Una mascota para la biblioteca

Bases para el Concurso: “Una mascota para tu biblioteca”
La Mediateca del Colegio Saint Joseph School con motivo de la celebración del Mes del Libro convoca a todos los estudiantes a participar en el concurso ''Una mascota para tu biblioteca'', para identificar a nuestra biblioteca con un logotipo que perdure para siempre.

Podrán participar todos los estudiantes del colegio.

- La mascota de la mediateca debe estar inspirada también en la mascota de nuestro colegio.

- Puedes utilizar formato libre: dibujo, pintura, artesanía, digital, diseño gráfico, como consideres que puedas lograr el mejor diseño.

- Entre las cualidades que se requiere que represente el logo o mascota deben encontrarse:

. Que se identifique  con la lectura, el conocimiento y la aventura a lo desconocido

. Diseño moderno, que refleje que inteligencia y sabiduría

. Que inspire curiosidad, responsabilidad, u otros valores

. Que sea amigable.

- Puedes elegir el nombre que desees para tu obra

- Entre los colores a utilizar no olvides incluir los que identifican el colegio.

PREMIOS:

Se otorgara un premio único y especial para el ganador.

El plazo de admisión vence el día 26 de Abril.

T.H.E. Journal: E-Policy Essentials for Schools

The first hurdle in making your school or district's e-communications safe and CIPA compliant, is establishing a strong Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). The e-Policy Essential Guide for Schools, includes the important information you as educators need to write a strong and comprehensive AUP or improve the one you have. This free guide includes templates that will help insure that your AUP covers all the areas you need to address and all the audiences that you must consider - students, teachers, staff, school board and parents.
To follw this information click on this link:
http://thejournal.com/whitepapers/2012/03/edgewave_e-policy-essentials-k-12-schools.aspx?pc=e452em01&utm_source=webmktg&utm_medium=E-Mail&utm_campaign=e452em01

''A colored library''

A few days ago in the library, only for a small and lucky audience, we had the presentation of the play'' The colored museum.'' This was an excellente presentation adapted and directed by the teacher Paloma Valenzuela, who turned out to be an excellent director and guidance for young actors.

This work was premiered during the ACCAS festival (Association of Colombian-Caribbean American Schools) representing Saint Joseph School. The festival presented works by other bilingual schools in Santo Domingo and it was not competitive, just a friendly match to see how theater movement develops in the schools.

All performances were excellent, some of them were incredibly good. I was extremely surprised I couldn't avoid the temptation of filming the whole work. The video is not professional. No. It was filmed with my Blackberry. My intention was only have a record for our school history of everything happened that day and I think I did it. Give me your opinions.

 names of the actors in alphabetical order:

- Adrian Hernández

- Alexa Soto

- Cynthia Durán

- Daniela Benedetti

- Eduardo Méndez

- Hillary Quiñones

- Ivan Hernández

- Luis Germán Quijada

- Marie Ann Asunción

- Paula García

Director: Paloma Valenzuela

Before watching the videos, let's increase our knowledge and read something about this work. Some facts about the play, summary and description.

''The Colored Museum''

 Author: George C. Wolfe (1954- )

Type of Work: Play

Type of Plot: Satire; experimental

Time of Plot: 1980's

Locale: Various, including an airplane, a television set, and a living room

First Produced: 1986, at the Crossroads Theatre Company, New York City

First Published: 1988

Principal charactersMiss Pat, a flight attendantAunt Ethel, the host of a cooking showGuy, a fashion modelGirl, a fashion modelJunie Robinson, a soldierMiss Roj, a drag queenMama, a religious matriarchWalter-Lee-Beau-Willie-Jones, Mama's sonThe Man, a businessmanThe Kid, his younger selfLala Lamazing Grace, a singerNormal Jean Reynolds, a woman whose baby is an eggTopsy Washington, a hip young woman

 The PlayThe Colored Museum, as has often been pointed out, is not set in a museum, and none of its characters ever utters the word "museum." Instead, it is a series of eleven separate scenes or "exhibits" performed without intermission. Each has its own title, and each illustrates a different facet of African American life in the 1980's. In many of the scenes, characters speak directly to the audience, exhibiting different examples of racism and of surrender to victimhood. For example, the first exhibit, "Git on Board," is spoken by the smiling Miss Pat, a female flight attendant, delivering to the audience a version of the typical instructions given to passengers before an airplane takes off. However, Miss Pat is the flight attendant on a slave ship bound for Savannah, Georgia, and she instructs her passengers not to play drums or rebel, but to fasten their shackles and sing spirituals.

