A Titlewave of Emotion

Our annual round of standardized testing has brought with it the rare opportunity to dedicate a decent amount of time to weeding the collection. Over the past four days I have discarded  hundreds of books. It felt amazing to be able to do this kind of work during the school day, with limited interruption. Even though I am not a big fan of high stakes testing, days like this make me look forward to state testing time.

As I pulled book after book from the shelf,  added them to my cart and scanned their bar codes into the system, I smiled to myself, knowing that once it was all said and done, my hard work would be rewarded with a shiny new average collection age at least one year closer to 2013. I looked forward to uploading the data to Follett's Titlewave and seeing the average collection age change as a result of all the work I had done. I pictured the new date displayed proudly on my annual report. For the past few years I have only been able to shave one year off of the average collection age. But this time, it would be two years! I just knew it. Deliberately, I waited until I was done working for the day to do upload the collection and savor the results.  What a great way to finish my day! Excited, I sat down at the computer. After a few clicks the collection analysis appeared, but there was something wrong. It was the same. There was no change in the age. I had deleted 451 titles and there was no change in the date.

I thought to myself, "I must be right at the cusp of a date change here. A few more books should do the trick. I didn't work in the biographies or the 700's. I'll do that tomorrow and then work on summer reading stuff."
I go home, defeated, yet hoping that I am just a few books away from a date change.  I am like a gambler at a casino in front of a slot machine, feeding it money, hoping for the big payoff. This could be dangerous. I must be on the verge of making that date change. The jackpot is about to hit. It must be.



One day and 175 deleted titles later . . .
Another upload. Okay, so I've uploaded twice already. This is the last time. I swear. I have told a couple of my co-workers and even a few students about my "situation". We wait for the collection analysis to appear on my screen, refreshing over and over until it appears at the top of the list. I secretly hope they will bring me luck. And there it is. I click on the link.
Nothing. No change.
"No!" I said.
How is it that I can discard all these books and get nothing? NOTHING!
At this point I have truly given up. I check my calendar. Can I weed on Monday? No. I have to give up. There is no more time for weeding after today. Testing is over and my schedule is maxed out for the rest of the year.

But, I hear the lottery is up to $270 million! Or maybe I'll just go to school over the weekend for a few hours.

My Teaching Place

 Our district is the recipient of a National Writing Project Grant. This is very exciting. Of course I feel compelled to attend the meeting for the Language Arts Teachers. There are many reasons the school librarian should be in attendance. We do lots of writing and publishing in the library! Research and writing, go hand in hand. As a matter of fact, we've been writing thesis statements in the library all week. One of the activities we did at this meeting was a free write on our "teaching place". We could fantasize or describe reality. Here's my freewrite:

SCASL '13 Keynotes

Dr. Keith Curry Lance presented a large amount of intriguing research that left me dazed and confused. I tried to take notes during the address, but it was all I could do to keep up with the fast pace of the analysis of numbers and statistics. I need to go through his slides later and really take time to look at the numbers again. I think I will need someone handy to help me make the best use of the information he presented. Like, maybe one of my SLIS professors. I left feeling that school librarians are proven to be important to student success, but that this particular librarian is no statistical wizard.

Full house at SCASL

I truly appreciate that there is data that supports the presence of school librarians making an impact on student achievement. I need to harness that information.

From my notes:

• staffing and certification are directly related to increases in student achievement
• schools with certified librarians have a higher percentage of advanced students
• librarians positively impact writing scores
• providing librarians with support staff positively impacts student achievement. 

This infographic, found on Joyce Valenza's NeverEnding Search Blog, contains some of the general information Dr. Curry Lance presented. http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2013/03/06/school-library-infographics-research-and-advocacy/

Dr. Linda Karges-Bone's address just floored me. I felt important as a teacher librarian AND smarter after her address.

Her address was titled "The Seven Signatures of Highly Successful Schools- Can you read the handwriting on the wall?"

A career of educational consulting has led Dr. Karges-Bone to notice specific similarities and differences of highly performing / achieving school and  struggling schools. As a PhD and researcher she is invited to two types of schools- successful schools or schools that are "going extinct", that are about to be taken over by the state department of education, failing schools etc. Basically, the schools she has worked with have been either highly successful or the extreme opposite. Over time, she has noted that successful schools shared some common practices.

From my notes:

Successful schools

Dr. Karges-Bone

• honor and respect the learning differences of students
• don't try to do everything in the same way for each child or teacher
• respect differences of educators as well as students
• look at potential, (potential of students and teachers) in multiple ways not just one, and not just in the form of standardized tests.

The Seven Signatures

1.  Patience and proof guide instruction and assessment. Successful schools allow programs to settle in and do their work and give teachers time to find their rhythm.

