Finally!

I am the WORST person in the world to keep a secret.  I try but it is torturous! So I FINALLY can share the secret I have been sitting on since late this summer!

I WON A PATTERSON GRANT FOR MY SCHOOL LIBRARY!

For those of you who don't know about this, author James Patterson has teamed up with Scholastic Books to promote school libraries. Here is a clip from the "official" press release wording:

There were 467 awards given and my school received one of them.

I've known for MONTHS but haven't been able to share until they issued the ok yesterday.  And, unfortunately, this is also part of the reason why I have not been blogging much.  I have been working on my grant.

My grant focuses on not only getting books into the hands of every child in my school but also getting them to interact, across grade levels, to discuss the book they read.  We are having a schoolwide literature circle in March.

So, my first task was to ask the kids what they liked to read and where their interest lie and what they wanted to read about.  I did this via a GoogleDocs survey for older kids and a good old fashioned interest survey for the younger ones.

Next, I had to gather the reading levels of every child in the school.  This was accomplished with some help from the STAT teacher because all of this is being done IN SECRET because the teachers don't know about the grant yet.

I have all the data so now I just need to work on inputting and compiling it, making the groups and getting the texts order.  February is going to be our reading month and March our celebration day.

I am tired already but also really excited.  This is going to be really awesome or go really badly.  But either way, every kid in my school gets a new book to keep and that is NEVER a bad thing.

Catching Up!

I know that I have been an absent blogger of late so I am going to take a few minutes to catch you up with the goings on in libraryland.

American Education Week wrapped up.  Lots of visitors to our school and to my library!  I had a large display in the hallway showcasing what the library has been doing and the resources available from BCPS.  I saw families taking a peek at my Book Character Pumpkin Display and reading the tweets and emails from authors.

I also launched two new ways for kids to interact with me and each other.  The first is a display called, "Where In the U.S.A is Mrs. Bixby?"  As you can see, I placed a large map in the hallway and students ask yes/no questions in order to try to "find" me.  When I am found, I make a short video for the morning announcements, using MovieMaker, that gives some history, main attractions and such for the state I was in.  I want to start mystery SKYPE but I first wanted to gauge the interest and questioning of my students.  So the interest is there and Mystery Skype will hopefully be happening in the Spring.

The second interaction was "Caption This" where a large drawing hangs in the library and students write a caption for it.  (I know - my title is beyond clever!) Take a peek at November's contest.

My students took the SpeakUp survey and we participated in Hour of Code.  I have a bunch of coding junkies now!  Just in time for indoor recess as the weather turns colder after the holidays.  The exciting thing is brothers and sisters who went home and talked to families and siblings so when I introduced the coding in class they were saying, "I know that.  My brother told me about this" or "My sister showed me this."  LOVE IT!  The students also went home and coded on their own and stop back by the library to share what them made after clicking on Khan Academy tutorials. 

We also received our racetrack from HotWheels - fun!  I am loving the conversations occurring during Makerspace time.  Watching them work together to process how to create a loop and have a car travel fully through it with no pushing on their part is priceless.  I need to videotape the awesome STEM occurring but I always forget because I am so wrapped up in it.

And...stay tuned because tomorrow I can FINALLY reveal my secret that I couldn't tell before!

It's American Education Week!

Facebook has this really neat feature that lets you "see" your memories from previous years.  This is what popped up for me today and I think it bears repeating.

Sandy Fletcher Bixby

November 17, 2013 · 

Tomorrow begins the start of American Education Week. Please don't tell your children you are coming and then not show up. It crushes their little hearts and makes for very uncomfortable/awkward moments as the teacher helps them work through their disappointment while others (including other parents) look on. Better to say you aren't coming and surprise them.

Please take a few minutes to look around and see all the wonderful things being accomplished in your child's classroom. But don't compare your child to another. Life is not a competition and we all have unique strengths and weaknesses.

Speaking of looking around, see how much your child's teacher goes above and beyond. Those bulletin boards, book displays, locker and desk tags don't just magically appear by little school elves. smile emoticon

Please remember this is not about you and your friends. Put away the cell. Don't talk to your neighbor. In short, if you wouldn't want your child to do it while learning is happening, you shouldn't be doing it either.

Remember, this is a day in a life. One tiny glimpse into life in a classroom. You wouldn't want to be judged for your job on just a short moment. Be fair in judging the teacher. They like to hear positive feedback too!

And above all, remember to smile. Your little angel is sneaking peeks at you (even if they were told not to) and they want to make you proud!

I hope your classrooms and libraries are full of families that see YOUR worth and the importance of what YOU do each and every day when no one else is watching or seems to care about your little corner of the school.  Because YOU make a difference.  YOU are growing a reader, a critical thinker, a synthesizer of knowledge and a citizen of the world...and that's a REALLY BIG DEAL!

Love for the Little People

On the 28th I wrote a long post about feeling like one of the rotting pumpkins in the library.  You never saw it (thankfully) but it was cathartic and it made me shift my thinking.

Last Friday, our district had a 1/2 day professional development day so teachers could work on report cards.  I always use that time to accomplish tasks I can only do at school.  Things like cleaning my office and changing displays and bulletin boards. 

On this particular day, I decided to set aside an hour to work on weeding my Everybody section.  You see, with all the unDeweying that has been going on in the last year, the Everybody section has been neglected.  (And again, in the interest of complete honesty, I don't know if I have ever done a conscious weeding of that section.  There goes my name back up near the top of the bad librarian list!)

I had 2 goals in mind while weeding.  1) Take a look at the condition of my books.  2) Do I have diversity in my collection or is my Everybody section just a mumbo jumbo of "fun" books for little people?  This was a big topic of discussion at my recent district wide professional development.  I need to make sure I have books in my collection that kids can "see" themselves in. 

