Library2Play2 - Thing 2 - Image Generators

I discovered Bookr last fall and introduced it to the first and the 4th grade. The kids adored it - in fact 4th graders were begging for the opportunity to write another Bookr book. Bookr has some weakness, which are in a way also the site's strength. There isn't any choice of fonts - you use what they give you - not as much fun but then the kids don't do all their work in unreadable Gothic either. The pictures most come from Flickr and the choices are limited. Again, that's both a plus and minus - the kids don't waste hours of time looking at every possible picture but sometimes it is difficult to find "the perfect one" within the offered choices. The main weakness of the site is that there is no "edit' option. Once you publish, you publish. On the positive side, it is free and no e-mail address is required. We found it best to publish the Bookr Books to an already existing blog.




Wordle is another site I discovered last fall. Several of the teachers used it as the "carrot" to get the kids through a keyboarding exercise. Once they finished typing they could "wordle" the results. It's also an fun way to reinforce spelling or vocabulary words.

I'd not played with WordShift. Wordle, which allows you change fonts and colors wins in the playing prize, Wordsiftf, which can pull up links wins the "more information " one.
I put The Gettysburg Address through both of them.
Below is the Wordle's Version

This is Wordsift's version.


My bloggers adored Glogster. It didn't do much for me - I thought the results were very busy and cluttered but I suspect I'm showing my age. I would think any parent would embrace Glogster since it frees them from those 10pm runs the 24 hour Walmart because someone just realized they need poster board RIGHT NOW. The kids and I did have problems saving our Glogs. I noticed that many of the glogs on the site are edgy to the extreme. I see they now have an education area, which will help with that problem. The help files and Glogster Buzz sections are full of good ideas on applying Glogster in the classroom. This site is "green" to the extreme and must use for any school using digital portfolios.

Voicethread - this one is new to me. Whoo-hoo - a new new tool to introduce to the bloggers come fall! This one beats the others hands down when it comes to tutorials and help files. I can see many group collboration opporunties for VoiceThread. It would also be interesting to post a final produce and use VoiceTread to comment and critique it. What a wonderful way for ESL students to practice their English.

Animoto was another hands down favorite with the bloggers. They tended to make Animotos of kittens and puppies but one could certainly make an Animoto of Texas Hero's or mammals or just about anything. I applied and was given an educators account which meant I could create e-mail addresses so that the students could make their own Animotos. We learned that if 2 students used the same e-mail address they would overwrite each other's Animotos so it is impartive that each student have their own individual address. The students liked their Animotos to be very long, but I think the 30 second ones are more effective. They are perfect for introducting a topic. Everytime I put one every child in the library gravitated toward the screen. The combination of music and flashing pictures is a child magnet.


The bloggers and I played with Vokis too. Two of the more creative kids proceeded to have their Vokis talk to each other. They were trash talking but a teacher could use it for a 21st century version of Reader's Theater. A student could create a historical Voki and have it talk in character.

All the Image Generators I discovered in Library2Play and these were wildly popular with my students. I found them all easy to use and the results were most professional. The students adored learning and using them and most went on to further explore the sites on their own. SBISD is pushing electronic portfolios and all these sites dovetail nicely with that mandate.

Library2Play 2 - Thing #1

Child of 23 Things here I come! It's summer and time to play. I am at Beck's Prime at The Memorial Park golf course hanging out while My Beloved chips and putts. It is beastly hot - only Mad Dogs, Englishmen and Golfers venture out in the Houston sun.

I have a new toy - a Pink Mini Dell that is light as a feather. Unfortunately, the Memorial Park Golf Course does not have wireless so I accessed the Library Media Services web page via my iPhone. However, I while I can get to TeacherTube I can't get the video to open up. Curses. Foiled by technology. I wonder if it is posted on YouTube? Off to check............

10 minutes later....yes, it was there. YouTube isn’t as hinky as TeacherTube. In fact, I've seen this video before - I think it was included in the original 23 Things. I have conquered technology - yeah me! Usually it is the other way around.

Thoughts on the Networked Student. Right off the bat I see 2 major hurdles the 21st Student must jump before he or she appears in an SBID school near us.

One is the textbook lobby. They don't want to kill that goose that lays those golden eggs - or those 70 dollar bricks. Teachers might not want to use them but the school district has to buy them...even if they pile up unused in warehouses. Kids over load their backpacks and ruin their posture dragging them back and forth. For what it costs to supply a student with a full set of textbooks the district could buy everyone an inexpensive laptop and stack of books on CD.

Two is our no so beloved TAKS test which is mired deep in the 1950s. I taught a Blogging Class this year as part of the after school program. I didn't use a textbook and the students never ever picked up a pencil. Kids begged to be included and we had a joyful time. They were proud of their work and clamored to share. They never realized they were learning the mechanics of writing. I didn't allow “cell phone speak" and insisted on correct grammar and spelling.

These same students dreaded pencil and paper writing in class. With me, their keyboarding improved and once they got beyond hunt and peck their thoughts spilled out through their fingers. The TAKS writing test is a paper and pencil test. During class the kids had to practice their handwriting and worry about spelling. Were electronic copies allowed neither of those would have mattered. Well, spelling would since kids can foil the spell check but they still could have concentrated on content rather than mechanics.

So, can a librarian be a 21st Century teacher – yes he/she could, but not till our legislature and the TEA catch up with said librarian. Will that happen during the lifetime of my teaching career? Cynic that I am, I have my doubts. In the meantime I'll keep plugging way, aiming for the small clinks in the armour that is called education.

There Aren't 2 Levels of Health Care...

.... in America ...there are three. I always knew that there was a world of difference between health care for the those with insurance and those without. I now there is yet a third - one for those with insurance + money or friends in high places.

