New School Year

 ** I forgot to post this back in September, so here it is late. 

Adjusting to a new school year 

Last school year was a huge adjustment with over fifty percent of our students learning from home. This school year, everyone is back at school in person. It was like the first year teaching again in some ways. Adjusting back to lessons in person instead of on a screen, and back to a full house in the library was necessary for all. 

I open up the library every morning before the first class begins. Together, the students and I decided that we needed it to be a quiet space in the mornings. The majority of students coming in were wanting to get away from the loud noises in the cafeteria each morning. Other rooms, such as the band hall and theatre room, were also loud. We discussed it, and it was decided that the library would provide a quiet area. I think it is important that I let the students help me make that decision. 

Banned Books Week

During the last half of September, we celebrated Banned Books Week. This year I teamed up with the 6th grade Social Studies teachers and tied it in with the Nazi Book Burnings. We disussed reasons why Hitler wanted to burn the books and why some people try to ban books from libraries. There were some really good conversations. The the kids are always really surprised to find out that Captain Underpants from their elementary years had been challenged multiple times. 

October

October is one of my favorite months! I like to highlight the scary books that we have, even though it is my least favorite genre. Middle school students just seem to flock to the scary books, and some of my reluctant readers get excited about the scary books. 

With the classes I did a lesson over Edgar Allan Poe. Together we researched his life, but then groups had to solve the mystery of his death. We learned in our research that his cause of death is unknown, but there are several theories of how Poe died. Groups took the clues from their research and came up with the theory they agreed with based on their information. They had loads of fun! This is definitely an activity I will repeat in the future. 

Adjusting to Virtual Life

 We are now 3 1/2 months into our hybrid learning, and it is still a daily adjustment. Not having over half of your student population here on campus is definitely a challenge for this librarian I definitely feel like the role has shifted more toward teacher support more than student support, and I'm feeling pretty successful. 

Teacher Support

Our district has moved to Canvas as our Online Learning Platform, which was a huge change for our teachers. In previous years, we have used Google Classroom. However, with the current pandemic and need for remote learning, our district made the shift to Canvas. 

Let's be honest for a moment, while Canvas is amazing, it was not easy to learn. There is a MUCH BIGGER learning curve involved when it comes to Canvas. So, most of my hours have been spent helping teachers adjust. I am really enjoying that part of my role. After working in education for 20 years, and all 20 of those focused on the student, it is refreshing to be able to support the teachers more. That is my silver lining from the situation we are in right now. 

Virtual Library 

In the past, one of my favorite activities to set up has been a book tasting. I love setting the books out on the tables, and students rotate around the library to preview the books. It is always a BIG hit with the students. I've done this activity in elementary and middle school settings. 

This year, we could not do this in person for two reasons:

1. over half of our students are remote learning from home. 
2. we can't go around touching all the books and rotating to tables. 

So, I got my creative juices flowing and made a Virtual Book Tasting. 

The students are really enjoying it!! I've had several come into the library with screenshots asking to check out the book. Most of the books on the activity are checked out. 

Copy of Virtual Book Tasting

January Breakout

Did anyone else feel like January lasted forever? I'm pretty sure toward the end of January, we made it to January 75, 2020. But, we finally broke out of January and headed into February now!

"The Outsiders" Breakout Box

Our 7th grade English classes just completed the novel study over THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton. I was so excited that they had asked me to be a part of their study, and I helped introduce last month. And now I was able to end the unit with a FUN breakout box activity. 

The students had to use the clues and their knowledge of the novel to be able to open the locks. One of the clues, students had to match the quotes to the characters. On the backs of the quotes were colors, which gave students the color code. Another clue was a cipher code, that spelled out "Who was Johnny's least favorite of the gang?" This gave the word clue. 

They all worked really hard and collaboratively to solve the puzzles. The fastest team from each class period received candy, but at the end of the week, the group with the lowest time overall (with no hints used) got to choose a new book. 

Shakespeare Research

Our theatre group is putting on a play over Shakespeare's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, but set in the 1980s. I cannot wait to see it! Meanwhile, the 8th grade English Enriched Honors classes are starting their unit on Shakespeare's works. To set the stage, I created a hyperdoc and an internet scavenger hunt so that students could get more background knowledge over Shakespeare. I think they were most fascinated by the fact that Shakespeare married an older woman!

