Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Neil Gaiman - A man who makes language and reading unadulterated fun!
Neil Gaiman discussing his Newbery Medal winning The Graveyard Book.
To hear Neil Gaiman reading The Graveyard Book, click on the following and scroll down. It's pure delight to listen to him read, to watch his joy as he shares his story, and to hear the fun the audience has listening.
MouseCircus.com VideoTour
Here he is reading his picture book Crazy Hair, another Gaiman gem illustrated by Dave McKean
Gaiman's and McKean's websites:
Neil Gaiman's Website
Dave McKean's website.
To hear Neil Gaiman reading The Graveyard Book, click on the following and scroll down. It's pure delight to listen to him read, to watch his joy as he shares his story, and to hear the fun the audience has listening.
MouseCircus.com VideoTour
Here he is reading his picture book Crazy Hair, another Gaiman gem illustrated by Dave McKean
Gaiman's and McKean's websites:
Neil Gaiman's Website
Dave McKean's website.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Doris Kearns Goodwin
She's a national treasure sharing stories about other national treasures: Erik Erikson, Abe Lincoln, LBJ, the Dodgers, and the Boston Red Sox.
Another TED.com treasure: 18 minutes long.
Another TED.com treasure: 18 minutes long.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
PA Library Crisis & Advocacy
It scares me that we might lose POWER Library databases/resources. I use them every day. It's a handy, accessible-from-home reference library. It has everything from biographies, to Grove's Art and Music, to medicine to car repairs...to my #1 most used item: Ebsco and all of its periodical resources. POWER Library is just one of the valuable library programs at risk with PA's next budget.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sherman Alexie on Colbert
October 28, 2008
Alexie is the author of The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian, as well as several other books. See his website here.
Alexie is the author of The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian, as well as several other books. See his website here.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Sherman Alexie | ||||
| ||||
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Michael Sullivan
A man of many talents.
Author of Connecting Boys With Books, Fundamentals of Children's Services.
A link for more news of Michael and his interview with Gossip Lady.
Author of Connecting Boys With Books, Fundamentals of Children's Services.
A link for more news of Michael and his interview with Gossip Lady.
I love John Green!
If you haven't read his stuff, pick it up! Bright, funny, REAL!
Wikipedia's John Green entry - for a list of his books and more.
His YouTube videos are worth a look.
Here are two YouTube clips about Catcher in the Rye. They are followed by another couple of John's videoblogs.
Enjoy!
Catch the Rye Discussion Here
An Interesting Interview Style...a potential model for students:
Wikipedia's John Green entry - for a list of his books and more.
His YouTube videos are worth a look.
Here are two YouTube clips about Catcher in the Rye. They are followed by another couple of John's videoblogs.
Enjoy!
Catch the Rye Discussion Here
An Interesting Interview Style...a potential model for students:
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Biz Wiki by Chad Boeninger
Here's a great library website! Chad is instructive, interactive, and clearly supportive of his community and those who need his services - everything a librarian should be! Lead on! And thanks for a great example!
Here's a clip from and a link to Chad's/Ohio University's website
Here's a clip from and a link to Chad's/Ohio University's website
Saturday, May 9, 2009
MPAA tries to negate Fair Use
From Ars Technica "MPAA: teachers should videotape monitors, not rip DVDs" May 7, 2009.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) provides instruction for how teachers are supposed to videotape clips for classroom use. What happened to Fair Use? If MPAA keeps this up, they'll force everyone to find alternative resources and cut themselves out of the loop. We can all live without their products. What we won't do is stop learning, communicating, and creating.
And...on an unrelated matter to Fair Use...I have to wonder, does the MPAA make sure that the electricians, camera people, etc continue to profit from the products they helped create? Or is it only a small few that profit from copyright? Just asking.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) provides instruction for how teachers are supposed to videotape clips for classroom use. What happened to Fair Use? If MPAA keeps this up, they'll force everyone to find alternative resources and cut themselves out of the loop. We can all live without their products. What we won't do is stop learning, communicating, and creating.
And...on an unrelated matter to Fair Use...I have to wonder, does the MPAA make sure that the electricians, camera people, etc continue to profit from the products they helped create? Or is it only a small few that profit from copyright? Just asking.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner
Interviews with Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Khaled Hosseini's website with more information and podcasts.
