The happy life of teacher librarians: Tenpin

Yup, I do sport one afternoon a week.  Not all teacher librarians do, and it depends on your school.  It's not always fun, but there are ways to make the best of it.  Another teacher and I have teamed up, and with the sports we've had over the last year, we've set up draws and tournaments and score-keeping on the computer, not only to record the kids' progress, but also to work on the socialisation, so they don't just play against their friends.  We award them certificates at the end of the term too, something to add to their portfolios.  The kids appreciate the extra effort we put in, and we can see its impact on each term's group.

This term, we've had tenpin bowling.  A couple of times, one of us has played too, and the kids like seeing if they can beat us.  A couple of weeks ago, when I bowled, I told the kids I'd buy a cool drink for any of them who beat my score.  That week, it was 92, and I bought about five drinks.

This week, we needed one more body on a lane, so although I hadn't planned to bowl (it makes it harder to pay attention to the other lanes and see how others are going, encouraging the kids and so forth), I did.  Hmmm.  The bowling gods were with me (this little black duck not actually having done any tenpin bowling since my teenage years) and I got a couple of strikes and some decent tallies. 

I glanced over at the lane of the boy I knew to be the best bowler.  Hmmm again.  I was almost level pegging.  So I had my turns, and scooted up and down the lanes celebrating strikes and spares and nicely aimed bowls with the kids.  That boy's lane group finished faster than my lane group, and I saw his final score was 138.  I turned around to collect my third last ball, and saw him standing behind our lane, watching my score...

And I laughed aloud, and said, "Eddie, I feel like a winner already!"

He looked at me, puzzled.  "Why?"

"Buddy, if you have to watch the score of this old bat, then I've got you a little worried, and that's a great compliment!"

He grinned wryly.  And was back watching as I had my last two balls to go.  

I got a spare, and thus an extra ball too, and my final score was 144 - the highest of our school group, that day.  Eddie nodded in acknowledgement, and went off to join his friends. 

And I chuckled at the happy life of teacher librarians, sporting style!

Cheers

Ruth

(PS.  His name isn't Eddie, of course, but that doesn't change the story...)

GIFSL* 45: School Library Christmas Trees: 1

Who'd have one Christmas tree when more will do??

Reading the Christmas issues of Australian magazines such as Inside Out (their Christmas issue this year was brilliant!) and Home Beautiful, I came across this idea:

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...and I got to thinking.  It's got potential, but a I need a blank wall. 

In the library entrance.

Where we've painted a word wall, and I ain't stickin' anything on that...

but

I don't have to, do I?

Because if you turn around our ever-useful bookcase...

...you have a blank wall.  Yay!

And then if you buy a length of wide creamy white quilt wadding, and use a couple of bulldog clips, you have a background (if you're really indulgent, and squint, you might think, very vaguely, of snow.  Not that there's any of that around here, we've been having hot hot days over 30degC, a warm start to summer).

Christmas cards? Meh. What is one of the things ornamenting the library?

Our beautiful students, of course!  I took a bunch of photos of kids in the library, got them printed as 4in x 6in photos (less than 20c each) and just used white ball-head pins to attach them to the wadding.

Here's the result:

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We outlined it in a simple ball-garland, added a couple of decorations and some low-voltage fairy lights under the wadding at the base of the tree, and there you are.

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The kids love to see themselves and their friends; it's also a message to them that we value them (another bit of library PR - there are so many ways to welcome and encourage kids, and thus get them in the door and using the library, discovering the library, being happy in the library.  If you're happy somewhere, you're more likely to come back...).  Any of our 'decorating' is never just pretty-pretty - it's for educational reasons, and judging by the library usage, they're working as we intend.  I've had some commentary from a couple of presentations I've done recently where people have said they  'don't have time for this decorating stuff', which is why I make this point.  How many libraries do you know that are stale and old and boring (not to mention school blocks, school classrooms...); do you like walking into stale and old and boring places?  Do you want to?  Do you want to stay, or explore them?  Why would kids be any different?

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(In case you wondered, most of the commentary after those presentations has been overwhelmingly positive, which is great! - it's been fun to share our journey and ideas with other teacher librarians.)

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The Christmas banners are made from Snoa fabric from Ikea's Christmas 2009 range ($9.99 per metre).  While the heart is a great graphic image, our two pillars are actually different heights.  Making each banner with a single heart and a co-ordinating fabric below means that you can't tell (as you could if we had used all the heart fabric and had a big half-heart on a banner - and who wants to be half-hearted?!).

