The SurRural Librarian

I’ll admit that the loathing for powerpoint I developed after years attending academic library conferences has made it difficult for me to see any educational application of the product.
I know, I’m wrong.

First my 5/6th graders had to convince me it was easier than iPhoto. Easier than a Mac application?! no. I relented and gave them the choice, the entire class chose ppt.

Then working with the 3rd graders on their slideshows sent me into a tizzy at the last minute because you can’t transfer them to different computers. You can do that with ppt, of course.

But it was working with the 1st grade this week on their “mitten”-inspired slideshow that just brought my little house of hate tumbling down.

Did you know you can save a ppt as a movie?!*

So, you can insert photos - sound - even film clips into a slideshow and save the whole thing as a movie. Stick it on the web, burn it to DVD, share it with the parents. I’m sorry, it’s cool. It just is. Ask the kids.

*Macs only. Apparently even Microsoft falls for the Apple marketing that PC users are too straight to make movies.

Everyone once in a great while I am so moved by a book that I simply want the world to stop and join one big book group.

You all need to stop what you’re doing right now and get yourself a copy (or 24) of Shaun Tan’s elegant, moving, frightening, beautiful The Arrival.

This is a wordless book, and I’m pretty much at a loss for words myself. It’s just, great.

Clearly, I’m not the only one who thinks so.

A New York Times Best Illustrated Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2007
A Book List Editors’ Choice
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2007
A 2007 Parents’ Choice Gold Award
A New York Public Library Best Book for Reading and Sharing

More images can be seen here at this extract.

We have an immigration unit in our 5/6th grades, and I can not wait to read this with them. I love this book and will be getting copies for the whole classroom.

One of my first graders was over for my daughter’s birthday this weekend. She left this message for me on my fridge.

In case anyone was in doubt of Wikipedia’s world-wide high profile.

What you get from being the first hit on Google.

This snow day has given me a moment to try out this site (found via the always helpful Librarian in Black).

The Math Worksheet Site.com is a nicely designed, easy to use site which generates customizable math worksheets - that simple. It’s not a collection of worksheets. It generates as many worksheets as you need, with different problems every time. It’s a great resource, and the fees are reasonable, even for teeny tiny schools like mine. I’ve been playing with a test login, just in time to show my faculty at our tech meeting tomorrow. Looks like it might be a winner.