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.

Professional Log #7

(2011).  ThisIsTeen.  Retrieved May 1, 2011, from http://www.facebook.com/thisisteen?sk=info.

This page was created in 2011 for Facebook.  The company actually has its own under the same name.  The first thing I noticed on the page is the splash of color.  Under the profile picture there are links to Featured Books, Book Finder, and SCVNGR.  The Featured Books section contains the book of the moment with a brief review of the book and some examples of other books that someone might like to read.  I found that this was a nice tool, but that it lacked the ability to see past Featured Books.  Once you click on a book it would give more details about the book title, author, and a button to buy the book.  The Book Finder page takes you to a page which leads the person through several questions before selecting a book.  The SCVNGR page is a game where tweens and teens participate in challenges, earn points, and earn rewards. 

I think that this page is a great resource for everyone to use from teachers to librarians to tweens.  The only problem is it is on Facebook, so teachers and librarians may not have a password to sign in for full access.  I found that the Book Finder was very useful.  The books that were selected for me were a variety according to the preferences that I selected.  The SCVNGR page opens into a new window for the user.  I believe tweens and teens will enjoy this fun activity.  Overall, I would use this website as a resource for books.

Professional Log #9

Fredrick, K. (2009, April).  Mean girls (and boys): Cyberbullying and what can be done about it. School Library Media Activities, 25(8), 44-45.  Retrieved from May 1, 2011, from the  Library,

Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.

I enjoyed reading this article because it addressed the role that school librarians play in cyberbullying.  First, the author provides a description of cyberbullying.  She states that it is any electronic device (phone or computer) that can post or send a harmful message to others.  The librarian’s role is to advocate the prevention of cyberbullying.  To help in their advocating process, librarians will need to create a plan of action that will be presented to the school and administration.  If more people know that it is a problem, then the goal is that they will learn to stop doing it or do not participate in cyberbullying. 

I liked the idea about having a cyberbullying session where the students learn about cyberbullying and how to prevent it, report it, and know about it.  Part of the program should include a discussion on what the cyberbullying definition includes.  After the students understand what cyberbullying means there can be a discussion of incidents where cyberbullying happened or could have happened if someone had not stopped.  Lastly, the program needs to include a question section in which students will be free to ask any questions they have about cyberbullying.  The program that is shared with the students can also be shared with the parents but in more depth.  Parents need to know about cyberbullying and how to prevent it so they know the signs while their student’s are at home on the computer.  Their discussion session should include scenarios where they  see that their child is being bullied and they need to take action.       

Professional Log #8

Hesse, M. (2009, October).  At girl’s summit, an image betwixt and be tween.  The Washington Post.  Retrieved April 30, 2011, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101202869_pf.html.

This article reflects on the first Tween Girl Summit which was sponsored by AllyKatzz.com.  The topic of conversation for the year was body image and bullying.  These topics were covered by experts and some special guests which included a magazine columnist and an Olympian.  The author also went looking for tweens who are sextinging on a normal base.  Heese finds out though that the girls at the summit do not sext and that they find it to be inappropriate. The Summit was very open for discussion and discovering new things marketed for girls. 

I really enjoyed this article because I like the idea of a summit for girls where they can really sit down and talk about the issues facing them in today’s society.  It would be interesting to see what tweens lead the discussion groups or were speakers.  The reaction from the two tweens when asked about if they were sexting was cute.  I loved how they blamed the media and entertainment on sexting being seen as something that all tweens are doing.  I think that individual public libraries or school libraries could put on their own summits where a new topic is discussed every month.  Each of these events could be filled with discussion and a fun activity.  I would suggest that that such a program would be developed by a small committee that would be comprised of the librarian, community member/parent, and two tweens.  This will ensure that the tweens have a say in planning the event.  

Professional Log #5

Ypulse. (2011, February).  Social nets for tweens: Who will be the facebook, the myspace, the Friendster?.  Ypule.  Retrieved April 5, 2011, from http://www.ypulse.com/social-nets-for-tweens-who-will-be-the-facebook-the-myspace-the-friendster.

