Finally Friday May 9

Click through to see the embedded content if you're on Feedly or Bloglovin'! I'll be back tomorrow with a TL Blog Challenge post. On ... Trends. Totally had to stretch for that one.




Having spent the lunch hour the past week putting out fires with a research project where the class did not come in for any lesson before starting. The kids just started appearing and ... well. I do not know why the teacher did not arrange anything. Our of all the teachers on that grade level this was the one I would have thought WOULD have. But I digress. :/ Point is? SEARCH STRATEGIES. Kids need 'em. They don't just come naturally.



I wish there didn't have to be foundations like this. I read posts by this Dad on the FB page ... he's turned his grief at missing his little girl into a wonderful opportunity to serve. They deliver jars of little presents to kiddos in the hospital.



Kid poetry! Isn't it well done? No. Not my school.



Caption says it all.



This will be a Monday Made It project sometime this summer. ;)

TL Blogging Challenge Day #8 Professional Reads

So ... confession here. I love to start professional reads. But I don't always finish them entirely. They take thought and reading and rereading and notetaking and ... well.


Here are some that I have read at least half of and if I ever finished or reread I'd probably be AWESOME. As it stands I'm very much still working on it.

And just to have an image on this post here is a pic of part of the shelf devoted to these sorts of books. Like my shadow? :P


A Place for Wonder (this one I did finish!) is really a great one for fostering questioning and wondering and HOW TO FIGURE OUT ANSWERS in the younger grades. I just found this book study blog from last summer. I love that these teachers did this together! The video shows some pretty amazing student work.


Writing to Explore (which I also finished!) was super cool. I've never been able to so fully integrate a research project but how awesome would it be if I did. Time. It's always about TIME. I know they managed to make it. One day I (and a teacher and his or her class) will.


Real Revision is a MUST for any writing teacher (just like Spilling Ink!). I have used it mostly as a way to talk about authors (and some of the techniques they mention).


I liked the idea of Making Thinking Visible but didn't get to finish it because I checked out an ecopy from the library and this is one that needed more time and space for post it notes and such. have NOT mastered notetaking on my Kindle yet. :P I know I first heard about it on a blog I was reading and loved the activities they talked about. But I can't remember which blog it was.


In Pictures and in Words I own but haven't finished yet. Which makes no sense at all because I love the idea. Teach kids to pay attention to details and setting and such in illustrations ... and eventually that will transfer over to writing.


Oh and here is where I am so embarrassed to admit I've never finished Notice and Note. #hangsheadinshame

Wordless Wednesday

One of my favorite things to get in the mail. Is that weird? A girl can dream, right? All over the world in STYLE.


Or maybe with a bunch of stuffy uber-rich people.

O is for ...

Hmmm. It's been MONTHS since I continued this series. Now what on earth could go with the letter O? It's sort of funny to me that's where I got stuck.


Kenneth Oppel. I've actually only ever read his YA stuff. I had a copy of Airborne on my shelves for several years before I ever read it. It was so good! I want to read the next two. Beauty of discovering a series after it's already written. Might convince me there's something to this steampunk thing that's by now old stuff. #behindthetimes #butyoustillwonteverseemeincostume And the Victor Frankenstein ones are pretty good as well.


Lauren Oliver. Have you read the Delirium series? It's better than the idea sounds. The idea ... "a world where love is not allowed" is sort of old hat. But she wrote it beautifully. Liesl and Po and The Spindlers are also fun.

Olivier Dunrea's Ollie books. Not quite at the Duck and Goose level but still very fun. Oh, and Old Bear.

Operating Systems. So after the breakin I replaced my old Dell with a Mac ... and have never looked back! Now that I have more space I've started thinking a desktop would be nice. But anyway. Still running Snow Leopard. For some silly reason I am nervous to upgrade to Maverick. But ... after what I WILL ADMIT was quite a learning curve for me ... Mac. Mac. Mac. I get so frustrated at school by Windows.






They aren't really library related but they are adorable, are they not? And they are both Os.



And wow. Look. This post draft is so old it has the former signature on here.

#IMWAYR Cinco de Mayo

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now… who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

Our Kid Lit to YA version is hosted by Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.

GREAT IDEA! Check out all of the What Are You Reading? participants for title ideas.

(OFF TOPIC)
So this used to be a free ecard. It is now subscription only (though you can see it on the webpage ... you just can't send a personalized one unless you pay). The former Spanish teacher in me loves it. It is NOT MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY. That is in September, people!

Now. BOOKS I've read! Not as many as I'd like.


