Earth Day is approaching, so I made a book display for the occasion. I used one of my favorite design programs, Adobe Spark, to layout the poster and bookmark. I curated some conservation books and included links to Nat Geo and PBS Kids on the bookmarks where students could watch videos and play nature games. I hope to hear feedback from students so that I can improve my display game in the future, especially after last week's visit to Risley Middle School (masters of the book display). I'm also now officially a member of the Georgia Library Media Association. I look forward to utilizing the resources they offer for library advocacy, program evaluation, and of course, connecting with media specialists around the state.
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I had the privilege of visiting Mrs. Bradley and Mrs. Moody's media center, a middle school where almost 90% of our elementary students transfer to. Our current sandpipers sure do have a fabulous library to explore in their future. Immediately upon entering, my eyes widened with excitement, almost as if being sent back to my own middle school years. The walls were rich with maps and road signs and memorabilia that correlated with genres. The book displays popped with color and were masterfully handcrafted. Students were busy in the research process, using interactive text books to learn about Australia. Mrs. Bradley and Mrs. Moody love the library. It's obvious. Their passion is contagious and it shows on the students as well. They have created many reading incentives and programs including an overnight read-a-thon, hidden tickets, and a mystery field trip that students attend after achieving a series of scavenger hunts. They even designed personalized "library swag" that students can wear or put on their school supplies as a mark of pride for their love of reading. Mrs. Bradley and Mrs. Moody provided me with a wealth of information that I will take with me as I lead my own library program in the future. Quick notes & takeaways:
Other people need to hear about what the library staff is doing. Monthly and annual reports can help achieve this as well as provide an opportunity for the staff to reflect and improve on their efforts. We can't assume that others know what we do. Doug Johnson encourages us to "count things". Jennifer LaGuarde reminds us that our work doesn't matter if it doesn't impact students. At the end of the day, our goal is that students learn. The activities report provided me with the opportunity to reflect on the importance of documenting the efforts of the library and its connection to student achievement.
Our media specialist had just received a complimentary stack of books from Scholastic for reaching sales goals at a recent book fair. The titles did not come cataloged and labeled, as they usually do when she orders from Follett, so she took this opportunity to show me the process of entering new items into the circulation. Glynn County uses Destiny Library Manager by Follett for managing library resources. The media specialist relies on it daily for many tasks, and I found the program very user-friendly. The program also runs custom circulation reports across the entire collection or the user can set parameters for certain genres and date ranges. Another feature she shared was Destiny's ability to send automated messages to teachers so that they can see what books their students have checked out. The process for cataloging was fairly straightforward. We clicked "add title" from the admin panel, searched via ISBN number (searching by title or author was less accurate), and created a call number for the spine label. The information was automatically populated from Follett's system. We printed two barcodes for each title to include on the front and inside cover. We printed the call numbers on address labels and reinforced them with label protectors. Finally, the media specialist hand-wrote Accelerated Reader information on the inside cover and added a colored label based on the title's level.
We "kicked it old school", like the media specialist said - but still, I felt pretty fortunate that librarians do not have to spend much time typing summaries, author information, etc., and can spend more time focusing on other things like teaching information literacy skills to students. I had the privilege of visiting Glynn Academy's media center last week. Dr. Melissa Purcell received recognition for the Judy Serritella Exemplary Media Program during the 2011-2012 school year. She was also my professor at Georgia Southern for several classes during my library media coursework. Every minute of my observation was valuable. Here are some quick takeaways I found noteworthy during my visit:
-Completing purchase orders through the Glynn County's online system. -County vs. internal funds -Amazon and MochaSoft -New ADA compliance requirements -Facebook page management -Appointments with teachers on Office 365 and Smartboard troubleshooting -Media center brochure -3D printer -Georgia Virtual School management -Inventory management -Peach Awards and incentive programs -Creating weekly technology tips for teachers -Website updates of maps, handbooks, club dates, and slideshows -Meetings with administration -Circulation, graphic novels, reading lists, career reference -Overdue notices and due dates -Portfolio management, collection analysis, plans, circulation statistics, professional learning schedule, meetings, emails, public relations. These are the notes from a single day, which gives insight into just how many tasks the media specialist must manage. My visit was eyeopening and informative. It was also special because Dr. Purcell is the first professor I had during Master's coursework at Georgia Southern University. I am glad to have such a valuable resource such as her so close to home. A couple of years, the thought of speaking in front of a bunch of people terrified me. Teaching helped me overcome this fear. This week, I delivered a professional learning session to all 90 staff members in my school. I was one of nine teachers responsible for redelivering our experience at the Ron Clark Academy. One of my big takeaways from RCA was the quality of discussions that the children were able to have with one another. This got me thinking of FlipGrid, an application that allows teachers and students to post to a video discussion board. I began the learning