Reading Challenge

YALSA has issued a reading challenge (well, I'm sure they've issued many - this is the first one I've seen as a member). Read the books on the Morris Award and/or the books on the non-fiction award list. No prizes, but they count towards reading the Best of the Best reading challenge for 2013. No sweat. Right? Sure I really did not like one of the books (Half dragon Seraphina I'm looking at you!) but rereading it shouldn't be too bad - at least I know it ends, right? Books are on their way to me, interest peaked... let's see how this goes!

Choice

All year, every year I read and read and read books. I pick up books to read and donate to my little library. I read books that I like, books I don't like and books that are just plain weird (werewolves on the titanic anyone?). I read so I can talk to kids about books and know what I'm saying. Simple librarian math: books + reading = knowing what you're saying.

Due to the fact that my English department is full of rock stars who agree with me that choice is everything, approximately 2/3 of my 700+ student school get to choose one of the books they get credit for in the English curriculum. That's a lot of kids and a lot of book talks - but a lot of kids reading books they want to read, not just books we've told them are good for them. Reading the recent YALSA Blog A Defense of Weak YA Fiction reminded me of the importance of this program. There are people who question this - if they're not reading the classics, is it worth it? YES. YES. YES.

For some kids, having the right to choose gives them a connection to their curriculum. They feel as if they are part of what's happening around them and in their school. They have a sense of participation in their academic destiny and feel that they are willingly participating simply because they can read a book they want to read instead of a book that they have been told to read. And you know what they do? They read it. They participate in the curriculum successfully.

For other kids, having the right to choose means that they get to read something in which they are interested. It means that for once, quite often, they get to read something in their sphere of interest and often, at their reading level. One student could be reading 'The Night Circus', which another is reading 'Cirque du Freak'. One could read 'Twilight' while another could read 'Interview with the Vampire'. It's at their level and it's their choice. Students are, in my opinion, more likely to participate by reading the works if they had a part in choosing the works they're reading.

Doing this program at a high school level presents some difficulties - our Grade Twelve students can't participate because they need to read the same books as the rest of the province. Past that, having enough good books sometimes was hard - I did have to run out and pick up more part way through. The biggest worry was evaluation - how do you run an evaluation when everyone is reading something different? However, the rock stars found a way and the kids did the assignments - some for the first time that year. The assignments received were strong - as we weren't doing the standard curriculum, the kids had to rely on themselves and not spark notes. But they did it! And they prospered. This program was true, student centered 21st century learning and it showed.

This program and giving kids choice had two other benefits - kids fostered a relationship with the library and general circulation went up. They also fostered a relationship with the teachers involved; if they can trust that the teachers are looking out for them and are interested in their interests, they will form a relationship with them when it comes to other curricular issues.

So, choice in literature? Letting "weak" YA lit flourish? It works. The right of choice is one that has so many other benefits that it outweighs any of the detriments someone might suggest. So, next time someone says 'it's only YA lit - when are you going to read something good?', stare them down. Or realize that they obviously don't know what they're talking about and give them your favourite book to read. Reading+books=knowing what you're saying. Those who have read know this.

Presentations

I've been working at presentations and neglecting my blogging - so often the out of site is out of mind when you're rushing around to do 15 different things at once! I will admit, in the beginning of the year I swore I would do a blog post at least once a week. However, that has not happened. Must reformat my ideas of what to blog....

However, what have I been doing? Presenting to students on how to focus with research:

Researching Tips on Prezi

I've been talking about restorative justice to teachers - a part of 21st century learning, I believe.

Copy of Restorative Justice on Prezi

I'm on the BYOD committee at my school and using popplet to show issues and solutions for adopting a policy such as that:

Plus, there was the presentation using the popplet I made on YA lit I linked in my last entry. Kids love that and it makes me feel organized!

Plus reading piles and piles of YA lit - I'm currently in the middle of the Chronicles of Nick series. Soon - book reviews!

