Getting Ready & Getting Focused!

I have always loved the beginning of the school year! It is a time for new beginnings for everyone-- students, staff, and even our teaching environment!  After a wonderful vacation, I am ready for the new school year and will be in the library this week getting things ready.  Here is a before picture of our library:

 

 



It is a little fuzzy, but my brain is also a little fuzzy with all of the ideas I have for our physical space, as well as the lessons I want to teach, and the books I want to share, and the tools I want to use, and.... you get the picture.  There is a lot to do, but I can't wait to tackle my to-do list!

One of the things that I'll be using this year to become less "fuzzy" and more focused is the book 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done by Peter Bregman. 

 

The premise of the book is that we should focus on five areas that will have the greatest impact on our life, and make sure that each day, the majority of the things on our to-do list are focused on these areas. That by spending just 18 minutes (some in the morning, some throughout the day, and some at the end of the day) we should stay on track. I'm ready to try!

 

And, as usual, my Twitter PLN has offered support!  Several others are also reading this book and a Google Hangout is in the works so that we can share our progress!  Thanks to Sherry & Cynthia for holding me accountable for staying focused & getting things done!!

 

Hopefully, by the end of the week, the picture will be clearer, and things will be marked off my to-do list.  The RIGHT THINGS! 

 

How do you stay focused?  I would love to see how other libraries are coming along as we prepare to welcome our students back!

 

Happy Back to School!



Vacations Help Clear the Mind! EdCamp Fort Worth Experience

It took a vacation to get my mind clear enough to share my first Edcamp experience!  We spent a cool 6 days in Vancouver & Whistler, BC Canada and it was WONDERFUL!!

Before that though, I spent a Saturday at Edcamp Fort Worth, hosted by some great people in Keller ISD!  I had seen information on Twitter about Edcamp and I was excited to find one so close.  Two teachers and two librarians from our district went, each with our own individual focus.  I don't think any of us left disappointed!  And we are all excited about the next one, Edcamp Dallas!


The great part about an Edcamp is that it is so informal and provides opportunities for personal professional learning with peers.  When we first arrived, we listed topics we were interested in learning about on sticky notes and then grouped them on a window with like notes.  The sessions were then chosen from those and put into time slots. 

An easy tool to help with organization of your edcamp experience was the guidebook that I downloaded before I got there.  I could keep up with the sessions I wanted to participate in, and that is exactly what it was, PARTICIPATORY.  In two of the sessions, there were people who were more knowledgeable than most, but in two sessions, we just all shared and tried out things while we were in there together.  None of the sessions were lecture or just one person talking.  This is how Edcamps should be from what I've learned!  :)

The first session I chose was on Evernote, an organizational tool that can be used on iPads, as well as PCs.  It is a way to organize documents, websites, photos, and more in different "notebooks"  The notes can be tagged for easy access.  While in the sessions, I learned  how to create different notebooks, which I had not done with all of my notes.  Another attendee showed how she had created a checklist in Evernote to use for the beginning of school, which was interactive.  She was able to check off supplies/notes, etc for the students as they brought them in.  So much better than all of the paper checklists!  Evernote is definitely a tool I will be using this year to stay organized!

Next, I went to a session on Genius Hour, which is something we are interested in implementing at our school. It is based on Google's 20% time, where employees are allowed to pursue their passions & interest for 20% of the work time.  Amazingly enough, 50% of the new ideas put into use came during this creative exploration time. For school use, students & staff would be able to pursue their own interests during Genius Hour. Teachers would set aside a certain amount of time for students to work on their "passion projects." It was described as "messy" and "loud" but we are were still interested!  :)

While in the session, people shared how they are planning to use genius hour in their classroom. Some teachers plant to put no parameters on the projects, while others wanted to offer a little more guidance to their students.  I loved that each person could make it their own, which is an important part of this. Genius Hour, if nothing else, is individualized & personal!  All of this made me stop and think of how I could support classroom teachers with genius hour using our new Makerspaces in the library.  Our engineering makerspace, as well as the multi-media makerspace would fit in nicely with genius hour!  Light bulbs were definitely going on!

In addition to these two great sessions, I also went to one on Augmented Reality. This is something I had only heard of, and still am a long way from implementing, but it was oh so cool!!  I'll have to work on it during my own "genius hour" and look at the ways it can be used in the library. The last one I went to was on Google Docs, and although I comfortably use Google Docs, I decided to stay as a refresher, not to mention, I had so much already going on in my brain that I didn't think I could handle anything else new!  ;)

My first Edcamp experience was GREAT!  I learned quite a bit in a short amount of time and in a very relaxed setting. I was able to meet some of my Twitter PLN face to face, as well as make new connections!  The people who put it on did a fantastic job, and it ran very smoothly! AND there were door prizes!! 

