Family Engagement Month

The month of November is a time to celebrate and encourage Family Engagement in schools. A successful partnership between the family and school is important for our children. While family engagement should be encouraged all year long, we celebrate our accomplishments during the month of November.

To celebrate family engagement in the library, I invited parents of kindergarteners and first graders to the library for story time, an activity, and checkout time. I asked parents to RSVP to their child's library time so that I could have a parent account created for them before that day.

I read aloud I AM NOT A CHAIR by Ross Burach, which had the kids and parents laughing out loud. After the story, parents and their child went to tables where there were different materials set out, plus little toy rabbits. The challenge was for the parent and child to build a chair for the rabbit to sit in instead of sitting on the girraffe.

These kinders built a tower, but it still held the rabbit. 

I adore how this chair looks like the giraffe from the story! 

The parents also had the opportunity to be a part of their child's library choice for the week, plus with their parent account check out up to 5 extra books to read at home.

The turn out was amazing, and the parents loved being a part of library time. 

Pumpkins and Self-Checkout

I know this is a month late, but I have to show off my students' amazing work on their storybook character pumpkins. Each year, I am amazed at the creativity of the students. While some of the pumpkins, you can tell that the parents helped the child, I encourage this home involvement. I love that the child worked on this at home with their parents.

Storybook Pumpkins

Self Check-out

I recently came across a post in a librarian page I follow on Facebook about self checkout. The conversation started with self checkout and how it could possibly endanger our aide's jobs. I was honestly astonished at some of the comments, especially since this was a page dedicated to be Future Ready.

Self Check-out Myths

First of all, having self check out does not keep you from interacting with the students. This was the most astonishing comment to me of all, and it was stated several times. Actually, self check-out allows MORE interaction with the students where it should be happening; AT THE SHELVES. We have to get this mindset of staying behind the circulation desk. This is not where a librarian should be spending most of their time. Students need help finding their books, and need to have recommendations made. If you are behind the circulation desk the entire time scanning books, you can't have meaningful conversations. The fact that so many librarians commented that they had most engagement with students while checking out, really worries me. Engagement should happen out in the open of the library, not with a desk between you. 

Secondly, if all your aide is doing is checkout/checkin, they aren't being used to their full potential. An aide should be maintaining shelves, repairing books, helping you gather resources for lessons and/or classroom use, as well as interacting with students. 

Pros of Self Check-out 

Self check-out has been one of the best things I have brought to my library!

• It frees me up to help students at the shelves. 
• It allows me to have more one-to-one interaction and make recommendations. 
• It allows me to keep my library open even if I'm involved in teaching a lesson or even having a meeting. 
• Students have more ownership of the library. 
• It frees me up to collaborate with teachers. 
• It allows me to be a future ready librarian. 

Get out from behind the circulation desk!

Speedy September in the Library

The month of September has come and gone, and what a whirlwind it was! We started the school year with construction throughout our entire building. Construction is still going on, and I can't wait to see what our school will look like once all the construction is finished. I know it will be amazing!

CyberSafety

I spent quite a bit of time in September collaborating with the 5th grade teachers on the best ways to teach cybersafety and digital citizenship. With the increase in technology use, especially the ability to add comments to Google Classroom, we thought it would be a good idea to start off the school year with discussion. 

The first week we talked about bullying and cyberbullying with the students. I use a PearDeck presentation and placed several discussion points for the 5th graders. They were able to add their thoughts on several different situations, and see others statements as well. 

The following week, we decided to look at the positive aspect of the internet and how we can control our digital footprint. Students traced their foot, then wrote/drew what they want to have in their digital footprint.

Book cover reveal

One of my favorite parts of my job is getting our students connected to people around the world. We had an amazing opportunity to connect with the author of one of my students' favorite series, FENWAY & HATTIE. The author, Victoria J. Coe, hosted a Google Hangout, and we were one of the schools chosen to participate. Victoria J. Coe talked about her series, then revealed the cover of her new book coming out in 2019. We cannot wait to read the 4th book in the series!! After she talked about the upcoming book, our students were able to ask her questions. It was an amazing morning for our second graders.