Okay folks.  Lesson learned and ready to be passed on.  Ready.  Get a pencil. (I'll wait!)  Here it comes:

WEED YOUR EVERYBODY SECTION!  DO NOT WAIT!  DO IT NOW!

I am only through EG and here's what I have discovered so far:

1) My collection is a lot more diverse than I realized.  There are some wonderful hidden gems on them there shelves.  Note the use of the word hidden.  The shelves are so crowded right now that students just keep reaching for the books on the ends of the top shelves so the same old same old books are going out the door.

2) I have a lot of yucky books that I did not even know were yucky.  They look nice from the outside.  They get checked out a lot.  But open them up and they have scribble marks on the front pages and wrinkled pages from being shoved in bookbags/desks and ripped pages that are taped back together and broken internal spines.  My students deserve better books than that. They don't have to ready yucky books when we have plenty of lovely books just awaiting someone to read them.  Plus, how embarrassing to have them take that book home?  YIKES.   

In my defense, I do weed books as I shelve/check in.  But time is tight and I don't have the opportunity to open them all up and take a peek.  At least when I am finished this round, I will have a head start on making my collection stay better maintained. 

Also in my defense, I have a book hospital for broken and unloved (or too greatly loved) books.  So some of these titles should have definitely fallen into that basket via student input.

3) I had multiple copies of books.  I don't need 3 copies of the same book.  I can use that real estate for another book that a different child may love.

So now I have another item on my to-do list.  The goal is to use at least one planning a week to get the Everybody section in order so my collection will be ready for uploading when district ordering time arrives.

Let's Talk Pumpkins!

My library's 2nd Book Character Pumpkin Contest is now complete and it was AMAZING!  I love seeing the creativity of the families at my school and I am always glad that I made the decision to not be a judge.  You can see all of the entries here.

Last year I tweeted photos of a Diary of A Wimpy Kid pumpkin and Jeff Kinney sent us a message. I also got some wonderful emails from the author of the Stella Batts series,Courtney Sheinmel, who sent a special package of bookmarks and Stella Batts items to the designer of the pumpkin.  I thought that was cooler than cool.  So this year I made it a mission to tweet as many pictures as possible (if I could find and author or illustrator's Twitter address to match the pumpkin created) or to email the author or illustrator directly with a photo of the pumpkin.  

I was so pleased to be able to share tweets and emails with students from the authors and illustrators of the following books/series:

Lunch Lady series by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (tweet)
"If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" by Laura Numeroff (tweet)
Owly series by Andy Runyon (tweet)
"Ballerina Swan" by Allegra Kent (email from illustrator Emily Arnold McCully)
Melonhead series by Katy Kelly (2 emails from author - 1 for me and 1 for student)
"Where's My Mummy?" by Carolyn Crimi (email from author)

These interactions brought alot of joy to these students.  It helped them to feel like they made a connection to a REAL author and illustrator.  I printed the tweets and emails out and sent them home with the students so they could share them with their families.

Things I learned from doing this:
- Some authors and illustrators are difficult to locate on the web.  Their online presence seems well hidden.  That's a shame.
-Most authors and illustrators are gracious enough to reply in some fashion but, just in case they don't, I did not tell any students that I was reaching out.  I only told them when I had a response.

I'm sick and tired of pumpkins and ready to have my library space back to "normal" ...until next year. :-)

OH, and least I forget, a special shout out to the wonderful Mrs. Larrison who for the 2nd year in a row let me keep her staff entry in the contest.  Her creations are beautiful to behold and certainly make the library look fabulous.  Thanks Sherry!

Share the Love

2 days ago, I spoke with a parent, via phone, about our library pumpkin contest (more on that this weekend!).  Before she hung up, she said, "My husband and I just want you to know that you are the reason our son likes to read.  He always comes home excited about books you have talked about or read."  It made me feel AWESOME, AMAZING, SPECTACULAR!  And, on a day when I was a bit stressed out in libraryland, it was perfectly timed.  Had she not had a question about the pumpkin contest, I probably would have never heard such a lovely thing.  We all need those attaboys and attagirls once in a while.

Yesterday one of the resource teachers in the Office of Digital Learning (ODL) sent out an email about the Letters About Literature Contest.  I flagged it to look at later and determine how to get my students involved in some way.

Last night I finally had a minute to read the whole email.  Buried within the text was this bullet:
·         Christine Sarbanes Award Nomination information. The award is open to those whose students participate in LAL. Educators cannot self-nominate, but a principal or a colleague can do so: http://bit.ly/1M6Sp7u

I've been privileged this past year to attend more professional conferences than ever - both physically and virtually.  As I read about the presenters, I am always impressed by their list of credentials and awards.  They are amazing individuals.

Today I am heading off to one of my favorite places, Professional Development, with some of my favorite people, fellow librarians in BCPS, and I know that sitting next to me in one of those meetings is some one just as amazing and awesome.  I know that sitting in my faculty room back at school is someone just as amazing an awesome.  The only difference is that somebody somewhere took the time to nominate them for that award, accolade, acknowledgement. That's a big deal!

 It takes time and effort to think highly enough of someone's abilities to want to share their wonderfulness with others.  We are all busy and we all have very full plates.  We all have the same 24 hours in a day that we have to balance with family, work and self.  But what if we took just a few minutes and sent an email, dropped a note or nominated a colleague for an honor?  How incredible would they feel to be acknowledged - even if they don't win?  How incredible would YOU feel knowing you made someone's day?

Share the love!

MASL

Friday I was delighted to be able to attend my first MASL (Maryland Association of School Librarians) Conference where I was able to present about the un-deweying pilot that started this blog.

One of the things I loved best about this conference was that the Morning Keynote Speaker, Andy Plemmons, and the Afternoon keynote Speaker, Matthew Winner, were both practicing school library media specialists.  They were talking the talk and walking the walk.  Their presentations weren't full of , "When I was in the library..." but "In my library.." and I think that is so valuable.  It made them relatable and their ideas and insights and thoughts practical and applicable.  That is always significant to me because there is nothing worse than walking away from a presentation and thinking that i took nothing away because it wasn't realistic in a day to day teaching sense.

