A Google a Day

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Vacation = Disconnecting?

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Explain Anything with Explain Everything

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Listening Skills in the Library

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The Year's Most Popular Titles

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Spring Break Reading

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Afro-Punk Movement

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Blaxploitation Era

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Black Arts Movement

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Harlem Renaissance

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Preparing and Writing a Personal Statement

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With the help of personal statements you will introduce yourself to the university, this type of paper will help you to reflect your intellect and personality. It is important for you to understand the importance of personal statement writing. Take an analytical and through look at yourself and your objectives. Your admission committee members are trying to find the insightful and interesting personal statements that suggest that you have thoroughly gone through the process of self analyzing and self-examination. Furthermore,you need to know that admission committees are searching for something analytical and special. Such approach to personal statement writing will be a successful one.
 Step by Step Personal Statement Writing
 A blank piece of personal statement paper can be horribly intimidating. A great number of people are not able to just begin writing the work off the top of the head, that is why it will be a good idea to take some notes at first. You will need to write something that is lively, fresh and different, in a word, your personal statement should be memorable. Often happens that students have no possibility to write academic papers independently. As the result of this a great number of custom writing companies are ready to assist you with your writing difficulties. Simply choose the best personal statement writing service that will compose a fantastic paper within the deadline.
 Use Academic Writing Assist
 Frankly speaking great number of students are ready to use BuyEssay.org essay writing service and buy research paper, essay, course work, dissertation and other types of works. You are highly recommended to choose reliable, honest and trustworthy academic writing service that will compose an academic paper within the deadline at affordable and flexible prices. Buy thesis papers on BuyEssay.org, dissertation, research paper, essay and get ready to receive an outstanding work within the deadline. There is no need to write your paper independently and spend a couple of days on it, simply make an order, list essential recommendations and instructions and that is all!So, if you feel that you need some extra help to cope with academic writing assignments , for sure academic writing companies will assist you at once and within the deadline.


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How to Write a Quality College Paper

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It is a well known fact that writing a quality academic paper can be a challenging and difficult task for the student. To cope with this assignment you will need to follow some essential and significant steps. Inevitable, when you are assigned to write a paper the question arises” How can I cope with this task quickly and effectively?”

Step by Step Writing
 At first, you will need to choose an interesting theme for your writing. Select only such topic that will be catching not only for your tutor and reader, but for you personally. This will help you to make better research and stay interesting while doing this research. Now, once the theme is chosen be ready to analyze your literature. Read magazines, journals, books, visit libraries and use Internet while your researching. Now you may start your writing, list all your thoughts and viewpoints clearly and in a proper manner, do not use abuse words and phrases.
Try to interest the reader with some quotations or anecdotes. Write separate point of view in different paragraphs. In the conclusion of your paper you are welcome to summarize everything that was written above, but do not use new data. Often happens that student simply have no possibility to write the work independently, as the result of this you may use custom-writings.com services.
 There is nothing easier to ask Essaywritinghelp.us at responsible and honest company.Everything that you will need to do is to ask ” write my essay ” and the team of professional writers will compose an outstanding paper within the deadline of your choice.
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October is Information Literacy Month!

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 Information is currently available from an overwhelming number of sources and in a huge number of formats, including printed text, television, videos, library databases, and websites. Students will need to be able to choose the best source for what they need to know, as well as whether they need a thorough analysis of a subject, a concise description, statistics, up‐to‐the‐minute data, etc.. These skills are necessary for everyone.
The NSCC Library has a great Information Literacy Tutorial that teaches how to navigate our information rich society and use that information effectively and ethically. This self-paced tutorial consists of 9 sections taking you from understanding your information need to citing your sources. Another great information literacy resource is our LSC101 course. This 1 credit class takes you through the research process over 10 weeks. Offered during the Fall and Spring semesters, LSC101 examines how to find, choose and use a variety of resources. This course is essential for every student’s academic success. Sign up for Spring semester.

