Print reference materials...the way of the dodo?

Originally, my plan was to blog about making print reference materials and nonfiction relevant and, therefore, selected by users.  We have students in our library constantly, and they almost never use actual print sources for information.  If we pull a cart of print resources, an occasional student will pick and choose from the sources, but generally, our print reference materials are hardly touched. 

Step one of our rectifying this situation has been to interfile our reference, as much as possible, in our nonfiction collection and to keep only selected sets of reference that function best as a complete set in a section of reference.  It turns out that interfiling reference and allowing it to circulate are hot topics in the library world.  Check out this blog (and the comments/replies!) for more: http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/03/reference-books-to-go-liberation-of-our.html.

My co-librarian and I are both new to our library, so we were not the ones who initially made the reference material selections, nor are we familiar with the reasons the items were selected.  I can’t even imagine the last time the reference section was weeded because there were “The New” and “Modern” versions of resources from the 1990s. I say were because we heavily weeded the reference materials over the last few weeks, which was a little complicated, due to our lack of background knowledge on previous selection and use.  Needless to say, we have truly almost never seen a reference book picked up off the shelves, so we knew we needed to get rid of everything that was irrelevant and inaccurate to start.  Check out this blog for weeding tips – I found it helpful with an unfamiliar collection:  http://cdstacked.blogspot.com/2013/01/tips-for-weeding-your-reference.html.

For more on the decreasing need for print resources, a concept with which I truly am grappling, check out this article by Paul Hellyer – a little old (2009), but referenced in several other articles and blogs on the topic: http://www.aallnet.org/mm/Publications/spectrum/archives/Vol-13/pub_sp0903/pub-sp0903-ref.pdf.

And for more thoughts on spending less money from our library budgets on print resources:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/information-culture/why-i-done28099t-buy-print-reference-books/.

So, my initial search took me to different territories of the reference world than I was originally exploring, but it provided me with new ideas and additional ways  to think about the process we are undergoing – isn’t that the best kind of research after all, the kind that takes us where we didn’t know we wanted to go?

Computer Science...why would I introduce my students to that?

What student doesn't love to spend time on computers?  I, personally, know that students jump at the chance to use computers in the classroom or head to the computer lab.  Unfortunately, according to code.org, nine out of ten high schools do not offer computer science classes.  Why is that a detriment? Let me tell you.  Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that by 2020, there will be 1.4 million new computer science jobs, but only 400,000 computer science students.  The number of computer science jobs, according, to Code.org is growing at a pace two times the national average for job growth.

Why is that important for us, as librarians?  

It may be up to us to introduce our students to computer science, and, luckily, it's not as hard as you might think.  And it's definitely a lot of fun for the students. Code.org, a public, non-profit organization has set up a website dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color.  

The website is called Hour of Code, and can be reached at www.hourofcode.com.

So, what is the Hour of Code?  Every December, people all over the world are asked to code for just one hour.  Of course, you don't have to wait until December!  HourofCode.com provides a simple way for everyone to jump in and try coding.  They have put together several tutorials to choose from including Minecraft, Star Wars, and even Anna and Elsa from Frozen.  Introducing coding to our students opens a new way of thinking for them and opens limitless possibilities.

Take a few minutes to check out the website, read a few FAQs, and even try it out for yourself.  My girls enjoyed participating in the hour of code, and they have even moved on to toys and games that require coding skills, like Dash and Dot and Super Mario Maker for the Wii.

Do you think your students would enjoy participating in the Hour of Code?  If you try it for yourself, let me know what you think.  I would love to hear from you!

Anybody Can Learn (1 min.) from www.hourofcode.com

Gunn girls (ages 8 and 9) coding Dash

Diverse Books for a Diverse School

Being a new librarian and new to my school as well, I've been slowly wiggling my way into different classrooms and trying to show people just what librarians these days are about.  It's been a lot of hard work fun getting to know new people and collaborating with all of the different grade levels versus the two or three that I was working with previously.  Well recently, two different grade level teachers at my school approached me and said they wanted to collaborate on projects that revolve around Black History Month.  They both (separately) said that they know their students all have learned about the most famous African-Americans that we study in school (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, George Washington Carver, etc.), but really wanted their kids to branch out a bit and learn about some other notable African-Americans.  Their ultimate goal was to expose them to more culture and more diversity through books and research. 

As we went through our planning meetings and began the division of labor I started trying to find books in my library.  I will say we do have some good books with diverse characters or even about some notable people, but I was kind of surprised that we didn't have more.  I work in a pretty urban school with a fair mix of diversity.  We are also an IB school that celebrates and focuses on other cultures and diversity, so I really thought we'd  be better stocked. I want to be the kind of librarian that the kids automatically know is looking out for them and I want them to feel like they see themselves in the books they read. 

