Cyber Safety Smart

Our school district has a week every year where we discuss Cyber Safety with the students. I highly believe that this discussion should happen year round, not just during this designated week. This year, as every year in the past, I partnered up with the teachers to teach Cyber Safety to our amazing scholars. Yes, even with our kindergarten students! I am a firm believer that instead of blocking everything, schools should be teaching students to be responsible users of the internet.  Some things do need to be blocked, but instead of banning all devices and all website outside of the programs purchased by the district, we should instruct our students to properly use social media.

Kinder and 1st grades

YES! Even kinder needs to learn how to be safe on the web. We talk about "stranger danger" all the time, but shouldn't we be talking about strangers on our computers, tablets, and iPhones. OK, so most 5 and 6 year olds don't have a phone, but how many play games on the computer? Many games now days have a way to connect with another player in order to complete missions. Even our youngest students need to know that the person on the other side may not be how they say they are. 

With my younger students, we talked about Going Places Safely online, and I used a lesson from CommonSenseMedia. In this lesson students were able to:

• discover that the Internet can be used to visit far-away places and learn new things.
• compare how staying safe online is similar to staying safe in the real world.
• explain rules for traveling safely on the Internet.

If you have not looked through the lessons on Common Sense Education, you need to browse and find a lesson that fits your students.

2nd Grade

Second graders learned what is safe and not safe to share on the internet when chatting with others online. Many of our second graders mentioned that they play games online, such as Minecraft, Rodeblox, and Wizard 101, where they can chat with other players and complete missions with other players. 

Many children at this age don't really think about the dangers of the other player possibly not being another kid their age. So, we watched a fun video with Timon and Pumba about what information we can and cannot share with other players online. 

After the video, each group completed a sort of what is safe and what is unsafe to share online. 

3rd Grade

Third grade is the year that students really start using Google for Education and Google Classroom often. Students are able to communicate and collaborate, even from home, on assignments using Google. So, I felt it important to go over the power of words online and how it can affect us emotionally. Even as adults, I feel like we forget that an actual person with feelings is on the other side of the computer. 

I adapted my lesson from Common Sense Education called "Power of Words", but I did tweak it a little to fit the time I had with the class and to fit what the teacher and I felt was best for the students.

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4th Grade

Fourth grade had a higher level version of the lesson that I did with second grade. We discussed what is safe and unsafe to share online. A few 4th grade students are learning about social media and are starting to post things online. So, I let Professor Garfield talk with them about our digital footprints.

5th Grade

I was blown away when talking with the 5th graders at how much they do not understand about being safe online, but how much they are sharing online! When the teacher and I talked with them about conversations being deleted, they truly believed that if they deleted it, it was gone. They have a lot to learn! 

With 5th grade, we talked about the difference between Bullying and Cyberbullying. There were some great conversations going on in the groups. A few of them didn't take it seriously at first, but did at the end. This just confirms that these lessons need to go on all year long, not just during this designated week.

After we went over the lesson and watched the video, students got into groups and created a Venn Diagram comparing/contrasting Cyberbullying and Bullying. 

Poster Contest

Next week the posters will be judged and a school winner will be named!! I'm hoping for the district winner this year!! 

Dot Day Delight

September 15th is International Dot Day, which all started with the book THE DOT by Peter Reynolds. Dot Day is a day that we celebrate our unique talents and how each individual makes his mark in the world. Our art teacher, Ms. Eggers, and I collaborated again this year and came up with Dot stations for Kinder - 2nd grades.  This year went much smoother than last year. The stations were definitely the way to go! 

Reynolds, Peter H. The Dot. Candlewick Press, 2003.

In our first station, students made a dot anywhere on the paper. Then, they had to think about what they could create from that single dot. We had insects, snowmen, flowers, dinosaurs, and pokeballs just to name a few creations. It was amazing to see all the different ideas the students came up with.

The second station was Dazzling Dots! Students made between 3 and 5 dots on their paper, then making zigzagging around each dot with their crayons until the entire paper was covered. The students said it looked like firework on their paper. 

The third station "Not a Dot", similar to what Vashti creates in the book. Students traced a circle template in the center of their paper, then made a design around the circle to create "not a dot".  

The fourth station was the Morse code station. In this station students were able to look at Morse code and write their name and messages using Morse code. This was challenging for the students to decipher what their friends had written. 

The fifth station, and probably the most popular, was the Quiver station. If you have never used the Quiver app in your classroom or library, you must check it out! In this station, students decorated the inside of the dot on the special Dot Day Quiver paper. Then, we made their drawing come to life! The kids LOVED it!!

 

During art time, the older students drew dots in Kandinsky style. This is now hanging in our hallway as a mural. It looks fabulous!

I am so thankful that I am at a school where the teachers realize that the librarian is a teacher, not just the person that checks out books. I love collaborating with all the teachers. Next up is Cyber Safety week. 

Library Orientation at Hillside

The first 2 weeks of school for the 2017-2018 school year are in the books as a success! I was able to see every class, and every student at Hillside has checked out! Woohoo!!

Welcome Back: The books missed you! 

It took me longer this year to get the library ready for the start of school due to the carpet installation. It took me a while to get the books back on the shelf, but looking on the bright side of things, I was able to study my collection better while unpacking. 