 My first session of the day was Reaching Diverse Readers Through Diverse Reading Programs with Jennifer Siderius from Frederick Co., MD.  She had some awesome ideas for ways to engage readers.  I was particularly impressed with how she worked with the classroom teachers to make sure that the mystery book bags were specific to the reading levels within a class.  WOW!

The next session was the one Kelly and I presented at and we had a pretty full room.  There were lots of questions and feedback.  I have to admit it was a bit daunting to see Andy Plemmons turn up to hear our session. 

After a delicious lunch (sidenote - be prepared to gain some pounds if you attend this conference as there is food EVERYWHERE), the next session I went to was Best Book Sites (so far).  I have a HUGE list of sites to visit this weekend.  I am learning to pace myself and put some things on the back burner for another time.  Do small things well and add on instead of doing many things poorly.
Matthew Winner was the presenter for this session and it is obvious that he has a passion for literature.  He read aloud from an advance copy of "Little Tree" by Loren Long.  I see this being a book coming to a professional development near you very soon.

And then Matthew ended the day, as the keynote, with a presentation entitled, "What Makes a Hero?" and challenged all of us to think about the legacy we are leaving.  I was ready (almost) to head back to school right that day and get started.

And so it continues...

Kelly and I have been hard at work gathering information and readying for our presentation at MASL.  One of the last minute to do's on my list was to get the most current circulation statistics for the beginning of the school year.  Was the increased circulation just a flash in the pan due to the novelty of it all or would this change in my library have the long lasting impact that I hoped for?

With fingers crossed, I ran the reports during my planning time this morning.  Take a look!

Total Circulations 8/1/14-10/15/14 - 2756
                                      Fiction       - 1015
                                      Nonfiction - 738

Total circulations 8/1/15- 10/15/15 - 3258
                                      Fiction       - 1345
                                      Nonfiction  - 915


That's a 24% increase in Nonfiction circulation, a 33% increase in Fiction circulation and an 18% increase overall!

WOO HOO!

Library Love

Have you ever thought, "I need to do---" and then promptly proceeded to not do that very thing?  That has been the story of my blog posts over the past few weeks.  I have written them in my head.  I really meant to write them here. Yet, when I logged in today, I realized 20 days have passed.  Oh well, I am here now.  :-)

I've had a few lovely surprises this year.  A couple I can not share yet (stay tuned) but here are some that just made me smile.

First up is a lovely little kindergartner.

It's no secret that I have a sweet spot for my K kiddos (being a former kindergarten teacher).  I did a read aloud with her class using Robert Munsch's book Stephanie's Ponytail. This little one came in the next day and stopped me in the hallway to show me her sideways ponytail, right above her ear, "just like the girl in my book."  She was so excited.  She stopped the guidance counselor at the front door and her Pre-K teacher from last year (both of whom had no idea what she was talking about and came to ask me what I had to do with her hair).  Don't you just love moments like this? 

My second sigh worthy moment came in the form of an unsolicited letter handed to me by a 5th grader named Molly.  Here's the letter:

I know it is hard to read so here is the text:

Why I should help

Dear Mrs. Bixby,

     This year I am a fith (sic) grader and I would like to help you in the library, so here is a presasuive (sic) letter to help make the decision.

    First of all, I LOVE to read and I want to own a library someday too.  I also like to wite (sic).  When you present the Black Eyed Susan books, I am inspired to read them.  I am halfway through the book "Gabriel Finley & the Raven's Riddle" now.

    Okay so now you know how much I love reading so I will tell you about how I could be useful.  I could put the books from the carts to the shelves. Or instead of you having to lesson plan and read the Black Eyed Susan books, I could read some and summerize (sic) them to you.  I can help you do anything you need or want me to do.

   I could help you during recess (I think recess is boring), when I have free time or when my class is just waiting in my classroom for car riders to be called (that can last for 15 mins tops)  Thank you for your time and consideration.

   That's why I should help you in the library.

                                       Your nerdy student, Molly

Seriously!  How could I say no to someone who wants to own their own library when they grow up? So I am now the proud supervisor of a 5th grade library helper.  I've never had one before but the library Un-Deweying has certainly made it a snap for her to help shelve.  A gal could get used to this.

And finally, I had to go food shopping after work because I have fallen into my typical "I did not plan ahead" mode and yet, demanding human beings that they are, my family still desires to eat on a regular basis.  Anyway, first person I encountered was a fellow librarian currently on maternity leave.  I got to see her and her adorable little girls.  Hugs all around!  And as we were talking at the deli, we heard, "Hi, Mrs. Bixby" from one of my fourth graders.  Around the corner to the salsa aisle and I see little eyes peeking and whispering (loudly), "That's my librarian."  Turn a few more corners and here comes a dad with a Pre-k and K brother and sister (the aforementioned whisperers) waving and saying, "Hi, Mrs. Bixby".  No, I did not write that incorrectly.  The day was waving and saying hi in his effort to mortify his kiddos.  He then said, "I told them it was okay to say hi to you." and they,kiddos not the dad, gave me hugs. Before I left, I encountered 2 more current students and one former student now in middle school.  More hugs from her and squeals of excitement from us both.  Feeling the love in the Food Lion tonight! 

That's Library Love folks-and it's pretty darn sweet!

School libraries are like crockpots

Yesterday my school system was dismissed 2 hours early due to excessive heat - in September!  Being blessed enough to work in a school with air conditioning, I was able to work a full day and complete some in library tasks that otherwise may have involved staying after school to do.  I also thought I would make a lovely homemade dinner for my fellas. Then I left school and promptly changed my mind.  It was HOT outside so we were grilling (and by we, I mean my husband) and having salads.

