826 valencia pirates!

I am seriously impressed with Dave Eggers' pirate shopfront for writing workshops and tutoring for young people: http://www.826valencia.org/ via @cmisevalff via @GuardianBooks

http://www.fightingwords.ie/index.php - Sean Love & Roddy Doyle's Fighting Words in Dublin

Katie Waldegrave's First Story in London and Oxford.

in Australia - westside Fremantle Children's Literature Centre Inc, and eastside The Edge.

another fortune cookie message

the next month will bring great change.

love it!

whose role is it anyway?

Synopsis: The issue of accepting interlibrary loan requests for textbooks from tertiary students at a public library has stimulated debate on whether the public library should or shouldn't, with or without conditions.
And yes, considering ALIA's standards, SLQ's standards and guidelines, the Australian ILRS code, the library's CDP and mission statement.

Question: What is your public library's guideline on this issue?


Please add your comment below, or email me at wordbox@live.com.au(nospam)
Usual disclaimer: remove (nospam) from the address - make your spam into poetry but not for me.

Thanks!

reviews

CMIS Fiction Focus (print and online)
Slice: Juicy Moments from my Impossible Life by Steven Herrick, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
The Worst Thing She Ever Did by Alice Kuipers, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
Rebel by R.J. Anderson, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
The Black Book of Colours by Menena Cottin, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
After by Sue Lawson, 2010, available online at CMIS Resource Bank
End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale, 2010, available online at CMIS Resource Bank

M/C Reviews: Words 
Australia Dances: Creating Australian Dance 1945-1965 by Allan Brissenden and Keith Glennon, 2010, available online at M/C Reviews

Allen and Unwin Teachers Reviews
The Winds of Heaven by Judith Clarke, 2009, available online
Mouse Noses on Toast by Daren King, 2007, available online

Writing Queensland, QWC
The Runes of Odin by Ben Julien, issue 164, July 2007, p20.

VATE Newsletter
The Peach Season by Debra Oswald, no. 4, September 2007.
The Tattooed Flower: A Memoir by Suzy Zail, no. 4, September 2007.
The Secrets of Eromanga by Sheryl Gwyther, no. 3, June 2007.
The Legacy of Odin by Ben Julien, no. 3, June 2007.

API Review of Books, Curtin University of Technology, W.A.
No Place Like Home: Australian stories by young writers aged 8-21 years, edited by Sonja Dechian, Jenni Devereaux, Heather Millar and Eva Sallis, issue 44, July 2006.
Available online

Aussie Reviews
Platypus Deep by Jill Morris, June 2006. Available online
Bertie and the Bear by Pamela Allen, April 2006. Available online

cmis focus on fiction

yesterday I received the fullsome Focus on Fiction journal by post from the awesome peeps at cmis because I've signed on as a reviewer. Good reading ahead. They have a LibraryThing page set up for reviewers to choose titles from. What about that for our top titles? Until we get LibraryThing on the LMS in an upgrade.

what does 'reading' really mean?

Interesting discussion over at OZ_TL regarding visual literacy, techno-literacy, reading books vs. reading text on screens.

to READ –verb (used with object)
1.
to look at carefully so as to understand the meaning of (something written, printed, etc.): to read a book; to read music.
read. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 08, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/read

The discussion began with an observation that 'skills for reading from print (on paper) are different to those for reading from a screen and we need to teach both. Research is telling us that kids need really good traditional literacy skills before they can read well from a screen' (Barbara Combes, Edith Cowan University, Perth).
Then a young teacher from outside Australia responded with a bit of a dismissal that prompted many learned teachers to respond.

He suggested that his generation had no problems reading and interpreting text from a screen - he has several screens open on his desktop, and he constantly flicks between them. He said that he doesn't read everything on the page, but that's what his generation is about. I'd say already he has a problem understanding what the act of reading means. To read means to look at something printed, displayed, etc in our language system carefully so as to form an understanding of its meaning. If the writer didn't want the reader to read so much he or she would have uploaded less words. Each word counts towards the reader's comprehension of the writer's intent, or to the formation of the reader's own interpretation. If you view less than the whole you cannot gain full understanding.