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I've shown you a number of our banners on Skerricks this year - use that search box up on the left to find them (they're also under the library display tag).  The first blog entry about banners, which included sewing instructions, is here.  We've done a few, and will use them again through next year.

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At the end of term, we'll fold away these Christmas banners and wadding; next year, take more photos, and be able to put up banners and the new edition of the tree of kids (our only cost being the photos), easy-peasy!

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I'll take photos of our other trees and blog them before the end of term.

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We'd love to read your comments...

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Cheers

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Ruth

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* GIFSL = good ideas for school libraries

My Place (TV series) tonight on ABC3

My Place, the picture book, is brilliant.

(Image from www.bookdepository.co.uk. )

Fingers crossed for the TV version.  Series 1 starts tonight on ABC3, 13 parts covering half the book (success will likely translate to the second half being filmed, one gathers).

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Read more about the TV series here in an article by Greg Hassall from the Sydney Morning Herald (also the source of the image above).

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Cheers

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Ruth

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PS I won't mention that it clashes with Collectors on the ABC, because that's why we have DVD recorders and programs with repeats...

ADDED LATER: If you couldn't find ABC3 on your DVD player, you might need to run the setup program that finds channels again - since ABC3 is new, it wasn't there if you ran the setup months/longer ago when you acquired the DVD player.    You might even find other channels launched since you ran the setup.  Bonus! (And you can guess exactly why I mention this.  Yup, I'm going through the DVD player's channel guide and wondering where ABC3 might be found... - it's the set-top box/digital receiver, not the telly).

Where The Wild Things Are film...

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Yes, the film / movie version of Where the Wild Things Are finally opens in Australian cinemas today. 

After writing a bunch of blog entries anticipating it, and reading the reviews from other places where it opened, oh, nearly two months ago, it will be good to see if for myself.  And then I can read the Dave Eggers novelisation I've been pretending not to see for a while (because I want to see the film first).

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Nothing will ever be as good as Maurice Sendak's picture book, though.  Ever.

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Cheers

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Ruth

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Stocktake, and lemons from lemonade

...so much to do, so little time (the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, if I'm not mistaken...).

In the lemons from lemonade department, on the first day of stocktake we had an invasion of workmen to fix roof leaks - scaffolding, bingety-bangety, oh me oh my and can you please move those three tall double-sided (full) fiction shelf units?

So we did.

And put them somewhere else, temporarily, you know.

Only we looked at where we'd put them, and said, AHA! (actually, I said I had an idle thought, and my school assistants, who know exactly what that means, looked at me with a mixture of suspicion and anticipation...)

If we put them there, we can put the comfy seats upstairs over here, and wouldn't it be great to have another reading retreat, if we can scrounge some more chairs, and look how the sightlines work, and yes we'll have to move all the fiction books, but that will freshen it up too, different things in different places, kids will find books they haven't found before....

Lemons from lemonade.  The roof leak is fixed and painted, I'm thinking out ways to scrounge more chairs, we've moved the fiction books into this new configuration, and heigh-ho, stocktake goes on.  (I'll take photos when it's set up properly).  My school assistants and I are happy with the prospects and opportunities of the new arrangement of furniture.

Tomorrow is the Year 6 into 7 orientation, and all of those kids come through the library so it's a chance to say hello, welcome them to the library, get their photos taken for their library cards, and get an initial peg on what that cohort is like.

The usual busy end-of-year!  Hope yours is going well too.

Cheers

Ruth

Free e-books from The Book Depository

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Read all about it here.

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Cheers

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Ruth

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PS. We've started Christmas decorating in the school  library, and I'll show you some photos soon, as a couple of things are still In Progress...

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Tomorrow When the War Began film

According to an article in Saturday's newspaper, filming has finished on the adaptation of John Marsden's book, Tomorrow When The War Began.  No release date shown as yet on the imdb page for this film.
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Today we will start our annual end-of-year stocktake, as scheduled.  And tomorrow, scaffolding will be going up to fix a roof leak.  Hmmm.  I suspect noise will be involved.  We'll work around it.  And while moving bays of shelves wasn't on the original agenda, sometimes you can get good ideas for reorganising from this.... (lemons from lemonade!).
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The last couple of weeks have been quite astonishingly busy, so there have been a couple of days without blog entries.  Always a good chance to chase up something great from the past (click on a tag over there on the right) or something new from one of the blogs on my bloglist (also over there on the right).
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Cheers
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Ruth

Today... HSC All My Own Work (and tomorrow, and...)

