Finally A Wiki that I like

I have been trying to find a wiki--any kind of wiki outside of Wikipedia--that serves its users well. I particularly would like to see a class wiki, but I haven't seen many that I liked or that the purpose was obvious. A lot of my friends use Moodle, which is not really a wiki or a blog, but rather a more combined approach. But most who use them have them password protected (for good reasons) since their kids openly post and comment, or edit the site in its wiki sense. (I feel like I'm speaking a foreign language.) Here is a wiki that truly makes me "get it." It gives me something to show at SLI to ensure the principals or other administrators who haven't quite grasped Web 2.0 what it is, what it's capable of, and what its potential is. Check out his wiki from Princeton Public Library.

Thanks

I have decided not to come to the end of the year/Fond Farewell get together at Julia's. I have a ridiculous amount of things to do, and quite honestly I don't feel like answering a lot of questions--there's nothing to report yet anyway. All that those who support me can say is "We don't understand." No worries though because I am happy and relieved. It's just another leap of faith, and I honestly believe I will land on my feet. No, I'm not interested in the NHS job---why try to go where you been declined twice before? I'm no longer interested in being in Rock Hill anymore. And actually, I don't even know what I want, because I withdrew my name from one I had already interviewed for Monday. I guess I'm just being selective now. My five years here have made me a significantly stronger person, and for sure a better teacher librarian. I can attribute some of that growth to working with this group. Thank you. I have a good solid offer, but right now there isn't a job my husband is interested in. And it will require us to move. So I do not know for sure what I will do. But I totally have my family's support. That's a good feeling too.
My principal summed it up nicely at our end of the year get together:

• In August, it will be stated with shocking accuracy that Miss Nelson is Missing
• NS will miss their grant writer, collaborator, and technology with my absence
• In short--everyone will miss her, because of ENN--Everybody needs Nelson (ENN is our in house news show, the Explorers Network News)
  

For Lucy and Susan, we will all miss your enthusiasm and grace. You know we all bring our gifts, and each you have yours. Lucy, I can remember several times my first year calling you to inquire how to do things in Follett--you were the first outside of Liz to offer me assistance. Thanks eternally for helping me adjust. I did have a difficult time making the transition. Susan thank you for being a role model for grace. You have been the most graceful person I have known. You are a great role model, and I only hope to learn to be graceful like you. It is easy to see why your teachers will greatly miss you. I will too.

I will miss the informal get together's too. You are all fun to be around. I got to know some of you better this year than any other year. Karen, check with me at conference time next spring, and maybe you can room with me again.

Please understand and support my decision, folks. And pray that wherever I am and whatever I am doing, that I am successful and happy. I have decided no matter what, its not about the money or respect, and I am not working to be paid well (though that doesn't hurt) or regarded highly for any accomplishments. I just want to feel that I make an impact and kids are better for it.

Thanks to Ebinport and Sullivan

Last week I was in a dilemma over a missing box of books intended for our annual field day book give away. I emailed the group trying to find a book fair so I could purchase enough books to get us through our day. On this day every kid gets to pick put a free book, and I wanted to be sure we had enough since we were missing one whole box (roughly 100 books.) Lisa R. of Ebinport and Betty J. of Sullivan managed to sell me some books at great discounts. From Ebinport I picked out a ton of discount books ($2.00 or less) and from Sullivan we selected a good number that were buy one get one free. Thanks ladies for bailing us out for our ever important annual book give-away on field day!

Update on the missing box: They were delivered Monday, April 16, and signed for--six boxes. We later determined that box number 1 never got in the building. But because we (our office staff) signed for them, it is our loss. The box still has not shown up. My thoughts are the delivery folks would have gotten in trouble if they got back to the warehouse with an undelivered box of books, and so the box was either dumped or busted open and put in an outgoing or incoming book fair. But that's just a guess. We will probably never know, even though we paid for them....Tsk, Tsk.

Librivox

LibriVox: free audiobooks

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net (via podcast and catalog). Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.

Got this off the sunlink blog today. I plan to take it back to my teachers who are using recorded books and mp3 players. Many of these classics available on this site are very high AR point getters. Nobody said our kids couldn't "listen" to the story. And who knows? Having someone to read it to them mu=ight motivate them to read ahead or wowo, even finish these long works on their own!

