books - Crow Call

2010-03-24T10:08:00.007-04:00

A box of books arrived from Scholastic before March break and I've just gotten around to flipping through some of them. These were ordered with some money I discovered hanging around in our Scholastic account. Someone made some money at a book fair once and didn't spend it. I suppose we should thank Donna or Kim or Shannon or perhaps another past Aberdeen librarian. Thanks!

Before the new books get buried on the shelf I thought I'd do a brief review of them so you all know what we've got. Perhaps you'd like to read them or use them in your class.

Up first is a Crow Call by Newberry Medal winner Lowis Lowry (The Giver), with illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline.

Reading Crow Call was a step outside my normal picture book choices, and it got bumped down the pile a few times before I finally picked it up. While I encourage our students to read different genres, I repeatedly reach for the same brightly coloured, comic silliness. In contrast, Crow Call is historic fiction with realistic and rich full page illustration. It's actually based on a true story from the author's childhood. Here it is:

Dad comes back from war and is a stranger to his daughter

Dad take daughter hunting for crows and gives her the crow call

Girl blows crow call and all the crows fly to her and she has a wonderful time

Dad doesn't waste the crows

Speckle with some other tender moments about an oversize wool shirt, the nature of fear, and cherry pie, and there you have it.

Lowry is a beautiful writer and it's clear from Crow Call that she has been working on her craft since the 1970s. Sentences like "I sit shyly in the front seat of the car next to the stranger who is my father" pull you through the story effortlessly. Every page is masterfully written and just as richly illustrated.

That said, I think my brief summary above speaks to my overall engagement with the story. I just wasn't that into it. In the epilogue, Lowry says the story is about "parents and children groping towards understanding each other," and thus it is everyone's story. It doesn't really feel like my story, but perhaps it will be yours. If you're interested, you'll find it on the Mr. Marshall recommends shelf in the library.

This is SPARTA!

2010-03-24T10:02:00.003-04:00

This is post number 300. Well, actually it's post number 301. I'm a little late to the party.

Eat your Books

2010-03-23T09:19:00.003-04:00

It's not often a librarian will tell you to combine books with eating, but here's an exception. On Friday April 9th at 6:30 the London Public Library Central Branch invites to come help celebrate edible book day.

"The event brings together many talented London chefs in a competition to create the most spectacular and edible book creation! All proceeds from Books2Eat will be directed to literacy programs."

Are any other teacher librarians out there planning to celebrate edible book day?

Click here for event details and ticket info.

Dear Mom

2010-03-14T10:28:00.001-04:00

It's okay. The Greg Heffley tattoos aren't real.

Imagining Adversity as Opportunity

2010-03-11T20:35:00.006-05:00

Aimee Mullins was the Thursday Keynote. She spoke brilliantly and I hung around as the room emptied and waited to talk with her about how she changed my outlook on disability. Before I left I asked for someone to take a picture of us, then walked away feeling starstruck with my camera in my hand, and my bag sitting on a chair beside Ms. Mullins. Half way down the hall I noticed how light I felt and then had to hustle back to retrieve my stuff.

I scratched down some notes in my program as Ms. Mullins spoke. Here's a few of them, followed by some post conference reflections:

Discomfort = Growth
I like this idea. It gives a new lens to looking at things that are hard.

Be accountable to yourself first. Accountability is the first step towards integrity.

Accountability in various forms is something educators get really riled about. DRA, EQAO, Daybooks, IEPs, Report Cards, Safe Schools forms...all those things are about accountability.

Self assessment rather than self judgment
One is quantitative, measured, analytical. The other is qualitative, emotional, and undefined. I prefer assessment.

If you missed out on this one, go and watch Ms. Mullins videos at Ted.com.

OLA Superconference Part 2 - Miscellany

2010-03-10T14:25:00.007-05:00

Sign up here to be a shelf monkey for ECW press. They'll send you copies of newly released books if you'll agree to write reviews of them on Amazon, Facebook, your blog, etc. Maybe they'll also send bananas.

Bobbie Kalman is quite possibly the most prolific author of children's non fiction ever, and she signed a copy of her book "I move like this" for me. Embarrassingly, I had no idea that Bobbie Kalman was a woman and I was completely unaware of who I was talking to for the first two minutes of our conversation.

The Bequiling is quite possibly the best comic shop in Canada and their booth on the trade show floor is always my first stop at the OLA expo. They know comics and graphic novels better than any of their competitors, and their staff are great to talk to. I purchased a copy of a new graphic novel called "mirror mind" written by one of their staff. It's an autobiographical piece about growing up with dyslexia. Look for a review to come in a couple of weeks.

OLA Superconference Part 1 - Virtual Knowmads

2010-03-05T15:09:00.008-05:00

So I'm a little behind on getting my thoughts out about Superconference 2010, but here we go. Let's start at the beginning, with the first session I wandered into.

"Virtual Knowmads" was presented by Deb Kitchener of Learning Connections (insert link), and Pat Whitehouse of York Region DSB. The session was advertised as a place to "explore how using web 2.0 tools for professional learning can impact student engagement and success at your school library."

If you've been poking your head into discussions about students and technology you may have heard someone differentiating between digital natives (kids) and digital immigrants (us). This is based on work done by Marc Prensky. Deb Kitchener is the first one I've heard wholeheartedly not buying it. Why? Because being immersed in something and understanding something are not necessarily connected. Ten year olds can log into facebook and text message their friends, but do they really understand the capabilities and consequences of the digital language they dabble in? Probably not, so it's our job to teach them. Deb made a compelling argument for refusing to accept our own "immigrant" status and choosing instead to learn the language and start teaching it.

