After he finished, and I collected the testing material, I struck up a conversation by commenting how Linus was my favorite. I then asked this student who was his favorite character in Peanuts.

The boy just looked at me.

“Do you like Charlie Brown, or maybe you’re a Snoopy fan?” I persisted.

The boy said he doesn’t know who is Charlie Brown or Snoopy.

I thought he was kidding, or maybe mistaken.

“You know Snoopy is that cute white beagle with the black spot and big floppy ears” I reminded him. I started to feel desperate.

Blank.

After this sad conversation, I kept thinking about this boy. He was born and raised here in the US. He doesn’t know Charlie Brown or Snoopy.  What happened?

Now you know I’m not saying everyone has to know Charlie Brown, or any particular comic strip for that matter. What disturbs me is that this boy seems to lack general background knowledge.

Maybe the test-writers need to select passages about topics that are more contemporary. I don’t know.

But what I DO know is parents need to wake up and smell the coffee. Parents, YOU are your child’s first teacher!  You MUST make time to read to your children and to talk with them.

Can’t afford to buy books and things? No problem! A library card is free, and so are all the resources at your public library.

Don’t have time? Then MAKE TIME. Do you honestly think I have time to read with my grandson after school? I work all day, and then come home to cook and clean and work some more. I remember falling asleep sometimes while supervising his homework and/or reading. That’s how tired I am after work.

There is no substitute for parental involvement. Parents (grand parent, legal guardian, whoever) must interact with their children in order to build a rich wealth of background knowledge. This “background knowledge” will act like a magnet for all the academic knowledge his/her teacher will impart later in the classroom. It’s true. I know. I’ve seen this work, and it’s amazing.

A few months ago I visited one of my favorite museums here in New York City.  The Met is home to so many exhibits and galleries. There is something there for everyone.

One of my favorite galleries at the Met is of the Ancient Near Eastern Art. There are seven galleries designated for  Ancient Near Eastern Art.

The photo you see above is a silver and gold rhyton in the form of a stag. A rhyton is a ceremonial drinking vessel used in ancient times.

I recently used the resources from the Met’s website to help my 6th grade students learn about ancient Mesopotamia.  We worked on our wiki at http://mesopotamia80x.wikispaces.com/.

“How many times do I have to tell you to click the PRINT button just once?!”

This is my (screeching)  mantra at the end of each school year.

My students come to the library to research, write, and the PRINT their research papers.

Today one particularly impatient young lady  printed out almost an entire ream because she thought the printer wasn’t working.

oops.

No, this is not about resetting the printers so that I can control what gets printed and when. I don’t have time for that. I’m a librarian, not a photocopy clerk.

I already know how to go paperless. I AM paperless. I love my Google Docs and my notepad app on my iPhone. The only paper you’ll find in my purse is gum wrapper.

What I need to do is learn how to sell this paperless idea to my staff.  This summer I’m going to figure out how to sell this to my already stressed-out and over-worked teachers.  I welcome any advice from my readers.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Lately I’ve been reading The emperor of all maladies: a biography of cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee.  It’s been a fascinating read, especially in light of my mother’s current battle with cancer.

Mukherjee‘s broad treatment of the history of cancer includes a few chapters of Sidney Farber, who championed the research of the use of chemicals to treat cancer, especially leukemia. The use of chemicals, now referred to as chemotherapy, was unheard of in the 1940s.  In 1948 Farber published a paper which described his use of chemicals to treat leukemia. His paper was received by the medical world “with skepticism, disbelief, and outrage.”

I write this not as a book review. I don’t review books.  I write this because Farber was a practitioner who believed in his work with every fiber in his body. With the publication of his findings, Farber ….”was throwing down a gauntlet for cancer medicine. It was then up to an entire generation of doctors and scientist to pick it up.”  

He was one brave and very determined man. It’s not hard to imagine the sneers and jeers he must have received.  He not only stood up to doctors and scientists (they can be a feisty lot), but he challenged everyone with his amazing discovery.

His determination and strength impress me enough to post on my dusty blog.  As school librarians, we have to push ahead with strength and determination…in spite of some teachers’ eye-rolling and resistance.     

I’m not sure what next year’s budget axe will bring. I might not even have a job.

But I’m going to do my best to remember Farber’s willpower in the coming months.  And if do still have a school librarian position next year, I’m going to remember Farber’s fearless determination. I hope you will too.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

newsweek illustration by matt mahurin

Last week I read an interesting article in Newsweek about brain freeze.  No, this is not about what happens when you chug a large cherry Slushie. The kind of brain freeze we’re talking about here refers to what happens when too much information paralyzes your ability to make good decisions.  In her article, Sharon Begley discusses research findings that suggest how information overload “… can lead to objectively poorer choices, and to choices that people quickly regret.”

     Begley refers to Joanne Cantor’s  book Conquer Cyber Overload (2009) when she states, “Especially online, it is so much easier to look for more and more information than sit back and think about how it fits together.”    

 When I read that last statement, a little light bulb popped in my head.   As a middle school librarian, I see my students do just that. When they go online to research, they are trying to swim the dog paddle in an ocean of information. Some kids will just search and search and search and search some more. They forget what they’re searching. Even worse, some of my students will give up and resort to gazing at Google Images.  