Testing out popplet and the web

Through twitter I was given a link to Popplet, a webbing software where you can create presentations. As I'm getting ready to present about YA lit, I thought I'd give it a whirl and see if it worked out for me. Unfortunately, you can't see it in presentation mode but here's what I created:

Thanks Ian for the link!

Book Review: I Hunt Killers

As I have been known to do, I spent this weekend reading YA lit. Oddly, it took a turn for the macabre. After reading 'Ripper' by Stefan Petrucha, I found myself opening up 'I Hunt Killers' by Barry Lyga. Yes, it was a serial killer kind of weekend. I should note I also read several non-serial killer books, but they also involved death, dying and angst. At some point, YA is going to kill me.

Moving past that point and into 'I Hunt Killers', I was really impressed. This book, at the basics of it, is a good teen thriller mystery with a suspenseful build to a satisfying conclusion. A lot of words to say, it's a good book.

Imagine your dad is the most prolific serial killer in the United States. He is, infact, considered a new brand of serial killer - a super serial killer, due to his ability to adjust and change his MO and tells.His son, Jazz, was trained from a young age in the art of being a serial killer and lives each day in fear that he will give into his training and cross a line that he does not want to cross. Now that his dad has been caught, Jazz lives with his senile grandmother, fighting against the system that wants to put him in foster care. He's lost his friends - hard to keep your popularity when your dad has killed over a hundred people. His best friend has stuck with him and his girlfriend tries to get him to look past the surface and into his own humanity.

Things are coming together for him until the body shows up. While his dad has been jailed for years, bodies are appearing in their small town, each one copying one of his dads victims. In an effort to show that he isn't a killer, Jazz has joined the police in trying to find the new serial killer. However, the more he helps, the more he tries to fight the thoughts that tell him he is more like his father than anyone would ever know.

The premise of 'I Hunt Killers' was a new twist on a old tale - a child feeling pressured to follow in the footsteps of their parent. Mix in the twist on another old tale - dead parent, parent in jail and living with a family member and you've got a very fresh story. Jazz is fighting against what he has learned from birth - he does not want to be a serial killer. He does not want to know what he knows about the dismemberment and disposal of bodies. He does not want to cause harm. He just wants to be left alone to live with his senile grandmother and hang out with his friends, helping the police when he can (and when they let him). The battle between nature and nurture is fully developed and drives the story.

Jazz is a child of his circumstances and luckily the characters around him were supportive in a realistic fashion. They understood his differences and didn't allow themselves to get either caught up in them or freaked out too much when it wasn't appropriate. However, when it was appropriate, they did note it and make reference to the fact that he was freaking them out. They keep him grounded, which is important when you're dealing with the fact that you've been groomed from birth to be a serial killer and are fighting it as hard as you can. His grandmother is not a support. The character is used to keep 'the system' in Jazzs life - a foster worker insists on visiting and is fighting to get Jazz placed in another home. This all comes together in a morbid and twisted way that I expected - but didn't expect. It also explains why Jazz didn't go into witness protection - he fought hard to be kept in his home town and family. Realizing this cleared up a lot of questions I had and made the book a little more realistic.

This book is gory, descriptive and macabre. It almost dips into the unbelievable until you as the reader remember - chances are you're not the child of the most prolific serial killer around so you would have a little trouble relating at times.  Readers who are fans of 'Dexter' or people who enjoy a gory thriller will appreciate this book. However, this book isn't just for fans of gore or thrillers. The relationships are solid and the characters well developed so as long as you don't mind a little gore in your nature vs nurture debates, you'll find something enjoyable in this book.

Link to this review:

Live tweeting 'The Hunger Games'

As a lark this summer, I decided to 'live tweet' the hunger games. I created an account separate from my personal and professional ones and wrote timed tweets through novel, tweeting as the characters would during the story. It's not very good - but it's an example at least! The URL for the twitter feed is:

https://twitter.com/announcingthe74
 
You need to scroll down to the very bottom and load all the tweets - twitter shows your latest tweet first.
I used a program that allowed me to write tweets and store them to post at later dates. That way I could write timed tweets for days into the future. The goal was to have a site that teachers could show students as an example if they wanted this as an assignment option.