My Beloved had knee surgery and which resulted in complications. Six days after the surgery she developed a blood clot in her calf, which necessitated a 5 day hospital stay. She's currently building a new building for Methodist Hospital, so of course it was her venue of choice.

One thing lead to another she ended up on "Fondern 12" - the floor where the hospital houses the rich and famous. Barbara Bush stayed there during her recent surgery. It's one of the crown jewels of Methodist and nothing is spared to ensure the patients are as comfortable as possible.

Large, spacious private room complete with a dining table and chairs, coffee table, recliner , couch and chair... .. and oh yes, a hospital bed. Think Hyatt meets hospital.


Wi-Fi, cable television, 2 phones, a ratio of 4 patients per nurse + nursing assistants and "patient care coordinator" whose job it was to ensure that nothing went wrong. The level of care was right out of a Sue Barton book.

And best of all... a private chef on the floor and room service from 6am to 8pm. No powdered eggs on plastic plates at 6am for the residents of the 12th floor. They dined on omelets, served on china, with linen napkins and a fresh rose on the wooden tray. Lunch was equally delicious and at 4pm one of the staff made the rounds to share the daily special - and "would Madam desire it, or would Madam prefer the snapper with crab meat that Madam enjoyed yesterday?". Madam ate very well indeed. Madam's other half tromped down to the hospital cafeteria and had salads in plastic bowls. Whenever Madam was thirsty she called and a chilled Sprite Zero complete with stemmed glass and ice appeared on a tray. Madam was royally spoiled.

So spoiled that on her first day at home she looked at me and said "I'd like some tofu with sauteed squash and red peppers for dinner".

I looked at Madam and said "there aren't any squash or red peppers in the fridge and you're not at Fondern 12 any longer". Madam is feeling much better but is mourning the loss of her personal chef.

When She Fails the TAKS Test....

.....it will be once again "a failure of our education system".

This story has dominated the local news for the past week:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/moms/6381800.html (drunken driver drove his car into a flooded bayou while talking on his cell phone. 5 children drowned, the father, another adult and 1 child survived. None of the children were wearing seat belts or in car seats. Father, who had a long criminal record is currently in jail charged with 5 counts of manslaughter).

One of the follow-ups reported that the one child who lived - a 10 year old girl is in foster care. She'd been living with her father (the drunken ex-con) for about a month. Her mother checked her out of the hospital but CPS took custody since Mom has a serious substance abuse issue.

1 month with Dad = 1 school, Foster care = a 2nd school. Number of schools attended between August and move in with Dad = unknown but even if it's just 1 (highly unlikely) that's still 3 schools within the space of 1 school year.

At age 10 she's either in the 4th or 5th grade (we hope). This upcoming week is TAKS test week - 4th graders take the reading and math test and 5th grade a science test.

This child, who just survived an horrific accident, who lost her siblings and half siblings and who is a poster child for "dysfunctional home life" is expected to sit at a desk for 8 hours and take a test and give it her personal best. The chances of her passing the TAKS test are slim to none. Her score will impact whatever school she attended on "snapshot" day which is in October.
The school will get the "ding" and the blame.

Nowhere in "No Child Left Behind" is there any accountability for home life and personal circumstances. NCLB assumes educating children is no different than factory farming chickens.
You apply the latest and greatest and hey presto, perfectly educated children and record egg production.

Only difference is, the factory farms can cull the hens who don't measure up to the standard, the schools can't.

Take My Money - Please!

I did my utmost to counter the recession and spend some money today but the stores did their best to foil my efforts. I now understand why some retail establishments are folding. I hope that the two I attempted to patronize today join the ranks of the bankrupt - and quickly.

Experience #1
Location : Target
Product : A rolling office chair.

Thanks to knee surgery My Beloved is on crutches for the next 6 weeks and we thought a rolling chair might make it easier to maneuver around the house. Target had just what I wanted, but but I couldn't find any , other than the sample (mounted on a display board).

"No problem" I told the clerk, "I'll take that one"
"I can't sell it to you" she responded.
"Why" I asked in utter astonishment.
"We're not allowed" she answered.
"Why" I asked again "I don't care if it's a bit dusty".
"No, you can't have it" she said, turning to leave.

I pushed my cart (I'd picked up some other things en route to the furniture department) in her general direction.
"Then I don't want what's in this cart either. I'm not about to to stand in line to pay for this merchandise and then go somewhere else to buy a chair and stand in line again.".

Target just lost about $200 in sales + hell will freeze over before I shop there again.

Experience # 2
Location: Dry Creek Cafe
Product : A hamburger & french fries

My Beloved desired a hamburger so I stopped at Dry Creek, which makes very good burgers.

Me :"I'd like a hamburger and fries to go please"
Order taker: You can't order a hamburger.
Me "Why, have you changed your menu"?
Order taker: "No, you can't order hamburgers till 12 noon.
Me "It's 11am, isn't that normally considered lunch time"
Order taker: "We're serving breakfast, you can't have a hamburger".
Me "All you need to do is put the burger on the grill that's already hot since you're cooking eggs.
Order taker : No hamburgers till 12 noon.

If it's this hard to spend money during a recession I shudder at what it is going to be like once the economy improves.

Thank goodness for Amazon Prime. They are always happy to accept my money.
To bad they don't sell hamburgers.

What If They Gave a Friends of the Library Sale....

And nobody came?

The Houston Public Library FOL book sale was this weekend, with Friday being the members night. I was on the fence about going since I knew HPL sells to Better World Books and since I bought a grand total of 1 book last year.

To go or not to go…that was the question.

