Eliterate Librarian

This Is What a Librarian Looks Like

2012-03-12T15:49:00.002-07:00

You've probably heard about this really neat project. I decided to submit a pic to add to the blog. There were so many pictures of interesting people and places so I tried to choose a picture that might be a little unique. For my birthday a few years ago my hubbie bought me tickets to the Myrtle Beach safari. I'm a little obsessed with apes of all kinds, gorillas, chimps, orangutans and the lesser apes too so I was in heaven there. I was able to hold an orangutan, gibbon, baby tigers, baby leopards, and feed an elephant. It was amazing. Have you submitted a picture yet?

Librarians Role in Common Core

2012-03-05T16:04:00.002-08:00

If your state is adopting Common Core then you may be hearing conversations or even beginning training on these standards. Our district recently started training by grade and subject. Where did that leave librarians? Well, I invited myself to one of the ELA training sessions and I'm so glad that I did. I knew from reading about Common Core that this was a good opportunity for librarians to build collaborations and play a role in training our content area teachers on literacy.

If you are unfamiliar with the standards I urge you to visit the site. I believe you will find that in regards to literacy skills these standards are closely aligned with our AASL standards. Just like with all standards there are pros and cons. I do appreciate the literacy components in science and social studies as well as the variety of texts pushed including works from other cultures and diversity in genres. I am a little nervous that recreational reading will take a back seat to the focus on informational text.

Regardless of our personal opinions of the standards we need to be knowledgeable and seek out ways to assist our students, teachers and administrators as we make the change. In an effort to be proactive I emailed our district librarian ally and asked her if we could be included in the training. She was happy to schedule time for us to meet. I invited all 15 librarians and 2/3rds were willing and able to attend. I am fortunate enough to have Jennifer LaGarde in my reader and read this post about her recent meeting with her district. I urge you to read her post and look at her presentation. There are lots of great ideas there.

At our meeting we were able to share our ideas about how we can assist in training our teachers and lend our expertise in literacy. First on our agenda is sessions we can lead for spring professional development and our annual summer institute training after school ends. Each area (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) is creating a presentation to share with teachers that highlights new and noteworthy books, fiction and nonfiction. Our hope is that we can replace some of our traditional choices for novel studies with more modern titles. A local book vendor will be in attendance so that teachers can purchase the titles if they are interested in reading them over the summer or adding to their classroom libraries. There are other sessions in the works that I will share in another post are not related to Common Core.
Another way we hope to assist in this shift is seeking out collaborations with content area teachers. Now that many are panicked about the literacy components it is a good time to strike.
Many of our teachers will be looking for nonfiction articles and texts for cold reads so I plan to find resources for them. One excellent example is this project from the NY Times.
Ensure that our nonfiction books are up to date and easy to search and browse. Don't forget nonfiction when we create book displays, share booktalks, choose books for book clubs or author visits. Pair fiction books with nonfiction books. My middle school buds, Monique German and Kristen Hearne, and I are working on a list for our SC Junior Book Award nominees for next year. Our list includes a nonfiction pairing, website of interest, and book trailers. I shared the document on our state listserv so that anyone can contribute so hopefully this will be a resource for all of us.
I created a nonfiction text features poster that I'll share on Flickr. I plan to use our poster maker and create a large print copy of this for our science and social studies teachers.
Collect and share Common Core resources with each other. I've started a Pinterest board just for this. It includes websites, link to the Common Core app and lots more resources.

Another idea I copied from Jennifer LaGarde is updating books with QR Codes. I plan to do this project with 7th grade after our state testing this year. I created a mock up to take to the meeting and luckily our superintendent came in to check on us and saw the book. He thought it was very creative and expressed concern over the age of our books. He said he would try to find funding so that we could update our collections. Score!

Common Core has been causing a stir on our listserv the last few days. Some librarians voiced their disappointment over the outdated recommended book lists shared at state standards training. I created another Google Doc so that we could all create a list by grade (tabs at bottom). Our collective brain should be able to create a list that fits our student and teacher needs. Feel free to add to and use if you need this.

What are you doing to prepare for Common Core? I hope you'll take this opportunity to show off your skills as librarians.

2012 Fascination Awards

2012-02-21T05:41:00.004-08:00

I received an email that notified me of a nomination for the 2012 Fascination Awards in the library category. The nomination was for the post Mr. Dewey, I Bid You Adieu. I'm honored to receive this recognition. Blog posts are nominated for inspiring the audience and creating conversation. That blog post has received the most traffic and comments (positive and negative). If you would like to vote click the image below. Voting begins on February 27th.

Promoting State Book Awards

2012-02-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

The South Carolina Association of School Librarians sponsors a book award program. The program consists of Children's Books, Picture Books, Junior Books and Young Adult Book categories. While we often have titles on the Children's and YA book list in our collection we focus on the Junior Books at the middle school level.

The past two years we have asked our county voting commission to bring voting booths in for our students to cast the vote for their favorite. The students really enjoy voting this way and we even got a little media attention. They are always happy to come because it promotes their mission as well as making a fun event for our students.

Our book award committees put together an activity guide and brochure each year that is shared with SCASL members only (a perk of membership). Last year they created booktalks for each title. I put them on our school iPods and used with my students. I visited our feeder schools and allowed the 5th graders to listen to the booktalks and we talked about the titles and our book club. They were really excited about library events and even though it was a year ago those kids still talk about that visit. One of our members created a Prezi of the titles, another created a Powerpoint that included the book covers and a short description of the books, I created a Glog of the titles including the booktalks, and Kristen Hearne and I created QR codes to be placed on each book that led to the author site or another related page.

This year I hope to duplicate these activities, but in addition Kristen Hearne, Monique German and I are working on two new projects. One project is to pair each book with a nonfiction title, website and book trailer if available. We shared the link to the Google Doc on our listserv in the hopes that others will contribute to the list. The second project is a total rip off from Cathy Jo Nelson. We are using Wordle and Powerpoint to create slides for each title that we can advertise on our digital frames or on a bulletin board.

I created the image above and a series of collages that I use to put into my picture frame mousepads (just $1.50). Feel free to snag those from Flickr and use as you wish. I'm going to really miss Picnik.

What types of activities or promotions do you use for your state book awards? I would love to add to my list.

Virtual Library Tour

2012-02-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

I love visiting schools and especially poking my nose into the library to look around and ask questions. I get the opportunity to do this occasionally as part of the National Forum's Schools to Watch program, but not nearly enough. There are several libraries that I really wish I could drop by and visit in person like the libraries run by Joyce Valenza, Gwyneth Jones, Jennifer LaGarde and Tiffany Whitehead. Even though they are not far away there are South Carolina libraries I haven't been able to visit yet. Watch out Fran, Heather and Cathy. I hope to come soon.

So I had a thought that I could create a short video virtual tour to share. I wanted to show you around my library and talk about the programs I am most proud of. Not only could this connect librarians, but this can serve as an excellent advocacy tool. Students, teachers, principals, parents and legislators can see what a 21st century library program looks like.

This was my first time using iMovie and I realized I say "fun" and "popular" too much. I am going to continue to work on and add to my video, however I wanted to put something together to get the ball rolling. I know that the super creative members of my PLN can blow my video out of the water. I hope that you will consider creating one of your own and sharing. I can't wait to tour your library. I tagged the video with virtuallibrarytour and if you do the same we can search easily or you can share your link in the comments. Hope to "see" you and your library soon.

I'm a Nerd. It's Official

2012-02-11T12:22:00.000-08:00

It's official. I'm a big geek and now that I am part of the Geek Tribe, I can say that I'm a card carrying member. I'm a nerd too and now I can say that with even more confidence because I'm part of the Nerdy Book Club. If you haven't heard of the Nerdy Book Club, what are you waiting for? You can join too. Any group that includes the inspiring Donalyn Miller is a group that I want to be in. She is going to be one of the speakers at our state library organization, SCASL, conference and I'm really excited to see her in person.

One fun thing about the Nerdy Book Club is that you can be a guest blogger. Fill out this form if you are interested. My contribution about Passive Aggressive Book Promotions will be showing up on March 2nd. I hope you'll check it out.

Meet Me On Facebook

2012-02-11T05:06:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I was invited to speak at the Follett New Leaf in Learning Conference. I was honored. The best part is that they asked me to present with my library BFF, the one and only Mighty Little Librarian, Tiffany Whitehead. To say that I am looking forward to meeting her face to face is an understatement. I know we're going to have so much fun presenting and sharing ideas and laughs.

We have two sessions ready that I am really excited about.

Be a Next Gen Librarian, Today!: We will discuss the thirteen virtues of a next generation librarian from this excellent article. I created a topic on Scoop.it of our resources if you would like to take a look.

The Embedded Librarian: Connecting and Collaborating. We have lots of tips and strategies for taking library instruction outside the walls of the library.

One of the events leading up to the conference is a Facebook chat about the future of libraries. I invite all of you to come and share your concerns and thoughts on our ever-changing profession.

Here's all the details about the chat:

9:30 am EST, Wed. February 15, 2012- Next Generation Libraries

I will be dishing on this topic at the conference in March. Get answers to your questions on the New Leaf in Learning Facebook Page.

There are some serious names presenting at the conference including Shannon Miller and Jon Schumacher, Eric Sheninger, David Loertscher and more. I look forward to spending time with so many passionate librarians.

Hope to see you on Facebook or in Illinois in March!

Library Photo a Day

2012-01-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

Most of you have heard of the Photo a Day projects and some of you may even be participating in one. The idea behind Photo a Day is to take one picture each day for a year to document your activities, travels, family and every day blessings. My amazing colleague, Kristen Hearne, suggested that we apply this idea to our library. I thought this was a wonderful idea and an easy advocacy tool. She created a group in Flickr and invited each of the 14 media specialists in our district to the group.

I love her description of the group on Flickr:

This is a place for the Anderson One media specialists to post a photo that you take each day of something that is happening in your media center. It can be ordinary or extraordinary! We just want to chronicle the year in our classrooms!

Now we can take a quick photo each day and share with the group. I'm using my iPhone because it is just so darn easy. The photos will provide us with images that we can put into a Photostory or Animoto video and share with our administration and school board.

Try this with your own library or with all of the libraries in your district.

Here are my first three photos of the year including one taken by a student so I could be in it.

Brother Reader

2011-12-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

After seeing this article on Read Kiddo Read, I was inspired. The article describes the Brother Reader project. Brother Reader is a community service project started by Conor Davidson and Will McCord to "instill the love of reading in young boys". It is genius in its simplicity. The high school boys visit local elementary schools and read "boy" books to the boys in the class. Our boys are in dire need of more male reader role models and this is an easy, free, and effective way to meet that need.

I shared the article with our Gifted and Talented teacher and we talked about the logistics for starting something similar with our 8th graders. Luckily we have an elementary school right across the street. I contacted the librarian and principal and they gave us a time slot that worked well with our lunch schedule. I introduced the project to the 6 boys in the class and they were very excited about it.

I looked up lists of boy-friendly books, asked for suggestions from my trusted library buds, and looked at the Brother Reader blog posts for ideas. I checked out a big stack for the boys to look through for their first visit. I used my 3 year old as a book tester, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

My six boys includes one actor (he's an extra in The Hunger Games, super cool!) and at least one amazingly talented musical performer, but I wanted to prepare them for the performance aspect of story time. I found this list of excellent tips and ideas for wrangling youngsters on the Elementary Library Routines wiki. We looked through the books together, read the advice, and practiced for the first visit.

Our visit was so much fun. You can see what we read on this Goodreads list I created to help me keep up with our books. My students couldn't stop talking about how much fun they had and how cute the kids were. It was very sweet to watch them in action. The students would inch closer and closer as they turned the pages and they were truly happy to have us there. We are currently planning visits with two other feeder elementary schools nearby and will visit our closest school once a month. I'll continue to post about our project.

If you would like to start your own Brother Reader, check out Conor's suggestions and shoot him a quick email. If you have any boy-approved picture book recommendations we would love to hear them.

Wiki Work

2011-11-25T13:08:00.000-08:00

I've looked on as others have created very attractive, helpful wikis that allow them to share resources with librarians everywhere, but never had one of my own. I'm very jealous of the Daring Librarian's wiki and the Mighty Little Librarian's newly updated presentation wiki. There is great potential for sharing on a wiki so I wanted to give it a try. I have two wikis that we use for professional development programs, 21 Things and our (so new it isn't finished) Gadget Virtual Tour. These two wikis have been a learning experience, yet we have kept the layout very simple. I claimed the Eliterate Librarian name on Wikispaces a while ago, but finally spent some time working on it today. You can view it here. It is nowhere close to the amazing wikis that I am inspired by, but it is a start. I have a lot to learn when it comes to graphic design and the ins and outs of working with code. To be honest, I'm hesitant to even share it because it isn't to the level I want it to be yet. I'm constantly urging other teachers and librarians to dive into new technology so it was time for me to practice what I preach. Promise not to laugh?

Edublog Nominations

2011-11-16T16:24:00.001-08:00

I am very excited to see that the Edublog nominations are open again. I have found out about so many great educators by looking at the nomination and winner list.

Choosing just one person to highlight for these categories is very difficult, but here goes.

Best individual tweeter-@SNewco aka Scott Newcomb. I always get the latest and greatest in mobile learning from him.
Best ed tech / resource sharing blog- Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers. I know he has won this before, but he is amazing. When I introduce other teachers to reading blogs this is the first one I share with everyone.
Best twitter hashtag- #tlchat, This is the hashtag that I always check to keep a pulse on library trends and news.
Best librarian / library blog- This is the toughest one for me because there are so many wonderful librarian bloggers, but this year my nomination goes to Jennifer LaGarde's Adventures of Library Girl. She has consistently inspired me with her creative ideas and passion.
Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast- The Mighty Little Librarian's Tech Tuesdays. I love this series because it helps her teachers learn more about technology, improve their teaching, and advocates for her role as a tech leader in her school. All around a wonderful project.
Best educational wiki- Daring Tech Wiki by Gwyneth Jones. Gwyneth is so generous with her materials and the graphics alone are a reason to visit this wonderland of visual stimulation.
Best open PD / unconference / webinar series- TL Virtual Cafe- my source for all the latest and greatest in the library world

Good luck to everyone. I can't wait to see the nomination list and start adding to my reader.

A "Smart" Booktalk

2011-11-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

I think every librarian can appreciate the power of booktalks. Student booktalks can be even more powerful. Thanks to inspiration from Daring Librarian, Gwyneth Jones, our library now has Livescribe Pencast booktalks in several books. I was lucky enough (ok, there was strategy and quick fingers involved as well) to win an Echo Smartpen from Livescribe on Twitter at the end of the last school year. Since then I have wanted to use it to create booktalks with the students. Finally I found a willing teacher. Hooray!

I purchased some of the Livescribe sticky notes for the project, but you can use a piece of the notebook paper and cut it out. I made a quick visit to each class and showed them a few examples I created and told them about the project. I created a booktalk handout for the students and teachers to use to prepare. The students were very excited. The teacher offered this as an alternative to a book report type project that they used in the first nine weeks. There were many students that signed up to record a booktalk immediately. They were all very interested in the Smartpen and I know of at least one that went home and asked for a pen for Christmas. That same student described the pen to his Math teacher and asked her to record her lessons so that he could go home and watch them whenever he needed from home. She promptly went out and ordered one. For some reason the pen has been a hard sell to my teachers. I plan to continue to use the pen with library activities and lessons so that the teachers can see it in action.

Yes. This picture is blurry. That's because they are jumping up and down after trying the pen for the first time. Luckily I had my camera nearby when I witnessed this spontaneous outburst of teen enthusiasm. I just love working with middle schoolers.

To date I have 8 boooktalks created by students. I plan to put them on display soon and invite the sixth graders to come in and listen to the booktalks. I know they will love it.

PD With a Twist Update

2011-11-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to present with Tiff Whitehead about our efforts at professional development for the October edition of the TL Virtual Cafe. You can access the webinar recording, chat and links here. It was a wonderful experience and I have received tweets and emails from librarians thanking me for the ideas and telling me about programs they are trying with their staff. This is so exciting!

The major professional development program I have been focusing on this year is 21 Things. Three librarians, including me, and one teacher worked together to create a wiki that would lead our staff through 21 technology tasks. We chose the tasks based on needs we saw in our staff and tools we have learned about through conferences and online resources. It is geared toward a classroom teacher, but we have alternate assignments so that administrators and staff can also participate. We have already received a great response and we are 5 things into the 21. We have had almost 200 teachers and staff register for the course. There is a group from each school in our district and the best part, almost every group is being facilitated by a librarian. I am so proud of our librarians for stepping up to do this even when some of them are not very comfortable with technology. I believe this has gone a long way in illustrating our value and putting all of us in the position of being a go to person for technology.

You can view our wiki here. Feel free to take this idea and adapt it for your own staff. If you do please let me know how it goes.

Next year we are already thinking about a program specifically for administrators. Learning new things can be intimidating for this group because it is hard to show this weakness in front of your staff. We think a program created just for them might be the answer.

What types of professional development programs are you a part of? Do you think this is a responsibility of the librarian?

Don't forget to come to our next TL Virtual Cafe session with the wonderful, Jennifer LaGarde.

Reaching Those Female Reluctant Readers

2011-10-31T03:47:00.000-07:00

Much has been written and discussed regarding male reluctant readers. I do believe it is warranted and necessary, but I also have a group of female reluctant readers at school that I am trying to target this year. I found this short article that offers advice for any reluctant reader and another article with advice for parents. This SLJ Webinar, Reaching More Readers, is worth your time. I am still on the hunt for more information about reluctant female readers.

There are many strategies suggested in these articles and webinars, but the easiest strategy for librarians to employ is finding high interest reading material for our students. I often refer to ALA's Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list. Story Snoops also has reluctant readers as an option in their search feature.
When classes come in for check out I can usually spot the students wandering around aimlessly and I try to help them find something that they will enjoy. Sometimes the teacher will ask for my help if they know of a struggling student and occasionally the student will tell me they hate reading and ask for my help. I usually start by asking what type of book they have enjoyed in the past. If they say, "Nothing", I ask about movies or hobbies. Then I walk around with them and point out lots of books and give little summaries. I also give them permission to quit a book and come back if they do not get hooked right away. If they come back we try again with no guilt. There is nothing better than matching a challenging student with a book they love. Often they become my most vocal supporters.

