VEA Library Planner app

Many of you would have heard of VEA (Video Education Australia), who have produced most of the educational videos you have borrowed to show your class, or have shown on Clickview. VEA have launched an app for both Android and iOS devices, which tries to match videos with relevant strands of the Australian Curriculum from Years 7-10.

It seems quite simple (I have installed in and had a look at it myself). All you need to do is:

1. Install VEA Library Planner app from the iTunes Store or Google Play.
2. Create a subject profile (you can do this for each subject you teach).
3. Drill down through the curriculum and choose the strand/substrand/content you need to address.
4. Read the description and watch the preview of the video.
5. Play the video in Clickview.

Obviously this can save you time in searching through Clickview, as it directs you immediately to the relevant videos for the required outcomes. It would be great to know if this is useful for you in your planning. It can't hurt to give it a try!

Longer Teacher Resource loans

That's right! Teacher Resource items will now be available to you for one whole semester at a time, which means that you wont need to keep renewing your items.

Any new loans you make now, will all be due back on the 28th June. If you want to prepare for Semester 2, it is best to wait until after this date to borrow them, so that the new due date kicks in (this will be early December), otherwise you will need to renew them.

Any items you have on loanthat were borrowed prior to this week, will not have the new due date unless you renew them.

So I think that this is good news! You will only need to renew your items once per year if you need them for the whole year. If you get an email reminder about your books being due soon, please follow the instructions to renew them, unless you are planning on returning them.

Please remember: If the item you have borrowed is not a Teacher Resource, and is in fact a public library item, the standard loan period of 4 weeks will apply (or 2 weeks for DVDs). It is very important that these items in particular are returned on time to allow other public library users fair access to these items.

Only2Clicks

Have you tried the Only2Clicks website yet? I have set this up especially for Seaford staff and students to enable quick and easy access to some of the most useful websites for teaching and learning. I really recommend that you save this one site as a Bookmark in your toolbar, so that you can click it and open the door to many more fantastic resources split into categories and well organised for your needs.

Give it a go at www.only2clicks.com/pages/seafordhslibrary

I am always looking for more great sites to add, so feel free to let me know if you have a resource that others may be able to benefit from too.

Welcome to 2013

Welcome back and good luck for the year ahead. This year in the library you should hopefully be able to find a few useful tools to make your life easier. As mentioned in my session in Week 0, Only2Clicks is one of these tools that I think you will wonder how you coped without it in the past. I certainly think that it is great, anyway.
There are many other links on the Only2Clicks website that you will find useful too, such as SOBS for booking your class sets online, ReadsPlus for choosing appropriate fiction for a particular topic, and Clickview, which can be accessed from home or at school. Don't forget to show the eResources and Online Referencing Generator to your class when asking them to do a research assignment- it will make their lives so much easier!

Once again, there will be some orientation sessions for new students in the next few weeks, and I will keep you all posted about this.

Throughout the year I will also be available to come to your classroom to help your students utilise some of these tools. Please be aware that I do have other commitments in the library and council, and that bookings will need to be made in advance if you are requiring my services.

All of these links can be found on our Only2Clicks website at www.only2clicks.com/pages/seafordhslibrary

2012 Wrap Up

As the end of the school year draws near, there are a few things that need to be done in order to tie up loose ends....Can you please:

- ask your students to return any school class sets or individual loans that they have in their possession,

- check your record and return any items that you no longer need,

- speak to library staff if you would like any items renewed for the holidays (please only keep what you really need so that other staff have the opportunity to utilise the other resources),

- count and return any class sets that you have borrowed in your name to use with multiple classes,

- get your students to do a thorough clean out of their homeroom and lockers and return any items that are found regardless of whose they are,

- do a thorough clean out of your office and return any items that are found regardless of whose they are.

Please do not return any items that have a barcode on the back that has been crossed out with black texta. This means that have been deleted from our system and we no longer need them. You can keep them.

Thank you, and enjoy your last couple of weeks before your holidays :)

New ReadPlus website subscription

Sometimes it can be difficult finding appropriate texts for students or classes that are based on a particular theme. In the past, we have purchased guide books that list recommended fiction for themes- but these can become outdated.

It has come to my attention that there is a website available which contains the same information, is easily searchable, and updated more regularly than the books. I have purchased a one-year licence for access to this website, so that all teachers can use it at any time to help choose books for class reading, paired-texts or specific curriculum based topics.

This will be most useful for English teachers, who need to find books to fit their TLC's Big Question, and can save a lot of time.

For access to this website, please find the username and password on the Moodle. Please give this a go, and provide me with feedback on it, so I know whether to continue the subscription next year or not.

If anyone has questions about using this website, please see me.

Tiffiny Hall the White Ninja

Well today was a very exciting day here at the Seaford Library, because we were lucky enough to have a very special guest. Tiffiny Hall, ex 'Gladiator' Angel, and trainer of the white team on 'The Biggest Loser' came to speak to 4 Seaford 6-12 School classes about her new book 'White Ninja'.

'White Ninja' is a book about Roxy Ran, a 13 year old girl who gets bullied at school constantly, until one day she realises that she has super ninja powers and can beat the bullies.

Tiffiny spoke to our students about how bullying at school can affect people's self esteem for life. She gave students her undivided attention at the end where they had the opportunity to ask her questions, buy her book, get autographs and have photos with her.

We were very lucky to host Tiffiny and must thank Shakespeare's books for providing us with such a great opportunity!