Approaching December 21st, 2007...

I ventured out this eve to Chapters to purchase a few gift cards (and books!) and it was very busy. No parking and line-up to the back of the store. Students were really excited today and tomorrow will be very energetic. We have a Christmas Assembly in the morn - student talent and celebration of achievement - and then a Christmas Dance in the afternoon.
Holiday time by 2:45 p.m.
Hope all the folks are safe and healthy and warm and feeling blessed this holiday.

Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol

I made a trip to the mall today. Madness. However, I think the spirit of Christmas has found me, and I am beginning to think about shopping, cards, gift cards and important people. A sure sign of Christmas is finding the couch to watch A Christmas Carol on TV.

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!"
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Long Day ...

Critical thinking day.
Refine, re-edit and polish day.
Tiring day.
Happy day as son John is Home for the Holidays. (magic in that phrase)
Daughter Beverly got through a week of English ISU challenges, concept maps and music practice.
I am most proud of the new understandings constructed today - for me.
Lots of learning...

Christmas Concert 2007

There were Choirs tonight. Some were 25 voices strong, and others were 75 voices strong and ONE was over 350 voices. The music was dynamic and rehearsed and uplifting. But there was music of all sorts. Several solos. Singers. Jazz. Woodwinds. Drums. Percussion. Classics.

It was a terrific evening at the Christmas Concert. You can just imagine the hundreds of hours of practice. My spirit has been soothed and rejuvenated tonight at the Christmas Concert. Music. Sharing. Listening. Young people who believe in the power of song and voice and music.

ARTS and Literature

Monday is behind us.
9 school days until the break.
Arts Alive at the school on Wednesday night - and my daughter is playing in her Christmas Concert. The Christmas Concert is across two nights, but we have tickets and amazing seats for Thursday, and she is accompanist for a soloist on Wednesday. Such is life...
I am involved with the Cookie Decorating on Wednesday night, and so my dining room just now has bags of Sprinkles, Digestive Cookies, Icing (on sale at No Frills last Friday) Bulk Barn candies in several types ($56.00 worth), plastic snack bags and wooden craft sticks. I seem to get all the important jobs...
My husband has been talking about this daily LINK he gets information on, and although I have not had a great deal of time to check it out, it seems interesting!

www.aldaily.com

December IS such a wonderful month!

Information Literacy

I have spent the day adding to research and clarifying. Information Literacy is not going to be tamed and put in a box. No more... As a term, and as an action, and as a definition, it changes by the hour. In fact, information literacy varies by the one developing the definition and for the specific group or outcome being evaluated. Isn't that the crux of deeply understanding the term however? Information Literacy can no longer simply be defined. And the definition that may accommodate today, will no longer work by tomorrow. Perhaps there is no possibility of a definition any longer.

Information Literacy is a range of skills and understandings specific to a time, and/or place and/or people and/or problem.

This is a wonderful website. I have only briefly explored it, but the attitude and understanding is exemplary. Check it out!

International Society for Technology in Education

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Educator_Resources/YourLearningJourney/Learning_Journey_21.htm

Humming away today...

...as I battle my way through the research.
Hey! Why not join me in a Carol (or two...)

Can't remember all the words? Check this out....

http://www.christmas-carols.net/

Isn't December a wonderful month?

Where would the world be...

....without books?

Some inspiring and thought provoking quotes:

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler

"I cannot live without books." Thomas Jefferson

"A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas—a place where history comes to life." Norman Cousins

"We should not see print and electronic literature as in competition, but rather in conversation. The more voices that join in, the richer the dialogue is likely to be." N. Katherine Hayles

I will retire to read a good book.

Treasure Island

Bliss! I have begun reading Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island once again. I was all of thirteen the first time I read it - and likely only a few chapters here or there since. It is wonderful....
I am going to try to work with my Gifted group and read it together. I made a race out tonight and bought six copies - I am getting a start on the Group tonight. It is a fabulous story. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the Group as we begin. What will youth of ages 11, 12 and 13 make of this literature from many many decades ago?
I set up a Library Blog Wiki for the Group and was thrilled to see that two students have communicated their thoughts on Faithful Elephants that we shared last week. I gave one young fellow another copy of the URL tonight - to my query, he (honestly) replied that he had lost the sheet. Will have to track down the other two young fellows to see what song they will sing. (!!)
Shades of Treasure Island in my writing tonight...

Did you know????

.... that you can have an on-line calculator right there when you need it?