One major area of success that I have discovered for girls is novels written in verse. A few of the favorites (not all in verse) at my school right now are: Lisa Schroeder's Far From You, The Day Before, Chasing Brooklyn and I Heart You, You Haunt Me, Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers, Keesha's House by Helen Frost, Sonya Sones's One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, Stop Pretending and What My Mother Doesn't Know, Cut by Patricia McCormick, Once Upon a Prom series by Jeanine Le Ny and The First Part Last by Angela Johnson. If you have read some of these you might recognize that they are packed with some major drama. I must also point out that most of these books are being read by my 8th graders and I wouldn't normally recommend these for my 6th graders, but they all have an recommended age range within the middle school years.

Some of my nonfiction titles popular with girls are the Would You Rather...BFF edition, Seventeen's 500 Beauty Tips, The Teen Vogue Handbook, Bobbi Brown's Beauty Rules, What's New Cupcake?, The Good, the Bad and the Barbie and Nestle TollHouse Best Loved Cookies.

I can't keep any of these books on the shelf. As soon as they finish one they come in with their friend that wants it next. I love when this happens. I recently tweeted how much my girls loved Lisa Schroeder and she replied to my tweet and even mailed lots of signed bookmarks and promotional postcards about her new release. The girls actually squealed when I brought them to the classroom.

Any advice for helping reluctant female readers? What are your go-to books for girls that say that they don't like to read?

Student Locker Tags

2011-10-28T12:38:00.001-07:00

I found this cute locker tag for students on the Scholastic website. It is fun to walk down the hall and see what my students are reading.

This Way to Reading Bliss

2011-10-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

After seeing this idea on one of my library bud's Pinterest page, I decided I had to create my own version. My super sweet maintenance man for our district actually brought wood scraps from his workshop at home to create this for me. I took the arrows and used Mod Podge to adhere pages from an old Harry Potter book as a background. Don't worry. The book was missing 80 pages for some weird reason so I really couldn't do anything else with it. Then I used alphabet stickers that I found in the scrapbook section of the craft store to spell out the locations. I spray painted the plain wood base with stone textured paint. The locations I chose were Hogwart's, Narnia, Forks, District 13, Camp Halfblood and Lorien. Can you name all the books for those locations?

Flashlight Friday

2011-10-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

I first heard about the idea for Flashlight Friday on a Twitter chat. I think it was #titletalk, which is held the last Sunday of each month at 8 pm Eastern and hosted by Donalyn Miller and Paul Hankins. It is also mentioned on the Daily Cafe site. I emailed the idea to all of my ELA teachers and one of the teachers tried it. Mrs. Foster tried it with her Honors English class and it went so well that she plans to try it with her other classes soon. She told the students to bring flashlights and they brought flashlights of all shapes and sizes. After a short lesson they brought out their books and flashlights and cut the lights.

A fun idea for kids of all ages.

My Middle School Guys Read

2011-09-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun and encouraging day. Two weeks ago meetings started for my all boy book club. Students were chosen to be in the club based on reading scores and teacher recommendations. I wanted this club to target those reluctant readers that are not served with resource classes or other special education accommodations, yet they still found reading to be a challenge. I also wanted it to be gender specific. Unfortunately boys are usually our most reluctant readers so I decided to go with boys this year. I may expand in the future and have a girl club too. I explained the club to the boys in a delicate way. I wanted them to be excited to be chosen and not feel punished in any way. I let them know that they were hand picked by me and the club was invitation only (major bonus points in middle school society) and that based on their reading scores they were just on the edge of making some major leaps in reading progress (which I truly believe). Most of them were happy to be chosen. Two from each grade decided that they did not want to participate. I was disappointed, but I didn't want to coerce them. I may go back and add a few more in those slots after we finish our next book. I have had several other students come begging to be in the group, but I want to keep a consistent core group so that I can monitor their academics as the year goes on.

These students come to the library after lunch during SSR and read with me. We usually read in my back office because of our lunch time visitors and classes. I purchased ten copies of the following books: Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald, Storm Runners by Roland Smith, Genius Files: Mission Impossible by Dan Gutman and The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. Three of the four have sequels. Sneaky, I know.

The 8th graders are currently reading Storm Runners. I have a recording of the book on our iPods so they read along with the recording each day. This title was one of the free titles provided this summer through SYNC YA. We will read the sequel, Storm Runners: Storm Surge next and then The Cay (another free title from this summer). We have copies of The Cay in our ELA book closets gathering dust so I've grabbed a few copies and plan to use them with my boys.

The 6th graders finished reading The Strange Case of Origami Yoda yesterday. I have been reading this to them aloud. We threw a little party today to celebrate finishing our first book. I drew inspiration from Jennifer LaGarde's amazing book release party. We watched a Youtube video I found of Tom Angleberger folding an origami Yoda and we created our own finger puppets. We drank Yoda soda (lime sherbet and 7Up) and snacked on Cheetos. If you've read the book you know why I chose that as our snack. We had so much fun and they were so proud that they finished the book. They can't wait to start reading Darth Paper Strikes Back on Monday.

I'm still waiting on a few students to finish testing in the 7th grade and then I'll get started with that group.

I'm still going to have our school-wide, open membership book club starting in November after our book fair. The four books we've selected for that club is Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman (one of our state's junior book award nominees), The Roar by Emma Clayton, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (one of our state's YA book award nominees) and The Heist Society by Ally Carter. Again, four books with sequels.

I'm not sure how I'm going to juggle all this yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I believe book clubs are so important that I'm willing to make some sacrifices to make it happen even if that means eating lunch while I sit with a group. I already eat in the library so it will not be much of a change. If you're still not sure if you should have a book club read the ideas of Jim Trelease. He makes many excellent points about book clubs in chapter 8 of The Read Aloud Handbook.

Do you have a book club at your school? How is it organized? Do you have a club targeted for a specific group or is it open to anyone?

What books do you recommend to reluctant readers? Boys and girls?

I would love to hear your ideas.

Spending Those Precious $$

2011-09-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the collection development instructions I learned in grad school compared to making those decisions in my own library. I was very prepared to follow policy manuals, but I am not referring to those guidelines on purchasing. I am thinking about choosing the best books with a limited budget. I want every dollar to count. During these tough budget times I know many other librarians that have a $0 budget for books. Book fair profits or other fundraisers are the only sources for purchasing books. This article in Library Media Connections provides several excellent suggestions for managing during tough times. Luckily I do receive a fair book budget, but I want to spend it wisely. I have been spending the majority of my book funds on fiction. When I started last year I knew I really needed to update our collection. Fiction circulates the most and few teachers use our nonfiction books for class projects or activities. Have you noticed this in your own library?

There are nonfiction areas that I have allotted funds to beef up including Cars, Supernatural, Cooking and Sports. I have also purchased high interest titles like record books, "Would you rather" books, and books on survival. For some reason my kids are really into gross food so I purchased a few titles like "100 Most Disgusting" and "Yuck: The Things People Eat".

Students and teachers often ask me how I know what to buy. Here are a few places I get ideas:

student requests
scoping out book stores, public libraries and other school libraries
our state book awards
reviews and articles from School Library Journal and Booklist
Junior Library Guild
webinars from SLJ, Library Journal and Booklist
#titletalk on Twitter
following other librarians on Goodreads
blogs like Love YA lit, Knightreader and Green Been Teen Queen
email updates from Fictfact.com on my series
Amazon bestseller lists and recommendations and Your Next Read
Story Snoops Find a Book feature and the Lexile site for those really low/high readers

How do you decide what to buy? Where do you get ideas? Is there a blog you trust? or someone you follow on Twitter or Goodreads that recommends great books? I would love to hear what other librarians use to make decisions about spending those precious $$.

PD With a Twist

2011-09-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to announce that I will be co-presenting a TL Virtual Cafe webinar with the fantabulous Tiffany Whitehead. She made the adorable graphic to advertise our program. We will be sharing lots of ideas for creating engaging, interesting professional development sessions for your teachers. The session will be October 3rd at 8pm Eastern. We hope that you will attend. Tweet it, link it, post it. Tell your friends!

The Eliterate Librarian App

2011-09-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

After reading this post from the Wikiman, I had to give this a try. The process is outlined in his post and it was very simple. It took me a few minutes to verify my website because I just didn't notice the Edit Html tab when I looked at the design page of my blog. As soon as I noticed that I pasted in the Bloapp's code and finished personalizing the app.

I've made an effort to create a mobile friendly site and felt like this was another part of that process. Give it a try with your blog so I can add you to my new iPhone.

Thanks to Gwyneth Jones for the heads up tweet about the Bloapp site.

Graphic Novels for Middle School

2011-09-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

I was very happy to see this post about graphic novels on The Book Whisperer's Blog. I have read research about the positive effects of reading graphic novels and this supports that idea. I have significantly increased my collection of graphic novels and manga this year. Last year when I moved to the library the only manga series was Naruto. They were VERY popular so I knew I wanted to increase the collection. This summer I added many more series including Tsubasa, Shaman King, Hikaru No Go, Dragon Ball Z, Kitchen Princess, Maximum Ride, Zelda, One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist, Cross Game, Library Wars, Chibi Vampire, Choco Mimi, Bleach, Bakuman, My Boyfriend is a Monster, Claymore, Kamichama Karin Chu, Tegami Bachi, Yu-Gi-Oh Gx, Yuyu Hakusho, Whistle and more.

While some are not technically manga or graphic novel, I have purchased many titles that will appeal to the Wimpy Kid reader including Totally Lame Vampire, Smile, HappyFace, Milo, Doodlebug, The Popularity Papers, The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda, The Accidental Genius of Weasel High, Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading, The Defense of Thaddeus A. Ledbetter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Boring, Kill Shakespeare, Max Quigley: Technically Not a Bully, Meanwhile, Page by Paige, Splurch Academy series, and My Sister the Vampire.

Many of these I heard about in this article in School Library Journal.

There are even a few fun nonfiction graphic books I purchased including the Monster Science Graphic Library (Vampires & Cells, Bigfoot & Adaptation) and Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty.

The new manga section is always teaming with students. The books have stayed high on our top ten lists. I even had students hugging me the first week of school when they saw our new area. I have had several requests for other series that I'm considering. A few I think might be too mature, but I will check it out.

School Library Journal has an archived webinar on graphic novels here if you would like more information.

I am always open to more suggestions so I would love to hear about manga series you have in your schools.

Library Brag Board

2011-09-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

This one is for you, Library Girl! You must check out this post from the inspiring, Jennifer LaGarde. This is my first attempt at creating a library brag board. It is probably difficult to see here, but the categories that I have on display are Library Events, Top Ten Titles, Circulation, Students of the Month, Hot Titles. Right now the Library Events area has information about due dates for our summer reading logs and a few pictures of the first few lessons we have had in the library. I have more lessons next week so I left room for more pictures. We put up the top ten titles for fiction and nonfiction. For the month of August Soul Surfer and The Hunger Games are topping the charts. I created a bar graph comparing circulation by grade. Instead of the typical Excel bar graph I overlapped the bars with clip art of a stack of books and stretched it to fit the size of the bars. I was going for a more infographic style. I took pictures of the students of the month for each grade. These are the students with the most check outs in August. Finally I created a Hot New Titles area that includes little printed book covers of new or popular books.

There is still too much blank space on there, but I will definitely be adding to it and improving as the year goes on, but I think this will be a fun way to show off the library and the programs we plan.

What would you put on your library brag board?

Creating a Culture of Reading

2011-09-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

One of my goals at school is to create a culture of reading. There are many ways that I try to accomplish this. A few things I am doing this year is "Currently Reading" signs, education about SSR, book talks on the morning news, and Edmodo discussion groups.

I created "Currently Reading" signs for every teacher and staff member. They are on display outside each classroom or office. Studies show teachers are notorious for being non-readers. I know for some teachers at our school this is the case because they have told me. I just hope they do not tell our students the same thing. It is vital for our school population that our teachers be a reading role model so the intention of the signs is to show that adults continue to read and the signs may inspire conversations about books with teachers other than me and the ELA teachers.

We have a school-wide SSR program in place. I am so grateful for administrative support for this program. I hear from students that not every teacher participates in the program; therefore, I added SSR to a professional development class we are putting together. There are resources about SSR, research findings to support the program and tips on having a successful program. One of the main reasons for the failure of a SSR program is when the teacher supervises instead of reading with the students. I am hoping for 100% participation after sharing this information with our faculty.

Last year a few of my book club members presented book talks on the morning news. We plan to continue this and even increase how often the students share books on the news.

This summer I led a book discussion group for our ELA teachers about the book, Readicide. The two other middle school librarians in the district and I used Edmodo for summer reading discussion as well. It worked so well that I plan to use the site with the book club this year.

How do you create a culture of reading in your school?

Cute, Easy Way to Highlight Books

2011-09-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

I first saw this idea on the amazing Sharon Matney's Pinterest page of library decorations. As soon as I saw the picture I remembered an old lamp I had sitting in the garage. I grabbed it and cleaned it up. Right now the display spotlights hurricanes so I pulled a few nonfiction weather books and a few novels with hurricanes in the plot. I have the bonus of a few windows to the hallway so I put this in one of the windows and students can see it on the way to class. I plan to change the display often depending on holidays, current events and library programs.

Thanks for the Spotlight

2011-08-24T15:58:00.001-07:00

Big thanks to the Library Games website for highlighting the work of librarians. Here is a link to my interview for this week's Spotlight. While you are there take a look at the library activities, free things including some funky signs and book markers, and all of the fabulous "Funbrarians" the site has interviewed. You will be sure to find a new idea or two for your own library on the Easy Ideas page. If you have an idea you would like to add go to the Share page. This is definitely a site you will want to add to your arsenal.

That's What's Up in the Library

2011-08-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

Check out this post from the creative and amazing Library Girl, Jennifer LaGarde. I am definitely going to create a board so that I can highlight programs and data about the library. I want to put up pictures of our lessons and activities, the top ten fiction and nonfiction books, top students, new titles, book club updates and class visits. I create a monthly report for my principals, but I have been struggling to think of a creative way of sharing our activities with the rest of the school. I am hoping this board will help others understand what goes on in the library. How do you communicate your events to the rest of the school?

The Librarian's Role in Overcoming Poverty

2011-08-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Job loss, recession, foreclosures, and poverty are highlighted in the news every night. The number of American children living in poverty now is surpassed only by those that lived through the Great Depression. Residents of my district are no exception. Check out this poverty infographic that shows where America's poor are most concentrated. We're a dark red county. The families in my area are facing these realities every day, which means my students must deal with obstacles that I can only imagine. In my school we have a 68% poverty rate. That translates to almost 7 out of 10 of our students living at or below the poverty line. What does that mean for me? How does the services of the library need to change to meet their needs? What can our school do to help the students rise above these challenges?

This is our focus as a faculty this year and I've been thinking and researching ways that librarians and libraries can help students in poverty. Research supports the following goals:

Increase access to books
Wide variety including magazines, comics & anime
Build support for Silent Sustained Reading
Build relationships
Eating and reading in the library
Plan a summer outreach

1. Children in poverty have limited or no access to books at home. Access to books increases reading which positively influences writing, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. This connection makes access a huge priority. Our community and many others have no book store; therefore, the public and school library provide the only access to books. Unfortunately some of the same areas of high poverty are also on the map of library closures. Luckily, our district has been very supportive of our school libraries by maintaining our budgets and keeping a certified school librarian in each school. A few practical steps I take to increase student access to books is opening early before school and staying open after school. The library stays open during lunch unless I have scheduled classes. Yes, that means I do not get a "lunch break" because I do not have a library assistant, but I feel like remaining open is more important. This gives students opportunities to visit the library often. Our ELA teachers have all agreed to biweekly visits for check out and I have already planned "book cart" visits. Last year we had two book swaps which were very successful in getting books into our students' hands. I hope to repeat that event this year. The library hosted two book fairs and plan more this year. Other than the limited selection at the pharmacy or grocery store this is the only time our students can purchase books without traveling at least 20 minutes to a larger town. Classroom libraries are also important and I have shared suggestions with our teachers (4 of whom are 1st year ELA teachers) on how to build a classroom library on limited funds.

2. Stephen Krashen discusses the impact of reading comics and the concept of "home run" books in his articles. When students were asked about their favorite books the answers are widely varied. This means that I need to have a collection that appeals to many interests and levels. I have increased our selection of anime by purchasing 10 additional series, added to our popular supernatural and cars sections, and I buy popular titles, not just the award winners. I completely changed our magazine subscriptions. I dumped the "educational" magazines that collected dust and ordered titles that the students requested. Maintaining a collection that appeals to my students will help all readers find something that interests them. As is often the case, our boys usually score lower on reading assessments, especially low income boys. This year I am organizing a book club just for this population. I selected four low level, high interest books for the group to read. I will write more when all the details are decided.

3. I am so grateful to have administrators that allow for 15 minutes of Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) each day in our schedule. Carving out time for students to read for pleasure at school is so important and supported by the research. I understand the important of SSR, but I do not feel that everyone on our faculty feels the same way. For SSR to have the highest impact it must be supported by all of the teachers and students must see the teacher reading during this time. I am afraid that this time has become a time for reading emails, grading papers or catching up on other work. I need to do a better job of communicating the importance of the program to our teachers and making them aware of the influence they have on students in regards to reading. Unfortunately there are teachers that do not like to read and some even share this opinion with our students both in speech and action. I hope to share research at faculty meetings about SSR and possibly change their minds. I created signs for each classroom and office that read "Mr/Mrs. ____ is currently reading ____". I hope these signs will spark conversations about reading and give our students reading role models.

4. Building relationships is vital for students living in poverty. They need role models and mentors that can show them an alternative to their current situation. It is often recommended that teachers loop with their students in order to deepen relationships. We do not currently loop at my school, but having a relationship with the librarian is a long lasting one. It is important for me to learn names as quickly as I can, make students feel welcome and safe in the library, and be as involved in their learning as much as possible. Collaborating with teachers and teaching in the library and in the classroom furthers this connection. Showing up for performances and games and expressing interest in the students' lives is another component of connecting. Librarians have a unique opportunity to create relationships that last more than one academic year.

