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Esther Nelson and Davida Hirsch ( GRANNY PRESS) have just released their latest project

    A PROGRAM FOR MAGICAL STORY TIMES

     Song, Dances, Stories, and Teaching Tools for Children's Librarians

This unique program is the result of our many years of experience teaching young children, and presentintg hundreds of Workshops on the importance of music and movement in developing literacy to Childrens Librarians,, Early Childhood Teachers, Head Start Staff etc. across 26 states in the country.

Includes an 86 spiral bound book incljuding a section with 28 songs and directions for use

 A CD of the 28 songs the book

A DVD showing us in live action with a Nursery School class of 4 year told providing commentary

   about how an why these experiences foster literacy.

3 picture books in rhythm and rhyme with sheets of suggested activities for learning while have fun

This packet can be ordered from GRANNY PRESS 101 GEDNEY ST. #5d, NYACK, NY 10960 FOR $79.

Discounts are available for quantity orders from Library or School Systems. or through

webmaster@grannypress.com. You can see photos of the package at www.grannypress.com

Review from UNITED WAY OF MIAMI-DADE, Early Childhood Development Team...'enjoyed watching the DVD and listening to the songs. I have placed  these resources in our Resource LIbrary so that techer sn our community may benefit form them. We believe strongly that music and movement are essentail components of any early childhood experience, and WE'RE HAPPY YOU ARE SPREADING THE MESSAGE.'

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eBook: "An Educator's iPad" ... published

eBook: "An Educator's iPad" ... published on Amazon and Apple iTunes.

... written for educators and parents who have an interest in mobile learning and especially the use of Apple’s iPad.
It is not a “how-to” manual but a resource for enabling more informed decisions regarding the use of mobile technology in learning and teaching

From iTunes :
~ US$2.99
Only available in the Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Spain, UK and USA Stores.
If you purchase in the iTunes store then this book is available for download on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iBooks and on your computer with iTunes.
Books must be read on an iOS device.

From Amazon
~ US$4.99
If you purchase from Amazon then the book can be read on any Kindle device, also on the web using Amazon Cloud Reader and on iPad, iPhone, iDevices, Android devices and other mobile devices using the free Kindle App.

Visit http://AnEducatorsiPad.com for more details and to purchase/download.

I do hope you find this of interest and relevance and it helps support you and your students.

I plan to revise this eBook each year and republish in January ... at the rate of change in the use of Edtech even eBooks have difficulty keeping up.

There are links at the end of each chapter in the book to facilitate feedback for future versions. http://bit.ly/aneducatorsipadfeedback
I look forward to reading any contributions you are able to share.

... and all for the price of a Hamburger ;-)

Have fun

Chris [Shamblesguru]

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Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (from the University of Alberta Learning Services) has published another issue. This issue features "school libraries and their connection to evidence based practice." The articles are: 1. Weaving Evidence, Reflection, and Action into the Fabric of School Librarianship 2. Creation of a Research Community in a K-12 School System Using Action Research and Evidence Based Practice 3. School Library Media Specialist Collaboration with Special Education Personnel in Support of Student Learning 4. An Emerging Theory for Evidence Based Information Literacy Instruction in School Libraries, Part 1: Building a Foundation 5. School Librarianship and Evidence Based Practice: Progress, Perspectives, and Challenges 6. Librarian-Teacher Partnerships for Inquiry Learning: Measures of Effectiveness for a Practice-Based Model of Professional Development The Link: http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP
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Things I'd Rather Do Than Die
by Christine Hurley Deriso

Pub Date: 18 Sep 2018

Read courtesy of www.Netgalley.com

I recently reviewed Christine Hurley Deriso's All the Wrong Chords, which I loved. I really wanted to like Things I'd Rather Do Than Die as much, but alas, I give it 4 instead of 5 ⭐. I also read Deriso's Acknowledgment section of this novel, and I'm glad she took the advice of her editor; having the main characters tell their tale in alternating scenarios made this story more thoughtful than if it had been a one-sided story. Stereotypes of jocks, brains, Jesus freaks, popularity, race and ethnicity, financial status, family structures, and illnesses became something about which I wanted to contemplate rather than be swayed. I can picture my teen readers discussing this story.

However, it was those amount of topics Deriso tried to squeeze into this one novel that caused my rating to lose a potential star. Maybe teens with slightly shorter attention spans won't mind the topic hopping, but I found it a bit distracting. I think it will affect my ability to discuss and recommend the book to my students. Other than being able to remember the basic plot, it's the nuances that might be lost to what I usually try to relate with enthusiasm.

On the other hand, Deriso handled all of the sensitive topics well. She allowed the characters to present their different points-of-view just like 'real' teens would. Kudos to that!!