I got an unexpected donation of $100 to buy books for my school library – the FOL sale advertised that their “I Can Read” books would be only $1 each and I knew from past purchases that many would be like new. So that cinched it. Nasty weather was in the forecast and I had no desire after a long day at work to stand in line in the rain or deal with the opening bell mosh pit so I planned to arrive when the doors opened. It was sprinkling so I splurge on the underground parking. The Heavens opened shortly after my 4:15 arrival for a sale that started at 4:30.

There was NO LINE!

There could not have been more than 50 – 75 people (the sale is at the convention center) standing around waiting for the gates to open. Everyone was really laid back and in a good mood. The starting gun went off and there was no reenactment of the Oklahoma Land Rush. Only a couple of people ran, nobody pushed or shoved or tripped anyone. No hording, no sweep the tables, no grabbing. I had the art books all to myself. The prices were much lower than last year – still very spendy for a library sale but bearable. The bulk of the non fiction is individually priced - $2 -$10.

I didn’t see any of the regular dealers but it’s been a long time since I’ve attended an FOL sale. There were other scanners, many of which were , judging from what they picked up newbies or penny book sellers. I ran into the dealer who runs the Texas version of BetterWorldBooks and he said quite a few dealers (esp. the out of town ones) skipped the sale this year because it was so bad last year. He said he lost money at last years sale and so far he was doing well.

I’d planned to buy a stack of “I Can Read” books and leave – and instead I was there for 4 hours. I bought 3 boxes of books for $240 (told you it was pricy), the bulk of which are art books cause that’s where I went first. I was also dead – I was at work by 6:45 and I was on my feet for the bulk of the day. I dragged into the house at 9pm and collapsed.

The FOL Sale chairperson was doing crowd control (not that there was any) at checkout & I commented on how empty the place was. She agreed and said they didn’t expect as many people as last year because they had fewer books (true) but that she was very surprised at the low turnout. I told her the prices were way more reasonable this year and she said, yes they realized they had overpriced and that they made changes. She confirmed that many of the regular dealers were not in attendance.

Texas Better World was the one who told me HPL is cherry picking books to send to Better World and I believe him. I found good inventory but just about every book was a “punch in the number” rather than scan the number. The scannable books were for the most part, worthless for resale. Texas Better World agreed with my assessment.

The rain on Saturday was way worse than Friday and I doubt they had many shoppers. There should be some good pickings at bag day on Sunday
Maybe it’s time to re-think FOL sales.

My Strangest Garage Sale Buy Ever...

I spend almost every Saturday trolling the Heights garage sales for books to sell. Along the way I pick up other treasures, many of which find their way into my library. I’ve the only library in the district with 10 Lava Lamps and a complete zoo of puppets and stuffed animals.

Saturday I came across a Book Cart. A brand new, metal, retails for almost $400 Bretford Book Cart. How it arrived at a modest Heights rent house is beyond me but there it was.

“How much” I asked the seller, expecting a quote for $25 to $50.

“Ah, I guess $5” he said.

Sold!

I think every librarian turned bookseller needs her personal book cart.


P.S. It was a day for a strange buys – another sale turned up the contents of a newly closed gourmet grocery store. $10 bought $50 worth of fancy salad dressings.

15 Perfect Gentleman

Thanks to a bizarre chain of events that fell into place without a hitch (Hey, there really is a Goddess who looks after librarians) I hosted my first “name” author last Friday. We’ve had many author visits over the years, but they are mostly the self published type. Pleasant enough folks, but it’s very apparent that the main source of their income and their book sales are their school visits.

Not so Justin Somper the author of The Vampirates series. He’s from London and his American book tour included a stop in Houston to hobnob with librarians during the Texas Library Convention. Conventions aren’t my thing which meant I was the only librarian in Houston who could cobble together a school visit on 2 weeks’ notice.

I tossed up a display and a created Flipchart. I prepped, book talked and handed out the tomes. It helped that the books have very, very enticing covers and subject matter and that Justin has an enjoyable and informative web site. The kids enjoyed the books and looked forward to the event.

All the work paid off. Justin’s visit was worth every bit of effort and more. His rapport with the kids was excellent and he had them mesmerized. We sold over 100 books and made some money Blue Willow Books, the local independent bookstore. Owning one of his books became the newest status symbol and having all 4 meant you were at the top of the heap.

I’ve a group of 5th grade books who are devoted fans of the Cirque du Freak books and since there are some similarities in the two series I invited them to eat lunch with the author. I’ve always catered a lunch for visiting authors (have Crockpot, will cook) and included students. One advantage to not having an active PTA is that I can do my author lunches just as I please. At other schools author lunches are the province of the PTA and consist of the PTA Moms and their own offspring.

The menu is always simple – pasta with meat sauce, good French bread, butter, a tossed salad and something chocolate for dessert Every time I do one of these I’m always amazed at what’s novel.

Once year it was the “real forks”. I hate to eat with plasticware so I always bring my stainless from home. Another year it was the homemade salad dressing and the “real” whipped cream. This time it was the crusty French bread and the unsalted butter. The boys ate their way through 4 loaves, each slice slathered with butter.

"This doesn't taste like the butter from the cafeteria Ms. Moore".

I provided table cloths and we helped ourselves to tables not yet picked up from the carnival and set up a large, square banquet table. 15 boys sat round it, ate massive amounts of food, asked respectful, thoughtful and polite questions and brought tears of joy to the eyes of their principal.
Not one descended into horseplay, acted silly or did anything goofy. There were perfect gentlemen and did themselves and their school proud.

It's days like this that I love really, really love my job.

Tomorrow I'm doing a presentation about "Strong Principals / Strong Schools - along with my ex-principal (who is so good at her job that she got herself promoted) at the Texas Library Association. After I made the list I realized that I'm one busy librarian!

I'm being radical and not doing a PowerPoint. Instead I made an Animoto and a bulleted list of the assorted libray activities I done - at least the ones I can remember!

