TEACHERNINJA

Moving Day!

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 16:59:00 +0000

I'm ending this blog and beginning another.

I go by @library_jim on Twitter and library_jim on Goodreads (to distinguish myself from other Jims) and I'm starting a new project with a separate blog, so it seemed a good time to start a new personal blog called Library Jim.

The new project is the one mentioned below, Sword & Laser Kids. That is where I will post about science fiction and fantasy books for pre-K through YA but an emphasis on middle grade readers (3rd through 8th).

Library Jim will be my personal blog for whatever else I want to write about including, but not limited to life as a school librarian, my geeky interests, my funny family, photos I take, videos, and of course the grown up books I'm reading. I follow the Sword & Laser online book club as well as the Guys Who Read book club in real life. And now I'll be doing my own mini-book clubs with kids to get their responses on science fiction and fantasy for S&L Kids.

So if you were following this blog for kids book reviews, I would change your feed reader to following Sword and Laser Kids and do sign up for the Goodreads Group! I'm very excited about this project.

If you were following me for other book reviews and the other random geeky stuff I have been posting about, including my job as a school librarian, then switch your feeds to follow Libray Jim.

Thanks so much for following this blog and all your comments. I hope to keep up with you in one of the other two venues.

As always...keep on reading!

Introducing my new site for geeky parents and kids!

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 18:23:00 +0000

logo & name used w/permission

Okay, I thought about it and with much help and encouragement from the friendly folks over at the Sword & Laser Goodreads forum, I have indeed set up my own separate Goodreads group and even a website to go with it.

Introducing the Sword& Laser Kids site and Goodreads Group.

From now on you can go there for monthly discussions of science fiction and fantasy books for kids.

Read, comment, ask questions, tell all your geeky friends with kids and join me on this new journey.

Thanks to Sean Sandulak for the altered S&L artwork, to Rob for the help setting up the Goodreads forum, and especially to Tom & Veronica for creating such an inspiring mini-media empire in Sword & Laser.

Feedback on S&L Kids

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 13:04:00 +0000

logo & name used with permission

Over on the Sword & Laser Goodreads group, the forum link I set up for my S&L Kids project has gotten some good feedback.

The first suggestion was, since S&L is a podcast, why don't I do a podcast as well? Okay then, I'll give it a shot! For next month I made a list of possible titles and am going to round up a student or two to discuss the book with. I have no idea how this will go but will try it and see what happens.

The other suggestion was to set up our own separate Goodreads group fo S&L Kids. The person who suggested it said something about how their kids would love it. Well, hmmm. I'll have to think about that one. When I first conceived of this, it was for SF/Fantasy loving parents wanting help and suggestions in the raising of young geeklings. But yeah, a group all to itself sounds cool. The problem right now is that I don't know anything about that and need to investigate it further. Ideally it would have the same bookclub/podcast format as the real S&L but I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to that. Let me figure out the podcast thing first, see how that goes, then in a couple of months I'll revisit the Goodreads group thing. Great suggestion though and it sounds fun.

Keep the feedback coming!

Thanks.

How We Watch TV Now

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 17:42:00 +0000

I guess we're called "cord cutters" but we just kind of evolved into it. When my daughter was young, we had the most basic cable package, a basic TiVo and a Netflix subscription to get movies through the mail. It wasn't part of a plan, but I especially liked how my daughter wasn't growing up being pummeled by too many commercials.

When HD televisions came down in price, we got a flatscreen and switched to the cable company's (inferior but cheaper) DVR. Netflix also started their streaming service and we got a Blu-Ray player that streamed some services like that. As we got to like the Netflix (and Amazon Prime) streaming, in an attempt to both watch less TV and cut monthly costs, we got rid of both the cable and phone and just went with cells and streaming (and the discs in the mail).

The streaming wasn't always reliable, though, so on the advice of a techie friend I upgraded my wifi router and got a Roku 3. Dude, it's awesome. NOW we're cooking on the streaming and it even has Youtube, so that's cool.

In a jerk move, the cable company cut off the local broadcasting we were still getting from the physical cable attached to the TV. So after poking around on The Google and some advice from various places, most notably Tekzilla, I tried one of these antennas. The HD with this thing actually looks better than it did with the cable!

So we primarily stream from Netflix, Amazon, PBS and Youtube on the Roku box. We can watch regular network and PBS and even a local 24 hour weather feed off of the antenna. I also have a cable so if we miss a show and it's somewhere online, I can connect my laptop to my big TV and watch it that way.

The only weird thing is there's no longer a way to record anything. I miss that TiVo but it seems silly to pay $15 a month when we only get a handful of channels. If we miss something we just have to find it some other way or wait for the DVD.

All in all, though, I enjoy this way of watching because there's way less commercials and you have to actively choose what you want to watch. Much less mindless flipping.

