Behind the 'Wimpy Kid' Phenomenon

....is the title of an excellent article by Tara Parker-Pope, in the New York Times.  Not, as you might expect,  in the Books section, but in the Health section, with thoughtful insights into why the books work as well as they do.
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And you can read it right here.

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There's a film coming too, on 1 April 2010 (no, I'm not kidding, that's the information on IMDB here).  Haven't yet found a trailer, but I'll post one when I do.

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Cheers

Ruth

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Halloween cupcakes III

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You need to go and see the recipe to see its full glory - the cupcakes are marbled vanilla/red, to enhance the eyeball look!

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Another triumph of surreal foodie imagination from food blog Not Quite Nigella.  Boggle your mind with her amazing Hallowween party feast.

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Cheers

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Ruth

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PS.  I do wonder, in idle moments, if there are other teacher librarianship blogs covering such essential material as brain cupcakes and eyeball cupcakes.  But then the idle moment all too quickly passes, something else shiny catches my eye, and I toddle onward, amused, pursuing my own particular yellow brick road.

The happy life of teacher librarians: student amazed!

I've been doing a lesson on vampires for various English classes who are studying horror as a genre - the idea being to give them a bit of a tour through vampire folklore and the ways in which the idea of a vampire is found in many cultures and has been appropriated/manipulated in various ways through popular culture such as books, TV series, films etc.
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One student from yesterday's class was talking with me this morning, and took a moment to say, "You were awesome with the vampires thing yesterday, Miss."
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Isn't that lovely?  I thanked her.
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She added, thoughtfully and in a tone of slight surprise, "Actually, Miss, I didn't know you knew that much."
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Isn't that - um - .....
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Extremely funny!  Preserving my countenance, I thanked her again, and she pootled off cheerfully.
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The happy life of teacher librarians: yes, we do know some things!! (and kids remain, as ever, hilariously amusing).
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Cheers
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Ruth

100 Favourite Books of all Time (well, for some folks right now)

This is from a list compiled recently by Borders bookshops in Australia.  Angus & Robertson does one too, and a kids' one.

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I always kind of wonder about these sorts of lists.  The fact that Pride and Prejudice seems to be a reflex pick for so many, fabulous though it is.  The reality that recent exposure (eg. the film of My Sister's Keeper) influences lists - would books like this rate as well in a year, or even six months?

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Still, it's always interesting to see what's on the list.  Film or not, I love The Time Traveler's Wife, so I'm pleased at its rank.  

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Now how might such an idea by adapted to a school library? 

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Hmmmmmm.  Thinking..............

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Cheers

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Ruth

Dark territory made light: republishing titles as e-books

Since the e-book format was not born/thought of/included in contracts when many many books were published (well, most, really) - it's not surprising that publishers are moving into this dark territory and looking  to make existing backlist titles available in this new format.  Read about one such publisher here.  According to Jane Friedman, "Electronic 'is going to be the centre of the universe'".  It's an interesting insight into current thinking and developments in the world of e-books - not just in the publishing model, but in the use of social media to publicise the e-books. 
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Cheers

Ruth
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PS I have not (yet) been offered a Kindle to review.  Just in case you wondered...!!
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Halloween cupcakes II

Vampire bat cupcakes, courtesy of Martha Stewart.  All details here.  She has lots of Halloween resources on the site, as you might expect.

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Cheers

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Ruth

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who plans to download, fix up and post our Halloween decor (short on gore, and with a few special details that are just for fun) pictures any day now...

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Where the wild things are: fonts

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If you're after the title font from Where the Wild Things Are - book or film - then here's a source: Scrapnfonts have a bundle for sale including both and a couple of other ones (see .

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I have other blog entries about WTWTA (which doesn't open in Oz till December, although it's October in the US, sigh) if you're after trailers etc.  Just use the search box, top left of the blog.

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Cheers

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Ruth

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Skerricks in the world: the maths teachers love us!

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It's always kinda fun to see the referrals to this blog - how people are finding it.  The major answer is often googling.  A recent mention from a maths blog, however, was a lovely coup (maths teachers not always being the most frequent users of libraries).  Mathsclass.net has an entry about 'DERing with Year 9' (great verb - to der!) which mentions my seven things to try week 1 list from this blog entry.  Thank you linesmen, thank you ballboys!  Not only does the Mathclass.net blog entry have other useful web links, it's one I'll be able to share with our teachers - not just the maths ones.  One of the useful things about referrals is the chance to find out about great new online resources.
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Cheers

Ruth
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PS. I've just written a piece for SLAV on the seven things list - it will be out in their journal early next month.  It seems to be a useful list that's finding a bunch of friends, which is great.
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Where the wild things are - do the kids like it?

