I’m going to be spending a little time blogging for Follett Software….about once a month is the current plan. While I won’t replicate the posts on Library Ties, I will post a link for those that are interested. You can read the February post here.
Happy Wednesday!
Tags: Follett Software · school librariesComments Off
This summer the C.L.A.S.S Professional Development trip is schedule to go to Scotland/Ireland. I’ve written posts on this blog about our past trips to China and Italy. The registration deadline closes on Thursday, and we are still looking for 5 more friends to sign up.
You can click HERE to get all the details about costs, dates, etc.
The past trips have been amazing trips, so I have no doubt Scotland/Ireland will be just as wonderful.
Tags: C.L.A.S.S. · Professional Development · Scotland/IrelandComments Off
Where to begin…..I guess I’ve let this blog sit way too long without posting. I could give you a laundry list of excuses and reasons why I am behind on it, but really other things just got in the way. Currently I’m in the air writing this (but took me a couple of days to finish and get posted) flying somewhere over Montana on my way to Seattle and ALA Midwinter. So, stuck in an airplane with uninterrupted time to work/write/etc gives one a chance to catch up a bit. I’m pretty sure I’ll forget somethings and likely it will be when I get back home in Indiana before I am able to get the images in, but I thought I should at least try to get back into a routine.
So, let’s see….AASL Past-President.
As of July 1st, I am now the Immediate Past-President of AASL. I loved my experience as President and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, but I have to admit now being Past-President for the last 6 months I’ve enjoyed a slightly slower pace.
My conference visits this fall have included: The Arkansas Association of School Librarian’s conference in Eureka Springs, AR and the Ohio Education Library Media Association in Sandusky, OH. Both were great conferences. In Arkansas I got a chance to meet author Kimberly Willis Holt who is just a riot, and Erin O’Shea who is the President-Elect of ArASL. We were talking so much on the drive to the hotel that we got lost! It is a wonderful group of librarians. In Ohio, it was much like old home week for me. While this was my first OELMA conference, it was great seeing so many friends and colleagues I had met while I was President of AIME (not AISLE) in Indiana. Not to mention one of their keynoters was the amazing Kristin Fontichario who I always learn something from every time I talk with her! 
I also squeezed in the Indiana Library Federation conference as well as a quick trip to Chicago for the AASL Exec. Committee Meeting in October.
There have been a few other things, too….
The other highlight of being AASL Past-President was I got the opportunity to be on the I Love My Librarian selection committee. What a refreshing joy it was to read all the nominations by teachers, principals, patrons, trustees, faculty members, etc. who loved the librarian in their public, school, or academic librarian. In late December, I traveled to New York to the award ceremony where I met the 10 folks we selected and was just in awe of the amazing things they do.
I still have the first half of 2013 as Immediate Past-President, so I’m not done yet. I’ll be traveling to Maryland for a conference event and other little odds and ends before my term ends at the end of ALA Annual this summer.
The other major accomplishment professionally this fall has been the release of my 4th book – Adult Learners: Professional Development and School Librarians. It is alway so thrilling to see all the work you put into a project come together in the final product. I had thought there might be a lull before I start another project, but a colleague of mine are co-writing the next book and if we can keep on schedule, it might be out by the fall of 2013….so, keep your fingers crossed it all comes together.
I know there are countless things I could have written about or posted this fall, but maybe a break was just what I needed. We’ll see how things go this semester and hope to continue to post on this blog — and hopefully a little more often. We shall see how it goes…..
Tags: AASL · ABC-Clio · Adult LearnersComments Off
Fourth Quarter Report
This is my 4th and final update of my activities as AASL President. My term officially ended on June 30, 2012. It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as your President! This last update covers May and June.
Events/Projects:
Board Votes:
Press Interviews:
Tags: AASL · AASL President 2011-2012 · American Association of School Librarians · Reflection · school librarians · school librariesComments Off
This morning we got up a bit earlier than we had been as we had to be on the bus by 7:30am. Rome traffic can be something of a zoo. Not to mention I can’t even imagine trying to drive in it, but we had an 8:30am appointment at the Vatican, so we didn’t want to be late. We headed off and met our guide Francisco who gave us a very informative tour of the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica.