Jim Chisholm Exhibits Paintings in Lynn Campus Library

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NSCC’s own Jim Chisholm, art teacher extraordinaire, isexhibiting a series of his current paintings in the Lynn Campus Library. Thepaintings are of local landscapes, including sites in Ipswich and Boxford. Mostof the exhibited works are in watercolor.Jim has taught at NSCC since 1995, and is a graduate of theMassachusetts College of Art and of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts inBoston. He has exhibited at galleries in the area, including the Gallery DellaPiana in Wenham, and the Bravos Arts Gallery in Gloucester.  He has won awards from exhibitions at theSchool of the Museum of Fine Arts and at the Marblehead and Rockport ArtAssociations. We are fortunate to be able to host Jim’s paintings. Come infor a viewing!

NSCC Libraries Say Good Bye to VHS Videocassettes

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The VHS videotape format first introduced to consumers in 1975 by JVC/Matsushita will be seeing its final demise this semester at the NSCC Libraries, as the Lynn and Danvers Campus Libraries withdraw the videocassettes from their circulating collections. The Library has not purchased VHS titles in years - in fact, the format has not been released in the U.S. since 2008.   

The Library will not be losing any of its valuable content on VHS. Heavily used VHS tapes will be replaced with either their DVD or streaming video counterpart. Faculty using Library VHS tapes in their courses should contact either Bill Meunier in Danvers or Carolyn Johnson in Lynn to ensure there is no disruption to classes in which they have planned viewings using VHS videos. Faculty should also contact their Library Liaison if they are interested in working with library staff to purchase new videos for classroom subjects.

Say Hello (if you haven’t already) to Streaming Videos
Since 2010 the NSCC Libraries have subscribed to a streaming video database called Films on Demand. This database contains educational films, documentaries and news programs in all academic subject areas from well known producers like Cambridge Educational, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, PBS, Nova and Ken Burns. This “faculty favorite” database has received nearly 124,000 hits since the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester.

By creating an account within the database faculty may set up a favorites folder for easy storage and access to videos they may use in the classroom. The database also allows faculty the ability to create customized playlists for courses. Faculty may make appointments with librarians at both the Lynn and Danvers Campus Libraries for information about searching and using some of the advanced features available when using videos from the Films on Demand database for classroom viewing.  

  

NSCC Libraries Celebrate National Poetry Month with Evolving and Interactive Displays, Online Guides

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Lead by one of our own resident poets Barbara Flaherty, the NSCC Libraries are encouraging the campus community this April to find their inner poets in celebration of National Poetry Month. Flaherty says, “There is a poet in each of us, whether one writes the words or hears the voice and resonance in another's work.”

The Libraries invite NSCC students, faculty and staff to submit original poetry that the Libraries will collect and display throughout the month. Looking for inspiration? Use the Library's Poets’ Corner where Flaherty has included writing prompts. An example of a prompt: You (or a character) are closing up a beach house for the summer, maybe for the last time. How do you say farewell?

Flaherty has also created an online guide to poetry resources available in the Libraries, which could be used in conjunction with the Libraries evolving weekly book displays for potential class assignments. The displays will focus on New England Poets, U.S. Poet Laureates, and Contemporary/Post Modern Poets. Faculty might have students select a poet from one of these categories and have them study one of their work’s for an assignment. Online web links to the Library’s resources and vetted Internet sites provided in the Poetry LibGuide can help students support their own written analysis of the work.

Finally, step into the Libraries more this month and enjoy the new Knopf Doubleday Publishing Poem-A-Day on display each day.

Flaherty’s published works include Beach Rain and Memory and metaphor: new and collected poems, 1993-1999.

Evergreen is Coming!

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Library users will soon notice big changes in North Shore Community College’s online catalog. Along with the 27 other libraries in the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE), NSCC will be switching in late May to a new online catalog and circulation system called Evergreen.
Evergreen will offer many customer-friendly features familiar to users of other online sites. You will be able to create personalized, easy-to-remember usernames, instead of always needing to enter your library card number to check on your online accounts. In addition, you will be able to create and even share personal “lists” of favorite books or books you would like to read, as well as keep track of what you have already read. You will now be able to receive pickup notices for holds via text message or email.
The switchover will take place over the Memorial Day weekend.Some remote services will not be available May 25-28, including online renewal of materials and placing hold requests. Electronic resources such as EBSCO periodical databases and Overdrive for downloading ebooks and audiobooks will be available as normal during the changeover. When the library opens on Tuesday, May 29, it will be with a brand new Evergreen catalog and circulation system. 
The North Of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) is a non-profit consortium of 28 public, academic and special libraries founded by participating libraries thirty years ago to share resources and improve service and efficiency through shared automation.

