iPhone wins touch screen quality test

I am very hooked on my iPhone. I would not give it up for anything and now it looks like I won’t have to because iPhone won the touch screen quality test. The link above and photo to the left will lead to the article by the Electronista Staff about how great the iPhone responds to the lightest touch.

The only way Apple can do better is if they introduce their much anticipated tablet PC later this month. The computer is rumored to be called the iSlate. It is supposed to be 10 inches. A slate computer in my opinion would change the face of education. It would make e-books more accessable to students and change libraries forever.

I for one hope all the rumors are true. Can't wait for Apple's announcement that is supposed to happen later this month but it is unclear if it will be January 26th or 27th. I have heard rumors about both dates. January will be a big month for announcements, the Newbery, Caledcott, and Dr. Seuss awards will be announced at the ALA Mid-Winter Meeting, January 15-18 in Boston. Enjoy your January announcements. I know I will.

Picturing America

My school library was one of the lucky 26,300 schools and public libraries that were selected to receive the first round of “Picturing America” awards presented in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, as an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). In late September I received 20 double-sided, laminated posters of great and I do mean great American artwork, which I displayed in the library throughout the year. In February we did a picture study and read books about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington for their birthdays. Using the posters of Washington and Lincoln made the lessons come alive. The photo of Lincoln (left) constantly amazed students; they could not believe how many wrinkles he had. One student said to me, “Wow, he must be really old, is he still alive?” I am quite used to the “is he still alive” question from my kinders, but in this case the student added, “because my grandfather has wrinkles and he’s really old.” I am sure grandpa would blush if he heard that but Lincoln’s wrinkles were more from the worry of war than from age alone. This Alexander Gardner photo does capture Lincoln’s deep worry when the burden of the presidency had taken its toll. Glad my student picked up on that.

There has not been enough time to use all 20 of the illustrations but this month, in honor of Paul Revere’s April 18^th ride, we studied about Paul revere in depth. We used the pictures and studied details of Grant Wood’s whimsical painting. We discussed the lights being on even in some of the darker parts of the picture because Paul Revere had already been there and people in the houses were awake. But, the lights were still out where he hadn’t been yet. We looked deep into Paul Revere’s eyes in the portrait painted by John Singleton Copley. The students decided Paul Revere looked like Jack Black and that began a very lively discussion of Paul Revere’s character. What if Paul Revere had Jack Black’s personality? We turned the picture around and looked at the teapot Paul Revere made that is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We watched some videos from United Streaming. We read several books we already had in the library and then last week a box of books arrived in the mail. My school library was awarded the We the People Bookshelf, a collection of classic books for young readers. The books are beautiful, some have reproductions of original documents. The bookshelf is also a project of NEH in cooperation with ALA Public Programs Office. In the collection was a wonderful book with the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” with beautifully illustrated and engraved pictures by Christopher Bing. There were two reproductions in the book, one being the sworn deposition of Paul Revere about his now famous ride. The students had a wonderful time comparing the real events with the Longfellow poem. I realize I may seem a little over enthused about these wonderful books and illustrations but I am only half as inspired as the art teacher in my building. We are now trying to come up with a building theme for next year wrapped around the theme of “Picturing America.”

YEAH! Mo Willems...

The New Pigeon books comes out tomorrow... April 1st just in time for April Fools Day. And Mo is no fool, he's had kids guessing what the pigeon wants for months! Who has won Mo's contest and an author visit from him may still be a mystery but I found out this afternoon the new book is called, "The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!" I can't wait to tell my students tomorrow. I am so excited! :-)

Awesome Day for Mo Willems...

The American Library Association announced their 2008 award winners today and as he says on his blog it was an Awesome Day for Mo Willems. He walked away with a Caldecott Honor for his book "Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity." Mo both illustrated and wrote the book and it is a favorite of my students along with the first “Knuffle Bunny” book. But the big news was his walking away with the Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) Award for the most distinguished book for beginning readers. He both wrote and illustrated the award winning book entitled “There’s a Bird on Your Head!” I cannot believe that I do not have this book in my library. I have been searching for a series for emergent readers and here is a Mo Willems book that is perfect for my students and I don’t have the book. It is part of the Elephant and Piggie series. I do have “Knuffle Bunny Too” but for some reason I did not hear about this series. Good thing there are awards like this to publicize good books. I am not sure about the Newbery Medal winners either, I have not heard of any of the books so I will have to check them out as well.
Tomorrow... MacWorld's Keynote! It's in the Air!

SKILLS Act

A blog Woo-Hoo to Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) who on June 26th introduced the Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act. As a librarian, I applaud their actions and as a citizen, I will be contacting my own Senators and Representative in Washington asking them to add their name to the Senate Bill (S. 1699) and the House Bill (H.R. 2864). Please contact your Representative and Senators and do the same. Among other things the SKILLS Act believes every school library should have at least one highly qualified librarian/library media specialist and it provides funds so those highly qualified librarians can purchase appropriate books and other materials for their libraries. What a novel idea, providing funding for libraries! My tongue is in my cheek because studies prove that libraries work. It was Walter Cronkite who once said, "Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation. "

If you want more information on the SKILLS Act, check out The American Library Association’s Issues and Advocacy Page: http://www.capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=9951101.
Don’t forget to contact your Senators and Congressmen!

Hollywood Librarian

The image of librarians has not often been kind, flattering, or pretty. One person, Ann Seidl, is trying to change that… she wrote and directed "Hollywood Librarian," a look at librarians through film.



"Hollywood Librarian" made it's debut in front of 5,000 librarians at the American Library Association's meeting in Washington, DC this week. Check out this article from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/06/23/AR2007062301378.html.

I must admit that one of my favorite movies is mentioned in the article. But in the movie, "Desk Set," I guess I never thought of Katharine Hepburn as a librarian. Of course she and the other women in the department, including a young Joan Blondell, were gathers of information, they were the researchers with the background information. But librarians? There was no “shushing” in “Desk Set,” no one going around telling others to be quiet. It was a new look for librarians, a Hollywood glamorization!

Either they knew the answer when someone called for information or they could find the information, using books, in a jiffy. They were heroes! Yet, the women feared they were going to become obsolete because of the new computer system being installed in the department. Hey, that sounds familiar. How long have librarians been concerned that they were becoming obsolete? Well, since “Desk Set” came out in 1957, it looks like librarians have been becoming a thing of the past for about 50 years. Since I just became a librarian 2 years ago, after working as a journalist and then raising a family, here's hoping that I can continue to teach children the joys of the library both physically and virtually for a long time to come.
:-)