STEAM projects

Since we are an academy, all of our students are required to participate in at least one competitive science event. This year, I was excited that some of the events are taking place on campus, which means I can be a bigger part of the event. The event in January was the Gumdrop Tower competition, to see which group could build the tallest free standing tower out of gummy bears and toothpicks. My  main  job was to monitor, but I loved talking to the groups about their designs.

There were tons of squeals happening this afternoon as some towers stood on their own, but others CRASHED!

Books, Books, and More Books

Soon after coming back from the Winter Break, one of our book orders was delivered. It was like Christmas all over again! My library aides helped me unload and check the invoice, and my book club was able to have first dibs on checking out the new books. 

Our display for the month was "Reading with our Friends", and I displayed books that the library had more than one copy of. Mostly, our female students used this display, but I'm proud to say that this display is now almost empty. I have several friends that checked out the same book to read and discuss. 

Now we are into February, and it is Book Fair week! I love seeing the excitement on their faces!! 

Why a Flex Schedule?

One of the biggest changes I made this school year to my library program was to move to a flexible schedule. I had several people backing me up, including my principal and library director, but unfortunately had some people tell me it didn't work in an elementary school. Well, I am here to tell you it does work and it works AMAZINGLY well in an elementary school.

I've been asked a few times this year why I went to a flexible schedule. I was recently approached by my library director and Region 10 to talk about the importance of collaborative partnerships and having a flex schedule in an elementary library. I admit, this was WAY out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to advocate for librarians.  The video isn't complete yet, but hopefully will be soon.

I was interviewed about my collaborative partnerships and my role as an instructional partner. The video will focus on how library programs are mentioned in the new ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act).

This was the part where I was most nervous!

However, I'm not writing this blog to tell you about how I was nervous during the interview on tape, I want to tell you why I chose to go to a flexible schedule, and tell you that you can too. 

Collaborative Partnerships

A collaborative partnership with teachers is an imperative part of a school library program.

I started my first collaborative partnership when I asked a teacher if I could do a mini-lesson with her students using padlet. Other teachers in that grade level got word of the lesson, and wanted their students to learn also. Then a collaborative partnership was born. It started small, but has grown immensely. Sometimes the teacher approaches me regarding a skill the students are having trouble with in class, and sometimes I see a project is coming up for a grade level in the curriculum.  

I always try to be respectful of teachers’ time, so I may make a quick mention of something I can help them with in the teachers lounge, or I might send an email. I also made sure to tell them thank you and mention the collaborative project in front of another teacher, which usually opened up an opportunity to collaborate again.

When you have that collaborative partnership with teachers, the lessons can be so much more engaging for the students by bringing in more resources and technology. Also, when the teacher and librarian are modeling collaboration, the students see the collaboration and it helps change the learning environment in the entire school. Plus, you have the classroom teacher and the librarian sharing their expertise and talents.

Self Checkout 

One of the questions I get most often is: When do the students check out if they don't have come as a class for checkout time? 

In order for students to have access to the library when I’m involved with a lesson, the students use the self-checkout station. The first 2 weeks of school, every student learns to use this station to be able to independently checkout. Teachers can send students individually or in groups as class time permits.

Region 10 filmed some of my first graders using the self checkout station.

Instructional Partnership

I believe the most important role of the school librarian is to be a teacher and instructional partner. The library is typically the largest learning space in the building, and has access to the most learning resources available to the students.  The librarian should understand the curriculum and provide support for the classroom teacher. When the classroom teacher and the librarian plan together and share the instructional duties, you have doubled the students learning opportunities.

Flexible Schedule is so worth it, even if it is a bit hard to get started. If you can just get one teacher on board to collaborate with you, you will be amazed at what more you can do. If you are interested in starting a flexible schedule at your school, feel free to reach out to me. I'm here as a resource and am happy to help! If you need ideas to get your teachers on board, search my blog for some of the activities I have done with my classes. Also, Nancy Jo Lambert's blog is a great resource as well. She was my motivation!