The Reticulated Pi-thon

A Fantastic Oscar Nominee for Book Lovers

2012-01-27T14:48:00.008-05:00

The incredible, fantastic William Joyce strikes again! I first fell in love with Dinosaur Bob, and then with Art & Eleanor Aimsworth's North Pole adventure in Santa Calls. Then I started noticing Bill Joyce cartoons on New Yorker covers. He quirky, smart, and a distinct style of character recognizable anywhere, he's awfully interesting, AND a born Southerner (from Shreveport, Louisiana) to boot.

Now he's got a fledgeling movie company called Moonbot studios, and their first release, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Animated Short category. This 15-minute movie is the story of a young man who, like Dorothy, is swept away to a new land by a tornado. In a reversal of the Oz story, the new world is sad and tattered, and in black and white. Instead of magic giving color to the land, it's the magic of books that brings joy and color to our hero's life. If you love books, animation, or stories, you'll understand. You can watch below, or click on this link to go to "couch mode" (full screen) on Vimeo.

ps -- have a box of tissues nearby

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

You can even download the entire movie for free from iTunes (which may or may not inspire you to buy the $4.99 interactive book app. Everything's an advertisement for something . . .)

Animation Magazine has a nice article on William Joyce, Moonbot Studios, and the inspiration for Fantastic Flying Books.

Maybe They Don't Need A Vacation After All

2012-01-19T14:31:00.001-05:00

I am always irrationally pleased when someone checks out a book that hasn't circulated in a while. Even though I do my best to buy according to curricular and student needs, and weeding the collection is an ongoing process, there are still books on the Paideia Library shelves that haven't been out of this room since we moved to the new High School building in 1996. Poor things. They need a change of scenery, a little fresh air, a vacation.

But after watching this nifty little stop-action video, I'm thinking I maybe shouldn't worry so much. Looks like the stay-at-home books might be having fun after all!

Thanks to the DeKalb County Public Library blog and Open Culture for putting my worries to rest.

Bizzy Bees

2012-01-13T15:35:00.004-05:00

Paideia's first ever elementary Spelling Bee was held this morning in the library meeting space. Twenty-one 4th, 5th & 6th graders gathered to joust with letters and words. Competition lasted through fourteen rounds, with two spellers left. The runner-up speller, who had correctly spelled "frabjous" in the previous round, was knocked out of the round by "dalliance," while the winning speller fought his way through "Chihuahua" (not his favorite pet). I, for one, will always remember how to spell this breed's name with this trick -- CHEE-HOOA-HOOA.

In order to win, the last speller standing then had to correctly spell one more word, completing a final round of one. Had MR ever seen or heard the word "jocundity?" Doesn't matter, because this kinesthetic speller got it right, with a strategy of writing out words in the air and 'seeing' how they're spelled.

Congratulations MR & LH! They can go onto the Independent Schools competition at Woodward Academy in February. We also have 2 alternates, who made it to round 13 before missing a word. Great spelling from all 21 contestants. I hope we hold the spelling bee again next year.

We Have the Best!

2012-01-12T09:09:00.006-05:00

Lists, lists, lists! Seems like everybody makes them, especially at year's end. Below are books in the Paideia Junior High & High School Library that have been included in one or more national "Best of 2011" lists. Most were originally published for the "Young Adult" market, but as the NPR feature noted:

young adult fiction has developed into one of the most complex and extensive genres in literature. 2011 brought us a wealth of new reads that continue to twist traditional formulas and take risks that are, by and large, paying off with wholly unique reading experiences.

The links go to the book's page in the library catalog.

Fiction

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - Kirkus Reviews, NPR, School Library Journal (SLJ), NYTimes

Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard - SLJ

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol (graphic novel) - SLJ, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BBCC)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - NYTimes, SLJ, Kirkus, BBCC, Publisher's Weekly (PW)

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - Kirkus, NPR

Chime by Franny Billingsley - National Book Award Finalist, Kirkus, SLJ, PW

Delirium by Lauren Oliver - NPR, SLJ, Kirkus

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - PW, Kirkus, SLJ, NYTimes

Blind Sight by Meg Howry - SLJ, Nancy Pearl/NPR

The Queen of Water by Laura Resau - SLJ

Vietnamerica: A Family's Story by GB Tran (graphic novel) - SLJ

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding - SLJ

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick - PW, Kirkus, NYTimes, SLJ, Washington Post

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (a college classmate :-) - SLJ, Booklist

The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern - Booklist, Washington Post, Library Journal

In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard - People Magazine, Nancy Pearl/NPR

Non-Fiction

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson - NPR

Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer - SLJ

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin - National Book Award Finalist, SLJ, PW

A Few of My Favorite Things (to think about, library-wise)

2011-12-18T09:55:00.002-05:00

Tons of ideas, inspirations and news pop up every week, too many to write about but good enough to tell others about. Now that Google has deleted the "share" function of Google Reader (which I used to share these interesting tidbits, in the "Keeping Current" sidebar widget), they're all running around in my head (and staying open in dozens of Firefox tabs :-)

Instead, I'm just going to throw out the links with a few comments. If these questions go around in your head too, let me know what you're thinking!

About Information Literacy

"Technology should be taught with inconsequential content . That way, when there's important content, the technology will be transparent."
?? This makes so much sense, but it's contrary what we've been doing, which is to teach about databases, efficient searching, etc., when students have a pressing "need to know" (the research has been assigned and they have a chosen topic) so the skills are immediately relevant. When there are limited opportunities to work with students on their research skills, should I focus on low-stakes-relevant-later or high-stakes-relevant-now presentation times? Should there be a short-term class in Information Literacy skills that's not tied to course content and assignments?

Why Kids Can't Search (Clive Thompson op-ed on Wired.com)
Because they've never been taught to search well, they just figure it out on their own. Where can schools find time in the day to teach content AND skills, especially if they don't overlap?

About eBooks

Renting Out the Library (on Digital Public Library of America blog)
A different model of acquiring digital content for library loaning, based on the old Blockbuster model -- instead of paying for digital media up front for a set price, pay a royalty for each loan. Publishers then benefit from increased circulations, instead of griping about lost revenues.

This Deal is Getting Worse All the Time (at Library Renewal)
Why I'm uneasy about providing ebooks through another third-party vendor. They control who, when and what, instead of this library) and the terms can change at any time.

But -- (an aside musing) -- why are libraries, this one included, ok with providing periodical content to patrons through an annually renewable subscription with a third-party vendor? All our databases, ProQuest, SIRS, CQ Researcher, JSTOR, are provided through this model. Are we just used to it? Are books intrinsically different to journal articles?

Douglas County [Colorado] Public Library system has created its own ebook collection and loaning system completely independent of OverDrive, 3M or other middle-man distributor, using Adobe Content Server software. I would love to be able to set up a consortium like this for school libraries statewide. We buy the ebooks, we protect the files from piracy, we loan them out to our students. Why not?

About Other Stuff

Thinkertoys
This book is on the suggested reading list at Un-college.org. It's a huge collection of exercises, techniques and strategies for developing creative thinking -- because the author believes that creative thinking CAN be developed. If you're really good at thinking inside all the corners of your box (like me), but find it harder to look outside of it, check this book out.

Libraries as Places of Idea Creation (not just Idea Storage & Retrieval)
"Throughout history libraries have been highly effective as what we might call idea storehouses. Universities and schools have been highly effective as idea communicators. But, particularly at a time when many are questioning the relevance of libraries (thinking in terms of the ‘storehouse’ model), might we develop libraries further as idea factories? The place you go to generate ideas in the first place?"

Libraries as Hackerspaces (an NPR Weekend Edition story)
"We see the library as not being in the book business, but being in the learning business and the exploration business and the expand-your-mind business," he says. "We feel this is really in that spirit, that we provide a resource to the community that individuals would not be able to have access to on their own." If you have a woodshop and a 3D printer, but nobody's using your resources to discover and use information, are you still a library? Where is the line between being a place of information/idea creation, and being a computer lab, or Kinko's?

World Book Night (Sydney got an notice through Sherman Alexie's email list)
50,00 people distributing 20 books each, all on one night (April 23, 2012), to promote reading. Wonder if we could organize a student group to distribute one of these titles? Where would be a good place, with non- or light readers, where we could distribute 20 copies? So many great titles (the library has all but one or two), which would we choose?

Junior High Book Club
This is exciting, and from the brain of the fabulous Greg Changnon. In January, he and I will kick off a reading club for the voracious 7th & 8th grade readers. The first selection is likely to be Cherie Priest's Boneshaker (go, steampunk!)

Move Over, Edward, Things Are Really Really Bad Here.
"Dystopia is the New Paranormal" - dystopian YA novels jumping to the big screen soon, and may get a new readership with all the publicity. Some moms and I were amused by a certain (adorable) group of girls' passion for the "I'm inexplicably in love with a tormented fallen angel boy who thinks I'm hot but who won't hurt me" genre. Yes, "paranormal romance" is an actual category on Amazon.com. But the fallen angels haven't followed the vampires all the way to Hollywood yet, and may be forever stalled by the bow-wielding Katniss and friends.

Enjoy your December holiday, and maybe your neighbors' holidays too! One can never have too many holidays.

Steampunk!

2011-12-13T13:00:00.001-05:00

Steampunk? It's an increasingly popular fiction genre with many variations, and it's even a fashion/lifestyle in certain mod circles. Here's an elegant definition from steampunk author Cherie Priest:

An aesthetic movement based around the science fiction of a future that never happened.

Wikipedia's definition is less elegant, but more descriptive:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian-era Britain or "Wild West"-era United States—that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc.

Whereas typical dystopian YA lit takes place in our future world after cataclysmic war, natural disaster or society gone wrong (The Hunger Games, the Uglies quartet, The Forest of Hands and Teeth), steampunk is often set in a "what if" kind of historical past -- as in, "what if Queen Victoria had been assassinated and Prince Albert became king?" or "what if the British had sent troops to support the South in the Civil War?" The feature that makes steampunk unique is that much of the speculation centers on the odd, but plausible, technologies developed in these alternate timelines: steam-driven motorcycles, genetically-altered creatures, monster-creating viruses, realization of Babbage's "difference engine" (computer) by the turn of the 20th century. The unexpected speculative details laid over a framework of a familiar historical structure keeps readers' minds working to construct the unique steampunk world created by each author.

Looking for something new and different? Need something novel for holiday giving? Below are some of the steampunk novels in the Paideia Library that challenge the imagination and set readers on their own journeys of "what if?"

Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan - As World War I breaks out between the clockwork & iron Mechanicals of the Austria-Hungarian forces, and the Darwinist British, who fly and fight with genetically engineered creatures, Deryn masquerades as a boy to achieve her dream of becoming an aeronaut. Behemoth and Goliath complete the trilogy.

Cherie Priest's Boneshaker & Dreadnought - Sixteen years after the Boneshaker incident of 1863, which destroyed downtown Seattle and released a zombie-making gas, the machine inventor's widow has to cross the safety wall into the City in pursuit of their son, who's determined to discover his father's true story. Meanwhile, 20 years into the Civil War, nurse Mercy Lynch travels cross country via dirigible, steamship and rail to see her injured father on the West Coast, but she'll have to survive Union intrigue, Confederate opposition, and a zombified Mexican army if she's to make it to Tacoma on the steam-engine Dreadnought alive.

The Girl with the Steel Corset by Kady Cross. Ever think you'd imagine a Victorian-era cross between X-Men: Origins and a Harlequin Romance?? Me either, but amazingly enough, it works. Fired from her position as lady's maid, Finley joins handsome heir Griffin King and his band of other strangely gifted teens to investigate a series of crimes committed by clockwork automatons.

The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder. Investigating a series of attacks on young women during the early years of King Albert's reign, famed explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton and peculiar poet Algernon Charles Swinburne discover that their London of steam-driven technology and eugenically created animals should never have existed at all. The Burton & Swinburne trilogy also includes The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man, and Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon.

Soulless, and the rest of Gail Carriger's tongue-in-cheek Parasol Protectorate series. A total guilty pleasure, this series is breathless (sometimes steamy) Victorian romance mixed with mystery, supernatural creatures and paranormal London steampunk technology. To her family's utter dismay, society-born Alexia Tarabotti is too strong-minded to attract suitors, too "Italian" for beauty, and has no soul to boot. Soulless 'preternaturals' have the singular ability to neutralize supernatural powers, which comes in handy when Alexia attracts the murderous attention of a rogue vampire, and the romantic attention of the unpolished, powerful and magnetic werewolf, Lord Conall Maccon.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials trilogy) by Philip Pullman. Yep, The Golden Compass qualifies as steampunk. Think about it -- alternate worlds/history, odd but plausible technology, realistic settings and matter-of-fact techno-magic (the alethiometer? scientific explanation of the soul? experimental theology?). Lyra Belacqua's quest to rescue her friend Roger from soul-destroying experiments in the Far North is still captivating, and is the beginning of a trilogy that explores the nature of love, humanity, madness, original sin and Heaven itself.

I've just noticed in making this list that steampunk has a generous share of spunky, strong women. Maybe that goes along with the alternate history thing, for it certainly turns around the stereotype of 19th century womanhood.

On my list to read over the December break is Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, one of School Library Journal's "Best Books of 2011." Airships, bounty hunters, sky pirates and an armored golem -- sounds like fun!

This list is only scratching the surface; there's more YA steampunk in the Paideia Library (listed below) and much, much more targeted for the adult reading market.

