I’ve been reading some of these titles this summer and wanted to introduce them to the students in a way that would grab their interest. I hope this Animoto video does it!
Free Book Friday!
July 16, 2009 — informania
Free Book Friday Teens was started by author Jessica Brody. Each week, a YA novel and its author are featured on the site. You’ll find a synopsis of the book and an interview with the author.
Five copies of The Lost Summer by Kathryn Williams will be given away on Friday, July 17th (only to those with a US or Canada mailing address). To enter the drawing, complete the entry on the site (it requires only your name and email address).
Even if you don’t win the weekly drawing (you do have to revisit each week to enter), the site is a great resource . Authors featured in the past include Alyson Noel, Cassandra Clare, and Melissa de la Cruz.
To read the first chapter of Jessica Brody’s The Karma C lub , her first YA novel, click here.
Adult readers may be interested in the Free Book Friday adult site. (Using the word “adult” here makes it sound sooo racy, doesn’t it?) You can enter to win an autographed copy of Jennifer Weiner’s Best Friends Forever to be given away July 17th.
Meme: My Best Posts of the Past
July 10, 2009 — informaniaI was tagged for this meme by my friend and mentor Cathy Jo Nelson.
Rant
Ranting: School Internet Filtering posted on September 17, 2008
The choice for this category was obvious – it has been my only rant. But I also remember the passion with which I wrote it last fall. Students were working in the media center and could not access the school library web site; the district’s filtering software had blocked it. I understand that those at the district level want to protect our students from material that is not suitable for their educational pursuits in our schools. But as educators, we cannot teach students how to evaluate questionable material if we can’t even access it to demonstrate the process.
What would I change if I were to update this today? I would stress that when an educator finds a site that he wished to use has been blocked by the school that he take immediate action. Contact the district level personnel who can authorize the site’s unblocking. I am pleased to say that out of the numerous times that I have requested a site be unblocked, only one was left blocked.
Revelation
The Wally Principle posted on January 11, 2009
As I was standing in one of those endless lines at Walmart watching the never ending parade of people walk by, I realized that Walmart and public education had much in common.
If I were updating this post today, I would do some further research concerning Walmart’s success. I’m sure that educators could learn much from studying Sam Walton’s empire.
Resource
Scholastic Videos posted on December 21, 2008
It seems the majority of my posts focus on sharing resources, so this was not easy to choose! This is not necessarily my favorite post, but the resource is one of my newer favorites. Not only does Scholastic post author interview videos, but they also have booktalk videos and professional development videos. PLUS the site offers much more than videos.
If I were updating this post today, I would point out some of the many other wonderful resources that Scholastic offers at their site including educational games, annotated booklists, and the new Teacher Share site.
Reflection
Stumbling Blocks vs. Building Blocks posted on July 16, 2008
Reading the blogs of other educators often causes me to reflect on my own practices or experiences. This post was composed after reading a wonderful post by Carolyn Foote.
If I were to update this post today, I would focus on my role this past year. Was I a stumbling block or a building block?
Doing Some Reflecting of Your Own
Now, if you would like to take part in this meme, here’s the information you need:
Meme rules:
1. Scan your posts for your own personal favorites.
2. Choose one post in any/each of the four categories:
- Rants
- Resources
- Reflections
- Revelations
I leave it to you folks to define these terms, but my instinct is that we could treat these loosely. You are welcome to suggest new categories if these don’t fit.
3. In a blog post, list those posts and very briefly describe
- why it was important,
- why it had lasting value or impact,
- how you would update it for today.
4. Select five (or so) other bloggers to tap with this meme.
5. Tag all of your post with #postsofthepast
(I am bending the rules this time by not “tagging” others, as in “tag, you’re it,” but rather listing the writers of several of my favorite blogs whom I would love to see take on this meme- if they so choose. Most of these folks probably don’t even know who I am, much less that I read their blogs!)
Image attributions:
“I Hate Mornings” http://www.flickr.com/photos/34671994@N00/2215915251
“LED + light bulb” http://www.flickr.com/photos/80378665@N00/3486761520
“Organized caos” http://www.flickr.com/photos/40145521@N00/460270581
“Omar contemplates” http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894171098@N01/15161474
Save the Words!
