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We have been celebrating LREI Ally Week here at LREI. Check out what our teachers and students had to say about being an ally to LGBTQ folks. For more information on Ally Week, visit GLSEN or check out our list of LGBTQ resources.

(Image courtesy of Cornell University Library)
I was pretty excited today because instead of our usual forty five minute class period, we had a luxurious TWO HOURS to work with the students on their social justice projects. I had been charged with helping the Research group learn to utilize our middle school set of five new iPads. My mission was simple: show the students how to access the cloud on the iPad through Pages and Numbers, multitask between applications, and cut and paste websites and citations from the web into the Research folder on their cloud. Easy, right? I had visions of this taking about ten to fifteen minutes, and then spending the rest of the time exploring different databases and finding articles for their topics. Some of you who have been teaching or tending library for awhile are already chuckling right now. And I should have known better, I’ve certainly been around the block when it comes to effectively dispatching technology in the classroom. But we had TWO HOURS! Surely that was more than enough time to show them a few simple functions. And it should have been. But here’s what happened.

First, some of the researchers had to meet with their whole group to plan calls and visits to professional organizations they had contacted this week, so they didn’t join us right away and had to be caught up. Then, no one could remember their password. And I do mean no one–so I looked them up and gave them out to everyone. Then, the airport in the library that had been working beautifully all week suddenly conked out and couldn’t be revived. So we went back to the crowded classroom, a less than ideal space for a training. Once seated and ready to go, some of the log-ins wouldn’t work and had to be tweaked, then some of their group cloud folders were empty, because our tech teacher CJ had to build a new server last week for this project and not all of the information had been transferred over. CJ gently reminded me that I knew how to do this (which I did, but I forgot) so I spent some time copying the Numbers spreadsheet we had created to track citations into a few of the group’s clouds. Some students could sign in, but then got an error message, which CJ had to fix. Finally, I made sure I watched each students sign in, move between applications, and successfully cut and paste a URL into their Research folder. The touch screens are sensitive, and this was a far more frustrating action that you might expect. It took more than a few tries before students really mastered it. And we had ten Researchers and only five iPads. By the time all the students had been walked through the process, I looked at the clock and saw that there were only fifteen minutes left before lunch. WHAT?! What happened to my luxurious block of research time?

I realized I had come to this class with a lot of assumptions that I really shouldn’t be making at this stage of my career–that the Internet connection would work, that the students would intuitively get the process (because they’re all tech wizards, right?), and that the iPads would deploy seamlessly. When CJ and I chatted afterward and I remarked incredulously that it had taken the entire period to show a few simple functions, he responded calmly well, what did I expect? This was the first time we had collected information in this way, the first time many of the students had even used an iPad. It’s going to take time to do these projects right and show the students everything we want them to learn. And probably a good half of what we do this year we’ll end up revising, refining or just plain chucking next year, which is not only okay but preferable. We always want to keep the assignment relevant and fresh. What I need to always keep in mind is that the process is not only a big part of the project, but in many ways the most important part. Sometimes I forget that in the midst of all my Big Plans. Good thing I have awesome eighth graders to remind me. Oh, and those Researchers used that last fifteen minutes to show their teams how to multi-task and cut and paste on the iPad. Mission accomplished!

Ugh! After getting the creeping crud the last few days of winter vacation, I missed the entire first week back to school and the review of what the students had worked on over the vacation. While I was out, eighth grade teachers SMR and RB assigned a deadline for the students to have written their bios for the page (1/3), and a deadline for them to have contacted, made an appointment with, and visited at least one organization that deals with their topic (1/31). Tech teacher CJ worked with the team of webmasters to create the front page of their website, including both content and design, due (1/20). Though each member of the team has a specific role in the creation of the page, the roles all overlap. Students meet in both role teams and topic teams, they are sharing everything they learn with each other. As are the teachers. We are all helping students copy edit, upload documents to the cloud, structure their biographical paragraphs, and create content for their front pages. And what we don’t know, students are showing us. And I love that, because not only is that the collaborative teaching model our school strives for, it really allows me to be an “embedded” librarian in the truest sense of the word. Today, the teachers and I checked in with groups and made sure they were on target to make their deadlines. We got updates from groups that had already set up interviews and tours. The Child Soldiers group will be attending a U.N. panel tomorrow on their topic, while the group dealing with Women and Girls’ Issues are working on editing their video interview with author Patricia McCormick about her book Sold. Also, SMR collected a number of New York Times videos to show the students, not only to demonstrate to them the type of content they could link to their websites, but to inspire them by showing them the kind of great social justice work that is going on all over the world. Take a look! They’re pretty cool.

