Strengthening Common Core Muscles for Librarians...

It's a marathon NOT a sprint. This weekend,  I was privileged to spend 3 amazing days with awesome librarians who are dramatically impacting the achievement of our students at the Tennessee Association of School Librarians Annual Conference.  The theme at nearly every single session was student learning.  Librarians are well positioned to be leaders during the implementation of the Common Core.  We can be myth busters and truth speakers in the same breath.  Current collections, especially nonfiction, can be leveraged in such a way that we cause our students to pause, think, question, synthesize and respond. We know that collaboration and ownership are the biggest keys to successful implementation of the CCSS.

Its hard not to come home with conference fog (i.e. info overload) or to be on such a high that Monday brings a crushing blow when you fall back into reality.  Saturday, my good friend and colleague, Debbie Condry, and I provided librarians with a step by step workout plan that hopefully provided direction for them.  Before I share with you a brief summary of the workout plan, let me share my favorite highlights.

A few of my favorite things...
My favorite technique that I learned this weekend was clustering from Marc Aronson.  If you are going to the AASL National Conference make sure you go to his sessions.  A cluster is a group of resources that are most likely conflicting. Provide students with the opportunity to question and comment on  the juxtapositions.  I can't wait to set up my first cluster and create displays with a learning purpose.  I really appreciated being encouraged to let students choose what interests them without getting hung up on the guided reading or Lexile level.  Could we all agree that Lexile and reading levels are guiding points for reading instruction but they should not hold a child's right to choose books hostage?

Another highlight, was seeing the winners of the TASL bookmark contest.  The winners created amazing bookmarks. I love that TASL invited them to our luncheon to accept their awards.  I can't wait to participate in the next bookmark contest.

The best part of the conference was networking with other librarians from across the state.  Librarians, so often feel isolated especially in an elementary library where the pace of class after class can leave you with little time to talk with fellow teachers let alone librarians.  Being at conference gave me the opportunity to share, listen, and reflect.

Common Core Workout: Strengthen you Core Muscles

Debbie and I  wore our yoga pants and custom t-shirts that said "School Librarian: I train your brain for life" as we led a room full of librarians through a Common Core workout that challenged them to set high goals. We warmed up with a walk- through of a single strand showing the progression of difficulty from K-12. For the cardio segment, we shared sample successful core lessons that we have both taught in the  past year.  The cool thing about Debbie and I is that we approach our roles in very different ways.  I think outside the box and Debbie has a more traditional approach. Thus in one presentation, we catered to everyone in the room and demonstrated that the approach you take doesn't necessarily matter.  Every workout needs workout enhancers.  I loved sharing the wide variety of apps, blogs, curation tools, etc. that we can use to meet our CCSS goals.  Another great workout enhancer is your PLN (personal learning network).  There are many tools for building PLNs including Twitter, Edmodo, Facebook, Skype, etc.  I wouldn't have known about Dot Day if I had not seen it mentioned on my Twitter feed.  Finally, we reached the most important segment of our workout the cool down otherwise known as "regular reflection".  We provided a list of questions that I hope served as a call to action.  From the comments after the presentation, I know that we impacted the lives of students across the state of Tennessee. Our mission as school librarians is truly about student learning.  How are you impacting student learning in your school? Share your CCSS success stories here in the comments.  One lucky person will win a "School Librarian: I train your brain for life" iron-on so that you can create your own custom t-shirt.

Dot Day (Weeks)

Last week, I read The Dot a total of 22 times to my students. A colleague who was working on various projects in the library commented on how much she enjoyed listening to our discussions. We used words and phrases like courage, empower, never give up, do your best, collaborate, connect. It was by far the very best week of my career. I'm glad that Dot Day comes early in the year because it is a great way to set the tone for the rest of the year. I've already hung my "We're celebrating Dot Day all year" poster outside of the library. 

After our discussion, I supplied a variety of art tools for students to use to create their own Dot masterpieces. I didn't provide much direction.  I'm bias but my kids created some amazing dots. Here are a few of my favorites. 

This week we are going to extend our discussion by talking about ways to connect and collaborate with each other.  We are also going to Skype with a couple of classes.  So excited.  

How are you going to make your mark?