We started with the museum. Francisco led us out to a beautiful courtyard where he could tell us all about Michelangelo’s work. There is no talking in the Sistine Chapel, so the guides have to talk about it before you enter. The work was amazing and what is even more amazing about the ceiling is that was his first painting ever. He had worked mostly with other medium for art, carving, etc. The ceiling represents his impression of Genesis. The sides of the chapel were actually painted when the chapel opened originally as a private chapel for the Pope and I’ll have to look up when I get home who painted those. (Brain overload at this point!) Then 25+ years later he returned and painted the front with the last judgment. Apparently the lack of clothing on the virgin Mary and Jesus was quite scandalously at the time, but no one was willing to tell Michelangelo he had to change it. He did whatever he wanted. So, after his death clothing was added later. We weren’t allowed to take photos in the chapel either because a Japanese television station actually owns the copyright until 2020. This was the trade off for them paying for the complete cleaning of the room that took almost 18 years. During this process they discovered the images were much brighter than anyone amazing.
Following his talk, we walked through the Vatican to the chapel. Along the way we saw beautiful pieces of Roman art/sculpture. An entire room of amazing hand-made tapestries, and finally to the chapel. It was breathtaking. As Francisco said, he was a genius!
From the Chapel we headed out into St. Peter’s Basilica. This is a beautiful church and the largest Catholic Church in the world (by decree of the Pope!). It is built on the burial place of St. Peter who is buried under the church along with many other Popes. Apparently that is very hard to get to them as they only allow 100 down to the crypt a day. However, there are many buried on the church level as well such as John Paul II. There was amazing art work, a wedding going on, and it was full of people. From there, we headed out to St. Peter’s Square. We met at the obelisk which was taken from Egypt and marks the place where St. Peter was killed. We found out the light we saw on in the apartment of the Pope was his dining room and so meant he was just up and working or eating or meeting!
From there it was time for lunch and shopping. We found some more treasures and had a nice relaxing lunch. It was good to have some extra free time.
After lunch, there were options. Many of us went to see the Catacombs, while others went off to do their own thing. I opted for the catacombs. They were just amazing to think hundreds of years ago this was how the Christians were laid to rest. There were 4 levels underground. Many Popes and other important people as well as countless slaves, etc. were buried in this particular catacomb. At the time of its rediscovery in the 1800s, 90% of them had been broken into….assuming the people were buried with treasures, which of course was not the case. The Pope’s and other important people were moved to other places and 90% of the tombs are now empty. There are fragments of the marble or stones that covered them, so you can figure out some of names and what they did, but most have been ruined. This was another place we couldn’t take pictures.
From here, we headed the Pantheon. This is the oldest structure left in Rome. We saw it the other night, but we didn’t have time to go inside. So, we headed inside where we say the graves of the first Kings of Rome as well as the artist Raphael. Then we spent a little more time shopping, wandering around, and just taking in the city. It was amazing. Dinner was down a little road where we got some pizza, some appetizer (that I admit I didn’t know what they were and didn’t try) and ended with our last bit of gelato. Our leader Jim had made our tour guide Anna a beautiful neckless on a domino and we all signed a card of thanks for leading us on. It was a wonderful way to end the evening.
Back to the hotel, packing up (whew….it all fit!), and then we chatted in the lobby for a while. Went to bed as we had to be up early for the drive to the airport. We went through a ton of security lines only to find our plane was delayed an hour or so, which means we’ll be back to Indy later than we thought. But, it was an amazing trip. I loved every second of if….wonder where we might go next???
Waiting to board the last flight home (just had a Burger King cheeseburger! Yum!). No time to get pictures in, so will add those maybe tomorrow!
Tags: C.L.A.S.S. · Italy2 Comments
I woke up a bit early today, so going to try and catch up with the blog post about yesterday that I missed.