This would, however, not be a good situation for sports fans.

The only show we can't get without cable and are too impatient to wait for on DVD is Mythbusters. So we pay for that one on Amazon. If you're a Prime member and pay up front for the whole season it's only around $20 (depending on the number of episodes). Since we all enjoy it and watch them more than once it seems worth it and is still cheaper than paying for cable.

So we pay Netflix $14.99 a month for the discs and $7.99 a month for the streaming. Some people I know just get the streaming and pay another $8.99 for Hulu Plus which is for those who enjoy streaming more recent shows. We just don't follow enough current shows to go for that one. And we rent or buy the occasional thing on Amazon. All in all, way less than cable and we're happy.

So if you are someone who likes entertainment but doesn't have to keep up with certain shows and you don't like you're kids bombarded with commercials you might consider some of these options.

How do you watch TV? Let me know in the comments.

Sword & Laser Kids February: Rump

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 13:45:00 +0000

The first fantasy pick for S&L Kids is Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff.

Here's the publisher's summary:

In a magic kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone's joke. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold. His best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse.
To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls, poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship—and a cheeky sense of humor—he just might triumph in the end.

If you're going to join the ever-popular fractured fairy tale genre then you gotta bring something new to the table and it's probably best if you don't go for one of the most well-known characters. I don't know how "new" this is but she definitely nails the character choice. If you don't know the story of Rumpelstiltskin by heart, refresh yourself here. The original doesn't really make a lick of sense but it's appropriately creepy, that's for sure.

I thought this was going to be a defense from the baddy type of thing, like Scieszka's perfectly realized The True Story of the Three Little Pigs in which we get the Big Bad Wolf's winking and smirking testimony of "innocence." But no, Shurtliff decides to go the route of the actually innocent and maligned narrator. She's redeeming this poor misunderstood character. It's a mite earnest but well done.

Rump's mother dies in childbirth and only gets out the partial name of "Rump..." before passing away. He knows there's more to his name but he's stuck with "Rump" until he can figure out what to do. He goes to live with his grandmother and is undernourished on top of everything else so is small for his age.

All the elements of the original tale are there. The spinning of the gold, the greedy miller and his dippy daughter, etc. I like how she makes this ability of his a curse and with it comes the need for a bargain. You have to offer Rump something for him to spin the gold. But the catch is, you can offer him whatever you like. You could offer him an old apple core and he'd have to do it. "It's not like you have to offer me your first born or anything," he jokes to the frantic and humorless miller's daughter one fateful night.

It's a fun genre and Shurtliff has fun with it. I especially like the trolls. You know all about trolls, right? They're big, scary, lurk around at night and like to eat people. Except when he meets them, Rump finds out this is just a bunch of misinformation the trolls themselves have been cultivating so they can be left alone.

Most people on Goodreads like it. Laura G. says, "Liesl Shurtliff has woven a fantastic and intricate backstory behind Rumpelstiltskin's presumably abhorrent behavior and precisely how he got his strange name. Interesting (and impressive) indeed!" Kyle K. says, "Too often books based on old stories get lost in trying to take themselves too seriously. Ms. Shurtliff has fun, and that is why I REALLY enjoyed Rump The True Story of Rumpelstilskin." And Kristen J. says, "It deserves a place on every library shelf, bookstore and in the hands of every child who loves not only a great story, but a new twist on a fairy tale they grew up loving. And just maybe they will learn by heart the best advice the story can give: “Watch your step.”"

Not everyone is a complete fan of course. Kat H. says, "I found myself beginning to skim the story about half-way through. The plot began to meander, and the voice seemed to subtly change. It started off feeling original and clever, but that got lost somewhere along the line. That said, the characterization was good throughout. And I really like the pixies and the trolls. I'm sure there will be a lot of kids who enjoy this book because of the adventure and some of the silly and fun things throughout. While I wasn't blown away, I thought it was a decent read and would recommend parents give it a try for older elementary and younger middle school age kids."

Kat used the word "contrived" at some point in her review but hey, this is a fractured fairy tale we're dealing with here! Of course it's contrived! She's right that the characterization is Shurtliff's strongest suit in this first novel. In a note the author tells how she had to come to terms with her own odd name as a child and the teasing that ensued. She definitely seems to have connected with her protagonist.

I had to read this as one of the nominations for our district's Reader's Rally. I was on the committee to choose next year's titles and I'm happy to say this one made the list. It's going to be a treat for our readers and I look forward to more books from this author. According to her Goodreads page, she has one coming out in 2015 called Jack. Another fractured fairy tale? Probably.

image used with permission

Sword & Laser Kids

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:41:00 +0000

imaged used with permission

I'm going to start a new feature here on the blog called Sword & Laser Kids. Sword & Laser is an online book club and podcast dedicated to science fiction and fantasy. They have a vibrant discussion group over on Goodreads and every so often there are questions on the forum concerning kids books in the genres. I've actually met the hosts at Dragon Con and asked for permission to something like this and was given the okay.

