Spring Break Reading!

Today is my last day of Spring Break and it’s time I force myself back into reality. I’ve been soaking up some sun and doing LOTS of reading. Here’s where I spent my week on the beautiful Gulf coast:

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There are lots of productive things that should have worked on ::COUGH COUGH National Board Reflections::, but I opted to read instead. So today will be my day of responsibility — grocery shopping, laundry, and writing (okay, so I’m also thinking about going to see The Host…)

In case anyone is curious about what I read over break, here’s a quick run-down:

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This book was very Australian. I guess I’ve never really read anything Australian before? It was just okay for me. Typically when I read, I think of a person who would LOVE that particular book. No one came to mind for this one.

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I think this was my favorite read of the break! I definitely have a book crush on Jase! It’s definitely an Upper Grades read (as are most of the books I read this week). It’s a great summery love story. The author did a great job of portraying life with a big, loud family, and you can’t help but fall in love with the Garretts — especially little brother George!

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I love Lauren Barnholdt! She’s written some middle grade novels, but of course I love her YA stuff more. One Night That Changes Everything is my favorite of hers. This is a good one too, although I think my BFF liked this one better than I did as she LOVES a road trip story.

island

I was obsessed with the first book in this series, The Unwanteds, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one! It was good, but I will admit that I put it down and came back to it later. And it left me just kind of hanging…which series like to do, I suppose. I’m recommending this series to my fantasy readers quite often.

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This is a beautifully written novel! I love that Gayle Forman’s books don’t fit the typical girly YA formula. Lots of Shakespeare weaved into this story, which is fab. And lots of European travel, which I’m dying to do! But this is another one that just left me hanging…although I’m much more anxious to get my hands on the next book of this series!

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I cannot wait to get this book into the hands of some of my boys! I think that this will appeal not only to kids who love Hatchet, but also to those who enjoyed The Juvie Three, which I recommend all the time! I’m always excited when I get something new to add to my frequently recommended list, and this is one for sure!

pushing-the-limits

Wow, talk about some messed up situations. This book has high drama written all over it. And not lame girly YA drama. Serious messed up family drama. And this is DEFINITELY a YA novel, no middle grades business going on here. I eyed this for a while before I bought it, but the Simone Elkeles blurb on the cover is what kept me coming back. So I finally bought it, read it, thoroughly enjoyed it.

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I found this one at BAM on the sale shelf (I love a BAM sale!), and picked it up because I loved How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. This one was a quick read and good to go on the library shelf, which made me happy. There were tons of very dramatic things going on in this story, but I felt like it still fell a little flat for me. I’m anxious to give this to one of my avid readers and see how they feel about it.

invincibleSummerM

Yikes! This book was something else! When I first started it, I was thinking it was feeling a bit Summer I Turned Pretty but from a boy’s perspective. Not so much. I think I liked it, despite the fact that it’s one messed up story, disturbing, graphic, etc.

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I am a reality TV fanatic. I still watch Real World from time to time and also watch every version of Real Housewives that’s on the air. So this book definitely appealed to me! As I said before, I love Lauren Barnholdt, especially her YA novels, so I really enjoyed this one. Predictable? Sure. Fun? Absolutely!

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Throughout my novels, I read a bit of poetry as well, as it was one of the books I needed to finish my Spring Book Challenge (which I did finish this week!). I love Billy Collins and this one was available on Overdrive through my public library, so I took my time and enjoyed this one over the course of the week.

And now, it’s time for me to put the obsessive reading away so I can be productive and work through my many to-do lists. Lots of exciting things coming up as this school year goes into the final stretch! Including…

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Join my awesome friend Nick Provenzano and I next Monday for our TL Virtual Cafe webinar — The Connected Concierge!

Pondering Self-Checkout

 

I’ve been interested in the idea of implementing a self-checkout system for the students for quite some time. I know there are lots of elementary librarians who do this very successfully. It’s definitely something that is born out of the necessity of getting away from the circulation desk. As the only staff member in the library, I often feel like I am tied to the library and to the desk. I have awesome volunteers and student helpers that make it less painful, but I’m still tied to the desk to some degree. Everything about the idea of self-checkout appeals to me, except having to set it up, get the procedure in place, and train the students.

As I’ve started to start to seriously consider this idea, the first place I go for some honest feedback is my fabulous PLN. Anyone who questions the power of Twitter just needs to see an example like this to see how mind-blowing it is to be able to tap into the resources available from so many awesome library friends! Thanks to everyone who responded with suggestions, ideas, and photos of how they’re making self-checkout work for them!

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My thoughts/pondering at this point:

  • What set-up of PC/monitor/laptop/netbook/scanner/mouse/keyboard/etc. will work best for us? This one is leaving me scratching my head since I don’t want a cluttered looking space. Not wanting to spend a ton of money on this for now.
  • What about using an iPod touch or iPad and the Destiny app? BUT it doesn’t have sound, and I associate sound with check-in/check-out…as irrational as that may be.
  • Do I need to set up two stations? One for checking in and one for checking out?
  • Where am I going to put all of this stuff? The layout of my circulation desk is…not conducive to, well, any of this.
  • What am I missing here? What do I need to think about/ponder more?