2. Successful schools display positive messages that increase performance.
These schools have a good feeling or tone which is not to be confused with  loose trite "self esteem " efforts. Growth praise is important - give specific tactical  praise. This specific type of praise is proven to impact the brain.
Research proves that just telling someone good job shuts down the brain. The comment is ignored, dismissed. Specific praise, however, impacts the brain positively. There is more information on how to praise people effectively.

3. A powerful push to literacy exists in successful schools.

4. Highly successful schools have a pleasing, sensory rich environment for students to enjoy and learn in with displays of people's work throughout the campus.

5. Excellent schools are pushed by long range planning leading to change. Planning three years out not three months out. Data is considered from a long term aspect.

6. Successful schools are poised for the dynamic and are even defiant. They say no to practices and programs that do not support their mission and beliefs.

7. Highly Successful schools are piloted by teachers who are nurtured and free to pursue their passions. The children are not first, the adults are! Teachers cannot do their work or even good work if they do not feel comfortable, nurtured, and then they can put children first.  Teachers are treated very well in highly successful schools, not overworked, not continually given more, more, more to do, their time is respected and they are paid for extra work. Mundane tasks are done for them so they can focus on the students. These schools invest in people not programs.

Struggling schools are forgetting steps in the learning cycle. They are skipping motivation, apprehending and focus and going straight to acquisition, retention recall, generalization.

Children who can't read on grade level by age nine probably never will be able to read on grade level. Those children have a higher incarceration rate. Some states use reading scores to predict the number of prison beds they need.

All said and done, these two keynotes were fantastic as far as leaving me with much more than I came with, more tools to advocate with. 

My next post will feature the notable sessions I attended at SCASL '13. 

Notes from the AASL Fall Forum

Henry Jenkins, Kristin Fontichiaro and Barbara Jansen helped school librarians develop a better understanding of transliteracy and reading in a participatory culture in a warm collegial atmosphere at the AASL Fall Forum this past Friday and Saturday. David Lankes had an emergency that forced him to cancel. He was missed.

Here is a list of general big ideas, quotes and resources that I came away with and you might find useful too.

*Henry Jenkins’ definition of Participatory Culture – “1. Relatively low barriers for engagement. 2. Strong support for sharing creations with others. 3. Informal mentorship. 4. Members believe their contributions matter. 5. Care about others’ opinions of self and work. Not every member must contribute, but all must believe that they are free to contribute when ready and that what they contribute will be appropriately valued.”

*Transliteracy Definition - I latched on to one of the definitions  that Kristin Fontichiaro had in one of her slides: “Transliteracy describes a set of skills to “read”, create, negotiate, interact with, and understand content in many genres or formats and the ability to move between them.”  Visit her blog to view her slides. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know what transliteracy is!

*The Chicago Public Library’s You Media does an excellent job of facilitating learning experiences and mixing books and technology. School librarians can get plenty of ideas and inspiration from the YouMedia programs and physical space.

*School librarians are in the perfect position to “bridge the gap of participation” in reading and online communities. Participating is creating.

*Check out the You Tube Video of the Professor and Participatory culture and the  Project New Media Literacies website –Lots to get here! http://playnml.wikispaces.com/PLAY%21

*Jenkins’ Four C’s of Participatory Culture = Collaborate, Circulate, Connect, Create

*Fontichiaro re-mixed the Four C’s above into six, adding cogitate and comprehend

*Check out the Harry Potter Alliance at http://thehpalliance.org/

*We can learn a great deal from remaking, mashing up and rewriting. An excellent example of this is Ricardo Pitts-Wiley’s work with incarcerated and at risk youth re-writing Moby Dick. Read Henry Jenkins’ blog post to learn more about this and check out MC Lars’s Moby Dick Rap,  “Ahab.”  

*An idea for active novel reading: give each student a photocopy of a page of a book and let them annotate and illustrate it.

* Teach students that Wikipedia is a process not a product.

*Check out Google Glasses! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSnB06um5r4 and Google car

*If a student’s only audience is his/her teacher, authenticity and learning potential becomes limited.

* Charles Friedman’s definition of Informantics is person plus computer is greater than person.In this same spirit, student plus computer plus school should be greater than student plus computer. Are we using technology in a way that makes this true? Is technology use in education enhancing our students’ content knowledge? Fontichiaro asked:  “How far have we come in using computers to promote cognitive growth in the past 35ish years?” 

*My understanding of the culminating point that  Fontichiaro made in her presentation is that Vigorous learning with technology should: focus on content and curriculum, move students toward synthesis, be authentic and meaningful to the student, require a strong understanding of the genre or format being used to demonstrate learning, be as student-centered as possible, be greater than or enhance what a student could do without the technology.

*We looked at an entertaining YouTube video of a student’sHamlet report and discussed whether there was evidence of any of the elements above.  Can you spot the learning?

