What we need for our students !( And teachers!)

        Think about our students today- they have grown up with computers and  have always had cell phones. For the most part they are online everyday - whether phone, table, cell phone. They create and participate online every day.  Students are Digital Natives
         As educators we need to prepare students ( and teachers)  in  the Digital Revolution  and teach students how to use technology safely and effectively. As librarians we are the leaders in our school who can do that. We are the ones that have been trained  in the Web 2.0 tools .
   With Web 2.0 tools there are many free sites that allow the user to interact with technology to create information products that can be shared with classmate and the world at large.  Starting next week I will begin to  highlight some of the easiest ones ( and free)  to use with students . These tools help student make learning come alive. They engage the student and make learning fun and exciting. Most  students love to work with technology.  Sign up and follow so you don't miss one of the free tools.!!

Website for Elementary Librarians

     I stumbled upon this  great new site for elementary librarians and wanted to share . Although I have not been through everything on this site , it seems to be chock full of interesting and helpful new ideas  for elementary librarians.  It is called  Elementary Librarian  and has library lesson plans that incorporate common core standards. There are many links to activities and resources. This librarian has really done her home work and  has very nicely shared her information. 
     Every Tuesday is Tech Tuesday ( Today she was discussing Wordle - which I love). There are also  links to Library News, and Ed. Tech News! Check it out!

http://elementarylibrarian.com/

Finally Back up to Speed

 Well  last week the computer got fried by a thunder storm and we finally got it fixed. Now this week , our router died and so we went out and got a new one and set it up yesterday.  Hopefully I will get back in the grove and be up with some more ideas and cool websites and technology. The summer is going fast- it has been very hot and muggy in NE PA. We ate our first tiny tomatoes. This moring I woke  up to find a Mama deer eating one of our big tomates- Boy did I yell.
  Is any one getting ready for school yet??

Neat Site

Here is another site that I came upon in my browsing and I think it will be useful for librarians and teachers. It offers  examples of Reading Trifolds0- which are a near way for students to track and share their reading. There are blank  trufolds that can be printed out and used.   These would also be great to use with guided reading groups, and would also help with assessment of the student reading. I am thinking of ways to use them in library class for the students in grades 3-4.  Let me know what you this about this site and also the trifold idea,

Reading Trifolds

Fabulous site! - The Centered School Library

        I  found the site  to go along with Cari Young's book The Centered School Library!  Actually I had looked at when I first got her book. It is great ! I should do a review for this book.
       Anyway , now that we are past July 4th , I can begin my summer learning! Cari has started a  Summer Tech Camp and she starts out with  creating a power point with your learning as you go along which is a great idea!  The first  idea  is Wildself- which the students would absolutely love!!
  Check this out!!  Go to June  5, 2012 to begin at the beginning!! Have fun.

  The Centered School Library

What does an Administrator want from a Librarian? - Collaborator

        What else does an Administrator want from a librarian?     How does the librarian effect the whole school?  By collaborating with faculty and students , the librarian can  help establish  new ways to provide student learning and excellence.
         A library media specialist is collaborator who works with students and teachers.  For the best results in educating students ( and also increase/maintain test scores), librarians work with teacher in planing, instructing, and evaluating learning.
          In collaborating with teachers, librarians integrate information skills and literacy skills into classroom learning. This is by far the most efficient way for students to learn them. With time  and  consistency , the students will see connections to using library resources  and find out how helpful these skills are to  learning and finding out new facts and ideas.
        Being a collaborative partner with the staff  helps both the teacher and the student. The librarian is the extra pair of hands , eyes, and ears. The teacher is not working alone.  Whether lessons are done in whole groups or divided up in smaller groups, students have more individualized  learning . Problems  and questions are more likely to be caught and corrected. Attention given to students will be more concentrated .
         A collaborative lesson is  designed by both teacher and librarian  provides more opportunity  for successful learning and achievement .

What does an Admisitrator Want from a Librarian?

      I have been thinking lately about what administrators want and expect from a School Library Media Specialist. I've also been thinking that many administrators  really do not have any idea about how valuable a school librarian can be.
      Do they have classes when they are taking courses to be a Principal  about the value of a school librarian?  I think not, but I do think they should.
      Number one item on my list is a Library media Specialist is a TEACHER. They work with students in the library, the computer lab, and in the classroom! What do they teach?
     They teach the love of reading and literature. Think  about interactive read aloud' s and author studies.  Think introducing students to genres, and  series, chapter books, and graphic novels, award winning books.
    School librarian also teach students how to be information literate . They teach how to use the resources of books, references, data bases, and the internet. to find the information they need. They show students how to use the latest web based programs to   produce information pieces  to share with there their learning.
     Later in the week or next week  week I have some addoitioanl  items to add to this list of what an adminsotrator wants from their librarians. Keep reading for more.
    Any additional items the librarian does as a teacher?  Please add your comments.
What should you do with this information? Share this in some way with your p;principals and school board and teachers,. Let them know what you can do to assist the students in the quest for 21st century learners.

