Useful web 2.0 wikispace

http://educationalsoftware.wikispaces.com/

"On this wiki you will find resources for different educational applications, Web 2.0 and digital image and video resources. My name is Suzie Vesper and as you can see from my WeeWorld picture, I am a lover of chocolate and Mac computers. However, PC users will see that I haven't neglected them on this site.
I work as an ICT Facilitator in Wellington, New Zealand. Feel free to add your own ideas and resources to this site as I have now lifted the protection on the site so that anyone can add to it. If you do add some content, please add some information about yourself to my contributors page."

There is a companion wiki on web 2.0 blogs and wikis at http://learningweb2.wikispaces.com/

Print books versus e-book debate

I would like to share this interesting article on an American boarding school library getting rid of their book collection and replacing with it with kindles and databases: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-10-26-kindle-school-library_N.htm

I had the opportunity while down at the SLANZA conference to put the question to a panel of eight high-achieving, keen-reading students whether they prefer to use print resources or e-books - the answer was 100% in favour of print books. I would tend to question the library environment and culture within the school that books weren't being borrowed in the first place. Ongoing data on the students' literacy and achievement standards will be essential now that they have these millions of e-books but only 65 kindles to distribute them on, and 13 databases but what computer access . . .

I find it a fascinating topic - would love to hear other peoples comments.

Library Research Service reports

The (USA) Library Research Service http://www.lrs.org/impact.php generates library statistics and research for library and education professionals, public officials, and the media.
One of the topics of continuing interest to the LRS and its clients is the impact of school librarians on student achievement.

From this site you can download articles, research findings, powerpoints and pdf planning sheets with information about libraries and student achievement, the key roles of library staff, library advocacy, the need for evidence based practice, next steps for research etc...

Here is one example of advice on increasing the school librarians' profile :

10 easy leadership ideas to help school librarians become leaders on their campuses :

1. Meet regularly with your principal.
2. Attend all faculty meetings.
   
3. Serve on curriculum and standards committees.
   
4. Present professional development for teachers and librarians.
   
5. Engage in collaboration with teachers and the technology staff.
   
6. Meet with school library colleagues.
   
7. Visit other school libraries.
   
8. Link to initiatives that are implemented on your campus or in the district.
   
9. Give recognition to others for their successes.
   
10. Attend and participate in district, state, and national associations and conferences.

by Nance Nassar, Colorado Department of Education, School Library Senior Consultant

The Horizon Report 2009 - ICT and learning

The annual Horizon Report describes the continuing work of the NMC’s Horizon Project, a long-running qualitative research project that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within learning-focused organizations.

Here is a link to the Horizon Report on the web, http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/

You can download an Australian / New Zealand edition PDF
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2008-Horizon-Report-ANZ.pdf

This report talks about key trends, critical challenges, and technologies to watch. It discusses technologies in terms of "time to adoption" ie one year or less, two to three years, four to five years, and for each it gives an overview, explores relevance for teaching / learning / creative expression, gives examples and identifies further reading. In three words the technology is personal, portable and social.

The five research questions that are at the core of the Horizon Project are :

• What would you list among the established technologies that learning-focused institutions should all be using broadly today to support or enhance teaching, learning, or creative expression?
• What technologies that have a solid user base in consumer, entertainment, or other industries should learning-focused institutions be actively looking for ways to apply?
• What are the key emerging technologies you see developing to the point that learning-focused institutions should begin to take notice during the next 3 to 5 years? What organizations or companies are the leaders in these technologies?
• What do you see as the key challenges related to teaching, learning, or creative expression that learning-focused institutions will face during the next 5 years?
• What trends do you expect to have a significant impact on the ways in which learning-focused institutions approach our core missions of teaching, research, and service?
  

SLANZA study grants for 2010

SLANZA is offering study grants for 2010 to those working in a school library including library assistants, librarians, library managers, teacher aides, and teachers with library responsibility.

