All about Discovery Education

This Wednesday, I am going to spend the entire day teaching about Discovery Education, an awesome tool that is underutilized on most of our campuses.

This resource includes many forms of high quality media that can be used in our classrooms as well as for flipping your classroom. Students are given accounts to log in and all of a sudden you have a virtual classroom.  You can assign students folders of content to explore, writing assignments, quizzes as well as virtual bulletin boards.  Students can turn their work in online and you view and comment right there.

Here is the link to the training site.

https://sites.google.com/site/discoveryeducationcisd2/

For those of you attending, we will wrap up with the following reflection questions: 
1.   What level of technology can be reached using the technology tool in this training?  Why? How? 
2.  How can your students use the technology tool from this training in your curriculum? 

The library should be the heart of the school!!!  This statement encompasses everything about how libraries should fit into our school communities.  The magical thing about a school library is that it pulls us all together.  You have this space, this amazing area in your school where students can come in and learn, explore and create.  Students can be curious, ask questions and find answers.  

The teacher librarian who is seen as an integral part of the campus is indeed a very powerful partner for teachers on campus.  Librarians are experts in informational literacy.  They have been trained to match effective resources with content as well as recommend technology tools.  

My vision for next at Joy James Elementary is for the library to be the most inviting, vibrant place on campus.  I want to see students coming in to the library before school, during school and after school to research, learn and explore.  I would love to see teachers come in to plan and look through resources to see what fits best in their classroom.  I want everyone in our learning community to feel welcome in the library at any time.  

As we all get ready for summer, please know that I am so excited about starting next year.  It is going to be an amazing year and the Joy James Library is going to be EPIC!  

Time for a new start!

As I come to the end of this school year, I have so many thoughts and reflections. I have spent the year carefully dividing my attention between two libraries. I have had the opportunity to work with so many wonderful teachers and students. There were days that I felt that I needed to clone myself in order to survive but throughout all of that, I was honored to be able to create learning opportunities for so many students.

 I am truly excited about the chance to work with the students and teachers at Joy James Elementary next year. My vision is to truly create a strong library program at Joy James that will benefit students, teachers, parents and the community. I envision the library becoming the center of learning and creating on the campus. This year is going to be so exciting!

What does a student centered library look like?

While researching 21st Century libraries last night, I found the website for Central Oregon Community College.  I was enlightened by the librarian's collection of quotes relating to the Learning Commons concept and 21st Century Libraries.  The quote below is from his collection.

What we want to do with our libraries is make students comfortable with this strange, hybrid print and digital world of ours by incorporating some of the traditional messages of past libraries - the ones Barnes and Nobles has used to such great effect in their bookstores - with the technology our students need, We want to do it in a way that says to students: this is a place you want to be. This is yours. You have citizenship in the realm of knowledge.

Fundamentally, learning isn't about use of tools, it's a social experience. We should make it easier for our students to conceptualize research as a social act, not simply manipulating inert bits of information and documenting where those bits came from. It's important when we draw them into research that we don't send the wrong message - e.g. that research is transcription - because they will take the message to heart.
--Barbara Fister

How powerful is that statement - You have citizenship in the realm of knowledge.  I believe that for students and teaches alike, this is an essential part of learning! Many of our students feel somewhat disconnected from the intellectual world and many times have no idea how to access that world.  This especially tends to be true in middle school when they have a hard time seeing past their immediate situation.  I feel that as a library media specialist, my job is to assist students with "jumping into" the world of knowledge with complete abandon and explore what is out there.  

Think about how amazing it would be if the library was known as the "place to be" on your campus.  I know many schools where this is true and I can only hope that this is true for the library at Lady Bird Johnson Middle School.  I truly can not wait for the first day of school and for all of the days that follow so that I can see and experience students taking up residence in the realm of knowledge and then taking that knowledge to the next level to solve problems and create!   

Have a great Friday everyone!  :)

 

A New Love for Picture Books

I have always enjoyed a good read and often find myself trying to juggle at least 3-4 books at a time.  It was just recently that I rediscovered the joy of picutre books.  My daughter has reently decided that she is too old for picture books so I have not had a "reason" to read them.  Well, since when do I need a reason to do something enjoyable?   And, that was that....I have been on a picture book reading frenzy.  Here is my favorite for today

X is disgruntled becasue he is in so few words and at the very end of the alphabet so he calls for a new alphabet.  The letters all start to jump on board until they realize that everyone has an important role to play.  Not only does this book offer an excellent way to teach grammar rules but also gives the opportunity to discuss the importance of being content with who you are.  Loved it!!!