Are you into steampunk? What have you read that you'd recommend for our junior high and high school collection?

~~~

Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
ed. by Kelly Link & Gavin Grant

Kenneth Oppel's Matt Cruse airship trilogy - Airborn, Skybreaker, and Starclimber

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding

The Hungry City Chronicles by Philip Reeve

Fever Crumb and sequels by Philip Reeve

Scarlet Traces, a graphic novel by Ian Edginton

This post on The Book Smuggler blog reviews several more titles. At the bottom you'll find links to blog posts and articles for further reading, and links to websites for exploring Steampunk-as-lifestyle. Membership in the Victorian Steampunk Society, anyone?

Wednesday Website: Harvard's Mathematics in Movies

2011-11-28T15:42:00.006-05:00

Math is cool. The real life situations that can be explored, described and understood with mathematical concepts are amazing to me. One of my cousins did a dissertation on fractals, an old boyfriend did his on representation theory. I have another cousin who's a global expert on algorithms, music and artificial intelligence. He designs and teaches computerized instruments that can hear music and jam along with a band, kind of like a robot that can play improv jazz (or bluegrass). I mean, how cool is that?

Nobody should hate math, even if the details of how to do it are hard or confusing (as for me), or you don't especially like to do it. You can appreciate math, whether or not it's a favorite subject.

Happily for all of us, the Department of Mathematics at Harvard created Mathematics in Movies, a webpage with a large collection of movie clips with some sort of math content. Of course there are scenes from math-themed movies like Stand and Deliver (gigolo algebra! who knew), but Kumar's "root 3" poem from the stoner slapstick Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanomo Bay is awesomely effective in getting the girl (watch it here).

And remember, mathematical thinking doesn't have to include numbers. Check out Pinocchio's math logic in definitely not rejecting the possibility that he doesn't not have any idea where Shrek might be!

Intrigued? Check out some of the many "teach yourself" style math books we have in the Library.

Hacking High School

2011-11-14T14:40:00.021-05:00

Is "hacking high school" a good thing or a bad thing? When I was in school, "hack" was usually a bad thing, like a dull, boring journalist, or breaking into somebody else's computer -- unless it was a good thing, like an amazingly clever MIT student prank.

Today, hack has several positive connotations, including the idea of achieving a goal (beating your videogame?) by circumventing the rules or following a non-traditional path.

In a guest post on the New York Times Learning Network, 19-year-old Dale Stephens, founder of Un-College.org, advocates "hacking," or taking charge of one's own education.

The reality is that school and dropping out are not the only two options. You can hack your education. That means breaking some rules. It may also mean annoying some people. But most important, it means creating options and opportunities for yourself where it seems none exist.

The late Steve Jobs is today's iconic un-college graduate. He dropped out of Reed College after 6 months because he didn't think it was worth his parents' money. What Steve Jobs didn't drop out of, though, was following his curiosity and feeding his passion for learning. He hacked a college-level education by going to classes that interested him, even when they seemed to have no practical application.

Now more than ever, any student can learn almost anything with a self-directed study plan. Thanks to school and public libraries, it's always been possible to enrich a class you're taking in school, or to learn something not offered in high school, but the 21st century student has practically unlimited resources at hand. In addition to books and DVDs and audios, there is free information through the Internet (as long as you filter carefully for reliability), there are free online classes offered by great universities, there are online tutorials, TED talk videos, textbooks and how-to videos everywhere, for everything under the sun.

Even an awesome school like Paideia (ok, I am biased, but shouldn't I be?) doesn't have in-depth courses in all the topics that teens can be passionate about, but we can encourage students, formally through independent study, or informally, by supporting the curiosity of students in "hacking" high school.

Last year I wrote about Open Culture, a fabulous website that pulls together links to "the best free cultural & educational media on the web." This site could be subtitled "The Official Un-College Bookstore."

Want to learn Japanese but your school doesn't teach it? There are widgets, podcasts, free software, a Facebook page, and even websites that will connect you to a Japanese speaker for real-time conversational practice. Borrow books on language and culture from your school or public library. YouTube videos can show you how to fold origami, or a traditional gift wrap.

Want to learn to code Javascript and develop dynamic websites, but your school doesn't teach computer programming? Watch online videos from Harvard computer science courses, and go through four Javascript courses at Code Academy. Buy or borrow O'Reilly Media's series of Javascript manuals, from beginning to advanced. Find and join an online forum, and ask questions of with expert professionals. Or, focus on programming in C (also a Harvard Extension course), then take Stanford University's Developing Apps for iOS, and start writing and selling iPhone apps.

There's nothing stopping anybody from hacking an awesome education. All it takes is curiosity (and a free public library card). But, professor and researcher Michael Wesch warns,

I think there's the potential now for a kind of curiosity gap. Consider how much further ahead a curious student will be, compared with a student who lacks curiosity, in an environment in which he or she can reach out and grab new knowledge anytime, anywhere on all kinds of devices. If you’re a curious person, you’ll learn and grow; if you’re not, you could just drift along while others race ahead.

No way am I saying school is irrelevant. Even in this hyper-connected century, school can be an invaluable place for students to learn and grow, AND follow their curiosity. Why? Because schools are full of adults who have learned, who know how to learn, and who have chosen to spend their days helping students learn. Libraries are incredible sources of information in all kinds of media, but without a guide (librarian) for finding, evaluating and understanding, it can be really hard to discern signal from noise, much less process the signal into meaning.

We, the adults in schools, can encourage students to hack as much of their learning as possible. Who knows what will be career-worthy in 2015? Curiosity, drive and knowing how to learn is always going to be a valuable job & career skill, whether it's in college, graduate school, or the school of hard knocks.

So school can’t just stop at helping students get to the signal amid all the noise but also want to figure out what to do with the signal once they’ve found it –[schools should] help them be curious and excited about where the signal can take them.
net.family news

Curious? Want to follow your interests? Come see me in the library!

One Reason Why 1876 Was a Fantastic Year

2011-11-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well, yes, it was the Centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, but that never helped anyone find Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf in the library. While a librarian at Amherst College, Melvil Dewey patented and unveiled his system for classifying "all the world's knowledge" into ten main groups, with an infinite possibility of divisions within. A Decimal system! The Dewey Decimal System! (who knew it was patented? Not I.)

This is a pretty nifty system, which guides catalogers in assigning a number/shelf address to any item and ensuring that it will end up next to or near similar items with similar subject matters. All the American poetry is together! All the cookbooks are in a row! In the 1960s, many college libraries converted to the Library of Congress classification, but even in the 21st century, most public and school libraries in the United States still organize their material collections with Dewey numbers. Librarians can always help if you don't know exactly what the Dewey system is, or how it works (if you're curious you can go to the Wikipedia article, which explains it nicely), but it sure is handy.

Or if you'd rather see what finding Beowulf might be like in a library without Mr. Dewey's invention, jump into "The Confusing Library", a vintage sketch from The Two Ronnies. Note that Melvil Dewey was a librarian, not an architect :-)

No Biking in the Library (except on November 15)

2011-11-01T12:19:00.000-04:00

November 15, 2011 at 7:30 pm,
in the Junior High & High School Library

An exciting evening event in the library is coming up in about two weeks. On a Tuesday evening, award-winning author (and Paideia parent) Melissa Fay Greene will read from and talk about her latest book, No Biking in the House Without a Helmet.

The New York Times wrote:

“It’s time for a laugh-out-loud selection … No Biking in the House Without a Helmet is a chance to revel in the joy that one wonderful writer takes in this messy, exhausting, life-changing process of parenthood."

Melissa and her husband are the parents of six sons and three daughters, and much of No Biking in the House chronicles the joys and chaos of growing from four to nine children through international adoption. If it's one thing a mother of four teenage boys ought to be good at, it's picking her battles -- hence the "without a helmet" clause. Even the best mom can't control everything (especially after the fact)!

With a crazy book tour schedule as well as a, shall we say, FULL home life, it took a while to coordinate with Melissa for this evening. As it is, I'm pleased that it will fall in the middle of National Adoption Month, a fine time to celebrate Paideia families of all stories and sizes.

Melissa Fay Greene is the author of several other acclaimed works of non-fiction, including two National Book Award finalists (Praying for Sheetrock and The Temple Bombing, about the historic bombing in Atlanta), There Is No Me Without You and Last Man Out (a New York Times Notable Book), and a contributing writer to numerous national publications (a piece on adopting from Africa is here on the All Things Considered website.)

Copies of No Biking in the House Without a Helmet will be available that evening for $26 (through Decatur bookstore Little Shop of Stories). A dessert reception and book signing will be held after Melissa's talk.

Classic Novels and Movies Collide in the eBook realm

2011-10-26T00:12:00.005-04:00

These days I fear I dream about eBooks and how to include them in our Library offerings (actually, I don't fear it, I've really dreamed it. Yikes!) The vendor and platform market is in major flux, and I feel like Indiana Jones on a precipice with a herd of wildebeasts rushing towards, wanting to jump but having no clue which way to go (better than an army of ravenous red ants, but only a little bit). It's not the time to invest thousands of $$$ in one vendor, to find that in 6 months the subscription fee triples, and there's no 'ownership' of or rights to transfer eBooks we think we've 'bought.' Oi, these are good times to be a copyright lawyer!

I've begun to include classic (public domain) novels converted to eBooks (including Kindle and iBook readable formats) in our Surpass WebSafari catalog (search for keyword 'electronic books') -- the idea is, if a student is looking for Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone (taught every so often by Joseph Cullen), the eBook version will be listed in the catalog alongside the print version. There are dozens of iPads circulating around the high school, with numerous other eReader capable laptops & Kindles owned by or checked out by students. Our fabulous technology staffer Lauri Lee has created a spreadsheet of all high school textbooks with "E" options, which has made it simple to identify this semester's texts that are in the public domain, and available for free download.

If you don't yet know about Project Gutenberg, you should investigate now. Back in grad school, I heard Michael Hart speak about his endeavor to 'digitalize' all the world's public domain documents, and I'm now seeing this labor of dedication becoming useful to everyday students at Paideia School.

I believe that technology can give us ways to loan electronic books to users while still respecting the copyright owner's right for deserved gain/remuneration. We're just not quite there yet without hitching our wagons to a major vendor. Stay tuned -- this is important, and lord knows, with all the Kindle Touch and Fires destined for holiday giving, it's imminent.

Until then -- the inspiration for this post:

Two Princeton academics have launched a new eBook imprint that ties public domain eBooks and current movies. Scarlet Oak Press is making enhanced eBook editions of major films based on classic books that are coming out this fall and winter.

The enhanced editions include original introductions, an annotated study guide, maps and illustrations, as well as what Scarlet Oak Press is calling a “page-to-screen history.” This includes: 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Best of Sherlock Holmes: Stories and Novels' both of which are coming out as films this fall, and Jules Verne‘s 'The Mysterious Island', Edgar Rice Burroughs ‘ A Princess of Mars,' which is the basis for Disney’s 'John Carter' and Edgar Allen Poe‘s 'Raven: Dark Tales from Poe.' All of the titles are $.99 in the Kindle store.

Or, if you want to sample the original novels before paying for "enhanced" versions, click on the links in the paragraph above for the Project Gutenberg downloadable ebooks (though 99¢ is a pretty reasonable gamble). I plan to dive into The Scarlet Pimpernel this weekend. Happy discovery!

So Much More

2011-09-15T12:43:00.007-04:00

This morning, a student sent me an e-mail with a link to a series of mysterious and beautiful incidents happening in Scottish libraries this year. An anonymous (and very talented) artist has left intricately detailed paper sculptures in at least seven libraries, along with notes of encouragement and support. The first sculpture, found in the National Poetry Library, was left with this note:

... We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books… a book is so much more than pages full of words.… This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas….. a gesture (poetic maybe?)

Though the word library has "book" at its very heart (liber = "book" in Latin), any library worth its salt is all about content rather than containers. A library's mission is to provide information/knowledge/content to its patrons, and the best way to do that is to collect and store the information in containers that patrons can use. The 21st century has swept in with a monumental shift in preferred containers - as digital books on CD-ROM, then as online texts that lived on the Internet. The current wave is bringing in digital texts that arrive through the Internet, but that live on and are accessed through devices that don't have to be connected in order to be read (Kindle, iPad/Pod/Phone).

I think that the discomfort of the "digital immigrant" population's resistance to the ever shortening tether to the Almighty Screen (my bias shines through, doesn't it??) is at its heart a worry about the quality of online content. Librarians and teachers fuss about the shallowness of content and how easy it is for users to find mediocre information online; on the other hand, we happily offer periodical databases and online journals and downloadable unabridged novels.

My struggle with the Almighty Screen is ongoing. I use and teach with a computer all day, the Internet is a go-to for all kinds of questions, deep and otherwise, and I LOVE my iPad. About half of my summer books got read as Kindle books, iBooks, or ePub books borrowed/downloaded from the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library. And yet I read with concern (with a Kindle app on my iPad) the huge volume of research data collected in Nicholas Carr's The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, which very clearly demonstrates that the nature of electronic reading fundamentally changes our neurological pathways, and exercises very different areas of the brain than does print-on-paper reading. Carr argues that the medium IS the message, that the device determines how information is packaged and delivered. For every gain (ease and wealth of information, available to everyone, quickly) there is a loss or trade-off (we don't pay attention very well or for very long any more). Rolling the newspaper, a novel, an encyclopedia, your diary, the postal service, the typewriter, the television, the radio, and the video game console all into one portable device means potential for knowledge and potential for distraction everywhere, all the time, just a click or a flick away.

So many things are different and scary when content is separated from container. For librarians there are practical challenges -- how do we describe and store information for easy retrieval (ie, catalog) when it's not in a fixed container? How do we help people find and make sense of information when they don't have to come to the library for the container? How do we justify spending a large percentage of annual budgets to collect information that is available only as long as we pay the vendor and the electricity bill? How will artists create art out of books, if there are no books?

The Kindle experiment last spring gave rise to my "content not container" philosophy, and -- contrary to trends in many other excellent school libraries -- we're not going into the business of loaning eReaders. We will be looking to start loaning content for our students and faculty to read via their container of choice - be it a Kindle, an iPad, a Nook or a Netbook. I am looking forward to Amazon.com's upcoming launch of their library-loanable Kindle books (I like the way Amazon's Kindle app makes their Amazon-only books readable on many devices other than just Kindles).

The criteria for choosing the content will be the same as ever -- high-quality content that meets the personal and educational information needs of the Paideia community. Fiction, non-fiction, audiobooks, eBooks, print books too. And our daily work will remain the same -- to teach (guide, lead, coach, accompany) students and faculty to find, evaluate and use the desired information. Some things don't have to change.

Libraries are, and should always be, so much more than than buildings full of book.

Read This Book:Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

2011-06-13T10:06:00.001-04:00

The first several times I saw reviews of this book, I thought it sounded interesting but didn't put it on the library order list. Why? Just another mythological fantasy, strong female character, there are a million of them. I passed it by.

A few weeks ago another review came my way, and this time I decided to forge ahead and read it. I'm glad I did.

Guardian of the Dead is by a New Zealander, and is firmly placed in current day New Zealand. Ellie Spencer is spending her senior year in a boarding school in Christchurch (South Island) while her parents enjoy a year-long trip around the world. She's got a solid friendship with popular golden boy Kevin, a crush on a mysterious misfit, and a black belt in tae kwon do ( though with no time to practice in boarding school, she's gained a few pounds).

One of the really neat aspects of the book is the blending of European faerie traditions (the action gets going when Ellie becomes involved with a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream) and native New Zealand Maori creation mythology. Familiar, yet new and unknown, the author provides an afterword with more information about Maori tradition, her sources, and the ways in which she was faithful to and strayed from the recorded stories. Story is a big part of the novel, not just cultural traditions, but each individual's personal story -- who they are, what they've done, and how they frame this to themselves and others. Recognizing her ability to shape her own story gives Ellie the insight to make her way through the challenges presented by the opposing powers.

Ellie is utterly normal, admirable, appealing but not perfect. She's tall so she slouches, she's broken more than a few school rules but that's not the defining part of her character. She compares herself unfavorably to more perfectly gorgeous girls, but she's not down on herself because of it. She's a loyal friend but not a doormat. She's strong, and she knows it. As she discovers her magical powers (of course there are magical powers!) she learns that there are right and wrong ways to use them, and she sticks to her moral compass as her powers grow.

