Wired Wednesday - Techology Tools

       Paige Jaeger is the School Library Coordinator for WSWHE BOCES , NY.. which covers many counties.  This is a huge area!  She  is the author of librarydoor.Blogspot.com  which is a great place to learn about the most current issues of school librarians.
      You will find this site that she has hosted to have a wealth of information  and ideas on advocacy for school librarians. 
  Currently  there is an inforgraph that would be helpful for showing all the different tasks and activities that school librarians do on a daily basis.  There are posts on Common Core and Information Literacy. Other posts discuss readability, reading levels, and complexity of text. There are charts and graphs on measuring reading.
      There are blog posts that discuss the need for research as it helps students build and share new knowledge. Also you will find links to Paige's books and articles. Some are direct links to the  actual articles that she has had published in library journals.  
   Check her link to Scoop it- they are very interesting!!   So check out this blog to keep up to date and learn something new!



librarydoor.blogspot.com

Beginning Collaboration

   The first steps of collaboration has a few different names, but the names are not as important as the process.  As a school librarian, how do you begin the first steps towards   teachers seeing  the value of working with you?

   First things first: begin wherever you are!  Here are a few easy ideas to help you get more involved with and working with your staff.

   1.  Attend grade level meetings to see what lessons/units are being done. Take notes!

    2. Offer to pull books and materials for teachers on what they need to supplement their lessons and activities.

   3. Help teachers incorporate various websites and technology that would go along with their units and curriculum.

    4. Volunteer to help the classroom teacher. Give some ideas on how you could help them

    5. Give some ideas on using the library resources that would enhance and extend the curriculum and lessons.

    6.Read the curriculum standards and the state standards or the Common Core  adopted by your state. This way you will know what the teacher is covering. 

    7. Order materials that go along with your schools curriculum.

    8. Use face to face meetings and email to keep in touch with  your teachers.

These are just a few ideas to get you noticed by your teachers. Use these to begin working with your staff.

Why should we Collaborate?

       True  Collaboration is a process of shared creation of lessons and activities , where at least two educators share the work of creating lessons that provide students with authentic learning.
There are many way to collaborate: in person, on the phone, by email, or a web based tool that allows several people to share ideas and work together.
     Teachers and librarians can work together to identify and develop what students need to know ( information needs , and what skills ( information skills) they can use to find the information . The students need to be able to use the information and share with their classmates. By doing this, teacher and librarian integrate  ELA, Reading, and Media Literacy skills  into one subject area. Students learn the skills they need when they need them and have a reason to learn them.
      The role of the school librarian has many different aspects . Being a  teacher / instructor is just one  major part  of our roles in the school. We need to become more active in encouraging teachers to use our services in this area.
    Librarians can and should be an essential member of every school education team. There are several levels  and stages of collaboration that we will discuss in further posts.

More On Blogging

   There are more reasons for using blogs in your library or classroom.  A blog provides more communication between students , teachers, and even the  community.

    Blogging is a tool for online storage and students can compare notes on a certain topic, or book.     Comments can be made , annotations of books read, and insights on group projects can be given. Pod casts can be put in blogs, photos, and videos can add student interest.  All this adds up to students wanting to be included in the blogs work.

     One of the first things to do  before starting a class blog or student blogs is to get permission form the school board, administration and parents.  This is especially true if you want students to have their own blogs.
     .The benefits of blogging can be seen as students progress in their posts on the blogs.  Peer editing is a great tool to help students improve many writing skills. Posting comments, and writing posts , students are motivated to be writers and readers.  They begin top care about spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

    A library blog is a great way to introduce the students and staff of your school to the world of blogging.  Think about the advantages and how it will help you library and  your readers.

    

Technology Tools- Early!

  I am posting this not  on Wednesday because I wanted to get to tell you early in case you didn't know or remember about Children's Book Week!   It is being held this year from May 13-19. ( Next Week). How will you be celebrating?
  If you want information or ideas about what it is and what to do, check out their sites at www.bookweekonline.com.
  Children's book week is a time to celebrate books and reading in schools, pubic libraries, and book stores. Their theme is Cover to Cover , Coast to Coast and Every Child a Reader.

   During this w eek , the announcement of winner of the  Children and Teens Book Awards. This  is a national book awards programs whee the winning titles are selected( voted on) on by readers of all ages. Voting is open from March 19th to May 9th) So there is still time to vote if you do it this week!
  From the website , you can download both the poster and the bookmark. There is also a Digital Toolkit which you can find a badge to put on your blog or website. There are also stickers you can use for children and students who participated in the vote.
  Alkso check out the many ideas for activities that can help you plan  the celebrations for the week.
Next year the Children's Book Week will be held  from May 12-18!

Why Should you Blog?

     As a school librarian and educator , you should seriously consider blogging. Why? By blogging, you stay connected to both educators and students. A blog specific to your library is a great way to advocate and promote the power of the library and its services and programs.
     By blogging, posting, photos (  365 Project- see May 1, 2013) , videos, and slide shows you can show library life, student work and projects, and what activities / programs that are going on at your library.

     Hopefully, students and staff will be reading the blog and writing/responding to different posts. Invite students and staff to do guest post on research, project's, web tool,  or books they have read. By hosting the students works , more and more students, staff, parents, and the community will be seeing what is happening at your library.
    
    Blogging builds a connected community of readers and learners. Bogs are used  by many as a literacy and learning tool: read posts, write comments, and access useful information. In the contents of theses activities, many skill can be learned and reinforced.

    Blogs open us the world to students allowing them to share and motivating their  writing to new levels and letting them voice their opinions.
 So start your blogs and get your students and staff involved!

Wired Wednesday- Technology Tools

     365 Project is a fun way to record your year in the library and share the experience with other educators, students, and  your community.  365 Project is a photography project , where you take one photo each of the day . The photo can really be on any theme. So what you are doing is a daily photo journal.

     You can use this photo journal to show what you are doing in your library programs. This will also serve as a memory tool of all that you have done and accomplished during the year in the library.

     It is easy to create an account and it is free.  Then you can upload your photo's, and do one each day.   The images are easily shared on Facebook, your library page,  your blog, or through the 365 site.

    This is a great tool when it time for your yearly report, or if  your administration wants to know how you have positively impacted student achievement and learning.  It also serves  to keep you and  your students motivated and interested  in the library happenings.