If you are from outside of Florida, or you are not aware of our statelyacronym,  the Florida Council fo Independent Schools ( FCIS) met this week to hold their annual conference in Orlando.  Educators from independent schools across the state met  to discuss issues facing  education in private insitutions…funding,  technology advancements,  curriculum development etc.

I considered myself to be very fortunate to attend this year.  In a year of financial belt-tightening, funds  for many activities are limited.  Many thank yous to Mrs. Pullen, my Head of School, Mrs. Ann Wolcott our Professional Development  co-ordinator for allowing me to attend  this year.

An early morning drive with  my two   colleagues got us to the  Orlando conference site at 7.30am.  Mrs. Ewert and Mrs. Nixon were set to present  a workshop Smile and Breath! Yoga Based Activities for the K-8 Classroom during the 10.25 am session.   I was  able to duck into  a  workshop related to blogging  as an educational tool.   Blogging is an obvious interest of mine.  From there , I was able to sit in on Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching to learn more about  web 2.0 applications and who they can enhance my teachings.Varios sites  of interest, used by our neighbours at Out of Doors Academy were discussed.   And finally, the reason for my conference attendance , was to  learn more about serving on an FCIS accreditation team.   This session highlighted the responsibilities of accreditation team members when  carrying out  a visit . ( Each year,  FCIS schools  must prepare for an accreditation visit of their peers to measure their successes and   list ways in which schools can be more efficient in  their mission to educate their student population.)

Above all else, it is an excellent opportunity to meet with other educators , from local independent schools to share ideas and commiserate on what works well and what needs to be tweaked.  A useful day of professional development  was had by all.

University of Tasmania

For you recently  hatched  librarians, this is how we used to catalog things…….back in the old days.

The library lion has shed its shaggy mane for the digital age.

For the first time in at least a quarter century, the New York Public Libraryhas unveiled a new logo, this one designed to work both online and in print. Consisting of a profile of a lion inside a circle, it sheds the fussy detail of the old one. Instead, it uses bold, simple lines that evoke the style of stained-glass windows, woodcuts, or old printers’ marks.

The old logo of the New York Public Library would lose detail when it was too small.

At the same time a logo can’t be overly simple. “If it gets too minimal, then it doesn’t have any energy,” said Brian Collins, a designer who has been involved with a number of logo redesigns, including one for Yahoo.

The new logo has already been introduced on the library Web site and will be adopted eventually on library signs, library cards, and printed materials. (One hopes it will have a more positive response than the New York City taxi logo.)

The library started considering a redesign more than a year ago, in large part because it wanted to convey a more modern and digital-friendly image. The process also included adoption of a new color palette and a new typeface. Instead of going to an outside agency, the task fell to the library’s own staff. “This is an in-house product,” said Paul LeClerc, president of the library.

The logo started with a lion — specifically, Fortitude, the northern of the two lions that flank the steps to the main library, also known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. The other lion is Patience.

(”It’s primarily based on Fortitude, but it’s a combination of both,” said Mr. Blaustein. “The angle is Fortitude, but some of the features are inspired by Patience.”)

While the lion had to be the focus, the conceptualization of the design was left open. “We explored dozens of concepts and did hundreds of drawings,” Mr. Blaustein said.

After searching through hundreds of typefaces, the staff settled on a sans-serif typeface called Kievit, which was designed by Michael Abbink in 2001. It was chosen in large part because it was contemporary and worked well on the Web and in print.

In contrast, there are fonts, such as Microsoft’s Verdana, that are designed to be screen-friendly. But the migration of some of these fonts into print, as in the case of the Ikea catalog, can be very controversial among typeface aficionados.

One enduring mystery: the origins of the old logo and its age. Mr. Blaustein said his search had turned up little about its history. “No one knows who designed it,” he said. Libraries excel at preserving history, but not always, it seems, their own.

As cited  from the New York TImes blog, November 9th, 2009, by Jennifer Lee http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/a-new-look-for-the-public-librarys-lion-logo/

Recently,  Barnes and Noble unveiled their version of the e-book, an electronic text reader device  which stores current books and magazines as well as offering other functions.  The nook is expected to go head to head with  Sony’s e-reader and Amazon’s Kindle e-book device.   Many reviews have been positive, adding to  the nook’s buzz,  pushing orders for the Christmas season up,  hence pushing the expected delivery  date back  from November 30th, to mid December.

Several features which make it appealing are listed below.

1. It’s cost-effective. Yeah, at $260 it’s the same price as the Kindle 2, but you’re getting so much more for your money: Wi-Fi, native PDF support, an SD slot and that crazy second screen makes it seem out of the Kindle’s league. It makes the Sony Reader and iRex look absurdly overpriced and thePlastic Logic Que look like a shot in the dark.

