A Wonderful Surprise

This year has been an incredible whirlwind! It might be the craziest year in my career - no easy feat, let me tell you! Between getting a small article in School Library Journal, 7 weeks of jury duty, a new baby on his way to our family (first grandchild), Mock Trial/FBLA challenges, and all the rest filling up my life it is hands-down the weirdest year yet.
Then this happened... I guess I should start with the beginning. Four years ago, I saw a Little Free Library; I was smitten. I simply had to have one. I looked around at plans, nagged my hubby, then had the bright idea to have the kids in our BITA (Building Industry Technology Academy) program build one for me. 

 

My Little Free Library has been such a bright spot in my life. Neighbors from near and far come by and have told me how much they love it! It has created a wonderful connection where there was once none. I have had letters dropped by, bookmarks, and books (of course). 

One day, we came home to some young kids and they had a red wagon; they had taken it upon themselves to tidy it up and suggest that I add another shelf. The youngest, a 5-year-old suggested that I build another one for little kid's books. 

There was an article in the newspaper which really drove up the numbers of people stopping by to check it out, everyone taking and leaving a book or two. It has been a wonderful experience. 

Most recently, I had to wipe out the collection and begin afresh. With all the rain this year in Southern California the library had sprung a leak and books had mildewed. So, we are rebuilding the collection but will have it ship-shape in no time. 

This week, our Little Free Library won an award! The Orange County Reading Association selected my LFL to win the Celebrate Literacy Award. Isn't that nice? It was such a nice way to end the school year.

 

Big Excitement and Fall Planning Begins

Off topic - Family Excitement (You can call me Nanny J)
We have our first newborn grandchild, meet Mateo Jesse- if you want to keep up with him, I've been sharing a pic a day using the hashtag #365daysofMateoJesse or #cheeksfordays. Those cheeks, I'm telling you.  For those stat lovers- he was born 6/29, weighing 8 pounds 14 oz, and measuring 21 inches, and a fine set of lungs. He is pictured below with him mom, Ali and me (bottom pic). Exciting times for us all.

Back to work-- 
 I'm sure if you're anything like me, summer is a time to catch up, get a little ahead (ideas/some execution). I've been focused on making new posters and memes for getting books cared for and returned in a timely manner.
I used Imgflip for this one:
Here's the latest



I found some great ones on Pinterest as well from the Library of Congress
Check these out-

Big Project Coming Soon-

Next up, we are changing our circulation system provider, the pain comes for us when we have to check out each book that is currently out. 😁 But I don't mind, the program we've used for years is TERRIBLE! I cannot even begin to explain how bad (another post, another day). 

No more time tonight for playing-- more soon. 

Creating Super Readers

     My school is incredibly diverse; it is almost like 3 schools in one. We have a very successful International Baccalaureate program, Valencia Academy (Technology magnet program), and AVID (big time- we were recently named an AVID demonstration school- only 3% of AVID schools receive this designation).   We serve the highest levels to brand new immigrant students and everyone in between. That is what I love about this school; we have so much diversity and we are giving our students a realistic experience of how the world is outside our walls! 
     One of our specialty programs is the on-campus preschool that gives our students the opportunity to earn certification in Early Childhood Education and the ability/experience to go into a preschool and work with children using their skills and experience upon graduation. 
     Now, back to those sweet and funny preschoolers; they are my favorite friends! They come in once each month to read with me and their big "buddies," this year's group has really developed a  deep love of reading. This year they have simply been AMAZING! Every visit is an utter delight! The kids simply L-O-V-E 💗reading! One little girl, Kiara, asks me nearly every time to read more books and longer ones.  One time she asked, "Why do you only read 2 books each time?" Why indeed! So tomorrow, I will be reading 3!.