This whole discussion of our kids not being the super powerful technology users we assume them to be got me thinking, and I scratched down this question to my self:

"Can kids really multi task? Are we in love with the idea that kids can exist, learn, produce, and thrive in a multi text, multi image, multi media world?"

Increasingly, I think our kids don't have the skill set we think they do, and what we view as an ability to attend to everything all at once is actually a lack of ability to attend to very much, very deeply, for very long.

Yikes. If that's the case, then I suppose it's time to take the reigns, learn the digital language, and engage our kids as experts not immigrants.

By the way, does anyone else find the use of "immigrants" as a label for a group of people that are confused and unfamiliar with something slightly derogatory?

Moving along. Here's a few new (to me) tools to start teaching and learning with:

Voki - Make your own talking head

http://www.voki.com/

Voki is an applet for creating speaking avatars you can embed on your website. Picture a Wii-ish version of yourself speaking in your own recorded voice. I picture is being used by teachers to share messages online in a more personal way, or by students as another alternative for publishing electronically.

Prezi - Putting an end to ugly powerpoint

http://prezi.com/

I really like this tool for creating presentations in a non linear mind map type format, entirely online. Imagine your traditional powerpoint or smart notebook presentations laid out on a giant virtual table top, and then you choose how to transition from one area to the next. Brilliantly intuitive with hip design templates. Best of all, it runs entirely online, allowing you (or your students) to work from any computer, and present from any computer. When you sign up, use your tvdsb email address to get an educators account. This gives you a few more options and removes the Prezi watermark from your work. If you're heading to our board's Saturday technology conference in April, I'll be presenting using Prezi.

Wall Wisher - Just park it

http://www.wallwisher.com/

You know how when you go to PD Sessions they sometimes have a chart stand set up that says "Parking Lot" on it? The idea is that when you have a question you write it on a post it note and stick it on the parking lot. At the end of the session or at break the presenters then answer the questions. Wallwisher is a web based parking lot, or as they call it, "an online notice board maker." Why? I don't know yet. If you can think of something compelling to do with it let me know. I sense it has usefulness that isn't yet fully realized.

Ning and Moodle - Build your own social network

http://www.ning.com/ & http://moodle.org/

Where do people come up with these names? Ning and Moodle sound like characters from a British cartoon. In fact they are websites for building your own social networks. Ning will let you build a private facebook/myspace type setup, while moodle seems more wiki based to me, allowing you to build a private network to collaborate and store content. Clear? Excellent.

Flickr Creative Commons - Free images to use as you please

http://www.flickr.com/groups/creativecommons/ or http://www.flickr.com/groups/creative_commons-_free_pictures/

So it's holiday time and you're learning about Hanukkah. You want to show the class a picture of the thing that holds the seven candles. What's it called? A Minora? How about Google image search. Why don't you kind readers go try that right now. Go ahead. I'll wait. Maybe don't do that at work though, because it's actually "Menorah" not Minora. They're surprisingly different. Anyhow, my point is that Google image search is not the best tool for school. Minoras aside, most of the images you'll find are not cleared for re-use in the public domain. A good alternative is one of the many creative commons groups in flickr, the popular photo sharing site. All the pictures in these groups can be republished freely. The second link I posted is also free of pictures depicting nudity, violence, drugs, and other things we discourage at school. You'll find a lovely photo of a menorah there, and no photos of minoras.

Stay tuned for more OLA coverage, including a picture of me with Aimee Mullins.

Fresh Ink

2010-03-01T14:14:00.002-05:00

I'm still working on my report from OLA 2010. Check back at the end of the week to read about all the fabulous things I learned. In the meantime, here is a picture of my new Diary of a Wimpy Kid Tattoo.

Who is Aimee Mullins?

2010-02-19T16:46:00.004-05:00

Aimee Mullins is the keynote speaker at the OLA Superconference on Thursday. If you're unfamiliar with Ms. Mullins, it's time to catch up (if you can). She is an activist/athlete/author/actor/model and highly engaging speaker who wants to redefine how you think about disability, and show you how to find opportunity in adversity.

Aimee Mullins Personal Web Page

Aimee Mullins Profile on TED with links to her TED talks

More Festival Info

2010-02-09T15:12:00.004-05:00

How much fun? This much fun.

Following my last post about transportation to the OLA Forest of Reading Festival I had a few other inquiries about the festival, including this one from Linda at Bonaventure:

"I am considering bringing a group of students to the Red Maple ceremony. I have a difficult time finding any information about the day other than the time of the ceremony. Is there some further structure? The (OLA) website talks about author signings and workshops but I can't find a schedule of what our day might look like."

While I can't speak directly about the Red Maple ceremony, I can give folks an overview of how the Silver Birch day works. I was on the festival steering committee and then attended with kids for a few years.

Basically, the event follows a festival format that is built around some key scheduled events. The actual award ceremonies take place on the open air stage, and are scheduled. Tickets are purchased for either Silver Birch fiction, express, or non fiction. While your ticket allows access to the entire event, it will only allow access to one of the three ceremonies. These ceremonies include the authors parading onto the stage, witty MC banter, student author introductions, and an acceptance speech from the winner. It's always moving how much this award means to the winners. It isn't a "yeah thanks" moment at all. I don't think crowd cheering warad accepting moments are very run of the mill for Canadian children's authors.

Other scheduled events include the author book signings (get in line early), author workshops (ditto) and musical performances. "On all day" events to fill the time between scheduled ones include displays/activities from community partners, concessions, games, book sale tents, and the not to be missed Blue Spruce original artwork show. Mix in travel time, eating time, and free time, and you've got yourself a day.

If you're going, get in touch. Our tickets were purchased and our limo is booked. We're going! Woot!

