Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Department Meeting, May 20, 2009
1. We finalized database selections. Cara will look at Soundzabound to see if we should add to it.
2. We agreed to update our periodicals lists and send them to Delores.
3. I will arrange to have the summer reading partnership flyers translated.
4. We will follow up when mailed overdue notices are returned to us.
5. We picked up the summer reading baskets and will put them on display to entice summer reading participants.
6. We confirmed our training session for Discovery Education (June 1, 8:30-10:30, BOCES, 1 Merrick Ave.)
7. We will distribute UPL censorship exhibit literature.
8. Our final meeting for the school year will be on June 25, location TBA.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Today's School Library
http://henrico.k12.va.us/hcpstv/vv_library.html
Learning4Life from AASL
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Library of Congress is on You Tube!
YouTube - LibraryOfCongress's Channel via kwout
If you see any videos you would like to make available to your students, submit the url to me and I'll post it on the SafeVideos site.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Department Meeting, March 18, 2009
1. Summer Reading update—Public Library Partnership and In-District Program
2. Poetry Contest and Film Festival at the Uniondale Public Library
Deadline—March 20
3. NovelNY Databases--Grolier and ProQuest added as of 4/1
Go to http://novelnewyork.org/pressroom.php for a listing of the changes.
4. Professional/National Geographic Books
5. Curriki http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/SummerofContent
From the website: Do you have an instructional unit or course you’re proud of that you’d like to publish and get paid for? Interested in earning money this summer to develop a new unit that will be shared with a global audience? For our Summer of Content initiative, Curriki is soliciting elementary and middle school content in ELA, math, science, and social studies. Apply by April 15th, 2009.
6. Taking it Global--Participate in a community of global educators.
http://www.tigweb.org/tiged
From the website: TIGed provides rich, interactive learning experiences designed to improve students' global citizenship, critical thinking, and leadership skills, bringing the world to students and preparing students for the world! You can access existing projects, create a safe, interactive, virtual classroom, access online learning activities and resources.
7. Websites of note:
The Unquiet Library Blog http://theunquietlibrary.wordpress.com/
The Unquiet Library Wiki http://theunquietlibrary.wikispaces.com/
Google Apps in the Classroom http://www.google.com/a/edu/
HotChalk http://www.hotchalk.com/
Joyce Valenza Workshop http://joycevalenzaworkshop.wikispaces.com/
Speaking avatar http://www.voki.com/
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
AASL has new website
http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=14378
and visit the site at http://www.aasl.org.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Department Meeting, February 25, 2009
2. I was relieved to see that there is a stay in the ruling concerning lead in books published prior to 1985. Check out http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/January2009/leadlawstayed.cfm for details. We would have an awful lot of weeding to do if this law is applied to libraries!
Heroes and Villains--What happens when a hero becomes a villain and we have titles about the individual prior to his/her unfortunate transformation? Read this article: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6632974.html
Websites of Note:
School Library Media Activities Blog http://blog.schoollibrarymedia.com/
Articles:
Learning with Wikis and Blogs
http://ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/feb09/vol66/num05/Learning_with_Blogs_and_Wikis.aspx
Dewey Decimal Sudoko http://www.schoollibrarymedia.com/articles/Montgomery2007v23n10.html
Impact as a 21st Century Library Media Specialist
http://www.schoollibrarymedia.com/articles/Creighton2008v24n7.html
What Are They Reading for Fun? http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6636538.html
That's Infotainment http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6632973.html
This article suggests software to create video tutorials. We can do this with Promethean software. If anyone is interested in learning how to do this, let me know. (Flowgram, website listed above, is another way to do this).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Department Meeting, January 21, 2009
Do you know about commoncraft, a free site for online video tutorials? I just watched one about RSS feeds and it cleared up any remaining confusion that lingered. Definitely worth a peek.
Leapfish is a new search engine with innovative features. Not quite the same as searchme (did you try it yet) but pretty powerful.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Follett Destiny
We just made a change you might like. On the first screen of the catalog, students can search for Award Winners. In the field next to Search Award Winner, select New York. Then, place your cursor in the search box and hit enter. Voila! You will see the list of award winning titles your library holds, and I know you will be impressed.