Today I have been rolling Year 10 students through the library's computers to do HSC All My Own Work. Over 200 need to get it done.  As each one finishes, I'm sending for the next one.  Haven't sat down all day, my initials have been needed nearly 400 times (and are getting more baroque/scrawly by the time) and it's been madly busy.  Thanks be most students are co-operative; I wish I could say the same of the computers...I prefer such technology consistent rather than contrary! 

HSC AMOW will take up a lot of this week; except Wednesday afternoon, because Wednesday night is The Oscars, I mean, the Year 10 formal, and hair appointments, fake tans, facials, makeup and primping of all sorts and kinds (I read today that the industry around formals is now larger than that around weddings!) will of course take priority over anything else.  They do settle down a lot by the time the Year 12 formal rolls around...

If you're not in NSW, HSC AMOW is a program about issues such as copyright, acknowledging sources and so forth, and the site has information and quizzes.  All HSC students need to have completed HSC AMOW before commencing Year 11 work - our school aims to get 'em done at the end of Year 10, so they're ready to roll at the start of the next school year.

Cheers

Ruth
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Barack Obama on libraries

At the moment that we persuade a child, any child,

to cross that threshold,

that magic threshold into a library,

we change their lives forever, for the better.

It’s an enormous force for good.

Barack Obama

This quote, which I've used in various library documents here, is from a speech Barack Obama gave in 2005 to the Annual Conference of the ALA.  You can read the speech here.
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Cheers

Ruth
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Hand-selling fiction

I'm sure every teacher librarian hand-sells books, fiction in particular.  Try this? Or this?  I loved this one....the people who loved that one also liked this...

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It's fun, and keeps you on your toes and aware of your stock, but it's also sometimes an interesting challenge.  I just keep up with the vampire-romance crowd (voracious they are, too!) but one boy's keeping me on my toes for sure.  Earlier this year, he asked me for fiction war stories.  I suggested, among other things, the Moran series by Wendy Catran.

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He worked his way through them, liking them, and came back for another recommendation.  Took a few goes, and then he went away happy with Temeraire.

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And worked his way through that series too.  Like me, he's keenly waiting for the next one (sometime next year).  Meanwhile, what else can I suggest?  I suggest a few, and he goes away happy with some steampunk (I'm widening his horizons a tad, I know...): Worldshaker.

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OK.  That took him hardly any time at all, and he's back for another one (since this is a stand-alone, not part of a series).  What about the brand spankin' new Scott Westerfeld steampunk, Leviathan?

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Took him less than a week - he really liked it.  Also a stand-alone (I don't know if a series is planned).  He came back on Monday this week, and muttered in the bashful way of a quiet lovely boy something about how he may as well ask me for another book, because I seem to be able to find things he likes.  The pressure... I was going to try Muchamore's Cherub series, but The Recruit (first book in the series) is on loan.  I show him several other possibilities, but he isn't keen on any of them.  I ask my work experience student for his ideas (he's a reader) - he thinks the Muchamore series would be good, but what about Ranger's Apprentice?  It's nearly bell time, and I have three students wanting to ask me things.  I hand the WExp student the first RA book, tell him to hand-sell it to our customer, and leave them to it while I attend to the others.  Our borrower is persuaded (yay for the WExp student!) and so has started (I hope) on another enjoyable series.

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I'm really appreciative that he trusts my suggestions (well, some of them!) but the pressure... if he's reading a book a week or so, that's over thirty books a year, and if like some, his focus/interests happen to be narrow, it's surely a challenge!  Each time he's come, it's usually taken half a dozen books before he's found one he wants to borrow (the others he quietly returns to wherever I got them - he usually only goes by what I say, the cover and the blurb, and if they don't catch him, he isn't caught.  What I say helps, but isn't enough - the book has to appeal).

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So if you have any ideas I can suggest to him when he comes by again, do leave a comment!

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I don't remember all of the hand-selling I do so clearly (the brain can only hold so much) but thought this was a progression I'd like to document here, to show the pattern of reading of just one of our many readers, and the impact hand-selling can have.  It's lovely to be trusted - a reputation for good book suggestions is another tool in the teacher librarian's arsenal to keep our students happy with their library's service, and to keep them happily reading.  It also helps our library remain effective in encouraging them to learn.  All good!

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Cheers

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Ruth

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ADDED LATER: lots of great comments, thank you.  Including a couple from My Humble Work Experience Student...!

Is this the next Twilight?

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Some of my students seem to think so - they're desperate to read about Grace and Sam (he's a werewolf in winter, a human being in summer, and coming close is the year when he won't change back when winter ends...).  My lovely local bookshop's teen/fantasy specialist told me Shiver is her new favourite book.

