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Ellen Hopkins at OUR SCHOOL??? WHAT?!?!?

2010-05-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

We must say, we're as surprised as the kids that we are getting this incredible author to come speak at our school. What's more, is that Ellen is going to give a lucky 100 students an extra hour of her time during a writing workshop the following morning. Everything is a bit of a blur at this point, but I think that we have things pretty much dialed. Nathan from Barnes and Noble has been not only effective in terms of keeping me calm about the book sales end of things, which is no easy task. We'll have Ellen's books available as well as some other titles that are relevant to Ellen's work. It's hard to believe that this is happening, but like anything else, the day will come and go. A big shout-out to Ellen ahead of time, and I hope she knows how much this is meaning to our kids. We have 63 copies of her six titles (and once had more but the reality is that these titles tend to be loved literally to death). This event will bring additional copies of both her books and others to not only our school but all of the high schools in our area. Thank you, Ellen!!!

Using 2.0 in the Classroom

2010-03-10T04:55:00.000-08:00

There are so many amazing ways to engage kids online, and yet for one reason or another we shy away from using online tools in the classroom. Usually it's some form of paranoia about--you guessed it--porn. And yet, despite all of the federal regulations about CIPA, COPPA, and all of the other acronyms that censors (typically employed as technicians, not educators) stand behind, our kids are not getting the kind of practice that they need to analyze quality information when it seems like half of the sites that they try to go to are blocked.

We also shy away when we just don't know how to do something, or don't even know about it, yet. This is me, most of the time. I'm always feeling a couple of steps behind when it comes to 2.0. There are always more cool applications showing up online, more to learn, more to try to understand. I am constantly unsavvy, but I've almost gotten used to it. Luckily, I get to read about a lot of these applications on my listservs and learn about them at conference every year from far smarter people than myself.

What I think I've learned is that there are approximately kajillions of ways to engage students in their learning and increase achievement--and best of all, they're almost all free. And even if I don't know about all of them, or can't understand them, I can promote those few tricks in my pockets with everything I've got. Because it's worth it, well worth it to engage the kids.

According to Sue Patrick, former federal employee who helped to draft the National Ed Tech plan, kids are forced to "power down" both literally and figuratively when they walk in the classroom. I know that this is how it is at our school. Sure, you might get to go to a lab during a given day, but you had better hide your cell phone and iPod while you're in there. "Power down." I thought that was really an apropos description, but one that greatly troubled me and still does.

I've recently come to believe that it's all about product. Not the kind that you can get in any store, but the kind you can get the kids to make. There are countless (safe) ways for kids to have the opportunity to do something useful online as a result of a school assignment. Not only will this engage the kids, but they will also be learning necessary skills online, skills that are near impossible to learn while working around a stringent filter at school.

But blogging (responding to teacher blogging in the form of comments is an easy, cool assignment) Wikis (an effective document sharing website) and social networking groups such as Google Groups can all be ways to wed students to classes and make them more invested in not only what they are coming up with but what their peers are doing, as well. The logic? If they are aware that their classmates are going to have the opportunity to read their work, the odds are great that they will submit a higher-quality product. Nothing like some positive peer pressure!

Video Booktalks

2010-02-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

A big shoutout to Mr. Davis for letting me videotape his kids giving booktalks. Everyone wins in this. Kids grow confidence, I get more booktalks for our SchoolTube Channel, a lot of fun overall! Great job freshmen, we know it's not easy but you are doing a GREAT job!

Teaching with Technology

2010-02-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of hope around what's going on with our Technology committee these days. Our meetings have been esp. productive and I really think we are making progress. A lot of this has to do with Irene Frazier doing the organization and facilitating. It also has to do with some very hardy teachers who keep showing up at 7am to discuss how to best engage their students to increase achievement.

We are going to be starting a series of inservices that will really be of use and hopefully of interest to teachers.

Here We Are at Conference!!!

2009-11-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

Wow! The amount of great ideas at conferences never cease to amaze me. But this year Mrs. Hestbeck and I are going to do our best to present our best ideas from home.

Ontario is frankly a shock compared to home. The conference center is lovely but the rest of the world is almost science fiction. There is concrete and highways everywhere you look.

We're managing, though, and learning a lot in a hurry. It is hard to take notes fast enough in some of these workshops. I hope that we manage to make someone glad that they attended our own presentation.

Great to see good friends, love hanging out with Annie in a spot other than our home library, but more than anything this place makes me appreciate more than ever what fantastic students and teachers we get to work with back home.

Homesick after just one night? Maybe a little.....

All Kinds of News in the Library

2009-09-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

We have some important announcements to make!

The library t-shirt contest is underway, which means that you too can have a chance to immortalize yourself in fabric! Past winners include Kemp Stanford, Nelson Hughes and Tiffanie Souza-Cone.

It's easy to enter--all you have to do is come up with a catchy phrase for the front of the shirt, and we'll do the rest (the back always says "@ the NU Library). Past winners include the fantastic slogans, "Get your read on" and "Seriously....Read a Book."

Limited quantities of past years' shirts are available, but they will definitely not last.

In other news, BOOK ORDERS are COOL again, hard to believe but true. They came up with a "teen reads" club and some of the books are seriously excellent and not beneath you. These are due back to the library a week from Friday, which is Sept. 25th. If you order from these catalogs, the library gets free books, which we're always looking for......which REMINDS us!!!!!

If you have any books at home that you no longer need, but are in decent condition.... please consider donating them to the NU Library for other kids to read. With the support of our excellent administration, we have built quite an amazing library collection, but we will always, always be looking to grow.

