Finally Friday May 30

If this ed tech-er blogged more regularly you would already know her name because she is THE AWESOME-EST! Follow her blog so you can catch posts when the come.



If we really could get one for every classroom I wonder if it would help all the books claimed lost "I put it on the back table." Or at least help with the spills all over the hallway.



OK, it's just weird. Ron Weasley can auto-tune sing.



Dear Nutella, Please don't be so tasty.



Now if someone could just help me figure out a way to ... sort of lock them down? So I don't have to put them out/pick them up every single day? Then I'd think that person was the coolest.



Have a great weekend!

TBT There is a Bird on Your Head and #bookshifting

Here's a TBT post. I didn't make up this idea but I don't remember where I saw it. We did it last year.

... Messy, quick, out of focus and not very well framed shots. But this is one of our most favorite of all time Mo Willems' books. And actually maybe Ms. O's favorite.

Steps
1) Cut out lots of strips of colored brown paper. Fan about 9 or 10 in a pinwheel and tape/glue together.

2) Trace the pigeon pattern on a piece of gray paper folded in half. Google Pigeon finger puppet, increase that 150%, and use that outline.

3) Color the SIDES of the bowl brown. NOT the inside or bottom (at least we found the tape didn't stick as well when there was crayon on those parts ... but we were using inexpensive, terrible for the environment styrofoam).

4) Have kids cut out the pigeon. Remind them to NOT cut along the fold on the head.

5) Draw or paste on eyes and beak. Add any special things you like (you can't see in the pic ... but there are several birds wearing GO SPURS GO jerseys!). Fold the bottom edges out of the bird just a bit in order to make a flat surface to attach to the nest.

6) Attach the nest to the the inside of bowl. Add any more strips you like. Sort of fold/crumple the edges of the paper pinwheel around the bowl.

7) Attach the bird to the bottom of the bowl.

8 Attach the headband. We used bits of stretchy elastic. Make sure you have enough! And if you have a little guy sporting a faux hawk ... well, he'll have to wait to wear his.

And nope. You don't get a pic of me wearing a bird on my head because DARN, we had to scavenge the last bit of elastic.


Didn't do it this year because I'm on the couch with an ice pack. See my not funny first attempt at a someecard. :P

Bad Blogger & #ReadingRainbow

Who doesn't remember to take any pictures. I do like our newly genrified shelves. The kids that have noticed (we closed for checkout as of Friday ... have had kids browsing or working on finishing up projects but no checkout) seem to like them, too. The real "test" will be next year.

But the last several days have been taken up with tech inventory (:X) and making what preparations I can for our "renovation." The construction guys came this morning and did a bunch of measuring and asking me some questions. But then they left when I went down to another hallway to check on a laptop cart. I told them I'd be back in less than 10 minutes but they still left.
So I still have 1)NO idea when they are starting all of this building of walls and moving of circ desk and installation of a "presentation station." 2)NO idea what I'm supposed to do to get ready. 3)NO materials to get ready (boxes, packing tape, etc). 4)NO idea when they will be done. And 5)NO idea of how much shelving we will have. If we just push our current shelves up against the wall? We're losing 55% of our shelves. I'm getting really tired of weeding.

So anyway. We have the kids through Thursday of next week. Then a couple days of doing what I can to get ready. Only one with my assistant. I know, I'm lucky to even have one. Then two days of half-day "flipped classroom" academy. I know how to do it. Just need someone to MAKE me do it. ;) Then two days of tech camp where I'm teaching Google Your LMC and a photo-editing class. Then a day with Kylene Beers. How sad but all I can remember is "it's something to do with literacy. The presentation looked good." Then a plane for COLORADO!

 I just discovered this blog last night. It's so awesome I can hardly stand it. Go and follow her. But please come back and visit here sometimes, too, K? ;)

 Oh, and if you are at all able PLEASE BACK LEVAR BURTON'S KICKSTARTER TO BRING BACK READING RAINBOW!

Finally Friday May 23

Made it! Some dumb stuff still waiting for me when we go back to school on Tuesday but oh well. Too many people making too much noise in the library to stay late and get it done. Anyway. Click through for any embedded content. And Happy Memorial Day!




