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Jeff Vogt's Blog (6)

Budget cuts

Thanks to the Governator and his quest to balance the state budget (hey, he's only been in office four years to do this) California education seems to be in full swing panic mode. There's a list being put together in my district of proposed cuts. One of them of course being the elimination of the Teacher Librarian position. Our school board proposed to eliminate these four positions (yes, there are only four Teacher Librarians for a growing district that includes two high schools, three middle… Continue

Added by Jeff Vogt on February 2, 2008 at 10:34am — No Comments

"Filthy" book

Recently a parent spoke at one of our districts board members ranting and raving about a "filthy" (her exact word) book that her child checked out at a middle school library. This parent did not contact the Teacher Librarian at the school nor did she contact the principal. She went straight to the board meeting and blindsited everyone involved. As a result our district has pulled this particular book and removed the Accelerated Reader quiz. I do not have the title in question "TTYL" but if I… Continue

Added by Jeff Vogt on January 31, 2008 at 6:45pm — No Comments

Games in the library

Currently enrolled in school right now is the video game generation. Why not take advantage of this in the library by programing lessons on the computer that are like video games? I've been researching this recently along with my school site computer tech. We're exploring ways on how to incorporate a role playing game such as "Age of Empires" into Middle School Social Study standards. It does seem like this is possible but there are obstacles like expense, copyright issues, and time. Stil, I… Continue

Added by Jeff Vogt on January 30, 2008 at 3:49pm — No Comments

Fantasy shopping

With out a doubt one of the top things I like about my job is ordering books. It's like fantasy shopping. I really like researching reviews and finding out what's hot in YA and other genres. Thankfully I am in the process of building a book collection for my library and finances have not been a major obstacle. I am pleased that so far my orders have payed off in increase circulation. The Meg Cabot collection took off better than I expected and I of course can't keep the many copies of "A Child… Continue

Added by Jeff Vogt on January 29, 2008 at 4:32pm — No Comments

Book Talks

Video book talks is something I started this year at my middle school. My school is lucky to have enough technology to incorporate a broadcasting class that cast a daily broadcast. Using my background in television I took the initiative to learn iMovie and create my own book talks much in the style of a movie trailer.

I love the fact that I can use my Telivision/Film background in a way that encourages reading and markets the library. I wish I had more time to create my own video… Continue

Added by Jeff Vogt on January 28, 2008 at 2:01pm — No Comments

What I think about AR...

I sort of have a love/hate relationship with Accelerated Reader. On one hand I dislike how it seems to test just recall skills, has questionable reading levels, and can turn off students from reading for fun. On the other hand it's good for showing accountability, has an incentive for students to read a variety of books, and most importantly job security for elementary and middle school Teacher Librarians.

I've had more fun with the AR program this year because I attached a theme to… Continue

Added by Jeff Vogt on January 28, 2008 at 12:37pm — No Comments

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