The second exhibit is "Cookin' with Aunt Ethel," a parody of a television cooking show whose star resembles a stereotypical Mammy character. Aunt Ethel demonstrates a recipe for "Negroes" that includes such ingredients as rhythm, attitude, and style. "The Photo Session" features a Guy and a Girl, models for Ebony magazine, who have internalized the values of materialism and consumerism. Junie Robinson, the titular "Soldier with a Secret" in the play's third scene, admits that he has killed some of his comrades in arms, believing that death in combat was preferable to the pain of oppression. "The Gospel According to Miss Roj," one of the play's most controversial exhibits, is spoken by a beautiful drag queen, who includes homophobia among the types of oppression she has faced. One of the funniest exhibits, "The Hairpiece," features two speaking wigs and challenges European-influenced ideas about beauty.

In "The Last Mama-on-the-Couch Play," the longest scene, an urban African American family struggles with poverty and racism. Characters in this scene include Mama, her son Walter-Lee-Beau-Willie-Jones, his feminist poet wife, and the Greek figure Medea. "Symbiosis" features a successful businessman who tries to assimilate into white culture and put his younger self behind him, while "Lala's Opening" features an African American woman who adopts a fake French accent and manner, forsaking her own past. Normal Jean Reynolds, in "Permutations," is a young woman optimistically laying an egg. "The Party," the play's concluding scene, brings back characters from earlier scenes, who dance in front of projected slides that quickly summarize African American history. The scene is loud and energetic, with characters talking over one another, emphasizing the chaos and contradictions that make up the museum.

 Themes and MeaningsBeginning with the word "Colored" in the title, The Colored Museum announces its complicated relationship with the past. By 1986, when the play was first performed, the word "colored" was considered at best old-fashioned and at worst racist, and it would have made 1980's audiences quite uncomfortable. Its inclusion in the title signals George C. Wolfe's determination unblinkingly to confront African American history. The first "exhibit," "Git on Board," is about slavery, and other scenes address segregation, the loss of African religion, and the role of African Americans in the military. Wolfe calls upon African Americans to look closely at their history and to see the ways they have been limited by it, so they might find ways to move forward. He also calls upon white people to see clearly the evils of racism and oppression. His hope is that the attitudes displayed in the play will be regarded as museum pieces: unchanging exhibits of the past, rather than living moments or models for the future.

Another theme of the play is the role of African American literature in the development of the culture. In "The Last Mama-on-the-Couch Play," Wolfe boldly makes fun of perhaps the best-known play by an African American writer, Loraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (pr., pb. 1959). Wolfe's Walter-Lee-Beau-Willie-Jones is a parody of Hansberry's Walter Lee, and Wolfe makes a mockery of Mama, Walter Lee's mother, who guides her family with wisdom and strength from her seat on the couch. The play also refers to other African American dramas, to the slave Topsy from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin: Or, Life Among the Lowly (1851-1852, serial; 1852, book), and to the music of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and the Temptations. Wolfe has commented in interviews that he respects the literature and music he parodies, but just as it is time for African Americans to leave stereotypical attitudes in a museum, so it is time to retire the old forms of art and create new ones.

 Critical ContextWolfe was born in segregated Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1954, and he felt unwelcome at the integrated high school he attended, until he found his way to the school's theater department. He started college at Kentucky State University but completed his degree at Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he wrote his first plays. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles and taught theater to inner-city children, experiencing for the first time the diversity of people and ideas that thrives in a major city. In the late 1970's, he moved to New York City. There, The Colored Museum opened at the Crossroads Theatre in 1986.

