Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wired Wednesday- Technology Tools

     I have  found some great sites that provide book reviews on a regular basis.   Since most of these blogs are librarians , and book lovers ,I have found that they are great ways to stay current with some of the great new books. It is actually more fun to read these reviews because you know that they are having a great time with all their reading.

http://mrsnthebookbug.blogspot.com/


 This site is maintained by an elementary school librarian and is a great site in general.  She has a list of books that she is reading running along the left hand side.  On each book is a link to her GOODREADS site.  She does a   Monday What are you reading  post which always has some interesting books. She also has some great Freebies you might want to check out.




http://thebooksmugglers.com/
                      This site is run by tow booklovers who love to read, ( and write reviews).  They give straight review and opinions about books .  Also they provide a monthly newsletter that you can subscribe to.  In the newsletter they give a listing of books they will cover in the month. They have a great rating system for the books they read.
                     Most of the reviews are YA and science fiction . This will be a good source for the YA and teen librarians.



http://librarygals.blogspot.com/


This blog is a collaborative blog written by a group of librarians and other blogging friends. Each Monday they have reviews and comments on books (It’s Monday-What are you Reading?) that they are reading. It is very cool to get comments and insights and enthusiasm from this group and also find some great reads as well.  



 

Monday, February 25, 2013

Creating Goals to align to Mission statements

      Now that your mission statement is done, the next step is to create goals. These goals will explain in detail how you will accomplish your mission statement.   Your goals should be measurable and observable,  as to the activities , tasks, programs,  and  lessons ,  so the documentation that they produce will be available to your administration or board. 

       Goals are specific items that you will do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to accomplish your mission.   So take your mission and then think about what you will do to accomplish   this mission. So what will you do each day to further your mission?  These can be your goals /objectives.

      Another wise choice for goals is to attach a time frame in which the goals will be achieved.  Like your mission statement, your goals or objectives , should follow along with your organization mission.

     These goals will be useful when  you are planning what items you will do each day. So write them down and even have them posted so that you accomplish your goals and missions.

Friday, February 22, 2013

More Games in the Library

  No I have not completed all the ways to use games and gaming in the school and public library.

There are a few more ways that I have used homemade games to help reinforce library skills.

1.Learning and Reading Call numbers. After teaching a unit on call numbers , challenge students to
   A) Use riddles and puzzles to have students guess the topic of a book with a certain call number. Have a scavenger hunt for students to locate books with certain call numbers

2. After a lesson on using the online card catalog have students  find a particular took using in few keyword, a call number, authors names, or other location type . Younger students can work in pairs to accomplish this game.

3.  Provide a trail of questions and clues that students solve( of course using the library resources)


4. Have students find  fascinating facts or items of general knowledge.

Articles &Advocacy: Resources

  Teen Librarian

http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2011/11/game-on-your-library.html

Talking Points about Gaming in Libraries

 http://gaming.ala.org/resources/index.php?title=Advocacy





Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Technology Tools- Wired Wednesday

    The site of the week is   http://wonderopolis.org/


         Wonderopolis, a program provided  by the National Center for Family Literacy,. This  engages  students to  become more educated in a natural way. The power of discovery is strong . Young people love to discover  and this site will  give them engaging questions.

     Each day there is a wonder of the day. They answer the question and then go into further details. There are videos, photos, vocabulary and even activities to go with each wonder. Students and teachers and readers of the site can nominate a wonder also, Which will really get the students thinking.  . All in all a very interesting site!! Check it out!


        Wonderopolis  has thousands of free educational resources for parents , teachers and students to use in  and out of the classroom. Teachers can also  sign up for free  online  or face to face training to learn how to make the most of Wodneropolis and Thinkfinity.   Financial support for Wonderopolis is provided by the Verizon Foundation;  and Wonderopolis is a member of Verizon Thinkfinity.


For Presidents Week/Month:

classroomhelp..com/lessons/Presidents/index.html

bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/government/natinal/executive.html.




Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Library Missions and Goals

         Yesterday we spent the day checking out new towers and laptops. I think we picked the one that we will get, so at least now that  is over. We sometimes have a hard time making a decision on new technology because there is SO MUCH out there. It would be easier if there were not so many choices.

        Now that you have your mission statement, post it !   Type out in bold letters ( I use a slide from Power point)  . Then I printed and placed it where every staff and patron can see it.   I also would put one in my office ( if I had one ).

        Why should you do this? Well it lets you and your staff and your patrons know what you do and why you do it.  Glancing at this during your work day will also help you stay focused on what is really important to you and your library.   Stop and think about your mission when you start a new project and see if  the new project aligns with your mission and goals.

      Say "NO "or "Let me think about it "when some asks you to do something that does not go along with your mission. You don't want to ignore library duties and responsibilities to do something that will not further your mission and goals.
    
      Having missions and goals will help you  get more done each day.    The goal for this week is to finish and post your mission. Any one want to share ? or need help? Let us know!!

      Then if you have time- work on your goals!!  

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Wired Wednesday - Technology Tools

     I found some  a few more sites that  have library games , so I am continuing on this same thread.  If I find any others I will give them to you.

Quia Library skills comes from St Joesph's Elementary school,  and has quite a bit of items that can be used with students. Check them out before  you use them to make sure they are age and skill appropriate.  There are so many links on here.There are many you will be able to use  with students and for online games to improve skills and just have fun.
http://library.stjosephsea.org/quia.htm


  WartGames has many many games. Again I would suggest before letting students go wild with this you should preview and select which games you want students to use. Perhaps put them in a Pota Portal so that students go directly to the game you want them to do.

 http://www.wartgames.com/










Tuesday, February 12, 2013

March Bulletin Boards

  I am thinking about March  ( hoping it gets here soon).     There are several special reasons to highlight different days in March on your bulletin boards. So let's see what we can do.

 Spring into Reading- Flowers, insects, book jackets with titles of spring like books,

 St. Patricks Day- Every Day is a lucky day for reading.
                              Reading is Golden
                              Books to Treasure


Fly high With Reading- kites with book titles blowing in the sky

 Catch the reading Bug!

March- Women's History Month

Dr. Seuss- Read Across America