It’s YOUR Destiny!

Destiny is the name of our Library Catalog. It is an online Catalog with the name and details of everything in our library.

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A Library Catalog is very useful, as you can find your way around the library, from your classroom, your home, or anywhere else in the world just by going to one website. You will use it to find books you like, keep check on what books you have out and when they are due and hold books you can’t wait to read. How do you do all that? I’ll show you how.

Click on this short video to show you how to log in to the destiny.saschina.org library catalog…

http://videonew.saschina.org/player/pak_player/pakplayer.swf?config=http%3A%2F%2Fvideonew.saschina.org%2Fplayer%2Fpak_player%2Fembed_player.php%3Fvid%3D8638%26json%3Dtrue%26autoplay%3Dno

And so it begins…

School year 2014-2015 is upon us…

As an Aussie, we only really had one start to the year… January 1st was New Years Day, and at the end of that month, we started school, a year, was a year, was a year. For the last ten years working in American International Schools, it’s been a learning curve hearing people discussing last year; in October, and realising they are referring to March. I feel like I get to have a fresh start twice a year now.

So, with a new year on the doorstep, what are my plans, hopes and dreams for this third year as a teacher librarian at Shanghai American School?

I plan to: Blog more regularly, improving my blog to be a trusted, current resource for students, teachers and parents by providing reviews of new and old books, and links to great book-lists.

I hope to: Be more decisive about how I run the library so that people have a consistent model to rely on. I tend to vacillate between wanting structured lessons and providing a flexible schedule; I need to be clear on what I want, so that others know what to expect from me, and what I expect from them.

I dream of: The library being the favourite place in the school for all types of students, of it being a creative, maker space, fluid and energetic, with nooks for silence, and nooks for play, sharing, and solitude. I want students to remember my library long after they leave; I dream of it being a highlight of their childhood.

What are your plans, hopes and dreams for the coming school year?

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*photo taken by my husband Simon Power. Nanpu Bridge at sunset, Shanghai, China.

It’s the final countdown…

Sing it with me!!!

With less than four weeks to go, the students are getting excited, and emotional, with many new experiences just around the corner for them. They aren’t the only ones either; with over 40 teachers leaving the Pudong Campus, some who have been here longer than my nine years, there are mixed emotions all around. It’s a good time to lay low, keep your head down and focus one by one on the tasks ahead. One of these tasks for me is to try and reign in the 2700 items currently checked out of our Elementary Library.

Please do what you can to adhere to our timeline in the library please:

  • Last Parent CheckOut Date – May 16
  • Last Student CheckOut Date – May 30
  • All Student Materials Return Date Date by June 3
  • All Teacher Materials Return Date by June 9
  • Note – Students, Parents, and Teachers/Staff that are leaving SAS need to have their Leave form Signed by library staff

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Remember, if you’ve lost an item, e mail me immediately, kimbra.power@saschina.org and we can discuss finalizing the payment, and as I’ve said many times, the item often turns up, and then your money is reimbursed in full; I promise!

Stay calm, stay focused, stay kind x

 

What a Classic… or is it?

“Wow…what a classic!” is something you may have heard before regarding a good book or film. But what is it exactly that makes something a classic? In regard to books, there are a HUGE amount of differing opinions on the subject once you start searching.

Each year our third graders at SAS do a unit on ‘the classics’ and while I could easily just head to destiny and select the usual suspects… it got me thinking. I did a lesson with students where I shared a book I’d read as a 5th grader, Nicholas, and had loved it, lost it, and rediscovered it again in my late 30’s… School Library Journal claim: “This classic book about a mischievous schoolboy and his friends, originally published in French in 1959, is now available in English.” Did you see it? Did you see the word classic? I read this in the 80’s, searched for it in the 90’s, finally found it in the ‘naughties’ and introduced it to my students in the mmmmm, 2010! But had I thought of it as a classic? Never.

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Is Nicholas a classic because it “expresses some artistic quality–an expression of life, truth, and beauty” which is one of the definitions given by About.com here. Well… not really; although Nicholas does hark back to a simpler time, a more honest time perhaps?

