Another field trip! We went to the East Middle School library. First we had a chance to look around a bit. The library is divided into a couple sections. One section has tables for individual students or groups of students to sit at. Another section is a bank of computers that could seat a class. The last section is enough tables to seat a class. Around most of the perimeter of the library are bookshelves - fiction toward the front, and nonfiction towards the back. As we wandered the collection, it appeared that much of the nonfiction was old. However, the fiction was nice and new, and even had some books that I've been wanting to read.
We spent a lot of class talking about book fairs. When I was young, the book fair was the best thing in the world. My parents would actually give me money to buy a book. It was so hard to choose just one. But the process of choosing was so much fun. Many librarians have bad experiences with book fairs, but the trouble is worth it for children who get excited about reading and choosing that one book to take home.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
School Library Advocacy
It is great that AASL has given a guide for responding to a crisis. Of course, AASL also points out in its "Crisis Toolkit" that it is always better to prepare for crisis prevention before the crisis, but for librarians who find themselves suddenly at the crisis point, this page provides some helpful tips as well as tools for further help. When navigating through a crisis, it is important that librarians get as many folks on board with them as possible. This includes people not in the librarian profession. The more people to back up the importance of the library, the more likely the library will pull through the crisis. When reaching out to these people, librarians must be sure to communicate their purpose effectively.
AASL also defines advocacy, public relations, and marketing on its site. I really like the advocacy definition: "On-going process of building partnerships so that others will act for and with you, turning passive support into educated action for the library program." This definition further reinforces AASL's point about making sure to always reach out to your library community in order to prevent crisis before it can happen. The "educated action" bit is nice too - it ties in to the whole point that school libraries are there to provide the best education for their students. Once the community is educated on the importance of the library, they will make sure the library continues to provide education for its students.
The AASL "School Library Program Health and Wellness Toolkit" is the place to go when taking measures to prevent the crisis in the first place. AASL lists many additional resources on this page. School librarians should really take a look at this page. At the very least, school librarians will be made aware of how important it is to take action to make sure their library is important to its school community. AASL certainly draws importance to the issue by dedicating several web pages to advocacy and crisis prevention.
In the article "How Does a Culture Mean?" the authors discuss the importance of always being prepared with an elevator speech. Such an attempt to promote the library could gain some very important relationships with fellow educators or other members of the school community. Being prepared to speak about your library is important, but so is knowing when to take advantage of an opportunity to speak about your library. The authors give an example of someone stopping by to reserve a room in the library. The librarian skillfully turns the conversation into an opportunity for collaboration and promotion of the library.
The Coatney essay also mentions maintaining an online web presence, doling out grant writing responsibilities, getting involved in library committees, and participating in legislature. All of the above are great opportunities to reach out to multiple folks at one time on behalf of the school library. Grant writing especially will raise awareness - not only will grant writers get to know the school library really, really well, but funders will now also be made aware of the importance of the school library.
Many of these tools for promoting advocacy are right online - librarians certainly have many tools at their fingertips! We should take advantage of literature and other online resources to help promote our libraries.
AASL also defines advocacy, public relations, and marketing on its site. I really like the advocacy definition: "On-going process of building partnerships so that others will act for and with you, turning passive support into educated action for the library program." This definition further reinforces AASL's point about making sure to always reach out to your library community in order to prevent crisis before it can happen. The "educated action" bit is nice too - it ties in to the whole point that school libraries are there to provide the best education for their students. Once the community is educated on the importance of the library, they will make sure the library continues to provide education for its students.
The AASL "School Library Program Health and Wellness Toolkit" is the place to go when taking measures to prevent the crisis in the first place. AASL lists many additional resources on this page. School librarians should really take a look at this page. At the very least, school librarians will be made aware of how important it is to take action to make sure their library is important to its school community. AASL certainly draws importance to the issue by dedicating several web pages to advocacy and crisis prevention.
In the article "How Does a Culture Mean?" the authors discuss the importance of always being prepared with an elevator speech. Such an attempt to promote the library could gain some very important relationships with fellow educators or other members of the school community. Being prepared to speak about your library is important, but so is knowing when to take advantage of an opportunity to speak about your library. The authors give an example of someone stopping by to reserve a room in the library. The librarian skillfully turns the conversation into an opportunity for collaboration and promotion of the library.
The Coatney essay also mentions maintaining an online web presence, doling out grant writing responsibilities, getting involved in library committees, and participating in legislature. All of the above are great opportunities to reach out to multiple folks at one time on behalf of the school library. Grant writing especially will raise awareness - not only will grant writers get to know the school library really, really well, but funders will now also be made aware of the importance of the school library.
