February 2011 Media Matters A newsletter for people who care about Library Media Programs Volume 9 Number 7 Featured speakers include: Alma Flor Ada, M.T. Anderson, Karen Beaumont, Gail Gibbons, and Mary Downing Hahn. Register to attend: http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/cch/register/42nd-annual-conference-children-s-literature Inside this issue: What librarians make 2 Georgia Student 5 Media Festival 6 Top Ten Issues Stone Mountain 7 President's Day 8 Barrow 9 Elementary More favorite books 10 Georgia 11 Humanities Council workshops Letter from David 12 Catrow GLMA 14 Professor Garfield 15 Calendar 16 If we raise a generation of non-readers, we will be raising a generation of non-reading nincompoops. ~ James Patterson, speech to American Association of School Librarians national conference, Nov. 6, 2009 Media Matters Page 2 What Librarians Make (Or Why Should I be More than a Librarian?) by Joyce Valenza (Reprinted with permission from the author) He says the problem with librarians is that they are antiquated. The problem with libraries is that they are anachronisms, sacred cows. Sometimes, when I am introduced, people refer to me as more than a librarian because I write a blog or speak at an occasional conference. Because it is not impressive enough to be a librarian. In polite company, I bite my tongue when I hear them ask: "You're a librarian, Joyce," they say. "Be honest. With all the information available for free on the Web, what exactly do you do?" They ask me to be honest. And, you see, like Taylor, I have a policy about honesty, especially when it has to do with equity for kids. To be honest, I believe that all children deserve strong school libraries with professional teacher librarians. And, if you ask for my honesty, I have to let you have it. I am not an anachronism. You want to know what I do? You want to know why I am here? I am here to introduce young people to a rich world of books and literature, options they can select themselves. I am here to see the joy on a kid's face when she shares that she loved the book she borrowed last week. The one she stayed up all night reading. Recently saw that joy on a kid's face when he borrowed his first e-reader. I have a library collection that includes everything the modern literate kid needs-ebooks, audiobooks, open source software, streamed media, flash drives, digital cameras, tripods, laptops, digital storytelling and digital publishing tools, cookies and pretzels. My collection includes and validates the writing, the art and the media that my own kids create. I am here to help learners ask important questions. I am here to help learners understand that when they ask questions, they have a rich search toolkit available to them and that toolkit reaches beyond one big search engine and that that toolkit offers them access to high quality databases and ebooks and blogs and tweets and magazines and newspapers and wikis and scholarly journals and primary sources and media of all sorts. Continued on next page Page 3 Continued from page 2 As it continues to shift, I am here to organize the information world for my teachers and our kids. To help them efficiently access the stuff they need through the websites and pathfinders I create and maintain. I model for our kids and our teachers how they might organize their own information worlds and networks. I am here to help learners question and critically evaluate, to triangulate the authority of information and media in all formats. My kids can evaluate a website before they even visit it. I am here to teach kids strategies so they can effectively and efficiently find the information they need. I am here to teach them search tricks, tricks that have legs, special tricks that give them special searching powers. I help students build knowledge from the information they gather. I help them analyze and synthesize and make meaning. So that they can use information to solve problems and make decisions. I help learners communicate and collaborate using the tools of their time. I help them become writers and producers and storytellers and networkers and sharers of new knowledge. I help them discover that what they create should have meaning and audience. That it should make a difference. I teach kids to be solid and proud digital citizens. I teach them to be kind bloggers and tweeters and networkers. I help them understand their digital footprints, to build academic digital footprints. When my kids build media, when they remix, they know how to respect the intellectual property of others. They know about the Creative Commons movement. They are beginning to attribute Creative Commons licensing to their own work. They know the rights and the limits of Fair Use. They know how to attribute credit, how to cite, how and when to quote. I