Thing 3: Online Communities January 22, 2012

Okay, so I’ve joined the the Facebook group, which was neat. I’ve only used Facebook actually for about a year– yes, really– even a younger person like myself and a librarian at that, I was reluctant to join Facebook. My excuses for not joining ranged from not wanting to be egotistical to not caring about what other people are doing or thinking or being afraid that the public-ness of being a public school employee would somehow be affected. Already you are spotted running in to a grocery store or at the mall, so now I’m going to jump in to social networking?

I can’t tell you how frightened I was to create one and now, a year later, I don’t know what the big deal was about. I don’t post status updates and I scan my news feed of friends, family, stores and shows I’ve liked, but there’s nothing earth-shattering about being on. To me it has just been another communication tool. Which is why I’m pursuing a Facebook page for our high school library, as another form of communication. There’s announcements, posters, lunch, word of mouth, and class visits, but there’s just something about adding Facebook to the mix that to me will bring in more “business”.

Glogster January 5, 2012

I’m introducing glogs to an English class so this is my example– it fits along with the 11 things, so figured I would post this one. (Each of the students is creating an anthology of original poetry alongside poetry from a selected poet. One of their original poems will be created as a glog and introduce the anthology). So excited for tomorrow!

Thing 2: Digital Storytelling December 29, 2011

I took a digital storytelling class online over the summer, so have a little experience. I chose Voki to start because I had heard a lot about it but had never logged on to use it. This is a neat and VALUABLE tool! I can picture myself recording (much like a Voicethread) a book talk to post on the library’s website. I chose to forgo the recording for this initial one to play with the digital voices– I wish I had just recorded my own voice! I spent way to much time editing the Voki because I wanted to test the voices (it didn’t look like there was a “preview” button to hear them before selecting them– help me if there is!) plus, I was editing the words to help pronunciation (what’s done is done after seventeen changes to phonetically spell Siberia to have the girl pronounce it right) and editing the actual booktalk because as the digital voice read, it sometimes wasn’t easy to understand.

Can’t wait to explore another storytelling device!

Thing 2: Voki (Digital Storytelling) December 29, 2011

Still About the Books December 8, 2011

Even with the “11 things” requirement, I would be remiss to not discuss books just a bit. I’m writing about Between Shades of Gray because everyone needs to know about this book (and that takes a lot for me to say, I’m rather possessive about my books, as in when I read a wonderful one I wish that I could lock it away and keep it just for myself!) but my mission is to share this one. It’s written about the less-discussed Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, and Finnish genocide by Stalin and the Soviets during WWII. From forcing people into work camps to flat out murder, many were rounded up and forced out. Lina’s story is filled with emotion and shock. Must read!

Technology December 8, 2011

Finally our high school’s webpage has been updated/upgraded. Now that our school is four academies and encouraging student pride and ownership, they’ve updated the site (and gave me some panic yesterday when they did it and I couldn’t access the library site!) There’s something to be said for design and presentation. In the world of computers and Internet presence (Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else), it’s important to put your best foot forward and I must say that we’re doing that now with our webpage.

Thing 1: Blogging December 5, 2011

A little about myself: Well, I have been working as a school librarian for five years in an urban high school where the most enjoyable part of my day is book-talking, which is why this ol’ blog was about books! I wanted to take part in this opportunity first because it was FREE (which is hard to find) and because it’s self-paced. I took an online course over the summer and liked that while the course was six weeks long, that within those six weeks there was plenty of flexibility in completing the tasks. This particular opportunity is also wonderful because it allows me to revisit old tech tools and learn about new ones– it’s tough to keep pace! I want to be able to incorporate at least one new technology into my daily library activities and share another with a teacher.

Oh Where, Oh Where Have I Been? December 5, 2011

When revisiting my old blog for the Capital Region BOCES “21 things” spin-off, I noticed a few things about my last post. First, what I mentioned about Goodreads was absolutely true– I have used Goodreads like it was going out of style, everything from reviewing other people’s books after finding me on there to putting my bookshelf widget on my school library’s page. So, I truly did replace the WordPress blog with something that works for my life (and I’ve got the Goodreads app on my new smart phone). And the second thing was that the posting was two days before my twins were born. So, obviously I had time on my hands and was reading a lot as I was waiting for the buns to finish cooking in the oven. Ah, how things have changed!

Losing Touch March 10, 2009

There are just so many technologies, that I’m overlapping them. I was recently introduced to goodreads.com, where you can store already-read books, write reviews, as well as add to to-be-read shelves and give and receive comments from your friends. So, I’m finding myself updating that quicker than this. But, here it goes. This is what I’ve been reading recently that I would definitely recommend.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher, which is a great companion to Jenny Downham’s Before I Die. In Deadline, Ben decides to hide his illness in order to make his senior year normal, but really learns the lesson that those he loves truly deserved to know earlier, especially to cope with his loss. Crutcher always has a lot of characters in complex situations, and this book is no exception, yet all of the characters have an endearing quality that makes them likeable and readable.

Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman is also very similar to another recent read that is fantastic called Keeping Corner by Sheth.  In Venkatraman’s novel of India during World War II, Vidya learns that books are her gateway to a better life, especially now that her father is physically incapable of supporting the family and her brother has decided to join the war effort. A beautiful and inspiring read.

As you all know, I’m quite the fan of Ann Rinaldi’s body of work. So, I was excited to see another on the shelf, this time about Nat Turner, the slave and preacher who rose up against southern plantation owners and murdered them in The Letter Writer. Caught in the middle is Harriet, who gave Nat Turner the map to plot his uprising, yet also saved some plantation owners from death once she realized what Nat Turner was doing (as he was attacking and murdering her family on their plantation).

Now, there are other books I’ve read and found interesting, yet not particularly noteworthy. Big Fat Manifesto by Vaught, Now You See Her by Mitchard, Raiders Night by Lipsyte, Many Stones by Coman.

Time Out February 20, 2009

I definitely go in spurts when it comes to posting lately, so here it goes.

My Most Excellent Year by Kluger, Devil’s Knot by Leveritt, Quaking by Erskine, and Black Pearls by Hawes.

I wasn’t too impressed with Black Pearls, however I can definitely see who’d I’d recommend the book to, those who love twisted fairy tales, fractured fairy tales, or anything like it. I do to an extent, I mean, I loved Book of a Thousand Days, but there’s just something about the little stories that didn’t intrigue me the way an entire story would unfold.  The other book I wasn’t too impressed with was Quaking, I don’t know what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t that. I can’t describe why I didn’t care for it, whether it was because I disliked Mattie, the main character, or because at times I didn’t quite know how all of the pieces fit together to weave a story and an idea.

However, I was a big fan of  Kluger’s novel. I was endeared to all of the characters, which at times did get a big overwhelming, but for some reason it reminds me of witty novels like a new favorite, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. There were a few layers to each characters experiences that created very real and very dynamic characters. The format was also fun, with instant messages, emails, essays, etc. the reader felt more like a voyeur than just an outsider. It was fun and easy. Then, there’s the nonfiction novel, which I don’t generally read, but I have already seen the documentaries about the West Memphis Three, so I thought it was worth flipping through. While much of the information was gathered before reading the book, it was still worth a look. Three eight year old boys are murdered in West Memphis, while three teenage boys are accused of the crime.