Many of these tools for promoting advocacy are right online - librarians certainly have many tools at their fingertips! We should take advantage of literature and other online resources to help promote our libraries.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Furniture, Color, and Overall Look Ideas
Here is a general idea of the furniture, color scheme, and overall look for my library media center:
http://pinterest.com/namuld/school-library-design/
http://pinterest.com/namuld/school-library-design/
School Library Media Center Design
Before:
After:
I wanted to get rid of the cross shape and open everything up. I placed all the offices along the same wall, so that library staff would have easy access to each other. Plus everyone has their own office. The circulation desk is still in front of the librarian's office for easy access. The librarian has a pretty clear line of sight to all areas of the library from the circulation desk. In general, I kept like areas alike. The bookshelves are all together, offices are together, techy areas together. Hopefully this makes things easier to tidy up and put away. Yet at the same time, all the areas should be easily accessed.
I got rid of a classroom, because it seemed unnecessary with 2 other potential classroom spaces. I kept one classroom for a closed space, in case teachers needed to teach students in a quiet, uninterrupted area. One of the laptop carts would be kept in this room at all times, yet laptops could remain on the cart until students watched any demonstration without distraction.
I also kept a workroom in case the library was the only place in the school for a conference area. Otherwise this room could also be used for student group projects, meetings with parents, etc. This would hopefully facilitate more collaboration with staff, parents, and students by bringing all into the library space. The movable laptop cart could also be brought here.
With an unlimited budget, I decided that outlets would not be a problem. Students could plug in laptops at any of those table areas, which are all located along walls.
Speaking of furniture, the intent is that all furniture is on wheels. The small tables can be moved around. The classroom rectangular tables can also be moved. This means that if the library holds a meeting, all the furniture can be utilized for seating in the center common area. The common area is pretty wide open for this purpose.
Overall, the main points for the new media center:
1. Open, flexible, and portable design.
2. Focus on technology.
3. Public and private areas available.
4. Promotes collaboration with students and staff.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Class 6
When we looked at the Technology Plan for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, I was impressed by the amount of detail, including budget, kinds of technology, curriculum, collaboration, and professional development. Even the appendices took up a good chunk of the document - about half of the pages. So much planning! It must take so much time to come up with such a solid document, yet then you reap the benefits. You have written documentation of what your plan is, and there is not much left up to the air. Everyone is on the same page.
We also talked about designing the school library media center. The image of the completely red space in the Seattle Public Library makes me nervous. When analyzing children's literature, isn't the color red for anger? I'm not sure the library needs to make its patrons on edge with such a bold color covering every surface. So I really do think that color schemes are important. Also, electrical outlets need to be placed strategically. Just the other day, I watched the tech guy run around the library with extra power strips because there were not enough outlets in the furniture/study area. I myself have been annoyed when I finally find a free table in the library only to discover that there is no outlet nearby.
We also talked about designing the school library media center. The image of the completely red space in the Seattle Public Library makes me nervous. When analyzing children's literature, isn't the color red for anger? I'm not sure the library needs to make its patrons on edge with such a bold color covering every surface. So I really do think that color schemes are important. Also, electrical outlets need to be placed strategically. Just the other day, I watched the tech guy run around the library with extra power strips because there were not enough outlets in the furniture/study area. I myself have been annoyed when I finally find a free table in the library only to discover that there is no outlet nearby.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Collaboration Like Motown
Preddy talks about school librarians taking a cue from Motown. Lead singers Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson were good, but they needed their backup singers to fill out the sound. Likewise, school librarians need collaboration for a complete teaching experience. Librarians should collaborate with teachers and students - and whoever is best at the task at hand takes the lead, while everyone else backs them up. In such a model, communication is important! Everyone involved must be sure to respond in a timely manner. I think this is a great analogy for collaboration. It does not place more emphasis on the librarian or the teacher, but instead both use their postitions and gifts to the benefit of the team.
Marcoux mentions that collaborating in schools is really good for the novice teacher. As we graduate and become teachers in the field, collaboration really does become really important. My roommate who is a teacher started at her school a year ago, and that first year she really valued her relationship with her mentor teacher. Viewing this more as collaboration, rather than I-have-more-experience-than-you-so-listen-to-me, may be better appreciated by the novice librarian.