There were several times when I thought I knew where the plot was headed, only to be surprised by the appearance of strange and unfamiliar characters, a twist or new development that took the novel off in a different direction. Even the North Island ending, with overt elements of Greek mythology (Hades and Persephone, Orpheus and Eurydice), wasn't at all what I anticipated, but it's completely true to the rest of the story.

Something that, to me, makes this novel even better is that the characters are a mix of races and backgrounds, not as token elements but as a feature of contemporary life. There is discussion of race, of passing (as European) or not, of discrimination against the Maori. Ellie's mom is a cancer survivor (hence the celebratory world trip), but it's not a book about cancer. Her older sister in Melbourne is lesbian, her parents are not entirely comfortable with this, but it's not a book about gay rights. It's just how the world is, and it feels right to have it reflected in this way.

Guardian of the Dead has won a ton of awards, Antipodean as well as American. If you like slightly creepy urban fantasy, reworkings of classical and world mythology, a touch of romance, or just like to explore other cultures through literature, Guardian of the Dead is a worthwhile investment of your reading time.

Summer Reading Lists Are Out

2011-05-27T14:23:00.006-04:00

Seems like I say the same thing every year ("gosh, can't believe it's time already . . ."). So with no further ado, the Elementary, Junior High and High School summer reading lists have all either been distributed (current K-6th graders) or mailed (7th-11th graders, and all new students). They should have hit mailboxes by yesterday, or possibly as late as today.

* Each reading list link will download a full-size PDF of the booklet

A word about our summer reading "requirement" -- yes, we absolutely require summer reading, but we don't specify what must be read. The reading lists for all levels are for guidance, entertainment, education, but not limitation -- there are so many good books that a student might not find on her own, and the lists include hundreds, if not thousands of recommendations. There are also too many zillions of good books to fit them all into one 40 page booklet, so the odds are good that a student will have one or more books on his "must read" list that isn't in the booklet. No problem! Does it have words? Ideas? A more or less sustained narrative? Then it probably counts. If in doubt, e-mail me or Natalie with your question, or ask your teacher.

To support and encourage students in finding a reading passion, we open the collection for summer checkouts at the end of each school year. Families may check out up to 40 books, which will all be due when school starts back in the fall. Because of the number of materials and the length of the summer, we require a parent to be responsible for the books and check them out on parent accounts. Elementary students must come in with a parent, while high school and junior high students may select and check out books on their parent's account as long as they have permission from the parent (a note, e-mail or phone call to me works).

Come on in and choose a stack. If you're overwhelmed or stumped for choices, arrange for a "Personal Consultation" with a librarian -- it's sort of like having a Personal Shopper for books, only it's free!

ps -- the downloadable Elementary list will be ready next week.

I Hope to See You Here Next Week!

2011-05-26T14:52:00.002-04:00

Prepare for the Zombocalypse!

2011-05-20T09:01:00.004-04:00

Well, folks. It's official -- the CDC has issued its preparedness checklist for the Zombie Apocalypse. Personally, I've never quite "gotten" the zombie thing -- they're dead AND rotting, their dinner choices are parts that most Westerners don't eat anymore, their conversational skills are nil, and they're not even into fashion, ice cream or good books. At least vampires can clean up and retract their fangs . . .

But I digress. It's true about the CDC's preparation advice. From the CDC Social Media blog:

There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That’s right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency.

Turns out, all the steps folks should take to prepare for Zombocalypse are the same things we should do to prepare for a tornado, hurricane, or flood. Who knew, a little pre-planning can kill multiple natural disaster birds with one stone!

Of course, if you want to study up on all the ways a zombie invasion could come about, we've got plenty of choices here in the library (mostly in the fiction section . . ).

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (and a graphic novel version too)
Gil's All-Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
My Swordhand is Singing by Marcus Sedgewick
The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver
Soulless by Christopher Golden
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (on order)
Zombocalypse Now by Matt Youngmark

Non-Fiction

The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis

And if you want to cover all the possibilities:

The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven
The Encyclopedia of Survival Techniques by Alexander Stillwell

Meet you at the mailbox.

Books, Altered - Now Showing in the Library

2011-05-16T10:43:00.018-04:00

It was great timing. Elizabeth Lide's Drawing and Design art class mounted a display of their Altered Books projects the week before the 40th Anniversary book release party here in the library. Books everywhere!

A few students used outdated Encyclopedia Britannica volumes (we recently got a newer edition), and incorporated the volumes' content (trees, in the T volume, and a bridge in the B volume) into the artwork.

Other pieces were created from baby board books, a telephone book, and a hardback copy of Where the Wild Things Are.

Outside

One student altered a collection of paper plates with recipe pages from an international cookbook, overlaid with hand-cut block prints, culminating with a meal of international foods from the represented countries.

A final piece defies attempts at photography. Called Shadow Puppets, it's an interactive work created from a deconstructed board book overlaid with translucent vellum. In order to see the work (images of various hand puppet shapes, including the beloved two-fingered long ear bunny rabbit), the viewer has to slide a dark background behind each shape. And magically, the shadow puppets appear.

For inspiration on creating altered book art, visit the links in this post from the DeKalb County Public Library ("Can't Do That With An eBook") featuring Atlanta artist Brian Dettmer, and Part II. A CBS piece on Dettmer aired just last night -- watch the 2.5 minute clip here.

For techniques and inspiration for creating art from a variety of objects, check this book out of our library:

Altered Art: Techniques for Creating Altered Books, Boxes, Cards and More by Terry Taylor.

Room of Their Own

2011-04-20T14:40:00.001-04:00

Something I've been thinking about doing for a while, but was finally spurred on to do this week when an entire JH class, starting a writing unit on graphic narratives, came in to check out graphic novels.

Though it's quite possible to give Dewey or Library of Congress call numbers to every single item in a library and line them up consecutively on the shelves, there are all kinds of ways to organize library materials that make more sense: for example, by format (having different sections & call numbers for DVDs, audio books, and print books); by genre/subject (B for Biography, V for Videos, Dewey numbers for Non-Fiction); or by size (a special Oversize section for those pesky tall books). The danger lies in having so many separate sections that the library becomes too much like a bookstore, all higgledy-piggledy and hard to find things in.

Graphic novels are usually classified with the Dewey Decimal number 741.5 (Drawing and decorative arts->Cartoons, caricatures, comics), together with books on how to draw comics, analyze comics, the history of comics, and comic strip collections (like Snoopy and Garfield). Readers who love graphic novels are intrigued by the format and will read broadly across subject areas -- biography, fiction, fantasy, history. Since we have a pretty decent-sized collection that's growing in popularity, it was time to pull the graphic narratives into a separate and easy-to-find area.

This corner in the magazine/reading/coffee table area of the library is high visibility and gets a lot of browsing, so even more students may now be hooked by the allure of graphic novels.

Whether you're a fan of graphic novels, or just curious, come by to browse the collection, or check this list to see what we've got for you.

ps -- for the time being, I'm going to leave the call numbers as they are. Coming up with a new section designation and printing new spine labels is a project for later, when this new section is settled.

Kindles in the Library, Redux

2011-04-12T14:34:00.007-04:00

Finally, a compelling reason (for me, at least) to have library-owned Kindles to loan.

Back in February, the Library got its first Kindle eReader. I played with it for a few days, and was underwhelmed (lots of thoughts, written up in this post). Since then, two teachers and one student have "test-read," with mixed reactions. I'm not sure what it says that none of the three actually finished the book that was requested and loaded on the Kindle for them.

For both teachers/adults -- one was reading a book to prep for class, the other was reading a novel for fun at the beach -- the biggest frustration with the electronic device was the inability to flip back and forth through the pages, or to create a visual memory of how far along in the book a certain scene takes place. Taking notes isn't really that easy either. The student said he got used to it and liked it a lot, but didn't have much time for pleasure reading during the semester. I'd pretty much come to the conclusion that eReaders really are best as "personal electronics," and that it still makes more sense for libraries to loan content rather than devices.

And then last week, a student asked for an audiobook of Makes Me Wanna' Holler, a non-fiction title he is reading in class. Sure! we have audiobooks, specifically for students who learn as well or better through their ears than eyes. Only not this one, and it's apparently not available on CD (or even Audible.com), only on cassette, used. Even worse, the cassette edition is abridged. Even if I were to buy it, which I didn't want to do, it would be of limited value. The teacher came to ask how we can support this student. Think think, ponder ponder. The Kindle was sitting on my desk, just returned from its spring break checkout. Eureka!! (or, like DUH) What about the Kindle text-to-speech function I'd heard about? How good/awful is it? Could this be an option?

A quick check confirmed that the needed book was "text-to-speech enabled" (some copyright holders have demanded disabling of this function, concerned about potential impact to audiobook sales). Note sent to the next teacher on the Kindle test-drive list explaining the delay (gulp, it's the Headmaster.) Book purchased, downloaded and device ready to be checked out by break. The Kindle has a jack for headphones, and after class (the one reading the book), this student was already so enthusiastic he asked if we had his lit book on audio! Downloaded and ready by the end of the day. So now the one Kindle is helping this student in two classes, and providing something that the print editions of both books just can't do.

Having a computer read out loud to you is not the greatest aesthetic experience with a book. There's even inadvertent humor involved -- when it comes to tricky stuff (as in ALL the cuss words), I'm told the Kindle just spells them out! I bet that was a lively discussion at the Amazon.com product development meetings.

Still, text-to-speech is high-level value added in my opinion, making the Kindle more than just another way to read a book. (Paul B., the Library's second Kindle will be here later this week, and you're still first on the list.) I'm also going to participate in the Technology department's new iPad test program -- with a less expensive, refurbished 1st generation iPad (w/o cameras) -- to see if offers value to students in a library-relevant way. Brief research indicated that iBook can be set up as a text-to-speech device for Apple bookstore ebooks, though the Kindle reader app doesn't have the function. We'll see.

Waiting for a Hero?

2011-03-30T14:38:00.012-04:00

John & Sydney's class came on a library field trip this morning to explore The Hero's Journey. They had talked some about Joseph Campbell's archetype in relation to their lit book, Jim the Boy, and how Jim's coming of age might fit the Hero's Journey pattern.

We gathered in the video room to watch the clips below, and talk about what they knew about the Hero's Journey. It's kind of like junior high, really -- the call (finishing 6th grade), crossing the threshhold of no-return, a series of trials and tests (mostly tests, one student insisted), and the return (finishing 8th grade) as a changed person, who brings benefit to the community. We also talked about favorite books & movies that illustrate this pattern (The Hunger Games, The Lightning Thief, Spiderman) -- it's fun to realize that a book you know and love fits into "real" literature discussions.

The first 1:40 of the clip below is a very funny, very quick introduction to all 12 of Campbell's steps in the journey. We didn't watch the rest, but it's worthwhile if you have time.

After the videos and discussion, I talked a bunch of novels from the collection that I think fit the Hero's Journey archetype in significant ways. Not every story has all 12 elements, and not every element is literally applied (some journeys are mental or emotional, some epic battles are against oneself, not a physical enemy). Oh, and not every hero is male, or straight, or human!

Students were encouraged to check out one or more of these books for spring break reading, and challenged to think about which elements of the Hero's Journey they could identify in the novel, and why I might have chosen it for this theme.

Links go to the novel's page in the Paideia Library catalog.

Set in a Different World (or a far, far away time)

Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Hero by Perry Moore
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Beast by Donna Jo Napoli
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Sabriel by Garth Nix
The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis
- Beowulf
The Odyssey
East by Edith Pattou
Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Set in Our World (more or less)

i am the messenger by Markus Zusak
Prom Dates from Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore
The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan
The Baboon King by Anton Quintana
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
The Sacrifice by Diane Matcheck
Riding Invisible by Sandra Alonzo
ZigZag by Ellen Wittlinger
Whirligig by Paul Fleishman
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

Lastly, here's a 7 minute movie created by high school students that also illustrates (with humor) Joseph Campbell's heroic journey. Beware the watchdog!!

Oh, and how could I leave out the sourcebook? Joseph Campbell's groundbreaking study of world mythology, The Hero with A Thousand Faces.

100 Years Ago Today

2011-03-25T09:37:00.001-04:00

Today at around 4 pm marks 100 years since a murderous fire broke out on the 8th floor at the Triangle Waist Factory near Washington Square in Greenwich Village. If you don't have time or opportunity to watch the new HBO documentary, spend 8 minutes watching the CBS feature below. Pause a moment to consider Women's History, Immigrant history and the history of the Labor Movement and the New Deal. All owe much to a disaster that took 146 lives that sunny Saturday afternoon.

ADDED 4/11/2011 - an article from the New York Times about Ruth Sergel, an artist who initiated an annual project to chalk the names of Triangle fire victims on sidewalks in front of where they had lived.

Wednesday Website:Forget the Film, Watch the Titles!

2011-03-16T08:48:00.005-04:00

Are you a person who bolts from the cinema at the close of the last scene, or one who watches a movie from first to last frame, including what I used to explain to my children was the "business," the opening and closing credits? I always stay in my seat until the very last credit rolls by, sometimes to see some small bit of information like music performers or location credits, and sometimes because those closing credits are great film in and of themselves.

From the fabulous Open Culture , I found this nifty film, art and design website called Forget the Film, Watch the Titles - "showcasing the very best in title design." As of this week, Watch the Titles has clips, background information and interviews with title designers for 155 different movies. I'll introduce you to the site with a couple of book-related titles. Watch the sequences embedded here, but be sure to go to the site to read more about the creation and design of each.

The pilot film for a 13-part series (shown in the US on HBO) is based on Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Set in Botswana, the book series features Mma Precious Ramotswe and a colorful cast of characters, thoughtfully and unhurriedly investigating the foibles of human nature in contemporary southern Africa.

No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency – titles from Airside on Vimeo.

Another book-related feature on Watch the Titles comes from the 2004 film of Lemony Snicket's dismal and darkly humorous A Series of Unfortunate Events, in which the 3 plucky Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with their uncle, evil Count Olaf, who continuously plots to kill them to inherit the family fortune. Dear reader, if you sighed with relief at the children's near escape, you sighed too soon . . .

Do you stay to the very end to watch the closing titles?

Blogging Dayze

2011-03-08T16:01:00.009-05:00

Since the beginning of Long Term 2 I have been in a Blogger state-of-mind. I've collaborated on 4 blogging projects, set up 12 different blogs for junior high and high school classes, and taught sessions on the projects, goals & expectations, and how to get started on the blogs. I love it.

The "C-word" - Collaboration -- is the heart and soul of the librarian's purpose in school. In working with teachers to co-plan the design, structure and execution of an information-based project, I support Paideia's educational goals, I support the teachers in their teaching, and I work with students on developing the skills and thought processes needed in finding and using information.

The junior high language class project is an expansion of a project from last year. It's a term-long research project, in which students in Olivia, Mark, Lisanne, & Eddy's language classes research three different topics of choice from three different Spanish- or French-speaking countries. Each topic period lasts 3 weeks. The students' research is self-directed -- they can find out and report on anything they want that's related to the topic, and there's no immediate "end product" required. Later on, they'll pick one of the country/topic pairs to do a more focused and in-depth project for the ¡Fiesta! celebration in May, but for now it's all for the fun of finding out, and learning something more about a culture and words related to their language studies.

The students have run with this assignment and are following their interests, from soccer in Argentina and Cameroon, to Oscar de la Renta (did you know he was from the Dominican Republic??!!) to HIV/AIDS in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Carl's 9th grade World Civilizations and 10th grade American History classes are doing a different kind of project, that also works well on a blogging platform. His classes have a weekly assignment to read a current events article related to one of several specified topics, and write a reaction piece to it. Several of the students are finding their articles through subscriptions in their Google Reader accounts (did I ever mention I love my Google reader??), that they all set up earlier this school year. Some basic skills are involved in the assignment: identify author, title and source of the article (with hyperlinked URL), give a brief overview of the content, and give a thoughtful response/reaction to the article's focus.