5. Children of poverty are often food insecure. Either they are undernourished and hungry or they have a fear that they may be hungry in the near future. You may wonder how this is related to libraries, but there is a connection. I allow students to eat in the library. As long as they clean up any crumbs or paper I do not mind food and drink in the library. In the cooler months I sell hot chocolate. The cost is $.50 and I basically break even, but the students enjoy the cafe atmosphere. In an interview of Stephen Krashen he mentions the benefits of oatmeal cookies and apple juice. This has me thinking about bringing these items into the library. I believe I could find them packaged individually at our local wholesale store and offer them in the library.

6. Summer slide is another concern of mine. Children of poverty suffer the most because they lack access to books. This summer we organized a summer reading program. It ends this month so I am not sure of the participation yet, but I feel that there is more I can do to reach out to our low income students. I know some schools have summer hours and allow students to check out books during summer months. This is a possibility for next year. I have even heard of some schools operating a summer book mobile program. I am going to contact the elementary librarians in my district and find out if they would be interested in working together to do something like that next year. Our school already has a Meals on Wheels route so possibly we could combine efforts to bring books to those same neighborhoods.

Some of our school wide initiatives, both new and continuing, include a school food pantry, a school-run market for clothes, school supplies and toiletries, tutoring before and after school, lunch time learning, breakfast in the classroom, neighborhood bus tours for teachers and a poverty simulation professional development. I would love to hear from other librarians and educators on how they reach out to students in poverty. What does your school or library do for these students?

Resources:

Almost anything by Stephen Krashen: http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/protecting_students.pdf http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/decline_of_reading/all.html

Interview with expert, Stephen Krashen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLcootlU9lc

Children's Access to Print Materials and Education-Related Outcomes: http://www.rif.org/assets/documents/RIFandLearningPointMeta-FullReport.pdf

Jim Trelease on Summer Setback: http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/summer-setback.html

Trelease on Teachers that do not read: http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/whatsnu_morrie.html

Ruby Payne's lecture on poverty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRs24PCVjA0

Librarians Represent as Teachers of the Year

2011-08-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

I was very excited and honored to be selected by my school as the Teacher of the Year. Each year our faculty votes on the award and we represent our schools during district teacher forum meetings with our superintendent. I was thrilled to be chosen, especially since it was my first year as librarian. The District Teacher of the Year was named at our opening assembly. This year it is my fellow middle school librarian, Kristen Hearne. I am so proud of her. I was lucky enough to intern with her as part of my Masters program and we collaborate and share ideas often. Just a few years ago my other middle school librarian colleague, Monique German, was named District Teacher of the Year. I am happy to be in a district that values librarians. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Kristen as she competes for the South Carolina Teacher of the Year.

Dewey Free Update

2011-08-16T15:28:00.001-07:00

This summer I decided to change my nonfiction from Dewey to Subject category. You can read why here. I wanted to update you on student reaction. We have been in school for just over a week and I've seen most of the students in the school for orientation and first check out. Student reaction has been difficult to measure. I asked each 6th grade class if they remembered the Dewey Decimal system from elementary school and most of them raised their hands. I asked how many did not like that system or found it confusing and almost all of them would keep their hands up. I explained our subject category system and pointed out the different areas and signs. No one leapt out of the chair to celebrate, but I did notice that more browsed the nonfiction area and they seemed to navigate easily and independently. Usually I have to show them how to search the catalog for the subject they want. No more. Now they walk around and look at the signs and help themselves. I was able to spend time helping students choose books instead of showing them where to find their favorite topics. Several of my female students noticed and complimented the Wordfoto signs. The boys thought it was "cool" that War books have their own area. My library helpers have been able to shelve books with less help from me. The most vocal supporters of the change have been teachers. One negative that I have encountered is when completing our annual library survey for our state department of education it asked for average age of the collection by Dewey 100. Luckily I had last year's collection analysis to use for now, but in the future these numbers will not be accurate. I am looking forward to seeing if there is any change in the frequency of nonfiction check outs and any long term effects of the switch.

Series Are Under Control, Maybe

2011-08-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

A few posts ago I mentioned that I will be using FictFact.com to keep up with new releases in our series books and that I wanted to label my series. I am happy to report that I finished that project. Woohoo!! Well, I can't really say finished because as we get more books I will need to keep the labels updated and I'm sure there are a few that I overlooked. We had almost 100 series in our pretty humble collection so there are yellow labels everywhere. Between the Fictfact site and Fantastic Fiction I was able to find almost every series online. I ordered a bright yellow spine label and typed the series name and number for each book. This was a great opportunity for me to make note of books that I am missing in a series so that I can add those to my first order. A few teachers have asked about the yellow labels and the students are excited about it.

My first official classes come tomorrow and for the next week I'll see every student in the school so I will let you know what they think of our new nonfiction arrangement.

Not So Extreme Makeover

2011-07-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

Last year was my first year as librarian and my focus was on cleaning and organizing. Decorations were not high on my priority list. I did make some serious changes including rearranging shelves and adding some soft, comfy chairs; however, I feel like I can focus more on decorating and atmosphere this year. This is difficult for me because I am a minimalist decorator in my own home. I prefer clean and uncluttered spaces. Some might say my style is pretty boring and beige. I watch Hoarders and Clean House like some watch horror movies. I am fighting my minimalist tendencies and trying to spice up the library this year. I reread The Mighty Little Librarians' decorating post to inspire me and watched lots of HGTV. I want the library to be more cafe than classroom. The entire school was recently painted so I can't change that and they refinished the furniture last year so no changes there either. I can't bring myself to put up random, mismatched posters and I don't want to invest a lot of precious budget dollars on decorating so I brainstormed ideas with my color-loving BFF and came up with a plan.

I combed the clearance aisle and found some really cute striped flat King sheets that are going to be made into curtains and pillows. The only open wall space is above the shelves so I purchased poster frames that will fit in those areas. In the frames will be pictures from our school building and grounds. I have the first four ready. I have six more frames to fill and I am trying to decide if I want to take the pictures myself or have a contest during Teen Read Week for the students. The theme this year is "Picture It @ Your Library" so a photo contest would fit nicely. Maybe our art teacher would help me out and allow his Advanced Art students to participate.

I used Picnik to add frames and effects to these pictures to make them more artsy and interesting. I used ShortRun Posters to print the 18" by 24" size and will use Snapfish to print the 16" by 20" size.

I am looking forward to putting up the new Nonfiction subject signs and I hope that with these new pictures and curtains the library will be more inviting and cozy for the students. I will take more pics when everything is up and ready.

How is your library decorated? Is it inviting and welcoming for the students? How do you achieve that atmosphere?

Wordfoto Shelf Signs

2011-07-08T06:18:00.001-07:00

You probably already know that I changed my nonfiction to subject categories instead of Dewey. Part of this transition was creating new signs for each area. I have been trying to decide how I wanted to create the signs. I wanted something creative, fun, yet still functional. I considered a ComicLife style like The Daring Librarian, Spell with Flickr, and even plain Power Point with lots of clip art. Yesterday, after reading The Library Girl's post about Wordfoto, I knew this would be great.

I created the signs using the Wordfoto app on my iPad. The app was $1.99 and well worth it, even if I never use it again (although I think I'm addicted now). I found clip art for each subject category, added a new word group for each area and voila. I tried to find clip art that was similar to the genre labels on the spine of the books.

What do you think?

You can find all of the signs on my Flickr photostream, where they are available for you to download and use if you like. I'm going to print them and frame in a plain, black picture frame.

One of our school-wide projects next year is to create a Palmetto tree shaped collage (We're Palmetto Middle) that tells all about us. Each teacher will have the tree outside the classroom door. I made a Wordfoto of my face with the word "librarian" that I plan to put on my tree. I will probably be making lots more for our teachers when they see it. I may even purchase this app for our school iPods because I see potential for simple, student projects.

What kind of signs do you have in your library?

Getting a Grip on Series

2011-07-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

It seems that there are more series than stand along books these days and it is difficult to keep up with all of them. I have discovered a new tool to help me keep them under control.

The site is FictFact.

I created a free account and have started "Following" the series that we have in the library. I am looking forward to being notified when a new book is released in these series and I plan to use this site to label all of my series books. There is a social networking aspect of the site that lets you connect with friends and see what they are reading, but I do not know that I will use that part of the site. The strength in the site for me is helping me keep my series orders current and labeling them in the correct order.

Thanks to Fran Bullington's post for inspiring me to label my series books. I hoped to begin the project before school ended, but I focused my time and energy on changing the nonfiction. If all goes well, I can start on this project during staff development time when students will be around to earn community service hours and help me tackle the job.

Maybe one day soon I can post an update that I am finished labeling them:) Fingers crossed.

How Do Others See You? Evaluating My Personal Brand

2011-06-27T04:49:00.000-07:00

photo © 2010 Ross Tucknott | more info (via: Wylio)

Our third task in the 23 Things program is to consider our personal brand. My brand is mainly compromised of my blog, Twitter account, LinkedIn account and memberships in groups such as the Teacher Librarian Ning and Classroom 2.0. When I googled myself I was not surprised by the results. If I google just my name I have two results on the first page that are mine, my LinkedIn profile and my blog. I make an appearance on the second page of images. When I add SC to my name the entire first page of results is me. If I google Eliterate Librarian it is all me on the first page. I'm satisfied with that.

When I first started my blog I wanted to chose a name that combined my love of reading and technology. I remembered hearing the term "e-literate" during my graduate studies and liked the way it sounded with librarian. I wish I could remember where I heard the term so that I could give credit, but I don't. I never even wrote it down. It just got in my brain and stuck there at some point. This is the urban dictionary definition of "eliterate".

One weakness of my personal brand is that I do not use the same name identifier on every site. I try but sometimes it is taken. On most sites I am coxtl.

After reading some of the recommended posts and articles I feel like I have a decent understanding of my brand and how to monitor it; however, I do probably need to update my pictures to a close up shot. I have different pictures on Twitter, my blog, and several other sites. I should chose one nice picture to use in all of those places for uniformity.

One of the optional tasks was to ask others to post their thoughts on our blog. What do you think my blog says about my personal brand?

Mr. Dewey, I Bid you Adieu

2011-06-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

In the past I have written posts regarding arrangement of my collection and my constant attempt to make the library as user friendly and accessible as possible. This is a goal that I believe all librarians can understand. For months I looked into various ways to organize a library's collection. After much consideration I decided to take the plunge and arrange non fiction by subject rather than Dewey. I have read several articles both for and against this arrangement. I have talked to my library friends both locally and members of my PLN in other states. Most expressed no interest in doing this in their library, but encouraged me to do what I thought was best for the students I serve. We know our students or patrons better than anyone else. Reading the experiences of others helped me to decide if this was something I wanted to do. I knew it would be a big project so I wanted to take my time in making this decision.

Here are my main motivations:

1. My middle school students don't understand Dewey.

Maybe this is my fault because I don't spend much time teaching Dewey. Maybe they don't completely understand decimals at all. Either way I do not have time to shelf and find every non fiction book that circulates. I do not have an assistant and even some of my student helpers never grasped Dewey even after I attempted to train them.

2. Pulling out fiction and biography was good for circulation.

Some people are surprised to hear that Dewey includes fiction. I think so many people are accustomed to fiction being a separate section that they think that Dewey did not originally include it. Having a separate section for fiction and biography increased circulation for these sections so it seems that arranging by subject may do the same for the rest of my non fiction.

3. I believe it will make the library more user friendly.

After polling my students, even my helpers and frequent library posse, they all were excited about the possibility of the change. I have had teachers and administrators (educated professionals) come in during the switch to see what I was up to and when they heard about it they were excited.

4. I want to appeal to the groups that check out non fiction the most.

My special education and reluctant readers are the groups I find browsing non fiction the most. I believe this change will make browsing easier for them (and everyone else).

As soon as I made up my mind I began the switch. The first step for me was getting the collection organized, weeded and inventoried. Looking back I would not have spent much time getting my Dewey in perfect order, but at the time I wasn't 100% committed yet. Then I ran a collection analysis. Using the collection analysis I looked at what subjects I had the most books in so that I could choose categories. Dewey is basically subject grouped anyway so I used these categories to determine what type of labels I would need. The report that helped me the most was the Collection Analysis (by 10s). Many of the groups were easy to group by subject. For example, all the 200s became Religion and the 700s became Art. I grouped some things together and wrote lots of little notes down. After reviewing the report and looking at the Book Industry Standards (BISAC) categories these are the categories I decided on: Animals, Arts & Crafts, Biography, Cars, Cooking, Crime, Family, Folktales, Health, History, Literature, Math, Multicultural, Music, Mythology, Nature, Poetry, Religion, Science, Space, Sports, Supernatural, and War.

I ordered genre labels for each of these categories. A few categories I had to rename so that it would fit with the labels available. There were no labels for Geography so I decided to group though with customs and holidays and create a Multicultural group. At this time I do not have subcategories because the size of my collection doesn't warrant this additional step; however, this is something I will consider for the future. History is my largest section and if I feel the need to further divide them I may do that. I may also subdivide Science if the need arises.

This decision did have its challenges. Deciding the category for some books was difficult. Should a dinosaur book be in science, history or animals? I looked at the Dewey number for guidance, asked my student helpers, and sometimes just made an executive decision.

I created an area in the library for each category and started sorting books into groups. I took one section at a time and changed the record in the computer, added the genre label and typed and added the new spine label. The spine labels changed from 940.53 WIL to NON WIL and then the History label. Then they were ready to be alphabetized and put back on the shelf. It sounds so simple when I write it but it took lots of time and several student helpers. In addition, I changed my label preferences with Follett so that I will only have to add the genre label for my new books. Another challenge will be collection analysis. Without Dewey it will be more time consuming to create a report; however, I can walk around the library and look at the shelves and see weaknesses much easier than before.

While I was making all of these changes I also decided to create a section for the anime/manga series, make new spine labels for the professional books (remove Dewey and replace with PROF SUBJECT Authors first 3 letters, EX. PROF SCIENCE WIL), move any remaining Story Collection to Fiction, remove the PB (Paperback) and E (Easy) labels from the collection by changing the record and replacing the spine label. My Cars, Cooking and Supernatural books are very popular and it wasn't until this change that I realized just how small these groups were. I will definitely order more for these areas.

I'm looking forward to seeing student reaction and looking at circulation for differences in non fiction numbers. I still need to finish up a small stack of War and put up the signs for each area. I have shelf markers from Demco that I plan to use, but I'm also looking at other options for making each category easy to find and see. I ordered lots of book stands so that I can display as many books face out as possible. I will post an update after the school year begins to share any positive reactions and any difficulties that may arise.

A few resources for your consideration:

Dewey Free Project Presentation: One public libraries journey as they converted their collection. Lots of great links inside the presentation.

An article about the library mentioned in the previous presentation from a catalogers view.

"It's Not About Dewey" from the Library Journal

"To Dewey or Not to Dewey" peer reviewed article

"It's Fine to Drop Dewey" from Library Journal

"The Dewey Dilemma" from Library Journal

We eRead: Impact On Our Students

2011-06-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

I've written previous posts on buying, setting up, and using Kindles with our students. Now I can report some of the data regarding using these devices.

Overview of the Program

This year we used six Kindles in a reading resource classroom. We have two 1st generation Kindles, one purchased by the previous librarian and one donated by our principal, one 2nd generation that I acquired through a Black Friday Lightning Deal on Amazon and three 3rd generation Kindles that we purchased using student council fundraiser proceeds. We loaded them with loads of free books and 15 purchased titles. These titles were chosen based on student requests and Lexile levels. Mini lessons on using the Kindles were given on an as needed basis by the reading resource teacher. Features such as the text to speech, dictionary and note/highlight option were the most used features of the device. Students read after completing their lessons in the resource classroom and every Wednesday in class. Reading logs were maintained by the students and a survey on reading motivation was administered before and after using the Kindles. The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test was administered before and after using the Kindles. This test also provides Lexile ranges.

Summary of the Results

Students read an average of 22 books (both print and Kindle books)
50% of the students rated their reading ability as not as well as their friends before using Kindles and after using the Kindles 83% rated themselves as about the same or better than their friends.
Prior to using Kindles, 31% stated that they understand almost everything they read. This percentage jumped to 58% after using Kindles in class.
Prior to using Kindles, 25% of the students rated themselves as a good reader, but after 58% rated themselves as good or very good readers.
Students had an average increase of 12.6 points on the MAP test in English/Language Arts. One student had an increase of 27 points!
Every student showed an increase in Lexile range after using the Kindles

We were very excited about the positive changes we saw in these students, both in standardized testing scores and in their perception of themselves as readers. Of course, not all of this can be attributed to the Kindles, because they did receive special education assistance in the reading resource classroom, but we do feel that some of these gains can be attributed to the introduction of the Kindle. We did not see these same gains in the other reading resource classrooms without Kindles nor did we see these changes in the small number of students from this class that chose not to use the device. Larger scientific studies would yield more reliable results, but for our own purposes this is enough to encourage us to continue using the devices and exploring the ways that they can help our students succeed.

Next year we hope to build on the program by using Kindles with the other reading resource classrooms and offering Kindles for check out to the regular education students through the library.

Does anyone else have data or anecdotal evidence to share about using ereaders with their students? I would love to hear about it.

Creating My Own PD This Summer

2011-06-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

This summer I am participating in two self directed professional development series:

1. CPD 23 Things

2. Teacher Challenge

First I'll share a little about 23 Things for Professional Development. A team, including heavy hitters like Bobbi Newman, created "a self-directed course aimed at introducing you to a range of tools that could help your personal and professional development as a librarian, information professional or something else." To look at the entire list of 23 Things go here. If you would like to participate go here. I am familiar with many of the tools, but I hope to make more librarian connections, build my PLN, and get reenergized over the summer.

I have been visiting several of the other school librarians participating in the challenge. You can see the list of school librarians here and the entire list here. There are several creative blog names that caught my eye including Bookletting and Info Glut.

The Teacher Challenge is a free 30 day professional development challenge broken up into weekly challenges. I follow this blog throughout the year and they have great ideas and clear instructions for getting started. Even if you are a tech expert this site is a resource for sharing tools with other teachers that might be less experienced. On the left tool bar you will see a long list of previous posts that include tools like paper.li, Wallwisher, Photofilter and Toondoo. I am particularly interested in the Student Blogging challenge because a few of our teachers have expressed interest in creating student blogs next year.

