On Valentine's Day 2008...

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The god of Creativity (created by Todd Berman) is pleased as it watches Mr. Holmes' class create a new pantheon of deities to preside over San Francisco. Just as Homer wrote about Greek gods to promote certain values to his fellow Grecians, Mr. Holmes' students are creating a set of gods to help San Franciscans navigate the dangers of the modern world.

 

 

photograph by Darrin and Teakeysha

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Have you explored all of the library's online and hard copy resources?

Please, take a moment to do so and see what you can share with your students.

The Li-Blog-ary now has pages full of research links. Click on the drop-down "Reseach" menu in the upper right of the Galileoweb screen to find research information on a variety of topics. Select "All" from this menu for a page full of useful research links as copied from the ISA website.

How about good old fashioned books?

Select "Catalog" from the "Research" drop-down menu to get to the library page. Click on the "Catalog" tab and begin searching our collection by title, author or subject.

Are there professional resources for teachers?

A collection of professional books, magazines and binders can now be found behind the graphic novels, near the check-out computers.

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Hang a wish on Noel, the Wish Tree and it is guaranteed to come true!

Concept and display by Melodie Miu.

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There's a new way for students to share their book recommendations. The Galileo Book Review is notebook, decorated by Teakeysha Britton, where students write about a book they like and say why other people should read it.

To participate students should write the book's title, the date, the author, the call number and a short explanation of why we should read the book.

Reviews can be written directly into the book or on any 8.5" x 5" paper (half of a letter).

Some English teachers may give extra credit for participation.  

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UC Berkeley is making course content and delivery available through YouTube. Click the image for more info:

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You thought libraries were safe.

Information has just been posted to San Francisco Zombie Mob about a Zombie Attack & Containment Operation scheduled for 7:30pm tomorrow, Thursday, October 11th at the main San Francisco Public Library. The zombie convergence is set to coincide with the San Francisco Mayoral debate taking place in the library.
Thanks to LaughingSquid.com


Meanwhile, back at school...
The Galileo Academy Library wants to know:
What are YOU afraid of?
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Mr. Delaney is away on sabatical this year, so the school had no one to staff the library until hiring Todd Berman to be the acting librarian for the 2007-08 school year. Still, the library couldn't open up until something was done with the hundreds of new books that were spread across the tables. With help from the S.L.A.C.ers (Student Library Advisory Committee members) and many student aides, the library was open for business on September 28.

With Mr. Berman in the library, expect art. Todd Berman is a drawer and a painter who has worked at Galileo on and off for nine years - first as an Americorps volunteer with Community Education Services and then as a substitute teacher. He is setting up a collaborative drawing and painting studio in the library to share his passion for art with the entire Galileo community. you can see his paintings and drawings online at TheArtDontStop.org.
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SFUSD has reactivated its subscription to the multimedia database of United Streaming. See members of the Tech Group to get the passcode to create your "new user" teacher account: Doug Page, George Carter, Hank Machtay, Gerry Courtney, Marti Bush, Ben Chun.

Here's a description of what United Streaming claims to offer: "More than a digital media library, Discovery Education unitedstreaming provides teachers with the tools to incorporate fresh, vibrant digital media into student learning environments - quickly and easily. Teachers gain access to a rich collection of more than 50,000 video segments from among 5,000 full-length educational videos from Discovery School and other award-winning producers -- with more than 1,000 new titles added every year."
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Deadline is unclear, but this would be a great venue for presentations on creative curriculum integrating technology:

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According to the counseling office, this is the daily class schedule for the week of Tuesday, May 29 through Friday, June 1:
Tuesday - Regular class schedule:

Wednesday - Finals day #1, block schedule:

Thursday - Finals day #2, block schedule:

Friday - Finals day #3, regular schedule:

Friday 3:15 to 5:15, early clearance in the Counseling Office:


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 School violence has become a major concern for parents and students alike as a result of several high-profile incidents in recent years. Following the shootings at the Virginia Tech campus earlier this week, the topic has again been brought to the forefront of discussion.