Spring Book Challenge

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We had so much fun with our January & February Book Challenge, that we’re having another one!

First, my reflection on the January & February Challenge. I was blown away by how intensely some of our students got into reading for this challenge. There were a total of 15 tasks in the challenge for a total of 15 books, and we had 5 students complete the entire thing and a number of other students come very close! About 40 students turned in their logs to me at the end of the challenge, but I know more participated. We had a total of 39 join the group on Schoology.

I could have done a better job in a few areas. First, I should have made more announcements/reminders to keep pushing students along. The ones who did participate were very much self-motivated. I didn’t even post the updates on Schoology as regularly as I should have. I’ll definitely be better about this next round. I also planned to do some type of leader board. That didn’t happen at all. The points and such were too difficult to keep up with and organize on a larger scale.

I’ve had questions from my blog and Twitter followers about a few things. First, I said I was going to do prizes. I ended up nixing the prizes. I’m not much of a prize person because I want them to be intrinsically motivated, and these kids really were. Instead, I opted to do an “event” at the end of the challenge. We had nachos, discussions, and activities including make your own bookmark. Once again, my communication skills were a bit lacking (and I had to reschedule it). I only had 7 students show up for the after school event, but we had SO MUCH FUN that it was completely and totally worth it. I have no doubt that I’ll have more show up next time. And they felt that the event was plenty enough “reward” for them.

I also had the question of how I was going to verify if they actually read the books or not. This is another reason I went away from the original idea of prizes. I wanted this to be completely on the honors system (with a little help/monitoring from their ELA teachers).  For the most part, I think the students were pretty honest about what they read. Like I said earlier, the students who truly participated in this were self-motivated and pushing themselves to read more. And WOW, did they ever!

SO, I’m very excited that today was the start of the Spring Book Challenge!

Spring Book Challenge by librariantiff

After getting feedback and seeing how things went, I made a few changes. First, I did away with the “points” for different categories. I also went from 15 tasks to 10 tasks. And we cut down the time frame from two months to one month. Some students felt overwhelmed by the length of the first challenge, so this one is pared down a bit.

I’m excited to get this new challenge started! And I love the graphic I created! And I love the 10 tasks! Yay! So, as always, feel free to take this and make it your own! I’m excited to share something that my students and I are enjoying so much.

SIGMS Technology Innovation Award

Do you have a collaborative technology project that you are proud of? I bet you do! Don’t be bashful about it! It’s time for you to share your idea with the rest of us! The SIGMS Technology Innovation Award is given each year to a librarian and classroom teacher pair who exhibit excellence in collaboration and the use of technology in a project or unit they teach. An award is given at both the primary and secondary level. In addition to getting the awesome recognition that comes with this award, winners also get complimentary conference registration, a $1000 travel stipend for the ISTE Conference (in San Antonio this year!), a $1000 cash award for their school media center, and a $300 professional library from ISTE.

Check out the ISTE website for more information on applying. And check out the information below to see what needs to be included in your award nomination. I’m telling you, this award is worth your time! As your friendly SIGMS President-Elect (that’s me!!), I would love to see the number of nominations for this award sky-rocket this year. I know that you people are doing amazing things in your schools, so share it through a nomination!

SIGMS Tech Innovation Award by

Who is your book crush?

This idea was seen and immediately stolen from my library BFF Tamara Cox, see her post here!

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We are having a blast sharing our book crushes in honor of Valentine’s Day! Both teachers and students are sharing who their ultimate book crush is — you can see mine below! It’s interesting to see how many of my girls share the same book crushes as me (meaning I’ve pushed my favorite books on them and they loved them as much as I did)!

This is my book crush:

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Some of our other favorites include:

  • Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  • Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins
  • Wolf from Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
  • St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
  • Jacob from Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

…just to name a few!

And here’s the template I’ve created for the slips to fill out for your book crush:

Book Crush by librariantiff

So I have to ask…who is YOUR book crush?

Book Challenge Update

We are back to school and I’m so excited to have kicked off the January & February Book Challenge! As promised, here are some more resources:

Video to introduce students to the challenge:

Flier to post around school:

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Book Challenge Reading Log:

  January February Book Challenge Reading Log by   librariantiff

I’m still undecided about how I’m going to do prizes. So far I’ve just told students that more info on prizes is still to be announced! I’m hoping that I can get a few local businesses to make some donations, like gift cards to the frozen yogurt shop and such. And maybe a Coke float party or something for students who reach a certain number of points. Like I said, I’m still thinking about that and trying to gauge how I think it’s going to play out a little before I lock myself into some prize scheme. 🙂

I’m very excited about using a Schoology group to communicate with participants — I can’t wait until our first “check-in” to see what the students are reading for the different tasks! I’m hoping that a lot of great recommendations will come of this!

January & February Book Challenge

Happy 2013 friends!