It's been rolling around in the back of my head how best to go about this. Right now I don't have the time for a video or audio show (even though I'm sure I could pull it off and still might someday). I thought about starting a thread in the forum but wasn't sure how to begin with that. So I've finally decided to write posts on the blog which I will link to on Goodreads, G+, Twitter, etc. and we'll see how that goes.

The official S&L show picks a different SF or Fantasy book each month, rotating the genres month to month. Tom is the Laser guy and Veronica is the Sword lady. I'll do the same. Fantasy for February, SF for March, etc. I will primarily be discussing books for kids from K-8 with only the occasional YA book. This is because I'm an elementary school librarian and also YA is getting plenty of exposure right now.

I plan on covering some "classics" (Harry Potter, Ender's Game) and new stuff the kids are excited about (Land of Stories), and things I just think are generally good books for the acre and feeding of the young geek mind.

Now I'll try to stick to the every other month SF/Fantasy schedule but there is a lot more Fantasy than SF for this age group. I might be stretching the genre definition pretty thin some months and may even cross over into geeky science nonfiction at times for the Laser months.

In the spirit of the whole book club thing I'll try to grab other people's views from reviews posted online and even some comments from my own students. And of course, as always, your questions and comments are very much encouraged.

Does Your School Have a BLT?

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 16:23:00 +0000

The first time we had a BLT meeting at my new school they had to come get me because I didn't know I supposed to go. I didn't even know what BLT stood for. I know I'm on the ILT (Instructional Leadership Team) and I'm on the Technology/Media Team and Committee but...BLT?

Well, I'm not afraid to ask stupid questions so I said, "Sorry I"m late...um, what does BLT stand for anyway?"

Building Leadership Team! It's the administrators, the principal's assistant, a counselor, me and the tech lady, the head custodian, the cafeteria manager, and the bookkeeper.

It may sound boring but it's one of the things that makes this school way better than others I've worked in. We meet every couple of weeks, go over everything on the calendar and make sure we all know what's happening, how we can help and anything to be aware of. It's all the minor logistical stuff that can often fall through the cracks. We discuss things like the best time for a fire drill, what room to use for certain events, what equipment or personnel will be needed, etc.

It's a short meeting and never revelatory or anything but way less things fall through the cracks here. If you don't have something like it at your schoolI highly recommend trying to set one up. Even if they don't know what BLT stands for, everyone will be glad you did.

I Feel Guilty Because We're Home, Safe and Warm with Full Teacups and Kindles

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:29:00 +0000

Not so for much of the Atlanta Metro area. My Lovely Bride and I have been debating which is worse. Having to spend the night in your car on the highway or overnight at a school full of kids. She says the car since cars don't cry and whine. I say school because I've been stuck in traffic for many hours but can't imagine doing it over night in sub-freezing temperatures.

Thankfully, we don't have to test our theory because we were lucky enough not to have to endure either situation. Stay safe everyone.

My library book-buying strategy and a Bigfoot story

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 13:17:00 +0000

I buy things people want to check out and read. Sounds simple, no?

But seriously, some school librarians buy things because they get awards or good reviews or are classics. I'm not saying I don't buy those kinds of books, but I don't buy them because of those attributes. I buy them because someone asks me to or because I know someone (usually more than one) who will want to check it out.

I don't get a lot of money to buy books, so to get the biggest bang for the buck I make sure I'm getting things people (be they students or teachers) want.

I have a page on my library website where anyone can make a request. I also add things to my "consideration file" when I hear someone is looking for something we don't have (or don't have enough of) and I add it to the list. Sometimes it's a specific title. Sometimes it's "more superhero books."

This strategy has led to some very happy patrons. I actually get hugs and thank yous on days I put out new books. Sometime back a young man and I were discussing his obsession with the imaginary creature known as Bigfoot. He, of course, believes it to be real. No matter, I added some new cryptid titles to my list and they came in recently. I brought the new Sasquatch book over to him and he just stood there looking at it and quivering. I was about half way across the library when he regained the power of speech and yelled, "I love you!"

I yelled back, "I love you too, man!"

That's how I pick library books.

TBR Dare and reading update

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 17:58:00 +0000

Remember when I said there are better book bloggers? One of my favorites is Ready When You Are, C.B. who is hosting the Triple Dog TBR Dare.

[edit: James has a new blog at jamesreadsbooks.com because of Blogger feed issues but is still hosting the TBR Dare at the link above.]

