Happy holidays!

Hello, fellow bloggers! I must admit, it's been just a little while since my last blog... I've been inspired to get back on the blogging wagon by the children's author Joan Betty Stuchner, who recently visited my school. She just started blogging (joanbettystuchner.blogspot.com)
so I figured it might be something I'd like to get back to as well.

Lots of things have changed for me since I last wrote. This September, although I am still officially the Teacher Librarian at my school, I was given a schedule that involved mostly prep coverage for other teachers. I am able to do some library work (book exchange, modelled reading, limited resource for students and teachers) as well as teaching primary music. I have a piano in my library! I do enjoy the music portion of my job, but I am really missing being able to work more closely with staff and students as resource for information literacy. Instead of using the Teacher Librarians that are already in place (most of whom do prep coverage, if there is even a T-L in the school), our Board has chosen to hire Literacy Improvement Project Teachers who work with staff on comprehensive literacy (modelled, shared and guided reading, SMART goals, etc.). Not that these methods aren't useful, but why not use the staff who already have the expertise in literacy???

There's my rant for the day -- time to go eat lunch -- gotta supervise those kids!

'Til next time -- Deanna

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.