Great BYOD Event

Brookhaven Elementary held its Fall Family event from 5-7 PM on Thursday, October 17.  Along with Book Bingo and pizza offered by Title I, the library held a BYOD (bring your own device event) during which district and school technology staff and Title I teachers helped me download and install library and reading apps on parents' and students' smartphones, tablets and iPods.  More than 270 parents, grandparents and children attended the event. Although not all of these people brought devices for us to configure, many visited and learned about their options to access our libraries e-resources.

Among the items shared with our parents were:

• Destiny Quest app
• Catalist
• One Click Digital - via the West Virginia Library Commission

What made this venture a success was the collaborative spirit of all those who helped.  I knew I wanted to host a BYOD event even before school started.  When I heard about the Family Night, I developed this event to go along with it.

First, I contacted our county technology coordinator, Chris Urban, to see if she could provide "extra hands" for this event.  She indicated she would attend the event personally, and set up temporary wi-fi access to allow us to configure non-3G/4G devices. (The access was disabled the following day.)  About two weeks prior to the event, our Technology Integration Specialist, Christy Bryan-Davis, asked me to collaborate with her on a family night event.  I told her of my plans, and she agreed to work with me. Finally, our two Title I teachers, Marissa Glick and Brittany Snow, volunteered to help configure devices.

I wish I knew how many families we set up for digital services.  I do know that everyone at the event seemed very pleased with this offering. We will have to do this again!

What Factors Have Increased Circulation at Brookhaven Elementary?

My friend, Julia Benincosa Legg, read yesterday's post that showcased how enthusiastically Brookhaven Students have embraced reading in the first six weeks of school.  She asked that I describe the factors involved in increasing circulation from a mere 8000 per year in 1995 to more than 30000 in recent years.  Her request made me review a progression of changes that have taken place since I assumed the library media position at my school.

Allowed Kindergarten Students to Checkout Books

Prior to my coming to Brookhaven, kindergarten students were not allowed to checkout books.  This changed in January of my first year at Brookhaven.

Increased Circulation Limits

When I started at Brookhaven I felt students should be allowed to take more than one book at a time.  Today, the limits are three items for grades 3-5, two items for grades 1 and 2, and one item for kindergarten.

Adopted Flexible Schedule

My predecessor had scheduled each class for a half hour each week.  During my first year, I was bored.  There was not enough interaction with my clients to satisfy me.  At the beginning of my second year I convinced my principal to let me try a flexible schedule.  My principal was concerned that teachers would feel I was not doing anything.  I told him that the idea was to be busier than before, by allowing the children to come as many times a week as their schedules and teachers would allow. Warning me that he did not want to hear any negative feedback from teachers, he allowed this change.

Acceptance of a new idea takes time.  Many teachers still wanted their "library time," and of course I complied.  However I stressed that the scheduling was for their convenience, not mine; it was my hope that children would be able to come everyday.  Slowly, more teachers understood that their students were welcome almost anytime. Flexible scheduling was never questioned after that.

Adopted Accelerated Reader Program

At the urging of Soundra Poling, a third grade teacher, the curriculum committee voted to implement the Accelerated Reader program.  Supplemental textbook monies were used to purchase the program and some additional books.  Implementation was slow, with a few teachers taking the lead in encouraging their students to read the books and take tests.  The teachers has challenges among their classrooms.  

I sensed that from the beginning, several conditions had to be in place to make the Accelerated Reader program a success:

1. First, the children needed immediate access to computers to take the tests when they were ready.  That meant that all classroom and lab computers had to be capable of running the software.  This was challenging to set up on the old Josten 386s, but with the help of my husband, I managed to get all of our computers configured.
2. Next, the teachers had to be comfortable with navigating to the software.  I worked with the most enthusiastic teachers first, and then eventually trained the most enthusiastic students to access the program. 
3. We had to have adequate titles and tests at all levels and genres to keep the children engaged.  Book fair proceeds, faculty senate funds, general school funds, supplemental textbook funds, Brookhaven Boosters donations, and even Title I funds were funneled into the program.  The collection grew from a little over 7000 copies to more than 13000 over the course of 10 years. 