Many teachers responded to his argument using sound pedagogical examples, including that TLs need to invest a lot of time into teaching techno-literacy because so many students believe everything they view online. That is, they view it and accept it instead of reading and applying judgement. If a website or other online medium has not been created according to W3C standards, then the viewer already has a barrier to comprehension if he or she is flicking between screens because they won't readily see the important information.

So I responded from a writer's viewpoint, and yes, a few teachers responded to my response with cheers. I like technology applications rather a lot, but I would never suggest that the container is more important than the content.

My response: The thing is, if 'your' generation is about not reading everything on the page, you are going to miss out on some incredibly creative use of language - which is the difference between stories/poetry and a business report. If you skim you may get the gist of a story, but not its nuances and subtle pleasures. And if you are a teacher and endeavouring to teach children how to write creatively - there's a problem. Similarly, by skimming readers may miss important textual clues which would aid comprehension and support their development of further knowledge (as in the fake websites examples). Certainly students need to be educated to be capable of one day understanding business reports, as important decisions are made on the strength of them. You can use all the tools to create a digital story, present it with visuals, use stop animation, tell all your mates about it on Facebook or twitter, but the actual story should have substance. I don't believe all stories/poems have to be in book form. The story matters to me - whether that's projected on the side of a building, written in chalk on the footpath or downloaded on a kindle. The technology needs to be used effectively to support the content. I wouldn't say 'I'm going to write a story for a mobile phone screen'. I'd think about the story I wanted to write, then consider the best medium for presentation. And as the technology container affects how/where the content is communicated, then TLs are well placed to educate students in understanding this.

wordbox is SCISsed!

librarians get excited about some crazy things. I just discovered that wordbox was reviewed on Curriculum Corp and has a SCIS number!! No: 1383316!
Check it. Thanks Nigel Paull, Teacher librarian at South Grafton Primary School, for spreading the word.

no apples for the teacher

Life is an intricate puzzle. For some time I had planned to study the postgraduate diploma in primary education either through QUT or USQ after completing my library management degree with CSU. I planned to move into teacher librarianship both for the work and to gain coverage of all employment bases. Not that you have to be qualified in librarianship for Queensland schools. Although it would be much better for children if that was a requirement.
For some months I have been an enthusiastic pre-preservice teacher just waiting for Res. School at USQ. Yesterday I regretfully unenrolled (it was a mid-year intake) because I will not be able to fulfil the work placement requirements in semester two - because I gained a full time librarian position in public libraries!! So, the school thing is not to be just now - no apples for this would-be teacher.
That's okay because my other much longer held dream was to work in public libraries...all those enquiring minds. Love life.

happy graduation CSU !

A special day for so many people today - lecturers, graduands/graduates, and all those supportive employers and fortunate future employers and clients.
Today was Graduation Day at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, for those who've survived their studies of the Bachelor of Applied Science Library and Information Management (BAppScLIM), and Masters, Graduate Certificates and Doctorates in Teacher Librarianship and Information Management.
CSU celebrates in style - the week of festivities began on Tuesday with the Town and Gown ceremony with a spectacle of colour and movement along the main street featuring academic regalia. What a beautiful experience.
This from CSU - The School of Information Studies is expanding the scope of all of its courses in 2010 to reflect the critical importance of information and knowledge management across the broadest range of institutions. This is the profession to be in.
Roy Crotty, Associate Lecturer in the Teacher Librarianship course, sent a wonderful message of support for graduating students on the OZTL list this week. That's the kind of University this is. Aren't we lucky?
Aren't we so totally LIBRARIANS!
Happy graduation to all (insert streamers and balloons here).
And, yes, as soon as I received my final transcript from Charles Sturt I applied for Associate Membership of ALIA. An undergraduate degree and eligibility for Associate Membership is often a mandatory requirement for professional library positions. Are you feeling informed? Go - celebrate!

