Help put a qualified Teacher Librarian in every school in Australia.

 Please sign the online petition started by "The Hub" at the link below:

Online petition - A Qualified Teacher Librarian in Every School

Due to the abundance of information and "misinformation" there is a vital need for students to be guided by trained teachers to assist them in developing essential "information skills". 

We can not expect students to become "Information Literate" by throwing them into the sea of information and just hoping they don't drown!!

“Talk About Art” at the regional Gallery on Saturday, 31 October.

 A message from Judy Atkinson:

I hope that you might find the following event at the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery (next door to Coffs Harbour City Library) of interest.

 

At 10.00 am Saturday 31 October John McDonald author, historian and art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald will be presenting “Talk About Art” in the Regional Gallery. John is an erudite and at times controversial speaker but he is always entertaining. Cost $5, payable at the door and this includes refreshments. 

 

For further information, please contact the Art Gallery on 6648 4863.

 

 Regards

 

 Judy Atkinson

Library Programs Officer
Coffs Harbour City Library & Information Service

Term 4 Coffs Harbour Teacher Librarian Network Meeting

 To all Teacher Librarians in the Coffs Harbour area please come along and join the network where you will be supported and have the opportunity to share your learnings with others. Help us help each other.

Meeting this term at

Coffs Harbour Primary School Library

3.30pm

Wednesday 11th November

We will have a guest speaker, Dan Brown, from World book, showing us around the updated World Book Web Site.
2nd on the list of course is our Christmas Dinner venue and date.

Looking forward to seeing you
Don't forget to bring something to eat with the cuppa/coffee

Lyn Howlin
Teacher Librarian
Coffs Harbour Primary School

Let's use cellphones for learning.

Obama's new Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, offers an enthusiastic endorsement of using digital tools like video games and cellphones in the classroom. He's a pragmatist; his attitude is that kids are on this stuff all day anyway, so why not put them to educational use?

from Rachel   A chat with Obama's new Secretary of Education

Many Teacher Librarians are still struggling to get adequate support..SINK or SWIM

Please help by filling out this quick survey...It will take 2-3 minutes tops.

Your support is most appreciated.

Poetry -A List of WORDS

 

Looking for  multimodal stimulus for some great lessons.

Watch the Trailer: "Where the Wild Things Are' directed by Spike Jonez

(be warned there is an ad before the trailer plays)

Read the article:

‘Where the Wild Things Are’

Let the wild rumpus start!

By Ramin Setoodeh and Andrew Romano | NEWSWEEK 

Published Oct 9, 2008

From the magazine issue dated Oct 19, 2009

View the Wild and Beautiful images.

"Dewey Does Decimals" from David Strempel

 David has kindly allowed me to share this work with you: Enjoy.!!

A student once asked me to write a poem on the Dewey System 

for the School magazine:

Dewey Does Decimals

Image via Wikipedia

"When Melvil Dewey was a lad,
  Books in libraries were so bad,
  They were piled up in ugly stacks,
  By which were lies and which were facts
  And which were red and which were white
  And which were large and which were slight.

  “This has got to stop,” said Mel,
  “These libraries are a living hell,
  I just can’t get no satisfaction.”
  And then he had an inspiration.
  “There’s got to be a better system.
  I’ll think it through, and then I’ll list ‘em.”

  It took him days and weeks and years,
  He went through paper, ink and beers.
  It took long walks with his dog Bluey,
  And then it came to Melvil Dewey –
  A way of finding books so fast
  “This is the way, hooray, at last!”

  “I’ll put all books in ten main classes,
  I’ll write that down, now where’s my glasses?
  Then each class into fields I shall divide ‘em,
  And then each field and subfield and so on ad infinitum
  For more specific things, I’ll use some decimal places,”
  Whispered Mr. Dewey, hitching up his braces.

  Mel used the lowest numbers for generalities,
  Like mysteries, computers, journalism, bibliographies.
  The 100s were for noble ideas and thoughts of philosophy,
  And thoughts of thoughts and logic and psychology.
  He set aside 200 to two hundred ‘n’ ninety nine
  For ideas of the supernatural and of the divine.

  300s were for social sciences – law and education,
Civics, sociology, customs and vocation
  400s got the Language stuff – dictionaries ‘n’ grammar as well,
  “This ain’t so hard after all,” mumbled a smug Mel.
  500s he gave to Sciences – maths chem and zoology,
  Botony, palaeontology, biol and geology.

  600s for Technology, medicine and invention,
  TV, engineering ‘n’ agriculture got a mention.
  700s – the Arts – architecture and for painting,
  And music and sculpture, photography, recreating.
  800s for Literature – poetry, and plays (like Mystery),
  900s for Geography, cities, countries and for History.

  “Well that’s it then,” said Dewey to his Great Unca Scrooge,
  If this thing catches on it really will be HUGE,
  And if it don’t, why then, I’ll use my imagination,
  I’ll do a Mao, leave libraries and go and lead a nation.”
  Fortunately it worked for him, Mel Dewey and his dogue,
  But next he had to invent the old card catalogue.

