My head has been exploding the past few weeks as I enter the academic life. I’ll have more to say once I get a few more things crossed off my to-do list.

For now … I marvel at how well-staffed and well-supported faculty members are compared to their K-12 counterparts. I could go on and on about that, but let me just say these things for now:

* Free Post-Its.

* Color copies whenever you want ‘em.

It’s a big learning curve, but it’s an exciting one.

All that being said, here is something I won’t be including in my upcoming syllabi. Be sure to note not only the detailed instructions but also the MORAL that accompanies this tale:

How to open a book and ‘library hand’ – Stephen’s Lighthouse via kwout

To all the librarians who put new books on the shelf without engaging in this highly moral activity, I thank you for letting me be the first to break them in. Hope I didn’t ruin them too badly.

via Stephen’s Lighthouse and LIS News

If you follow blogs, Twitter, or school library listservs, then the name Bill Ferriter won’t come as a surprise to you. He stirred up quite a bit of controversy this spring when he urged librarians to tone down their librarian-as-superhero language. It was a fair point that, unfortunately, spiralled into some pretty negative back-and-forth. I wrote about it here.

But as time goes on, I keep going back to Ferriter’s work, partly because he says some very good things that have been very useful in our preparations for our Teaching with Technology course in the School of Educaiton, partly because his very provocativeness makes me step back and rethink my preconceptions, partly because many of our Teaching with Technology students find resonance in Ferriter’s work. It’s good to feel uncomfortable once in a while, right?

Alice Yucht Tweeted that Ferriter, his co-author Adam Garry, the fabulous Meg Ormiston, and his publisher, Solution Tree, are embarking on a VoiceThread discussion project around Ferriter and Garry’s new book, Teaching the iGeneration, and a portion of Ormiston’s forthcoming book.

Here’s the best part: you can download the FULL TEXT of Teaching the iGeneration and a sample Ormiston chapter if you register for free at the Solution Tree site.

Click here to view Ferriter’s post and all the details.

Wouldn’t this be a great way to kick off your building’s professional development season — for free? (Ahhh, free … the magic bullet of staying afloat in these hard times.) You’d be bound to get some great conversation out of it.

I have a naive but nagging question:

What is the real difference between the picture book apps we’re seeing touted for the iPad and the Weston Woods videos that retell picture book stories?