The Colored Museum was controversial from its opening. While many audience members were offended by the play's edgy satire, critics generally reviewed the play favorably, admiring Wolfe's wit and his courage in boldly pointing out ways in which both African Americans and whites were complicit in the oppression of African Americans. Many of these critics were white men, writing for important periodicals such as The New York Times, New York magazine, and The New Republic, and they praised Wolfe for the biting satire directed, in part, at them. An exchange of analyses in The Village Voice, a liberal New York newspaper, demonstrates the controversy surrounding the play: Thulani Davis, an African American critic and playwright, challenged the play as misogynist and reflective of self-hate, while critic Michael Feingold celebrated the plays's use--and abuse--of stereotypical characters. The controversy fueled ticket sales, and the play was a commercial success, as well as the winner of the Elizabeth Hull-Kate Warriner Award, presented by the Dramatist's Guild to the best play dealing with a social, religious, or political topic.

The play itself makes reference to earlier African American literature, saluting and moving beyond such important works as Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf (pr., pb. 1975) and Alice Walker's The Color Purple (1982). In making satirical references to these and other works, The Colored Museum stakes out its own place in African American literature: indebted to earlier work, but making a deliberate break from it.

PS: I had to cut and edit all the videos to reduce the size for uploading them to this blog. Blogger allows to upload till 100 MB, but with the Internet we have here is almost impossible, so I had to reduce them. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I hope you enjoy this!!!! Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

The Three R's

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Tips on reducing waste and conserving resources.                                      
The three R's - reduce, reuse and recycle - all help to cut down on the amount of waste we throw away. They conserve natural resources, landfill space and energy.

Plus, the three R's save land and money communities must use to dispose of waste in landfills. Siting a new landfill has become difficult and more expensive due to environmental regulations and public opposition.

Missouri has a goal of reducing the amount of waste going into landfills by 40 percent. Everyone can help meet this goal and save natural resources, energy, and money by following the three R's.

REDUCE
The best way to manage waste is to not produce it. This can be done by shopping carefully and being aware of a few guidelines:
•Buy products in bulk. Larger, economy-size products or ones in concentrated form use less packaging and usually cost less per ounce.
•Avoid over-packaged goods, especially ones packed with several materials such as foil, paper, and plastic. They are difficult to recycle, plus you pay more for the package.
•Avoid disposable goods, such as paper plates, cups, napkins, razors, and lighters. Throwaways contribute to the problem, and cost more because they must be replaced again and again.
•Buy durable goods - ones that are well-built or that carry good warranties. They will last longer, save money in the long run and save landfill space.
•At work, make two-sided copies when ever possible.
•Maintain central files rather than using several files for individuals.
•Use electronic mail or main bulletin board.
•Remove your name from the mailing lists of materials you no longer want to receive.
•Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
•Use a dish cloth instead of paper towels.

REUSE
It makes economic and environmental sense to reuse products. Sometimes it takes creativity:

• Reuse products for the same purpose. Save paper and plastic bags, and repair broken appliances, furniture and toys.
• Reuse products in different ways. Use a coffee can to pack a lunch; use plastic microwave dinner trays as picnic dishes.
• Sell old clothes, appliances, toys, and furniture in garage sales or ads, or donate them to charities.
• Use resealable containers rather than plastic wrap.
• Use a ceramic coffee mug instead of paper cups.
• Reuse grocery bags or bring your own cloth bags to the store. Do not take a bag from the store unless you need one. 

RECYCLE
Recycling is a series of steps that takes a used material and processes, remanufactures, and sells it as a new product. Begin recycling at home and at work:

• Buy products made from recycled material. Look for the recycling symbol or ask store managers or salesmen. The recycling symbol means one of two things - either the product is made of recycled material, or the item can be recycled. For instance, many plastic containers have a recycling symbol with a numbered code the identifies what type of plastic resin it is made from. However, just because the container has this code does not mean it can be easily recycled locally.
• Check collection centers and curbside pickup services to see what they accept, and begin collecting those materials. These can include metal cans, newspapers, paper products, glass, plastics and oil.
• Consider purchasing recycled materials at work when purchasing material for office supply, office equipment or manufacturing.
• Speak to store managers and ask for products and packaging that help cut down on waste, such as recycled products and products that are not over packaged.
• Buy products made from material that is collected for recycling in your community.
• Use recycled paper for letterhead, copier paper and newsletters.