Getting to the Forest

2010-02-05T12:24:00.002-05:00

Recently I've had a few of my fellow TL's ask me about the details of my annual trip with Silver Birch readers to the Forest of Reading Celebration in May. As previously shared, we travel by limousine. I started doing this while I was teaching in Dutton, following the lead of Adlborough's TL who took her own group plus the Red Maple group from WESES in a giant white limousine bus. That first year I put two kids on her bus where she had spaces and took my other eight in a limo provided by the same company. Prior to that year, ex TL Susan Jacobs had taken Dutton students to the festival by train. When I took over and compared prices, it worked out that the limousine was cheaper.

The next year the OLA broke the festival into two days which eliminated Aldborough's bus option. The bus had to have all the Red Maple and Silver Birch readers going to the same place on the same day to be viable. That left me with space for only eight students, plus myself and one other adult supervisor, as the limousine only has space for ten. We booked it again, chose our eight, and it worked beautifully. No tricky bus parking, our own schedule, and a more reasonalbe cost than the train or any other type of bus rental. If you're interested, we used Auniversal Limousine. They've always given excellent rates and have been friendly and helpful.

This year I'm undecided about going. I have some dedicated readers, but cash is tight and the cost of tickets plus transportation might be more than we can raise. If we don't get there, then hopefully someone else from the TVDSB can take over the limousine riding, reading rock stars role.

What Ever Happened to Language Arts?

2010-02-04T08:51:00.004-05:00

Anyone remember this? Last April I met David Booth at a Library PD event presented by the Ontario Media Development Corporation and Pembroke Publishers. He picked me out of the crowd before the event because I'd arrived by motorcycle and was wearing my leather jacket and carrying my helmet. I don't think he'd ever met a school librarian that rode and wanted to know how the kids reacted. We chatted before the event, talked again afterwards, and exchanged contact info.

Later that month he started reading back posts of this blog, and then he asked if I'd be interested in writing up a short piece for his newest book. Ten months later the book is on the shelves, including my off the cuff bulleted list of ideas titled "Life in my library." You can browse the book online by visiting the Stenhouse Publishing Website. Scroll down on click on the link that says "browse the entire book online." My contribution is on page 48.

Much thanks to Mr. Booth for including me in this work. I look forward to getting my hard copy and reading the entire work.

Here is the book's descriptive blurb from the Publishers website:

Whatever Happened to Language Arts? presents David Booth's best literacy strategies from almost half a century of teaching and enriches them with practical ideas and techniques that teachers can use. Each chapter features vignettes of outstanding teachers in action and reflects on what informed their successful classroom practice. David looks at literacy techniques that range from group reading to language experience to whole language to synthetic phonics to balanced literacy to reading and writing workshops and shares his insights into the way forward.

Pimp my Book Truck

2010-02-02T10:26:00.004-05:00

TIC today and the library is in the hands of a supply. Book exchanges and shelving continue.

Did everyone hear about the OLA's “Pimp my Booktruck” contest? Winner 'swill be announced during the Saturday luncheon at Super Conference 2010. Here are the details from the OLA:

WHAT IS “PIMP MY BOOKTRUCK”?
We are asking libraries from across the country to enter their most ‘tricked’ out version of a standard book cart. The cart can be as elaborate as possible using themes, paint, props or anything you feel will set your library apart from other libraries. The only rule is it still needs to be able to roll and at least shelve a few books.

WHERE and WHEN IS THIS TAKING PLACE?
All high-resolution photo submissions need to be sent via email to Meredith Tutching, Program Co-ordinator, via email at mtutching@accessola.com OR can be mailed on CD to the OLA office to the address below. All submissions must be received by FEBRUARY 15, 2010.

Meredith A. Tutching
Program Co-ordination
Ontario Library Association
50 Wellington Street East, Suite 201
Toronto, ON M5E 1C8

All entries will be shown on the screens at the Saturday luncheon of the Conference and the winning library will be announced before the luncheon plenary speaker, Jonathan Goldstein.

Get pimping TVDSB librarians!

Post #8

2010-02-01T15:30:00.002-05:00

It's a bit shocking that nearly 100 days of school have gone by and this is only my eigth post to the Aberdeen Library Blog. Yikes! However, a lack of blog posts is not a reflection of nothing going on in the library. What it does reflect is how busy I am with my assignment this year. The LST/Librarian combination keeps me running, and when the time crunch is on I admit to letting my LST duties overrun my library duties. All that said, I'm having a great year and life is good at Aberdeen.

So what's been going on in the three months that have gone unblogged about? I can't remember it all, but here's a sampling:

Book Exchanges: Maybe not a thrilling lead off item, but this year marks the first time in years where every single class has a scheduled book exchange time once per cycle. Things are really circulating, and I hope being read too! I look forward to seeing the stats for this year.
Books for Breakfast: This has been a huge hit and is attracting attention from our neighbouring schools. Visitors from Princess Elizabeth, Ealing, and Carruthers have all dropped in over the last few months to see how we're managing to get parents into the library to read with their kids. Big props go out to Mrs. Gallacher our Reading Support Teacher.
Old Books Out, New Books In: I continue to weed old material out in an effort to make the collection more appealing and raise our average collection age above 1996. On the new book front, I have to thank an unknown librarian from the past for leaving us with about $400.00 in unused book fair credit. I called Scholastic last month to look into another issue and discovered we had credit from a book fair long ago. You know that feeling of finding $20.00 in the pocket of a coat you haven't worn since last winter? Same.
Collection Protection: I've invested a good chunk of time lately training people to put book jackets and protective adhesive covers on books. I was watching all those brand new ministry money books getting beaten on so I decided to invest some money in protecting them. Hopefully it will keep the new looking new. Curious what I'm using? Just ask and I'll share my experiences with you. I've found some real winning products in the Brodart catalogue
Supply Time: This year I've found myself stepping into the role of TIC fairly regularly, which puts a supply teacher in the library. Lately I've been booking Kevin MacKay who is exceptional. He's a now retired Teacher Librarian from Toronto District. Top drawer guy.