So this morning I arose from my slumber earlier than usual, proving how much I love those fellas ('cause nothin' says lovin' like a home cooked meal - thank you Grandma Perry for that bit of old fashioned but true wisdom), and put together a crockpot lasagna recipe that I saw on Pinterest (of course!).  As I was assembling the ingredients, I thought...

MY LIBRARY IS LIKE A CROCKPOT

 

 

Don't worry, the surprising heat has not affected my brain.  (But if it had, would I really know it?  I guess that is a blog for another time.) 

 

When I use my crockpot, which I often do on school days to help ensure we are not eating takeout or frozen food on late nights (and it just is nice to come home to a house that smells like I have been cooking all day), I toss a bunch of raw ingredients, set the timer and walk away.  Then, presto chango, a few hours later, we have a delicious meal.  I just have to add a few small items to round it out but most of the work is done for me.  If I put the right ingredients in, I will know because of the way my family will react.  (This is especially true for a new recipe like tonight.  I will follow it exactly and then decide if I need to keep it, discard it or tweak it.)

 

The library is a lot like that.  I have a lot of raw ingredients - books, technology, furniture, posters, curriculum, student work and displays.  When I put them all together, they hopefully make a very satisfying experience.  When I take the time to prep everything carefully (rules, routines, expectations and lesson materials), the end result is usually something delicious and wonderful that runs itself. I try a new lesson in the curriculum and then tweak it to fit my needs and what works best with my students. I stir it occasionally to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated. 

 

But for the most part, it does it's thing and I like that. I like knowing that I can leave my library for a meeting or illness or whatever reason and it will keep on running - just like my crockpot keeps cooking on my kitchen counter while I am at work.   I like that my library fills the senses and satisfies my school population's hunger for knowledge.  It makes me feel like I've done a good job and shown some lovin'.

 

 



2015 Goal - Reaching Out

This summer, as I shared here, I participated in two online books studies via Facebook.

Both books helped me find a bit more focus and balance and reset my inner joy and love for my job.  If you know me, you know that I am generally pleasant but, man o' man, when my attitude goes south, it is like a plane in freefall at an aerial show.  Hang on tight ladies and gentlemen and hold your breath because it is gonna get really close to crashing. Next stop Negativeville!  As the plummeting to an inevitable destructive end appears imminent and I am frantically attempting to find a parachute, suddenly the plane pulls up, the clouds part and the sun shines and the watching crowd cheers.  They don't see the panic and the anxiety and self-doubt propelling the plane southward.  They only see the beautiful outcome as it soars high ahead.

My big AH-HA take away was that it is up to me to create the library's image.  I am the single determining factor that can make or break it.  While I can't control how everyone responds to my overtures or initiatives, I can control how I respond to their responses.  I can also make a conscious effort to be positive and reach out to my families.

So, to that end, my goal this year is to reach out to EACH and EVERY student I teach with a personal GOOD NEWS phone call at some point this year.  I set up an Excel spreadsheet with a page for each teacher so I could record who I called.  My goal is 1 to 2 students from each class I teach every day.

I started yesterday and called 4 families.  I had to leave 2 messages.  Today I called 12 families.  2 moms cried. 1 told me I just made her day as she was sitting and struggling to complete payroll at work. 1 mom told me her son can check out books this year (yay-she wouldn't let him after March of last year). I left voicemail messages at a couple of numbers and one called back on the library phone. When I told her why I called, she said, "What a blessing! Thank you so much." I forgot how much I missed reaching out like that as a classroom teacher.  I even left a message with a stunned and bewildered older brother of a kindergarten student.  I can only imagine what that dinnertime conversation was like!

Did it take some time?  You betcha!  But not as much as I thought.  It really only took a moment to say, "This is Mrs. Bixby and I am the librarian at Edgemere Elementary School.  I just wanted to call and let you know that ____ had a great day in library today."  Then I added an example or 2 and ended with telling the parent how proud I was of their child and I just wanted to let them know so they could be just as proud tonight. 

Everybody said thank you with a smile in their voice.  And that made me feel pretty darn good inside.

Maybe you can't/don't want to call everyone.  That's ok.  But I can promise you that if you get a few minutes and reach out, you won't regret the time you spent.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"

To quote Mr. Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Let's start with the worst:

As I mentioned in my last post, I am a little concerned about the summer reading disconnect that I see appearing at my school.  So I "volunteered" to compile the names of students who turned in their summer reading logs this week to get prizes from the administration.  I really wanted to see what was getting turned in and by whom (or is it who?  I can never keep that one straight).

Turns it, it is worse than I thought!  What the hey diddle diddle is going on?

According to my notes and conversations with kiddos this week, I have over 212 students who talked about at least 1 book they read this summer.  Many had several books that they wanted to share.  They talked about ebooks, books they got for their birthdays, whole series they got, books they got from their teacher as end of the year gifts (someone gave "The Chocolate Touch") and so on.  That is almost 1/2 of my student population.

And yet, when I total the sheets turned in for prizes, I get this dismal number: 57.  That's right.  I did not mistype and your eyes are not deceiving you. There is no missing digit. 57.  That is @ 1/8 of my population.  Let's look a bit closer.

Grade	# of participants	sneaks	school	k packet
1st	16	0	15	11
2nd	8	3	6
3rd	17	2	17
4th	9	5	5
5th	7	2	5



At our school, they can turn in a SNEAKS summer reading log, a school provided log or the packet the kindergarten teachers send home for summer practice.  Some students turned in both their SNEAKS and school log (yay!).  I can only hope that they were too busy reading to write it down.  Too busy loving what they were reading and too intrinsically motivated that they did not need an external prize.  Wouldn't that be wonderful? 