To help young researchers get answers to their questions, have them explore the newest database from ABC-CLIO Schools, Issues: Understanding Conflict and Controversy. Found under the society subject area, the entry on school violence contains a 5-part discussion that includes an overview and a review of relevant people and organizations, such as the Center for the Prevention of School Violence. A timeline of events and facts and figures about violence in schools are also available. The current view/outlook essay gives the user a sense of how the issue is developing. Other entries include an examination of the Gun-Free Schools Act and the full text of the GFSA document. - link

the Fisherman's Wharf Rotary Club for their annual book contribution to our library collection:

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This one is the phpBb workhorse. Anyone can set up a bulletin board with Informe hosting. Here's some info on the feature set:

• no pop-up adverstising ruining users' experience
• no limitations on the forum size or number of posts or topics
• guaranteed uptime
• friendly support team awaiting your e-mails and forum posts 24/7
• customizable look and feel, templates-based customization for maximum
• user-friendliness and web 2.0 design styles
• forum personalization including your logo and link to your site
  
• multilanguage support for people coming to us from all around the world
• subdomain name provided to make finding your forum easier for your visitors
• constant improvements

And here's the first trial library site:

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We've arranged a trial of the Visual Thesaurus until March 5. the library has run a trial with five students so far (Feb. 11) and the reviews are very positive. You can see lots of ideas for using it in your classroom here.

We have the budget to cover a 1.5 year subscription, but we need to see how well it works behind our district firewall, with our school bandwidth and with our students in general. Mr. D will forward username and password information to teachers and departments who might be interested. You can click the link below for the log in page:

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Public Library of Science: PLoS is a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. All our activities are guided by our core principles. Everything we publish is freely available online for you to read, download, copy, distribute, and use (with attribution) any way you wish. - link

Via The Shifted Librarian, this pointer:

Carnival of the InfoSciences #59: "...First up, Jimmy Atkinson sent in his post Research Beyond Google: 119 Authoritative, Invisible, and Comprehensive Resources. It's nothing librarians don't already know - you can't find everything in Google - but it's a nice round-up of resources broken out by subject and is even annotated. It also includes some commercial databases potentially available through a user's library. The list is aimed at students, which is why I am especially glad Atkinson included the following statement: 'Do you think your local or university librarian uses Google? Sure, but certainly not exclusively. In order to start researching like a librarian, you'll need to explore more authoritative resources, many of which are invisible.'"

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Via Peter Scott's Library Blog, this interesting notice:

YALSA announces new MySpace Page: "The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest growing division of the American Library Association, has announced the debut of a YALSA MySpace Page.

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Facts On File is used by several public and private high schools in the Bay area to provide access to print and online reference materials for teachers and students. Their list has grown to more than 1,300 titles and spans a multitude of subject areas such as U.S. history, world history, language and literature, science and technology, careers, social issues, and many others.

It might be possible to purchase a subscription to this database if enough teachers recommend it. Give it try and let me know what you think.


Trial period ends on November 30.
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PBS's Frontline series is one of the best current events shows in broadcasting. Many of the shows from the last two years are available for streaming. If you use the library Comcast connection, the download speed is excellent. Additionally, the Frontline website provides excellent lesson materials to accompany study of the broadcasts. Click the image below for more information or stop by the library to ask Mr. D. about the set up.

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Yes, it appears to be possible to search our library catalog from your home, from your Sidekick, from your favor neighborhood internet cafe, ... heck, from your favorite public library!

If nothing else, this should make it much more convenient for teachers and students to locate resources in advance of visiting the library. (In fact, we're going to work on making the video check out process completely web-based for teachers.) And it will make it enormously easier for your library staff to start compiling the $57,000 materials order for this year.

Give it a try.
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The Library of Congress announces the appointment of Donald Hall as Poet Laureate.

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In an effort to encourage teens to attend some of the many free teen programs offered at the city’s libraries, San Francisco Public Library is kicking off a “Passport to Teen Programs” promotional campaign as part of national Teen Read Week, Oct. 15-21.

Starting Oct. 16, teens ages 13-18 can pick up a “passport” at the Main Library Teen Center or at one of 22 library branches. They can get their passports stamped when they participate in any of the Library’s numerous teen programs, which range from poetry writing workshops to knitting clubs. Participants must attend eight teen programs between Oct. 16 and May 31, 2007 to earn a prize such as a long-distance calling card or a travel book light. One prize per participant. All participants who complete the program will have a chance to win two free tickets on Southwest Airlines. Teens must go to five different library locations to attend the programs. Passports can be redeemed for prizes starting March 1, 2007 at the Anza, Bayview, Chinatown, Excelsior, Mission, Parkside and Portola branches and the Teen Center at the Main Library.

