It's June! End of year!

     I'm getting ready for the end of school! It's been a long  and interesting year!  7th grade has been a challenge to say the least! I think having the centers was a good idea and I will prepare some  more for next year to have set up for when students visit.   As far as I know, I will not be having 7th grade classes but will be working more closely with the teachers doing student based projects!!  So excited about that!!

      Over the summer I will be checking out some ideas  to get the teachers prepared to collaborate with me when they are doing their projects. This is really the way to run a library and have the students really learn how to use the resources that they need to use.

      I will write more about this over the summer . But I am looking for ideas on how to get teachers to collaborate so please  join in the conversation  of your ideas and suggestions, and what you do if you are in a situation where you have a flexible schedule  for student teacher collaboration.

May Bulletin Boards!

May bulletin Board for Libraries

  It  is  getting towards 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 write  on a blank sneaker their favorite spring books.  They can color them and then we will 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  Make  green arrows- put book jackets around that.

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

Collaboration Level 3- True Collaboration

  On this level of collaboration there is true benefit for all participants( students , teachers,, and librarians),  By this level, relationships have been defined and each member knows what he/she will be doing to further the goals of student education.
  The participants have decided on common goals and specific outcomes,  Teams work together on lessons and units. There is the commitment of the administration that this is way schools should be run. 
 There will be several projects/units each year that the librarian and teacher work on together.  Each year the activity is reviewed and tweaked as far as assignments, projects, assessment and tasks. But the commitment remains to jointly develop and assess the students progress,
  Resources are update and shared by all parties,, areas of use are shared, and teachers and librarians work together in the classroom, library, and computer lab.
  The attitude is one of cooperation, respect, and unity.  This may be one that is continually worked on but in the end the positive attitude will override any obstacles, Communication is key and this is done in similar ways to the beginning stages of collaboration, but with a more personal goal to achieve the desired outcomes,
  Is this attainable? Yes, with a lot of work and the right attitude this is the goal for librarians everywhere. Keep moving towards this model where ever you are now.

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

Announcing October Giveaway!

   Drum roll please!!!  The October Giveaway is the  book Library Life Savers by Pamela & Tamora Bacon.
And the winner is Natalie!  Natalie please email me with  the address where you would like me to send the book! Congrats and Enjoy!