That's all for now. Here's to more books, more blogging, and maybe breaking into a double digit number of posts before the snow melts.

Remember

2009-11-04T22:02:00.002-05:00

Remembrance day is next week.

LSTarian

2009-10-26T14:18:00.004-04:00

If you've ever built a sand castle you know the best place to build is in that wet sandy bit of beach just at the farthest reaches of the crashing waves. The sand is wet and easy to build with there. Problem is, the waves gradually erode the castle when you turn your back.

Let it be known that I have a perfect job assignment right now. I totally love it, but it is a little like building two sand castles at the same time. When I get one looking perfect the other sags a bit, and I'm either running back and forth giving my full attention to each in turn, or I'm working on one with each hand. As I've been busily writing term one IEPs, the "updating the blog" part of my library castle fell into the surf. Time to build it up again.

Let's start with an update on what's going on in here. Since the last post, another books for breakfast morning went off flawlessly with twice the number of participants, about 300 books were pulled and discarded, and a new "Mr. Marshall Recommends" display was added. I've worked with the grade six students on finding non-fiction resources and using Kids Infobits, I've made a budget request, and I've cleared out a bunch more junk from the past. We're moving forward.

Right now the book fair is set up and ready to open, and as soon as I'm done here I'm heading into the PRO section to start a much needed rehab project. How's that for tending the castles?

More updates to come. I'm back in blogness.

Books for Breakfast

2009-09-27T20:47:00.005-04:00

I'm a little late to post news about this one, but our first Books for Breakfast event was last week and it was a huge success. About a dozen families joined Ms. Gallacher and I in the library to read aloud and eat snacks. Prizes and literacy pamphlets were given to everyone who attended. It was really a big success. Thanks to all the parents, students and staff who dropped by.

And I don't see many yaks and yo-yo's either.

2009-09-22T20:54:00.000-04:00

Week One

2009-09-11T15:08:00.002-04:00

Borrower catalogue: Completed

New books: Displayed

Library orientations: Done

Air hockey: Played

Class book bins: Filled

Bulletin boards: Posted

Old books: Gone

Pro section: Organized

New graphic novels: Read

Weekend: Already?

How Many Boxes of New Books?

2009-09-04T19:06:00.001-04:00

This many.

Who Brought the Coffee?

2009-09-03T16:17:00.002-04:00

I brought the coffee.

Welcome Back

2009-09-02T22:05:00.003-04:00

Welcome back readers. Did we all have a good first day of school? It was a slightly different first day of school given there were no children, but that's a good thing, because my library desk is buried under boxes of new books. I unpacked a few today and promptly distributed them to the nearest classrooms. Want some new books in your class? Great, because you're getting some anyways.

I have much news to report.

First up, I am now an LSTarian. Very excited about that. My new office is on the other side of the library, perfectly situated across from the existing LST room and the circulation desk. Now you know where to find me.

Next on the agenda - a note specifically for the Aberdeen staff. Myself or Donna (Donna and I?) will be doing all of the book exchanges this year. That means every class has a regularly scheduled time to come to the library and pick out a book. This is exciting. Be excited.

Money. More is coming from the Ministry. Start looking at catalogs. This is of course unconfirmed and largely speculative, but I'd still get the catalogs out. My sources say that Dalton will keep dishing it out this year.

David Booth asked me to contribute a little blurb to one of his books, but I might have dropped the ball on this one and responded too late. We'll see. Could be interesting.

Karen Scott is leaving. She was our automation specialist and ever friendly Horizon phone support person. Karen really helped me figure things out when I took over the TL role. She's off to the Woodstock Public Library System. Hooray for Woodstock. They've landed a gem.

Christine Passmore is our new Library Leader. I'm a bit unclear still on the current structure of Program Services and I haven't read anything very official looking about the whole situation, but congratulations to Christine. I'm glad to have a real live librarian working on our behalf.

Okay, librarian out. Good to be back, and check back for regular updates on the library situation. There's always lots going on in these first few weeks. Perhaps you could even subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog and then you wouldn't have to come looking for it. It would come to you like glass bottled milk in 1950. Mmmm. . . frosty.

Spring Updates

2009-06-10T10:57:00.003-04:00

It appears that an entire week has flown by since the last update. June is like a runaway
locomotive. Strange analogy. Did that really ever happen? How did they get away?

Here's what's going on in here:

All books are due back in the library on June 12th, that's this Friday. If you would like a bin of books for your class to get you through the end of the year, let me know and I'll pull a selection for you.
Starting next week I'm going to be a cranky mean librarian and keep kids in at recess who have not brought back books. Maybe that will make them look harder. And on that note...
Overdue notices will go home on Friday of this week. Please help students get them in planners, pockets, backpacks,etc.
I'm digging into the professional resource section again. If you have any professional resources, ministry guides, teacher manuals, etc. that belong to the school please send them my way so they can be catalogued over the summer. I have a vision.
I'm getting rid of a bunch of old books on cassette tape. Want some? See me.
Still available to weed classroom libraries. I've done six rooms so far. Anyone else?

It's Coming

2009-06-03T09:23:00.003-04:00

This will be the last week for student library circulation. As of next week books will still be available for staff to sign out as read alouds, but all student books need to be returned. During my primary book exchange prep coverages I'll be doing read alouds. I'm excited to share some longer books that I can't always fit in after a book exchange.