am here to work with teachers to build instruction, to build projects and assessments that focus on creativity and meaning using the information tools and strategies of our time. Our library is more libratory than library. It is the center of our school. It is often a little noisy. You can hear the sounds of podcasters and video production and storytelling and presentation. Library is not merely a place to get stuff. It is a place to invent, to create, to make stuff, to collaborate on stuff, and to share stuff. It is more kitchen than grocery store. More transformational than transactional. I am here to ensure that all my students have equitable access to the tools they need to learn and create. I know that access to these tools is an intellectual freedom issue. Continued on next page Page 4 Continued from page 3 You want to know what I make? You want to know why I am here? I make kids smile and laugh and think. And I make them work hard. "Don't waste my time with anything but your best." And I make them read. I make them plan and write and produce and communicate. I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them search. I make them analyze and evaluate. I make them take a stand. I make them defend their stands with evidence. I make them tell stories. I make them invent. I make them create. I make them collaborate and share. And I celebrate their best. Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true: My classroom is the largest classroom in the school and I know the names of nearly 700 kids and I greet as many as possible personally each day. Our library is everywhere. Our virtual library is ubiquitous. It is open day and night. My kids do well on their bubble tests. But I am also here to ensure that our kids become information and media literate citizens. I am here to ensure they become transliterate. Our library is not a sacred cow. It is a growing, vibrant, central element of my school's learning culture. If you want evidence, come for a visit. Ask my kids. Ask our graduates. I can share the research if you like. Check out the Impact Studies collected at the Library Research Service site or scan the collected body of literature in Scholastic's document School Libraries Work I make a difference! I am not an anachronism. And there is no need for me to be more than a librarian. Being a librarian is more than enough. (Inspired by Taylor Mali and his poem What Teachers Make, or Objection Overruled, or If things don't work out, you can always go to law school www.taylormali.com) Page 5 The updated 2011 GSMF brochure and forms may be found at: http://www.gait-inc.org/GSMF/forms.htm Please contact Gordon if you have any questions. Dr. Gordon N. Baker, Dean of Libraries Clayton State University 2000 Clayton State Blvd. Morrow, Georgia 30260 678/466-4334; 678/466-4349 (F) Phone: 404-657-9800 Fax: 404-656-5744 E-mail: jserrite@doe.k12.ga.us 1754 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Fred Newman and Dr. Sallie Mills at the recent Georgia Reading Association Conference. Media Matters Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. ~ Frederick Douglass Page 6 Would you like a copy of Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education's Top Ten Issues to Watch in 2011? Send an email to Bill Maddox at bmaddox@gpee.org. GPEE can provide up to 2 copies for free and will ask for postage reimbursement for more than that. This year's issue includes 10 indicators that show where Georgia is in relation to states ranked 20th in a particular category. It shows how far we have to go to crack the Top 20!!!!! You can also read and download the publication online at: http://www.gpee.org/ fileadmin/files/PDFs/GPEE_Top_Ten_2011_Final.pdf The Top Ten Issues for 2011 are: 1. Georgia's new leaders: where will they take us 2. Continuing our Race to the Top 3. Early learning: quality and access for our children 4. Confronting poverty: a dire need OdnMapebyer...edodagio.aLyrn,aibtsmhroasimsrwyeliisllt. 5. Eradicating gaps in student achievement 6. College and career readiness: are we getting it right 7. Getting a handle on school choice 8. Scraping the barrel: our new school funding model 9. Understanding teacher effectiveness 10. The need for honest and accurate data Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year. ~ Horace Mann Media Matters Page 7 Stone Mountain Park to Award 4 Complimentary Class Field Trips to Georgia Frontier Days, Thursday, April 28th, 2011 Do you want to supplement your student's curriculum and journey through hundreds of years of Georgia's history with live demonstrations of prerevolutionary times, the pioneer era and the civil war, all at no charge? Now you can Write Your Own Ticket and Be A Complimentary Guest Class at Georgia Frontier Days! In an effort to encourage creative writing and