Khaled Hosseini's website with more information and podcasts.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Anthropologist Wade Davis - The Value of the World's Diverse Cultures
Trying to catch up on valuable TED.com offerings. Wade Davis, with National Geographic, shares his experiences of other cultures. 6000 languages in the world. And we'll lose half of them in just one generation. Imagine...another way to experience the world! They are praying for us, and hoping we'll learn from our mistakes. I hope so too!
January 2007: Endangered Cultures. 22 minutes.
February 2008: World Beliefs and Rituals. 22 minutes.
Links to more information about Davis:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/wade_davis.html
January 2007: Endangered Cultures. 22 minutes.
February 2008: World Beliefs and Rituals. 22 minutes.
Links to more information about Davis:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/wade_davis.html
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Pandemic information from TED.com
This first piece with Dr. Larry Brilliant (2006) is an interesting 25 minutes long.
He discusses GPHIN: Global Public Health Information Network from Canada:
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/media/nr-rp/2004/2004_gphin-rmispbk-eng.php and gives nod to its creator, Dr. Ron St. John, Director of the Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response (CEPR).
More information about this talk and Larry Brilliant can be found at:
http://www.lunchoverip.com/2006/03/can_the_interne.html
Brillant's Organization launched following his TED appearance InSTEDD: Innovative Support To Emergencies Diseases and Disasters found at http://instedd.org/
Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague, at a 2007 TED conference discusses pandemics. (21 min video) Our best defense is early diagnosis, failing that, she says its local government that will make the difference.
New England Journal of Medicine H1N1 Center, with world health map:
http://h1n1.nejm.org/
Mashed up information at Flu Wiki:
http://flu.wikia.com/wiki/Flu_Wiki
He discusses GPHIN: Global Public Health Information Network from Canada:
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/media/nr-rp/2004/2004_gphin-rmispbk-eng.php and gives nod to its creator, Dr. Ron St. John, Director of the Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response (CEPR).
More information about this talk and Larry Brilliant can be found at:
http://www.lunchoverip.com/2006/03/can_the_interne.html
Brillant's Organization launched following his TED appearance InSTEDD: Innovative Support To Emergencies Diseases and Disasters found at http://instedd.org/
Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague, at a 2007 TED conference discusses pandemics. (21 min video) Our best defense is early diagnosis, failing that, she says its local government that will make the difference.
New England Journal of Medicine H1N1 Center, with world health map:
http://h1n1.nejm.org/
Mashed up information at Flu Wiki:
http://flu.wikia.com/wiki/Flu_Wiki
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Stephen Wolfram - Wolfram Alpha Knowledge Processor
Wolfram Alpha's link for when it's up and running.
Another fascinating physicist! Seems there's a new knowledge/metadata processor on the horizon. Wolfram Alpha is due out in a few weeks. It will be free to all the world. Corporate sponsors will be picking up the tab and advertising on the site. This was an interesting program, long at 1:45:57. It gets more interesting as it goes along.
Quick and very incomplete guide...
The first 30 minutes is an overview of the calculations the WA can address.
Between 30:00 and 45:00 he discusses the ingredients and structure of the his creation: 1) Data Curation, 2) Implementation of computations and algorithms, 3) linguistic understanding, 4) automated presentation - presenting what's important in response to queries.
At 45 minutes Wolfram takes questions from the audience.
At 49 minutes David Weinberger asks about the transparency of the metadata used.
At 54 minutes Jonathan Zittrain suggested that it sounds like a knowledge boiler maker with people shoveling in the knowledge. At 1:15 mins, Zittrain jokingly asks "will it answer the meaning of life?"
At 1:18...an inquiry about the transparency of the mathematical & source codes used. Wolfram suggests that the code may not be as useful as just proving or disproving the information results.
At 1:25 the challenges of linguistics.
At 1:30...we'll be using public data. (Earlier (at 1:03)Wolfram said the US govt is a good source for clean, useful data.) Then went on to discuss what is and isn't useful/reliable in Wikipedia and how Wikipedia's Open Source model does and does not fit the Wolfram Alpha.
At 1:38 discussed the 1 minute delay from NY Stock Exchange.
Novelty queries aren't what WA was designed for.
At 1:41 discussed potential synergies...w/ Google, etc.