Creative Collaboration

We are busy putting the finishing touches on our Dot Day Celebration.  International Dot Day is based on The Dot by Peter Reynolds and it encourages courage, creativity, collaboration and connection. My PLN network has rapidly expanded since July when I signed up.  I have made so many connections with other teachers and librarians via twitter and The International Dot Day Google Doc. 

I recently participated in my first Skype session with Melvina Kurashige in Hawaii.  She teaches Japanese to 6th graders.  

We are collaborating on a Dot Day project where our students will exchange bookmarks encouraging each other to reach for their dreams. We'll each be sharing anchor texts with our students that will serve as the inspiration for their bookmarks. They are reading  the Heart of the Samurai. We are going to read the I Have a Dream Speech. I can't wait to exchange bookmarks with one another. 

I have also signed some of my classes up for Skype sessions with other classes across the country.  Our library is becoming flatter as we begin to develop connections with classrooms outside of our school.  Best of all my students are learning library skills in a unique way. I am certain this project will open the doors for discussing digital citizenship and etiquette. The students will hopefully see that the library doesn't just hold books on a shelf but that it also provides a place to create, collaborate and connect.  Our Public Library is certainly promoting this idea with their 4th Floor events and activities.  So I am giving them a shout out for being part of my Dot Day inspiration. 

 

A Recipe for Success

I am resolving that my lesson plans will be completed on Friday afternoon by 4:00. Last year, I slipped into the habit of finishing up my plans on Sunday afternoon. It led to sometimes frazzled Mondays. Having a bad Monday can often sour the entire week.

My hope is that planning will be a piece of cake. Add a dash of collaboration,  a splash of time management, my secret ingredient and I should be able to walk out of school knowing that my weekend is free and if I do any planning it's to get a jump on the following week.

The Secret Ingredient

My secret ingredient is careful summer planning. I've tested the water by reviewing my kindergarten plans and mapping out the first semester. I've glanced at my first and second grade maps. Those maps are in great shape. I just need to flesh out the unit plans.  I jumped in with both feet and started the planning process for 3-5 grades a couple of weeks ago.  I went to my favorite coffee shop and set out to write a detailed unit plan using a UBD format. Last year I created a template but I didn't use it very often which led to inefficient planning near the end of the year.  My goal this summer was to have all 6 units for third through fifth grades sketched out this summer. Notice I said sketched, every map, unit plan and lesson plan is subject to revision.  Think of the summer mapping as the compass that sets the direction for the year.

A Dash of Collaboration-

The trick is to hook the teachers. They have to believe that as the librarian I am cost effective and time saving.  Those two principles will get them in the door to look for resources but that's not true collaboration. The next step is to start planning toward a common learning objective where we share the teaching responsibilities and work together to help our students gain new understandings.  I created two resources for my teachers: a collaborative planning document and a what's happening in your classroom google doc. The collaborative planning document will be shared the first week of school. I'll offer candy to the first grade level that responds. :) The collaborative planning document will be available in both hard copy and as a Google form. These resources will result in efficient and productive planning sessions.

A Splash of Time Management

My schedule says planning but I'm often shelving books or developing the collection and as a result planning for instruction was often left to the weekend which led to a cycle of being miserable on Sunday afternoon. It's the pits to know that you have to get your plans written when you would rather be spending time with your family. I am going to dutifully use and protect my planning time. I read 18 minutes: Find Your Focus..

One of his principles is to move items from  your to do list to your calendar. Another principle is to set an alarm that serves as a reminder to review the last hour and get back on track.  So everyday I will keep that planning appointment and with any luck I should be foot loose and fancy free on Friday. Shelving and other admin tasks will also be scheduled. If its not on my calendar it's not a priority. I highly recommend 18 Minutes as it will change the way you think about time management.

A Piece of Cake

The time invested in summer planning, working with teachers, and guarding my planning time will lead to a much more productive year overall.

How do you make time for collaboration?  How do you protect your planning time?

Dream Big

I had the opportunity to hear Ron Clark speak when he visited Chattanooga in July.  Every teacher should have the opportunity to hear him speak.  At the end of the program, I left energized and ready to get to work.

I bought one of Ron Clark's books and he signed it for me.