Anyone else participating in these two PD courses? What summer PD will you be participating in this year?

Upstate Technology Conference Rewind and Review

2011-06-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

The last two days I have been having a wonderful tech-filled time at the Upstate Technology Conference. This annual conference is completely free and full of wonderful presentations. This year I presented two sessions:

We eRead: Using Kindles in the Classroom & Harness the Power of Cell Phones

I had a great time presenting and continue to learn and improve. Unfortunately the session on improving presentations was at the same time as mine, but I will definitely be watching for those materials on the conference page.

I had the pleasure of seeing my librarian buddies strut their stuff. Fran Bullington led a session on using technology to "Ramp Up Reading". Lots of fun ideas like using digital frames to show off books, book apps, and Livescribe pencasts of book reviews. Kelly Knight, the Knight Reader, shared her strategies and successes on using blogs with her students. Check out her YA book blog and her school blog. She has really inspired me to do more with my school blog such as sharing reading lists for holidays and school events. This would especially be good for promoting non fiction titles. Cathy Jo Nelson had a packed house for her tech tip session. She really draws a crowd with her long list of ideas and suggestions. Heather Loy shared her expertise in Evernote and a session called "Web 2.0 Speed Dating". What a great way to share lots of tools in a fun, unexpected way.

I was very excited to see so many librarians presenting and many, many more in attendance.

I enjoy the time at conferences to catch up with my friends that I normally only see virtually. It was also fun to meet some of my PLN in person and continue to build those connections.

A few things that really stood out for me:

the popularity of QR codes, both in sessions and on materials
focus on mobile devices like phones, iPods and tablets
lots of buzz about favorite apps

I had a good time and learned a few more tricks. I am a conference and webinar junkie so I am looking forward to a few virtual conferences this summer like the Reform Symposium. Maybe I will "see" some of you there.

Summer Reading on the Road

2011-06-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

photo © 2009 Jorge Andrade | more info (via: Wylio)

I promise that I'm not writing this post to brag and it will involve reading; however, I must share our summer plans. My son and I are meeting my husband in Europe for a 12 night Mediterranean cruise. (My husband has been in Afghanistan since October.) We'll be visiting cities that I have only dreamed of. In preparation for our trip I've been reading and watching movies set in these cities. I found this wonderful website that lists books by country, region and city. As the homepage explains "travel is enriched by reading great novels set in the places you are visiting." On my reading list are:
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zaton (Barcelona, Spain)
Monsieur Monde Vanishes by Georges Simenon (Nice France)
The Birth of Venus: A Novel by Sarah Dunant (Florence, Italy)
The Food of Love by Anthony Capella (Rome)
City of the Soul: A Walk in Rome by William Murray (Rome)
The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella (Naples)
Black Lamb and Grey Falcom: A Journey through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West (Dubrovnik, Croatia)
The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Florato (Venice)
Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Turnbull (just because it sounded fun)
I could not find one for Kotor, Montenegro.

I know reading these novels will get me in the spirit for the trip and make my travels more meaningful. Even though my students may not be traveling to exotic locations like this I think it would still be fun to recommend books to them set at the beach or mountains in our state. A few that come to mind include The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks set in North Carolina, Virals by Kathy Reichs set in Charleston, SC and The Secret Life of Bess by Sue Monk Kidd, also in South Carolina.
I am having my own European film festival to put me in the traveling mood. On my list are The Tourist, The Italian Job, La Dolce Vita, Three Coins in a Fountain, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Roman Holiday, Eurotrip, National Lampoon's European Vacation, The American, French Kiss, When In Rome, Letters to Juliet, Under the Tuscan Sun, and any others that I stumble upon.

Do you have any recommendations for me? Books or movies? Am I missing something obvious from my lists?

Annual Report: Looking Back, Moving Forward

2011-06-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

photo © 2008 Max Khokhlov | more info (via: Wylio)

I completed my annual report today and distributed it to my principal and assistant principal for curriculum and instruction. There are many reasons for creating an annual report. Personal reflection, library program evaluation and advocacy are my primary motivations. Personally this was an excellent way for me to reflect on the year and set goals for next year. I knew I was busy all year, but the numbers really show it. I can probably be declared a webinar junkie. I had a total of 90 hours of training and professional development, 16 presentations not including my tech tips at faculty meetings, and 18 mentions in the press or online. A few highlights that I am particularly proud of are the Skype author visits with my book club, successful reading programs, using Kindles, and being voted Teacher of the Year. Not everything was ideal, I see several areas that I can improve upon next year. There are subjects that I need to better serve and grades that I did not collaborate with as often. The survey I asked students and faculty to complete gave me several suggestions for next year including more soft chairs, scary books, and faster computers.

The annual report was a valuable tool for evaluating the library program. I was able to view statistics on visits, circulations, collaborations, standards addressed, TRAILS data, etc. Although I did not include a detailed collection analysis in the report, I did complete one using Follett Titlewise. I won't bore you with those details, but it was a great way for me to evaluate the collection and set a few target areas for ordering new books next year. I used our most recent state document for library evaluation "Achieving Exemplary School Libraries" as a standard for evaluating our strengths and weaknesses. Some of the weak areas for our program are staffing and advisory committees. The recommended staffing is one media specialists and two paraprofessionals. That is almost laughable in the current budget climate. Our district eliminated all library aides last year and the budget for next year left no room for them to be added. I don't know when they will return. I never had one so I have adapted, but I can definitely see the advantages and look forward to that possibility in the future. We currently do not have a library advisory committee at the school or district level. I am still researching and reading about the possibility of creating one.

I plan to use the annual report as an advocacy tool. Sharing with my school administration is the first step. I posted the report on my website and may share with some of the district administration when the last few days of school pass. I considered creating a video version, but we just shared our Library Snapshot Day with the board so I don't want to overload them with videos. I feel that this is a great tool for me to keep handy should the need arise to defend my job and show student impact. The recent interrogations of librarians in California made me take a cold, hard look at myself. Could I answer the questions they were asked? This report definitely shows collaborations, standards I addressed, classes I taught, student visits, and student achievement. Research skills are tested in our state assessment, PASS. Standard six covers research skills in English/Language Arts for grades 6-8. Our school tests ELA standards using Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) twice as year in addition to our state testing. I used results from both tests to evaluate our Kindle program. I will be sharing these results at the Upstate Technology Conference and I will post our presentation here soon. When our PASS results come in this summer I plan to compare scores on ELA with class library visits and find out if they are connected. I also plan to use these scores to target a group of struggling readers for a special book club. Another tool I utilized this year with our 6th grade is TRAILS. The results of this test allowed me to target the weakest areas in information literacy. I was pleased to see growth in all areas by the end of the school year.

I learned a few lessons when putting together the report. I looked at annual reports from many different places to determine what I would like to include in my own. I wish I could give credit to all of the reports I viewed, but I didn't make a note of all of the reports I viewed and borrowed ideas from. Several great examples can be found here. I created a template for both monthly and annual reports and added to them all year. I wish I had included a section for Grants from the beginning. I decided to add it at the last minute and had to rely on my memory to fill it in. I know there were other grants I applied for, but I just couldn't remember them all. Another change I will make next year is listing the state and AASL standard for collaborations as I go. I did not do it originally and spent quiet a while going back to fill it in. Again, I feel that I left out many, but simply grew tired of looking at the lists. I believe I will change my faculty survey next year. I will probably make it shorter and take out the questions about their personal beliefs regarding information literacy. What I want to focus on is asking if library services met their needs as educators and their students' needs. Judging from some of the suggestions I suspect that some of the teachers had not ventured into the library often. A few of the changes they requested have already been implemented. Nevertheless, there was value in reading their thoughts.

Please share a link to your annual report. I am always eager to continue improving and learning.

Fired Up About Summer Reading

2011-05-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of our summer reading program, the Middle School Million Page Challenge. Our Edmodo book discussion group is going strong already. We have 193 members and growing. Students are posting favorite books, recommendations, asking for recommendations, and today started posting the number of pages read. It is great to see middle school students so enthusiastic about reading. I hope to sponsor a few trivia contests on our discussion page and reward the students that are active online. We will also give prizes for those that read the most and a drawing for those that participate and turn in a reading log. Today I visited more fifth graders to tell them about summer reading and our book club. One of our book club selections is Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman. I shared the book trailer and one of the videos that serve as part of the plot. They were begging for more information about the story and asking where they could buy the book.

If you are looking for an exciting book to draw in reluctant readers this is a great choice.
I believe that Edmodo is an excellent addition to our summer reading plan. Have you used Edmodo for your book club or are there any teachers using it with their classes in your school? Do they like it? How do they use it?
I have a big stack of books I have been waiting to read. Our challenge starts today so I better get to reading!

Tooting Our Horn

2011-05-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

photo © 2007 Jon Nicholls | more info (via: Wylio)

Tonight was a big night for our media specialists. We were added to the agenda for our school board's May meeting. Many of the media specialists were able to attend the meeting which really makes me happy. We received a lovely introduction from our Director of Elementary Education. She mentioned our district technology professional development and how well our group has worked together and inspired her this year. I told the board about the state Library Snapshot Day, our 100% participation for our district and a brief explanation of the day. We shared the Animoto video created that includes data and pictures from our Snapshot Day. I explained that research shows a school library staffed by a certified media specialist has a positive impact on student achievement and that we see this illustrated in our libraries every day with our students. Finally I thanked the board, our district administration and our school administrators for supporting school libraries and our efforts to serve our students. Our superintendent stated his support for the media center as the hub of the school and thanked us for our hard work. Several board members reiterated his thoughts. There were three members of the press present and taking notes so hopefully this will make the school report in our local papers.

Overall I believe our presentation was a success. We only took about five minutes of their time, but I feel we made a positive impression. I even had a few administrators asking how I made the video.

I encourage others to share their Snapshot data with the school or district administrators. They love good news and it showcases our value and contributions. I would love to hear how others share their Snapshot data.

Middle School Million Page Challenge

2011-05-17T18:28:00.001-07:00

Our three middle schools have joined together to create a summer reading program for our students. After the elimination of our school library representative at the state Department of Education it was uncertain if there would be a state-wide program. Finally it was recommended that we try to model our program after the public library. Our million page challenge asks that students, teachers and staff record the pages they read during the summer and invites them to join our online discussion group on Edmodo. The students and teachers with the most pages will receive prizes such as books and gift cards to Barnes and Noble.

I introduced the 7th graders to the program today and some of the students have already gone online to join the group. As part of my summer reading introduction I showed the book trailers for the book club selections next year, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman, The Roar by Emma Clayton and The Heist Society by Ally Carter. Students also listened to the SC Junior Book Award booktalks on the iPods.

We have plans in the works for our middle schools' book clubs to use Edmodo next year for discussion and we will Skype with authors together. We are excited to be Skyping with Maggie Stiefvater and Patrick Carman. Lessons in netiquette and digital footprints will fit easily into these activities. We collaborated on a few grant applications and hope that one comes through to fund the purchase of the books and other activities.

What are you doing with your students for summer reading?

Showcase Your Library

2011-05-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

This week I requested that librarians be added to the agenda for our school board's next meeting. After participating in the SCASL Library Snapshot Day, I compiled our district data and pictures to create a short video about our library program. You can access it here if you can not view the video below. The plan is to show the video, share a few research findings that illustrate the value of school librarians on student achievement and thank our district office and board for their continued support.

My original plan was to write this post after our visit, but after reading this article about a nearby school district cutting librarians I thought maybe I should post this now. The reaction on our state listserv was fearful, until a few of our SCASL leaders reminded us that this is a call for advocacy. Read my SC library heroes thoughts on it here, here and here. They are spot on.

We must showcase our library program to our students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community. Every month I submit reports to my principal and he loves them. I have already started working on my annual report a la Buffy Hamilton. I will share when it is complete.

What are you doing to showcase your library program?

Readicide: Our Summer Reading Assignment for Teachers

2011-05-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Four of our nine English/Language Arts (ELA) teachers are leaving our school at the end of this year. This mass exodus may make you wonder what is wrong with our school. Actually they are leaving for different reasons, but it just seemed to happen at once. One is taking a position in children's ministry, one has accepted an assistant principal position and two are going to the new high school in our district. What does this have to do with me? Tons! I've spent a great portion of this year building and nurturing relationships with our staff. Even though I have been at our school for six years this was my first as a librarian, requiring me to work more closely with everyone. I work with all of our subjects, but ELA the most. These changes will require a shift for me as well. Three of the new ELA teachers are first year teachers and one is a social studies teacher making a switch. I want to be as supportive of them as possible. I must admit I am excited about the change even though I will miss the teachers that are leaving. I am hoping for enthusiasm, energy and a willingness to collaborate with me.

As soon as the hiring process was over I contacted the teachers and invited them into the library for a tour and to talk about collaboration and preparation for next year. I invited their input and ideas for our summer reading program. I tried to think of something that would bring the staff together over the summer and help them get ready for the year. I decided on a summer reading assignment. I had recently finished the book Readicide by Kelly Gallagher and thought it would be perfect. The Michigan Reading Association used this book for a virtual book club if you want read about it here. After getting the principal's approval I created a group on Edmodo so that we could discuss the book over the summer and purchased the Kindle version of the book for our school Kindles. The teachers will take the Kindles home over the summer and we will talk about the book on Edmodo. I found a few quotes and videos to support the book's suggestions that I will post online for their responses. If this goes well maybe I will choose books for other subject areas next year.

Anyone else using summer reading groups?

Salem Library Blog Awards

2011-05-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! I'm honored to be on the nominated list for Newcomers on the Salem Library Blog Awards. Thanks to Fran Bullington for her nomination. I began my blogging journey as a way to reflect on my first year and share my experiences so that others could learn from my mistakes. As my first year draws to an end I am grateful for the gifts this blog has given me, including connecting me with other librarians, encouraging me in those moments of fatigue, and allowing me to prepare for another great year in the library.

If you are looking for an update to your blog roll these lists are a helpful resource.

Thanks to everyone in my PLN for their support and encouragement this year!

1 of 361 at NLLD

2011-05-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

I was honored to represent librarians, educators, South Carolina, and my state organization, SCASL, at National Library Legislative Day in Washington, DC. According to ALA there were 361 in attendance. There was a delegation from SC of nine librarians representing public, academic, and school libraries.

On Monday the ALA staff presented briefings on recent library legislation and informed us of what bills we should try to address with our representatives. Of main concern for school librarians is the Library and Technology Services Act (LSTA), the Improving Literacy through School Libraries (ILSL), E-Rate funding and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, formerly NCLB). Monday evening I chatted with three staff members from Senator Jim Demint's office at a reception hosted by ALA.

On Tuesday we stormed the Capitol to meet with our legislators. I was prepared for these meetings. At the advice of the wonderful Fran Bullington, I created a cheat sheet of our SC legislators that included a photo, title, district served, committees, and any other pertinent information that would help us tailor our message to their goals and priorities. For example one of our representatives is married to a retired librarian, while another boasted a 100% voting record on social issues. This information helped me to prepare and our delegation leader even had copies made for entire delegation. Next year I want to add information from the ALA scorecard webpage and a district map of our state. The sheet also had statistics that I could use in the meetings.

For our meetings we came bearing gifts. I brought notes from my students and elementary students from West Pelzer Elementary. Thanks to the awesome Carla Nash for getting those! Our students wrote notes about why libraries were important to them on little dollar bill notes. I wanted to make the point that these funding decisions are about our students and their votes impact SC children. This was another great idea from Fran. I also found a statistic that states "Americans spend more than two and a half times on salty snacks than they do on libraries." I printed this on address labels and stuck it to little packs of peanuts. I found more statistics about the cost effectiveness of libraries on the ALA Advocacy page and printed those on a notecard that I attached to a little bag of "gold" gum.

My first meeting was with the office of Representative Jeff Duncan and my fellow school librarian, Kathy Sutusky, went to Representative Tim Scott's office. The student notes were a big hit with the staff and I hope that it helped us make our point. I can't say that we had any major revelations about libraries or concrete assurances regarding funding, but I do feel good knowing that we voiced our concerns for libraries. Unfortunately due to travel arrangements I could not visit more offices, but the delegation took the notes and gifts with them to share. They reported to me later that they were a great tool as the visits continued. One of the public librarians said he was inspired by our visual aids and had ideas for next year.

One of the major issues that has haunted me since I left is that we are not doing enough to show the non-librarian community what we do. We must do a better job showing the impact we have on student achievement.

What can you do?

Write your legislators requesting that they fund LSTA, ILSL, E-rate and that they vote to include school librarians in the reauthorization of ESEA.

Call a parent each day to build the home-school connection.

Create a monthly report to share with your principal.

Create an annual report to share with teachers, administrators, district personnel, school board, local government and community.

Use assessments like TRAILS to show your impact.

Participate in Snapshot Day and use that data to highlight our services and impact.

What other ideas do you have?

I'm a Winner!

2011-05-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be one of the winners of an Echo Smartpen education bundle from Livescribe. To celebrate Teacher Appreciation week Livescribe hosted a contest on Twitter. Winners had to be the first to answer a trivia question about the smartpens. To see all of the winners check out the bios here. Follow them @Livescribek12 because they plan another contest this summer. Their site has many useful and short videos about how to use the pens and suggestions for using them in the most effective ways.

I have written about my desire to use smartpens and now I am thrilled to give it a try. Sixth graders are currently working on booktalk scripts that I hope to turn into pencasts for our state junior book award nominees. I plan to train our teachers on using the device and hope that it will circulate throughout school and help our students learn many different subjects. You do not have to wait on the summer contest because the pen is not outrageously expensive. Last check on Amazon was $121.

Anyone else out there using this nifty tool?

Green With Envy: Using Chroma Key

2011-04-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

Last year at the Upstate Technology Conference I had the pleasure of hearing the keynote from Hall Davidson of Discovery Education. One of the tools he mentioned was the chroma key feature found in video editing software. Most people are probably familiar with the "green screen" effect during the weather reports on news broadcasts and special effects for high budget films. Well, it doesn't take much money or technical ability to create this effect with your students. I knew that our students would love doing this and it was definitely something new to them, but I didn't try this until today.