     We will have our last visit tomorrow and I am surprising them with superhero capes because they are SUPER READERS! 
Emily Winfield Martin's book, The Wonderful Things You Will Be and Pinterest were my inspiration for this little bit of fun.  I used the plastic sheeting we use for our staff luncheon tables and cut vinyl using my Silhouette to make the capes more special. 
     The link (via Pinterest) from Mrs. Goff's blog, gave me further inspiration. I will be taking pics of the little SuperReaders and posting them on our Valencia Reads bulletin board. Then I will use the photo to create a certificate awarding them the title of Super Reader. 
     I will add more pictures tomorrow as we take over the world as SuperReaders! 

     Oh boy! That was AWESOME-- so much fun. They were so excited. I wore my own cape and they were so curious and cute! At the end of our three books, I had each one come up and I made a proclamation that each was a SuperReader and then placed the cape over their head. They just thought that was the coolest thing. 

 

Two-fer Tuesday- 2 Book Reviews and a Book Challenge Update

Like most of you, I'm juggling what seems like a million and one things--house renovation (15 years overdue), craft room purge (ridiculously difficult), library life, my last child moving out, a visiting sister who views me as her personal tech support, a need to work out in direct opposition to what I want to do, and a new grandbaby coming into the world.
Like you, I'm squeezing in some books. Today's offering is double the fun:
The Impossible Fortress, Simon and Schuster, 2017.

I've been listening to this one on audio and it has been great. I'm incredibly fond of all things 80s, well maybe not my crazy poofy, permed hair or some of the ridiculous outfits we wore back then. But, it was the dawn of a new era for me. I was introduced to the world of computers. It was so amazing to be able to type a paper one time and save it instead of having to re-type drafts over and over again. If I go back to the very early 80s and late 70s, I can remember the Commodore 64. Oh man, I wanted one of those sooooooo badly. Perhaps that is why I am loving this book, The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak. The book features Billy (aka Will) Marvin, he's a 14-year-old boy who is part of a trio (Alf and Clark fill out the crew) enthralled with girls, boobs, and getting their hands on the copy of Playboy featuring the letter-turning goddess, Vanna White.
The boys scheme unsuccessfully and are stymied at every turn. Finally, Alf  turns to notorious town bad boy who has a plan. But, they need the security code to the stationer's store this brings us to Mary the stationer's daughter. She and Will share a love for games, coding, and computers. They work together and enter a game design contest.
I won't tell much more as you can discover this gem on your own. I really enjoyed this book-- the teen voice seemed very authentic to me. It took me right back to that awkward stage of questioning myself nearly every second of the day. The characters are multi-dimensional and interesting. There are some downright laugh-out-loud funny moments, some truly cringe-y moments that make you feel just like you did as an uncertain hormonal, pimply-faced teenager. It is a glorious coming of age mashup bringing new love, the 80s, and tech together. This is a worthy effort and I'm happy to have another book to hand to my techy kids and friends.

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, Delacorte Press, 2017. 
I eagerly snapped up this ARC at Midwinter Conference in January. I looooove Lockhart's books; her last book, We Were Liars, kept me entertained with all its twists and surprises and ultimately wanting more.
Her latest features Jule, a girl on the run. From what/whom it isn't immediately clear. In fact, not much is clear. Jule is a very unreliable narrator. You never know whether she is telling the truth. But, isn't that what you love about the unreliable narrator?
The book opens with Jule in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in June 2017.
Lockhart unwinds the story bouncing around from place to place and various times. She successfully keeps her readers guessing.
Jule befriends the privileged Imogen (Immie) and slowly inserts herself into Immie's life.
It's got layers upon layers of lies with shades of The Talented Mr. Ripley. E. Lockhart has written another page turner with a narrator that I'm not sure I like. She's broken and bent on being her own superhero. I'm pretty sure I will have to re-read to gain clarity on this one. (Maybe I'll re-read after I finish the 2017 Reading Challenge.)
 
Update: How is your 2017 Reading Challenge going? Me? I've read 8 books since January! I know there are a lot of book-a-day folks out there, but I'm not one. I'm not counting picture books either, although I did pick up The Secret Pizza Party, (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2013) by Rubin and Salmieri-- the same guys who wrote and illustrated Dragons Love Tacos!  So cute!