Those words: "Dream Big!" resonated with me.  

In just a few weeks, I will set about my job of teaching my students information literacy skills that they will need to be successful throughout their lives. But there is this other side of my job that I have a deep desire to nurture this year. I am charged as a librarian with encouraging my students to read for personal pleasure and growth...to develop a deep, deep love for reading.  I have the luxury of providing access to a wide range of book and materials from graphic novels to biographies and everything in between. Technology opens even more doors for finding, creating, and sharing information,

I saw a poster once that said: The top 10 Ways to become a better reader.  There was only one word on the poster: READ! My challenge is to get my students to buy into that idea. 

This year, I am going to set about truly applying Rangnathan's Five Laws of Librarianship:

1. Books are for use

2. Every person his or her book

3. Every book its reader

4. Save the time of the Reader

5..The Library is a growing organism

Number 4 and 5 are pressing in on me.  Is it time to step out of my comfort zone some more?  I need to look at what hinders my students from being able to find the books that they want to read.  I also need to embrace the idea of the library being a growing organism that can change over time.

I'm dreaming big dreams for our library this year. Dreams that will hopefully open doors for my students and provide them with life changing opportunities.

Weeding to Grow

000s before weeding

A couple of weeks ago, I submitted my MARC records for collection analysis to a couple of vendors.  I love that you get your reports back within minutes of submitting the records.  After a brief review of the analysis, I decided that I really did need to do some weeding this summer.  I called on several of my librarian friends to come and help me.  I think that there should be a rule that you should never, ever weed alone.  Sometimes you just need to discuss the book in question, or you need your colleague to look you in the eye and tell you to let it go. OR perhaps that colleague has more experience and knows that the book needs to stay on the shelf.  So we gathered in mid-June.  Between the 6 of us, we were able to weed the nonfiction section and more than half of the easy books in just two days. In all 654 books were deleted from the collection.

Weeding the collection allowed me to rearrange the nonfiction section so that the books are more accessible to the students.  I was also able to create a small teacher resource nook for some RTI materials. While weeding, we pulled all of the Rookie Readers and Welcome books.  These were organized by subject or sometimes series and put into tubs.  Again, the purpose was to make them more accessible to the students who would be using them.

A small portion of the weeded books waiting to be boxed.

Now that the initial weeding phase is completed, I am able to think about growing the collection.  I have a clearer picture of what my collection needs.  I also have a starting point for discussions with teachers.  I have numerous books that had 6 copies on the shelf which begs the question: Is this a unit topic for a grade level?  If it's not a unit of study, then I can evaluate whether or not it's necessary to have 6 copies of that book.

Reference section after weeding

The benefit of weeding the collection is that you can instantly tell a difference.  The shelves in the library look so much better.  In a couple of days, I will be adding labeled shelf dividers to help the students find books that interest them.  I can't wait to see my students faces when the walk in the door for the first time.  All the effort that I put into the library this summer will be worth it as I watch them grow into independent learners.

Nonfiction Monday

"This story is true. All the characters are real and were alive during the great manhunt of April 1965..."-from the jacket of Chasing Lincoln's Killer

A few weeks ago, my children and I went on the search for their summer reading books. My oldest son selected Chasing Lincoln's Killer  from his summer reading list.  They didn't have a copy in the store so we ordered it.  When the box of books arrived, I immediately began reading Chasing Lincoln's Killer.   Let's just say that I was hooked and I didn't want to put it down. It reads more like a fast paced novel than a nonfiction book. I found it fascinating that Booth's plan was so calculated and that it involved more than just assassinating Lincoln.

James Swanson does an excellent job of developing the main characters involved in Booths plan while leading us on the fast paced chase to track Booth down.  Swanson tells the reader that his interest in Lincoln's assassination began with a gift from his grandmother on his tenth birthday. The gift was and engraving of the Deringer pistol used to assassinate Lincoln and framed by newspaper article about the assassination that was incomplete. That incomplete newspaper article led him on a journey to find the rest of the story. Fortunately, he shared the rest of the story with us in Chasing Lincoln's Killer.

This would be a great book to pair with a study of the Civil War. I believe that 5th graders would even enjoy it. However, sensitive students should be cautioned of its graphic details.