Conditions of application :

• Each Study Grant will cover the cost (up to $550.00), of a paper, course or module offered by an approved library education provider such as The Open Polytechnic or University of Auckland.
• Applications are to be supported by a covering letter from the school principal.
• Applicants must have been SLANZA members prior to 31 March 2009
  
• Applicants should state in writing:- the potential benefits of undertaking this professional development how it will contribute to your role as part of the library team your relevant library experience whether you have completed any other papers
  
• Supply the name of one referee
  
• Applications close on 6 November 2009

Applications to be sent to: The Secretary, SLANZA, PO Box 631, Palmerston North 4440
Enquiries to Di Eastwood at deastwood@kerikerihigh.ac.nz

EnglishTeaching Online (UK) and poetry

The Frank Cottrell Boyce article mentioned in the previous post was originally published in English Teaching Online - a UK resource for English teachers, in the Spring 09 newsletter.
You can browse other newsletters - helpfully called "the one with all the novels", "the one with all the plays", "the one with all the organisation"... which gives the theme of each.
I enjoyed "the one with all the poetry", including a great activity using the clever one-page book (with instructions)
http://www.teachit.co.uk/custom_content/newsletters/newsletter_sep07.asp

"Libraries - the best of us" Frank Cottrell Boyce

What a wonderful article by Frank Cottrell Boyce (author of Millions, Framed, Cosmic - all great funny wonderful novels - would be good read-alouds) reprinted in the latest SCIS Connections newsletter : Are schools killing off the library ?
http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/are_schools_killing_off_the_library.html

In this paean to libraries, Frank Cottrell Boyce talks about the importance of reading for pleasure and makes a plea to avoid changing libraries into "Learning Resource Centres" full of computers.

He ends : "The year I won the Carnegie, my MP was among the first to congratulate me. Part of the prize was a bequest to a library of my choosing. I was thinking about my local library. She said no. She told me that Waterloo – the Liverpool suburb – was twinned with Waterloo in Sierra Leone – a small African town devastated by the civil war. She had just met the local mayor and had asked him what she could do for him, thinking he would ask for a health centre, a school or cash. He said, ‘What we’d really like is a library.’ So often when people ask for help, they ask for the worst of us. They ask for weapons or dodgy large-scale engineering projects. This man asked for the best of us. And where is the best of us? It’s in the library."

Check out this article, and have a look at the whole Connections issue - lots of useful and interesting information - websites, Twitter, table arrangements in libraries, web filtering...

Reading to a dog

For those who love dogs, you'll completely understand this great story about a programme for learner readers to read to a dog...
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/22/dogs.irpt/index.html
Learning to read? Try talking to a dog [CNN]

I saw this happen at Russell School quite a few years ago - a young boy was out on the verandah, sitting cross legged with a lovely dog (the Principal Keith Dowdle's dog) resting its chin on the boy's knee while the boy read - it really looked as if the dog was listening and looking at the pictures - if only I'd had my camera !

Bright Ideas SLAV blog

Here is an Australian school library blog run by SLAV (School Library Association of Victoria) : Bright Ideas http://slav.globalteacher.org.au/
Lots of interesting posts and links to various things for a trans-Tasman perspective - school library blogs, school library wikis, web 2.0 tools, game based learning...

Boy readers and the Book Whisperer

Donalyn Miller, "the book whisperer", writes a blog I enjoy - her latest post is about the boy readers in her class http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/

She mentions some titles her boys (and many girls) love to read this year:

• The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Found and Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
• The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
• Bone graphic novels by Jeff Smith
• Peak by Roland Smith (all of Smith's books are perennial favorites)
• Killer Pizza by Greg Taylor
• The Heir Chronicles by Cinda Williams Chima

For more information on supporting boy readers, check out author and boy reading advocate, Jon Scieszka's retooled Guys Read website.

Twitter

Have you had a look at Twitter ? www.twitter.com
Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Now, depending on the calibre of the "tweets" it can be a useful way to quickly be informed about a wide range of links and opportunities - or it can be inane and trivial... All depends on who you follow !

Bridget Schaumann, Librarian at Kings College Dunedin. promoted it on the school library list serv last week...