We got up a bit later which was nice for the extra sleep. After breakfast (I’m really missing an American type breakfast at this point!), we boarded the bus and headed to the University.
(again apologies for the tilting picture)
Rome has three public universities and we were at the 3rd one. They are so named based on when they were started. We spent the morning with a professor and talked about the American and Italian education systems. We noted that we experienced many of the same problems. The pressures of standardized testing, student engagement, parental involvement, etc. Students talked about the difficulties in landing jobs and the very low salaries that teachers make in Italy. In their high schools instead of the students moving classes, the teachers move from room to room. They only teach for about 18-20 hours a week….usually just in the morning. School is out in the afternoon. They go about 20 more days that we do in the U.S. so about 200 days a year. It was a wonderful discussion and we appreciated all their time and the tour of the university.
(picture of their library)
From there we boarded the bus and headed to lunch. We stopped near the Colosseum for lunch. It was a breathtaking view from our restaurant….although we had to “rush” so we could get to our guided tour on time. I had another cheeseburger which tasted pretty good….the french fries were the best!
We took this group shot out side the Colosseum before our tour. Then we headed in the Colosseum. Build in 79 BC, it is one of the oldest surviving structures. It was amazing to hear the story and the amount of thought that went into building and designing it. We heard stories of the gladiators and the slaves and all the people and animals that worked and fought in the Colosseum. It obviously was not a happy place for those doing all that work, but provided entertainment for the masses. The morning was scheduled with animal fights, the mid-day was scheduled with executions, and the the afternoon (when more people could come) was the gladiators. It was very bloody and very violent.
I can’t tell you how many pictures I took, but it was a lot. Here are just a few.
From there we got a guided tour of the Forum which was the main part of the town. We saw where they cremated the remains of Julius Ceasar and got a glimpse into the early houses and what life was like in the early Roman era. They are obviously still digging and looking for more information, but it was amazing to think how long some of these fragments of marble and columns had lasted.
After that we headed to the spanish step area for a break. I didn’t get any pictures because at that point I was wiped out. We got a Coca-Cola and some water and that helped. I ate a little dinner (turkey, salad, and terra massou (got to remember to check the spelling on that one)), but I was not feeling well for a bit. I seem to kind of snap out of it after dinner, although my stomach is still not completely normal….I don’t think. Anyway, following dinner we headed out on a little walk to see some of Rome lighted up at night. It was much cooler, so that helped. (Although the weather has been beautiful our entire trip – upper 70s to right around 80). We walked to the Roman Pantheon which is the oldest structure in Roman. Amazing!
Then we went to the fountain (whose name escapes me at the moment) where we threw a coin over our left shoulder with our right hand as a guarantee we return to Rome someday.
After that we got back on the bus and we drove around looking at more of Rome lighted up. It is just amazing that around every corner and every turn there was so much to see and these ancient piece and parts just showed up in the most interesting places. Our last stop was a chance to get off the bus and take a few pictures of St. Peter’s Square and Basilica. We are visiting it tomorrow for the tour of the Sistine Chapel and the museum. But, the nighttime views were amazing. We think the light on the window signifies the Pope is home.
We got back to the hotel and just crashed. We had an early wake-up call to be ready to head to the Vatican and be there on time. So, guess I better finish getting ready and head down to breakfast. Ciao!
Tags: C.L.A.S.S. · Italy3 Comments
Today we got up at a decent time, ate breakfast in Florence, and then headed to the bus. A good part of our day today was bus riding. Something my stomach has not enjoyed, but nevertheless we had to get to Rome! It is about 6 hours from Florence to Rome, but we stopped halfway through in Assisi – home to the patron saint of Italy, St. Francis.
First stop was a ceramic factory which is the craft they are famous for in this area along with their olive oils. I’ll be honest, I didn’t quiet understand most of the demonstration. It was fun wandering through the shop, but I refrained from any purchases this time around.