Yes. That's right! No more searching the house desperately to add up that big big big LIB3 Allan A Martin Library Reno budget!

Check it out: http://www.motionnet.com/calculator/

Reading and Math. Math and Reading. Words and Numbers. Numbers and Words.
Colour. Reading words and Math numbers in colour!

Quote for Today - City Snow

The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?

J.B. Priestley

Page Flakes

I had not heard the word Page Flakes before yesterday! Checking LIB3 BLOG and it caught my attention. I have actually investigated and signed up and managed to change the weather to that of Mississauga. It strikes me that Page Flakes is definitely more energetic and active and interactive that a BLOG. It is the quieter approach to reflection that I find so attractive about Blogging. I am still trying to sort out just what the application of each is. Or does one "do" Page Flakes and another person "manages" a BLOG. You can't do it all...
Love the beauty in the phrase though .... Page Flakes

Inspirational quote for today

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Image of the Librarian

...this is a fun website. Author turned librarian turned author. Holly Black.

The question is: do you have what it takes to be a librarian?

Librarians are:

Sexy
Smart
Radical
Famous
Me!

http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~hblack/whylibrarian.htm

December in Mississauga...

...is also December in Afghanistan! I am continuing to research, read and working today on LIB3. This course has been a great amount of work; it has been an exciting journey however, with so much learning on so many varied fronts.
I discovered Deborah Ellis as an author several years ago. I read The Breadwinner first. Prior to reading this YA novel, I really had made no attempt to understand the situation in Afghanistan. It is a brilliant novel that has become part of some grade six core in literature in some places. Kids of all ages ( 8 - 88) love it! Don't miss this exceptional read. Follow The Breadwinner with Parvana's Journey. These two stories gave me a basic understanding of the fundamentals, and then reading The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khald Hosseini) built on that understanding.

I was musing about the state of learning in Afghanistan today. One cannot think about learning where there is none, without discussing a library. It is vital to the process. One cannot discuss the state of learning in Afghanistan without considering the treatment of females. How wonderful it is, and how telling, that the institution of library becomes the central connection.

http://www.w4wafghan.ca/fundraising/library.html

CABARET

What a treat last eve! My daughter goes to a school of the arts here in Mississauga. Every year they do a fall play - best value for $20 you ever will find! I was not familiar with the story or the play CABARET. I had never seen it in any format. The students did an outstanding job and as usual, you have to pinch your self to remember you are NOT downtown at a professional theatre. Well done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabaret_(musical)

Whatever did we do without Wikipedia? Changing my tune about the knowledge of the collective of humanity...or at least those that care to post!

Anaphylaxis and Bullying and Fragile Egos

It is such a typical November evening out there. I returned from a Workshop (with Chinese food in tow) by 6 p.m. and then had to set sail for 7! Too much all the time. The driving is windy and dark and mostly makes one long for their bed! It is hard to sustain energy these days.
My day was so interesting today because the focus was students. I have just completed the Anaphylaxis training for all the staff - show the 6 minute video and then give everyone the opportunity to play with the EpiPen. During the course of tracking down all the staff, I saw the video at least 5 times. I got something more from it each time - such a serious subject.
I worked with two boys today around the subject of bullying. I think it is an epidemic among our youth - truly, I am beginning to believe that adults really have no idea of what students go through every day. It is not an easy subject to tackle. You think you have figured out the situation and then someone adds another piece of information: not simple!
I am working with a Lost Soul. She is an articulate young person who should have the world at her feet. Mostly, I find myself humbled by the burden so many of our young students carry.
If they come to the office, they are going to READ or do MATH. We have to believe that it is the academics that are going to save them.

Shakespeare

Have a hankering for some Shakespeare to break up the afternoon? Are you in Grade 9 and wanting to review Romeo and Juliet? What about some Othello for the students in grade 12? I still find Hamlet a favourite - but then King Lear is special and a year without MacBeth would be troubling too!

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/

Check out this quote page!

http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~tmd/william.htm#heaven

And another:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_shakespeare.html

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

Still one of my favourite quotes after all!
L

Romeo and Juliet

Luckily, I managed to book space for our grade eights to visit Stratford Festival in June of 2008. Just a few short days after Education was able to access the new offerings, there was very little to choose from. I was also able to book space for the fall of 2008 for our current grade sevens to visit. It is an awesome day of learning for this age group. They usually love Romeo and Juliet at this age too.

http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/plays/romeo.cfm

Recently, our grade eights also visited Dundurn Castle in Hamilton. It is exactly right for an understanding of upper class life pre-Confederation, Confederation and post. What an amazing Canadian castle!

http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/exeres/07027F55-5B50-4553-807E-610C99B16EF6,frameless.htm?NRMODE=Published

Biting off more than you can chew! One Bridge too far...