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First of a trilogy (Linger, the second book, cover below, is out next year), film rights already sold (unsurprisingly) and author Maggie Stiefvater has a website here.  She has a book trailer for Shiver here, along with some other resources and reviews..

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Cheers

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Ruth

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PS. Above is the hardcover of Shiver; a paperback is also available.  Covers sourced from the author's website..

Work Experience

We have a work experience Year 10 student this week.  I remember a rotten work experience experience at a local library when I was in Year 10, so I don't want this to be the same for this student (he's interested in librarian rather than teacher librarian work, but things couldn't be squared with the local/TAFE/uni libraries, so he's come here).  Already we've scooted over basic loans/returns, the gist of stocktake (which we aren't doing yet, but it came up in conversation), library philosophy (eg. the Darien Statements), book banning and the big question: if he's after a forty year career in libraries, will they last that long? (and all the associated interesting why/why nots, in this digital age of Googling, Google Books and so forth).
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It's taking up some time - not something I'd want to accommodate every week - but it's also good in that it's making me articulate various library things I may otherwise just think about, and giving input to me from what he sees and thinks and wonders about libraries.  This morning he wrote me a few paragraphs about libraries - why he wants to work in them, what he sees as their purpose, etc - and I'll get him to write about the same topics again at week's end, hoping that I'll have expanded his ideas and understanding in that time.
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Cheers

Ruth
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Learn Genetics

A Science teacher pal of mine has pointed out that Skerricks isn't heavy on science content...

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...so here's one I learned about from the very excellent Bright Ideas:  Learn Genetics, a site from the University of Utah.
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Cheers
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Ruth
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Ideas from elsewhere: why bother spiffing up your library?

Interesting results from a homeless shelter that renovated - read Adele Horin's article from the Sydney Morning Herald.
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The point, for me, of sprucing and spiffing and working on our library space is not only to make it dynamic and interesting and colourful and fun and engaging and welcoming.  Of course, to do all those things: but also to make it educationally effective, to have a positive impact on students and their learning.  And thus improve their lives and opportunities and futures.
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I was intrigued to learn from this article that their research shows the positive impact that the changes at the homeless shelter have had on the people who have used their facilities; it seems most reasonable to assume that this would be the case for a school library, too.
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Cheers
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Ruth
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PS. Major topic for conversation right now: The Hair Trial.  Yup, the Year 10 formal's only a week or two away, and after the Oscars, well, it's THE Event.  If you're in Year 10...!!
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The happy life of teacher librarians: Bingo!

Miss, I'm going to make a film [says a lovely boy who's into graphic novels, cool 60s/70s music, Serious comics &tc]
That's great!
I have the title worked out - it's irresistible!
Good-oh - what is it?
N u n s  and  A m m o
Terrific!...only I think it's already been made, buddy.
Has it?
'fraid so.  You might be familiar with it....
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The Sound of Music.
MISS!!!!!!!
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(Another Bingo! moment in the happy life of teacher librarians).
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Cheers
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Ruth
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The happy life of teacher librarians: Busy

Today I:

• invented television (well, not quite, but you could not get past the crowd in the foyer this morning) (pics next week, OK?  We're still refining it...)
• were busy with classes all day (except last period, which was quiet, and a grace moment to draw breath)
• found books by cover description, story description, doyourememberItoldyouaboutitlastweekmiss description, findmesomethingelseIlikebecauseyoudidlasttimeandIdid, scattered them on tables for browsing, found them on shelves to 'hand-sell', went from adventure to insects to Into the Wild to The Endless Steppe  to alovestorywithadventuresmiss..
• read more NaNo stories (my favourite phrase from one girl's tale: "We belong together - you are the cheese and I am the macaroni" - PRICELESS! - and watched them being written (I'm behind and have to catch up, so I have at least five kids who are going to ask me on Monday if I'm on target with my word count - hope this will goad me to write enough!)
• thought about the bookmarks for the latest theme (mentioned yesterday) but didn't quite get to them - and then luckily found some NaNo ones from last year which will do till I get the new ones designed)
• typed the last two paragraphs of a student's scholarship application (because I type at around 80wpm and he doesn't and the bell had gone and another student was waiting for the computer) and suggested some polishing he was pleased with
• was delighted to tell a kid from sport yesterday that the score he made was so improved that he'll be in the next group up next week - a quiet kid, he was so pleased!
• printed off a copy of my article in the current Scan, about re-imagining your library, to give to my Principal
• agreed to host a student for a week of work experience (couldn't get him in to the local council or tertiary library, unfortunately, and he really wants to experience library work)
• watched students enjoying the library, the cushions, the comforts, the books, the place...
• enjoyed the company of kids and teachers, their energy and laughter and individuality, scooting around the library during class time and lunchtime
• got to use one of my phrases for miscreants a number of times: when I catch a kid doing The Wrong Thing (and it's not a major evil and they're a kid who'll play along with this and respect the opportunity), I ask, do you want the short version or the long version?  Short, they usually say.  Don't! I say, and they and I know exactly what I mean without my going into a long spiel about what they and I know they shouldn't do.  And we exchange a look of agreement, and the matter is dealt with and done in a civilised way.  And I generally don't have to repeat myself, at least not with that kid.
• ate half of my lunch by day's end (and was glad for the weekly whole-staff morning tea)
• told a student how to be really boring when replying to inquisitive friends about something she can't talk about.  Demonstrated, too, and won a grin from her, and I hope a sense that the situation wasn't as dire as she had thought.
• checked our borrowing stats - we're still running at over 75% higher than the average of the last three years - woohoo!
• knew that I'm going to have to get stuck in to my NaNo novel or I won't get to 50,000 words by the end of November
• cheered for colleague Sue Pitt who was quoted in an article in the Daily Telegraph today about the Twilight phenomenon

