Problem Solving

I recently read a blog by Doug Johnson that I believe is relevant to all students. It is a list of mini activities to teach online research skills. It is applicable to all ages. The activities include checking the forecast and predicting what to wear the next day, locate science articles that relate to the current lesson in class, or read book reviews and make recommendations. What a simple way to teach beginning research skills. As for me, this will become part of my library curriculum.

The Book Whisperer

I cannot believe how long it has been since I last wrote a post. Hopefully, as the year progresses I will get more done on this site.

My school will be doing a book study this summer and the upper grades will be reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. Several teachers, including myself, have already starting reading this book. I love it. She is a huge advocate of free reading and that you can increase a child's test scores without doing worksheets. I am so thrilled that many teachers on my campus will finally realize that true reading is the best way to teach reading. I am currently working with two teachers who will be using this technique next school year. I think exciting things are about to happen at my school and I can't wait to be part of it!!

My Top Ten Children's Books

1. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

2. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

3. Verdi by Janell Cannon

4. Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

5. Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco

6. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

7. The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens

8. Oh, the Thinks You Can Think by Dr. Seuss

9. Wilford Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

10. Anything by Mo Willems

Library Circulation on the Rise

According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, circulation is on the rise. As our economy spirals downward, more people are returning to libraries in record numbers. Many customers are also gettting movies because they cannot afford to rent them any longer. Some libraries have had as much as a 19% increase in circulation compared to this time last year. Hopefully, this trend will continue and library budgets won't decrease.

wiki's

I am working on getting my wiki up to date. I have had the account a while but haven't really learned how to use it. It will be a work in progress for now, but I hope to learn quickly how to make it visually appealing.

Reading & Writing

An article from NCTE was discussing the issue of teens reading books. As a librarian, this is something that always concerns me. These days kids spend so much time in front of the TV or on the net that educators worry they will not be competent readers. Well, I found a web site that may help ease our fears, fanfiction.net. This site allows users to read stories or write their own. It is organized into 8 different genres. Most are short stories. The few that I previewed seem to be well written which sort of surprised me. I guess I am getting used to hearing teens talk in "IM" language!

Things in Review

Wow, it is hard to believe I haven't posted anything since January. I have my iPod and it looks just like the picture I posted. I have uploaded music and now I am working on learning about the extras it offers.

As I think back on the 23 Things I realize I am already forgetting what I learned. I plan to take time this summer and go back over the "Things" I enjoyed most. My school has a wiki that I may work on also. I created one for the library, but I'm not sure if I will keep it going since we now have one for our campus.