Stephen Wolfram entry in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wolfram
For more comments visit: http://education.zdnet.com/?p=2533
Another fascinating physicist! Seems there's a new knowledge/metadata processor on the horizon. Wolfram Alpha is due out in a few weeks. It will be free to all the world. Corporate sponsors will be picking up the tab and advertising on the site. This was an interesting program, long at 1:45:57. It gets more interesting as it goes along.
Quick and very incomplete guide...
The first 30 minutes is an overview of the calculations the WA can address.
Between 30:00 and 45:00 he discusses the ingredients and structure of the his creation: 1) Data Curation, 2) Implementation of computations and algorithms, 3) linguistic understanding, 4) automated presentation - presenting what's important in response to queries.
At 45 minutes Wolfram takes questions from the audience.
At 49 minutes David Weinberger asks about the transparency of the metadata used.
At 54 minutes Jonathan Zittrain suggested that it sounds like a knowledge boiler maker with people shoveling in the knowledge. At 1:15 mins, Zittrain jokingly asks "will it answer the meaning of life?"
At 1:18...an inquiry about the transparency of the mathematical & source codes used. Wolfram suggests that the code may not be as useful as just proving or disproving the information results.
At 1:25 the challenges of linguistics.
At 1:30...we'll be using public data. (Earlier (at 1:03)Wolfram said the US govt is a good source for clean, useful data.) Then went on to discuss what is and isn't useful/reliable in Wikipedia and how Wikipedia's Open Source model does and does not fit the Wolfram Alpha.
At 1:38 discussed the 1 minute delay from NY Stock Exchange.
Novelty queries aren't what WA was designed for.
At 1:41 discussed potential synergies...w/ Google, etc.
Stephen Wolfram entry in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wolfram
For more comments visit: http://education.zdnet.com/?p=2533
Multiple Intelligences - Gardner
From Edutopia.org, a 1997 interview with Howard Gardner.
Worth the 7 minutes it takes to watch it!
Found at http://www.edutopia.org/howard-gardner-interview
Also from Edutopia a 2001 video from Indianapolis...demonstrating and discussing multiple intelligences.
Found at http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-key-learning-community-video
Worth the 7 minutes it takes to watch it!
Found at http://www.edutopia.org/howard-gardner-interview
Also from Edutopia a 2001 video from Indianapolis...demonstrating and discussing multiple intelligences.
Found at http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-key-learning-community-video
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Views and News Creatively Interpreted
Book reports may be headed in a new direction...so too information literacy and communication. With new tools available all can become creators and producers. Agree, disagree or puzzle over this "news" piece, it's fascinating, engaging,and pregnant with possibilities.
Friday, March 20, 2009
PA Young Reader's Choice Awards Book Program
PA Young Readers Choice Award Books - this program encourages kids, K-12, to read. It's a great opportunity for public and school libraries to collaborate. The PA School Librarians Association develops the lists. School librarians manage the voting process (February/March elections), and the public libraries can simply buy books in support of their kids, their community, their schools, and their school library partners. What could be easier...and more beneficial for our students? :)
PA Young Reader’s Choice Awards Program - Master List for 2009-2010
Kindergarten to Grade 3
Elise Broach,When Dinosaurs Came with Everything
Carmen Agra Deedy, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: Cuban Folktale
Carmen Agra Deedy at 2008 TED Conference:
Marla Frazee, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
Janice N. Harrington, The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County
Juliana Hatkoff, Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World
Jennifer Holm, Baby Mouse 1: Queen of the World
Susan Katz, Oh, Theodore!: Guinea Pig Poems
Holly Keller, Help!: A Story of Friendship
Mona Kerby, Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch
Cynthia Rylant, Annie and Snowball and the Dress-up Birthday
Barbara Samuels, Dolores Meets Her Match
April Pulley Sayre, Vulture View
Gwenyth Swain, Riding to Washington
Melanie Watt, Scaredy Squirrel
Mo Willems, There Is a Bird on Your Head!
Children's Book Week May 11-17, 2009. I'm guessing May 10-16 are the dates for 2010.
Booktalk Scripts for K-3 Books
Grades 3 to 6
Tiki and Ronde Barber, Kickoff!
