Speak Their Language

*This post was written by Carla Leake Crews, a new librarian at Shades Valley/JCIB. Welcome, Carla!

Have you ever posted a sign with important information for students, only to have it go completely unnoticed by them? Get their attention by sending them a text! Well, a fake text, that is. 

At www.ifaketext.com, you can create text messages for the information you want students to read. This free site doesn’t actually send a text message; it generates an iPhone-like image that you can then print and post in your library or embed on your website. 

Our library used the site to create 8.5x11 signs for our computer area. We posted one that encourages students to ask for help when needed and another that addresses the cost of printing. Other ideas for library use include:

•  posting OPAC search tips
•  advertising a book fair
• providing conversational-style book recommendations

 The fake texts we created include correct spelling and grammar, as I just couldn’t bring myself to “rit lyke thiz ok? LOL. L8r! J” for an academic setting. If you’re uber-hip, perhaps you might create something in a text language. Your students will love it! The site only generates about 12-14 short lines of text, so information has to be concise. Students could use this site to create poetry, have fun with vocabulary words, or have a "conversation" with their favorite literary character.

More ideas for educators can be found at http://www.tammyworcester.com/TipOfWeek/TammyWTechTipOfWeek/Entries/2012/1/3_Tip_109_-_iFake_Text.html. Between polling a few students and watching others’ reactions, these posters appear to have passed the "cool" test. And, best of all, students actually take the time to read the information.

First Friday Recap: Alabama Virtual Library

Last week I and several others from our district attended January First Friday session, sponsored by the State Department of Education. The presenter was Deloris Carlito, and her topic was the Alabama Virtual Library.

The AVL is a resource cherished by every one of us, and we have several blog posts written here about ways to maximize the databases in our schools. Though we may have extensive experience using this great storehouse of information, there is always room for us to grow and add to our knowledge about the various databases.

One of Mrs. Carlito's points of emphasis that resonated with me were the three cornerstones of the Alabama Virtual Library:

• Equity
• Economy
• Excellence

There remains enormous variety in the social, economic, and ethnic diversity of our schools, both in the district and around the state. The AVL levels the playing field by providing 24 hour, free access to high quality information resources. It is obviously to our economic advantage to support use of the AVL, as we are not charged any fees as schools or individual users whatsoever to gain access. The resources included are top quality, highly recommended sources of information; over and again they prove their worth as solid, reliable, multifaceted sources to use with and recommend to our students and their families.

Suggestions she made for school librarians for promoting the AVL include:

1. Set the AVL as your library/computer lab home page. 
2. Create guides for teacher and student use.
3. Provide teacher PD on the Alabama Virtual Library.
4. Encourage teachers not to accept assignments unless the references list includes databases from the AVL. 

We must remember that we have to USE the AVL or we LOSE the AVL. Any opportunity we can take to thank our legislators for their continued support of the Alabama Virtual Library (or let our students share their thanks as well) will go a long way in securing this resource for our students.

Another point of interest Mrs. Carlito mentioned was the Helpdesk on the AVL site. If a user has any issues whatsoever accessing the resources or if a librarian needs training materials, use the Helpdesk to request materials (mouse pads, bookmarks, etc.) or assistance.

One of my most valued take-aways from this First Friday session was learning how to sort topic/keyword searches by Lexile level to ensure all students are reading the same topic on their individual grade level. For example, if you are working with a 5th grade class and they are researching American presidents, tailor each child's advanced search to their Lexile level, and boom! Everyone is reading material on their independent level yet also meeting their needs. Not too hard, not too easy, but "Juuust right!" (Elementary folks who do the Goldisocks lesson will totally get this.)

Okay, so maybe you're like me and have no frame of reference for Lexile levels. After all, many schools utilize the Renaissance Learning products to assess student's individual reading levels. Here is a link that can provide more information about Lexile levels and their grade level equivalent. It's not all inclusive, but it's a good start.

http://www.lexile.com/about-lexile/grade-equivalent/grade-equivalent-chart/

Who else attended the session? What were your take-aways from this presentation?

Living in a mobile world

Recently I read this piece about the sudden prevalence of mobile technology, and it certainly affirms changing aspects of my own learning community.

This is changing everything we know about how we work with students and their families!

Enduring Values

I met Doug Johnson in 2009, as the coordinator for the Alabama School Library Association's annual summer conference. Doug was our keynote speaker, and one of the most enjoyable, creative, and dynamic speakers we had ever heard. Doug is a very respected thinker in the school library world. He has his feet on the ground in the technology world, but nobody knows better than us how tightly technology and school librarianship go hand in hand.