Hi, Koo!: A Year of Seasons by Jon J. Muth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love that it captures "moments" and does not worry so much about the 5-7-5 thing. That always drove me nuts.
Also the Panda is awesome.
I liked the seasonal structure but actually thought throwing in the alphabet thing was not necessary.
Anyway. Will definitely put this at the top of the poetry books to buy list. I'm curious ... I've been weeding in that area. I've always purchased poetry when I found good ones so we'll see if the kids or staff notice. Made the first pass but will be going back through.

Traitor's Chase by Stuart Gibbs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hmm. Enjoying it but I wonder if kids (who aren't as familiar with the story of the Three Musketeers?) would.

Book one hasn't flown off the shelves at school. Must talk it up more and we'll see.

Double Cross by Stuart Gibbs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This made more sense when I realized I'd missed book two in the middle ... and went back to finish it first.

Pros
Loads of sword fights! Who doesn't love a great sword fight? And scenes (this isn't giving too much away ... you don't know when or why) in underground Paris! I have always had a sort of fascination with exploring old underground tunnels. I don't want to do it but I like reading or watching when other people do!

Cons
This is not The Three Musketeers by a long shot. The pacing ... all this build up and then whoosh! It's over. Do kids have the patience to deal with all of the French words? They haven't grabbed up book one at schooll We'll see if they "find" it better next year when we've genrified.

The Dark Lady by Irene Adler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So this one is ... OK. Not terrible but not great. Pretty hard to live up to Sherlock Holmes.
Setting descriptions were fun. And there was a lot of action.
But a lot if "if we'd only known" type references that kids just won't get. They don't necessarily know who these characters are.



And I am in the middle of the #2 Mister Max. Enjoying it immensely.
Not enjoying immensely, however, A Snicker of Magic. What am I missing? Should I go back and start over? That's the thing with audio. You miss several days (or weeks) and you've lost the whole ... groove.
We just got the 4th Brixton Brothers at school. I stole it to read first. How rude is that of me. I should let a student or two check it out until summer and then steal it.

I have so many ARCs waiting for me. After my move the public library is a bazillion times less convenient so at least there are ARCs!

Finally Friday May 2 In honor of STAR WARS DAY

So head's up this won't be super library related. Friday posts aren't always, anyway. Though you maybe could use something here for SW Reads Day in October. For now? MAY THE FOURTH be with you! Click through out of Feedly or Bloglovin' to see the embedded stuff.






Kids love to draw. We know that sometimes from the pages of the books they return. :P



Not a new pin. It's been around a while. But still funny librarian funny!



I need to track down the original source for this. The pin just goes to the image.



Makerspace table, you are calling me! Though I full on admit the amount of prep and potential for mess (and time?) does ... perplex.
Angie O's pin on Pinterest.


Jamberry reps, please make this happen. I know they'd be more expensive because of licensing but I DON'T CARE. I'd purchase them anyway.



So this must be used in a digital citizenship lesson. Someone, please. I can't because my current students are too young to legally have FB accounts (yes, I know some do anyway). But it's AWESOME. And so obvious when someone else points it out.



Of course I already have this.



I know, I know. I question the "kosher-ness" of the clip art (by any artist because there are several different sets out there). Lucasfilm (or now Disney, I guess, no?) PLEASE MAKE ONE OFFICIAL so I can just love these and not worry about breaking licenses.

Currently MAY

Linking up with Farley ...

Elementary. I didn't like it at first because hello. NO BENEDICT. And BC is still numero uno but Elementary is better than expected. But earlier also the new Lindsey Sterling and Jenny Oaks Baker albums. Violins rocking out. Kind of fun. And the Aladdin soundtrack is only a $5 download on Amazon this month. I had the tape. That seems funny now. Cassette tapes.

Trips! Seeing family! Much less pressure! Externally or self-imposed.

I really have to get back into my exercise routine. This Year ... struggling. Can't pay a trainer again and I'd be embarrassed to go back to him anyway. Poor student who didn't keep up with anything he taught me. :(

Ahh, sleep. Sleep You are so elusive. wouldn't you go a long way to boosting energy levels? Or is that lazy wishful thinking? Could have also added

Mrs. Yingling. Did you know you were the first person to comment on my blog? It sort of was like "who is this?" at first. Less freak now, more "Yay! Someone is paying attention" to blog comments. Anyway. She is established so you probably already know her spot on the internet. She writes much more helpful reviews than I do.

STAR WARS DAY is coming up! If I wasn't going to sign off and go to bed (Jonny Lee, the rest of the episode will have to wait but hey, that's what DVRs are for) I'd go look at all the things I want to get. You'll see a couple of them tomorrow on Finally Friday but then we'll be back to school library business. Enjoy your first May Friday and weekend. Thank you for stopping by!