I started digging around some more to try and find some resources and ran across a site I had seen before, but had completely forgotten about.  I am so glad I found it again.  We Need Diverse Books is an AWESOME site that adamantly advocates for the need for diverse literature in our schools.  They have information on programs and resources and even ways to get involved.  I know what I'm doing over the next few weeks.  A little research, a little ordering, and BAM!  Diverse books for a diverse school.

"Real" Books

This past week we had our school wide book club meeting.  This month the topic that we were discussing from the book was about increasing student engagement during reading.  There was an immediate agreement that it is best for students to be engaged while reading and that there are, unfortunately,always some students that are not engaged with reading in the class.  

One of the ideas/suggestions in the book was to use the popular books such as graphic novels during reading/strategy groups to hook the kids and get them reading.  Some of the teachers thought this sounded great, while most were very unsure and just wanted to know how to get children away from those “graphic novel-y” books and to the “real” books.  Of course this statement made me cringe. What makes a book a “real” and therefore better for students than any other?  I immediately thought of a quote I had recently read by Jon Scieszka “Jeff Kinney's 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' series and Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' books got 49,323,701 kids reading.” I was very happy when my reading specialist (who was in charge of the meeting) nodded and said she understood the concern but a student reading anything was better than a student who wasn’t reading.   

After the meeting I made sure to add Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read website to my weekly email along with an old news article from 2008 in the Chicago Turbine talking about Scieszka’s views on what reading is.  For some of the teachers at my school I find just hinting and giving resources works far better than flat out disagreeing.  Do you run into similar problems at your schools with teachers and or parents viewing some books as “not-real” books?  How do you help change their opinions?

The Power of “Why?”

My four year old’s bright blue eyes twinkle as she squishes her hands through the “Oobleck”, made specifically for the occasion in our kitchen. As the concoction changes form, from goopy to hard and back again, she squeals with delight before looking up to ask one of my favorite questions: “why?”  Her gleeful sense of wonder, her unbridled curiosity, and her fearless experimentation make her the ideal student. She embraces the opportunity to learn, always hungering for more.

I find myself wondering, what will happen when she goes to kindergarten next year? I’ve taught so many kind, thoughtful, and intelligent kids throughout my career who have struggled to trust their internal curiosities. It seems that many of these students learned, through no fault of their own, that education is about passively waiting to be told what they should study. They seem to believe that it doesn’t matter what they want to know, but instead it matters what they are told to learn. I remember feeling that way too. But now I know that educators everywhere want to encourage critical and creative thinking, active engagement in the learning process, and resiliency. So how is the glimmer of curiosity lost? And how can I, a secondary librarian, address the dormancy of something so natural, so essential in my students?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to my questions, but I do believe that innovations in teaching and librarianship have the power to encourage and facilitate these qualities in students. Approaches such as: 

Carol Collier Kuhlthau’s Guided Inquiry Design: http://goo.gl/jemHkP & https://goo.gl/OgbpGu

52 Weeks of Guided Inquiry Blogs: https://52guidedinquiry.edublogs.org/

Fairfax County Public Schools’ vision of a Portrait of a Graduate: http://goo.gl/FMZVIC

The International Baccalaureate Learner Profile: http://goo.gl/F53xcw

AASL’s Standards for a 21^st Century Learner: http://goo.gl/W57hU

My desires to cherish and preserve children’s natural curiosities and passions are at the forefront of my personal and professional goals. I’m grateful that my new position as a secondary librarian enables me to work with even more students, more curricula, and more teachers than ever before.

I believe in the power of educators, all seeking to move beyond the sage-on-the-stage models of the past to more engaging, inquiry based approaches to teaching and learning. I believe in the power of curiosity, the power of wonder, dancing in a child’s eyes.  

Image shared with permission from Serg C, via Creative Commons license to "Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format”. 

Flexible vs Fixed Schedule A New Librarians View

I recently made the switch from high school librarian to elementary school librarian and while it has been a lot of fun working with younger students there has also been a dramatic switch in my schedule.  I went from an entirely flexed schedule to one that is fixed and it has been interesting to experience this shift.

Over the last 3 years at Longwood University we have read articles about the benefits of a flexible schedule in all schools and now that I have seen both sides (although briefly) I can say that a flexible schedule overall implemented correctly with collaboration across the school would be best for the students.  The article below by Bright Hub Education explained the open aspect of a flexible library seems to be better than a closed off (your class set library time each week) and the idea that flexible  scheduling gives your school many more opportunities for learning.  I understand the need for fixed scheduling to cover planning time but overall this seems shortsighted to the potential impact a library that is truly the learning hub of the school can have.  However there is a downside if not implemented correctly with buy in from all the staff and the lack of seeing students on a regular basis but this could be solved administratively and through librarian outreach.  I have noticed that since my shift to ES that although I get time with the students each week it is limited and the opportunity to reach more students would be available with a flexible schedule.