You can also search for literary prize-winning titles. In the Search Award Winner field, scroll to the second choice, Literary Prizes, and in the bottom box, either leave it as "all" or select the prize you want to locate. Once again place your cursor in the search box, and hit the enter key.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Department Meeting, December 17, 2008
We showed Shelfari, an online site to share suggestions for new books to read.
The librarians were most interested in learning how we use interactive whiteboards in the district, so we had a bit of show and tell. Adele and Gail prepared movies and flipcharts to demonstrate some examples of content and techniques.
We navigated over to searchme, a visual search engine. It's even more versatile than I thought! Check out the homework helper stack. Black History Month is coming in January--check out this stack as well. Kind of reminds me of flowgram--but that robust site is for another day.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Department Meeting, November 19, 2008
I am no longer going to print the agenda. Please refer to this blog. Minutes will be integrated seamlessly so we will have a record of our discussion and any decisions made.


1.The images to the left and above are brought to you courtesy of Wordle, http://www.wordle.net/.
The first one above simply connects to one of my del.icio.us accounts and arranges the tags I use for my bookmarks. I created the second one by typing words that resonate with me when I consider libraries. This would be a great exercise to do with your students during a brainstorming activity. A bonus is the flexibility to use color and randomize the way the words appear. Have fun, and be sure to share!
2. Good news about SIF--and Follett. The program is working. New student names should automatically populate the fields every 10 seconds or so. Let me know right away if this isn't the case. A new upgrade for Follett has been released, but we are holding off on the download until we're certain that the latest one is working without a hitch. Feedback, please.
3. We are scheduled to meet with the public librarians on Wednesday, December 17. We will meet in the high school library. Thank you to everyone for volunteering to bring refreshments. The public librarians are very interested in seeing how we use the boards, so Gail, Adele and Paulette volunteered to showcase their work.
4. Sharing--Lawrence Road Middle School website. Paula took us on a tour of the Lawrence Road Library website which is a comprehensive, extremely impressive 24/7 learning station.
5. LITE Bytes articles--Let's plan to publish a mid-year newsletter centered around the theme on helping our students succeed. Please volunteer to write an article. Everyone agreed to submit an article by mid-January. I will set up the wiki so you can compose right to the site. If you prefer, e-mail it to me or save it in Library M. Articles so far: eChalk blogging (Dolores), Promethean/video (Gail), ALA standards (Deirdre), collection development (Nancy F.).
6. Database update--Usernames and passwords for Grolier and Book Flix have been received and are available in Library M. Please confirm they are both working properly before I update the username and password lists. Lists will be updated by the beginning of next week.
7. Purchase orders/budget info--Due to the economic crisis, we will not be increasing any of our codes. Anticipate that capital outlay expenses will be placed on hold. You may prepare a wish list of such items, but be prepared to sacrifice them. I again encourage you to prepare your purchase orders for this year and encumber your funds. There currently is a freeze on equipment, furniture, and supplies, except in cases when the items are critically needed for instruction and student use.
8. Collage of Careers--Let's plan to put together our tri-fold boards at our January meeting. Our focus is on resources that support career investigations. Nancy F. is targeting librarianship. Artistic talent and vision will make this extra-special, so start thinking!
9. Websites of Note--Educational Games http://www.ramogames.com/
Library songs http://northside.woodfordschools.org/Media_Center/library_songs.htm
Curriki http://curriki.org/ Since I last told you about this site, it has enjoyed significant enhancements.
AASL Awards http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslawards/aaslawards.cfm Most of these are collaborative in nature. Go for it!
AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm
Henrico County's Today's Library says it all http://henrico.k12.va.us/hcpstv/vv_library.html
Tech Museum Online http://www.thetech.org/
Teachscape free professional development modules http://www.teachscape.com/html/ts/nps/subscribe_to_our_email_newsletter.html Click on Module of the Month to subscribe, or select from the list for one that interests you.
Write like an Egyptian at the Egyptian Gallery of the University of Pennsylvanie Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology: http://www.fi.edu/learn/tut/index.html
Great ideas for using Google Docs http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html
Handouts: In the interest of saving paper, I am limiting what I am copying for you. Wherever possible, I will suggest online links and offer to copy articles for you if you're interested.