2.Lending and Sharing. One of my main objections to the Kindle and other readers is that most of my books come from friends, rather than bookstores. The Nook realizes that and integrates a 2-week lending period—plenty of time for a quick read. Plus, you can

lend to tons of different devices: Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod Touch, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Mobile (soon).

Sharing is also done really well: As opposed to the Kindle, which only lets you read purchased ebooks on a same-account iPhone or iPod Touch, the Nook lets you read on any device supported, the most important of which are PC and Mac. So you and your significant other could read the same book at the same time, on whatever devices you each prefer. The Kindle, in contrast, doesn’t support PC and Mac at all—but we’d be willing to bet Amazon is rethinking that decision right about now. Plus, the Nook syncs both your place in the book and any highlights or annotations you’ve made, which could be great for students.

3.Free in-store reading. You’ll be able to take the Nook to any of Barnes & Noble’s gajillion stores and read one ebook, for free, each time—the same way you might wander into the store, pick up a book and read it for an hour or two. Barnes & Noble is really thinking about how people actually read, which is a great sign: This kind of feature makes the Kindle feel like it’s forcing you to change your reading habits rather than adapting to them.

And potential Nook customers will be able to go into a retail store with which they’re comfortable and play around with the actual device, an advantage not shared by the Kindle. Testing the hardware in person will convince a lot of people to buy it.

4.Head-turning looks. The Kindle 1 was, um, distinctive, and the Kindle 2 is inoffensive and sleek enough, but the Nook has legitimate style. As Matt said, “it makes even the relatively benign-looking Kindle 2 seem like it was beaten with an ugly stick.” It was clear from the first leak that we were dealing with something very different.

5.Android. There are two things to be excited about when it comes to Android. First is the legit apps, which B&N seems open to.

Secondly, there’s the more, well, illicit possibilities: The Nook both runs Android (which we already know is easily and enthusiastically modified) and has a microUSB jack, which should make for easy hacking. Imagine user-created skins, apps, games (in case reading gets boring)—the possibilities are just about endless. The Nook already supports PDF natively (yes!) but we could definitely see it hacked to embrace other formats like Word docs.

6. The second screen. Yeah, it’s weird, and we wouldn’t have believed it if it didn’t, you know, exist, but it just makes so much sense: Browsing for books on e-ink is an exercise in frustration, and touchscreen e-ink is even worse. With its capacitive touchscreen, the Nook offers a keyboard and Cover-Flow-esque browsing without the awkwardness and lethargy of e-ink, but it also opens the door for multitasking. You’ll be able to read a book and control your music at the same time, and because the music browser will be on the LCD screen, it won’t look like e-inked crap. It should also support photo browsing and the ability to set your own wallpaper.

7. Battery life. The Nook’s 10-day battery life may not be quite as long as the Kindle 2’s 14 days, but 10 days is still insane—especially if we think about the

tablets that will vie to make ebook readers obsolete. Whenever the Apple tablet is announced, you can bet its battery life will be measured in hours, not days. Plus, the Nook’s battery is replaceable, always a welcome decision (you could have a spare battery, and when yours does eventually die, it’s easy to replace).

8.  Both 3G and Wi-Fi. I’m not exactly sure about the benefits of Wi-Fi right now (besides international travel, where AT&T may not work), but given the possibilities of Android, it’s essential that the Nook includes it. In the future, we may want to download files bigger than ebooks—apps, games, videos, whatever—and Wi-Fi will be vital once the potential of the Nook is unlocked. Plus, there could well be Wi-Fi-only features of the kind AT&T wouldn’t support: Streaming content, web browsing, VoIP, whatever. Wi-Fi is a killer feature not for what it does right now, but for what it could allow the Nook could do in the future.

Yet another difficult decision to make,  to include the nook on your Christmas wish list —or not?

as cited in http://gizmodo.com/5386176/gallery/gallery/1 ,   Dan Nosowitz, the author of this post, t dnosowitz@gizmodo.com.

Many primary schools have libraries, but often these potentially fantastic sources of inspiration and imagination are not utilised properly. No one’s really in charge of them and children receive little guidance on what they might enjoy reading. Some schools have no libraries at all – it’s argued that they are a luxury which simply can’t be budgeted for.

It’s no surprise then that schools with libraries and librarians to run them are evangelical about the benefits. It’s a lot more common in private schools than state, and in secondary schools rather than primary, even though we all know how important it is to start the reading bug while young. However, some state schools are determined to hang onto people whom they find inspirational.

Last month Lucy Bakewell, from Hill West Primary School in Sutton Coldfield was announced as the School Librarian of the Year. It was the first time a librarian from a primary school had won the award.

“Today, when schools are striving to raise standards in reading and writing, we need champions to place themselves at the heart of school strategies. Their aim – to engage pupils in and enthuse them about books.

