Feeding My Reading Addiction

Media coordinators–or as we used to call them back in the day:  librarians–are perfect suppliers for an admitted bibliophile.  I have had the good fortune of working with media coordinators in our school system since 2000.

This relationship has done nothing but increase my exposure to and appreciation of the written word.

Three years ago, while I was at WCHS, media coordinator Tiffany Mayo was my main supplier.   She conjured up for me some outstanding, avant garde Young Adult Fiction titles such as Octavian Nothing (Anderson), Sunrise Over Fallujah (Myers), Prep (Coburn), and Rash (Hautman).

Last year, while I was at ECHS, media coordinator Jane Burbella was my go-to.  Including the “take-home bag” she sent with me for the summer, Jane led me to the following 15 books in her media center:

Octavian Nothing:  The Kingdom of the Waves (Anderson)

Code Talkers (Bruchac)

The Glass Castle (Walls)

Cape Fear Rising (Gerard)

Nickel and Dimed in America (Ehrenreich)

Carriers (Lynch)

Shooting at Loons (Maron)

The Greatest Generation (Brokaw)

The Book Thief (Zusak)

Simple Genius (Baldacci)

The Fifth Horseman (Patterson)

The Prince of Tides (Conroy)

Train Man (Deutermann)

Raney (Edgerton)

The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Albom)

You can tell a lot about books by their covers; you can also tell much about individuals by their reading pursuits.   In the above list, you will notice North Carolina, coastal, mystery, spiritual, YA, and real-world themes.  Check out My Reads for the comprehensive reading list I’ve been keeping since about 2005.

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I especially enjoy what I call situational reading.  That is, being in the geographical area while reading the book.  The setting of Shooting at Loons is Harkers Island and Beaufort, for instance.  So, it was a no-brainer to read that while at East.  I finished Cape Fear Rising–about the Wilmington Race Insurrection of 1898–while in scenic Southport.  And I just finished The Great Wide Sea while looking out at the same.

The Great Wide Sea is a great pick for the Croatan summer read.  Of course, the nautical setting is a perfect match for our location.  And though I’ve only been sailing once, I could appreciate the experience vicariously through the author’s technical lexicon and vivid descriptions/details of the sailing process.

Of greater application, though, is the sense of independence and accomplishment of the three young brothers at sea after their father’s mysterious disappearance.  Without divulging the plot, I can assure you that successful people in life are self-reliant, savvy and connected to others–just like the brothers.

The only difference is they had to get to that point sooner than many.  Through unfortunate circumstances, their parents just were not there to orchestrate and manage (sometimes to a fault) their daily comings and goings. If they were not only to survive but also to thrive in this world, it would be on their own.

If anybody wants to borrow my copy of The Great Wide Sea, give a shout.  There is still plenty of time left to join the OneRead.

In fact, as an unreformed reading addict, I confess that I am now lurching headlong into last year’s OneRead:  Hunger Games.  In the main character, a teenage girl who is an expert hunter/forager, I  already notice a similar thread:   relentless teenage independence, self-sufficiency, competency, and connection to others.

As a Croatan OneRead, this book–with a main character similar in ways to the main character in Great Wide Sea–is not coincidental.

Clearly, these winning attributes coupled with the wherewithal to persevere through difficult challenges are hallmarks of accomplished sailors, hunters and Cougars.

Those Who Dare

Leaders, visionaries, and dreamers help to define the future. They dare to take calculated, sensible risks. Joyce Valenza is one such daring individual. In her blog at School Library Journal, she writes:

Power has been shifting in nearly every profession. In ours, it has turned head over heels. Over the past two years the information and communication landscapes, as we once knew them, have changed. We have new sources, new options.

She then lists her daring bullet points on how libraries can can remain relevant. And she concludes by throwing down the gauntlet—

Because we are out west, I am thinking more like a pioneer.

If you are going to be leading you have to be at the head of wagons.
You can’t be stuck in the back pushing.
You have to climb up ahead to the summit.
You have to look around.
You have to imagine what’s ahead..You can’t lead if you are stuck in the mud

I want teacher-librarians to lead the learning wagon train.
We cannot wait for the research to tell us this risk-taking, this playful authentic learning is good.

