the big house library

 
Hey everyone! :) We'd like you to meet our first PollEverywhere poll. :)

So far, we think PollEverywhere pretty neat because you can vote by texts and tweets, on your smartphone or on a computer. But the best part is that it's easy, fun, and free! :)

We're still partial to the look of PollDaddy, because you don't to embed the poll and the live feed separately, but the texting and tweeting thing seems like a fun feature.

We can't wait to try this out with classes in the computer lab -- that is if teachers will allow students to use their cellphones in class! :)

So go ahead and vote on this poll now and be on the lookout for more to come. :)
 

 
i learned about library day in the life (#libday4) on twitter from buffy hamilton.

very few k-12 school librarians had signed up to particpate; so i added my name to the wiki and took pictures of my monday from start to finish. the result is one big back-lit blur.

but that's pretty much everyday at our library! =D

there's always a slew of classes all day long, broken up by a very busy tutorial and lunch, followed by meetings after school, and more work at home after that.

teacher-librarians are busy freaking people! and while simply documenting the pace and the volume of what we each day do won't change that, it will show the world what we do and hopefully that it matters.

p.s. here are the direct links to:

the photos i took today:
my library day in the life photos on flickr

to the audio clips i recorded today:
miss helen's podcast =)
mr. pugh's podcast =)


 

the big house library was proud to be a satellite location for this live streaming learning event. :)

the big house had a total of 17 district-librarians, teacher-librarians, and library support staff from all over the north bay area. :)

there were a total of 200 participants -- individuals logging in from home and groups signing in from satellites like ours -- from all over the state and from across the country! :)

some participants just watched, listened, and learned, while others texted and tweeted with attendees from all over the state. it was totally interactive and incredibly fun! :)  
 

there were a lot of really great quotes to ponder and so many awesome new links to explore!

@aprilgeltch said: "i will grow step by step, not all at once"

@glenwarren said: "i wish we could bottle this and put it in every supermarket!"

the famous and fabulous professor of librarianship dr. david loertscher asked the million dollar question: does web 2.0 impact student achievement? i'd sure like to think so! and when i find some research to support that claim, i'll post it here.

dr. loertscher also asked if 2.0 tools impact earning potential. well, to me, it's obvious that they do! when was the last time your employer asked you to prepare a poster board about a project you were working on? why is it then that we're still assigning them to our students? when was the last time your employer told you that you couldn't use a computer all day at work? why is it then that we expect our students to power down at school when we never do?

what we are required to teach our students does not align to what they need to know how to be able to do to succeed in today's workplace. state school library standards will help, no doubt. but we've got to begin now teaching teachers, administrators, policymakers, parents, and of course our students about all this stuff. they just don't know what they don't know; and that's where we come in! :)

i learned so much in this webinar, probably most importantly that i am not alone in my desire to do libraries differently than they've always been done before. we're marching in the right direction. keep heart! the revolution is under way! :)

in response to the "oh-my-gosh-there's-so-much-what-do-i-do-next" feeling that many of us had at the end of the webinar, i would point out dr. valenza's answer to our nagging question: how does she *do* all this???

dr. valenza said: "i stopped making the beds. i don't inventory every year. i don't catalog completely. and i gather all the help i can (students, parents, grandparents). but not doing it is not an option."

i would like to thank the tireless organizers of this event in the southern section of csla:  kathie maier, jane lofton, and my gal pal marie slim! :) i would also like to thank our inspired speaker dr. valenza and our host dr. loertscher. :)

i can't wait for our next webinar! (and, yes, the big house will host!) there will thankfully be one a month from now on. teacher-librarians -- especially ones new to the profession like me and in districts like mine that can no longer afford to have teacher professional development days due to the state budget shortfall -- desperately need school library leaders like dr. valenza and dr. loertscher pushing and prodding us to do more and be better. our kids deserve no less from us.  
  

curious about the details of this webinar? please visit joycevalenzawebinar.wikispaces.com/.

curious about having your own webinar in our library? please contact ms. koval. :)
  

The 2010 Printz Award goes to Going Bovine by Libba Bray! :)



What is the Printz Award? Well, the Michael L. Printz Award recognizes the very best book young adult book of the year! :)



The criteria are not the book's popularity or its message, but its story, setting, style, voice, characters, design, theme, illustration, and accuracy. 



The selection committee looks for "literary excellence" -- basically "a great book"! :)



Going Bovine is most definitely a really great book, and you can check it out -- as well as all the past Printz winners -- from your very own Big House Library. :)


 

in case you missed the tweet, 
the big house library now has a youtube channel! :)

unfortunately, the website is blocked at school, 
but off campus you can tune in to youtube.com/bighouselibrary! :)

i forgot to mention in my post about the ALA conference i was just at in boston, all the free books i brought back to the library! 

i got 50 free advanced reader copies of books that you can't even buy in the stores yet!  

ARCs (or ARCs -- pronounced like the word arks) are pre-publication titles given for free to librarians at industry conferences and other events. 

students can borrow any of these books from the big house library; you just can't search for them in the catalog, since we're not supposed to officially add them to the collection since they're not the real deal yet. authors could still change the story and editors still have to check for grammar errors and typos before the first edition is released. so reader beware, but reader enjoy! :) 

p.s. if you have enjoy having these new books to read, please add a comment to this blog post and say so because they were really heavy to carry and very difficult to transport. i just want to know if you thought it was worth it. :)

Last week I attended the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts.

I got to ride the T and visit the Boston Public Library. 

I got to make some new friends on my Emerging Leaders project team. 

I got to meet, greet, hear from, and talk with many of the movers and shakers of the library world. Camila Alire, Roberta Stevens, Linda Braun, Sarah Debraski, Sarah Johns, and Joyce Valenza.


I got to attend the AASL (American Association of School Librarians) Affiliate Assembly and the YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association) Executive Board Meeting.

I got to learn a lot about librarianship and leadership. 

And I got inspired to be a better advocate -- a front-line advocate -- for libraries -- especially school libraries -- with every patron, every day! 

I would like to thank YALSA for their generous scholarship. 

I'll see you all in D.C. this summer for our annual conference!  

You'll never guess who I hung out with the Big House Library yesterday!  

Dr. Stephen Krashen! :)

Dr. Krashen a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, author of numerous books about literacy and reading, advocate for libraries, and a personal hero of mine! :)

I gave him the ten cent tour and showed him my smutty magazines (he was impressed) and our new computer lab (he wasn't impressed). 

We talked about Race to the Top and his most recent research on how school libraries positively impact student achievement.

I am so inspired by Dr. Krashen's relentless advocacy for reading. I am so grateful for his defense of libraries. And I am so honored to count him as a mentor and a friend. :)
 

 
******************************PRESS RELEASE!*******************************

Students, parents and community members are cordially invited to Casa Cluster Night, a showcase of Casa Grande High School’s Small Learning Communities for 11th and 12th graders.

Wednesday, January 20th, 7:00 – 8:30pm
Casa Grande High School
Program Begins in the Old Multi-Use Room (OMU)

Come see student work, teacher demonstrations, and presentations related to Casa’s exciting SLCs.

Green Careers Pathway (GCP)
Health Careers Pathway (HCP)
Liberal Studies (LS)
Marketing, Media & Management (M³)

See why SLCs are improving learning at Casa through increased personalization, enhanced rigor and relevance, career and interest area focus, job shadows and fieldwork, collaboration and team work, and integrated, multidisciplinary curriculum.

For more information, visit casagrandehighschool.org/SmallLearningCommunities.

Contact: Eric Backman, Assistant Principal, 707-778-4681