The invention of "BookSpace"

Well, as many of you have already noticed, Beth, Alison, and I are no longer sitting and sharing with you in EDTP 620. Dr. Kajder sat down with the three of us last week to discuss alternative study options for her coursework, as we had basically already taken this class, though it was a little more language arts-centered. She recognized as much, and the three of us discussed ways to come up with a project that utilizes all the elements you all are talking about, but to focus a little more on our language arts content.

The task: to read as much young adult literature as possible and create a literacy-based project with real-world, classroom potential--basically, something we could all use for the 2007-08 school year. We each squealed with delight at the idea of reading more young adult books; I know, for my own part, that I want to have a firmer grasp on a wide variety of literature, so when my students say, "Mrs. LeBlanc, is this a good book?" I can answer them with enthusiasm and true knowledge of the plotline. I really couldn't do that to my satisfaction this past year.

Each of us wanted to find a way to utilize our relatively newfound knowledge of emerging technologies, and we also wanted it to be student-friendly and useable. What we centered on was a kind-of pre-reading, during reading, post-reading web site where students could turn to not only find out what books to check out from the library, but also what other students think of those books. For example, if they think The Wish List by Eoin Colfer sounds kinda cool, but they know nothing about it, they can come to the web site to watch a digital story from a part of the book or read what other students think about the story. Then, when they're through with it, they can post comments or questions for other Wish List readers, get recommendations for similar books, or find supplemental articles that help them learn more about the book's topic or author.

Phew. Make sense?

In a nutshell, our project is a setup of teacher exemplars, which we will then take back to the classroom so that students can use it, read it, and then ADD to it and MANIPULATE it as they see fit. This is really a project for THEM, not to show off how many books we can read in one summer.

Then there was the matter of the name. Because we each teach middle school, and many middle schoolers are obsessed with MySpace and all things virtual networking, "BookSpace" seemed like a natural fit: it fits what we need, it's accurate to our core idea, and it's kinda catchy.

So that's what we're up to. I know Beth's already finished three books, I'm working on a third, and Alison's plugging through several as well.

If you don't see us around, rest assured: Our noses are plugged up in a book somewhere. We ARE language arts teachers, after all.