The number one theme that comes from her rant is “learning is superior to stuff.” Now my question: those of us charged with 21C education leadership, do we dare to be more defined by our devotion to learning or our devotion to stuff?

Simplified, how much stuff is on your desk and in your closet versus how many students and teachers will you work with today in innovative ways that inspire and support relevant teaching and learning?

Bring Back those Books!

The Librarian’s Blues . . . I saw it first at Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog.

Island Legacy

Dianne Garner and the Harkers Island Battle of the Books team won the NC State Championship this year. Coach Garner and the team were recognized at the Board of Education meeting on June 5.

Because of time constraints, Dianne did not get to share her historical analysis and caveats of wisdom. Fear not! We have them for you here in this 5-minute video clip.

Laptop Learning Final Project, 6

The Battle of the Books team from Harkers Island Elementary School won the 2007 state competition. Now, the Islander instructional technology facilitator has turned in her final project—an enhanced podcast of BOB at HIES.

Laranda points out how laptops affect the professional practice of teachers:

I’ve discovered that a laptop gives me the mobility I need to accomplish more tasks in less time. I am able to take projects on the road and have them completed when I return back to school. This provides me more time to take care of teacher and student needs. I am also able to keep my work organized by having everything digitized and in one place.

Because each teacher has different needs, I frequently have individualized staff development for them. This is accomplished through breaks that teachers have throughout the day or after school. My laptop has made this job so much easier because we can meet anywhere on campus using our wireless setup. Updating our school webpage, conferences, and staff meetings are other ways I utilize this equipment.

Read more of Laranda’s excellent insights into 21st century schooling at her blog, 21st Century Daze.

Just a Small Island School

LET THEM . . .

EAT CAKE!

Harkers Island BOB is State Beacon

The Islanders have done it again! They are the 2007 North Carolina Battle of the Books Champions.

Although Coach Dianne Garner gets “in the zone” during competition, she is one of the most humble individuals there is. She is quick to praise all of her media coordinator cohorts and their respective teams for making the Battle of the Books in Carteret County such a first-rate experience.

. . . and now, courtesy of Tabbie, The Press Release:

Harkers Island Elementary School’s Battle of the Books team is the state champion for the second time. The North Carolina Battle of the Books State Championship took place May 4 at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

The Battle of the Books team from John R. Griffin Middle School, Fayetteville, placed second at Friday’s state competition.

County and regional Battle of the Books competitions have taken place for years. The state level of competition was only started in 2002 and the island team is no stranger to that competition. In 2002, the Harkers Island team placed second in regional competition, finishing behind the eventual state championship team. In 2003, the island team did not advance. In 2004, the island team won the State Battle of the Books competition. In 2005, the team finished fourth in the state and in 2006 the team finished third in the state.

The island team advanced to the state this year after placing first in the regional competition that took place in April at Kinston High School in Lenior County.

The island team has won Carteret County Battle of the Books competition for the last two years and, in total, has won the county competition 10 times.

“The state competition was amazing,” Mrs. Garner said. “Winning the state level still does not seem real to the students or to me. Our students performed well at the competition and I was so proud of them.

“Battle of the Books is a wonderful competition and it enriches students in their love of literature and in the experience with different kinds of literature. The competition teaches students to read and find facts, and to retain the information they found. Hopefully, it also increases their general knowledge because of the variety of books the association selects each year.”

Sponsored by the North Carolina School Library Media Association, Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program for teams of middle school students.

Battle of the Books involves team members reading 27 books before the competition. The books are chosen after a rigorous selection process by media coordinators and teachers and must meet literary standards appropriate for students in the middle school grades.

During the school year, the students read the books on the list and practice answering questions about the content of the books. The teams are asked questions which refer to events in the books. The teams must correctly identify the title of the book to which the question refers. Correctly naming the author gives the team an additional point per question.

This year’s book list includes such titles as Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Storm Warriors by Elisa Carbone, The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt and The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg. A complete book list is posted at http://ncslma.org/BookCompetitions/BoBstate/bobbooklist2006-2007.htm.

Calling Bangalore and Chennai

Windows Automatic Update apparently misconfigured my OS, which then required re-validation after two years of good service. What looked to be a minor inconvenience escalated after Microsoft’s automated helpdesk informed me that my copy of XP was incorrectly installed by the computer manufacturer, HP.