Dot Day

One of my favorite days of the year is Dot Day, which falls around September 15th each year. It all started with the book THE DOT by Peter H. Reynolds. If you have not read this book to your students, do it today! It has an amazing message of how we can make our mark on the world, no matter how insignificant we think our talent is.

The art teacher and I collaborate on this day every year, and we come up with grade level activities. She brings her art classes to the library where I read the book, discuss the theme, and then students participate in activities having the do with dots. 

Start with a dot and see where it takes you.

Our first graders received a framed page where they started with a dot anywhere on their page. Then, they changed their simple dot into their own creation. We had dinosaurs, snowmen, cars, flowers, and ducks just to name a few! 

Every student in the school was given a dot to decorate any way they wanted. Thanks to some amazing parent volunteers, the dots were all put together into a school wide collaborative art creation that is now hanging in the library for all to see! Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!

I can't say no to a fun Breakout EDU activity! I found a Breakout that was based on THE DOT, so I set it up in the library for our 4th grade classes. We did 4 Breakout sessions in just 4 hours! MAN was I TIRED!!

In the hallway, we hung up another school wide collaborative art project. Each student in the school received a dot sticker to place anywhere on the poster. This project was based on Yayoi Kusama's Obliteration Room. The kids had so much fun with this! 

Whew! September was busy busy busy!! Now we are into October, and I just recieved 7 boxes of brand new books. I cannot wait to get these books ready, and I know I have some students that are patiently waiting to get their hands on these new books. 

Many more activities are coming in October, so stay tuned!! 

Kindergarten Check Out

I saw a post on a Library Facebook page that I follow recently asking if librarians allowed K-1 "free rein" of the library stacks, or if they were only allowed a controlled area. I was shocked and saddened at the percentage of librarians that said they only allowed kinder and 1st grades a controlled checkout. They pull books and lay on a table or cart, and students only can choose from those books.

I was curious about this, so I asked many of them that commented how long this "controlled" check out would last. I was again shocked and saddened that for the majority, it lasted all year. Why would we limit our readers like this?  Why is it that so often, we as professionals, underestimate our young learners?

Teach them good choices

In my library, kindergarten is taught how to make good choices so that by week 4 or 5, they have free rein of the library. They can look at any shelves they want and choose their books. Do they get to walk all willy-nilly around the library the first week of school? Goodness, no! They have to be taught how to make their choices. The first week, we learn 'book care', then we move into using the shelf markers. The second and third week, they practice using their shelf markers on a book cart. I pull "good fit" books for them and put them on a cart like they would be on the bookshelves. After 2 weeks of practice, we move to the actual shelves and learn the "bookie lookie" song. 

BOOKIE LOOKIE

(sung to the tune of Hokey Pokey)

You put your shelf marker in,

You pull a book right out, 

You open up the book to see what it's about. 

You do the bookie lookie and

you turn yourself about. 

That's what it's all about!

They always ask to sing it over and over!! 

After they learn using the shelf markers, we discuss choosing "good fit" books. I use examples from the library with books that are too hard, too easy, and just right. The next few weeks, the teacher and I help them make their choices, but by week 5 even my kindergarten students are going to the everybody, nonfiction, and biography sections and making their choices. 

Why do I start them so early?

Our young learners are capable of so much more then we give them credit for. They are curious, observant, and learn quickly! Often times, they are limited by adults around them, simply because our expectations are not high, or we don't want to take the time to teach them. We are doing them a disservice when we don't teach them to be independent and don't teach them to make good choices. 

Starting early, teaching the students to make good choices with their books, actually help grow better readers on your campus. If they learn to make their own choices at kinder and first grade, imagine how well they will be doing when they reach upper grades. 

Every year, I am amazed at how well our little learners do at tasks that many adults say they aren't capable of doing. Believe they can! 

Does it take time to teach them? YES! But it is all worth it to see them get so excited about a book that they picked out for them. It is so much more excitement than that first week when I pull the books out for them.  

I know -- it is hard to let go of that control. Yes, they will make a mess the first few times, but it is a teaching moment. Go over to the shelf and ask, "what could we do better at here?" "Which way do we put the books back?" Isn't it more important that we get kids excited about reading??

Believe they can

For the sake of your young students, set your expectations higher! Believe in them, and teach them to make independent choices. 