Aggressive Weeding of the Collection

As our Accelerated Reader program was growing, we needed to rid ourselves of copies that were either duplicates, were outdated, or that never circulated. Over the same 10 year period that we grew our collection to more than 13000, we also deselected more than 5000 items.  

Acquisition of "Popular" Series Fiction and Accessible NonFiction for All Grades

While I continued to buy the "highly recommended" titles, I made great effort to purchase the series fiction titles that in library school we were cautioned to avoid.  I am constantly trying to update these series, and children are constantly asking for the latest releases. They know when new titles are released better than I do!

Open Library Nights and Summer Open Library Programs

These programs allowed parents to bring their children to the library, select books and supervise their taking of Accelerated Reader or Reading Counts tests.  While there is no direct compensation for these programs, I feel I have been blessed by parents who support and are willing to financially support our library through book fair purchases.

Migrating to Destiny Library Management Software

The Destiny interface is much more user-friendly than the prior versions of Follett software.  The district database format allowed children to request books of interest from other school libraries.  Allowing children to create their own logins to monitor their own reading interests has created more ownership of the library by our students.

That's all nice, but without the following conditions being met, none of my initiatives would have succeeded.  I owe all my success to the following:

1. Principals who allowed me to build the program according to my vision and provided financial support when needed to help the library program succeed.
2. Stable district funding above what was provided at school and the yearly the provision of software and support
3. Parental support, not only in the form of supporting the book fair, but in encouraging their children to be readers.
4. Teachers who bought into my vision and participated in the development of recreational reading habits among my children.
5. Finally, children who keep me busy and on the top of my game every hour of the day!

Wow! When Our Kids Start Reading, They Start Big!

It may be hard for students to readjust to some routines, but it seems like getting back into the reading routine has not been difficult.  Our kids have jumped right back into the grove when it comes to using our school library resources.  It's hard to believe in the past six weeks our kids have checked out 5,229 items from our library.

In the year prior to my becoming the librarian at Brookhaven Elementary, our total circulation was a little over 8,000 items.

In addition to using our physical resources, our students continue to embrace ebooks through MyOn, Follett Shelf and Tumble.  Our e-content linked through Follett Shelf has had 60 circulations, while students have read at least 380 books on MyOn since July 1.

MyOn was purchased for us by the Federal Programs division of Monongalia County Schools.  TumbleBooks and those on Follett Shelf were purchased with county funds.  

The start to the school year has proven to be a busy month in many ways.  In addition to the circulation statistics, kids have been coming to the library for instruction, which  will take place the remainder of the nine weeks for each first, second, third and fifth grader.  Mrs. Brehm's kindergarten class will have skill lessons each week for this nine week period, while each fourth grade class will have instruction once a week for most of the school year.  Fifth grade has received lessons in cyber safety, and second and third graders have learned about library arrangement and how to use Destiny Quest.  More than 40 interlibrary loan requests have been generated by students so far this school year.

I am excited by what October might bring.  I am very proud of our students!

Free Access to eBooks During July

From School Library Journal:

StarWalk Kids Media has announced that it has made all 160-plus ebooks in its collection available free of charge for anyone with Internet access—children, families, and educators—during the entire month of July.

This looks very promising.  The company was originated by Seymour Simon, a respected children's author of informational books.  Here are some key features"

• Free during the month of July -160 books
• Some titles professionally narrated
• Company originated by Seymour Simon and others
• 60% nonfiction
• All titles simultaneous use
• CCSS correlations with every title
• Catalog expected to expand to 400 by Fall

http://www.starwalkkids.com/extras/articles/89-articles/349-delight-digital-kids-with-a-subscription-to-the-starwalk-kids-library-2.html

Favorite Quotes from Pernille Ripp's Blog

Kids should be reading books created by authors, not by corporations - Lucy Calkins

Reading fiction allows us to be what we never could be - Kylene Beers

Let me tell you what happens when we give a kid a text that is too hard; it is too hard, that is what happens - Kylene Beers


For more great quotes, check out the link to the blog below:


Ripp, Pernille. "Blogging through the Fourth Dimension." The Smart Things People Said at Teachers College. N.p., 12 July 2013. Web. 14 July 2013. .