learning, Stone Mountain Park will admit 4 classes from area schools to Georgia Frontier Days as our complimentary guests on Thursday, April 28th! The winning classes must provide and pay for their own transportation. Any school arriving by car will be responsible for the gate parking fee. The parking fee is waived for School and Church buses. What grades are eligible? This literary competition is open to all Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida public and private school educators and principals grades 1 through 8. Class sizes that are eligible are not to exceed 35 students. All winning classes must provide one adult chaperone per 10 students to accompany them on their trip. The chaperones will also attend as our guests. What does my class have to do to be eligible? The teacher will instruct their class to write a creative literary work of 500 words or less on any subject matter pertaining to Georgia's pre-revolutionary, pioneer or civil war history. It may be a short story, poem, or an essay and may be as simple as why you want to attend Georgia Frontier Days. The teacher will select 5 compositions to represent the class, make copies of them, print and fill out the entry form on line and then send them to the specific Stone Mountain Park address on the entry form. Entries must be in Stone Mountain Park's possession no later than Tuesday, March 1st, 2011. The classes chosen to be our guests will be selected by the creativity of their writing and at the sole discretion of Stone Mountain Park judges. The teachers and the classes chosen will be notified by March 23rd, 2011. Want to make sure that your class doesn't miss out on Georgia Frontier Days? Make your reservation early. Even if you are pre-paid you can still enter the Write Your Own Ticket to Georgia Frontier Days. If your class is selected we will refund the paid portion of the program to you. So get creative! Check out the rules on our website at www.stonemountainpark.com click on School Programs and Write Your Own Ticket to Georgia Frontier Days! For any questions regarding this entry you may contact Maureen Slawitschka at mslawitschka@stonemountainpark.com I'm sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and make people think about it. I'm rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books. ~ Arthur C. Clarke in an address to the U.S. Congress 1975. Media Matters Page 8 A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt Media Matters Page 9 David C. Barrow Elementary Media Center in Athens, GA & Andy Plemmons, Media Specialist Welcome you to the 2010-2011 Exemplary Elementary Media Program Open House Thursday March 3, 2011 from 7:30AM-4:00PM Student Work Showcase Schedule: 7:30-8:00AM Morning Broadcast 9:30-10:00AM PreK Forecasters Project 10:00-10:45AM 2nd grade Graphic Novels 11:00-11:45AM 4th grade Book Trailers & various 5th grade projects 11:45AM-12:35PM 4th grade Digital Inquiry Projects 12:30-12:45PM Battle of the Books Practice 1:00-1:45PM Leader Librarians: Students as part of the budgeting process 1:45-2:30PM Art Collaboration: 5th grade poetry & photography unit Throughout the day: Media Center tours, Q&A with Andy Plemmons, and the Barrow Oral History Project Blog: http://barrowmediacenter.wordpress.com Website: http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/webpages/ David C. Barrow Elementary is located at 100 Pinecrest Drive, Athens, GA 30605. Parking is limited in Barrow's upper and lower lots on Pinecrest Drive. Parking is also available across Lumpkin Street at Campus View Church of Christ (1360 South Lumpkin Street). Do not park on Rutherford Street or UGA lots. All are welcome RSVP is appreciated Email: plemmonsa@clarke.k12.ga.us Phone: (706) 543-2676 ext. 38280 You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. ~ C. S. Lewis Why have a vision for your Library Media program? Because you will want to know if you got there. Media Matters Page 10 In December you were asked to share your favorite book read in 2010. Some of you shared an adult book, some shared a children's book, some didn't share their school name...and some of you shared more than one title. But there were no wrong answers... I just wanted to know what you read and enjoyed. This is a continuation from the January issue. Happy Reading! City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems Karen Hickey Final Truth: The Autobiography of a Serial Killer by Donald Gaskins and Wilton Earle One Day by David Nicholls Angela Dallis Tess MacMillan The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak Juliana Anglada The Doll Maker by Harriet Arnow Denise Hornsby Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix Taylor Wickline http://www.ratchatreviews.com/ Teaching reading IS rocket science. ~ Louisa Moats Media Matters Page 11 