Annual Art Show Prep

This morning I have been making handbills and postcards from the photographs I made yesterday of student artwork. Some awesome pieces in this show!

Hard right rudder

One week into constructing a fan-powered boat in the MakerSpace we decide we needed a rudder. Used the opportunity to demonstrate Tinkercad and the 3D printer. We analyzed the resulting piece and the team decided it need to be larger to accommodate other components.

Casey scored some thank yous!

Received a swell batch of illustrated thank you notes from 5th graders for my recitation of "Casey at the Bat." Am displaying them on my library window.

Resurrected

They're back. Our persistent inquirer has worked past an unresponsive touch-screen and has been able to begin investigating the functionality of our archival Apple eMate! Cool beans.

Class act

Gee, I just received some swell thank you notes from students for my recitation of "Casey at the Bat." What a nice way to go into the weekend!

OverDrive Bog

Scored a spot on the OverDrive School Stars Blog!

Overlook installation

Installed my six large author drawings for ELA Celebration Week on the gym overlook window at the top of the main stairwell. Also posted QR codes foe each that lead to books in our catalog. Above the drawings I created eight quick-hitter little handbills.

Tea time

Offered tea to our lunchtime poetry readers/listeners. It was very nicely received. Carted the hot water in from home; still good at 1:00!

Responses

Have got my proof of a chapbook done of our ELA week at the end of April. These are creative journal and diary "responses" to poems that high school ELA students have read. I made TinyUrl links to the original poems.

Here's the "how-to" on the chapbook process that I used:

BOE Certificate

Scored a nice certificate and nod of recognition from the BOE last night at their regular meeting. Always nice.

Casey

I enjoyed the invitation this morning to recite "Casey at the Bat" for 5th graders as they begin their unit on the integration of baseball (with a culminating trip to the baseball hall of Fame!). I also dropped off a bibliography of baseball titles in the ACSLIB as well as some charts from SABR that they might use for "graph reading."

Author drawings for ELA Week

Gwendolyn Brooks and Jules Verne

Ex Libris

     Last night I attended a program in Hamilton that was sponsored by the Colgate University Libraries, the MidYork Library System, and the Hamilton Public Library entitled "How Libraries Shape Their Communities." It included a viewing of "Ex Libris," a documentary about the New York Public Library, and a panel discussion led by representatives of the sponsoring organizations.

     Both the video and the panel discussion highlighted the unique position of libraries to collaborate with a wide variety stakeholders and programs to act as resources, facilitators, and common ground in implementing strategic learning and cultural opportunities for "communities." Not news to me, but still, unfortunately (even for the NYPL), news for many.

     I am, of course, pumped after participating in this four-hour demonstration of leadership, creativity, and purposefulness! 

Author Art for ELA Week

Equal time

A library colleague sent me this TED video that talks about balancing activities in both our "learning zone" and our "performance zone;" the learning zone being that low-risk, mistake-safe, growth environment that sounds a lot like most library environments; as opposed to always-graded, always-due, show-me-what-you-know classroom performance.

How about everyone getting into the act?

One idea I piloted and pitched to ELA instructors for Poetry Month was for staff and students to record recitations on video or audio of favorite poems. The staff of the NYPL has done just that; posting their selections at Soundcloud. Some real good ones, too.

Poetry Month Update

Began this week by cranking up our poetry preparations. Sent this video to high school students and staff to get the celebration rolling ( Mrs. Delarco is going to use it as bonus question on her vocabulary quiz tomorrow).

Designed a handbill for a series of lunchtime poetry readings in the ACSLIB. Posted a bunch. 

Also posted a few "Emergency Poems!"

Started what I hope will be a half dozen large portrait drawings of authors students have read in class so far this year; beginning with Tim O'Brien. 

Also began to format and layout a chap-book of student journal responses to poems they have read.

Patient eyes, practiced hand

As we begin to prepare for and ramp-up to the ELA Literature Week at the end of the month, I am looking back on some of my book-talk videos which might fit in nicely with the purpose of this celebration. This one talks about the ability of historical fiction to breathe life into and supplement the rigor of nonfiction.

Grand (like in 1000) Prize!

Many thanks to Cindy B. at BOCES SLS for connecting me with the OverDrive School Stars contest last month. Turns out my video won the Grand Prize in their contest: a $1000 worth of ebooks and audiobooks for our ACS collection! Cool beans!

Reinvigorated

I was reinvigorated this morning by a visit from a cadre of dedicated colleagues from BOCES. Thank you Cindy, Rebecca, Pam, and David for your enthusiasm and for the nourishing exchange of ideas, strategies, and good will. Let's stay in touch!

pi (non)pattern

I'm a little slow on my response-time here, but the wall display that math students did for Pi Day does a nice job of illustrating the infinite non-repeating nature of pi by assigning each of the 10 digits a color.

Lunch Hero Day

Designed and printing up a bunch of HERO earrings and keychains for our school cafeteria staff in celebration of National School Lunch Hero Day on May 4th!

Lit Week on the horizon

Learned at out guerrila-planned after school "coffee break" last week that HS ELA is planning a Literature Week around Shakespeare's birthday in April. I invited instructors to meet with me this week to share some activity ideas.

I would be glad to facilitate any of these suggestions:

- produce a Lit magazine of student work (similar to last year)
- host lunchtime or classtime poetry reads in the ACSLIB
- "Emergency Poem" postings
- dress of like a literary figure day; recite poem like a animitronic?
- create individual or class chap-books of favorite poems (I have a how-to video)
- create videos of students reading poems: with text or as a multi-poem "book" or as voiceovers
- magnet poems on bookends
- remake a poem from available words? wall-sized
- poem on a roll; use calculator tape for wall-length installation
- retro reads: fire up vintage vinyl readings
- caption an artwork; using our America series.

A bow to CCD & DUC

Added a small explanation to my display of Art book arrivals; crediting the funding source and the donating organization.

Some fine titles by diverse artists from the Distribution to Underserved Communities Library Program. Many thanks to the generous folks at Art Resources Transfer, Inc.

What a relief

I dropped a high-contrast B&W photo into a “photo” template at  www.tinkercad.com and printed this 2” x 3” relief portrait on the ACSIB 3D printer. Love the "drawn" line quality (my face looks line the Bingham Canyon copper mine)!

I was testing out Tinkercad as a go-to place for beginning students to practice manipulating 3D shapes into printing projects.

A lesson in making

Wonderful.

How to add an ACSLIB OPALS extension to Google Chrome

(A DCMO version is available at https://youtu.be/QNBR_LKJeBght)

The good stuff comes to the top

This is cool. If you add the OPALS "extension" to Google Chrome (selecting DCMO/ Afton High School Library), then when you do any Google search, our books come up first!

DCMO School Links

Just wanted to have these where I could get at them:
Otselic Valley
Norwich
Franklin
Walton
Greene
Downsville
Oxford
Sherburne-Earlville
Unatego
Sidney
Bainbridge-Guilford
Delhi
Hancock
Gilbertsville-Mt. Upton
Unadilla Valley
Afton

Librarians fight Overdoses

    Pretty sobering article in the NY Times about how a growing number of public libraries in New York State are taking on the challenge of training for, stocking, and delivering the anti-opioid drug naloxone for overdosing patrons. Libraries in high-density population centers are seeing a dramatic increase of patrons under the influence of opioids; including overdoses. NYS has enacted legislation adding libraries to the list of institutions such as schools that are authorized to possess and use naloxone. Testy question for each library out there.