As always, I'll be sending out overdue item notes to try and get lost items back before the end of June. I may even start keeping kids in the library at recess until they find their books. I refuse to let $1200.00 worth of books disappear. Thanks in advance for your help with handing out notes and writing in planners.

Ministry of Money

2009-05-29T09:24:00.002-04:00

It's official as a man with a whistle and a black and white striped shirt. We've got $2000.00 more to spend on our library collection. Get excited everyone.

The board is organizing a sale on June 16th featuring all of the approved vendors with all their newest books. I'll be in book shopping heaven. I'm looking at purchasing some low reading level non fiction for our primary kids, more excellent picture books for classroom read aloud, and anything else that looks new and exciting. Thoughts on what you'd like more of? Let me know. It's your library too.

Sharpen Your Fangs

2009-05-27T12:21:00.002-04:00

Brand new hardcover copies of Twilight, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn just arrived. Sorry if you're looking for new moon. Hardcovers were sold out, but we do have a softcover copy somewhere out there.

Ten Million More

2009-05-26T12:23:00.002-04:00

It looks like we're going shopping again! The rumour is that another 10 million for Ontario school libraries is coming and it will likely be spent before the end of June. Official announcements should arrive later this week.

New Intermediate Novels

2009-05-25T11:39:00.002-04:00

Thanks to our friends who dole out the Pathways for Success dollars, our library just received about 200 new novels for our intermediate students. They'll be shipped off to cataloguing soon and should be available for circulation next September.

One more step in making the Aberdeen library shelves a little newer, cleaner, and more relevant to our readers.

Silver Birch Toronto Trip

2009-05-18T21:15:00.006-04:00

Me and the crew with the CN Tower

Riding in the Limo while drinking juice out of champagne flutes. Look in the back of the photo where D is checking himself out in the mirrored ceiling. Excellent.

Getting close to Toronto. Large amounts of sugar have been consumed. We are excited.

Better than a yellow school bus.

K posing with Alan Cumyn. His book "Dear Sylvia" won the silver birch express award.

Me and the crew with the CN Tower

The Express winner is announced. Listen to the crowd.

The OLA Festival of Trees is one of my favourite parts of the year, and one of the best things about being a TL. It's absolutely inspiring to see so many kids that are so stoked on reading, and after talking to some of the winning authors at superconference this year, I've realized what a big deal it is for the authors as well. Outside of a Governor Generals award, this is pretty much as big as it gets for being recognized as a children's author in Canada.

Here at Aberdeen we do the festival in high style. We cruise to Toronto in limo luxury, arrive before the crowds to beat all the lines, get front row seats for the ceremony, and then sneak around to meet all our favourite authors. We caught them lined up behind the stage, after their workshops, and just as they sat down at the signing tables. Aberdeen readers don't stand in line (except for T at the fortune teller!)

Big congrats go out to our group this year. They put the time in reading and earned every minute of their silver birch adventure. Plus, they did a great job representing Aberdeen in the big city. Thanks also to Mr. Robertson for coming along with us. I couldn't have done it solo.

So Aberdeen readers, how can you earn a spot in the limo? Easy. Next year around January when it's time for Silver Birch to start, just come out and join. It's as easy as reading!

Book Fair Wrap up

2009-05-13T10:01:00.002-04:00

Books have been picked up and money has been counted. Overall, I think we did pretty well. We had just over $1000.00 in sales, which works out to about $350.00 worth of new books for our library, and about $150.00 cash. The new books are headed to cataloguing soon, and he cash will be put towards Tomorrow's Silver Birch reading group trip to the Festival of Trees in Toronto. Check back Thursday or Friday for the full Silver Birch report. We're all pretty excited.

Book Fair On Now

2009-05-06T10:09:00.002-04:00

Our Spring Book Fair is on right now. We are open for business most recees breaks, and for 20 minutes before and after school. All sales support our school library.

Top Ten Book Repair Tips

2009-04-30T10:54:00.005-04:00

Tuesday's book repair workshop at John Dearness was really informative, especially for a book repair rookie like myself. Here are the top ten book repair tips I left with.

You probably need a bone folder. Use it to smooth out tape, apply adhesive backed laminate, and "break in" new books by folding a gentle crease into the cover.
Preventing damage is easier than fixing damage, and protecting books is easiest when they're new.
Brodart Crystal Clear Tape is half the price of 3M book tape and just as good. Use it to laminate covers, protect corners, and make repairs. Clear tape is the most versatile book repair product.
You can make softcover books into more durable pseudo-hardcovers by using thin acrylic adhesive backed panels called Duracovers.
Brodex is like Windex but without the ammonia, so it won't cloud and discolour acrylic. It's good for cleaning book jackets and other acrylics in your library like display signs. As a side bonus, I'm thinking it would be great for motorcycle and hockey helmet visors.
Sometimes when making a repair things have to get worse before they get better. Don't be afraid to take a book apart and then put it back together.
Use cloth tape for making new hinges and spines. It's flexible and will stand up to repeated opening and closing.
fix torn pages with Brodart Bind-Art (glue) not tape. put a piece of waxpaper on either side of the torn page and glue the heck out of the tear. Saw an example of this and it makes a much better repair than tape.
Paper is made of wood, wood can be sanded, so paper can be sanded. Use fine sandpaper to remove marks from page edges and inside covers.
In the event of a major water damage episode, put all the wet books in bags and then throw them in the freezer. This stops the water from moving, stops the growth of mold and mildew, and allows you to deal with the wet books one at a time. Use a hairdryer on low setting to dry them out.

Bonus tip! Use cat litter to deodorize books that return smelling smoky or musty. Just put the book in a Ziploc bag with some cat litter, leave overnight, then shake the book clean.

