Professional Log #15

Darnton, R. (2011, March).  A digital library better than google’s.  The New York Times.  Retrieved from April 15, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/opinion/24darnton.html?_r=1&src=tptw.

This article reviews Google’s plan to digitize all hard copies of books and make them available to viewers all over the world. The settlement was rejected between Google and the authors of these books, this prevented the monopoly of one company over literary works.  This lawsuit then lead to the future distribution of the books rather than have the company reprimanded for its actions. The judge administering the case put an end to it by having the members of the case re-write the settlement so that it met criteria. However Google may turn down the proposition due to their loss of the revenue. So this is an ongoing issue.

In my opinion it would be wise to work hand and hand with since it is one of the leading companies of the digital age. Google has thousands of books already transitioned into the digital medium, and it would certainly help initiate a digital library. The article continued to describe the emphasis of creating a digital library from inspiration of Google. The Digital Public Library would be Universal and would follow copyright regulations as well. Imagine, all hard books scanned and documented and just a click away, it is revolutionary. People all over the world will have free access to all sorts of documentation and will be able to educate and expand their minds from home, work, school, basically anywhere.  There are still problems that they pointed out in having a digital library but  they can be easily fixed. A digital library is definitely the way of the future, to deny such a technology to expand education would be a waste.

Professional Log #16

Dominus, S. (2011, April).  Suzanne Collins’s war stories for kids.  The New York Times.  Retrieved from April 30, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10collins-t.html?src=tptw.

Dominus talks to Suzanne Collins about her book.  The book series is about a 16 year old girl who is not afraid to fight.  The series has been placed next to the Harry Potter and Twilight series.  The Hunger Games is even being made into a movie same as the other series.  I really liked the section of the article where the author states that Collins is really shy and hardly talks to her public or fans.  I found this interesting because I would think she would be out embracing her fans publicly since her series has become so popular.  The article also talks about her life as a child when her father’s serves in the military.  She talks about other areas of her life that affected her writing for this series.  Collins researches her books before she actually writes them.

I really liked this article because it not only brings out important information about Collins’s writings, but it also shows how her life experiences really played into her writing.  I think that this would be an important article for librarians and teachers to read before they discuss the books with their students.  It might even be something that the students will want to read since it gives some nice details about her life.  I think that part about her researching her next book helps tweens and young adults see that writing something even a story takes time and research.  One cannot just sit at a computer and come up with a masterpiece without a little help from a dictionary, encyclopedia, or the Internet.  

Professional Log #10

Cortese, J. (2011, April).  Tweens have a place to call their own at SBPL.  Retrieved from April 25, 2011, from http://southbrunswick.patch.com/articles/tweens-have-a-place-to-call-their-own-at-the-sbpl.

The South Brunswick Public Library has created a great program where tweens and other age readers can come into the library and find a program for their age and books for them to read.  I especially like that they created a new reading area specifically for tweens.  I think creating reading corners for different age ranges helps the children feel more at home in the library than the old fashioned chairs and sofas.  The pictures in the article show that they have added color to their library with different color stools and carpets.  I also like how the signage around the library is readable from a good distance.  I also like the use of posters and character stands that attract tweens to an area.  This library is set up in a way that would attract tweens.

I also liked the amount of activities that they listed in the article.  I would never have thought of doing a culinary class in a library.  I now see how a culinary class could tie into the books being read, such as reading a book about the first Thanksgiving and then cooking the same meal that was served.  The one activity that I would add to this wonderful program would be movie nights for those books that have been made into movies.  After the movie is over the tweens could discuss what they saw that was different from the book and movie.  If the group was advanced, they might be able to discuss why the movie did or did not follow the book well enough.  I know that this is one of the events my public library does at least once every two months usually more during the summer to support our summer reading program.  I really enjoyed reading about this library.  

Professional Log #11

Stout, H. (2010, April).  Antisocial Networking?  The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/fashion/02BEST.html.

Stout writes about how technology may be causing tweens and teenagers to be less sociable than one would think by using cell phones and social networking tools.  Most communication is being done through chat windows and text messages in which they do not write full paragraphs and full words.  Everything is shortened to texting slogans.  The concern with these tools is that it could lead tweens and teenagers to cyberbully and sexting.  These inventions have also lead to tweens and younger children not going outside and playing with each other which use to help people build lasting relationships.  The end of the article hits a good point about shy tweens having a way to communicate through texting and Facebook in a way that makes them comfortable and eventually brings them out of their shy state. 