Todd's point no. 5 for collaboration is to plan with mutuality of intent. When you collaborate with others, it is best if everyone has the same end goal. This hopefully means that everyone feels strongly about achieving the end goal, and will work harder to attain it. This could also mean that everyone involved will set aside any differences, be open to new ideas, and bring their own unique thoughts to the table.
Marcoux mentions that collaborating in schools is really good for the novice teacher. As we graduate and become teachers in the field, collaboration really does become really important. My roommate who is a teacher started at her school a year ago, and that first year she really valued her relationship with her mentor teacher. Viewing this more as collaboration, rather than I-have-more-experience-than-you-so-listen-to-me, may be better appreciated by the novice librarian.
Todd's point no. 5 for collaboration is to plan with mutuality of intent. When you collaborate with others, it is best if everyone has the same end goal. This hopefully means that everyone feels strongly about achieving the end goal, and will work harder to attain it. This could also mean that everyone involved will set aside any differences, be open to new ideas, and bring their own unique thoughts to the table.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Class 5
Field trip to visit a school library in action! School librarian Julie taught a first grade class in the library, and we observed as she read the students I Want My Hat Back. First, Julie asked the students what animal they thought was the main character. Once it was established it was a bear, Julie proceeded to read the book, asking students questions along the way to keep them engaged. Since the first graders were learning rhyming words in class, Julie asked them to come up with words that rhyme with hat. Students illustrated their own covers with the bear wanting his (insert rhyming word) back. Students were also able to check out books from the library, and it was great fun watching the flurry of excited activity as students raced to find good books. In particular, there were two boys who knew right where the military books were, and even though the books were too old for first graders, those boys were sure excited to page through the pictures.
Such excitement was refreshing to watch. In my travels through graduate school, learning does not excite me as it used to. It was so good to watch kids excited about books, comfortably using the library space, happily interacting with the librarian and with each other, and learning in the process.
Such excitement was refreshing to watch. In my travels through graduate school, learning does not excite me as it used to. It was so good to watch kids excited about books, comfortably using the library space, happily interacting with the librarian and with each other, and learning in the process.
School Library Design
"Planning considerations for library media center facilities"
In terms of seating, Baule says that the 10 percent rule of the students body no longer applies. Instead, libraries should be able to seat 2 classes at once, with a bit of extra seating for drop-in students and small groups. Libraries should not waste space on study halls or seating that does not get used, especially with wireless laptops getting used in classrooms.
Also, Baule thinks the school library should have its own outside entrance, since events are often held in the school library. This way students and parents have easy access to learning materials.
"Library media center facilities access"
There are so many details that go into planning a school library, such as what colors to paint your walls. I would not have thought much about this, but it is true - colors must be chosen that create the atmosphere you are looking for. Trendy colors must not become dated in 10 years. Also, we talked in class about having a line of sight control, and I can see where this is important. The librarian should be able to monitor the students' behavior. Finally, this article mentions climate control. When thinking about the school library, monitoring the temperature does not come first to my mind, yet it makes sense - after all, this is still a library housing books and other materials. Librarians still must take care to maintain and preserve their school library collections.
"Divine design"
Margaret Sullivan offers many examples of what the school library media center should look like, including movable furniture, wireless technology, and numerous electrical outlets. She also mentions to make sure that natural sunlight does not take over to make screens and projections harder to see. All this is good - however, when I got to the final point, #5, I was surprised. Sullivan makes a case for ensuring students still spend time outdoors. A school library should not dismiss the idea of an outdoor reading patio. After all the movable furniture and advanced technology talk, all of a sudden she advocates the great outdoors. Is an outdoor reading patio entirely effective when half the school year it is winter outside (especially in northern states)? The outdoors is not conducive to screens, or recharging, or concentration. Anyways, the great outdoors, while still important for recess, may not be as important specifically to the school library.
I love the comparison of the library to the home kitchen. Libraries are meant to be lived and worked in. Librarians should not be afraid to get messy (or let their students get messy) in the library.
"There is knowledge to be gained"
In his article, Todd talks about the design of the library media center not as a physical space for information, but rather as a "physical and virtual learning commons." It is here that students come to practice learning with inquiry and use their imaginations to discover new things. Therefore, the library should be a place of intellectual quality. Back to our ordering a school librarian tasks a couple weeks ago, I remember I placed the task of creating a rigorous learning environment near the top of the list. I am happy to see it placed near the top of this list as well.
Woolls Ch. 6
Woolls says that school librarians should take before and after pictures to document the changes in their school library media center. This way, they can go back to pinpoint exactly what worked and what didn't work. They can also share their discoveries with other school librarians. Before entirely rebuilding a school library, Woolls also says that librarians should consider how to remodel their existing space, or else relocate to a more appropriate room somewhere else in the school.