I'm not one for reading challenges because as soon as I lock myself into a fixed list I'm not happy. There's a reason he calls it a "dare" rather that a "challenge." It's shorter than most of the year-long challenges and you've already created the list yourself. It's your To Be Read list or pile or shelf. And while you're locked into a list, it's one of your own making and you can choose how you go about it. When I started participating in this challenge a few years back, I had over a hundred titles on my TBR list. I'm always adding and deleting but this has kept me focused on it and now it's under 50 titles in as long as I can remember.

The thing about the challenge is that you can still buy books and I make exceptions for book club books, but you just don't read anything other than what you've already bought or had on your list for a while. It's a great way to clear the decks for the rest of the year and deal with some ever-present reader guilt. If you do it right, when April comes around you feel happy and proud and can't wait to tear into some new books!

Since January 1 I've only finished two book. The first was A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson ( a re-read for me and part of my book club) and Terry Pratchett's The Light Fantastic. That one is part of the Discworld series. I read his and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens a couple years back and loved it. Our book club did Guards! Guards! some time back and I loved it. Then last year there was a sale on the first few Discworld books for the Kindle and I snapped them up, This one is really a continuation of the story from the first book, The Color of Magic.

Now you may think it is weird we read book 8 in a 40 book series for the book club. But you have to imagine the Discworld series as if J.K. Rowling wrote the first seven Harry Potter novels, then wrote a handful of books about the dragon trainers in northern Europe, then a few books about the ghosts, then maybe some Ministry of Magic books and maybe a series about Neville Longbottom and called them all "the Hogwarts Novels." They'd all take place in the same universe, but they're really different characters and stories. So book 8 is the first book in a continuing series about the City Watch guards and it's hilarious. A great place to start and know if you enjoy this kind of Douglas Adams/Monty Python-type of funny and bitingly satirical fantasy. The first two books are earlier works, so not quite as tightly written and while I quite enjoyed them, I think book 8 is probably a better place to try the Discworld on and see if you like it there. I did, so I'm going to go read them all. Eventually.

Help Some Friends Become Parents

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 14:30:00 +0000

Another awesome guy in my book club is Eric. Eric and his wife are both awesome. They would make great parents and are now planning to adopt. Adopting is EXPENSIVE. If you have any coins rattling around at the bottom of a coffee can throw them his way. Some of his buddies have set up an indigogo site fundraising site and there's only a few days left. Seeing all the kids I do with only fair-to-middling parents? And knowing some great, happy adopted kids? And knowing Eric? Well, I just now this is money well spent. He will parent the heck out of that kid and be an amazing dad.

Thanks.

Alan Thornton, Everyone...

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 13:52:00 +0000

Yesterday when I mentioned the guy Alan at my book club who reminded me I have a blog and that once in a great while some people even read it? That was the musician, computer expert, and master hat stylist Alan Thornton. Check out his ukulele stylings on youtube here and follow him on G+. He's always sharing great music over there.

Hey, I Have A Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 17:21:00 +0000

I almost forgot. In fact, I think I was pretty much done with this until someone brought it up to me last night.

I was at our monthly Guys Who Read book club. We were finishing our discussion of Bill Bryson's delightful A Short History of Nearly Everything and looking ahead to next month's pick, Patrick DeWitt's wonderful The Sisters Brothers. Someone asked who chose it and Alan raised his hand and said he did from reading my review way back when. He'd read it on my recommendation and picked it for the book club this year. So here was this table of guys nodding their heads and thinking I have a blog.

Little do they know that I've barely blogged this year. There are a number of reasons for this. I don't have a clerk at school, so I'm way too busy most days to even think about it. I used to get to school early and have a bit of time to myself and I used to sometimes use that time to write a post. No more. At my new school we're on an earlier schedule so when I get here it's go go go right away. I rarely have a sit down lunch and after school I'm knackered. I don't have much time at home because when I'm home I like to be with my girls and read.

I also don't always feel I have much to say. There are so many better book bloggers. There are so many better librarian bloggers. It's so much easier to share stuff quickly on Twitter. (Of course I don't post much there, either. I tend to use it like I did my feed reader.)

But! Who cares, right? This is my little 40 acres of the 'net and I can do whatever I want with it. If I had to do it all over I'd probably start a more general purpose blog about everything I was interested in and not make it just about education or books or whatever. So I wouldn't call it "teacherninja" for crying out loud. But I'm stuck with the name and I am a librarian in an elementary school, so it kinda fits as long as I post some library-ish thing once in a while I suppose.

Anyway, I guess this is me saying I remember I have a blog and now I will try to brainstorm some post ideas and keep you up to date on whatever it is I'm thinking about. I'll have to figure out a schedule so I can set aside certain times to write or I'll never do it.

Some possible posts in the not too distant future:

Bill Bryson's book and the book club meetings
We got a puppy for crying out loud
The TBR TRIPLE Dog Dare is going on!
I just registered for the 45th GA Children's Book Award Conference
I'm leading an interesting Reader's Rally quiz show team
I was on the committee that picked the Reader's Rally books for next year
Other stuff I've read, seen , listened to
The continuing adventures of reading aloud with the kid
That dang puppy and all her crap
The funny stuff I see in this job of mine
Anything else you want to know about...

