Goodnight iPad

Check the new and noteworthy section of "books" for the online version of Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd. Enjoy!
http://www.wegivebooks.org/books

What a Wonder!

I finally read  Selznick's Wonderstruck, and it's wonderful!  Have you read it -- and the afterword?  I now must re-read From the Mixed-Up Files...  to find the references the author says he placed in the story. This entry from the Classroom Bookshelf blog is chuck full of great ideas for using the book with students:  http://classroombookshelf.blogspot.com/2011/12/wonderstruck.html.

And now on to digital storytelling!

Fierceness and the library fashion police

I often read Joyce Valenza's Never Ending Search blog.  Joyce’s posts both inspire and intimidate me.  How can I ever be as up-to-date as she is?  How can I overcome my natural reticence and conciliatory nature and become the leader I should be?  Joyce's post about fierceness at the beginning of this year was a wake-up call:  http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/neverendingsearch/2011/01/02/2011-the-year-to-be-fierce/  I wish I could say that I exercised my fierceness in 2011.  Well, maybe a little – but not enough. Luckily, the time for 2012 resolutions approacheth!  

I thought back to Joyce’s post Friday morning as I put on my blue book earrings from Ten Thousand Villages for the first time.  They're real books crafted in India and filled with pages written in Sanskrit or Hindi -- I think.  I have not a clue what they say.  My daughter gave them to me for my birthday several months ago and told me I needed no special occasion to wear them.  After all, I work with elementary school kids and attempt to hook them on reading. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I thought of that January blog post:  "You can’t be fierce in a holiday sweater.  No one values comfort more than me, but I know when to pull out the LBD and the pencil skirt, the very cute power jackets, and yes, even heels when it matters."  I'm so un-fierce that I had to Google "LBD."  I don’t own a pencil skirt.  What would the library fashion police say about my decidedly unfierce Ms. Frizzle-esque earrings?  I suspect that after they turned off the sirens and stopped laughing at the funny books dangling below the salt and pepper hair, they’d admit there’s a time for playful fashion, too, especially when it arouses kids’ curiosity and engages them.  Lots of my students (teachers, too) commented on my cool earrings and wanted to try to read them.  The third graders who’d just finished a unit on India were particularly intrigued.

I know that participating in Cool Tools will increase my technological expertise.  It’ll keep me connected with all you friends and soon-to-be friends out there so that we can share questions and great ideas.  It may even increase my FQ (Fierceness Quotient.)  Sadly, it probably won’t do a thing for my fashion sense.  

Hmmm, I wonder if I should wear the globe or the Santa earrings tomorrow.  Nighty-night!

Introductions, please

This is the third blog that I've begun and will be the first that I employ for more than a few hours. I created the first one during a class with Polly several years ago. I started the second on Edublogs to circumvent my school district's vigilant filter. (I'd like to resurrect that one.)

I have been the librarian at Tamarac Elementary School in Troy since 1990. Prior to that I was a children's and branch librarian at the Troy Public Library and a reference librarian at the Downers Grove (IL) Public Library. When I was in library school decades ago, I keypunched cards to enter data for my masters project. What a difference #$@ years make! Cool Tools will help me with my learning curve. I look forward to sharing what I learn with students. My kids love all things technological!