I once had a teacher doubt that her students could use Google Apps and the Chromebooks. I asked her to bring them into the library and let me help out. After only 2 sessions in the library, each kindergarten student could independently log in to their Chromebook and access Google Classroom. They can tell if you believe in them or not, and if they know you believe in them they will strive to reach your expectations!! 

Give the Kid A Book

There has been an article passed around Twitter the last few months about how we value our students as human beings. The article was written by Chad Donohue back in 2016, and is titled Give the Kid a Pencil.  The article talks about how, as educators, we should stop calling out students when they don't have a pencil. Stop criticizing kids for not having a pencil, it likely is not their fault. Humiliating them is not going to make them have a pencil tomorrow. Is it annoying, YES, let's be honest. It is aggravating when often we have to supply so many pencils. But think about it... that child cannot go to Walmart on his own and buy a pack of pencils. The way we handle this needs to change.

Today, our district librarians met together. Our district lead librarian, Richelle O'Neal, challenged us to replace the word pencil in this article with the word book.

Give the Kid a Book 

I've never been one of those librarians that wouldn't let a kid check out a book if they had a late book. When I was a classroom teacher, there was a librarian who wouldn't let students check out ANY books if they had only one late book. We were talking about 2nd graders here. Yes, they need to be taught to be more responsible, but they are still only 7 years old. Many times not having the book is not their fault. Many of our students live in sitatuations that, thankfully, we cannot imagine. They have very rough home lives, many of them not even sure if they will be sleeping at grandma's or at a  hotel that night, or even possibly in their mama's car. 

I witnessed this once as a librarian, and it changed my way of thinking dramatically. There was a 3rd grader who had continually forgotten to bring his library books back. I never raised my voice or was mean to him, but I did tell him he needed to bring at least one back before he checked out another one since he had the max checked out. He never argued, and didn't tell me where his books were. One day, I pulled him aside and asked him where all he had looked. He told me he knew where his books were. Baffled, I asked him, "Well baby, why don't you just bring the books back." His answer struck my heart so hard. 

"Mrs. Harris, those books were in my momma's car and it get repoed last month. Momma doesn't know when she will get the car back." Y'all.... my heart broke in two. I realized right away that poor baby was embarrased to tell me where his books were, so he was going to keep letting me believe that he was just forgetting them at home. 

But what about... 

I've often heard librarians ask, "But how do we teach them responsibility?"  Yes, as educators, we do need to teach our students the importance of being responsible. However, when that student told me the truth about his book, you better believe I let him check out more and all his lost book fines were deleted!! That 3rd grader gave me the biggest hug and he went right to the shelf and pulled out the GREEN BAY PACKERS book he already knew he wanted to check out. 

That day I knew those lost books were were worth it because I didn't lose a reader. I'm tearing up right now, but I feel like that needs repeating. 

I knew those lost books were worth it because I didn't lose a reader! 

My challenge to you 

This school year, remember that their home situation is not their fault. Teach them book care and how to be responsible. Talk to them about strategies to remember their books. But don't ever humiliate them, don't rub it in their faces, and don't make them feel less valued. Give the Kid a Book!! 

EdCamp Library 2018

As a school librarian, you are the only librarian on your campus. You go from being a classroom teacher with many other peers, to the only one of your profession on your campus. That is the reason that professional development with other professional librarians is so important to your career. Being a school librarian is the BEST job in the world, in my opinion, however the hardest part is not having another librarian next door to discuss work issues with. 

EdCamp Library is one of the best professional development days for this very purpose. Hundreds of school librarians gather together for this "unconference", build a schedule together based on the current needs of those attending. If you've never been to an EdCamp, I highly suggest it. Upon arrival, the attendees make the suggestions for sessions over topics they are interested in. Attendees can also sign up to facilitate a session on a topic they are passionate about, excel at, or are just highly interested in. You don't have to be perfect or a pro at the topic, you are simply there to faciliate the session and keep the conversation going. 

The schedule is built on a google spreadsheet, and the collaborative notes are linked. 

Sessions 

After the schedule is built, we get to choose our sessions that we want to go to. The best thing is, if you get to a session and it isn't what you thought, you can go to a different session during that time. 

Digital Badging

The first session I went to was over Digital Badges. I met some new librarians and had some great conversation. Two of the librarians had used digital badges with their students and their teachers. I learned a lot, and I cannot wait to implement this next year. These ladies were so awesome to share their amazing resources!! 

