New Books ready to borrow

We have a few new books in the Library which are now catalogued and ready for loan.  Two of these are Picture Books, which may seem a little strange in a High School, but is often a less intimidating format for kids who are not overly confident in reading. These are viewed along the lines of comics and Graphic novels, which can then lead on to more 'mature' formats of reading. 

One is called 'My Country' and is by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Sally Morgan and is described as a "vibrant, lyrical celebration of country".

The other is a brand new picture book just published, with the title of  'Chicken Clicking' and written by Jeanne Willis.  This is suggested as a "subtle introduction to responsible internet use." Taken from the blurb on the back; "One night Chick hops onto the farmer's computer and - CLICK - she's soon shopping for the whole farm!! But when she arranges to meet a friend she's made on online, Chick discovers all is not as it seems...."

The last item is a book written by Jack Heath and titled 'The Human Flytrap'  Obviously this fits the Horror Genre, and any doubts are removed by the cover itself with a crime style tape running across the back cover warning you that you are reading this at your risk. According to the blurb - "Josh lives in Axe falls - a town of mysterious disappearances, terrifying visions and unusual events.....What is really going on in Axe Falls? And will anyone survive long enough to find out?"

Come and have a look - and check out what else we have on the shelves while you are here.  Lots of new magazines to read as well, or you could borrow a board game to play, or challenge your mates to a chess game.

LMS & ANZAC Ceremony

Our Library Management System is STILL out - but we are at least getting phone calls from Darwin now, so hopefully we have reached the top of the action pile.  
The whole of the system is being upgraded in early May, so possibly they don't feel any urgency to get it going - and I can see them getting it operational and then we run into problems with the new one.  GRR.

As I said previously, please be patient when it takes longer than usual in here.  I am in no better a position - and have piles of items and pages of notes, just waiting for everything to come back on line. At least, I now have a spreadsheet that I can put people's names into, and scan the barcode, thanks to Carrie being so tech savvy.  (I really don't like spreadsheets!)

Also, I just wanted to congratulate everyone involved for a beautiful and very moving ANZAC Day ceremony.  I am so glad that we have these activities back on the agenda, and that the students got so involved as well.  

There are a couple of special days coming up in May that I thought you might like to be aware of:
1st May is School Principals Day and also Endangered Species Day
16th May is Biographers Day.

Hoping you all have an awesome week, and lets not forget it is a long weekend coming up.

Welcome back to Term 2

Welcome back to our own little patch of Paradise - looking forward to working together once again over the next 10 weeks.

Here in the Library, we have started back with computer problems - or rather, Virtua problems.  The school changed ISP providers over the break, and that has caused a hiccup with the Library management system, which is run from Darwin.  It is still out, despite all Kate's hard work in trying to get it running again and we are now waiting for the technicians in Darwin to make it behave as it should.  

I know it is a nuisance but please have patience.  I currently have 6 pages of hand written notes and 3 piles of returned books I can't do anything with till the system is back up.  I am no happier than anyone else, I can assure you.

Just for general thought if anyone can use it - April is Poetry Month and May is Reading Month.  Scholastic is running a 'Read more in May' competition which could be worth tapping into.  If you are interested, please see me. 

Also a general reminder that if there is anything that you think I can help you with, please come and talk to me.  I can cover a wide area of crazy bits of probably useless knowledge and I like challenges; (Translation; works well for coffee or chocolate.)

That's all Folks.  Now carry on being awesome!

Games and Computer coding skills

With computer coding now being regarded as a 21st century skill, there are lots of sites, activities and so on to teach and enhance understanding of coding. Some of these are aimed at students as young as 5!

Below are a couple of links to go back even further than using a computer to develop these skills - using no-tech board games.  Check it out and see for yourself.  Couple of games that have scored high on the reviews are: Code Monkey Island and Robot Turtles.

http://venturebeat.com/2014/06/03/12-games-that-teach-kids-to-code/

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/01/no-tech-board-games-that-teach-coding-skills-to-young-children

The site I took the second one from is called MindShift, and is one that I have linked on the blogroll on the right-hand side, and it is all about different ideas and thoughts on lots of subjects for teaching our students, not just computer coding. 

Also, just thought I would point out that March 5th is World Read Aloud Day.  Probably something worth celebrating, even a little, in your classrooms.  And February 14th is Library Lovers Day - just saying!

Last Day of term

Well, it is here at last - last day of term for 2014.  We seem to have been waiting for this all year, or so some of the students have told me anyway.  They looked a little taken aback when I pointed out that the staff had been waiting as well.

My main news for this post is that the digital system for the DVDs is almost ready to go so when you all start back, you will be able to access what you need directly through the computer.  I have had a few people test it for me and it all seems to be running smoothly, so Kate can take you through it next year. I think you will find it really easy to use.

I seem to have been trying to get a post up for most of this last month - and now that we are at this point, I am just going to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year break and hope you spend it relaxing and enjoying family and friends, and that you all return refreshed and ready for 2015. Don't forget to include some reading in your plans.

Have an awesome holiday.  All the best to you all and whatever you do, have fun!