Principal Supplies/Supports:

Keeps the library "off"the block / teacher planning rotation
Good Budget & an Assistant
Decent computers
New technology
Space
Freedom to decorate and set up the library as I want (Lava Lamps, suffed animals, puppets)
Accelerated Reader
Doesn’t worry about stains on the carpet or messy shelves - kids come first

Librarian Supplies:

Informal teacher colloration
AR T-shirt Day
Library Lunch Club
AR Parties
Trips to Ci-Cis
Trips to Barnes and Noble
GT & PGP Passes

Freedom to experiment with Technology
High AR Point PassesLibrary Lunch Club
Book Swap

Open Checkout
Author Visits
Blogging
Hat Day
Slip into Reading Day
Library Lock In
20/20 Day
Reading Challenges with classes-Allow Food
Family Library Night
Field trips to see authors
Popcorn in the pocket park
Cake decorating

Green Eggs and Ham Lunch
Sugar cookie decorating
Mix it Up day

Author Visits

“Come on Down” for high AR Point passes

Water, Water Everywhere

Or rather garage sales, garage sales everywhere but not a book to be found.
It was gorgeous day – sunny, no humidity, not a cloud to mar that beautiful Texas Blue Sky.
Craigslist was full of enticing ads and garage sale signs sprouted on the telephone poles like mushrooms after the rain.

And I found not one book worth buying.

In fact were it not for a Lava Lamp for school and a kitty condo for the cats I’d of come away empty handed.

Some days are like that…..even in Australia….or Houston.

Good News / Bad News

The good news: I just sold a $110 book
The bad news: It’s heavy and oversize
The even more bad news : it’s going to France

Gobble, Gobble, Gulp, Gulp,…that’s me eating postage. Will I ever learn to uncheck “international” on oversize books?

Bizarre Buyer

I always enclose a card with my name, phone # and e-mail address with my orders. It’s saved my bacon more than once when I’ve had an unhappy buyer.

Yesterday I received a phone call that resulted in one of the most bizarre conversations I’ve ever had.

Me : “hello”.

Buyer ; Is this a bookstore?

Me: "Yes, I sell books ."

Buyer: “You sent the wrong book”

Me: “Oh, I’m so sorry, let me get upstairs so I can check my records. What book did you receive?”

Buyer: “Katherine by Allison Weir”

I tromp upstairs, pull up my Amazon orders and see that the order was for Katherine by Alison Weir.


Me: “ I see the order and it was indeed for Katherine by Weir”

Buyer (very irate) “I told my son to order Katherine by Anya Seton and you didn’t have it so you talked him into buying Katherine by Alison Weir.

Me (thinking to myself - I talked to the buyer? Amazon doesn’t let me talk to buyers, they won’t even give me an email address)


Me – out loud, “I’m sorry but the order was for Katherine by Weir. I’m very familiar with the Seton book (which I own & love) and I know the order wasn’t for that one."

Buyer (even more irate) “yes it was, and I want you to send me the Seton book”.

Me: I’m sorry, I don’t have a copy of that book for sale. If you’ll return the other book I’ll be happy to refund your money”

Buyer (still irate) “I want the Seton book first, then I’ll return the other one”.

Me “I don’t have the Seton book”

We go back and forth for about 10 minutes and I finally convince her I really, really don’t have the Seton book. She tells me about her son, her family and why she wants the Seton book. By the time we are done I know all the names of her daughters and granddaughters and how she wants the Seton book for Anastasia because she’s named after Katherine. I didn’t ask her to elaborate on that statement! She agrees to return the Weir book – after I tell her all about that unfamiliar institution called the Post Office and how you can take packages there and mail them.

I hang up and send son an e-mail via Amazon telling him Mom is not happy and that when I get the Weir book back I’ll issue him a refund. I am really glad she can’t leave feedback and hope that son is saner than his mother. I haven’t heard back from son yet.

I wonder if I’ll get the Weir book back?

Playing with Wordles

Just for the pure fun of it I used a Wordle as my Laptop's wallpaper. It's turned into a teaching momemnt - the kids are most intrequied. So I've shown them how to make Worldes - which are actually a fun way to practice one's spelling words - or make a TAKS poster.

Big Universe

I really should read School Library Journal more often!
The December issue featured a story on electronic books and introduced me to Big Universe.com.

Now this is a fine example of the Web 2.0 at its best! I can so see kids getting creative.


Here's my first published effort : The Library Lunch Club

Thursday 13 - 13 Good Things About 2008

The general opinion of the Blogsphere is that 2008 was a year to forget, to kick out the door and one many people hope will never come round again. In my standard glass half full mentality there were some positive events.

1. Daughter #2 got married to a delightful young man. We couldn’t be more
pleased with our new SIL.
2. We visited Daughter #1, meet her boss, viewed her workplace and were impressed.
She’s happily settled (and has health insurance!)
3. The wedding of Daughter #2 went off without any serious hitches and a
wonderful time was had by all.
4. My book business continued to do very well and it continues to grow.
5. Progress was made at chipping away at Mount Debtmore (see #3)
6. Given I work in a school that serves this country’s fastest growing ethnic group
I’d say I have pretty good job security.
7. My beloved works builds medical facilities - whose demand grows as
the baby boomers age . She has job security too.
8. As much as I hate my alarm clock I still really do love my school, my school and
my fellow teachers.
9. I still work with the best bunch of librarians in the state. Our director continues
to challenge me.
10. Web 2.0 delighted and astounded me. It makes life-long-learning fun.
11. We stayed healthy
12. Hurricane Ike did not destroy our house or disrupt our life to much.
Many others were not so lucky.
13. We have a new President Elect – and he’s one reason 2009 will be outstanding!

The Thursday Thirteen Site is suddenly MIA. I hope it returns PDQ!