Genrefying the Library 

Next session was over genrefying your library. Most attendees were secondary librarians, but a few were elementary. This is something I am definitely thinking about next year, and I love that now I have other librarians as a resource to turn to for questions. Students are constantly asking for a certain genre, and while a few librarians said "Why can't they just look it up in the catalog", I try to be more positive and think of how I like to look for books. Public libraries and book stores are all organized by genre. Everyone has their favorite genre, and while I believe we should encourage children to read multiple genres to find their favorite, by 4th and 5th grade those good readers usually know their favorite genre by now. 

I'm really excited to start my genrefrication journey!! Stay tuned...

Self Checkout 

The next two sessions I agree to facilitate and guide the conversation. Self checkout has been an amazing life-saver for me, which is why I wanted to facilitate this session. Some of the attendees also used self-checkout, but several were wanting to implement the process an had several questions. I'm glad I had a picture of my self-checkout station to show, which several people said was helpful. 

One question that was posed by an attendee was, "How do I talk this up to my principal so he will allow me to do this in my library?" I'm thankful that my principal lets me run the library the way I feel is best for our students, but I know many principals like to have a say. So, we discussed reasons why you should implement self checkout:

• Opens up the library for more check out time.
• Frees up librarian to work one-on-one with students.
• Allows for more co-teaching time.
• Teaches students independence. 
• All ages can utilize self-checkout. 

Collaborating with Teachers

If you've been following my blog, or following me on twitter, you know how passionate I am about collaboration with teachers. We had a fabulous conversation about collaboration and the importance. We first talked about the obstacles and ways to overcome them. I always like to get the obstacles out of the way first. :)  Many questions were how to get teachers on board. While many teachers forget that we are also teachers, we have to remember that student success is our goal. Start small, maybe only one teacher or grade level at first, and let others see how you can TOGETHER impact students.

Smackdown

At the end of the day, everyone meets together to share highlights from the day. I like being able to hear ideas others got from sessions I did not get to attend. Plus, we get doorprizes. :) I won this cute shirt from FlipGrid! 

Kinder Using Google Slides

One of my favorite days of the week is when the kindergarteners and first graders come to learn in the library. Their excitement over learning something new is contagious! Often times, these little learners are limited by expectations of adults around them. I have heard so many times "They won't be able to use Google Drive" or "It's too hard to teach them how to log in." NOT TRUE! Even though a little learner may not be reading yet does not mean that they cannot create, explore, design, and more using technology.

This year, we started Chromebook Academy with our kinders and firsties. We learned how to take care of the Chromebooks, carry the Chromebooks, and log into the Chromebooks. My little learners now know how to get into Google Classroom and get into their Google Drive.

Believe they can, and they will! 

Learners today, for the most part, have had a device in their hand since they were little. However, that does not mean they know how to use technology for learning, designing, and collaborating. Do not assume just because they play games on their parent's iPad that they can use a computer to complete an assignment. But, don't assume they can't benefit from technology!

Look at these faces! They are completely engaged in their learning and having a great time while doing it.

I suggest you start off with allowing them to explore in Google Drawings and Google Slides. They will learn a lot from exploring on their own. Plus, if you let them get the exploration out of the way, they are more likely to listen and follow along with you when you are giving step by step instructions. 

Kindergarten student exploring in Google Slides. 

After giving them time to explore, the teacher and I give them instructions. On this particular day the teacher was reviewing shapes, so we had them add shapes to their slides.

Why wait until 3rd grade to teach them the basics of Google Apps for Education? Prepare them when they are young, then they are more prepared for the older grades. 

A great blog to follow for ideas on using Google with littles is Learning With Christine Pinto.  Also, follow #gafe4littles on Twitter. 

STAAR Review Stations Part 2

STAAR testing is finally over for our building. Three straight days of administering the test has made me go brain dead.  I have one of those brains that is hard to turn off, so monitoring a quiet room where I cannot talk is really hard on me. 

You may have read my post on the 5th grade STAAR review stations back in April. Our 5th graders have to take the test earlier in the year. 4th grade and 3rd grade teachers heard about the stations, and wanted me to set it up for them as well. The ELA teachers and I looked at data to determine what skills the students needed to review to prepare for the test, then we scheduled days for the students to come. We decided that 2 days would be best. Perks of a flexible schedule! 