Bruce Handy, in an essay in the New York Times, Where the Wild Things Aren't, says, in his experience, no. 
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David Barnett, in a blog entry at the Guardian, has a different story - his son wanted a wolf suit like Max's, to wear to a school book event, and many pricked fingers later, his dad had sewn something that charmed his son (and, so he was told, Maurice Sendak). (Found this one via Alien Onion).
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I've read it to small children many times, and almost invariably it has caught them - you can feel their attention, and when you finish, they often as not say, AGAIN!  High school kids are happy to read it, very often again, and even if they don't remember it at first, they generally then do, and seem happy to revisit it.
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They're very personal things at times, aren't they, books?
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I have at home a copy of Daniel Eggers' novelisation of the script of the film of the picture book; and also the illustrated (abridged) movie storybook.  And I don't want to open either.  The film has opened in the US, but it's not opening here till early December, and I would prefer to come to its version fresh.
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Cheers

Ruth

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image source: www.bookdepository.com

Laptops: 40TB and rising

ITnews has an interesting article on the NSW DET netbooks/laptops, including discussion on how the internet access and filtering works, and how the current 40TB/month of use is likely to rise...

Read more here.

Found via this blog.

Cheers

Ruth

PS. I remember once chuckling at someone who had rashly gone out and invested in a 10GB hard drive.  Madness, utter madness...what on earth would one do with so much storage?  Hmmmm.  This shows either my lack of vision, or my age.  Or possibly both.  I do apologise, now gifted with 20/20 hindsight.
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Halloween cupcakes I

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Sorry, should I have warned you about that?!

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The writer of food blog Not Quite Nigella has a mad imagination.  Find the recipe for these here.

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We're busy making bats (not food ones) - will show you the results soon.  We don't go gruesome like these cupcakes for the rest of our Halloween decorating, but I did find them hilariously horrid....

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Cheers

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Ruth

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GIFSL: rearrange the furniture (encore edition) and Skerricks Live (well, sorta)

Hey, does that photo look vaguely familar?  You might have seen it here (GIFSL 11) - it's currently having an encore in issue 71 of the excellent Curriculum Corporation journal, Connections. 

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And if you don't go and follow that link and read issue 71, you are a great gaby (I've been rereading Georgette Heyer in the holidays and being reminded of some excellent historical colloquialisms) because there is some fine and brilliant reading there.

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Welcome back!  I hope you had a great holiday too.  Every holiday's a good holiday!

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Cheers

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Ruth

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PS if you're interested in a Live Version of GIFSL and other treats from here, I'm speaking about such things and more at an ASLA NSW one-day conference Planning for 2010, in very fine company (June Wall, Ian McLean, Terry Bruce and Sharon McGuinness).  Click on the link to find out more - the location is in Sydney, less than an hour from the CBD.

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Dear Australian reader, Mr Bezos would like to sell you an Amazon Kindle

He would.  Cost (for Kindle and a leather cover) including shipping is just under $400 Australian (note: the exchange rate's in our favour at present at around 90c to the $1US).   Toddle over to http://www.amazon.com/ and see...

They've sorted international wireless, so if you're in area (check them thar coverage maps...) download time is likely to be under a minute, but books are $2 more than US Kindle owners pay. 
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What isn't immediately clear is whether publishing territory will come into play - ie. if the rights aren't available 'for this geographic area' - the trouble I've run into with Audible.com - is the book available to Australian Kindle owners?  Are we shopping from the same range as US Kindle owners?  There is a link to a country-specific page to address country-specific issues including content availability, but it doesn't outline content limitations beyond saying it offers over 280,000 books to Australia (and the main Kindle page offers US buyers over 350,000 books).  Me, I'd want to know which are the 70,000 unavailable to me here in Oz....
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But even so, it's a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry interesting change to the e-book landscape here.  By far the cheapest specific e-book device I'm aware of here (the Dymocks Iliad at around $1000 looks very naff by comparison), and the largest range of books (caveat: still depends on which books...).
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And of course there are all the general limitations/differences in relation to a Kindle edition.  Can't be lent (unless you lend the device), sold/donated, for instance.  I'd rather lend out a $30 book than a $400 device in the library (even assuming there is a Kindle setup accommodating school library ownership/use).
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Ah, but is there a lazy $400 lying around Chez Skerricks, the modest palais this blog calls Emoh Ruo?  Hmmmmm. 
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Cheers
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Ruth
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PS Anyone want me to evaluate one?????  I'll write you a lovely report...
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October is Breast Cancer Month

Don't forget to click on the Pink Ribbon Day icon on the right and order pink ribbon products (eg. pink silicon wristbands) as fundraisers in the fight against breast cancer. When I ordered mine, they asked who had inspired me - it's scary to know so many people who have been affected by breast cancer. Some are survivors. Some are not. I'll have the wristbands to sell in the library when we get back from holidays. I hope you can do something too.
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For those outside Australia, the McGrath Foundation is a significant charity putting Breast Care Nurses into the front line around the country, to support those affected by breast cancer.  They have items for sale too, or you can make a donation (icon on the right takes you to their site).
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Cheers,
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Ruth.

