SOM! (Save Our Manga)!!!

Students! Our Manga collection is in jeopardy!

Many teachers have complained that too many students are reading in class and not paying attention. (Please...do your school work!)

Furthermore, some have questioned the literary value of Manga.

You love it, you want it, so fight for it!

First, let's talk the talk of your teachers and build a foundation of knowledge. Read through these resources and post the most important pieces to the comments. Then we will synthesize the information and create a brief presentation to our staff on the validity of graphic novels.

After all, WWTD? (What would Tohru do?)

For the Love of Manga!

Picture Books for Older Readers Wiki

Robin Brenner's No Flying, No Tights

Wired Mangazine's Manga 101

Top Shelf Productions

First Second: 01 Books
Tokyo Pop

YALSA Graphic Novel Recommendations

(Image from Tokyopop, "Neko Angel" http://cdn2.tokyopop.com/e1/ugc/1/5/4/2/1/1/u//images/1784807.jpg)

The Finish Line

I-Search Projects are looking great as is the alternative career cruising website.

Post your drafts at Google Docs and let's edit each others in an effort to get the best of the best.

Meet you at the finish line!

Yes!! There is a career for paint-ball loving hippies!

Many students have suggested some excellent career options that match your passions.

But remember, this is a real research paper, and it's worth half your grade for the semester.

Let's list some sites, sources, print materials, people that will make your paper too legit to quit!

Build an alternative career cruising site.

The I-Search Blues

So...you just finished your Career Cruising profile, and after years of slaving away in school, doing your homework, going to study hall, meticulously organizing your binder all in the hopes of getting into college and becoming a doctor, veterinarian, CEO, scientist, it was revealed that your first choice should be....hairdresser.

Is it all for nothing?

Finding out what you want to do with your future can be a daunting task. Getting a deadline for when your 20-page research paper on your chosen profession is due (and by the way, it's in two weeks), doesn't help.

Any site or program that has you take a test and then recommends a career for you will be fraught with oddities...mine said my number one choice should be correctional officer! (Librarian...correctional officer...hmm)

So students, some thoughts for you to discuss:

How do you learn to do what you love? And what do you love? (And does writing with a sharpie on your converse have potential for earning money)

What do you love and can your colleagues come up with possible career matches? And what are the real resources out there?

Manga Mania

Many students have been drawn to our new graphic novel kiosk, stocked with manga titles such as Death Note, Fruits Basket, and Bleach.

Kids are scrambling to the library in between classes, sneaking in on their way to the bathroom, even coming in...gasp...after school to get the next titles in their favorite series...desperate to pass the next 56 minutes of instructional time doing what educators always bemoan our students are not doing enough of...reading .

But why are our students reading manga, when they should be taking notes, evaluating power points, and showing their work?

First, manga is an escape, and what teen doesn't need to escape from the trials of high school?

Second, these small books are portable (so much for the death of the printed word), and do not require the use of illicit objects like cell phones or i-pods.

Last, these titles are available just a few feet away in the school library. That's right the library. Didn't know little Michael knew where the library was? He does, and he's in there three to four times a day.

The question is, how do we tap in to the power of manga and get our kids tuned in to the classroom, while still maintaining rigor in a standards-based curriculum?