Great job, Colette, on this bulletin board for our library that celebrates the 50th anniversary of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Holiday Book Challenge

Do you know the titles and authors of these Holiday Books?

_____A magical train ride on Christmas Eve takes a boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa Claus.

_____Grumpy Luther Krank and his sweeter wife, Nora, decide to forgo the gifts, the tree, the decorations, the cards, and the parties this Christmas and spend the dollars saved on a 10-day Caribbean cruise.

_____This is a famous American poem about an important Christmas Eve visitor.

_____This character was created by a gentleman in 1939 as part of his employment with Montgomery Ward.

_____A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future.

_____This book is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year! The noisy holiday preparations and infernal singing of the happy little citizens below annoy this grumpy character to no end!

_____When Oswald T. Campbell's doctor orders him to head to the warm South for his health, a chance phone call finds him a room in Lost River, Alabama. In the course of a year there, he has adventures both absurd and touching.

_____The one tall tree has provided smaller Christmas trees for seven homes, from the main character’s mansion, where he dozes contentedly in his parlor, to the cozy mouse hole behind his chair, where three little mice dance around their tiny tree.

_____The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie and steal and smoke cigars. So no one is prepared when they invade church one Sunday and decide to take over the annual Nativity play.

_____The minister of Harmony throws the town into a tizzy when he is absent from home one night a week making excuses. At first his wife thinks he's having an affair but then a chance comment has the inhabitants thinking this man is very ill and going for treatments at this time. What he is doing is attending a class to make a special Christmas present for his wife.

Advice From A Snowman

Be a jolly happy soul.
Spend time outdoors--stay cool.
It's okay to be a little bottom heavy. :)
Avoid meltdowns.
Be well-rounded.
Live well--life is so short.

Happy Thanksgiving!

An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home. May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam. May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures. May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours!

Endings & Beginnings

Wow, it's hard to believe that Project Play (Semester 1) is winding down. I remember feeling nervous about adding one more thing to my plate. These weeks have been so informative. It has been well worth investing the time to learn these new ideas. I am so IN for the second semester. Kudos to the instructors for a job well done! I relate to the remarks of Stef who is wondering about learning thresholds. As an educator, I know that new learning occurs when the task in not too easy nor is the task too challenging. That is very difficult to gauge when there are so many of us participating with differing prior knowledge bases. I would encourage you, during Semester 2, to keep doing what you are doing. Your assignments were offered to us in a range--try this OR this and also had "extras" that one could try or not. That flexibility,I felt, was both innovative and respectful!
How does one pick a favorite week? All of the weeks were FUN! If forced, I choose week 7. I am enjoying Library Thing very much and I thought the Dummies book template was hilarious! I have been keeping up with Shelfari and Goodreads.com--they are great for learning about reading tastes and great books. They help me both professionally & personally. I would like to utilize Survey Monkey at some point. I use Doodle all the time (not sure if we learned that in class or not) which I feel is a fabulous tool for a person like me who is involved in SO MANY teams.
Sometimes I feel smothered by all the exciting technological opportunities that I have to sift through. Having Project Play give me direction has been marvelous. Imagining all the creative minds that are out there coming up with these social networking opportunities blows me away! Slowly, but surely, I am reaching out there to be a part of these on-line communities. My heart is full to think about all the sharing, generosity, goodwill and peace that happens because of the web!

This wonderful afternoon

I was driving this afternoon and saw this billboard in the country--AWESOME! I love the Dalai Lama. It says, "Doesn't just wish for peace. He works for it. Hope. Pass it on. The Foundation for a Better Life." I felt my spirits uplifted immediately. Then I went to give blood and I have reached the two gallon milestone--yippee--such a great feeling. I encourage everyone to give blood if they are able. Finally, for someone who for the longest time believed that LOL stood for "Lots of Love" I found a great link for e.mail/text messaging shorthand. It is Hints and Things.
Maybe it can help you to get with it, too. Ha ha! TAFN

Back in the Saddle again with wikis!

What an exciting morning! First, I learned a new word, "outlier". I LOVE Wikipedia. It is often my first source for information on anything. I found the Wikipedia page about Seymour, WI (the city, not the town) and added a link to our library website. How empowering! I want to further explore the Library Success wiki. What a neat idea to have a place to share and highlight like that. I like a wiki as a place where information is pooled and at your leisure you can examine that information and alter it, give feedback, etc. (The sandbox is fun!)
I totally get what Beth says about the trust issue, only in reverse. I am a little apprehensive about putting my stuff out there and having it tweaked. However, what really makes me fearful is when I am offering and/or making changes. My stomach starts doing flips--I have questions like, "Am I doing this right?" "Is this worth making a negative comment on?" "Should I choose my battles?" "Will Y's feelings be hurt?" I think maybe I'm learning to be TOO political from being a director. Anyway, I'm just being honest. Sometimes I will be completely passive for fear of making a mistake. Character flaw--I know! I am willing to try new things in a "safe" and "welcoming" environment. I'd say blogs are more comfortable than wikis for me at this juncture. How are the other Project Play participants feeling?!