The blogging platform works really well for these class activities. We use Blogger.com for several reasons: we can keep the blogs private but allow selected readers to see what students have written; it's easy and attractive; and, not least, a large majority of the students already have Google accounts (because of Gmail, Google Docs, other blogs they've worked with, or Google Reader) so they're ready to get started right away.

We've chosen to use one blog for a group of students (all the American History students, or all students in 6th period Spanish, for instance) rather than individual student blogs. Each student can post and edit her/his own articles, but not anyone else's, and multiple students can write and post to the blog at the same time (great for working in class). Publishing for an audience of peers is more authentic than a teacher audience-of-one, and both teacher and classmates can comment on a student's work.

One of the nicest things that the blogging platform offers is automatic indexing using "labels." A major part of the posting protocol is three labels (often called "tags" on other sites such as Facebook or Delicious.com) for each article: in JH language they are Name, Topic and Country (eg. Alex, Algeria, Music). Blogger then creates an index of every post with each label, so students and teachers can click on the label (say, Algeria), and get a page of all the posts about Algeria. Someone interested in music could click on the Music label and get a page of every music post, regardless of the country. It's also very easy for student to see where they stand in terms of number of posts and also see all their posts collated on one page. World Civ students should have read and responded to 10 different Current Events articles this semester. The index shows the number of posts per label, so when Bob sees (8) next to his name, he knows he has two more to go. It's satisfying how smoothly this works.

In the near future, John & Sydney's class will be blogging and playing with poetry, and a short term Human Sexuality class will use Blogger as an interactive website for information and projects.

I wish I could link you all to the enthusiastic work students are displaying on the blogs, but we've got them all limited to class students and teachers. You can experiment with labels and indexing features on this blog if you want -- click on Teaching With Technology at the bottom of this post to create a page of all articles with that label. The automatically generated index displays in the right sidebar. Cool, isn't it?

If you have a Junior High language student or high schooler in Carl's World Civ or American History class, ask about the blog and how it's going.

The Real Life Value of Research

2011-02-21T11:46:00.009-05:00

Today's New York Times reports that the last six unidentified victims of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire have been named, and at the centennial commemoration on March 25, the names of all 146 who died in the fire will be read aloud for the first time.

A complete list of the 146, mostly female, victims was never created until now. The most thorough list to date was published in 2003 by David Von Drehle in his book Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, which included 140 names. At the time of the fire, 6 bodies were so badly charred that they could not be recognized; families who believed their loved ones had died in the fire could not positively claim the deceased, and those names were never included on official lists. The six "unknowns" were buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens. As the Times writes,

"the obscurity of their names is evidence of the times, when lives were lived quietly and people were forced by economic and familial circumstances to swiftly move on from tragedies."

Good old-fashioned research is what put the remaining 6 names on the list. Historian Michael Hirsch became interested in the fire because one of the victims had live on his street. Over a period of four years, he dove into primary source research, looking in over 30 newspapers from 1911 (some which had to be translated from Yiddish and Italian) for articles about families still missing relatives who had worked at the factory. Once he had names, he was able to go to census records, marriage licenses, and union charity records (more primary sources) to verify or eliminate those names from his list. He was finally able to contact descendents of three of the six, and found that those families mourn their ancestors as victims of the fire, though their names were not included among the dead.

I first became aware of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (known at the time as the Washington Place fire, for the factory's address) a couple of years ago when a student chose it as her American History research paper topic. It's a crucial turning point in labor laws, building codes and women's history, as outrage about working conditions and the fact that firemen found all the stairwell and exit doors locked, preventing employees from leaving before quitting time (and trapping them in the fatal inferno) mobilized public opinion for change. Another student is researching the same topic this year.

Mr. Hirsch's research will be part of the HBO documentary Triangle: Remembering the Fire produced in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the tragedy (the DVD, a great secondary source, will be added to our library as soon as it's released).

A reminder that even when your research topic happened 100 years ago, new information is always possible. History often slows down, but it's never quite over.

Read more about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by Dave von Drehle

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Sweatshop Reform in American History by Suzanne Lieurance

The Triangle Fire by Leon Stein

Threads and Flames: A Novel by Esther Freisner

Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire
(website at Cornell's Keel Center for Labor Management)

Articles from the New York Times, March 25-April 3, 1911
(via ProQuest Historical Newspapers; you will need ProQuest ID & password for off-campus access)

How to Make a Librarian Smile

2011-02-17T15:58:00.006-05:00

Bring your lit classes into the library with laptops, to search for JSTOR articles!

Ryan's Modern American Short Story classes are reading Sherman Alexie's collection Ten Little Indians. Wednesday and Thursday mornings this week, students have been in the library, finding and analyzing scholarly criticism found on JSTOR. Yay for Ryan, yay for the students, yay for JSTOR!

To E- or Not To E- (Read, That Is)

2011-02-07T11:16:00.013-05:00

Hamlet must be busy this week -- after I titled this post, I got this update in my trusty Google Reader ("To E(book) or not to E(book)" from the DeKalb Public Library). Seems like lots of libraries are wrestling with the eReader question, and the Paideia Library has just joined in.

Natalie wrote that at least one of our elementary students was getting a Kindle for Hanukkah, and an article in last Friday's NY Times discussed the jump in children's and Young Adult e-books sales right after the holidays. After a recent presentation on pilot eReader programs in a couple of Atlanta-area private schools, I was convinced to order the Library's first Kindle, and have been ~~playing with~~ learning about it since it arrived a few days ago.

What are the potential plusses for having eReaders in the library?

Storage space! It's kind of awesome to be able to offer 10, 50 or 100 "print" titles in the shelf space of a single best-selling novel.

Instant availability If a student needs a non-fiction book on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, I can get it in minutes and check it out on the Kindle.

Multiple copies from one purchased eBook. Amazon and Barnes & Noble both allow a purchased eBook to be downloaded onto several devices. Right now I am experimenting with this feature by reading a book on the new Kindle, on my iPod Touch (using the Kindle app) and on my MacBook (also using the Kindle app). It works like a dream, very handy.

Coolness. I mean really, don't you think it's kind of cool to be able to check out an eReader from your local library?

OK, but what might be some obstacles & drawbacks?

Multiple book titles tied up in one device. Great to have 100 books stored in a small device, but when it's out, it's like 100 books are out at one time. Unless all the devices have the same titles (not impossible) it doesn't really increase availability to the community.

Expense. A wi-fi Kindle is $139 these days, a 3G model is $189. The Nook is similar, while a NookColor is nearly $250. And then you buy all the books to go on it (not counting free public domain books like Huck Finn or Shakespeare's plays). Our Technology department loans Flip video cameras, MacBook laptops and iPods, so this is not an insurmountable issue, but one worth considering how best to manage.

Vendor exclusivity. You buy a Kindle, you buy from Amazon.com. Get a Nook, buy from B&N. Or buy one of the other models out there with more flexibility but fewer options & features.

Limited lendability. You can't "borrow" & return eBooks from a library on a Kindle, and it's not super easy for the others, though it can be done (audiobooks are easier to 'borrow' from a library, unless you've got a Mac and/or iPod. Sigh.) So to loan the book, you have to loan the device with it.

"Ephemeral" ownership. This one is weird, but because eBooks are transferred through wireless always-on connections, they can be erased from a device as easily as installed. It's happened to Kindles at least once -- certain George Orwell books suddenly vanished from Kindles around the world. And though it's nifty, it's also kind of creepy that Amazon.com's service knows how far I've read and can sync that page to another device automatically.

My Kindle experience so far (or why I prefer the iPod)

The Kindle is kind of cool, but as yet I'm not quite in love. The e-Ink technology make the reading easy on the eye, and they say it is far superior when trying to read in sunlight, but I haven't gotten over the blinking screen when changing pages. Getting a book in seconds is extra nice. There are a few 'experimental' extras on the Kindle that could develop into really useful features, like playing mp3 files for background music audiobooks, and reading PDF files, but they're very rudimentary now.

I've been spoiled by my iPod Touch. When I started reading on the Kindle, I wanted to poke the screen to make it do things, and it seems to me that Amazon.com had better jump on the touchscreen bandwagon or be left behind. Even though the screen is smaller, I much prefer reading the Kindle book with the Kindle app on my iTouch. Color pictures are in color (the Kindle is b&w only) and can be enlarged and moved around, I can "turn" the pages with a finger swipe, and no annoying blink from one page to the next. Hyperlinks (I'm reading non-fiction, with footnotes and references to illustrations) can be accessed with a touch, where on the Kindle you have to navigate around with the "5-way controller" to get to the link. All the Kindle functions (make the type bigger, bookmarking, searching) work on the Kindle app too. I assume the same is true for the Kindle iPad app, with a larger screen.

Personally, as a reader and dedicated library user, "paying for a book is a verrrrrry hard idea to get my head around," (quoting the DeKalb Library blog writer), and there's not much way around that for eReader owners. That's ok with a lot of folks, but it limits the accessibility of books to all and the ability of libraries (a major American institution) to provide that access. Discussion of rights of first purchase and fair use, and rights of creators, and the new digital media would be another long post in itself.

If it were something that most folks have to buy anyway (Social Studies textbooks, for instance) -- wow, awesome, yippee!!! Early textbook experiments in college didn't work out so well, but I think if the publishing companies and the touchscreen reader developers could get together, there could be market viability and real utility in electronic textbooks. The current eReaders aren't quite there yet.

For now, I'm sticking with my iPod (which also holds my beloved podcasts for easy listening) and the Kindle app. Unless you're headed to a tropical island to do a lot of beach reading, I'd recommend you try it out that way too.

But what about the Paideia Library's Kindle?????

Still working on it, trying to figure it out. I've had a few days to try it, and next it goes to an English teacher who's eager to try it out. After that, a student guinea pig. And then I may get a couple more for a bigger tryout. I'll let you know when a "rollout" happens.

Do you have a Kindle or a Nook or other eReader? Have you tried the Kindle app for phones, computers or iPad? What do you love and/or hate about it?

Bites of Atlanta History

2011-02-01T08:42:00.011-05:00

Here's something about me -- I'm not much of a non-fiction reader. When I read narrative (as opposed to reference) I almost always read fiction. When I do read non-fiction, more times than not it's in the form of memoir, which often reads like a fictional novel. This is not to say that I don't learn substantial, real and true facts about history, events and places from reading novels and memoirs.

Before moving to Atlanta, I read Anne Rivers Siddons' novel Peachtree Road. I don't remember the characters or the melodrama from the book, but I do remember the incident at Orly, the burials at Oakland Cemetery, and the aftereffects on Atlanta society. In 1962, an Air France plane crashed at takeoff from Paris' Orly Airport, killing 130 of the 132 passengers and crew. Among them were 106 Atlanta Art Association patrons on their way home from a European art tour, and the loss of so many prominent movers and shakers dramatically affected Atlanta's arts world. Woodruff Arts Center, home of the High Museum, Symphony Hall and Paideia's annual high school graduation ceremony, was originally called Memorial Arts Center and was founded in 1968 in memory of those who died at Orly. I'm now inspired to read Explosion at Orly: The Disaster that Transformed Atlanta.

I started thinking about Atlanta history when one of our fabulous library parents returned The Winecoff Fire, raving about how interesting a read it had been. It's the story of a disastrous fire at the Winecoff Hotel on Peachtree Street, in December 1946, that most Atlantans have likely never heard of, yet remains the deadliest hotel fire in American history -- 119 people died, and numerous national safety codes were established or changed as a result.

Did you know that the new Pencil Factory Lofts, on Decatur Street as you drive downtown along the train tracks, is the old National Pencil Factory site**, where the murder of Mary Phagan sparked the notorious lynching of factory manager Leo Frank? Or that Grady Hospital was known as "The Gradys" during segregation because its two towers served as two separate hospitals for black and white patients?

Right now I'm reading a fabulous memoir, No Place Safe: A Family Memoir by Kim Reid, who was 13 when the first of "Atlanta's Child Murders" was found in the summer of 1979. Kim's mother was first black female investigator for the Georgia's DA's office, and while her mom became obsessed with finding the killer of Atlanta's black children, Kim was commuting from SW Atlanta to the northside, trying to be herself and still fit in as one of a handful of black students at Catholic Marist School.

If you'd like to experience Atlanta's history one bite at a time, check out one of the several books in our library that explore events in our city's past. Bites add up to meals, and varied, balanced meals add up to some serious mental nutrition.

The Temple Bombing by Melissa Fay Green
Cabbagetown Families by Rhonda Butler

The Winecoff Fire: the Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire by Sam Heys
Peachtree Creek : a Natural and Unnatural History of Atlanta’s Watershed by David R. Kaufman
An Unspeakable Crime: the Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank by Elaine Marie Alphin
And the Dead Shall Rise: the Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank by Steve Oney
Murder and Mystery in Atlanta by Corinna Underwood
Outcasts United: a Refugee Team, an American Town by Warren St. John
The Historic Oakland Cemetery of Atlanta: Speaking Stones by Cathy Kaemmerlen
Grady Baby: a Year in the Life of Atlanta's Grady Hospital by Jerry Gentry
Explosion at Orly: the Disaster that Transformed Atlanta by Ann Uhry Abrams
Negrophobia: a Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906 by Mark Bauerlein
Rage in the Gate City: the Story of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot by Rebecca Burns
Burial for a King: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Funeral and the Week that Transformed Atlanta and Rocked the Nation by Rebecca Burns
Atlanta Rising : the Invention of an International City, 1946-1996 by Frederick Allen
Two Confederate Hospitals and Their Patients Atlanta to Opelika by Jack D. Welsh
Archival Atlanta : Electric Street Dummies, the Great Stonehenge Explosion, Nerve Tonics and Bovine Laws : Forgotten Facts and Well-kept Secrets from Our City’s Past by Perry Buffington
The Herndons: an Atlanta Family by Carole Merritt
Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: the Saga of Two Families and the Making of Atlanta by Gary Pomerantz
Margaret Mitchell of Atlanta, the author of Gone with the Wind by Finis Farr
What'll Ya Have? A History of the Varsity by Dick Parker

And a little sampling of fiction for good measure:

No Crystal Stair by Eva Rutland
Bound South by Susan Rebecca White
Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
Peachtree Road by Anne Rivers Siddons

** note -- as it turns out, the Pencil Factory Apartments are NOT at the site of the National Pencil Factory in 1913. The factory was actually on Forsythe Street near Five Points, near the current location of the Sam Nunn Federal Building.

Have you Ever Felt This Way?

2011-01-28T16:02:00.003-05:00

Good!!

I'm Reading a Book
Julian Smith

Found via Open Culture

Toward a Less Stressful Season of Peace

2010-12-14T12:30:00.002-05:00

Mindfulness Resources in the Paideia Library

The last few weeks of fall semester are high stress times for high school students. Seniors are either hearing back from early college decision or pressed to meet December & early January application deadlines. All students are wrapping up 17 weeks of learning and study with papers, quizzes and presentations, and then there are 3 days of finals, which start tomorrow. It's holiday time for many, which though ideally offers peace and joy, often just adds more stress and hustle to the days.

The Paideia community has for some time been incorporating occasions of "mindfulness" into daily life. Mindfulness isn't quite meditation, though can include it. It's more of a remembering to pay attention to "right here, right now" -- being aware of one's surroundings, physical and emotional feelings, without worrying or dwelling on them. As research has shown the negative effects that stress can have on learning and neurological development, an increasing amount of research demonstrates the benefits of the opposite, that a deliberate, intentional calming of the brain and nervous system has overwhelmingly positive effects on student behaviour, resilience and ability to learn.

In October, we brought educator and expert in social and emotional learning Linda Lantieri to Paideia for a couple of days, working with student groups and speaking to parents and faculty. Linda's book Building Emotional Intelligence, is a guide for parent and teachers to help young people develop mindful habits. Parents of teens, you are in luck! This book is especially valuable because it includes different approaches for different ages, including middle ages/young teens and older teens (often left out of active parenting books). After Linda's visit, we have had faculty meetings about our students and their stress levels, how school practices might be adding to it, and what we might do to help students manage or reduce stress. Counselor Thrower Starr has held mindfulness sessions during activity period for interested students.

In response to requests, I've expanded elementary librarian Natalie Bernstein's work on a collection of books, links and audio resources related to mindfulness practice. We have a "Mindfulness at Paideia" tab on the Paideia Library start page -- this page pulls together book descriptions, websites and links to online guided meditations. On the Library catalog, there is a Mindfulness reading list including all our books in both the high school and elementary libraries, and several audiobooks and audio guided meditations. The reading list entries even show which items are currently in and available -- e-mail me to hold one for you.