Biblionasium: a Kid Forum Similar to Shelfari and GoodReads

Parents, check out Biblionasium, a social media site devoted to books and reading.  I have only briefly looked at it, but so far I am impressed.  Unlike many commercials sites designed to attact kids to reading, this site rose out of need when founder Marjan Ghara ran out of suggestions for a "good book" for her kids to read.  With input from her children, the site was born.

One of the key features of the site is the ability search by Lexile reading level. Lexiles are ranges of scores that gauge a book's complexity or readablity.  It is the scale we will use when we implement Common Core State Standards next month.  However, the CCSS Lexile measures per grade level are different and more demanding.  Compare the differences:

 The chart to the left indicates the Lexile recommendations from Biblionasium.  Notice the broad range within each grade level, starting with first grade.


By contrast, the CCSS "stretch level"complexity chart does not recommend a Lexile until grade 2, where the child should begin around a 420L.  By the end of third grade the child should by almost capable of an 820L.  Fourth graders should ideally begin their school year being able to read at a 740 lexile.  

I would recommend that when you search by Lexile for a book that you begin at the lower "stretch band" for your child's grade.  Monitor his progress and raise (or lower) expectations as needed.

I like the ability for parents to recommend their childhood favorites to their children, although I imagine the older the child the less receptive he will be to his parents' tastes.  However, he can garner recommendations from his friends to expand his list.  Through all this, parents have the ability to monitor what their children are doing on this site (the site is COPPA compliant).  Parents can also design challenges for their kids or their whole family.  How wonderfully wholesome is that?

I think this site is definitely worth your time.  Try it and let me know what you think!

https://diigo.com/0105ys

Is Your Child a Strategic Reader?

As a component of my summer reading plan, I am exploring library literature as a means of improving my practice as a School Library Media Specialist.  The first book on my list is Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL, 2009). The second chapter, "Teaching for Learning," stresses means by which the school library media specialist can enhance not only a child's desire to read but his ability to read as well.  I think the following graphic is helpful for parents who want to understand what is expected of their children in terms of analytic reading skills.

Using Prior Knowledge:

Most of us come to what we read with some background knowledge. The key to using background knowledge effectively comes with the awareness of what we actually know about a subject prior to and during reading. Parents can help their children by asking them why they chose a particular book and asking them what they know about the subject.  Asking questions about their knowledge will help the child make new connections as he is reading.

Asking Questions about the Reading Selection:

Asking questions prior to reading a book will help the child become aware of his expectations. What do I expect to learn from this book?  Why did the author write this book?  As the child reads he can ask questions about his expectations and about the information he is receiving. What else would I like to know about this?  Is this book answering my information needs?  After the child finishes reading, his questions can be more more reflective.  What are my feelings about what I just read?  Where do I go from here?  Do I want more information on this subject or should I move on to something else?

Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Predicting Outcomes

Summarizing and paraphrasing make what the child read his own.  These may be some of the most important comprehension skills a child can develop. Being able to predict an outcome shows an understanding and internalization of whatever the child is reading.  By the way, if outcomes are too easy to predict, perhaps it's time for your child to move up to slightly more sophisticated novels.

Isolates important information

Children are surrounded by a plethora of information, which is only going to increase.  It is extremely important for them to be able to separate main ideas and important content from the bulk.  Asking questions of the reading selection, as well as summarizing and paraphrasing, are precursors to determining important content. After a child finishes a book, fiction or nonfiction, parents can ask him to list the three most important events in the book (fiction) or the three most important points (nonfiction).  Use his responses to gauge how well he is asking questions, summarizing and paraphrasing.  Perhaps he may need some practice using each of those skills.