Mea culpa...

A while ago I was culling, and came across a book in the fiction section which I never remember seeing before.

That would explain how it lasted so long.  It's very thin, too... (she says, making excuses).

I give you the last few paragraphs...

Julian looked down at her and there was an ardor that was close to worship in his eyes...

[hero's sister - why does she have to be part of the final scene??? - says] "As long as you make Julian happy, Robin, you are my friend.  That's all I want. [isn't it romantic, to be being Told by the hero's sister?  and excuse I, but why can't Robin be happy too???  Doesn't Julian have ANY responsibility for that??]

Robin said, her voice not quite steady, "It's all I want too, Steve."


Julian looked contentedly at his two women folk. [womenfolk?]

He dropped an arm about each of them and said tenderly, "And now let's go home, shall we?"


"Home!" Robin repeated in a tone that wrapped in the single word all the yearning and hope and eagerness with which she faced her new life as Mrs Julian Gilbert, of Hibiscus Cay in the Caribbean.

[MRS JULIAN GILBERT???]


Ye gods and little fishes.  It's culled.  Decidedly.  Last borrowed in 1987.  Oh, and published in 1962, in case you wondered.  And it was, originally, a donation (as one devoutly hopes, although one also devoutly wondered why it was accessioned At All).
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And while you're snorting at that one, it's a chance to slip in this gem to amuse you.  We don't have this one in the library (or at least, I haven't found it and severely doubt it is in the library collection.  I could always check the catalogue) but thanks to the blessings of the internet and blogs like Judge a Book by its Cover, (source of image below) all you need is a screen, and the ability to count, to enjoy this:

Hint: count the heroine's hands..... (The additionally amusing thing to know is that this book sold Extremely Well because of its notorious cover...!).

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Clearly, things are getting nutty around here.  Time for a holiday!  See you in a fortnight!

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Cheers

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Ruth

The happy life of teacher librarians: you know it's time for a holiday when...

Miss, have you got any Matty Evil books?


Not sure.  Is that MaTTy Evil, or MaDDy Evil [thinks: there's always a new series I haven't heard of...]


Just Mattyevil, Miss.

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[Aha! moment]  Medieval?  Middle Ages?

Yes, Miss

I establish that he's after stories, not nonfiction, and he totters happily off for the holidays with a pile of good looking prospects.

I sit down again at my desk, laugh at myself and KNOW it's time for a holiday!!!

Cheers

Ruth

Laptop Policy - another view

Our school's laptop policy is still being tweaked and revised, evolving in light of experience.

I was interested to read Will Richardson's take on school computer policies on Weblogg-ed.  Make sure you read the comments, too.

As a significant architect of our school's policy - not its final arbiter, but a carpenter creating a structure - one focus was to put things in positive terms, wherever possible.  One does not of course want to discourage students from using their laptops - instead, fuelling and directing their enthusiasm is a great educational opportunity.  On the other hand, the reality of life in schools is that it's important that students are aware of the necessary boundaries, such as respecting copyright, and treating other people respectfully.

So ours is still a work in progress.  Feedback from the students has been positive - they appreciate clarity, because it's calmed some fears they had, from gossip/chat, about what might happen if...

Cheers

Ruth

Laptops, Day 4: so kids, what do you think?

Before the end of term on Friday this week, the school has decided to survey the students to see how they're going with their laptops at this early stage.  A couple of classes did this as a group talkytalky exercise in class this morning; on the basis of that, I refined the survey to fine-tune some questions, and every year 9 student has been given the opportunity to participate via email.

Here are the questions we've asked - they are open-ended by design, to give room for a variety of answers (although I know it's more time-consuming to collate):

• These are things I like about my laptop:
• These are things I don’t like about my laptop:
• These are things that haven’t worked:
• Please note any of these that have been fixed, and if so how (eg. teacher advice, TSO assistance, a friend helped me, it worked the next time I tried it):
• These are sites/software I would like to have unblocked:
• Schoolwork related:
• Personal interest (eg. MySpace, MSN):
• The school guidelines (outlined on Friday) were clear? Yes / No / Mostly
• If you chose No or Mostly, please add what could be done to improve them:
• Is there anything else that you think should be added to the school guidelines?
• I have used my laptop in class in the following subjects:
• With my laptop, I hope that I can: (if you mention replacing books, please be specific –eg. workbooks, textbooks)
• If I was in charge of the laptop program for the Department of Education, I would:

 As we speak, replies are rolling into my inbox.  I kinda sorta hope all 200+ of them don't feel compelled to reply...

