Charm and Strange By: Stephanie Kuehn

Charm and Strange 

By: Stephanie Kuehn

2014 Winner of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award

Note: The Morris award is given to a first time author writing for teens.

Morris Award Link

Summary: Charm and Strange details the life of a young boy, Andrew Winston Winters, or known throughout the book as either Drew or Win.  As you enter this novel you go from reading about his past to reading about the present.  You are thrown into the life of an overly aggressive and sometimes violent boy when spending time with his family to the isolated and lonely boy who hides himself from every other student at his boarding school.  Stephanie Kuehn takes you on an emotional journey through Andrew's life and the secrets he buries inside of himself and lets out only when he becomes the "wolf" predator he contains inside.  The story will keep you guessing from page to page as you weave together the pieces of brokenness that somehow are keeping Andrew from completely breaking apart.  Within the last few pages you get complete clarity of Andrews mind, emotions, and soul.  It is heartbreaking and upon its completion I could only sit in utter silence and playback the words that I had read.  I will not tell you Andrews secret, for you need to read and in a way walk through Andrews shoes, to truly feel what Stephanie Kuehn so eloquently and cryptically put together. 

Kuehn, S. (2013). Charm & strange. New York: Macmillan.

Enjoy the book trailer below. Created using animoto.com

Coffee with a Librarian

Coffee with a Librarian

     What a whirlwind four weeks.  I almost cannot believe it is over in just 24 short hours.  During this summer course I have gained confidence in my ability to be an incredible librarian.  I have so many ideas running through my mind and am anxious to put them into action.  I almost don't know where to start.  

     One of my favorite assignments was using Animoto and QR codes to create book trailers.  I had a blast putting mine together and have a vision of creating book trailers that will not only be on the library website but running on a slideshow in the library.  I would love to see posters around the school with the QR codes on them ready for students to snap and be taken into a new book.  I also already started using ToonDoo with my summer school students and was so pleased to see them excited about creating summaries over the books we had read using this new technology app.  This is one technology activity that will be utilized immensely. 

     I have always been an organized person and love to connect with others and by joining an online book community I can keep track of my reading while getting recommendations from others.  The creation of this blog has also opened my eyes to the possibilities of connecting with other librarians around the world.  I am going to do my absolute best to keep this blog up and help the staff at my district begin theirs.  

     It is hard to believe that half of my masters degree is already complete.  I know that in the blink of an eye I will be walking across the stage and getting ready to be the 21st century librarian I have always been destined to be!

Teens, Kindness, and Cruelty on Social Network Sites

Smith, A., Lenhart, A., Madden, M., Purcell, K., Zickuhr, K., & Rainie, L. (2011, November 9). Teens, Kindness, and Cruelty on Social Network Sites: How American teens navigate the new world of digitized citizenship. . Retrieved June 25, 2014, from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2011/PIP_Teens_Kindness_Cruelty_SNS_Report_Nov_2011_FINAL_110711.pdf

Teens, Kindness, and Cruelty on Social Network Sites

      Growing up is hard and no matter the decades that pass or the century we enter it doesn't get any easier for each new generation of children.  In fact I think we could all argue that growing up may even be harder these days with the addition of technology.  In the article it states that 95% of teens are online and 80% of those teens are using social media.  This can be a positive contribution to life by providing children with new ways to connect, be creative, or come out of their shell more.  The downside is that social media can become a negative aspect in children lives if and when it is not used properly. 

        I was not shocked when I read that 88% of teens have witnessed some form of bullying, harassment, or cruelty on social media sites.  I was definitely baffled when only 15% said that they had been a target of this type of behavior on social media sites.  With so many having seen negative behavior you would think that the number who have been a victim would be higher.  Further down in the article they state that the highest percentage of bullying is still face to face.  

      All of this makes me wonder about the parents and what is being done to help lesson the amount of negative behavior on social media.  The teens surveyed did state that their parents are their top source for advice on using the internet and dealing with bullying, harassment, or cruelty.  I was also amazed at how many parents, 80%, are friends with their teens on social media.  

     I feel that the most important thing to do is to continue educating our youth on appropriate internet/social media behavior.  It is a start when I read that teens are already thinking about their reputation and how putting comments on the internet can affect it.  

page count 86 (+158)= 244

The Future of Libraries

Rainie, L. (Director) (2014, April 10). The Future of Libraries: 7 Questions Librarians Need to Answer. Texas Library's Association Annual Conference. Lecture conducted from , Retrieved June 21st, 2014, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/04/10/the-future-of-libraries/

The Future of Libraries     

  This presentation was done by Lee Rainie during the TLA annual conference.  It is one of the most relevant and important topics to discuss these days.  With the emergence of technology almost every aspect of our lives has to be reevaluated and adapted from how we handle our money to the presents we buy for our family and friends.  Libraries are not safe from this emergence and if we want our libraries to continue to thrive and meet the needs of our communities then we must look into the future and be prepared.  
       Rainie's presentation reinforced that a high percentage of people consider libraries to be important to the community and family.  They see libraries as a way to give us all a chance, an even playing field almost.  It is comforting to know that when everything in our society seems so instantaneous the value in libraries is still immense.  One key factor that I found interesting was that libraries cannot stay focused on just being a collection but more on being a creation.  I think back to my public education days and many times I would go to the library and research and then go home to create my actual project.  It would have been great if I could have created the project right there in the library.  This change would add great depth to the function of a library.  A few other changes suggested by Rainie is the need for libraries to coordinate with schools more, begin early literacy programs, have access to more e-books, create comfortable spaces, and designate specific areas for the different services provided. All of these will increase the use and the outlook that libraries are staying current and relevant.
      I loved the ideas that Rainie received when surveying people about what they would like to see in a library.  Two of my favorites are putting in a technology "petting zoo" for patrons to try out the new stuff and to put up kiosks, like redbox, around town where they can "rent" a book without having to go to the library. I am excited to be a part of the library world and to help it transform into something even more wonderful!