So far, I've satisfied my Reading Challenge with these books:
#2 A book recommended to me:  A Man Called Ove, by Backman.
#4 Nonfiction title: Hillbilly Elegy, by Vance.
#6 A book published in 2017: Genuine Fraud, by Lockhart.
#12 A novel that deals with diversity: Hidden Figures, by Shetterly.
#18 An audiobook: Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn.
#20 A book I would recommend: Six of Crows, by Bardugo.
#25 A laugh-out-loud/funny book: The Impossible Fortress, by Rekulak.

So, 7 down and 18 to go before January 30, 2018. I'm in good shape.       

Two-fer Tuesday- A book for your old-school loving gamers and a fraud in plain sight

Like most of you, I'm juggling what seems like a million and one things--house renovation (15 years overdue), craft room purge (ridiculously difficult), library life, my last child moving out, a visiting sister who views me as her personal tech support, a need to work out in direct opposition to what I want to do, and a new grandbaby coming into the world.
Like you, I'm squeezing in some books. Today's offering is double the fun:
The Impossible Fortress, Simon and Schuster, 2017.

I've been listening to this one on audio and it has been great. I'm incredibly fond of all things 80s, well maybe not my crazy poofy, permed hair or some of the ridiculous outfits we wore back then. But, it was the dawn of a new era for me. I was introduced to the world of computers. It was so amazing to be able to type a paper one time and save it instead of having to re-type drafts over and over again. If I go back to the very early 80s and late 70s, I can remember the Commodore 64. Oh man, I wanted one of those sooooooo badly. Perhaps that is why I am loving this book, The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak. The book features Billy (aka Will) Marvin, he's a 14-year-old boy who is part of a trio (Alf and Clark fill out the crew) enthralled with girls, boobs, and getting their hands on the copy of Playboy featuring the letter-turning goddess, Vanna White.
The boys scheme unsuccessfully and are stymied at every turn. Finally, Alf  turns to notorious town bad boy who has a plan. But, they need the security code to the stationer's store this brings us to Mary the stationer's daughter. She and Will share a love for games, coding, and computers. They work together and enter a game design contest.
I won't tell much more as you can discover this gem on your own. I really enjoyed this book-- the teen voice seemed very authentic to me. It took me right back to that awkward stage of questioning myself nearly every second of the day. The characters are multi-dimensional and interesting. There are some downright laugh-out-loud funny moments, some truly cringe-y moments that make you feel just like you did as an uncertain hormonal, pimply-faced teenager. It is a glorious coming of age mashup bringing new love, the 80s, and tech together. This is a worthy effort and I'm happy to have another book to hand to my techy kids and friends.

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, Delacorte Press, 2017. 
I eagerly snapped up this ARC at Midwinter Conference in January. I looooove Lockhart's books; her last book, We Were Liars, kept me entertained with all its twists and surprises and ultimately wanting more.
Her latest features Jule, a girl on the run. From what/whom it isn't immediately clear. In fact, not much is clear. Jule is a very unreliable narrator. You never know whether she is telling the truth. But, isn't that what you love about the unreliable narrator?
The book opens with Jule in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in June 2017.
Lockhart unwinds the story bouncing around from place to place and various times. She successfully keeps her readers guessing.
Jule befriends the privileged Imogen (Immie) and slowly inserts herself into Immie's life.
It's got layers upon layers of lies with shades of The Talented Mr. Ripley. 
E. Lockhart has written another page turner with a narrator that I'm not sure I like. She's broken and bent on being  

Fake News and a New Tool to Fight Misinformation

Today's topic-- 

(Before you even read further-- is the Statista infographic (above) real or fake?)

I am so excited about a new tool that I discovered over the past week! Like many of you, I have been incredibly concerned about Fake News and its pervasiveness in our tech lives. That led to me thinking about and how to teach skills that will help combat the problem. 
Upon my initial search, I found some good work being done by Melissa Zimdars, Associate Professor, at Merrimack College. Her article, 'False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and Satirical “News” Sources' (published with a Creative Commons license) is a great place to start. She breaks it all down into 4 categories:

• CATEGORY 1: Fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on “outrage” by using distorted headlines and de-contextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits.