“It seems to help if the author is dead ” says Laura Miller writing for Salon.com in January this year. Indeed, author of not only Nicholas, but the wonderful Asterix books, Rene Goscinny passed away in 1977, yet his legacy lives on. Miller goes on to say “It has stood the test of time…It captures the essence and flavor of its own age and had a significant effect on that age.” I certainly feel that the latter is the case, the students I’ve been reading to are laughing hysterically about kids running around with guns, smoking cigarettes, calling each other fat, idiots, stupid etc… Our kids cannot get enough of this ‘forbidden fruit-so Un-PC’ As for the test of time… is 55 years long enough? One commenter on this Goodreads thread suggests that 30 years is long enough…I think not.

So, what do you think? What do you think makes a book a classic?

Which of these books, listed by Jim Trelease here, would you term a classic?

MIKE MULLIGAN & HIS STEAM SHOVEL

MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI

SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE

TIKKI TIKKI TEMBO

THE UGLY DUCKLING

AESOP’S FABLES

THE BIGGEST BEAR

BRAVE IRENE

THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT

IF I RAN THE ZOO

IRA SLEEPS OVER

THE ISLAND OF THE SKOG

THE LITTLE HOUSE

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

 

 

 

List Lovers of the World Unite

As a librarian, I’m constantly recommending books.

I clearly remember my first day working in the library (I’d been a 5th grade classroom teacher for 7 years at SAS, and a High School and Middle School English teacher in Australia for a decade before that). All of a sudden, it was expected that I had read EVERYTHING that ever existed, because, hey, I was a librarian! In the early days I admit lying a little, the odd fib here and there “Yes, I’ve read it” “Oh, I know which book you mean” “Mmmmm, I loved that series” because otherwise I felt so ignorant; I had NOT read all the books people were asking about because hey, I’m only human!

A couple of years into my new role, I have read many more books, and have not read many, many, many others. I have several ‘go-to’ sites that I couldn’t live without… sites where others have painstakingly gone through blog after blog, and compiled list after list of great books. I feel grateful towards these sites every single day. They help me help the students walk away with books just right for them. Thank You Bloggers.

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Mia Wenjen is a PragmaticMom you need to keep an eye on if you want to be up to date on the best of the best that is out there… whether she’s compiling book-lists about responsibility, a collection of authors on a theme or books for advanced readers, there is something for everyone.

I love Travis Jonker’s 100 scope notes where you can find all manner of information, I especially love reading this blog around ALA award time. Linked are some of the great lists I follow with this blog during the year.

Melissa Taylor’s Imagination Soup is another great blog that both Amy Hossack and I turn to for all sorts of tech and library ideas. I ordered books based on one of her chapter book lists just today.

The Horn Book is another tried and true location for finding books, based on all manner of topics such as St. Patrick’s Day and the Olympics; I do love reading their reviews.

I’ve only just discovered this gem through a friend on twitter, From the Mixed up Files of Middle-Grade Authors is a goldmine for the avid reader. I must have been living under a rock to not know about this blog…

 

Congratulations Cool Cooking Cake Kids

Thanks so much to the over 60 students involved in presenting the 4th and 5th grade Final Books to Eat Competition yesterday. When I say competition, I mean it very loosely… when asked “who won?” my responses included “you did” “we all did” and “when eating cake, everyone’s a winner”. Some of the certificates I gave out yesterday (every entry gets one) were ‘best brother-sister’ ‘most colorful frosting’ ‘best theme display’ and ‘most original idea’…

Have a look at the amazing entries below, I’m sure you’ll agree, they are inspired, creative and clever. Thank you so much teachers, parents and students for all your support of this annual fun event. See you next year!

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Books to Eat 2014

A bit of a reality check for me today with only 7 entries from 2nd and 3rd grade It’s a busy time of year… however those entries were interesting, clever and heart felt, and made by families who care. Thank you so much to Elin, Sophia, Elaine, Jacob, Milo, Jessie, Sean, Jasmine, Saskia and your families for your time and effort. We’re all looking forward to the grand finale next week with unprecedented numbers entered by 4th and 5th graders. Get ready for a feast for the senses!

 

 
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Time to get this party started!

Hello Party People

Monday-April 14th-Pre K, K and 1st graders it’s YOUR turn to create!

Fill out an entry form in the library this week and join in the fun on Monday! Remember, the entry does NOT have to be cake, it can be anything edible!!! Here is the information for the entry form…

Entrants name: 

Your class (or classes):

Name of Book:

(Please provide a copy of the actual book, or if not, a printout of the front page of the book)

minion cake

OK, OK… so they’re not based on a book…. but aren’t they cute?