Five People you Meet in Heaven

The five people. . . is an adult for young adult book. An uplifting story for all ages, though.

"A bitter eighty-three-year-old war veteran who believes his life is meaningless dies while trying to save a little girl's life and finds himself in heaven, where five people from his past--some loved ones, some strangers--explain what his years on Earth really meant, and whether or not he succeeded in saving the child. "

He's not lost, he's checked out. . .

The Lost Boy, David Pelzer's memoir, has been a favorite of so many students that I can't keep the copies I have in the library. There are other later versions of the story, but the students have told me that the first one is definitely the best. What do you think?

"The author tells of his experiences in five foster homes and juvenile detention, after he was taken away from his abusive mother and alcoholic father, and discusses how he made it into the Air Force, and found love and contentment in his life."

Can't Get There? Why not?

One student told me that she recently read "Can't Get There From Here" by Todd Strasser. She said it was "Okay, but that the characters were kind of annoying." The explanation was, why wouldn't you have a warm bed even if you had to follow some strict rules. Comment here about your thoughts. Would you stay homeless?

"Tired of being hungry, cold, and dirty from living on the streets of New York City with a tribe of other homeless teenagers who are dying, one by one, a girl named Maybe ponders her future and longs for someone to care about her."

Fat Kid is Awesome!

So funny, I laughed out loud! Uplifting and with really interesting characters. . . One of my new favorites. . .

"Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly three hundred pounds, gets a new perspective on life when Curt, a semi-homeless teen who is a genius on guitar, asks Troy to be the drummer in a rock band."

A Teacher's Perspective on Books

Today I had a teacher e-mail me about her feelings on students reading books. It related well to a post that I had created last year, so I wanted to share it.

"I mourn the passing of the book as a child's friend.... I have to enter the 21st century, but I don't have to like it (except spell check, of course). The majority of my students do not read for pleasure, but will tell me often that they are "soooo bored" at home, or on weekends......how sad when there is a plethora of wonders and adventures just at the opening of a book. If I catch a child reading in my class instead of doing their work I am often tempted to ignore it because it is such a rare occurrence.... oh, well....Hope this finds you well and happy and just as enthusiastic as always about everything techy!"

How does a librarian respond? Well, they should love reading! The point is, how do I encourage reading in the home. Teachers have access to grades which can motivate them. High school students, however, need BIG motivations to make them want to do something that they don't have to do outside of TV, music, movies, and IMing/texting. I told the teacher that I just have to hook them on the first book and then they are readers forever. That requires books that not only spark the interest of teens, but also that they can relate to. A couple of my recent favorites (and student favorites) have been A Child Called It, Fat Kid Rules the World, and Looking for Alaska.

F.O.A.M.

A student recently brought me a magazine to review and asked if we could include it in the library collection. Foam is a magazine for girls who love fashion, the ocean, art, and music (hence the F.O.A.M - catchy title!). I really liked the glossy photographs of the ocean, surfer girls, and sea turtles. It also featured an awesome page of ?must haves ? the funniest, fittenst and most flattering books for all.? Check out this magazine (and the featured books) in the library and comment here on your thoughts. . . It may be a great one for us to order if you like it!

Restart

Another year as the WCHS librarian and I am trying to start my blog up and running again. I recently went to the North Carolina School Library Media Association Conference and spouted about the uses for blogs in the library. I decided that I had to practice what I preached.

My goal this year is to use the blog for speaking to my teachers about current issues in education and resources that I think they should know about. I also want to use this blog as a vehicle for promoting reading in the school. Many of my teachers love the idea of a blog, but are wary of starting their own despite the technology staff development we have done in the past. There is always too much to do! Therefore, I am going to post some comments in the near future about popular books with my students, or just the title and summary of the book. Then, with the cooperation of my teachers, the students can also go on and comment. I hope that it will be beneficial for all.

And they're off. . .

Today was the day!! Another round of blogging for all. . .
Although it was a limited number of teachers due to homecoming and grades being due, the teachers that participated really saw the value (to them and their students) of blogging in the classroom. I had several discussions with teachers about how they could use this tool. Some were using it for current event analysis or journal writing, but I found the most interesting conversation to be with a teacher that wants to have her students reflect on their art projects. I did a little digging and found out that in discussions on the web of business ethics and growth center around the idea that the leadership and the employees of a company must constantly be reflecting. On what, you might ask? Where they have come from/been, where they are now, and where they would like to go and how to get there. It is important to really think about what has happened in the past in order to learn from it. Our students should be doing the same. Blogging is a great tool for this type of activity. The teacher also noted that with her written evaluations, she was only having the conversation (teaching) one student. With the blog, her comments could be read by all the students in the class. Thus, the students could also learn from their peer's/colleague's mistakes and successes. I hope that the teachers at my school embrace blogging. It is the new conversation our students are already having, and we should be in on it!

How Lucky We Are

This morning I read an article about a Brazilian man whose passion in life has been collected books, despite his illiteracy. With no government or organizational help, he created his own community library and I was stuck by his and his mother's efforts. "What she and Leite have managed to do is all the more remarkable given the daunting hurdles to fostering reading skills and habits in Latin America's largest country. Illiteracy, poverty and the seduction of modern entertainment have made Brazil a country with one of the lowest levels of book-reading in the world. The average American reads five books a year, as does the average Briton. In literary-minded France, that number rises to seven. In Brazil, it's fewer than two. Brazilians are handicapped by lack of access. Government officials say that nearly 1,000 of the country's 5,500 municipalities have no public library. Buying a book is even less of an option." After reading this article from Yahoo news, I realize how exptremly lucky we are, even here in little Carteret County to have 3 public libraries and an abulndance of books.

Blogging for Teachers

I am so excited about getting the teachers at my school to start blogging with their students. Several are signed up for the workshop next week. I have (hopefully) gotten these teachers excited about how they can use blogging to make their classes better. In the day and age of testing and accountability, it is hard to convince any teacher - including myself - that the new and experimental will help. I have argued that with writing becoming more of a part of the tests that we give including the SAT, 10th grade writing exam and AP tests, blogging would be a great way to help in this endeavor. Because this blog is able to be seen by everyone in cyberspace, I will note that teachers are also frustrated at the lack of money the school, the school system and the state have for developing technology. I just listened to a wonderful book called the Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization by Thomas Friedman. In it, he describes the new world order of globalization, much as David Warlick described the New Literacy. We definitely need to understand that as a country, as a state, as a county and as a school, we need to be the vanguard leaders in teaching students about globalization and how to live in a world that is interconnected. Hear our pleas!! Keep giving us the resources to do so. . .