As another school year draws to a close, Barkly College Library Staff would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.
We may be posting during the holidays, but we won't make any promises.
Have an fantastic break and let's do it all again next year.
Shelagh and Carrie
Friday 16 December 2011
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Holiday Reading
Some suggested holiday reading for students and staff:
‘Kitchen God’s Wife’ by Amy Tan Family
‘Obernewtyn’ by Isobelle Carmody Fantasy – 1st in series
‘100 Philosophers’ by Peter King Non-Fiction
‘Go Ask
‘Soul Music’ by Terry Pratchett Fantasy/Humour
‘Back on Track’ by Margaret Clark Diary (of a Street Kid)
‘Michael Sweeny’s Method’ by Sean Condon Humour/Teenager
‘Circles of Stone’ by Pamela Rushby Fantasy/Time Travel
‘Blood Brother’ by Malcolm Rose Futuristic Mystery
‘Beka Cooper: Terrier’ by Tamora Pierce Fantasy
‘Blue Water High’ by Shelley Birse Love (and Surfing)
‘Posse’ by Kate Welshman Issues
‘Thyla’ by Kate Gordon Horror/Fantasy/History
‘Inheritance’ by Christopher Paolini Fantasy – 4th in series
‘The Virals’ by Kathy Reichs Mystery/Sci-fi/Thriller
Tuesday 6 December 2011
The Future of the Book?
The Bright Ideas blog finds and shares a huge range of book and library based ideas that are out there on the internet that we may not always stumble upon by ourselves. The latest one may give us an indication of where books could take us in the future. Interactivity is the key to most of the ideas shown on the link below.
With projects like Pirates (paper board game using smartphones), the book that disappears (a book you have 20 minutes to read before the pages turn black) and Balloon (an Ipad virtual reality pop up book), there are lots of lovely ideas to explore. Check it all out on the link below – then click back over to the Bright Ideas blog to see what else they have found. The link is in our blog list on the sidebar. This blog is worth checking out regularly as they find some amazing sites and ideas.
With projects like Pirates (paper board game using smartphones), the book that disappears (a book you have 20 minutes to read before the pages turn black) and Balloon (an Ipad virtual reality pop up book), there are lots of lovely ideas to explore. Check it all out on the link below – then click back over to the Bright Ideas blog to see what else they have found. The link is in our blog list on the sidebar. This blog is worth checking out regularly as they find some amazing sites and ideas.
2012 - National Year of Reading
Next year, 2012, has been declared the National Year of Reading. Isn’t that awesome? No? Do I hear some student voices grumbling about ‘how boring, what do we need that for?’ ‘How does that help my football career?’ ‘Who cares?’
Well, you may be surprised. One of the ambassadors for the National Year of Reading is Jarred Ilet – who is the CEO of the NT Thunder AFL team and the guy who is the director of the Intensity Sports magazine. Jarred used to attend Tennant Creek Primary School, so he was one of ours. Jarred says: “Reading is an essential skill that I utilise everyday in training as a Fire Fighter, editing as part of my duties with Intensity Sports Magazine and knowing the game plan for the Territory Thunder Football Club.The knowledge, skills and confidence I have gained through reading has led to amazing opportunities in my life. Get involved in the National Year of Reading as it will give you the power and control of what you want to do in your life.”
Another ambassador for the Year of Reading is the Melbourne Football Club. These guys are already football heroes – maybe they know something you haven’t learnt yet??
Check out the website: http://www.love2read.org.au/ambassadors.cfm and see what they all say.
Staff - given that 2012 is the National Year of Reading, one suggestion that has come up on various Library online forums is to set the staff and students a challenge to read for 2012 seconds each day, or at least once or twice a week, as a block session. You could have them work out how long 2012 seconds is (its 33.5 minutes) and chart the number of times they are able to do this.
Maybe do it for a month, or a term, and those who can show they made it 75% of the time get a certificate or other acknowledgement. Or schedule the last Friday afternoon of every month (or similar) to be a school-wide read-in of 2012 seconds.....or....any other suggestions? What do you think? Anyone interested in giving this idea a go?
Well, you may be surprised. One of the ambassadors for the National Year of Reading is Jarred Ilet – who is the CEO of the NT Thunder AFL team and the guy who is the director of the Intensity Sports magazine. Jarred used to attend Tennant Creek Primary School, so he was one of ours. Jarred says: “Reading is an essential skill that I utilise everyday in training as a Fire Fighter, editing as part of my duties with Intensity Sports Magazine and knowing the game plan for the Territory Thunder Football Club.The knowledge, skills and confidence I have gained through reading has led to amazing opportunities in my life. Get involved in the National Year of Reading as it will give you the power and control of what you want to do in your life.”
Another ambassador for the Year of Reading is the Melbourne Football Club. These guys are already football heroes – maybe they know something you haven’t learnt yet??
Check out the website: http://www.love2read.org.au/ambassadors.cfm and see what they all say.
Staff - given that 2012 is the National Year of Reading, one suggestion that has come up on various Library online forums is to set the staff and students a challenge to read for 2012 seconds each day, or at least once or twice a week, as a block session. You could have them work out how long 2012 seconds is (its 33.5 minutes) and chart the number of times they are able to do this.
Maybe do it for a month, or a term, and those who can show they made it 75% of the time get a certificate or other acknowledgement. Or schedule the last Friday afternoon of every month (or similar) to be a school-wide read-in of 2012 seconds.....or....any other suggestions? What do you think? Anyone interested in giving this idea a go?
Thursday 1 December 2011
Last few weeks
There are only a few weeks left of the school year for 2011. I have asked all teachers and students to hand back the resources that they have borrowed. I am proud to say that this year a lot more books have been borrowed and I had some excited students waiting for the release of the second book in the Lorien series by Pittacus Lore.
Something new that has happened in the Library in the last couple of days is the new display shelves for the magazines have arrived and have been installed. They make the library look a whole lot better and personally, I love new stuff. The display shelves have already increased usage of the magazines and newspapers.
Next year is gearing up to be just as busy as this one. I will be running multiple PD's for staff about how to use digital cameras, eBooks, iPads, projectors and interactive whiteboards. We are such a fortunate school and the resources that we have should be used properly to assist in maximising student outcomes and achievements.
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