Digital Bookshelf

I LOVE goodreads.com and keeping track of the books I have read, want to read, and books I am currently reading. I am also fascinated with seeing what other people are reading. I, like many other librarians have my digital bookshelves displayed in a window of my library for my students to see. I am toying with the idea of creating a way for students to share their digital bookshelves. Students must be at least 13 for goodreads and sites like Biblionasium can be tedious with having parents confirm their accounts. (Which isn't a bad thing, just tedious for teachers)
Today, I had an idea! It was a Staff Development Day and we we learned different ways to use padlet.com. I though this would be a cool platform for teacher, librarians, AND STUDENTS to create their digital bookshelf.
They can be as creative as they like and can show it on Edmodo and other social media outlets.
Here is mine. I took a screenshot that is a little fuzzy. But, you can click the link to see it full on!
http://padlet.com/lereynolds/bookshelf

I think I am going to try it out with a class this week. I'm still playing around with it and haven't learned all the quirks with using it on an ipad. I'll post an update soon!

Battle of the Books MISD Style

Mesquite I.S.D. began Battle of the Books as a district competition last year and Black Elementary participated in the event! It was a blast and surprisingly, not too much work outside of a normal day in the library.
We are onto year two and the kids are gearing up and reading their 10 books! We have teams of 5 or less and the kids divide up the books and eventually become an expert on 2. We meet every other week during the student's lunch. They bring their lunch to the library and battle! I remember the first time I experienced battling (which is asking the kids questions and them scrambling to find the correct book title). The only word I can come up with on how I felt was GIDDY. I mean it was so fun! These are the kids that don't particularly compete in sports (maybe they do, and I don't know it). But, reading is their THING! It's what they love and just what they do. So, I can tell you they were giddy too! I'm a nerd, I know. But, this excites me! My kids came into the library the first week of school asking for their  Battle of the Books assignment. Sadly, I had to turn them away because we don't REALLY start until the Spring semester. Luckily, we have some of the books on hand in the library.
I have recruited more teachers this year to coach teams, which is helpful in keeping the kids accountable for reading. We will have a semi-finals competition in early April and Finals in May. 

I'm so proud to represent my B.O.B. readers at Black elementary!