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Pub Date: 02 Apr 2019
Read courtesy of netgalley.com

Mera: Tidebreaker is an origin story of Mera and Aquaman. It says so on the back cover. Otherwise, I never would have known these characters already existed. I'm not a comic book hero follower, so this was a total introduction to these characters for me.

As a graphic novel, it fell a little flat. As others have opined, the romance developed too quickly in story form; although, I could see the foreshadowing of Mera being unable to fulfill her plan and to end up loving rather than hating her father's foe. That's part of the story's flaws, too; it was really a quite predictable story. But there was confusion, too; without background knowledge of the characters, I had to read others' reviews of the graphic novel to know that Xebel was a penal colony.

I was enthralled by the drawing, however. It's difficult to give the ocean a personality, and illustrator Stephen Byrne's portrayal of water was fantastic. On the other hand, his portrayal of Mera was inconsistent.

Because of the terse treatment of the plot, I don't know whether or not this would best be recommend to fans of DC Comics or to people who are newbies of the DC Comics franchise. Both might be disappointed.

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Strings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great ExpectationsStrings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great Expectations by Joanne Lipman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Strings Attached is such a great teacher book and so much more. Told in alternating voices by Joanne Lippman (one of Mr. K's violin students) and Melanie Kupchynsky (Mr, K's daughter)the reader learns about their love of music, family, and the inspiration that was their teacher, Mr. K. His methods may have been unconventional but he reached his students so deeply with his love of music that they endured his craziness and bloomed as a result. This is not an easy book to read either; but one that must be read in order to feel and know what Mr. K (and his life in Lithuania during the war) stood for as a coach, father, teacher, and musician. Highly recommended- this book will be discussed in a Twitter Chat #ISTElitchat Tuesday July 21 at 8:30 EST, feel free to join in!

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Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Stupid FastStupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Geoff Herbach's Felton Reinstein is one incredible character. His voice is funny, sweet, confused and just plain nice but life has not been easy for Felton and his family. At the age of five, Felton finds his father's body after he hung himself. Felton grows up insecure with some bad advice from his mother, doctors, and not having a father figure. The summer that his best friend unexpectedly leaves to take care of his grandmother; everything goes crazy- Felton's mom agrees that he will take over his best friend's paper route; he shoots up inch by inch, eats everything in sight, starts lifting weights for football, and running. Felton meets Aleah Jennings when he drops a newspaper off at his best friend's house. Aleah is a superb piano player and likes Felton. Felton begins seeing Aleah daily and they definitely have a romantic, sweet connection. But then his mother starts acting strange, cursing, drinking, and as a final threat she stops being a mother to Felton and his little brother, Andrew. Felton doesn't want to burden anyone with his family problems and his father's suicide is always a specter that keeps chipping away at his mother, brother, and Felton. I laughed at Felton's thoughts and actions but I really felt for Felton when his family was falling apart; he didn't know what to do, how to act and he withdrew by missing lifting, practices,not seeing his friends or Aleah. What will happen to Felton is worth all the drama and laughs. Herbach's book is a recommended read, I can't wait to see what my students think, since this is a Reading Olympic book selection.

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Guru Stalking @MICCA, NECC & AASL, Oh my!

WARNING: this is a very rambling & gushy blog

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so who's goin to MICCA, NECC or AASL? anyone? if so, are you presenting? and if so, what? i wanna catch it! i'm representing Md. Digital Libraries at NECC (thanks Carol!!)...Whoohooo! sounds silly but i do so much out of pocket this is a super thrill! sure, i have to go to EVERY sesssion & report back to my peeps in my county and do some PD but no big whoop! free registration & a hotel room? score! also presenting both at MICCA & AASL in Charlotte, NC... SO excited about these upcoming conferences!! even hopefully hooking up with some of my SL educator friends moving SL into the RL with the 2.0 kinda stuff i've been doing in SL.