Silver Birch 2009

2009-04-29T10:34:00.000-04:00

Reading the Ballots

Voting for our favourites

Doing the happy dance after finding out we're going to Toronto for the festival of Trees

Here's our results:

Silver Birch Fiction

Swindle - 1 vote

Eye of the Crow - 1 vote

Silver Birch Express

Addison Addley - 1 votes

Feather Brain - 2 votes

Boy in Motion - 1 vote

Dear Sylvia - 1 vote

The Cat Has It

2009-04-28T14:57:00.004-04:00

Books have been reviewed, cookies have been eaten, ballots have been cast and counted. The result? Aberdeen's grade one, two and three students have chosen Melanie Watt's book "Chester" as the clear favourite. Chester drew 61 votes, while none of the others managed more than four votes. I've submitted our results to the OLA, where they'll be combined with the votes from all across Ontario. The winner will be announced on May 13th. Cross your fingers for Chester.

Libraries, Literacy & Learning

2009-04-27T21:57:00.005-04:00

Why yes, that is David Booth.

Top drawer PD today at the Ramada, courtesy of the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and Pembroke Publishers. Let's review.

We've all seen Wordle and the beautiful word clouds that it makes, but what to do with them? How about using them as anticipation guides before presenting a new text? Thank you Carol Koechlin. Want more? Check out her book Building info Smarts.

Chris Spence. What a man. Teacher, administrator, author, and current director of the Hamilton Wentworth school board. He will soon be taking over as director of the Toronto District School Board. They're lucky to have a man with such vision and classroom connection.

Kathy Kacer. Great talk on her personal story as the daughter of a holocaust survivor, along with some interesting stories about what inspires her writing.

Larry Swartz. Good books matter. I had the opportunity to see Larry at Reading for the Love of it in February, and this was a micro version of his talk at the conference. A good reminder to go and pull the book "Q Tasks" from the professional resource section and take another look. We worked through the "Tic-Tac-Tell" page.

David Booth. Critical Literacy. This man is a literacy legend, and everyone should listen to him. Here are some of my favourite quotes from his talk.

"We have frozen in time what we think reading is." As in, stop thinking that reading is enjoying a novel under a tree, and start accepting that reading takes many forms.

"I wonder about a nation that buys its boys designer underwear but thinks that books are too expensive." In reference to three teenage boys Mr. Booth saw on a plane with their designer underwear hanging out, and nothing to read.

"We know more than we act on." I felt this statement deeply. I know what I need to do for students to be successful, but am I doing it all? No.

"If you want to teach swimming you have to get in the pool." In conclusion to a story about unsuccessfully teaching his child to swim while standing on the deck. His son finally learned to swim from a swimming instructor who jumped in the pool ahead of the students.

"If you believe in story you have to believe in response"

"The answer to everything in life is all of the above, some of the time"

And in conclusion...

"You are the people that can hold those kids on a rug, instead of a lap"

All in all, an exceptional day of PD. Thanks to Pembroke, the Ontario Ministry of Culture, and Marlene and crew.

Blogs on Parade

2009-04-22T20:12:00.004-04:00

Hi all! Over the last few years I've had a handful of teacher librarians get in touch with me because they wanted to know more about blogging in the library. Some I've met with in person, others I've exchanged e-mails with, and others I have yet to connect with. Each time someone has been in touch with me I've wished I had more time to spend chatting with them.

Well, now is the time. We've got a chance to get together! Marlene has asked me to fill a last minute opening at the upcoming TL PD Day on May 1st.

Registration for the day will be through the employee portal. It should be up in a few days. My session will be called "The Blogging Librarian," and I'd be happy to see you there.

Amulet 2 Coming Soon

2009-04-20T19:06:00.003-04:00

Amulet Book 2 Proofs

In the fall I purchased a copy of Kazu Kibuishi's Amulet - Book 1 - The Stone Keeper. I've passed it around to a number of kids, particularly those who came to enjoy reading for pleasure through Jeff Smith's Bone series. A lot of these kids were essentially non readers. These kids would plow through all nine volumes, then feel lost and not sure what to read next. Enter Amulet. I think it has the potential to be the next Bone (which I'm sure is a sentence that's been uttered in a Scholastic board room), but as of now, only book one is available.

While browing around the web tonight I discovered that book two is complete, and should be arriving soon, so stay tuned Amulet fans. I'll get a copy in the library as soon as possible.

World Book Living Green Series

2009-04-17T12:02:00.003-04:00

Our nine volume set of World Book's new "Living Green" series arrived today, just in time for earth day. Program Services purchased the set for each TVDSB elementary school, using some Ministry money that I assume was left over from our recent grant.

The nine volumes include:

Pollution
Consumable Goods
Oceans, Islands, and Polar Regions
Green Transportation
Durable Goods
Forests and Wetlands
Mountains, Deserts, and Grasslands
Green Buildings
Producing and Obtaining Food

Here are the details from the World Book Press Release:

"Living Green, offers students a comprehensive overview of environmental issues and current efforts to reduce human impact on the environment. Designed for students in middle school, World Book's Living Green is a 9-volume set that explores a spectrum of environmental issues. It examines causes and consequences of pollution, the major ecosystems and the current threats they face, and principles of green building and transportation. The series also investigates green issues in food production and consumption and offers a room-by-room tour of green practices that can be used at home."

The new books are on display in the wire rack, but will eventually be shelved in the non-fiction section, each in the appropriate section.

Silver Birch and Blue Spruce

2009-04-15T12:02:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update on our Forest of Reading programs.

Each primary class has one book left to read, and voting day will be next Thursday. We're looking forward to getting together in the library, eating cookies, and casting our votes for our favourite books.