So I will await my ebook stats and then I will begin to plot and plan my attack for next year's summer reading because I sure did talk it up this year and I sure did promote ebooks and we had a SNEAKS assembly and registered every student in advance.  I wonder if having the gameboards to hand out to them as they were registered at the school would then be a visual reminder to get to the library to get those first books read and get to the library for that first prize.  It could be put right into their report card where mom and dad would see it.  I may have to pursue this with the local library and see if it is a possibility.

But enough of all that worst of times stuff.  Let's be positive and move on.  I had a great first week.  A surprise visitor popped in on Friday - our Area Superintendent. Always a moment of breath leaving your body when you see your administration walk in with their boss.  Turns out they were just popping in to show the interactive display I set up for Back To School Night using Aurasma.  (Have you used it?  Super fun!!!  I actually learned about this at Common Ground and had been looking for a way to try it out and thought this would be a "safe" way. ) 

I had teachers pop by and let me record them saying, "My favorite book is____" and then I found that book in our library and created an aura to go with it.  Basically, what this means is, after downloading the app on their phone and following eeslibrary, families could come in and try to guess which book was their teacher's favorite.  Then they could open the eeslibrary channel on the app, hold it up to the cover and the teacher video would appear.  They could scan all the covers to see which books matched which teachers. (Unfortunately, special area teachers had duty during back to school so I did not get to see the families as they did this-bummer!). 

My administration must have really liked it a lot because they brought the Area Superintendent in to see it and walked her around to see ALL the books and then she was adding it to HER phone.  (It never hurts to make your bosses look good!)

Anyway, if you want to try it out and see what the video clips look like, be my guest. It's free!  Search for Aurasma in your app store and download. You can skip the sign up.  Just search for eeslibrary and follow us so it will work for you.

Here are some of the book titles your can scan in your own library/home collection that have videos attached to them:

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendack
The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
Tiki Tiki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
Junie B. First Grader: Boo and I Mean It by Barbara Parks
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Junie B. Jones is (almost) a Flower Girl by Barbara Parks
David Goes to School by David Shannon
Corduroy byDon Freeman
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

You might even be able to scan a computer image for some of these.  Occasionally that works.  Can't hurt to try.

Let me know if you try the app out or if you have some summer reading ideas that produced big results.  I'd love to hear about them.

It's Wednesday!

It's Wednesday!  That means the first week of the new school year is half over.  It also means I have some half-formed impressions :-)

First, my kids are excited to be back.  Sure some of them are hanging their heads and shuffling their feet and slumping along but if you look closely you can see that little spark in their eyes that is a flicker of excitement with a tinge of nervousness about what the new year has in store for them.

Next,  they are still up to their same old tricks.  The same kiddos are still trying to jump down the hallway stairs and leap high to touch the exit signs.  A whole new crop is lingering by the fish tank sneaking sideways glances to see if anyone is watching them as they stand there for just a few more minutes longer than they should.

Finally, they read a lot more this summer than the data will reflect.  You see, I always ask for a show of hands for the following things:
1) Who participated in SNEAKS this summer?
2) Who read for Edgemere's Summer Reading log?
3) Who read a good book this summer that they want to share?

Here's the thing.  The number of hands that went up for number 1 and 2 were minimal.  I would say about 3-5 students per class on average.  (I hope to get some more solid numbers from my administration Friday.)  But, when I ask about books they read this summer, the hands fly up.  On average, 75-80% of the students in each class have at least one title they want to share.  Sometimes they can't remember the title but they can tell me the entire plot.  Sometimes they know part of the title or just the series or just the author.  (As they are sharing, I am jotting down little notes about the titles and listening to other students who are chiming in agreeing that they have read that book or a similar book.) 

So where is the disconnect coming from? Clearly my kids are reading during the summer.  Clearly they are enjoying it.  Clearly they are comprehending it.  So why aren't they participating in the summer reading incentive programs?  What is preventing them from visiting the public library to be part of the SNEAKS program?  Is it transportation? If so, that does not explain why they are not participating in the school-wide reading program.  Is it lack of interest?  If so, why?

As I look at the kids who are reading, it isn't just the ones that are assumed to be readers.  It is a cross section of abilities.  In fact, some of the "strong" students readily admit to not reading anything during the summer as do some of those "one the fence" students who could benefit from the extra boost summer reading offers.

Hmmmm....perplexing.

Professional Development Day August 19,2015

Today was one of my favorite days!  It was system wide Professional Development Day for the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year.

It's one of my favorite days that, unfortunately, involved one of my least favorite activities - early rising.  Our county is large and this meeting was a million miles away on the other side of the world! (Ok it was a 45 minute drive around the beltway but it felt like a million miles away.)  My iron quit working.  The dog didn't want to come inside.  I spilled my Altoids all over the floor of the car as I was driving to my carpool meeting point.  Oh yeah.  This day was off to a good start.  But nothing was going to spoil this for me because I love this day.

I love this day for so many reasons.  We get to welcome the new library media specialists.  We get to see our friends.  We get to attend some great presentations by our co-workers.  I always travel through this day in awe and wonder at how cutting edge and advanced our county is and how perceptive and attune, to what kids want and need, our media specialists are.  I leave energized and ready to try a million new things in a million different ways.  The best part is that I know I am not the only one leaving feeling this way.

After greetings from Ryan Imbriale, we started with our very own leader, Fran Glick, giving our keynote this year.  It was a celebration of so many accomplishments of so many people in our office and the importance of our cohort partnership with Towson University.  I saw so many people raise their hands when Fran asked who had participated in a cohort.  I think that is such a big part of why we have such great LMS in our county-because they were classroom teachers and understand how to teach and motivate and manage students.

