May Bulletin Boards

  It  is the end of April , so I am thinking of what to do about those bulletin boards.
 Here are some ideas of what I have used in the past.

Sneaking around with a good book- copies of sneakers , students will put on their favorite spring books  and put them on the board.

-"When we read we Grow.'May flowers-  Blue Back ground
  Battle of the Books - groups. scores , announcements.

"We're wild about Books!"- Jungle theme ( animals , trees) around slogan, maybe even titles on tree leaves, or book jackets if you have more room.

"Read, Return, Repeat"  Make slogan like the Recycle, Reduce, Reuse green arrows- put book jackets around that.

"Don't be angry -Read a Good Book"   Angry birds and book jackets or titles

Elink- site for Curation or Pathfinders!

Elink is a free site where one can share information using computers, tablets,  or phones.  It is easy to publish and edit the content on the go. This will help students (and others) share online content .  So you could include videos, webinars, podcasts, articles, images, google docs and more.

  Curating with elink is a simple way to  share. You choose a template, add the links or articles, save the content  and then share your elink webpage.

It is easy to use . I use it to create pathfinders for specific student projects. Then I post on the library page and students use the links to complete projects. 

 This was one of the links in the Curation post that I wanted to try first- I made a pathfinder today for one of my teachers- It was really easy to set up! I will do more of these!

Curation:A new term for Educators

 One of our goals in education is higher order thinking skills. So we are trying to get away from students simply recalling information.  One new concept I've been reading about s curation.

Curation is the collecting and organizing of facts/ writings of high quality and then sharing those collections with the world. A student could collect: articles, images, videos, audio clips or a mixture of items that all relate to a topic . It’s like “The top 10” or “The Best of” something.  

Curation projects require students to  : Understand the information, analyze  and  organize it to make sense, and evaluate  / judge the quality  of the items. 

Book Review- Where Can We have the Party?

   The animals ( Elephant, Giraffe, Monkey, and Snake) are trying to find the best place to a birthday party for their friend Chimpanzee. But each idea of a place they come up with won't work for the chimpanzee or the four friends.  

     They finally find the perfect place- Hungle Bungle Park. The friends decorate the park with balloons, ribbons, streamers , and a Happy Birthday banner.  The whimsical illustrations are soft and  make a soothing yet colorful  jumble of the zoo and its animals.

    The party was a surprise  so they all yelled surprize when Chimpanzee arrived.  The friends danced, and played games, and had lots of fun together.  When the party was over, Chimpanzee told them,"This was the best birthday party ever!"

   This is a fun birthday story for children from 2 to 7.  The jungle party with the animals is a great twist on the birthday theme. The illustrations are fun and age appropriate . All the animals are friendly  looking and happy. This would make a great gift for a child's

birthday, they will want to read this story over and over.

Budget Book- a good way to organize

      A few years back I was on my "notebook ". I organized all my important papers into three ring binders to keep everything straight and items together.   I decided last week  ( I 'm at the middle school now) that the note book organizing was the way to go  to keep like items together.  It worked at the public library  when I had a tiny tiny office,  now here my office is bigger but has even less space  and places to organize important papers.

     The first thing I did was to organize  and figure out how to build my binder. Previously I had items in two hanging file folders that were located on my desk placed in one of my file holders. Every tune I took one out to work on something ( which was weekly) the papers would either fall out or get in the wrong spot.



      So in the binder  I put  four divider tabs.  The first was labeled pending, so all the purchase orders still  out / not received were hole punched and place behind this section. I also made a section marked general in which I placed information about the  budget in general- amounts for  materials and supplies, amounts for chapter 53 ( funds for books state assigned).  So depending on the PO , I placed them in whatever tab they belonged.  These were the completed  Po with items we had received,

     Now when I have budget papers  they are finalized, I hole punch them and put them in the proper section. When I pull out the book, the items stay where they belong.  It makes it easier to grab what I need and also is much easier to keep in order.  MMMMM What else can I put in those binders??

TeachersToolkit.com

Teacher’s Tool kit

    This site is a great source of teachers, On the main page you will the tab for tools. It gives teachers a variety of tools that will help them plan activities and engaging lessons for students.

  There are so many good ideas here!  On the very left hand side the tools are group into categories: opening activities, partner practice, group practice, reading strategies, and games just to name a few. I found so many interesting activities here! Share with your teachers, you will be a rock star!

Re-Organizing my Desk

    Just last week I was able to re-organize and streamline my desk. I had two sets of hanging files, one of which was not often used , I wanted to get another file cabinet to store the files in but there was not any room in my office for another file cabinet. I do have  a large old teachers desk , where years ago they had some kind of space for either files or a pop up typewriter-( not sure what it was for)
     I ordered two handing file holders to go into the open pop up section. And I ordered  a smallest pencil/file/ post it holder. The supplies came the other day- the company I order from is NY based- S & B computer supplies.
    So the order was faxed on Monday and we got the supplies on thursday.
 Friday I set up the new system. Files used weekly/ monthly were placed in the new hanging file box and put in the 'hole' where the large space  is in the desk.