• CATEGORY 2: Websites that may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information

• CATEGORY 3: Websites which sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions

• CATEGORY 4: Satire/comedy sites, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news

 Often, articles and online items will fall into multiple categories.

The big bonus of Professor Zimdars' work is her comprehensive list of Fake News websites. At today's viewing of the list, there were 921 sites listed! She categorized them according to the following labels: 

Website Labels for OpenSources.co:

Fake News (tag fake): Sources that entirely fabricate information, disseminate deceptive content, or grossly distort actual news reports.  

Satire (tag satire): Sources that use humor, irony, exaggeration, ridicule, and false information to comment on current events.  

Extreme Bias (tag bias): Sources that come from a particular point of view and may rely on propaganda, decontextualized information, and opinions distorted as facts.

Conspiracy Theory (tag conspiracy): Sources that are well-known promoters of kooky conspiracy theories.

Rumor Mill (tag rumor): Sources that traffic in rumors, gossip, innuendo, and unverified claims.

State News (tag state): Sources in repressive states operating under government sanction.

Junk Science (tag junksci): Sources that promote pseudoscience, metaphysics, naturalistic fallacies, and other scientifically dubious claims.

Hate News (tag hate): Sources that actively promote racism, misogyny, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination.

Clickbait (tag clickbait): Sources that provide generally credible content, but use exaggerated, misleading, or questionable headlines, social media descriptions, and/or images.  

Proceed With Caution (tag unreliable): Sources that may be reliable but whose contents require further verification.

*Political (tag political): Sources that provide generally verifiable information in support of certain points of view or political orientations.  

*Credible (tag reliable): Sources that circulate news and information in a manner consistent with traditional and ethical practices in journalism (Remember: even credible sources sometimes rely on clickbait-style headlines or occasionally make mistakes. No news organization is perfect, which is why a healthy news diet consists of multiple sources of information).

Unknown (tag unidentified): Sources that have not yet been analyzed (many of these were suggested by readers/users or are found on other lists and resources). Help us expand our resource by providing us information!

Note: Tags like political and credible are being used for two reasons: 1.) they were suggested by viewers of the document or OpenSources and circulate news 2.) the credibility of information and of organizations exists on a continuum, which this project aims to demonstrate. For now, mainstream news organizations are not included because they are well known to a vast majority of readers.

Great stuff, right?! 

On Twitter, the good people on NPR shared a story that really intrigued me and led me further down this path and to my new favorite tool. 

My excitement is off the charts! I'm starting up with the News Literacy Project's Checkology tool tomorrow with my library students. 

The program is free for the rest of this school year. I will revisit this tool in the coming week once I've had a little time to play with it. But, I thought I would share today so that more of us can help get our kids on track with news literacy and fact-checking. If they don't learn to separate fact from fiction this world will be in real trouble.

Tips for managing Tech - my love letter to you

Today’s post is my valentine for all of you, it addresses the task that at times is beyond overwhelming; I’m talking about keeping up with TECHNOLOGY. I find it near impossible – but, I saw this great graphic created by the amazing @SylviaDuckworth and it is a perfect reminder for all of us who strive to be on top of our technology game. 

   The first tip is key, let’s face it there are not enough hours in a day to keep up with it all. So, don’t try. The second tip, is the key—use social media to keep up with latest trends and tools. Personally, I find Twitter to be a great source of info regarding technology. Follow tech people who are doing things you admire. Technology is fun and enhances education.

  

Here are a few I like to follow on Twitter: the incredible @sylviaduckworth, @efitz_edtech, @MsMarshallCMS, @Hamm_Ed, @TheWeirdTeacher, @MsVenturino, and my good friend Naomi Bates @yabooksandmore. These people are critical to my tech practice. I gain valuable ideas and connect to great tech tools that make me look like a rock star with my teachers and students.