This is why we need librarians, especially school librarians.

 As school librarians, it’s imperative we teach our students how to navigate the Internet.  If our students don’t have the skills to do this, they will drown in information. It’s so easy for our students to just copy and paste anything, rather than analyze and synthesize information and to  ”…think about how it fits together.”      

What do you think?

Thank you for stopping by this blog!

I thought I would be satisfied with my little ol’ eReader app on my iPhone. The iPhone fits very nicely in my pocket and in my purse. The iPhone is my go-to device. I can read books, keep notes, browse the Internet, and call for my Chinese food delivery.

But I’m slowly going blind. Reading on my beloved iPhone is hard on the eyes.

So this brings me back to the Kindle or Nook dilemma.

The REAL dilemma here is this: How am I supposed to juggle more than one device??  I just don’t want to deal with a Kindle (or Nook) AND my iPhone. It’s just too much.

If I get an iPad, I can use it to read my eBooks and do all sorts of fun stuff. The iPad is a great device, but it weighs 1.6 lbs and is almost 10 inches in height. I don’t think I want that in my purse.

Enter the Galaxy Tab.

This particular tab weighs just 13 ounces and is only 7 inches in height. It weighs less and is smaller than the iPad.

If you think I’m splitting hairs between the iPad and the Tab, consider this: In my purse I carry house and car keys, make-up, iPhone, a fat wallet, and maybe a banana or apple. Those ounces add up. And I had shoulder surgery 2 years ago.

I’m giving myself until April before I decide which device to get. By then I should have my tax refund check in hand.

That weighs less than an ounce.

Happy New Year!

Today is a great day to use my virtual dust buster and clear the cobwebs off my neglected blogs.

With so many hurdles and setbacks in my personal life last year, I’ve fallen off the blogging horse.

It’s time to saddle up.

I’ve finally realized it’s not all about writing something interesting or new. With so many great blogging friends, I can’t possibly think of anything that hasn’t already been posted somewhere else. Instead, it’s about staying connected with other great and awesome people through THEIR blogs.

Now before I make an impossible list of New Year resolutions, I’m going to start small. Thanks to some wise words from “Virtual Dave” Lankes, I’m going to try something positive every day.

So for this New Year, I resolve to read and comment on more blogs.

Happy New Year, and thanks for stopping by!

source: http://www.usi.edu/distance/bdt.htm

As I teach, reflect, and teach some more, I need to keep one eye (a very tired eye) on how my students are learning.

Some questions I have right now:

Are my students learning? How do I know?

How can I push my students to get beyond understanding?

Are my teachers learning? How can they learn (and apply) if we all don’t have equitable access to technology?

Am I learning?

If we’re not learning, what can I do to remedy the situation?

How do we stay focused when there is SO much information?

What on earth is on top of this pyramid? I better go find out!

Thank you for stopping by!

Did you know that the Beach Boys performed a concert in Prague, Csechoslovakia in the summer of 1969? It was during the Cold War.

Did you know that it was Winston Churchill who coined the term, the “Iron Curtain”, in reference to the Berlin Wall?

Did you know that the tense 40-year standoff when the United States and the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons is called the Cold War?

Did you know that the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall November 9, 1989?

Did you know that I have a small souvenir chunk of the Berlin Wall in a shoe box somewhere?

I rediscovered all this history NOT by reading a social studies textbook.  Instead I picked up these nuggets of history by reading a picture book. A PICTURE BOOK.

A few weeks ago I read this memoir by Peter Sis: The wall: growing up behind the iron wall. It’s a picture book. For kids.  A fabulously-illustrated picture book of growing up in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War.  I’m not going to provide you with a book review. Believe me, it’s good. Go ahead and read it.

As I was reading it, I was aware of the teeth-gnashing over the recent NYTimes article about the decline of picture books.  The article cites two factors:  a sluggish economy, and parents who are encouraging their very young children to read chapter books.

Well okay, the economy is horrible. My copy of The wall costs $18.00. And I didn’t buy it. I borrowed it from my library. The library is a wonderful source of FREE books. The only time I shell out my hard-earned money at the library is when I return stuff late.

What really concerns me is how some parents/caretakers are so misinformed. They actually think they need to thrust a chapter book into the hands of very young children just because it has more words.  These parents/caretakers obviously haven’t read The wall by Peter Sis. This book can be read aloud to children, and still be enjoyed by the adult. Peter Sis’ memoir is presented on two levels: On one level, young children can enjoy the illustrations and simple text. The adult reader (I think I fall into this category) can enjoy the detailed informative text that appears on the periphery.

What also concerns me was this comment from the article, “By first grade, when the kids go to pick out their books, they ask where the chapter books are. They’re just drawn to them.”

Well OF COURSE first graders are “drawn” to chapter books! Chapter books have that alluring grown-up appeal that little children just can’t resist.

But that doesn’t make it right.

If anything, many too-young children will get frustrated and bored by wordy chapter books.

My 5-year-old grandson really wants to watch iCarly on TV, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready for it (he better stick to Dinosaur Train and Curious George).

I hope that if anyone reads this blog post, you will consider steering your young (and not-so-young) readers toward picture books. If you are unsure which picture books to read, ask your librarian, or refer to the Caldecott list of award-winning picture books.