Here's a full list of teen programs.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information, please call Jennifer Collins at (415) 557-4268 or jennifercollins@sfpl.org.I - link

Teachers:

Please be aware that the library database system is currently being upgraded. As of noon, Sept. 5, it's now one day behind schedule. Hopefully, we'll be able to check out items tomorrow.

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LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net (via podcast and catalog). "Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project." - link

Students:

Book check out begins THURSDAY, SEPT. 7. (Date subject to SFUSD revision.)

Open for lunch study on THURSDAY, AUGUST 31.

On-line databases open now.

Teachers:

Open, MONDAY, AUGUST 29, for prep, Comcast wireless access, VHS / DVD check out, advance scheduling of main room and lab, and brief weblog coaching. (E-mail Mr. D.    to set up a weblog coaching appointment if you wish.)

The student check out system is scheduled for opening on Sept. 5. There is usually a short delay with that schedule. There is no library clerical support this year. To sign up classes for visits, stop by the library and check with Mr. D. This year, 48 hours notice is REQUIRED before visits.  You can also try to phone but it's not always possible for staff to answer. Leave a message with a time and phone # to call you back.

S.L.A.C.-ers

Check the weblog or e-mail Mr. D.

 

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American Library Association story on the increased level of book banning happening in U.S. libraries. Banned Book Week is schedule for September 23 - 30.
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STUDENT BOOK CHECK OUT

ENDS FRIDAY, MAY 26

Some items from the Weekly Administrative Directive (WAD) (PDF download) of possible teacher interest. WAD pages are noted next to each item:

SF Home Ownership Fair: "Prospective home buyers are invited to receive free information from over 40 information tables and attend various workshops..." [p. 1210]

City College Summer Insitute for SFUSD Teachers: "... CCSF classes can usually be utilized for step increase and to satisfy professional development hours... currently @ $26.00 per unit..." [p. 1207]

Travel opportunity to Osaka, Japan - July 29 to August 12 ($1300). [p. 1222]


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Take a look at what CCSF is offering next Fall, 2006. (3 sections!)

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Language Arts, Social Studies, Science teachers and Librarians in grades 8 through 12 are encouraged to participate in the Technology Integration Summer Institute. This interactive, technologyintegration institute will empower teachers to incorporate technology resources and skills into student writing, research, and publishing.

Click for a complete PDF description and application form.
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As part of Violence Prevention Month activities, click for an online listing of materials on display in the library related to Peace, Violence, Prevention, Justice, Gang Prevention, Etc.
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Looks like our proposal was funded in FULL (!) by Donors Choose. (Read details here.) Not only that, your stalwart blog-arian got invited to a Giants game to celebrate DC's services to the community. With that success in mind, we might just submit another proposal along with the other 33 Galileo teachers who have taken advantage of this great resource.
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As part of National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets is offering a cool service:

There's also a publishing opportunity for readers of poetry, called Life / Lines, described this way:
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This info is forwarded from Donors Choose via Jessica Colvin of the Wellness Center

We have the potential opportunity to fund $250,000 worth of San Francisco teacher projects during the month of May... BUT we need your help! San Francisco partners of DonorsChoose have issued a $125,000 challenge to individual donors.  They will match all individual donations to eligible projects dollar for dollar up to $125,000 during the month of May.

How YOU can help us meet the challenge!

1,000 San Francisco teachers posting projects at DonorsChoose by April 30th. That means we need 700 MORE SF teachers to register and submit projects!

Encourage TWO of your colleagues (at your school or another) who have not previously used DonorsChoose to sign-up and submit their first project by the end of April!  Tell them about the projects you have submitted and had funded, and offer to help them. Make a presentation at a staff meeting.  Share the news about this challenge.  Spread the word!

Raising $125,000 from individual donors to fund San Francisco teachers' projects under $400 between May 1st and May 31st. If we hit this goal, these funds will be matched dollar for dollar by several generous partners and donors, so we can fund $250,000 worth of your and your colleagues' ideas in one month!