If you want to know more about these process and learn a little about how we can take care of the Earth please click on the following links:

Recycling guide: an interesting and interactive British website about recycling

http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/

Reduce Reuse Recycle - Your Green Guide

http://www.reducereuserecycle.co.uk/

http://www.urbansustainableliving.com/reduce-reuse-recycle.html
Sustainable living: The urban permaculture farm magazine

The topic: crecycle - reduce - reuse: a page that provides many links to search and explore in differents sites of Internet all the information about this issue.

http://42explore.com/recycle.htm 

And if you are looking for some video, follow this links in Youtube and add those you like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73seguwfW80

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LlaehX8DwY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUoluaRO_uk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzEL5qWYJ5o

St. Patrick's Day 2012: Facts, Myths, and Traditions

On St. Patrick's Day—Saturday, March 17—millions of people will don green and celebrate the Irish with parades, good cheer, and perhaps a pint of beer.

But few St. Patrick's Day revelers have a clue about St. Patrick, the historical figure, according to the author of St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography.

"The modern celebration of St. Patrick's Day really has almost nothing to do with the real man," said classics professor Philip Freeman of Luther College in Iowa. (Take an Ireland quiz.)

Who Was the Man Behind St. Patrick's Day?

For starters, the real St. Patrick wasn't even Irish. He was born in Britain around A.D. 390 to an aristocratic Christian family with a townhouse, a country villa, and plenty of slaves.

What's more, Patrick professed no interest in Christianity as a young boy, Freeman noted.

At 16, Patrick's world turned: He was kidnapped and sent overseas to tend sheep as a slave in the chilly, mountainous countryside of Ireland for seven years. (See Ireland pictures.)

"It was just horrible for him," Freeman said. "But he got a religious conversion while he was there and became a very deeply believing Christian."

St. Patrick's Disembodied Voices

According to folklore, a voice came to Patrick in his dreams, telling him to escape. He found passage on a pirate ship back to Britain, where he was reunited with his family.

The voice then told him to go back to Ireland.

"He gets ordained as a priest from a bishop, and goes back and spends the rest of his life trying to convert the Irish to Christianity," Freeman said.

Patrick's work in Ireland was tough—he was constantly beaten by thugs, harassed by the Irish royalty, and admonished by his British superiors. After he died on March 17, 461, Patrick was largely forgotten.

But slowly, mythology grew around Patrick, and centuries later he was honored as the patron saint of Ireland, Freeman noted.

(Related: "St. Patrick's Day Fast Facts: Beyond the Blarney.")

Is Your Shamrock Real or Bogus?

According to St. Patrick's Day lore, Patrick used the three leaves of a shamrock to explain the Christian holy trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Today, St. Patrick's Day revelers wear a shamrock. Trifolium dubium, the wild-growing, three-leaf clover that some botanists consider the official shamrock, is an annual plant that germinates in the spring.

Other three-leaf clovers, such as the perennials Trifolium repensand Medicago lupulina, are "bogus shamrocks," according to the Irish Times.

John Parnell, a botanist at Trinity College Dublin, said that Trifolium dubium is the most commonly used shamrock today, which lends credence to the claims of authenticity.

However, he added, the custom of wearing a shamrock dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries, and "I know of no evidence to say what people then used. I think the argument on authenticity is purely academic—basically I'd guess they used anything cloverlike then."

What's more, botanists say there's nothing uniquely Irish about shamrocks. Most clover species can be found throughout Europe.

No Snakes in Ireland

Another St. Patrick myth is the claim that he banished snakes from Ireland. It's true no snakes exist on the island today, Luther College's Freeman said—but they never did.

Ireland, after all, is surrounded by icy waters—much too cold to allow snakes to migrate from Britain or anywhere else.

