Destiny and One Search

I realize that I seldom post anything here at all. I suppose it is because I feel the hum-drum day-to-day work for my media center is nothing that demands a record.
And when I am doing something more exciting or important, I fully enjoy or experience it, then move on.

I am working on getting our Riverview One Search to work in Destiny with the ELM databases and it isn't going too smoothly. I can't figure out ProQuest - Yet!

One Search is a linkage within Destiny that will do a keyword search of subscription databases at the same time it is searching the local media catalog. It is a wonderful idea and I look forward to when it will work, but I'm not there yet! You can click on the image to see what I'm talking about.

I just discovered this site: ProProfs.
You can create a FREE online quiz with reports and stats, FREE online Polls, and play online Brain Games like Sudoku.
I discovered this site thanks to the kmcintyre and her "Dragon Library Rules Quiz." Check out the Quiz I created to use with my 1st and 2nd graders. I think that I will have them pass this quiz before they can check out two books for 2 weeks (actually 8 days because we have a 4 day rotation). Until they pass, they can check out 1 book for 1 week.

LMC Rules and Procedures User s License - 1st & 2nd Grade » ProProfs Quizzes

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Grearing up for MYRA! Each book links to the Mackin Booktalk for the title. I plan to put this on my Destiny catalog homepage.

Speed Booking Or Book Dating?

This week the fifth grade will be doing one of my favorite lessons. Based on the idea of "Speed Dating," students are divided into eight groups - the group has about 3 minutes to "meet and greet" the books on a table before they move to the next. We have 8 tables, so we choose six or eight books (we always choose books that are "unknowns") from 8 genres. We are using Sci-Fi, Historical, Romance, Mystery, Humor, Adventure, Realistic, and Horror this time. We put a Genre sign on each table.
Student examine the books on each table for three things: the favorite cover, blurb and beginning. Each student may have three different titles or just one or two for each table.

When all students have visited all the table, I give them three or four minutes to go back to a table to grab a book that they want to check out. It is first come, first read; some of the scrabbling to get a hot book is comical and exciting.

I'll post some pictures of this lesson during the week.

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It's hard to believe that one year ago, I left my job and home with no clear plan of where I'd be working or what I'd be doing! I had only the certainty that I could not stay in the job I had, and stay sane and happy. Luckily, I also had the love and support of my husband who said, "Go for it!" I had the inner certainty that I would find a position that I loved or that I would stay home and be a sub while I looked for something else. Now there are just a little over two months left of the school year and Farmington is a fantastic place to work.

I just received a new ARC book to read and review: "Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Catt" by David Dosa, MD. It is about a cat living in a nursing home. I haven't started it yet because I can tell it will be a tear jerker.

I also got The Excuse Me Your Life is Waiting Playbook which looks like it has some very interesting exercises. The main gist of the book seems to be limiting self-defeatist attitudes.

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I have been waiting to update my blog until the fifth graders finished with their "Welcome to the Web" activity. Reflecting on that activity, I have decided that I will make some significant changes to it next year, but will use it again.
The first part of the assignment was to complete this activity . It is a multi session lesson and most of the kids reported that while they knew something about many of the topics, there was new information too. A few really liked the lesson and commented that it was really fun and they learned a lot. A very few were "bored," because "they already know EVERYTHING about computers." LOL.

Next time I will have students journal about each activity directly after the student finishes with it instead of waiting till the end of the entire project.
In the second part of the lesson - exploring the media center webpage - I think I'll try having students post their answers on the blog instead of copying the questions and pasting them into a document. It might make a couple of positive differences. Firstly, reading all the responses with go much faster because they will all be in one space, and secondly, because a blog is an open forum where everyone can read their responses, I plan to redo the grading rubric to expect more from their answers.

Today is Christmas Eve and we are spending the day with our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, and DMiL at home. We are missing our son and daughter-in-law, but will see them for New Years. We are blessed to be with our family and hope the people who stumble across this post are similarly blessed.




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Hello 5th Graders!