Please write your legislators

Okay, here is some flavor to add to your letter writing to legislators regarding the Strive for 25 campaign. Recently it was shared that there is $1,00,000 in the budget for school libraries. How does that translate into how much we get for our school. This was researched by Frankie Adkins:

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in the fall
of 2003, South Carolina had 699,198 in public schools. That would come to about
$1.40 per child, or about 2 books per class if my math is right.

This food for thought as you compose your letters. You could add your own statistics, like your collection age, the average cost of library books (+$20 a book) and what your current budget allows you to purchase. Include science test scores and correlate it to your schools' science collection age. These are all RAW facts that will bolster the case for additional funding.

We really should come together as a group for the sole purpose of addressing this campaign.

South Carolina History Resources

I would love input from elementary and secondary on this topic!

Lucy and I are trying to find the readibility level for the new South Carolina Encyclopedia (Walter Edgar - published last summer). All of Edgar's resources I've used have been hard for 8th graders to understand, but this may be geared towards a younger or more general audience.

Question 1: Does anyone know if this is appropriate for 3rd grade SC History?

Question 2: What other resources have you found that might help 3rd, 8th and high school teachers with South Carolina History?

Book Bag Lunch Grant Winners - Sara and Judy!!

Congratulations to Sara Curry and Judy Garner of Rock Hill High. They are among 24 teachers county-wide who have been awarded grants from Family Trust Credit Union for their proposal titled “Book Bag Lunch.” Am I the only one who reads the district updates? Way to go! Now details, ladies, details!! We want to hear all about it!

Speaking of grants, the SDE Teacher Grant Program (or Unit grant if you are feeling industrious and particularly collaborative) are due VERY EARLY this year--in January as a matter of fact. The SDE grant, if you haven't looked at it lately, reads a lot like a mini grant. So if you have an idea for an innovative project---consider writing it up as a teacher grant for $2000.
http://www.ed.sc.gov/agency/offices/grants/EIATeacherGrants.html
The district office wants the grants submitted by January 12, 2007 so that appropriate signatures can be obtained in a timely manner.

A Library Jeopardy PowerPoint

This is so way cool! It is created by none other than Joyce Valenza. She posted it to her blog today, and she describes how it came to be. But I can see endless possibilities here. I have created jeopardy templates to use at school before (for myself as well as other teachers) but I love the simplicity of this design. Wouldn't it be really COOL if we made a PPT like this to play the game against legislators regarding the Strive for 25?? We could sponsor an OEC Jeopardy Library Tournament of sorts, invite our legislators to come out and play, and EDUCATE them not only on the cost of equipping the 21st Centruy Library, but also what today's libraries offer. Maybe this could even be a Foundation Grant, and (on a local level) the invitations could be extended to parents, other teachers, and district administrators! I think it's a good idea anyway....

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Joyce Valenza

Strive for 25!

If you attended the OEC conference on October 9th or the AASL Leadership training in Columbia in June, then you are aware of this opportunity. We are being asked to support this by writing letters to our legislators and by making the public aware of this need - to gain monetary support for books in our media centers. Now that the elections are over we need to flood our legislators with these letters. I feel that we could easily have success in getting our faculty to write, as well. Also parents. I have wanted to pursue this for some time but have lacked the time to do this. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how this could be done so we make a united effort? We were told to be specific as to where our school's needs are, such as "new science books due to new standards", etc. Is this something we should ask Mike F. (OEC) for help with? Let's make this happen!

Web 3.0? Gimme a Break!

Just as I am getting used to the idea of Web 2.0, there is an article in the newspaper this morning about the upcoming Web 3.0. Instead of giving you tons of information gathered from existing sources, it will go a step further and customize information just for you. For instance, instead of giving a hotel a 4 star rating, you can search for the hotels with specific information, such as the most comfortable bedding, etc. Education searches to seek out universities best for you or your child can be identified. Also, (and this is my favorite), you will be able to use it to customize your vacations, just like a live travel agent by specifying what price you want to pay, what kind of climate you desire, and if you have children going with you. You can do this today but you have to sift through tons of information. This will give you a vacation package planned just for you!