Then Fran mentioned the Un-Deweying project that I have been a part of. (Hey Fran - next time a heads up would have been appreciated and I would have spent more time on my hair this morning!) The exciting part was when she asked who had begun to un-dewey their library in some way as a result of hearing about our project.  I was floored!  I knew people were doing it.  I've had emails and tweets here and there.  But to see all those hands.  First, I was humbled to have played a part in that.  But then I was excited.  That excitement just kept building all day long.  People stopped me to show me photos of their libraries on their phones.  They stopped to tell me how many books they weeded.  They stopped to tell me how long it took them and how many hours (for most -unpaid) that they sacrificed this summer. They told me about teams they formed to work together in each other's libraries. And every person who stopped me was smiling and excited.  They were raving about how much their library spaces had transformed and how clean and fresh and beautiful they looked.  There were new signs, freshly painted walls, shelf space that didn't exist before and new decorative touches added.  Every person was just as excited as I was when I did it. Holey Moley!  They didn't even mention what the kids were going to think or how they were going to react because they were in love with their library spaces again.

I can't wait to hear about their student reactions.  I hope I get emails and tweets (@eeslibrary) and see photos. I wish I could visit their libraries and see the reactions. 

I had a chance to do our presentation once again with Kelly.  I really thought people would be tired of hearing about it and that no one would be left to attend.  And yet, there we were, with every chair filled.  And we even got a round of applause at the end!  It's exciting to see the middle and high school LMS who are ready to embrace this.

But enough about our little project.  I attended some seriously wonderful sessions today. 

In my first session, I got to explore the fully digital, fully uploaded curriculum in BCPSOne.  It is like having 6 curriculum binders available to me anywhere, at anytime, with an internet connection and a few clicks.  Planning in my hammock or on my front porch?  Yes please!

Then I headed off to learn about Scratch.  LOVE IT!  My kids are going to love it.  Such a great presentation.  Watch out Edgemere.  This is coming to a makerspace time near you very soon!

Then Jeffrey Flynn presented on 30 Cool Tech Tools.  Some were oldies I had forgotten about but there are definitely some wonderful new ones that I was introduced to and can't wait to explore.  He was a very engaging presenter.

Lunch was wonderful as I got a chance to catch up with my peeps. My cohort buddies are the best!

After lunch, Kelly and I did our presentation and then it was off to learn about Creating Interactive Assignments in BCPSOne presented by Justin Hennaut assisted by the very knowledgeable Jennifer Weaver.  As always, a wonderful and engaging time was had by all. 

Then a closing "job alike" session where we met with our geographical counterparts to think, pair and share about our day.

So, today was a good day.  I hope it was just as good for you.

The Future Looks Bright!

Shhhh!   Don't tell anyone but I am going to share something with you without permission.  YIKES!  But I am pretty sure that, other than some embarrassment if she realizes it, it will be okay since it was written on a public blog.

My son's girlfriend is starting her senior year of college at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA.  Laura is quite a lovely young lady who is a dual major - voice and elementary education.  Her dad is a principal in PA and her mom is a music teacher. 

Laura had an amazing opportunity this year to visit Paraguay, with one of her professors and another student, as part of a grant.  She left at the beginning of August and will return tomorrow and then back to college to begin her Sr. year next week. 

As part of the trip, the college asked for the travelers to write several blog posts.  You can find them here.  But in particular, I wanted to share an insight from an up and coming teacher.  In her August 10th entry, she writes:

Our focus always needs to be on the students. To meet their needs, stretch their minds, open their eyes to the world around them.

Well said Laura...well said.  Let's agree to take our students on an amazing adventure as we embark upon this school year!

High School Genrefication Reflection

As promised, enjoy this wonderful reflection from a high school library media specialist who embraced the un-deweying challenge.  Thanks Lauren for sharing!

Thoughts on Un-Deweying a High School Fiction Collection

Lauren Magnuson, Summer 2015

Overview: I had been following the Un-Deweying movement for several years and did not think I was a fan, but then I attended one of the workshops by Kelly and Sandy and was convinced that this would be a good move for Kenwood’s collection and would help my students. Having the benefit of their experience also reduced some of my apprehension. I also collaborated with Melyssa Kenney and Angie Sofinowski (details later in reflection).

Before the end of the school year, I met with my principal to explain why I wanted to un-Dewey our fiction collection and asked if she would be able to pay some of us to do it over the summer as it is a big project. I only asked for one person to help me but after the first day, I went back and asked if I could have others for the last day to help with the labeling. She agreed to pay up to 3 more people. Unfortunately, I was only able to find 2 part-time people. So she ended up paying 2 of us for 3 days and 2 others for 4 hours each. And, as you will read later, we didn’t finish the whole processL.

Since I had to have someone within my school help me, I put a lot of thought into who I wanted to help me do the project and chose one of our Science teachers who is an avid reader of YA and adult fiction and who was a member of our book club. I also knew that she was focused, thoughtful, and would not be afraid to offer ideas as we went through the process. It turned out to be a great partnership!

Time: It takes way more time than one might think! Compared to many high schools, Kenwood has a modest fiction collection, and it still took 2 of us over two 6.5 hour days to divide the books into genres which we had pre-determined and had pre-printed labels. On the 3^rd day, we were able to have 2 more people join us for 4 hours each to help with the labeling process which is also tedious and time-consuming.

The scanning process is not too bad thanks to other librarians figuring out how to do it in batches. Thanks for sharing!! (I used the individual updating method.)

On the 3^rd day, even with extra help, we were able to get all of the genres labeled and scanned, except for Realistic books which is by far my largest genre! So the Realistic books are shelved together but still need to be labeled and scanned after the school year begins.

Genre-dividing: Even though it took us so long, I think that I still wouldn’t want more than 2-3 people doing the dividing process because it would be too hard to remain somewhat consistent.

For example, I thought I was going to have Horror and Supernatural/Paranormal all be under Horror, but it became apparent as we divided books that we needed to keep them separate. As we went through the process, we had to continually make decisions such as deciding that vampires and werewolves are supernatural but angels and demons (i.e. good vs. evil) are fantasy. Sometimes LOC designations on the versa help; sometimes not. Sometimes we disagreed with the LOC and put them in a different genre to remain consistent with our guidelines or because we had read the book.

