Pirates

by David L. Harrison

You think you know all about pirates, don't you? You might be surprised to find out that the life of a pirate wasn't exactly the way it is usually portrayed in movies and cartoons. Pirates' careers were usually very short, three or four years at most. The loot they plundered was always split equally amongst the crew, with the injured receiving a bit more and the captain receiving a double share. In 1720, there were about 2,000 pirates, but by 1726 only 200 remained.

Although pirates are a popular topic for books aimed at younger readers, what sets this book apart is it's factual nature delivered in verse. Obviously, the younger the audience, the less focus can be placed on the nitty-gritty lifestyles of this scurvy bunch. Upper elementary readers will enjoy the detailed illustrations that bring the verse to life.

2010-2011 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee

Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow
by James Rollins

Still trying to put the pieces together after his parents' sudden death, Jake is left with many questions. Are his parents really dead? If so, why? Can their journals from the last expedition provide clues? When he receives a special invitation for him and his sister to attend the museum's exhibit of the Mayan artifacts discovered by his parents, Jake is not only anxious to attend, but is hopeful that he will find answers to his questions. At the exhibit, Jake and Kady are allowed to view the artifacts before the other attendees. It is during this time that they are magically transported to another time and place. Can they get back? Is this magical world a clue to their parents' disappearance?

This fantastical novel is a great read for upper elementary students. It's blend of time travel, historical information, and other-worldly creatures keeps readers turning the pages for more. I'm looking forward to sharing this with my students as much as I am looking forward to the next installment in the series!

2010-2011 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee

Action Plan

As I develop more web 2.0 services in my library, my action plan for this school year can be accomplished using two tools, my new library blog (for students and teachers) and my school’s wiki space (for teachers. )

I feel that blogging will be the best way for me to serve my students and extend the learning outside of the library. I will continue to post on a regular basis and advertise my blog to students and staff members. I feel that this is the best avenue for me to post information about upcoming library events (book fairs, author visits, reading incentives, etc.), book reviews, and lesson extension information. I want to continue to add author/illustrator blogs to my blog roll, as well as add additional blogs/sites of interest for students and teachers. I hope that by advertising the blog during lessons with students, I will gain a community of readers and contributors to my blog. If possible, I’d like to have guest bloggers and ask teachers to blog about books they love. I hope to involve students with the comments feature and begin deeper discussions about HTT titles and other books/library events. I will spend the remainder of the summer creating blog posts (posting in real time and delaying posts for later in the school year), adding gadgets to my blog, and generally creating a design I’m comfortable with. I plan to introduce the blog and its features to students and teachers during library lessons early in the school year and continue to reference it throughout the year. In regards to creating a habit of posting, I will include time in my schedule to blog and keep a notepad handy throughout the day to make notes of topic ideas as I encounter them. I will also link the blog to my Destiny homepage and Schoolwires account and advertise via the school newsletter.

In the spirit of increasing my visibility to staff members as a lifelong learner, I plan to utilize my school’s wiki space on a regular basis. I think this will be a great way to begin a new forum for sharing library and technology information with my staff members. It’s a tool that they are already accustomed to using, so I won’t be introducing “one more thing” to their already full plates. Like my blog routines discussed in the previous paragraph, I plan to spend the summer gathering ideas for posts and discussion forums and generally making the library section of the wiki space inviting. I can introduce the wiki during staff orientation and reference it throughout the year via staff agendas and/or emails. Since it is difficult to secure regularly scheduled meeting times with teachers, I’d like to use the wiki to post new sites or web 2.0 tools that I discover. My hope is that by making this a place to share and setting the example for lifelong learning, our school’s wiki will become a place where teachers feel comfortable exploring, and that this might lead to more face-to-face collaborations as we develop ways to utilize these tools with our students.

