Book Character Parade

Today we had a Book Character Parade. I am always amazed at the creative ideas that students come up with for this event. The rule of thumb is that you have to be carry a book that matches your outfit to be able to walk in the parade. Of course there were princesses from all across the Disney spectrum and a few superheroes.
Here are some ideas that might be of use for future parades:
The Paperbag Princess---a dress made of brown paper.
Captain Underpants---oversized undies stuffed
Diary of a Wimpy Kid---boy with white T-Shirt
A Bad Case of Stripes---stripes on the face
Mother Goose---apron, boots, skirt with a big hat

Trying to feel flexible during fixed testing weeks

Today we start MAP testing and the library is used both for our space and our personnel. I always have mixed feelings about these dates---3 times a year at 2 weeks each time--because the library is basically closed. I know that testing is a part of our educational lives and that the data collected is useful for teaching and learning. I'm trying to think about these weeks with a "glass is half full" attitude. Our library is fortunate to have 28 computers for students to use during the rest of the non-testing year. I am blessed with an library assistant who comes in early and works late. So by 7:00 AM we have both the lab and the library set up for testing and we open for checkout before school. Today we did not open because of technical difficulties---yes it all worked before Spring Break when I tested it, but it didn't work at 6:30 AM this morning! Tomorrow we will be open for checkout before school. When we are finished testing during the day, I send an email school-wide letting teachers know we are now open. Some days we don't have that option, but it's my way of trying to be flexible in a fixed world.

Using VoiceThread in the Library

I am including this tutorial because I didn't create an educator account at first and figured that maybe somebody else could learn from my mistake.

Blogging in the "House"

I will admit to one TV show addiction at this point in my life---the medical drama called House. Last week the show was about a lady who was a "blogger". That is how she described herself and how others described her: a blogger. No reference to her as a job title or family relationship--just blogger. Of course there is the medical mystery for the House team to figure out, but the subplot was about how blogging had affected her personal life with her husband, friends and her "followers". In the face of impending death, what relationships did she think mattered? Well, at first she thought it was the online people in cyberspace, but she realized that it was the real-life person that mattered the most. This made me think about blogging and how it is affecting our lives. The reason we blog, the people we blog for...etc.
I'm still thinking...uh, I mean blogging.

"I am..."
Writing assignment using Photo Story 3

Listen to a podcast of this post:

Can you guess the animal?

I'm brainstorming ways in which to use Wordle with students.

How To:
The easiest way to save a Wordle is to take a screen-shot of it (Alt-Print Screen) then paste (Control V) it into Microsoft Office Picture Manger (under Microsoft Tools in MSOffice). Crop it there and save as a picture file. It was easy to insert into a PowerPoint after it is saved as a picture file too.

Idea:
I want students to create a Wordle that describes an animal that they researched first. Then we could all guess what the animal is. Wordle allows you to print too, but I have no place to display printed work in the library. So, it will have to be an electronic presentation.

This is my "How to use a computer" Wordle: