Begin reading, viewing and listening to a wide variety of materials as soon as possible. Keep a record of what you consume using the guidelines for graded assignment #4 below. Students always ask if they can include materials they have previously read. The instructor allows materials read up to 6 months previously read to count, but they should be fresh enough in your mind to discuss intelligently.
Do you have to read every word of the book, sit through every minute of the movie/concert/music video hour, view every page and link of an Internet site, etc. to count the item? The answer is no, but you must be able to know the item well enough to intelligently discuss it and know how to introduce it to a teen.
The instructor recommends that you learn how to skim, scan, devour, enjoy, probe, peruse, and any other verb that helps you to know the contents of an item pretty well. While amount counts, there is no use breezing through hundreds of items you will not remember and in the process feel frustrated. The objective is to enjoy building a solid repertoire and to develop a skill in repertoire-building that will last a career. This is a fun class, so slow down a bit and smell the roses. In the library world, we want to spread enthusiasm about the content of materials to teens and the people who work with them. It is tough to recommend what you don''t know.
Should you learn to speed read? No. But it helps. Here is how David Loertscher does it:
As a reader, viewer, listener, and netter, I skim sometimes and sometimes read or consume every delicious bit or byte. For books, I read carefully at the beginning getting the setting, characters, and author's writing style under control, and then if the item isn't really worth reading, I start skipping and scanning, slowly at first, and then faster until I get through the item and still preserve some sense of enjoyment. If suddenly I realize that the book is too good to ignore, I slow down and enjoy. I also try to sample many authors rather than read everything an author writes. I always carry a book with me and am never without an audio book in the car on my iPod. I have adults and teen confidants who feed me good things and I feed them in return. I look at all the lists that come out for recommendations. And, my personal reading habits cost me a fortune since I am not a very good library user. Amazon.com thank you. (No, Dave: thanks for being such a great customer! signed Amazon.com.) Publishers send me stuff too, and that helps.
For other materials, I sample, probe, hear others talk about, and if I like it, I spend solid time enjoying. I read all the movie reviews and go to the cheap showings. There are always 10-20 items/videos on my bed nightstand.
It's one of the most pleasing hobbies I have and I hope it will become your hobby too.
(The above was written before my major loss in vision due to macular degeneration. Now, I am confined almost exclusively to audio books. These come from a variety of sources: Audible.Com and the Library of Congress but I leave my suggestions above as the way I did it for many many years)
Now to the assignments:
Preliminary Assignments
- Assignment 1: Connecting. Enroll yourself in this course by going to Blackboardat http://tigris.sjsu.edu. Instructions are on the greensheet. I use Blackboard for only two functions: to send you email and to allow you to upload your assignemnts for grading. We use Web 2.0 tools for all other functions. Register yourself on the ning at: http://libr265.ning.com Put a picture of yourself and something about yourself here so we can all get acquainted. This is a closed community, so you need not worry about safety issues.
- Assignment 2: Connecting, part 2. As also noted on the Greensheet, please make sure that your own computing system meets department minimum requirements:http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm You will be participating in weekly sessions on Elluminate. You can find the URL for the Elluminate session on slisweb.sjsu.edu under the Elluminate tab at the top. Please visit the Elluminate website to familiarize yourself with the technology. There are a series of tutorials available on their site. You must obtain a microphone and earphones for your computer in order to participate in the sessions.
- Assignment 3: Topical Conversations. Each week on Elluminate, we will have time to discuss various issues connected with young adults and the required reading for that week. Please be prepared to do so. There are five points given for attendance and five points for participation. Topical conversations are listed on the main page of this class wiki.
Graded Assignments
Assignment 1: Professional Reading. (10 points) Help build the new collaborative bibliography and resource wiki for 265 during the semester. Directions will be given in class. Go to: http://libr265.pbwiki.com/YALiteAndMultimedia. If asked for a password, it is: 265. Read at least 7 articles/resources and add at least 3 quality sites/professional books/websites that other YA librarians would find very useful.