Hi My-Blog and those that Read:

I cannot believe that it has been TEN whole days since I was here....

I am thinking today of the phrase: "biting off more than you can chew." That is about the state of affairs just now. However, with student report cards home yesterday and IEP's for some, there is a sense of relief. Christmas - albeit still just a flicker of light in the far off distance - now seems more real and close. This week past was a tough one. Three nights in a row at school until 9-10 p.m. So tired on Friday I was a few cm's over the edge. But...just a few....
Folks seem to be running on one nerve, are tired and fed-up, and the long haul from September to December is definitely showing on students and teachers alike. But we ARE making it ...

I think I like the rather more literate and historical reference to "biting off more than one can chew" to:
"I always thought we were going one bridge too far!"

How cool is that? This would be an awesome site to post on a Librarian website at the high school level. Teaching and sharing a love of words and language and demonstrating curiousity. AND it connects to history as well...

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/42/messages/1361.html

Flaneur

Have I become a Flaneur of technology? How did THAT happen? Awake before 5 a.m. this morn and my mind was on full-power reviewing some of the interesting facts that came out of a Video conference/chat last evening. The LIB3 "gathered" and some had visual and sound, some had sound sometimes, one could see and one could hear, but typed to communicate. It all worked very well. Speaking of technology ... (!!)
I learned the word Aggregator last night. I roughly knew the meaning of the term outside technology, but learned about its application within. Constituting or amounting to a whole, total, to come together, sum of its constitute parts (Dictionary.Com)
In technology, for instance, a person can gather together in one spot, information as it is added to another location. So, for instance, the LIB3 instructor can gather all student BLOG posts to one location; it saves her the hassle of going "into" posts to keep up! Very cool. I suppose this was what a Clipping Collector used to do for news about a specific celebrity. Comb all printed text for reference to a specific person - and now technology, in many sophisticated ways, can do the same thing!

flaneur \flah-NUR\, noun:One who strolls about aimlessly; a lounger; a loafer. (Dictionary.com)

Can one become a flaneur of technology? Can one be a techno flaneur: always on the Internet, always learning more, always grazing and roaming and ranging over the hills, valleys and peaks of technology? Inference of never becoming quite expert, but interested vaguely and always on the move. I feel as if I am in technology-flaneur mode and the aimless lounging and loafing is the learning - try this. Experiment here. Invest some energy here. Go ahead - you can do it! It is the aimless strolling through technology that has some amazing outcomes for my learning. My aimless strolling in the last eight weeks has opened up my eyes, ears, and mind to just how much is going on out "there."

http://www.attensa.com/products/readers/overview/?gclid=CL_n_fSS3I8CFRsIWAodqm5y7w

Making connections...

Good Morning! I chanced upon the new hardcover novel called Prisoner in the promised Land The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk at the last school book fair - and of course! I could not resist buying a copy for my shelf. I am not that far into the story yet. However, it is the connections that I am making to my own heritage that I find amazing.

This story is set in 1914, which is about 6 years later than when my own paternal grandmother came to Canada from the Ukraine with her family. No one knows exactly what year it was, but they did settle initially on the prairies in a sod home. My grandmother would be the first white woman into a fairly remote area of Northern Ontario about 1918, when she was about eighteen years old. She married a man who worked on the railway, and she would birth seven children. My father was the fifth child born in 1927.

My grandmother would earn a reputation with other immigrants and the native people alike; she never turned anyone away from her door who need food or help. She was also the local midwife. Until her death in 1982, local native people would bring her fish weekly, as a tribute to her contribution.

This novel addresses some of the issues around the Ukrianian culture, and settling into the new land of Canada. Ukrainian immigrants were often called The Men in the Sheepskin Coats because they brought these with them from their homeland. They were hard working farmers in their homeland, and they brought this work ethic and knowledge to Canada. The novel also refers to Canadian people calling the Ukrainian immigrants "dirty" and "bohunks." I can remember the first time my father shared this part of history with me many years ago.

We teach children to make connections as they read. I am making connections too, to events from nearly 100 years ago.