Overall, much thought goes into the planning of the physical space of the school library. Libraries must be fully functional, purposeful, pleasing to the eye, and adaptable across time. This will enable the library to best meet the physical and academic needs of the students.
In terms of seating, Baule says that the 10 percent rule of the students body no longer applies. Instead, libraries should be able to seat 2 classes at once, with a bit of extra seating for drop-in students and small groups. Libraries should not waste space on study halls or seating that does not get used, especially with wireless laptops getting used in classrooms.
Also, Baule thinks the school library should have its own outside entrance, since events are often held in the school library. This way students and parents have easy access to learning materials.
"Library media center facilities access"
There are so many details that go into planning a school library, such as what colors to paint your walls. I would not have thought much about this, but it is true - colors must be chosen that create the atmosphere you are looking for. Trendy colors must not become dated in 10 years. Also, we talked in class about having a line of sight control, and I can see where this is important. The librarian should be able to monitor the students' behavior. Finally, this article mentions climate control. When thinking about the school library, monitoring the temperature does not come first to my mind, yet it makes sense - after all, this is still a library housing books and other materials. Librarians still must take care to maintain and preserve their school library collections.
"Divine design"
Margaret Sullivan offers many examples of what the school library media center should look like, including movable furniture, wireless technology, and numerous electrical outlets. She also mentions to make sure that natural sunlight does not take over to make screens and projections harder to see. All this is good - however, when I got to the final point, #5, I was surprised. Sullivan makes a case for ensuring students still spend time outdoors. A school library should not dismiss the idea of an outdoor reading patio. After all the movable furniture and advanced technology talk, all of a sudden she advocates the great outdoors. Is an outdoor reading patio entirely effective when half the school year it is winter outside (especially in northern states)? The outdoors is not conducive to screens, or recharging, or concentration. Anyways, the great outdoors, while still important for recess, may not be as important specifically to the school library.
I love the comparison of the library to the home kitchen. Libraries are meant to be lived and worked in. Librarians should not be afraid to get messy (or let their students get messy) in the library.
"There is knowledge to be gained"
In his article, Todd talks about the design of the library media center not as a physical space for information, but rather as a "physical and virtual learning commons." It is here that students come to practice learning with inquiry and use their imaginations to discover new things. Therefore, the library should be a place of intellectual quality. Back to our ordering a school librarian tasks a couple weeks ago, I remember I placed the task of creating a rigorous learning environment near the top of the list. I am happy to see it placed near the top of this list as well.
Woolls Ch. 6
Woolls says that school librarians should take before and after pictures to document the changes in their school library media center. This way, they can go back to pinpoint exactly what worked and what didn't work. They can also share their discoveries with other school librarians. Before entirely rebuilding a school library, Woolls also says that librarians should consider how to remodel their existing space, or else relocate to a more appropriate room somewhere else in the school.
-----
Overall, much thought goes into the planning of the physical space of the school library. Libraries must be fully functional, purposeful, pleasing to the eye, and adaptable across time. This will enable the library to best meet the physical and academic needs of the students.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Moving Forward
Now that our class has attempted to define the school librarian, what comes next? The school librarian must always be up to date with the times and thinking about how to better library services to meet the needs of students. For example, one school district decided to completely revamp their library curriculum, and standardize it across the district. The librarians in this district spent a lot of time in meetings discussing how to change their curriculum. It was great that these librarians took the time to first come up with what they thought was important to teach their students, before they adopted the model which would best fit their needs.
The type of curriculum being adopted is centering around learning with inquiry, in which students can drive their own learning based off their questions. The inquiry process includes questioning with a sense of wonder (I remember our 641 field trip to the natural science museum), student collaboration, solving problems, and assessment/reflection. This actually sounds a lot like the roll of the school librarian, who must keep her job fresh by always questioning how to serve her students better. She also collaborates with teachers, solves problems, and constantly assesses and reflects on her teaching methods. In the case above in which the school district adopted a new library curriculum, the school librarians went through this same sort of process.
My favorite quote of the day, from Things That Keep Us Up at Night: "Our libraries should not be grocery stores. We need to use those groceries, to open the boxes, pour the milk, mix the batter, make a mess." The library should not just be the place where students check out books, but where students receive instruction on how to locate and navigate the resources available to them. Librarians should always be trying new recipes in order to stay on the cutting of things in providing the best possible education for their students.