A big thanks to the Mighty Little Librarian and her post "I'm A Green Screen Machine" because she reminded me of this tool and prompted me to give it a try. I was pleased to find that the software I wanted to use was free and not blocked. I used Jaycut, although there are other options out there. I purchased a bright green curtain from Walmart and pulled out one of our Flip cameras. With a little nudge my library helpers agreed to star in the video. I downloaded a few video clips from Discovery Education's United Streaming and wrote a very short script explaining the tool and how I could help teachers implement it in class. While I manned the book fair my student helpers recorded the video then I did the editing. I was pleased to find it very easy to do.

In Jaycut you need to upload the video clips first. Drag the green screen video to the Video A row and the other clips to the Video B row. I trimmed the Discovery Education videos to correspond with the script and moved them around where I wanted them. If you are familiar with MovieMaker you will find this software to be easy. To enable the Chroma Key effect, double click the green screen video clip, choose the Effects Tab, click Yes for Chroma Key, ensure the color selected matches your screen (green in my case, but it can be other colors), and adjust the sensitivity. I set the sensitivity to 40%. I really wanted to increase it to hide a wrinkle in the green curtain, but when I did it erased my student's white shirt and blond hair. Just play with this until you get it where you want it. I learned to make sure there are no major wrinkles in the curtain before you record. I also suggest having lots of green in the shot so that viewers can see the clips. In my case the only way they agreed to do the talking was together so you can't see much of the background.

I used video clips as a background and I did not want the audio. To remove the audio, double click the clips in Video B, select the Audio tab, reduce volume to 0%. You could use the audio if you wanted to mesh the clips with the audio from your students by trimming the clips and adjusting audio for each clip. You can also use an image as a background and then audio would not be a concern.

Please don't judge my video too harshly. It was a learning experience, but I had fun creating this little video and can't wait to try this with our students. Two teachers have already expressed interest in using this for a project. One of our science teachers plans to try this soon and one of our English teachers wants to use it to create book trailers.

Have you tried chroma key? What ideas do you have for using this in the classroom or library?

Green Screen Demo

Two New Advocacy Opportunities

2011-04-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

There are two new advocacy opportunities in my future.

1. ALA National Library Legislative Day: I am lucky enough to be attending this event in Washington, D.C. with the president of our state library association. I am excited, but also a little nervous because I take this responsibility very seriously. Now, more than ever, advocating for libraries is essential. I have been preparing by reading up on library research and the background of our state congressmen.

2. Education Administration Graduate classes: After corresponding with a university professor, there are plans for our advocacy committee to visit some of the graduate classes. Having an audience with these future principals will be a great way for us to build connections and illustrate the importance of a strong library program.

What would you like to tell our government representatives? school administrators?

Welcoming 5th Graders

2011-04-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

This week we have been having school tours for 5th grade students from our feeder elementary schools. I met briefly with the guidance counselor planning the event and asked her if I could speak with the groups for a few minutes during the tour. She said that no one else has ever offered to do anything for the tour and she would love it if I wanted time with them. I decided to create a video in Moviemaker that highlighted some of the programs and activities that we have done this year. I thought this would be the best option because if I had a class and couldn't take the time to stop and talk with each group they could still watch the video to get an idea about what we do and get excited about the library. I plan to visit the schools before we leave for the summer to tell them about our summer reading program. All of our schools are pretty close so I don't think this will be a problem and I believe that I will get a better response if I deliver the information personally. I created a parent scavenger hunt for our rising 6th grade students to complete with their families at an Open House event. Thanks to Google Translate and a quick check from our translator I also have a Spanish version. Of course, the library is on the tour and I'll pull out all the stops that night to make sure they all feel welcome and enthusiastic about our library program.

The students enjoyed the video and left with big smiles and lots of "This is cool!" comments.

How do you welcome new students?

South Carolina's Library Snapshot Day

2011-04-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

SCASL's Library Snapshot Day Information

South Carolina school librarians impact the lives of their students daily. Whether working with entire classes or individuals, we enhance our students’ education. Study after study has proven the worth of effective school library programs led by certified school librarians. As of yet, South Carolina school libraries have not been featured in one of these studies. Let’s provide our administrators, district personnel, school board members, and state legislators with data that demonstrates the need to support school library programs in South Carolina!

The South Carolina Association of School Librarians is sponsoring a snapshot day of data for our school libraries. We ask that each school librarian choose a day in the month of April, National School Library Month, to collect data, anecdotes, testimonials, and photographs to submit to the SCASL Advocacy Committee. The committee will compile the data and other requested information and provide each South Carolina school librarian with a report that he/she will want to share with their school communities and state legislators. Together, we can provide a powerful picture of the impact our programs have.

How can I participate?

Please collect the following data to submit: A) General

1. Type of schedule: fixed, flexible, or combination

2. Number of students attending your school

3. Number of teachers on your staff

4. Number of school librarians on your staff

5. Number of full or part time library assistants on your staff

6. Number of computers in your school library and on mobile laptop labs

7. Number of items in your library’s collection

B) Data from one day in April (choose one of your busiest days!)

8. Number of individual students visiting the library (not with a class)

9. Number of classes visiting the library and the total number of students in those classes

10. Number of teachers visiting the library (with and without classes)

11. Number of classes the school librarian taught

12. Number of items circulated

13. Number of individual student computer uses

C) Anecdotes and Testimonials from one day in April

D) Photographs from one day in April

Where will I submit the data, anecdotes/testimonials, and photographs collected?

The data you collect for #1-13 above should be entered in this survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/scaslsnapshot

All photographs can either be uploaded to the SCASL Flickr Account or attached to an email sent to fran.bullington@gmail.com

When is the deadline for data and photo submittal?

Thursday, May 5th

Questions? Have questions about this initiative? Email fran.bullington@gmail.com

________________________________________________________________

My Snapshot Day

I held my Library Snapshot Day this week on a very busy day. I have a book fair going on, 5th grade tours and 6th grade classes all day. Collecting the information for the day was very easy. Many of the questions I could answer right away. I kept a record of visitors by making tally marks all day. I have a laptop at the door for sign in, but I knew there were visitors each day that "forget" to sign in so recording the numbers myself would be more accurate. Having the book fair actually reduced my numbers because I didn't have my usual lunchtime readers and computer gamers, but hopefully my shoppers made up for it a little. Recording circulation was simple because I pulled a report in Destiny. I did have to go back and add the A/V items because I wasn't sure if I should could the laptops and iPods as one check out for the day or one for each of the four classes that used them. I asked for a second opinion and decided to count them four times. I put out the SCASL surveys and had my student helpers ask others to complete the short questionnaire. I put a copy in each teacher's box as well, but only had two teachers complete them. It was affirming to read the nice quotes from my students.

In addition to answering the survey for SCASL my district is collecting the data so that we can create a Day in the Life video to share with our district office administrators, school board, community, parents, teachers, students and principals. We plan to use Animoto to create the video and spread the news about our impact on students.

Have you collected your data yet? I hope to see high levels of participation, especially in this critical time for education. What are you waiting for?

To read more about Snapshot Day check out Cathy Nelson's reflections on her day.

QR Code Easter Egg Hunt Update

2011-04-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

The past few days my sixth graders have been coming in for the QR Code Easter Egg Hunt. My previous post on this activity can be found here. I'm happy to report that is was a hit with the students and teachers. All of the students were engaged and had fun while they learned. The teachers were impressed with the content of the questions and the novelty of the activity. My principal even stopped by for a visit and enjoyed seeing technology in action. Everyone can rest easy now that my sixth graders have saved the Easter Bunny and released him from captivity. Enjoy a few pictures from the fun times we had in the library.

Technology, Book Browsing, and the Interactive Library

2011-04-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

photo © 2010 Thomas Abbs | more info (via: Wylio)
Two articles in the American Libraries March/April 2011 issue have my wheels turning: Jason Griffey's "CES: The Librarian's Takeaway" and Meredith Farkas's "Let's Not Borrow Trouble" .

I am in the middle of reorganizing my collection and I am seriously considering a few major shakeups like shelving fiction by genre and nonfiction by subject instead of Dewey. I want to make the library easily accessible to my students. No matter how many lessons I give on Dewey and browsing they are still confused which tells me that instead of spending time trying to change them maybe I need to change how I organize the library. I don't know what the consensus is in the library community, but I have to make decisions about this with my students in mind.

These two articles spoke to me in regards to these decisions. Griffey's article describes some of the gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show and how they relate to libraries. The gadgets mentioned made me think about how I can make my library more interactive and accessible. Griffey says "Experiences become expectations." Our students are accustomed to technology, gadgets and personalization and expect this type of experience in the library. I have made small steps in this direction by having a digital frame that shows slides of book covers and videos of book trailers as well as posting QR codes and having QR code lessons, but I have a long way to go.

Farkas discusses the issues that need to be considered as our e-book collections grow. One issue that really stood out to me was the issue of browsing an e-book collection. Let's face it, we judge books by their covers, but ebooks are difficult to browse in this way. We have Kindles, iPods and iPads that we use with our students. My low tech solution to browsing e-books has been using Power Point to create visuals of the book covers and summaries of the books that are on display. I recently created a visual poster using Glogster for our state junior book award nominees that included book covers, podcasts and links to author web pages. This is more interactive, but still not the easiest solution for our students' browsing habits.

After reading these articles the question in my mind is: How can I use technology to make browsing easier for my students?

Here are a few ideas that I have considered:

QR Codes: Using a smartphone or iPod students can scan the QR codes on books to listen to book talk podcasts or visit author or book web pages. I did this with our state book award nominees and posted about it here. I could post QR codes at Dewey sections or genre sections to help students learn about the collection's organization.
Smart Pens: Book talks can be built into the book with a Livescribe pen. Read the post describing how to do this on The Daring Librarian's spectacular blog.
KINECT technology: After seeing KINECT used to create interactive window displays in stores I really want to try this in the library. It would be awesome to have an interactive display that allowed students to explore genres, holiday or event displays like Banned Books, or programs and promotions like reading contests.
Augmented reality: This technology is growing rapidly and I see loads of potential for libraries. Most people thing this is really complicated, but one common use of this is the yellow first down line when you watch football on TV. Apps could be created that allow students to flag their favorite books, recommend books to their friends through the app and librarians could put markers and guides throughout the collection. The student would look at the shelf through the smart phone or iPod device and see the notes and markers created in the app. These apps could translate signs into other languages like the Word Lens app. This would allow easier browsing for our non English speaking students. You can even use them to create virtual objects. To promote that new fantasy book you could have a dragon perched on the shelf where the book is housed. There is already an app that could help in shelving books.

What ideas do you have for using technology to make browsing easier for your students?

Stuck Between a Bookend and a Hard Place

2011-04-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

photo © 2007 Alexandre Duret-Lutz | more info (via: Wylio)
The past two days I've been making some changes regarding how I shelve my collection. After more serious weeding I moved all of my Reference to Nonfiction. The only books that remain as Reference are the sets of encyclopedias and a small set of dictionaries. This year I allowed Reference to be checked out, but just a few days instead of two weeks. Now that they are all in Nonfiction they will be checked out the same as the other books. This year has really been a year of observation in regards to Nonfiction. I weeded this summer, but not as much as I wanted because I was not sure what projects or requests I would get from the teachers. Now that the year is winding down I have a better idea of what I can weed further and where I need to order more. I have read about shelving them by subject instead of using Dewey and I'm thinking about this. I would have to work on this during the summer though.

Our small collection of graphic novels and Manga were cataloged as Nonfiction (741.5), but I'm moving them to Fiction and purchasing several more series. Not sure what the "correct" way is, but this will work best for my students. I have put genre labels on every fiction book and I am seriously considering shelving my fiction by genre. It might be next year though because I feel like I have moved these books around so much this year that I want to rest for a little while. I also want to label all of my series books. Some series are kind enough to put the number of the book on the spine, but others do not and it is difficult for me to remember them all.

I moved the professional books into an attached book closet at the beginning of the year, but I have to weed with a heavy hand. I have only had ONE teacher come in and check out something from these books. I do not plan on spending any money in this area anytime soon, but I obviously need to advertise this collection to my teachers.

I began my inventory yesterday while I had a little break between classes. At the advice of one of my district mentors I'm attacking one shelf at a time with my laptop and weeding, dusting and putting books in order as I go. I'm about one third of the way through Nonfiction. I have never had an assistant, but I can definitely see where an assistant would be really nice for this task. Thank goodness for my wonderful student helpers.

My library is a work in progress. I have made major changes and improvements this year, but there are still more things I would like to do.

Anyone have any inventory advice? How do you have your collection organized? How do you push the traditional methods of organization?

QR Code Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

photo © 2008 Mallory Odam | more info (via: Wylio)
This week I created a QR code Easter Egg Hunt for my sixth grade students. I wanted to share this early enough for others to have time to do something similar if they wanted even though the students will not come in for a few more days. This activity could be adapted for any subject but we are doing the activity in English/Language Arts. The specific concepts that the teachers wanted included were hyperbole, idioms, main idea, denotation, connotation and some of the prefixes and roots that were recently covered. With state testing coming up I'm sure you could convince at least one teacher to do something like this for a review activity.

Once I had the concepts I set to work creating the activity. I decided that I would kidnap the Easter Bunny. I used a ransom note generator site to give the students before we begin explaining their challenge. Students have to solve the clues on the scavenger hunt to discover my hiding place. Letters from the correct answers tell where the bunny is hidden. I have a small end table in the library that looks like a stack of books. Most students do not know this, but it has a lid so this is where he will be stashed away. The answer they are filling in is "table made of books" which is sixteen letters so I created sixteen questions using the concepts provided by the teachers. I found websites that I could use for the student research and created questions.

I would be happy to share the entire document but for the sake of space I'll give a few examples here.

Scan the code and complete the hyperboles found on the page: My teacher is so old she _ _ _ _ _ _ cavemen to start a fire. (1^st letter)

Students with then find the egg with that question # on it and scan the QR code with the school iPods I preloaded with a free QR code reader. On the site they will find the missing word and get the first letter of the hiding place.

Another example:

Scan the code and look under question #3. What word has the same denotation as chef but a less favorable connotation? _ _ _ _ (2^nd letter)

This QR code links to a webpage explaining these concepts.

The questions continue until they have all 16 letters to solve the mystery. The first pair from each class with all the correct answers and the bunny wins Easter candy.

I created the eggs by pasting the QR codes on clip art of eggs and printing them out for display around the library. I used this site to generate the QR codes, but there are many options.

Some of the questions are just from memory and some of the QR codes will answer two of the questions. You could just use a few QR codes or one for each question depending on how much time you have.

If you would like to try this and I didn't answer your question about the activity here please email me and I'll be happy to help. tamara_cox1@yahoo.com For more great ideas on using QR codes visit The Daring Librarian's blog and her QR Codes At a Glance Tutorial.

I'll post a reflection on the activity next week after the students come in.

Happy Hunting!

Never Far From My Mind

2011-04-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

My husband, son and I took a trip to Disney for Spring Break. I'm sad to report that I did not get any of my reading completed, but we had a great time. Libraries were never far from my mind, however. This is me shelving books before entering the Haunted Mansion, which had quite a creepy library inside, and the library on the Swiss Family Robinson tree house.

A New Tool for Reaching Reluctant Readers

2011-04-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

If you are a librarian and this picture doesn't make you smile then you are in the wrong profession. This is a group of 6th grade boys reading the first of the 3:15 short stories by Patrick Carman. I loaded the app on our iPods and told all of the English teachers about it. I also plan to advertise the app in my "App of the Week" series in our weekly newsletter.

Check out the app here.

Many of my students tell me that they do not like to read and I usually respond that they haven't found the right book yet. I ask them questions about their favorite books (if they have any), favorite movies, and hobbies to try to recommend a good book. I know that if I strike out right away it is difficult to gain their trust again. This is why I was pretty excited about the 3:15 stories. I knew it would appeal to some of those reluctant readers. After I let the teachers know about the app one of the teachers approached me about using it as part of a lesson. I wasn't able to visit her classroom during the lesson so I hope I am explaining it correctly, but this is how she used it. The teacher preselected pairs (weak/strong reader) and each pair was given an iPod with the app loaded. They watched the teaser trailer together to start the lesson. The stronger reader (without student knowledge) was chosen to read the story aloud first. A passage at a time the stronger reader would read aloud and then the struggling reader would repeat. When the story was complete they watched the video ending together. She said student response was excellent and she observed the struggling readers correcting themselves as they read because they listened to the story aloud first.

Patrick Carman also has two series of books that use a journal style of writing coupled with video journal clips online with clues thrown in. One of the books from the Skeleton Creek series is on our state junior book award nominee list for next year and we have chosen it for the book clubs at all three middle schools in the district.

For an explanation of the Skeleton Creek series read this post. The second series that uses a similar format is the Trackers series.

I really enjoy the combination of print and video media and so do my students.

Has anyone else used the 3:15 app? Or introduced the Skeleton Creek or Trackers series to your students?

Advocacy: One Step at a Time

2011-04-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

photo © 2006 Jim Howe | more info (via: Wylio)
One aspect of my job as a librarian that I did not anticipate when I was working on my degree was advocacy. Yet, this has been a major focus of my first year.

I attempt to advocate for the library, my students, the profession as a whole and my own job. Even though there are many layers of advocacy they fit in a few categories for me.

-Be positive- I try to be as friendly and helpful as I can to students, teachers, administrators, parents and other librarians. I don't feel that I have the luxury of saying no very often because I'm trying to demonstrate my contribution to our entire school. This doesn't mean I meet every request, but I have pushed myself to do as much as possible.

-Be proactive- If I see a need for something I try to take care of it without being asked. I don't want to wait on someone to ask me to do something. Being proactive can be small or large. One example of a small action I took this year involves a lab near the library. We have a computer lab connected to the library with glass doors. Officially the lab is not my responsibility, but I do check on it and make sure there are markers and erasers for the whiteboard and I have my helpers straighten up in the room when we have a spare moment. An example of a larger-scale action is my technology training efforts. I volunteered to share one tech tool before each faculty meeting, I emailed the district office administrators and offered to teach a professional development class, which became an entire series of training classes several of us are organizing for the entire district, and when I heard the principals were getting iPads I offered to train them. I see all of these tasks as advocating to every principal and teacher in our district. I don't wait on others to notice how hard I work. I share the news. Each month I create monthly reports that I send to my administrators and post on my webpage. My principal loved these so much that he asked me to find examples for administrators and guidance counselors so that he would receive a similar report about their activities. I include a Library News section in our school's weekly update to parents and I post advocacy tips on the library home page. I have spoken with our administrators so much about social media that they finally agreed to allow me to create a Facebook page for our school. You better believe that library news will be posted there!

