Go Ahead, Judge a Book By Its Cover- Or Title!

This is about a girl changing who she is to fit in at her high school.

On Tuesday, January 29, 2013 the LMC hosted our first ever Book Spine Poetry Slam with the juniors from Mr. Kluch and Ms. Harris' classes.

Poetry frightens most people, including me. All that figurative language and evocative imagery can intimidate the most confident person. But poetry is really just a different form of story telling not unlike a novel or a painting.

The idea behind Book Spine Poetry is to let students participate in creating verse in a friendly, fast and fun way. Classes were divided into groups of 3-5 and given six books. They could exchange the books with others from the book bank, but could only work with six at a time. They were given five minutes to create a poem using the titles of six books, read top to bottom. No add-in phrases allowed. Each group read their poem aloud and explained its meaning and themes.

To say that Ms. Orest, Ms. Harris, Mr. Kluch and I were blown away is an understatement. We had no idea what to expect from the students, this being our first time using the activity. As is often the case when you work with youth, you end up learning more from those you serve than the other way around!

Not only were the students energetic in their approach to the challenge, they rose above our meager expectations and drew a few tears with their poems. (Not ashamed!)

At risk of beating a dead horse, I can't stress enough how an activity like this wouldn't be possible without books in the Library Media Center! Students touched books, moved about the LMC, engaged with other classmates in their randomly assigned groups and created stories where there were none. (Like magic!) Not one item used for this assignment involved a device, a battery or access to WiFi. Technology is wonderful, but hands-on physical materials are just as valuable for meaningful learning.

So sit back and enjoy the genius of our HHS students!

   

This is one of my favorites from third hour.

A soldier's battlefield message to his wife. (Yeah, got to me too.)

They went with Faulkner for the theme and look at all the titles they found to connect to that last book.

All about feeling like you don't belong, but knowing there is a place that you do.

 Down Under, but not Australia, if you know what I mean. 

Isn't this one beautiful?

Back in the Saddle Again!

Welcome to the 2012/2013 school year! We're back! With a new circulation desk and some fresh paint. Here I am at my new work station. Notice the ledge? No more backpacks knocking things down on me! Ms. Orest and I are thrilled with our new desk and looking forward to a great school year.

So, how did I spend my summer vacation?

Packing and unpacking- we moved to a new house. 

Reading- but only one of the 30 books I brought home from the LMC. Too many of my favorite authors had new releases out in June and July. I had a few days were I sat and read for hours, which is such a rare treat.

Sweating- at Freshman Football practice.  Yes, you read that correctly. I am a new volunteer coach for the Freshman Football team. I'll be blogging about that under the title Pigskin Princess, so watch for an update next week.

Collecting- goodies for the Library Media Center. My older son Conner and I went to the fun and fabulous San Diego Comic-Con in July. In addition to comic books, movies and TV shows there are TONS of books and authors. SciFi, Fantasy and YA titles are huge right now. I got to speak to Michael Grant, the author of the Gone series, and tell him how much my students love his work. I won books (the new YA series from mega SciFi author Orson Scott Card) for the LMC at the Simon and Schuster panel. In addition to all that fun, I nabbed posters, ARC copies of soon-to-be-released titles, buttons, stickers and a free T-shirt. Look for the Comic-Con display to be up early next week.

Waiting- for some great movies based on books to come out this fall. The last segment of the Twilight series will be out as well as the highly anticipated The Perks of Being a Wallflower and World War Z. And let's not forget the movie event of the century- the first (of three) films for The Hobbit. It will be epic! Best of all, we have all of these titles in the Media Center so you can read the book before you see the movie.

While it's tough to get back into the school routine (early mornings!) I except this school year to be great. Pop in and visit if you get the chance.

T-Shirt Tuesday

Connecting with patrons is a priority for any library. It's easy to connect with adult patrons, but high school students can be indifferent toward the library. This isn't something I take personally. Given the rise of home and hand-held devices and online streaming, today's teens have other options for media consumption.

When they do come to the Media Center I want them to not only have a positive experience, but to have some fun too. With that thought in mind, T-Shirt Tuesday was born.

Every Tuesday I wear a geek-inspired T-shirt. The students have to guess what it's from- Star Wars, Dr. Who, Lord of the Rings, etc- and the correct answer earns them a red vine licorice candy. Sometimes there are bonus questions related to the shirt and two red vines can be earned.

Now that we're at the half-way point of the year, the students have caught on. I have Tuesday regulars, kids I only see on Tuesdays, as well as my daily regulars. Most of them have no clue what my T-shirt is about because I am a serious geek, but they happily turn to Google to try and find the answer.

What began as a game has turned into a learning opportunity. Ms. Orest teaches an internet research class and one of the key points discusses Google reliability. The kids assume the correct answer is always the  first link on a Google search. This isn't the case. I've watched students spend a majority of their lunch period searching for a T-shirt Tuesday answer (the power of red vines!).

Every Tuesday I see a few new faces. Some kids look at me like I'm crazy, some look forward to the day because it's the only time they're allowed to eat food in the library and others arrive with their smart phone in hand, ready to take me on. It's always a fun day for them and me.

We've seen circulation increase as the semester has progressed. T-Shirt Tuesday is just one factor in that. The more comfortable students become in the Media Center, the more they end up using it.

Let's face it, the only fun library is a busy and used one.