Shannon McClintock Miller

   Shannon McClintock Miller  was an awesome presenter a our NYLA Institute. The theme was "Future Ready Librarians :You lead the way!"  She had so many fantastic new tech tools to use with students. I will try and highlight them as I go back over notes and play with them and see how they work.

  Shannon is ten"Future Ready Librarian  and Project Connect " Spokesperson. So her first part of her information was about the spokes on the wheel of a future ready schools  framework.( New York is a Future Ready school state)

   School Librarians lead, teach,  and support their school s and districts future in education of students.As librarians we an connect staff and students to the leading edge of digital learning,

 If you look at the list below, you can see the different spokes  . Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessments  is the spoke that Shannon spent the most time discussing the newest digital  resources,
( I could not seem to copy the graphic!)

THE 7 GEARS OF THE FUTURE READY FRAMEWORK ARE:

• Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
• Personalized Professional Learning
• Robust Infrastructure
• Budget and Resources
• Community Partnerships
• Data and Privacy
• Use of Space and Time
• Collaborative Leadership

MakerSpaces- Evening Event

    At our Institute we had a "MakerSpaces Petting Zoo". NO there were no pets , but what we did see was 16 different and incredible MakerSpaces Ideas for our students.

     The 3 -D printer was of course the biggie~! They used student friendly tinker cards. The students would have a blast with this. and would the staff.  I think it might be best for older elementary , middle and high school students. /students  create the desired object and then can watch as the printer builds the object.

      The Lego stations of course were popular, This I think would be the most easy and affordable for most schools.  They can be used with students of all ages , as there are three different levels of kits. There are robots to be build and also lego story starters for the younger set.

     The Little bits had  electric  modules that snap together . Students create circuits that have movement, light and sound. To me this looks like a system for middle and high school age students. There are 'patterns'to follow' to show students what they can actually build.

  This is just a sampling of some of the ones that  I think would work for   my building;
   

Weekly Reading- The House at Riverton

  Kate Morton has done it again with The House at Riverton !  Before WWI , Grace went to work at Riverton House for the Hartford family.  There is a movie to be made about the family and the tragedies that befell  them - and the tragic death of a family friend.  Grace,w as one of the witness actually knew the truth about what happened.

 The story is told in flashback pattern and brings to life the story of the wealthy family, and how life was lived in the 1920's and up to WWII. Grace tells the story of the family and the members of the household who worked at the house. We get a clear picture of what life was like.

Summer Institute for Librarians

 Wow- what we packed in for a day and half was amazing!  The most fun of course was the 'Maker Spaces Petting Zoo" and  the  Auctions!  
  The Petting Zoo was so cool!  The Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES  was so cool. We got to see in action and try out some really amazing maker space items: 3d printing,  green screens, Ozobots,  little bits, and dash and dot to name a few.  Would really love to do something like this in our library- even though I am really short on space.
 The Scholarship  Auction was fun!  There were great items donated by some major companies( Perma Bound, Kapco, and even some of the Maker Space companies. Then the regular auction  - there were baskets with some wonderful items that groups put together - those brought in the  big bucks. We had fun bidding- tons of laughS as librarians tried to outbid each other. The most popular were the wine baskets, and the Mo Williams baskets.

Summer Institute for school Librarians

   I am so excited to be getting ready for our NYLA /SSL educational leadership institute! It is this week at Cornell University .( Ithaca, NY) The theme this year is Future Ready Librarians: You Lead the Way! 
   The presenters are Shannon McClintock Miller( The library Voice blog@  http://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/ )who is a library mover and shaker. I am sure she will be very inspirational and a motivator   with some new ideas.
   The other presenter is Jim Belair from Monroe.2-Orleans BOCES and an adjunct professor at University of Buffalo.  I am expecting to get some fantastic ideas from this institute. I will share some of the stuff next week in a follow up post.So check back here and see a post or two ob Future REady Librarians, and some ideas on new programs and issues.

Weekly Reading/American Heiress

   American Heiress is another great novel done by Daisy Goodwin .  Set in the 1890's , it begins in Newport, RI.  Cora Cash , as a young American " Princes"becomes a young lady, and is from one of the wealthiest family's in the East Coast.
   Her mother is intent is for her to marry well and into a title. After her debut,  she arrives in England to be brought out in English Society.  Quite by accident ( a horseback riding accident actually) Cora meets a very eligible ( but poor) Duke who rescues her. Their love story ends in a marriage that is both full of love, mystery, and scandal. A very good read you won't want to end.

More Active Learning Strategies

 Picture Prompts- show students an image with out a caption or explanation.(For History use a primary resource from  your libraries webpage) . Ask students to identify , explain, and give evidence for their answers.  Ask students to use terms from a previous lecture or to name the processes or  show concepts ( think Science) This can be a whole group  activity, or small groups or pairs. Students can then share their ideas.