"If you think Twitter is just about ‘what I’m having for dinner tonight’ then you are sadly misinformed. This article http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/twitter_for_libraries__(and_librarians).html in the latest SCIS Connections has really interesting things to say about the professional development you can get from being a Tweeter. This is from the introduction to the article :

For many people, the word ‘twitter‘ brings to mind birds rather than humans. But information professionals know that Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) is a fast-growing, free messaging service for people, and it’s one that libraries (and librarians) can make good use of – without spending much time or effort.

Anybody who wants to find me can do, I’m Bridgy_s and check out the people that I follow and you might just have a whole new world opened up. It’s great PD and best of all in lean times, it’s free!"

Here is another article about how teachers are using Twitter :
http://www.teachersourcebook.org/tsb/articles/2009/10/01/01twitter.h03.html

If you join up to Twitter and want a manual about how to get the most out of it -here is a link
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-complete-guide-to-twitter-pdf/

Converting documents to PDFs

This is a handy tool for converting documents - I was sent some documents in Microsoft Publisher which I couldn't open - didn't have the right version - but you upload them to this website and they are converted into PDFs and emailed back to you... http://www.pdfonline.com/convert-pdf/

Here are a couple of other sites shared on the list serv : http://www.convertpdftotext.net/Default.aspx
but I think it will depend on whether the original file is locked or not. There are tools to help unlock pdf files too though! http://www.pdfunlock.com/

Library displays

Here are some links / resources around school library displays...

• Blog by Elaine Pearson, Librarian at Horowhenua College, Levin NZ http://schoollibrarydisplays.blogspot.com/
• Blog by Ruth Buchanan, an Australian Teacher Librarian about what she's up to in her school library, http://skerricks.blogspot.com/ including display ideas, here http://skerricks.blogspot.com/search/label/display .
• Website by Anita Vandeburge at St Kentigern College Library http://www.creativelibrarydisplays.com/
• The International Reading Association website http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/ has a good calendar, organised by each month, with author birthdays etc. If you click on the link it will take you to more resources, websites, lesson plans etc. More US focused.
• Marigold Enterprises produces a list of "Happenings" with its Around the Bookshops publication. Happenings 2009 came out with the November 2008 Around the Bookshops. Go here to subscribe.
• Remember what Ross Todd said about the need for book promotion to be more active than passive - displays are great and make the library look colourful etc but instead of heaps of time making elaborate displays which stay up for ages, I'd suggest more effort into active book promotion such as book discussions, web 2.0 initiatives such as a blog or LibraryThing, and displays which change regularly !
  
• A neat idea with wordle www.wordle.net is to make one with an author's name prominent and their titles, or a genre eg Fantasy and suggested authors / titles...

Reading motivation

From the IRA (International Reading Association) August 2009 newsletter :

Help your students succeed as readers in today's high-stakes testing environment with Inspiring Reading Success: Interest and Motivation in an Age of High-Stakes Testing . This provocative text addresses this gap with a new perspective on reading instruction that goes beyond the realms of teacher content knowledge and methodology. You'll learn how motivation and interest can enhance reading instruction for all students—and you'll get strategies to increase reading success.
To learn teaching approaches that will spur progress for all types of readers, download Chapter 2 of Inspiring Reading Success : High–Interest Reading Leaves No Child Behind

I'd skim read the first half of this document about her research with "striving readers" and how they overcame their difficulties, and go to page 20 where she discusses getting reading matching children's interests and outlines some strategies eg inventory questionnaire, bio-poems, rhythm walks, readers theatre... Possibly of interest ?
The main message, which we know, is that if a reader is passionately interested in a subject they will perservere with reading - the 5 year old who knows all the names of dinosaurs is a classic example... So, access to relevant books, free choice, along with plenty of reading time...

Term 4 school library events

• School library network meetings are in week 4 - Wednesday 4th November at REAP for the Far North meeting and Thursday 5th November at Kerikeri High School Library for the Mid North meeting. Usual time - 3.3o ish for afternoon tea - starting by 4 at latest. Various things to talk about, including National Library' services to schools eg 0800 number, new federated searching websites - Digital NZ and FIND, plans for next year, and anything you'd like to bring along to share...