Lynn Library Exhibits Drawing Students’ Mural

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Once again, JimChisholm’s drawing students have produced an exciting mural, this one based onStravinsky’s Firebird. Afterlistening to and watching excerpts from the ballet, the students were asked to visualizethe music and plot.  The result is themural, pictured below, which is presently exhibited in the Lynn Library.


Commenting on themural, Professor Chisholm says, “My Basic Drawing 2 students, workingindividually and as a team, were able to develop very strong design solutions,to self-adjust the design when necessary to keep an overall consistency to thedesign, and to maintain strong focus throughout the mural’s development. Themural process is a complex process, often requiring multitasking;  in this case, the process involved resolvingmusical and visual references, and ending up with something that  will be able to provide a consistent visualnarrative.”Please visit and viewthis unusual work of art!Carolyn Johnson, Lynn Library Coordinator

New Online Catalog Password

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The changeover to our new library catalog Evergreen has required that all library users' passwords be updated.  In our old catalog, in order to login to your library account online you were promped to enter in your library card number and a PIN that was assigned to you when you registered your NSCC ID. In the new Evergreen catalog, the online catalog password assigned to your library account is your birth date (format: MMDDYYYY). You can easily change the password within the new catalog by clicking on the link to reset your password.

 

What will be your NextRead?

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Looking for a read beyond the New York Times bestseller lists this Summer? Sign-up for NextReads, an email alert service that lets you know the latest well reviewed titles in your favorite subjects. Many titles have a preview feature that includes a table of contents or first chapter. Follow the link into the library catalog to see which area libraries have copies available to borrow, or place a hold to put yourself on a waiting list for the title to be sent to you. This Summer flirt with a new romance author you haven’t tried, explore countries and cultures halfway across the world you know little about, brush up on how to improve your personal finances, sound like an expert in ancient Greece or modern peace at the next barbeque, or get plugged into the latest Overdrive ebooks and audiobooks with NextReads. 

Books

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The following are typical citations for printed books.

For books with one author you need the following:
Title: The Little Engine that Could
Author: Watty Piper
Publisher: Grosset and Dunlap
Place of Publication: New York
Copyright: 1978

Here is what the citation would look like on the works cited page.

Piper, Watty. The Little Engine that Could. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1978.

For books with two or more authors the second and subsequent authors' names appear first name first with a comma separating the authors names.

For books with four or more authors write the first authors name and if you wish you can follow the rules for two or more authors or write et al. for the authors following the first.

For an excerpt form an anthology or edited collection the information thas is need:
Title of anthology: Dynamic Argument
Title of excerpt: Crito
Author of excerpt: Plato
Editors: Robert Lamm and Justin Everett
Publisher of anthology: Houghton Mifflin
City of Publication: New York
Date of Publication: 2007
Pages the excerpts: 746-754

The citation would look like this:

For and article in a reference work if the reference occurs in a familiar work you can omit most publishing information and names of editors.

Authors last name, Authors first name. “Tile of Article.” Name of Reference Work. Edition. Year of publication.

“Utilitarianism.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6^th ed. 2001.

Online Resources

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For citing a online library database the following is needed:

Author: Pandrea Ponds
Title of Article: Taking Charge of the Wild
Name of Periodical: Parks and Recreation
Date of publication: June 2007
Section and page number: 32-37
Name of Database: Hospitality and Tourism Complete
Name of Vendor: Mythic
Library the Database is associated with: Robert E. Kennedy Lib., Cal Poly U
Date of access: May 4, 2008
URL: http://mythic.lib.calpoly.edu/

The citation would come together and look like this:

Here is how to cite a webpage with the following information:

Author: Ann Hulbert
Title of Page/Web Page: Slate
Title of Article: Servi-Tourism: Community Service, Three-Star Style
Date when Article published: May 26, 2004
Date of access: May 30, 2004
URL: http://slate.msn.com/id/210125/

The citation would look like this:

Magazines/Newspapers

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Magazine and newspaper articles can enhance your writing substantially.