 I can't wait to attend my next edcamp:

EdcampDallas
Oct 12th 2013
Plano, Tx (Sockwell Center)

Have you been to an edcamp?  What are your thoughts?  Have you helped present or facilitate at one? I'm hoping to try that in the near future....  Any advice? :)

Learning, Connecting, Growing

This past week, I had a few opportunities to learn and share with other educators. From blogging to Twitter to faculty book club meeting to attending my first Edcamp, it was definitely a FULL week!

On Tuesday, I worked with teachers and librarians on blogging. Each person was at a different place, some had an active blog but just wanted to add some WOW to it, while others had not yet begun to blog.

I went with Blogger, since that is the one I am most familiar with and helped teachers set up a Google account and then create  and "decorate" their blog. Sometimes, especially with elementary teachers, we can't even begin until we are pleased with the look! :)

 In addition to teachers & librarians, our diagnostician came to the session, wanting help not only with blogging, but also finding relevant blogs to follow.  By searching topics and people, we were able to find blogs that would be beneficial.  Some decided to add these to their blog page under "My Blog List" so that it was easy to follow. 

There was a really good discussion about "audiences" for our blog and who we are targeting.  We all agreed that our hope is that our school families are reading them, acknowledging though that more often it is other teachers & librarians.  Everyone brainstormed ways to draw in our school families, and decided one way is to make sure there is more coverage of daily events with pictures!  :)



The best part of the day was the informal sharing that happened as we all moved forward with our blogging skills!  I love how Mrs. Abdur-Razzaaq added video of her new genre-fied fiction section to her Crockett Elementary Library blog!  

It was fun working with each other to create informative blogs for our students & families!


On Wednesday, I met with a few teachers to help them create Personal Learning Networks (PLN)on Twitter.  Again, we started where each person was, some without a Twitter account, some with "eggs" as profile pictures, and others with wanting to find people to follow. 

I am passionate about sharing the benefits of establishing a PLN with colleagues and was excited about the opportunity to "hook" a few new people!  :)  We discussed the difference between using Facebook and Twitter, separating your personal and professional Twitter accounts, and connecting with people who will inspire and energize you! The professional learning opportunities that come up from following people on Twitter are fabulous!  The weekly chats are plentiful!  Just look at this Tweet for Jerry Blumengarten, who is an incredible asset to any PLN:

Weekly Twitter Educational Chat Schedule http://t.co/lsnhn5kNM9 Every day you can learn and share with a global audience.
— Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1) July 29, 2013

Webinars are often shared on Twitter, as well as conferences.  And then there is the daily interaction between people who create, collaborate and share!  This is the best place to personalize your professional learning!  (see, I told you I was passionate about this!  ;) )

When everyone left, they had their account set up, people to follow, and had posted at least one tweet!  Woohoo! 
 
Most of the people working on Twitter are also members of our faculty book club, which happened to be meeting right after.  Each month we choose a book to read and then meet to discuss it. Now that more of us are on Twitter, we are also using #curtisbookclub when talking about our books.  We read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn for this month's book and the discussion was LIVELY to say the least! (This is NOT a children's book, definitely for "mature audiences.")  The delicious treats at Cup and Cake in downtown Weatherford made the discussion even better!

Our next selection is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and we will meet in a few weeks for this discussion.  This is another adult book, but as I have recently been reminded, teachers need to be READERS to teach READERS!  :)  We will work in children's books during the school year, but for the end of summer, this seems good!  I'm taking it with me on my end of summer trip next week. 

 

 

Edcamp Fort Worth was so awesome, it deserves its own post! More to come!

 

Happy Reading AND Happy Learning!



Summer Throwdown (Attacking my TBR Stack!)

I am enjoying participating with other readers in the Summer Throwdown , which in the past has been a friendly competition between teachers and librarians to see who could read the most books. This year, readers are just competing against their own TBR (To Be Read) stack, which mine stays miles high!  This competition was started by some teachers & librarians I follow, or have started following, on Twitter (Jillian @heisereads, Brian, @brianwyzlic, Sherry @LibraryFanatic, and Kathy @thebrainlair).  Over 100 other teachers and librarians are participating in the contest, and hopefully the TBR stacks are shrinking!  :)

Today, I am beginning my 13th Texas Bluebonnet nominee for this year.  The book is called Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood. The book is set in Mississippi in 1964 and deals with the racial tension during that time period.  Glory Be, just days before her 12th birthday, is worried about the threat of the community pool being closed during the heat of the summer due to "outside agitators" trying to make it possible for ALL in the community to swim.  I've just started, but will share more about the book when I finish!

