iPads and Scoop-it, Oh my!

Term 3, last year we posted links to various websites that we thought may be useful to teachers either in class or personally.

One of those links was to the scoop-it website. Scoop-it lets you be the curator of your favourite topic and enables people to follow topics, not people. It can also bring you content on topics that you have decided to follow. As the blurb says – what gathers people together are their passions.

Below is a list of scoop-it topics that may be of interest to staff members.

Take a look and see what you think.

http://www.scoop.it/t/all-things-ipad

http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-citizenship-in-schools

http://www.scoop.it/t/student-learning-through-school-libraries

http://www.scoop.it/t/social-networking-for-information-professionals

The link to the website is:

 http://www.scoop.it/

Have a great weekend.

Play games to feed the hungry

www.freerice.com

 Check out the link above to the Freerice website. Freerice is a website where the users play a variety of educational multiple-choice games and help to fight world hunger while doing so. For each question that you answer correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated.  The categories include English vocabulary, multiplication tables, chemical symbols, English grammar, geography, art and literature.

As you answer questions, your total score is displayed as a mound of rice and the amount.

I think that one of the best parts of the game is that it is self-levelling so everyone has an even playing field. If you get a series of questions right, you will move up a level, get them wrong and move down a level.  It doesn’t change the scores you can get, or the amount of rice that is donated according to your score.  It just provides you with questions at a level that suits you and as your knowledge improves, up the levels go.

This would be a good game to play in class – whether Maths, English, Science or SOSE. Divide the class into groups and have a challenge to see who can donate the most rice – maybe have a small prize for the winning team as an extra incentive?  I have run this in the Library for classes and challenged them to beat my score.  Once they realised that the levels adjusted to suit them – it was ON!  And yes – by the end of 20 mins, I was soundly beaten – it was brilliant to watch.

Check out the FAQ on the Freerice website to get an idea of how much is donated each year/day and where it all goes.

The game does come with a warning on the website that people should read and is something to be aware of.  It says........

WARNING:  This game may make you smarter.  It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, and your grades.

Of course the question may arise as to how true this is – does rice REALLY get donated to people who need it just by playing a game on the web?

Check out the following link.  Snopes is a type of ‘mythbuster’ for the Internet and ferrets out the truth from the fiction in all the ‘stuff’ that is out there.  This could be a good site to introduce to the students so that they can check and evaluate websites and information.

http://www.snopes.com

Have a play with these sites and see what you think.

A New Year Dawns

Welcome back to the start of the school year for 2012 – and the National Year of Reading. Lots of ideas have been floated on how to celebrate this event and the Library Staff are hoping that we can get some of them up and running here at the Barkly College.

The National Year of Reading (NYR) will be launched on 14^th February and will run all year with various programs and events. Why a National Year of Reading? Here in Australia, nearly half the population struggles without having the literacy skills to meet the most basic demands of everyday life and work. 46% of Australians cannot read newspapers, follow a recipe or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.
Considering that most newspapers are supposedly written for a 12year old level – this is scary!

One of the suggestions was to spend 2012 seconds each week – or each month - reading as a class, either silently or out loud. 2012 seconds equals about 33 mins so that would be a small part of a class block. Maybe we could get people from the community top come in and read to the classes? Have staff reading to classes that they don’t usually teach? Project the stories up on the IWB and read from there? The Library has e-books and iPads available for class use so maybe that would a ‘techy’ way to promote and run this.

Something else that could be incorporated is “Are we there yet?” This is a fun, educational activity for under 12s and their families, which is based on Alison Lester’s book, which tells the story of her family’s journey around Australia in a camper van. The idea is that you get to write in to tell NYR about your home town – or a special place that you have visited in Australia. By sending in a short story/letter/drawing of your favourite place, you could win a fabulous prize. Ask your teacher or parents to help. This competition will move around Australia on a month-by-month basis – starting here in the Northern Territory on the 14^th February and ending in Victoria.

Teachers, this is something that could be included as part of reading and literacy skills. Read the book to them, ask the questions and write about the places. Although this is aimed at Primary school – we can do a display in the Library of the stories and drawings.

Another activity that will be happening August 25th is the Read Hour. This is to promote the idea that EVERYONE would benefit from reading for at least an hour a week. Some ideas are as simple as:

· Sharing a book with your child for 10 mins a day

· Getting together with friends to read and talk about your favourite books

· Get some of that work/life balance by reading a book during breaks

· Including a reading hour in the school week.

The link for the NYR website is included below. Check it out for more ideas and programs. Any ideas about things we could run across both schools, please contact Library Staff. We would LOVE to help out.
http://www.love2read.org.au/index.cfm

Wishing you all a wonderful start back at school and we will be back with more ideas and news. If you have anything you would like up on the blog from your class or if you have any questions or ideas, please talk to us.