Citing a magazine article is similar to citing a book. The following, if you can get it, is need:
Author: Anne Mallory
Title of article: Burke, Boredom, and the Theater of Counterrevolution
Title of Magazine: PMLA
Issue: 119
Date of Publication: 2003
Page Numbers: 329-43

The citation would look as follows:

For a magazine article in a monthly magazine you need:
Author: Samantha Schoech
Title of Magazine: Sunset
Title of Article: Transform with Color
Volume of Magazine: n/a
Issue: n/a
Month of publication: May
Year of publication: 2008
Page Numbers of article in magazine:65-68

The citation would look like the following:







A newspaper article would need the following:
Author: Brian Blackstone
Title of article: Banks Hold Steady in Discount-Window Use
Name of Newspaper: the Wall Street Journal
Publication date (day, month, year): 9 May 2008
Section and page numbers: A4

The citation would look like this:

A Complete Works Cited Page

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A Complete Works Cited Page

This is a complete Works Cited page. It would be found at the end of a paper, separate from the rest of the work.

A complete works cited can be seen here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg8w2f9p_0ctbzm9xm


If you have any more questions about how to construct a works cited page visit the links section to find more complete explanations of how to cite less commonly used resources.

Rules of Thumb!

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The following are some rules that help create a successful works cited page.

1. It should be all one font most likely Times New Roman, 12 point font.
2. Double Spaced if the paper is double spaced and single spaced if the paper is single spaced.
3. One inch margins.
3. Title, centered saying Works Cited.
4. If the citation is two or more lines indent the second and subsequent lines.
5. Put citations in alphabetical order by the first word in the citation.
6. If you don't have a piece of information for the citation omit it
7. For long URLs give the URL of the site's search page.
8. Each citation ends with a period.

What do kids think about study skills?

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Are you sick of hearing about note taking yet? If so, you're not alone - our students are right there with you.

We've finally wrapped up our study skills unit, and had the kids take a survey to assess the experience. We needed to know what was successful and what was unsuccessful.

So we asked.

When you ask a 9th grader to list the ways in which you bombed as a teacher, be prepared, 'cause they aren't afraid to tell you exactly what they think. Here are a few of my favorite gems from their survey:

• "The entire system of SimpleMind [a concept mapping app] was, in my opinion, superfluous at best, and a waste of technological resources and time."
• "...Grading the cornell notes on a RUBRIC is RIDICULOUS...I found that totally ridiculous, stupid, and unnecessary. like seriously, who grades notes?"
• "Most students simply don't like doing the extra work that goes into study skills, so even though you taught us the information we will probably not use it later in life."

Honestly, though, their feedback is instrumental in perfecting our methods and fine tuning the experience for next year's classes. This quote pretty much sums up their overall sentiments:

"The cornell notes, while annoying, are actually useful for studying, taking notes, and planning documents." 
So although study skills aren't especially delectable (like brussel sprouts), students do realize it's good for them (like brussel sprouts).

Based on their feedback, we're going to try to do the following:

• Start the year with a lesson on how to identify and differentiate between main ideas and supporting details in an argument. Some students complained that we asked them to do this, but they didn't know how. One said, "I would have preferred if you went over how to find key points and important concepts and details vs. unimportant details." Another said, "It would have been nice to have been given a lesson on how to properly identify the main idea and sub ideas of a paragraph." I didn't realize we'd need to teach 9th graders how to do this.
• Teach the listening skills in October, at the latest. Many students suggested that we move this skill up. "Doing the listening first would help students listen all year long."
• More technology with the iPads, and sooner in the year. More opportunities to use the iPads consistently in class. Introduce Evernote in the fall.  The kids LOVED taking notes on the iPad and most of them really liked Evernote, especially because it allowed them to see their peers' interpretation of the same lecture. "Using the technology helped because you can plan everything out right in front of you on an iPad and it made it a lot easier." "The Evernote app was good because could either get the app at home, or go on the Internet version." "I loved LOVED evernote! I went on it last night and doing the lisitening activity in class with evernote made it much more fun and educational."

Almost ALL of them HATED the fact that we graded their notes. Although they suggested we change this next year, we're not going to. We're teaching a skill, and we need to assess whether they've mastered the skill. Therefore, we grade the notes. We'll have to look for ways at making this more palatable - although they had the opportunity to re-do notes for a better grade, maybe giving them more time to practice before assessing them would be better. 