From there were drove to the center of the city. It was a beautiful area. High up on a hill, we had a breathtaking view of the countryside. The winding streets were just beautiful and we all commented how much we liked this Italian city. We started out with a couple of hours for free time which was marvelous. We stopped at a little restaurant and I got a cheeseburger. Not quite what I would have at home, but still it was nice for some from home. My stomach needed a little break.
Following lunch, we had a little time for some shopping as we wandered the streets. We loved all the alleys and alcoves we found, too.
From there we headed as a group to go through St. Francis’s Basilica. Prior to that we got a brief history from Michael (who originally was from Pennsylvania) on St. Francis and the church. St. Francis died in 1226. In 1230, he was buried on the mountain 15 feet into the heavy stone mountain. The lower church was built on top of his grave with the alter set right above it. Following that, the upper church was built on top of it and that, too, has the alter in the exact spot of St. Francis’s grave. Many centuries later, they began to dig under the lower church and built the crypt so that visitors today can see the stone sarcophagus of St. Francis. All of the rooms were filled with ancient frescos which were just amazing to see. Obviously, photos weren’t allowed and they enforced a strict silence in all three levels of the church. Below is a picture of me outside the church.
After about 4 hours total in Assisi, we had to board the bus for the rest of the journey to Rome, but many of us would have been happy if we had more time. Maybe a reason to come back someday?
For the rest of the bus ride, Anna, played the movie Roman Holiday. With the sun/glare and my heavy eyelids, I didn’t see all of it. So, may need to rent that one once I get home.
We checked into the hotel and headed to dinner. We had a great time, sharing, laughing, and talking as always. Even the chef came out to party with us a bit as I think he liked being the center of attention. I had some pork chops with some prishutto (spelling – ?) on top of it which was good and the teramasso (spelling -?) was amazing.
Originally we were going to do a night tour of Rome, but everyone was worn out. So, we’ve pushed that back until tomorrow night. We see the University, Coliseum, and Forum tomorrow! Should be a lot of fun!
Tags: C.L.A.S.S. · Italy3 Comments
Today started off a little gloomy with my camera issues I mentioned earlier, but we pressed on anyway! We had breakfast. Again, a very typical Italian breakfast – croissant and jelly, some cornflakes, and some sort of juice for me. We boarded the bus a little later to take into account our late arrival last night back to the hotel from Pisa which was nice for a few more minutes of sleep.
This morning we had a guided tour provided by Palo. My friend Ruby really must have liked Palo as she was at the front of the pack the entire tour.
First we looked at a bridge which is a icon of Florence. This bridge was built in the 12th or 13th Century (I’ll have to look it up later for sure). It was the only one the German’s didn’t destroy in the 1940s.
We talked a lot about the three main periods of Florence’s growth and development. It began as a Roman colony. Many of the men were given land after service in the military. Most of the Roman part of the city is now underneath, but in one story they have a glass floor where you can see some of the foundations left from the Roman area.
We also talked about the Middle Ages and the Renaissance periods. The biggest shift was from buildings where you protect yourself to buildings in balance and for arts and fun. There is a good mix of both types of buildings left…obviously more of the Renaissance than the Middle Ages. The picture below is from the main cathedral in Florence. We saw little doors where you could stop in the Renaissance and get a beverage.
He talked about the Renaissance and how they tried to keep things in perfect proportion. They used two perfect male examples to demonstrate.
Following the tour, we went to a leather shop. Oh boy! I was going to be so good because I splurged at the glass factory, but…..well, let’s just say my new Italian leather satchel is absolutely beautiful and I’m sure it will last forever. Several friends did a lot of damage in that store! I found a few more gifts for family, too. Just need to find things for the little kids.
After the leather shop, some of us went to a wine tasting. We tried several whites and reds. All were ok, but none that I thought I had to have. They, of course, offered to ship it home and several of the people on our tour did just that. But, I opted to pass. I was still recovering from my leather purchase.
From there we had some free time. Lynnette and Rhonda wanted to find this shoe store they passed earlier and I wanted to find a camera battery. I was successful. They opted to pass on the shoes. So, now my camera is working! Yeah! Then we needed lunch, but with not much time left we opted for some more gelato! Yum!