We need project submissions for the May Challenge NOW!  To be eligible, your request must be under $400 pre-tax, pre-shipping and pre-posting.  Projects will be eligible for the matching funds on a first come-first served basis.  

(Note: projects that are already posted and meet the criterion above are eligible.)

Thank you for your help in reaching out to teachers throughout San Francisco and making this challenge a reality for you, your colleagues, and your students!

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Our partnership with UC Berkeley's Bay Area Writing Project's Technology Initiative continues to break new ground. With the "over and above the call" assistance of California Technology Assistance Program Regon IV (CTAP IV) staff Kathleen Ferenz and Jim Freese, and using the Gal library's Comcast cable connection, we garnered another technological first for a San Francisco Unified School District school: direct school site connection to k12.video.org ... Read more. - link

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Lauri Bergeron from SFUSD tech services passes on this offer of a free trial (until March 31) from a vendor. The visual thesaurus actually looks pretty useful, especially for vocabulary learning. (I'm thinking of ELD and second language learners here.) Click the image to take a peek:


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Here's a hot-linked listing of video and audio files regarding Dr. King available from United Streaming. These can be downloaded and shown in your classrooms. Remember - you can get your username and password to access United Streaming by stopping by the library and filling out a simple form.
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In the tradition of using the web as a collaborative teaching environment, we invite you to review and comment on our "Web 2.0" Awards grant idea.
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Create a design for the Library's Teen Summer Read program and win a $100 gift certificiate at Borders Books and Music. The design must include the word "Read" somewhere in the illustration. The winning design will be used on 1/2" buttons and 5" X 8" brochures. Deadline: February 17, 2006. Submit artwork to Office of Children and Youth Services, San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street, SF, CA 94102. Questions? Call 415-557-4268. For ages 12 - 18.
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Click here to see a partial listing of resources available in the library.
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SFUSD Fall 2005 PDI Catalog
View workshops by interest
View workshops by date offered

The first Professional Development Institute of the year is scheduled for November 14 - 17, 2005.  The deadline for online registration is Tuesday, November 8.

FOR INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
	Linda Wells, Coordinator
	San Francisco Unified School District
	Phone: (415) 355-7655 email: WellsL@sfusd.edu

[via SFUSD Website]
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Click the map to see a larger version. Ms. Vi is the best librarian at Gal. No question about it!
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The promotional blurb from the district representative reads:


You can stop by the library and get the school passcode for you and your department members. Or email Patrick D. The pass code lets you set up inidviudal user accounts. The library website will post reviews of any materials that you suggest as valuable. If there's enough interest, we'll arrange for a training by a company rep.
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Teen Women. And it has links to Amazon reviews! Check it out here.
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	MORNING	LUNCH	AFTERNOON
Monday	7:50	12.:15-12:25	3:05-4:30
Tuesday	7:30	12.:15-12:25	3:05-4:30
Wednesday	7:30	11:45 – 12:25	2:15 – 4:30
Thursday	7:30	11:45 – 12:25	2:15 – 4:30
Friday	7:30	12.:15-12:25	3:15 Closed

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Not to be missed. From Mr. Ring's weblog:

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Go to this link for today's lesson.
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New, improved, and worth trying out for your next research project:

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We'll test this out on a dedicated computer near the check out desk. Click the linked image below and on the new page, type in the name of an author you like and you'll get a map of similar interesting authors.



"The literature-map is a part of gnooks and gnooks is a part of gnod, and gnod is a project of marek gibney."  [via Library Stuff] - link

The list of summer reading books for all four grade levels is online now. Watch this page for updates as we begin our countdown toward vacation.

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the library hosts California Stories Uncovered, a project in which Ms. Chiang's Mandarin classes are helping 5th. and 6th. grade classes in Elk Grove and Santa Barbara investigate the hidden histories of California's Chinatowns. The Galileo students have also documented (bilingually!) their own immigration and educational experiences. As part of the statewide California Stories Uncovered project, students "tell and listen to stories that reveal the truth beneath the headlines, statistics and stereotypes about the state and its people." In addition to the online materials, a visual display of the student work will begin in the library immediately after the WASC visit.
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Some of our online databases focus on Women's History Month. - link