Think -Break-  Ask a  rhetorical question. Allow 20 to 30 seconds for students to think about the problem. Students can then write something down about the solution  or the problem. You can then go on to explain or expand the topic being covered.

Update Notes- Take a break for 2 to 3 minutes to allow students to compare  class notes ( with the other students)  and to allow students to fill in the gaps and develop questions.

Weekly Reading- The Lake House

     Kate Morton's  The Lake House was excellent! Although in the middle I was wondering where it all was going . But at the end I could not believe how it turned out.  The novel spans a time frame of 70 years , so it goes back and forth between the two story lines.

   Alice,in the 1930's, and her family in Cornwall- and their privileged life.  The family's country estate is well hidden  but the home of a proper English family.The tragedy of  what happened with her Father and her Mother is kept secret from the world.  ( Father's shell shocked/ disappearance of  11 month old baby Theo)

   Sara, nearly seventy years later when visiting her grandfather, stumbles upon the estate  .  As a Detective she is intrigued by the story of the missing  and adored baby, so she is determined to find the answers of happened all those years ago.

Middle School Lessons- Online Card Catalog

 Lesson for Online Card Catalog- Follett Destiny

 "Searching for a Book"


1) Review of Destiny- finding  library page, and where to find card catalog.
2) Discussion of ways to locate / or search the materials in the library.

Vocabulary: online catalog,author, title, subject, series, call numbers,  genres, keywords

 Resources needed:
   ( Students)Computers with internet access . Destiny worksheet
   ( LMS) whiteboard with internet access

Where the lesson takes place: in the library or computer lab

Student completes worksheet.

Weekly Reading/ Clockwork Angel

ClockWork Angel by Cassandra Clare is the first in a series called The Infernal Devices. Tessa is trying to find her brother and be reunited with him, He is all the family she has left, Her parents died when she was very young, and now her beloved Aunt who had taken care of her and Nate has passed. She is on a mission to find Nate.
    Tessa is doing what she needs to do to find Nate- she travels  to England. She  gets entwined with the Dark Sisters because they are the link to getting to brother - but then she is tapped. The sisters teach her how to' change' and are trying to get her ready for the Magister.

  To me this is fantasy and horror rolled into one. Will and Jem and the Institute  become Tessa's new "family". When the Dark sisters are partially eliminated, The Institute  helps Tessa find her brother- but that brings up a whole new set of problems for them. Slowly they begin to unravel  how the Shadow hunters can save Nate and the Institute.  This leads into the second book of the series so  you will want to keep reading.

 The novel is well written and riveting  until the end. And then you are wondering what will happen next?

Middle School Lessons- Library Orientation

 This is a brief outline of what I will do  when school resumes in September for my library orientation so that students will be familiar with the library.

  Orientation & Map
1) Introduction to library, personnel, policies( circulation)
2) "Tour " of Library- Like Vana  since it is so small
3)  Review of Destiny ( Online Card Catalog- shown on whiteboard)
4) Explain  how to do map, and library and card catalog activity

Vocabulary: overdues, circulation, fiction, non-fiction, biography, reference, dewey decimal system, fiction arrangement, genres.

  REsources :Worksheet- 2part- general  & card catalog activity

  Where do the lessons take place?
 Orientation- Library
Completion of map and general sheet- in library
Completion of Card Catalog activity: library or computer lab

Can you share what you do for your orientation? This will work for  grades 5-8.

Weekly Reading- Summer Time! Victoria/ Goodwin

  This is my weekly reading series again! It is so nice to have time to read! ( That is what I do best!)
I just finished reading Victoria/ Goodwin and it was excellent. We had seen the PBS special in the winter and when I saw the book  ,I grabbed it.
 Goodwin follows the life of Queen Victoria in great detail. In the end papers , she notes that she wrote the novel while they were filming the shows. She had done extensive research  and brought Victoria to life.
 Victoria is the young queen who had a hard time being taken seriously , but it was a role she was meant to do. The descriptions of the 1830's and how life was for Victoria and her family are outstanding and interesting. If you saw the series ,and loved it , I would definitely recommend this book. I Only wish there was a second book-who knows maybe there will be. I would love to read more about Victoria and Albert !

Middle school Lessons

 I am trying to devise a online curriculum for my 7th and 8th grade students. So I am searching what others have available as lessons and online tutorials.  So Far, I have found a few that look good and will als match up with my student needs.

  What is needed first is an overview of elementary lessons because when the students get to middle school, they forget what they have learned or they do not remember learning the basics ( like online card cat, arrangement, genres, dewey decimal system, ect.)

  Also I want to focus on internet safety, digital citizenship, and evaluation of websites, and also databases.
The reference process is I will do in collaboration with classroom teachers  when they are doing research/ inquiry. This will also include Easy Bib directions .

  As I search I will look for additions and adapt them to my students, This will go on my google classroom  for student use.