Score de December

December seems to be the month to score inventory windfalls. . Last year it was the Jazzman, the year before it was The Bookman. December, 2008 ended with the Shady Doctor buy.

Shady Doctor was a psychiatrist who made a pile of money back in the1990s as a proponent of "Repressed Memory" syndrome. A Google search of the dearly departed showed he was most controversial, involved in a number of lawsuits and that his license was at times, questionable.

Shady Doctor apparently had a number of mental problems himself. He was anal to the extreme - every one of his hundreds of CDs was alphabetized, he had a 5 foot stack of binders with the warranty papers for every electrical appliance he ever bought and his shirts were arranged by color. He was a compulsive collector - multiple DVD players, VCRs, exercise equipment, camping equipment and enough Pfaltzgraff dinnerware to outfit a small department store.

His house was in a very sketchy part of town, one where even I felt compelled to lock my car doors. It once belonged to his mother and started out as a simple 5 room workman's cottage.

For reasons known only to him he left it entirely as is (and it needed a makeover)and built a sprawling garage and second story addition. Other than the library (which was a secret room) the addition was all white paint and grey linoleum. Very drab, very depressing.

The library was amazing- it had 2 secret entrances - one from the master closet and the other from the wet bar. The walls were lined with custom made library shelving and the shelves were filled with books. One side held his 30 year old medical books and 20 years worth of bound issues of Newsweek, the other side was full of Easton Press Books. Easton Press is one of the Holy Grails of bookselling. And these weren't just any Easton Press Books, these were all signed first edition Science Fiction Easton Press books.

The sale didn't attract many buyers with interest in custom leather books. Many of shoppers were neighbors who bought armloads of CDs & sports memorabilia but just rolled their eyes at the books. The book room was filled with very overweight young men, wearing backwards baseball caps & baggy pants and in need of a shave, accompanied by their girlfriends who wore very tight, very low cut pants that showed off their “muffin tops” and thongs all talking on their cell phones and trying to describe what they were seeing. In their words the room was full of “old books and other old s----“!

Science Fiction isn't my forte though I know it sells. I called a fellow bookseller, who prowled around on E-bay and we zeroed in on 17 books with potential. At $25 each I didn't want to buy any duds. Come Sunday everything would be 50% off so a return trip was in order.

Turned out that most of the Easton Press books were still there. I bought 10 and some audio books for Lou and left.

Upon delivery of the audio books Lou asked me 'Why didn't you make an offer for all of them?"

"Humm" I thought upon arriving home, "why not"?

I e-mailed the estate sale proprietor and offered to buy and haul away all the remaining Easton Press books at $10 per book. I estimated maybe 100 books were left. Wrong. There were 210 volumes and she accepted my offer.

Gulp. Very Big Gulp. Very, Very big Gulp.

Didn't think I could back out without incurring the wrath of the Estate Sale Dealer. Whose wrath I could not afford to incur - she's an important cog in my inventory strategy wheel. Oh well, I'll just pay the minimum on my Visa bill this month.

13 boxes later I was the giddy but scared owner of 250 Easton Press Books.

I think I've just advanced a step or two above my usual bookselling rank of bottom feeder.

They are all headed for E-bay. Stay tuned.

By Their Books Ye Shall Know Them...

I think a person's books can tell more about them than almost anything else in their household. Saturday I went to an estate sale in search of books to sell.
The ad promised "1000s of books". There wasn't even 1000 but there were a great many. I find that estate sale givers always overestimate the number of books.

The former owner was a life time member of Weight Watchers, a Methodist, a diabetic and had a superficial interest in architecture, decorating and drawing. She was very fond of anything published by Rodale Press (a notorious publisher of penny books) , dabbled in natural healing and did a bit of travel, all of it domestic. At one time she'd practiced law and officed out of her home. Given the number of "how to succeed as a solo lawyer" books she wasn't very successful.

She also spent more time at Half Price Books than I do, which meant the bulk of her books were worthless on the resale market. Oh well. I did find a few gems but some days are like that.
Even in Australia.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Thursday Thirteen

What does one write about for the Thanksgiving Thursday Thirteen but 13 Blessings? It may be a cliche but that's what Thanksgiving is, a holiday full of cliches.

1. My family. We may be quirky and our family reunions gather up the most eclectic group of individuals on the planet but we all respect each other's differences and get along.

2. My partner. 12 years and counting and she's as wonderful as she was when we first connected.

3. The Internet - it gave me my partner, my second job and it makes my first job every changing and ever interesting. Can't imagine life without it.

4. My job. In these uncertain times I feel blessed to have a job that is relatively safe. That I thoroughly enjoy it is an added bonus.

5. My two daughters. On their own with college degrees in hand. Supporting themselves at jobs that don't require them to say "and would you like fries with that?".

6. My new son-in-law. The wedding was delightful from start to finish. Every woman should have husband as sweet as Jason. She's in good hands.

7. Our new President. Finally someone I voted for won. The new feeling of hope in our country and the new interest of the young in politics is a refreshing change from the same old same old.

8. My On-Line book sellers group. I've learned so much from them and they have had such a positive impact on my book business (and its bottom line).

9. My fellow teachers. A few drive me round the bend at times but all in all you'd be hard pressed to find a harder working group of folks who do it for the kids.

10. My blogging class - Lordie those kids are fun! They keep me on their toes and the growth in their writing is joy to behold.

11. My kitties. They always greet us at the door with purrs and meows.

12. Electricity - Hurricane Ike reminded the entire city of Houston that Ben Franklin's birthday ought to be a national holiday.

13. My life. Other than an occasional ache and pain it's all good.

When Does Parental Choice Become Neglect?

We have several students who NEED to be on medication. Badly. Not just your ordinary run of the mill ADD medication but serious drugs. The kids throw things, run away, defy all authority, refuse to learn and do their very best to ensure their peers can’t learn. They can’t control their behavior – they have severe emotional issues.