Ypulse offers several other social media options for tweens beside Facebook.  The sites are Togthersville, Imbee, and Everloop.  These three vary in age, but the maximum age of a child is fifteen.  Togetherville is a product of Disney and allows tweens to have a site similar to Facebook.  The site can be monitored by their parents thanks to a monitoring app.  Imbee allows tweens to have an avatar and purchase music, movies, or clothes.  Everloop is a partnership between tweens and marketers and advertisers.  This site is open to suggestions from its users, and has a partnership with an Internet safety curriculum.

I think that each of these sites has positives and negatives.  I think the checking up app for Togetherville is a great tool for parents to have so that they can monitor what their tween is doing.  I also find that all ages of tweens will like this site, but they may not enjoy their parent’s ability to check up on them.  Imbee seems like a good site to purchase the newest thing that a tween would want, such as, books, movies, and music.  It does collect data about the user which I see as a bad thing.  Everloop sounds interesting in the fact that you can send the creative team suggestions about how to make the media tool work the way one prefers.  It allows them to communicate with SMS which is another feature that appeals to the tweens of today.  I feel that Togethersville and Everloop are going to come out on top for tweens versus Imbee.   

Professional Log #6

Parker-Pope, T. (2011, February).  Web of popularity, achieved by bullying.  The New York Times.  Retrieved March 15, 2011, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/web-of-popularity-weaved-by-bullying/. 

The author states that bullying today is due to tweens and teens fighting for popularity status.  Surprisingly, the main bullying is happening within the tweens and teens that are middle to upper rankings of status.  A major part of bullying is aggression, which researchers found was more evident in the upper rankings (except the top two percent) of students than the lower rankings.  The article presents some options for educators to prevent bullying.  One option is to enlist non- bullying students to develop some solutions for programs.     

I could not believe that research shows that students nearer to the top of the popular scale are the bullies.  When I picture a bully I think of someone who no one gets along with because they are too afraid to talk to them for fear that they would get hit.  After looking back at my junior high and high school years, I do see that the majority of the time it was the popular students bullying the lower students.  Most of this bullying though was done by spreading rumors.  Our school did not see very many fist fights.  The bullying usually happened between the two most popular girls in school because they each wanted to make sure they stated on top. 

The article presented a new example of bullying and how it relates to schools.  The best thing that a school can do is assign/appoint a committee of teachers, administrators, and students that would handle all complaints about bullying.  This committee would also set-up some guest speakers to come in and talk about the experiences that they went through when they were bullied.  Tweens and teens usually react more from someone close to their age telling a true story.  

Professional Log #1

Richtel, M. & Helft, M. (2011, March).  Facebook users who are under age raise concerns.  The New York Times.  Retrieved April 1, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/technology/internet/12underage.html?_r=3&src=tptw.

Are tweens today prepared for using Facebook?  This article explains that young tweens are lying about their age to gain access to Facebook and other social media tools.  Some of these tweens have consulted their parents before signing up for an account, and the parents have agreed to them having an account.  The author then discusses why the parents feel that it is beneficial for their tweens to have accounts.  Another area of concern is that the lying about one’s age for an account is sending a bad message to tweens that it is alright to lie once in a while.  One of the tweens in the article states that she started lying about her age when she was in second grade, and has continued on past thirteen.  The consequence that she faces is that she cannot change her birthday on her Facebook account.  What happens though if theses tweens continue lying to buy drinks, get into a bar, etc? 

I feel that these rules concerning age are appropriate and should be followed by tweens and their parents.  I found that the reasons the parents gave for allowing their tweens to join was minor; there was no real good reason.  Tweens should have to wait until they meet the age requirements for joining a site.  These Internet sites need to continue blocking tweens under the age of 13, provide better protection tools, and set up consequences for those that lie about their age.  None of this is easy, but it needs to be done along with school districts including the Internet and its usage in their general curriculum.  This can be included in a computer class or in the libraries curriculum.   