• Maori resources- print and electronic, one day workshop at Northland College Computer Suite on Tuesday 3rd November from 9 - 3 - exploring resources for your collection and websites for you and your students which provide so many great opportunities to access, use, create, share information... Contact Jeannie for more information jeannie.skinner@natlib.govt.nz

• SLANZA Bookshop evening at Take Note Bookshop Kerikeri, free event, Thursday 12th November 6.00 to 7.30 - drinks and nibbles, lots of book chat, extra discount 25%, farewell for Dyane from Northland...
  

E. Lockhart : The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

In his speech mentioned in the previous post, MT Anderson mentions a book by E. Lockhart The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks which I just finished this week and loved... The story of a clever and independent girl who delights in language, equality - and as MT Anderson spoke about - thinking...

Here is a link to a review of this book in the New York Times by Donna Freitas... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Freitas-t.html which ends " A homage to girl-power, the novel offers biting social commentary throughout — not the kind that deadens a story but the kind that gives it punch — and a protagonist who is independent and fearless, even contemptuous of others’ expectations. For girls who have experienced a double standard but lacked the precise words to name it, there will surely be many moments of recognition in Frankie’s story. She will challenge girls’ images of themselves, who they are in relation to boys and why. Frankie faces a generous helping of disappointment, certainly. No princessy happy ending awaits her. But the novel holds out the hope that a girl like Frankie — who has above all an unwillingness to settle —could grow up to change the world. “The Disreputable History” not only delivers the line, but somehow makes you believe it is true.

Here is a link to E. Lockhart's website http://e-lockhart.com/main/ and from there you can go to her lively blog or Twitter... she is an author in touch with her teen audience for sure.

Amongst the various pieces of information on her blog sidebar is a list of sites that review YA novels :

• Three Evil Cousins
• The Spiral Staircase of My Mind
• Hip Librarians Book Blog
• Goddess Librarian
• Teen Chick Lit
• Not Acting My Age
• YA Books Central
• Favorite Teenage Angstbooks
• Reading Rants: Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists
• Teen Reads

Octavian Nothing, MT Anderson

From the Booklist online newsletter (book reviews from the American Library Association) here is an item about the author MT Anderson who wrote the challenging Octavian Nothing duet - the second volume of which won the Michael L Printz Award.

http://booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=3835395

"There’s no question that the Printz Honor–winning Octavian Nothing duet presents readers with an intellectual challenge. In his National Book Award acceptance speech for The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; v.1: The Pox Party, Anderson himself described the books as a “900-page two-volume historical epic for teens, written in a kind of unintelligible 18th-century Johnsonian Augustan prose.” Here, in his impassioned acceptance speech for The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; v.2: The Kingdom on the Waves at the 2009 Michael L. Printz Awards (administered by ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association and sponsored by Booklist), Anderson speaks right to adults about the importance of providing rich reading challenges for kids. Here are some memorable lines that earned some loud applause:

“No child naturally hates knowledge. No toddler comes into the world saying, ‘Don’t tell me about how stuff works. I don’t give a shit. Everything about the world sucks.’ . . . It takes an adult to make a child hate knowing things. The fact is that kids don’t believe that thinking isn’t fun until we tell them so.”

Just as in his books, Anderson shows in his speech how the unsettled complexities of Octavian’s time flow right into today. And he reminds us that thinking deeply about things is what makes life “vivid and full.” And fun. What, according to Anderson, is the “one remaining taboo left in YA literature”? Click here to listen to his speech to find out.

Reading and comprehension strategies

Here is a link to an interesting book Independent Reading Inside the Box by Lisa Donohue aimed at primary school teachers about strategies to enhance students' comprehension, language and thinking skills while they are reading.

The box refers to a one page template with 8 boxes in a table, each with a useful strategy to "dig deeper" into reading.

You can read the whole book online for free, or download each chapter and the templates as PDFs. Preview the entire book

These sort of activities do not take the place of pure reading for pleasure, the FVR (Free Voluntary Reading) which Stephen Krashen talks about, and there is a risk when a book is too analysed that it loses all spontaneity, but we know that the key to becoming a life-long reader is beyond decoding to make meaning, and with comprehension come the rewards of reading...