session with my big three takeaways from RCA: be positive, "do you", and discussion strategies. My main focus was on the discussion strategies. I showed my colleagues how FlipGrad can be used to scaffold students' discussion skills by creating prompts and encouraging students to watch and reflect on their video posts. I showed a few examples of second graders discussing literary language. After the literary language unit, students used the discussion prompt to come up with their own definition of literary language and read an example from their personal books. At least two teachers used the application in days following the session. This is encouraging, as many teachers feel overwhelmed with the growing expectations and may not want to try learning a new tool. We have a great staff, though, and I'm excited to play with this tool with fellow teachers and students in the future. I received a couple of shoutouts following the professional learning session: Slideshow that accompanied professional learning session: This week, I helped the media specialist with the Sandpiper Super Reader's Club. Students came during lunch to share book trailers that they created. The media specialist and I led tutorial sessions on different video editing programs. It was great seeing how self-motivated the students were in creating their own book trailers. Many of them had already created trailers during their own time at school or at home. Others had little experience but were excited to get started. The titles that children chose ranged from historical fiction to informational books on earthquakes. I enjoyed watching the excitement and pride that the students had as they were editing and sharing their trailers. The media specialist also shared with me the different incentive programs she uses to help motivate and recognize accomplished readers throughout the school. Also, she had some parent volunteers helping with the yearbook. They were coordinating with the media specialist to get photos of the school's different clubs. I worked with them one day to get pictures of PTA members, some exterior shots of the school, and a paper mache sandpiper (our school's mascot) that our art teacher made. They also used many of my images of students that I had taken in December from the PBIS Good Day video I created. A few of the many pictures I took for this year's yearbook
Last week, I attended the Ron Clark academy, and I've been obsessively thinking how I can channel what I learned through the usage of technology. Ron Clark's students were very well spoken. The teachers throughout the academy placed a high expectation of quality of discussion throughout all classrooms with all students. They did not rely heavily on technology, but they didn't have to. These are also middle grade students. So this got me thinking: how can I help my elementary students reach this level of sophisticated discourse? One tool I've been reading a lot about lately in the Twitterverse is Flipgrid. Flipgrid is a website and app that that allows teachers to create short discussion-style questions that students respond to through recorded videos. It is basically a video message board where students can post up to 90-second video responses. This is a tool I've been excited to play with. I plan on implementing it into my collaborative lesson as well as introducing Flipgrid to my fellow teachers in a professional learning session. Here is a rough draft of a "script" that I created for my second graders. For our upcoming literary language unit, I think that Flipgrid would be a good way for students to share their knowledge with their classmates, which is also an essential information literacy skill. Hopefully, students will find value in the tool by critiquing and improving their own discussion capabilities as well as gaining knowledge from their fellow classmates as they watch everyone's discussion posts. Our school does not have a 1:1 technology plan but we do have a laptop cart with webcams that I think will make this goal attainable.
This week, I had the privilege of attending the Ron Clark Academy. I approached this experience with an open mind. But I also considered how I could apply technology to my newfound knowledge. I had a few main takeaways: 1) Be positive. Sludge breeds sludge. Negativity breeds negativity. Be the change you wish to see. When you exude it, people will be drawn to it. Is what I'm doing a part of the solution or am I contributing to problems? Do the best version of you. We all have "those days". Ask: How can you be a light for those who are in the dark? Lifting others up will help lift yourself up. Surround yourself with people that fill your soul. Don't let the "downer" have control. You are the positive energy. Be bold - slide! Eat lunch with your students every day. Be happy for others. Stop complaining. Accept the challenge. Accept the problem with positivity. Don't be a victim to the "crab-apple teachers". Rise above it. Let your light shine. Know your parents and visit them. Dress nicely. Stop feeling the weight of the world. When things seem bad, don't take it home - keep it cerebral. 2) Discussion. Be uplifting and incite discussion. This redirects student behavior. Use movement to help underscore meaning. Use what you have access to. Use your odd, quirky talents in your instruction. Smile. Your students will feel your energy. 3) Be You.
We're too busy taking advice. You know who you are. You know your stories. Have discussions on relevant topics. Quieter people tend to be most artistic. Experience something, watch something. This is your classroom, your own space, your own story. Choose literature based on what you see, feel, what is pouring into you. Bring your own story. Be excited, and be passionate. You have to know your strengths. Surround yourself with things that keep you motivated and inspired. Immediate takeaways: Include pictures of students around campus Implement FlipGrid to improve discussion Eat lunch with students to develop relationships This week, I sat in on the monthly meeting with the district’s media specialists. This meeting was different than usual because Scholastic’s regional book fair team came to speak. Les and Cookie presented ideas and handed out toolkits to help media specialists promote their book fairs. They also encouraged the other media specialists to share their ideas of how they promoted their own book fairs.
