I'm done!!

OK, you can't see me, but I'm dancing around the room!! I'm done my course!! I'm done my course!! It's the best Christmas present ever!!

Christmas

OMG, OMG, OMG, I'm almost finished my course!!! One more unit, and the Teacher Inquiry... Christmas IS coming!!!

School Libraries

I feel like I'm on a spaceship that is hurtling toward the sun! The spaceship is an analogy for the T-L course I'm attempting to finish, and the rapidly approaching deadline for the end of the course is represented by the sun. Boy, is it hot in here!!

As part of my coursework I was asked to find some research resources on school libraries. I posted this one in the Resource section of the WebCT, but will post it again here. It is an article written in 2004 about the results of a Canadian survey on information and communications technologies in schools. Here is the url:

http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/81-595-MIE/81-595-MIE2005028.pdf

I also wanted to post the url for the announcement that Dalton McGuinty made regarding increased funding for libraries and library staff in Ontario. Here it is:

http://www.accessola3.com/index.php?automodule=blog&cmd=showentry&blogid=9&eid=397

Let's hope we see some of that money, and fast!! D.

Favourite Childrens' Books

My goodness, has it been that long since I posted last?? I've been a little busy... I had a family funeral to attend at the end of November up north, and then got snowed in on the way back. So much for the week of November 26th - December 1st. Then I had elective surgery on Monday the 3rd of December, and ended up in ICU with complications -- I bit down on the breathing tube before it was removed, resulting in pulmonary edema (lungs filling with liquid). After they got my breathing under control, I was sent to ICU where I then developed hypernatremia (a sodium imbalance) which had an interesting effect on my behaviour -- I was confused, agitated and disoriented. Once the problem was corrected, I quickly got back to "normal" -- whatever that is! By this time, it was Wednesday morning -- I ate the first meal I'd had since Sunday dinner at lunchtime on Wednesday. After much more poking and prodding, follow-up appointments and scheduled blood work, I was allowed to go home late Thursday afternoon. So, needless to say, I've had a exciting week and a half!

The nice thing about being off work is I get to listen to and watch shows that I normally wouldn't have access to. This morning on CBC Radio, on Sounds like Canada, three guests compiled their list of favourite picture books. Next week they'll be talking about chapter books. I've provided three links below, one to the CBC and the other to the Toronto Public Library website. They've also published a list of favourites. The Hamilton Public Library has a similar website. One book that made two of the lists is Three Snow Bears, by Jan Brett, loosely based on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Apparently the illustrations are marvelous, as they always are with Jan Brett. Here is what the cover looks like:


Happy shopping! D.

http://www.cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/

http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/new_arc_07nov21_first_best_07.jsp

http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/LibraryServices/HotTopics/booksforgiving2007.htm

Original Articles

We've been talking about advocacy for the school library programme in our course. Here are links to the two original articles I compared.

http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla63/63obed.htm (Principal Support: Research from Canada), and

http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/toolkits/whatparentsshould.cfm (The School Library Media Centre: What Parents Should Know). Happy reading! :)

Helpful site

Hello, all. Just finished up a P.A. Day -- everyone's gone but me. We're talking about the dreaded "L" word -- literacy. I actually quoted from the Information Studies document today -- read the definition of information literacy. Oh, yeah, those librarians were way ahead of the province (or maybe just the Hamilton-Wentworth DSB??) on differentiated learning!!!

We've been trying to get our Bookroom up and running this year. One site that I find really helpful is Renaissance Learning, Inc. (http://www.renlearn.com/) If you go to the main page and click on "Order Quizzes" from the left-hand column, it will take you to a page where you can level books according to title or author. It's pretty good -- most books I've checked have been there. Try it out! D.

OMG, it's November!!!

Wow, October went fast. I've been so busy preparing for my upcoming surgery, trying to get things sorted at school for the time I'll be away, etc. etc. that I haven't made much time for coursework. However, I've just found out that my surgery has been postponed until December 3rd, so that changes things! Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go...

Weekend

I guess technically it's Sunday -- haven't been to bed yet, though, so it's Saturday night to me! I did more coursework today, worked out a Curves, went to one of my favourite stores (Across the Pond -- they sell food and other goods from Britain) and then to my girlfriend's for curry. All and all a busy day. Tomorrow -- more coursework, and cleaning my house because my mother is coming to visit! Actually, she's coming down to take care of me after I have breast reduction surgery on Nov.1st. I'll be off school for four weeks, so I shouldn't have any trouble keeping up in the course!

This link has nothing to do with Teacher Librarianship, but it's a fun one! It's all the rage in Quebec and French-speaking communities in Ontario. It's called Tetes a Claques, and is a series of short skits mainly in French (or Quebecois, to be more accurate). If you have even a little working knowledge of French, you will understand at least some of them. Happy claquing!

www.tetesaclaques.tv

TGIF!

Well, it's Friday. Again. I seem to mark the passage of time by Fridays -- my favourite day of the week. Might be because I go to my weekly "safety meeting" (as my principal calls them) at one of Hamilton's Irish drinking establishments... I go most weeks, meet good friends, have a bevvy and some dinner, and try not to talk shop (we're all educators). Lorna, I was reading your info about yourself on your blog -- fall is my favourite time of the year as well! I love the sound of leaves crunching underfoot, the smell of distant smoke from chimneys and the crisp air of a fall morning. It's been too warm this month, though. I'm still in my Birks! D.

Wow! I'm blogging!!

I guess I'm right up there with Rick Mercer and Rosie O'Donnell! Oh no, she has video on hers. I'm not too likely to get that technical...

Well, gotta go -- got work to do on my course!!