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Took my copy of TYE (which is my current read that I am loving) out into the elements the other day! Such a stunning cover <3

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Come talk with us over on YouTube about the next book you just can’t WAIT to read.

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Open #books lead to open minds http://ebks.to/1r01HZ8

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Filters in Public Schools and Libraries

Filters are something that have frustrated me from the beginning. I understand the importance of protecting children from explicit materials, but nine times out of ten, the filtering systems in schools and public libraries filter out information that is helpful. I remember doing a project on breast cancer in school, and I wasn’t able to look at some of the pages, which was so frustrating to me. Was it the word “breast”? Was it, god forbid, a picture of how to check yourself for breast cancer? That is some important information to have access to, especially for young women.

I've been doing fieldwork at a high school library, and while I was looking up book reviews, again, some of the sites I wanted to use were blocked. I honestly couldn't figure out why book-review web sites were being filtered out. I was not a happy camper.

I never had filters at home as a child because my parents trusted me and talked to me about what kind of sites to avoid (I also used my common sense). The bottom line? Using filters is more damaging to children because, once they are not forced to use filters, they don’t know how to avoid explicit material and use the internet safely. We need to teach children to use the internet responsibly, and that often isn’t possible with, and is made more difficult by, filters.

Protect children by teaching them good habits.

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Read. Read anything. Read the things they say are good for you, and the things they claim are junk. You’ll find what you need to find. Just read.

Neil Gaiman. (via ifreakinlovebooks)

This man is a genius!

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One of the best definitions of #libraries… http://ebks.to/1wwQkz9

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people should just reply to anon hate with this

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Friend: Can you recommend me some books?

Me: Sure

Me: Recommends 54872 books

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Critical Linking: October 27, 2014

Our daily round-up of bookish links. Tastes great with coffee. 

  A Harry Potter-themed hotel has been created to be a replica of the film set for die-hard fans. The 163-year-old Georgian House hotel near London’s Victoria Station has now introduced replica Hogwarts rooms as well as personalised wizarding packages. These include a tour of central landmarks from the films and a trip to the Warner Bros Studio for The Making of Harry Potter Tour. And special guest rooms will include trunks, potion bottles, cauldrons and spell books.

This hotel seems cool, but what would really go gangbusters is an actual boarding school called “Hogwarts.”

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Burton stopped by to read to the group and the choice of material was quite special. He’s no Samuel L. Jackson, but he’ll do in a pinch if you need someone to Go The F*ck To Sleep.

Well done, Levar.

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But there’s at least one way US law gives Amazon excessive power, to the detriment of publishers, authors, and the reading public: ill-conceived copyright regulations lock consumers into Kindle’s book platform, making it hard for new e-book platforms to gain traction.

Non-transferable, incompatible file formats might be my least favorite thing in the world of books.

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“To me the whole thing seems like an exercise in self-promotion, as if we didn’t already have a commercial-enough culture, as if we needed more advertisements,” he says. “Now we’re getting told self-promotion is some new medium of self-expression. I don’t buy it.”

OK, J-Franz. OK.

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Did you know that Book Riot has a YouTube channel? We do. It’s new and we are having fun with it. Check it out here.

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Keeping tabs on debut YA novels this year or trying out new voices in YA? 

Here’s a round-up of all of October’s debut YA novels, featuring the titles above, plus a pile more. Dig in. 

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WHEN A KID ASKS TO HELP CLEAN UP AFTER A PROGRAM

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In my first ever podcast I talk about Scott Westerfeld’s and his new book called Afterworlds.

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Collaborative Skills are a Necessary Trait

So for this week's discussion, I'm talking about collaboration and the AASL standards. 

AASL standards that explicitly state collaboration: 1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding. 2.1.5 Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems 3.1.2 Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners.

Despite only a few of the standards mentioning collaboration explicitly, many of the AASL standards can be enriched when students are meeting them by working collaboratively. Lots of collaboration can be done face-to-face, but there are many technologies that facilitate this process. Google Drive, which is a great way for students who are working in groups to have easy access to all the content they are producing, and wikis, which enable students to display information they have collected during the inquiry process, are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to web 2.0 collaborative tools. 

However, one snafu that many teachers encounter when utilizing collaboration is the issue of ownership. Many people, not just students, want acknowledgment for their contribution to a collaborative process, which can be a problem when something is submitted as a whole rather than in separate parts. I think it’s important to stress that the project is a team effort and, to paraphrase Any Given Sunday, we live as a team or die as individuals. Despite being very dramatic, the sentiment still stands. It’s important to get out of the “me” mindset, and get kids used to succeeding as a team. Being able to work well with others in an invaluable trait and something many potential employers looks for in a candidate.

Another problem is group members not doing their share of the work, one which always got my goat when I was a student. One way to make sure that everyone is doing their part is to have students submit an anonymous review of their peers and their thoughts on the collaboration process, although you have to be careful to explain that this isn’t a change for students to bad-mouth each other, but an opportunity to reflect on what went well and what could have been done better. Another way is to have clear jobs for every member of the group so that—when everyone has something they have to be accountable for, you can tell right away if someone didn’t do their job.

Teaching collaborative skills should be required—students who can work well collaboratively in a school setting will undoubtedly be able to transfer that skill to their homes, jobs, and relationships, and who doesn’t want that?

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13 cover girls worth pinning up on your walls

What does real “cover girl” look like? Here are a few women demolishing stereotypes (along with glass ceilings) while gracing magazines across all different kinds of interests and professions. This non-extensive list highlights just a few of the most prominent role models who have beaten the odds to truly represent on America’s newsstand.

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