How to Blog

I have created a weblink with directions for blogging for visitors that are new to blogging. How to Blog if you are not a Blogger In surveying my teachers and students, I found that most just did not understand what to do in the blog, though they enjoyed reading it. So I returned to my desk and created poster-sized directions for them to hang above their classroom computers. I am hoping more will now begin to post. After further thought, I decided to make the directions available via our school website. That way anyone who is cruising through our school's website and wants to post a response, but is new to blogging can click on the links for directions. Then, after further thought, I decided to add the link of directions to the links on the blogger sites. So now it is permanently a part of the blogs themselves. I knew that one day my html coursework would come in handy. Up until now, I've only used it occasionally. Anyway, I am pleased to announce that you can now learn some directions for blogging from our school website. NOTE however that these directions are specific to "blogspot" sponsored blogging sites. Other blogging programs will behave similarly, but there will be slight nuances to how they work. Good luck.

Podcasting Project coming soon

5th Grade teachers will be working with me soon on a collaborative project. Confession time! I'm worried. We are going to attempt a podcasting project, and NONE of us know anything about it. But if you know me, you know my motto--LEARN by doing. Here's the gist of the project. There will be a radio show, and the deejyas will have a time machine so they can travel back in time to do a broadcast. Kids are going to have to research a specific time period, and then select two songs, a news blurb, and an advertisment blurb that matches that time period. The Deejays are going to present their findings in radio show format. We are calling thre project "Podcasting" through the decades. We plan to "purchase" songs from iTunes, but everything else will be created by the students. Hopefully you can see that they will have to really research to find music, news, and product information to make their shows. I think it will be fun, but each time I really think about getting into this, I feel a little queasy. I know those teachers are relying heavily on me to be their technology leader in pulling this off, and that's okay. I just hope they will learn too, so that in the future, similar projects can be planned that don't rely so heavily on my knowledge base. I go to EdTech in Myrtle Beach this coming week, so we won't really begin until the following week. I'll post updates here as I have updates to share...I hope to be able to refer visitors to a website where we'll store our podcasts. There is a District Multimedia Contest of sorts, sponsored by two local media specialists, Betty Jordan of Sullivan and Susan Staton of Saluda Trail, and I hope to submit some of our work for review and consideration there too. Pray for my ability to pull this off!

Another October Event - The AR Goals Celebration for 1st Nineweeks

Each nine weeks, students have a goal set for them for Accelerated Reader Program. Our kids have goals set for them by their teacher based on the current abilities. Students who have met their goals by obtaining the number of points are invited to a BAND Concert! Local musician Todd Herring will be bringing a small band to perform live for the students who have met their goals. It will be so much fun. All students must have their goal by October 10, and the concert will be on October 17.

October Library Events - We're BUSY!

October is a very busy month for the library. We have three book brunches coming up; October 18th - 3rd Grade, 19th - 4th Grade, and 20th -5th Grade. Students who have read the current book brunch book and can demonstrate they have read it (one of six ways) will be invited. The 3rd Grade book is Mighty Jackie, the 4th Grade book is Niagara Falls, or Does It?, and the 5th Grade book is The Report Card. I know of a few 3rd graders who have read the 5th grade book too, and so I'm trying to decide if I should invite the 3rd graders to the 5th grade brunch. Students have to show they have read the book by completing one of six methods: Take an AR quiz, write a five sentence summary, visit the Book Blog and post a response, vist the online book review at the Northside Website and post a review, create an artistic scene in a diorama, or easiest, meet and tell me about the book. We'll tell everyone how many get invited.

The Great Sockathon

Today I finished the last of all twenty of the SC Children's Book Award Nominees, The Great Sockathon. The tree in the middle of town is haunted! This story is told through the eyes of four good friends who don't always see things the same way. Have you ever thought you saw or heard a ghost? Read this story and compare your experience to this one.