Answer these questions as a check list that you have explored all the important pages on the Media Center page.
Add your written answers to the Reflection page and save it to your folder:
1. Resources Page.
A. Try a search on each of the 6 Databases, and try out the Cite your sources link. We will be using these soon, so looking at them now will help when we begin the lesson!
B. Do you have a public Library Card? Check out the Homework Rescue Link! This is a FREE service, all you need is a FREE library card. If you do not have a library card, ask me how to get one - it is easy!
C. Go to the Tumble books link and explore the options. How could you use this page?
2. Literacy Skills Page.
Open the Writing Link and explore the Story Starter and Shape Books. How could fifth grade use these tools?
3. Grades 3-5.
Open and try at least three of the activities. List the pages you have tried and rate each one using the same rating that you used for the Welcome to the Web activity.
4. All Ages.
Open and explore, then answer this question. Is this page a good idea? Why or why not?

Congratulations for doing a thorough job on exploring the RVE Media Center Web page!




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Book Challenge Update

I found out that I have been "cleared" by the challenge committee. They recognize that I followed the district selection process, but not heard anything about what they will do with the book. The title is "Kurt Cobain," a biography by Michael Martin. I selected it specifically with the (Spring) fifth grade biography project in mind. It is a 4.3 reading level and a 5-8 interest level. My thought was to find something for the student who reads below grade level, will not be interested in the more traditional biographies and may have heard of Kurt Cobain. I purchased a wide variety of musicians - this was one of them.

The issue began because I had just taught third graders how to use the search stations with keyword searches. A third grader typed in "guitar" and this book came up. He found it and checked it out. Mom and dad took issue with the book because it is begins with a sort of obituary. Over all is "negative," and talks a lot about his addiction to drugs and that he was never able to get out of that. I agree that it is heavy for third grade, and I think it is great that mom and dad read the book with the child and talked through it, but stand by my decision that it is a good choice for the population I was targeting. We will see :)

I am completely impressed with the way the school district is handling the challenge.

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Voki

I'm playing with Voki today and experimenting with a talking Nook to greet visitors.
What do you think?

MEMO

Anita Beaman and Amy Oberts were the keynote speaker this morning at MEMO. They are great. Take a look at a few of the ideas they shared on their wiki! READING 2.0
They are talking about:

Ace Screensaver ($15) that allows you to make a desktop screen saver file and save it, then teachers can drop it on the screens in their classroom. Amy uses this to promote books that are in their book award nominee list.

Using an image of a book front and combining it with Wordle.
She has asked that the Gallery be blocked so that kids can't get to some of the wordles that are not age appropriate. Did you know that if you have a word that you want to be together in Wordle - you just use a Tilde "~" between the words and Wordle will keep them together!
Create a Wordle

Shelfari - You can use book shelf image as a screen saver.

Picturetrail - a very cool application to highlight particular books

Pathfinders for elementary - Jog the Web

Glogster - Poster yourself



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What do you call a library with no books?

Cushing Academy has decided that the books in their library of 20,000 titles are too old fashioned and too bulky, so they are getting rid of them all! Instead they are replacing the library with only 18 Kindles (and Kindle type) readers!

I did not see what their student population is, but my question for them is, what are you going to do for the 19th student to come in for a book?
And, is the man in the photo wondering the same thing?

The school web page prominently features links that ask for donations and has a book store, so the image projected is similar to a college: however, I am sure that there must be students who can not afford the $300 for a Kindle or the approximately $10 per title that continued commitment to using this type of device demands. Personally, I would reconsider donating money to a school with administrators who spend $12,000 on a cappuccino machine and think 18 Kindles can replace a library of books.

My son, who is finishing up a college degree, has recently purchased a Kindle because his school has made certain texts available as a download. The Kindle is a good option for him because the cost of the Kindle was essentially the same as buying the entire print version of the books; however, expecting k-12 student to provide their own texts will force the chasm between have and have-nots even wider.

One reason that I find this article so upsetting is that I have had students who don't have enough to eat on a regular basis. I see students whose parents have a hard time providing basic school supplies for their them, and if the lending library of books disappears, then classroom teachers and media specialists will have an even greater challenge of reaching these students. But more importantly, these students will have an even greater challenge of developing into readers and discerning users of information!

Don't get me wrong, I love technology, I love the idea of Kindles and would love to see every student have access to one of their own. On the other hand, I agree with Keith Michael Fiels (ALA), who said that the books ... won’t be digital until the e-reader can tolerate sand, coffee spills, and have unlimited power.
I will add to that by saying that when a Kindle can withstand the use and abuse of a child for at least a year, and the price is low enough that the parents (or more likely, the school) could replace the reader every time it fails, then and only can we consider limiting access to books!


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Minnesota Youth Reading Award