Summer Reading on the Road

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

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

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

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

photo © 2011 Eli Christman | more info (via: Wylio)

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

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

photo © 2011 merri | more info (via: Wylio)

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?