Educational Equity: Valentino Achek Deng, Building Schools in Sudan

Environment and Community: SOIL Project in Haiti –

Women and Girls Issues: Sexual Slavery:

War and Violence and Peace: Rabbis for Peace

Inspired in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School Librarian

December 6-10 at LREI is our annual Book Week, where our amazing parent Literary Committee, along with the librarians, work to put a visiting author in every classroom. The authors visiting the Middle School this year are so cool, I can’t wait until Friday when they are all scheduled to come!

Visiting the 5th grade is Scott Mebus, author of the Gods of Manhattan series.

Visiting the 6th grade is Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror.

Visiting the 7th grade is George O’Connor, author of the Olympians graphic novels.

Visiting the 8th grade is Patricia McCormick, author of Sold and Purple Heart.

Big thanks to all our visiting authors for taking time out of their busy schedules to talk to our middle schoolers–you inspire us with your words and stories!

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, MS librarian

I attended the School Library Journal Leadership Summit 2010, “The Future of Reading” Oct 22-23 in Chicago, IL. There was a great deal of information shared, with an emphasis on e-books and readers, and what will constitute “reading” as content becomes less and less bound to a physical format. While it would be impossible to share the entire conference, I wanted to share my main impressions with the LREI community.

Here is the website of the conference, including the full Twitter feeds of both days. (Clicking on “Replay” will display the archived Twitter feeds) The schedule and list of speakers can be accessed by using the tabs at the top of the page.

Here are the slide shows from our two keynote speakers:

Stephen Abram, MLS, President, Strategic Partnerships and Markets, Gale Cengage. “Libraries Matter: The Future of Reading in 2020”

Abrams presented a broad, and at time humorous, overview of the e-reading phenomenon and librarians’ roles in it. There’s a ton of information here that can all be accessed through his shared slide show. The main ideas I took away from his presentation is his firm belief that physical books are on their way out, the same as records and cassette tapes, and that’s not something to be afraid of, but a debate to be approached rationally. He also defended video gaming in a way I hadn’t heard before: How is video game problem solving, where students must pick up hints and tips to move to different levels, different from testing a scientific hypotheses over and over? Hmmmm. He also brought up a privacy issue I was unaware of: Amazon documents your highlights and notes every time you log into your Kindle. From my Twitter feed, I discovered this feature can be turned off, but it’s the default. An important concerpt to share with students in talking about online ethics, privacy and social networking.

Our second keynote speaker was Don Leu, Director of the New Literacies Reserach Lab at the University of Connecticut. “The Future of Reading: Misalignment of Public Policy, Assessment, and Instruction in an Online World of New Literacies”
Loads and loads of info here, lots of stats, focusing on students’ online reading comprehension and how to measure literacies beyond print. Some of the ideas I picked out to tweet from his presentation were:

“We are just beginning to understand the complexities of online reading comprehension.”
“No state measures students’ ability to search, communicate effectively w/ email or allows use of w/p to assess writing.”
“Research shows struggling readers perform better online than some of their high performing peers.” (this was especially a revelation, since I think educators usually believe the opposite is true, and shows that assigning online reading may be a way to help support struggling readers.)
“http://www.epals.com/ – Leu belives classrooms need to be connecting, and communicating with other classrooms throughout K-12 to provide kids with global view.”

I’m still mulling over the implications and applications of e-books in our school and library. My overriding impression is that we are still in the mad scramble stage, where vendors, publishers and e-reader producers are rushing products and services into development, fighting to be the top resource/device for students and schools. Until the dust clears, we should carefully evaluate any product we think would be useful for our students before signing on, as there seems to be a new digital bandwagon to jump on everyday, and we obviously don’t have unlimited resources in which to explore each and every one.

Do you have an e-reader? How do you use it? Does your child have one? Do you share books on it? I’m very interested in how the LREI community is using e-reading technology and their thoughts and feelings about the “future of reading” and what that future might look like in our school. Please feel free to leave a comment, or stop and chat with me next time you visit the 6th Avenue library.

Finally, School Library Journal published an article that provides a nice overview of the current status of e-reading

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School Librarian

Welcome to a new school year in the library! We have so many new books that our display shelves are stuffed. Please come check out our new titles, which make perfect choices for your children to read on their own, or to read together as a family.

President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston

The Case of the Gypsy Good-Bye:an Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer

Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror by Jennifer Finney Boylan

The Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary by Candace Fleming

The Vanishing Violin: a Red Blazers Girl Mystery by Michael D. Beil

The Sorcerer’s Secret by Scott Mebus

Plus many, many more! Come take a look when you have a chance.

Please come see me before or after school, or feel free to drop me an email (jhubert@lrei.org) if you have any questions about the library, how it works or what we have! I’m always happy to help.

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, MS Librarian

No, not really:) But here in the LREI Library department, we have had a very busy spring that is gearing up to a super summer, and we wanted to share some of what we’ve been working on with you!