 Then I re-organized the files I used on a daily basis into the hanging file organizer. The two current projects are file in the small organizer that also holds pens/pencils,post it and scissors . I think it will work great and looks so much neater!

April bulletin board ideas for library and classroom

      I've got a poem in my pocket!-- pockets with poems typed stuck in- these can be changed  weekly. Or let  students put in their  favorite poems.

     Get Graphic@ the Library!  Scan covers of some of your Graphic Novels and put on a colorful Bulletin Board.

      Get Hooked on  Books!- Fishing line with book titles or covers along the line.
( Fishing for a good Book)

     Spring into Reading with Great Books

      Sports Stories

      It's Raining Books- Put an umbrella in the corner of the bulletin board. Then place large blue and grey raindrops with book titles on them.( Again let students put up their favorites.

     April showers bring great books! ( Similar to above idea)


National Humor Month
School Library Month
DEAR- Day April 12

More Homework for Librarians

    The other homework I do during my evening prep: I read my professional journals ( School Library Journal) SLJ has many interesting and informative articles.  I also find many of the advertisements helpful . The book companies are great for showing covers and  starred reviews- telling about the new books.

Which leads me to my other homework from SLJ: reading reviews!  I read the reviews carefully to see if I want to purchase for my school. I also check Amazon and Barnes &Noble as part of my homework. They are great for descriptions,  professional reviews, and reader reviews .

So this post and “ A librarians homework “ keep me busy at home!

Homework for Librarains

  When I had a fixed scheduled classes, I had homework  grading papers, and planning classes.  It was a new class for me(7th grade) so I did a lot of planning!This year , I do  not have a fixed schedule. I now work on supporting and collaborating with teachers on research projects and computer projects. So now my homework is very different but I still have work that I do almost every night.

One thing I do is to carry home a  notebook . When I am at home and think of something that is needed to be done ( and I did not put it on my "next day" list  I will jot it down in the front of my book.  When I get into work   I can add add it to my "TO Do" List.


In another section of my notebook, I write down topics of  teachers research projects . This is the time I surf for links that are age appropriate an d reading lever for the students ability .This sites I incorporate into a "LiveBinder" which I put on the library webpage  under the link Project Pathfinders. These links help the student s f  to easy find the information the need,

  The other homework I do is to look for websites and links that will help teachers  in their lessons. And the  best thing I surf for is library blogs and displays on pinterest which give me lots of inspiration  for my library.

Librarians website- Librarian.net

     Librarain.net is a website for librarians written by Jessamyn West from Vermont.

She writes on many library related topics, programs she has been too, libraries she has visited, and talks she has given, books she’s been reading.

     A presenter, she also has two books   she has authored: Revolted Librarians  Redux  and  Without a net. She has a digital newsletter.

     The content is varied and interesting. If  you click  on the tabs on the bottom, you will be lead to articles which I find is a great way to scope out her topics. I also like to see what she has been reading.

Tech site- Educationworld.com

    Educationworld.com  is a most helpful site for educators and for your staff.  Introduce  them to it if they do not know it. The most helpful  tags at the top is the Lesson plans, Technology, and Professional Development tips.( PD tips)

    Under lesson plans , there are drop down links  such as lesson library, 5 minute lessons ad tools and templates.  Under technology, there are web quests, tech in the classroom, and tech tools. I am going to be  checking theses out so that I can learn and share more with my staff.  All of these  helps for teachers will lead to many  good ideas and inspiration for teachers.

    Additionally there are teachers essentials,  and the latest news. At the very bottom of there is a site map which has more definitive  links and information to check out.

Get ready for tomorrow @ your Library

   No matter if you are in a school or public library , here is an easy  way to prepare  for getting more done   the next work day. At the end of each day, I  stop what ever I am doing  before my quitting time.

   If I am working on a specific project, and it is not completed I put the materials needed in  a file marked with the project name.  I place this file in my to do basket or my file sorter although I am trying to figure out which is the best thing for that.  

  If I have more than one project , then I will have two folders. I really try  not to have more than two things going on at once. The exception is if I have a monthly /yearly project  which then I will already have a file going,

  The other thing that also helps me if cleaning/ organizing my desk and whatever tools I have used that day.So I will leave with a clean desk and my projects for tomorrow.  

  Finally I will  put in my plan book or my planner, the items  that I need to work on the following day. So when I come in the next day , I know just what to do. I usually ask myself- "What is the most  important thing I must accomplish tomorrow. ( For more information  on  making each day effective see  my ebook- The Organized Librarian- tab is at the top for details)