September 25 -29 Bedford Falls Book Fair

Coming the week of September 25 -29, the library will be filled with new books and assorted goodies for sale through our Bedford Falls Book Fair. Students can purchase items anytime during the day, and the library plans to keep the media center open until 6:00 PM Monday (9/25), Tuesday(9/26), and Thursday (9/28). Northside's media center will earn 25% of the profits. We use our earnings to put new books in the library. We are also trying to secure a visiting author, which can cost anywhere from $500 to $1500 a day! Come to the book fair and make a purchase to help us raise money for interesting books or resources in the library. BUT fear not! Students will still be able to circulate books during the book fair. If a purchase cannot be made, well then children can STILL borrow books from the Northside library collection.

Book Brunches - week of 9/4

We had our book brunches for 3rd grade and 5th grade this week. 4th grade requested a delay due to a conflict. Theirs will be in 3 weeks. Students brought their lunch boxes, lunch bags, or lunch trays to the library to eat and talk about the books. There were over 50 3rd grade students eligible to attend, so we had to select the best 30. The selection was based on what was done. We had many invited by book summaries submitted, one diorama, and several Accelerated Reader quiz takers. The ones who opted for AR and made a 100 were automatically invited. The dioarama student was automatically invited too. Then we went through the written work to determine the remaining students. That was hard!! Many had wonderful things written about the book. I shared with the students in third grade a fifteen minute StreamlineSC (AKA United Streaming) clip on the life of slaves on plantations. Our discussion centered on the fairness of slavery and the bravery of the characters in the book Up the Learning Tree. The 27 eligible fifth graders watched a six minute video found using a Google Video search of hamsters. We were shocked to see a mother hamster carry her babes one at a time in her mouth. We also enjoyed watching them play and eat. The kids loved the book, The World According to Humphrey, and were delighted with the factual information provided at the end of each chapter. Many shared their favorite parts of the book. I shared that Betty G. Birney had responded to our blog back in June, and begged students to consider adding to the blog and write to the author. They had many questions about where the idea for the book came from. Most of our fifth grade invited students opted to do the AR quiz, but a few wrote summaries, two wanted to just discuss the book individually to get an invitation, and one actually used our online book review. You can read her review here. We look forward to our next brunches. 3rd Grade will be reading Mighty Jackie, fourth grade will be reading The World According to Humphrey, and fifth grade will be reading The Report Card. I look forward to the responses that the kids have for these titles.

Lunch Book Brunch this week!

This week we will have the "book brunch" lunch meetings! I posted throughout the school using our newsletter, website, scheduled library classes, tv news program, and even making posters to display in classes about our planned lunch book brunch meetings. The first one is this Wednesday with any third graders who read Up the Learning Tree. Students could do any one of six different activities, one of them being post to this blog about that book. But as I look daily to see what is being done on the blog, I haven't had any students bite yet. Bummer. I did have around forty kids submit a short summary of the book and what they thought of it, and I'll have to check tomorrow to see if any outside that forty did one of the other five things. The six ways to get an invitiation included 1)write a short summary; 2) take an AR Quiz; 3) post to this blog; 4) post an online book review using the NS Library website; 5) create a diorama of a scene from the story for display in the library; and 6) (and the easiest) just meet with me and tell me about the book. AR has been rather unreliable lately because of network issues, so we'll have to wait and see how many get the official invite. Thursday there will be a 4th grade book bunch for The Ghost of Cutler Creek and I only know of one fourth grader who read it. I'm worried there will be no 4th graders attending. 5th Grade students have been buzzing about their book brunch title The World According to Humphrey, and many have visited asking if its in and when can they check it out. At the book brunch we will talk about the books and decide if they should get the SC Award. Of course, the election is not until mid Februrary. Well, I'll post back after the book brunch Wednesday and let anyone interested know how it went. I also plan to re-teach the concept of this blog in classes...that is evidently a need. I know I know, blogging may not be new to me, but it is new to MANY, especially teachers and students.