I figgered The Google out, as we say here in Texas, and I am back here on my library blog to share my newest position in Willis ISD, Information Learning Specialist (ILS) and Technology Innovation Coach (iCoach) at Meador Elementary. Meador is a fairly new campus, absolutely beautiful and with up-to-date facilities. Any teacher who has taught in 50-year-old or older buildings will understand how exciting that it! I love Meador and I love being on one campus this year.
WISD is experiencing exponential growth right now, and the district librarians are expected to enhance and expand upon the traditional role. We are hired for our instructional technology skills, ability to think outside the library box, willingness to be flexible, and to be part of the school team. We are responsible for TEKS and we must bring the classroom teaching styles and school culture into our libraries. We are teachers and our library space is a giant classroom. Our libraries are learning commons, makerspaces, technology hubs, and community meeting spaces. Our libraries are no longer "our" sanctum, entered only with our permission. Our libraries buzz with the voices of children, staff, volunteers, and visitors.
The point of the above is to explain the obvious: the library staff can no longer be tied to the circulation desk, checking out books and imparting information from on high. We must move around in the library and be learning facilitators. Our collection arrangement must make sense to teachers and students. Our children are extremely sophisticated readers. Authors of children's and young adult books are making fortunes by tapping into our kiddo's advanced reading tastes. Our kids love series books and they like to be able to find them grouped on the shelves "bookstore" style. They like to read what they want, and to make their own choices, not based on levels or points. Conversely, teachers want to be able to find books in the library by using the traditional Dewey Decimal System during their busy planning times. The challenge to the librarian is to find the balance between these two needs.
During my three years serving in three elementary libraries in WISD, I worked to address these issues in several ways:
1. Established self-checkout
2. Used rotating library stations as learning practice
3. Increased the use of technology to accomplish traditional library routines
4. Re-organized the library collection to meet the needs of the campus population
The first week of school we met with our students to build relationships and explain the changes that will be coming in the library, and our expectations of their roles and responsibilities in the process. I must say the kids were very excited about the changes!
Week two was spent learning self-checkout. This is my fourth school to accomplish this goal, and as usual the kids were wonderful, quick to learn, and proud of themselves.
Next week is the combination of self-check and stations. My husband and I spent last night setting up the six stations for the six teams in each class. Here are some photos of the stations:
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| The Longhorns will move to their Reading Station located nearby. (I wonder why it is so messy???) |
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| The Texas Longhorns will be at the Reading Station this week. The actual station is set up on an empty bookshelf on the other side of the library. Students will find a quiet place to read, and they may read with a stuffed animal, 3D glasses, and Whisperphones if they desire.
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| The Sam Houston State Bearkats are at the Manipulative/Puzzle Station this week. I put out two age-appropriate puzzles, a 300-piece puppy puzzle for the lower grades, and a 1000-piece sea turtle puzzle for the upper grades. I also put library books corresponding to the puzzle topics to spark the students' interest. Sometimes the younger students will prefer to work on the 1000-piece puzzle, and adults will wander in and work a puzzle for a few minutes. That's awesome, the more the merrier in the library! |
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| The Baylor Bears will be at the computer station this week. Our awesome WISD Technology Team has been working hard day and night to add more learning apps and linking via them SSO to our student logins. Stay tuned for more news on that project very soon! |
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| The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks will be at the Tablet Station this week. Our first lessons on the tablets will be to use QR code tags to access apps and websites. They can also take AR tests, and login to Tumblebooks or Brainpop. I set up the tablets at a separate table and the students move to the Tablet Station. I have a feeling the Tablet Station will be a big hit! |
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| The University of Houston Cougars will enjoy our Makerspace Station. Our first activity in the makerspace is bookmarks. We are recycling food boxes donated by our school families, and making bookmarks using measurement and geometry skills. The students also have an option to make a "mind-craft" bookmark!
Please stay tuned for my posts on how this goes this week! I will write an evaluation of how our first week combining self-check and library stations worked out!
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