Page count 44 (+ 114)= 158

Screencasts

 We have all been down that road where we just need someone to show us how to do it; how to fix the leak, how to fold paper into cute origami birds, how to add animation to our power points, etc... Well creating screencasts has gotten easier!  There are numerous screencast apps that allow you to do this to help others out.  Education is one area where screencasts are being made on a daily basis.  Teachers and librarians are able to create screencasts that show students how to select a book, how to add images into a power point, or how they want the assignment process to go.  I have looked at two different screencast creation sites, Screen-o-matic.com and screenr.com. In all honesty I feel that both screencast creators are great.  There are very few differences between the two. If I had to choose one, screen-o-matic would be my pick only because it lets you stop the video and restart it without having to go back to the main page and delte the screencast you just did. Check out the two screencasts I created using these apps.

1. Screen-o-matic
I created a screencast showing students the basics of using Animoto.com to create easy and creative book trailers.  Screen-o-matic was simple to use to do this.  I simply hit record button, sized the recording frame around what I wanted in the picture, and voila! I was off and running.  I really loved how screen-o-matic would count down from 3 before the recording started.  This made sure that I did not lose my first few words to preemptive recording.  Saving my screencast and then embeding or linking it was also easy with only a few clicks. I give it 5 stars out of 5 stars!



2. Screenr.com:  For this screencast I showed my students how to add animation to their power point presentations.  I found this app to be quite simple to use.  I only wished it let me record for longer than 5 minutes!

Instagram and Vine

       Long gone are the days of polaroid pictures and waiting days, even weeks, to get your film developed and shriek with excitement over your latest adventure.  In the 21st century pictures and photo sharing are instantaneous especially with the development of social media.  Instagram is one social media site that allows you to share your photos with only a few taps on the screen.  Instagram also allows you to share your photos via other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  Instagram is a great asset to any classroom no matter the age.

You can use Instagram to:
1. showcase student work
2. highlight your students of the week
3. edit photos to use as writing prompts
4. make reading recommendation
5. even create collages of the great memories from the school year.

Here are a few of my Instagram pictures:



   Vine is another social media tool that makes the creation of and sharing videos at the snap of our fingers.  Once you create your FREE vine account all you do is tap the screen and you can create a 6 second video.  What is so great about Vine videos is that they can be anything you want them to be. You can blend different shots of your video together to create quick easy glimpses into your life!

Here are a few ways you could implement Vine into your classroom or library today!
1. Teach students about making an inference or prediction.
2. Have students recreate scences from a novel.
3. Create picture displays for teaching vocabulary.
4. Quick and easy hooks when beginning a new unit.

Check out my son on Vine!

Cartoons and Comics

From Garfield to Ziggy to Tom and Jerry, cartoons and comics are a love for all ages.  There are cartoons and comics for every age, subject, or topic.  As educators we sometimes struggle with trying to keep the necessary concepts and skills we must and need to teach relevant and exciting.  Cartoons and comics are a great way to revamp pretty much any lesson for any grade for any subject.  Below I have tried out three different cartoon/comic digital tools. Check them out and see the wonderful ways you can start incorporating them into your students curriculum.

1. Toondoo.com


The comic strip above is a summary of the childrens classic story, The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. I used the summary strategy of Somebody, Wanted, But, So...

Toondoo is a fantastic site for creating cartoons and comics. You do need to register first, but it is free and quick! Out of the three I evaluated I was the most impressed with Toondoo. It is extremely animated and easy to follow and manipulate. There is an immense amount of images, characters, props, etc. for input. The steps for uploading your own images for addition into your cartoon/comic are simple and easy to follow. The only drawback I felt there was, was the limited amount of movements each character could be put in. The movements are pre-determined by the site. I do not feel though that the limited amount of movements truly hindered the creation of my cartoon/comic.


2. Pixton.com












This comic strip was created for a social studies lesson on King George and the taxation of the colonists.  It is also another way to summarize information.

Pixton is a cartoon/comic digital tool that is very high tech and allows you to do so many things with your creations.  I truly enjoyed working from this site, but feel that it is definitely harder to navigate.  There are tons of options and with so many options comes frustration.  It is definitely a cartoon/comic creator that takes more patience.  It is not one that will work for the first experiencers or if you are needing to create a quick cartoon. I can see the potential this site has for students thinking about entering into graphic art or into some kind of illustrated field. 


3. makebeliefscomix.com

This is a free site as well and does not require any kind of log in.  It is an extremely user friendly and easy site to navigate and create your comics.  What makes this my least likely choice is that there are very few options when creating your strip.  You can not change the color of the characters, rotate the characters around, and the selection for images is very limited.  You also can not save your image on-line.  You can either print out your creation or email it to yourself or someone else to view, after that it disappears from the site.  This would be great for my kindergarten son but not for the older students.  Here is the link to my cartoon on makebeliefscomix.com:  http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=61081270C1333890



I had a blast creating my cartoons and cant wait to begin implementing it into my classroom and library.  I think I will use ToonDoo the most often to complete the creation of comics and cartoons.  My students all have school email addresses so it would be easy for them to create an account.  Comic strips can help enhance the curriculum and instruction by giving students a creative way to summarize information, draw conclusions and make inferences, show what happens in a science experiment, and give great reviews on books read.  If you have other ideas and suggestions as to how comic strips can be used in the classroom and library please share!!