Many books are cross-overs between genres so, for example, every once in a while we put a book that traditionally would go in Historical Fiction into Mystery/Thriller hoping that a Mystery reader may be enticed to read other Historical Fiction books. We were very selective and only put a really good Historical Fiction book into another category as it will have a big challenge representing the genreJ.

Realistic: Probably close to a half of our books fell into this genre. We did do one sub-division of Sports which will have the Realistic label and an additional label Sports label. In the catalog it will be Realistic but they are shelved at the end of the Realistic section. At some point I may go back and make a Realistic/Sports sub-location so that when books are searched it is easier to know exactly where they will be.

 It becomes very difficult to tease out subdivisions as many of the books deal with multiple topics. We found this issue even with the Sports books. A book could be a romantic, illness, sports, LGBTQ book. As I’ve been thinking about it, I may get or make some labels or dots to put on books that would indicate topics that may interest kids. For example, our Para-med students have to read a fiction book dealing with a physical illness. I’d like an easy way for them to identify these books when browsing. I will still keep the books in Dewy order within the Realistic genre. If I do this, I may even integrate the sports books back in to the Realistic section.

High School Labels: Before the end of the school year, Melyssa Kenney (Parkville), Angie Sofinowski (Dulaney), and I collaborated and discussed possible genres for our collections. In general, we decided on the same, but we each have a little variation to suit our collections and our readers. Angie decided to go with pre-printed labels by Demco. Melyssa designed the genre labels to that look more high school appropriate which she nicely shared with me. Thank you, Melyssa!!

Where Has The Summer Gone?

Wow!  I have been hard at work on the never ending, always changing porch project and reading all the Black Eyed Susan books for the upcoming year and working on preparing for presentations for next week when teachers return to work.  Where has the summer gone?

The grand to-do list that I made at the end of the school year still sits unfinished.  I met with another teacher today, at Panera Bread, to plan our presentation for Monday.  Goodbye Strawberry Poppyseed Salad.  Goodbye long lunches with slow conversations with friends.  Goodbye shopping in the middle of the weekday.  Goodbye sleeping in because I stayed up late to visit with my friend Jimmy (Fallon of course). 

Time to say hello to packed lunches to be eaten in 30 minutes, rushed conversations and rise and shine early.

I may not have been the best blogger this summer but I certainly recharged and rejuvenated myself.  I participated in 2 online book study clubs and really enjoyed it. 

I am sharing a special guest blog post tomorrow.  Look for it!

So I am going to enjoy the last few days.  You enjoy it too!

It's Good To Be Home

I'm baaaack!  My flight landed late Wednesday night and I was ever so glad to return home and see my fellows once again.  I did manage to read 2 of the 3 books I packed for the trip. 

My brother and his wife renewed their vows and the ceremony was lovely.  Here's a peek at one of the photos I took:

But I will admit that most of my time was spent like this:

 

If you look closely at that top foot, you will see the souvenir that came home with me.  That's right, only I could go to somewhere this lovely and break a toe.  So now my footwear for the next month will include this stylish number:

 

Unfortunately, this also means hanging up my hammer as Bobbette the Builder and also opting out of some other summer library commitments.  But I can still finish my time as a substitute librarian so I headed back to work to check in and check out some books at a nearby school and hobble around and reshelve some of them.

I can't believe students come back in a month!  Where has my summer gone?

It's Vacation - Time to Read and Leave!

In 5 hours, I am leaving for vacation.  So, obviously, the thing to do is write a blog post. BWAAHAHAHA!  Well, it is if your name is Sandy. 

I had my second set of summer library hours this week and actually met a community student who came in to exchange some books.  We had a lovely chat.  I hope I get to see some more kiddos like her over the next two weeks. 

One of the components of the summer program is to keep a reflection log.  For this week, one of the biggest AHA's that I reflected upon was the differences in collections.  I know in my last post I indicated that I saw come new titles I was putting down for my library.  But the other part of the equation is what is "missing" in this foreign library.  The books that I instinctively reach for when someone asks for a title that is checked out and I know just the thing to recommend or that book that I just know would perfectly fit the interest and reading level of a kiddo. It doesn't mean the collection is bad.  It just means it isn't mine.  It also means that I really know my collection a lot better than I give myself credit for sometimes. 

But enough reflecting.  Now I am engaging in my typical pre-vacation sleeplessness.  The night before I never sleep.  I am just too darned excited about the trip.  This year's trip is a bit different because I am traveling out of the country without my husband or son.  I am, however, traveling with my brother, sister-in-law, 13 yr. old nephew, 10 yr. old niece, 5 yr. old nephew and 1 yr. old niece and my thirty something cousin.  So I definitely won't be alone!  My brother and his lovely wife are renewing their wedding vows on the beach in Turks and Caicos.  While the whole gang will be arriving together, Aunt Sandy is returning home solo next Wednesday night.

I've packed light - only 4 pair of shoes and 3 camera lenses for this trip. I've loaded the IPOD with music, TED talks and podcasts for plane and beach. I've written the "in case the plane crashes" letters for the husband and son (not kidding!) I've also packed 3 books for the beach.  Books I intend to read and leave. 

I am not a big fan of ebooks.  I like the aesthetic of turning pages and dogearring them to mark my spot. I know it isn't fashionable to say that but it's my vacation so I can say what I want.  I like books.  When I travel, I buy books, read them and leave them behind when I am finished.  I like to imagine that someone finds the book, picks it up and begins to read.  Someone who maybe didn't have reading on their mind before seeing that book lying there.  Sometimes I bring the book home.  If I really loved it or if I know I want to pass it on to someone else.  But mostly, leaving the books behind is a win-win because that is guaranteed room for souvenirs. 