Independent reading inside the box by Lisa Donohue, Pembroke 2008 ISBN: 978-155138-225-8

What to read next website

From Senga Watson, James Hargest College :

Many of you may already have come across this cool “what to read next” website but I’ve only just recently discovered it. I think it’s great! http://bookseer.com/
I wondered if it might even be useful in finding similar books for themes (wouldn’t always work mind you, but could be a good place to try) where you already have one suitable book but you need others.

Copyright information

DigitalNZ have a great little piece about copyright on their website http://makeit.digitalnz.org/guidelines/enabling-use-reuse/

The Copyright Council of NZ have a whole page for Educators with loads of resources, including a very straight forward information sheet
http://www.copyright.org.nz/viewUserCat.php?category=217

wickED at TKI

A message from Anne Mason, Community facilitator at TKI :

"I would be most grateful if you can send me a list of popular topics requested by schools and students in your region. I am the project co-ordinator for wickED, http://www.wicked.org.nz

wickED is a quality-assured online environment for 7-12 year olds (years 3-8), developed to complement the Ministry of Education’s study support centres initiative. wickED provides engaging curriculum-based learning activities in English and te reo Māori, many of which have been developed to reflect a literacy, numeracy and ESOL focus. The activities are intended to support facilitated or independent use by students.

Each month our team add new learning activities and are keen to know of topics that you find are of interest to students of this age. We would very much appreciate a list of topics if you have one available. Many thanks, Anne."

Have you visited the wickED site ? From the home page :

Explore the wickEDly cool things on this site! Quizzes, crosswords, interactives and games in English and te reo Māori, a gallery of student artworks, profiles of inspirational New Zealanders, an information station, and activities and games based around topics – it’s all here – on wickED!

Mo Willems blog

I came across Mo Willems' blog - http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com/ the other day - he is one of my favourite picture book author/illustrators, creator of the inimitable Knuffle bunny, Edwina, Pigeon...

I loved the idea of his family dining room being decorated with chalkboard - the latest version are portraits in frames - have a look http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com/2009/10/weve-been-framed-chalkboard-walls2.html

There are links from this blog to other Mo Willems information - websites, interviews and the great teacher resources too - http://www.pigeonpresents.com/grownup.aspx

Voicethread - from the Reading Rockets website

VoiceThread: Online Storytelling Made Easier

VoiceThread : Online storytelling made easier

VoiceThread is a storytelling platform gives students an independent voice in sharing what they've learned. An easy way to capture student voices, combined with flexible editing tools like image doodling and voice-over narration, allow students to produce meaningful content and learn digital skills as well. Video, audio, and photo content can all be uploaded to the site.

Explore Voice Thread >

See how teacher and PBS Media Infusion blogger Janet English uses VoiceThread and the new PBS series The National Parks in her classroom to help students develop personal narratives.

Visit the PBS Media infusion blog >

The Exquisite Corpse

In a blog by Joanne Meier http://www.readingrockets.org/blog/33402 accessed through Reading Rockets, is a post about an online reading writing promotion event run through the Centre for the Book at the US Library of Congress.

It is like a game of what we call "consequences" where installments of a story are continued by the next person... and what a collection of authors is taking part in this collaboration : Jon Scieszka has started it off, followed by Katherine Paterson and to come luminaries such as MT Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Shannon Hale, Susan Cooper, Kate Di Camillo, Calef Brown, Nikki Grimes, Steven Kellog, Linda Sue Park,Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, Timothy Basil Ering, Gregory Maguire, Chris Van Dusen, Megan McDonald, James Ransome...

Here is part of Joanne Meier's post...

"Ever heard of an Exquisite Corpse? It's not what you might think. An Exquisite Corpse is an old game in which people write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold it over to conceal part of it and pass it on to the next player to do the same. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud.

Our "Exquisite Corpse Adventure" works this way: Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, has written the first episode, which is "pieced together out of so many parts that it is not possible to describe them all here, so go ahead and just start reading!" He has passed it on to a cast of celebrated writers and illustrators, who must eventually bring the story to an end.