From the talkytalky this morning, the most popular answer to the final question after "unblock sites like MSN and My Space" was, interestingly, let people have them in any colour they want: which is a marked lack of enthusiasm for a perfectly pleasant metallic red and faintly bewildering in that they are free to personalise their laptops with stickers etc, so they can cover up the offending red.  (Kids.  Some days they're shallow enough to paddle in, aren't they??!!).

Cheers

Ruth

PS If you use or base a survey on the list above, can you please credit its source?  Thank you.

Laptops Day 3: some days are diamonds

Already the day 1 lunchtime library laptop mayhem has settled down.  As you would expect, the kids who want to run around at lunchtime and play ball are back at that.  Those who have come into the library have learned that I am a regularly-patrolling, interested observer (so if they're planning mischief, the library maybe ain't the best place to be laptopping).  I've had discussions with some kids about copyright (I'm sure this movie on my USB is legal Miss....No kiddo, I'm sure it's not!) and so forth.

Period 2, a teacher booked in to do a lesson we had jointly planned.  It was based on a website - we'd had the website unblocked by the DET a month or two ago, so it was fine.  The teacher had already had the students set up a notebook in One Note for this subject, and a page with the correct URL of the site.

The best laid plans...

Problem 1: about 1/3 of the laptops wouldn't connect to the internet.  I checked the wireless bars on them - most were showing four white bars, which is dandy-fine.  A couple had these red-x-ed out (hmmm, dunno what that means apart from it oughta find the wireless and it isn't).  The class was the only one in the library using wireless, so there were plenty of access spots available (given that we have 60).

Problem 2: any of the laptops which could get onto the internet could not load the site properly due to a Java problem.  All-righty then.  Bit of a problem, this, since the whole point of the lesson was the Java-based application on the page.  I've been loaned a pool laptop (ie. the same one, same configuration as the kids have, not a teacher laptop) and when I logged in to that, it connected to the internet with no problems and loaded the site fully.  The teacher logged in on her teacher laptop and again the site worked, no hassles.  Hmmmm.  A tad irritating.

We called the TSO (Technical Support Officer) who was free and came down and spent the rest of the lesson tweaking individual machines re the internet problem.  The Java problem is apparently one with Internet Explorer and we asked if this could be addressed as soon as possible.  Which means that, for now, the lesson as planned is impossible to do.

[insert naughty word, said in the mind not with the mouth]

It took a little while to establish the widespread nature of the problem - checking the URL entered and so forth.  Other parts of the site are still blocked, and google searches to get to the site (students tried this when the given URL didn't load properly) came up as blocked too.  By the time we had worked out how badly things had gone awry, a number of students had switched their attention to other entrancing possibilities of their new red babies.

Plan B lesson - one always needs a plan B.  We got the students to look up the artist we were focusing on, using Google images, to see his work.  My laptop travelled around the class so they could see what they should have been doing and how it worked.  Salvage work in progress...

But we really had done our homework before the lesson, and couldn't, as far as I'm aware, have anticipated a multiple failure of this kind.  It was, as you can imagine, on the frustrating end of frustrating for the teacher, for the class, and for me.

So we'll have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again.  And make sure we always have a Plan B lesson (or two) up our sleeves.

Cheers

Ruth

The happy life of teacher librarians: love your work

I know I bang on with the phrase, 'the happy life of teacher librarians'. I have of course all sorts of agendas for this, but one is to say, look, it can be HEAPS of fun to be a teacher librarian. An article by Charles Waterstreet in the Sydney Morning Herald on the weekend had an apt section quoting Kahlil Gibran:

...when pursuing a career, one should always choose one that coincides with passions, and not just with convenience, the wishes of parents or perhaps even financial security. If you have a job, then love the one you have.


The great Lebanese-born philosopher and poet Kahlil Gibran said it best:

Work is love made visible.


And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.


If you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.


And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.


And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.

If we show by our actions and words and the atmosphere we create in our libraries every day that we are happy to be there, it cannot but make our libraries better places to work, better places to visit, more effective in our schools (and it kills off the disappointingly persistent cliche of the cranky librarian).  One of the most important things any teacher brings to a classroom is their enthusiasm for being there.  I know I'm not perfect on this - it's something I have to remember every day.

And thus one can continue working on the happy life of teacher librarians.

(Here endeth...)

Cheers

Ruth