So, enjoy your week.  I will be "on island time, man" and share some pictures next week (hopefully).

There's No Place Like Home

Today was my first day as a "visiting" summer librarian for another school in my district. Their librarian is happily celebrating the birth of her new baby girl (this morning!) and I agreed to spend 12 hours this summer at the library so students in the school's summer enrichment program and from the surrounding community could check out books. 

I was a bit apprehensive because a fellow librarian posted on Facebook last night that she had 0 participants show up at the school she is covering this summer (also not her own school).  I know I have a captive audience in the summer program students but I am not sure about the community ones.  I did send out a Tweet last night to remind them and I know the principal did ConnectEd calls and a flyer went home before the end of the school year. 

I do have some familiarity with this library because Cara, the librarian, was my mentee during the past school year.  She has done a great job making the library a more "kid friendly" by reducing the clutter on the shelves, increasing signage and making popular items more readily accessible.

BUT...it still feels like a foreign country to me.  I miss my Un-Deweyed library as students walked up to me today and asked me if there were any books about dirtbikes or giant pandas or Pokémon.  I missed being able to stride confidently over to the shelf and say yes or no.  I knew the Dewey section to look in but it isn't my library and so I had to look to find that section and then find the right shelf and then find the right section within the shelf.  I have a list and I spent some time pulling some books for students for next week.  But not being able to find the material instantly was frustrating for me.  I felt like I was spending time wandering along the yellow brick road looking for the land of OZ.

And I miss my series section and my graphic novels section.  I miss being able to recommend something on the fly.  I didn't realize how often I did that until that was taken away.  When you are using someone else's collection, you don't realize how different it is from your own. 

But there is good news.  I am walking around and seeing some new titles that I do not have and checking out some authors and series that are not in my collection. 

And I am meeting some new munchkins!

End of Year Stats from Bobbette!

So first I need to apologize for once again being a bad blogger.  School has been out for 2 weeks and as I wrote in my last post, the first week was full of meetings. 

This past week was full of construction, or rather, deconstruction.  My old concrete porch has been sagging a few inches each year.  But the time has never been right and the stars have never quite aligned for the start of "The Great Porch Project".  However, this is the summer that everything has begun to fall in place.  We finally found a contractor willing to tear down the old concrete porch (conveniently built over the gas line entering the house) and rip up the sidewalk. So last week I traded in my laptop and books for work gloves and power tools.  That's right folks.  Believe it or not, I spent the week working with my little brother helping him tear the siding off of the front of my house, ripping out the 4 front windows, reframing and installing 2 new windows, enclosing and framing a wall where the other 2 windows were and TYVEKing the front of the house. I used a table saw, an electric nail gun, slap stapler and tin snips.  I am using sweat equity while I am off this summer to save on some home equity. :-)  You may now call me Bobbette the Builder. (not Wendy because she doesn't seem tough enough-hahaha!)

 

So that will be my big summer project this year.  Fingers crossed that we can get it done before school starts.  This week we are, hopefully, pouring footers so it will be a light week.

 

This week will also be the week that I get the pleasure of covering a fellow librarian's summer library hours during her school's summer enrichment program.  I am really excited about getting to spend time there and hopefully bringing some data and ideas back that I can use to persuade my administration that summer hours would be beneficial for our school too!

 

But before I do any of that I need to fulfill my promise to share the end of year data with you. So here it is:

 

Total Circulations

November 18, 2013-June 1, 2014         11988

November 18, 2014-June 1, 2015         13329

Total Increase In Circulations                 1341 or 11.2%

 

 Fiction Circulation Comparison

November 18, 2013-June 1, 2014         4379

November 18, 2014-June 1, 2015         5215

Increased by 836 checkouts

Graphic Novel Circulation Comparison

November 18, 2013-June 1, 2014         1113

November 18, 2014-June 1, 2015         1240

Increased by 127 checkouts

Destiny Title/Copy Data Report Findings – Fiction

1417 titles were listed on the exported report

625 (44.1% of the fiction collection) titles had increases in circulation over the previous year’s circulations

Of those 625 titles,

•440 (70.4%) had no circulations during the 2013-2014 school year

•131 (20.96%) increased by 3 circulations over the previous year

•231 (36.96%) increased by 5+ circulations over the previous year

Top 3 Fiction Genre Classifications with title circulation increases were:

 

 

Just Like Me (80)

Fantasy (52)

Humor (36)

(*Note: 126 titles are not yet assigned location fields in Destiny)

 

 

 

Destiny Title/Copy Data Report Findings – Nonfiction

3891 titles were listed on the exported report

1085 (27.9% of the nonfiction collection) titles had increases in circulation over the previous year’s circulations

Of those 1085 titles,

•803 (74%) had no circulations during the 2013-2014 school year

•149 (13.7%) increased by 3 circulations over the previous year

•175 (16.1%) increased by 5+ circulations over the previous year

Top 5 Nonfiction Genre Classifications with title circulation increases were:

 

Animals (132)

Science (106) – Top 3 subcategories: Inventors/Inventions 34, Weather 21, Experiments 15

Sports (81) – 27 were biographies now located in the sports classification

What Can I Make? (67)

Who Is? (48) – Discovered by the 3rd grade teachers

(*Note: 227 titles are not yet assigned location fields in Destiny)

 

 

The Bottom Line:

           Circulation has increased by 11.2% which may not seem too terribly significant BUT over 1200 books (800 nonfiction and 400 fiction titles) that were NEVER checked out last year circulated this year which means my collection is experiencing a rejuvenation because my students and teachers can quickly and easily find what they want and related materials.

So exciting that the initial data not only held but increased. Can you see me doing my fist pump?

 

 

 

 

 

    
 

	Increased by 836 checkouts
			Increased by 127 checkouts