Finally, please check out our new video booktalks, which are housed on SchoolTube. We chose to upload to SchoolTube rather than YouTube because for one it is accessible at school, and for another the comments function is limited to only a few options. In other words, no one can be verbally abusive on SchoolTube, which is unfortunately a huge issue on YouTube (and lately, the tennis court!).

If you're interested, you can record a video booktalk, yourself! All you need to do is get a permission slip signed by a parent or guardian, and we're off!

A note to parents about video booktalks: We created this booktalk program after a lot of discussion and consideration about Internet safety. As a librarian I have done extensive research about Internet safety and feel that the benefits of posting video booktalks far outweighs any risk that may be involved. Many, many schools post videos on SchoolTube on a wide range of subjects and I feel that engaging students with technology is more crucial now than it has ever been.

The Lovely Bones Soon to be Movie

2009-08-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

Just learned that one of our most popular books in the library is going to become a movie in December--check out the trailer, it looks quite gripping: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thelovelybones/small.html

Back to School is So Painless in the library...

2009-08-06T08:24:00.001-07:00

We are busy getting the library ready for your arrival and hope we get to see you in the first week or two of school. We'll keep the reasons simple:

1. New Books (obviously)
2. A renewed spirit on the part of the library personnel (we were busy finding great new counter toys for you all summer!)
3. You need to get your photo on the counter every year
4. You need to be in possession of both of our t-shirts to be fully up-to-date.
5. We have new contests that you should enter, winning books and more

That might be it for now, but it's certainly not ALL of the reasons why you should visit. Visit because lunchtimes are so relaxed but also full of swell people and because we furnish strange music for no reason at all. Visit because Mrs. Hestbeck and I actually would really like to see you and hear about your summer adventures! Come in to see us soon!

Ms. Sonnenberg

Madelyn Helling to Visit the NU Library Today

2009-03-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to seeing Madelyn at work today and hope everyone on campus swings by to say hello. I realized as I was trying to sleep that I should have popped this info into the paper but at least we have the bulletin on the intercom now. I've been a loud-mouth at the desk about it, too. (On a side note, that intercom sure is something. It's a great start to the day. I think I even saw someone accessing the webpage the other day....)

Madelyn and I have known each other for at least ten years, closer to eleven since I hadn't had my son Daniel, yet. Our first meeting had to do with a book and we haven't stopped talking since. She is one of the most interesting people I have ever met and enjoy our conversations to the point that I sometimes find myself taking notes. I'm trying to think of words to describe how she analyzes situations and describes them exactly with no effort. Madelyn is political, active, and obviously well-read. But she is also deeply compassionate, especially for the underdog. But one of my favorite things about Madelyn is what could only be called her wicked sense of humor. Madelyn knows how to laugh, this much is certain.

Madelyn is the one that taught me as I first took this position that there is very little difference between what adults and "young" adults will read and am I ever glad that we had that discussion. Our kids have a much broader range of literature than I did in high school, and it gets checked out. Authors like Patterson, Brown and Grisham are popular and with good reason--they're interesting reads. We also see a lot of Jane Green heading out the door. Yes, chick-lit, but smart chick-lit and it's hard to argue with that when there's so much that's not smart out there.

Madelyn has been deeply involved with the Railroad Museum since its inception, is a current member of the board of the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, and is still very active with the Friends of the Library, whose sale I frequent on the first Saturday of every month. She is an active member of the Sons of Norway and the League of Women Voters. I can honestly say that Madelyn presents the exact picture of how I would like to conduct my own life after I retire--with a whole lot of people and activity surrounding me. Maybe I'll even manage to come up with fraction of her class. It's good to have goals.

One of the Most Perfect Books Ever

2009-03-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. First, I read you. You were a great book. Yes, I'm talking to you, Wherever Nina Lies. I had to read you all at once even though I could barely see because you were the real kind of intrigue, but with love and obsession thrown in (the best kind).

Then, my love for you increased tenfold when I brought you in to work the next day and the first, the exact first person I mentioned you to immediately checked you out and proceeded to read you. Overnight. And now, my friend, you are with your third date in as many nights. And you know what? I'm not in the least bit jealous.

Long weekend loveliness

2009-02-14T09:41:00.001-08:00

Loving this long weekend thing. Finally read Gossip Girl, not saying I'm proud of it, but at least I know what's going on, now. Young people with too much money in NYC. Interesting writing style, though, I can say that much for it. Hope everyone's taking advantage of the snow and reading a bunch. See you Tuesday!

Thanks for Hanging in There!

2009-02-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks for coming back to the library's blog! We are looking forward to posting a lot more regularly, so thanks for hanging in there with us!

The library here at NU is so beautiful, especially on a day like today with snow everywhere you look. But its living its best life when it's full of activity. I can hear Mrs. Hestbeck in the background, giving information about some kind of sports practice. We have kids working on powerpoint presentations with Mr. Ramirez. There are several other drop-ins working on one thing or another. But here comes lunch and that's our favorite time of day, when we spin a little music and checking out books is the order of the day.

We're to the point where we seldom have an empty time slot and we like it like that. We have about 100 visitors before school, during each lunch, and again after school. We are constantly busy and feel useful and a great sense of purpose.

So far this year we have checked out over 12,000 books and this feels like our largest accomplishment by far. We scoff at those that say that young people don't read. We believe strongly that if they're given relevant reading material that is of actual interest to them, young adults are glad to read like crazy. Like sometimes a book a day.

We love all of our students, readers or otherwise. Welcome to the NU library!

Welcome to the Nevada Union Library!

2008-02-04T09:14:00.000-08:00

This blog has been created just for us, the students, teachers and parents of Nevada Union High School, as a way for the library to communicate about new books, events and whatever else is on our mind. Welcome!

Jill Sonnenberg