The Bright Hub Education article is an interesting read but I am also interested to hear what others thoughts are on the subject and about the experiences that our group has had in their own schools or libraries and the impact these experience had on the students they worked with.

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-elementary-school/47569-flexible-scheduling-benefits-for-the-library-media-center/

Reading for Fun!

March is here and that means we get to celebrate Literacy!!! Not that I don't already do that in my classroom. I was sitting in a Literacy committee listening to my AP explain that students are not excited to read and they see it as a chore. We also discussed making sure our boys were motivated and excited to read as well. We were discussing ways to help motivate and inspire our young readers. Then, I received my NEA magazine in the mail explaining different solutions to this concern. I love when things like that happen! These article stress the importance of "enjoyable independent reading" and the librarian and classroom teacher need to collaborate together to make this possible in the classroom. If reading can't happen at home, then there needs to be time in class that students can read.  They also need to have the freedom of choice. Often there isn't enough time in class to read, because of the pressure and time constraints of testing. We as teachers and librarians need to help students love what they read and not see it as a chore at home or at school.

"Improving Reading Outcomes for Young Black Males"
http://neatoday.org/2016/02/26/reading-young-black-males/


"Independent Reading in the Classroom Critical to Student Achievement"
http://neatoday.org/2016/02/02/independent-reading-classroom-critical-student-achievement/

Librarians: Necessary or Not?

Recently I became aware that there are many schools across the United States who do not have full time librarians and some who do not even have libraries. Since I have never been in a school where there was not a library this was very concerning to me. This concern led me to wondering how much librarians and strong library programs impact student achievement. I decided to do my research proposal in another class on this subject. Many studies have been completed and, as I suspected, proven that school librarians and strong library programs have powerful, positive impact on student achievement.
Below are articles I have read that support having librarians and strong library programs in all schools.

School Libraries Work, the 2016 edition
http://www.scholastic.com/SLW2016/ 

Strong Libraries Improve Student Achievement
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin178.shtml 

Banned Books

After discussing banned books in my Collection Development class last week, I thought this would be an interesting topic for my blog post.

The first two links I have included are about two children's books, A Birthday Cake for George Washington and And Tango Makes Three, both of which have received much criticism and the former has actually been pulled; you can only find a copy on Ebay or Amazon for a ridiculous price. I feel that people have become entirely too sensitive these days. These two books are books that a young child would enjoy. The pictures are interesting. The topics are fun. Who doesn't like penguins or birthdays?! But, when adults read these books, they add their adult knowledge, which can sometimes alter the book entirely.

A Birthday Cake for George Washington is about George Washington's slave and his daughter making a cake for George Washington but, then they run out of sugar. I'm sure any child would read this book or listen to this story and think about how cool it would be to be able to bake a cake for George Washington. However, adults have gotten a hold of this book and think it is "bad" because it depicts smiling slaves. If you were in second grade, is that what you would be thinking about while looking at the pictures of a father and daughter making a birthday cake for George Washington? I don't think so.

The second link is about And Tango Makes Three. I personally love this book and think it is absolutely wonderful. This book is about two male penguins that spend a lot of time together while living in the Central Park Zoo. Eventually, their keeper decided to see how they would react to taking care of an egg. They take care of the egg, it hatches, and now the penguins have a very untraditional family. First of all, they are PENGUINS. PENGUINS. Second, this is a true story. And third, this is a very real thing that happens in our society. A child may have two dads or two moms. There is nothing wrong with that. A child listening to this story would not raise their hand and say, "Miss Smith, that book promotes homosexuality." Again, the controversy lies in our adult thoughts and feelings. When any children's book is banned who is suffering?

If you're interested you can take a look at the links below and decided for yourself if these books are inappropriate! =)

A Birthday Cake for George Washington - Ramin Ganeshram

And Tango Makes Three -Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell

Why Are Parents Banning School Books?

Makerspaces - Technology in Action! - Well not really.

Makerspaces - Technology in Action! - Well not really.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit a middle school makerspace in action, and it was not what I expected. I expected to see kids engaged in some serious technology like green screens, robotics and even creating videos. What was actually going on was more like kids destressing from their school day. They were working mostly in groups of twos on small craft like projects. Things like perler beads, yarn(making scarves) and several boys were working with Knects making cars that go with batteries.

I had to ask myself am I disappointed that there isn’t more advanced things going on? Well, yes and no. It would have been totally cool to walk in and see a movie being made. But on the other hand, school can be stressful and allowing students a little time to destress in a safe environment, is a great idea. Plus now this group of kids feels comfortable in the library and with their librarian. Now that alone is awesome.