This is pretty awesome. I want to try making one but the rocks in my yard are too full of holes. Plus I'm a perfectionist and when my shading doesn't look right I get mad. Maybe a summer MondayMadeIt anyway. We'll see. :P



Because it made me laugh. #truth



I would like this pin EVEN MORE if it had Sherlock on it. A girl can dream, right?



I hate this. And love it. All at the same time.
Angie O's pin on Pinterest.


Math brain. I don't have one so I have to work on this as well.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I never showed when my mom finished it, did I?









Pretty awesome. :) Oh, and one of my oldest friends sent me this for my birthday.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

P is for ...

Gary Paulsen. How Angel Peterson Got His Name is hilarious (pushes elementary boundaries just a bit but I still have a copy). And then of course Hatchet and all his others.

Ellen Potter's Spilling Ink. Your young writers need this one. Her other books are also fun but that is my favorite.

Hanoch Piven's My Dog Is as Smelly as Dirty Socks and My Best Friend Is as Sharp as a Pencil. If you don't have them already your figurative language lessons NEED them. The app is kind of fun as an additional activity but it's not free and it's not a Must Buy app. Fun if you have the $. Not a Must. Books YES. App ... no.

Sara Pennypacker's Clementine character. Too cute. And her additions to the Flat Stanley.


Have you read this one?
The Teacher's Funeral : A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Laughed so hard we cried.




Anne Perry. NOT a kids author but one of my favorite grown up historical mystery writing authors. Imagine my surprise when years into my fandom I learned of her ... past. Anyway. Don't understand but still love her books.

And Elizabeth Peters (otherwise known as Barbara Michaels and Barbara Mertz). She died last year. Sad. How did I miss that until looking for her webpage link for this post? Apparently she'd fought cancer pretty quietly for quite some time. Anyway. Sad for her family and for all of us who loved her character Amelia Peabody!

Wow. Douglas Preston. Most of my favorite grown-up authors have "P" last names.


And Piggie (and Elephant) PAR-TAY.

Now I'm sad I did not hold a Piggie and Elephant Dance party this year.


Oh and I know I bragged in the last alphabet post but here is a "P" and she is adorable. HER HAIR IS EPIC. I missed a couple earlier on. Might have to come back and show them off again. I have 10 nieces and nephews. 4 married siblings with kids and all. ;)

#IMWAYR & #bookaday Rumblings

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.


So the last couple weeks are not going down in the epistles of history as great reading weeks for me. More of ... come home so wiped out I sit down on the couch and fall asleep. IS THAT MY AGE SHOWING? No. It's my lack of fitness commitment showing. You get more reading in when you are also exercising so you're not a slow-moving blob. #SummerGoalNumberOne Get back to the gym.

#SummerGoalNumberTwo? Of course. #BOOKADAY Next week's post will be a lot of "there are all the books I already know I want to read but of course for every book I finish I will add five more to the TBR list." Also "Wait! I forgot about this book!" I am almost as excited to finish that post as anything. Fun to concentrate on titles and making plans. Actually will still have school for a few more days and then all the post PD days. But who cares we're calling summer and #bookaday so close!

This week? Just these two.

Danger was more fun. Humming Room had more beautifully written lines. Click on the pic to go to my Goodreads shelf. Though I didn't write a whole lot more about them there there. Some, though. ;)


My age gets one year older today. OFFICIALLY and not just like every other day. It's a ... scary birthday with a 0 on the end. I took a mental health day so I'm off to celebrate. Or hide. Really I have no idea what I will do but it seemed like the thing to do.

Happy Reading!

Finally Friday May 16

I would like to be able to say this week flew by. But I cannot.

Today I didn't mean to be rude but I might have been. Oh my word so much mess and noise all day ... it hurts. And then I feel like a jerk because I'm so anti-social I can't stand having a three plus hour long luncheon in the library space. It attracts roaches and makes the carpet smell funny. And kids can't get books! I don't like it. How rude can I be? It was a luncheon for volunteers.

I come home and at least there is this.

