Teachers With Vehicles With the price of gasoline at all time highs, it pays to have your car in tip-top shape. The Bookman Buddy recommends that you should be aware of your vehicle’s recall notices and its technical service bulletins. Many times the auto manufacturers keep this information secret by not generally publishing the information. I can unlock their secrets. The place to find out about your auto’s secrets is at Alldata. Access their website at www.alldata.com/ recalls/. You will truly be surprised at the information you will find out about your car.

Teacher Leadership As teachers, I am sure you will agree that we have many jobs to do. I say one of those jobs is to be a leader. Exhibit your leadership skills in the classroom, department, school or community. To prompt, inspire and help you become an educational leader, I want to tell you about an organization that has lots of good material that you can review, and more important reflect about. It is called the Southeast Center for Teaching Quality or SECTQ. Their website is at http:// www.teachingquality.org/ default.htm. They have a weekly analysis of teaching quality issues that are in the news link called “The SECTQ View.” This is a great way to stay on top of issues and I find it very interesting. I highly recommend this organization and give their website a Bookman Buddy high five. It can be your starting point for quality teaching and becoming a leader of teachers.

• • • •

Late Books Nat. Lib Week Resources Hobby Story

April

At Stevenson Middle School

On The Back

Your Information Partner

05

The Bookman Buddy Issue #53

Produced & Written by Geoffrey Oram

R.L. Stevenson Middle School, Teresa Hurtado, Principal

Penguins Help Teachers We all know that penguins live in the Antarctic, so how can our tuxedos friends help us? By creating just about the best reading guides online. The Penguin Group (USA) has a terrific list of reading guides that teachers can search online by subject. The guides are found at http:// us.penguingroup.com/static/html/ readingguides/index.html, and include such famous authors as Jane Austen, H. G. Wells, and John Steinbeck. The Bookman Buddy also has a CD-Rom called Penguin Teaching Assistant, that has reading guides that you may borrow. The CD has very extensive guides (chapter by chapter info, quizzes, some with over 25 pages. Wow!).

Pollution For Teachers Every once in awhile the Bookman Buddy reads or hears about some kind of pollution. You know the kind, some toxic threat that is sure to effect us all in a matter of days, and then it disappears into the ether. News headlines about toxics occur on a regular basis and yet the public seemingly shows little concern. Money is definitely an issue when it comes to pollution. Well fear no more. On your side is an organization called the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Their web site is at www.ewg.org. They publish safety ratings of different products and have news and information about all the latest and not so current pollutions. What is nice about this site, for your students, is the information about policies and regulations that are developed and not developed and their effects on people. These stories invite further research that our school library can provide, and they make excellent discussions and argumentative possibilities for student writings and oral reports. Student are sure to enjoy this engaging topic that may even effect their lives today.

Assisting the Librarian Our school needs your help and cooperation. I print out a list of students with overdue library books that you receive in your mailboxes. The school year is rapidly ending. Some students are ignoring your statements to clear their library records by returning the books and paying any late fines. Some of these students have books borrowed from last year. These students just don’t get it and frankly are irresponsible. I ask that you send down the worst offenders during homeroom period. When they come to the library I tell them to return the books, and then use the telephone to inform their parents about their obligations. However, many times the phone number is disconnected or no one is home. Like clockwork, it seem the worst offenders have this happen. This is where the librarian needs your assistance. If you please, keep these repeat offenders for nutrition detention or other discipline that you feel is appropriate until they clear their records, and call their parents when you can. Remember, unreturned and lost books directly effect our school by unrealized money, and lost use of the materials for students to do research and reading. Thank you for your help.

New

Library Book Orders

I have ordered new books from the Governor’s Book Fund and other State money. They should be here by May. Look for my displays in the library when they arrive.

A Teacher Resource and a Hobby? Have you used your school library this year? Time is running out. I am asking each teacher to have a minimum goal of using the library at least one time during the school year. A lesson collaboration with me would be ideal. We could brain storm ideas and produce something good for your students. The Bookman Buddy knows that Physical Education might not be as conducive as say English, but that is the challenge. You can always ask Mr. Oram for ideas and lesson collaboration. Our students need

National Library Week National Library Week is celebrated this year during April 10-16. I gave my library classes the assignment to make a poster that would promote this event. My students’ work is found displayed around the library. I suggested to them to pick images and things our students would readily recognize. So they used images of Usher and other celebrities. The posters are working to a degree, because when students see them they definitely get their attention, but alas they have not increased reading.

constant and repeated exposure to our library and its resources. I repeatedly mention in my newsletter about the resource called Digital Library and the free databases that can be accessed through Digital Library. Don’t know what this is? See me promptly. I want to share with you this story. A male student from BarreraMartinez’s class was in the library recently. The class was doing a research project about the United States during the 1860’s to 1900. The boy was carrying a guitar and was clearly interested in playing it. At the end of the period to my surprise this boy checked out a book about guitars. It had noth-

ing to do about the project that I could tell, but I was pleased none-the-less that he borrowed that guitar book. Remember, our music elective has been eliminated. I know this might seem strange, but our students rarely, if ever borrow books about things you and I would consider to be hobbies. This one boy did. It is a small start. But that is what our library offers. It is a great challenge to get our students to do pleasure reading and self-based inquiry learning. There is a lot of good research that proves that when students use school libraries test scores go up. So let’s get students to use our school library.

Lorenzo Garcia