Auntie Librarian: librarians

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It's working! The Super Reader cards are starting to come in. Students are having conversations with their teachers and with me about the books they are reading.

I am enjoying these conversations. There have only been a couple of students who needed to go back and re-read because they could not have a conversation about one of their books. After discussing the book in general and delving into deeper questions, it is quickly obvious if we have a faker. At that point in the conversation, usually the student is quick to fess up that they did not read or did not "finish" the book they were talking about. Because of the nature of these conversations it has not been awkward to have to tell a student to go back and read and try again. I usually ask them if they didn't finish the book and tell them to, "Go finish that book and come back to talk to me."

The students took me by surprise and I had to put a rush order in for the level two cards. I did not think they would be ready for them so quickly. I think I like the level two cards even better than the level one cards. I love seeing all the writing on the cards that have been submitted, the combination of two or three people's writing, page counts and so on. It feels good to see something I made being used and enjoyed.

This is definitely getting a better response than the reading log based programs I have done in the past. I am looking into doing a book fair sneak peak as our first reward for those who have already finished the first level. Here's what I think is making a difference aside from the cool factor of the cards.

The program keeps moving, the students can turn in a level one card and move on to level two at anytime during the year. Rewards are scheduled, but also unannounced or random. For example, I am sending pencils, erasers and grippers to all the students who have already turned in a card. Anytime a student turns in a card they will get a "treat" sent to them in homeroom. They will also qualify for other rewards. The new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book coming out in November? What a great way to draw for a copy of the book or first check out rights!
Book length. There was some debate over whether we should use 250 pages or 200 pages to count for a book. We decided on 200 pages and I think that is helping. Students have to read six books or a total of 1,200 pages. This is an obtainable goal.
Portability. Many students carry their card in their plastic lanyard along with their school id.

This is just the beginning. Hopefully we will see more success with this program as the year progresses.

I went to the SCASL conference this past Thursday and Friday. The conference was awesome. It was time and money well spent. I am up to my ears in technology at school and I have been neglecting the book part of my job. I chose to attend sessions without a technology focus as a librarian-chakra balancing prescription. I think it worked. Here are a few of the tools, ideas, tips and tricks that I will be returning to and sharing with my fellow teachers.

At the Reimagining Education @ Your Library session with Janet Boltjes & Valerie Byrd-Fort:

Check out the Bud the Teacher Blog. Wow. (I needed a Kleenex for his provocateur video.) The post the presenters featured, Safe Places and What is Yet to Come is about School Libraries. I think I may have to dedicate a post to this article. Powerful Stuff.
Reimagine Ed, coolness! Check it out.
Libraries need to be the place where students go when they want to create something.

Improv rules can help you. The ones I learned about at this conference are: 1. Listen, 2. My idea is good, your idea is better, 3. Say YES, AND. 4. Ask What if? 5. Agree. (Game Changer!)
Marker boards as creative spaces in the library
A stage in the library? Hmm. Cool idea.
Must get furniture sliders!

At Martha Taylor's session, "Feeling Overwhelmed? Apply the KISS Principle"

A way to practice citations with class check outs or orientation is to have students create simple citations of one of the books they are checking out. Put names on the citations slips, use them in a drawing.
Book citations can be exit slips
I need to be using student and teacher evaluations for every unit I teach with one of my colleagues. This documents what was taught, and the results, and gives feedback for improvement. I can see where this would be very helpful for advocacy efforts. (instructional evidence)
After working with a class, look at students finished products and determine the percentage of students who used high quality sites in their research. (instructional evidence)
Provide a generous circulation allowance for non-fiction items.
Check out those live scribe pens.

At "Research, Welcome to the Big Easy" with Connie McClanahan & Denise McDougal

Think about offering a proofreading service to my students. Require papers to be submitted 24 hours in advance. At least offer bibliography checking.
Try starting with books first when researching because the information is limited and not as overwhelming. This will help students select a focus and refine what they want to discuss in their paper or project.
When collaborating with teachers on class research projects we must teach the research process.
We need to go back to "old school" style research projects and require note cards to discourage plagiarism.
Copy four note cards on a piece of paper to eliminate the lost note cards problem.
Consider limiting students to one sheet of paper per source.
Students can cut up the paper and organize note cards into topical sections when writing.
Check the source cards and then let students go on to the next step.
I think I'll use these suggestions with my "mini research paper" and see what happens.

At Dr. Berkowitz's Keynote, "Change or Start Looking for a New Job"

We should discourage overuse of topical research.
Librarians should keep a lesson plan book.
Document and report the student work that was done in the library.
Use assessments to evaluate successes of instructional strategies.
Programs should be defined, predictable, measured and reported
"We teach success.", "We teach process."

Donalyn Miller's Keynote - check out the slide share. How do you get your students to read over 6,000 books using no extrinsic motivation (grades, AR, incentive parties)?

Dr. Shannon's introduction of Donalyn Miller made me cry.
Donalyn Miller is coming out with a new book called Reading in the Wild!
Great idea, have students make signs at the end of the year with the number of books they have read.
Krashen - The single most important factor in reading skill is independent reading.
University of Oxford study - Reading books is the only out of school activity for sixteen-year-olds that is tied to getting a managerial or professional job.
Reading fosters empathy
We need more reading time beyond SSR.
During SSR, everyone needs to do nothing but read . That is not happening.
Allington - higher achieving students read three times as much as lower achieving students
To carve out more reading time: eliminate bell ringers and fast finisher activities, make explicit reading plans.
We must increase students access and exposure to books. Don't look at classroom libraries as threats.
Reading doors - great idea. All faculty makes one showing what they are reading.
Donalyn Miller helped create the Nerdy Book Club! Look for my post in April!
I need to read The One and Only Ivan. ( I needed a Kleenex just listening to her talk about it.)
I also attended one of her sessions and met a couple dozen new books that I can't wait to tell my students about.

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Super Reader Card Program Taking Off

Testing in the Library? What's a Librarian to Do? The MAP Meltdown.

What I Learned at the SCASL Conference

What this Librarian Looks Like

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