professionalreviews

2008j

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:27:00 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008j

Miscelaneous Topics for Teachers and Teacher Librarians
Using the national gifted education standards for university teacher preparation programs by Susan K Hohnsen, Joyce Vantassel-Baska, and Ann Robinson (Corwin Press, 2008, 235 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781412965248); and, Using the national gifted education standards for preK-12 professional development by Margie Kitano, Diane Montgomery, and Joyce Vantasel-Bask, and SusanK. Johnsen (Corwin Press, 2008, 147 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781412965224)
Does anyone pay attention to the gifted and talented? Or, are we so motivated to get everyone to a minimal level that this group recedes into perpetual boredom?These two volumes, jointly published by the National association for Gifted Children, the Council for Exceptional Children, and the Association for the Gifted provide guidance for both pre-service education and for professional development in schools. Included in the volumes are regular references to the exceptional child who has special needs. The volumes in

2008e

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:50:53 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008e

Instructional Design, 2008 Titles
Schoolwide action research for professional learning communities : improving student learning through the whole-faculty by Karl H. Clauset, Dale W. Lick, and Carlene U. Murphy (Corwin Press, 2008, 278 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781412952071)
We have reviewed a number of books concerning action research in the past. There are many voices calling for the professional learning community of the school to focus its attention on school improvement based in research. These authors emphasize that research findings read about in educational research journals must be tested in the environmental context of the school community. In other words, what may work in one community school may not work in another because of a wide variety of factors that we all recognize: poverty, culture, diversity, school-wide program focus, etc. The authors then proceed to lay our a full structure of how action research can be carried out by study teams joined together as an entire faculty learning communi

2008d

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:59:58 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008d

Information Literacy Reviews for 2008
Feel free to add reviews or comments to this page. Please sign your name to your additions.
Web literacy for educators by Alan November (Corwin Press, 2008, 109p. $_____, ISBN: 9781412958424)
November is a popular speaker about educational technology has lectured across the continent and beyond. In his latest book, November gives teachers a system to help both them and their learners ascertain the quality of information being encountered on the Internet. These are skills that teacher librarians constantly stress whenever they are teaching research, but November is trying to reach a wider audience. He teaches the obvious technique of watching the extensions .org, .edu, etc. What we have discovered is that for many of the extensions, anyone can purchase almost any extension they wish. November provides many other criteria such as investigating who is behind the content of the website. He provides teachers with forms and extensive recommendations for teaching t

2008b

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Wed, 28 May 2008 08:31:17 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008b

Collaboration/ Instructional Design
Childhood and nature : design principles for educators by David Sobel (Stenhouse, 2008, 168p. $_____, ISBN: 9781571107411)
In a post-NCLB world, educators and parents will be looking for alternatives. We thought we should bring this curricular focus to your attention as one alternative. Based around nature mysticism, Sobel proposes a curriculum that centers itself in a union with nature in an effort to lessen man’s footprint. While the entire perspective may be a bit much for most, there are enough interesting ideas here for nature study so that the volume is worth examination.
REFRAMING TEACHER LEADERSHIP TO IMPROVE YOUR SCHOOL by Douglas B. Reeves (ASCD, 2008, 204p. ISBN: 978 1416606661) In his latest book, Reeves places action research at the center of school improvement. He posits that teachers become leaders when they are testing ideas from research in their classrooms and reporting the results on Data Walls or science-fair type expositions. The k

2008d

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:58:11 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008d

Information Literacy Reviews for 2008
Feel free to add reviews or comments to this page. Please sign your name to your additions.
The back of the napkin : solving problems and selling ideas with pictures by Dan Roam (Portfolio (Penguin Group), 2008, 278p. $_____, ISBN: 9781591841999)
I like graphic organizers – that invention to represent ideas in picture form. Most teacher librarians know and use Inspriation or Kidspiration and teach young people how to organize their thought and ideas from what they read. But if you don’t know about those packages or cannot afford them, then Roam’s system is interesting. Essentially, Roam shows how the created a system of pictures that represented ideas – a picture shorthand of sorts. For example, a rectangle represents a what problem to solve. Two arrows pointing the same way with a question mark means a when problem. So, his scribbles help him attack who, how, when, where, and how problems. And, the more he uses them, the more complex they become as

2008c

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:23:29 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008c