Since snakes often represent evil in literature, "when Patrick drives the snakes out of Ireland, it is symbolically saying he drove the old, evil, pagan ways out of Ireland [and] brought in a new age," Freeman said.

The snake myth, the shamrock story, and other tales were likely spread by well-meaning monks centuries after St. Patrick's death, Freeman said.

(Related: "Snakeless in Ireland: Blame Ice Age, Not St. Patrick.")

St. Patrick's Day: Made in America?

Until the 1970s, St. Patrick's Day in Ireland was a minor religious holiday. A priest would acknowledge the feast day, and families would celebrate with a big meal, but that was about it.

"St. Patrick's Day was basically invented in America by Irish-Americans," Freeman said.

Irish-American history expert Timothy Meagher said Irish charitable organizations originally celebrated St. Patrick's Day with banquets in places such as Boston, Massachusetts; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina.

Eighteenth-century Irish soldiers fighting with the British in the U.S. Revolutionary War held the first St. Patrick's Day parades. Some soldiers, for example, marched through New York City in 1762 to reconnect with their Irish roots.

Other parades followed in the years and decades after, including well-known celebrations in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago, primarily in flourishing Irish immigrant communities.

"It becomes a way to honor the saint but also to confirm ethnic identity and to create bonds of solidarity," said Meagher, of Catholic University in Washington, D.C..

Dyeing the River Green for St. Patrick's Day

Sometime in the 19th century, as St. Patrick's Day parades were flourishing, wearing the color green became a show of commitment to Ireland, Meagher said.

In 1962 the show of solidarity took a spectacular turn in Chicagowhen the city decided to dye a portion of the Chicago River green.

The tradition started when parade organizer Steve Bailey, head of a plumbers' union, noticed how a dye used to trace possible sources of river pollution had stained a colleague's overalls a brilliant green, according to greenchicagoriver.com.

Why not use the dye to turn the whole river green on St. Patrick's Day, Bailey thought. So began the tradition.

The environmental impact of the dye is minimal compared with pollution such as bacteria from sewage-treatment plants, said Margaret Frisbie, the executive director of the advocacy group Friends of the Chicago River.

Rather than advising against the dye, her group focuses on turning the Chicago River into a welcoming habitat full of fish, herons, turtles, and beavers. If the river becomes a wildlife haven, the thinking goes, Chicagoans won't want to dye their river green.

"Our hope is that, as the river continues to improve, ultimately people can get excited about celebrating St. Patrick's Day different ways," she said.

Pint of Guinness on St. Patrick's Day

On any given day 5.5 million pints of Guinness, the famous Irish stout brand, are consumed around the world.

But on St. Patrick's Day, that number more than doubles to 13 million pints, said Beth Davies Ryan, global corporate-relations director of Guinness.

"Historically speaking, a lot of Irish immigrants came to the United States and brought with them lots of customs and traditions, one of them being Guinness," she said.

Today, the U.S. tradition of St. Patrick's Day parades, packed pubs, and green silliness has invaded Ireland with full force, said Freeman, the classics professor.

The country, he noted, figured out that the popularity of St. Patrick's Day was a good way to boost spring tourism. (Get National Geographic Traveler magazine's list of the best hotels in Ireland.)

"Like anybody else," he said, "they can take advantage of a good opportunity."

taken from: National Geographic
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120316-saint-patricks-day-2012-march-17-facts-ireland-irish-nation/?source=link_fb20120317news-stpatricksday

Good donations and of course, new arrivals!!!

Good Morning everyone:                                                        
Today, early in the morning, I received from the student Mariant Soñé a group of very interesting and lovely books, in hardcover and with excelent titles aimed to students from K-3 to 3rd to 6th grades.
Our school always appreciate those donations. Since budget for library resources is always very short, our only way to received books two years ago is through students and parents' interest and collaboration.
This year we stopped the process of encouraging our students to donate books or other reources, since we don't have proper places to store them and we have lots of books waiting to process and shown to our students and sometimes books are old and outdated or not according with our  school library interests. But, books like those we received today give us up that reading and resources for our library will be pleasures for our eyes and knowledge.