This post on his Blue Skunk Blog is a good one for us to keep in mind as we keep our feet to the ground working with children every day, but also striving for more in our profession. This post stirs reflection on your current practice as evenly as it is inspiring to achieve deeper and more lasting impact on our sweet babies.

Do school librarians have "enduring values?"

Common Core Toolkit (Repost)

*Today's post is a repeat of the original shared by Meg Brooke, the school librarian at Shades Valley High School/JCIB. 

Testing usually makes me not look forward to going to work.  Those times of staring into space and thinking about all of the work that needs to be done is frustrating.  This testing week, however, is different.  I’m incarcerated in my office, unable to leave for 3 whole mornings while testing goes on in the library with other administrators and facilitators, allowing me to get uninterrupted work time!  Whoopie!  Life is good!

One thing I’ve done today is to catch up on some PD reading, and I’d love to share an interesting 1-page article from the November/December 2011 LMC written by Julie Walker, AASL’s executive director. It’s an article that can help us be leaders with our library programs as our schools implement standards.  Julie writes about the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, the P21, and how librarians can be leaders in this movement that is a requirement in the Race to the Top.  She explains that P21‘s CCSS (Common Core State Standards) leadership has created a downloadable toolkit to help guide educators through P21.   AASL has gone even farther by offering a “crosswalk” as well as a lesson plan database so that school librarians can become leaders in implementing these Common Core State Standards.  Using these tools from AASL can enable us to demonstrate how our particular school’s library program can be a method in accomplishing the implementation of these standards.

To see, download, and print the tools from the article, click on the following links:

P21 Toolkit:       www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1005&Itemid=236

AASL Crosswalk: 

www.ala.org/aasl/commoncorecrosswalk

AASL Lesson Plan Database: 

www.ala.org/aasl/lessonplandatabase

This database was an awesome resource!  Lessons with titles like Creating 21^st Century Superheroes; It’s Debatable; and Rock Star Road Trip will definitely create interest in our libraries while implementing the Common Core and AASL standards for the 21^st century learner.  I’d love for us to create some kind of similar database where we could share lesson plans, multimedia presentations, etc. with each other.  We have some great thinkers/doers/presenters in our group, and we could bank on others’ talents tweaking them to meet our particular needs instead of reinventing the wheel!

Walker, Julie. "Introducing the P21 Common Core Toolkit." LMC. 30.3 (2011): 21. Print.

The Kindergarten

*Today's post was written by Jennifer Anders, the school librarian at West Jefferson Elementary. 

I can’t think of a more rewarding job than being the School Librarian. I get as excited as the students when I turn them on to new information or share a really great book with them. I love helping them create digital products and write reports for their classes. I can even enjoy doing a good puppet show every once in a while or even a little Reader’s Theatre. I have taught many students how to look up a book using the OPAC or even simply how to use a computer mouse. I can even drive classes to the public library to get library cards or to a local play. I am not faint hearted. Except when it comes to Kindergarten.

Nothing scares me more than a class of five year olds that can’t tie their shoes, walk in a line or raise their hand to ask a question. I am terrified of looking deep into their mouths to examine the latest loose or missing tooth. I’m afraid they won’t get Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and will laugh in all the wrong places. I am petrified when one wants to go to the bathroom and then they all need to go. Needless to say, they haven’t always gotten my best teaching.

However, the neatest thing happened the last week before the break. We have been studying Jan Brett, and I read them the Gingerbread Baby. I found this incredibly cool site, http://www.highlightskids.com/flash/gingerbread-house, where the kids could create their own gingerbread houses. So I decided to let everyone take turns adding parts to it using the interactive whiteboard. I just knew there would be arguing, pushing and complaining because they had to take turns, or some kind of free for all with the kids that had to wait. I just have to say, I completely underestimated these little guys. They were completely engrossed in the project and attentive to one another. 

Now, I wonder what we can do next? 

Happy New Year!

Welcome back, friends! I hope you have had a terrific winter break and are feeling rested and ready for round two of this school year.

I wanted to share once again that if you are interested in sharing an idea, website, teaching tool, instructional strategy, organizational technique, or professional research on LibraryVision, please feel free to email it to me (a Google doc, Word doc, or plain old email all work great). Fret not over a word limit, but if you need some guidance I am noticing that most of our posts average around 200 words. Images are always nice for our more visual learners, if you have them.

This blog is a social learning network, so the more contributors we have, the more meaningful it will be for all.