I miss my BLOG

...as the days of the week go flying by. I love to reflect anyway, and find myself Blogging in my head at times. I have been trying the term out with other teachers and (normal?!!) people, but so far, I am getting very little reaction. Blogging is certainly an unknown entity yet at my school. I wonder when I will begin to hear references to it as a tool to encourage student reflection, analysis and personal expression.
Cyberbullying is a huge focus for middle school students. How does one align Blogging and personal expression with Cyberbullying? It is an entirely new concept to many youth that one cannot simply express "whatever" because it is in cyber space! Express away, but it cannot specifically target another individual - be it teacher, Admin or another student.

So Dear Blog, this was a tough week. PD, and Super meeting, and Staff meeting, and School Success training whole-day, and finally a visit to a local high school.

Bullying in Middle School

This continues to be such an issue in middle school. It actually continues to be an issue at many levels - and with adults at work as well. Educators must continue to take it seriously. Even as we continue to confront it (c'mon now! you know is happens ...) within the adult population.

Australia frequently seems to take the lead on some tough issues. From Serial bully - a nasty piece of work (Pollard, R. September 8th, 2004 - smh.com.au)

Accidental bullies do it when they're under stress. Destructive bullies do it when they're challenged. Serial bullies - the most dangerous of all - do it because they can. They carefully select one or more colleagues and set about deliberately undermining them.

"This person sets out deliberately ... to undermine and disable certain people whilst they support others, gradually growing more powerful. One set of people see (them) as a manipulator and a snake, others will see (them) as a genius."

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/07/1094530612810.html

Power in the Point!

Yes. Years after the rest of the world has excelled at the Power in the PowerPoint: I have arrived. I actually learned "how to" this summer when taking the YORK Junior AQ course on-line. PowerPoint was one of the options to explore the Teacher Inquiry research and I found it very effective - 72 slides later! In the past three days, I have done one PowerPoint from scratch and finetuned one other. Something about the Visual support of the oral message has such power.

Taking that power one step further with middle school students, one realizes yet again, that they are very used to VISUALS for information aquistition.

There is something fun and challenging in using concise language and internet images to bring Power to the message.

Information...small, small world

I love to research.
Recently, after perusing the resources of YORKU for Teacher Inquiry, I offered to show my grade 12 Young Adult how simple Source Citation could be. She listened very respectly and then offered to show me her high school website. She quickly accessed the Library Site and from there .... introduced me to Warlick's Citation Machine.
Brilliant.
Just brilliant!

There are certainly no more excuses now!

I have visions of all those lessons I gave middle school students on "how to" do a Bibliography.
Poor wee tots. Here is an application of technology that is breathtaking! Students of Lib3 were invited to review D Warlick after a recent Video/Chat session and I can see why he is worth several second looks. Again. And Again.

What a week ...

This week went by at WARP speed. November and now end of first term is in sight. School becomes very stressful for students, teachers and administrators alike. Some days you don't know who deserves the most sympathy and the biggest break...

Halloween was awesome.
October was a good month.

TGIF!

Weekends go so fast...

Although...so do the weeks. It is hard to believe that we are at the end of October. I never feel more humble these days than when I am trying to Tame Technology. Technology has become a living entity to me over these last few weeks. Although I knew it was a vast subject, I had a rather naive understanding of just how V A S T. Believe it or not, I can make connections to enhance my understanding of technology by thinking of Lake Superior.

Lake Superior is huge. It is so vast that one can look in each direction: N S E W and not see shore. It is deep and dark and cold. Lake Superior changes its personality many times during one hour, one day and one week. IT can be calm and peaceful, and yet a wind can come up on very short notice, usually as clouds blacken overhead, and the Lake can come to life as a killer. The shore can be lined with beach and/or trees of leaf and branch, and yet be rocky and dangerous and impossible to approach in other places. Some parts of Lake Superior have been tamed by humans - entire sections will never be fully demystified.

To Technology - substitute the word Technology each time you read Lake Superior above.

Young Adult Fiction - I'm a fan

Last Saturday evening in October and the temperature is dropping outside. Temperatures will be rising inside at school on Monday however, with the news of the Red Maple selections for the 2007-2008 school year. The Forest of Reading program is such an amazing way to generate excitement about books. Yes! Good old-fashioned BOOKS ....
Reading is the Key. If they can read ... they can be successful in any subject. The Red Maple Reading Group is a fabulous way to positively raise the profile of reading in middle school. The competition to read at least five books - to be able to vote for the favourite - generates huge buy-in and interest from many in the 11-14 year old range.

Many of the books are well worth a read by adults. YA Fiction is tops!

