The NaNoWriMo work books have been printed and are ready for collection! Big thank you to Su in Reprographics for doing them so quickly. They're going to be really useful for those students who would like to do a mass of planning and research for their novels over the half term. I'm getting really excited about this year.
The difficulty that I think we're going to have is that there just aren't enough computers available for all of our writers to write together, and having spoken to the ICT department, I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell of us getting the use of any of the school laptops. The plan then, is to do something new. For all of November, the library will become the Writers' Cafe from 3.30 until 4.30 every day. An hour-long writing session, with tea, coffee and biscuits available to all who require sustenance! It'll be self-service, and though we will have to ask for a donation for drinks and things, and we'll be doing this through an honesty box over by the kettle. * This should give our writers the extra time that they'll need to really get a hold on their wordcounts, while surrounded by others doing the same. I'll be in the corner with my laptop, clutching my coffee and rocking gently back and forth...
*Which probably won't last the month - does anyone have a spare they could donate to a worthy cause?
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Monday 18 October 2010
Preparations
Two weeks until National Novel Writing Month and we're counting down the days. Twenty eight students have signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. Twenty eight!* And about a dozen more said that they couldn't make the meeting but would very much like to write. This is absolutely wonderful! We're taking full advantage of the Young Writers' Program this year and have already set up the RPS Library virtual classroom, and we've offered participating students a spiral bound copy of the workbook to keep them going. All students in uniform are signing up for the YWP, while those in sixth form are overage and will be taking part in the full-on, hardcore that is NaNoWriMo. The timings are wonderful this year: we'll return from half term on the 1st November, just in time for it all to kick off. Then we have an occasional day on the 29th before finishing on a Tuesday.
Looking forward to seeing how everyone gets on! If anyone knows of any UK secondary schools taking part, please let me know.
And as for me, yes, I'll be taking part again this year. Quite how it will fit with work, roller derby and studying I have no idea, but I'll make it work somehow. Some of my research material arrived today and I'm very excited about it all.
*Yes, I know we only have twenty one computers and a handful of them fail to work even on a good day. And no, I haven't figured out how we'll all fit in.
Looking forward to seeing how everyone gets on! If anyone knows of any UK secondary schools taking part, please let me know.
And as for me, yes, I'll be taking part again this year. Quite how it will fit with work, roller derby and studying I have no idea, but I'll make it work somehow. Some of my research material arrived today and I'm very excited about it all.
*Yes, I know we only have twenty one computers and a handful of them fail to work even on a good day. And no, I haven't figured out how we'll all fit in.
Saturday 16 October 2010
Newly Added
New arrivals this week included the following:
The Big Book of Brain Games
Recommended by the Maths department when we had the Happy Puzzle Company in to school last week (which my Year 7s absolutely adored - fantastic work with the dominoes guys), this is one of the most frustrating books in the world. Ever. Not being hugely mathsy, I look at these puzzles and can either get them straight away or battle at them for hours without any progress AT ALL. Anyone studying maths who fancies helping me out with these, please do. It's already been thrown across the office once.
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (Books 6-10)
Yes, Becky in Year 8, I agree, if we're going to have the first five, it's only fair that we get you the rest. Here you are.
The Black Stallion Adventures, by Walter Farley
As requested by Ryan. I've been promised adventure, violence, and ponies. My kinda stuff. Of course, Ryan sadly can't borrow these until he returns his overdue books (mwahahaha!) so perhaps this will provide an incentive ;)
Halo, by Zizou Corder; Unhooking the Moon, by Gregory Hughes; and The Enemy, by Charlie Higson.
Completing our collection of the Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist, I'm quite excited about The Enemy, but have failed to read The Dead yet, so it may have to wait. Zombie fans might have to jump in there before the Book Group get their hands on these...
Scott Pilgrim, volumes 1-3, by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Hoping these will popular enough that I can justify getting volumes 4-6 as well... (she says, sneaking 1-3 out of the library.)
We've also added some more graphic novels, including some more Horowitz adaptations for those of you who like the pictures, the new Cathy Cassidy, more copies of Shadow Wave because you all seem to want it at once, and we couldn't resist the new Louise Rennison, even if Mrs Martin and I are already gritting our teeth at the title.
Enjoy!
The Big Book of Brain Games
Recommended by the Maths department when we had the Happy Puzzle Company in to school last week (which my Year 7s absolutely adored - fantastic work with the dominoes guys), this is one of the most frustrating books in the world. Ever. Not being hugely mathsy, I look at these puzzles and can either get them straight away or battle at them for hours without any progress AT ALL. Anyone studying maths who fancies helping me out with these, please do. It's already been thrown across the office once.