I encourage everyone in the Paideia community -- faculty, staff, parents, students -- to explore these resources. The research is solid, the effects are positive. In this busy season, making a little time to slow down, notice and appreciate right now, and breathe, will pay back much more in emotional time and freedom to enjoy everything else. I hope to see you here soon!

A Conundrum

2010-12-01T11:55:00.011-05:00

This is what the library looks like for much of the day. This is when high school students should be in class.

Most students who have a study hall in their schedules, have it 4th period. The computers are full, and a few students are working at their books.

And then there's before school, break/activity period, lunch and after school. This is when most students have free time, and can come to the library to study. These pictures show a typical Wednesday activity period -- chock-a-block with kids, at the tables, in the carrels, on the floor, talking and noisy, but by and large they really are studying.

One of the results of the library's popularity as a group study space is that some students, especially those in the younger grades or who study solo, don't feel comfortable in the midst of the activity. No librarian likes to see 9th graders come in, take a quick look and then leave. But how to meet the needs of students with different study styles?

Since the elementary library moved to its new space, I've been able to offer an alternative for students who find the library Great Room too noisy and distracting.

This was the scene in the Quiet Study space last Wednesday activity period. Eleven students, quiet as eleven studious mice. Spartan, but it works.

So what do you do when you really need extra, differentiated and divided room, but only for part of the day, and there are many other folks who also need space at school? Is there a way to meet multiple needs in the same space? There are many many possibilities and many many needs, but until our campus "musical buildings" settles out, a nice, cozy Quiet Study is a welcome place to have.

Wednesday Websites:Free Online Movie Sites

2010-11-24T02:11:00.007-05:00

Now that you've seen Salvador Dali on "What's My Line" and at the High, are you interested in finally seeing Un Chien Andalou, a bizarre 16-minute surrealist film created by Dali and Luis Buñuel? Maybe a student missed school the day you talked about Robert McNamara and showed The F og of War, and needs to watch it over the weekend. Or do you just want to watch the original 1968 zombie flick Night of the Living Dead? Lots of folks go to Hulu or YouTube to see TV shows and pop culture videos, but there are hundreds of professionally produced documentaries and classic films available to watch online for free.

The Moving Images Archive, a subset of the Internet Archive (also home to the Wayback Machine web page archive), is a library of thousands of video files, either in the public domain or uploaded by the copyright holder. Most of the films are downloadable -- some have been edited or enhanced by users, and those versions are also available in the archive.

"Thousands of feature-length documentary films are produced every year, but almost nobody gets a chance to see them. A few dozen are shown to small audiences at major film festivals, and a handful make it into theaters. For every blockbuster, there are hundreds of documentaries that never find an audience," Walter Mossberg wrote in a review of Snag Films. Snag Films was created by a documentary filmmaker frustrated by the "distribution bottleneck" that prevents most documentaries from ever being seen by a wide audience. The website offers a collection of over 1,600 documentary films, both short and full-length. Several of these films were released commercially to great success (Super Size Me, for instance), and there are PBS and National Geographic documentaries that have been seen on TV, but there are also hundreds of shorter or indie-produced documentaries and labors of love.

Snag Learning is a subset of Snag Films that features selected documentaries for middle and high school students. The web page for each Snag Learning selection includes discussion questions and information about a related non-profit organization. Some include teacher-submitted lesson plans, and teachers are encouraged to contribute their own materials for the film. Recent additions to the Snag Learning site are The Danish Solution, a 58-minute documentary narrated by Garrison Keillor, about the citizens of Denmark who stood against Hitler's plans to exterminate Danish Jews, and Bridge over the Wadi, about Jewish and Arab children learning together in a bilingual school in Israel.

Of course there are dozens, if not hundreds, of free films scattered across the web, some on individual sites, many on YouTube and Google Video. The fabulous site Open Culture created a list of "200 Free Movies Online" to get learners started off in the right direction to see Russian epics, indie films, the weirdness of David Lynch, and the original slapstick of the great Charlie Chaplin.

The Gold Rush (1924)

Too Good To Miss:Dali on "What's My Line"

2010-11-22T10:28:00.003-05:00

Again, Open Culture rocks! Here's an online freebie to round out your Salvador Dali experience at the High Museum -- a 10 minute clip of the flamboyant artist as mystery guest on the TV game show "What's My Line."

27 January 1957

When You're Driving By At Night,Look Up to Your Right . . .

2010-11-05T10:44:00.007-04:00

Autumn has definitely arrived. Just a few minutes ago I looked out our front windows to see glorious sunlit red, yellow and green leaves whooshing about in a chilly strong breeze. Nature is some kind of talented artist.

But I have been completely remiss in not celebrating the wonderful, custom-made art given to the library by Paideia grandmother and library volunteer Leah Wini Steiner. Anyone who's been in the library greatroom knows that, while it's a gorgeous lofty space, it's not exactly designed for sound control, and the high walls are spartanly empty. Last spring I mentioned wanting some "monumental" art for those high spaces, and right away Wini, an artist, crafter and Paideia Quilter, volunteered to create a quilted hanging specifically designed for our library walls.

You can see the personalized touches in the photo -- our dictionary stand, the globe, a floral nod to our gigantic coffee table art book on Georgia O'Keefe, complete with white book easels. Never fear -- the sleeping python in a basket is only symbolic. We do NOT have an actual live snake in the library!

What doesn't show in the picture are the hand-lettered titles on all the book spines. This textile library includes The Language of Life, Emma, Candide, and Do Penguins Have Knees? (actual titles we own!)

The beauty of this quilt that's not apparent to the daily users of the library, even those who appreciate the natural art on display through the front windows, is how great it looks from the outside. On these fall and winter evenings, the building is still busy and brightly lit after dark, but for years passers-by who looked have seen an expanse of pale green nothing. Now, there's a vibrant spot of color that adds life to the scene.

If you see Wini, or members of her family (Moey, Mindy Stombler or Nate Steiner), thank her for everything she gives. We all gained when Wini joined the Paideia family.

"The Case of M. Valdemar":Another Big Read Film Showing Tuesday

2010-10-29T14:02:00.007-04:00

A small but excited audience watched "The Black Cat" last week (one student even read the story the night before to get ready!), so next Tuesday we'll screen another of the Tales of Terror vignettes.

Come at lunch on November 2 to watch "The Case of M. Valdemar," 25 minutes based on Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," which brings together Vincent Price as a dying gentleman and a wicked Basil Rathbone, also known as the original Sherlock Holmes actor, as a mesmerist (hypnotist) with evil intentions. This story has an interesting history, as it was taken to be a scientific report for some time before Poe admitted it was a work of fiction!

Curious but can't make it to the library on Tuesday? Sample this theatrical trailer for the 1962 release instead.

The Big Read

2010-10-27T14:00:00.000-04:00

We've been focusing on Edgar Allan Poe this week in the library. Of course, black cats and ravens go nicely with Halloween too.

On Monday at lunch, we showed the 1962 short film The Black Cat, a campy horror piece starring Vincent Price and Peter Lorre. This morning, John and Sydney's class came in for a creepy bit of library time featuring a "creepy story" book talk (zombies, vampires, Windigos and the like), and the animated short, "The Tell Tale Heart". They'd read the story to prepare, and we talked a bit about the film and how it amplified or differed from Poe's original.

The horrific face on display next to the Poe books is student Theodore Davis' original interpretation of "The Masque of the Red Death," which he was inspired to create after reading Poe's story. Several high school students have stopped short to take a closer look, with one clear opinion -- "that's creepy." Yup, and that's the point!

Next Tuesday at lunch - another one of the "Tales of Terror" shorts. Maybe The Case of M. Valdemar . . .

A Full Month

2010-10-11T13:55:00.000-04:00

What do you get when you cross Hispanic Heritage Month . . .

top right: Ellen Ochoa, first Hispanic female astronaut

with Gay and Lesbian History Month?

bottom right: Juan Julio Diaz, first openly gay man to run for public office, 1961

The opportunity to learn about a LOT of amazing people!

top left: Emmanuel Xavier, spoken word artist
bottom right: Michelle Bonilla, actor

top left: Gloria Anzaldua, activist; top right: Marisa Demeo, judge
middle right: Ramón Navarro, silent movie star
bottom left: Guillermo Diaz, movie actor; bottom right: Marga Gomez, comedian

For some reason, October is always jam-packed with events. The Metro Atlanta Big Read starts Thursday. At Paideia, October started with possibly the best-ever BBQ & Dance and another successful Library Donation Sale. Last week we had two days with mindfulness educator Linda Lantieri, this week ends with Fall Break (yay!) and then we're on to the October 30 Day of the Dead celebration sponsored by the Latino Parents Group. Come by the library to see how we're celebrating all the wonderful things happening in this autumnal month.

Reading Big!:Metro Atlanta Reads Edgar Allen Poe

2010-10-08T09:48:00.008-04:00

The Big Read is a nationwide literacy program of the National Endowment for the Arts, with the goal of bringing back literary reading (as opposed to People magazine reading, I suppose) to American popular culture. Cities and towns across the country have chosen annual Big Read books, then sponsored a month of parties, readings and other participatory events to highlight and celebrate adult literary reading.

Metro Atlanta has celebrated The Big Read for three years now, spearheaded by the Atlanta History Center's Literary Center at the Margaret Mitchell House. This year's reading is The Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe, appropriately creepy for the Halloween month. The kickoff event is a Masquerade Ball at the Atlanta History Center on October 14, and a ton of free events for all ages are happening in following weeks, including several book chats at intown bookstores and library branches, and a Poe film festival (The Fall of the House of Usher and The Masque of the Red Death). The NEA has produced a fascinating podcast about Poe's writings featuring Richard Wilbur, Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) and others -- click the Play arrow next to Edgar to listen now, or download it from iTunes.

The Edgar Allen Poe radio show on The Big Read

I haven't quite decided how we'll celebrate The Big Read here in the library, but I'm thinking maybe a lunch of Poe film shorts, poetry reading (MMM, maybe) and definitely a raven or two. Watch for details by October 14.

Until then, I'll leave you with this short film of The Tell Tale Heart. Guilt, my friends, is hard on the psyche. Life a clean life, and stay sane. Or not . . .

Read more information about this short film on its Vimeo page.

Banned Books Week in the Junior High

2010-10-01T11:12:00.006-04:00

Paideia Junior High students, under the inspired leadership of teacher Sydney Cleland, have really run with their Banned Books Week investigations.

The ground level hallway sports 3 new bulletin board displays featuring covers and information on nearly a hundred books that have been challenged or banned in recent years somewhere in the United States.

In a stroke of genius, Sydney also included brown paper comment walls with leading questions for student response.

Tough question . . .

Which one would YOU save?

Caution: These Books May Be Dangerous

2010-09-28T10:30:00.008-04:00

For many years, the American Library Association has designated the last week of September as Banned Books Week,

"an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment . . . Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States."

Most of the books highlighted weren't actually "banned," but the alliteration of banned books week sounds much better than banned or challenged books or books somebody tried to get removed from the library week.

So this is Banned Books Week! I've created an eye-catching display of books in the library's collection that made ALA's "Top Ten Banned or Challenged Books" list at least once in the past five years. Lots of students, parents and teachers have stopped to read the information, and several have asked more about it.

I'd say we proudly own about 75% of the 40 or so books in those lists (a few repeat often, as they get challenged somewhere every year), and many many more that have been challenged somewhere. Many of them are popular books for teenagers -- a subversive group if there ever was one, and only the popular books (the Twilight series, Lauren Myracle's TTYL series, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and good ol' Catcher in the Rye) get enough notice to inspire opposition. The most recent firestorm erupted just last week over Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, popular since its publication in 1999.

The nature of our school is such that (knock wood) we've never had a formal challenge to any of our materials, though from time to time a parent will question why a certain book is in the collection, or why it's taught. We do have a materials collection policy that states why and how we add items to the collection, and should it ever be needed, a formal challenge policy and procedure.

The whole issue of censorship, the Freedom to Read, and the First Amendment is complex and tricky. As a private school library, we have a lot of freedom to select and not select, and a specific, well-defined community to serve. I spend time thinking about the "right" mix of ideas and viewpoints for our students. The Paideia community and approach to education means that many of the books challenged in more conservative communities are books that are perfect for our collection, such as those that present sexual orientation and identity questioning in a positive light. Author Lauren Myracle, whose TTYL books have hit the banned big time (on the Top 10 List 3 years running, #1 in 2009) has twice visited Paideia to talk to students.

But we don't have a collection of Christian fiction, or memoirs of notable conservative politicians, or more controversial and "other" side books like Holocaust denials or anti-global warming treatises. Should we? Where is the line between the librarian's responsibility to create and maintain a diverse range of viewpoints, and the responsibility to develop a collection that reflects the community's values and information needs? Many many kids have checked out The Geography Club, but not once have I ever had a request for Ann Coulter's books. Is it an appropriate use of school resources to buy a book if it won't ever get checked out?

This last week of September is a good time to be thinking about the freedom to read widely and diversely, how best to serve a diversity of opinion among a community, the courage to confront opposing and possibly repellent points of view, and the challenges of supporting everyone's Freedom to Read with the responsibility of upholding the rights and safety of the community.

Some of the library's most recent additions will be available in the Library Donation Sale this Saturday during the Fall BBQ & Dance. Please come visit, or browse the entire library collection using the online catalog. See you there!

More Banned Books Week reading:

15 Iconic Movies Based on Banned Books (Huffington Post)

Twitter: Banned Books New Best Friend (NY Times)

Banned Books: Does Censoring a Kid's Book Remove Its Prejudices? (Huffington Post)

The Dirty Dozen: Twelve Books Guaranteed to Turn (Almost) Anyone into a Censor

Read This Book:Into the Beautiful Northby Luis Alberto Urrea

2010-09-23T10:30:00.000-04:00

Into the Beautiful North is one of my favorite books from the last school year. It was on the 2010 Rainbow List, which is where I first heard about it, and was nominated for the 2010 Alex Award list. It also came up when I was looking for Latino novels for a class.

I'll tell you about the book using the question prompts from the School Library Journal I wrote about earlier:

Into the Beautiful North features a cast of eccentric characters, including a couple who live in a Tijuana dump, a young American missionary worker, and a burned-out immigration officer, but the central story follows four friends who travel from their tiny village in southern Mexico to the United States (the "Beautiful North" of the title). Having realized that all their men, her father included, have abandoned their village to go north for work, 19-year-old waitress Nayeli, with Tacho, Vampi ("la Vampira," the only goth girl in town), and Yolo, sets out on a quest. The plan is to find seven worthy Mexican men in Los Yunaites, and smuggle them back across the border to reclaim Tres Camarones from drug bandits. We meet all the main characters before page 25, and the plot moves steadily along throughout the book. They meet many colorful characters along the way, the good ones more fleshed out than the bad, but not so many that your head begins to spin.

The novel reads almost like a fable, but never quite crosses the line into the mystical. The telling style is low-key, with wonderful dry humour (or maybe it's just me that thinks a wildly boastful dump warrior with a deadly staff and a Hello Kitty backpack is hilarious?), some sad bits and some wacky bits (but they could happen). There are surprises and disappointments, for the characters and for the reader.

What I like most about this book is the characters (including some amazing women), and how the good guys ultimately triumph through inner strength and the kindness of strangers.

There are other themes along the way, of race, discrimination, poverty, hope & dreams, the differences between north and south of the US-Mexico border. The Rainbow List included the book because of Tacho, gay taco shop proprietor and Nayeli's boss, a steadying influence who experiences his own epiphanies during the journey.

Read this book! I recommend it to everyone in high school and older, male and female. Rejoice in the inspiration of the noble quest, and proudly proclaim "I am Atómiko!"

Cool Class for Teensat Decatur/DeKalb Public Library

2010-09-16T10:17:00.005-04:00

So, smart kids use all the resources available to them, right? You may go to a private school, but your family still pays their taxes. And taxes support one of the greatest inventions of the modern world -- the free public library! If you're a DeKalb County Public Library card holder, take advantage of this one hour class on using a new presentation software product called Prezi. It's on Wednesday afternoon, September 22, from 4:30-5:30 pm at the downtown Decatur branch (on Sycamore Street next to Decatur Rec).

I, for one, would be thrilled never to see another boring PowerPoint presentation as long as I live. Especially one where the presenter gives you a paper copy in advance (thanks for the handout, and now can I leave?). I've heard about Prezi but never seen it in action until now. Check out this presentation by Elisabeth Harris, Decatur branch Youth Services librarian (and Paideia parent).

Presentations with Pizzazz Promo on Prezi

I can't take the class (it's for teens aged 13-17), but I will definitely be exploring the possibilities of this software. PowerPoint, beware!

Readers' Advisory: How to Talk About What You WantWhen What You Want Is a Good Book

2010-09-14T14:27:00.009-04:00

One of the best parts of any day is when I get to help a student find "a good book." In the library biz, this process is known as "Readers' Advisory." I often call it a "personal consultation," and have a bunch of questions that help me get an idea of what the student is looking for.

What kind of book do you have in mind?
(fantasy, realistic fiction, non-fiction, adventure, mystery . . .)

