F is for ...

Fishing Line. Use it to hang things from the ceiling. With no walls that is actually pretty handy. #whenIdontmisplaceit

John Flanagan and the Ranger's Apprentice series. AWESOME! Especially for kiddos that aren't ready to tackle, say, the Lord of the Rings yet. Fourth and fifth grade readers, read aloud to third grade or up.



THE FORCE. Not really library or book or tech related but hey. Made it work, I did.
Signs for the library. There are more besides this one. Is this one rude? IT MADE ME LAUGH. Anyway. Click on the pin to take you to the right post. Actually by now have learned how to link pics but already had the draft of this post written. ;)

Source: msoreadsbooks.com via Angie on Pinterest

Color bookmarks. The boys fight over these. And, luckily, a few of the girls!

Source: msoreadsbooks.com via Angie on Pinterest

B&W bookmarks. They are really fuzzy here. They aren't when you print/copy them.

Source: msoreadsbooks.com via Angie on Pinterest

So as not to be annoying I will just text link to the two three things I have in my TPT store (is that excessive to have that many SW things?). A set of posters, another set of posters, and a new reading promotion. Pin those if you like. And OH! One more freebie. The sort of Lego-SW inspired bookmarks. I just picked up another set from a different artist the other day. So ... you might see more. #imalittlebitofafangirl

E is for ...

Wait for it ... Elephant AND Piggie, of course. Yes, I know technically his name is Gerald. ;)






Also John R. Erickson and the Hank the Cowdog books. There are songs on the audiobook versions. Really, the songs are my favorite. And lines like the ones they share on the FB Fan Page "After a brief mutiny of my mental faculties, I regained control of my ship.-Hank" I looked all over the site and web for some audiobook previews. Couldn't find any. :( But trust me. These are funny books ... and are even funnier LISTENED to. I don't often say that. If you like animal stories, funny stories, mystery stories, or cowboy stories you must check these out! For student independent listening ... first or second grade and up. For independent reading ... probably high third grade.

Chrome for Teacher Librarians #1

We take a short break from iDevice apps to talk about Chrome. Took me a while to love Chrome. I loved Firefox (don't get me started on Explorer :P) first. But now? Now I have seen the light!

Don't own the Chrome logo, just using it for this post. Scrappin Doodles frog doesn't have anything to do with Chrome, either, just thought he was cute. Kimberly Geswein font. ;)

These won't be as organized as I tried to make the iDevice ones. Sort of random as I go through and figure out which ones to share.



Extensions for Chrome. Do I understand the difference between apps and extensions? Not so much. Apps are links to websites? Extensions work inside Chrome? What does that even mean? Hopefully you don't mind I'm still not totally clear on the distinction.


Search for Feedly. It will come up in APPS!

Dear iGoogle, I'd still rather have you. But Feedly is a nice alternative to the Google Reader interface for keeping track of all my favorite blogs and YouTube channels. On the desktop, anyway. Flipboard on a iDevice or Droid.


Ribbet. Photo editing. Photoshop it's not but does a nice job for most of us amateurs.

NICE alternative to the disappeared Picnik, or Picmonkey/iPiccy.


Font-a-holic? Trying to decide which one to use? Install Wordmark.it and you can see what an example word would look like with all of the fonts on your computer.

Search for Read &Write in the Chrome Web Store and choose extensions.

This is a great one for accessibility in a Google Doc. If you have a student who has trouble reading independently upload the assignment and voila! 

Random Questions I Have

in No Particular Order ...

(PS Dang. Hello shiny nose. Should have filtered that out. Or put on some makeup. Oh well.)

Pinterest. All the "authorities" say to have your boards be very specific. I dislike having to scroll through a bazillion board titles to choose one. Plus super small boards that only have like 5 pins? Who even has time for those? Is this just me? I'll admit I DO wish Pinterest gave you the ability to search just one specific board for a comment/pic you know you pinned and now want and cannot find. But I think that will come.


I will also admit that my Library Stuff board (along with a couple others but it's definitely the worst!) has gotten a bit out of control too big.


Also Pinterest ... WHY, WHY, WHY the "I'll be happy I pinned this one day" or "Another pinner said" comments? #petpeeves


Feast or Famine. Days when 400+ kids and all relevant staff are in the library wanting/needing something. Then days (which don't happen as often but they do happen) where no classes come and only like 50 kids ever show up and we almost don't know what to do with ourselves. Which makes no sense at all because there is always shelf reading and repairing and shelving and signage and displays and DUSTING and planning and ordering and weeding and newsletter writing and bulletin board doing and copying.