Eric Berlin, The Puzzling World of Winston Breen
Andrew Clements, Room One: A Mystery or Two
Sally Cook & James Charlton, Hey Batta Batta Swing!: The Wild Old Days of Baseball
Ellie Crowe, Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku
Candace Fleming, The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary
Charise Mericle Harper, Just Grace
Steve Jenkins, Sisters & Brothers: Sibling Relationships in the Animal World
Lynne Jonell, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
Ellen Levine, Henry's Freedom Box
Grace Lin, The Year of the Rat
Elizabeth Matthews, Different Like Coco
Barbara O’Connor, How to Steal a Dog
Kevin O’Malley, Gimme Cracked Corn & I Will Share
Jody Feldman, The Gollywhopper Games
Booktalk Scripts for Grades 3-6 Books
Grades 6-8
Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains
Avi, Seer of Shadows
Janet Lee Carey, Dragon's Keep
Caroline B. Cooney, Diamonds in the Shadow
Sid Fleischman, Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini
Margaret Peterson Haddix, Found
Gordon Korman, Schooled
Kadir Nelson, We Are the Ship
James Preller, Six Innings
James Rumford, Beowulf:A Hero's Tale Retold
Brandon Sanderson, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Jon Scieszka, Knucklehead
Jordan Sonnenblick, Notes from the Midnight Driver
Scott R. Welvaert, Curse of the Wendigo
Don Wood, Into the Volcano
Booktalks for Grade 6-8 Books
Young Adult
Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Blake Nelson, They Came from Below
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
Chris Crutcher, Deadline
John Green, Paper Towns
Gordon Korman, The Juvie Three
Aryn Kyle, The God of Animals
E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Walter Dean Myers, Sunrise over Fallujah
Mary E. Pearson, Adoration of Jenna Fox
Daniel H. Pink, Adventures of Johnny Bunko
Neal Shusterman, Unwind
James Swanson, Chasing Lincoln's Killer
Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Scott Westerfeld, Uglies
Booktalks for Young Adult Books
For more information, to to www.psla.org and click on PA Young Readers Choice Awards Program and Booklists.
Chris Crutcher
John Green on Romance
Scott Westerfield...from YouTube 1:46 minutes
2008-09 Podcast Video Booktalks for Book selections Grades 6-8
PA Young Reader’s Choice Awards Program - Master List for 2009-2010
Kindergarten to Grade 3
Elise Broach,When Dinosaurs Came with Everything
Carmen Agra Deedy, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: Cuban Folktale
Carmen Agra Deedy at 2008 TED Conference:
Marla Frazee, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
Janice N. Harrington, The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County
Juliana Hatkoff, Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World
Jennifer Holm, Baby Mouse 1: Queen of the World
Susan Katz, Oh, Theodore!: Guinea Pig Poems
Holly Keller, Help!: A Story of Friendship
Mona Kerby, Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch
Cynthia Rylant, Annie and Snowball and the Dress-up Birthday
Barbara Samuels, Dolores Meets Her Match
April Pulley Sayre, Vulture View
Gwenyth Swain, Riding to Washington
Melanie Watt, Scaredy Squirrel
Mo Willems, There Is a Bird on Your Head!
Children's Book Week May 11-17, 2009. I'm guessing May 10-16 are the dates for 2010.
Booktalk Scripts for K-3 Books
Grades 3 to 6
Tiki and Ronde Barber, Kickoff!
Eric Berlin, The Puzzling World of Winston Breen
Andrew Clements, Room One: A Mystery or Two
Sally Cook & James Charlton, Hey Batta Batta Swing!: The Wild Old Days of Baseball
Ellie Crowe, Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku
Candace Fleming, The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary
Charise Mericle Harper, Just Grace
Steve Jenkins, Sisters & Brothers: Sibling Relationships in the Animal World
Lynne Jonell, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
Ellen Levine, Henry's Freedom Box
Grace Lin, The Year of the Rat
Elizabeth Matthews, Different Like Coco
Barbara O’Connor, How to Steal a Dog
Kevin O’Malley, Gimme Cracked Corn & I Will Share
Jody Feldman, The Gollywhopper Games
Booktalk Scripts for Grades 3-6 Books
Grades 6-8
Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains
Avi, Seer of Shadows
Janet Lee Carey, Dragon's Keep
Caroline B. Cooney, Diamonds in the Shadow
Sid Fleischman, Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini
Margaret Peterson Haddix, Found
Gordon Korman, Schooled
Kadir Nelson, We Are the Ship
James Preller, Six Innings
James Rumford, Beowulf:A Hero's Tale Retold
Brandon Sanderson, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Jon Scieszka, Knucklehead
Jordan Sonnenblick, Notes from the Midnight Driver
Scott R. Welvaert, Curse of the Wendigo
Don Wood, Into the Volcano
Booktalks for Grade 6-8 Books
Young Adult
Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Blake Nelson, They Came from Below
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
Chris Crutcher, Deadline
John Green, Paper Towns
Gordon Korman, The Juvie Three
Aryn Kyle, The God of Animals
E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Walter Dean Myers, Sunrise over Fallujah
Mary E. Pearson, Adoration of Jenna Fox
Daniel H. Pink, Adventures of Johnny Bunko
Neal Shusterman, Unwind
James Swanson, Chasing Lincoln's Killer
Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Scott Westerfeld, Uglies
Booktalks for Young Adult Books
For more information, to to www.psla.org and click on PA Young Readers Choice Awards Program and Booklists.