 THANKS MARIANT!!!

Now you will find the description of the books we received: Enjoy them!!!!

For  K-3 students

Little ones will love the touchable, sparkly cover on this board book that glitters!
Look for all four Princess Glitter Books: A Beautiful Princess, A Royal Party, Fit for a Princess and The Wedding Day

A Beautiful Princess

A Royal Party

Fit for a Princess

The wedding day

Now available in the Library!!!

this is a beautiful series for our small kids: lovely hardcovers and excellent pictures

What Pretty Princesses! series:

My favorite party shoes!!!

My backpack!!

Description: Little ones will love the dress-up and fairy tale fantasy in these dreamy stories about princesses

Pocahontas the Path of Friendship Sticker Book 

Kids will love finishing these stories with peel-and-stick picture/word stickers

The Three Bears 

Landoll's Fairy Tale Classics are perfect introductions into the wonderful worlds of reading and storytelling, featuring colorful art and a kid-friendly style. Three bears return home from a walk to find a little girl asleep in baby bear's bed. 

Disney Princess Music Player Storybook (no music player)

Romance and music play a special part in the lives of the Disney Princesses: Bell, Ariel, Aurora and Cinderella.
Little Mermaid (Fairy Tale Pop-up Book) 
A classic fairy tale in this special edition.

For students from Grades 3 - 6 

Snow White and the seven dwarves 

A beautiful princess endures the murderous rage of her wicked stepmother with the help of seven kindly little men. 

Sleeping Beauty 

Enraged at not being invited to the princess' christening, the wicked fairy casts a spell that dooms the princess to sleep for one hundred years. 

Mulan

Based on a Chinese folktale, this basis for the latest Disney animated feature tells of a young girl who dresses up like a boy and goes off to battle in order to keep her elderly father safe at home. Along the way she meets a cast of unforgettable characters who teach her all about acceptance and self-respect. Full color. 

Peter Pan 

Journey to Never Land with John, Wendy, and Michael and join in the adventures of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys! A wonderful way to introduce young fans to the classic Walt Disney movie! 

Simba's New Home: The Lion King 

A finger-activated book that brings the story to life as readers help Simba eat bugs, slide on rocks, swing from vines, and much, much more. 

Children will enjoy the antics of Simba the lion cub as he scrambles, splishing and splashing over the slippery rocks, sliding in the mud, and eating bugs--yuck! The ribbon wheel lets kids control the action and help Simba explore his new kingdom. Full color. 
Títulos donados por Mariant Soñé en Español.
De la serie ``Colecciona los cuatro`` tenemos los siguientes tres títulos clásicos en formato de cuento plegable 

Blanca Nieves 

La Bella y la Bestia 

Cenicienta 

The images found in old children's books are at the heart of our publishing venture; reproducing these illustrations and sharing them with our customers is a continuing pleasure. While we generally produce an image signly, an a notecard, in a calendar, or in a book with other--"only loosely related--"illustrations, here we have undertaken to reproduce one of our library's treasures as a faithful facsimile of the original. 

Minnie y yo: nuestra aventura nocturna 

Este libro electrónico habla, toca música y crea sonidos

Now available in the Library!!!

Gracias a Mariant y sus padres ahora podemos contar con títulos muy bellos en nuestra coleccion que podrán ser disfrutados por nuestros alumnos. Pedimos a todos aquellos que quiseran contribuir con nuestra causa a seguir ayudando a nuestra biblioteca para hacerla mas bella y atrayente para nuestros alumnos.

GRACIAS!!!!!

St Patrick

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, the saint's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

St. Patrick's Day is a holiday known for parades, shamrocks and all things Irish. From leprechauns to the color green, find out how symbols we now associate with St. Patrick's Day came to be, and learn about a few that are purely American invention.

Everyone is a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day! Now you can cook like it too. Saint Patrick's Day is a day for celebrating Irish history and tradition. Below is a selection of classic Irish recipes, and a few modern variations, for you to try out this Saint Patrick's Day.

