Laurie Halse Anderson Talks to ABFFE on Censorship (+playlist)

Banned Books Week: Authors discuss their favorite banned books.

Ed Tech Coaching: Let's Stop Talking about Teaching with Technology,...

Ed Tech Coaching: Let's Stop Talking about Teaching with Technology,...: My new goal is to stop talking about education technology. Those that know me might be confused by this. I've built my career aroun...

Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I understand why it's considered a classic. As a fellow female this story creeped under my skin to think that a government could control when and how and by whom children are conceived. It is a future society destroyed by environmental disasters and wars, as well as controlling fundamentalist views. I heard the audio version narrated by Claire Danes and I think her vocal depiction served to emphasize the horror. I do wish the story continued to know what exactly happened but one's imagination will fill in a positive or negative outcome. An original dystopian tale.

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Teaching students to code video

Suggested Anti-Bullying Books by PA Librarians:


Title
Author
The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life
Altebrando, Tara
Speak            
Anderson, Laurie Halse      FIC AND
Twisted          
Anderson, Laurie Halse      FIC  AND
Burger Wuss
Anderson, M. T.
Thirteen Reasons Why  
Asher, Jay                            FIC ASH
Don’t Call Me Ishmael
Bauer, Michael                    FIC BAU
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin
Berk, Josh
Please Stop Laughing at Me
Blanco, Jodee
Send
Blout, Patty
Kissing the Rain
Brooks, Kevin                      FIC BRO
First Day on Earth
Castellucci, Cecil                FIC CAS
Leverage
Cohen, Joshua                   FIC CHO
Keep Holding On
Colasanti, Susane
I Swear
Davis, Lane
The Battle of Jericho
Draper, Sharon                  FIC DRA
Born Ugly
Goobie, Beth
The Julian Game
Griffin, Adele
Closed for the Season
Hahn, Mary Downing
Burn for Burn
Han, Jenny
My Big Mouth: 10 Songs I Wrote That Almost Got Me Killed
Hannan, Peter
Blank Confession
Hautman, Pete                  FIC HAU
Kiss Me Kill Me
Henderson, Lauren         FIC HEN
Hit Squad
Heneghan, James
Sleeping Angel
Herren, Greg
The Outsiders
Hinton, S.E.                        FIC HIN
The Misfits
Howe, James                    FIC HOW
Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Share Their Stories
Kelley, Megan Hall and Carrie Jones, eds.
Everybody Sees the Ants
King, A.S.
Schooled
Korman, Gordon
Bullying
Kuykendall, Sally               302.34 KUY
Rotters
Kraus, Daniel
The Bully
Langan, Paul
The Gun
Langan, Paul
The Beckoners
Mac, Carrie
Drowning Anna
Mayfield, Sue                      FIC MAY
Colin Fischer
Miller, Ashley Edward and Zack Stentz
Exposure
Murdoch, Patricia
Shooter
Myers, Walter Dean
Wonder
Palacio, R.J.
The Ruling Class
Pascal, Francine                FIC PAS
I Funny
Patterson, James and Chris Grabenstein
Nineteen Minutes
Picoult, Jodi
The Bystander
Preller, James
Bullyville
Prose, Francine
Who I Am
Rice, M. L.
The Pregnancy Project
Rodriguez, Gabby
Scrawl
Shulman, Mark                     FIC SHU
Liar and Spy
Stead, Rebecca
The List
Vivian, Sioban
Crossing Lines
Volponi, Paul
Out of Shadows
Wallace, Jason               This is an eBook.
Cracked
Walton, K.M
Jumped
Williams-Garcia, Rita
Warp Speed
Yee, Lisa

 YA books about bullying.

My European Travels

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Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

Starting to reflect...

Besides the incredible classes that I took and the new insights gained, sabbatical has been a great time to reflect on my job as a library media specialist in a big, busy high school. There are the obvious pros and cons to the job in general, and when one is immersed in the day-to-day routine it is sometimes difficult to lift your head above the wave of requests, schedules, events, etc. to see what is truly happening around you. One of the things that has appeared more clearly is that one librarian as hard working and good-intentioned as she may be, is often unable to meet the demands of all of the groups and individuals requesting her attention at the same time. Our PSLA group has carefully set staffing guidelines to ensure that libraries run efficiently but unfortunately staffing falls too short in many schools as it does in mine. But we all soldier on through our devotion to our students and staff and the passion we have to make our digital natives more aware of good information sources and what to do with them once they find them. As I plan for the school year beginning in September I know I will want to make some thoughtful and serious changes in the way the program is delivered. My most important goal is to educate my students in finding and interpreting the best information they can find from the best sources I provide for them and the skills to find information on their own as they grow from high school to college to career. Also important is to learn to be aware of the world around them and the effects that their personal information has on others. To do this I must work closely with my wonderful staff to incorporate digital literacy throughout the entire curriculum so that at the end of the day I know that I did the best that I could to prepare my students for their constantly evolving future. There isn't a minute to waste!

Teaching with Tablets! Info poster

Source: edtechdigest.wordpress.com via CurrClick on Pinterest

Try this research process game:

zondle - games to support learning

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After seeing Maggie Stiefvater at The National Book Festival I could not wait to read The Raven Boys. Like The Scorpio Races, this book is infused with folklore that adds such a rich background to her novels. Blue Sargent lives with her mother and other random psychic women who conduct readings. Blue, although not psychic herself, creates an energy field that adds to the paranormal experiences. As proclaimed by the women, Blue's ultimate fate is to kiss a boy who will then die and this causes her great consternation as she meets several Raven boys from the nearby academy whom she grows fond of. Gansby is one who is in search of 'ley lines" when crossed may awaken the medieval King Glendower. Gansby's roommates are along for the interesting ride as well, and they have their own demons to cross. This is a different novel full of interesting characters both good and bad, supernatural intrigue and of course the hint of romance.I can't wait for the sequel.

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There are many debates going on about the advantages of purchasing ebooks for the non-fiction collection in school libraries. The pros, and there are many, are discussed in this slideshow compiled by PA school librarians.

E book collections from khornberger

Goodreads.com is now the best place to find, write and share your book reviews. If you are not on it yet, check it out!

What's Going On With Readers Today from Goodreads

Use linoit.com for book reports

I used linoit.com for a web 2.0 assignment and think it would be great for book reports for struggling readers. It's fun and easy to use. It has loads of other uses but for kids this might be helpful.

Check it out.

Safe Haven book report