The presenters emphasized the importance of allowing students choice in their reading lives. I appreciate how they encouraged media specialists to share sales with the public as translated minutes. For example, in their newsletter or blogs, they could write: “Because of your involvement, we sold 12,000 books which translates into 2 million minutes of independent reading time.” They also talked about the upcoming E-Wallet so that children will no longer have to bring cash. Students’ parents can deposit money into an online account that the children can access during checkout at the book fair. Media specialists shared ideas on themes (cowboys, space, cats/dogs, etc.), incentives, and competitions they used to promote upcoming book fairs. As a current special education teacher, I especially appreciated how they covered the topic of “high interest-low level” books. They also promoted STEM devices and mentioned how we are preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist. The instructional technology coordinator also gave a presentation on Google Docs at the close of the meeting. Other quick takeaways: -Media specialists can earn “Scholastic Dollars” -Use the author’s personal videos to promote certain titles -Social media engagement and teacher previews help increase involvement -Highlighted title “Martin Rising” -Matt De La Pena has a few trending titles -Encourage parent and grandparent involvement -Encouraged summer reading program to prevent “summer slide” I spent Wednesday and Thursday afternoon in the media center this week. These are the two days that the media specialist encourages parents to visit. Thankfully, many of our parents take advantage of this and browse books with their children. The media specialist and I also talked about how the county recently added an Instructional Technology Coordinator position. One of the initiatives of this new person is encouraging media specialists to offer more professional learning opportunities in technology to their school staff. We discussed the benefits of this but also the challenges of coordinating time for many busy teachers to come together. This got me thinking of the advantages of video and screencasts that I may use when I am faced with this challenge myself someday. Also this week, I participated in a webinar through EdWeb. Susannah Moran led a discussion on media literacy. I was looking forward to this as media literacy is an especially important topic in the library media profession. Library media specialists take the lead in helping students develop the necessary skills and attitudes to effectively navigate the world’s continually expanding information landscape. One of my main takeaways from the discussion was that teaching media literacy is not a skill we should teach as standalone set of lessons but rather one that is embedded in all of our instructional practices. Students face an endless amount of false and misleading information. We should teach them how to consume media critically and skeptically. Most importantly, Moran argues, is that we need to teach kids how to ask questions. Students need skills in locating, sharing, and judging the credibility and quality of all kinds of content. Moran also encouraged us to help shift students from content consumers to content creators. I am especially passionate about this. Only 3% of teens say they are content creators. When I manage a media center in the future, I am excited to help students create original artifacts of their learning which I will encourage them to present them to their peers. I would also like to encourage students to report on the events of their own school through written articles, photographs, or audio recordings. In creating their own content, students can learn to be better consumers.
Furthermore, students need time to discuss and reflect on their own conduct and behavior. The elements of digital citizenship are the same as regular citizenship: be kind, be responsible, and try to make the world a better place. This was my first week officially logging observation hours under my school's media specialist. I sat in during several of my planning hours and also visited after instructional hours. It surprised me, in such a short amount of time, how many requests our media specialist received from teachers after students left for the day. The media specialist was busy with several teachers providing supply lists, discussing room transformations, printing literacy posters, setting up for the following morning announcements, testing a new software, and verifying names for the yearbook. I'll be contributing a lot to the yearbook this year since I've been taking a lot of pictures for our PBIS committee projects. Our school also had an author visit this week. Kay Strickland Heath came from Dawson, Georgia to share her stories with the children. Her books tell the adventures of "Ida Claire", a headstrong and sometimes stubborn young girl from the 50s. She revealed to the kids that she is actually Ida Claire, and the stories are about her experiences growing up. The kids really enjoyed it, and it let me observe the logistics of hosting an author.
Last November in Jacksonville, I attended my first educational technology conference: the 2017 AECT International Convention. Scientists, authors, professors, and students coalesced around theme "Leading Learning for Change". I heard inspirational presentations ranging from emerging theories and global trends to practical usage of technologies in classrooms.
Peter Rich convinced me of the importance of coding, even at the earliest of grade levels. Computational thinking skills are essential in a world now dominated by computer science and engineering fields.
Dr. Derek Cabera laid out a systems thinking framework, encouraging teachers to mold "builders of knowledge" over mere "consumers of knowledge". And Dr. John Curry and Sean Jackson caution media specialists on the intricacies of effective 1:1 technology plans. In their qualitative studies on several schools around the country, they found that initial implementation of tablets and laptops is often satisfactory. But where most schools struggle is ongoing integration due to lack of support and ample professional learning opportunities. This conference provided me with big and small ideas, both ambitious in the long-term and immediately useable. I feel revitalized after attending and I'm even more excited moving forward in this journey to becoming a library media specialist. |