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other tech guru crushes: so how did i get into education in Second Life? i have no resistance to what Kathy Shrock tells me....i've been a devoted acolyte of hers since 97 she's the Aerosmith to my Wayne's World. "i'm not worthy!" other tech guru crushes: Joyce Valenza the founder of this Ning...she's SO super cool - she both inspires and exhausts me...how does she DO all she does!? i go to ALL her presentations and i leave with all kinds of enthusiasm and ideas....but she also makes me feel like a slacker, i could do MORE! LOL Will Richardson.... i'd gladly stalk him! [swoons] ....oh wait, i already do! ...going to any and all presentations he gives, sitting in the front row and filming him on my flip!! heh heh Jeff Hastings is a rockin LMS and my gadget guru and gave me permission to spread the gadget love around my state bernie dodge creator of the webquest and just a great guy! Aaron Smith...[grins] a super talented MD collegue and art teacher..don't worry, you're local...i won't stalk you, where's the challenge? but still, you do cool stuff man! gosh this whole entry sounds like one long gushing tweet...gah! LOL so, who are your ed tech heroes?
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I was surprised a few months ago by an email from the editor from Ed Tech Magazine inviting me to write a column on the role of school librarians in today's schools. It illustrated for me excatly how inter-connected we have all become. How did he come to ask me for this? A mention in David Warlick's blog following an opportunity to talk with him at dinner, prior to an all-day workshop with teachers in my school district caught his eye. Also present at dinner was the new administrator for our distirct's soon-to-be-launched online high school, and I was attempting to engage him in conversation about the need for a teacher-librarian to be a part of his staff. I am not sure I made much progress in convincing this young adminstrator to add a "cybrarian" to his staff, but perhaps my words can have an impact somewhere! Here is a link to the article. What do you think? Do school librarians have a place in an online school?
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The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22450859-the-boston-girl" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Boston Girl" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418103945m/22450859.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22450859-the-boston-girl">The Boston Girl</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/626222.Anita_Diamant">Anita Diamant</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1583167289">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I read/listened to this audiobook as part of the Hub Challenge (Amelia Bllomer YA, Top 10 List) and oh was it good. I could not stop listening to actress, Linda Lavin's beautiful retelling of her life as Addie Baum to her granddaughter. I learned so much about the 1900's in Boston as Addie was born and raised by immigrant parents from Russia who argue incessantly, the turbulence of the times with illness, death & war and the strong personality of Addie and her sister while her oldest sister has a very sensitive constitution. Addie's view of the world is humorous, honest, and forward thinking. I so enjoyed this vibrant novel; highly recommended!
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/62411-bjneary">View all my reviews</a>

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Reading like crazy!

Now that the quarter is over, my elementary school is on winter break, and all the Christmas cookies are baked; I can settle down and read all those books I have missed since September! I've read "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix, "Savvy", and am reading "House of Many Ways" by Diane Wynne Jones. I have the book "Dark as Gold", a Rumplestiltstin variation, but am looking for a few more that may be on Newbery lists. Any suggestions out there?
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The Five Stages of Andrew BrawleyThe Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book took me on many highs (his relationship with Rusty) and many lows (hiding in a hospital because he blames himself for his parents deaths). Andrew is a teen who is concealing so many things from everyone, including himself. He is gifted with pen and writes/illustrates a story about Patient F (who is really him). He has made many friends in the hospital, both staff and patients and it is his interactions with all of these people, especially Father Mike, Lexi, and Trevor that resonated most deeply with me. As he runs from himself, he learns so many things from everyone he meets in the hospital, and we are left to wonder, will Drew ever leave the hospital and what will he find in the real world?

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Troll Hunters by Daniel Krause

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20873145-trollhunters" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Trollhunters" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1433782391m/20873145.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20873145-trollhunters">Trollhunters</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2782638.Daniel_Kraus">Daniel Kraus</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1316818895">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Trollhunters  by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus<br>Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Book Group and Disney-Hyperion for the ARC,  Troll  by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus.  What a spellbinding read! Daniel Kraus has done it again, crafting a horror story where the evil doers are so disgusting, you root for Jim Sturges and his best friend, Tubby, to triumph.  Jim is a very normal teen with an overprotective dad, who suffered the loss of his brother 45 years ago as they rode bikes under a bridge.  When 190 children went missing along with his brother, Jack; Jim’s dad changed.  He outfitted their house with special locks and shutters and has had many hard and fast rules pertaining to safety for as long as Jim can remember.  As Jim and Tub suffer bullying daily at school, other kids are starting to disappear again.  Only now is Jim beginning to believe there really are monsters under his bed and under bridges.  When Jim is called upon to save the missing kids, his lady love and his town; will he be able to muster the courage to be a trollhunter by night?  Can he be  a trollhunter fighting evil beside his 13 year old Uncle Jack and other disgusting monsters?  Teens will love this illustrated, scary book and will want to read more, more, more; I hope a series is in the works!  Highly recommended for those who love horror, building tension, thrilling plot twists and fierce characters.<br>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/62411-bjneary">View all my reviews</a>

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The Comic Book Story of Video Games by Jonathan Hennessey and Jack Mcgowan, published by Ten Speed Press, publication date October 3, 2017.

This is my first non-fiction review, so be gentle on me :o)

I'll begin by saying how surprisingly interesting I found the subject to be; I intended to read this to see if my high school Manga-loving students would like this. I've decided that, even if they wouldn't, the robotics-, engineering-, and coding-type gamers would! There were so many interesting factoids in the telling of this history. (I'm tempted to leak a few to you here, but I wouldn't want a spoiler alert tagged to this review.) Suffice it to say, that in 181 pages of story, I annotated 24 or so places with 'interesting factoid.'