-Build Alliances- Librarians are often singletons so we have to reach out to build alliances. I have tackled this in several ways. I created a PLN that reaches around the globe. My PLN offers me ideas, advice, inspiration and sometimes friendship. I joined my state organization, SCASL, and then joined a committee. I am on the Advocacy committee (of course), but there is a committee for every interest. Being on a committee has made me feel more involved in the organization and I have been able to connect with other librarians virtually and face to face, including some of my library heroes. On the district level I meet with the other two middle school librarians once a month to share ideas, plan activities and just talk with someone who understands our unique position. We have also had the teen librarian from our public library meet with us. Even though I do not have an assistant I try to step out of the library often to meet with the teachers especially when they are planning big projects. I met with each grade's English teachers mid year to share library circulation statistics and come up with ideas for addressing some of the weak areas. After reading this post from the Shelf Consumed blog, I have started calling one parent each day to brag on their child's reading. I have had such a positive response that I plan to continue doing this.

What advocacy actions do you take? Or want to start?

Apple Invasion at Palmetto

2011-03-22T15:47:00.001-07:00

There has been a mini Apple invasion at school. We now have 18 iPods that are getting regular circulation. There are two teachers with iPods in their classroom, one teacher with 6 and another with 12. We are using the library iPods in a variety of classrooms and subjects. One of the special education classes has used them for math lessons including coins, telling time, multiplication, addition and subtraction. We used Coins Free, Coin Math, TellTime Lite, Pop Math Lite, Math Drills Lite and Times Table Free. I used them for a 7th grade library lesson on Poetry. I introduced poetry with examples first then the students used the Verses app to create their own poem. Verses is a magnetic poetry app. I heard lots of "This is cool" and "I love this!". It is hard to get this response from teens when it comes to poetry. In 6th grade social studies the students used the app Greek Gods Lite to research mythology and create posters. In science class students used flashcards to study for a test, the Kindle app for reading during SSR and the camera feature for taking photos of biotic and abiotic environments around our school. Several teachers have also used them to record tests for students that need oral testing.

Next week one of the 7th grade English teachers will be using the new app 3:15 that features teasers, short stories and a video ending for works by Patrick Carman. We are currently developing a lesson around the app. I will post an update after the lesson.

Another exciting addition to our tech collection is 10 iPads. Six of the iPads will be housed in a resource classroom for math lessons and reading on the Kindle app. I'm hoping the other four will remain in the library for lessons and teacher check out. Purchasing iPads for all of the district administrators is currently in discussions. I volunteered to train them if the purchase is made. Apple training was quoted at $2,000 so I'm hoping that I will get this opportunity. I saw this as another way to advocate for librarians in our district.

Our chorus teacher just received a Mac. She is very excited because she wants to use Garage Band with her students performances.

A non-Apple purchase is a set of Dell Latitude netbooks for teachers to check out. This is our first netbook cart and I've been working on them the last few days. They should be ready to use tomorrow and I already have lots of teachers waiting in line to use them.

It is great to see all of this technology coming to our school and being integrated into our student learning. I am also excited that I've played a role in making requests, orders and preparation for the use of the new technology.

QR Codes: What are those things anyway?

2011-03-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have used QR codes in the library this year and plan on expanding their use next year. I posted a QR code on a bulletin board of our state junior book award nominees that linked to my Youtube channel full of book trailers about the books. I have one on the circulation desk that takes students to my online business card at Retaggr with links to my blog, Twitter handle and other social media information. I used QR codes at our state conference. I created a sign with a QR code that linked to my presentation materials for those that could not attend the session. Kristen Hearne and I created QR codes for each junior book award nominee and shared with our state organization.

My order of next year's nominees arrived this week and I added the QR codes to the book covers that link to either the author site or a site that relates to the topic of the book.

I have plans to create a QR code scavenger hunt for orientation and assist a few interested teachers in creating them for their subject areas. Now that we have 18 iPods in the library I have enough for students to work in pairs to complete the scavenger hunt.

Thanks to Cathy Jo Nelson I read about a QR code reader that can be used on a desktop computer in combination with a webcam. This is a great alternative for libraries without iPods or days when my iPods are checked out to a classroom.

I recently spoke with 6th and 7th graders about the future of using cell phones in learning. I am presenting on this topic this summer at the Upstate Technology Conference and I wanted to get student input. As part of the lesson I shared QR codes. Several students and the teachers from those classes have come to me since then and mentioned seeing them on clothing tags and other packaging. This is a fun and growing tech trend.

How are you using them? How do you plan to use them?

SCASL 2011: Lessons Learned

2011-03-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

My first SCASL conference was wonderful. There were many highlights but the #1 was meeting some of the awesome librarians in our state. My library heroes Cathy Jo Nelson, Fran Bullington and Heather Loy were so welcoming and invited me and my co-presenter, Carla Nash, to dinner. It was great to chat and get to know them in person. They introduced me to SCASL Treasurer Steven Reed and Kevin Merritt from the Upstate Technology Conference. I laughed so much that night.

There were several interesting sessions to choose from. I left with lots of ideas. I loved the sessions "Are Your Students Cyber Literate?", "AASLs Top 25 Sites", "Words 2.0h" and learning about the new SCASL website. I am currently working on a series of staff development events in my district so I learned about more tools that we can show our teachers. The cyber literacy resources shared were timely for me because we have been focusing on this issue during our mentoring program at school. The new website is exciting because it makes it easier to connect and communicate with other members and it is all in one place. I left feeling very impressed. We have a large pool of talented, creative librarians in South Carolina.

Not only did I learn about the session topics, but I also learned from watching others present their sessions and evaluating my own presentation skills. When teaching my students I get them involved as much as possible and make the lesson active and engaging. I think I left out some of those guidelines when I was putting together my presentations for the conference. I need to use those little tricks though because adults like to be entertained just as much as my students. Even though we can make ourselves appear interested doesn't mean we are. I did make a conscious effort to keep text short in the slides. I used Poll Everywhere to get the audience to participate, but I want to build on that participation. In Cathy Jo Nelson's AASL Top 25 Site presentation she did a great job of getting the audience involved and contributing. I want to make my presentations more active. I wanted to use a few short video clips, but after seeing others struggle with sound I decided to leave them out. Next time I will bring my own speakers so that I can use videos and songs.

I will be presenting at the Upstate Technology Conference on June 14-15 so I hope to continue to improve on my presentations and put some of these lesson learned into practice. I am looking forward to seeing some familiar faces at UTC and invite you to my sessions. I will be presenting with one of my special education teachers on Kindles and another session on using cell phones in the classroom.

After going to the SCASL conference I am even more excited about the future of the organization and I'm happy to be a part of the great things to come.

SCASL, Here I Come

2011-03-08T18:45:00.001-08:00

I am very excited to be attending my first SCASL (SC Association of School Librarians) Conference this week. I will be presenting "Out of the Gates Running: Reflections on the First Year" with my colleague Carla Nash on Thursday at 8:30 and "R U N a PLN?" on Friday during the last session. I also have a poster session called "Horseplay: Gaming in the Library". Unfortunately I will not be able to be at the opening night of the poster sessions, but a colleague of mine is taking my presentation trifold and handouts to the conference for me.

I'm looking forward to presenting, attending lots of interesting sessions and meeting some of the members of my PLN that I have only interacted with online so far.

If you will be there I hope to see you there and maybe even in one of my sessions. Remember to watch the #scasl11 hashtag on Twitter.

Loading our Technology Toolbelt

2011-03-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

photo © 2009 George Martin | more info (via: Wylio)
Today we had our first (mostly) librarian led technology professional development training. This idea was discussed at our district librarian meeting and two of us volunteered to assist in teaching a district-wide class on web 2.0 tools. Our goal was to expose our teachers to several different web tools that were free and not blocked by internet filters. A few of us met to choose which tools we would feature for this first event. We wanted something that would appeal to many grade levels and tech ability levels. We decided on four sessions: Glogster, Prezi, cameras and quiz and polling tools. We had almost seventy teachers sign up and attend. I am very pleased with the turn out.

I taught the session on quiz and polling tools. I showed the teachers how to create a quiz on Google Forms and the sites Proprofs, That Quiz and Survey Monkey. I featured two mobile study tools on the presentation, Quizlet and Study Boost. I shared a few apps with them and blog/website polling sites as well. The Glogster and Prezi sessions showed the basics for the sites and allowed them time to sign up for an account and begin exploring how to use each tool. During the camera session the teachers were shown the Hue HD webcam and Flip camera. The presenters gave them ideas on how to use each tool in the classroom and then saved time for the teachers to play with each device.

Several teachers thanked us for the information and were excited to learn so much and try the tools out at school. I overheard a few comments that they felt overwhelmed with so much information. We knew this might be an issue but we wanted to make the two hours worthwhile and give the teachers many tools to choose from. We hope to have another similar session in the future. I am still thinking about what tools we should share next time.

What tools do you feel would be the best when you are trying to appeal to K-12 teachers?

Ipod Integration Update

2011-03-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

We have had a little over two months with our iPods and there are several updates. The teachers are still learning, some faster and more eager than others, but we're getting there. We have used the iPods with the students several times now. One teacher has used the Memo app to record herself reading tests aloud. Several of our students have this accommodation in their IEP (Individual Education Plan). Our resource teachers will read the Math and English tests to those students, but do not have time for the other subjects. Recording the tests allows the teachers to provide the students with what they need in an efficient way. The teacher only has to take time to record the test one time and it can be reused with all of the students that need it. The students benefit because they can stay in class and take it discreetly with the iPod and earbuds. They are no longer singled out because of their learning needs. The student can also rewind and listen to a question as many times as needed.

That same teacher used the Greek Gods app for a research project. Students used the app to choose a god or goddess and then created a small poster describing their god or goddess. We were hoping to use the Juxio app to create the final product, but we are not able to get the iPods on our Wifi network to access pictures for the project. Beyond the Wifi limitation we did have one student choose Dionysus and one of the descriptions was more mature than we would have preferred for sixth grade. Luckily the student did not even know what it meant, but unfortunately this is a reality when the app is not created specific to a certain age group.

One of the special education teachers used the multiplication app with her students for their math lesson. I popped in for that lesson and they absolutely loved using them to quiz each other on their times tables. She told me later that I gained rock star status for bringing them to her classroom.

Last week we used the iPods to allow students to research. This was a great motivator because they had to complete several other steps in order to get permission to use the device.

Since my last post on iPods we have purchased 12 additional iPods for a total of 18. This was at the request of the teachers because they wanted enough for three classes to use six at a time. Our school co plans, which means teachers within the same grade and subject level teach the same lesson at the same time as much as possible. Having 18 iPods will let all three teachers use six at a time with group activities or as a station. There are other teachers that are working on getting more to keep in their classroom next year.

Not everything has been a positive. Some of the challenges include:

1. No Wifi access: Some apps will not work without being online and it limits the ways that the iPods can used with our students. I am hoping that as our bandwidth increases we will be allowed to get on Wifi with our iPods.

2. Charging and syncing: iTunes is blocked at my school so right now I have to bring the iPods home to sync them which is not ideal. Charging has also been troublesome because I do not have a charging cart due to cost. I have a fishbone USB hub that allows me to charge four at a time. It usually takes me most of the school day to charge all 18 with constant checking and changing.

3. Teacher opinions: There have definitely been some that are open to using the iPods and excited, but others do not show any interest. Of course, I can't force it on them, nor would I want to, but I feel that I need to do a better job of showing them the possibilities and supporting them in using the devices.

I would love to hear from other teachers using iPods.

Jammin' at the Jamboread

2011-03-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday a few teachers and I braved the rain to take a bus load of our students to the Jamboread event at the Spartanburg County Public Library. Our students had so much fun. Our first stop was the book signing with R.L. Stine, Bruce Coville, Karma Wilson and Janet Stevens. There were Jamboread tattoos, a scavenger hunt, K9 Dogs in Flight show, illustration class with Janet Stevens, crafts, African storytelling, characters, paintball murals and an awesome teen room. My students loved coloring white rubber ducks and dog tags. I saw lots of new Manga series that I would like to purchase for my library and I'm jealous of their funky furniture. We had a great time. Thanks so much to all of the staff and volunteers for planning a wonderful event.

Wrestlemania Reading Challenge Celebration

2011-02-11T16:41:00.000-08:00

Today was a memorable day at Palmetto Middle. The sixth grade reached their goal of reading 1,000 books for the Wrestlemania Reading Challenge and the celebration was held today. The reward for reaching the goal was that each of our three principals dressed as wrestlers and made an appearance during their lunch period. Luckily I have three wonderful administrators that agreed to do this. The students had a blast and I think the teachers enjoyed it even more. I am so proud of our sixth graders for reaching their goal and in only three months! Next week we begin the Six Flags Read to Succeed program. I can't wait to see how many students read for the required six hours to earn a ticket to the theme park. Today was a great day because we celebrated reading and had tons of fun.

Gadget Petting Zoo Encore

2011-02-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

After the success of the electronic gadget petting zoo with my school faculty and staff, the district office asked that I host one for all of the librarians in our district. I was thrilled. The petting zoo has evolved to include QR codes, more Kindles, a Nook Color, and iPod Touches. Also, the signs were upgraded and made beautiful by my colleague, Kristen Hearne. This was the first time we have met as a group this year and my first time meeting many of these ladies. We had a great time talking about the gadgets, sharing ideas and discussing the merits and weaknesses of Kindles and Nooks. After our time with the gadgets we made plans for librarian-led professional development for our district and we had a chance to voice our concerns with district administration. I hope this will encourage more collaboration between all 14 librarians. It was a productive meeting and I look forward to seeing our professional development plans come to life.

Library Confessions

2011-02-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

I probably shouldn't admit these things in public, but I am curious if other librarians have similar confessions. I have two that I am willing to share today.

1. I have not read the Harry Potter series.

2. I do not buy books.

I know, I know. I haven't read the entire Harry Potter series. I hope that I do not have my library certification stripped after someone reads this. In my defense, I have read the first two. I thought they were cute, but I just did not get attached to the characters like so many others have. I have been told that I need to read the others because they are more mature and I would probably like them better. I hesitate to read them for a few reasons. I do a lot of reading so that I can help my students find books they might like. Harry Potter needs no introduction. I never have a student that hasn't heard of it or hasn't already tried it if they like fantasy. Other books; however, need my endorsement to get into the hands of a student. I feel like I should spend time on those books instead of trying to finish the series, which let's face it is quite long. I have seen bits and pieces of the movies and now feel that I am tainted and can't read the books. I ALWAYS read the book before I see the movie and now I don't know if the book would keep my interest because I know the basics of the story from seeing parts of the movie. Maybe I can work them into my summer reading or listen to the audio in the car as a compromise.

My second confession probably sounds very strange to many librarians. Of course, I buy books at school, but I do not buy books for myself. I have one bookshelf in my living room with my 25 all time favorite books on it and that is all. One of those shelves is full of books for my son which I rotate as he grows up. I do buy books for him, but not for myself. Yet, I read probably 7 to 10 books a month depending on my schedule. I satisfy my reading habit by reading as many books from my middle school library as I possibly can and books from my local public library. My public librarian and I are friends. She has my holds waiting on me as soon as I pull into the parking lot. If I miss a few days coming in she worries about me. I think the public library is one of the greatest institutions in the history of civilization and I visit often. I learned a valuable lesson about books in college after changing dorms many times when I worked in the housing department. Books are heavy. They are difficult to move and store and I just didn't have room for tons of books. This is when I decided to stop buying books. I rarely read a book more than once and I finally admitted to myself that I was keeping books to try to prove to others that I was smart and well read. Now I go to the book store to find titles for my school library, buy for my son or buy gifts. If I see a book I want I just put it on hold at the library.

What are your library confessions?

Google Voice for the Library

2011-02-06T13:41:00.000-08:00

After reading articles here and here about Google Voice I decided to give it a try. I set up a Google Voice account for students to text or call the library for homework or research assistance. I added a widget to my school library page and advertised the number in the library. I am not sure if I will have much response from the students, especially in the beginning, but I want my students to have access to my help at all times of the day.

Google Voice is a manageable solution because I am able to keep my personal number private, yet access student questions by voicemail or text with my home phone and computer. It is completely free and easy to use. You can personalize your number when available. I used the initials of our school name. Google Voice automatically transcribes your voicemails and you can have them emailed or sent to your phone for viewing. There is even an app for your phone.

Many of our students come from low income homes and do not have a parent at home that is able and/or willing to help them complete homework. I feel a moral obligation to do my best to help them. This is one way to reach out to them.

Skype Interviews a Huge Hit

2011-02-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

I want to rave about our two Skype author interviews. The book club was fortunate enough to host authors Julie Berry and Sarah Prineas on Skype. This was the first time our district has approved the use of Skype at school so I wanted to make sure it all went off without a hitch. My district superintendent approved my request and I knew that others would be watching to see how it went. From what I understand others have been turned down in the past when they requested to use Skype.

To prepare for the interviews I took several steps to ensure it went well. First I ensured that students had plenty of time to purchase and read the books. I made sure they were in our book fair and were reasonably priced. I bought copies for the library as well. I tested Skype several times and prepared the students. I spoke with them about the types of questions that were appropriate, reminding them of being polite and thankful and we practiced how we would ask the questions. I pointed out to them that even though our speaker was not in the room she could see them so make sure to sit up straight and be attentive. I left our webcam view up so they could see themselves and see how they appeared to her. Students submitted questions to me on index cards and I highlighted some of my favorites then put them in an order that made the most sense. I wrote down the students' names in the order I wanted them to ask their question and I gave them their index card back. After welcoming the author and having the students greet the author I called the students in the order I wanted their questions asked. Each student stood and clearly asked their question. I also had several questions in mind in case their was extra time or a pause between questions.

Our first interview was with Julie Berry, the author of The Amaranth Enchantment, Secondhand Charm and the Splurch Academy series. The students loved talking with her. She told us about her favorite authors, her inspiration for the stories, her method for writing, current projects and some of the behind the scenes work that goes into publishing a book. She was so friendly and fun. I highly recommend her if you are looking for a middle school appropriate author. Check out her site for more about this amazing author.