Chris Crutcher
John Green on Romance
Scott Westerfield...from YouTube 1:46 minutes
2008-09 Podcast Video Booktalks for Book selections Grades 6-8
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The New Book Report?
I just visited a terrific librarian, Penny Arnold.
She said kids today are different than kids of 10 years ago.
Part of the difference is technology.
I watched a class putting together a visual literacy project.
They were limited in the time their videos could run and the number of words they could use.
They used images, and if they wished, audio.
I have to wonder if some of the following aren't the new face of book reports...or reports in general.
Penny told me the power point is passe...kids just aren't interested.
Our need for literacy is expanding beyond just words.
Images are an international language.
Penny suggested learning Moviemaker software. She's absolutely right.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold...well, sort of. The creators take liberties with the storylines...but that's remix for ya!
The Lovely Bones - take 2! A different interpretation.
The Lovely Bones - take 3.
The Lovely Bones Movie-Book Trailer
It looks like a Hollywood production...but it's not credited as such on YouTube. It was posted on January 2, 2009 by catshattuck. Looks professional to me, and as I look at this it reminds me of the simplicity of Lessig's power points - images and words. Bottom line - we and our students have more tools with which to communicate.
And a spoof on Twilight, just for fun. Shelly shared this with me.
She said kids today are different than kids of 10 years ago.
Part of the difference is technology.
I watched a class putting together a visual literacy project.
They were limited in the time their videos could run and the number of words they could use.
They used images, and if they wished, audio.
I have to wonder if some of the following aren't the new face of book reports...or reports in general.
Penny told me the power point is passe...kids just aren't interested.
Our need for literacy is expanding beyond just words.
Images are an international language.
Penny suggested learning Moviemaker software. She's absolutely right.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold...well, sort of. The creators take liberties with the storylines...but that's remix for ya!
The Lovely Bones - take 2! A different interpretation.
The Lovely Bones - take 3.
The Lovely Bones Movie-Book Trailer
It looks like a Hollywood production...but it's not credited as such on YouTube. It was posted on January 2, 2009 by catshattuck. Looks professional to me, and as I look at this it reminds me of the simplicity of Lessig's power points - images and words. Bottom line - we and our students have more tools with which to communicate.
And a spoof on Twilight, just for fun. Shelly shared this with me.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
A thesaurus love story, be still my heart!
OK, I confess I'm a library geek...and loving it!
Hope you do too!
Hope you do too!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Web Tech Guy and Angry Staff Person
Libraries had best get with the program.
Check out this link...intelligent, funny, and true.
Created by Michael Edson for the IMLS WebWise Conference Feb 26-27, 2009
http://usingdata.typepad.com/usingdata/2009/03/web.html
Check out this link...intelligent, funny, and true.
Created by Michael Edson for the IMLS WebWise Conference Feb 26-27, 2009
http://usingdata.typepad.com/usingdata/2009/03/web.html
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Copyright interpreted by Stephen Colbert and Lawrence Lessig
Colbert's interview with Lessig...6:10 minutes. Enjoy!
January 8, 2009
Colbert's Remix fantasy. 4:02 minutes of fun.
January 21, 2009
January 8, 2009
Colbert's Remix fantasy. 4:02 minutes of fun.
January 21, 2009
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