Tech Tips & Timely Tidbits

A couple of things have happened recently that have got me thinking about books, readers, snap judgments, and personal preferences, and I needed to vent my spleen. First, I posted a comment over at Dear Author regarding a review of Melissa Marr’s new book, Ink Exchange. Secondly, there has been a HUGE debate over Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight on the YALSA listserv between those who “love” it and those who “hate” it and everyone in between. [I'm an in between.] I’m not going to rehash or try to summarize the debate or the back and forth responses, but you can read the blog that sparked the debate here.

What I would like to do is share what I’ve taken away from this “lively discussion:” that everyone has their own likes, dislikes, preference, etc. A couple of people have commented that a reader will take what they need from a book. TRUE! That every book has a reader. TRUE! Therefore, what I may enjoy reading others may not. What I may “read into” a book could just be my own imagining, history, or personal baggage and not what the author intended. That I may totally not “get” the author’s message at all - if there was even an intended message to begin with! That as an adult, I tend to over think a book where a teen probably won’t.

The other item I took away from this is a greater appreciation for the power of books and of words. That authors (& books) get people talking, debating, discussing, and just plain READING! No matter what the author’s intentions were with their story, the fact that people enjoy them (or hate them) means that people are READING! And in my case, the TEENS are READING! Both the girls AND the guys! Isn’t that what I, as a librarian, want? Heck, YES! Do I have concerns with these books, yes, but that is an opportunity to open discussion, not a time to shoot down the books and/or author.

While everyone is entitled to their opinion, myself included, we shouldn’t be telling anyone (adult or teen) what they should/shouldn’t read. Leave it up to the reader to form their own opinion! If one of my patrons checks out a book I didn’t like, I don’t tell them “That’s a horrible book, don’t waste your time!” I usually ask them to tell me what they think of the book after they’ve read it. I’d love to have their opinion, whether or not it matches my own. Okay, ‘nough said, stepping down from my soapbox.

Sorry this is a little late. Edublogs was down for maintenance and then I forgot to finish the post. Forgive me!

The Futures Channel: Connecting learning to the real world - one of my math teachers (thanks Mrs. Thomas) brought this web site to my attention. Their other tag line is “Real Math, Real Science, Real Careers.” The site offers short movies in Shockwave/Flash format that introduce students to fun, interesting, and sometimes unusual careers. Each movie has a corresponding pdf classroom activity file.

European Space Operations Center: “Space debris: evolution in pictures” - VWB over at the A Library By Any Other Name blog posted this awesome picture from the European Space Operations Center . Not only are we littering up our own planet but space, too! VWB provides links to other great online resources on the topic of space junk.

Books for Teen Readers - Betsy Clem posted this over on The Georgia Library Media Association blog. Some great opportunities for teens to provide their input on books, as well as be “in the know” by receiving advanced readers copies of new books!

TheBestNotes.com - Similar to Sparknotes and Cliffs Notes, The Best Notes contain explanations of literary elements and chapter summaries/analysis. Not only does it offer them for the classics, some contemporary novels are dissected, too, such as Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

Now one just for fun. Thanks Sue Waters for sharing this one on Twitter: Animator vs. Animation by Alan Becker. Too funny!

Got another technology convert. (well sorta). At the end of April, our Biology II class took a field trip to the State Museum and I was along as a chaperone. Before the trip, I got to thinking about a recent tech workshop on Voicethread and an example of using Voicethread to have students reflect on their field trip. I broached the idea with the teacher and she said YES! She decided to use this for her assessment portion of the field trip/assignment!

I took along my trusty digital camcorder and a couple of the students who took cameras gave me copies of their photos. I uploaded the photos to my Voicethread account and created student identities for them to submit their comments (using icons cropped from the trip photos.) I’m sure there is another way this could have been done, but I was trying for quick and easy for the students. I also collect student release forms for permission to make the thread public.

All last week the students were to come in and record at least three comments - one had to be an audio, the rest could be either audio or text. There comments are supposed to be what they learned and/or researched after the trip. (Yes, some of them actually looked up further information on what they saw - mostly so their comments on the Voicethread would be more intelligent!). Anyway, here is the result. It is not completely finalized as the teacher hasn’t added her comments yet.

BBC News: “Virtual telescope opens night sky.” - article about Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope. I haven’t had a chance to check it out as it only runs on Windows operating systems : ( but I will *sigh* have to give it try from work soon. Since it’s a download, I have to get approval first.

BBC News: “Microwaves ‘cook ballast aliens‘” - for science teachers out there, I thought you might find this article of interest. Great for environmental studies and ecosystem units.

CNN.com: “Divers find marble bust of Caesar that may date to 46 B.C.” - again, the archaeologist wannabe in me can’t help but be fascinated by this discovery. Especially timely as our English II classes just finished reading Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar and many chose Ceasar and/or Roman Empire for the research paper topics.

CNN.com: “Top 10 interview mistakes” - not that I’m even contemplating changing jobs, I just found these tips “duh” moments. I couldn’t believe some people could be so stupid.

CNN.com: “Mom indicted in deadly MySpace hoax” - it’s about time.

“Any adult who uses the Internet or a social gathering Web site to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realize that their actions can have serious consequences,” O’Brien said.”

You can also go to PBS Teachers to read a similar article.

Endgadget: “Houston being overrun by electronics killing ants” - sorta goes along with the microwave article above, as the ants were stowaways on a cargo ship, too!

The Unquiet Librarian (Buffy Hamilton) recently posted a heads up about the upcoming Teen Read Week (October 12-18, 2008) theme “Books With Bite.” I’m grateful for this reminder because if I don’t plan ahead, I’d never get anything done. Her post and the TRW Wiki got me thinking about how I want to proceed next year…and I need some help/input.

I team up each year with the media specialist from Midland Valley High for our book club program (we share books to reduce costs) and she mentioned how her school will post a “genre’ of the month” in their student agendas next year. What a wonderful concept! Well, not to be outdone, I was thinking of taking the TRW theme and spreading it out over the school year. The TRW Wiki gave me some suggestions and I’ve added to them.

August 2008: Vampires

• To correspond with the release of Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight series. I’m focusing only on vampires and not monsters as a whole due to the popularity of vampire books.

September 2008: Edgy Titles/Banned Books

• To tie in with Banned Book Week, I’d like to focus on edgy titles and challenged books.

October 2008: Monsters & Mythical Creatures

• Included here would be werewolves, dragons, faeries, etc. Some authors I’m considering are: Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfeld, Tolkin, Christopher Golden, Anne McCaffrey, and Neal Shusterman.

November 2008: Cooking

• I’d like to include fiction as well as non-fiction titles here. I’ve no problem pulling non-fiction titles, but will need help coming up with a fiction booklist.

That is as far as I’ve gotten on specific monthly themes. Here are some additional themes, but I’m not sure if I’ll use them and/or which month to promote them, plus I need at least two more to have a full school year (10 months) of themes:

• bites as in pests/insects
• bytes as in computer and computer gaming
• bites as in predatory animals
• bites as in “that bites” - the “I’d hate to be you” or troubling/misfortune books
• ?
• ?

What I’m hoping my readers will do is add to my related Books With Bite themes to give me more choices. I’d also like book suggestions for titles that are popular with your students/readers as they relate to each theme. AND if possible, I’d like to have corresponding logos/icons/avatars to go with each category to use on promotional materials. SO if you have any suggestions or ideas, please post a comment. THANKS!