When did the first St. Patrick's Day parade take place? And just how much corned beef and cabbage is consumed in the U.S. each year? Find out how many Americans trace their lineage to Ireland and more fun facts about St. Patrick's Day food and traditions.

St. Patrick: Taken Prisoner By Irish Raiders

It is known that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. He is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. Although his father was a Christian deacon, it has been suggested that he probably took on the role because of tax incentives and there is no evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family's estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. (There is some dispute over where this captivity took place. Although many believe he was taken to live in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, it is more likely that he was held in County Mayo near Killala.) During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a devout Christian. (It is also believed that Patrick first began to dream of converting the Irish people to Christianity during his captivity.)

St. Patrick: Guided By Visions

After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped. According to his writing, a voice-which he believed to be God's-spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland.
To do so, Patrick walked nearly 200 miles from County Mayo, where it is believed he was held, to the Irish coast. After escaping to Britain, Patrick reported that he experienced a second revelation-an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Soon after, Patrick began religious training, a course of study that lasted more than fifteen years. After his ordination as a priest, he was sent to Ireland with a dual mission-to minister to Christians already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish. (Interestingly, this mission contradicts the widely held notion that Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland.)

St. Patrick: Bonfires and Crosses

Familiar with the Irish language and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional ritual into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire. He also superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish. (Although there were a small number of Christians on the island when Patrick arrived, most Irish practiced a nature-based pagan religion. The Irish culture centered around a rich tradition of oral legend and myth. When this is considered, it is no surprise that the story of Patrick's life became exaggerated over the centuries-spinning exciting tales to remember history has always been a part of the Irish way of life.

Taken from: History.com


A tiny big surprise

As I said yesterday, I was very sick. Anyway at home and checking my email I received a message: an activity in the library tomorrow ( I mean today) So I remembered the mess I saw on Monday when I came to work.
So decided to wake up very early and go to school, even when I didn´t feel fine. And everything was as I thought: nothing was different. All the shelves in the same position, no chairs in conference room, DRUMS in the conference room, a ball, a t-shirt,  water in the floor, the chairs desorganized, a ping pong table in the middle of the room,  everything was a MESS.

But then I saw something: Blinds in the doors!!!! For me that was a miracle!!! It was a long request because it's almost impossible to see any video or presentation in the smart board due to the sunlight. It was a pleasure to see this.

   

Yes!!! I was extremely happy with such tiny thing!!! But the Library it doesn't belong to Mr. Pina. I'm just like a watchman keeping save the small collection we have now, trying to do something for the school and our students. Sometimes I feel bad when new parents visit our Media Center and see the lot of things are missing. But I believe any future time must be better: and at least one tiny thing changed my point of view.

And the other question: what if I've decided not to come today? I feel very sick. But I knew no one was warned about the situation in the Library and the mess the visitors might find here. So, I woke up early wearing a t-shirt  because I knew no one could help me to do anything and the work could be hard, and it was. I had to organize and pick up everything by myself, organize all the chairs, clean a little that mess I found, only with the help of a cleaning woman.  I think that if I had missed school today that situation would give visitors a bad impression, and in my case I was not responsible for it. So, we have to work together as an institution, not as a man or a woman, just like representatives of the place we work. Hope in the future the situation may improve. I hope so.

Origami

Google Doodle honours origami master Akira Yoshizawa

Google has marked the 101st anniversary of the birth of Akira Yoshizawa, widely considered to be the father of modern origami, by recreating the search engine's logo from folded paper.

If you want to know more origami and this famous person click on this link: Akira Yoshizawa Origami Biography

And remember: Every Fridays from 1:35 pm to 2:15 pm in the Media Center we have ''The Origami Club'', led by Mr. Banks, who can teach more about the secrets of this ancient art.

Library World (SJS online catalogue)

Hi ,  everyone.

Even when I feel terribly sick today, I want to share some things with you, in order to explain some of the links you can find in this blog.

You can suggest me more, especially those you will need in classes or for studying and sometimes takes a long time to search them in Internet and here you will only make a click to open them. 