It is the most exciting time in history to be a school librarian. Never has there been a better point in time to create effective information centres for our children. Ones that play a crucial role in raising attainment, creating readers and developing skills for life.

With the advent of the internet, much funding for libraries has been reduced. Some have even suggested that libraries are no longer a viable facility in schools and are replacing them with ICT suites: ‘Why do we need a library when we can find all the information we want on the internet?’

Although it cannot be denied that the internet is an incredibly powerful research aid, it cannot replace the personalised service or information delivered by more traditional hands on approach. Even in the most modest of school libraries, every resource has been quality controlled, assessed, catalogued and sorted for easy access. Therein lies the necessity of a skilled Librarian.

It takes a truly dedicated individual to create an inspiring school library. The job is not to create the ‘perfect’ library, but to create the perfect library for the individual school’s needs. To do this the school librarian has to wear many hats: teacher, information specialist, administrator, promoter, advisor and most importantly inspirer.

I believe that school librarians change lives by supporting learning and teaching in their schools. It is fundamental to capture children’s interest and imagination at a young age and make them passionate about reading. Reading is so important in children’s development, expanding their imagination, knowledge and their vocabulary.

The school librarian’s knowledge and enthusiasm for books puts them in a unique position to engage the children they interact with. They are able to promote reading and bring stories to life through many different means: themed events, author visits, reading initiatives, book awards to name but a few.

A school library belongs to the pupils that visit it. It is a sanctuary for reading and inspiration and a place where librarians can help children become truly information literate in an individually tailored way, through a mixture of traditional and new methods.

as cited from School Gate magazine, November 2, 2009

http://timesonline.typepad.com/schoolgate/2009/11/do-schools-need-libraries-and-librarians-a-teaching-assistant-and-awardwinning-librarian-explains-wh.html

I’m not sure this is a solution to the recipe storage problem, and since it will cost  three Benjamin Franklins ,  chances are  I’m not likely to find out. The Demy, claimed to be the first and only kitchen-safe recipe reader and will be available before Christmas  2009.  What does kitchen safe mean…exactly?  Microwave-proof? Oven safe up to 400 degrees?  Wipeable? And in whose kitchen was it tested in?  Perhaps the Kitchens of the Culinary Institute  of America are more demanding that my simply kitchen…….

Cited as a  November 2009 “Good Thing”, a monthly column in the  Martha Stewart Living magazine, this device can store  up to 2500 recipes, and is sync-worthy with your account at keyingredient.com.  Crafted by Key Ingredient, this device contains a sealed 7-inch display, storage for up to 2,500 recipes and USB connectivity for syncing with your PC. Furthermore, it provides three kitchen timers, a measurement conversion calculator and an ingredient substitution dictionary to get cooks out of a pinch if they are one special ingredient short. Yes, but does it wash the dishes  and take out the garbage?

As I have cited in a previous blog, I love my cookbooks; they are my guilty pleasure in life. Some cookbooks bindings have collapsed under repetitive consultation  on a given page.  Many of them are stained from  grease spatters, flour sprinkles and such over the years, and in the case of a few books in my collection, over the generations.   Many are even  written on  index cards, in  my Grandmother Rivier’s careful handwriting.  Part of the cooking experience, is  in re-experiencing her handwriting  and reliving the memories of  preparing that particular recipe with her in my childhood.   Much of my  treasured recipes are mostly not online.

In the current rush to  make documents available on-line, e-books , Kindles , e-readers and now the nook, I do not feel motivated to give up on my  cherished cookbooks in their traditional form.   Not until someone explains  the term kitchen-safe to me, anyway……..
inspired by http://www.popgadget.net/2009/03/demy_the_digita.php

Twitter, a current fashionable social networking tool allows  mebers to publish current posts of their activites .   Many Twitter users are  embraing “Twitter Lists,” a feature which allows you to organize Twitter users into groups and share that list with others.

But apparently the news hasn’t gotten all the way to the North Pole; Twitter user @SantaClaus has yet to create a “Naughty” or “Nice” list, which makes you wonder whether Saint Nick’s holiday operation is really embracing technology at the speed of Elf or if Santa Claus is merely dabbling with Twitter because it’s considered the  fashionable thing to do.

Even apart from the obvious benefit it would provide to Father Christmas in organizing information and having, at a glance, a list of behaviorally-organized names and profile photos, I think Twitter users would benefit greatly from knowing where they stand, in regards to naughtiness/niceness. The microblogging social network, where the jolly, rotund gift-giver apparently spends a significant chunk of time, would be a very efficient place to convey that information.

I would hope that Santa would take this not a mean-spirited criticism, but as a gentle, but firm nudge in the black patent belt to embrace change before change leaves him behind. I would hate to be the first person on Papa Noel’s “Naughty” Twitter list.