July 2, 2009 — informania
The English language is growing by leaps and bounds with new words entering our vocabulary daily. Unfortunately, some existing words are used less frequently (or not at all) because of this.
Enter SavetheWords.org. Visit this site and words bordering on extinction will literally call out to you. Click on any word to see its definition and its use in a sentence.
Sign up for a free account and save a word (or two or three). I am now the proud parent of “pudify.” Because I am often pudified when I stick my foot in my mouth, I decided to rescue this word.
I hope that my readers (all three of you) will step up to the plate and rescue a word from extinction. Otherwise, I will be pudified that my attempt to bring light to this worthy cause failed.
I wish to thank “A Library by Any Other Name” for posting information on this site.
The Ultimate Teen Bookshelf from YALSA
July 2, 2009 — informania
Another notable reader’s advisory and collection development tool has just been released. The Ultimate Teen Bookshelf list is available for download as a .pdf file. The list includes 50 books, 5 magazines, and 5 audiobooks. It was compiled by Pam Spencer Holley and Judy Sasges from suggestions by subscribers to the YALSA-BK discussion list.
“Ultimate YA Bookshelf,” American Library Association, June 25, 2009.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/yabookshelf.cfm (Accessed July 01, 2009)
Document ID: 549310
What Do I Read Next?
July 1, 2009 — informaniaSummer time. A delicious respite from the hectic bell schedule we library media specialists and teachers must adhere to during the rest of the year. Time to relax and read. I have a “To Read” list that I occasionally add to, but often don’t see anything on it that tickles my fancy when I am in-between books. Here are several free Web 2.0 Readers’ Advisory tools that I’ll use and recommend to my faculty and students.
The Book Seer
Type in the title and author of a book you recently read on The Book Seer site and get recommendations from Amazon and LibraryThing (although I received no recommendations from LibraryThing with several different books including Twilight – gasp!).
Teacher Book Wizard
Scholastic has created a site that offers multiple options. The Teacher Book Wizard’s Book Alike helps you locate similar books based on reading level. Great for creating those Readers’ Advisory lists. The List Exchange page provides lists of books in many categories including awards, grade level, author recommended, and themed.
To learn more about this teacher created site for teachers, take the tour.
What Should I Read Next?
What Should I Read Next asks you to enter the title and author of a book you recently enjoyed. The results returned are from a database created by the users of the site.
Taking Control of Your Clogged Gmail Inbox
July 1, 2009 — informania
I have a love/hate relationship with email. Each day I open my Gmail in the expectation that I will get a great email from a family member or friend that will just make my day. Those are the emails I read immediately. But there are countless other emails that greet me as I open my inbox.
I have recently spent time unsubscribing from several automated emails, but there are other automated emails I still wish to receive but may not have the time or inclination to read pronto. They sit in my inbox – a reminder that if I don’t know exactly what to do with an email, my inbox never seems to get cleared out.
So this morning when I stumbled across the “Problogger” blog, I was overjoyed to read the post entitled “From 10,000 to 0 Emails in an Inbox in 24 Hours” . It inspired me to try Gmail’s filtering feature to alleviate the Inbox Clog that I typically experience.
Use the Gmail Filtering Feature
To set up filtering on your Gmail, click on “Settings,” “Filters,” and then “Create a New Filter.” You can then choose from five different search criteria: “From,” “ To,” “ Subject,” “ Has the Words,” “ Doesn’t Have. ” Type in your terms, click on “Test Search,” and analyse your results.
From there, you can choose: “Skip Inbox (Archive It),” “Mark as Read,” “Star It,” “Apply the Label,” “Forward it To,” “Delete It,” and/or “Never Send it to Spam.” Then click on “Create Filter” and take control of your Inbox!
You can also choose to color code your labels. Find the box on your Gmail Inbox page labeled “Labels.” Click on the box to the right of the label you wish to color code and choose your color.
Google also provides a demo of using labels and filters.
Be Ruthless
You may create as many filters as you wish. Be ruthless – take control of that Inbox!
Any other suggestions on how to tame my inbox?
Image attribution: Gmail overload http://www.flickr.com/photos/20645801@N00/20732186
YA Series: The Immortals Continues
July 1, 2009 — informaniaThe second book in The Immortals series will be released on July 7th. Barnes and Noble, I’m so there!