I set my goal at 20 books, and you can see to the left what books I have read so far.  At the halfway point, I am well on my way (18 books so far!) and anticipate updating my goal to 30 books! 

What are you reading on this rare, rainy cool JULY day in Texas?? It is a PERFECT day to curl up with a book!

A Delicious Story

A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A TANGLE OF KNOTS is a fantastically woven tale of Cady, an orphan, and how her life intertwines with a host of other characters. Each character has a Talent, or is Fair (without an identified Talent.) Cady's talent is baking the perfect cake for each person, a talent she usually uses for Adoption Day parties or baking contests. Unfortunately, Miss Mallory, who has a Talent for matching children to families, has yet to find the perfect family for Cady, until Toby enters the picture. Each character seems to hold secrets that help to add an air of mystery to the book. And as you go along, you wonder how the knots will untangle and the puzzle will fall perfectly into place. This would be a wonderful read aloud for elementary age students!
To add to this fabulous story, each person has a cake and recipe designated for them. You can find the author, Lisa Graff sharing the recipe for Miss Mallory's Peach Cake here http://www.lisagraff.com/peach-cake-r... .

View all my reviews

What am I reading about today? Babe & Pluto

Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

#Bookaday As a 7 year-old, George Ruth skips school and steals money from a nearby saloon. His parents are out of patience with him and take George to Saint Mary's Industrial School for Boys. While there, George discovers baseball, and so begins the life of Babe Ruth. The story of Babe Ruth is accompanied by colorful illustrations that perfectly capture the time and personality of Babe. This will be an enjoyable read for baseball fans of all ages. In addition, the messages in the story, about hard work, having good mentors, and remembering the people who helped you along the way, will provide opportunities for great conversation.

Pluto's Secret: An Icy World's Tale of Discovery by Margaret Weitekamp
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whimsical illustrations and background information about the discovery and naming of Pluto make this a great addition to a solar system collection. An explanation as to why Pluto was removed from the list of planets helps readers grasp the definition of a planet. The authors help young readers by providing definitions and pronunciations of unfamiliar terms, as well as adding actual photographs, a glossary, and "Who's Who" at the back of the book.

View all my reviews

Summer Reading Opportunities

We had our 2nd Summer Library Checkout time today and, although it got off to a slow, hot start, it was another success!  Again, almost 40 people came to the library today along with three teachers, two administrators, and an additional librarian! Students and families used the iPads, computers, microscopes, and read books.  Bookmarks were created and puzzles completed.  On top of all that, students walked out the door with BOOKS!  It was another fun morning, and I can't wait until July 9th for our next summer library time! 




Brothers bonding over books.

Not only does it give the kiddos something to do, the
adults like the chance to visit!



Reagan shared with me how she finds great books to

read by looking at reviews by her favorite reviewer on

YouTube. Guess who will be using our new Media Makerspace

and reviewing books for Curtis students!

 

 

Another way students are showing their love of reading is by logging pages and hours read on Biblionasium.  So far, students have logged in 8 hours 49 minutes of reading and 512 pages! Readers can earn BookFair Bucks by participating in summer reading programs such as this or the Weatherford Public Library's summer reading program. 





One of the challenges I have set for our 3rd-6th grade students is to read the Texas Bluebonnet Nominees.  There are 20 books that are nominated, and students who read at least 5 books are able to vote on their favorite.  The actual winner is chosen by students who cast their votes!  Here is a link to the books:

Texas Bluebonnet Nominees

I have read ten of them, and am starting Freaky Fast Frankie Joe by Lutricia Clifton this evening.  I have hear that it is a book that will catch you and keep you reading!  Sounds like a perfect summer evening book!

 

 

Happy Reading! Here's hoping you find the perfect book for you!

 

 

Reading the Texas Bluebonnet Nominees

Jangles: A Big Fish Story by David Shannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A dad shares a whale of a tale with his son about Jangles, the fish that always got away, until... Told with vibrant illustrations, this story by David Shannon is sure to delight young fishermen, as well as the adults who share this story with them. The humor in the story made me smile as I read lines such as, "Supposedly he gave the baby's momma a dirty look as if to say, What are you doing bringing your precious little baby out here in a tippy old canoe?!"

Be sure to find this book at the library and record it on your Texas Bluebonnet log! View all my reviews

Curtis LMC Summer Checkout

We had such a good time today at our first Summer Library Check-Out!! There were almost 40 kiddos, parents & teachers! It made my heart happy to have summer visitors in the library! Enjoy a view into our morning! 