Update, 11 a.m, Nov. 3: The @SantaClaus Twitter account has been updated to include “Nice” and “Naughty” lists, but apparently the move was made under duress. In two posts this morning, the North Pole resident wrote, “Everyone is making a big deal over the fact I do not post a Twitter list for my naughty and nice lists. Do YOU want all to know if YOU are on the Naughty list? It is not anyones (sic) business except for me which list you are on. Does everyone REALLY want that published to all?” Perhaps I’m being oversensitive, but this does not strike me as jolly.

As of this writing, only @MrsSantaClaus is listed on the “Nice” list and no one has yet been added to the “Naughty” list.

as cited  from http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/santaclaus_custom.JPGhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2009/11/santaclaus_is_not_using_twitte.html?sc=fb&cc=fp, November 3, 2009 By Omar L. Gallaga, of NPR

Thank goodness someone recognised the value of their library as more than a place to hold a meeting surrounded by pretty books.

“I’ll Fight You For The Library” performed by Taylor Mali as part of the Page Meets Stage Series at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City on April 29, 2009

New York mega publisher  Conde Nast has decided to cut four of its less profitable magazines. Most notable among them is the monthly Gourmet magazine.

Gourmet magazine chief editor is the culinary critic Ruth Reichl. It’s recipes and luscious photographs and is beloved by upscale foodies.  Its advertising revenues for the first six months of the year fell by more than 40 percent against last year. Elegant Bride, Modern Bride and Cookie, a lifestyle publication for mothers of young children, are also scheduled to be closed after suffering significant revenue losses.

Other Conde Nast publications, part of the Newhouse family’s media empire, such as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and GQ remain untouched for now.    The Newhouse Family is  known for their largesse and pride toward the publications, and many of their editors have themselves become celebrities, such as  the fashion arbiter of Vogue, Anna Wintour, who’s inspired a documentary, a novel and a movie.

The recession, therefore, came as a shock to the system at Conde Nast. Most of the magazines that survived were forced to make cuts. Conde Nast hopes to hold on to readers as it still publishes Bride magazine and the foodie Bon Appétit. The Gourmet name will live on through a new television series and the company’s successful Epicurious Web site, which draws 4.5 million unique visitors each month.

Not all publishing news is bleak. The smaller rival Saveur magazine has seen a rise of nearly 20 percent in ad sales in the same period.

As reported by NPR , October 5th, 2009

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113579998

Over the years, a number of  performers, actors, musicians have visited Sesame Street, the traditionally trusted children’s program of choice ,  low these many years.  Sesame Street is an educational television program designed for preschoolers which combines education and entertainment in children’s television shows. As one of the longest running  shows in television history,  4100 episodes of the show have been produced in 39 seasons. It premiered on November 10, 1969 on the National Educational Television network, and later , the Public Broadcasting Service.

Sesame Street has earned the distinction of being

one of the world’s foremost and most highly regarded educators of young children.  The original series has been televised in 120 countries, and more than 20 international versions have been produced. In its long history, Sesame Street has received more Emmy Awards than any other program, and has captured the allegiance, esteem, and affections of millions of viewers worldwide.

As  Sesame Street  celebrates its 40th anniversary on November 10,  Mrs. Michelle Obama will be visiting the street to plant a garden with Elmo.  The street in which many have grown up on.

“I never thought I’d be on Sesame Street with Elmo and Big Bird, and I was thrilled,” Obama said later that day at the US Mission to the UN. “I’m still thrilled. I’m on a high.”
“I think it’s probably the best thing I’ve done so far in the White House,” she added.

What a great quote! I so love  what Mrs. Obama said.  Of course,  I began think of the many other  performers who have  made guest appearances on Sesame Street.  Appearances which promote  literacy and math skills to our youth.

It could be suggested that some performers  are furthering their own  public personas of  personal interests by adapting their signature song .  And yes, many young children, ages 3-6 years old really are not aware of  who these personalities are. However,   a  diverse  selection of talented people from the world of music, performance, activism etc.  do create more entertaining  show for children.  As does the  racial balance between the guests.  I can  fondly remember back to my childhood, watching Buffy Sainte Marie ( whom I met at an American Library Association Conference in 2001) counting with Cookie  Monster.  She was one of the first female  native ‘celebs’ who appeared on national television.   Over the years various  guests  from Johnny  Cash to Larry King,  from Tina Fey to Ray Charles,  from Joe Torre to the Harlem Globetrotters.  Thus,  all guests are presenting positive multicultural  role models for  the youth audience.

I think that Mrs. Obama is doing much of what Buffy Sainte Marie did in the early 70s, helping to educate  the next generation as well as provide a positive  model of success.