Our silver birch group has eight dedicated members left, just enough to fill a limo to Toronto for the Festival of Trees. Hopefully my eight can finish off their last books in time for voting next Friday.

The submission deadline for the silver birch book trailer video contest has been extended. Rather than rushing to put a video together for the end of the month, we now have until the end of June. In fact, the submission deadline isn't until next September. I've got a couple of keen students from Mr. Doer's class that would like to enter. We're going to try and put together a trailer for Swindle. Stay tuned.

Shelf labels finally finished

2009-04-08T10:02:00.002-04:00

Somewhere in your house there is a job you haven't done yet.

It's likely some minor thing that you don't notice everyday, or maybe something that you know will take so long to finish you just ignore it and do something easier. But, in the back of your mind, you know it really needs to get done. It's the job that is perpetually number four on your list of things to do. It's important, but not urgent.

In the library, my number four on the to do list job was finishing the shelf labels. Way back in October I did the fiction section, then the easy section, and then I chipped away at non-fiction through the winter. Finally, I polished off the last of the labels. Now it's finally done. Finished. Complete.

What's next on the list of library renovation jobs? Professional resources section. Stay tuned.

2009 Library Collection Analysis

2009-04-03T11:40:00.005-04:00

The annual Library Collection Analysis arrived today in the mailbag. Keep in mind that data is only given up to February 2009. All of the items purchased at the most recent book sale are not accounted for in these statistics. Let's take a look at what we've got.

The Good

1756 old items were weeded from the library in 2008
343 new items were added in 2008
The number of books per student in our library is appropriate
The average age of our collection is one year newer than last year
Male and female borrowers checkout roughly equal numbers of items
The best news in the analysis is this - both student and staff utilization of the library is increasing. Of particular note is the increased use of the library by staff. If we look at the most recent months with available data, we notice an increase from the previous year in items circulated.

Total Circulation (Staff and Students combined)

December 2007 = 63

December 2008 = 148

January 2008 = 405

January 2009 = 502

February 2008 = 350

February 2009 = 446

Staff Circulation

December 2007 = 0

December 2008 = 33

January 2008 = 32

January 2009 = 114

February 2008 = 14

February 2009 = 45

The Bad

Our collection is OLD. The average age of items in our collection is 1993. The lowest acceptable average collection age as defined in the Standards for School Library Programs in Canada document is 1994. 45% of the library collection is over 15 years old.
Circulation statistics are still well below board averages. The average number of transactions per student per year in TVDSB elementary schools is 13.54. At Aberdeen, it's 5.40.
Our fiction collection is too small relative to the size of our easy and non fiction items.
Too many items are going missing.

What's Next?

It's great to have this kind of data because it helps us recognize weakness, celebrate success, and set goals for the future. Here's what needs to happen next:

Continued investment in collection development. I'd like to see our average collection age pulled up to 1995 or 1996. The newer the books, the more relevant they are and the more they are used.
Aggressive weeding. While many items have been removed already, more needs to go.
All students in the building need to be in the library once in every six day cycle. Book exchange needs to be part of the regular routine. This will give students the opportunity to exchange their books more frequently. When there are big gaps between visits, new books don't go out, and books also don't come back. Just getting kids in here regularly will minimize missing inventory and increase circulation.

There you have it. If you're interested in seeing the full report. It's available in the library.

New Books and Overdue Books

2009-04-02T09:58:00.003-04:00

New books continue to trickle in to the library. I threw a quick bulletin board together this morning to showcase some of the new titles.

In other news, I ran the list of overdue reports this morning. 103 students have an overdue item. Our school only has about 280 students. So basically, a third of our whole school has overdue books.

Let's go people! Bring your books back!

New Books!

2009-03-25T12:30:00.002-04:00

New books have arrived from the sale I went to way back in November. Great stuff. Watch the video to hear all about the first batch. More videos coming on Thursday, and then next Monday.

More Mo Willems

2009-03-24T09:49:00.002-04:00

An excellent interview with Mo Willems, one of my all time favourite authors. On a related note, have a look here for teachers guides, activities, and posters to go with many of Mo's books.

ReForest Interactive

2009-03-23T12:57:00.002-04:00

The Aberdeen Silver Birch Readers got hooked up with the beta version of ReForest Interactive today. We're part of a small group of testers putting the platform through a test run. Hopefully it will be in widespread use next year. The site allows students across the province to discuss and comment on the silver birch books they have read. The site also allows uploading of video book trailers, top ten lists, and recommendations. Prizes for participation include ipod nanos and a great multimedia pack (video camera and an imac) for the winning book video trailer.

Hopefully we'll get an entry together before the month is up.

Absolutely None.

2009-03-13T12:54:00.000-04:00

The Hope Tree

2009-03-11T09:52:00.004-04:00

I had an unusual request today. A teacher asked if I could help a student find a book about breast cancer. Her mom was recently diagnosed and she wanted to know more about what to expect. All I found in our collection was the book "A friend in hope," a story about brain cancer published by the brain tumour foundation of Canada.

Without a good book to suggest I went to the net and found this article from Kids Health. It gives the basics in kid friendly language, and I hope it will be enough to inform and start some dialogue.

Once the girl left with info in hand I had a quick look around to see if there are in fact any good kids books that deal with breast cancer, and it turns out there are. The best one I found is called "The Hope Tree" and is co-authored by an MD. I think I'll order a copy, and it might be worth getting a copy for your library. In the meantime, the London Public Library has one copy in the Central Children's collection.

Pancakes!

2009-03-09T21:02:00.002-04:00

While not technically related to the library program, this video was indeed shot in the library, so here we go. Check out the promo for our upcoming Aberdeen Family Breakfast, a fundrasier for room 111.

