Monthly newsletter from the ESA Library

1. Pursuant to the passage of Bill C-11, teachers and educational institutions may now purchase
DVD’s at the same price as the personal consumer. No longer must we pay for the institutional
license to screen film materials for an audience. This makes our dollars go further!
An educational institution may hold a public performance of a cinematographic work on
its premises for educational purposes, and not for profit, for an audience consisting
primarily of students, teachers or other persons who are directly responsible for the
curricula of the institution as long as the work is not an infringing copy. (NFB)
National Film Board News
Library
SEPT 2013
NEWSLETTER
Welcome Back from the ESA Elizabeth Downie Media Library
It’s good to be home and
back at ESA...
I’d like to take a personal moment to say
“hello” to everyone after my year off living in
beautiful British Columbia. While my family
and I had plenty to keep us busy and
entertained - more on that later - we did miss
our friends, family, colleagues, students, and
our beloved cottage.
Everyone has been asking me “What
was the best part about living in BC” and I’ve
been struggling to come up with an answer.
As a geographer, and environmentalist,
obviously the physical landscape was
breathtaking to behold and explore.
As a book lover, and Librarian, the
opportunity to shop at Munro’s Books - yes, of
my beloved Alice - and to meet writers like Esi
Edugyan, and poets like Brian Bett (among
others) was equally enthralling.
I have spent some time considering this
question and I have decided that the photo
above represents what had to have been the
best experience of the year.
I took this shot standing on the near
bank of the river. That puts the grizzly bear
approx. 25 feet away from me. We watched
this bear for some time, feeding, walking,
playing in the water.
Spectacular. Phenomenal. It was an
experience that left me profoundly aware of
how intricately woven is Mother Nature’s
web... in a way even I had never fully
appreciated before. And that’s just the hour
and some we spent with the bear! The entire
day trip was 11 hours from start to finish.
Drop into the Library for tea and treats,
to talk about books, or anything else, and I’ll
share more stories - and photos - of my year
in BC... if you like.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in
the Library. Do drop in for a visit.
ESA Reads is Back!
Reminder that Staff members may still sign
up to participate in ESA Reads. Tell us
about two books - one fiction, one non
fiction - which had a profound impact
upon you at some point in your life.
Sign up by filling out this Google Form
(also available on the Library AW site.)
On the Orford River, on the Bute Inlet, in
the Discovery Islands, British Columbia.
News

2. Other News...
Tidbits that hopefully
will interest someone...
Green Teacher Launches New Website
The redesigned site allows better
access to free content from current and
past issues, easy sharing on social
media and is searchable by topic and
grade level. Green Teacher webinars
are also easier to access. Go to
Green Teacher. Please see me if you
need the login credentials for any
materials at Green Teacher.
Freegal Music 4.0
A relatively new streaming music
service available through Public
Libraries. Freegal provides access to
over 3 million titles, including the
entire Sony Library. The Toronto Public
Library has not yet signed on, but if
you have access to a Library outside
Toronto (i.e. Gravenhurst, Kingston,
Burlington, etc.) you can access
Freegal. Download the free App at the
App Store, search “Canada” and see
if there’s a Library near you offering
the service. A great explanation of
how Freegal operates may be found at
the Portage (MO) District Library.
Free Technology for Teachers
An excellent EdTech blog written by
teacher Richard Byrne. Consistently
ranked the best resource sharing
edublog. Subscribe to Free
Technology for Teachers to receive the
daily blog blast.
App of the Week
I plan to send out a weekly e-mail
highlighting an App which has interest
from an educational perspective. I will
archive these items on the new Library
EduBlog as well.
Recommendations are always
welcome! Send me a link.
Sign up for the App of the Week e-
mail on the ESA Library Daily Blog.
Happy App’ing.
Library Websites
Many Library functions are now
available online so that they are accessible
24/7 from anywhere you - or your students -
happen to be.
The main landing page for all online
resources is the Elizabeth Downie Media
Library webpage.
In addition to linking to the official TDSB
and ESA websites, this page links you to a
variety of blogs, wikis and social media feeds
designed to support students and teachers.
I will introduce the various parts of the
online Library Resources as I work with
classes in the Library. Teachers are
encouraged to explore the resources on their
own.
Each blog and/or wiki is designed to
support particular aspects of the Research
and Inquiry Process, 21st Century Literacy
Skills, Educational Technology, etc.
A quick summary of what each blog,
wiki or social media feed provides may be
found in the ESA Library Online Handy Dandy
Guide (click here. The file is also posted as a
PDF at the Library AW site).
NFB Campus
Online media for the classroom. Access
a large, and ever expanding, collection of
NFB films and interactive features via your
computer... and stream them to your class.
CAMPUS also provides a variety of
additional educational tools to support you.
Access CAMPUS via the TDSB
educational subscription to NFB CAMPUS.
Additional information, and Login credentials,
may be found in the CAMPUS Quick Start
Guide posted on the Teacher Share drive.
StoryToolz
Billed as “Resources for Authors”
Storytoolz is multi-functional. Initially
designed to provide students with ideas for
how to get started with their writing (Story
Starters) the other tools are potentially as, if
not more, useful.
The “Readability” tool analyses samples
of student writing by reading level, analyses
sentences and word usage. The “Cliche” tool
does just as it sounds, analysing writing for
the use of cliches.
Toronto Public Library Card
Blitz
All students at ESA are strongly
encouraged to have a Toronto Public Library
card. The TPL card allows access to TPL
resources - including research databases -
which are not available through the TDSB.
Incoming Grade 9 students will be
“blitzed” during their Library Orientation
sessions.
All other students should see Ms. Wray
in the Library for an application form.
Students who do not live in the City of Toronto
are eligible for a TPL Library card because
they attend ESA. See Ms. Wray ASAP.