Robots or dragons (two main branches of sci fi/fantasy)?

Funny? Happy, sad?

Long or short?

If you think of the perfect book for right now, what would be happening in it?

Even when a reader can name a favorite book and wants one like it, it's helpful to go deeper with questions. Two students who love the same novel (say, I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter) may like it for different reasons -- one may enjoy the action/adventure, and the other likes the characters and the touch of romance. In that case, the Gallagher Girls reader in it for the gadgets and adventure might like Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series or Jennifer Barnes' The Squad books, while the reader who loved the strong female characters and the romance might instead go for a Chloe & Levesque mystery, novels by Joan Bauer, or a fantasy like Graceling.

A recent article in School Library Journal has given me a handful of additional questions that I can use to really get at the heart of student reading preferences.

"Are the characters and plot quickly revealed or slowly unveiled?

Is there more dialogue or more description?

Is the story's focus on a single character or on several whose lives are intertwined?

Is the focus of the story more interior and psychological, or exterior and action oriented?"

The answers to these questions give me additional insights into what the student finds appealing in favorite books, so I can suggest books in different genres, fiction and non-fiction, that have similar qualities. Also, just asking the questions encourages students to think about the books they like, and why.

At least one junior high homebase class is planning to develop a group of "class librarians" to coordinate the class book collection and be able to recommend titles to their classmates. I'm looking forward to working with them, teaching them a tool kit of "appeal terms" to hone their Readers' Advisory skills.

Wednesday Website:Open Culture

2010-09-08T12:34:00.006-04:00

This one is for all the life-long learners out there. Subtitled "the best free cultural & educational materials on the Web," Open Culture is a project of Dan Coleman, the Director & Associate Dean of Stanford's Continuing Studies Program. As he describes it:

Open Culture brings together high-quality cultural & educational media for the worldwide lifelong learning community. Web 2.0 has given us great amounts of intelligent audio and video. It’s all free. It’s all enriching. But it’s also scattered across the web, and not easy to find. Our whole mission is to centralize this content, curate it, and give you access to this high quality content whenever and wherever you want it. Free audio books, free online courses, free movies, free language lessons, free ebooks and other enriching content — it’s all here. Open Culture was founded in 2006.

There are other sites that pull together great educational materials. Many top notch colleges and universities such as MIT and UC Berkeley post readings, syllabi, and video or audio lectures for many of their most popular classes through Open CourseWare projects or iTunes U. TED posts videos of its inspiring and thought-provoking talks on its website for the world to view. Free Technology for Teachers is an award-winning collection of all kinds of freely available websites, with ideas on how they can be used to benefit student learning. I love them all, but a very nice thing about Open Culture is that it's very inclusive in topics and formats, which makes it an awesome place to start.

Students who want extra help, or to learn a language not taught at Paideia, there are links for you. Want to go further into Roman Architecture than you did in World Civ? Learn from a professor at Yale. Psyched to travel, or catch up on the classics of literature? Open Culture links to 20 different top quality travel podcasts and dozens of free audiobook classics you can download to your iPod. And the blog has daily posts that link to all kinds of just really cool stuff -- on Monday it led to a transcript of a 1939 lecture by Alfred Hitchcock on the art of suspense, a great find for all film buffs with hungry minds.

Being a school librarian is a great outlet for a hungry mind. As we work to satisfy student learning needs, we get to learn at the same time. And then pass it on. If Paideia students graduate into a vocation as life-long learners, we'll have done our jobs well.

Alternate Endings

2010-09-07T10:45:00.003-04:00

Emily Dickinson meets Dylan Thomas . . .

Friday Poll:Junior High Summer Reading Bowl Favorites

2010-09-03T08:03:00.005-04:00

Here it is -- the first Friday Poll of 2010-2011! This one is for Junior High students. Y'all, if you haven't read at least 3 of the following books so you can participate in the Summer Reading Bowl, there's still time. The library has copies of each book, and most of the homebases have copies as well. Send me an e-mail if you'd like to get one from the library.

So, of the six books on the Summer Reading Bowl list, which one was your favorite? Vote in the poll, and if you want to elaborate (or let us know which were your second and third faves, or even if you absolutely hated one of them), go ahead and leave a comment below.

Details about the Summer Reading Bowl will be posted as soon as we figure out the date.

After you vote you'll see the poll results so far.

What was your favorite JH Summer Reading Bowl book?Market Research

Wednesday Websites: For Journalism Students (and everyone else)

2010-09-01T09:03:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday I talked with the staff of The Forum in Jennifer Hill's journalism class, about Internet research, finding reliable web sources, and fact checking. As I prepared, it occurred to me that all of these skills are the same techniques that all students should be using for their classes and for their personal information needs. Teachers and other grownups would benefit from researching like a journalist as well.

In class we went over a few main points:

using websites dedicated to verifying (or debunking) political and social rumours, urban legends, chain mail claims, and the like (Snopes.com, PolitiFact.com, and others)
Google is fine, but use the power tools (+, - and "") to get better quality searches. Consider that Google hits may be weighted in various ways, and go beyond the first few to find more solid sources. Use clues from blogs or Wikipedia to lead you to the information in quality sources. Double-check all facts by finding the same information in one or more quality source (CNN, US government website, primary source, etc).
make sure that multiple sources are actually different sources (not just the same Wikipedia article in different websites). Do your sources all quote the same primary source? Find the primary source yourself.
use the Paideia databases (SIRS and ProQuest) as a way to find sources (reports & articles, including AJC archives back to 2002) that have been through some sort of filtering process before being included. CQResearcher has comprehensive reports on current social and political issues
questions to ask of any website in deciding whether it's reliable enough to stake your journalistic reputation (or grade) on its content

Links to all of the websites mentioned in the session are on PiLibrarian's Recommended Websites list, with the tag Journalism.

Welcome Back! (to students and returning books)

2010-08-24T12:02:00.005-04:00

Today is the first day of school, and we're in full swing. Yesterday was orientation for all new High School students (reminder -- read your library info flyer very carefully!), and today we've seen groups of junior high students coming to check out a book for a scavenger hunt. Tomorrow and Thursday will be joint Technology/Library FirstClass and library account orientations for all 7th graders, given down in the computer labs.

New book displays are up. After the scorching summer we've had, this theme was a no-brainer:

And this one for junior high students who may be a little behind on their Reading Bowl preparations (check this list to see which titles are available for checkout right now):

And as for all those summer checkouts? The books have enjoyed their time out of the library and they're coming back daily, but no need to rush. The due date for all summer checkouts is not until Friday, September 3, so you're not late yet. Bringing them back next week is fine too. And if there are any that you or your family want to continue reading, just call or send me an e-mail to renew for another 4 weeks (JH students and up).

Welcome back to school!

Wednesday Website:TED & William Kamkwamba

2010-08-18T15:11:00.007-04:00

Technology, Entertainment, Design. TED sponsors two annual conferences, one in California, the other in Oxford (UK) to bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less). The best talks and performances from TED are made available to the world, for free, on TED.com. More than 700 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week. I like to download interesting-sounding TEDTalk videos to my iTouch, and watch them when I have waiting time (like at the doctor's office).

One of this year's Junior High Summer Reading Bowl choices is The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, an autobiography/memoir by a young man from Malawi, William Kamkwamba. When he was a young teen William had to drop out of school. Unwilling to stop learning, he read science books from his village library and managed to build a windmill that generated electricity for indoor lights and a radio. Five years later, when he was about 19 years old, William first spoke about his achievements with co-author Bryan Mealor at TED Global 2007, in Arusha, Tanzania. He was very nervous.

Two years later, after many more achievements and triumphs, William spoke again, at TED Global 2009. A much more confident and experienced speaker, this short talk tells his story of determination, ingenuity and wonder.

Since 2007, William has been able to attend a pan-African boarding school for emerging leaders, begin a foundation to support similar self-help projects in Malawi, and write a blog. A short film about his windmills is being turned into a feature-length documentary. His book is one of my top books of the year (as well as an Amazon.com and Publisher's Weekly Top 10).

And all because 14-year-old William wanted to read his books after dark.

New for 2010:Junior High Summer Reading Bowl

2010-06-09T13:38:00.005-04:00

At the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, junior high homebase classrooms will be competing in the Summer Reading Bowl, which consists of questions based on the the reading selections in a quiz bowl format.

To be eligible to play, rising 7th and 8th grade students are required to read 3 or more of the books on this Summer Reading Bowl List.

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealor
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

Students should read a minimum of 6 books overall to fulfill the summer reading requirement. A guide to great summer reading choices is the Paideia Library's Junior High Summer Reading List (link downloads the list as a .pdf file) which includes hundreds of annotated book descriptions, and hundreds more books listed by title.

You can click here or here for links to all three of the Paideia Library reading lists.

It's Summer Reading Time

2010-06-09T12:30:00.006-04:00

It's that time of year again . . . The Summer Reading booklets were distributed to all students before the end of school, and once again we spent lots of time with students and parents, helping them choose their summer reading choices. It's sort of like personal shopping for the reading customer, and is one of the best parts of the job.

Paideia Library allows (and encourages) families to check out books and audiobooks for the summer vacation. The policy is that all summer checkouts go on a parent library account (because of the quantity of items and duration of the circulation period); junior high and high school students just need written or e-mailed permission from the parent, while elementary students need to have the parent present for checkout. This year, all summer checkouts are due on September 3, 2010.

Why let books go out over the summer? Lots of reasons:

we want to encourage and facilitate student reading when they're not in school;
we can help students find several books they may not have heard of but they will probably enjoy;
the long circulation period helps families who go out of town (one family heads to Norway for the entire summer, complete with a huge suitcase full of Paideia Library books);
the books would just sit here over the summer since we're not open anyway;
and
fewer books sitting in the library means fewer items to scan at inventory time.

With hundreds of titles included, the three Summer Reading lists -- Elementary, Junior High and High School (links will download lists as .pdf files) -- are more like "reading guides" than a prescribed list of books that must be read. We do have summer reading requirements:

Elementary (grades K-6): read (or have read to you) 5 books
Junior High (grades 7 & 8): read 6 books
High School (grades 9-12): read 4 books

New this year for Junior High is the Summer Reading Bowl, which does have a list of 6 specific titles. Any rising 7th or 8th grader who wants to participate in the Summer Reading Bowl in the fall should read at least 3 of these books, or preferably all 6!

Great Reads for Your Ears!

2010-05-28T14:20:00.005-04:00

If you like to listen to your books, here's an incredible FREE opportunity over the summer. Audiofile magazine, which reviews and promotes all kinds of audiobooks, is sponsoring free downloads of some very awesome Young Adult and classic books, two a week, during July and August. You can go to the Sync page for more information, and to download when the time comes.

Here's what you can hear for FREE from the Sync giveway. The links go to reviews on the Audiofile magazine website.

Available July 1 - July 7
The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Available July 8 - July 14
Over the End Line by Alfred C. Martino
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

Available July 15 - July 21
Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Available July 22 - July 28
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Available July 29 - August 4
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Available August 5 - August 11
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Available August 12 - August 18
Coming Soon...

Available August 19 - August 25
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Available August 26 - September 1
Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The downloads are managed by Overdrive, a company that manages audiobook borrowing for many public libraries, including our local DeKalb County Public Library system. The thing that makes Overdrive interesting to me is that they swear their audiobook loans will work on Apple players (iPods & iTouch -- there may be some conversion download program to download, though). Sync says their giveaways are definitely all Apple friendly -- they're a Mac-based office! I'll be testing the downloads from the DeKalb Library on my MacBook and iTouch and will report back before the Sync giveaway.

UPDATE: I've been playing around with "borrowing" audiobook downloads from the DeKalb Library. Many of them are "iPod compatible" -- this means they can be downloaded on a Windows computer and transferred to iPod (these are called WMA audiobooks). If you have a Mac computer, you have to look for audiobooks in mp3 format ONLY. The folks at Sync are making sure that the titles they're offering for free this summer are mp3s, so mark your calendar and start listening!

More Edge Poems: #14 - A Class Act

2010-05-10T13:00:00.010-04:00

Jennifer and Tony's junior high students class all got creative with poetry. Some of the class poems are below.

by Edward

another poem by Edward

poem 1 by Christine

poem 2 by Christine

by Callie

by Amelia

another poem by Amelia

by Aly

a second poem by Aly

Don't Let the Cat Wander . . .

2010-05-07T14:20:00.011-04:00

Popular YA author Lauren Myracle made a return visit to Paideia this past Tuesday, visiting two of our Junior High homebase classes. Lauren spoke to large groups of upper elementary girls last fall, when she talked about her path toward becoming an author and the experiences she has had with writing realistic books about girls, relationships and the sometimes embarrassing parts of growing up. She was a tremendous hit.

Recently Lauren found out that in 2009, her TTYL novels were America's #1 most challenged books for young people. In the library world, that's quite an honor!! With this on her mind, Lauren's junior high talks focused more specifically on controversy and challenges to her books, usually by well-meaning parents anxious to protect their daughters from the hard parts of adolescence. She read e-mails she's received, some outraged (and outrageous), and some thoughtful and open to conversation. Lauren also talked the place that reading has in risk-taking and experimentation while growing up and figuring things out. Synchronistically enough, two days later the guest speaker at High School faculty meeting echoed some of the same ideas. Risk-taking is inseparable from growing up; isn't it much safer to experience a huge mistake in the pages of a story, than by doing it in real life?

Lauren was in Atlanta on a national tour to celebrate that same day's release of her newest novel, Thirteen Plus One, the fourth in the Winnie series featuring best friends in Atlanta. She read a hilarious excerpt from the book to both classes, enjoyed by both boys and girls. In Martha and Greg's class we got a little lagniappe (as my mother used to say) -- fellow author and tour mate Sarah Mlynowski arrived fresh off the plane from New York. She treated us to an excerpt from her most recent novel, Gimme a Call, and also surveyed the class for what advice they, as junior high students, would like to give their elementary-aged selves.

One student advised himself not to drop an orange from the 72nd floor (they got thrown out of the hotel). Another suggested not flushing an orange down the toilet. The prize (a Hershey Kiss) went to Helen, who would like to be able to tell her younger self not to let the cat wander around the menorah on the last night of Hannukah. Poor kitty caught fire!

Lauren and Sarah's new books will be in the library as soon as this week's order arrives, just in time for summer checkouts. Thank you, ladies, for a great morning of books and fun.

Edge Poems: #13 - We're Not Done Yet!

2010-05-07T11:30:00.005-04:00

The end of April sped by in a blur, and now National Poetry Month is officially over. At Paideia, though, there are still several more student poems to share with you. So I will.

This one stands out, not only because it's a good one, but because it's by our youngest poet, a 5th grader in Martha and Brian's class. He's left it untitled; I think I might title it "Uh-Oh!"

Untitled
by Ean Berry

The End, and a Beginning

2010-05-06T14:59:00.005-04:00

This school year is the first time we've ever had a student assistant for both long terms, and it's been great. The only bummer is that he's a senior, graduating in a couple of weeks, and yesterday was his last day as Library Assistant. Off to University across the border in the fall, and a new chapter in life.

One of the most wonderful things about our school is that it's preK-12, and there are many opportunities for big kids to interact with little kids every day. Aamir, I don't know how often you hang out with little kids in everyday life, but you sure are good with them. Have a great summer, and as you go off to UBC in the fall, be sure to make friends with the librarians and remember your plans to work in an orphanage somewhere. Both will be glad you did.

Edge Poems: #12 - Parents Write Poetry Too!

2010-04-26T08:30:00.001-04:00

Lucy Katz, parent of three Paideia students and a fellow chicken lover, created these poems on Earth Day.

Parents, your poems are encouraged and welcome. Find out what your bookshelf inspires in you!

Poem for Earth Day

by Lucy Katz

Fowl Play

by Lucy Katz

Edge Poems: #11

2010-04-23T12:28:00.003-04:00

More poetry from the junior high:

Home Land

by John, 7th grade

The Truth in Beauty

by Zach, 7th grade

The Journey that Was a Huge Mistake

by Will, 7th grade

Edge Poems: #10 - A Poem for Earth Day

2010-04-22T12:48:00.003-04:00

I went out into the stack planning to create a poem for Earth Day. As I suppose most ideas for poems do, this one morphed in the composing; it's "natural", but not exactly environmental.

My Cat Growls in His Sleep

Seniors 2010

2010-04-20T10:41:00.001-04:00

Some senior pranks are better than others. This one is kind of sweet: re-creating a playground in the high school commons.

Good thing they didn't try to get the Fire Engine from their preK days in here!