Non Fiction Signs

2009-03-06T12:45:00.004-05:00

I finally got started on my non fiction signs today. I've had these posters since October but was waiting on foamcore board to mount them on. The posters are from pinetree media, the foamcore and krylon spray adhesive were ordered through the webstore. The book end mounts are temporary until I figure out a better way to make them self standing.

My hope is that the signs will make it easier for students to find books in the nonfiction section, both while browsing and when searching for call numbers they've found in the catalogue.

OFIP Workshops

2009-03-05T21:15:00.003-05:00

The library hosted the second of our three part OFIP reading/writing workshop today. Great discussion about the reading writing connection, and I got to flog some of the new books I purchased at the ministry sale.

For me, one of the most interesting parts of the day was making lists of all the types of writing we had done in the last few weeks. After making our lists we divided the writing into fiction and non-fiction, and then again into public and personal. Mine looked something like this:

blog posts
facebook and twitter updates
emails
thank you notes
daybook pages
report card comments
to do lists

What does your list look like, and what does it mean? Click the comment button and join the discussion.

2009-03-04T15:55:00.006-05:00

Instead of checking in regularly at the Aberdeen library blog, why not subscribe? Just click on the "posts" box under subscribe in the menu to the right. Then, choose from one of many popular readers, and blogger will send you updates whenever the Aberdeen Library blog is updated. It's easy, just give it a click.

Streaming Video from Media Services

2009-03-03T17:35:00.003-05:00

Media Services has just rolled out streaming audio and video using Learn 360.

How does it work? It's essentially the same process we've always used for booking videos, but without the waiting for them to arrive in the courier.

Login to the employee portal.
Open Medianet.
Search for the video or audio content you're looking for, but choose "digitized video or digitized audio" from the format menu.
Congratulations, you just found all of the streaming video and audio available on your chosen topic.
Select the title you'd like to watch, and it will open in it's own viewing window.
Yay! No more waiting!
Yay! No more forgetting to return materials and getting stern phone calls from media services!

New Resource - "The Encyclopedia of North American Indians"

2009-03-02T12:05:00.002-05:00

We just received a new encyclopedia set in the courier. I'm assuming they were purchased by Program services for each school. It's an eleven volume set, and you can find it on the reference set.

Info from the vendor below:

"The Encyclopedia of North American Indians was published in 1997 by Marshall Cavendish and remains useful for senior elementary and high school students. Editor D. L. Birchfield, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is a professor of Native Studies and oversaw the contribution of 56 scholars, including 40 Native American writers. The 875 entries are organized alphabetically and range from a few paragraphs to several pages in this 11 volume set. The entries cover the history and cultural traditions of Aboriginal Peoples from the Arctic to South America. There are articles on specific Nations, biographical sketches of significant historical and contemporary people, historical events, and entries for each U.S. state and Canadian province's relationship with Aboriginal Peoples. The reference tool contains a comprehensive index, extensive appendixes, 900 illustrations (many in colour), and historic and contemporary maps. This is an important reference work that will be useful for general public libraries as well as school libraries."

Shopping with kids at the Ministry Funds Book Sale

2009-02-28T11:14:00.016-05:00

Friday was an incredible day. Wow. I shopped with the crew in the morning and then went back in the afternoon to shop solo. I can't wait to share all the incredible titles we purchased. Taking students along to help choose books was a huge success, and next year I'll take even more. Check out some pictures of the fun we had.

The shopping team arrives at the sale. Mallory, Angus, Kylie, and our extraordinary volunteer Mrs. Piggot. First thing I heard when we walked in was Angus say, "Wow. There are really a lot of books here."

Each of my student shoppers got a box, a calculator, a notepad, and a $200 budget to spend at their discretion. With the big show discounts that worked out to about $270.00 worth of cover prices.

Kylie's first five picks. Very pink and very girly. This handful of books is exactly why I brought students along. Who knows what nine year old girls want to read better than nine year old girls?

Mallory and Kylie flipping through Tinlids excellent picture book selection.

Angus adding it up.

The crew with their loot bags. Thanks Maria!

Team Aberdeen.

"Can we sit down now?"

The book sale was completely awesome, and I've got some people to thank for making it such a neat day.

A big thank you to . . .

. . . my three shoppers for helping me pick great titles. You were excellent representatives of Aberdeen and everyone was talking about you.

. . . Mrs. Piggot for helping supervise. You're an exceptional volunteer and it was great to have you with us.

. . . Maria of Tinlids for being so accommodating, helping us shop, giving us loot, and having an excellent selection to choose from.

. . .Mr. Cook and Mrs. Sonier for finding some extra money for us to rebuild our library collection. We'll do great things with it.

. . .Marlene and Crew for putting together a well organized sale on short notice.

Now it's time to sit back and wait for all those boxes to get processed by cataloguing. Any high school students out there looking for a summer job? I'm betting that there may be some openings at Leathorne Street this summer.

'Twas the night before...

2009-02-26T21:33:00.003-05:00

I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight.

I can't stop thinking about all the books I get to buy tomorrow at the book sale. Big thanks to Principal Paul, Supervisory Officer Sonier, and Ministry McGuinty. Thanks to them I get to put just over $4000.00 worth of new books in our library.

I went for a quick preview today to get the layout of the sale and check things over. I also helped Ms. Mendham spend some money on her classroom library. Those lucky ISC boys have some pretty fresh titles to look forward too.

Things get underway tomorrow at 8:45 when I load up the Volvo and take my student shoppers and volunteers over to the fairgrounds. Check back for the full report Friday night. I'm off to try counting sheep.