Online Productivity Tools

There are tons of fabulous (and free) online productivity tools available on the web. The hardest part is figuring out which ones are the most effective for your own needs and finding the time explore all the possibilities. I must admit that I am a bit skeptic when it comes to free things on the web. I always worry that the tools won't be accessible when I need them or that I will lose data. However, open source tools are becoming more mainstream. One tool I experimented with was Syncplicity. I viewed a brief video on You Tube and saw a great demonstration on how this tool basically eliminates the need for flash drives and external hard drives, and provides an easy way to collaborate and share files amongst group members. Amazing! Now I have another thing to try with all those minutes I save by using RSS feeds!

Online Video and File Conversion

I think You Tube is already such a popular site with most people (school folks and otherwise,) but I feel like I spend lots of time searching and getting off-track. My principal is good at finding videos to share with staff members during faculty meetings. She is really good at finding things that aren't necessarily education-based and tying them to whatever message or goal she is trying to convey. I want to explore Teacher Tube more and find a way to help my staff members mine this valuable resource for things they can actually use in their classrooms. The Lab Safety video Megan suggested is a good place to start. (And, I found a hilarious Dewey Decimal System video. I don't think I will use it with students, but it sure gave me a good laugh!)

Wikis

My understanding of wikis, like other web 2.0 tools, has evolved and deepened over the last few years. Our CFISD Librarians' Wiki was the first one I've been involved with. At first, it was hard to remember to visit the wiki on a regular basis. I tried to use the settings to notify me of updates, but just felt like my already-overflowing email inbox was being bombarded even more. I finally got into the habit of checking it frequently and felt much better about my participation in the learning community we created there. Now, I participate in several wikis and like that I can easily access the information I need no matter what group I'm working with. I like that the conversations are in the discussion forum so I can access them anytime. I also enjoy the ability to add things or update the pages whenever I need to.

I am involved in our school's wiki, but a goal of mine for this year is to participate and add to it on a regular basis. I'm thinking that this may be the vehicle to start my sharing sessions with staff members, since securing a face-to-face meeting is quite a challenge. Maybe I can post a few new ideas or tools for my staff and hope that the "anywhere, anytime" nature of wikis will spawn more face-to-face collaboration.

As I explored some of the suggested links for this topic, I found a few student wikis. I have not used wikis with students before, but I especially liked the one where students posted as if they were book characters. Is this a new lesson idea? No, but it takes a tried-and-true favorite and brings it into the 21st century. This could be a fun way to involve my students in deeper conversations about HTT books! Hmmm...

Nings

I'm glad we were able to utilize this tool with our CFISD Librarian Ning this year. Since I'm not a Facebook user (yet) I enjoyed the social aspect of this tool while focusing on topics related to our profession. Although our group is large, I felt like the ning was meaningful because it highlighted issues specific to our district. The hardest part of being active in the ning is similar to the hardest part of being active in the wiki - remembering to access the site and participate frequently. However, once I made it a habit, I found it easier to be involved and keep up with everyone's postings.

I had heard about the Texas School Librarians' Ning via a posting on the TLC Listserv but had not explored it until I was familiar with our CFISD Ning. I was pleased to see that the format was exactly the same! It was great to put faces with names that I've seen on the listserv for so many years. After spending more time on this Ning during the online course, I enjoyed the fact that although this group is much larger than our district's group, the topics are still relevant to me and it's nice to see what other folks are doing around our state. (Incidentally, this is the same reason I enjoy serving on TLA and ALA committees; it's interesting to see what ideas are being implemented and how problems are solved beyond our own world.) I am considering joining this group to continue the networking.

The Teacher Lingo ning was fascinating! It is literally a treasure chest of information for teachers. The format was very different from the previous two nings I mentioned, but it was very user-friendly. I enjoyed browsing through some of the lesson plans and reading some of the teachers' blog postings. I have this at the top of my list of things to share with my teachers when we return to school in August. I noticed that there are several groups of blogs and message forums for a variety of teaching positions within a school, but librarians are not listed as a specific topic or job position. I searched the blog section for "library" and did get a few hits. I looked through a few of them, but they weren't the types of library blogs I have seen before. Most of them looked like they were part of graduate class assignments, but this really made me think that maybe it's time for us to make our presence in other circles. Imagine the connections we could make! Maybe I'll join this group so that I can browse within this community too.