Remember this blog is to promote what is going on in the library and our schools. It can also be used for interesting ideas, to put them out and get some talking going on amongst colleagues, friends and families across the world. Not just in our little town.

All the best for 2012. Let’s make it a great year for learning

Happy Christmas and Safe Travels

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

Holiday Reading

 
Some suggested holiday reading for students and staff:

‘Kitchen God’s Wife’ by Amy Tan                Family

‘Obernewtyn’ by Isobelle Carmody             Fantasy – 1^st in series

‘100 Philosophers’ by Peter King                Non-Fiction

‘Go Ask Alice’ by Anonymous                      Diary (Teenagers & Drugs)

‘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 – 4^th in series

‘The Virals’ by Kathy Reichs                  Mystery/Sci-fi/Thriller


If none of these appeal – go and see Sam & Kara at the Public Library – they will be happy to help you find what you want.

 Hope you all enjoy a nice relaxing holiday READING!

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.
 

 http://www.volumique.com/en/

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?

Last few weeks

Final run of the year!

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.

Australian Apprenticeships NT visit

Mr Pat Organ talking with students about apprenticeships

Today in the library, Mr Pat Organ from Australian Apprenticeships NT came for a visit to talk to students about apprenticeships. Lots of interesting questions were asked and answered and students seemed eager to participate in the discussion. It is amazing that although we live in outback Australia (the last frontier as I have heard many people call it), students here still have many opportunities offered to them that could make them become very successful adults. Well done to all students for your listening skills and asking intelligent and important questions. I hope that you got as much as possible out of this apprenticeship meeting and I look forward to hearing from some of you, the things that you have learnt.

Resource Link

Resource Link is a blog that I visit regularly and read the post. I find that they are very interesting, not just for library staff, but for educators as well. This week they have put up a blog post about Twitter, and it's uses to teachers. Being that we live in an isolated location, this is just another tool that educators in the Barkly District can use to educate our young people.

http://resourcelinkbce.wordpress.com/

Week One, Term 4

So, we are finally in term four and lots has been planned for students in the school for the next ten weeks. There is a new display up in the library promoting the fantasy section of our fiction collection. Thank you so much to all who helped me colour in the dragon and troll, they look fantastic!

This term, Shelagh is out of the office on study leave and I am looking forward to tending to the library and its special patrons. I am planning on contributing more programs to the library that should keep me (and Shelagh when she gets back) on our toes.

The construction group have now finished their vet courses and they are now back in the class room, year 12's are madly rushing to get things finished and meet deadlines and after that, they are headed over to Cambodia to do some volunteer work. The year 7's are going on a camp next week and the year 11 students are still away in Canberra on their study tour, learning a little bit more about our country and its fascinating history.

Summer is here early and this week is really heating up. We are expected to hit a top of 38 degrees celcuis sometime today. So I will be pulling out the chess boards and inviting students and staff in to play some epic battles agaist one another. There are other board games that are available in the library also, and they will be out on the library floor all week.

This term is definitely going to be a challenge, but even more so, it is going to be fun!

Websites of interest

While surfing the Web, and checking out the scoop.it links that we follow, I came across some interesting websites that may be of interest - and some use – to others. Take a look.

http://www.pearltrees.com/

Pearltrees is nothing less than a reinvention of how we organize the web. The service provides a completely unique and visual experience to saving your favorite websites, organizing what you find interesting, and even seeing what others are saying about specific web destinations. Pearltrees is a great way to organize, discover and share the stuff you like on the web.

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/essaymap/

Many students are reluctant to plan – especially when it comes to schoolwork - and this means they sit staring at a blank page for ages when you ask them to write an essay. Graphic organisers are a great way to get them started, and an interactive online one will probably appeal even more. This looks like a nice one – and you can print them out afterwards, so they have a record of their plans.

Check them out and see what you think.

I will be on six months leave starting from Monday, but Carrie will continue to post and keep this blog running – and I will post every so often as well. By the time I return, I hope to have lots of new ideas about ensuring our libraries here at Barkly College continue to be the hub of the school.

Book Review: Shift

Author:  Em Bailey

Shift is a psychological thriller that shifts between two possible worlds. 

It is about a teenage girl named Olive who has just turned her life around; she ditched her old friends and her old life. Now she goes to school, goes to work and hangs out with her best friend Ami like a good girl - but when a new girl, Miranda, comes to her town, she threatens to turn her life back around again.  

 I loved this book even though it’s really high on the creepiness factor.

Reviewed by Emma Vipond

Year 8