(I'm sure the list above is not complete..Why not write out yours, and see all the fun you've had today?). 
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...and now it's the weekend.  Enjoy!
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Cheers
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Ruth
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PS. I forgot, I also wondered behind which of the built-in cupboards in my office a mouse has so inconsiderately died.  I know it's there, as its soul remains, at least on an olfactory level...and they always expire in inaccessible places...
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The next theme for our foyer...

started with this fabric from Ikea.

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Slightly surreal, and I thought it looked full of stories.  So I'm working on that idea for bookmarks, and we have done some banners and so forth.

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More soon (just didn't want you to think there was NO entry today, heaven forbid!! - what with the ASLA (NSW) professional development day last Saturday, and the article in the current issue of SCAN, and the Met West teacher librarian professional development day coming up, all with ideas from here being presented by yours truly...)

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Cheers,

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Ruth.

Skerricks in the world: the National Library of NZ loves us!

Create Readers, a blog by the staff of the National Library of New Zealand, is a constant in my blog roll over there on the right (worth perusing that list every day for the cornucopia of new entries!).  Last week, they had an entry about library display ideas, and mentioned Skerricks, as well as other blogs useful for ideas.  So if you want more, toddle over there for the links.
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Very Soon Now (I know, too late for you, but it's been a tad busyish around here!) I'll bung up pictures of this year's excellent Halloween decor.  We used some things from last year and added some new for this year and the kids liked it all very much.
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Also, hello and greetings if you are new to reading this blog and came here as a result of attending the ASLA (NSW) professional development day last weekend.  Yup, nearly everything I mentioned is findable here on the blog (or will be soon).  Nope, I'm not going to put my PowerPoint presentation here as it's not at all the same with the all-singing, all-dancing (no, neither) voice as I spout on about Sprucing Your Library And Having Fun (and I'm sprucing the PP too for future outings).  It was lovely to be able to enthuse others and share the ideas we've played with here. 
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Cheers
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Ruth
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Five reasons why I like guardian.co.uk

Andrew Motion on Jane Campion's film, Bright Star, about Keats and Fanny Brawne (film not yet out in Australia: it's to be released on Boxing Day 2009 according to IMDB).  Hmmm, a candidate for Trailer Time?

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Give them away or pass them on – but don't let go of printed books: They may be bulky, but bound volumes still contain much more than ebooks could ever hold.  Suzanne Munshower on the dilemmas and joys of printed books, reading, culling and keeping.

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David Eggers on how his novelisation of the film script of the picture book, Where the Wild Things Are (including an extract), and...

Patrick Ness' thoughtful review of Eggers' novelisation, and...

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Maurice Sendak's recent comments on Where the Wild Things Are (does he think it is too scary for kids?)

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And that was just a quick scoot around the Culture section recently.  Oh, I do love reading (and being able to read) good overseas newspapers online.  And one where the articles remain online indefinitely, not just a fortnight.

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Cheers

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Ruth

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Time.com reviews...

Time magazine is a constant in the library, and one thing I'm always grateful for is their free archive, which is an excellent resource.

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Recently reviewed: Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. 

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The film of Where the Wild Things Are.

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I have no shares in this media organisation - but I find I often like the thoughtful, intelligent approach of their writing.

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There's buckets more than these two items which would be of use in your classrooms and to your students.

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Cheers

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Ruth

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