Until then...stay tuned.

Guys Read 2014

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 17:20:00 +0000

The Guys Who Read book club met Thursday night at the lovely Marley House in Decatur. We had a great discussion of Walter Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz then hashed out a list of next year's picks. These are not yet in reading order but these are the books we'll be discussing over the next year. Should be fun.

Ready Player One - Cline - 384 pages

Longitude - Sobol - 208 pages ($2.99 for Kindle)

Bridge of Birds - Hughart - 288 pages (paperback is $7.99 or you can get the whole trilogy on Kindle for $9.99)

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bryson - 544 pages

Sisters Brothers - DeWitt - 336 pages

The Right Stuff - Wolfe - 371 pages

The Lies of Locke Lamora - Lynch - 736 pages

Fun Home - Bechdel - 232 pages

Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk - Fountain - 320 pages (it's $1.99 for Kindle right now!)

Heat - Buford - 336 pages

Gilgamesh - Ferry (or other edition) - 96 pages

Born Standing Up - Martin - 208 pages

October 31

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 21:12:00 +0000

I know it's Halloween everywhere else, but at our school it's "Dress for Success Day." We can't dress up for Halloween but we can dress up for a Career Day-type of theme, right? A few weeks ago when this idea was floated at a leadership meeting I said, "You know, I would be the kind of kid who would say, 'Well I want to be an actor when I grow up. An actor in ZOMBIE MOVIES! Bwa Ha Ha!'"

The rest of the staff groaned and remarked that there's always one like me in a class. Always one.

Not a Review of Doug Johnson's book The Indispensable Librarian

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 17:24:00 +0000

If you are even passingly familiar with school libraries you already know Doug Johnson. You follow his Blue Skunk Blog, you read his articles and columns. And if you are a school librarian, you may have even had the opportunity to delve into one of his always relevant and pragmatic books on the profession.

One of these books, The Indispensable Librarian, has been rewritten and completely revised since it's first edition back in 1997. Library Media Connection says, "This is a book that belongs in school library collections for frequent reference--and even more in the hands of administrators whose vision of the possibilities inherent in a school library might just be approaching the twenty-first century."

Doug graciously included this little backwater blog on his list of recommended sites for his publisher to send copies for review. It's quite an honor actually.

Unfortunately I do not have a review for you at this time. The publisher ABC-CLIO sent me an email granting me reviewer access to an online version of the text. I can see how that might be preferable to sending out physical copies both for the publishers and the reviewers. It would save money for publishers and it would save a ton of shelf space for frequent reviewers.

In this case, however, it just did not work for me. I'm not fond of lengthy reading on my computer. I do have access to an iPad Mini so thought that would be the perfect choice. I'd open my email from the publisher, punch the link to the book, log in and begin reading. It wasn't full screen, but I could adjust it a bit and it was mostly fine. The problem was, I have a life outside of reading and I had no idea just how much I am interrupted in a typical reading session. You don't think about it with a physical book or even an e-reader, but I'm often setting it down to answer the phone or listen to a funny story from my daughter or to go grab a snack or go pee or whatever. Every single time I would do this and come back the session would be timed out and I'd have to go back to the email and start over. To make it worse, it wouldn't come back where I left off. I'd have to know which chapter or section I was on, find it and scroll down. This led to a LOT of re-reading before I figured out where I left off. Eventually I had a piece of paper I'd write down where I was leaving off before stopping. But after not too long of a time I became frustrated with this process and gave up.

From what I read and from other reviews (from those apparently smarter than I at getting to read thing) I can tell you that this is, once again, an excellent book that is not only good but needed in the current ever-changing climate of school librarianship.

As for the delivery method of the review copy? I'd have to say it needs work.

Fall Book Fair

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 19:05:00 +0000

Yup, it's that time of year again. We're having our fall book fair to coincide with parent/teacher conference week. One little girl was so excited, she said, "I've been waiting for this for my whole life!"

The guy delivered the cases earlier in the week. It's literally double the size of stuff from my old school. And this time I have plenty of help. Before it was just me and the the clerk and maybe one volunteer once in a while. Now I'm clerkless, but there's a whole wing of the PTA for this kind of thing. They've set up a snack bar in the conference room and a website to sign up for register shifts and they write me little notes recommending restocks and the like. It's been going swimmingly.

The only bit of friction has come from my differing attitude towards the book fair than the previous Media Specialist. She was one of those who didn't love all the "stuff" that comes with a Scholastic book fair. The posters and markers and erasers and book marks and, well, basically toys. She pushed them to buy books. She didn't even display the posters. To her it was a book fair.