*What does a good technology project look like? Attendees worked collaboratively in three different states to explore this question. See the documents here : http://bitly.com/bundles/activelearning/4

Barbara Jansen and Henry Jenkins wrapped up the forum together. I appreciated their uplifting and thoughtful messages.  My head was spinning with all the learning! I know my students and faculty are going to benefit from everything I learned from this experience. 

We should all be #Wonder Schools

I have blogged about my experiences with our school-wide read aloud of Wonder twice before in this blog. We began on August 23rd. Here are some of the most memorable parts of my experience with this school-wide read aloud:

Farting and the Superintendent

It was day two of our read-aloud.Our school district's superintendent was in our building to meet with the principal. Of course, this is when we are reading the story of Auggie's birth, over the intercom. Those of you who have read this book will probably remember the farting nurse. Did I tell you we were reading over the intercom and the Superintendent was there?

It was so funny, but I was so afraid! Were we going to get in trouble? How could I have forgotten about this part?  I thought about it some more. That's when I remembered how important it is for our students to see reading as something that can be hysterically funny and entertaining one minute and serious or sad the next. Reading is not boring! We used that part and the part about Mr. Butt and Mr. Tushman to discuss comic relief with our students. How heavy would this story be if there weren't some really good funny parts mixed in?

Going Long
We had 20 minutes each morning for reading Wonder. This is our school's SSR time. We decided to read for as close to 15 minutes as possible to allow time for discussion. One day, one of our two awesome readers, who are now known as "The Wonder Girls", said she wanted to read up to a certain point in the book, the part where Auggie and Jack end up getting in a fight while they are at camp. She said we might end up going over our time. I knew this might be trouble. But, how could I say no? How could we stop at such a pivotal point? Big mistake. Never mess with teacher's planning time. At least give advanced notice if you are going to eat into someone's planning period. Everyone knows that! When our time was up, even though we were still reading, one or two teachers released their classes. I was so mad. How could they?  I composed an angry email, Before I sent it, I asked my teacher-friend Ruth to read it.

Ruth read it and turned to me. She said two words, "Choose Kind." Then she giggled.

I said, "Yeah, they should have!" I put my hands on my hips and turned to look at her, nodding. Righteous.

She said, "No, you should."

What could I say to that? This middle-aged Jedi still has a lot to learn. Wonder has been great for me. I deleted the email and felt better immediately. Yes, I am the owner of several Wayne Dyer books and CDs. I guess it's time to re-visit them!

The End
We finished the book this past Friday, September 27th. We had outstanding teacher and student participation. The book got rave reviews. The readers got rave reviews. Students and teachers are blogging about the book on our Wonder Blog. Reading those last few chapters was not easy for the Wonder girls. Such an awesome, moving ending. We played snips of the songs that Auggie mentions, like "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" and "Light and Day" it was beautiful. Will we ever do anything that awesome again?

Now, our teachers are returning their copies of Wonder and students are clamoring to check them out.
To read the book again. To bring it home to their family. To share it. They are still talking about this book. They want a sequel. They are asking me for "books like Wonder." Is that a Nerdy Blog post yet?

They are still writing about this book. Many teachers had their students journaling in reader's response journals. Now, we are having a writing contest called "The Daisy Chapter". Students are writing a chapter from Daisy the dog's point of view.  This was a student's idea! How awesome is that?

The goodness of Wonder lives on, even after we are finished reading it. We are all better for having read it.
Having read it together, like a family, makes us even better still. The world would be a better place if we were all #Wonder Schools.

Book Mobile

The mornings are a crazy time at my library. Crazy in a good way. Busy. Busy with students using their library in ways they choose. I wish we could accommodate more students. With MAP testing and classes, and oh my! here comes the book fair next week, sometimes students don't get an opportunity to come check out a book. I thought I would try sending a book cart full of books down the hallways during that oh-so boring time in the morning before homeroom starts.

I heard another librarian mention this on Twitter, Facebook or a list-serve somewhere, so it is not an original idea. This is how our new "book mobile" was born. We have a two sided, six shelf book cart and library helpers push the cart down the halls in the mornings. They also have a wheeled crate-style basket that we are using as a mobile book return bin. Check outs are recorded by hand and transferred into the computer by me, later. The students and teachers like this.

Might I lose a book or two in this process? Yes. Might I gain more readers and keep my students supplied with books? Yes. Getting books into students hands is always going to trump the possibility of loss.

The library helpers love running the book mobile and have even decorated it with duct tape. When the newly remodeled book mobile debuted, the library helpers told me some of the students applauded them! Wow! How awesome is that?

The book mobile also helps divert some of the books that are waiting to be shelved to another "purpose".

The Daisy Chapter

Here is an update on our school-wide read aloud of Wonder.

A student said, "Wouldn't it be neat if there were a chapter from Daisy's point of view?"

Of course! What a wonderful idea?  And who would be the perfect people to write that chapter?
Our students!

And so, "The Daisy Chapter" Writing Contest was born. We have already received one entry!