Professional Log #3

Morris, A. (2011, January).  They know what boys want. New York Magazine.  Retrieved February 10, 2011, from http://nymag.com/news/features/70977/.

This article starts out with an inappropriate picture of a tween.  This picture is not the only one in the article.  The author uses the pictures, that were found on the Internet, examples of what tweens are posting and are willing to do for the opposite sex.  In the first example given, the girl felt that her pictures were not inappropriate, whereas her boyfriend felt that they needed to come down.  The girl said no because she found that there was nothing wrong with the pictures she had posted to Facebook.  Near the end of the article the author discusses the easy of using the Internet for this generation of tweens.  They have grown up using the Internet, and do everything via the Internet including telling each other important things like “I Love You.”

I found that this article provided some wonderful examples of how tweens feel about sexting pictures, social media tools, and chatting online.  Personally, I could not understand how the first girl thought her pictures were alright and deserved to be kept online after the comments that were posted.  I can understand the right to tell your boyfriend that he has no control over what you do since you are independent, but he had a point about the pictures attracting the wrong people.  The pictures seen in this article are shocking.  These girls are young and should not be poised as they are, and after media coverage of celebrity pictures being leaked one would think that these young tweens would understand that they should not be sending pictures of themselves to others or posting them online.  This is another reason why the Internet needs to be a main part of a school’s curriculum.  

Professional Log #4

Dwyer, L. (2011, February).  Laura Bush thinks “Middle School Matters” and she’s right.  Good is.  Retrived March 1, 2011, from http://www.good.is/post/laura-bush-thinks-middle-school-matters-and-she-s-right/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+good%2Flbvp+%28GOOD+Main+RSS+Feed%29.

Laura Bush has a new plan for education.  She wishes to lower the dropout rate of high school students by identifying the students who are most likely to dropout, those that are scoring below average on reading and math.  These are the students that would be given additional help in and out of the classroom when necessary.  The goal is to help these students before they reach the high school.  Mrs. Bush would like to her program to be set-up in at least 20 schools in the next couple of years.

I found that this article really indentified one of the problems in education.  Students seem to only get the help they need once they have scored badly on a test.  Why cannot the students be helped before they begin to fail in areas?  Educators should be identifying these problem students even by the time they enter sixth grade.  Junior high students may need the help just as much as high school students and this early intervention may prevent more students from not dropping out of high school.  I know that President Obama has also called for more focus to be placed on math which Mrs. Bush’s team stated as one of the weakness for dropout students.  It will be interesting to see the outcome of this new Middle School Matters program.  With the lag time between the implication of the program and the down time, I believe that more intervention should be given to the students who are showing signs of dropping out of school, becoming home schooled, or are currently struggling in math and reading.  The schools should be providing as many resources as they can for these students.         

Professional Log #2

Barnes, B. (2011, May).  Tween stars wanted: Must be primed for pressure.  The New York Times.  Retrieved May 11, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/technology/internet/12underage.html?_r=1&src=tptw

What happened to the simple life?  The simple life is gone for up-and-coming tween stars.  The article discusses why this new generation of tween stars has to be able to do it all.  First, they are expected to bring in the big money with the ability to act, dance, sing, and sell.  While doing all of that they are expected to be seen as good role models for other tweens.  The author also points out that living up to these standards can be difficult since so many tweens have recently failed at being perfect, such as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Vanessa Hudgens.  I liked how the parents have been serving as guides to the new parents.  I also liked how the McClain family is jointly taking the responsibility of China Anne’s behavior and attitude.

I found it interesting that the examples given were all females.  This seems to be the case with all media that it is the female stars that are messing up the most.  I wonder then if we should not be allowing them more time to grow up before we force them into a world where they must do everything perfectly.  No one is perfect and should not be expected to be, but it does come with the cost of being a star.  I also wonder what the male tween stars are doing differently than the females; there must be a reason for their good behavior.  Do “we” judge female actresses more harshly than males and why?