To me it's a book fair in terms of me being able to buy more books from the proceeds of this fund raiser. So we could be doing car washes or bake sales for all I care. I just want more money to buy books. Yes, I wish they would all buy books and I point out good books and help them with that. Also, if a student has some money with a list of books from Mom, of course I'm going to help them respect the wishes of their parents and have them get the things on the list rather than getting a chocolate-smelling calculator or whatever. (Yes, that's a real thing we sell.) But if a kid comes in with money and no list, I let them get whatever they want. This is America. We're capitalists. We can buy as much Made In China plastic crap as we can afford.

It hasn't caused a lot of friction. It's just a new idea for some of the folks used to the old way. Oh, and by displaying the posters? We've sold a ton of them. Especially the Minecraft one.

Another Day (well, week) In the Life

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 15:24:00 +0000

Some things I've had to do this week as the elementary school librarian:

Dress as Mr. Incredible and walk around the halls at the end of the day to promote Movie Night.

Record a woman dressed in a monkey suit, spinning a basketball on her finger to promote the school fundraiser.

Dress and act like a pirate with some other teachers as we recorded a clip for next week's Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Train new volunteers! Yes! Man oh man do I need them and appreciate them so much. Hope I can get some more or convince the ones coming in to stay longer. Every little bit helps.

Prepare for the Reader's Rally book club starting up next month. Prepare for the Book Fair coming, ulp, next week!

That's one of the great things about this job. I have a list of stuff to do and a schedule and certain things that happen over and over again, but I still never know on a given day what's going to happen. All kinds of crazy things come up or a question leads to a whole project or something needs troubleshooting. I just never know. Makes it interesting,

Oh! You're the new Media Specialist!

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 15:24:00 +0000

I was just reading Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes to a Kindergarten class. I was teaching them how to play air guitar and do the headbanging move for the chorus bits. It was pretty fun. When we got the the end and I started giving them directions to check out, their substitute teacher said, "Oh! You're the new Media Specialist!"

I had to ask. "Who did you think I was?"

"I thought you were a performer they brought in to entertain the kids!"

Dragon Con III - Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 21:36:00 +0000

CosmoQuest booth at another convention

One of my Dragon Con rituals is stopping by the Skepchick table and picking up some Surly-Ramics. Amy Roth makes this stuff and she lets me take pictures of a couple pieces (as long as I promise not to post them online) to let my girls look at and choose from. My Lovely Bride’s favorite piece is a black one with an imprinted image of a human brain on it. Under the brain is simply the word “Use.” She wears it to all of her Science Professional Development events.

No more. Some douchebags out to get the Skepchicks complained that they were breaking some obscure vendor rules and sure enough, they closed up shop. Apparently as a non-profit they can only have items with their logo for sale for donation purposes. Not their personal creations. Even though they’ve been in the same spot since about 2006 and don’t exactly take any business away from any other vendors. But that’s bureaucracy for you. I’ve been in touch with Amy and will be buying some pieces online and encourage you to do the same. She gives a lot to charities and even makes it possible for female scientists and skeptics to attend these kind of science/skeptical events.

Next I hit Dr. Phil Plait’s talk on 10 Interesting Facts About Our Solar System. Even though the poor guy had partied too late, he couldn’t be held down for long. His enthusiasm for sharing incredible astronomy bubbles up no matter what and is entirely infectious. He mentioned that there was an astronomer named Charlie Bates with a solar telescope we could go out and see that day. Phil talked up this guy and his mission to share solar science with everyone, especially students, and his need for donations to keep the program running. Here's his website. I gotta see if he'll come to our school. http://solarastronomy.org/ I tried to see the solar scope myself later, but the rain came in! I blame it on too dang many dudes in Thor costumes bringing the thunder.

I wandered past the CosmoQuest table after that and a nice bald dude was passing out free comics. I knew I kew him but couldn't place the name. I'd seen him and was running through which scientist or astronomer he might be when he pointed to my Sword & Laser shirt and said he was on that show. It the writer Scott Sigler! Very nice guy.

I went to a panel on the fight against Creationism and Intelligent Design with various speakers, including my personal favorite philosopher, Massimo Pigliucci. I saw him downstairs afterwards waiting to get a coffee and walked up and shook his hand. Achievement unlocked! Read his blog. He's always right.

Okay, I'm not going to list every panel or event I attended. Let's just say there was some more great science, some fun actors and another comedy extravaganza. I met some cool dudes in a long line dressed like workmen from the Others' compound from the LOST television show who were con regulars and clued me in on the different hotels in case we decide to stay at one next year.

I've poked around online and seen some talks I've missed on video and even the whole parade itself if you want to bother searching for those.

This was not my favorite Dragon Con, but that's like saying it wasn't your favorite birthday party when you're a kid. They're all pretty good, just some are better than others. This con is getting way popular and hence way crowded. I mean super-mega-crazy crowded. Not fun crowded in places. I could barely stand the vendor area, which is a shame because there is some great stuff there.