As I watched the kids work on projects, the librarian explained that she too thought the big ticket items would be what they most wanted to do and she quickly discovered that in most cases they just want to relax with a friend or two and create something. They just want to relax and not think about school work for an hour.

So if you are thinking of putting one of these together on budget, don’t worry as Diana Rendina says in her Blog http://renovatedlearning.com/2014/11/26/5-tips-for-starting-a-makerspace-on-a-budget/

“When I talk to other librarians and educators about starting a school Makerspace, one of the most common things I hear is: “I’d love to do (insert cool Maker activity) at my school, but we don’t have a budget for that”.  What many people don’t realize is that the idea that you need a lot of money to start a Makerspace is a myth. All you need is to have vision, ingenuity, and resourcefulness. A lack of funds is no longer an excuse for keeping your students from experiencing the empowerment of bringing the Maker Education Movement into your program.”

It seems like for a lot of students just being able to do and think about something else for an hour or two a week is what they look forward to the most.

Makerspace in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldtOa-djF_g

Helpful websites/blogs for starting your own.

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/576006

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/starting-school-makerspace-from-scratch-colleen-graves

http://library-maker-culture.weebly.com/what-are-they.html

Pinterest ideas

https://www.pinterest.com/cari_young/library-makerspaces/

Pulling the Weeds

The Art of Weeding
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/06/managing-libraries/the-art-of-weeding-collection-management/#_

Why We Weed
http://awfullibrarybooks.net/why-weed/

Keeping Your Library Smelling F.R.E.S.H.
http://www.librarygirl.net/2013/10/keeping-your-library-collection.html

When I first arrived here the thing that stood out like a sore thumb was the nonfiction section.  It was clear the majority of the books hadn't been touched in years.  Many of them were yellow and had brown mold spots on them.  In addition, many of them still had the cards in the back so I could see they hadn't been checked out in over 20 years (some go back to the 1960s).  I asked my library assistants when the last time the collection was weeded and I was told that the previous librarian wanted to leave that job to me.  I knew I had to make weeding the collection my priority this year.

Ian Chant in the "The Art of Weeding" article recommends breaking up the task and not doing it all at once.  He is cautious because he feels it looks bad to the community of you discard hundreds of books all at once.  I can definitely see his point, but I feel there are exceptions- such as our library.  So far, I have discarded a little over 2,400 books and I still have the 900s and our biographies to go through.

I will admit, at first I felt guilty getting rid of so many books and it drives me nuts to see the empty shelves (even though I was following the Library Girl's guidelines in her article "Keeping Your Library Collection Smelling F.R.E.S.H.").  However, whenever I go to weed some more I'm reminded why I took on this task.  Our patrons deserve better than this.  My students shouldn't have to be using books with the word "Negro" in the title (completely unacceptable) or books about technology that was written in the 1950s.  That's not technology anymore, those are artifacts!!

The gaps in the shelves are very obvious, but I plan on moving our reference books out into the nonfiction section once I'm done weeding.  Currently they are in a separate room and don't get used because students and teachers forget about them.  Not only will this help with the gaps, but our Superintendent gave us 5,000 additional dollars to purchase new books.  This obviously won't cover all the costs of updating the collection, but it helps tremendously.

As overwhelming as it was to start the weeding project, I'm glad I went for it.  Our patrons deserve the best and that will always be my goal.

Here are some of the gems I've pulled so far:

My dad checked this out in 1970 

Stationary Bikes Join Books in Virginia School Library

http://www.slj.com/2014/02/industry-news/stationary-bikes-join-books-in-virginia-school-library/

Fit for the Library: Clemson Students Study on Stationary Bikes

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/10/academic-libraries/fit-for-the-library-clemson-students-study-on-stationary-bikes/

FitDesk Bike Desk

https://www.thefitdesk.com/bike-desk

While working on a bulletin board in the hallway the other day my principal approached and told me to replace the grungy old couch in our library.  Out of habit I went to our catalogs and started looking through the furniture, with the initial thought of maybe ordering some bean bag chairs instead.  Then like a light bulb going off I thought “stationary bikes.”  A few weeks ago I was discussing this trend with some of my colleagues in Dr. Church’s Research Methodology class.  I started looking into the subject and found the websites above.  What an awesome way to incorporate wellness into the library, and help students, especially those with a lot of energy (you know the one’s), expend some of that restlessness with literacy.  When I looked into this topic I found an article about a high school not far from home titled, Stationary Bikes Join Books in Virginia School Library.  In this piece, the librarian discusses a “read & ride” section she set up in her Falls Church high school library.  In my investigation thus far I have found a company called FitDesk that offers a desk bike for $299.00.  I am curious if anyone else knows of other companies out there that offer desk bikes, or if you have actually incorporated stationary bikes into your library?  If so, how is it ‘working out?’