New Orleans and #ala11

Well, You can't come to New Orleans and not eat, right? So, after registering at the ALA Convention and checking out the Exhibits Opening Reception, we headed out for what we thought would be a quick dinner before ALAplay 2011. We spent 45 minutes in line outside Coop's Place with some charming young men (who were smart enough to pick up super-size beers before joining the line). Finally we were ushered into the sanctum, where the redfish was definitely worth the wait.


Apologies to Miss the Younger, who serenades me regularly with the song "One Mint Julep", because I promised to drink one for her. Coop's one mint julep was more than I could drink -- I can see how it could be "the cause of it all"!

On My Way... to ALA 2011

I can't wait to leave for ALA 2011 tomorrow - even if it does seem that I don't have half the things done that I need to before I go. It will be my first trip to New Orleans, but I'll be traveling with a fellow teacher-librarian who has spent a lot of time there (and has connections in the local music community), so we're sure to be spending time eating good food and checking out the music scene.

I'm looking forward to so many of the AASL and YALSA sessions, to networking with my Twitter buddies in person, and meeting some of my librarian heroes, but most of all to the chance to meet Paolo Bacigalupi!

Summer is . . .

...balmy nights at Ravinia. I just heard Lang Lang and Herbie Hancock dueling it out on dual pianos: Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, what an experience!

Of course, that was my reward for spending the entire day attending Prairie Area Library System workshops. In the morning: how school librarians can implement I-SAIL - Illinois Standards Aligned Instruction for Libraries - was presented by Angie Green (Alliance Library System) and Becky Robinson (Media Specialist at Galesburg High School) in their usual high-energy crowd-motivating style. Remember them as AASL "cheerleaders" at the ALA conference?

College-level Research Readiness was presented in the afternoon by Charlet Key (Library Director at Black Hawk College). Charlet gave us amazing insight on what our High School students don't know, and what they will need to know in order to be prepared for college-level research.

And yes, I am reading Loving Frank. . . more later.

I Love Animoto

I just adore Animoto for fast presentations. I recently created a board presentation, a travelogue, and a collection of family photos. It takes a fraction of the time it would to use PowerPoint or Movie Maker to produce a polished presentation with music. Tonight, I'm making another one!