We met up with the group and headed back to the hotel for a few minutes of rest. On our way, they took us up to the Michaelanglo’s Square where we got a breathtaking view of the entire city.
Our last meal was an optional event, but we thought it sounded like fun. It was a traditional Renaissance dinner with entertainment. The dinner was great and the entertainment even more fun. Dave and I were “volunteered” for a game. Dave won, but I’m sure somehow I should have won.
Anyway, the dinner was a lot of fun. Ending the day in the lobby writing this up before I head to bed. We’re leaving early in the morning as we have a long day…..bus ride to Assisi to see where St. Francis was from (This should be interesting as my Mom works at St. Francis in Mooresville) and then we head on to Rome and a lighted tour at night. We’ll be spending the rest of our time there. Amazing how the time is going so fast, but we’re having an amazing time.
Tags: C.L.A.S.S. · Italy5 Comments
Today was a looooong day which it explains why I am writing it the morning of Day 4. We got up, had breakfast, and then boarded the bus for the drive from Venice to Florence. We took the ferry again today and then once on the mainland we were off. We didn’t get far before the bus driver Stephano pulled over. He started tinkering the back. Apparently there is a belt or something that is not quite right and it was messing up the A/C and other things. He worked for probably 45 minutes before he got it as good as he could. It was an experience; I mean how many Americsn can say they had a broken down bus on an Italian high way!
We took off again and stopped about halfway through the 3 hour trip for lunch at a local rest stop. I had some fruit and fries, but it didn’t set well. The rest of the ride was a little bumpy and I wasn’t sure that I’d make it without loosing my lunch — but I did.
We checked into the hotel, got settled, and then headed to the center of Florence and some “free” time. Some went shopping, but the line at the Academia was short (than normal, I guess) and we could get in to see the statue of David. About 10 of us opted to do that, so we waited in line about an hour (plenty of time to get some gelato to enjoy, too) and then once inside it was just amazing. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures, but if you’ve ever seen photos of the statue Michaelanglo completed in 1504, they don’t even begin to do it justice. It was just amazing to see something from our textbooks come to life. Also about this point, my camera battery died! Ugh! But, I knew I had Rhonda and Lynnette to help with getting photos.
After our tour of the museum, we headed to dinner. We ate at a wonderful steak house and dinner was amazing. I had some sort of cheese/tomatoes on crusted bread, and a wonderful steak! Yum! Dinner ended right around 8pm and from there we took a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to Pisa
The tower was beautiful at night. We had a guide that talked about the tower, church, baptistry, and cemetery of Pisa. The tower is now leaning at 5 degrees after some restoration work in the 1990s. It was absolutely beautiful and at night the number of people around was WAY less than during the day.
We headed back to Florence and got back to the hotel about 1:00am. Luckily we had a late wakeup call in the morning. I played around with the camera for a while, but never did have much luck getting the battery to charge. So, I will just have to rely on those around me for their photos which will be fine. I’ll maybe look for a new battery today in Florence, but we’ll see. The good thing is everyone is taking so many pictures that there will still be plenty to choose from!
I’m going kind of quick this morning, so at some point I’ll have to go back and expand on this just a little bit.
Tags: C.L.A.S.S. · ItalyComments Off
Today we had breakfast about 7:30am. I had croissant and some cornflakes along with an apple and some sort of juice — still not sure what kind it was. Then we headed off. We walked about 5 minutes to the lagoon that separates our island from the main part of Venice. We boarded a water taxi and took off for the city. The water is low, so getting into the boat was a little tricky. Here is a picture of Lynnette trying to get down in then board.
(I can’t figure out how to rotate the picture….yet! Sorry!)