Draws Inferences from the Text

Just as important as what the author said is what the author only eluded.  Being able to read between the lines often requires background knowledge a child does not have.  Parents can ask children what specific phrases in a book mean; if the child cannot explain the meaning, parents can help fill in the gaps.

Makes Connections with Real-Life Experiences and Prior Reading

Connections are where real learning occurs. In this step students take what they have read and associate it with their prior knowledge, including real life experiences.  Parents can help children make these connections by reminding them of what they knew before on the subject and the important information they have learned.  Children should be able to see the connections between the two and should be able to say if their prior knowledge was supported or refuted by their reading.  Finally,

Combines Information from Various Sources to Create New Knowledge

Children should become critics of the information they receive.  They should be able to state their opinions and back them up with information garnered from various sources and prior knowledge.  By doing this, they are creating and exhibiting new knowledge.  Parents can encourage children to express their opinions in various ways. They can write reviews and post them to the book's record in Destiny Quest or Brookhaven Reads; they can create posters or artwork that can be scanned into Brookhaven Reads or Edmodo.  One of my favorite ideas is having them videotape a review using a smartphone.

Caution

I would in no way advocate that parents should monitor every book their children read using the activities listed above.  There would be no surer way of burning them out.  However a few spot checks and good discussions about the books your child reads will give you both insights into his strategic reading ability.




Empowering Learners, Guidelines For School Library Media Programs. Chicago: American Association of School Librarians, 2009. Print.

Let the Waters Flow — Whole Child Education

Let the Waters Flow — Whole Child Education

IMLS Says Libraries Key to Early Learning

IMLS Says Libraries Key to Early Learning

Summer Reading Kicking Off

I am so excited that so many of our students have indicated an interest in our Summer Reading Program.  So far our students have logged onto MyOn and spent a total of 738 minutes reading a total of 48 books  There will be no summer slide here!

I wanted to mention two other excellent online book resources for your child to consider.  The first is TumbleBooks. TumbleBooks has read-alongs, storybooks, nonfiction, and National Geographic videos.  Quizzes and activities accompany most of the books.

The second resource is our FollettShelf.  The books in this collection were selected by your library media specialist and almost all titles are Reading Counts.  While it is true that students cannot take quizzes until they return to school in August, they can get a head start by reading these books.  Students may access Reading Counts by logging in with their nine-digit student number for both their usernames and passwords.  (If you don't know your child's number, please email me at lsmartin@access.k12.wv.us.)  

If your child would like to write about his reading, we have two online venues for him to pursue. The first is our wiki BrookhavenReads.  Once on the site, parents should request access for their child. Once access is approved, your child can login and create a new page or review his book in the comment section of the front page.

The second venue is Destiny Quest, our library catalog.  If a book is in our collection, students may write a review of the book they read or recommend what they have read to a friend.  Many students already have Destiny Quest accounts.  If your child does not, you may use his student number to create an account.  The recommended username for your child is his nine digit student number.  The recommended password would be his first initial of his first name and the first four digits of his last name.  If you need any help or have any questions, please email me at lsmartin@access.k12.wv.us.

I look forward to hearing from your child!

Why I Have Changed My Mind about "Library Skills" Instruction

Cross-posted from Random Thoughts

Back in the day, I had vociferously argued that library skills instruction is child abuse, that being part of a "specials" or "planning period" rotation was a waste of my time.  Now I am begging my principal to "let" me be in the specials rotation for fourth grade everyday next year.

What's changed?

Lots of things.

