Goals for 2010/2011 School Year

I like to begin each new school year with a goal or two in an attempt to keep things interesting and fresh. I try to stick to one or two specific goals that are attainable instead of coming up with a lot of unwieldy goals that I'll never accomplish.

This year I plan to focus my attention on these two goals:

1) To learn to write effective children's book reiews

2) To improve my movie editing skills using iMovie

Goal 1
I read a lot of children's books so that I can make recommendations to students, parents and teachers. Plus, I really enjoy reading children's books. I prefer children's books to adult books. However, I haven't written a book review since I was in library school. I read lots of book reviews in School Library Journal, Horn Book, and from Publisher's Weekly. This year, I'm going to try my hand at writing reviews of some of the books that I read.

I had a gift card to a bookstore chain, so I ordered up a copy of the revised edition of From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books by Kathleen Horning. I have an old copy of the first edition from my children's literature class at Clarion, but I thought the new edition may have some new insights.


I also plan to attend the monthly book review sessions hosted by the Southern Maine Library District. Librarians in Maine are invited to attend these free sessions. Attendees peruse the selection of new books then take home piles of books to read and review. The reviews are shared with the group during the next meeting. I'm hoping that these meetings will help me to learn from other librarians and will provide me with the deadlines I need to complete my own book reviews.


Goal 2
I had a chance to try using a Flip Cam and editing a short movie with my professional learning team last at school last year. Now I am hooked! My husband bought me my very own Flip Cam for my birthday in June, and I have been filming various family events (piano recitals, little league games, sailing trips, etc...).

I had the opportunity to edit a film for a colleague's retirement party, and I was amazed at all of the options available in iMovie. Now I just need to become a bit more comfortable with the editing process because I think creating movies could be an amazing teaching tool in the library.

I think I'll start small by filming some book talks and creating some book trailers then partner with teachers to create film in their classrooms. What better way to show what you know about a subject than to make a movie? The possibilities are endless!