Benefits:

1. I really got to know the story and the characters. I knew the Hunger Games but now I really know it. Not sure when I'll ever want to read it again. 
2. I was able to learn more about the characters and their development as I tried to speak as they would in situations presented.

Challenges:

1. Writing as a character and nailing their voice can be difficult when you're trying to speak as they would but not as they did (due to copyright issues). Not happy with the voice of a number of characters as I presented them. As well, at times all grammar went out the window. Combo of the format and my laptop being cranky.
2. Not all novels are compact in timeline as 'The Hunger Games'. Would work for something like 'Lord of the Flies', less for something like 'Night'.
3. A number of the tributes do not have official names. Found those that I could, had to refer to them by district if I couldn't.

 The Process:

1. Created an account. 
2. Read and reread the book. Decided on what was important to tweet. Five pages of her discussing how hard it is to live in a cave might merit one tweet, one page of battle might merit 10 tweets from several characters.
3. Wrote with #character at the start but did add some hashtags as they are generally used at the end (eg. #cato That boy from 12 was playing us!!! he's with the girl!! #killpeeta #CATOROCKS). For those unfamiliar, hashtags are used to either link to other tweets on a topic or to express a quick thought on a topic, minus spaces. (sample tweet : "Allowed the child to eat staples #theregoesparentoftheyear). Many of the tweets from Cato ended with #CATOROCKS. Many from Haymitch ended with #ineedadrink or #stayalive.
4. Tried to ensure that characters were represented in the feed, even if they didn't have dialog in the book at that section. One example would be near the end when Katniss is waking in her room and hears yelling. That yelling is quite possibly Haymitch talking about how she's not to get cosmetic surgery. Included a tweet from him in that instance. 
5. Used twuffer (another website) to write tweets to post at certain times. I could write days and days and days of tweets in one sitting, making sure to chose what time they posted. 
6. Started to hate the process 
7. Continued through the story, breaking character at the end to put any references and thanks I needed to put there.

What I like about what I've done is that I have a definite example of how to use twitter for a project such as this. Now, instead of just stating 'you can use twitter' blah, blah, blah, I can show them how I did it. Always useful!

Banned Books Display

The most talked about - ever - display I have ever done in the library is the one currently running. I decided to do a display on 'Banned Books'. After extensive searching, I found lists of books that have been banned in various places for one reason or another. I found out why they're banned, found them in my library and boop! Display. Sort of.

I first did an information board. This board is near the door as well as the circulation desk. I purchased book envelopes, hallowe'en ribbon and chose a black and navy colour background scheme. The background is a tablecloth from the dollarstore (all plastic, $1). The ribbons I purchased are the borders. I decided on a 'Here we read Banned Books' title, partly to emphasise that we do read these books here and partly as an intro to the library and school in general (just to set the tone for the year). Each of the little envelopes lists on it the reason a book is banned. Then, inside is a card saying the title of the book.

Students can lift out the card and see what book is banned. Then, the table. I kept with the same colour (and cost) scheme and had a black tablecloth with a blue skirt. I used the leftover ends from the ribbons to decorate the skirt a little and tie the theme together a bit. Then I added the books that were banned that I have in the library.

Each book has a note on it saying why it's banned. Several of the books are ones we study or the students have studied in previous grades. I tried to include as much current, popular fiction as possible. I made the choice to put the info over the cover/title of the book to make the book seem a little more remote or hidden. A number of the books aren't in that picture as they've been checked out already.

Students have really caught on to this idea of books being banned. They can't believe that titles they grew up with like Harry Potter are banned. Nor can they believe that books they study, like 'Speak' or 'To Kill a Mockingbird' could ever be banned. It's garnered a lot of discussion and has garnered a lot of interaction between them and me but also between students discussing books that are banned that they love. I make the point that here, we encourage people to read as much as possible, even if in other places they ban it. They appreciate that.
I have NO clue what I'm going to do next!