Shift from Worksheet-Based Instruction to Project-Based Learning

One of the most exciting changes in education is the continuing emphasis on project-based, active learning where students will work on a project in which they will create real meaning.  This is immeasurably preferable to worksheets where students would perfect skills on using the library without actually using it.  How boring are guide words and alphabetizing to the third letter!  But how easily acquired are these skills when they are being used as a means to a learning goal! Students take their work much more seriously when they know their work will reach a public audience, and a public audience is a key component of project-based learning.

Emphasis on Higher Level Thinking Skills and Critical Meaning

Hand in hand with the shift to project-based learning is the emphasis on higher level thinking skills, collaborative learning and critical thinking skills.  Life skills such as planning time, public speaking and targeting an audience are also emphasized.   When a child utilizes these skills to achieve a learning goal, he not only conquers content but also becomes better prepared for life beyond school.

Availability of Resources

In the old days of "library skills" taught in isolation, children were asked to use print sources such as the Reader's Guide to direct them to resources that were more than often not available in the library.  A student wanting to find information on a topic of personal interest was often disappointed to learn that his favorite athlete did not have an article in the 20 year-old encyclopedia.  Hitting dead ends left students (and this teacher) hopelessly discouraged about the value of library skills.  

Compare the previous scenario with our present day situation.  Musty,       misfiled catalog cards that searched an outdated collection have been replaced by automated systems that permits federated searches of all available resources.   The availability of so many sources in full text, online resources is much more gratifying for students searching for  - and actually finding -information.  The increasing availability of laptops and other mobile devices has made information even more accessible.  Children are encouraged to seek information outside their school walls.  Librarians across the county are willing to share resources with children they do not know.


Need for Resource Evaluation and Ethical Use of Information

With the increased publication, interlibrary loan capabilities, and access to electronic media comes a new problem:  too much information.  Yes, students can find -readily- information on any topic, but not all information is equal in terms of quality. Children must learn to be critical users of information.  They need more and more assistance reading for a purpose and paraphrasing information.  They need help synthesizing information from all kinds of different media (transliteracy) into one cohesive package of understanding.

And finally, kids need to be ethical users of information.  They need to understand copyright use and limitations to avoid snafus in their personal and professional lives. Students will see their own works published online.  They will need to learn how to protect their own work as well as respect the rights of others.

I may regret this decision to push to be included in the skills rotation, but ultimately, I think it is important.  I want a balance of fixed vs. flexible scheduling, with the majority of time flexible.  But I need to step up my game.

Thank you, Mrs. Napolillo!

Nancy Napolillo has served as technology coordinator of Monongalia County Schools for more than 15 years.  Under her direction, every classroom in Monongalia County has been wired for Internet access. Teachers have been trained to use new technologies Smartboards, document cameras, and virtual field trips have become the norm rather than the exception. Parents and students are able to track students' progress online with EdLine.  Our technology is supported by a cadre of well-qualified technicians. We teachers, parents and students owe much of our progress in terms of technology integration to Nancy Napolillo's vision.

Nowhere has Mrs. Napolillo's influence been greater than in our school library media centers.  Though not a school librarian by training, Mrs. Napolillo educated herself on library issues and served as a supportive supervisor for many years.   Under her direction, all libraries in Monongalia County became automated with stand-alone, school-based library catalog and circulation systems. In 2006 the entire county upgraded to a district wide system that facilitates interlibrary loan and social interactions for patrons. Mrs. Napolillo made sure that the costs of maintaining these expensive systems did not impinge upon our libraries materials allotment.

In addition to moving our libraries into the 21st century in terms of software and hardware, Mrs. Napolillo ensured we had high quality resources for our students to use.  World Book Online, several Ebsco databases, and Discovery Streaming have been provided for all Monongalia County libraries. This provision ensures that our students have access to new, up-to-date reference books, high quality, full-text periodicals, and multimedia.  Again, this was provided without dipping into our libraries' materials budget.

Mrs. Napolillo is leaving her position as Director of Technology and Secondary Education to take a principal position at MTEC. We library media specialists wish her the very best, but we will greatly miss her support to which we have become accustomed.