favorite place to read

I was going through old emails this morning and re-found the following photo:

Ms. Sarah had her students post a picture on their blogs showing their favorite place to read. This was an assignment for over the Tet Break... and Keiny's (6th grade) was one of my favorites! I really like how he used his love for Lego's in the photo.  :)

What a great / fun 'assignment'! I remember being in the classroom as each student shared their photo(s) and it was a nice way to get to know a bit more about each student...

The Book Whisperer

Do you recognize the book below from Ms. Sarah's READ poster?!?

A middle school reading / social studies teacher in Texas, U.S. wrote, The Book Whisperer, and tells about some great ideas to use in the classroom that help get students excited about reading! The Book Whisperer started as a blog that she kept... you can see her blog by clicking here. Not only is Donalyn Miller able to get students excited about reading... but she teaching them to love reading for life.

I really like, The Book Whisperer, and it is one of the few books that I actually packed to bring with me when I moved to Vietnam from the States this past summer.

Last year at the elementary school that I was working at, each teacher was able to choose one book to receive as a gift from our principal for Teacher Appreciation Week... this is the book I chose.

When I arrived at the AIS middle school in July, I noticed that we also had a brand new copy of it here! ...Great! I had not ready my copy yet and was excited to get to reading it soon... but first, I had an entire library collection to try and get familiar with.

I put the school's copy of, The Book Whisperer, on display ...and it caught Ms. Sarah's eye. She really enjoyed the book and she recommended it to me, as I still hadn't gotten around to reading my copy yet.  :P

This book is meant for teachers to read... and how teachers can get their students to love reading -- on their own, not just for school -- ...but I wanted to share with you through this post, how books can make connections between people.

When Ms. Sarah checked out, The Book Whisperer, her and I barely knew one another. Now, she is one of my closest friends! ...This book was the basis of many talks between us as we got to know one another in the beginning of the school year.   :)  

AIS MS spring concert

A few students requested me to video the spring concert... 

below are the videos...   :)

[And a wonderful job to Ms. Patrice, Mr. Arunski, and Mr. Ryan for a great concert!]

EPIC

Although I don't love the dog-eared page in the picture below... I do love the post-it note that I found while checking the book back into the library...

This is in the book, The Angel Experiement, by James Patterson... which is the first book in the Maximum Ride series (which you might recognize from Ms. Patrice's READ poster!!

website reliability checks

I'm currently working with Mr. Michael and his 7th grade classes 

in ICT to review and discuss how to determine whether 

a website is reliable or unreliable.

Below are the key factors we've come up with... to look into... and then decide whether you think the information is reliable...

• Reliable and qualified author / organization
• Up-to-date
• Is the information biased?
• The site is relevant to me
• URL domain (.com   .net   .gov   .edu)
• Site has choices and all links work
• Information can be checked on other sources
• Clear aims of the site
• Site achieves its aims

You can test yourself with these websites...

the library is BIGGER!

You've probably already noticed that the study carol dividers 

on the library tables have been removed.

Whoohoo!

The library feels opened up and a lot BIGGER!

The main reason behind this change is to create a more friendly, collaborative space with the library. Now, when students and classes come to the library, it will be easier to work together.

Note: Please do not move the computers from where they are set up. 

We would like to keep the computers plugged in 

and in the positions they are set up in. Thanks!

1st donation drive load for the orphanage

Last week some of the Student Council members went with Ms. Sarah and Ms. Shelly to the Thi Nghe Orphanage for our 3rd visit... and brought the first load of items collected through the drive!

Rice, milk, toothbrushes and paste, toilet paper, shampoo, and more was brought to the orphanage. These are all items that the orphanage has said that they can use and are in need of.

Thank you, thank you, to all AIS students who donated items to our drive! We appreciate your generosity... and are continuing the drive for more items through the rest of the school year.