  I’m not too sure I told it all the way it really went,
  But next time to a library you go or you are sent,
  Remember Melvil Dewey, the librarian and his pup,
Who gave us all good libraries, neatly divided up.
  And spare a thought for librarians with strange looks on their faces,
  Sitting in their back rooms trying to work out decimal places."

Image by Klara Kim via Flickr

  David Strempel   Teacher Librarian

Where the Wild Things Went Online Project 2009

Welcome to the Where the Wild Things Went Online Project 2009.

This project is open to all PreK - 6th grade classrooms worldwide.
The project dates will be October 12 to October 30, 2009.

 

 This project offers teachers 3 ideas to share with their students.

Join in the fun as we learn about
extending a story, endangered animals, and verbs.

Resources will include Worksheets, Standards, and Links for all the ideas.

Kindergarten 5 day plan



You are also welcome to join our ning at http://projectsbyjen.ning.com to expand the project!!

Registration now open.

"Bear & Chook" books rap...coming soon

 Sharing a message from Ian Mc Lean (with permission) with you:

   

The book rap is  based on two picture books, "Bear & Chook",

and the newly-released "Bear & Chook by the sea",

is aimed at students in Early Stage 1 (Kinder) and Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2).

Several schools have already introduced themselves, there are some great comments turning up on the Teachers' section, and there are already things to look at in the Gallery.

This book rap will also feature participation by the author, Lisa Shanahan, and illustrator, Emma Quay. An online video, of Lisa and Emma reading "Bear & Chook by the sea" at Caddies Creek PS, and answering students' questions, will be an exciting addition to the usual teaching resources.

The rap is being coordinated by Jenny Scheffers (TL at Caddies Creek), 

"Scan" editor Cath Keane, and yours truly.

Interstate and international schools are welcome, and 

there is no cost involved in book rapping.

The rap pages on the NSW DET website are still under construction and will be open for viewing from NSW's Day 1, Term 4. 

The rap itself will commence in Week 2, Term 4,

in the week of 26 October 2009.

What is already open for viewing is the blog associated with this rap at:
http://rapblog6.edublogs.org/

You can see there the weekly tasks which students will undertake.

If you're trying to visualise the scope of the programming and planning, syllabus outcomes and rap sheets, you might like to check out previous recent raps, such as the 2008 Stage 1 "Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge" book rap, in which the discussion component was also in a blog format:
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/raps/wilfrid08/index.htm

You can also email cath.keane@det.nsw.edu.au for further information about the rap. 

Please join us, and spread the word! 

Click here to check out the website:  Bear and Chook

"This touching story is about Bear and Chook,
two very different 

but very good friends 
and their ambitions and dreams."

Don't forget to bring your warm honey toast!       Happy holidays! 

Digital Literacy for Educators.

This project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training as a quality teacher initiative under the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme.

This course is a 20 hour course for 

teachers and teacher librarians 

in primary and secondary
schools throughout NSW.

The course comprises 1 full day face to face workshop in a location across NSW followed by an online program to be completed by Term 4, 2009. Participants will learn about:

• Digital literacy and associated learning and skills for teachers to use in the classroom
• Web 2.0 tools and other digital tools for learning....see below for overviews of the workshop and online course

 Download and register today - workshops extended to the beginning of Term 4 - register now!

Workshop venues:
25th Sept - St Ignatius College, Riverview
20th Oct - Port Macquarie

20th Oct - Coffs Harbour

24th Oct - Wagga Wagga

 from Australian School Library Association Website 

Copyright.....Updates from tweeters at ASLA 2009

The following advice was received via tweets from participants at

Australian School Libraries Bi-Annual Conference 

currently being held in Perth, Australia.

If you're not teaching your teachers and your students about Creative Commons, you should be!

Worksheets available on Creative Commons on the Smartcopying website. Resources also available on Creative Commons website...

Creative Commons License Deed Attribution 2.5 Australia

Teach students to use Creative Commons resources for digital projects.

Make sure you license generated content so others can use it too!

If you leave it blank, it's copyright and restricted.

Image via CrunchBase

Do you read the Terms and Conditions? YouTube and all commercial services have restrictive terms of use that you might not realise.

New information sheet on YouTube at the smartcopying website

Thanks for your tweets: editormum75; cathyoxley; janning and sbrennan

Infomuves: Information management, education and the shift to virtual worlds.

Check out this SlideShare Presentation from Kim Flintoff at ASLA 2009:

Infomuves: Information management, education and the shift to virtual worlds.

View more presentations from KIm Flintoff.

Do you twitter? Are you interested in what other Aussie TL's say?

 Join the twitter group  #austl

Enter #austl into each of your library related tweets to allow Australian Teacher Librarians to  collect, share, recreate and collaborate with each other....



C U there......

Best time ever to be a Teacher Librarian....??

Joyce Valenza says: "A school’s teacher-librarian is its chief information officer, but in a networked world, the position is more that of moderator or coach, the person who ensures that students and teachers can effectively interact with information and leverage it to create and share and make a difference in the community and beyond."

Check out the retooled learning strategies that teacher-librarians should be sharing with classroom teachers and learners in the 2009–2010 school year@

 NEVERENDINGSEARCHING 

The POD's are Coming

The POD's are coming...R U Ready?

more about "The POD's are Coming", posted with vodpod

The Kindle 2 Wireless Reading

reading in the future?

