Practically Paradise

November 16, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3)

Having students help review books means they feel greater responsibility for the titles and for the impact their words have on the books. Recently my students responded to a series of books negatively. Then they reminded me that they read my blog so if I didn't share their responses, they'd know. 

To what did they comment? The cover of Compass Point's new series "Green Generation." They emphatically told me these were the ugliest covers they'd ever seen. My students made comments like "Don't they want to SELL any of these books?" 

When I suggested that the covers might be artist...Read More

November 12, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

We work hard. Few people on our staff understand us or what we do. But sometimes, we do something right and receive rewards far beyond what we expect. During AASL's national conference in Charlotte, I searched programs and exhibitors for materials in the 26 languages of my students. At the Culture for Kids / Asia for Kids booth, the representative was extremely helpful. At the very end I was able to take the last of my money (saving $1.50 for the bus to the airport) and I bought her the last copy of an Arabic-English Children's Picture Dictionary. A simple title with picture, English word, Arabic, and the phonetics so I could pronounce the Arabic. You can see by the cover below that it...Read More

November 3, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

How do these things keep happening? We had too many students who wanted to be part of the library club during advisory period so we divided into several groups including boys' lunch on Thursdays, girls' lunch on Tuesdays, and the regular advisory period. That 154 student group kept growing somehow and seems to be over 180 with a student population around 900. 

I began the girls lunch group with 37 girls planning to come at lunch the first day, then as they realized it was a staggered schedule and actually it meant 3 separate groups of students were coming, more students appeared. Some of the lunch groups are smaller with 8-9 girls around a table in the Kennedy room. 

But then along comes the group of 6th grade girls who brought their friends who desperately wanted to be in the library club and part of something that was actually d...Read More

November 3, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

I would like to challenge you to donate $10, $6.50, $5, or even $1 to the Spectrum Scholarship program.  You talk about helping bring others to our profession. What are you doing? Are you personally sending anyone to graduate school for Library & Information Science? You could be. You could also be strengthening our profession by supporting efforts to bring more diversity into our profession. Do you have $6500 to spare to support a Spectrum scholarship? I don't either, but I did have $10 to donate. 

During the AASL National Conference, if you see me (and the ALA folks there) and donate towards the Spectrum  program, I will match up to the first $100 total and you'll get a ribbon to wear. It's a small step, but it shows my commitment. That's money coming out of my food, gas, cl...Read More

November 2, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3)

I hope to see all of you at the AASL National Conference in Charlotte, NC. (Tell me that you read this blog please because I get insecure and think I'm talking to myself). If you cannot make it for whatever reason, there is still a way to participate .... VIRTUALLY through the b There program.

b There Your Virtual Track Pass is the virtual component of the AASL 14th National Conference & Exhibition. I am just one of many geeks who will be there adding content to the b There portion for...Read More