Reflections on Clouds

Del.icio.us.
Web 2.0 had a Summit: October 17-19, 2007
Wikki (Wiki's)
Blogs
Tags

There is a beauty to the language.

There is a new attitude about sharing and exchanging and learning. Information finally (!) is perceived to only have a value once it has been passed along to me, and then to you, and to him, and to them, and finally to her.
The sense that knowledge is part of a shifting landscape and ever-changing reality was never stronger. How does one find the pulse of this beast? Or is it a Beauty? Is there a pulse? There is a sense of wanting to try to define this; better to try to define a rainbow.

It is a beautiful language. Colour.

But can They Dance?

Today was the middle school Hallowe'en Dance. The black and orange streamers added a somewhat festive touch. The odd cardboard skeleton taped to a wall made clear the purpose of the event. Adolescents in the gym were like those across time: small knots of youth talking and moving, groups walking from here to there and back again, and many conversations of exaggerated drama and importance. Such as it has always been ...

Do adults really remember the significance, and the emotional roller coaster of emotions? I sense that perhaps these memories are (mercifully?!) lost ...

High School Cafe

Tonight - Music Cafe. My daughter will be playing the piano for a group who backs up a Spanish singer. It is very cool to listen to. I used to get so nervous "for" her, but now, mostly ... I can relax and enjoy. These are all music students performing tonight and they are all so talented. I just hope I am home again before 10. Isn't that the magic hour for Library Part 3 students?
Thursday already ... where is time going?

King Lear, Oklahoma, My One and Only and To Kill a Mockingbird

Cannot resist sharing my good fortune to see not one, or two or three ... but FOUR plays/performances this year at Stratford. I have gone FOUR entire years (in the recent past) without seeing one. King Lear was fabulous and To Kill a Mockingbird so uplifting. I still want to burst into song after seeing O! Not moved to take up tap dancing though after My One and Only...those actors are so fit and talented no matter the performance. Bravo! Encore!!

Must be Monday...

Hello to the World. This has been a tough Monday. Meetings and issues and a vague sense of 102 issues to be tackled. Never enough time. Energy is flagging. One bright spot is to look ahead to the first whole week of November and see "busy" from sunrise to sunset and beyond. Makes this week look like a picnic by comparison. Time to take the proverbial chill-pill and enjoy the ride!

Chinese Proverb...

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.

Time Change...

Did you notice that I changed the TIME from Mountain to Toronto-Time?
Come to think of it - that would be one way to gain THREE whole hours today.

Reflecting on Blogging...

Do you capitalize the B?
It is somewhat addictive: to which my daughter (who knows nothing about the BLOG concept) informs me "that is what you don't get about MSN or Facebook!"
It really is fun. I can feel my librarian skills kicking in however - I am know thinking that my BLOG is not organized enough. I am also beginning to apply critical thinking and inquiry model thoughts: what is MY Big Picture? What questions am I attempting to address? How can I narrow my focus and go deep?
Reviewed another suggested BLOG of instructor and I saw amazing things. I like the concept of organizing BLOGS and links under one topic. I have to figure out how to Archive Blogs, so that items are not all over the map. Because my interests are all over the map...I am wondering if I can have folders, or sub topics with my links.
Isn't colour wonderful?
Aren't Saturdays the best?

To Kitchennerd

Yes. Tags and the other word you used. I have zero idea of how to do that - so onward and forward to figure out how. TGIF
L

Very exciting!

I know that my daughter has about one zillion photos on her computer. I bet that there is at least one I would be OK to have on the BLOG. I love to take photos as well.
I will save that excitement for tomorrow - probably just about this time.

That wee glass of VINO TINTO will help with the inspiration I am sure. TGIF - 1, but who's counting.
Let's hope hope hope that Friday is a good one! Daughter plays BBALL after school, so good thing I am a fan!

Sign in, sign out ... forget the password

I am exhausted - still trying to get the hang of this Blogging bit. I cannot keep straight (for the life of me!) which is the password and which is the user name and what I need to remember when. Probably sounds pretty funny to some folk....

I decided that I had to check that everything "worked" before Inviting the World (well Library Part 3 Team !) into my BLOG. Thirty minutes later - I can get back into MY Blog and author another post! (pant! pant!!)

Guess there is a first time for everything!

Hey! It's me! On a BLOG...

Whatever that means.

Although come to think of it, I don't really like that phrase. "Whatever that means..."

Puts me in mind of Diana and love and her Prince.

This is pretty cool.