And yay to my friend Lisa too, also graduating from CSU this week, not in Librarianship, but Social Work.

p.s. 11 April - Congratulations to Naomi Rickersey who was awarded Zenith Management Services Group Undergraduate Library and Information Management Prize for our cohort. The top eight graduands (me included!) were nominated for the Prize. We submitted CVs and participated in interviews with Zenith staff. Sixty-one graduates - so Zenith nominees were in the top 13% of graduates in 2009. Thank you Zenith and CSU.

reading and writing ambassador

As a pre-preservice teacher, and a literacy & literature loving librarian and writer, my interim fun title for 2009 will be Reading and Writing Ambassador :). I loved the description of Bibliotherapy on The School of Life site (via Kathleen Noonan): 'Whatever reading needs you have, we’ll take exceptional care and effort to create a reading prescription that’s perfect for you'. Of course, that's librarianship too where we can guide you in your literary exploration, and certainly provide several gadgets (and instruction on using same) to aid your journey (databases, review journals, websites, subject guides, etc) to information collection and production of knowledge.
Libraries and schools are vital community hubs through which I intend to continue to enhance people's literacy development, and their exploration of literature, while also supporting community engagment.
I see an interesting year ahead in the secondary school library - onward and upward. The reading and writing ambassador is ready to work!
I see primary schools and public libraries in my future.

Think about what you most want to teach others.

Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

(two fortunes opened over Christmas lunch).

i am a librarian

I'm doing the dance of happy - after six years and various ups and downs, I have completed all subjects for the degree in Library and Information Management through Charles Sturt University - with a second major in English Literature. Happy, so happy. Results are officially released next Friday, but with a distinction in my last subject Information Technology in Libraries, I finish with a respectable GPA.
My last report recommended introducing Web 2.0 applications to a TAFE library's service model to enable staff and students to engage with the library as both physical and virtual space with the aim of supporting teaching and learning in a twenty-first century educational environment.
Graduation will be in April next year, and then it's onward and upward and the collection of more university polo-shirts. A big thank you to Roy Sanders, our course coordinator, as well as Anne Lloyd (inf.lit. guru), Bob Pymm and other subject coordinators and of course the amazing people in the library. Highly recommend CSU.
Highlights? Earning a near perfect score and an HD for a very difficult subject on which I initially knew not a lot, and we had to do a report with two others using online communication.
I enjoyed getting to know CSU at the Res. School, including The Hill. And I totally enjoyed nailing the reference lists - it's the librarian in me. Seriously, many varied subjects with many challenges. Literature in Education, from the Masters' course, allowed me to explore postmodern picture storybooks and verse novels and their use in the classroom.
I have worked in primary and secondary libraries, a post-secondary library, in public libraries, and as a freelance cataloguer. I was a library technician but I wanted to give more. Now I am a librarian and information manager. I could work in libraries, records management, archives, or related industries. So what are my library philosophies?
Libraries are for everyone, and the library is everywhere. Libraries connect people to ideas. Libraries promote the free flow of information and enable all Australians to access recorded knowledge, information, and creative works. Libraries are vital community hubs in which, and from which, amazing things can happen.
As a librarian and information manager, my particular focuses are assisting clients to develop their information literacy, and to enable them to explore their relationship with literature. Double Lit. I also embrace the community hub aspect - both getting out in the community (with storytelling, wielding the portable barcode reader, educating clients/students on research skills or aspects of the physical collection) and bringing the community in (love the orchestra spaces in both SLQ and Brisbane Square Library).
So where to from here? If I was in the south-east corner I would be applying for the public librarian position in the Warwick library. Best wishes to all who do apply. May you do well for your community. More polo-shirts for me - opening up of employment prospects - a postgrad qualification in education in 2009. Wish me good fortune!

school tutor

I've recently completed 36 hours of tutoring for three fabulous middle-school students over a three month period. As an Evenstart tutor I worked on the Investigations into Components of Writing program tackling punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, sentence control and ideas. I enjoyed showing them their creative minds at work, and seeing them all improve in test results. A created a beautiful poem about October lillies, M did well in his wordgames, and I had such laughs with B over our bizarre collaborative four word story project. We had a combination of activities using the Internet, writing on paper and on the blackboard, using the Bananagrams tiles and playing word snap. That was so much fun I'll have to do it again.