http://www.georgiahumanities.org/curriculum-and-schools/workshops I'm not a teacher: only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead ahead of myself as well as you. ~ George Bernard Shaw A thank you note to the children of Georgia from David Catrow. David is the recipient of the Children's Picturebook Award for this year. Media Matters Page 14 GLMA District Chairs Needed GLMA is looking for library media specialists from around the state to serve on the GLMA board. Please consider being a district chair if you live in one of the following areas. We need district chairs to represent the following areas: South Metro: Henry, Butts, Spalding, Pike, Lamar, Upson, Fayette Southeast: Coffee, Atkinson, Bacon, Ware, Pierce, Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Glynn, Clinch This is a great way to network, contribute to your profession, and become involved in GLMA. (In some districts, two LMS share the position.) This is also a great leadership opportunity and an opportunity to make a difference in our profession. What do the GLMA district chairs do? 1. They encourage LMS in their district to apply for the Library Media Specialist of the Year award so all districts can be represented in this state competition. 2. They attend GLMA board meetings and report on events in their district. 3. They hold a meeting in their area, when possible, to discuss concerns and encourage networking. Please email Betsy Razza if interested. BETSY_RAZZA@fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us GLMA Mable Wyche Underwood Grants are available for the 2010-11 school year You can find the application attached and on the GLMA website under Awards and Grants ( http://glma-inc.org/GLMA-Grant-2011.pdf ). This is a great opportunity to fund an idea that will help you have an exemplary program in your media center. The grant application is only one and a half pages long. Grants are judged on six criteria: Quality Innovativeness Clear objective Benefit of project to students Budget Evaluation plan Three grants will be awarded in the amount of $300 - $500. The deadline for submitting the application is May 15, 2011. In order to apply for a grant, you must be a current GLMA member and have been a GLMA member last year as well. Grant recipients must agree to participate in a concurrent workshop along with other grant recipients at a COMO convention to share the merits of their projects. Media Matters Page 15 If you want your children to be brilliant, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be geniuses, read them more fairy tales. ~ Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Are you the next Georgia LMSOTY? The 2011 LMSOTY application can be found at the following link: http://glma-inc.org/specialists.htm Please note the April and May deadline dates. Website of the Month! http://www.professorgarfield.org Su nday February 2011 Georgia Department of Education Mond ay Tuesday Wed nesday Thu rsday Fr iday Satu rd ay 1 2 3 4 5 Langston Hughes James Dickey ~ born ~ 1902-1967 1923-1997 Space Shuttle New Amsterdam Columbia Incorporated as Crashed~2003 a city ~ 1653 Sidney Lanier Birthday of born ~ 1842-1881 Charles Lindbergh ~ 1902-1974 Facebook founded ~ 2004 Hank Aaron's birthday! 1934- 6 Babe Ruth's birthday ~ 1895-1948 7 8 Birthday of Founding of the Charles Dickens Boy Scouts ~ ~ 1812-1870 1910 9 10 11 12 Birthday ofAlice 1st singing Thomas Edison's Walker ~ 1944- telegram~ 1933 birthday ~ U.S. Weat her Treaty ofP ari s 1847-1931 Service Signed to End Establ ished ~ Spanish 1870 American War ~ 1899 Birthday of AAbbrarahhaamm LiLnincoclonln~180911886059-1865 13 Who is Chuck Yeager? 14 15 16 First Product ion Birthday of First Fruit Tree of E lement Gali leo Galil ei~ Patent ~ 1932 103,Lawrencium 1564-1642 Patent Issued for ~ 1961 Nylon ~ 1937 Valent ine's Day 17 Birthday of ChaimPotok ~ 1929-2002 First U.S. Government Loan ~ 1790 18 9th planet discovered ~ 1930 Is i t still a planet ? 19 Birthday ofAmy Tan ~ 1952- 20 21 22 John Gl enn orbits First Newspaper Birthday of the earth~ 1962 Published in George Nati ve Ameri can Washi ngt on~ language ~ 1828 1732-1799 W.H. Auden's birthday ~ 1907-1973 23 W.E.B. DuBois born~ 1868-1963 24 P res id en t Johnson impeached~ 1868 27 Birthday of Longfel low~ 1807-1882 28 Sal emWitch Hunt Began ~ 1692 Who is Linus Paulding? Jan ua ry S M TW T F S 1 2345678 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 25 26 First Timberland World Trade Prot ection Act Center (NYC) Passed by bombed~ 1993 Congress ~ 1779 Who is Joseph Rainey from South Carol ina? March S M TW T F S 12345 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 SSaattisisfafcatciotinoonf oonfeo'snceu'rsiocsuitryioissiotnyeisofothnee gorefattheestgsroeuarcteessot fshoauprpciensesos finhlaifpe.p~inLeisnsusinPlaifueld. inLg inus Pa uling