The good thing about Dragon Con, though, is it's a total fan-run event and they really do want it to be the best it can be for the fans. They're always tweaking things to make it smoother. They'll figure things out. Just the people that handled the lines were amazing, keeping everyone queued up , organized and informed.

All in all, a good time.

Dragon Con II - Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 21:06:00 +0000

Technically Dragon Con runs from Friday through Monday, but I gotta work, so it’s pretty much Saturday and Sunday for me with a day of recuperation on Monday.

First I booked it out there, found some good nearby parking, then hoofed it up to a good spot to see the always fun Parade. I took a million pictures to show my daughter but I won’t post them here. There are many places online to see professional shots of the parade. And even those won’t do justice to the controlled chaos of it all. They also won’t come close to how freaking hot it was. So glad I had some bottled water in my pack because once that parade starts, you’re trapped. There’s no easy way to just turn and walk away. You have to wait until the entire mass of humanity starts moving as one big blob and spreading out among the hotels and other venues around the area. I went down to the Sheraton to check in and get my badge. This was when I realized this Dragon Con was going to be different. Usually most people have already picked up their badges so after the parade it’s pretty easy to just walk up and get mine. No this time. This time they directed me to walk all the way around the Sheraton and come back in through the front and there was a long (although admittedly quick-moving line) to get my badge.

The Hilton is my headquarters because of the Science and Skeptic tracks, so I headed there and checked out the tables of all my favorite places first. I got to buy a Sword & Laser t-shirt and lanyard from co-host Tom Merritt himself!

Then I chatted with Dr. Nicole Gugliucci at the amazing CosmoQuest booth. I’ve told you about CosmoQuest before, right? Well, check out their website for yourself and do some citizen science! Dr. Pamela Gay was there. I also browsed the JREF table, the Skeptic’s table, and the lovely spread put out by the Skepchicks including beautiful handmade jewelry from Surly-Ramics.

The first panel I went to was Dr. Pamela Gay speaking on the topic, “You Might Be A Crank If…” It was a thoughtful and insightful talk. One of the problems that pop up often in science and skepticism is when you make a knee-jerk reaction to something and dismiss it out of hand without taking the time to consider. I’m not talking about ignorance either. She admitted herself that when she heard of some astronomical findings she dismissed them (“I was a crank!”) only to find out later that not only was she wrong but that it changed the way she looked at the universe. The difference between real scientists and real cranks is that she was happy to be wrong and embraces the changing of her world view. Real cranks just continue doggedly dismissing a new finding either because they don’t have all the facts or just won’t allow themselves to change their view.

I became distracted from my schedule after this because I bought a portable battery charger, but it wasn’t charging the battery on my cell phone! Luckily the most helpful techie skeptic on the planet was there, Tim Farley. His posts leading up to the con on tech recommendations and how to navigate the wifi downtown should earn him some kind of humanitarian medal. He quickly diagnosed the connecting cord as the problem, so I picked a new one up in a nearby mobile shop. Problem was, my detour cost me entrance into the next event I was anticipating, the live recording of the Sword & Laser podcast. Once those recording sessions start, they lock the doors so you can’t get in. Sigh.

I missed another event later that day because of crowding and line confusion at the Marriott. I was going to try to see the Mythbusters there too. I didn’t feel awful about missing that one, though, since I had just seen them live at the Fox.

There’s a new fan track called the Kaleidoscope Track. It’s for the younger geeks and I ran across a panel with Phineas and Ferb voice actors during the same time as the Mythbusters one, so I went to that instead. I’ve promised my daughter that I’ll let her accompany me to the con next year, so I wanted to see what kind of thing she’d probably want to see. It was actually interesting and it was fun to see some geeky families all in one place.

Next up was another Dr. Gay presentation about the concept of the Multiverse. I’ve seen a version of this talk before, but she’s always great and has such a passion for sharing her knowledge.

I was getting loopy so I grabbed some con food and tried to seek out the shopping area. They’ve moved it out of the Marriott a few blocks up on Peachtree St. I was not impressed. Maybe it’s more space or something but it seemed even more crowded than usual and it was way confusing. I think in the future I’ll avoid it on Saturdays at the con.

After that I queued up to see the Gonzoroo II. Since I’ve been getting back into science fiction and trying out fantasy fiction over the past year or so, I’ve been running across all kinds of fun and cool geeky performers online and hearing about them from other cons. I decided I needed to finally make this part of my con experience.

It was a good choice. It was a series of geek-themed comedy and music from Paul & Storm, Molly Lewis, Joseph Scrimshaw, Mike Ferman, Adam Savage, and some other special guests. It was hilarious and wonderful. Bill Corbett (of MST3K fame) brought down the house with a dramatic reading of the first chapter of the Man of Steel novelization in which Superman’s mama gives birth on the planet Krypton. The man is a genius. You should find all these folks online and buy their stuff if you’re the slightest bit smart and geeky. They were amazing.