Our second interview was Sarah Prineas, the author of the Magic Thief series. She was delightful. She has a way with middle school age students. She shared a few secrets about her books including hints in the cover illustrations and her friends' names in the magic spells. She shared her inspiration from Tolkien and The Sword and The Stone. We also were happy to learn about the fourth installment in the Magic Thief series and a female main character in her new book, Winterling. Check out her site for more about this excellent fantasy author.

My students really enjoyed the chance to speak with the authors. I've heard from other teachers how excited the kids were and how much they talked about the experience when they returned to class. I look forward to using Skype again soon.

If you are interested in hosting an author via Skype check out this list of authors who will Skype 20 minute chats for free. If you have any advice, experience or questions about Skyping an author I would love to hear from you.

Goodbye Card Catalog

2011-02-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

Gone are the days of using the paper card catalog; however, I found the remains of ours behind the stage. I love the way the furniture itself looks so I decided to reuse one for an organizer for supplies. My student helpers cleaned out the old cards. There were cards from the 1950s and 1960s. They thought it was so strange. I remember using the card catalog and I'm not THAT old, but it goes to show you how quickly things change. We have to do our best to keep up.

Do you still have a card catalog somewhere in your school closet or back room?

SCASL Webinars on eReaders

2011-02-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

My first webinar as a contributing speaker was last night. The IT Committee of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians has organized a series of webinars. The first two were about ereaders. Last night I was a contributor to the second in their series. I shared my experiences using Kindles at school. It was a great experience. There were several great questions and I hope that I helped other librarians that are considering purchasing Kindles for their school. I plan to present about my experiences at an upcoming technology conference and this was wonderful practice. It revealed some weaknesses in my materials. I need to share more details about my purchasing and cataloging methods. I will also have more data collected about the academic impact the Kindles have had on the student users. My two year old son interrupted a few times, but my husband is in Afghanistan so I didn't have anyone here to distract him. I think everyone understood because there were lots of moms in attendance. Maybe I can find a more interesting movie to maintain his attention next time.

I appreciate the opportunity to participate and send a special thanks to Heather Loy for organizing the event. You can view the archive of the first webinar here and the archive for last night's webinar here.

Promote Reading with a Book Pass

2011-01-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

For the first visit to the library in 2011 I organized a book pass for our sixth graders. A book pass is an easy and fun way to expose your students to all types of genres and authors. There are several ways to have a book pass, but this is what we did. I pulled four or five books for each table of students. It works best if there are the same number of books and students. I made sure each table had a variety of books, some "girl" and "boy" books, and genres like mystery, fantasy, and historical fiction. This is a great time to pull books that you know are great but do not get picked up often. I explained to the students that they will take one of the books from the stack and they have two minutes to look at the cover, read the back, skim through the book and begin reading. At the end of the two minutes the books rotate. This goes on until all of the books have rotated around the table. At the end of the book pass students can check out one of the books from the stack. In another variation students are required to write down a few sentences about each book that includes their opinions on the books. This activity is a wonderful time to explain to students how to evaluate a book and decide if it is something they want to read.

I knew I did well choosing books if the stacks were very small at the end of the activity. I heard, "I don't want to switch. I like this one." several times, which makes me happy.

If you have used this method or a variation of this method I would love to hear about it.

A Technology Expo Update

2011-01-05T16:51:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned in previous posts that I hosted an electronic petting zoo for the teachers in my school. It was a success and I was contacted by Pat Maxwell at the College of Brockport SUNY in regards to a similar event they organized in the Drake Memorial Library. We shared information and I recently received an update from her on their event. Their technology Expo was a hit with visitors. This is an excerpt from the email I received.

It was FANTASTIC!!! We had over 120 people turn out despite 6 inches of snow that fell overnight. There was a lot of positive feedback and calls for future expos. Many attendees voiced surprise that the Expo connected these gadgets to classroom use/learning.

Here is a news story on their Expo. I'm excited that it went so well. Way to go Pat!

I have another petting zoo planned next week for all of the librarians in my district. I am hoping to use this as a way to introduce them to technology they may not know about and recruit volunteers for a staff development project that I am plotting. I will post again after this meeting and let you know if my staff development idea goes over well or gets shot down.

If anyone else out there plans a similar event I would love to hear about it. If you would like more information feel free to contact me. I will share all of the materials I have collected.

My Action Steps for Reform

2010-12-30T04:12:00.000-08:00

Blog for Reform the Sequel is upon us. I did not contribute to the first call to action, but I remember reading about it on Twitter. After reading the post I felt that this would be a good way for me to set a few professional goals for myself in 2011. These are the instructions:
By January 1, each of us commits to blogging a contribution to our collective ACTION PLAN for re-tooling, re-inventing, and re-imagining what we're going to do to turn the corner on 21st century learning
I read a few of the entries and almost decided not to participate. Not because I did not agree, but because I felt like my contribution would be so small that it would not have an impact on some of the complex education issues mentioned. Then I thought of my students. Would I ever discourage their efforts, no matter how small? No.
My action steps may not have a huge impact but I hope that it will be a start and possibly impact my students, my school, and maybe my district.
1. Help increase and integrate technology into my school.
Part of this goal requires finding funds to buy technology such as more Ipod touches for a pilot program and Kindles for our "We eRead" program, but mostly it means teaching staff and administrators about using technology and getting access to blocked tools. I am meeting with all the librarians in our district next month and will expose them to gadgets like Flip cameras, Kindles, iPods, webcams and more. I hope this will be a jumping off point for impacting our entire district's use of these tools in the classroom. I also have more staff development ideas for our faculty regarding web 2.0 tools for next semester. One of my major obstacles is convincing administrators of the value of these tools and having them unblocked from our internet filters. I have been collecting information to prove the value of Wikipedia and other wikis so that we can use these tools. I have our district's first Skype session scheduled in January. It was difficult to get permission for this and I hope it all goes well so that we may use it again in the future.
2. Help our staff to create a PLN
My PLN has had a huge impact on me professionally and I want all of the faculty at my school to learn about the possibilities and create their own PLN. I hope to have a session with them to help them learn about blogging, RSS feeds, Twitter and online networks like Classroom 2.0. A proposal I made on this topic was accepted for our state library association conference and I will present in March.
3. Keep learning and sharing a priority.
Sometimes it is easy to retreat into our own classroom or library, but I want to continue learning about technology, teaching methods, educational theories, and the needs of this generation of students. I pledge to share the things I learn with my school and use this knowledge to be the best educator and librarian that I can.

These action steps will not make headlines or solve any major education issue our country faces, but I hope to make a contribution to improving myself and those around me and hope that my impact on others is a positive one.

The Librarian's Role in Promoting Educational Technologies

2010-12-23T11:14:00.000-08:00

In our state's library association's magazine, Media Messenger, there was an article by Cathy Nelson about a document titled "The Role of School Librarians in Promoting the Use of Educational Technologies." This document was created by the ISTE SIGMS group. This is a useful document for librarians trying to define their place in the modern education system. The document outlines how librarians can and should be technology advocates and guides.

A few things stood out for me.

The document states that school librarians:

frequently provide professional development to their colleagues in areas related to instructional and technology resources

often serve as primary technology integration specialists in their buildings.

These two points are accurate descriptions of what I try to do at my middle school. I comb through websites, tweets, and blog posts for ideas that teachers at school may use. I email them and bookmark them in our school's Diigo group. I show one web tool at the beginning of each faculty meeting. I call the series the "Eliterate Minute". So far I have shared Diigo, Big Huge Labs, Zamzar, Wordle, and Poll Everywhere. I organized an Electronic Gadget Petting Zoo for the staff. I blogged about it if you want more information. It was a big hit. The district administration asked if I would organize an encore of the petting zoo for all of the librarians in the district. It is scheduled for January and I am very excited about it. I believe my efforts have helped the administration, both school and district, and teachers to see me as someone that can help them troubleshoot technology issues and brainstorm ideas for integrating technology into the classroom. I try to model the use of technology in the library for the students as well as the teachers when they bring their classes. I have used Flip cameras, digital cameras, clickers, text notifications, iPadio, Voki, Poll Everywhere, book trailers from Youtube, Glogster, Google Earth, Prezi, Skype, Weblist, Jog the Web, iPods, Kindles and created a Facebook page for library news. I have a long way to go to convince some of the value of technology, but I feel that I am making progress.

I encourage all of you to read the document. Use it to advocate for the profession by sharing with teachers and administrators. As you read it evaluate yourself. Are you meeting these needs? How can you step it up to better meet the needs of your faculty?

Go Mobile

2010-12-23T03:42:00.001-08:00

photo © 2008 samantha celera more info (via: Wylio)

I have been making a conscious effort to be more mobile or at least make my online presence more mobile friendly. Check out this post by Richard Byrne on his Free Technology for Teachers blog. Using his instructions I connected my phone to my blog so that I can blog on the go. I think this will come in handy when I want to document an activity in the library or when I attend our state library conference in March.
I also connected my phone to my iPadio account and Twitter account. Now I can instantly podcast from my cell phone or send a tweet. Any phone with texting capability can do it. Check out this post from Lisa Nielsen's Innovative Educator blog for instructions on iPadio. If you want to use Twitter on your phone follow these simple instructions from the Twitter Support page. There are plenty of options when you set up. I chose to only receive notifications of mentions or direct messages and only within the hours of 8 am and 8 pm.

I hope that you will give it a try.

Reflecting on Student Learning in Library, 2010

2010-12-21T18:34:00.000-08:00

photo © 2009 Ingrid Taylar more info (via: Wylio)

It is natural to use the end of the year as a time to reflect. This has been true for me as an educator in past years, but now that I am using this blog as a reflection tool I felt obligated to write a post on this reflection. Several ideas have been swirling around in my brain, but when I read Buffy Hamilton's recent post a bell went off for me. She recommends that we reflect on what our students have learned, not just what we learned. I think this is a wonderful idea. Our impact on learning is what we are judged on and should be what we examine when judging ourselves. I will use her questions as a guide for my reflection and highly recommend that you read the entire post and see what she has been teaching in 2010. Her work is a wonderful model to try to emulate.

1. What did they (your patrons or those you serve) learn through your library program and the conversations for learning you facilitated? What do you hope they will learn in 2011?

For my most frequent library visitors, sixth grade, I have had the opportunity to introduce literacy skills using stations (Dewey matching game, web evaluation activity, book trailer viewing, citation, and Your Next Read reading lists). I created a web quest on figurative language using Jog the Web. We participated in the SLJ Trailee awards with Poll Everywhere voting. They have been avid readers as part of the summer reading program, Teen Read Week and the Wrestlemania Reading Challenge. I taught a lesson on propaganda using Christmas commercials.
Seventh grade science students have come for disease research when I taught them citation for their Glogster projects. I assisted in research on topics related to the novel "Tears of a Tiger". I introduced the teachers to Photostory, Glogster and Google Earth which allowed these tools to be used to create digital Chrstmas stories and Glogs with Google Earth links on Imperialism.
Sadly my impact on eight grade is not where I want it to be. I have to do something to make sure these teachers know that I want to help and I can help meet their goals in the classroom. So far I have only seen them for orientation and the book fair. Two teachers brought classes in for literacy stations, but then only wanted the students to watch a few book trailers. I'm going to keep trying.
All grades have participated on our gaming in the library lunch program called Horseplay where they used information literacy skills to learn and play board and video games.
I have taught the teachers how to use technology in their lessons including Flip cameras, Hue webcams, iPods, Kindles, Senteo clickers, and even cell phones. At faculty meetings I introduce one Web 2.0 tool. So far I have taught staff about Diigo, Big Huge Labs, Zamzar, Poll Everywhere and Wordle. The special education students have benefited from our growing collection of Playaways. The teachers have seen a major improvement in their enthusiasm to read and participate in silent sustained reading. They beg for more reading time!
I do not know how to measure this but I believe my enthusiasm and welcoming atmosphere has improved our schools attitude about reading and the benefits of the library.

2. How do we know what they learned? What tools did you use for assessment? Did the patrons engage in metacognition and self-reflection on what they learned?

This year our sixth graders took the TRAILS assessment. They will take it again in late Spring to assess information literacy skills. This is my formal evaluation goal for the year and it has been a great way for me to target the weak areas and focus my lessons. The weakest area was ethical use of information. I have a unit planned for the Spring semester to correspond with a large research project. So far I have been modeling ethical use by pointing out citations in my own work and introducing the topic in a literacy station lesson in September.
During a Christmas commercial lesson on propaganda techniques I used Poll Everywhere to assess the knowledge of the techniques. The students were actually excited to answer the questions because they text in their answers. This was a fun and useful way to achieve informal assessment.
At the end of a figurative language web quest students answered a few questions on a Google Form about which types of figurative language they understood and which they wanted more help on. The teachers had never used Google Forms before and they loved the ease of collecting the data.
During our reading promotions our students have recorded using different measures including minutes read, pages read and number of books read.
As part of our Kindle program "We eRead" our students will be measured using MAP (Measuring Academic Progress) scores in language arts and Lexile scores. I will also monitor their state standardized test (PASS) scores in addition to their grade in the regular language arts classroom. We hope that using the Kindles will have a positive impact on their scores. Each student took a survey on reading motivation that will give me more data about the Kindles' impact on reading attitudes with these students.
Incorporating self assessment is something I need to improve on. Usually the final product is completely up to the teacher. I have made suggestions but am not usually included in the process even though I would be happy to help. I will try to make sure they know I am willing to help. If not included in the grading process I can still use questions in my mini lessons that have self reflection components.

3. How are you privileging and honoring what they learned? Where are their stories of learning shared in your physical and virtual library spaces?

There is a part of me that doesn't even want to answer this question because I feel like I have not done a very good job of this. But the point of evaluation is to celebrate success and continue to improve so here goes.
I have highlighted our reading program participants and winners by putting their pictures on bulletin boards and their names in the school's morning news program, weekly updates, school webpages, and even the library Facebook page. Student projects are on display in the library and I put the top patron's names on our Top Ten Books bulletin board display.
I have requested that the teachers send me examples of impressive final products including glogs, Photostories, and mock Facebook pages. So far I have only received a few Facebook pages about diseases. I saved them and highlighted the teachers in our principal's Shout Out section of his weekly email to staff, but did not go further. I really wanted to send a few of the best Christmas digital stories to our elementary librarians so that they could show them to their students, but I still haven't received any from the teacher. Even if I get them later I plan to post them on my library Youtube channel with the student's approval (no names are included).
Since this area is a weakness I need to find more ways to celebrate student learning and share with a broader audience. Maybe I need to start carrying a flash drive with me when I check on these classes in the lab so that I can save the projects myself and will not be at the mercy of the teacher's remembering to send me a copy. Maybe I should do more to brag on the teachers that share with me so they will have incentive to remember to include me.

Any suggestions on how you highlight your student work would be appreciated. How would you answer these three questions from Buffy Hamilton?

Christmas Wish List

2010-12-21T18:03:00.000-08:00

photo © 2009 goXunuReviews | more info (via: Wylio)
Before school let out for the holiday Mrs. Haley compiled a list of books that our reading resource students wanted on the Kindles. She also provided me with their Lexile reading levels to help in these decisions. They requested scary books and world record books for the boys and teen romance for the girls. I noticed that many of the specific titles they requested were novels read in the English classroom. I wonder if the reason they requested these is because it is the only book they have read lately or if they genuinely liked it. Either way I think it is a good idea to have those titles so that these students can reinforce classroom reading with the Kindles. Especially considering that they can use text to speech for them if they need to review, reread or catch up with the class. The large range of reading levels presents quite a challenge. The lowest was on a third grade level. When I searched for scary books within this range on the Lexile website it listed Berenstein Bears and Amelia Bedelia. I do not think that would appeal to this student. This presents a challenge but with text to speech I am hoping that I can crank up the difficulty and find books that are within his comprehension level but also age appropriate.
I created a wish list on Amazon using their requests and reading level considerations. I will buy a few titles to appeal to the boys and girls to get them started and plan to review the list with Mrs. Haley when school resumes before purchasing more.
I am excited to show the kids the titles we add to the Kindles and continue this journey.

Book Swap Success

2010-12-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

Our book swap ends tomorrow. I believe it was a huge success. We had around 250 books brought in by our students and I put in several hundred discarded library books and cast off books in closets and storage rooms from all over the school. I gave tickets to the students that brought in books and I gave each teacher ten tickets to give away to the students. The students were so appreciative. They thanked me and the teachers that gave them tickets. I hope that any librarian would be excited when they see students thrilled about getting a book. I know I was pumped. I invited a select group of students to pick out a few freebies. Many of them chose books to give to siblings, cousins, friends, and even parents. I look foward to having another book swap before summer break. The students are already asking when our next book swap will be.

"We eRead" Kindle Program Update

2010-12-08T17:15:00.001-08:00

We now have a total of six Kindles in our collection. We have two of the first version of Kindle, one Kindle 2, and 3 of the latest version. My wonderful colleague on this venture, Mrs. Haley, introduced her students to the Kindles today and showed them how to use the features of highlight, note taking, text to speech and font size adjustment. I was able to sit in on one of her classes and it was so much fun to see the excitement in the students about the devices. There are still a few students that are hesitant to use them. I am hoping that as we add titles that they request their minds will change. I also hope that after learning more about the Kindles today that they will be more open to using them. I think some of their resistance comes from a fear that they are too complicated to use. We will continue to help them learn all of the features the Kindle offers and create a list of titles to order.

Library Sign In Upgrade

2010-12-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

When I cleaned out the closets of the library this summer I found hundreds of sign in sheets that the previous librarian had printed and saved. My priorities were elsewhere so I continued to use them, but I am proud to say as the stack of sheets dwindled I decided to upgrade to a new method. I found a disgarded laptop in an old storage closet. It was deemed "too old to reimage", but it does get online. I created a Google Form that included name and grade level. I put the computer near the entrance and waited to see what would happen as the students came in. Students said things like "cool", "woh, a laptop", and "This is so much better." Now the student sign in records are automatically date and time stamped, I can use the columns to sort by grade level, months, etc, and I do not have to track down my stolen pens and pencils. The only complaint so far has been a few students that wanted a mouse instead of a touch pad. I'm sure I can search more closets to find a mouse.