The vocabulary might be a bit elevated for some high schoolers, but those with an interest in this topic will probably glean or look up the meanings of the unknown terms; it doesn't happen often enough to turn off a reader. There were a few places where I felt a chronological disconnect to the unfolding of the history, almost as if the author thought the relevance of a fact was more important in deciding its placement than pure chronology; if only that were always the case... at least twice I needed to reread sections because I thought I had 'missed' something, but rereading didn't clarify the information placements. Still, it was historical, so I tried just to absorb the significance of the information without the need to strictly enforce the chronology.

The storytelling depends heavily on Moore's Law without ever explaining it. (see http://www.wired.co.uk/article/wired-explains-moores-law if you, too, don't know Moore's law.) There were also a few places where I would have liked to have been told the source of the information being touted as fact since I practice a healthy skepticism of weighted adjectives that appear alongside data.

The distractions described were fairly minor to my overall enjoyment of the history of video games (hint: my first personal awareness of video gaming coincides with page 87 or so). I thoroughly enjoyed the many pop culture, political, and historical gaming evolutionary connections the author made throughout the story. Psychology, marketing, politics, war, engineering, computers, electricity, culture... the author included something with which a multitude of readers could engage. (Simply put: something for everyone.)

My enjoyment was OBVIOUSLY enhanced by the clever, detailed, and engaging drawings in this graphic novel. At least twice I full-stopped reading just to appreciate the humor and allusions the drawing provided to heighten the experience. The pictures were not merely embellishments; they sometimes were the story! Some of the best pictures were enough to jog my memory, explain something new, or complete a written explanation. [Note: The cover doesn't do the inside any justice.]

I'm looking forward to recommending this title to my non-fiction readers as well as my computer, gaming, coding, and Manga-ing students (and teachers!)

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Treasures Just Waiting To Be Discovered

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Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.-Chinese Proverb

This year I have been included in a special group of Alabama School Librarians from my region to learn ways to improve our school libraries from each other and master teachers, Sandra Hornig and Anita Meadows. 

This past week we learned how to use VoiceThread.  Ridgecrest Elementary School Librarian, Jamin Ellis, started a fantastic VoiceThread designed for School Librarians to share how they have designed interactive areas in their school libraries for students and/or teachers.  

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Share treasured ideas from your library by adding to this VoiceThread! http://voicethread.com/share/2835776/

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Pay It Forward!

The Flat Classroom™ Projects are global, collaborative projects which focus on the use of Web 2.0 tools to foster connections, communications, collaborations and creations. These award winning, international, wiki-centric projects include the Flat Classroom™ project, the NetGenEd™ Project, the Eracism Project™, the Horizon project, and Digiteen™ all founded by Julie Lindsay,  E-Learning Coordinator at Beijing (BISS) International School, China and Victoria Davis, teacher and the IT director at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia.  These two ladies are the cofounders of the Flat Classroom Conference, which convened in Beijing, China during the past two years in February. Currently running are these international projects:
All three projects need Expert Advisors and Judges right now.  Expert Advisors are a group of "experts" who have agreed to leave feedback for the teams during this project.
  • Each expert is asked to take at least two times to read and leave feedback on the main wiki page of the group on the discussion tab of the page.
  • Your job is to provide feedback and point out resources to the team. You are an "advisor." Please join our diigo group and your bookmarks will be sent to the groups. If you're not sure of what a term is, they align to the Flatteners assigned to each team and from Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat.

Judges come up with awards for multimedia artifacts as listed on the Awards wiki page decided using the prepared rubrics in combination with an online form. Expert Advisors are committing about an hour total and judges are also committing about an hour total.
Judges are assembling and choosing topic(s) to judge right now at -> http://flatclassroom11-1.flatclassroomproject.org/Judges
If you have any concerns please contact me.
Thanks!
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job open in Geneva CH

International School of GenevaGeneva, SwitzerlandSeeks for beginning January 2009HEAD LIBRARIAN/LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTThe library media specialist has a working knowledge of child development, teaching strategies and learning styles and is responsible for helping students develop the knowledge, skills, and attitude to become effective, self-directed, life-long learners. The successful candidate will model the IB learner profile, possess exceptional communication and interpersonal competencies, and demonstrate technological and problem solving abilities. We are looking for a bilingual English/French librarian who is able to collaboratively plan, implement and evaluate research and information literacy within the curriculum with teachers. Training or experience working in an IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) school would be an advantage. This post carries a Level 1 responsibility allowance. Qualified applicants who are available to start January 2009 will be given priority; however, we will also receive applications for availability starting September 2009.Please address your applications to the Primary School Principal, Mrs. Maggie Lopez and email your letter of application to ines.wingate@ecolint.ch before 3rd October 2008.www.ecolint.ch
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