   Another great source of new tech trends are your students and teens! They are on trend before it even becomes a “thing.” 

Numbers 2 and 3 really go together like PB&J, tech in education, or Buzz and Woody in Toy Story. The third tip also serves as a needed reminder to share our tech tools – I find that when I share, my Personal Learning Network grows and I learn even more through the collaborative process.

   Number 5 is huge! One of the big pitfalls, is that we tend to try too much all at once. For me, it works best to try something new, play with it awhile and see where and how it is best used before adding new tools to the mix. Another reminder I like to make in my workshops is that you need to use the new tool within a few days. It’s definitely a use it or lose it thing. I’ve gone to some incredible workshops—taken copious notes annnnndddd walked away with every intention of coming back to it only to forget and leave it behind… 

   There are some incredible tools out there—but remember to make sure the tools are relevant to your students and what you are teaching. Using a tool for the sake of using it, is not best practice. Any tool you use should have a specific purpose. When we use a tool in a way that brings meaning, we help our students learn more deeply. 

  

Keeping track of tools is a challenge (Tip 8), curation doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be as simple as setting up an IFTTT (If This, Then This). Every time I email myself a tweet, it goes into a Google Spreadsheet. The possibilities are endless.

   Tip #10 is awesome and overwhelming at the same time. I love conferences! The connections and collaborative nature of conferences make them a must for your tech practice. But, be mindful of the other tips, use your time to make connections with others, and share, share, share! 

   Lastly, start a blog or something that will give you a space to share your success. I am so glad I did, it has been a great tool for keeping me on track with my tech practice. It has also given me opportunities to connect with other Teacher Librarians and Librarians around the country/world. 

   Happy Valentine’s Day friends! I hope you are feeling the love today. 

PS-- The latest issue of School Library Journal has my article on the benefits of having a coloring station for students to enjoy. Cheers.

Big thanks to @SylviaDuckworth for the use of her amazing sketch.

E-book Creation Tools

Well, January is in the books! It was such a busy month. Between the holidays and events such as the American Library Association Midwinter Conference, January simply flew by. 
To open the month, I'm beginning with a post about E-books. A veteran teacher at my school approached me last week and asked whether I knew anything about ebooks. He was looking to do things differently. Up until now, he had been allowing kids to make a paper booklet or powerpoint. 
The teacher, Mr. M, is a great guy; he's got a small case of tech-phobia, but always pushes through. Today we were talking and he said that a few weeks back a student was performing in a talent show he was judging and it led to an epiphany. The student had the wah-wah-wah sound from the Peanuts gang playing as he "sat in class." Mr. M got to thinking-- he pondered his own teaching practices, and decided that he needed to make it more engaging. He realized that flipcharts and "sage on the stage" just doesn't work. So, he's starting with E-books. Next week, I'm going to re-introduce him to Hyperdocs. 
Today, however, I'm going to share about Ebooks. 
 
This is one of those days where I wished we were an iPad 1:1 schools, but alas, we are not. So, I hit the Google trail. Here are a few resources to help teachers ease into ebook creation. 
For so many schools (like mine), we are Chromebook rich-- so with that in mind...a great and easy spot to start is Google Slides. There are some great ready-to-use templates that makes this an easy win for you in working with a teacher looking to engage students and go deeper in knowledge. 

Check out these templates: 

I purchased these templates from TeachersPayTeachers via Pinterest. It was a great time savings for me; I have one more crazy week, and then things will chill for a few weeks. (keep your fingers crossed)

Papyrus

I really liked the look of this online application. Sadly, it is not working right now. It has some cool features and a great WYSIWYG interface. 

iBooks Author

A few years ago, I attended the CUE conference in Palm Springs and was fortunate to garner a spot in an Apple iBooks workshop. This has all the bells and whistles and is simple to use. 

You will have the ability to add video, audio recordings, as well as space efficient text boxes with a scroll down feature, and pictures. 

Fun and dynamic. 

Regardless of the platform you use, eBook creation will help your students go deeper into the knowledge and create incredible ebooks that show that info off.