Main Idea vs Theme sorting station 

Making Inferences Station

Summarizing Nonfiction 

Text structure sorting station

At this station, students had paired passages. A poem and a nonfiction
text.  They then had to roll 2 number cubes, add up the number, then
answer the question corresponding with that number. 

Types of Context Clue sort

The students really enjoyed the stations. A few students even mentioned that they were a fun way to review.

The best thing about these stations is that once I had them set up in the library, the teachers were able to bring the students through to complete them. I kept them set up in the library, no moving stations around to different classrooms.

School Library Month Wrap Up

As School Library Month now comes to an end, I would like to reflect on ways that school libraries make an impact on students. This year's theme was Making Connections, so lets talk about all the connections that happen in a school library.

Making Learner Connections

This is probably the connection made most often in my library. Students constantly come into the library specifically looking for a book recommendation. Several students have found their favorite book by just chatting with me about books. I love this part of my job! 

This past month, I held a 'book tasting' with the fifth grade students to encourage them to read more genres. At each table, I had a different set of books that were a certain genre. Tables had scary, historical fiction, realistic fiction, literary nonfiction, free verse novels, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. The activity went over very well, and it sparked some interest in kids that had not really read a book in a while.

  

Also, to celebrate both School Library Month and National Poetry Month, I put a reading challenge in Biblionasium for students to read 3 or more books of poetry. I had a few students tell me they had never really read poetry before except when doing STAAR passages, but they had really enjoyed reading the poems for fun. Makes this librarian heart happy!

Look at these smiles! All because they shared their poem with me. 

Making Educator Connections

Educator connections is my passion, and I love to talk about connecting with teachers. I believe this is one of the biggest impacts we can make on our campus. While I make connections throughout the whole school year, this month in particular I made a point to reach out to more teachers to collaborate with. I was able to pull my first grade teachers in for note taking and research lessons. I also sent out several Smore newsletters this month highlighting different activities we could to together with a collaborative partnership. 

Making Community Connections

Community connections happen all school year at my school. This year we have hosted a school wide Read-A-Thon, a book drive for schools in the Houston area impacted by Hurricane Harvey, and a family reading night just to name a few. During the month of April, my favorite community connection was made during kinder and first grades lunch. Some of the parents were asking me about books for their students. During our conversation, I invited them down to the library to check out a few books to read with their students that week. They were extremely grateful! 

My absolute favorite activity that connects the community is our annual Book Swap! It takes place closer to the end of the school year, but it is an event where students find gently used books at home they don't read anymore and bring it to swap for a "new to them" book. Parents in our community bring me boxes of donated books for our students. Last year, I received enough donated books that EVERY student, whether they brought a swap book or not, was able to choose a book to take home. It was AMAZING!! I even had a designated place in the library where parents and teachers were able to swap their books. 

Making Global Connections 

Throughout the school year, we had several global connections. With 3rd grade, the teacher and I conducted a book tasting focusing on books that take place in another country, or have a character from another country. With 4th grade, our biggest connection was with a meteorologist to talk about forecasting the weather. 

Most recently, we had an author come to visit our school and speak to every grade level. Ellen Leventhal did an amazing job of speaking to our kids about using your imagination, being creative, and writing down all those ideas. 

Another connection made was a second grade student came to me about a book series that he had been reading by Doreen Cronin. He wanted to know how he could ask her a question. So, together, we wrote a letter and I emailed it to her. We are crossing our fingers that we hear back from her very soon!!! 

Throughout this month, I really learned a lot by looking over the AASL website where I got a huge variety of ideas for my campus. Making connections is important not just during the month of April but all year long! Some yearlong ideas would be:

• Dot Day
• Global Read Aloud 
• Book Clubs
• Family Reading Nights
• Book Fairs
• Book Swaps 
• MakerSpace with a Cause 

I also learned a lot and made many connections at TLA in Dallas this year. I met some amazing authors and other amazing librarians. Attending conferences, such as TLA, helps build our Professional Learning Network and makes us better in our profession. 

What connections have you made recently to impact your school? I want to hear your ideas.