Dragon Con I - Mythbusters at the Fox Theater

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 21:01:00 +0000

Time for my yearly Dragon Con reports. I’ll break it up into three posts. One for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Friday evening after school we hit Mary Mac’s then headed to the Fox Theater to catch the Mythbusters Behind the Myths Tour.

While technically not a Dragon Con event, I know there were many Dragon Conners there. I overheard someone jokingly say, “This is the nicest Dragon Con venue I’ve been at so far.” Their friend said that the way Dragon Con is growing, it very well could be an official venue in the not too distant future.

We were in the middle front of the balcony. Great seats, but it meant there was no way we could be volunteers to get up on stage. They did indeed get many members of the audience to participate in all kinds of random things.

It wasn’t like the television show. They didn’t build or blow up anything. They had some cool and funny demonstrations of various scientific things, some video clips some Q&A and some basic fun. One of the cooler bits was when they talked about how all those explosions feel and wished they could somehow get that across on TV. So what they did in the theater was have a specially set up audio system. When Adam gave the “Turn it up to eleven!” they ran a montage of explosion clips that shook and rumbled around the whole place. Pretty cool. We grownups weren’t sure it was worth the premium price but our daughter was so happy I think it was worth it just for that. She’s very aware that she and the show are both celebrating their 10th year.

During the show they mentioned a travelling science exhibition they have going called Mythbusters: The Explosive Exhibition which I certainly comes to Fernbank at some point!

Librarians that don't like to read out loud?

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 21:11:00 +0000

When school was starting and we were hashing out the schedule for checkouts, one kindergarten teacher asked if I wouldn't mind reading out loud to her students once in a while. Once in a while? I plan on reading out loud to them every chance I get! I wondered why she asked.

She said that in her 20 years of teaching she'd only had three school librarians who had like to read out loud to her students. Now I don't know how many schools she's taught at or how many school librarians she's dealt with but it's definitely more than three. I was staggered. No matter what I've done or what I've taught, even adults, I've enjoyed reading out loud. But especially as a school librarian. I'm forever trying to get teachers to read out loud more.

If you are a school librarian or you know someone who is, remind them to take a break from everything, pull up a chair in front of some patrons, and read something. Even if it's just an excerpt.

It's like magic.

Working Without A Clerk

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 20:19:00 +0000

I don't have a full-time clerk at my new job. But it's not as bad as I feared and I'm making some adjustments to make it even better.

There is a woman here who is called an "Instructional Clerk," which means she has a room off of the Media Center in which she makes all the copies. She also does a lot of graphic design, scanning, runs the laminator, etc. She also runs the slide show which has all the information like the weekly menu, the Specials rotation info and any announcements. If I'm out she knows how to run the morning broadcast and the bus dismissal slides. In a pinch she can step out of her room and help check out students.

So she's a big help, even though she's not really checking out or shelving books. I do have one helpful volunteer who has been coming most days and is like a machine at shelving, getting almost all the books shelved (and well!) most days. With back to school nights coming up, I'll try to rope in a couple more.

And using the iPad Mini for the morning broadcast is finally paying some dividends. For the first week or so we were making a new show every day for the next morning while we figured stuff out and made adjustments. But now I can tape the show Friday morning and edit a long version for Monday with the Principal's announcements and a shorter version with just the moment of silence, pledge and basic announcements for Tuesday through Friday. That way I have Monday through Thursday mornings totally free to actually do, you know, librarian stuff!

The biggest adjustment is making sure I keep near the circulation desk (something the clerk always did) and trying to help shelve some. I hardly did that at all when I had a clerk.

The previous Media Specialist would use Book Fair money to hire someone to come in on Fridays to shelve and run the circulation desk. I'm trying to avoid that if I can, or at least put it off for a while. See how crazy Fridays are first and if I feel I really need the help or not. I'm just now finished with Orientations and so the schedule will start to be a bit more normal after this week of pre-testing. Next Friday will be a more realistic picture of what it will be like.

Other than that, so far so good! I'm finally about ready to start AR with the kids. Then to set up the Reader's Rally Book Club, prepare for the first Book Fair (apparently it will be huge compared to my last school) and just try to keep making everyone happy.

Virtual Playdate

noreply@blogger.com (teacherninja) — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 01:38:00 +0000

That's my daughter on her computer playing Minecraft. You'll notice at the base of the monitor she has her iPod set on Facetime, so that is a live feed of her friend also playing Minecraft. They cannot only see and hear each other on the Facetime hookup, but they're playing in a shared Minecraft world, so their avatars are interacting in the game.

It's a whole different world, let me tell ya. No tin cans with strings for these kids.