Technology
Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era by Mary Jo Foley (Wiley, 2008, 285[/ $_____, ISBN: 978 0470191384)
Up until now, one could almost say, as Microsoft goes, so goes the world. Now Bill Gates is retiring in 2008 so that that questions arise about future directions of the company and its business model. And why should that matter to librarians? It’s all because of Google. This upstart company turns a business model from command and control to client side. Libraries work on the Microsoft model of “if we build it, they will come.” Google, on the other hand, feels that “if they build it, they will use it.” Command and control works when you are the only game in town. People come to you for services because they have no other more convenient alternatives. No so anymore in the information business. Google far surpasses libraries as the number one finder and locater of information. And, when almost all your customers have abandoned you, what next?

2008b

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:18:26 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008b

Collaboration/ Instructional Design
REFRAMING TEACHER LEADERSHIP TO IMPROVE YOUR SCHOOL by Douglas B. Reeves (ASCD, 2008, 204p. ISBN: 978 1416606661) In his latest book, Reeves places action research at the center of school improvement. He posits that teachers become leaders when they are testing ideas from research in their classrooms and reporting the results on Data Walls or science-fair type expositions. The key to school improvement, then, is based on evidence that our practices are effective based on increased learning. This idea follows the ideas of Reeves in his previous book The Learning Leader (ASCD, 2006) where he categorized the successful teacher is one who succeeds and knows why. We could not agree more and recommend that the Experimental Learning Center of the Learning Commons (the library media center) be the center of such research activity that informs the faculty as a whole. When there is an atmosphere of collaboration in the achievement of excellence because everyone expects that t

2008d

email.hidden@example.com (david loertscher) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:37:34 +0000

david loertscher edited 2008d

Information Literacy Reviews for 2008
Feel free to add reviews or comments to this page. Please sign your name to your additions.
Stop the copying with wild and wacky research projects by Nancy Polette (Teacher Ideas Press, 2008, 167 pp. $_____ ISBN: 9781591586968)
Nancy, the clever, provides a plethora of quickie projects kids can do in the library during their library time that are just a half-step up from the typical cut/paste worksheet. However, we would recommend that for the short time periods kids have in the library if scheduled there, better to engage them in reading and build those avid and capable readers than to do low-level information activities disconnected from the curriculum. In other words, try to compensate for the boredom of the reading skill/drill/kill program to build interest and life-long fascination with books. So, this is a book to pass by. Check out Polette’s other books connected to reading to discover the fun stuff she does so well.
Information literacy as

2008c

email.hidden@example.com (david loertscher) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:02:03 +0000

david loertscher edited 2008c

Technology
Differentiating instruction with technology in K-5 classrooms by Grace E. Smith and Stephanie Throne (ISTE, 2008, 248 pp., $37.95, ISBN: 9781564842336)
Technology specialists who are really into instructional computing rather than systems and networks often build a major repertoire of the features of various software packages and applications that will actually boost teaching and learning. These folks have the ability to store an encyclopedia of ideas in their heads and when an instructional problem arises, they have about ten different ways to boost teaching and learning through technology. Our authors, using this creativity direct their attention to differentiation. The create ways to deal with different readiness of students, adjusting by learning profile, differences in content, types of products, by teaching subject area, techniques to assess learning, and various ways to manage the classroom. This is a dense book with many many ideas but also so good tabular information that helps

2008b

email.hidden@example.com (david loertscher) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:00:38 +0000

david loertscher edited 2008b

Collaboration/ Instructional Design
Instruction for All Students; 2nd edition, by Paula Rutherford (Just Ask Publications, 2008, 320 pp., $34.95, ISBN: 9780977779688)
Need a bluffer’s bible? A one-page summary of several hundred major educational ideas and strategies? Well, here is your source. The author summarizes the central ideas and provides one or more publications to pursue the idea further. Is the coverage sufficient to understand and immediately practice? No. But it does offer a central kernel of an idea. The ideas are grouped in sections: In the news and influencing our thinking, Lesson & unit design, Presentation Modes, Active learning, Assignments, Assessment, Differentiation, Thinking skills, The learning environment, and, Collaboration. The one-page ideas include 21st Century Skills, Self-Assessment, Graphic Organizers, Task Analysis, Job-Embedded Learning, Technology Integration and a host of other ideas. So, why acquire this book? Simply to define a topic in educational jargon