Last Week of School

It is the last week of school and everything is winding down.!  Hard to believe that another year has gone by.
Inventory done and print outs printed. We did not do to bad- but it is surprising that so many of our professional books have disappeared / I wonder who could have taken them?  Any guesses? So this week I have a few classes and I have to clean up and taken everything down for cleaning. -and bring my plants home. That's about it. I will be writing this summer occasionally  ( probably  twice a week) in preparation  for the new school year.
  I hope to spend time working on my book and hopefully will have it out soon.( it all depends on my editor- my husband)- when he can fit it working on it with me.

Inventory

Yes we have actually started- scanning. It took a little bit to the scanners sycned  but now we are going strong. Stopped a bit yesterday to have a great Caldecot challenge party. It was fun. Tomorrow our break will be the second round of the Battle of the Books.  Still getting books back and in.

Beginning Inventory

 I am getting ready to begin inventory tomorrow, so today I am printing over dues. ( Yes , there are students who still have books out even though the due date was May 31st.)  Then there are the pre- inventory printouts that must be done before we even start scanning. Of course books are still coming in and classes are in here researching and typing!
 Also this week we are doing the Caldecott Pizza party- which is given to the class that reads the most Caldecott's. And we have the second round of the Battle of the Books! Busy Week~

Steps to Inventory

 We are still working towards doing inventory. The books are due but not all in yet. Teachers still have books out that they are using. So besides shelving and reading, the next thing I will do is overdue notices to teachers for student books. I will also send an email to staff asking that all books they are not using be returned to the library so they can be inventoried when we are scanning.
  I also just "ordered"  from our tech person, our two carts with laptops or computers and speakers. We are lucky enough to have wireless and can use the system right at the shelf. It 'beeps'  if there is a problem with the item scanned and the screen tells what the problem is.  This is a long way from what inventory used to be - even when  the first technology came along- we had to upload our scans to the main computer, and print out and them check for problems. Hurray for updated Technology!

Inventory- on going

      We are continuing on in our inventory process. As of right now , students have the last week to keep reading . All of our books are due on May31st.   So as we get back the books , we are shelving , shifting, and reading the shelves. 
      Many of the shelves have to be shifted because we have a lot of books . During the year, we shift many times to accommodate the collection.  Certain shelves need to be read- those are the shelves that see the most use. Some shelves only need a quick glance to make sure they are okay.
     What is a great help is that since we are an elementary school, we only go to one or two digits behind the decimal for the non-fiction section.( My predecessor did this and It actually works out very well, both in the keeping of the shelves in order and also the shelving and finding of the books.

It's Inventory Time Again!

     Yes it is inventory time again- well almost. Today was the last day for students to check out books. All our books are due by May 31st.  This gives us time to print our over dues and get them to the Students. There are students that have VERY VERY overdue books.  These students are not allowed to take out any more books- even this week.
    We have begun reading shelves. In my book  ( The Organized Librarian)there is a whole chapter on organizing  the reading and inventory process. We read shelvess while we are shelving books or when we come to a shelf that needs it.
     Many of the shelves are pretty good, many are really out of order. It just depends how much the shelf is used by the students.  What really takes the most time is shifting the books so that all the books fit on the shelves.  We really need more shelving in both libraries , but I know that is not going to happen anytime soon.
   While I am reading shelves, and shelving books,  I look for books that are obviously out of date, falling apart, and ugly. Then I usually check the stats on the circulation system to see : how old the item is( if nonfiction - is it accurate?,  how many times it has been checked out- do we need to replace with the same item or an up to date book)  These questions help me decide if I should pull the book and discard it, or write down the title/subject to order for next year.

Free E book site

Here is another free ( Mostly)  e book site. So far in my searching this looks like fun. You get up to 5  free books every month. There is a fee if you want more than that- but in my book 5 books  a month seems okay because  of the other sites out there- which I continue to search  out and explore. So  check it out and see if you like it also.

They seem to have a lot of variety of books . I could explore this site and find some great reads. The youth section has mostly classics but it would be nice for vacation to read some of the books I haven't read in years.

http://www.free-ebooks.net/

Great Free E reader site!

 I have just discovered a new site for my tablet where I can download books and excerpts of books for free! I can even do the downloading and reading on my PC.  It looks like it will be a great resource for free books! it also links up with FaceBook so you can see what your 'friends ' are reading.
 I have already been on the Project Gutenberg site and that of course is great also. Does any one have another favorite?

http://www.scribd.com/

Conference Report NYLA/SLL

 All I can say is WOW!  This was an amazing conference and I really learned a lot . Now I have to figure out which to do first.
  The highlight of course was Joyce Valenza- 10 Critical Literacies you should teach! How can you do that? I have decided to look over my notes and try to learn just one for now. I am not sure which one it will be yet.


http://springfieldlibrary.wikispaces.com/

If  you look at the left hand side , check out Digital tools, and Digital storytelling. She mentioned some of these, and we had our heads spinning.  She talked of Curation, digital citizenship, and knowledge building. Check out this site - there is so much on it!