Click below for more pictures of our day!

Curtis summer book check out

Where did the time go?

I can't believe we are almost at the end of this school year!  AND I can't believe it has been over a month since I have posted anything!  Lots of things have distracted me (testing, purchasing for this year, planning & budgeting for next year, and my oldest daughter's college graduation) but we have still been very busy in the Curtis Library Media Center!  Here is a re-cap of our fun:

At the end of April, we celebrated Poem in Your Pocket Day by reading poetry via Skype with students in Stephenville with their librarian, Lura Manley.  The students took turns sharing poems for two voices.  

Mrs. Pitman and her 5th grade students provided an opportunity to work together on a Glogster project. The students were creating presentations on inventors and were looking for a new tool.  It is wonderful to see how quickly students can learn a new tool and then teach their peers!  The students enjoyed using Glogster once they figured out all of the little tricks! Mrs. Pitman's students were then ready to work with 3rd graders who wanted to try their hand at using Glogster!

One of the things I am most excited about for next year is having more technology in the library for students to produce projects.  Thanks to book fair sales, I was able to purchase 10 iPads for students to use.  In addition, we will be adding laptops, so there should be enough devices for students to create products during their time in the library media center! 


And then May arrived!  With the end of school fast approaching, I knew I wanted to impress upon students the importance (and fun) of reading during the summer!  We had a wonderful puppet group who read Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't!) by Barbara Bottner to the kinder students and  presented a puppet show about finding the right book.  They were GREAT and the students loved it!


Mrs. Gwendolyn, the Youth Services librarian at Weatherford Public Library also came to share all of the great things that will be going on at the public library this summer!  Their summer program has something for EVERYONE!! Mrs. Gwendolyn met with each grade level, talked about the activities and read to them!  The children are very excited about the events that will take place this summer!





Every "end of school" post needs a graduation photo, don't you think?  Here is a picture of me with my two daughters!

Happy Reading!

Third Graders "Hangout" with Zoo Atlanta

We had our first Google Hangout in May and it was an incredible experience!  A third grade teacher, Mrs. Crowley, came into the library one day wanting to arrange a Skype with her students before the end of the year.  They were just finishing the Newbery winner, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate so I thought we might try to Skype with the Atlanta Zoo, where the real Ivan lived for part of his life.  Unfortunately, Zoo Atlanta said that they were not doing Skypes at this time, but would let us know if something changed.  Well, a couple of weeks later, I received an email that invited our students to a Google Hangout. Hmmm, I had heard of a Google Hangout, but had never done one, so I quickly started looking for people to "hangout" with!  :)  

I went to the Zoo Atlanta YouTube channel and saw how cool it was!  I couldn't wait for our students to have this experience!  Not only would they be talking to people at the zoo, but they would also see and hear classes from other parts of the country.  The students prepared questions and we submitted those to the zoo officials before the hangout began.  Mrs. Crowley's and Mrs. Vestal's third graders came to the library and anxiously waited for our "hangout" to begin.  After introductions were made, students were able to hear from Ivan's caretaker at the zoo.  

The students listened intently to Carvel, the education instructor with Zoo Atlanta, as well as Jodi Carrigan, who took care of Ivan for the past 10 years.  It was fascinating to hear about the "real" Ivan and what his life was like at the zoo.  

We even got to see one of his paintings!

Here is the entire Hangout where you can see some of our Curtis students ask questions! Our students are in the sixth tile at the bottom.  :) In addition to the classes that were shown, many other classes across the country watched the live feed of the hangout!  We can't wait to try this again!

Reading & Weeding

Thanks to Matthew Winner and this month's Shelf Challenge, I am reading and weeding! Unfortunately, my blogging is falling behind!  I do suffer from self-diagnosed ADD, which is why, while I have tried to work on my blog, I have also backed up my phone, looked for graduation announcements for my daughter, checked email, etc!   :) So, although I am suppose to be reading the books on my "N" shelf of the Everybody section, I somehow weeded approximately 50 books in the Fiction section!  Anyway, here are some finds from the Everybody section:

Book #7

I found Tuff Fluff: The Case of Duckie's Missing Brain by Scott Nash to be a picture book that would definitely appeal to the older crowd!  There a a lot of words on the page and the vocabulary is more advanced. Tuff Fluff is a detective living in a stuffed animal world. He is trying to help Duckie find his missing brain. In the story, there is a distinction between the stuffed and the bean bag animals, so they go to Beantown for clues. It is a fun book and could be used when teaching descriptive writing. It has only been checked out once in the past 3 years. I am now wondering if a lot of these books aren't finding their way into the hands of readers because the "N" shelf is on the bottom.  I created a "Books from the Bottom Shelf" display recently to try to circulate some of the treasures students aren't stooping for!  ;)  I think I will encourage students to find a book from the bottom shelf this week and see what they find! 