Blogging in the Library, Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award
If you're interested, let me know if you want a copy of "Mysteries of Ancient Egypt" from Multimedia & Internet@Schools (November issue). It includes links to Ancient Egypt clip art: http://www.kingtutone.com/clipart, http://www.phillpmartin.info/clipart/egypt.htm, http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/egyptian.shtml, http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/index.htm
Friday, November 07, 2008
Stumbling Blocks
http://www.edutopia.org/web-2.0-tools-filtering-firewalls
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Department Meeting, October 22, 2008
The upgrade to 8.5 pushed the defaults onto the program so specific items have to be upgraded. I fixed the default browse subjects capability and removed fines from all patrons. As far as the patrons are concerned, the system did not remove those who are no longer in the district. New patrons were added with grade levels 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. without a 0 appended to the beginning. Students who should not be in the system have a 0 in front of their grade—06, 07, etc. When you have a chance, look at the database and run a list by these grade levels. You can ask your assistants to delete those who should no longer be included. The purpose of this would be to clean up the database; however, it is not an urgent task.
2. Staff Development, November 4, 2008, 8:00-3:00, UHS LibraryTraining with the Promethean boards to create lessons enabling librarians to serve as a turn-key resource for teachers in their buildings. Time will also be devoted to exploring strategies to promote the use of district databases in research and instruction.
3. Budget—Status and Preparations
Proposals for capital expenditures always come first, so be prepared if there are upgrades to your library that you want to put forward.
4. Collage of Careers, May 19, 2009
We agreed that we would put together a display for the department, a K-12 look at resources that support career choices and investigations. Nancy F. is going to work on one that focuses on librarianship.
4, Online Databases update
Take advantage of the Book Flix trial that will be in effect until the middle of December. We hope that our subscription will have been activated by then.
5, Blogs
Dolores demonstrated her just-established Northern Parkway blog that she is going to use with fourth and fifth graders. I will also activate the capability for Lawrence Road and the high school. If anyone else is interested, let me know.
6. NSLS Scope and Sequence Project
We discussed the curriculum developed by Nassau School Library System and whether we should make adjustments to ours based on the work done there. It was felt that ours is more specific and that the standards that drive the NSLS document are the overarching ones that are inherent in ours. It was pointed out that NSLS may have used ours as a jumping off point.
7. I participated in a Bernie Dodge webinar where he discussed developing WebQuests that incorporate Web 2.0 tools. Other webinars that may be of interest to you can be found at the EdTechConnect website: http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/.
Websites of Note:AfterClass http://www.AfterClass.net
San Francisco Symphony www.sfskids.org/templates/home.asp?pageid=1
Modern Museum of Art for Children www.moma.org/destination/#
National Gallery of Art www.nga.gov/kids/zone/zone.htm
Science clips www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/
ALA Standards for the 21st Century Learner http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm
Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?_r=1&emc=eta1&oref=slogin
Blog worth following: http://disruptingclass.mhprofessional.com/apps/ab/
Lookybook http://www.lookybook.com
Handouts: Election Connections 2008, The Summer Olympics: A Catalyst for Learning About a Healthy Lifestyle, Fun with Windows Movie Maker, The LOC Connection: Hispanic-American/Native American Months, Bibliographies: Smiles and Laughter, Editor’s Choice Awards, Aren’t We All Teachers of Literacy?, Learning About Occupations, ISTE Media Award Application
Friday, September 26, 2008
What Reading Means
Reaching back into my own reading history, I remember reading and re-reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for its fantasy and heroism, without a clue concerning its multi-layered allegorical meanings. What about you? What book moved you as a child?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Follett Destiny 8.5
Additional info on Destiny Library Manager 8.5 http://www.follettsoftware.comdestiny85/
Additional info on Destiny Quest http://www.FollettSoftware.com/LibraryResourceCenter
What's new in Destiny 8.5 FAQs http://www.follettsoftware.comdestiny85/
Also, if you want to add the 65 free ebooks to your collection (and there are varied and appealing titles included), go to the catalog, Add Titles, and click where you're invited to do so in the middle of the screen. You'll be contacted by Follett once you do so.