Edge Poems - #9

2010-04-20T09:18:00.001-04:00

The Underdogs

Eliot H.

7th grade

Deadly Consequences

Michael W.

7th grade

AIDS

Daniel S.

7th grade

Poetry on the Edge, Week 2 : Poems #8

2010-04-19T08:35:00.054-04:00

More Junior High poems from last week's flurry of poetic activity.

Untitled
by Helen Samuel
Martha & Greg's 7th grade

What if
I was Amelia Earhart?
Heart of a soldier
for this I was born

A long way gone
up high in the trees
Pierced by a ray of sun

How it was for me
so hard to say
the mystic arts of erasing all signs of death

What Girls Learn
by Ellery Koelker-Wolfe
Martha & Greg's 7th grade

Untitled

by Leah Gilbert-Odem

Martha & Greg's 7th grade

Edge Poems - #7

2010-04-16T13:48:00.000-04:00

Senza Titolo

by Elizabeth Lide

Elementary Art Teacher

Edge Poems - #6

2010-04-15T15:36:00.002-04:00

The bookshelves are a wreck, but poetry is blooming in the library. Junior high students have come over the past couple of days, and teachers have been contributing as well. The display shelves are filling up.

Freedom

by Aidan Brooks

Martha & Greg's 7th grade

A Series of Unfortunate Events

by Ben Siegel

Martha & Greg's 7th grade

The Civil War

by Reed Haury

Martha & Greg's 7th grade

Edge Poems - #5

2010-04-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

A "virtual" poem (on display in photography only) created by high school social studies teacher and counselor Nisha Simama.

"No Neutral Ground"

Edge Poems - #4

2010-04-14T15:06:00.002-04:00

Students are making Edge Poems too!

"The War"
by Madison Redwine
Bonnie & Uri's 8th grade

Adria's poem can be read either way

"Untitled"
by Adria Gunter
Bonnie & Uri's 8th grade

Edge Poems - #3

2010-04-14T13:22:00.007-04:00

"The History of Love"
by Junior High homebase teacher Bonnie Sparling.

The History of Love
A grammar book for you and I
Communion
Cultivating the mind of love
in relation
Everyday sacred
Joy school
Someone like you
not quite what I was planning
Bad boy
Surviving the breakup
At issue
Looking back on the end of the world
Tender at the bone
I Thought it was just me (but it isn't)
Nothing I see means anything
The power of kindness
so hard to say
What have you lost?
moment of silence
sailing alone around the room
No condition is permanent
plain and simple
Becoming whole
up a road slowly
Becoming myself
better
Durable goods
Born to ROCK

National Poetry Month Resources

2010-04-13T13:50:00.007-04:00

If ever there was a national celebration made for literature teachers, this is it. So many resources, so many opportunities for total immersion in poetry. One of our high school teachers is asking her students to read a poem a day and respond to it in a writing journal, so I pulled together a list of web sources that will make it easy for students to find a new and different poem each night. Most of these sites also have some way to subscribe so the daily poem comes right to your e-mail or newsreader. How cool is that?

National Poetry Websites

Poetry Foundation.org (site of Poetry magazine)
Poetry Daily (a new poem each day)
Poetry 180 - a poem a day for High School students , from the Library of Congress
Favorite Poem Project -- Americans reading their favorite poems out loud, begun in 1997 by former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky
Poets.org -- Academy of American Poets Poem a Day archive
Poetry Out Loud - resource site for a poetry recitation competition, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts & the Poetry Foundation
Poem-a-Day from Knopf

Poem a Day blogs

Writing and Ruminating - blog of children's author Kelly Fineman; lots of poetry analysis, link is to poetry posts
I'm Here, I'm Queer, What the Hell Do I Read? - blog of YA author Lee Wind; link is to GLBTQ poem posts
30 Poets, 30 Days at Gottabook blog -- daily posts with a previously unpublished poem by a young adult or children's author, including many by authors of col

PLUS Poetry lesson plans and ideas from my new best friend,
The New York Times Learning Network:
"11 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month with the New York Times"

Edge Poems - #2

2010-04-12T20:31:00.000-04:00

We the People
by Junior High specialist Eric Thomas

Edge Poems - #1

2010-04-12T11:56:00.005-04:00

by Junior High homebase teacher Tony Helms

thinking straight by Robin Reardon
Nothing Pink by Mark Hardy
so hard to say by Alex Sanchez
Some Day This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
Acceptance by Susan Coll
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

ps -- I never realized how hard it is to take good photos of library books -- if not the shiny mylar covers, it's the spine label. Or both!

Poetry on the Edge

2010-03-31T11:19:00.007-04:00

Inspired by this, we have the beginnings of a Poetry Month display for April. Similar to found art, these book spine poems are assembled, rather than written, from found words and phrases.

Here's an amazing "edge poem," from artist Nina Katchadourian. She calls them "sorted books."

And here's a not-so-amazing one, but it's a start. The title of my first effort is "Success Story."

During National Poetry Month, edge poems by students and teachers will be on display in the library. Come on over and create yours from the library collection. Let the poetry begin!

Paideia Junior High Classes & the New York Times!

2010-03-29T12:25:00.018-04:00

Check out Jennifer Swift and her eighth grade students, featured last Friday on the New York Times Learning Network in a post ("Open Note to Student Comment and Your Teachers: Thank You!") that highlights the students' thoughtful and well-written comments in the blog's Student Opinion section.

It's been several weeks now that I've been following the New York Times Learning Network blog in my beloved Google Reader, and it's already been a fabulous teacher resource. In the first few days, right after I'd worked with Martha Caldwell's climate change class, the Learning Network posted a climate change lesson plan that I forwarded on. It was perfect timing -- Martha took the plan, made it their own, and the class is implementing it now. They'll culminate in a "mock" talk show interview with a well-known climate change personality.

Last week the Network posted an article on using the Student Opinion feature as an "authentic audience" for student writing. Paideia is all about writing, so again I forwarded that information to the Junior High Faculty e-mail conference. Jennifer picked it up and ran with it, teaching her students a short lesson on blog writing, pointing them to the Student Opinion blog and giving them a class period to read and comment on any of the topics that caught their interest.

"Wow, these GREAT comments are coming in from a school in Atlanta . . I think these are the best student comments we've gotten since the blog launched," wrote one of the blog editors to Jennifer the next day. Even though we know we have great teachers and students at Paideia, there's an extra thrill in being noticed and appreciated by smart people in such a public forum. Way to go Jennifer & Co.!

Sometimes collaboration means co-teaching, but sometimes it's more effective to pass the ball to a colleague in a better position to shoot and score. An assist counts for the record books too.

Has Princess Alyss Hit the Big Screen in Disguise?

2010-03-09T16:21:00.010-05:00

I'm wondering why no one (not even writers at the venerable children's literature journal Horn Book) seems to have noticed the similarities between Tim Burton's new Alice in Wonderland movie, and Frank Beddor's Alice-inspired fantasy trilogy The Looking Glass Wars.

The Looking Glass Wars (Book 1): When she is cast out of Wonderland by her evil aunt Redd, young Alyss Heart finds herself living in Victorian Oxford as Alice Liddell and struggles to keep memories of her kingdom intact until she can return and claim her rightful throne.
Seeing Redd (Book 2): When Alyss Heart returns to her rightful place on the throne of Wonderland, she is put to the test as enemies, both inside and outside the borders of her queendom, push their own agendas and wield horrific weapons, while she strives to unify them all.

I haven't seen the entire movie, but every thing I saw in the trailer reminded me of the saga of Princess Alyss Heart of Wonderland. Alice's return to a war torn homeland after years of exile in stuffy English society, the formidable Mad Hatter with his flying hat (Beddor's Hatter Madigan), the fabulous card armies, the warrior Alice and the murderous Red Queen look as I imagined them from Beddor's books.

Maybe seeing the entire movie will disprove my suspicions. Read or listen to The Looking Glass Wars to find out for yourself before you go to the movie. And then let me know what you think.

Geese and Cookies:How Students Demonstrate Learning

2010-03-09T14:59:00.005-05:00

During the recent January Short Term, English teacher Marianne Hines and I co-taught a class we call "Picture Book Lit." Using Marianne's expertise in teaching literature, and my knowledge of picture books, publishing and recent trends, we guide students through the creation, interpretation and meaning of classic picture books, old and new.

Using excerpts from Inside Picture Books by Ellen Handler Spitz, and articles from the children's literature journal The Horn Book, students explore the basic question, "What makes a picture book an enduring classic?" Why do some picture books remain popular from generation to generation (Make Way for Ducklings, Madeline, Where the Wild Things Are)? How do authors and illustrators work together to create a whole that is greater than words and pictures alone? How does the work of an author/illustrator differ from that of a team? What are elemental themes that speak to children? How does a classic appeal both to children and the adults who will read them out loud? How does a quality picture book differ from an "illustrated story book?"

One of my favorite activities from the class is to hand out the text from a picture book -- just the words on a piece of paper -- and ask students to imagine the characters, the setting, the action and the number of pages the published book contains. Texts range from a mere 81 words (Eric Rohmann's Caldecott winner My Friend Rabbit) to nearly 900 words (Bill and Pete by Tomi de Paola). Comparing the students' guesses to the actual book is a powerful example of how in a successful picture book, neither words nor pictures alone tell the whole story. What do you think a talking toothbrush would look like?

At the end of the four-week class, students may choose from among several options for a final project. Some students create an annotated bibliography of picture books on a specific theme ("Friendship," for example, or "Death of a Pet"), while others research a picture book author or illustrator and teach the class about the work of this artist. Several students choose to create their own picture books, either as a single author/illustrator, or pairing up as an author & illustrator team. The finished book shows how well they understood the ideas presented in class.

This year a 9th grade author & illustrator team created a book inspired by the loss of The Mother Goose building, destroyed by arson back in the fall. The Goose was more than a classroom building to the 9th graders, it was their hangout -- the porch, commons and front yard were the places for freshmen to congregate during free time, and they've been "homeless" without it. Sarah and Anna Grace's book Geese and Cookies includes the theme of tragic loss of a home, the security and safety of a parent and the community of friends, and that everything will be ok in the end. The pictures add character details, action, story pacing and much of the dialogue. And check out those cute firemen!

Geese and Cookies
Words by Anna Grace Whitehead
Illustrations by Sarah Alice Davison

Another Author Visit!

2010-03-05T15:12:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday, debut YA author Rachel Hawkins came to Decatur bookstore extraordinaire Little Shop of Stories, to celebrate the Tuesday release of her very first novel, Hex Hall. Thanks to the great folks at Little Shop, Rachel also came to Paideia to speak to two classes: Jennifer's 8th graders and Martha & Greg's 7th & 8th graders.

Both groups really enjoyed Rachel's visit. She first talked about her path to authordom (starting with really elaborate preschool plotlines starring her Barbies), writer's block, how she creates characters, and other writerly stuff, and then she answered our questions. The students were prepared and asked good ones, and Rachel had good stories as answers. Her tales of how the cover and the title came about showed the balance publishing has to maintain between good stories and good sales.

Hex Hall is Rachel's story of "what if you got that letter from the owl, and went off to Hogwart's School, and it was really, really BAD?" Another description of the book is that it's about "teenage witches and warlocks making out." (definitely not a book for the elementary set :-) Shenanigans ensue.

Our students are a great bunch, and include a number of aspiring writers. One of my favorite questions, from a voracious reader, was "What did you add to your book to make it stand out from all the other magical boarding school books?"

I also liked Rachel's description of most YA authors as "overgrown teenagers." I think she's got a great point there -- I can't think of any successful authors for teenagers who aren't a little bit crazy or sardonic or overflowing with restless energy -- the old, tired, jaded thing just doesn't fly for this age. How else can you capture the teenage mind except from the inside?

The library's copy of Hex Hall arrived yesterday, and I've got first dibs. I'm looking forward to settling into my favorite reading chair this weekend and enjoying the antics of Sophie Mercer at Hex Hall.

Monday Update: I breezed through Hex Hall over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. The obviously-a-sequel ending tied up enough ends to satisfy, and there were plenty of twists and turns to keep it interesting. I can see why Disney/Hyperion picked it up so eagerly -- Sophie fits right in with their lineup of sassy/spunky teen characters. Imagine if a much smarter and less self-absorbed Alex from The Wizards of Waverly Place got sent to reform school. It's bound to be a hit!

Read This Book: Marcelo in the Real World

2010-02-19T13:36:00.001-05:00

I read a few highly touted books over the December break, and was pretty much underwhelmed by each. What a joy, then, to pick up Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, and find it every bit as good as it was said to be. It has much in common with Mark Haddon's wonderful novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time , but this is a different story, and Marcelo is a different sort of hero.

In Curious Dog, though the words 'autism' and 'Asperger's' are never used, Christopher's unique way of seeing the world give readers the opportunity to walk in the shoes of an autistic savant, gifted in math and profoundly uncomfortable with the noise, chaos and interactions of human society. From Christopher I learned about hyperfocus. Where I would walk into a pasture and see green grass and some brown and white cows, Chris could tell us exactly how much grass, how many cows, how many spots each cow has and how the spots are distributed on each cow's body. Relentlessly logical, devoid of humor (it just doesn't make sense), a guy like Chris can be incredibly difficult when viewed from the outside, but when viewed from the inside, from his point of view, everything changes, and the reader is the better for the experience.

In contrast, Marcelo is very aware of his condition, which is similar to, but not exactly Asperger's Syndrome. His family is well-educated and affluent, and Marcelo has been encouraged, protected and supported -- he goes to a special school, had years of social training, he lives in a tree house in their backyard, and though the Sandovals are Catholic, Marcelo has regular meetings with a female rabbi to discuss issues of God, faith and religion, his "pervasive special interest." He is also tall, handsome, and seventeen.

What Marcelo really isn't good at is people, their feelings, social cues, ambiguity and unpredictable natures. And so his father, founding partner of a very successful Boston law firm, is requiring that Marcelo spend the summer outside his comfort zone, in the "real world" of his law offices. Following the rules of the real world means

engaging in small talk with other people. It means refraining from talking about my special interest. It means looking people in the eye and shaking hands. It means doing things "on the hoof," as we say at Paterson, which means doing things that have not been scheduled in advance.

Marcelo is very bright, and sees the world with great clarity, but he doesn't feel the world in a way he can handle. An everyday challenge is to remember to refer to himself in the first person. He often mentions how well he has been trained to appeal "normal," when he knows he isn't. Marcelo's emotional growth is guided by Jasmine, the young boss of the mailroom, who somehow understands Marcelo, challenges him to try unfamilar and scary tasks, and who also becomes an inspiration and a role model for him.

Francisco X. Stork writes Marcelo's thoughts and observations in brilliant deadpan (a comic's dream straightman). As he grows, Marcelo not only recognizes his growth; others' reactions to him prove it. The novel is studded with wonderful passages that show rather than tell what it's like to be Marcelo.

When his father takes him to the gym for a lunchtime workout:

I know by now that I have a tendency to get annoyed about being asked to do something unexpected. I have worked very hard over the years to reduce the level and duration of the annoyance. I have been working on that as long as I can remember.

When Jasmine mock-swoons over the mention of Wendell, arrogant son of the firm's other partner, Marcelo recognizes the intent.

"That is called sarcasm," I say. There is no need to be proud of myself for recognizing it, but I am.

The catalyst that pushes Marcelo onto a path that's illogical, unscheduled, and full of uncertainty, is his discovery of a photograph of a young girl who has been horribly disfigured in a car accident. His father's firm is representing the defendant, a wealthy manufacturing firm responsible for the shattered windshield that hurt the girl, and the law firm's biggest client. In some way, this picture pulls together for Marcelo his lifelong fascination with religion and the reality of suffering in the world, and he is moved to action.

Why does the picture of the girl unsettle me so much? . . I have been around kids that suffer ... It's like I have walked among them without noticing the pain that must exist beneath their skin. Now I notice the girl in the picture and I feel as if I were responsible for her pain.

As a child, Marcelo had a unusual ability to hear what he calls his IM, "internal music," the feelings aroused by beautiful sounds without actually hearing them. As Marcelo struggles with his choices, his growing ability for empathy and passion for justice, his IM fades. It is replaced by feelings aroused by life in the real world, and as Jasmine tells him, he'll know the right choices the way she knows how to compose at the piano. "The right note sounds right and the wrong note sounds wrong."

There's so much to like about this novel, not least that the Sandovals are a Mexican-American family starring in a book that is not about being the struggles of being Hispanic. Remember how exciting it was that the Spy Kids movies had all Hispanic stars?

Over the years we have had several teens with Asperger's at Paideia. From Marcelo, I have learned about the "pervasive special interest" that is a hallmark of Aspergers, be it religious philosophy, political issues, or baseball. I understand how our students have learned and benefited from the years of training that they've had. We talk a lot here about reading as a window into different worlds. Read this book, and see a different world.

CQ Researcher Reports: an information goldmine

2010-02-15T09:45:00.001-05:00

This showed up in my e-mailbox this morning:

Sleep Deprivation:
Are chronically tired people at greater health risk?
via CQ Researcher Online

New research links sleep deprivation to a large number of automobile and other accidents. Moreover, chronically sleep-deprived people are at higher risk for poor memories, mental illnesses, obesity, cardiovascular disease and early death. Yet today's 24/7 culture fights against the human body's biological need for about seven hours of sleep a night. Some people are especially sleep deprived, notably teenagers and late-shift workers such as police officers, nurses and medical residents. Meanwhile, some experts worry that overuse of sleeping medications is becoming a serious problem. Newer medications like Ambien and Lunesta are in some ways “safer” than older drugs, but they also affect brain function and sleep patterns in ways that are still not fully understood. With primary-care doctors now able to prescribe these medications because of their greater apparent safety, more people may get into trouble with sleeping pills.