The parents can’t or won’t agree to medication. Some pay lip service to the idea and then they don’t fill the prescriptions, they let them lapse or they “forget” to administer them. They send the meds to school but don’t follow through on the weekends. The school nurse goes as far to driving to the pharmacy that accepts Medicaid to personally fill the scripts. Money can’t buy the service she provides.

One parent keeps talking about “that diet I read about on the Internet”. Only problem is, the gluten free, additive free , sugar free, diary free diets that are suggested as possible alternatives require great discipline, organization and vigilance on the part of the parents. The Texas food stamp allotment doesn’t stretch far enough to cover organic produce and hormone free beef and this is a parent who can’t manage to get their child to school on time..

Another parent wants to “home school” because the child never has any problems at home. Of course the child doesn’t – they get to do whatever they want to at home. Technically we can’t stop the parent – the home school laws in Texas are pretty loose. We try to squash the idea since the parent is a high school drop out with poor parenting skills. They are sober now, but a past substance abuse problem took a toll on their cognitive skills.

Yet another doesn’t want their child to carry the “special ed” label. She fears it will mark her for life. Once a school wants to apply it, she ups and moves and enrolls her in a new school without telling anyone about his prior problems. She knows it takes time for the records to arrive and the wheels of school administered testing grind very, very slowly. The child doesn’t have a special ed label yet, but she’s has a number of others - “holy terror”, “spoiled”, “better your class than mine” – none of them flattering.

These kids take up some 90% of their teachers, the nurse, the counselor and the Principals time, leaving the rest of the children to muddle along on their own. They keep their classrooms and the school in an uproar. Everyone walks on eggshells waiting for the next explosion. They aren’t learning and they aren’t happy – they have no friends and the other kids shun them.

So when is it parental choice and when is it neglect?

My next gig?

Who thinks up these things? And why are they so addictive?

Are You More Qualified than Sarah Palin?
	You are 92% more qualified than Sarah Palin. You're no short-term political stunt, you're the real deal, the VP the American people deserve. I guess your phone was off the hook when John McCain was calling around looking for a running mate... must've been one of those pesky robo-calls.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

At least I'm not PigPen!

Which Peanuts Character Are You?
	You are Schroeder. You are brilliant, ambitious, and brooding; you tackle tasks with extreme focus. People don't always interest you as much as other pursuits, though, so you can come off as aloof.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Obama supporters sing national anthem outside White House

Celebrating in the Streets

Part 1- Barack Obama Victory Speech Grant Park Chicago, IL

An Amazing Night

Joan Baez - We shall overcome

Can't get this song out of my head!

It's been a tumultuous couple of days. Days filled with smiles and hope, tears of joy and unabashed sappiness and patriotism. Last Tuesday night is a jumble of images.

Grant Park filled with thousands of people - young, old, black, white brown - a cross section of America cheering their new leader. It's the first time I can remember a President acknowledging his victory, not in a hotel ballroom where only a select few are invited to the party, but in a public park, open to anyone regardless of the thickness of their wallet. A speech that reiterated that in America anything is possible.

For me, though one of the most memorable pictures was that of the jubilant crowd storming The White House and dancing in streets outside the gates. I wonder if His Shrubness had a flashback to Marie Antoinette and mob who marched on Versailles? Nah, history was never his strongpoint. Nor was being President.

So many thoughts, so many songs...the old anthem of the Civil Rights Movement says it all..

We Shall Overcome

Pigs Might Actually Fly

The Houston Chronicle,, Houston's oh so very conservative, always go with the status quo and support "bizness" newspaper endorsed Obama.

This is huge folks. The Chronicle hasn't endorsed a Democrat since 1964. They really didn't have a choice that year - Lyndon Johnson was a Texan.

The fact that our hometown newspaper has turned its back on The Shrub's successor has me feeling cautiously optimistic about Tuesday's outcome.

Blogging 101

Every since I discovered blogging (has it really been more than 4 years!) I've been wanting to teach a blogging class. I dabbled with it last Spring - it turned out to be more of a dress rehearsal and I'm trying again this school year.

Still tweaking it - I'll get it right one of these days. It's a work in progress but it's a delightful work in progress. Roughly 20 kids and I spend 2 hours once a week learning, writing, getting frustrated, being perplexed and giggling. They are learning, I'm learning and the results are really quite amazing.

The Turmoil After the Storm

It's been 3 + weeks (is it only 3 weeks???) and Houston is trying to get back to normal. That's Houston, it will take Galveston years to get back to normal.

Almost everyone in Houston has power again and the traffic lights work. The streets are piled head high with stacks of branches, tree trunks and assorted destroyed flora. It's depressing to say the least.

The folks who have been hard hardest are as always, "the little people". I'm one of the lucky ones, I Iwas off work for 7 days but still collected a paycheck. Some businesses were closed for as long as 2 weeks and many of them couldn't or didn't pay their employees. People who make minimum wage, the day laborers who stand on the street corner and the bus boys in the kitchen couldn't work and didn't get paid. Those folks, who live pay check to pay check are really, really hurting.

Texas is offering up extra food stamps but the food stamp allowance is paltry at best and it doesn't go far.

One of the apartment complexes in my school's attendance zone had the roof ripped off. I took one of the students home last week and suddenly found myself in an alternate universe. The tenants don't have money to rent a motel room or to move. Furniture was piled up under the "covered parking" and ruined possessions were piled around in heaps and stacks. The place still doesn't have power and the roof was made of blue FEMA tarps. Pieces of the ex roof littered the court yard. The complex has an absentee owner who, as long as he gets his rent money does not appear to be in any hurry to get the repairs up and going. Texas Laws favor the landlord totally. Amazingly the tenants must pay their rent, even though their apartments are barely livable.