2008i

email.hidden@example.com (david loertscher) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:30:52 +0000

david loertscher edited 2008i

Fine Arts
Lao folktales by Wajuppa Tossa with Kongdeuane Nettavong, and edited by Margaret Read MacDonald. (Libraries Unlimited, 2008, 209 pp. $_____, ISBN: 9781591583455)
We continue to review this important series of books because they bring collections of tales and stories from a wide variety of cultures throughout the world that are not usually on the radar screen of many library collections. The prominent storyteller, Margaret Reid MacDonald, has assembled this collection from two authentic Lao scholars and turned them into tales that can be used with children, teens, and adults who want to hear authentic stories and look into the culture. Worth using for comparative folktale lessons and where a Laotian population is in your school or community.
Folktales from the Japanese countryside by Hiroko Fujita and others. (Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 196 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781591584889)
The World Folklore series from Libraries Unlimited are a collection of volumes created by expert folkloris

2008b

email.hidden@example.com (david loertscher) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:52:40 +0000

david loertscher edited 2008b

Collaboration/ Instructional Design
A guide to co-teaching : practical tips for facilitating student learning, 2nd edition, by Richard A. Villa, Jacqueline S. Thousand, and Ann I. Nevin (Corwin Press, 2008, 213 pp. $_____, ISBN: 9781412960588)
If you can get on Richard Villas calendar, you can probably get on anyone’s. This popular speaker with his two co-authors come from the field of special education, but they introduce the concept of co-teaching to the wider audience of teachers in this book. In their definition of co-teaching (that teacher librarians code collaboration), the authors say: “ Co-teaching can be likened to a marriage. Partners must establish trust, develop and work on communication, share the chores, celebrate, work together creatively to overcome the inevitable challenges and problems, and anticipate conflict and handle it in a constructive way.” They cite the benefits as follows:
• Two heads are better than one
• Opportunities to use research-based interventions<

2008b

email.hidden@example.com (david loertscher) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:14:33 +0000

david loertscher edited 2008b

Collaboration/ Instructional Design
Teamwork : setting the standard for collaborative teaching, grades 5-9 by Monique D. Wild, Amanda S Mayeaux, and Kathryn P. Edmonds (Stenhouse, 2008, 176 pp., $_____, ISBN: 9781571107114)
What does collaboration really look like, feel like, and how does it really work? Three middle school teachers, who as a team, won the Disney Teacher of the Year Award, describe the formation of a dynamic teaching team that is able to make a major difference in their school. How does a team get beyond the business of the day, the barriers, and the mundane to really work together on the improvement of teaching and learning? This book is worth the read to ascertain how this particular team succeeds and their recommendations for the rest of us. No longer in the school together, I wondered how much involvement other specialists had in their success, because they really don’t mention the impact of either the library or the teacher librarian. Checking with their teacher librarian, I

2008b

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:00:42 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008b

Collaboration/ Instructional Design
Making standards useful in the classroom by Robert J. Marzano (ASCD, 2008, 294p. $_____, ISBN: 9781416606482)
Of the hundreds of speakers every year at the ASCD national convention, few draw bigger crowds than Robert Marzano. Known for his What Works series of books that spotlight research-supported practices for teaching, learning, and schooling in general, Marzano’s extended view of education backed by a long career of experiences with top thinkers, makes him a major attraction. This year, he spotlighted his new book and its full first printing was sold out in a matter of hours. Making Standards Useful in the Classroom has some major practical suggestions. As Marzano traces the standards movement in the U.S., he notes the bloated curriculum suggests that it would take at least 22 years to deliver if it were all covered the way that it is laid out in the various standards documents. This is because the mathematicians tend to think that their subject is the mos

2008c

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:33:07 +0000

David Loertscher added 2008c

Technology

Web 2.0 : new tools, new schools, by Gwen Wolomon and Lynne Schrum (ISTE, 2007, 270 pp. $_____, ISBN: 9781564842343)

There are a nmber of books on the market celebrating the possibilities and opportunities that Web 2.0 technology might provide to schools. This one is as good as any on the market. The authors know what they are talking about and their audience is both administrators and tech directors, although we are recommending that teacher librarians would benefit greatly since so many are utilizing this technology. It is always good in a topic like this to compare one’s own expertise with that of the authors to see if they have thought of angles you haven’t. While the material is dated the instant it is in print, there are enough current applications present to bring more possibilities to teaching and learning than one can barely manage. We