I am focusing on getting my library more organized and student friendly this year. I have made LOTS of changes in my 3 years here as librarian, but I have a lot more to do. I worked on getting the Self-Checkout station ready with instructions. I think this will help out when I'm teaching a class if students forget how to check out. So far, it is working! I'm hearing a lot more of the 'happy sounds' and no 'barking sounds'. I have the computer set up to 'bark' if a student does something wrong. That way, I can hear it no matter what area of the library I'm in.

Orientation Activities 

Each class came in for a 50 minute orientation the first two weeks of school. We went over my library promises, library procedures, and reviewed how to use the self-checkout machine.

Fourth graders came in to review logging into our Chromebooks and they all joined their teacher's Google Classroom, as well as the library Google Classroom.

With second grade, I read THE SHELF ELF by Jackie Mims Hopkins. No one has spotted our elf this year, he is hiding really well!

I love how this book goes over manners in the library, as well as taking care of our library books in a respectful manner. After reading, I had a sort at the tables with ways we could treat our books. Students sorted them into "no way" and "yes, of course!".

Third graders read THE LIBRARY DRAGON by Carmen Agra Deedy. This is one of my favorite books for library orientation. I love that part of the theme focuses on the library belonging to the children. 

After reading, third graders did a scavenger hunt through the library. Each group had a question, and they had to move to the area of the library that shows the answer. They had loads of fun! I did not create this scavenger hunt to go with the book, another amazing librarian did. You can find a copy for yourself on TpT.

Another group of 3rd graders came in to learn using the Chromebooks and Google apps. Let me tell you, having an extra set of eyes and hands when teaching the students to use technology devices is a wise idea. If you aren't already doing this as a librarian, start inviting your teachers to come into the library when the students need to use technology.  It truly helps them out!

After the students were able to login to the Chromebooks, they logged into our library catalog, Destiny. Then... the fun began! We played a Kahoot to review the library procedures. 

Finally... the books!

I have to brag on the teachers on my campus.... the majority of them were very open to my moving to a flexible schedule and have agreed that it is best for the students. I love co-teaching with my fellow educators, especially using technolgy with the students. However, as much as I know students love using the available technology, I love that they get more excited when it is time to look through the books!! Look at these sweet smiles when they open up their new library book they were able to choose.

These smiles right here are the reason I love my job!!! 

Being a Future Ready Librarian

In the last few weeks, I have had numerous inquiries about my flexible schedule and how I started it. Most people have been very positive about it and want to start it at their school. Unfortunately, not everyone has been positive, so I want to take the time to clear up some things about flexible schedule and being an instructional partner.

What is the purpose of a flexible schedule?

A flexible schedule opens up your daily library schedule to allow time for collaboration and co-teaching. The main purpose is not to allow students to come check out whenever they want. While a flex schedule does allow for this, I don't feel like this is the main reason why you should move to a flex schedule. The main reason to have a flexible schedule is to allow time for co-teaching lessons and allow classes time to come for research and inquiry as needed. Library time is more meaningful when we collaborate with the classroom teachers. 

 

Before anyone takes what I just said the wrong way, I firmly believe that it is important that students are allowed to come to the library at their point of need. This is an important part of flexible schedule, however, in the Future Ready Framework librarians build instructional partnerships. While having open check out all day is important, being an instructional partner is the MOST important part of being a future ready librarian. 

Be an Instructional or Collaborative Partner

I recently gave a presentation to some of the Future Ready librarians in my district about being a collaborative partner. We discussed how to start on a flex schedule, but also how to be a partner if you are on a fixed schedule. Flex schedule is the best schedule to allow for collaboration, however, if you aren't on flex schedule you can still collaborate and be an instructional partner.

Maybe you are still in rotation during the teachers' conference times. This is a hard thing for you to change, however, you should still advocate for the change. However, it may not happen right away, and I understand that. But, you can still tie that library time into the curriculum and make it more meaningful. Look through your district's curriculum, or talk with the classroom teachers. More than likely they will love for you to touch on something that students need from the curriculum. There are so many options!!

We have to get out from behind the circulation desk and be instructional partners! 

Teachers won't bring the kids! 

This is absolutely not true, and it is my least favorite argument that other librarians give when telling me why flex schedule is not for their school. Many teachers are used to the fixed schedule and don't realize what librarians can do for them and the curriculum. You have to let them know! Some teachers may not even realize that school librarians were teachers first before being a librarian. Let teachers know what you can do for them and invite them to bring their class to the library. 

• START SMALL - You may not be able to get every teacher on campus on board in one day, but if you can get one teacher to bring their class to the library to co-teach a lesson with you, you will be amazed how word will spread! 

The Biggest Obstacle

The argument I hear all the time is: "Teachers don't want to give up their extra 30 minutes". OK, I'm going to be ugly honest here for a minute. If you are not in the conference rotation time, library time is not an extra planning time for teachers. It is a time that is best utilized for conferencing with the students about what they are reading. Why would teachers not want to come in and get to know their students' reading interest? 

This was my biggest obstacle when I first started as the librarian. The librarian before me had allowed teachers to drop off their students and leave for the entire 30 minutes. I saw a problem in the older grades because the ELA teacher would get sometimes 3 "extra breaks" on library day, while the math and science teacher got zero extra breaks. We also used the Accelerated Reader program, and teachers weren't using the library time to conference with students about what they were reading and their AR goal. 

We have to be an advocate for the students, and if you are on a fixed or a flexed be an advocate for what is best for the students! Library time should be an extension of the classroom. 

I'm not saying to go tell your campus everything is changing tomorrow. I do urge you to look at the Future Ready Framework and advocate for a flex schedule and become an instructional partner.