Every two weeks, there will be a new episode and a new illustration. The story will conclude a year from now. To get bi-weekly updates with new Exquisite Corpse Adventure chapters, click on the subscribe link at the top of the page. "This story starts with a train rushing through the night...." No one knows where or how it will end!

http://read.gov/exquisite-corpse/

Themed literacy bags for younger students

I recommend checking out the Reading Rockets website http://www.readingrockets.org/
it is full of interesting links and useful resources. I've subscribed to the free monthly newsletter.

From their website : Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in working with struggling readers who require additional help in reading fundamentals and comprehension skills development.

In the latest newsletter from Reading Rockets there is a new "literacy bag" based on the "Where the wild things are" by Maurice Sendak. Browse their full library of Family Literacy Bags. And for additional information about Family Literacy Bags, you might want to read this article.

I could imagine these literacy bags being a great resource for Parent Mentoring Programmes or in junior classrooms.

Dewey, signage and non-fiction

Here is an interesting article about the future of Dewey to classify non-fiction in public libraries.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6698264.html

A key aspect I take from this discussion is the importance of having good signage, and I think shelf guides with words on them do add a useful element for library users browsing for information...

Here are subject shelf guides in the non-fiction at Paihia School (click on the picture to enlarge it).

Teen Read Week USA

Teen Read Week is a national literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association. It is aimed at teens, their parents, librarians, educators, booksellers, and other concerned adults. The 2009 theme, Read Beyond Reality @ your library, encourages teens to read something out of this world, just for the fun of it, including sci-fi, fantasy, virtual realities, and much more.

For more information on Teen Read Week, please visit www.ala.org/teenread

There are suggestions for activities, top teen reading picks, and a "sample proclamation" !

• Whereas, the ability to read and process information is a basic survival skill in our global information society; and
• Whereas, the reading proficiency of teens has remained stagnant over the last thirty years; and
• Whereas, the number of students who can read but choose not to do so is increasing; and
• Whereas, the most effective way to improve reading skills is to read regularly and often; and
• Whereas, too few teens think reading is a valuable tool for enjoyment and relaxation as well as for schoolwork; and
• Whereas, regular daily reading for the fun of it creates the reading habit for life; and
• Whereas, parents, teachers, librarians, and all concerned adults can serve as role models by reading for fun themselves;
• Therefore, be it resolved that I (name, title of official) proclaim October 18-24, 2009, Teen Read Week(TM) in (name of city, state) and encourage teens to read for the fun of it.

Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

The book Readicide by Kelly Gallager (Stenhouse 2009 ISBN: 978-157110-780-0) has been widely reviewed and discussed in the USA this year. It looks at instructional practices, particularly in (US) schools which "kill reading" /discourage students from reading.

Read-i-cide n: The systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools.

You can preview the whole book online http://www.stenhouse.com/emags/0780/pageflip.html. I've skim read it and found it interesting and readable (even online, enlarged 50%) and full of practical suggestions.

About the book from the publisher's website : http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=9158&r=eu091006&REFERER=

"Reading is dying in our schools. Educators are familiar with many of the factors that have contributed to the decline — poverty, second-language issues, and the ever-expanding choices of electronic entertainment. In this provocative new book, Kelly Gallagher suggests, however, that it is time to recognize a new and significant contributor to the death of reading: our schools.

In Readicide, Kelly argues that American schools are actively (though unwittingly) furthering the decline of reading. Specifically, he contends that the standard instructional practices used in most schools are killing reading by:

• valuing the development of test-takers over the development of lifelong readers;
• mandating breadth over depth in instruction;
• requiring students to read difficult texts without proper instructional support;
• insisting that students focus solely on academic texts;
• drowning great books with sticky notes, double-entry journals, and marginalia;
• ignoring the importance of developing recreational reading;
  
• and losing sight of authentic instruction in the shadow of political pressures.