2008b

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:11:16 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008b

Collaboration/ Instructional Design
Deeper learning : 7 powerful strategies for in-depth and longer-lasting learning by Eric Jensen and LeAnn Nickelsen (Corwin Press, 2008, 312 pp. $_____, ISBN: 9781412952033)
Every great teacher and teacher librarian has a bag of tricks in their head that usually work or that can be modified in a moment’s notice to adapt to learners of various types and in various situations. At first glance, our authors are headed directly there and are right on target. They present a model that pushes students toward more than surface learning. First, they suggest that teachers begin with the standards statements, then build knowledge of the group you are working with, developing positive student engagement strategies, activate their prior knowledge, and then they provide a plethora of strategies for activating and thinking about what they are learning ending in evaluation. Most ideas are for engaging students in text and we liked the many worksheets that force the learner to

2008b

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:03:47 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008b

Collaboration/ Instructional Design
Communities that learn, lead, and last: building and sustaining educational expertise by Giselle O. Martin-Kniep (Jossey Bass, 2008, 213pp. $_____, ISBN: 9780787985134)
We have reviewed a number of books on professional learning communities simply because they hold the best promise of change within a school and, if teacher librarians are involved, then an opportunity to interject the library directly into a serious conversation. We have particularly recommended the works of the DuFours as the most practical guide to PLCs as they are known, but this one is particularly attractive because it provides not only practical advice for creating and sustaining PLCs, but also rubrics that help groups reflect on their goals, their organization, their progress, and the results. These rubrics or reflection pieces are spread throughout the text and then are collected in the appendix for easy use. The author has a great deal of experience as president of Communities for Learnin

200d and before

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:49:07 +0000

David Loertscher edited 200d and before

Information Literachy Connected to the LMC Program
2005 amd befpre Imprints
Summarization in any subject : 50 techniques to improve student learning, by Rick Wormeli (ASCD, 2005, 221pp. $_____ ISBN: 1416600191)
We usually do not review books older than a year, but this title drew attention to itself at a recent ASCD conference. So few books or articles give attention to the skill of summarization or synthesis, that as we thought it necessary to review. Perhaps language arts textbooks cover this topic. Perhaps teachers regularly teach it. Then why is it so difficult when kids and teens do research in many different sources. Why is it so difficult to pick out the main ideas and then describe those ideas in synonymous terms but not the actual verbage of the author? Could it be that it is difficult? Taught improperly? Just a sign of kid laziness? In any event, whatever the cause, Wormeli provides fifty strategies for teaching this beast as opposed to fifty ways to leave your lover (that old joke). R

2008j

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:12:00 +0000

David Loertscher added 2008j

Miscelaneous Topics for Teachers and Teacher Librarians

Teambuilding with teens : activities for leadership, decision making & group success by Marian G MacGreagor (Free Spirit Publishing, 2008, 185pp. $_____, ISBN: 9781575422657)

So you have set up a task for teens, put them in groups, and say “go.” If nothing happens or the groups become suddenly dysfunctional, there is work to do. Because so much of the world of work is now done by groups, exemplary group skills are in order. MacGreagor provides a number of 35-45 minute strategies complete with individual/group worksheets to “study” the process of working in groups successfully. Activities include: icebreakers, self-awareness, working with others, communication, qualities of leadership, social issues, decision making and problem solving, and closure. Every teacher and teacher librarian needs a bag of tricks to stimulate group performance

2008k

email.hidden@example.com (David Loertscher) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:43:25 +0000

David Loertscher edited 2008k

General Management, 2008
Twelve roles of facilitators for school change, 2nd ed. By R Bruce Williams (Corwin Press, 2008, 257pp. $_____, ISBN: 9781412961127)
Teacher librarians who wish to be leaders in the school need to read the leadership literature, talk its major ideas, and walk them. Williams writes for anyone intent on school change through a very collaborative strategy. It is worth noting the chapters of the book:
(1) A process leader sees the big picture, builds consensus, and steers the process.
(2) A skills trainer devises strategies, leads the team, and announces the game.
(3) A resource consultant organizes the project, overcomes obstacles, and advertises success.
(4) A group energizer stays true to the score, harmonizes the environment, and celebrates the performance.
The various chapters can be read individually rather than serially and what is really valuable about each chapter are the excellent graphic organizers and “worksheets” for the use of professional learn