Christmas Storytelling Hour

This will be a first for me: storytelling for the shorter readers, ages 3 to 6!

Rebecca Serle (pictured above), of Nurturing Narratives, will be telling Christmas stories, and I will be helping her, in our school library.

Rebecca will conduct a short literacy workshop afterwards for the adults who accompany their children.

Can't wait! (There'll be cocoa, cookies, and scarves involved)

Transliteracy -- an AHA! moment

"Now there's an official word for it!"

This is what is going through my mind as I learn this morning about the word transliteracy, which is defined as:

"...the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks." Transliteracy Research Group

History of the concept: "Since 2005, when Professor Sue Thomas introduced this concept in the UK, transliteracy has been taken up and explored by a broad range of academics and practitioners, from information scientists to literary theorists, artists and writers."

Here's a YouTube slideshow video on the concept, as it relates to libraries:

Libraries and Transliteracy by Bobbi L. Newman

Thanks to Joyce Valenza and Bobbi Newman, Librarians Extraordinaire, who keep stoking the fires of excitement for us school librarians!

FUN WITH WORDS! Wordle (+ Kinetic Typography)

"You have a way with words" takes on new meaning in this electronic age!


Learned about Wordle, a FREE online creative word-play program, at the AASL conference, but discovered on my return that our 6th grade English teacher already knew about it and had done a fun word-play project at the beginning of the year, in collaboration with our computer teacher. Above are two student samples. (And Ms. Davis just related that she uses Wordle often with her Upper School English students! Where have I been?)

Here's a Wordle BOOKTALK I put together in minutes (they're great for posters, too):



And for those who like to aim high, watch a Moving Word (aka Kinetic Typography) Booktalk created using Adobe Aftereffects, and shared with me by former Seabury teacher Dr. Sandy Buczynski. (Thanks, Sandy!)

Shiver BookTalk as Kinetic Typography on YouTube = less than 1 min and AMAZING.

You too can be a Wordler! Be sure to read the FAQ to find out about all the cool features of the program.

Here's a 7-minute tutorial that will tell you all you need to know to get started, from YouTube:How to Make and Save a Wordle.net Word Cloud

Enjoy!
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How Does the Library Fit In?

Our new school website BEGS for interactive communication! How best to fit the library into the mix?

World History 10 is my guinea pig class for using library resource pages that invite input from teachers and students.

Miss Dearden's Country Project
and, starting today,
Mr. Stone's Map Project

Next up will be an US History annotated bibliography project with Mrs. Middleton.

I'll be doing lots of research and experimenting over the next few months to create a resource-filled website that optimizes academic interplay (say THAT phrase 10x fast) between the library, students, and teachers.

ALL suggestions are welcome.

What an exciting time!

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ANIMOTO Slide Show of Maui Robotics Tournament held at Seabury Hall

Animoto is an online slide show program, one of several available. Although it has been around for awhile (I remember our math teacher Ms. Davis introducing it to us in a Winterim program), this is the first time I've tried it. It definitely has a YOUNG feel to it.

You can upload your selected photos (or video), add music (either provided or your own), and finalize. Ouila!

A 30-second show is totally free. I chose the $3.00 one-time video purchase, with unlimited slides. You can also purchase a year of unlimited videos for $30.00. There are other options as well, like an HD version.

QUICK and FUN! I think kids would enjoy using it in the classroom!

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P. S. Our Seabury Spartanbots team was one of six to advance to the State FLL Tournament in December. GO BOTS!

Flickr Meets Library of Congress!

The Library of Congress is a dynamic institution!

My Friend Flickr -- a Match Made in Photo Heaven!

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Good food, dancing, chatting, and taking photos! Partying at the IMAGINON (part theater, part children/teen library) was the PERFECT way to end an excellent conference. Three Hawaii librarians and one of the Imaginon librarians.

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Exhibit Hall Impressions

Author signing lines were loooooong!
This one's for Richard Peck.

LOVE those bats! And look at the title.
Yes, we librarians are SCARY --
MWA-HAH-HAHHHH!
The shipping center lines were long too.
LOTS of goodies to send home!

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It's All About Creating Content!

Tools for students to create their own content -- I'm learning about so MANY tools at this conference. Diigo, Prezi, Delicious, Furl, Slideshare, Motivator, Imagechef, Second Life, Wordle, Voice Thread, Celtx, Foto Flexer -- the list goes on and on. And next week, there'll be more!

I think I'll do a short and sweet montage presentation for teachers when I get back to my school. Hopefully, it'll spark their imaginations about how they could use some of the tools in their classrooms.

You know what that means, don't you? I get to PLAY with the tools!

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James Patterson Turbostarted My Day!

James Patterson received a standing ovation when he came on and one when he ended -- well-deserved!

I can't wait to read Witch and Wizard, his latest young adult adventure.

Posted on Facebook about his readkiddoread.com site, which he created, filled with page-turners children will love and also great ideas.

This conference has been so worth it!

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