This week is the start of working on strategic plans in my Management of Info. Organizations class. My group is creating a strategic plan for a fictional school media center, and last night we selected our roles. My role in the group is "Director of Research," which basically means I will be responsible for researching everything that needs to be researched for the group - or at least for finding the resources the rest of the group can use for completing their assigned parts. I will also be responsible writing for two of the appendices.
Now that work on this has started, the next five weeks should be crazy. This project is 60% of our grade for the class.
And of course, although my other class has been busy all semester, the really big projects are coming up now in that class as well.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Booktalk
One of the major assignments for my Info. Needs of Young Adults class is to perform a booktalk for a group (no less than 6) of young adults. On Monday morning, I performed my booktalk assignment for two 7th grade Honors English classes at Rachel Carson Middle School. I think it went OK, but the kids looked kind of bored. I'm hoping that had more to do with the fact that it was 8 am on a Monday morning than with how boring I actually was.
A booktalk is essentially an advertisement for a book. It's supposed to get people interested in reading it, and there are many different ways you can do this. You can focus on a character, a scene, the plot, or the setting. You can do it in first-person as if you are a character from the book if you want. Whatever it takes to get potential readers interested.
Because the English classes will have an assignment coming up for which they will have to select a novel in verse to read, I chose a novel in verse to do for my booktalk. I wasn't totally happy with how my booktalk came out, but I ran out of time to revise it, so here's what I came up with:
Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham
Bingham, K. (2007). Shark girl. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.
A booktalk is essentially an advertisement for a book. It's supposed to get people interested in reading it, and there are many different ways you can do this. You can focus on a character, a scene, the plot, or the setting. You can do it in first-person as if you are a character from the book if you want. Whatever it takes to get potential readers interested.
Because the English classes will have an assignment coming up for which they will have to select a novel in verse to read, I chose a novel in verse to do for my booktalk. I wasn't totally happy with how my booktalk came out, but I ran out of time to revise it, so here's what I came up with:
Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham
Missing an arm is like wearing a coat,Jane Arrowood named her right arm Chuck. Chuck isn’t her real arm though. She lost her real arm in a shark attack. Chuck is her prosthetic arm, and she doesn’t like Chuck very much. Chuck is itchy, makes her look like Captain Hook, and can’t help her do the things she used to love.
a really big, hot, ugly coat
that I can’t take off.
Ever.
It’s all that people see (Bingham, 2007, p. 116).
Before the shark attack, Jane was an artist. She was the best artist at her high school, and now, she can’t even draw a circle. She used to love to cook too, but now she can’t even take out the trash without making a huge mess. Under the circumstances, it's understandable that she might feel depressed, and sometimes she does, but most of the time she’s just angry. Angry at her brother for not going into the ocean with her. Angry at the people on the beach who just watched, and angry at the guy who videotaped it and sent that tape in to the news. She's even angry at well-meaning strangers who send letters and flowers and teddy bears.
Dear Jane:They’re just trying to help, but she doesn’t want to be inspired. She wants to know why this happened to her. Is this what her life will always be like -- searching the internet for tips on how to button her pants one-handed, having panic attacks at the thought of going out and being stared at or talked about? Will she find a way to make art again? Get dressed by herself again? What does she need to do to stop being Shark Girl and start being plain old Jane again?
My Uncle/Aunt/Brother-in-Law’s Friend Had Their Leg/Foot/Toe/Finger or Hand Amputated Because of Diabetes/Frostbite/Circulation Problems/War/Job Injury, But You’d Never Know It, Because They Are So Funny/Athletic/Good-Natured/Spiritual/Successful/At Ease with Themselves/Happy.
If I have to listen to one more story,
I will scream (Bingham, 2007, p. 142).
Bingham, K. (2007). Shark girl. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Registration for Spring 2010
Today was the first day of registration for the Spring 2010 semester. I'm not sure if I just got lucky or if they've updated the registration system to handle more load, but I was able to register in no time this morning.
Next semester I will be taking:
TSL 5325 English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Instruction in the Content Areas
LIS 5512 School Collection Development and Management
This includes my first education class. I know it will require some sort of tutoring and/or observation of an ESOL student, so we'll see how that goes.
Next semester I will be taking:
TSL 5325 English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Instruction in the Content Areas
This course is designed to prepare non-ESOL teachers to instruct English language learners in public school content areas (i.e., science, math, social studies) and specialized areas (i.e., art, physical education). It places emphasis on language sensitive instructional planning and delivery, adaptation of instructional materials for enhanced comprehension, testing and placement of students, and cross-cultural awareness. It satisfies the teacher certification requirements for content area teachers. It is not part of the ESOL Endorsement required of primary language providers.
LIS 5512 School Collection Development and Management
The course is designed to provide an understanding of the attitudes, knowledge and skills necessary to manage human resources and provide effective leadership in a school library media program. Covers collection development and management in school libraries. Required for school media certification. Recommended to take the semester before taking the State of Florida media specialist exam.
This includes my first education class. I know it will require some sort of tutoring and/or observation of an ESOL student, so we'll see how that goes.
Ethics and Booktalks
The focus in class last week in my Information Needs of Young Adults was on booktalks - how to do them and why they are important. A week from today, I should be performing my booktalk assignment. Let's hope I can pin down what book I want to booktalk and actually get it written before then :)
This week, the focus is on fantasy, and our related readng was Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I enjoyed it a lot, so it should be fun to discuss in class on Thursday.
In my Management of Info Orgs class, group work is starting to ramp up. This week we don't meet in class, but as a group we have to complete an ethics assignment. This will be a warm up to working in the same group for the rest of the semester to create a strategic plan.
This week, the focus is on fantasy, and our related readng was Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I enjoyed it a lot, so it should be fun to discuss in class on Thursday.
In my Management of Info Orgs class, group work is starting to ramp up. This week we don't meet in class, but as a group we have to complete an ethics assignment. This will be a warm up to working in the same group for the rest of the semester to create a strategic plan.
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