That just seems downright wrong. This is American isn't it?

Is There Something in the Water?

We’ve always had some students who were “different”. But there were just a few. The past couple of years it’s been an explosion. Where are they coming from? I don’t think it’s because of better diagnosis – the kids we’ve enrolled are not “slightly disturbed” – they are very, very disturbed.

We students who take serious anti psychotic drugs, students who have violent rages & students who are schizophrenic. We have more and more children who are autistic. Some are diagnosed and some aren’t , but after a number of years in the profession any seasoned teacher can spot the “look” across a crowded room.

Perhaps it’s because I’m at a low SES school but I still find it amazing that a child can reach age 5 or 6 without a parent realizing something isn’t “quite right”. Maybe they don’t note the milestones in the baby book as obsessively as a helicopter parent does or perhaps they are just in deep, deep denial .

Once the paperwork process starts some fight it tooth and nail and others ignore all communication from the school and don’t show up at the STAT and ARD meetings. Papers sent home get lost and are never signed – and without those signatures the schools hands are tied.

Then the parent and child up and moves and the process starts all over again. And again and again and again. It’s not uncommon for a child to reach the 5th grade without a diagnosis. And you can’t start treatment without a diagnosis. That results in 6th graders who can’t read above a first grade level and have no social skills what so ever.

Who gets blamed for that ? Why the schools of course.

No, it’s not the fault of the school. I really do think there is something in the water.

Ike Still (or Again)

School starts up next week and I've been working on an Ike FlipChart / Animoto. I know the kids will want to talk about their experiences so next week the library will be hurricane central. We'll pull out all our hurricane and weather disaster books and put them on display. The district has given us a work day to put things to right again and they kids will be back on Tuesday. I am quite sure there are many parents heaving great sighs of relief.

Signs of Normal Life

I finally got to mail packages today and I found an open Starbucks! Life is improving (even if we don’t have power).

My little local Heights PO has no power and they are selling stamps but only for cash. They aren’t accepting packages. So Lou and I went over to the River Oaks Post Office which has some power and they took them! They can’t take credit cards but they can transact business.

On the way home we found an open Starbucks. They only had hot coffee and drinks made with soy because there isn’t any fresh milk to be had – at least not in my part of town. A soy latte isn’t as good as a milk one, but hey I’ll take it.

We also saw that Hickory Hollow, one of our favorite barbecue places had set up a tent in their parking lot and was selling barbecue. You don’t need electricity to make good Texas barbecue! They had a line of happy looking customers.

Once I got home I took some ice, coke and water over to the Heights PO because the folks there looked they needed a random act of kindness. I also told them River Oaks was open so they could direct their customers. They were so thrilled that the normally grumpy supervisor gave me a spontaneous hug

Lou, who has electricity is going to do a load of my laundry in return for the use of my internet.

My new scanner still hasn’t arrived, but that’s OK, there won’t be any garage sales this weekend anyway

Life Goes On.

_._,__

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

We replaced these .........

With this .

.

........\/

Guess which one is the most beautiful?
If you gussed #2 you are correct.

#2 is the generator!

Report From Hurricane Central

To add insult to injury Mother Nature sent us a thunderstorm that would have been noteworthy under normal circumstances.

Interstate 10 is once again masquerading as the Grand Canal and our street (we live 10 blocks from 1-10) flooded. That’s only happened once before – during Allison. No water in the houses. We are on pier & beam and 5 feet above grade so should we have water in the house we'd expect to see Noah and his ark sailing down the street.
Picture compliments of KHOU TV

I am blowing kisses at My Beloved for getting us the honking big generator. Being married to someone who is a commercial construction manager is frequently a blessing.  Especially in the aftermath of a hurricane.

Yikes! Ike"

All is OK at our house, other than no power – it went out at 3:45am. My Beloved, who believes in being more prepared than an entire troop of Boy Scouts, installed a honking big generator some months ago. Said honking big generator kicked in so we have some power .

We have fridge, microwave, ceiling fans and upstairs A/C. We also have the TV & the satellite dish – My Beloved does have her priorities! In fact, she Tivoed this morning’s golf tournaments and she’s watching them.

She forgot to include the internet but I took care of that problem. I have my priorities too!
I snaked an extension cord and have the router plugged back in so we have DSL. Some of the plugs in the house work and some don’t – it depends if they on the same circuit as the appliances that are working.

We have a gas stove and water heater so we can cook and clean. Actually we can’t clean to much because there is almost no water pressure. It comes out of the faucet in a tiny trickle. One of the city water plants has no power.


Ike was a BIG STORM. It came right up I-45 from Galveston and it’s an unwelcome guest who refuses to leave. It’s now 3pm and the skies are still filled with dark clouds. Our guest has been with us for more than 24 hours – that’s unheard of.

The storm started getting bad about 4pm and conditions got really dicey round midnight. The rain was horizontal and the wind blew it in under the doors. Our house shook when an especially fierce blast came round – gusts were up to 90 mph. . I was asleep and work up from dream where I was all alone on a raft in the ocean. We could see the transformers popping – they lit up the sky with an eerie glow..

No flooding in my neighborhood but the Bayous are out of their banks and I-10 looks like the Grand Canal. So we can’t go anywhere (not that we would).

Downtown looks like a war zone – we have many tall buildings with all glass facades and once a couple break the pieces start flying around like bullets and take out many more. The same thing happened during Hurricane Alicia 25 years prior. And of course, out of the open windows fly computers, papers and office supplies. 

Interstate 45 into Galveston Island is blocked by numerous yachts that broke loose from their moorings.  It is a surreal sight. 

