The library is partnering with the James V. Brown Library to provide access to additional eBooks in both Kindle and ePub formats. Check out the list (below) of the newest titles available. You will need a current library card to borrow these items.

eBooks and Audiobooks from JVBrown Library
Free digital and audio books from Lycoming County Library ebranch
http://bit.ly/Ye55EJ

Charlotte Danielson on Teaching and the Common Core
Interview Charlotte Danielson, a former teacher and school administrator with degrees from Cornell and Oxford Universities, is one of the most recognized authorities on teaching practice in the United States. A popular speaker and trainer, she is best known as the creator of the “Framework for Teaching,” a 115-page set of components for effective pedagogy that is used in many states and districts to inform teacher evaluation and professional development.
http://bit.ly/15QYvWL

Common Core: Will it hurt struggling readers?
The debate over the Common Core State Standards continues. Here an author writes about potential problems with Common Core implementation regarding reading instruction. This was written by Laura Robb, a veteran teacher, teacher mentor and author of books on reading for middle school teachers, early literacy and professional development.
http://bit.ly/10RnYwy

If College Leads to Jobs, Why Are So Many Young College Grads Unemployed? – Derek Thompson – The Atlantic
It’s easy to debate the value of college, but it’s impossible to doubt the clear difference between the unemployment rates of those with a college degree and those without a college degree. Just 4 percent of America’s bachelor’s holders (in blue in the graph below) are unemployed today.
http://bit.ly/16xBZU7

10 Truths About Teaching and Running
‘Tis the season of stress in the teaching world. Sure, we can find lots of great advice on how to manage our stress levels, but how many of us actually take it? For me, one of the greatest forms of stress-release is physical activity-but specifically running. This past weekend, I ran a half-marathon.
http://bit.ly/156w19r

SXSWedu Snapshot: What’s changing in education?
A strong undercurrent running through the sessions at the SXSWedu Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas is the idea of educators becoming facilitators in personalized learning environments. Here are just a few ideas that speakers shared supporting this change in education. Teach students to find the answers.
http://bit.ly/Xda3hI

Student Mentors: How 6th and 12th Graders Learn From Each Other
When Tracy Edwards posted on Facebook last October that she was searching for a part-time writing instructor for a middle school program, Kip Glazer jumped immediately at the chance. But Glazer wasn’t applying for herself. Instead, she envisioned her 100 senior high school English students, who were about to become virtual writing mentors to 200 6th-graders halfway across the nation.
http://bit.ly/WkYwRk

Meet Memoto, the Lifelogging Camera – NYTimes.com
Facebook and Instagram have conditioned people into sharing photos of their most memorable moments – vacations, parties, weddings, meals and outings with friends. But what about everything else that happens in between?
http://bit.ly/ZbyRZN

11 Essential Tools For Better Project-Based Learning
The rise of technology used in classrooms has made learning much more interactive. The emergence of iPads to browser-based tools in project-based learning, take teaching to a new level in the 21st century. Even the current trends in education include the use of new technology, from collaborative projects to blending traditional textbook teaching with innovative tools.
http://bit.ly/13XEM9A

Top Ten Reasons to have students blog about their reading experiences
About a year and a half ago, a few of my colleagues and I had our students begin blogging about their independent reading. Some students finished four posts a year. Some students finished ten. Some more. Below are my top ten takeaways from our students’ blogging experience.
http://bit.ly/XOndFA

Have a great weekend!

• You deserve to be there
• The Hidden curriculum
• Be authentic
• You’re not the national spokesperson for everyone who looks like you
• Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?

Check out the article at Edutopia for the whole story.

He points out things that students often consider and things that they should consider instead. You should definitely read it if you’re in the decision-making process or will be in the next few years.

POWER Library

In the last two weeks, I’ve worked closely with one of our dual enrollment classes to help them complete a research project. In the course of the project, they needed to find scholarly sources, use them (obviously!) and cite them properly. We started with the databases available in POWER Library, but because they’re also Penn College students, I was able to sit down with them individually and help them look through the available sources through the Madigan Library–then we picked the most useful databases for their topic.

I offered to do some instruction on Noodletools only to learn that Microsoft Office has citation tools built into Word (did you know that???) We did some exploration though and found that the citations there weren’t including database source information. This meant I got another two days with the students, one for instruction in using Noodletools and another working with them. We used the “share project” feature to examine each of their source lists over the weekend so I knew who I needed to sit down with on Monday and was able to walk them through the steps personally.

I was excited to be involved in a true co-teaching relationship and to work with students individually. Their teacher was generous with class time and kind enough to tell her students that she was not an expert on some things like searching and citations and pushed them to seek out my help–in fact, many of them came to the library outside of class time to get help and support.

It was rewarding to see students reading abstracts to determine whether the articles would meet their needs or if they needed to keep looking.

This week, I spoke with a few of the students individually and they expressed frustration that they didn’t have more guidance on what was expected. One of their concerns was that they’ve been taught to “write to prompts, not think of their own questions.” I’m hoping that some of this feedback gets to other departments so that we can continue to partner and push our students to think, search and write more.

The filter can be frustrating. While it does keep you from websites that you probably don’t want to see, it can also keep you from getting to sites that you need. I admit, it’s important for adults to protect children. Filters exist because of a law called Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Under CIPA, any schools that receive public funding in the ways of reduced-fee Internet access must “block or filter Internet access to pictures that are: (a) obscene; (b) pornography; or (c) harmful to minors.” Do you see that? You’re not allowed to see pictures that are considered obscene, pornographic or harmful. It doesn’t say you can’t read content. It doesn’t say that you can’t access social media (facebook, twitter, etc.) It says you can’t access pictures! Is that what you see blocked at school?

Students have the right to challenge traditional thought and to work to change adults minds about their beliefs. Is fighting the filter something you believe in enough to take on the task?