Assignment 2: Writing More Reviews. (10 points) Add at least five other reviews of materials you read, view of hear to the YAReviewsWiki. The best way to learn how to do this is to read and analyze already-published articles in a journal you'd like to write for. After you have written several good reviews, you can submit your work to the journal and volunteer to be a reviewer for them. Journals are always looking for good reviewers. Kathleen T. Horning has some excellent suggestions in her book: From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. HarperCollins, 1997. One of these reviews should be a booktalk. We anticipate that this can be a podcast and linked into the ning and also into YA Reviews. Instructions will be forthcoming.
Assignment 3: Professionalism. (10 points) Show that you are a member of any professional organization dealing with teens such as YALSA, NCTE, AASL, etc. Because you are a student, these organizations provide reduced rates for memberships so it is a very good time to experience their services and insert yourself into their work. It will also be of value in preparing your e-portfolio for our masters. Report this information on the Blackboard Assignment Manager.
Assignment 4: Mentoring, Reading, Viewing, and Lestening (180 points) Build a repertoire of authors, titles, performers, films, Internet sites, etc. and help others in the class develop their repertoire. None of us, including the instructor, can know it all. This semester, you will create a spreadsheet on Google Docs to record all you read, view, and hear.There will be two sheets (pages or tabs) on the actual spreadsheet: the Required items andadditional items. We will demonstrate this in class. You will not only create your own Google spreadsheet, but will need to provide access to it for your instructor and will post the URL on the Blackboard assignment manager. The sample Google spreadsheet is at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pZvQFcggfhC7RJifpM2fRGA
Assignment 4a: 30 points Discuss what you read view and hear in the various book clubs on the Ning.
Assignment 5: Elluminate Class Sessions Participation (10 points per session) Show up at and participate in weekly class sessions on Elluminate. If you must be absent, you can hear the recorded session but will receive only 5 points for that session becasue you are unable to participate in the discussion that will take place. Thus, five points are given for the content of the session and five participation points are given for the discussion. To receive five points for listenin, send a summary of the session to Dr. Laura wimberley.
Assignment 6: Mini Expert Project (50 points) Create a guide for a genre/subtopic in YA literature and multimedia Use the textbook as an example. You should include web and text resources, both informational and fictional where appropriate. We will have you post this so that everyone can see it. instructions will be given in class on how and where to do this. These will be done on YALiteAndMultimedia
Assignment 7 (20 Points) Keep up with the various Web 2.0 technologies we experiment with and you can explore on your own during the semester You can report this activity with a brieve log including screen shots. Prepare and post a project to the world. This can be a video, podcast, or other technology. We will discuss possibilities in class. ake a turn during the semester to make a ten minute presentation on a web 2.0 application popular with teens. Thsi could range from Facebook to chats to blogs, Good Reads, to Library thing, to the WIi. no video games, please, for this one. You can put this presentation on http://libr265.pbwiki.com/YALiteAndMultimedia so that everyone can see it in addition to your presentation in class.
Assignment 8 Post all assignments to the Assignment Manager on Blackboard. Check in advance to see each of the boxes and prepare your files appropriately during the semester so you will not need to do everything at the end. Since we are posting projects on varios wikis, you can just provide the URL for a number of assignments on the assignment manager so your instructor can find them. In some cases such as the reviews it is best to copy the content into the assignemnt manager or attach a document.
Guidelines for Class Discussion
Adapted from the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin at Madison
- Learn to discuss effectively on Elluminate so that our conversations are as if we were talking together in person
- Listen openly to what is said, rather than who says it.
- Respond to the comments of others, rather than merely waiting for an opportunity to say your comments.
- Comment to the group as a whole, rather than someone seated near you.
- Look at each book or multimedia item for what it is, rather than what it is not.
- Make positive comments first. Try to express what "works" before you talk about what doesn't "work" (i.e. difficulties you had with a particular aspect of the item). One way of expressing difficulties is by asking questions, rather than making declarative judgments of the book. Fore example, saying "Would Max's dinner really still have been hot?" rather than "That would never happen" would promote further discussion.
- Avoid recapping the story or booktalking the book or item of media. There is no time for a summary.
- Refrain from relating personal anecdotes. The discussion must focus on the item at hand - its quality and why young adults would or would not like it.
safe mode
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