TEN

TEN ways to share your writing, my PowerPoint presentation is now on Slideshare. Right click on the button in the sidebar.
Links are in the notes for you to explore.
A very special thank you to Joanna for the moresome zine images on 10 & 11.

After viewing, please comment on why and how you share your writing. Merci.

After loading, checking, reloading, etc etc, I have just discovered that Slideshare cut the .com off my footer. But the link is in the final notes anyway. Frustration.

magnetic poetry

Link to these Magnetic Poetry sites to play, learn and create. An array of applications are possible for the school classroom and library.
Previously you were restricted to your own fridge!

Magnetic Poetry Snaith Primary School Magnet Poems

Magnetic Poetry (and the real thing in physical form for your non-virtual fridge)

Magnetic Poetry from Poetry4kids

Eric Harshbarger's Magnetic Poetry on James Roy's site.

References:

Magnetic Poetry Shop. (2008). Chipboard words and stickers. Retrieved 22 August, 2008 from Magnetic Poetry website: http://www.magneticpoetry.com/search.asp.

Magnetic Poetry Shop. (2008). Kids Stuff. Retrieved 22 August, 2008 from Magnetic Poetry website: http://www.magneticpoetry.com/search.asp.

wordle and education

Wordle! My favourite cloud toy with some innovative uses in literacy education. See the Teaching with Technology Edublog. Free to share under a Creative Commons Licence.

postmodern picture books

Did anyone else see The Red Tree at Out of the Box in 2004?Brilliant, inspiring stuff! We met Shaun Tan there, and had a backstage tour. He was so patient with his young audiences as he explained his inspiration and illustrative processes. He's one of quite a few Aussies tantalising us with postmodernism in our picture books. There's so much debate around book week awards time because of the wide range of what's published in picture book form. But there's so much to discover, so many ways of creating and telling a story. Postmodern picture books can appeal to different age groups and to people with different reading abilities. They challenge readers' expectations with a mix of illustrative styles, unusual layout of text and pictures, intertextuality, intrusive narration and often, no closure. I love that there is such a variety of text forms to choose and to learn from. Rather than simply teaching writing using the linear narrative form, I like to see postmodern theories embraced so students learn other ways of seeing - those students will then go on to write and create outside of the box. I know that some teachers are using claymation and storyboarding (to name a few techniques) as part of the creative process. Go with it, so that publishers know pomo works commercially!
Here's a couple of lesson plans (read, write, think & carol hurst), and here's a short list of pomo picture books (lots of Aussies):
Troy Thompson’s radical prose folio / Gary Crew & Craig Smith
Grandad’s phase / Archimede Fusillo & Terry Denton
The Watertower / Gary Crew & Steven Woolman
Beneath the surface / Gary Crew & Steven Woolman
The three fishing Brothers Gruff / Ben Galbraith
Woolvs in the sitee / Margaret Wild & Anne Spudvilas
Do not open this book / Micheaela Muntean & Pascal Lemaitre
There’s a monster at the end of this book / Jon Stone & Mike Smollin
The Paw in The Purple Diamond / Natalie Jane Prior & Terry Denton
The Red Tree / Shaun Tan
Voices in the park / Anthony Browne
The rabbits / John Marsden & Shaun Tan
Zoom / Istvan Banyai
I hate my teddy bear / David McKee
For the love of Vincent / Brenda V. NortheastNow,

postmodern novels: The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.
What a great time to be reading!