It took about 30 minutes to get to the main part of Venice. It was just beautiful. We started off with a guided tour of Venice. The local guide, whose name was also Anna, walked use through the city. I was lost in 2 minutes. We saw St. Zachariah’s Church, wandered across some of then streets and crossed many bridges. We got to see really what life in Venice for those who still live there is like. Daily a man pulling a cart comes around to pick up garbage. Anything that has to be delivered is by cart because there are no cars. (Many of the streets were barely wide enough for two people to walk down them. Venice is made up of 120 islands. It is very expensive to remodel or make repairs on the houses. The weight of the house has to be considered because if it is too heavy, it could sink. There are few elevators, so for the elderly and the young living in the old part of Venice is not desired much any more. We did walk down a little area where a lady was hanging out her laundry.
We kept walking and Anna gave us a lot of history of the city. It has been part of Austria, France, and only since the early 1800s has it been a part of Italy. So, there have been lots of difference influences. We ended up in St. Mark’s Square which is the main square in the city. So named for their patron saint whose remains were moved here from Alexandria, Egypt many years ago. He was laid to rest in the St. Mark’s Basilica which is off the square. The square also has the Doge Palace where the rulers of Venice lived for many, many years. We’ll come back to the palace and basilica later. We enjoyed Anna’s humor and singing, but our tour was now over. Anna, our tour director, guided us all back to the boat and we headed to an island to see the Arti Venziane alla Giudecca.
We started with a glass blowing demonstration. The main made a beautiful vase right before our eyes. He then did a demonstration where he made a beautiful horse sculpting it from the hot glass. Amazing and very impressive to watch him make it and do it so quickly.
Then it was time for some shopping. Venice is know for its Mulano Glass and this place was amazing. Beautiful (and expensive) pieces of art and jewelry. I splurged a bit and bought this beautiful gondola. It will be a beautiful reminder of the city and this trip. I also found a few gifts for family members, too. Following that, back to the boat and back to the city. This time we went to see the Lace School.
Here again we saw a beautiful demonstration of the handmade lace from Venice. Never exported out because there are now so few that know how to make it. Pieces can take months and months to produce. They were absolutely amazing. I did find another family gift here, so that was good. I had been worried about find that particular one.
After that we were all pretty much worn out and needed some lunch and most of us needed money, too. So we headed towards an area with shops and restaurants. We found a small little sandwich place for us and I had a ham and cheese sandwich and a drink – really needed a drink! The sitting down for a bit helped, too.
Rested a little, we headed back out and found some other little trinkets (a necktie for me!) and then waited for the rest of our group to come back. Then it was off for the gondola ride. It was amazing. Just so calm, beautiful, and serene.
We would have gone again if time (and money) were endless. The gondolas that travel between the city glide across the 9 foot deep water pretty easily. A little congestion and the boat in front of us even had a singer on it which was neat to listen to him sing to the riders.
After the ride, we got tickets to go to the Doge Palace. Before that since the line was really short, we walked through St. Mark’s Basilica. It was beautiful, but unfortunately they don’t let you take any pictures inside. We also had to have our knees and shoulders covered out of respect. The art on the walls, ceiling, and just everywhere was amazing.
Then, we walked over to Doge Palace. The courtyard kind of reminded me of the set from the Muppets Show, but it was beautiful with all of those arches.
We started walking through the rooms. Many again, we were not allowed to photograph. But, we had a great time looking around at the paintings that had been there for more than 500+ years, the fireplaces, the woodwork, etc. It was all breath taking. Towards the end we decided we needed to pick up the pace to get out of there. Well, the tour kept going and we found ourselves crossing the Bridge of Sigh to go from the palace to the prison.
We went up and down more steps than I could count, but we finally saw the prison and got out of there just in time to meet our group for the water taxi back to the hotel. After a short break, we took the bus to the center of this island for dinner on our own. We found a cute little restaurant where we could eat outside. I had a grilled steak (delish!) and we split a liter of wine. But, of course the highlight was the gelato. I got chocolate chip again, but I had bites of Strawberry, Rum, and Chocolate….all were amazing. Now, back to the hotel to check email, post stuff, and get ready to depart in the morning. We’re heading to Florence and Pisa tomorrow!
Tags: C.L.A.S.S. · Italy1 Comment