We are going to talk about the Library World (SJS online catalogue)
Our school has this system two years ago but other things had delayed the formal presentation. 

What is that and how can you use it?
But first: what is a library catalogue?
A library catalogue tells you what material is held in the library. Most libraries have computerised catalogues which allow you to access the library catalogue via Internet. This type of computerised catalogue is often referred to as an OPAC (Online Public Access catalogue)
In case of our Media center to access via Internet you can only click on the link  Library World (SJS online catalogue) and you will find this image:

The search is very simple. You can type the words of the book you are looking for, and sort it by title, name of the author or subject. When search is finished you can click on the link of the title or any other link  and you will see a description of the book: title, author, subjects, target audience, etc, that description will help you to see is that resource is according to your needs. For example: maybe there are three different titles for the book you are looking for, but all them are for K-3. Maybe you are looking for a book according your age or class. The description of the catalogue will tell you everything.
In case the description is not complete please send me your request. 
Anyway, you can do it by yourself trying and learning, any question please send it to this blog or to sjsmediacenter@gmail.com. I'll be glad to help you.
Hope to continue keep you posted every day. Thanks a lot for your attention!!! and plase, forgive my mistakes. I only want to save you time and energy making our Library and Media Center closer and more available to you, the only reason it exists. 

FAMILY FUN DAY!!!!

Family Fun Day!!!!
Finally, our day arrived. Even when I don't like to go out on Sundays, Family Fun Day is a day for sharing with our colleagues, students and parents. So, I came here too, to have fun.
I took the opportunity for taking some pictures. I was extremely careful with everybody, some people don't like that, but anyway somebody had to make a report with pictures, especially in the Library, because it was a surprise for me how everything changed inside:
- Library had a crowd inside: for playing video games, ping pong, hair sprayand even a DISCO!!! Yes a disco, that was the best, too bad it was empty most of the time, the music was very good!!!
- The bilnds for the doors: at leats for one day was a dream come true.
- Students from 11th grade, who were in charge of everything, working hard inside the Library. I think it was the first time they all were here, without punishment or for watching a video.

Here you will find some pictures, from the beginning to the end!!!!
Thank you all!!! Especially the 11th graders!!! Thanks.

That was the first thing I saw when I entered: a ping pong table.

 Very good music!!! Yes!!!

FINALLY!!! At least for one day it's possible to see videos. I want blinds in the doors all the time.

The lights were cool too!!!

The DJ. I asked him to play salsa for dancing twice.

And smoke efects!!!

 This was a good idea to separate both areas. And it'll be good to think about that in the future. You can see the disco too, it was empty. Only some braves danced, mostly teachers.

These were the dancers who broke the ice!! Do you know who are they?

11th graders had everything ready for video games, but without this two guys everything is almost impossible.

Yes!!! They did it!!! And the Library was ready!!!

Yes!!! this is the Library, and a crowd is inside for the first time!!!!! FIFA, Mario, Play Station, Wii, with the music of the disco coming from next room. Yes, it was amazing!!! And a success!!! I wanted to play too but...

And outside everything was beautiful. I walked around some parts to have some memory about this beautiful activities. Every part of the school had something different even the school was totally different. I liked it!!!

This was the first place I visited. I needed some coffee and this was good and FREE!! Of course, together with some dominican beauties.

An ambulance!!! Just in case.....

I love these things!!! I don't know why they remind me scarecrows!!!

The teams!!! 

We had a little bit of everything. I wanted to play baseball but, as always, I had to be locked in the Library. But at least had the chance to take these pictures.

And the end: a hard rain. Anyway, we had the talent show. Why don't I have pictures? Nobody asked me and I didn't have any permission to show people in Internet. Besides, the activity was outside and I think I'm violating the rules I created. Where are those rules? OK, I publish them in the future. (if somebody ask for them)

And the scarecrows died wtih the rain!!!

Thanks for everything and please, add me and follow this blog. I want you to suggest me things to support your work this way or other resources you will want, to interact and save time coming to the library.

If you want some pictures you want to publish, please share them or ebooks to develope our poor collection.

THANKS!!!!