Kelly doesn't settle for only identifying the problems. Readicide provides teachers, literacy coaches, and administrators with specific steps to reverse the downward spiral in reading—steps that will help prevent the loss of another generation of readers."

Teachers as Readers (UK research)

The UKLA UK Literacy Association has undertaken research which I find interesting, about teachers as readers and about the relationship between reading instruction and reading for pleasure. There is such a role for the school library to play here...

The first phase of the Teachers as Readers research (2006-7) looked at patterns in primary teachers' reading, both personally and professionally - looking at their own personal reading habits and preferences, their knowledge of children's literature, their own childhood favourites and books significant to them, their use of texts in the classroom, and use of libraries... Download the full report

The goal of the second phase of the research is Building Communities of Readers (2007-8) to improve teachers’ knowledge and experience of literature in order to help them increase children’s motivation and enthusiasm for reading, especially those less successful in literacy, to build new relationships with parents and families and to explore the concept of a reading teacher: a teacher who reads and a reader who teaches (Commeyras et al., 2004).

The Executive Summary provides an overview of the research and the key findings as well as recommendations. It argues that teachers need support in order to develop children’s reading for pleasure, which can influence both attainment and achievement and increase young learners’ engagement as self- motivated and socially engaged readers.

Download Teachers as Readers :Building Communities of Readers: Phase II (2007-8) Executive Summary

Click on the picture to enlarge a summary of key findings :
Reading instruction - oriented towards learning to read, Reading for Pleasure oriented towards choosing to read...

Storyteller Tanya Batt in Northland Nov 09

Just to let you know that a wonderful storyteller - Tanya Batt, is visiting Northland (Whangarei and Kerikeri so far) in the first week of November.
If you would like to talk to Tanya about the possibility of your school being included in the itinerary which she is organising, her contact details are as follows :
Tanya Batt
PO Box 660 Oneroa Waiheke Island
Phone 021 432379
Email faerybatt@gmail.com
Website http://www.imagined-worlds.net
Blog http://tanyabatt.wordpress.com/ where most of the details are..

I heard Tanya at the NZ Reading Association in Hamilton in 2008 and thought she was fantastic. I tried to organise her to be at our Storylines event but that didn't happen for various reasons.

Innovative Teachers' Companion

Andrew Clements, a teacher at Kaikohe West School, heartily recommended this teacher planning diary - the Innovative Teachers' Companion. The website www.itcpublications.com.au

For Australian and NZ teachers, it has double page spreads for teacher daily / weekly planning as usual, interleaved with a variety of teaching strategies for critical and creative thinking. It costs NZ $33 and with purchase comes access to the website with a huge number of resources to download. I imagine that having these ideas and suggestions right in your planning book could be really useful...

I contacted Sharon Birss at the Tai Tokerau Ed Centre which sells it (s.birss@auckland.ac.nz / ph 09 470 1023) and she has kindly given me a 2009 Primary edition (Secondary edition also available) as a sample to show at network meetings etc.

The SLANZA wiki again

To all SLANZA members - have you signed in to the new SLANZA wiki yet ? All members should have received an invitation and instructions by email.
If you aren't a member, then this wiki is one of the good reasons to become one - visit the SLANZA website for a membership form www.slanza.org.nz

A word a day from Wordsmith.org

I signed up for A.Word.A.Day and have enjoyed the small discoveries about words - their derivation, links, use etc and the quotes that this free daily email brings...
http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html

Here are a few recent quotes which I've enjoyed...

"Language is an anonymous, collective and unconscious art; the result of the creativity of thousands of generations." -Edward Sapir, anthropologist, linguist (1884-1939)

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

"That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted." - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture

"The imagination of nature is far, far greater than the imagination of man." - Richard Feynman

"Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy to handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve." - Alan Perlis

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about." - Einstein

"The power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous." - Gibbon

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950)

The English Companion Ning

A ning is an online social platform (like MySpace or Facebook) for people to create their own social networks around specific interests...
Ning is the Chinese word for peace. www.ning.com

Here is an article http://www.teachersourcebook.org/tsb/articles/2009/10/01/01ning.h03.html about a ning for English teachers called The English Companion started in December 2008 by English teacher and author Jim Burke. It shows the potential of online social networking to break the culture of professional isolation.

