Cheryl Tyler blogs in part two today:

School bullying is an epidemic, and to ignore it is to ignore the single common thread among all the school shootings in America. We school professionals have the power and ability to (metaphorically) strong-arm the oppressor by our position. This “strong arm” is to teach our students to respect and value each other in our differences. By doing this we will probably save a life.

 

I experienced being bullied when I was a kid, but it doesn’t compare to the pain of seeing my child being bullied by a group of mean girls in the 4^th grade. They stomped h...Read More

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Man! I'm not mincing words here. If you complain that not enough school librarians are represented on big ALA committees, have you completed your volunteer form yet? Better yet, have you personally committed to distributing this information so that you encourage other school librarians to get involved with you? 

If not, you don't have the right to complain. If you won't do it yourself or find someone to do it, how can you decry the lack of participation? It's as if you are saying, "that's important for someone else to do, not me." 

We are professionals. Being part of a profession means being involved beyond the walls of our daily j-o-b. Sometimes it's hard. Attending conferences is hard to do for school librarians. I KNOW THAT! Yet there are many ways to overcome these obstacles. Ask me. I have gone to conferences w...Read More

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Finally I have spent some hours in contemplation of the second draft of the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action. Have you? 

AASL members are encouraged to thoroughly examine and critique the contents. Feedback should be sent to standardsinaction@ala.org by Wednesday, October 15, 2008. I'd like to suggest that even if you are not a member of AASL, you need to read and review these standards. These are the guideposts of our profession. We must care enough to read, consider, and recommend. 

I'm not going to tell you what I think. I want you to spend time on your own with the standards. Think of the hours the...Read More

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I have always wanted to be Dr. Di. Not necessarily a medical doctor, but a philospher/thinker/educator. While I'm busily serving on exec board, rearing the last son at home, and teaching, I am probably too busy to consider getting an advanced degree. But I want one. Why? I can't really concisely describe this.

I want to go back to school and learning with people in a classroom, not just via blogs and listserv's. I want to stretch my mind. I want to strive for something more, become something more, and have something more to offer. Is that a good enough reason?

What would I do with the degree? Well, of course, I'd get paid more in my same position, but I'd also incur tremendous debt obtaining this. Do I want to move to a different position? No, I don't want to be in administration or academia removed from the school. I believe I can offer the most to student...Read More

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Our Blog Counselor Cheryl Tyler guest blogs today on Providing a Safe Environment for All Students to Learn. This is part 1 of 3 and I know you won't want to miss an episode. Be sure to leave comments for Cheryl. We need to know you are listening.

 

This past summer I was teaching a class of non-white students. It was a marvelous mix of cultures. As we got to know one another, the kids asked the girl from Vietnam if she did nails. Immediately, I realized she was being stereotyped. How many times do we...Read More

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My school relocated into its permanent facility this summer. Faculty members were integrated from 6 different schools. For team building at the beginning, we completed a personality inventory. Would you believe my information indicated that I have a need to be "right?" 

I beg to disagree. I prefer the term accurate. I do not mind being educated when I am wrong. I do not take pride in other's inaccuracies. I just have a driving need to be accurate. I will search for facts and improve myself constantly, but when I answer a question, I personally must be truthful and accurate. It is most complimentary to hear, "You are correct."

This could be a serious flaw when you are dealing with people who flow through life just existing. HOWEVER, it is a wonderful characteristic to hav...Read More

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Confession time: I didn't want to write this post. Don't misunderstand, the books are great. You should have the entire series and plan to keep replacing them when they get worn out repeatedly.  It's just that ... I'm scared of the two books in front of me. I kept giving the books to others to read and I watched - from a SAFE distance - to see whether the book actually bit them or not. In the words of Carmen Agra Deedy "It could happen." I'm not joking. The photos are that fantabulous!  

Something must have happened to the elementary children who read these because everyone, even my #4 sixteen-year-old son read every word, every caption, and even the glossary w...Read More

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ALA released their new list of Emerging Leaders today. I immediately did what I believe some of you will do - checked for any ties or connections. I wanted to see if I knew anyone (maybe 3), if anyone on the list was sponsored by AASL (yep!),  if there were any other school librarians on the list (couldn't tell), if anyone on the list was a member of CALA (yep!) and if anyone was from Tennessee (nope!). 

Do you do the same thing? Go take a look at the list and be cognizant of how you search for connections. Share with us your links. 

This is actually an exciting list because these are people that are being recognized for their leadership and are being mentored into more roles to benefit our profession. In 5 years you could revisit th...Read More

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Think you get too much email? Join the crowd. At one point this week, I had 985 emails to scan/ read/ respond/ delete. When you receive 2-300 a day, it takes commitment and diligence to keep up. I'm so glad I didn't blindly delete everything because I would have missed AASL's Hotlinks for October. This is the official monthly e-newsletter of the American Association of School Librarians. It is a benefit of membership that I hope you have opted-in to receive. 

Article 10 this month is: Middle-School Years Considered Optimal Time for Teaching Critical Thinking

Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas's University Center for BrainHealth believe that the best
time to train people in complex reasoning and critical thinking is during their middle-school years. Researchers at the center have created a program call SMART -- Strategic Memo...Read More

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Ever feel like you're starting all over again? I've used EduBlogs with students and witnessed an immediate response, but I had problems getting privileges set so students could post the entries, not just respond with comments. 

This year I decided to use wikispaces to set up a simple wiki for our students to begin adding their own reviews.  I have many students writing reviews, taking all my Post-It notes to slap their opinion on the ARC's and preview books I receive, and discussing new titles in small groups. Our wiki is definitely a work in progress as our students learn how to post, but I wanted to share our process openly with you.

One of my 8th grade Language Arts teachers (Ms N) is so full of enthusiasm this year. Her class is motivated to read. She has bought books fo...Read More

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 Draw It!(Series) Written by Patricia Walsh / Tiffany Peterson & illustrations by David Westerfield / Mark Adamic.  Published by Heinemann-Raintree.

 

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Publishers, pay attention. Schools need more bookmarks. Want to sell more books? Create bookmarks and send them free to schools when they purchase titles in a series (or even before purchase). Watch what happens when students get their hands on the bookmarks. They begin checking off what they've read and demand the next title on the bookmark. School librarians are powerless to resist the demands of students pleading for the purchase of the rest of a series. How can we say no when they show us they WANT to read?

Take Capstone Press' new Pebble Plus series Military Branches. Being a faithful Army mom, I revi...Read More

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