We've got a 30 day trial for several EBSCO online databases. While the library budget has been spent already, there's a good chance for alternative funding IF teachers and library staff can justify curricular value. Let us know how we can assist in your exploration of what's here:

Login to Service: EBSCO

UserID: galileo

Password: galileo

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We received an outstanding collection of books from a Shanghai delegation representing government, education and publishing houses in China. We look forward to continued collaboration with Chinese friends and colleagues. - link

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Welcome to the Galileo "li-blog-ary." Some items to note:

1. Make sure you check out all of our great online research databases. Students can do their research from any internet-connected comuter anywhere in the world. Look for the links in the drop down menu labeled "Research" in the top right corner of ALL Galileo websites. (See the image below.)
   
   


2. Check out our NEW online card catalog.
3. Your students can win $100 in prizes by submitting book reviews to our online review site.
   

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Click to continue.

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Click the headline to proceed.
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Click the image above to get to the entrance. You need a password from your science teacher or Mr. D. in the library.
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Without overwhelming process to the decision making, the district has provided us with online access to our book catalog.  To see how it may work, click the graphic above. - link

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San Francisco's mayor will officially unveil the city's budget today, at 1:00 PM, in the Galileo Academy Li-blog-ary.

Stay tuned for updates via Galileo's senior SLAC-ers.

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There's a lot happening on the web domain's multiple sites. Use the drop down window labelled "Staff" and visit Arquillos or Moffett or Heskin or Ring or ... well, whomever you want. Simultaneous with that wonderful curriculum development and delivery in the library lab, we've been busy shifting the shelf collection, unpacking the last of boxed reference books, assembling furniture and trying to figure out how to make everything fit in our beautiful but narrow space.  And, wonder of wonders, in the middle of it all an off-site consultant's egregious error wiped out our server storage for a number of days, including (yikes!) the library records database. It was only through the creative and relentless efforts of our on-site IT team, George Carter and Minh Ly, that the broken pieces were put back together again. Kudos to the best tech dudes in the district! - link

Thanks to John of the State and Federal Funding office for help with the forms. He'll click the headline to see what software we use for all this web-based paper(less)work.
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Click the headline to proceed.
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We submitted a proposal for a $5000 grant to train a team of teacher leaders for integration of technology into teaching and learning. If it's accepted, we'll be able to combine it with our remaining Title V grant to run a full one week staff development session in early June, immediately after the end of the school year.

Meanwhile, watch this space for updates from the staff delegation's journey to Shanghai, China.

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Beginning Manila training

1. gill, pam
2. golata, kathleen
3. grimm, daniel
4. huynh, mark
5. king, sabina
6. mesaros, debra
7. mar-beshears
8. maroun
9. mcdowell, richard
10. nagorny, kinga
11. o'connor, heather
12. phelps, alan
13. roman, mike
14. sklarz
15. zimberoff

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The first two sessions for underclassmen were a great success. (Witness the photo of the large audience yesterday.) Watch the library website for further information and contact details.

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on college from returning graduates of Gal.
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Yet another weblog for our school domain. - link

Click the headline to proceed. - link

Click the headline to continue. - link

Ms. Eisen brought a school volunteer, Mr. D., who works with Calfiornai Newsreel, to visit and work at Gal today. He generously offered some excellent film materials for our collection and we showed him a bit about our weblogging. - link

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 Welcome Anita, Vichara, Bobby, Francisco, Joey, Kelly, Kirk, Wilson and all others. Click the headline of this news  item to get to your lesson.
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Our purchased online databases are now conveniently available through the new 'drop down' menus on the horizontal navigation bar in our weblog banners. See the image below for how it looks. Enjoy!

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Thanks go out to Information Technology boss Eric Boutwell and his team - Steve Huey, Lance Auman, and Winton Lan, for their assistance on our school network. (That's Steve, Eric, Lance and Winton, left to right in the photo.) Several suggestions for improvements were offered. We look forward to working with them in the coming weeks.

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Click the headline to get to your lesson.
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Your regular off-campus class has been postponed because your teacher has just returned from volunteering in Iraq. You can get an idea of what he was doing by reading an article from the Seattle Times. Click the headline to start reading. If there's time, we'll go over how to use our databases to refine the search.
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Grolier Online

Username: log  Password: cabin - link

The URL to access our site via username/password is:

http://www.