Jesse Karp, Early Childhood and Interdivisional Librarian, has been working like a secret superhero on a young adult science fiction novel that will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2011! Its titled THOSE THAT WAKE, about “a seventeen year old Brooklyn boy and a privileged suburban girl who have their identities abruptly wiped out before uncovering a reality-shattering truth lurking just under the surface of a dystopian New York City,” and Jesse has already signed on to write the sequel. We are so thrilled for him, and have already claimed the first three signed copies for ourselves:) In related news, Jesse is also working on a nonfiction book about graphic novels that is also due out next year from ALA Editions. We think it’s possible he doesn’t sleep.

Stacy Dillon, Lower School Librarian, has just been elected to the 2012 Newbery Committee! “The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children,” and it is a great honor to be elected by your librarian colleagues and peers to serve on this very prestigious committee that has been around since 1921. We’re so excited for Stacy and can’t wait to see what title her committee chooses. But deliberations are secret, so if you ask her what she’s reading, you may only get a Mona Lisa smile in response.

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School Librarian and Library Department Chair (that’s me!), has just been elected to the 2012 YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Committee. This is a relatively new award that “honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a November 1 – October 31 publishing year.” It is intended to highlight some of the great nonfiction that is being published for teens, and I am looking forward to diving into lots of fun facts next year and sharing them with students. The first medal for this award was bestowed in 2010. In addition, I will be teaching a graduate course in Pratt Institute‘s library program on young adult literature genres later this spring, and have been accepted to the Cullman Center Summer Teacher seminar “Imaginary Worlds: A Creative Writing Workshop” with author Karen Russell that will take place this July.

Karyn Silverman, High School Librarian, attended the 2010 Computers in Libraries Conference, and came back with some amazing ideas about integrating technology into the classroom and beyond, using digital tools like Netvibes, Diigo, Delicious, RSS feeds and all those great Google products. In addition, Karyn will be co-teaching a graduate young adult literature course at Queens College this summer and will be blogging about books on School Library Journal‘s new Adult Books for Teens blog.

Whew! It’s hard taking over the world! But we enjoy stretching our professional wings and bringing back everything we learn to the students, faculty and parents of LREI. We’re happy to share what we’re learning, and we always LOVE talking books and technology, so please drop by next drop-off next time you need a good book recommendation or want some help navigating one of our many databases or digital tools.

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School Librarian

February is Black History Month. Why? You can read about the origins of it here.

There are hundreds of wonderful informational books, picture books, and novels for children and young adults on this topic that are great for families to share or for students to read on their own. Here is a small sample of the many online Black History book lists available.

Booklist Magazine’s Top Ten Black History Books for Youth:2010

New York Public Library’s Celebrate African-American History Month

Reading Rockets Black History Month

Brooklyn Public Library’s Black History Month books for kids

Coretta Scott King Book Awards

Washington Post’s kid picks for Black History Month

Kidsread.com Black History Month

African American Books from The Horn Book

And check out these blogs that feature books for children and young adults with characters of color:

The Brown Bookshelf: 28 Days Later, a Black History Month Celebration of Children’s Literature

Color Online: Let’s talk books, culture and literacy

Mitali’s Fire Escape: a safe place to chat about books between cultures

Reading in Color: a teen reviews YA books featuring people of color

Happy Black History Month, and I’ll see you in the library.

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School librarian

The holiday season approaches, and nothing makes a better gift than a book. There is a wealth of end of year lists available to help you make selections for all the people in your life who bring you peace and joy.

For students:

School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2009

New York Times Best Illustrated Childrens’ Books of 2009

Holiday titles from Horn Book Magazine

San Francisco Chronicle’s Holiday Gift Guide: Children’s Books

For adults:

Publisher’s Weekly Top Ten Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2009

New York Times 2009 Graphic Novels

Library Journal’s Best Books 2009

NPR’s Best Gift Books 2009

Want more? Check out Largehearted Boy blog, which includes a continuously updated list of “best of 2009” lists. Your LREI librarians are also great resources. If you want a recommendation for a book for your child, please do not hesitate to ask or email any of us. And a great place to do your book shopping is the annual LREI Book Fair, which will take place in the Sixth Avenue auditorium December 9, 10 and 11.

Happy holiday reading, and I’ll see you in the library.

Did you ever say to yourself, “I’d like to write a novel”? Well, here’s your chance. November is National Novel Writing Month, and those who choose to participate in the festivities commit to writing 50,000 wds by midnight on November 30. The goal here is quantity, not quality. You can always go back and edit your work during December and January:) The official NaNoWriMo page provides you with everything you need to get started and stay motivated, including online forums full of inspirational and funny writing stories & prompts, and a sign up page where you can log in and verify your word count each day. So if you ever wanted to write a novel, here’s an opportunity to write with the support of a whole online community who is experiencing the same agony and ecstasy as you are. This could also be a fun project for you and your middle school student to undertake together–just make sure they finish their homework first!

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, MS librarian