I find that the author has a valid point.  I grew up talking on the phone with my friends or I would go over to their house to hang out.  We did not have cell phones until we were in high school and only got them because there was no way to call home if we needed.  I did not get text messaging until I was a junior in college; all my friends thought I was weird.  Just recently a current junior in college got text messaging for the first time and everyone was shocked that she finally had it, but were concerned about how slow she was in responding.  My family had dial up Internet until just recently so long chat sessions were not a possibility for communicating with them in high school.  As for the amount of time we spent on the Internet, we were limited based on what we needed to do and depending on how long the line would hold out.  These current students in college and younger are so technology based that it is ruining any chance of them having a real best friend who knows everything about them.  It also is a shame when you walk down the street and see fourth graders with more expensive, high tech phones, computers, iPods, etc then you have.  If these fourth graders have phones when is it going to be the norm for first graders to have phones?    

Professional Log #12

Zernike, K. (2007, January).  The preteen: Betwixt and bedeviled.  The New York Times.  Retrieved from March 30, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/weekinreview/07zernike.html.

Zernike takes a look at the endless cycle of the junior high and middle schools discussion.  She states that both were created to serve a purpose, but that some school districts have decided to put them either back in their elementary schools or their high schools.  One of the arguments is that when you put the younger children with the older children you encourage the younger children to do things that they would not normally do.  Some have suggested that two years of high school be abolished and that buildings would be split K-6 and 7-10.  The article also discusses the possibility of looping their teachers and students; meaning that the students would remain with the same teacher throughout the grade levels in the building.

 I found that the entire article provided information about the school system.  I agree with placing students with the older students is not the correct thing to do.  If this were to happen our tweens would be going to parties to take part in the wild times of high school.  I found it interesting that money was never brought up as one of the issues why it might be smarter to integrate middle schools back into elementary schools or middle schools in with junior highs.  In the present state of the economy there has been much talk in the state of Illinois on what to do to save money in the education system.  One of the suggestions is to make one school district per county with a few exceptions, such as Chicago and Cook County.  This would take away millions of dollars spent on superintendents.  In Quincy alone an elementary school was forced to close last year because they needed the extra money for another project.  The Quincy Public School District is set up differently than any that this article described.  We have several K-3 buildings, a huge 4-6 building that is split into three wings, a junior high with 7-9, and a high school with 10-12.  The 9^th graders at the junior high are still considered high school students, but many times they are not treated as one and are left out of the big freshman events.  Several professors at the local university have suggested that we put all the elementary buildings at K-5, and the junior high becomes a 6-8.  The high school would be housed in two buildings that are next to each other; one would house 9-10 and the other 11-12.  This would probably be able to save the district money on transportation, teachers, etc.  

Professional Log #13

Wilson, E. (2011, February).  The Kiddie Couturiers.  The New York Times. Retrieved from May 5, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/fashion/24KIDDIES.html?_r=1.

My favorite sentence of this article is: “But the fact that fashion has become a field that is so easy for a tween to crack says a lot about how much the perception of a designer has changed.  The allure of fashion is no longer the craft, but the flash.”  This sums up the whole story about tweens cracking the fashion industry.  The article gave so many young examples of tweens who have designed their own clothing lines or have made their own clothes.  Some of the examples include when they actually started learning the craft.  One example, shares that a girl asked for a sewing machine for her sixth birthday.  The article includes the tween’s parents perspective on their tween’s gift.

I found that this article demonstrates what an influence the tween population can have on society.  It also shows that tweens can do anything that they wish to do.  This would be a great article to share with tweens that feel that they cannot do anything great.  I enjoyed the pictures of the tweens with some of their work.  These tweens do have a creative eye.  I hope that these tweens are learning from their experiences the meaning of saving money for items that they need for their business or their college education.  I also hope that none of their parents are using them to gain fame themselves as some celebrity parents have done.  Lastly, I can see the pressures getting to them as they sell more products.  I hope that they have been able to handle this new balancing act of their lives from these early ages.   

Professional Log #14

Dotinga, R. (2006, August).  ‘Tweens’ curl up with graphic novels.  The Christian Science Monitor.  Retrieved from April 1, 2011, from http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0816/p16s02-bogn.html. 

This article covers the topic of Tweens, children ages 8-12, that read “graphic” novels. What the article suggests in its title is not what is discussed throughout the document. For the older generation’s “graphic” means violent or visually disturbing not meant for younger eyes, “graphic” novels defined in this article are actually long comic books ranging from 70-600 pages.  Some of the books include the regular comic book classics extended, and others include everything from biographies to the classics. There are teachers who try to avoid these books because it is not structured reading, they do not like the idea of there being all these illustration within a book. On the other hand there are teachers who fully support this because it is getting their students to read.

I think this article is interesting because it presents the transition of a younger generation, one that our generation does not understand. There are different ways that each generation learns to absorb and digest information.  For the younger generations of the 21^st century that is to read extended comic books. I do not necessarily support the idea of graphic novels, but that could be because I think it diminishes the readers own imagination. With lack of imagination there is lack of creativity and before you know it those individuals will be unable to think for themselves. To be more optimistic though, these novels introduce some of the world’s greatest literary work and get the younger generations more interested in them. So there is an  up and down side to these graphic novels.