Saying YES to Teachers

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In our back-to-school meeting today at Vance Providence Elementary School, our faculty was asked to choose a watchword for this year. As the morning went on we heard from our principal, our guidance counselor, our secretary, and others on the faculty and staff.  As I listened and made note of the information being shared, the question lingered in the back of my mind: What word will define my attitude for the year? What word will sum up what I want my co-workers to notice about me?  What word can I use to remind myself of what is truly important this year?

The word I chose is Yes. That one simple word represents my desire to assist and support the teachers as I begin my education journey with them. So many times in the past I’ve had to tell teachers “no” when they needed something because my time was completely taken up with conducting Library classes. This year I have a flexible schedule, so I can be there with resources, with ideas, with collaborative teaching plans, and with technology innovations to empower them in their classrooms and beyond.

Whatever a teacher asks me for this year, I want to be able to say Yes to it. You’re having technical difficulties with your document camera? Yes, I’ll come look at it. You need enough folk tales for every student in your class to have one? Yes, I’ll bring a selection to your classroom. You want to use a Promethean flipchart to give students practice classifying different types of rocks? Yes, I’ll help you create that. You’re looking for a website to help students learn more about Greek and Roman mythology? Yes, I’ll find one for you.

Sometimes it will be yes, and … (here’s something more we can include)
Sometimes it will be yes, or… (we could try this idea instead)
Sometimes it will be yes, if… (it depends on someone else doing their part)
Sometimes it will be yes, after… (I need to finish something else first)
Sometimes it will be yes, when… (as soon as I can find the answer/solution)
But always Yes.

Yes, it will be a juggling act at times, but YES it will be worth it to help our teachers accomplish their goals!

What’s your word this year? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

 

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Teen Titans Promote Libraries!

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  September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month, and this year the Teen Titans are helping to spread the word!

From the ALA website:

This September, crimefighting DC Super Heroes, the Teen Titans, will team up with the American Library Association (ALA) to promote the value of a library card. As honorary chairs, DC’s Teen Titans will remind parents, caregivers and students that signing up for a library card is the first step towards academic achievement and lifelong learning.

Do you team up with your local library to encourage students to sign up for a public library card?  Please leave a comment or tweet me @librarylorijune and share your promotional ideas!

 

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What’s Your Library Slogan?

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“Branding” is one of the buzzwords that librarians are hearing a lot about lately, but because we are often locked into using our school name, mascot, colors, etc on everything we create, having a unique brand can present difficulties for a school library.  But what if we tied a slogan to our name, and used it on everything?

Think about some of the marketing slogans that have resonated with the public.  I bet you can easily name the companies that use these taglines:

Have it your way.

Where shopping is a pleasure.

Expect more.  Pay less.

These slogans indicate that customer satisfaction is a priority, and that the needs of the consumer are being carefully considered.

So what’s your library slogan?

No one is allowed in the library without a pass.

You can only check out two books at a time, and if you return them late you have to pay a fine.

No food or drinks allowed.

There will be no emailing, games, or talking in the library.

You’re not really welcome here.

“Oh no,” you say, “no one would choose any of those sayings as a tagline!”  Then why do I see these exact sentences (well, okay, maybe I’ve never actually seen that last one, but it’s been implied) in some form or another on nearly every library web page I’ve visited lately?  I won’t link to any of them here, but in my search for inspiring library sites I’ve looked at quite a few that feature a stern list of do’s and don’ts.  (Mostly don’ts.)  And most of them aren’t discreetly tucked away in a “Library Policies” corner; they are right there on the home page!

Yes, we need guidelines, and yes, we need to communicate them to our users, so a “No rules, just right” approach won’t work in the library.  But we have to “think outside the bun” and make an effort to show the many resources and services we have to offer our students, their parents, and the community.  And we need to do it in a positive way so that we emphasize what visitors can do rather than what they’re not allowed to do.

So I hope these are the kinds of slogans that describe your library:

We never stop working for you.

You’ve got questions; we’ve got answers.

That was easy.

And perhaps most importantly:

The choice of a new generation.

 

 

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Reading Plans for the New School Year!

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It’s that time again when I begin to feel a tingly excitement about the all the possibilities of a brand new school year!

Last year, with the support of my principal and a new flexible library schedule, I focused heavily on collaborating with teachers and supporting them in implementing the Common Core curriculum.  I will certainly continue that this year, but I also want to spend devote more time and effort to building a school-wide culture of reading.  One of my most important roles as a school librarian is to be a “reading cheerleader” and I have several new ideas for doing that.