It's tagline is "where English teachers meet to help each other" and describes itself as "A place to ask questions and get help. A community dedicated to helping you enjoy your work. A cafe without walls or coffee: just friends." http://englishcompanion.ning.com/

Burke's Ning exceeded his expectations for a virtual meeting ground. In roughly six months, The English Companion Ning, which Burke refers to as "the world's largest English department, without the meetings," catapulted to close to 6,000 members of all ages and levels of teaching experience from five continents. "What's kind of fascinating and scary about Web 2.0 and Ning is that you can create it quickly and before you know it, its got a huge following," he notes.

Nings have borrowed the tools of Facebook and MySpace—the ability to post a personal profile, upload media, and have multiple asynchronous and synchronous conversations—while allowing for the customization around a particular subject. Members contribute content, while the administrator can meddle as little or as much as he or she wants. Members return not only to post, but also for the opportunity of discovery.

I have explored it and found it interesting. I went to the Reading Strategies and followed a discussion about teaching students inference - teachers have shared various pdf documents and powerpoints with examples from their own teaching...

The English Companion bookclub feature book for October 09 is Donalyn Miller The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child (which I did a LibraryZest post about in September 09 with the label Book Whisperer).

Library staff may want to draw English teachers' attention to it in case it is of interest and use ?

ALA Booklinks and "making a difference"

The ALA (American Library Association) produce Booklists / Booklinks Quick Tips for Schools and Libraries free e-newsletters. Booklinks' mission is to connect books to the curriculum. I have signed up to these newsletters, and although the focus is on the USA there is often something interesting and relevant.

Here is their website : http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=booklinks

and here is the link to sign up for their monthly newsletter : http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=general_info&id=64

"Booklist's Quick Tips for Schools & Libraries delivers easy, practical ideas and activities that help you integrate children's and young-adult books into the curriculum, and many of the resources may already be on your shelves. With thematic bibliographies, author interviews, and useful ideas for connecting kids and books, each monthly e-newsletter also features a sneak peek at what's coming up in future issues of Book Links and Booklist magazines. You will receive approximately 12 newsletters per year."

In the latest issue there is a great booklist on "Helping others : one child can make a difference" and National Library has many of these titles in it's collection available to borrow...
http://booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=3801340

In a related article on helping others and global awareness http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=3804960 there is an outline of possible teaching approach using various web 2.0 tools (as identified in the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) 25 Best Web Sites for Teaching and Learning - I did a post on this in July 2009, with the labels Web 2.0 and ALA) .

The book used as the starting point in this teaching example above is 14 cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy, which tells the true story of a Maasai village in Kenya who responded with sympathy and generosity after 9/11 by donating 14 sacred cows to New York. Go here for an account : http://www.childcareexchange.com/eed/issue.php?id=2313

PhotoStory software

PhotoStory is wonderful free software which enables you to turn a collection of digital photos into a "video" complete with your own narration, text and music background. It is lots of fun and very easy to use... It could be a great tool for the classroom with students of all ages for a variety of purposes, and in the library maybe for doing book reviews ? It could be a good resource to promote to families in the school newsletter too perhaps ?

Here is the website http://tiny.cc/Photostory610

There is a guide to making a video using a single photo which is also very effective, if a bit more complex ! http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/tips/create.mspx

School Libraries Petition (UK)

From Peter Scott's Library Blog, 29 September 2009 :

A high-profile group of children's authors, publishers, teachers and librarians is calling on the government to make school libraries statutory.
Signatories to a petition to Number 10 include Philip Pullman, Horrid Henry creator Francesca Simon and former children's laureate Michael Rosen, as well as the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers Christine Blower, Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, top children's publishers and the directors of a raft of youth library associations.

“We, the undersigned, call on Her Majesty's Government to accept in principle that it will make school libraries, run by properly qualified staff, statutory and to prepare the necessary legislation in consultation with the appropriate professional associations and trade unions".

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/literacy/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/01/authors-school-libraries-statutory