Three Cool Tools

2010-12-05T14:31:00.000-08:00

photo © 2006 Esther Gibbons more info (via: Wylio)

I spent some time catching up on reading blogs and tweets and found three tools that I wanted to play with (with the cooperation of my two year old who took a nap). I saw Wylio first on Free Tech 4 Teachers blog and several times on Twitter. Decided to use it on this post first. Very easy to use. Curious to see if it is blocked at school tomorrow. If it isn't (fingers crossed) I will definitely share this with my students. Usually their idea of citing an image from the web is "Thanks to Google Images". I keep fighting that battle when I am able to spend time with them on citation before projects. I will continue to fight and hope that this site is another weapon to combat the problem.
The next two tools are Voki and ipadio. I have been on Voki before, according to the site 2007. I know that I didn't pursue using it further because it is blocked at school. Now that I have a blog I am able to use it here. I used it to create a short welcome message, especially considering that I might get a few more visits from the Edublog nomination. That would be cool, anyway. My interest in Voki was rekindled with a recent post on The Innovative Educator blog. I plan to petition that the site be unblocked at school. I know our students would love using it for projects and I think it is an awesome idea to use for sub plans. Ipadio is the second tool from the Innovative Educator post that I played with today. It was really easy to set up. My only issue was that I was unsure about using a country code so I put my number in once with and once without. Apparently you do not need the country code before your US number. I set up the phlogs to automatically post to my school Facebook fan page and my Twitter account. I created a reminder for students about our Book Swap this week on ipadio. It worked wonderfully. Can't wait to use this with my students. After this great experience using it I decided to add the Ipadio app to the iPods we just purchased.
I have also added a few more apps since my post yesterday: iChoose, Doodle Buddy, Comic Lite, Storyrobe, Idea Sketch, Flip Book Lite and Easy Chart. Excited to present the iPods to the teachers tomorrow and begin using them.
Thanks to the Innovative Educator, Lisa Nielsen, for more excellent, easy to use tools for educators.

Edublog Award Voting is Open

2010-12-05T04:16:00.000-08:00

I was excited to discover that I made the shortlist for Best New Blog on the Edublog Award Nominations. Thanks Fran Bullington and anyone that may have nominated me. I can not emphasize enough how much this encouragement means. This is my first year as a librarian and my first year blogging, tweeting, joining Nings, reading lots of blogs, and creating a PLN. I wish that I had known about these powerful tools when I was in the classroom. The positive impact my PLN has had on me is what drives me to share these tools with the other teachers at my middle school. Congratulations to everyone that was nominated. I can't wait to explore all of the new blogs and follow the Twitter nominees. A special shout out to all of the librarians on the list for promoting the work in our profession, Gwyneth Jones, Joyce Valenza, Buffy Hamilton, Fran Bullington, Cathy Nelson, and others that I may have missed.

You can cast your vote here. Good luck everyone.

In Good Company

2010-12-04T13:29:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to be asked to contribute to The Innovative Educator blog and share how I use cell phones in the library. If you missed it, the article can be found here. I am honored to be included in the same company as some of my library heroes like Joyce Valenza, Gwyneth Jones and education leader, Lisa Nielsen. My principal was so proud. He forwarded the link to our district office. I received several "way to go" emails and an invitation to speak to all of the elementary librarians in our district. One of my principals forwarded a link to my blog to all of the other principals in our district. I hope that I have contributed, in my own small way, to the image of librarians as leaders, technology advocates and innovative change agents.

Beginnings of iPod Touch Integration

2010-12-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

With the blessings of my administrators and a willing team of sixth grade teachers I ordered six iPod Touch devices. I have been compiling information on using the devices in the classroom and I am excited to begin using them. My plan right now is to use these first six devices to get the teachers accustomed to using the technology and brainstorming ways that they can be used in their classes. There are three reasons why I began with just six.

1. That was all I could afford at this moment.

2. I want the teachers to have time to learn the technology and adjust their lessons before the devices are thrown at them.

3. Six is enough to use them in class with group activities or as a station.

The funds for this purchase came from a combination of a Student Council fundraiser that was donated to the library and book fair profits. We ordered them from Office Depot because they are an approved school vendor and we received a small discount. I also ordered a six pack of cases from Amazon seller, BargainCell.

Choosing a team of teachers to involve in this project was a difficult choice. I wanted to choose one team. Our school is grouped in teams with one math, science, ELA, and social studies teacher working together teaching the same students. Some of our teams are groups of three and they each have one block of social studies. I did not want a three person team because I wanted each teacher to be able to focus on integrating the iPod touch into their main subject. I did not want to burden a first year teacher with this additional work so that eliminated some teams. And let's face it, there are some teachers that you know will be more open to trying new things and approaching change with a positive attitude. After serious thought and discussion with administrators we decided on a team to include. I met with these teachers and explained the idea. All but one of them had an iPod of their own, but they were only familiar with its use as a MP3 player.

I made a list of links for them to explore that includes webinars on iPods, blog posts, websites, and app reviews. Today I spent a few hours creating an iTunes account for the school, finding a few apps to start with in each subject, syncing all of the iPods, enabling restrictions, and creating and loading a Gmail account for each device. See the Learning in Hand site and the Apple iPod Touch in Education"Getting Started" document for tips on how to complete these set up procedures.

The apps I added for now are:

Goodreads, Evernote, Google Earth, Google, History Tools, Read It Later, Animoto, AudioBoo, Multiply Free, CivilizationRevolution Lite, NASA, QRReader, The Settlers Free, Space Images, The Weather Channel, TimesTablesFree, StoryKit, Find iPhone, Dictionary, FreeGrammar, GreekGods, Gods Trivia, HistoryMaps, Ruler, StudyFlash, WxGenius, 3D Cell, Science Glossary, Blanks, jIdioms, Mad Libs, iThesaurus, Lexify Lite, WordLite, Fraction Factory and PearlDiver.

All of these are free apps. Some of them have paid versions that we may purchase if the teacher feels they will be used. I thought this would be a great start.

There are a few unknowns that I am concerned about. The iTunes Store is blocked at school so I have to sync them at home right now. That is fine with just six, but if we are able to purchase more it will not be a reasonable option. The second major concern is that the newly installed WiFi at our school is not open to us yet. I do not know if they will allow the iPods to get online at school. My hope is that when they see the positive impact of these devices on student learning they will allow us to get on the network. I also hope to earn more funds to buy a classroom set and work our way to one for each student.

I will update on our progress as the teachers begin to play with the devices and use them with their students.

Gadgets and Gizmos

2010-12-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

I recently received an email from librarian, Pat Maxwell, of the College of Brockport, State University of New York, regarding the Electronic Gadget Petting Zoo. I hosted our event in October and it was a huge success. I even plan to have an encore session with the induction teachers in our district. I was very pleased to hear from Pat about their upcoming event, Electronic Gadget Expo. Check out the site advertising the event. I love the graphics! Pat mentioned that they used QR codes posted around campus to advertise the event details. What a wonderful idea.
I shared the signs I used with Pat and I can't wait to hear how the event goes. She plans to add QR codes to the expo. I think I will add this to my next event as well. Many of my teachers do not know about this cool tool.
If you plan to have a similar event I will be happy to share what I have and would love to hear from you.
Good luck Pat and the entire staff of Drake Memorial Library! And thank you for organizing an event that will help your students learn about technology!

Self Check Out

2010-12-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

I know for some librarians the thought of student self check out is horrifying, but I have found it to be liberating. I implemented self check out at the beginning of the year. I have two computers stationed at the circulation desk. One is turned around to face the front and the other is to the side. The computer that faces the back of the desk has a separate number pad device so that students may type in their Destiny patron number and reach the scanner even if no one is behind the desk. During the orientation visits for each class I gave a short lesson to the students as they checked out their first book. Yes, I still find myself teaching students even though we are nearing the end of the first semester, but this is happening less and less. Usually the other students in line will teach someone that is struggling. I have also taught students how to put books on hold, renew books and even check in their own books.

I do not have a library aide, but I do have two student helpers during most of the school day. Often I am busy teaching a class, helping students locate books or some other administrative task. It is to my benefit for students to know how to do this for themselves. It is also important for students to learn these skills. I rarely have to stop and show a student how to search for a book because they know that they are welcome to use the circulation desk computers. They have learned the operations of the library and by helping, the library becomes "theirs" not "mine".

I have heard the argument that middle school students can not be trusted wth this responsibility because they may intentionally check out a book to another student or some other malicious act. To my knowledge I have not had anyone do anything intentionally. I have limited the tasks for these computers to check in, check out, place hold, delete hold, and renew. Students must still come to me for paying for a lost book, reactivating a restricted status, report features, etc.

If you are willing, give self check out a try. You will not regret it.

Mustang Book Swap

2010-11-27T19:05:00.000-08:00

Most of my recent posts have been technology oriented, but this is a low tech event. The library is hosting a book swap for our teachers and students. Students can bring unwanted books to the library and they will receive tickets that they can exchange for new-to-you books in December. We have advertised with flyers, morning announcements and word of mouth with my book club members. I am contributing some of our duplicate copies, older paperbacks and a few other donated (but not good enough to catalog) books. I weeded the collection HEAVILY this summer when I took this position. I don't want to admit how many in a public forum like this, but lets just say we have a great start for our book swap. I have already had around twenty students bring in books, averaging around 7 books each and up to 30! I am having the swap over three days. I have a feeling that when students see others getting bags of books to take home that they will come with their own the next day. If students do not have any to swap they can purchase them for 25 cents starting on the second day. I also plan to give teachers some tickets to give to deserving students so they can shop.

I wanted to have this before the holiday so that students would have plenty to read over the break. Research shows that having reading material in the home improves reading. Amazing, right? Our student population includes over 50% receiving free or reduced lunch so money to buy books is often an issue. I hope that by having this book swap now and again before summer break I can make a small dent in combating this problem.

We are also offering a similar swap for the teachers. I have not had a big response, but I am hoping that interest will ignite after returning from this break.

If you have your own book swap I would love to hear about how you organize it or if you plan to have one I would love to hear how it goes. I will update after our book swap is complete.

Image: Book Color Histogram by Patrick Gage, Attribution NonCommercial Share Alike

iDream of iPods

2010-11-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

I have found myself daydreaming about iPod Touches now. I've gotten my Kindle program started. I am by no means finished, but I feel that I am making progress with six Kindles and a plan to start using them in class after the Thanksgiving break. This will definitely require more attention, planning, implementation and funds, but I have also found myself thinking of iPods.

From the outside I probably appear noncommittal and flighty, but when I see, hear, and read about the wonderful things librarians and teachers are doing all over the world I want to get in on the action and bring it to my students. I don't want to wait. I feel that my PLN would understand, but not so sure about some of the administrators around me. Luckily everything I am trying to implement has been tried, tested and proven effective by education trailblazers. And even better, those educators share their experiences on Twitter, and in blogs and online conferences.

I have been watching recorded webinars on using iPods from the Global Education Conference and reading tweets and blogs about iPod use. Gwyneth Jones, the Daring Librarian, mentions using them in her library and I Education Apps Review blog shares some excellent educational apps. They have inspired me. I will only be able to purchase four or five to start, but I have a team of teachers in mind to be my co-conspirators. My thoughts are to use this Spring semester as a brainstorm and preparation time with those teachers, me and our iPods. We can explore apps and use the first five for a few lessons in groups and see how it goes. Using them in class will take a big shift in attitude and planning for the teachers. I know this will require time and a positive attitude. If I can get this one team to give it a try with me I think it will catch on for the others. If it goes well (which I am confident that it will) then we can write grants, beg, borrow and steal to get more for next year. Just enough for a full class would be a fabulous start. If it doesn't work out I can use them in the library for lessons, podcasts, research, and more. This is our school's first year with Wifi so I want to use it! I think that utilizing iPods in class would really make a positive impact on interest, engagement, motivation and achievement for our students. I will update as I go and I would love any recommendations on where I can find out even more information on iPod programs in schools or your own experiences using them.

Image: Ipod Touch- My PDA by MJTR (´･ω･)

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My Black Friday Lightning Deal

2010-11-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

I snagged a Kindle 2nd Generation this Black Friday for $89. I recently started reading the blog, Books on the Knob, thanks to Heather Loy's email to our state association listserv (yes, we still have a listserv, see Cathy Jo Nelson's thoughts on that here). A few days ago there was a post alerting readers to a Black Friday Lightning Deal on Amazon.com for the 2nd Generation Kindles. They would be offered for $89 when they are usually $189. As you may know, I recently purchased Kindles to be used with our resource classes. I was excited about this deal. Instead of standing in line like many of my friends, I poised myself at 10 minutes to noon with one hand on the iPad and one on the netbook. I was determined to snag one. As soon as it opened I clicked as fast as I could. I was able to use the speed of the iPad to purchase one. I went back to the blog to post a thank you comment and saw that this deal sold out in ten seconds! Thank you Steven Jobs for your part in helping me get one. Check out Books on the Knob for up to date news on ebook deals.

I want to shout out to my principal, Barry Knight, for donating his personal Kindle to our program. After having it for a year or so he determined that he preferred books and did not use it much. I am happy to have it. This brings my count up to six. Considering the size of our resource classes this is a great start.

I have remaining money from the generous donation from the Student Council fundraiser. Now that I was able double the number from donations and a great Amazon deal I am thinking iPod Touches with the remaining money. More on that thought later...

The Power of the PLN

2010-11-24T18:53:00.001-08:00

If I ever had any doubts about why I spend time building an online PLN, those doubts were shattered today. This morning I received an email from, none other than, Lisa Nielsen, The Innovative Educator, and Willyn Web inviting me to contribute to her blog in regards to my recent post on texting in the libray. I created a Google Doc and jotted down my ideas and Lisa turned it into something great. I opened it up to the public and we tweeted invitations to contribute on #tlchat. Within minutes nine visitors had viewed the document. That amazes me. I look forward to the end result with contributions from other forward-thinking librarians. This is a wonderful opportunity to advocate for our profession and destroy the myth that librarians are old fashioned and resistant to technology. The post may be included in Lisa and Willyn's book "Teaching Generation Text" due out in the Fall of 2011.

If you have a story, idea, or thought that you would like to contribute about using phones in the library, please visit the document and get involved.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

2010-11-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

We need to be shouting from the rooftops to let everyone; parents, students, teachers, administrators, and lawmakers, know how important librarians are for the success and learning of our students. I joined the advocacy committee of SCASL and I have learned so much. Thanks to the examples shared on our listserv and the excellent blog posts by Fran Bullington on her blog, Informania, I have vastly improved my monthly reports to my administators. Ater an email shared by Cathy Nelson on our listserv I have started posting research about libraries and librarians on my school media center page and in our school's Weekly Update. The committe has other plans and I am happy to be a part of spreading the word.

Getting Acquainted with the new Kindles

2010-11-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

The first three Kindles arrived. I must say they are quiet sleek and pretty. I immediately ran to the classroom of my co-conspirator on this program, Mrs. Haley. We both did a little dance of joy. They have been added to the catalog and loaded with lots of free books. I'm planning to meet with all of the Content Mastery teachers, review the surveys the students are currently taking and make some decisions about what books to load on the first three. Fifteen students have already completed the reading motivation survey with some interesting results. Forty seven percent of the students felt that they did not read as well as their friends and "boring" was most mentioned when asked what they disliked about reading. All but two of the students indicated that they were interested in using an ereader like a Kindle. I will report more of the results when all of the students have completed the survey. I will also report any effect using Kindles have on their opinions by the end of the school year.

Is Wordle a verb?

2010-11-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

Google has become a verb and I think Wordle is heading that way. Have you wordled your blog or website?

When I wordled my blog this is the result. I am very happy that student was most mentioned because I want that to stay my focus.

Your Order Has Shipped

2010-11-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

After serious thought, teacher discussion and hours of research and preparation I have decided to order six Kindles for our library. We currently have one Kindle that I check out to teachers. When I took over the library this summer I found it in the box in the back of a filing cabinet. What a wonderful surprise. I took it home and loaded it down with free books. I put it on display at the electronic gadget petting zoo and generated my first customer for the Kindle.
One of our superb resource teachers came to me after checking out the Kindle and said that her students have asked her, "What do I have to do to be able to read on the Kindle?" She said that one particular reluctant/resistant reader borrowed the Kindle during class and sat still for an extended time reading "Call of the Wild." Hearing this prompted me into action. The seed for this idea was planted a while ago when I read this article about Kathy Parker's Kindle program in School Library Journal. My thought further took hold of me after reading Buffy Hamilton's posts about her Kindle purchases and the related post by Joyce Valenza and her plan to use Kindles for research on reading motivation. I attended the webinar hosted by Kathy Parker called "How to Start an eReader Program at Your School". Unfortunately this webinar was not recorded but she gave some excellent, practical tips. I have found Edukindle to be another excellent resource for those considering or currently including Kindles in the library.

With these wonderful ladies paving the way I felt it was a good time to jump in and give it a try. How can I say no to students that "will do anything to read on the Kindle"?

I funded these purchases with a generous donation from our student council Penny Wars fundraiser. Our student council raised over $1,000. I feel like this is an excellent investment. I created a short survey for the reading resource students to take on reading motivation and interests. I plan to compare these survey results and MAP, Lexile and PASS scores from the beginning of the year with the end of the year scores and survey answers. If we see a positive impact then we can justify further Kindle purchases.
I will post updates as the program progresses. Our first three should arrive this Thursday. I am excited to begin this adventure.

Book Fair Bonanza

2010-11-15T17:30:00.000-08:00

My very first book fair is underway. I was tentative about the book fair. Usually the conversations I hear about book fairs are not positive ones. Maybe I am missing something, but so far it hasn't been a big deal. I scheduled a day for each of my ELA teachers to bring their students and they come with them and help me supervise. In the mornings, during lunch and afterschool I limit the number of visitors so I can monitor by myself. I have a few spectacular, trustworthy student helpers getting me through. The students have been really excited. This is the first fair we have had in a few years. I'm looking forward to seeing how much we make this week.

Veteran's Day Library Luncheon

2010-11-15T17:24:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Veteran's Day on 11/10/10 and invited our visiting veterans to attend a luncheon in the library after our school program. We had around 60 veterans and their families. Our students served them a delicous, southern lunch and we gave away prizes donated by the library and PTSO. It was a pleasure hosting such a great group of Americans.