Laura Warren-Gross tried a new recipe when her school was failing. She chose to rise to the challenge and change aspects of her program to ensure the library did not fail. She placed multicultural books in all the classrooms of her urban school, had teachers booktalk them, and watched as students eagerly took them home to read. While Laura lost circulation stats in the library, she succeeded in immersing the library throughout the rest of school, ensuring that students overall read more, and paved the way for more collaboration with teachers.
School librarians are also taking on roles of leadership. Rather than fitting in with teachers' lessons, librarians can initiate the development not only of lessons, but of school curriculum. Librarians must make sure that their collection fits with the school's curriculum, is up to date, and authentic. Librarians should facilitate inquiry-based learning, and partner with students for instruction - by guiding, not dominating, their learning. The school librarian can be a driver of education, always looking for ways to better meet the needs of students.
The type of curriculum being adopted is centering around learning with inquiry, in which students can drive their own learning based off their questions. The inquiry process includes questioning with a sense of wonder (I remember our 641 field trip to the natural science museum), student collaboration, solving problems, and assessment/reflection. This actually sounds a lot like the roll of the school librarian, who must keep her job fresh by always questioning how to serve her students better. She also collaborates with teachers, solves problems, and constantly assesses and reflects on her teaching methods. In the case above in which the school district adopted a new library curriculum, the school librarians went through this same sort of process.
My favorite quote of the day, from Things That Keep Us Up at Night: "Our libraries should not be grocery stores. We need to use those groceries, to open the boxes, pour the milk, mix the batter, make a mess." The library should not just be the place where students check out books, but where students receive instruction on how to locate and navigate the resources available to them. Librarians should always be trying new recipes in order to stay on the cutting of things in providing the best possible education for their students.
Laura Warren-Gross tried a new recipe when her school was failing. She chose to rise to the challenge and change aspects of her program to ensure the library did not fail. She placed multicultural books in all the classrooms of her urban school, had teachers booktalk them, and watched as students eagerly took them home to read. While Laura lost circulation stats in the library, she succeeded in immersing the library throughout the rest of school, ensuring that students overall read more, and paved the way for more collaboration with teachers.
School librarians are also taking on roles of leadership. Rather than fitting in with teachers' lessons, librarians can initiate the development not only of lessons, but of school curriculum. Librarians must make sure that their collection fits with the school's curriculum, is up to date, and authentic. Librarians should facilitate inquiry-based learning, and partner with students for instruction - by guiding, not dominating, their learning. The school librarian can be a driver of education, always looking for ways to better meet the needs of students.
Class 4
In class we talked about different kinds of assessment. There's the rubric and the checklist. As it turns out, determining which form of assessment to use is difficult. First, you have to decide which form of assessment is most effective for the assignment and the grade level. Then, you have to create the rubric or checklist to effectively assess students' work. Students also have to be able to understand the rubric, so they can better meet the criteria of the assignment.
In some ways, a rubric or checklist may be confining. Students could work only as much as it takes to get a good grade. Rather, students should be wanting to learn because they are naturally curious, not because a rubric is forcing them...however, assessment is necessary to assign students grades. Assessment is also necessary for ensuring that students learn from mistakes and revise those mistakes along the way for an even better final product.
My roommate is currently working on report cards, and I just learned that her school does narrative report cards. This means that students do receive a couple "grades" in the form of numbers. For example, the numbers grade the amount of participation in class. However, students are mostly assessed in five paragraphs. The first paragraph is a general overview, followed by a paragraph each on math, writing, reading, and behavior. Interesting. I just asked my roommate if she thought this method is effective, and she said that she's not sure all parents even read them. Wow. This means the assessment is worthless, because the writing is meant for adult readers, the bulk of which young students will not be able to understand.
In some ways, a rubric or checklist may be confining. Students could work only as much as it takes to get a good grade. Rather, students should be wanting to learn because they are naturally curious, not because a rubric is forcing them...however, assessment is necessary to assign students grades. Assessment is also necessary for ensuring that students learn from mistakes and revise those mistakes along the way for an even better final product.
My roommate is currently working on report cards, and I just learned that her school does narrative report cards. This means that students do receive a couple "grades" in the form of numbers. For example, the numbers grade the amount of participation in class. However, students are mostly assessed in five paragraphs. The first paragraph is a general overview, followed by a paragraph each on math, writing, reading, and behavior. Interesting. I just asked my roommate if she thought this method is effective, and she said that she's not sure all parents even read them. Wow. This means the assessment is worthless, because the writing is meant for adult readers, the bulk of which young students will not be able to understand.
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