This is the weekly report announcement from CQ Researcher, one of our awesome online subscription databases. It comes from a company that got its start preparing background reports on issues coming up in the US Congress; CQ stands for "Congressional Quarterly." Each weekly report is a 24-32 page goldmine of information on some hot national issue, and includes an overview introduction, background information, a timeline, a Pro/Con debate on some question related to the topic ("Should medical residents' work hours be further limited to allow more time for sleep?"), and lots of citations to sources for further research. Some of these citations can even be gotten by going right over to ProQuest or SIRS Researcher, library databases of magazine and newspaper articles.

Recent CQ Researcher (and its monthly companion CQ Global Researcher) reports include:
Press Freedom: Should partisan bloggers get free-press protections?
Professional Football: Is the NFL doing enough to protect players?
Housing the Homeless: Is the solution more shelters or affordable housing?
Climate Change: Will the Copenhagen Accord slow global warming?
Truth Commissions: Can countries heal after atrocities?

If there is a relatively recent Researcher report on your topic, you have hit the mother lode!! Though the full-text of every report is available as a web page, I teach students that the easiest way to access the report is by downloading the PDF file to the computer; page 2 of the pdf always contains an annotated table of contents that helps a student get right to the good stuff.

From on campus, students can go directly to CQ Researcher Online, no passwords needed. For parents, or from home, a Paideia user ID and password are necessary -- see the librarians or go to the Library database page for the Database Help login link (use the @Paidia login info).

Want to keep on top of all the latest reports? You can subscribe to the E-mail Alert newsletter and get a weekly e-mail like the one I got this morning, or subscribe to the RSS feed (I use GoogleReader), using the orange RSS button at the top of the CQ Researcher home page.

I cannot enthuse enough about this wonderful resource! Solid, sophisticated coverage written for regular people, the CQ family of reports is a great way to research a topic or just learn more about the issues facing out nation and the world.

Scenes from the Library

2010-02-10T11:58:00.002-05:00

Most days, when high school students aren't supposed to be somewhere else (class, assembly, or sports), a huge number of them come to the library. A typical day will have us packed before school, pretty quiet during 1st & 2nd periods, full at break (and full to overflowing on Wednesday's 45 minute activity period), then somewhat quieter during 3rd period. Fourth period is a big study hall, so we will have 10-15 students studying or using the computers. Lunch is usually pretty hopping, and 5th & 6th vary. And that's before scheduled classes come in for research projects & lessons.

We also have Peter & Sydney's 4th & 5th grade artist project showing right now. The highlight of each students project is a "forgery" done in the style of the artist. I'd like to keep quite a few of them to hang on my walls!

Click the "play" button to see a slideshow of what it can look like in here on any given day.

Rainbow List 2010 - Teen Fiction

2010-02-09T08:51:00.005-05:00

Yikes! As I've written before, there are far too many noteworthy books for far too little shelf space in our school library. Even though we probably have one of the biggest collections of teen GLBT fiction and non-fiction of any local school library, there's no way to have everything. But as all true librarians know, knowing a book exists is the first step toward getting your hands on it.

Below is the new 2010 Rainbow Project list of Fiction for junior high and high school readers. We have a few, and I've ordered a few more. Check the local public library for anything that's not linked.

The Rainbow Project is a joint effort of the GLBT Round Table and the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library association. In an effort to help young readers locate books that reflect gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/questioning experiences, it creates an annual book list of recommended GLBTQ fiction and nonfiction titles for young readers from birth through age 18.

Fiction

Burd, Nick. The Vast Fields of Ordinary. 2009. 309p. Dial/Penguin, $16.99. (9780803733404) Gr. 9+. During his last summer before college, Dade juggles his divorcing parents and dysfunctional closeted boyfriend until he meets Alex and gains the courage to declare his sexuality.

Carter, Timothy. Evil? 2009. 256p. Flux/Llewellyn, $9.95. (9780738715391). Gr. 9+. Being gay and summoning demons don’t provide Stuart with any problem in his small, conservative Canadian town, but everyone gets caught up in an anti-masturbation crusade when Stuart commits the sin of Onan.

Collins, Pat Lowery. Hidden Voices: The Orphan Musicians of Venice. Gr. 7+. In a 1700s Venetian orphanage famous for its musical training, teenage Anetta suffers from her unrequited love for the ethereal Luisa.

Crutcher, Chris. Angry Management. Gr. 7+. Anger and rage, both internal and external, provide the common thread for three stories dealing with high school injustice–being black, gay, overweight, or simply a high school student.

Ehrenberg, Pamela. Tillmon County Fire. Gr. 7+. Eight teens give their perspectives about an anti-gay hate crime that ignites fear, homophobia, grief, and loss.

Frazer, Megan. Secrets of Truth & Beauty. Gr. 9+. At age seven, Dara was a darling pageant winner; at 17, she has gained too much weight and anger, leading her to discover her runaway sister on a farm commune for lesbians and others rejected by their families, including a gay high school senior.

Garsee, Jeannine. Say the Word. Gr. 9+. The “perfect” Shawna Gallagher finds her life turned upside down when she turns 17, her estranged lesbian mother dies, and she discovers a family in the mother’s partner and two sons, a family that her controlling father tries to destroy.

Going, K.L. King of the Screwups. Gr. 7+. When Liam Geller screws up once too often, his father throws him out of the house, and Liam finds his true self when he goes to live with his father’s brother, “Aunt” Pete, a gay glam-rocker disc jockey living in a trailer in upstate New York.

González, Rigoberto. The Mariposa Club. Gr. 8+. During their senior year, the Fierce Foursome—Maui, Trini, Isaac, and Lib—decide to leave their legacy by creating their high school’s first LGBT organization, an action that brings out both support and opposition from their families and their community.

Hopkins, Ellen, Tricks. Gr. 9+. Five teens find themselves selling their bodies in Las Vegas due to circumstances and decisions, both within and well beyond their control.

* How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity (ordered). Ed. Michael Cart. Gr. 9+. The tales in this collection present not only the variety of identities in the LGBTQ community—transgendered, lesbian, bisexual, questioning, and gay—but also the variety of experiences of being human—love, regret, betrayal, discovery.

Hurwin, Davida Wills. Freaks and Revelations. Gr. 10+. Actual events inspired this narrative of two teens—Jason, a gay thirteen-year-old surviving on the streets after being rejected by his family, and Doug, a seventeen-year-old skinhead punk rocker—as their lives intersect in a violent hate crime that forever changes them.

Katcher, Brian. Almost Perfect. Gr. 9+. Beautiful newcomer Sage is perfect for Logan until he discovers that she is transgendered.

Ketchum, Liza. Newsgirl. Gr. 5-8. When ambitious and strong-willed Amelia moves to San Francisco in 1851 with her two mothers, she must masquerade as a boy to realize her dream of first hawking newspapers and then working as a reporter.

Levithan, David. Love Is the Higher Law. Gr. 8+. Three teenage New Yorkers–Claire, Peter, and Jasper–searching for the meaning of the 9/11 bombing find it in new friendships and the emerging romantic relationship between the two boys.

* Lo, Malinda. Ash. Gr. 8+. Torn between her emerging love for the King’s mysterious huntress and the ethereal draw of the world of the fairies, Ash discovers the strength of her own identity.

Marino, Peter. Magic and Misery. Gr. 8+. With frank discussions of relationships and sex, heterosexual and homosexual, Toni Jo, who befriends new student Pan (short for Pansy) in the hopes that he will be her boyfriend, gives a humorous portrayal of high school life.

Park, Judith. YSquare Plus. Gr. 9+. Yagate has his heart set on Ra-Myun, the man of his dreams, but when he discovers that Chana does too, he turns to his friend Yoshitaka to help him win Ra-Myun’s affections.

Peck, Dale. Sprout, or My Salad Days, When I Was Green in Judgment. Gr. 7-10. It’s not easy having green hair in conservative Kansas, but teenage Sprout manages while also prepping for the Kansas State Essay Contest and falling in love with the intriguing new boy in school.

Peters, Julie Anne. Rage: A Love Story. Gr. 10+. When the wildly divergent lives of Johanna and Reeves collide, all the Romantic, Alluring, Gorgeous, and Exciting expectations turn to painful RAGE.

Polito, Frank Anthony. Drama Queers! Gr. 9+. Julliard, thespians, homecoming, and a certain gorgeous football player all come together as “Band Fag” Bradley Dayton is out to make his senior year his most exciting ever—even if his best friend Jack won’t admit that he, too, is gay.

Rapp, Adam. Punkzilla. Gr. 8+. Fourteen-year-old Jamie (aka Punkzilla)–AWOL from military school–embarks on a cross-country odyssey to find his older brother, a dying gay playwright, and share with him his journal of his sometimes frightening, sometimes heartwarming adventures along the way.

Roth, Matthue. Losers. Gr. 8-10. Russian immigrant and freshman Jupiter navigates the high school social world and works to improve his popularity while trying to connect with the cute girl at the record store and finding an unexpected friend in the school’s closeted bully.

Ruff, Shawn Stewart. Finlater. Gr. 10+. This deeply affecting and openly sexual story of two boys in love—Cliffy Douglas and Noah Baumgarten—plays out among the disparities of home life and background during the 1970s homophobia and racial tension.

Ryan, P. E. In Mike We Trust. Gr. 7-10. Garth finds the confidence to come out to his mother when wheeling-and-dealing Uncle Mike, his late father’s identical twin, moves in and puts him to work as a budding con man.

Sanchez, Alex. Bait (ordered). Gr. 7+. Sexually abused San Diego teenager Diego, in trouble for his violent temper, finds understanding and reasons for self-acceptance in the wise and caring counsel of his gay parole officer Mr. Vidas.

Satyal, Rakesh. Blue Boy. Gr. 9+. Can Kiran Sharma, a sexually confused twelve-year-old Indian American boy who secretly puts on his mother’s make-up, plays with dolls, and practices ballet, really be the reincarnation of the gender-bending Hindu god Krishna?

Stevenson, Robin. Inferno. Gr. 9+. When Dante meets Parker, she thinks that she has found a soul mate but is instead drawn into a dangerous and destructive relationship.

* Urrea, Luis Alberto. Into the Beautiful North.(ordered) Gr. 9+. When all the young men and fathers leave the bucolic Sinaloa village of Tres Camarones to find jobs in the United States, three young women and their gay friend Tacho sneak across the border to recruit seven police officers and soldiers (the Magnificent Seven!) who will return home and rescue them from the drug-dealing banditos who threaten their good life.

Whatling, Michael. A Vigil for Joe Rose: Stories of Being Out in High School. Gr. 9+. The fictional notebooks belonging to Joe Rose, a young gay man killed in 1989 by a gang of hateful young men, is the thread that stitches together the stories of seven out gay high school students in Montreal.

Fun with Bibliographies!

2010-01-29T14:00:00.005-05:00

"How is this possible?" you think. Doing bibliographic citation correctly is quite possibly the most detail-ridden, hard to remember, big-picture useless skill learned in school. It will not make anybody more money in their next lives (the ones after high school) nor get them a date to the Bash. But in the past few weeks I have loved seeing students' faces light up in joy over a beautifully displayed MLA-formatted bibliography.

The magic word is NoodleBib. Last fall the library subscribed to the online research helper, and I've been preaching its merits ever since. Many students had already been using free online services to create their "Works Cited" or "Sources Used" pages -- EasyBib is one, BibMe is another. There is also a free version of NoodleBib.

The paid subscriber version is superior to the free versions, though, in that students create personal accounts so they can save their citations to edit, add to and print in the future. Plus, subscription NoodleBib includes note-taking and organization capabilities, a way to make an outline of your research, "virtual" notecards that can be tagged, sorted and moved around into subject piles -- it brings back memories of doing exactly this with stacks of real index cards, back in the olden times when I was in college. At 3 am, in the science center. Existentialism, was it? or the Spanish Civil War? Doesn't matter which paper -- with NoodleBib students can create and work on multiple projects, keeping all the citation and notes in separate lists. Individual lists can be shared online with the course teacher, who can track and comment on the student's research process well before the final product is due.

On Monday, both sections of Cullen's 10th grade American History classes came in for a library work day. I had done a full period presentation to his upper level classes last fall, when they were working on their French Revolution research, but for this class time was short. Cullen couldn't give both an "information" day and a "hands-on" day, so we came up with a solution that worked, both in theory and in execution. They came to the library, and while some students looked for sources and others worked with Cullen, I worked at the computer station with small groups of 4-6 students at a time. We went step-by-step through setting up a NoodleBib account and entering a citation and annotation, required for the assignment due in 2 days. Talk about "urgent need to know."

At the final step, "save as Word document,", those faces lit up. A perfectly formatted, alphabetized and printable bibliography. Truly a thing of beauty.

"This is SO cool!"

"This is awesome!"

I love my job.

Trying Something New: Board Games in the Library Collection

2010-01-12T09:00:00.008-05:00

The ideal school library is best described as a "learning resource center," a place (physical or virtual) where students and teachers can find needed tools, information, assistance, guidance, study space, and all kinds of other support for learning. In the olden days, library collections included realia (real things, like rocks or collections of pressed leaves), ephemera (items only useful temporarily), and other non-print information sources that could be checked out just like books or videos. Anybody remember the vertical file?

One of the sessions I attended at the AASL meeting in November was all about board games for learning. The neat thing about board games is that the teaching is implicit in the competition, and they include visual, auditory and kinetic learning strengths (pictures on the board, talking about the moves you're making, picking up cards and moving playing pieces).

Jennifer and Tony's junior high class does a lot of geography, so that's a natural area for jumping into the board game world. Students just learned about East Asia, and are now moving to South and West Asia. The game 10 Days in Asia just arrived, and Tony's students will be giving it a trial run later this week. The object of the game is to connect a series of country and transportation tiles to create a possible 10 day journey across the Asian continent. Most impressive to me is that the game includes ALL of Asia, from Turkey to New Guinea! A game should take 20-30 minutes to complete for 2-4 players -- perfect for a class period.

Because I tend to buy in threes (what? we have nothing on the Triangle Shirt Factory fire?? we'll need at least 3 books for that research topic!), we now also have 10 Days in the USA and 10 Days in Africa. Experienced players suggest connecting two or more games in this series for playing a longer and more complex game (20 Days Across Asia & Africa?).

I can't wait to play.

Where the Stories Are

2009-11-13T14:27:00.003-05:00

Q: Where do you find inspiration for your novels?
A: Out in the world -- that's where the stories are.
Brendan Halpin

Dear Parents,

Today in Martha and Greg's class we had a "virtual" author visit, via Skype, with writer Brendan Halpin. Brendan's first novel, Donorboy, has been an 8th grade Reading Bowl book for several years, and I jumped at the opportunity to bring him (or rather, his big talking head) to school. Students prepared questions about his books and the craft of writing, the technology worked beautifully, and Brendan spent about 30 minutes talking with us from an empty classroom where he is teaching in Boston. Ask your student about it -- I think everyone really enjoyed the visit.

Another junior high class Skyped with Brendan in October, but our network crashed right in the middle of the talk. Luckily, he's a guy who enjoys connecting with teenagers, and he graciously answered the remaining questions in a video, which you can see on the Library blog, The Reticulated Pithon.

We have all of Brendan Halpin's books, some written for adults and some for teenagers, in the Paideia Library. Please feel free to come check one out sometime, and see what other resources we have for students and the whole Paideia community.

Thanks,
Anna

The Reticulated Pi-thon

A Fantastic Oscar Nominee for Book Lovers

Maybe They Don't Need A Vacation After All

Bizzy Bees

We Have the Best!

A Few of My Favorite Things (to think about, library-wise)

Steampunk!

Wednesday Website: Harvard's Mathematics in Movies

Hacking High School

One Reason Why 1876 Was a Fantastic Year

No Biking in the Library (except on November 15)

Classic Novels and Movies Collide in the eBook realm

So Much More

Read This Book:Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

More Reading Recommendations

Summer Reading Lists Are Out

I Hope to See You Here Next Week!

Prepare for the Zombocalypse!

Books, Altered - Now Showing in the Library

Room of Their Own

Kindles in the Library, Redux

Waiting for a Hero?

100 Years Ago Today

Wednesday Website:Forget the Film, Watch the Titles!

Blogging Dayze

The Real Life Value of Research

How to Make a Librarian Smile

To E- or Not To E- (Read, That Is)

Bites of Atlanta History

Have you Ever Felt This Way?

Toward a Less Stressful Season of Peace

A Conundrum

Wednesday Websites:Free Online Movie Sites

Too Good To Miss:Dali on "What's My Line"

When You're Driving By At Night,Look Up to Your Right . . .

"The Case of M. Valdemar":Another Big Read Film Showing Tuesday

The Big Read

A Full Month

Reading Big!:Metro Atlanta Reads Edgar Allen Poe

Banned Books Week in the Junior High

Caution: These Books May Be Dangerous

Read This Book:Into the Beautiful Northby Luis Alberto Urrea

Cool Class for Teensat Decatur/DeKalb Public Library

Readers' Advisory: How to Talk About What You WantWhen What You Want Is a Good Book

Wednesday Website:Open Culture

Alternate Endings

Friday Poll:Junior High Summer Reading Bowl Favorites

Wednesday Websites: For Journalism Students (and everyone else)

Welcome Back! (to students and returning books)

Wednesday Website:TED & William Kamkwamba

More Summer Reading Ideas

New for 2010:Junior High Summer Reading Bowl

It's Summer Reading Time

Great Reads for Your Ears!

More Edge Poems: #14 - A Class Act

Don't Let the Cat Wander . . .

Edge Poems: #13 - We're Not Done Yet!

The End, and a Beginning

Edge Poems: #12 - Parents Write Poetry Too!

Edge Poems: #11

Edge Poems: #10 - A Poem for Earth Day

Seniors 2010

Edge Poems - #9

Poetry on the Edge, Week 2 : Poems #8

Edge Poems - #7

Edge Poems - #6

Edge Poems - #5

Edge Poems - #4

Edge Poems - #3

National Poetry Month Resources

Edge Poems - #2

Edge Poems - #1

Poetry on the Edge

Paideia Junior High Classes & the New York Times!

Has Princess Alyss Hit the Big Screen in Disguise?

Geese and Cookies:How Students Demonstrate Learning

Another Author Visit!

Read This Book: Marcelo in the Real World

CQ Researcher Reports: an information goldmine

Scenes from the Library