I called HP, whose tech support told me for $50 we could fix the problem.

“No,” I argued. “I have perpetual rights to this copy of XP. I did not cause this problem. I have two Dells and one other HP that are unaffected. I do not need Windows; I can install Fiesty Fawn. And I will never buy another HP.”

Despite my protests, no resolution was reached after a couple of hours and several HP techs: Steve, Anita, Kevin, Bryan, and Shabanna.

I went to bed miffed. When I awoke, I realized I had not yet backed up my recently filed taxes to my external hard drive. What the heck, I thought. It will be worth the fifty bucks to save that data. Then I’ll install Fiesty Fawn.

I called HP again. I told them I was ready to purchase tech support. I could sense their hesitation as they reviewed my call log from the previous night. They said we could resolve the problem and they took my credit card numbers.

After a couple more hours and a couple more techs, I was in worse trouble. They had guided me as far as unseating the battery, thus throwing off time and everything on a computer and the software that is guided by time. Still, I did not have access rights to my copy of XP.

The tech said to bring my PC to a repair shop and have them back-up my data. Then, I have fourteen days to call HP back and they would guide me through starting over.

Flustrated, I gave Microsoft one more call. I worked through to a live voice. She took my product key, acknowledged that it was valid and gave me a new key to unlock my PC. No unseating batteries, no cost.

I was livid! I called HP again and laid into them about their dealings with me. They agreed to credit me for the tech support cost . . . and I insisted they stay on the line until I had all my time-related hardware and software issues resolved.

And now the moral of the story: All the techs were in India. Microsoft’s call center is in Bangalore; HP’s is in Chennai. All but one of the techs had adopted American first names. Some spoke perfect English. Most spoke OK English. But one spoke pitiful English.

In a different day, I might have taken offense at this abomination of customer service. However, I worked hard to communicate with this fellow because the situation required some flat world understanding. (Try relaying a 25-character product key when the only common dialect is English Phonetic Spelling.)

I recognize the emergence of India as an economic super power, the sheer magnitude of its educated class, and the affect of its per capita income on corporate bottom lines.

Postscript: Later while driving my 12-year-old daughter to her orthodontist appointment, I told her I had just spent considerable time on the phone to India.

“Is that where HP is?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

“Maybe,” I replied. “But they have your jobs. And those jobs are not coming back. You are going to have to be very creative in your pursuits.”

It’s Official!

Our very own Islanders of Harkers Island Elementary School reigned victorious at today’s regional Battle of the Books competition held at the Performing Arts Center in Kinston, NC.

• 1st Place: Harkers Island (Carteret Co.) with 143 points
• 2nd Place: Beulaville Elementary (Duplin Co.) with 96 points
• 3rd Place: Burgaw Middle (Pender Co.) with 92 points

Congratulations, Coach Garner and the Islanders! Now it is a return to the state level competition in Greensboro on May 4, 2007.

It’s “island time” again!

(Thanks to our roving reporter and regional rep, BCMS Media Coordinator Robin Simms, for the just-in-time news update.)

And the winner is . . .

Harkers Island defended its crown as the Battle of the Books champion for Carteret County Schools today at East Carteret High School (thanks, Jane, for the hospitality). Next, the Islanders travel to Kinston High School on April 19th to represent us at the regionals. Go, Islanders!

Second place this year went to Newport Middle, and third went to Smyrna Elementary. Also competing strong were Atlantic, Beaufort Middle, Broad Creek, and Morehead Middle.

All students who participated in this year’s battle are winners by virtue of reading much quality literature and participating in such a first-class event.

Major thanks to all judges, timekeepers, scorers, proofreaders, organizers, worker bees and other supporting personnel. Special recognition to all coaches (media specialists) who give so much of their time and energy to instill in young students the love of reading. Kudos to Marty Feurer (moderator), Bill Blair and Connie Asero (awards presenters), and Dr. Pennylloyd Baldridge (closing comments).

Appreciation also to Gene Garner of Coastal Carolina Heating and Air Conditioning for continued support in sponsoring the plaques and medals.

This event was meticulously planned and went off without a hitch. For this, we are ever grateful to Maxine and Dianne (who had the asterisks by their names this year) for great organization and delegation skills.