I’m very excited to get 2013 off to a great start with a January & February Book Challenge. Back in August, I had big plans for Reader’s Quest, which never even really came into existence at my school. After reading Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer last year, I got really excited about the idea of replicating what she does at our school. All of our ELA teachers read the book over the summer and it was very interesting to see how others thought they were or weren’t working along the same lines as what Donalyn does in her classroom. They didn’t all share the same opinions as me, though, so it wasn’t the miracle I was seeking. Also, we do the Accelerated Reader program at our school. I’m not even going to get into that in detail at this point and discuss what we do with it. The biggest obstacle in our getting rid of the program is that everyone feels that we need something to replace it, something to hold students accountable for their reading. So at this point, we’re just kind of stuck.

Bottom line — I can’t keep sitting around scratching my head trying to figure out this AR/Reading Program conundrum. There just isn’t an across the board solution to get all students where they should be with reading. If there were, we would all be doing it already…DUH! I also can’t keep clinging to the “we just moved/there’s a lot of change/I’m just going to take it easy” excuse, either. I did that for the first semester and I’m not overly pleased with where it got me. Don’t get me wrong, the move was HUGE and as a school we experienced a crazy amount of change in 2012. But I can’t continue to dwell on that — it’s time to get on with it!

BookChallenge

Back in my early days of wedded bliss, I frequented the message board on The Nest (which is where you moved after your were finished with wedding planning on The Knot). One of the boards was a Book Club, and each quarter there would be a Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall Book Challenge. Basically, there are five “challenges” in each 5, 10, 15, and 25 point category. It really got me to read outside of my comfort zone. It also pushed me to read even more than usual, which was really saying something for me!

I’m thinking that something along these lines will be easier to manage than Reader’s Quest was going to be for me. Each student who chooses to participate will get a log of sorts to track their books and points. I will also have a Schoology group for these students, where each week they can post the books they have most recently finished and their running point total. Each week I’ll post an updated leader board  in the library and on our Friday Video. I’m going to have some prizes, of course. I’m also going to offer this as a competition among the teachers as well.

January February Book Challenge

A book can only count once, even if it could fit into multiple categories. You can only use each category once as well. However, books are not necessarily “locked in” once they’re read — you can move them to a different category as long as the other rules are still met. I don’t think I’m going to do a 25 point category at this time. Typically, the top 5 winners in the previous challenge create the 25 point challenges for the next round. If this is a success, we’ll go that route.

I’m planning to make a promotional video and tracking log of some sort, which I’ll share when it’s completed. And I hope you noticed the cute logo — no project can officially kick off until there is a cute logo attached to it! If you are interested in doing something similar, feel free to use anything I’ve created. The Google Doc with the challenges can be found here, and the logos are available on my Flickr.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…especially if you’ve ever done something similar!

Success!

I’ve been desperately craving the feeling of success this school year, but I’ve found it a bit more difficult to come by than usual. Everyone who has been through changes at their school know how difficult and trying the can be — even if they’re very positive changes like moving into a new facility and gaining new administrators that you love. Thankfully, I am currently enjoying a luxurious two week holiday break so I can recharge and reflect, then gear myself up for the second half of the school year.

During the chaotic four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, I was able to experience some of that success I’d been seeking. I’m an ideas kind of girl — I love an ambitious, sometimes out there idea/project/plan — but we all know those types of ideas don’t always work like we hope they will. It has to be implemented at the right time, with the right people involved. Definitely not as easy as it may sound.

I’ve been wanting to get our students blogging for YEARS. There aren’t many writing experiences that are more authentic and deep that we can offer our students than blogging. But blogging with students is a lot of work for all involved and you have to be committed to follow through with it. One of my awesome ELA teachers (who I was lucky enough to attend ISTE 2011 with in Philly) decided she was ready to get her students blogging. We got permission and made plans to have students blog through a book club/novel study unit. I wanted to be able to provide her with as much support as possible — this was the first time any students in our school would blog and we wanted it to be a success.

This was also my first genuine attempt at co-teaching a unit. I made a real effort to spend as much time as possible in her classroom each day. I also shared in the grading and conferencing on writing. It was definitely frustrating for me at times when I was deep in a great part of a lesson in her classroom and someone was trying to hunt me down because they needed something in the library. And I saw that if I had a clerk in the library I would be able to do a lot more of this type of thing, which is obviously so beneficial to the students and the teachers. I definitely want to do more of this type of thing, but finding a balance to make it work is not easy.

So, yeah. I feel like I’ve found success (YAY!) and I’m going to be REALLY reflecting on this unit over the next week as I write it up for one of my National Board entries. The big question is, how do you replicate projects like this? How do you pull off huge, long-term projects and/or co-teach on a unit (especially if you are the lone ranger in your library)?

TL Cafe Smackdown!

If you regularly attend the TL Virtual Cafe webinars, you know how much fun we had last year at the Open Mic Smackdown! If you don’t regularly attend the webinars…well, you should! And what better webinar to start with than tomorrow night’s SMACKDOWN! You don’t need to be part of the library world to participate or attend. ALL educators are welcome! If you have an awesome tool that you love, please add it to the Google Presentation and show up ready to share! If the idea of sharing in a webinar is too overwhelming for you, you should still join us tomorrow night! Here’s the details…

Hope to see you there!!