Book #9

One thing I have enjoyed is finding books and immediately passing them on to a teacher to use in their classroom!  King of the Playground by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was passed on to our Counselor, Ms. Fuller!  She has made bullying her focus this year, and although this was an older book it is still a great one to use during her lessons!  I could see teachers pairing this with The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill. 

And then I came to Cindy Neuschwander's math picture books. These are great to introduce and reinforce math concepts! Marilyn Burns has created math activites to accompany some of these books. The three I read focused on multiplication, capacity and patterns. I will take these to classrooms for teachers to use with last minute reviews for STAAR testing! 

Books 15, 16, & 17

Books #21 & 22

It has been a great week of reading, and I am definitely feeling good about the books I am weeding!  I can't wait to see how much better the shelves look at the end of the month!  Here are a couple that are being retired! 

Day 6- I Have a Friend

Unfortunately, it does not look like this book has a friend as it has never been checked out, or at least not under our current system.  I Have a Friend is by Keiko Narahashi and was published in 1987. It is in very good condition, maybe due to lack of check-outs. :/  The friend in the story is the little boy's shadow, and he describes the happenings of the day with his shadow.  One line that I liked was, "He is yesterday's night left behind for the day."

It is a very quick read, with vibrant illustrations.  Another one for me to try with my kinders tomorrow to get their opinion.  

Almost caught up! Happy Reading/Weeding!  

Shelf Challenge Days 3, 4 & 5

Ok, I am covering multiple days in one post since I am several days behind.  :)  

Day 3 found Little Bear written by Diane Namm and illustrated by Lisa McCue. This book was published in 1989 and, although it may have been checked out at some point, there is no check out history showing.  In the story, Mama Bear is trying to convince Little Bear to eat.  During a trip to the grocery store, she asks him if he wants peas, cheese, and other items that rhyme with each other.  Little Bear will have nothing to do with these foods.  

I'm going to read this with my kinder friends on Monday and see what they think. I will let them decide if we should keep it or not.  :)

Day 4 brought Ready to Dream by Donna Jo Napoli and her daughter, Elena Furrow.  Ally and her mom are in Australia for the summer.  Ally is a budding artist who meets Pauline, a local artist.  Throughout the story Pauline guides Ally to appreciate art found in nature.  The illustrations in this book are by Bronwyn Bancroft, an Aboriginal artist.  The illustrations definitely make this book!  This would be a great book to share with our art teacher!  I'll hand this off to her on Monday!

Day 5 happens to bring another book by Donna Jo Napoli called The Wishing Club. This is a great book to use for a math lesson on fractions! Four siblings spend their evenings wishing upon a star.  Each day they get just a fraction of what they wished for.  Samantha decides they are wishing wrong, but then figures out the pattern to what they are getting.  The children combine their wishes and hope they will get a whole pet!  I will share this with 2nd & 3rd grade teachers to see if they can use it when teaching fractions.  :)

So, two out of three of the books look like ones that should circulate now that I've "found" them!  Can't wait to see what other treasures are on the "N" shelf!

Shelf Challenge for School Library Month

April is a GREAT month!  It is a month to celebrate School Libraries!  This year, for School Library Month, I joined Matthew Winner (read about his finds here) and several other librarians, in a Shelf Challenge.  I am to read every book on the "N" shelf in my Everybody section.  I am a few days behind in my post since this week we have been testing, but so far, here is what I found!  :)

I was surprised when I realized how few picture books I have on the "N" shelf!  If I can get going, maybe I can also read the "O" shelf!  :)

Day 1 The first book on the shelf is The Lunch Line by Karen Nagel. Kim forgets her lunch at home and must decide what she can buy for lunch for her dollar.  The math activities were designed by Marilyn Burns.  It has only been checked out by a couple of teachers in the past four years.  The book is about 17 years old, and I'm thinking maybe we need to go ahead and weed it. ;)

Day 2 The second book on the shelf is Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa and Illustrated by Junji Koyose.  A birthday cake is being made for a little boy by his toys. The book has recently been checked out by one of our kinder students and was adopted as a "Birthday Book" in 2009, when it arrived in our library.  It is a cute book!

  
More to come!

Happy Reading!