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (Books 6-10)
Yes, Becky in Year 8, I agree, if we're going to have the first five, it's only fair that we get you the rest. Here you are.
The Black Stallion Adventures, by Walter Farley
As requested by Ryan. I've been promised adventure, violence, and ponies. My kinda stuff. Of course, Ryan sadly can't borrow these until he returns his overdue books (mwahahaha!) so perhaps this will provide an incentive ;)
Halo, by Zizou Corder; Unhooking the Moon, by Gregory Hughes; and The Enemy, by Charlie Higson.
Completing our collection of the Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist, I'm quite excited about The Enemy, but have failed to read The Dead yet, so it may have to wait. Zombie fans might have to jump in there before the Book Group get their hands on these...
Scott Pilgrim, volumes 1-3, by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Hoping these will popular enough that I can justify getting volumes 4-6 as well... (she says, sneaking 1-3 out of the library.)
We've also added some more graphic novels, including some more Horowitz adaptations for those of you who like the pictures, the new Cathy Cassidy, more copies of Shadow Wave because you all seem to want it at once, and we couldn't resist the new Louise Rennison, even if Mrs Martin and I are already gritting our teeth at the title.
Enjoy!
Monday 11 October 2010
Jumping in at the Middle
The new term has started and flown by. We’ve welcomed the new Year 7s, who are already making good use of the library and have become lovely additions to our lunch and breaktime regulars. This year group includes my new form, the first ever librarian form! Woohoo! It’s wonderful having a form again and good to see so many of them popping up during their free time.
This term we’re hoping to start loaning out DVDs, most of which were kindly donated by the parents and carers of the last year’s Year 11s and 13s. It would be great if we could start stocking films as well, so if any of you fancy doing any fundraising…?
Apologies to any students who have been struggling to get their colour prints through the queue: there have been problems with the software that controls the printing, but hopefully that’ll be fixed soon.
The main mission of the term so far has been running Information Literacy sessions with the new Year 12s. These hour long sessions have introduced them to the need to evaluate websites when conducting research, and tools to do it. They’ve also been taught about the importance of referencing and citation. The most exciting element of these lessons has been introducing them to the idea of a PLN and suggesting ways that they can start their own. The idea of using Facebook for study groups has come as a minor revelation, and I’ve been assured that there are now active study groups for nearly all of the A level subjects being taught in the school, and they’re just starting to open these up to include friends in different institutions, so hopefully they’ll all quickly be gaining something new from these groups.
The biggest struggle with all of this has been the battle we face every day with the county internet filter. Facebook, Twitter, all blocked, which you can understand in schools. But Tumblr? Tagxedo? I know that this isn’t a new problem (how the psychology department have managed to teach Freudian theory when every useful website is automatically blocked as pornography, I have no idea) but it’s becoming much more of a barrier to the way that our students learn. This isn’t just about throwing new fangled things at them, as some of the more traditional teachers in the school seem to think. It’s about giving them the tools and frameworks to teach themselves, become truly independent learners with a network of their own creation there to support them.
This term we’re hoping to start loaning out DVDs, most of which were kindly donated by the parents and carers of the last year’s Year 11s and 13s. It would be great if we could start stocking films as well, so if any of you fancy doing any fundraising…?
Apologies to any students who have been struggling to get their colour prints through the queue: there have been problems with the software that controls the printing, but hopefully that’ll be fixed soon.
The main mission of the term so far has been running Information Literacy sessions with the new Year 12s. These hour long sessions have introduced them to the need to evaluate websites when conducting research, and tools to do it. They’ve also been taught about the importance of referencing and citation. The most exciting element of these lessons has been introducing them to the idea of a PLN and suggesting ways that they can start their own. The idea of using Facebook for study groups has come as a minor revelation, and I’ve been assured that there are now active study groups for nearly all of the A level subjects being taught in the school, and they’re just starting to open these up to include friends in different institutions, so hopefully they’ll all quickly be gaining something new from these groups.
The biggest struggle with all of this has been the battle we face every day with the county internet filter. Facebook, Twitter, all blocked, which you can understand in schools. But Tumblr? Tagxedo? I know that this isn’t a new problem (how the psychology department have managed to teach Freudian theory when every useful website is automatically blocked as pornography, I have no idea) but it’s becoming much more of a barrier to the way that our students learn. This isn’t just about throwing new fangled things at them, as some of the more traditional teachers in the school seem to think. It’s about giving them the tools and frameworks to teach themselves, become truly independent learners with a network of their own creation there to support them.
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