Competency #5 Tagging

For my tag, I chose to search www.librarything.com for tags for "boys, reading". The resource I chose was:

Great books for boys : more than 600 books for boys 2 to 14

by Kathleen Odean

I chose this resource because my chosen topic is teenage boys and the middle school library and I thought this would be an excellent resource for researching books that interest boys of this age in reading. The tags for this resource is as follows:
1) 12(1) 1998(1) 2007 acq.(1) About Children's Books(1) Amazon Wishlist(1) b10(1) Ballantine(1) book lists(4) books about books(2) books and reading(2) boy interests(1) Boys(8) Boys 2-14(1) Boys' Books(1) children(1) children's literature(4) education(1) education reference(1) freb(1) gyermekirodalom(1) Homeschool(2) Kelloggs Box 07337(1) literature(1) no longer owned(1) Non-Fiction(1) Parenting(1) professional(1) professional reading(1) ra(1) reader's advisory(1) reading(4) reference(2) Rene(1) wishlist(1

Competency #4 RSS feed

I chose "School Library Journal-Teen News" as my RSS feed because I thought it was very relevant to my topic of teenage boys and the middle school library. While almost all of the articles will be applicable to secondary libraries, there is a good chance that the subject of different reading behaviors between the genders will be addressed.

Competency #3 Podcasts

I used www.google.com as my search engine and searched under middle school library podcasts. The podcast I chose was the WHMS Library Orientation. I originally was searching for podcasts that included my topic of boys and the middle school library, but although I could find many articles on middle school boys and their reading habits, I had a very hard time finding any podcasts on this topic. Therefore, I decided to just focus on the middle school library and chose this podcast because I thought it was an excellent example of a well organized library with a user-friendly explanation of layout, exhibits, procedures, and programs. I thought this was a great idea for a school library to connect with students and parents and especially liked their library aid program and Literary Lunch group.

Competency #2

I used http://blogsearch.google.com to find this blog. It is by comiXology and is found at the url http://www.comixology.com/articles/41/Gender-and-Reading-Habits-Part-One-Let-s-Hear-it-for-the-Boys. The blog is entitled Gender and Reading Habits:Let's Hear it For the Boys.
The following excerpt was taken from Kristy Valenti's column:
What does the teacher-librarian have to do to manage a Cool Guys Reading Club? First, select the titles boys love to read. Be sure to get Captain Underpants, because the cartoon format and simple-but-crude plots are perfect for boys. Graphic novels are also popular and the simple comic book is great for reluctant readers. Feature Cool Guys books in a separate place from your main collection. I put cards and pockets in each book and have a binder with each boy's name written on a separate pocket inside. When a boy goes to the Cool Guys cart, he simply slips the card out of the book of his choice and puts it in his pocket in the binder. There, he can see the visual proof of his achievement level: a strip of colored construction paper, or "belt" in his card pocket. Comparing where he is in terms of reading achievement with the other boys in the club is an incentive to read and share more books.

Christine Welldon. "Addressing the Gender Gap in Boys' Reading," Teacher Librarian. Seattle: Apr 2005. Vol. 32, Iss. 4, p. 44-45 (2 pp.)

Competency #1

This blog was created for my graduate class, LS 5013 Information Storage and Retrieval at Texas Womens University, in order to present my competency assignments. These competencies will be turned in for a grade at the end of the Summer term and are required in order to complete the class.

I am a middle school teacher seeking a MLS degree with a School Librarian certification in hopes of obtaining a position on a middle to high school campus. Because of my professional intent and daily involvement with middle schoolers, the type of library I would like to do my competencies on is the middle school library. The topic I have chosen is adolescent or teenage males and the middle school library.