R U ready?

more about "The Kindle 2 Wireless Reading", posted with vodpod

Twouble with Twitters

for all those who know not what twitter is all about!!!

more about "Twouble with Twitters", posted with vodpod

Building a school library 2.0

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Building a school library 2.0

View more presentations from Dana Dukic.

Quote of the day-What do you think?

Image by DeaPeaJay via Flickr

Image by Holster® via Flickr

"We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge."

        John Naisbitt

What sort of reader are you?

"Readers may be divided into four classes:

1.) Sponges, who absorb all that they read and return it in

nearly the same state, only a little dirtied.

2.) Sand-glasses, who retain nothing and are content to get through a book

for the sake of getting through the time.

3.) Strain-bags, who retain merely the dregs of what they read.

4.) Mogul diamonds, equally rare and valuable, who profit by what they read,

and enable others to profit by it also."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Great new resources available for Teacher Librarians and Teachers.

 Check out the Resource evaluation checklist 

for students and teachers 

It will help you determine the value of a resource.

Have you seen the Information Skills Posters from the 

School Libraries and Information Literacy Unit?

Program Strategies Handbook -185 pages 

All the valuable strategies now available in digital format.

If you are looking for explanations of commonly used  

thinking tools go to:

www.cap.nsw.edu.au/QI/TOOLS/INDEX.HTM

A message fom Kerrie Smith-You are never alone.

Tomorrow’s From the Coal Face blog post features some more pictures from library safaris during Book Week.

Did you see last week’s at

Image via Wikipedia

http://blogs.educationau.edu.au/ksmith/2009/09/04/from-the-coal-face-in-our-libraries/

Don’t forget, if there is something related in particular to ICT in education that you would like to showcase, then you can send me an email with text and a photo or two.

I’m interested in DER/BER progress in particular so if rebuilding is happening then that might be a topic.

At the moment From the Coal Face happens on Fridays, but if I get a flood of material then I may use it on other days.

Check what has been posted so far at http://blogs.educationau.edu.au/ksmith/category/from-the-coal-face/

Regards

Kerrie Smith

Executive Officer

education.au

Adventure Genre/ Jobs for the future?

What next?

21st century skills?

One of those jobs that hadn't been invented yet??

A man dressed as a monkey has been hired by Lucknow train station in India to scare off....um...other monkeys. 

It really is thinking OUTSIDE THE SQUARE!!  Problem solving at its BEST!!!???

NAPLAN Results Publication

With Victor's permission I bring you this idea of his:

While not everything that counts can be measured I do

believe there is a strong correlation between

recreational reading and measurable literacy skills.

For some years I have kept an eye on borrowing rates and reading
patterns including the use of Premiers Reading Challenge records.

The NAPLAN National Summary Report is due for release
"mid September 2009" according to the FAQs
(Next Monday 14 is a likely candidate).

 I will be analysing my school's results closely to see if certain
 conclusions I have drawn are correct.

 I encourage you all to seek out your school results with a view to
finding leverage points to promote recreational reading as part of the eternal lobby for a healthy library budget.

regards,


Victor Davidson
Teacher Librarian
Birrong Girls High School

Wanted 21C Librarian

Image via Wikipedia

Subject: [Oz-teachers] TIGS: Wanted 21C Librarian

Hello All:

The Head Librarian position has been advertised in the paper
for The Illawarra Grammar School.

Details can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/mm7spv


The person needs to be very familiar with Web 2.0 technologies
and a mover and a shaker. The person would be working with
the school's eLearning Director (not me) who is a very energetic
person.

The Executive is looking at renovating the library itself which
is only about 7 years old to cater for the 21 Century.

Wollongong is a great secret location and 20 minutes from
anywhere in regards to the ocean, the escarpment and
cold rain forests.

The current librarian is retiring and has been very involved
in Future Problem Solving and Tournament of the Minds.
She came back from the States with more than one team
that were World Champions.

Please pass this on to your Library networks.

Thanks.
Steve Marsden

Author Posters available for free download

Do you have an author visiting your school?

Are you decorating your classroom or library? 

 Here you will find posters of our authors that you can download and print (colour or black and white), ready to pin up on your wall.

Check out this kid friendly search engine-All Safe Sites

 The following site looks like a great search engine for young kids:

 

AllSafeSites is a kid-friendly directory & search engine for fun, educational and most importantly, SAFE websites.

"Each site in our directory has been personally reviewed and recommended by an elementary school teacher.

First of all, we have no advertisements on our page.

Another differentiator is that AllSafeSites is designed with visual aids so that very small children, even those unable to read, can navigate the web site easily. Most other sites are primarily text-based, making them difficult for young children to use."

Resources for parents 

Fun and Games
Check out the list of "safe" Educational Links 

Technology

How are teacher librarians and library media specialists leading the charge to help students master 21st century literacies?

 

 Who are we? and What do we do?

Read Judy O'Connell's article   Content Used to be King

Defining the Role of a 21st Century Literacy Specialist

  Now where does that leave us?