Overall, it was a great experience! I'm actually really looking forward to starting fresh with a new class and fine-tuning our study skills experiment. 

SSL Conference Presentation

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Over the weekend, I presented at the 2012 NYLA/SSL conference. It's New York's state level school librarian conference. I got to listen to some great speakers, including Joyce Valenza and David Wiesner.

I presented with my librarian co-worker (and neighbor), Leslie, on using apps for instructional purposes - our workshop title was App-ealing Instructional Practices - aren't we creative? :)

At the presentation, we handed out bookmarks featuring the apps we used. Here's Leslie's suggestions for elementary apps:
 And here are my suggestions for secondary apps.
If you follow my blog, many of these probably sound familiar.  I've covered Doodle Buddy, Index Card and Book Creator in this post, Explain Everything in this post, SimpleMind+ for note taking, and Evernote as part of our listening skills unit.
Also, I did a guest post for the SLJ blog Touch and Go. I talk about applications for many of the above apps - check it out here.

Do you have a favorite app that we should have covered?

May Book Displays: Roll Into A Good Book

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Better late than never, right? For May, our book displays celebrated National Bike Month. If your school sponsors a "bike to school" day, this kind of showcase is a great way to promote it.

Because I was late taking photos this month, certain parts of our display are looking a little weary. Not everything we come up with is a home run - check out our sad "bike tires" - repurposed trufella tree trunks. Though, the bike was a hit - kids loved ringing the bell on the handle bars. Eventually we scraped the "tires" and just moved the signs to the columns on either side of the desk.


We used tricycles and scooter type toys on the display shelves, along with Fourth of July table decorations.
We used the theme to display books that in some way deal with wheels, including NASCAR, skateboarding, and cards.

We REALLY wanted to include a couple of stationary bikes, so kids could pedal as they read, but we couldn't find any, so we scrapped that idea at the last minute.

What are your May book display ideas?



The Year's Most Popular Titles

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The end of the year means circulation statistics.

Image from here.

This time around, I've delved deeper into specifics, and I think I know a lot more about my user population and their reading habits. This week I learned the following:

• Ninth grade boys don't very read much. I didn't realize that their circulation numbers were so abysmal compared to everyone else until I broke it down this spring. I **think** it's because most of my 9th grader ELA teachers don't require classroom novels, and fifteen year old boys just aren't that anxious to read for fun.
• 8th graders and 9th graders read very different things. Books popular at the 8th level don't even break into the top ten at the 9th grade level. This could be because 8th graders are exploring titles that weren't available in the middle school library, while most 9th graders read these books the previous year.
• Blockbusters, like Hunger Games, are popular with EVERYONE.
• New books aren't always the most popular. Older titles like Twisted and The Lovely Bones were well-read across the board. This is probably the result of ELA teacher booktalks which get the kids pumped for specific titles.  

Most Popular Books Overall in the Junior High:

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
4. Numbers by Rachel Ward
5. Twisted  by Laurie Halse Anderson
6. Matched by Ally Condie
7. Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
8. Fallen by Lauren Kate

Most Popular Books Among Females in the Junior High:

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins
4. Numbers by Rachel Ward
5. Matched by Ally Condie
6. Fallen by Lauren Kate
7. Crossed by Ally Condie
8. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 

Most Popular Books Among Males in the Junior High:

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
4. Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
5. Numbers by Rachel Ward
6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by
7. Football Champ by Tim Greene
8. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

What titles drew top honors in your library this year?

The Joys of Summer Vacation!

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Who doesn't love summer vacation? It means my mornings can start like this:

And my afternoons can look like this:


Summer vacation is essential for fostering healthy, happy teachers. It's a much needed opportunity to relax, recharge, and reevaluate. Some of my best ideas are generated over summer vacation when my brain has a chance to truly wonder - and I actually have time to follow those tangents.

Summer vacation also is a perfect opportunity for Professional Development. I co-hosted a fantastic workshop yesterday presented by the YA nonfiction author Marc Aronson and library system director Sue Bartle. It was an awesome immersion into the Common Core and informational texts. Can't wait to share all of their great insight and ideas with you!

If you're on summer vacation, I hope you're enjoying it!