I have already noted a variety of local, national, and international reading events on my school library calendar (you will see them in red), and I will spend the next two weeks rounding up teacher and parent volunteers to help with planning and execution of these programs.  Ideas that aren’t scheduled yet but that I’m working on creating include:cocky reading express

 

  • a visit from Cocky’s Reading Express (“Cocky” is the University of South Carolina mascot.  He travels around the state with USC students who read to school kids and share the importance of reading.)
  • a Teacher Book Club that involves reading and discussing chapter books that would make good classroom readalouds
  • a Family Reading Night that allows children and parents to enjoy reading activities together
  • a Reading Partnership program between our students and students from the middle school next door
  • Bedtime Stories at the Library for our Kindergarten students (and possibly a separate night for 1st graders)
  • Wee Bee Reading – a monthly story time for the 2-3 year-old siblings of our students (the name comes from the fact that our school mascot is the Busy Bee)
  • mandatory “sustained silent reading” time in the classroom each day to provide students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in pleasure reading

book buzz new logoI also want to encourage students to participate more in online book discussions via my Book Buzz blog.  I’m thinking about asking students to write guest posts for the blog to talk about their favorite books and authors.  I’d also like to see more teacher participation in the blog, so maybe I’ll ask for some guest posts from them too.

What innovative ideas are you using to build excitement for reading at your school?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

 

 

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Be a Smartie!

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April is School Library Month, and this year I’m celebrating by tooting my own horn!  Today I placed one of these 4×5 cards in each teacher’s box:

 

If you want to do something similar, here’s a link to the printable document  I made. 

Feel free to download it, modify it, and use it any way you wish.  All I ask is that you please replace the word picture with your own graphic.  (This one belongs to Janelle Kelly.)

Oh, and I’d love to see your finished product, or hear what PR projects you have planned,  if you’d like to leave a comment and share!

 

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TL Cafe Tonight: The Connected Concierge

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I went off the grid last week during Spring Break, and what better way to return than with the TL Cafe session for April!  Tonight’s topic is The Connected Concierge in Your School and Classroom, hosted by Tiffany Whitehead (aka The Mighty Little Librarian) and Nick Provenzano (aka The Nerdy Teacher) at 8:00 pm EST.

Last time I tried to participate, I had technical difficulties with my computer.  I’m crossing my fingers that I won’t have any problems accessing Blackboard tonight.  See you there!

 

Updated 9:45 pm:  No technical difficulties tonight!  If you missed the chat, catch the archive here!
 
 
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Blocked Websites Part Three

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Happy Banned Websites Awareness Day!

For the final post in my three-part series on my experience this year with blocked websites and the laws regarding Internet use in schools, I’d like to look at how these laws are affecting school Internet policy, and whether they’re being interpreted correctly.

My own reading of the Children’s Internet Protection Act  (CIPA) indicates that the law is primarily concerned with protecting minors – defined in the document as “any individual who has not attained the age of 17 years” – against “access through [school] computers to visual depictions that are obscene or child pornography.”

Computers used by adults are also required to be protected, but “An administrator, supervisor, or other person authorized by the certifying authority under subparagraph A(i) may disable the technology protecting measure concerned, during use by an adult, to enable access for bona fide research or other lawful purpose.”  This seems to leave it up to individual districts to decide whether or not they will restrict teacher use of the sites the filtering software is blocking.  Certainly there is nothing unlawful about the sites I’ve been denied access to so far this year, and there is no content at any of them that is remotely obscene or pornographic!

It’s also important to note that in the newly-released CIPA rule revisions, the FCC has determined that social network sites do not fall into one of the categories that must be blocked.  So if districts choose to block them, that is a local decision, not a CIPA mandate.

So what does the U.S. Department of Education have to say about all of this?  Let’s consult an interview with their Director of Education Technology, Karen Cator.  She says:

  • Providing access to YouTube is not a violation of CIPA rules
  • There is nothing that says websites have to be blocked for adults
  • Broad filters aren’t actually helpful; we need more nuanced filtering
  • She doesn’t know of any districts who have lost funding by allowing access to appropriate sites
  • If sites are found that are deemed appropriate they can be unblocked
  • Having the process in place for unblocking sites is definitely important
  • Teachers need to impose their professional judgement on the materials that are [made] available to their students

So, what’s the takeaway?

  1. Knowledge is power.  I need to stay informed about the laws and requirements for school internet use.
  2. The best way to sound like you know what you’re talking about is to know what you’re talking about.  My voice can be stronger now because I can speak with confidence about what is and is not required by law.
  3. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.  If I want unrestricted access to valuable web resources I must be prepared to speak up, for myself and my students.

What’s your takeaway?

 

 

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