Will Apple ever come up with a school-friendly management plan for multiple iDevices? WILL THEY? Cause this individually updating and not being able to lock certain folders or make user profiles ... it's annoying.


Eric CARle books mixed up with the Nancy CARlson. Mo WILlems mixed up with the Karma WILson. WHY does this happen? Repeatedly? Also Dr. SEUss and David SHAnnon. Really makes no sense.


Cute shoes that hurt my feet.


MISPLACED APOSTROPHES!













WHY,  MATTHEW, WHY? #downtonabbey



And a PS a quick 18 minutes before this post goes live ... plan a whiny post like this one and what do you get? Avery sweet day where you find out your colleagues voted you "Teacher of the Year" for your campus. #lessonlearned

Bookfair is coming ...

Like it does. Twice a year.

And Friday I was informed one of the days I will be giving a test. #superawesometiming

Anyway. With the no walls or doors thing ... I don't tend to go all that big with decorating. Is that lazy of me? There's nothing to ATTACH things to but the ceiling. And if I have to spend a bunch of money buying trash cans and spray paint and pool noodles then we're not MAKING money.

I actually like the geeky Story Laboratory theme Scholastic is doing but it doesn't seem like it will fit in our space.

Or is that a bah humbug attitude?


Cari is doing a Seuss theme. That might work. Was also contemplating a Buggy for Books theme because that's springy and I could leave it up through April and the kids could make some decorations.

Anyway. Here are some pins that I've found helpful or interesting as I get started planning. It's in a month.










Love this but no walls and out in the middle of the floor kids would knock into it and destroy it within minutes. Plus money AND time.












This pin doesn't actually go anywhere and I can't seem to find it just searching by the title ... but the idea is cute for a decoration. May reinvent this wheel if we go with this theme. Also I have some cute die cut bug patterns for my Silhouette Cameo.




But then again there are cute bug party treats. And this would be pretty cheap.

Source: msoreadsbooks.com via Kayla on Pinterest

Have this already. It's sort of "out in the hall" but hey, that's 5 feet from our 599-636 section. Well. Have minus one truffula top. It disappeared. :X
(PS I don't usually do much for the teacher preview ... we don't get nearly as many books purchased from teacher wish lists as we did even a few years ago so many of the teachers don't make one. But OH! The fun little truffula cupcakes and other Seuss related snacks all over Pinterest!)
Plus we could make the little empty TP roll Seuss puppets like we did last year and use them as decorations. #badblogger #didnttakepicturesofthose



Also you know me. I have cute bug clip art. :)
And maybe some Seuss related stuff that the artists had to take down but hey, I'd already purchased.

DECISIONS!

Finally Friday Pins Feb. 15

I love quotes and clip art. Love how these turned out. Watch for some of the other characters from history in the next ... oh, who knows. Actually already have them done but one needs to spread out the freebies, right? I should ask Melonheadz to draw some Hispanic Americans. And actually some authors or illustrators might be fun.



The view or the bookshelves? Toss up. Both are fabulous!




Tractor seats! Turned into chairs! I think that is fun. My grandpa was a farmer. Love the bright colors, too.



Bah, humbug have no Valentine but maybe one day. ;)

D is for ...

DIGITAL. Files. Books. Music. Movies. I mean ... don't get me wrong. I still prefer hard-copy books. But they are so handy when you don't feel good and want something new to read without having to go out to the library or bookstore. And digital files? HOORAY FOR KEYWORD SEARCH. When it works. And no need for filing cabinets! Well. Most of the time.


Dinosaurs.
I don't remember ever having the fascination. But kids do (and not just boys ... though often boys).
A few of my favorite dinosaur books (and not in any particular order because I uploaded them all at once) include ...

 Sadly does not look like this one is available anymore. But it's so fun!

On our state award list this year. For older kids but super cool. 

I might like this one more than the kids. I mean ... they enjoy it. But they don't quite "get" how clever the remakes of the songs (comes with a CD) are. Take Handel's Messiah and dino-fy it! 

 Because chocolate chip cookies are always a good choice.

 LOVE STEVE JENKINS' WORK!

 Actually I should have uploaded this one separately. Cause ... I can't believe I'm going to say this ... oddly enough? As a M.W. fangirl? DIDN'T love this one. But the kids like it well enough.

A favorite! I need to remember my B&N login so that I can go in and give it a better review than the one that's currently there. It's always a hit every time I read it to kiddos in the library.