Conference Time

 I am off this afternoon to the 2012 NYLA/SSL Conference in Binghamton, NY! Can't wait!  The  theme this year is Expand your Influence- Create, cCultivate, Collaborate , Communicate.
  This year there are some great speakers and workshops: Joyce Valenza, David Wiesner, Margie Preus, and Emily Arnold McCully!!  Also there will be great workshops : ebooks, digital resources, advocacy, and Common Core.

  Some great authors will also be there: Suzanne Bloom, Clara Gillow Clark, Jason Edwards. and Liz Rosenberg and others.

 I am getting ready to be recharged and re- energized!  Coming Back to school with great ideas, activities, and book titles!

Are there any other New York People going to be there?
How about  the other states - What do you like about your  regional/ state conference?  Send us your thoughts!

Great News for NY and All!

NY Board of Regents Supports School Librarians in All Elementary Schools 

This link arrived on my Face book from School Library Journal. It seems that the NY state regents board is finally getting on board that elementary schools need to have full time librarians to help support and maintain great ELA test scores.   My only question is this - they want schools to have a full time librarian by 2020. What,in the meantime, will happen to all those students that DO NOT have the services of a certified librarian? It seems a long time to wait to make sure the students are  college and career ready! What are your thoughts? What does your state do? How else can we convince them we need this sooner?

On to the Caldecott Challenge rewards

              The Caldecott reading challenge is at the end. Now we begin the quest to prepare for the rewards and the parties.  The first step is checking what the kids have read and how many they have read. That to me is the hardest part- next year I am going to devise a way to make the checking easier! I am not sure how- but there has to be a better way
                
               Then we will set the date for the popcorn and pizza parties  for the classes who  earned them by reading. I also have to figure out  who gets the prizes and what exactly they will. I will be looking in my goodie bags of prizes to see what else I need.

Beginning Chapter- The Organized Librarian

  Begin to Organize

                   

 As   Librarians we have great jobs, working with patrons (adults or students) to help them find books to read for pleasure ,or information.  With today’s technology, we also need to be able to help patrons with current electronic resources to complete work projects or finish assignments.

Librarians  have a lot to do to maintain their libraries and the resources in them. We want patrons to get the books that they want or the information they need.  Getting everything done seems almost impossible.  Organizing each day and week will help librarians accomplish what needs to be done to sustain the library programs and resources

Battle of the Books- on to round two

  Our first round of the Battle of the Books was held in the beginning of April. Now I am planning the second round.  I have to check with my Administration to see what would be appropriate date and time. Usually we have an assembly with grades 3-6 attending.   My vice principal and I have to discuss if we want to do that again this year.  Then it finalizing the prizes- One of my teams wanted to know if the first place team could pick their prize- something to think about!  The kids are still reading and re- reading the list of books.

A great website for 4th & 5th Grades

 Here is a link to a website designed for students in 4th and 5th grade who are learning about plants. Students read and look for clues, do experiments, and solve problems while learning about plants. It is a fun learning experience! Have your students check this out!


Great Plant Escape

Borrowing Books on my Tablet!

It our Easter / Spring break ! Back in November I got a Pandigital Tablet which is really cool !  It can do a bunch of things- surf the web, buy and read books/ samples from Barnes & Noble, games, photos, facebook.
But just this week I finally figured out how to borrow books from my one local library!  That is really Cool!!
Anyway  first I had to download Adobe reader. Then I downloaded the Freading app.  The books are listed there and I have three weeks to read them and then they disappear. You can renew them if need be.
  Now all I have to do is figure out how to borrow from my other local Library- ( That is the advantage of living on the border close to two states)I think it is the same deal but for some reason I can't log in.  I am actually reading Adult books over this break. Not to worry - I 'll be back to my favorite- children and tweens come next week when we go back to school.

Round 1 - Battle of the Books!

 Yesterday ( April 4th) we held our first round of the Battle of the Books! The students had fun- you should have heard the yeah's  and hurray's each time the teams got the answer right! Now on to the second round! Students had team posters that some of them spent a lot of time on. Here is a photo from the 6th grade team who came in first in their round.

Caldecott Challenge

 Our Third graders are  doing  a Caldecott Reading Challenge. This is voluntary reading challenge.  If  all students participate  in a class  and read at least 12 Caldecotts  over  5 weeks,their class receives a popcorn party. The Class that reads the most  Caldecotts gets a Pizza party.   The student in each class that reads the most  books also get a prize.  The student that has read the most of all  gets the biggest prize. So there are lots of opportunities for parties and prizes. We have a great time at the Pizza party- that is where we hand out the prizes and dance and sometimes have games.  The kids love the challenge and love reading the Caldecotts!

First Grade Graphic Organizer- Animal Reports