The upcoming week should be, to say the least interesting

Once Again Trying to Reason

Squalls out on the gulf stream
Big storm's comin' soon
Well the wind is blowin' harder now
Fifty knots or thereabouts
There's white caps on the ocean
And I'm watchin' for waterspouts
It's time to close the shutters
It's time to go inside
From "Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season" c1974 by Jimmy Buffett

Folks were amazingly friendly as everyone scurried about getting ready for Hurricane Ike.
The clerks are the snarly Kroger smiled & customers were polite and patient. The gas stations ran out of gas on Thursday but the tanker trucks made it into town overnight. The early birds were able to fill up their tanks and again folks were cordial and cheerful while waiting in line.


Houston can be downright civilized when it has to be.
Photo by NOOA

Wikis R Us

I've been experimenting with Wikis. I've finally decided that I like the Peanut Butter Wiki better than Wet Paint. It has a more professional appearance. PBwiki is also having a contest. Competitive creature that I am - I love contests! Especially when the prize is a $250 Wiki bells and whistles package! Click on the link to find out more! http://pbwiki.com/?refwiki=housmanlibrary

I don't have a Library Web Page, which in this day in age is like having a library without any books. It's one of those annoying guilty nags - "all good librarians have a web page, why don't you , since you don't you are a librarian who is lacking". Now with PBWiki I'm slowly creating it.

Web pages I've discovered are like blogs, you have to start out very simple and grow it as you

Third Day of School

We:
Checked out 516 books
I taught 7 classes with full a full blown ActivBoard Lessons
We had 4 classes in for Accelerated Reader
The Language Arts Specialist brought in 1 class of 5th graders & introduced blogging on the mobile laptops – we assisted.

I have:
2 hurting feet
2 aching knees
1 lost voice

3 days down, 186 left to go.

AR & Animoto

I think I've discovered a monster!
Animotos are fun! And easy!
This one is getting attached to a flipchart I'm creating for my ActivBoard.

Animoto

We're supposed to write 4 blog posts about our Wednesday in-service experience. Here's my 4th. As usual, I don't think I followed the instructions exactly, but that is par for the course.

Either way, once I got home my Animoto behaved :

Sadie, Sadie, Married Lady

And we have one in the family.

My Katherine married her Jason on August 9th. We couldn't ask for a more wonderful son-in-law. The wedding evening was an utter delight from beginning to end.

We're waiting with baited breath for the pictures. The photographer uploaded this slide show just to tease us.

WMV or bust

Photostory is fun, Audacity is fun.
Uploading them to one's blog isn't. Especially when one hasn't saved one's file as a wmv. Learning by doing R us. Stay tuned to find my photostory (as a wmv file) on my blog.
Don't hold your breath!
And remember it's wmv or bust!

The Mysterious Video

We've been charged to write 4 blog posts documenting today's adventures. It's now 9:30pm and I've l fixed dinner, tended to the kitties, listed 10 books, packed up 6 orders and deltt with my e-mails. One of our tasks was to send a video through Zamzar .

I put it through at work, it took forever to send it back to me and of course I couldn't get it to upload. So I'm doing it now, only for the life of me I can't remember the subject nor, why I choose it. Guess I'll let it be a surprise!

Oh yes, it's The Lilly's Plastic Purse video. Just a typical day in library land.

Round & Round & Round It Spins

My district has decided that we are leaping (unwillingly in the case of some) in the digital age. A bond program passed and beaucop bucks are to be allocated to the latest and greatest of the whizz bang gizmo's.

Shortly after the voters blessed this new initiative one approached our superintendent. Why, wondered the voter was his child having to do posters with crayons, glue and scissors? So the edict went out - "Do.Technology.Now. Or Else.

Our ever visionary Library Director greeted this news with a fist pump and an enthuastatic "Yes". This has been his mantra for the past couple years. We've educating the digital generation with pencils and paper and sending them into a workplace bristling with electronic toys.

We began with Library2Play, which morphed into Library2Play for the summer (and the first district inservice that one could do in one's jammies) which morphed into today's in-service more or less entitled "you better be able to do these or else".

So all the librarians gathered together to learn to "do these or else".

We had great fun, but once again the pipeline to Cyberspace had some contruction bottlenecks and roadblocks. . Many of us spent the bulk of our time watching assorted circles spin round and round and round as vain attempts were made to upload or download assorted pictures, videos and other bells and whistles.

We're supposed to post our results to our blog. Here's mine:

The Hurricane that Wasn't

All of a sudden a tropic storm blew up in the Gulf and headed straight toward Texas – Galveston to be exact.

The local news media began to froth at the mouth with excitement. It’s been a quarter of a century since a Hurricane of note hit Houston - Alicia came calling in 1983. Every newscaster knows Dan Rather got his big break in 1961, when he covered Hurricane Carla. It’s their dream to emulate him, but so far he’s the only one the winds have blown on to Super Stardom. Hurricane Rita didn’t count, while it did do major damage in East Texas, all it caused in Houston was massive traffic jams.

The 2008 version is Hurricane Edouard, actually it had only a brief life as a Hurricane and spent most its time as a mere Tropical Storm. Last night it was heading for Houston, then as is the nature of these storms it shifted to the east, coming ashore in a not very populated area. It’s been a dry summer so the rain that always accompanies these storms was quickly absorbed.

That left the TV stations, all of whom opted for 24/7 local weather programming with a great deal of air time to fill and very little to say – or show. We were treated to shots of some puddles, a few downed tree limbs, one or two battered boats and a hurricane party or two.

On the air they of course, had to spout platitudes about how Houston and Galveston were spared the brunt of the storm, how lucky we were to remain unscathed and what a blessing it was that the rain was steady but not torrential.

You could tell by looking at their faces that inside they were thinking:

“Damm…we were all ready to throw a party and guest of honor neglected to appear”.