#dayone pic.twitter.com/18jtSH7xYM
— Bad Robot (@bad_robot) May 16, 2014

So that's something!
And the cute little one that said "When are you going to read us a story again? You read stories good." I haven't because of so many research classes (some that went well, some that did not). Another I am a jerk moment because honestly? I sort of prefer research classes to "storytimes." As you well know it is exhausting to be that ON. And research is just more ... fun for me. Seeing the bent heads over books or laptops. Seeing them make connections. And seeing them want you to hand them ever answer but anyway. For that little bit when a MS position was open I really wanted to apply. But they closed it before I got everything together (FOUR DAYS? Seriously.) So I will hang on to that cutie and her comment.


Tomorrow I will be at the TX Google Summit. Long drive so I guess I'd better prepare some tunes. Or download some audiobooks. Have a great weekend! I am staring ... wait for it ... 40. I am staring down 40. On Monday. So I'm taking the day off to hide under the covers. I will feel better about my denial on Tuesday.

Click through for embedded stuff. (Like if you haven't already you missed that awesome tweet above!)

Note to self. Remember this more. Live this better.


So true. I wish they'd give teachers more time with their iPads and with Google. With some more support and know how they'd do awesome things.

Here I am posting stuff that I have to stop eating. #summerofgettingbackonthefitnessbandwagon

TL Blogging Challenge #11 Tech Tip Part 3 Google Your LMC

For this one I will redirect you to the presentation Google Your LMC.


I added a "basics" page because ... well, I always thought we had too much stuff on there for anyone who wasn't already pretty familiar with Google. If you were just starting out the whole thing seemed quite overwhelming.

Does it help?

Is there something specific about Google you'd like more info on?

Of the three presenters I probably know the least about Sites (and Hangouts because I can never get them to work at school even though they work at home! :X) but the rest of it I'm fairly confident in. Debating if I want to become a "Google Educator" this summer or if it's a waste of time or money. But IF I could get accepted to the Austin, TX Google Teacher Academy. THAT would be COOL. Just because. They are way competitive, though. So I might chicken out from applying. :P

See this quote.

TL Blogging Challenge #10 Displays

My love of silly clip art and 8X10 signs with terrible reading related puns on them is well known if you've been a reader of this blog for very long. If you're new? Check out the "Printable Stuff." Lots of freebies (and yes, some on TPT because of said addiction to clip art).

Pinterest. Seriously, what did we do before Pinterest? Though I would hate to think that we limit ourselves. Would we come up with even BETTER ideas if we didn't have that crutch to fall back upon? Here is my board
Follow Angie O's board Library Display Stuff on Pinterest.

but there are SO MANY. The easiest one ever that made the most visual impact? All the red covered books. For, you guessed it, Red Ribbon Week.

Of course I cannot find any pictures.

TL Blogging Challenge #9 Trends

Hmmm. I'm not even sure what this means. Trends in school libraries? So while I think here are two funny pins.







OK. Sort of thought this through.
MOBILITY. That is a work in progress as our guest wifi is absolute rubbish so teaching kids to access some things on the devices they own ... well. We do what we can but it needs to get better. The regular school device wifi isn't great out in the classrooms (luckily it's OK inside the library or we'd really be hurting) so some of the activities and skills don't get the regular practice they need.

BALANCE. Do I think we're headed completely digital? Anytime soon? No. I truly believe our kindergartners will still be using print books (in addition to electronic!) for some years to come. So ... I get frustrated by anyone promoting one over or in place of the other. "We have ebooks, you don't need all those print books." Well, if they kids can't access the ebooks (wired connections are only slightly better than the wireless) what good does an ebook do them? "We don't need to deal with all this in elementary. They'll learn it in middle school." NO WAY! That's not the direction we need to go, either. Our city made the news with trying the book-less library idea ... again after other cities gave it up and added books back. It's kind of ... well. I don't want to hope it fails. But I can't help but expect it. At least a little.

MAKING and a space for it. I totally want to implement this but since I've struggled with centers for years I'm not sure where the direction is headed on our campus. With very little storage space and no control whatsoever over who might wander through (currently no walls and even if that changes this summer no doors ... though even you all with doors deal with other people having keys!) it's hard to keep things organized and out when it needs to be out and put away when it needs to be put away and honestly, from walking away. So this is something I continue to work on and try to figure out.


If I think of anything else it will be a PS post later on. ;)

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!